Not long ago, Thomas and I had the chance to check out a few DXG HD video cameras.  While I really liked a lot of what I saw, I had one big complaint.  Yeah, you guessed it, you can’t take these cameras deep sea diving…or even get them wet at all.  OK.  Maybe that was not really the big complaint about these cameras, but I have always been intrigued by waterproof cameras cases, and I was thrilled when DXG contacted me shortly after we posted the initial review to ask whether I would be interested in checking out their underwater value pack, which they were nice enough to send along.

The underwater value pack consists of the DXG-U579V camera and an underwater case to go with it.  Since the camera is almost identical to the one Thomas looked at in our joint review, I am not going to discuss it or the picture/video quality in this review.  You can check out the previous review for that.  Just to give you a highlight, though, Thomas had this to say about the DXG 581V, which was the follow up to the 579V:

it’s great to see an attractive, vertical sub-$200 camcorder with a flip-out screen. It’s a great form factor, but the design – especially the lens – need some work. It’s tough to film yourself at arm’s length or use with a tripod with the sensor tilted upwards, but it’s the picture quality that could really use a boost. At $170 the DXG-581v is an affordable video camera, but it’s really HD in name only, and I’d probably look elsewhere for a camera.

So, that gives you an idea of the camera you can expect and the picture quality you will find.  Today, however, I really wanted to spend some time talking about that waterproof case.  I wasted no time putting it to the test.  I tested it in three different places. 

First, I took it to the pool, where I shot some photos and video of my boys swimming and jumping around, mostly from a submerged vantage point.  Then, I took it on vacation to the lake, where I filmed some splashing around, before tossing it in the kayak and snapping some nature shots from the far reaches of the lake while paddling. 

Finally, simply for documentation purposes, I took it to the kitchen sink so I could snap some shots of it being splashed and submerged.

The case itself is made from a hard plastic shell, which fully encases the camera.  A rubber gasket runs along the inside of the seam, ensuring a water tight seal. 

The whole thing is held together by a large, plastic lock.  I loved the fact that this is really large and graspable, meaning it is easy to use, even when you are underwater, wearing gloves.

On the back of the case is a button panel, which gives you access to all of the major functions of the camera.  This worked really well, allowing you to switch between video and still photos mode, begin and stop recording, snap photos, zoom, toggle the light, and even playback recorded media.  The only thing you cannot do from here is power the camera on or off.  To do that, you will need to open the case, which I found to be a bit annoying.  The camera runs on AAA batteries, and does not last an awfully long time.  Since you cannot toggle the power on or off from within the case, however, means the camera is going to spend a lot of time turned on but not in use (even with the sleep mode active).  It would have been nice if the power could be toggled without opening the case.

The other thing I found was that the case made it extremely difficult to see the LCD screen in order to frame a shot, especially when the camera is wet or underwater.  This was a real problem.  I found myself eyeballing a shot and then taking the picture blind and hoping for the best.  This is no way to take important pictures.  An underwater case needs to do a better job of making the camera usable.  With no viewfinder and a hazy LCD screen, the case really does not do this camera any favors.

Despite these drawbacks, I was really impressed by how well this case protected the camera.  Like I said, it got splashed, dunked, drowned, and pretty much anything else you can do to attack a delicate electronic device with water, and it withstood all of this and probably would have taken plenty more.  Through it all, nary a drop of water made its way to the camera (except for when I opened the case to turn off the power). 

I was also impressed to find that if you do lose the camera while swimming, the case is designed to float, making it easy to find; and it even comes complete with a wrist strap, coated in rubber, to make sure the camera will not float far while you are out to sea (or swimming in the shallow end of the kiddie pool). 

I have always been intrigued by these underwater cases, and I thought DXG did a good job with this one.  I absolutely loved the flexibility it gave me to take photos and video from positions and angles I never could have reached with a camera alone: in the water, underwater, and ever boating across the lake.  It handled it all without flinching.   Of course, the proof is in the pictures, so check out a few photos I took in and around the water.

What I Liked:

• Underwater, underwater, underwater
• Access to all controls
• Easy to access buttons and controls for use underwater

What Needs Improvement:

• Can’t toggle power while in the case
• LCD screen is difficult to use while in the case

Where To Buy: DXG

Price: $149.99 (includes underwater case and camera)

Wow!  The powers that be at the Palm Pre App catalog are really ramping up for this month’s official launch of the store.  Today saw the largest release of apps since the Pre was released in June.  And I am sure the selection will only continue to grow as the official launch gets closer (I know several developers have been asked to move their homebrew apps to the App Catalog, so congrats to them).  Released to the App Catalog today were:

• DirecTV NFL: Watch any NFL game from anywhere in the United States.  Requires the NFL SuperFan subscription.
• Tip ‘Em! – Tip Calculator and check Splitter
• Translator: Translates between 45 different languages using the Google Translate tool
• The Globe and Mail: Bringing News of Canada to the Palm Pre
• TMaps – DC: a map of DC area buses and trains (which inexplicably left out the Virginia Railway Express)
• Express Horoscopes
• wikiHow: A wiki-based how to guidebook
• Dumb Waiter: Because you can never have too many tip calculators
• Zilch Lite: A dice game
• Photo Dialer
• UberPass: Secure information manager and password generator
• Lemonade: The classic game of building a business makes its way to the Palm Pre
• Coin Flip: Heads or tails…you choose.

Despite all of these new releases, there are still a few noticeable omissions.  Chief among them are any kind of RSS feed reader (preferably one that can sync with GReader) and a task manager which can sync with Toodledo.  Hopefully those will be joining the current 50 apps in the App Catalog soon.

“The arrival of HTC Hero and the Android platform to Sprint’s network is an important milestone for our customers and the U.S. wireless industry,” said Kevin Packingham, senior vice president of product development for Sprint. “With the dependability and coverage of Sprint’s 3G network, HTC Hero users will appreciate a much better experience than is possible now with any other Android phone operating in the United States. They will enjoy the robust potential to personalize their wireless experience as well as the best value in wireless with a Simply Everything plan from Sprint.”

Access to countless applications

As a charter member of the Open Handset Alliance™, Sprint is actively engaged with the Android community. Through Android Market™, HTC Hero users have access to more than 8,000 useful applications, widgets and fun games to download and install on their phone, with many more to come. Thousands of developers are working to introduce new Android applications every day.

ShopSavvy^TM, Twitter^TM, Shazam^TM, amazon.com^®, USA Today^®, Flixster^®, PacMan^TM, CraigslistChecker^TM, and MySpace^TM Mobile are among the countless well-liked applications already available on Android Market. Pandora^®, the popular personal radio application, is launching on Android devices and will be available on the HTC Hero from Sprint.

“Sprint and HTC are helping to drive openness and innovation in the mobile industry with the introduction of the Android-powered HTC Hero,” said Andy Rubin, vice president, mobile platforms at Google. “As the world’s first truly open mobile platform built with the Internet in mind, Android provides to consumers the same Internet services they have become accustomed to on their desktop PC. Offering access to thousands of applications, a suite of Google™ services, and unique personalization features, the HTC Hero offers a compelling mobile experience.”

Sprint has employed an open Internet approach, and the Sprint Application Developer Program has been providing tools for third-party developers, since Sprint first launched the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001. Application developers will have a chance to learn more about Android at Sprint’s ninth annual developer conference this fall. The Sprint Open Developer Conference, Oct. 26-28 in Santa Clara, Calif., is open to all attendees and will feature information on developing applications for a range of platforms, including Android.

Developers can register to attend the conference at http://developer.sprint.com/devcon2009. HTC is a premier sponsor of the conference and will be giving a keynote address in addition to running several breakout sessions and coding camps focusing on HTC Hero and the Android platform.

Intuitive, user-focused and fun

HTC Hero is the first U.S. device to feature HTC Sense, an intuitive experience that was built with a guiding philosophy to put people at the center and allows the device to be completely customized to the wants and needs of the user. The device’s seven-panel wide home screen can be populated with customizable widgets that bring information to the surface.

HTC Hero users can easily create and switch between Scenes to reflect different moments or roles in their lives, such as work, social, travel and play. For example, a work Scene can be easily set up to include stock updates, work email and calendar, a play Scene could have music, weather, and a Twitter feed or a travel Scene could offer instant access to the local time, weather and maps.

“HTC Sense on HTC Hero revolves around three basic principles: Make it Mine, Stay Close and Discover the Unexpected. These principles are based on the recognition that people want their mobile device to conform to their needs and wants, easily keep them in touch with the most important people in their lives, and surprise them with small moments of joy and delight,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “Working with Sprint to introduce HTC Hero to the US was a natural fit, as both HTC Hero and Sprint’s Simply Everything plan are designed to give customers everything they need in a simple package.”

HTC Hero’s development focused on how real people use their phone, resulting in small but important touches to accentuate the mobile experience. HTC Hero can be silenced by simply turning it over. It offers an advanced smart dialer for quickly accessing contacts with just a few letters or numbers and a dedicated search key that automatically searches for only information relevant to the current function. When pressed in the mail application, the search will be for text within the mailbox, while a press of the same key from the browser will initiate a Google search.

Industry-leading features

HTC Hero features an integrated 5.0 MP camera and camcorder. It also offers easy access to personal and business e-mail, instant messaging and text messaging through POP, IMAP, and Exchange Active Sync accounts.

It is the first Sprint device to offer HTC Footprints™, an application experience that enables the user to chronicle their special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of that favorite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS coordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.

HTC Hero is a full-featured smartphone with Wi-Fi capability, a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen with pinch-to-zoom capability and a fingerprint resistant coating, integrated GPS navigation, and trackball navigation. Additional features include:

• Stereo Bluetooth^® 2.0 Wireless technology
• accelerometer, light sensor and home screen widgets for improved usability
• multimedia capable with microSD slot (32GB capable, 2GB included)
• Sprint TV^® with live and on-demand programming
• NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile^SM
• easy access to social networking sites, including Facebook^®, Flickr^® and Twitter
• visual voice mail for quick and easy access to specific voice mail messages

HTC Hero requires activation on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Sprint’s Simply Everything^SM plan provides unlimited nationwide calling, texting, e-mail, social networking, Web browsing, GPS navigation, Sprint TV, streaming music, NFL Mobile Live, NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and much more for only $99.99 per month. That’s a savings of $1,200 over two years vs. a comparable AT&T iPhone^® plan². Sprint Everything Data plans with unlimited messaging and data start at just $69.99 for 450 minutes with unlimited night and weekend calling starting at 7 p.m. (All price plans exclude Sprint surcharges and taxes.)

The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network (inclusive of data roaming) reaches more than 271 million people, 18,652 cities and 1,838 airports. The Sprint Networks (inclusive of data roaming) have more than twice the coverage of AT&T’s current 3G network and more than 20 times the coverage of T-Mobile’s current 3G network, both based on square miles³.

Sprint is the only wireless carrier to offer Ready Now service with trained retail associates to work one-on-one with customers to personalize their HTC Hero, set up features and demonstrate how it works before the customer leaves the store. Customers have the choice of sitting down with a Sprint retail associate at the time of purchase or they can schedule an appointment for a later time at www.sprint.com/storelocator.

About HTC

HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry and continues to pioneer industry-leading mobile experiences through design, usability and innovation that is sparked by how the mobile phone can improve how people live and communicate. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving almost 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

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Now that Microsoft has confirmed the launch of the Zune HD in just a few weeks, and apple is expected to follow suit next with by announcing the iPod Touch 3, it seems like everyone is trying to jump onto the touch screen bandwagon.  Sony got a jump on everyone with their X series Walkman, which was released in June; and now Creative is the latest to get into the game with the Zen X-Fi 2.

I have to admit that while I have been calling for more touch screens in portable media players, all of the recent developments with the Zune and iPod Touch, have made it difficult for me to get excited about this one.   Add that to the fact that the Zen X-Fi lagged far behind all of the other media players I tested in my recent Listen to This series, and I simply do not have high hopes for this one measuring even close to the other offerings which will be available by the end of the month.

Nonetheless, if any of you Creative fans out there are interested, the Zen X-Fi2 is expected to be released in the end of September in three versions (8GB, 16Gb, and 32GB).  And for those of you who think Apple is hell bent on wringing every last nickel out of their customers, you will like the sound of the Creative Zen X-Fi2 when you reach the cash register.  It will ring up at a relatively inexpensive $ 129.99, $179.99, and $229.99.

[Via CNET] 

When I started this series, my hope had been to tackle all of the apps in the Palm Pre App Catalog before its official launch, later this month.  But the developers turned out to be too fast for me.  In the month since I started this series, the App Catalog has grown from 30 apps to 45, and is really starting to gain momentum.  So, a slight change of plans will see the series ending today, with an overview of 30 apps.  As a finale to the series, I thought we would take a look at Yelp, the location based search tool.  But don’t worry, this will not be the end of our look at apps for the Palm Pre.  There are plenty of new apps showing up every day, both in the official App catalog and in the unofficial homebrew app lists.  And we will work our way through many of the apps in both locations.  For now, though, let’s take a look at Yelp.

Yelp is a multi-platform tool, which can help you find local businesses and restaurants in your area.  You can search either by selecting one of the preset categories or by entering your own search term.  Yelp will then find any matches in your area. 

One thing I thought was odd, however, was that you could not adjust the search radius.  Additionally, there is no way to change the location of your search.  It will use your GPS to find your current location and search in that area only.  Which makes it an ineffective tool for planning an evening out or vacation unless you are planning to stay within the vicinity of your home.

Once you have completed your search, Yelp will provide a list of the results, organized by distance from your current location. 

Just tap any one for more information, such as address, phone number, and even reviews.  My favorite part, however, was the picture of every establishment.  This is fantastic, and will really help if you are trying to find a new business or visit a restaurant in a new city.

I really liked this app a lot, and I think it is a fantastic way to quickly find what you need in your area.  However, I found the service to be a bit inflexible, with no way to change your location or adjust the search radius.  Because of that, this turned out to be a good app, with plenty of room to grow.