Holiday's '08 : Premium point and shoot group test

DPreview.com carried out group test for premium point and shoot cameras recently. What they've got here are the top spec 'point and shoot' models from Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony. Generally they've got the most pixels (as many as 14.7 million of the things) and almost all have wider zoom ranges. As some of the most expensive cameras in their respective ranges they also boast the latest 'must have' gadgetry; image stabilization, high ISO modes, face detection and - for the most part - large, high quality screens and solid all-metal cases. Having said that, what you're mainly paying for are all those pixels; the cameras themselves aren't significantly different to their less expensive brethren further down the range.

The contenders are

• Canon Powershot SD880 IS (IXUS 870)
• Fujifilm FinePix F100fd
• Nikon Coolpix S710
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150
• Samsung TL34 HD (NV100HD)
• Sony Cybershot DSC-W300

The overall winner of the test is Fujifilm F100FD, the F100fd did well in every one of tests carried out, whether shooting in broad daylight, in the studio or in a dimly lit bar. It's fast, reliable and has the best zoom range of any camera here. That it's also one of the cheapest is merely the icing on the cake; add it all together and you've got a winner - even if it is by the smallest of margins.



Other highly recommended camera from the list is Canon Ixus 870IS or SD880 IS. Canon's Ixus / Elph range is one of the most successful in the short history of the digital camera, and there's a good reason why. Love them or hate them, Canon makes compact cameras that do exactly what they should; take good pictures in a range of conditions with the minimum of fuss. The SD880 IS was the nicest camera in the group to use, has a sensible range of features and - despite the fewest pixels - produces some of the best results here. It has more than a dash of style, is fast and responsive and small enough to carry with you anywhere you go. For many users it will actually be a better choice than the Fuji - which beats it by a whisker - simply because it's a camera you're more likely to actually want to use.

Detailed group test report at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408premiumgroup/.

IN 3030 : All weather phone from Intex

IN 3030 is an all weather phone from Intex. That means it can work in a high temperature, high humidity and dusty environment. The company claims that the model conforms to Japanese JIS (IPX grade 5) standard for water resistance.

Equipped with music player, FM radio, voice & and an audio recorder with an apparent rugged feel. This handset has the potential to be exactly what individuals interested in traveling and sporting activities would find extremely handy. It’s also designed to cater to the common man - farmers, fishermen, factory and construction workers, etc.- who normally use the phone with sweaty and dusty hands.

Other features of this handset include mobile tracker and expandable memory up to 1GB, etc. The handset has been launched at a special introductory price of Rs. 3,500.

Cowon Curve

Cowon curve will be in stores as early as first quarter of 2009. The cute looking personal media player will sport 3.3 inch AMOLED screen capable of 16 million colors. A 500 Mhz CPU, bluetooth, T-DMB, accelerometer and electronic dictionary application will be featured in. One charge will last for 40 hours.

Holidays 2008 Digicam group test : Budget Camera

These days you can get an awful lot of camera for US $100-150, and most of the models here aren't even at the bottom of their respective ranges. Resolutions range from 7-10 megapixels towards the higher end of our price bracket you can expect advanced features such as face detection, image stabilization and slightly more exotic zoom lenses to start appearing. A couple of the cameras on test here even offer full photographic control with manual and semi manual exposure modes, making them perfect for the budding photographer looking to learn a little bit more about advanced shooting techniques.

In Digital Photographic Review group test of budget cameras, the W120 came out near the top of image quality tests and produced consistently well exposed shots with good color, focus and sharpness. Equally importantly it is fast and responsive, even in low light. Throw in the slightly wider angle 4x zoom and image stabilization and stylish metal body and you've got the perfect pocket camera. Yes it's the most expensive camera here, but we think it's well worth paying that little bit more.


The overall winner that combines surprisingly good image quality with a comprehensive feature set - including full photographic control, effective lens-based image stabilization and a versatile 32-160mm zoom lens is the Panasonic LZ8.

The test cameras

From a list of around 40 cameras a select nine models ranging from around $90 to just under $150 were tested. The cameras range from the simplest plastic point and shoot to fully featured enthusiast models, with a selection of metal bodied 'style' cameras in the middle.

• Canon Powershot A470
• Canon Powershot A590 IS
• Fujifilm FinePix Z20fd
• Kodak Easyshare C1013
• Nikon Coolpix L18
• Olympus FE-360
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8
• Samsung L210
• Sony Cybershot DSC-W120

Full test report at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/.

2008 Holiday Ultra Compact Digicam group test

Digital Photography Review (dprewiew.com) ultra compact digital camera group test joint winners are Canon SD790 IS and Panasonic DMC-FX37, runners up were Sony DSC T700 and Nikon Coolpix S210.

The Canon SD790 IS is all for best image quality followed by Panasonic DMC-FX37 with widest zoom capabilities and slim and compact form factor naturally more pockatable.

The pricey Sony SDC T700 has given good all around performance and Nikon Coolpix S210 offerring acceptable performance at most reasonable pricing.Canon Powershot SD790 IS (IXUS 90)
Casio Exilim EX-S10Fujifilm FinePix Z200fdNikon Coolpix S210Nikon Coolpix S60Olympus Stylus 1040Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37Pentax Optio S12Sony Cybershot DSC-T700

The test cameras

The test cameras selected were of the leading 'size zero' cameras, all but two of which squeeze into our 'under 21mm/0.8 inches thick' criteria.

• Canon Powershot SD790 IS (IXUS 90)
  
• Casio Exilim EX-S10
• Fujifilm FinePix Z200fd
• Nikon Coolpix S210
• Nikon Coolpix S60
• Olympus Stylus 1040
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37
• Pentax Optio S12
• Sony Cybershot DSC-T700

Read the test report in details at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408slimgroup/

Panasonic Lumix TZ50 - The pocket ultrazoom

10x optical zoom, Leica optics along with wifi for uploading to the internet. Supports uploading to Google's Picasa also. The user can select images singly or in groups, and have them automatically transferred to Picasa Web Albums either over their own 802.11b/g compliant home wireless LAN (and presumably, public WLANs as well), or by connecting to any T-Mobile Hotspot.

Big, bright 3-inch LCD. 9.1-megapixel resolution. 10X optical zoom lens goes wide to 28 mm. Shoots HD video at 720p and 30 fps. Panasonic has also included true optical image stabilization, a gyroscopic lens-based system which it calls "Mega O.I.S.". Given the strength of the zoom, true stabilization is a must-have!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 features

• Intelligent Exposure - Photos will no longer be under- or over-exposed. Instead, the TZ50 instantly analyze the framed image and adjusts the brightness in areas that are too dark because of dim lighting, backlighting or the use of the flash. The camera will automatically adjust the brightness accordingly.
  
• Digital Red-eye Correction - Helps eliminate the red-eye problem that sometimes results when taking flash shots at the night. Incorporated into the built-in flash, the camera emits a small preliminary flash before the main flash, detects red-eye and will digitally correct it.
• MEGA O.I.S. - Gyrosensors detect hand-shake and the lens system shifts to compensate, helping to prevent hand-shake from creating a blurry image and Intelligent ISO - Determines if the photo subject is moving and change the ISO setting and shutter speed accordingly.
• Intelligent Scene Selector - Senses the ambient conditions, recognizes the shooting environment and will automatically select the appropriate scene mode from: Scenery, Portrait, Macro, Night Portrait or Night Scenery mode. This intuitive technology, helps the consumer use the most common scene modes that are built into the camera, but often go unused, without making any manual adjustments.
• Face Detection - Detects faces anywhere in the frame and automatically chooses the optimal focus and exposure settings so portraits come out clear and crisp. Detecting up to 15 faces, Panasonic’s Face Detection can even track a face if the subject is moving and Continuous AF – The Continuous AF (auto focus) system maintains focus on the subject even without pressing a shutter button halfway, thus minimizing the AF time.
  

Fourty years of mighty mouse

Mouse/Mice the computer input device has completed 40 years, since the presentation made by Stanford Research Institute engineer Douglas Engelbart. Check out the gallery at wired.com in celebration of 40 years of mighty mouse here http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/multimedia/2008/12/gallery_40_years_mouse .

Windows 7 coming

Windows 7 beta could be out and about as early as next month. Check out the first official video here.

Nikon D3X DSLR

24.5 mega pixel, $8000 priced Nikon D3X is current flagship product of Nikon. The high-res images appeal to commercial photographers who need to print large photographs without degradation of fine details, yet at the same time the 5 frames-per-second burst mode makes the shooter suitable for some action shots. Images can be captured in either JPEG, RAW or TIFF format, and users have the option to record compressed or uncompressed pictures in 12- or 14-bit. A 14-bit TIFF file yields.

Second Android phone Kogan Agora

Honors of the second Android phone after HTC Dream has gone to Kogan Agora. This new gPhone is available for preorder sales online at Kogan website.

Featuring fast 3G wireless technology, multimedia capabilities, and a host of Internet applications, this is a must have mobile phone. The Kogan Agora will work on networks around the world, and is not restricted to customers in Australia and New Zealand.

The Kogan Agora lets you access the Internet wherever you are with fully integrated features, including:

• One-Touch Google Search ™.
• Upload and watch videos from YouTube ™.
• Instantly send and receive emails with Gmail ™.
• Click on a phone number from a website, and your phone will dial it.
• Save web images as wallpaper.

Highlights

• 2.5-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen.Integrated QWERTY keyboard.
• High-speed 3G network connection.
• One-Touch Google Search ™.
• Easy Web Browsing.
• Easy-to-use email with attachment support for images, videos, music and documents.
• Customisable Home Screen with instant Email, text message and IM notifications.
• Instant access to mobile Internet services (Gmail ™, YouTube ™, Google Talk ™, Google Calendar ™, Google Maps ™).
• Music Player.
• Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
• microSD™ expansion slot for all your storage needs.

The Agora Pro has the same form factor and specs, but also adds a 2 MP camera, Wi-Fi, and GPS to the Agora’s impressive specifications.

Sony Ericsson G705

The new Sony Ericsson G705 is 3G slider, with large 2.4 inch screen, allows users to surf the internet at high speed with turbo 3G and its full HTML browser. Support GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 2100. G705 will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours Silky Gold or Majestic Black. A shortcut key to Google idle screen. Tilt sensor which autorotates to landscape or portrait mode of viewing.

Some of the features

• Large 2.4” screen – view websites and emails with high clarity
• HTML browser – surf the net how it was meant to be
• Automatic rotation – switch from portrait to landscape with just a tilt of the phone
• Google™ shortcut key – Go to Google™ from the idle screen with one key press
• Inbuilt aGPS combined with Google Maps™ for Mobile and Wayfinder™ – never get lost again
• Wi-Fi™ and DLNA certified™ – connect the way you want
• 3.2 megapixel camera – snap and share your favourite images via Bluetooth™
• YouTube™ compatible – upload videos or download favourite clips

G705 for American markets will be available early Q1 2009.

Cash back on Live search

If you are never beyond Google search, now there is a reason to switch it over to Microsoft Live Search, as they offer cash back rewards on product search via Live search.

How it works.

1. When you search for a product on Live Search — say an Xbox — within the results returned you'll see an eBay ad with the gold coin cashback icon and "Live Search cashback."
2. Click the eBay ad to go to http://www.ebay.com/ and make your purchase.
3. After completing the payment with PayPal, you'll receive a message saying you're eligible for "instant cashback." Yippee!
   
4. The cashback amount is automatically deposited into your Paypal account and posted to your cashback account.

Enjoy and share the experience here.

Improvements in Google Search

As a constant effort in improvisation on existing resources Google had augmented their search engine to keep the international search requirements satisfied. The improvements are multilingual and converging largest set of languages in this world.

Some of the highlights from Google blogs

• Spell corrections: We recently launched spell corrections in Estonian. If your Estonian is rusty, and you don't remember how to spell "smoke detector," we can suggest a spell correction for [suitsuantur], leading to better search results.
• Diacritical marks: Many languages have diacritical marks, which alter pronunciation. Our algorithms are built to support them, and even help users who mis-type or completely ignore them. For example, if you're a resident of Quebec, Canada and would like to know the weather forecast in Quebec City, we'll serve good results whether you type with diacritical signs [Météo à Québec] or without [meteo quebec]. Czech users can read the same excellent results for a popular kids' cartoon by searching for [krtecek] and [krteček]. On the other hand, sometimes diacriticals change the meaning of the word and we have to use them correctly. For example, in Thai, [ข้าว] is "rice," with completely different results than [ข่าว], which is "news"; or in Slovakia, results for "child" [dieťa] are different than results for "diet" [diéta].
• Synonyms: A general case of diacritical support is the handling of synonyms in different languages. Korean searches showed that "samsung" can be viewed as a synonym of "삼성", so that when users search for [samsung], they find results which have the company's name in Korean.
• Compounding: Some languages allow compounding, which is the formation of new words by combining together existing words. You can see a nice example in Swedish, where we return documents about a Swedish credit card for both compounded [Visakort] and non-compounded [visa kort] queries.
• Stemming: Google has developed morphological models that can receive compound words as queries, and return pages which contain their stem, possibly as part of a different compound. For example, when searching for cars in Saudi Arabia, you can search for [سيارة] and [سيارات] because both are variants of the same stem, and both return many common results. A Polish user can search for "movie" [film], and get back results that contain other variants of the stem, such as "filmów," "filmu," "filmie," "filmy." A user from Belarus will find results for all word forms of the capital, Minsk [Мінск]: "Мінску," "Мінска," "Мінскага."

Nokia N-Series N97

Nokia's latest N-Series phone, N97 seems to be a good convergence device with multimedia finesse of N-Series and PDA features of E series.

There's a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which wil be super-ergonomic , and a massive screen for desktop-like Web browsing. In fact, the screen is the star of the N97. It's massive - 3.5" in size, widescreen 16:9 ratio, and touchscreen to boot, making it perfect for browsing the Web.

Other features of the new N97 include:

• 32GB memory, expandable to 48GB
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED Flash
• GPS
• HSDPA
• Wi-Fi
• USB 2.0
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Huge battery life, offering 37 hours of music and 4.5 hours of video

The Nokia N97 release date will be Q2 2009, priced around 550 Euros before subsidies, which is actually quite cheap considering what it offers.

Samsung i7110 smart phone

Samsung showcased it's latest Smartphone, the I7110, is S60 for the first time at London's Symbian Smartphone Show. This bar type Symbian and S60 OS-based phone, features 2.6’’ QVGA AMOLED screen, FM radio, DNSe 2.0, GPS Navigation (Geo-Tagging, Pedestrian & Driving), optical mouse, accelerometer, 3D games (FIFA 2008, Asphalt), with DLNA compatibility.

It also comes with Bluetooth v2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, 50MB memory, an external memory slot (up to 16GB), 5Mpix camera (CMOS with AF and LED flash). It's equipped with a video player (DivX / H.263 / H.264 / WMV /MP4, RV), and music player (MP3 / AAC / AAC+ /eACC+ / WMA / RealAudio).

Based on Symbian OS v9.3, the I7110 is optimized for convergence with performance and feature enhancements, bringing the highest level of power efficiency and platform security to a mobile phone. Also based on S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, users can choose from thousands of applications from the S60 applications library and have access to their favorites by using dedicated hot keys.

LG Prada II announced

A successor to aesthetic pioneer LG Prada is due and was much anticipated. LG and PRADA group announced that it will be launched before end of this year i.e. 2008.

The Prada was the first full touch screen phone, and was a history in itself. The new Prada will come with a horizontal sliding QWERTY keyboard with silver touch. Other features include 3G compatibility with video calling, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, full HTML browser, the 5 mega pixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach certified lens, and Wi-Fi accessibility.

The new Prada will be available with a starting price of 600 Euros though major mobile dealerships in Italy, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Netherlands in the 4Q of 2008.

Detailed specs:

• Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900). WCDMA 900/2100, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity
• 3″ WQVGA 400×240 px TFT touchscreen
• 5 megapixel camera
• front camera for video calls
• Wi-Fi b/g connectivity
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth
• Full HTML browsing
• FM-Radio
• TV-out
• microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8GB)
• slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Nokia 5800 Express Music

Nokia has just released the 5800 ExpressMusic! It is Nokia's first mass market device offering with touch screen.

According to Nokia press release,

Taking advantage of touch screen technology, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic introduces the ‘Media Bar’, a handy drop down menu that provides direct access to music and entertainment, including favourite tracks, videos and photos. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the web and to online sharing. Because the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, individuals can surf the entire web, not just pieces of it. In addition, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers all the music essentials, including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, and a 3.5mm jack. Built-in surround sound stereo speakers offer the industry’s most powerful sound.

Specs in detail:

• 3.2-inch 16M touchscreen.
• 640 x 360 pixels resolution (16:9 display ratio).
• Symbian S60 5th edition OS with touch input
• Accelerometer for auto screen rotation.
• 3.2 MP AF Carl Zeiss lens, dual LED flash and geo-tagging support
• GPS with A-GPS function
• 3.5mm headphone/video-out jack
• microSDHC card slot (up to 32 GB)
• 8GB microSDHC card included

Check out review at TimesOnline.co.uk

Samsung Pixon M8800

Samsung introduced a new phone called the Pixon last month. Pixon is equipped with an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus, fast-shutter, face detection, geo-tagging and LED flash.

The pixon features 3.2-inch screen offering 240x400 resolution and TouchWiz, similar to Omnia. The 8-megapixel camera offers maximum image resolution of 3264x2448 with auto-focus, face-recognition, Wide Dynamic Range, Advance Shake Reduction, GPS geo-tagging support, and WSVGA and VGA video recording at 30fps. Based on the Qualcomm MSM6281 chip, the M8800 will offer 3G support for faster Internet, in addition to support for quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA networks. Surprisingly the M8800 will not feature Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm jack.

The Samsung pixon, is a touchscreen phone that will compete directly with the LG KC910 Renoir which also sports an 8-megapixel camera. The LG KC910 might carry expected price of $800, while Samsung M8800 will be priced at $979.

Reviews at TechRadar.com

LG KC780 Slimmest Camera phone?

The LG KC780 cameraphone is now officially confirmed. Detailed specs are still not revealed but we know that the KC780 is 8 Megapixel phone, and slimmest 8 megapixel phone to-date. Slimmer than 13.8mm to beat the Samsung M8800 Pixon.

Introducing HTC Touch HD

Enjoy music videos, films and streaming like you never thought possible on a mobile device. Experience internet browsing so exhilarating... it feels like you never left your laptop at home. It’s all delivered to you on a pixel-packed 3.8” WVGA screen and seamlessly tied together with touch-responsive TouchFLO^TM 3D.

The ultrafast 3.5G technology lets you surf and download at true broadband speeds. On HSDPA networks, the Touch HD^TM delivers downlink speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps – there is no need to slow down while you work or play.

The newly added Stock tab keeps you informed of the latest stock quotes, while the connected Home screen puts e-mail, messages and calendar only a finger-stroke away.

Get directions, view satellite maps and find your location using Google Maps. The maps are bigger and crisper thanks to the expansive screen. Tap the onscreen controls to zoom in and view more detail. This is navigation taken to a whole new level.

Highlights

	3.8-inch wide, WVGA (480 X 800 pixel) display offering a cinema experience on the go
	Vibrant TouchFLOTM 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media
	Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity
	Google Maps enhanced by the wide screen viewing platform
	5 megapixel camera for quality stills and video
	3.5 mm audio jack makes the Touch HDTM compatible with the majority of audio equipment available

Google Chrome - coming of a web browser

Google has announced that it will launch beta version of it's web browser named Chrome in about 100 countries today. Need for the another browser on the net is justified by google as

We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.

The new browser is able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites by keeping each tab in a isolated 'sandbox'. Chrome includes a new powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers. Thus increasing the speed and responsiveness.

Apparently it is an open source browser with components from apple’s webkit and mozilla’s firefox with some new features.

Download link http://www.google.com/chrome

Superspeed USB or USB 3.0

Intel unveils the draft specification of its xHCI (eXtensible Host Controller Interface) for USB 3.0. The xHCI draft specification describes the register-level host controller interface for Universal Serial Bus (USB) Revision 2.0 and above. The specification includes a description of the hardware/software interface between system software and the host controller hardware.

This specification is intended for hardware component designers, system builders and device driver (software) developers. Specs can be checked at the link http://www.intel.com/technology/usb/spec.htm.

For the end users what does it means ? If we go along with the promoter group (Microsoft, Intel, Texas Instrument, HP, NEC, NXP) of the USB 3.0 then it means a SuperSpeed USB personal interconnect that can deliver over 10 times the speed of today’s connection. The technology will target fast sync-and-go transfer applications in the PC, consumer and mobile segments that are necessary as digital media become ubiquitous and file sizes increase up to and beyond 25 Gigabytes. USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0 will create a backward-compatible standard with the same ease-of-use and plug and play capabilities of previous USB technologies. Targeting over 10x performance increase, the technology will draw from the same architecture of wired USB. In addition, the USB 3.0 specification will be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency.

gPhone aka Google Phone aka HTC Dream

Long awaited and rumored Google phone aka gPhone aka HTC Dream has been approved by FCC. It is said to be in compliance with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR with this round of testing conducted only on the GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 and WCDMA 1700 bands.

If indeed this is the long awaited Android phone, then T-Mobile, HTC, and Google are free to announce in September with an October launch as originally planned.

Meanwhile Google has announced new version of Android version 0.9 the Mobile OS, so the devices will be reality soon.

Sony T700 and T77 Digital Cameras

Sony has introduced a stylish range of Cyber-shot(R) DSC-T700 and DSC-T77 digital cameras with "intelligent" shooting functions.

The T77 is Sony's thinnest model at less than 5/8 of an inch. It sports a 3-inch, 16 x 9 touch panel LCD screen. The features updated intelligent scene recognition technology, Smile Shutter(TM) and face detection technologies with child and adult priority, as well as high sensitivity shooting (up to ISO 3200), eleven scene modes, and in-camera image management.

The other model T700 model can feature as album in pocket. It has all the features of the T77 plus 4GB of internal memory that can store nearly 1,000 full-resolution or 40,000 VGA-quality photos; a 3.5-inch, wide touch panel Xtra Fine LCD(TM) screen for photo-like viewing (210 pixel-per-inch resolution) with high contrast and wide-angle viewing; and a thin profile (slightly more than 5/8 of an inch) so it can easily slip into a pocket or purse.

Both the models feature a newly developed Carl Zeiss(R) lens that integrates a 4x optical zoom and Optical SteadyShot(TM) image stabilization, yet achieves a slim form factor. They will also be available in a wider selection of color options than previous T-series cameras.

The DSC-T77 replaces the former T70 model and will be available in brown, green, pink, black and silver in late September for about $300. The new DSC-T700 cameras ships at the same time in red, champagne gold, pink, dark gray and silver for about $400.

HTC Touch Victor

A follower to HTC Touch Diamond, is due and will be known as HTC Touch Victor. It is for all those who doesn't like the sharpness of Touch Diamond, the new model boasts a 3.2 MP camera and rest of the specifications remains the same some what.

Specifications

• Size: 102 x 51 x 11.33mm
• Weight: 110 g
• Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
• Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
• Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
• Internal memory: 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSBTM (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
• Battery: 900 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 4 hours
• Standby time: GSM: up to 300 hours/100 hours with push email
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201ATM 528MHz

HTC Touch Diamond vs. Samsung i900 Omnia

Can't decide between HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung i900 Omnia!... Here is good comparison between the two courtesy gsmarena.com.

With HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung i900 Omnia, Windows Mobile handsets no longer seem chubby and nerdy. The next generation of PocketPCs match style with the best performance in their class.

Diamond over Omnia:

• VGA display (2.8-inch, 480 x 640 pixels)
• TouchFLO 3D Home screen (better than Omnia's Touchwiz UI)
• Nicer design
• More compact body
• Lighter weight
• Active magnetic stylus (Omnia has no stylus slot)
• Touch-sensitive scroll wheel (better than Omnia's optical joystick)
• Better sunlight legibility (by a small margin)
• Standard miniUSB slot (as opposed to Samsung's proprietary custom plus)
• Dedicated graphics chip with 64MB memory
• Comes with the amusing Teeter game (uses the accelerometer)
• Has pre-installed YouTube client and MP3 Trimmer application for ringtones
• Better video playback performance

Omnia over Diamond:

• Bigger, though lower-res display (3.2", 240 x 400 pixels)
• Has a better, more solid build and finish
• Almost double battery life
• Better CPU performance (by a nice margin according to software benchmarks)
• Quad-band GSM support (Diamond has two versions to cover all the four bands)
• microSD card slot (Diamond has none)
• 8 or 16 GB of storage memory (Diamond has 4GB)
• Much better 5 megapixel camera (better processing, higher resolution, face and smile detection, geotagging)
• TV-out (Diamond lacks that)
• Landscape QWERTY keyboard (Diamond has one but only in browser)
• Auto screen rotation is available in all applications and can be switched off
• Comes with DivX video support (Diamond has none, but DivX players can be installed)
• Has pre-installed a custom Alarms app, a Video editor and a unit converter

Here is the link http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_diamond_vs_samsung_i900_omnia-review-262.php

DigiFi wireless headphones

DigiFi from Korea has launched the wireless headphone with iPod adapter 'Digital Opera S1' based on Kleer's technology.

Kleer's digital radio transmission technology produces excellent sound quality (CD-quality audio, robust ISM band coexistence and ultra low power consumption) while 10x more battery life, compared to bluetooth headsets.


Kleer's point to multi-point Listen in technology enables up to four people, each with a set of Opera ear phones, to simultaneously listen to the same audio stream.

Available in black and white colors, price of the product is US$98 for now.

Apple iPhone 3G

Apple introduced the latest version of iPhone, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking. The new iPhone 3G is twice as fast as the first generation iPhone, have built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software set which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

Phone is triband 3G with A-GPS and have 2 mp camera. Aluminum back has taken over by plastic but doesn't look cheap.

The 8GB model is priced $199 in the US and $299 for the 16GB model. The new device will be available to consumers by July 11 this year. Touted as twice as fast and half the price over the earlier model.

HTC Touch Diamond

HTC's new device have interface tech called TouchFLO 3D that heavily emphasizes one-touch browsing and single-finger dialing.

Device features a sharp 2.8-inch touch screen housed within a stunning formation of brushed steel and flawless faceted edges, the HTC Touch Diamond is as beautiful to behold as it is to use.

Feature list includes :

• 2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
• Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
• HTC Weather - providing a constant view of weather at home and abroad.
• Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity.
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
• 4GB of internal storage to preserve more photos, music, files and exchanged data than ever before.
• Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.

Check out HTC Touch Diamond review at cnet.com

Firefox 3.0 release candidate availbale now

Firefox 3.0 RC is available now here .

Firefox 3 is based on the Gecko 1.9 Web rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 33 months. After more than 14,000 updates, including some major re-architecting to provide improved performance, stability, rendering correctness, and code simplification and sustainability new version is released for testing purpose only.

Firefox 3 has been built on top of this new platform resulting in a more secure, easier to use, more personal product with a lot more under the hood to offer website and Firefox add-on developers.

Windows XP SP3 available for download now

Windows XP Service pack 3 was Released to Manufacturing (RTM). At the event, Microsoft's Chris Keroack said “We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center”. “Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.”

A link to the 316MB service pack was posted on BetaNews. Although Microsoft windows updater isn't yet hosting a download page for SP3.

The service pack includes roughly 1,100 hotfixes/patches and new features like Network Access Protection and Black Hole Router Detection.

Headphone buying guide

Getting best quality of sound from your MP3/PMP/Personal Audio device is absolutely depends upon the kind of earphones or headphones you use. With all the published parameters, types, & properties, it is very difficult to make sense out of it.

The following guide from CNET helps in understanding what that stuff actually means, rest it all depends on your personal likings and listening experience.

Here is the link for the Headphone buying guide.

New version of Internet Explorer for Mobiles

Microsoft announced a new version of Internet Explorer Mobile for Windows Mobile devices at CTIA trade show. Windows Mobile 6.1 was also released there.

Newer version of Internet Explorer Mobile will support Adobe's Flash, Microsoft's Silverlight and H.264 streaming, making it possible for Windows Mobile device users to surf rich multimedia content.

Firefox 3.0 beta 5 available for downloads

Firefox 3.0 beta 5 is now available for download here. Primarily a testing release for new features and some improvement in performance, speed and memory usage.

Firefox 3 Beta 5 includes more than 750 changes from the previous beta, improving stability and web compatibility, providing platform and user interface enhancements, and resulting in the fastest Firefox ever. Many of these improvements were based on community feedback from the previous beta.

According to mozilla site, new features and changes are:

• Improvements to the user interface based on user feedback, including changes to the look and feel on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux.
• Changes and fixes for new features such as the location bar autocomplete, bookmark backup and restore, full page zoom, and others, based on feedback from our community.
• Fixes and improvements to platform features to improve security, web compatabilty and stability.
• Continued performance improvements: changes to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimization continues to improve performance over previous releases as measured by the popular SunSpider test from Apple, and in the speed of web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office.

Intel Atom Processors

Intel's Atom Processors will be launched in June this year. The new processors are based on 'Diamondville' platform. There will be three processors on this platform : Intel Atom, Intel Celeron 220 and Celeron 440. The latter two being Intel Core processors.

It is observed that the new processor will likely sell for upwards of $30 at the low-end and will cost Intel just $6 to $8, including production, packaging and shipping.

Initial 1.6GHz Atom 230 series processor may fit the UMPC or affordable computing bandwagon, a sub $300 category of computers.

Following Atom 230, Intel will be dishing out two more 1.87GHz processors, one of which will be a dual-core model, while the other will follow in the 230s footsteps with a 533MHz bus and 512KB of Level 2 cache memory.

Is that Asus Eee Desktop ?

That's the scoop photo of new Asus Eee desktop PC, believed to be create same storm like there Eee laptops. And that looks cute one. A lot like a game machine.

Hope it runs windows XP also along with Linux pre-installed stuff.

It's going to be major in home PC market where form factor plays crucial role.

Let's wait for the full specifications, before making any speculations.

Windows XP SP3 still under testing

Service pack 3 for Windows XP is not yet finalized and under testing for some more time.

"Windows XP SP3 RC2 Refresh was made publicly available today via Microsoft Download Center," Microsoft said in a statement. "We've made this release candidate available in order to receive further user feedback prior to the release of Windows XP SP3."

Microsoft still maintains that the final release will be first half of this year that is 2008.

A PC under a keyboard

Form factor is very important while deciding for a home PC, that's what I experienced when buying a new PC for home. Laptops aren't full fledged PC's as far as functionality is concerned, I think people will flame me on this quote. Alternatives are all in one PC's a lot like iMac's or eMacs or new breed of LCD based systems where everything goes under LCD panel, but when you have a good HD LCD panel at home already which can be used as a computer monitor who needs another LCD based design.

Pictured at left of a Cybernet's ZPC GX31 can be solution in such a dilemma. It's a full PC under a keyboard that means up to Core 2 Quad CPU, Intel graphics, optical drive, HDD, up to 4GB RAM and standard I/O ports etc. It's fully customizable and costs from $699 to $1099.

Super long standby Mobile ?

If Chinese are to be believed this mobile phone has standby support of 666 days that is almost 2 years and talk time of about nearly 3-5 days. This super long standby is supported by the 32800 mAh battery pack.

This dual sim GSM 900/1800 phone is feature rich with handwriting and key input four speaker music phone, ebook reader, dual camera with web camera supporta and bluetooth 2.0 data transfer capabilities.



Some of the features are :

• 3.0 inch screen, 260K colour; 240×320px
• T-Flash Card Supporting,256MB for free
• 1.3 Mega pixel camera for Picture & Video capability, 1280*1024
• Double Stereo Loud speaker, 64 chord ring tone
• MP3 & MP4 player
• GPRS & WAP connectivity, MMS Transceiver
• USB disk support function to keep the information storage
• Bluetooth2.0

• Calendar,To do list,Alarm,World Clock,Spotwatch
• Caller picture,caller Ring Tone,
• Telephone directories: 500 groups of contacts, support incoming call with big head sticker,group ring an Messages &Multimedia messaging: 200 SMS, support MMS; can use downloaded MP3 as SMS rings
  
• Schedule power on/off: support to start/close under set time
• Alarm clock:5 groups, support alarm clock when machine’s closed, can set from Monday to Sunday
• Games: 2 built-in common games,
• More information: MP3, MP4, Handsfree, SMS group sending, Voice recorder, WAP, Handwritten + keyboard input, Bluetooth, GPRS download, MMS, Memory extended, IP dialing, self-designed ringtones, photo editor, alarm clock, calculator, notepad, health management.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80S

New Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS80S sports 8.1 Mega pixel CCD sensor, and 3 x optical zoom. 2.5' LCD gives bright preview of the object for shoot.

Intelligent mode controls mega pixel image stabilization, ISO setting and shutter speed for crisper and clear images. Camera switches to macro mode aut0matically if lens is closer to object.

Recording Image Size in Pixels		.
4:3 Aspect Ratio (Still Image)	3264 x 2448 2560 x 1920 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 640 x 480
3:2 Aspect Ratio (Still Image)	3264 x 2176 2560 x 1712 2048 x 1360
16:9 Aspect Ratio (Still Image)	3264 x 1840 2560 x 1440 1920 x 1080
Motion Image (4:3 Aspect Ratio)	640 x 480, 320 x 240 30 fps, 10fps
Motion Image (16:9 Aspect Ratio)	848 x 480 pixels - 30 fps, 10 fps

Qualcomm's MediaFlo technology

In the rush to do value addition to mobile services and increase Average Revenue per User (ARPU). The CDMA major has developed a new technology for wireless media delivery named MediaFlo.

MediaFlo will compete with implementations like digital video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H), digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), TDtv (based on TD-CDMA technology from [IPWireless]), 1seg (based on Japan's ISDB-T) for the standard .

The MediaFLO media distribution system (MDS) enables an efficient delivery of high-quality network-scheduled video content for mobile subscribers. The MDS seamlessly handles multiple content streams from multiple sources, and plays them on client software in the most popular video and audio formats, because MDS is air-interface independent and can be deployed on any IP packet data network or 3G wireless networks as and when it is operational.

With the MDS, network operators control the kind of content and the time to send it. Content is delivered in the background and encrypted on the handset until users select what to watch based on the program schedule. The least time-sensitive content can be sent at very low load times, leaving only the most time-sensitive content for delivery when the network is being used mostly for voice and data services. This intelligent delivery method gives operators management control to cost-effectively provide a high-value wireless multimedia solution to subscribers, while effectively shaping the utilization of their network.

Panasonic SDHC 32GB Class 6

Panasonic announced that it will be releasing the world's first 32 Gigabyte (GB) SD High Capacity (SDHC) Memory Card with Class 6 speed specification in april this year. The new SDHC Memory Card, is perfect for needs of HD content.

It can record up to 12 hours of High Definition video. It is ideal for AVCHD High Definition video recording, a growing demand of High Definition SD Camcorders which have been in the market recently. With the Class 6 speed specification and maximum data transfer speeds up to 20MB/s, the 32GB card allows users to enjoy superb performance and high-quality recording.

Retail market price of this card will be $699 with usable memory capacity of about 30,979 MB.

Some stats about

High definition movie recording time(AVCHD)
 HA  1920 x 1080 (60i/24p) (17Mbps)      Approx. 4 hr
 HG  1920 x 1080i (13Mbps)               Approx. 5 hr 20 min.
 HX  1920 x 1080i  (9Mbps)               Approx. 8 hr
 HE  1440 x 1080i  (6Mbps)               Approx. 12 hr
   When recorded with HDC-SD9
-------------------------------------     ---------------------
Still images recordable
(10Megapixels, 3648x2736, Normal mode)    Approx. 12,320
-------------------------------------     ---------------------
Data Transfer Rate                        Up to 20MB/s

Firefox 3.0 Beta 3

Update for beta of Firefox 3.0 is now available for download. The updates known as Beta 3 are available for more than 30 languages. Download it here http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html.

Along with the bug fixes it has following new features and fixes:

• Improved security features such as: better presentation of website identity and security including support for Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificates, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager.
• Improved ease of use through: easier add-on discovery and installation, improved download manager search and progress indication in the status bar, resumable downloading, full page zoom, and better integration with Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.
• Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart bookmark folders, location bar that uses an algorithm based on site visit recency and frequency (called “frecency”) to provide better matches against your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
• Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, JavaScript 1.8, major changes to the HTML rendering engine to provide better CSS, float-, and table layout support, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
• Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 350 memory leak fixes, a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks, and reductions in the memory footprint.

Thinnest MacBook

Apple introduced worlds thinnest macbook Air. It's a full sized notebook encased in 0.16-0.76 inch thick sturdy anodized aluminum case. The 13.3 inch wide screen display gives resolution upto 1280 x 800.

Apple brings the famous multi touch technology of iPhone & iPod touch to the macbook with a oversize trackpad. You can pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image.

Equiped with all the ports you need, a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, and a micro-DVI port that supports DVI, VGA, composite, and S-video output.

Memory requirements are handled by 80GB harddisk and an option for 64 GB SSD. 2 GB RAM for the main memory is lot for all the applications you need. Networking starts with the fastest-available, next-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR built in.

What to expect from Windows Mobile 7, Insider stories.

What to expect from Windows Mobile 7 currently developed by Microsoft? From the insider notes available at blognewschannel.com, it appears that they working on various new revolutionary input methods. Multi-touch capabilities like iPhone or HTC Touch, shake or rotate and camera based gestures.

Windows Mobile 7 will have dramatically improved visuals, different from the iPhone and much more similar to the dark and futuristic visuals of Windows Vista. It will feature graphical transitions, subtle effects, and other things to make it more interesting to look at.

read more at the blognewschannel