new(e)gear

Panisonic is entering the 12 megapixel realm with it’s new DMC-FX100. Panisonic claims the Lumix DMC-FX100 is the world’s first 12.2Mp digital camera with a 28mm wide-angle lens. This of course comes after Casio’s announcement that they have come up with U.K.’s first 12Mp digital camera.

Panasonic’s DMC-FX100 is equipped with a 28mm wide-angle lens featuring f/2.8 brightness, a 3.6x optical zoom and a 12.2Mp CCD.

The 28mm wide-angle lens should allow photographers to easily capture a large group of people, or expansive architectural structures and landscapes with dynamic width and rich perspective. Panasonic squeezed the 28mm wide-angle lens and large CCD into a compact body.

The new lens unit comprises seven elements in six groups, including an EA (extra-high refractive index aspherical) lens and four lenses with five aspherical surfaces to generate high optical performance.

The zoom ratio can be extended up to 7x in 3Mp resolution mode with minimal deterioration thanks to the Extra Optical Zoom.

Panasonic has also squeezed an image stabiliser into the compact DMC-FX100. This minimises the jitter from shaky hands that causes photos to look blurred.

Like the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z1200, the Panasonic contains intelligent ISO control comes in. This system detects whether the subject is moving and, as necessary raises the ISO setting and shutter speed according to how fast the subject is moving and the light conditions. This happens automatically and should reduce blurring from object motion.

Panasonic claims a 0.009 second shutter release time lag (the time between pressing the button on the camera and the photo being taken) and shutter interval as short as 0.9 seconds. Panasonic says the DMC-FX100′s burst shooting mode boosts the capability of sequential shots to a rate of two frames per second at full resolution.

The DMC-FX100 can shoot hi-definition 1,920×1,080 pixel photos that are ideal for full-screen viewing on a wide-screen (16:9) TV.

The DMC-FX100 will be available from July. Pricing details were not available at the time of writing.

Motorola Inc. is revamping the Razr cell phone that has defined the company’s seesaw fortunes, jamming more technological and user-friendly substance into a handset best known for its looks.

The Razr 2 was unveiled Tuesday as the centerpiece to a new phone lineup Motorola hopes will reverse a financial tailspin that’s led to the company’s first quarterly loss since 2004 and wiped away a third of its stock market value in just half a year.

Executives stressed that, rather than attempting to replicate the smash success of Razr with an entirely new device, the best path to success was to add features and improve performance with more robust software and hardware.

“The Razr was a double grand slam. These are home runs,” Ed Zander, Motorola’s chief executive, said in an interview. “If you look at consumer electronics, you don’t get to create a product like the Razr every five years.”

Zander, who recently fended off a proxy fight by Carl Icahn, said that with a franchise as strong as Razr, all that was needed was to ensure it can satisfy the emerging demand for multimedia and messaging.

To that end, the Razr 2 features big jumps in processor speed and screen brightness, both of which are 10 times greater than the original Razr. The company also has added a 2-inch display to the outside of the Razr 2, calling it the biggest external screen on a flip phone, so that it can be used more easily as a music player.

The user interface, an attribute often criticized with the original Razr, has been redesigned for easier access to the assorted multimedia functions. The company also is adding a newly developed technology called Crystal Talk to improve phone call quality, which Zander said remains the most basic function of a cell phone.

The Razr 2 will be introduced in Asia during July, and elsewhere later in the summer. The company did not name the cell phone companies that would be featuring the device, which will come in versions compatible with the two leading wireless technologies.

Despite all the focus on the Razr 2′s innards, the device is in fact 0.08 inches thinner than the original Razrs.

Motorola also announced the availability of a new handset, the Moto Z8, and a new version of the Q smart phone with a full keyboard. Both the Z8 and the Q9 were first unveiled in February at a trade show in Barcelona.

The Z8, which company executives refer to as the “media monster,” will launch in June in Europe. The handset, a slider, has generated some buzz with a unique design feature: When the screen slides up to reveal the keypad for a call, the phone bends slightly to sit more comfortably against the face — like a clamshell handset.

The Q9 is going on sale immediately in Italy and will reach other markets around the world over the summer.

Thanks to the popularity of the original Razr, Motorola until recently had been on a two-year hot streak. Then it aggressively cut prices of Razrs and other high-end phones, especially in emerging markets, to boost market share. Profits dropped steeply.

Source: Y! News / Image: Tech2.com

Napster Inc. said it agreed to make its music subscription service available on Motorola Inc.’s mobile phones.

Napster and Motorola will develop promotional efforts for North America, the United Kingdom and Germany designed to let consumers listen to Napster’s music on many Motorola music-enabled handsets.

I stumbled upon a pretty funny post at CrunchGear pertaining to ugly gadgets. Thought it would be a good service to our readers so you know which devices to steer clear of.

This first one is the BusLink iBot Mp3 Video Player w/ Speaker.

Here’s what they call an Indicatear. I believe it is supposed to be a blinker for your ears so people know you are making a turn. If you move so erratic, you shouldn’t be walking in public.

One of the ugliest (quite possibly the ugliest) gadget is the Techno Privacy Scarf. CrunchGear had such a humorous remark about this one, so I won’t even touch it. Check out these and the rest of the ugliest gadgets at CrunchGear.

The Palm Treo 755p smartphone was released yesterday (but won’t be available to Sprint customers until mid-month) and claims to deliver everything you need in one go-anywhere, Palm OS device. It combines a smarter phone with wireless email2, a built-in web browser2, and rich media capabilities—all at blazing, broadband-like speeds.

You can be productive even away from your desk. Work on important files with built-in support for native Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint plus PDF documents. A full QWERTY keyboard and color touchscreen make composing email and surfing the web easy.

Download some of the thousands of Palm OS applications available. Or, relax and play your favorite music and videos right on your device. Apparently the 755p will only be available to Sprint customers as of now.

Product Features

Palm Treo 755p Brochure PDF

Available in either midnight blue or burgundy, the 755p also sports an integrated antenna and a MiniSD slot. MiniSD memory cards up to 4 GB can be used, and there is already 128 MB of built-in memory, of which 60 MB is available to the user.

The new Treo offers Sprint TV, with more than 50 channels of live and on-demand content for mobile, including CNN, ESPN, and other networks. The 755p has support for the high-speed EVDO to accommodate streaming content and large file downloads.

Using USB or Bluetooth, and with the appropriate service plan, the device can be used as a modem for a laptop. With its voice-memo application, users can record a quick audio memo or add voiceovers to photos. The 1.3-megapixel camera can captures still images and video, and there is a built-in application to organize photos.

The model will be available by the middle of this month, starting at $279 with discounts.

Looking to stream live television and other video content through your home? Well, with the LocationFree Wireless Base Station LF-B20 you can do just that. I was thinking just the other day that I would love to not worry about where my cable connection is in order to install a TV in a specific location. Looks like Sony was thinking ahead. Plus you can access this device remotely!

The LF-B20 can stream content with excellent picture quality through your home network or across the Internet to remote devices. You can even access this device when you are not at home. You simply log in and watch live TV, change channels and access and control any additional audio-visual devices hooked up to the system. LocationFree features integrated 802.11 a/b/g wireless LAN, NetAV streaming, and the ability to connect to PlayStation Portable, Windows and Mac OS X computers, TVs and Windows Mobile cellular phones. How cool is that?

Feature List:

Total Entertainment Mobility With LocationFree® Living by Sony, wherever you go, your home entertainment will follow. Now every show, every movie, all your created video, and even live moments can be where you are. Watch live TV, TV programming recorded on a digital video recorder (DVR), stored digital video, digital camcorder content, and more on a wide range of devices, including PlayStation® Portable System, notebook computers, TVs and cellular phones. LocationFree® Base Stations include LFA-PC20 LocationFree player for Microsoft® Windows® XP (single PC license, additional licenses sold separately).

Integrated Wireless LAN and Wireless Access Point Functionality Select models of the LocationFree® Base Station are equipped with integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN capability, so you’re ready to access your media wirelessly from the get go. The Base Station can also act as a wireless access point for other 802.11 a/b/g devices.

Enhanced Picture Quality The use of the AVC (advanced video coding) codec – also called the h.264 codec – means higher picture quality even at lower bit rates, which is how you’re able to take the experience of entertainment in your living room to hotels, coffee shops, airports . . . anywhere else you have broadband access.3

“At-Home” Experience Anywhere LocationFree® Living by Sony truly enables you to take the experience of at-home entertainment with you wherever you go. LocationFree® Living employs advanced networking and video technologies such as the AVC Codec (a dream for digital video enthusiasts), integrated wireless LAN, and NetAV7 streaming for smooth access to video content via the Internet.

NetAV Streaming Video via the internet NetAV enables you to connect your LocationFree® Base Station via a broadband Internet connection when you’re away from home (hotel, airport, office hot spots, etc.)3, so you can enjoy your favorite TV shows, movies, created video content, and more wherever you go.

Sleek, Stylish Design LocationFree® Living is more than your solution for total entertainment mobility. LocationFree® Living looks good, too. Hardware components feature stylish design and a “piano” finish. The Location Free® Base Station can be set vertically or horizontally, so it fits easily into your home theater outfit, and if you choose the LF-B20 Base Station, you can set your Base Station up wirelessly, adding the genius of LcationFree® Living to your home entertainment outfit without cluttering it up. And when you’re away from the sofa, as you so often are, the LocationFree® TVBOX is compact, sleek, and portable.

User-Friendly Set-Up and Use It’s easier than you can imagine to start your adventure in LocationFree® Living. The LF-B20 Base Station networks wirelessly with your system. And if you choose the LF-B10 Base Station, connecting it is simple and includes automatic set-up for accessing the Base Station when you’re away from home. The handy set-up wizard whisks you through the software set-up process, including automatic device registration and automatic set-up for pre-installed security software. The onscreen remote control function makes it easy to navigate your media and services, and the fact that it’s equipped with a learning function means that you can replace other remote control devices and control your home.

The Xbox 360 Elite is the premier Xbox 360 console package that includes a massive 120GB hard drive, a HDMI port, and high definition cable, all wrapped up with a premium black finish. And it is now available! Xbox 360 Elite also includes a black wireless controller and black Xbox LIVE headset. Xbox 360 Elite has enough space for a whole library of Xbox LIVE Arcade games as well as downloadable high-definition TV shows, movies, music, and all the other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

This is Microsoft’s high-end version of its video game console. The Xbox 360 Elite will retail for $479. Although the price tag is about $80 more than the Pro version of the Xbox 360, it is still slightly less expensive than the lower-end model of Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3). Both are substantially more than Nintendo’s popular Wii.

Using RIM’s (Research In Motion) BlackBerry Mobile Voice System technology, the BlackBerry will take a big step in being an extension of the office phone system. Many companies now are using the Blackberry as an extension of office email, so thanks to RIM and the BlackBerry Mobile Voice System execs will never be totally “away” from the office.

The MVS will allow BlackBerry users to be authenticated to an enterprise telephone system, and to gain access to those functions right from the BlackBerry’s menu. A user can also give out what RIM calls a “Reach Me Anywhere” phone number that rings both the owner’s office desk phone and the BlackBerry. Hence the never totally “away” from those pesky office calls. Even the callers corporate caller ID is displayed from the BlackBerry as well as the office phone, and the smartphone can access such deskphone functions as: transfer, extension dialing, and voicemail.

If you’re an electronics buff as I am, I’m sure you will enjoy popping in from time to time to view info on the latest gadgets, computers, MP3 players and everything in between. Please be patient as I am in the middle of setting up this and a few other blogs I am involved with. I promise — It won’t be long.