Gadgets and Gizmos World

Next iPhone Launching September 5 in US, October 5 Globally?

2011-07-23T07:29:00.000+05:30

Do you like your iPhone rumors with a little bit of an international twist? The latest one we've heard about the upcoming launch of Apple's next-gen iPhone hardware may be coming through a little bit mangled thanks to Google Translate, but the gist is clear: it claims the US will be getting the next iPhone on September 5, with its international release a month later on October 5.

The rumor comes out of Italy, where supposedly an anonymous executive at mobile carrier Swisscom leaked the info to iPhoneItalia. The site seems very confident in the source's reliability, and if he is who they say he is, it does stand to reason that he might be aware of launch plans two months in advance of when his company would get its hands on the phone.

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to offer any new information in the iPhone 4S/5 controversy, just that whatever Apple's next iPhone is, it would hit the US on September 5 and Europe on October 5.

BlackBerry App World Website Goes To Version 3.0

2011-07-07T08:18:00.001+05:30

Research In Motion has a little treat for BlackBerry users, unveiling the newly-redesigned App World 3.0 website today.

Functionally, much of App World remains the same, with the most noticeable changes affecting the user interface. There's some back-end stuff that's been improved, some of it focused on better support for developers crafting content for the PlayBook with its larger screen, but that should be mostly transparent to BlackBerry users. Pages for individual apps are now much more readable, with a new, light background, which feels a bit easier on the eyes.

Apple users should take notice that the new App World finally has full compatibility with Macs, including support for side-loading apps.

The new site is up and live as of now, so head on over, check it out, and see what you think of RIM's changes.

Motorola Droid 3 Pricing Revealed

2011-07-07T08:16:00.001+05:30

As near as we can tell, Verizon is set to start selling the Motorola Droid 3 tomorrow, though you wouldn't know it from asking the carrier; despite all the leaked screenshot of internal computers referencing the Droid 3, the leaked training documents, and dummy units showing up in Verizon stores, there still hasn't been any official announcement for the smartphone. We're hoping that's all going to change tomorrow, as July 7 is rumored to be the day that Verizon will finally begin sales, offering the Droid 3 through direct fulfillment before it arrives in stores the following week. Just in time, we've heard the first rumor of what you might end up having to shell out for the Android.

The rumored Droid 3 prices are pretty run-of-the-mill: you should be able to get the handset for about $200 on your standard two-year service contract, and those of you who don't like to feel tied-down can snag the Droid 3 free-and-clear for about $460.

Now that we pretty much everything there is to regrading the Droid 3, does it sound like something you'll be picking up? The five-row keyboard should give it a bit of an advantage over some other QWERTY sliders, but were you hoping to get a smartphone that supports LTE?

Could Smartphones Get Facebook Video Chat?

2011-07-02T10:06:00.002+05:30

There's a rumor going around right now that Facebook intends to use the press event it's hosting next week in order to launch a new video-based chat service that will work from right within your web browser on your PC, leveraging technology from Skype to handle the communications. So far, we've only heard about the possibility for such a thing to come to full-fledged computers, but can we expect the same system on a smartphone?

We just looked at the official AT&T announcement of the HTC Status, AKA the ChaCha, the manufacturer's first smartphone with in-depth Facebook integration and a Facebook-launching hardware button. The Status includes a front-facing camera, and for a phone that's all about social connection with your friends, and has Facebook as such an important part of its software, wouldn't it make sense to give you an easy way to chat with your friends face-to-face, instead of relying on so many wall posts?

Just after that, we saw the new version of Skype hit the Android Market, with video chat support for a few smartphones, and unofficial modifications bringing support to many more. Considering all of this through the lens of these rumors, it seems like the necessary pieces are more or less in place for implementing Facebook video chat on smartphones, just waiting for someone - be it Facebook, Skype, or a manufacturer like HTC - to put them together.

Nokia Not Just Making WP7 Hardware; Sharing Software, Too

2011-07-02T10:05:00.001+05:30

When Nokia finally breaks onto the Windows Phone 7 scene later this year, the smartphones it releases will be understandably equipped with some custom Nokia WP7 apps; that's hardly cause for surprise. What's interesting, though, is that the company says it won't be keeping such apps on a short leash, instead making sure they're available to users on WP7 smartphones from other manufacturers.

That means that any sort of app that Nokia comes up with should be just as accessible to users of HTC, Samsung, or LG models. The company couldn't be much clearer as to its intent, with its Senior Vice president of Developer and Marketplace promising "every Nokia App will be available on every phone."

To be fair, Nokia users may get their hands on some of the company's more desirable apps in advance of those using other hardware, but everyone will get a chance eventually. Just what sort of apps could we expect? Nokia's big on mapping, with Ovi Map a notable hit, so a Bing Maps competitor may arise. The company also has its eye on financial transactions, so mobile payment systems could be in the works.

Does this make you less likely to pick up a Nokia Windows Phone, if you can just get its software elsewhere, or does it endear you to Nokia's efforts to reinvigorate the platform?

Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray Expected Release Date Outed By Retailer

2011-07-02T10:00:00.004+05:30

Yesterday, we got the first bit of news that helped us narrow down the potential launch window for Sony Ericsson's Xperia Ray from anytime in Q3 to sometime during the month of August. It was a start, but still a pretty broad target. That information came to us thanks to a smartphone retailer's site; now another retailer has a Ray page up, this time offering a specific release date as well as pricing information.

Play.com announces that it's expecting the Ray to arrive in time for sale on August 15. We knew we were dealing with a Q3 release, but this really looks like it's going to be smack-dab in the middle of the quarter. Working out sterling-to-dollars, we can see the Android will be going for just about $560; that's not a bad price for a new smartphone, but at that kind of money, you might want to think about looking for a dual-core handset. A single-core Snapdragon will power the Xperia Ray at 1GHz, which will run Gingerbread on its 512MB of RAM.

There's no word yet on a release date or pricing for the ruggedized Xperia Active, announced alongside the Xperia Ray.

Nokia's N97 Smartphone, a Laptop in Your Pocket

2011-07-02T09:58:00.000+05:30

Set to launch in mid-2009, this touchscreen phone with a miniature keyboard lets its Finnish maker take on Apple's iPhone

The buzz on the Internet was that Nokia would announce it is building a laptop computer. That was off the mark, but it's easy to see how the rumor got started. The N97 smartphone that the Finnish company unveiled in Barcelona on Dec. 2 looks very much like a laptop, albeit one that fits in your pocket.

Nokia's (NOK) new top-of-the-line model, to sell for $695 before operator subsidies when it launches worldwide in mid-2009, has a 3.5-inch touchscreen but also a miniature keyboard that folds out from underneath. In the open position, the N97 resembles a miniature laptop. Users can type on the screen but also choose the compact keyboard.

The N97 represents another flanking attack by Nokia on the market for touchscreen devices pioneered by Apple's (AAPL) iPhone. In October, Nokia unveiled the 5800 touch handset, aimed at music lovers (BusinessWeek.com, 10/2/08). The 5800 comes with a year's worth of music downloads in many markets and costs less than an iPhone—an attempt to peel away customers who might buy an iPhone for its iTunes capability. The N97, with a silvery finish, targets another category of user: the crowd that spends every waking hour on the Internet. Features include an icon, or widget, that allows users to stay continually connected to Facebook, for example.
Thanks for the Memory

Nokia's smartphone line needs some sexy new products. The company was the leader in creating a market for handsets that have computer-like processing power. With a huge 32GB of built-in storage, which can be expanded to 48GB, the N97 represents another escalation in this trend.

But the iPhone as well as new products from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM) have challenged Nokia's dominance. Nokia's share of the smartphone market slipped to 47.5% in the second quarter of 2008, down from 50.8% a year earlier, according to market-watcher Gartner (IT). And share probably fell further in the third quarter. While Nokia executives hate comparisons with the iPhone, the Apple product is clearly taking its toll. "Nokia has suffered tremendously from not having a touchscreen device, there's no way around that," says Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

To some extent, it's inevitable that Nokia's hegemony will slip as smartphones become mass-market devices, and more companies launch handsets with features such as satellite navigation or Internet access. "Nokia has been dominant—the only player in reality," Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in an interview. Now, he concedes, "it's clear our share of the smartphone market has come closer to our share of the total market."

But that doesn't mean Kallasvuo is ready to accept a less dominant role. Nokia will aggressively promote the N97 in the U.S., he said, acknowledging that the American market tends to set worldwide technology trends.
Courting Controversy

Is the N97 the kind of product needed to reverse market share slippage? "It's a good step forward," says analyst Milanesi. But, she adds, "from the touch perspective it's still not quite there."

The hybrid design is likely to be controversial. Critics will say the N97 looks like a shotgun marriage between an iPhone and Nokia's Communicator, the brick-like, computer/phone that the company has continually updated since its launch in the late 1990s. In fact, the N97 is about as compact as the iPhone, though a bit thicker.

Nokia managers say their research clearly showed that the target market for the N97 doesn't want to type on a touchscreen, especially as mobile e-mail becomes commonplace. "They want a keyboard because they are texting so much," says Jonas Geust, the Nokia executive vice-president in charge of high-end devices.
It Vibrates When Touched

To enhance the N97's appeal, Nokia will package it with services such as music downloads and turn-by-turn navigation. Its camera produces DVD-quality video, Nokia says, and the battery is the company's most powerful yet, allowing a day and a half of continuous music listening. Unlike the iPhone, the N97 screen will vibrate slightly when touched, offering confirmation that input has been received. The N97 won't have the iPhone's ability to take commands from more than one finger at a time, the feature that allows users to swipe and zoom images and is a big reason for the Apple handset's appeal.

It is unusual for Nokia to announce a product so far in advance of launch. Geust says the company wanted to give developers enough time to write the programs that will be crucial to the N97's appeal.

Microsoft Not Going After Developers Who Talk About Mango

2011-07-02T09:57:00.002+05:30

Shhh! Keep Mango on the down-low; that was the message Microsoft seemed to be sending when it first started distributing its beta Mango update to Windows Phone 7 developers earlier this week. Use of the software required the stipulation of a non-disclosure agreement between Microsoft and interested developers, one with some pretty serious terms. Whatever tense feelings that may have caused can now pass, with Microsoft explaining that the restrictions aren't as bad as everyone thought.

The Mango NDA required that developers agree not to publicly comment on their experiences with Mango, nor publish any screenshots. Despite the relatively in-depth looks we've managed to have at Mango thus far, we'd really like to continue bringing you news about all its new features, and those strict NDA terms threatened to limit the amount of Mango news that would be available.

When Microsoft was asked for comment it explained that the NDA was pretty standard stuff, and that it would OK developers to comment on their experiences with the OS on a case-by-case basis. That's the official word from on-high, at least, but Cliff Simpkins, Product Manager for Windows Phone, says the NDA is even less of an issue, and that developers can talk and post screenshots without repercussion; the NDA's intent is apparently only to prevent releases of Mango content, like apps and code. It'd be nice if that's what the NDA actually said, but it's reassuring to hear, nonetheless.

LG Optimus Black Hitting Sprint, Virgin, and Alltel too?

2011-07-02T09:51:00.002+05:30

The success of LG's Optimus One seems to have opened the door for the manufacturer to bring higher-end devices to the states, and now it looks as if the Optimus Black will land on Sprint, Virgin, and Alltel alongside US Cellular, which we learned last month. Thanks to an entry in the Tera-WURFL handset database, we discovered that model US855 was an Optimus Black variant, with the US tipping a US Celluar destination.

And now that US855 has passed through the FCC, we find that it will also be available as the LS855, AS855, and VM855 -- with LS, AS, and VM being LG's codes for Sprint, Alltel, and Virgin, respectively.

With a dual-core processor and class-leading NOVA display, Optimus Black certainly looks good on paper; mixed reviews of recent top-of-the-line LG hardware, however, make us curious as to real-world performance -- stay tuned for our own assessment.

AT&T Finally OKs BlackBerry Bridge PlayBook-Link App

2011-07-01T20:58:00.000+05:30

Research in Motion released the BlackBerry PlayBook all the way back in April, throwing its name into the tablet competition. Unlike many other tablets, the PlayBook lacks a cellular radio, intended instead to piggyback off a BlackBerry smartphone's connection. In order to do so, users need to run RIM's BlackBerry Bridge app on their phones. At the time of the tablet's release, AT&T declined to offer its subscribers access to the app through the BlackBerry App World, saying that it "just received the app for testing and before it's made available to AT&T customers we want to ensure it delivers a quality experience for our customers." That must have been some quite thorough testing, because only now, over two months later, is AT&T finally granting access to Bridge.

Without AT&T's blessing, BlackBerry users on the carrier had been thus far forced to do a non-App-World manual install in order to get Bridge on their smartphones. This sort of connection-sharing counts as tethering in AT&T's book, so for maximum functionality out of Bridge, you'll need to get signed up for a plan. Without one, you'll still be able to connect to your smartphone via the app and access some information, but you'll be missing out on full internet on the PlayBook.

RIM, maybe next time you release hardware that's so specifically tied to a smartphone app, you get that app out for carrier approval well in advance of the hardware's release date, OK? AT&T customers should be able to access BlackBerry Bridge as of this afternoon.

iPhone 5 Part Makers Allegedly Preparing Materials for Production

2011-07-01T20:55:00.002+05:30

It's a tad difficult to see clearly in the sea of iPhone 5 rumors and maybe this alone has a huge contribution to Apple's iPhone success. Here comes another one according to which part makers are allegedly preparing materials for starting the iPhone 5 (mock-up image above) production.

Digitimes reports that Taiwanese companies from the iPhone 5 supply chain are prepping their gears and materials for the production. This, contrary to what's been rumored so far, will take place sometime in September with the actual smartphone hitting the markets later in October.

Manufacturers like Foxconn Electronics (assembly), Simplo Technologies and Dynapack International Technology (batteries), TPK Holding and Wintek (touch panels) and Catcher (chassis) are said to benefit from the orders. While there will purportedly only be a single new iPhone model, volumes are estimated at around 6-7 million units for Q3.

August seems to be way off as time (and rumors) go by so it's just fair to expect an iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 around September or October. Regardless, the anticipation is rather high!

iPhone 5 Rumours & Release Date

2011-06-11T23:08:00.010+05:30

Everyone is going crazy to know a word about the iPhone 5 release date. From months, this non-existent device has already gained a lot of popularity through a large number of news, updates, and rumors about its release date. Although there’s still no official confirmation from the side of Apple, many are expecting to see iPhone 5 later this year.

According to a latest rumor, the release date of iPhone 5 has now been moved from September 2011 to November 2011. Earlier, the device was expected to release in July, which doesn’t seem like a reality since July is just around the corner. Later, it was said that iPhone 5 will be sent for production in July and be released in September 2011. Now, a UK based retailer declares that the final release date has been changed to November 2011.

iPhone 5 has become really popular for its expected features like 64GB storage capacity, up to 14 hrs talk-time, A5 dual core processor, built-in GPS, stronger signals, face recognition capability, scratch resistant screen and a lot of other surprising stuff. Although, how many of these features are actually going to be there, is still not confirmed.

Talking about rumors, there’s no end to the discussion regarding iPhone 5, its features, specs, and of course release date. But the sad part is that there’s not even a slightest hint about this most-hyped device from its makers. Apple should clear all these vague updates and rumors by making some official statement, so that the concerned customers can expect the right thing at the right time.

In September or November, no matter when iPhone 5 hits the market, we really hope it exceeds all the expectations of people around the world. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be anything but just a waste of time reviewing the device for so long.

Philips 9000 Series (46PFL9705H) review

2010-11-12T10:48:00.000+05:30

Philips finally embraces 3D with its flagship 9000 series

While most big AV brands have been selling 3D TVs for months now, joining the 9000 series, the 46PFL9705H marks Philips’ 3D debut. The company’s excuse is potentially a good one, though: namely that they haven’t wanted to release 3D TVs until they were totally happy with the results.

The only problem with this excuse, of course, is that it puts a major burden of expectation on the 46PFL9705H. Can it really outgun 3D stars like T3's TV of the Year, the Panasonic P50VT20?

It gets off to a mighty fine start, at least. Its design is a true original, combining a sleek metallic finish with a slender rear end and, most distinctive of all, Philips’ Ambilight technology. This casts coloured lights from the TV’s edges sympathetic to the colour content of the image being shown.

The 46PFL9705H is prodigiously well connected too, with highlights of four HDMIs, a USB and an Ethernet port. The latter two jacks can handle all manner of multimedia file formats from USB sticks or networked DLNA PCs, and the Ethernet can take you online with Philips’ NetTV platform. Or you can used the set’s integrated Wi-fi system.

Philips 9000 Series 3D TV: online features and screen spec

NetTV’s biggest attraction is that it lets you surf the Internet at will via a built-in browser, rather than forcing you to stick with a selection of ‘ring-fenced’ content like most online TVs do. The browser is pretty basic, but the online freedom it affords is still a great addition to the feature list.

The 46PFL9705H’s pictures are driven by direct LED backlighting, complete with local dimming - the premium LCD configuration. The set also benefits from the latest, LED-optimised version of Philips’ exceptionally smart, powerful Perfect Pixel HD video engine.

Philips’ debut 3D TV ships with a ‘3D kit’ included. This comprises two pairs of ugly but comfortable 3D glasses, and an external transmitter. It’s a pity Philips hasn’t built the transmitter into the TV, but the transmitter is small enough to hide away reasonably easily. The only disappointment with the 46PFL9705H’s specification is its surprising lack of a Freeview HD tuner.

Philips 9000 Series 3D TV review: 3D picture quality

The first question that has to be asked about the 46PFL9705’s 3D quality is how much it suffers with crosstalk - AKA double ghosting noise. This has been the defining issue where 3D picture quality is concerned, since when it crops up badly, it makes 3D unconvincing and tiring to watch. And so far it’s been pretty clear that plasma TVs have suffered much less with crosstalk than LCD ones.

So it’s a big relief that the 46PFL9705H suffers less with crosstalk than any other 3D LCD TV. It crops us less often, and less aggressively. What’s more 3D pictures are brighter, sharper and more vibrant than those of most rivals - especially Panasonic’s otherwise excellent 3D plasmas.

However, even the might of Philips’ picture processing tools can’t suppress crosstalk as successfully as Panasonic’s plasma TVs. So you’re left with a choice between minimal crosstalk on the Panasonic 3D plasmas and a more vibrant, dynamic 3D picture on the Philips.

Philips 9000 Series 3D TV review: 2D pictures, and audio

The sets 2D performance, meanwhile, is uniformly outstanding, combining superlative colours; remarkable detailing/sharpness; peerless LCD motion handling and standard definition upscaling; and possibly the deepest, most natural black colours yet seen on an LCD TV.

Not that the 46PFL9705H only cares about pictures, either. A system of front-mounted dome tweeters and rear-mounted woofers also produces a soundstage of far more dynamism and power than anything heard from the vast majority of flat TVs.

Overall, while the 46PFL9705H might not remove crosstalk from 3D playback as comprehensively as we’d hoped, it remains the most accomplished LCD-based 3D performer yet. A fact which joins forces with a huge feature count, gorgeous design, exceptional audio and mesmerising 2D pictures in making it quite simply one of the finest TVs money can buy.

Philips 46PFL9705H price: around £2100 online

Philips 46PFL9705H Specifications:

Screen: 46-inches
Resolution: 1920x1080p
Type: Direct LED
TV Tuner: Analogue and Freeview digital
Connections: 4x v1.4 HDMIs, USB, Ethernet, Wi-fi, RF jack, Component, 2X ScartS, SD slot, headphone jack
Audio: 30 Watt RMS 0
Dimensions: 1088x671x69mm

Sony Ericsson Cedar review

2010-11-10T16:48:00.000+05:30

A budget, reasonably featured handset with green credentials

When it comes to helping save Mother Earth, Sony Ericsson puts rival mobile manufacturers to shame. Its ever-growing crop of enviro-friendly GreenHeart handsets have been the only real option for the serious eco-conscious gadgeteer and its latest effort, the Cedar, is an ultra-affordable alternative to the mid range Sony Ericsson Elm candybar, runner-up in T3’s 2010 Green Gadget of the Year awards category.

Like the Elm, the Cedar is a very compact handset and at 84 grams incredibly lightweight. But it’s also great to handle with a gentle bowed back and a tactile matt paint finish. Granted, build quality is overly plasticky but that’s to be expected for an entry-level handset.

The Cedar’s eco-creds follow previous Sony Ericsson GreenHeart handsets, giving it a unique edge over similar-priced mobiles. This means the chassis is forged from recycled plastics, the casing is coated with waterborne paints and the packaging greatly reduced in size. It also comes with a low power consumption charger and an e-manual on the handset to save on paper.

Sony Ericsson Cedar: Social networking

Of course, the Cedar is no smartphone but its widget manager lets you quickly access tailored Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Notes and World Clock apps from the standby screen. The apps offer a decent level of functionality - in case of Facebook letting you post ‘what’s on your mind?’ and view the 15 most recent messages without leaving the homescreen – while a click through will take you to a more comprehensive version of the app.

These social networking apps aren’t really geared for heavy users but perfect for just skimming activity at a glance. But if you do find yourself regularly posting missives then the angled keypad is thumb-friendly with the buttons delivering a soft but responsive action.

Unfortunately, the fiddly onboard NetFront browser doesn’t lend itself to an intuitive web surfing experience, so we recommend downloading the free Opera Mini 4 straightaway. This streamlined browser is built for surfing on a small 2.2-inch low-res display like the Cedar’s, compressing full web pages for quick loading and proving incredibly efficient and nippy over both an HSDPA and 3G connection. Sadly there’s no WiFi like the Elm

Sony Ericsson Cedar: Multimedia

The fixed focus two-megapixel shutterbug is a point and shoot affair, so don’t expect to be printing your camera phone snaps. But photos are perfectly acceptable for Facebook and Twitter and you can instantly upload your pictures straight from the camera menu to your social networking sites. Video shoots in VGA-quality at 30fps and is similarly feeble, blighted with judder and blur.

One criticism of the Elm was its lack of integrated 3.5mm headphone jack so we’re pleased, but a little surprised, to see one fitted on the lower cost Cedar. It’s certainly a boon and a decent pair of earbuds will boost the music player’s audio performance but with no earphones supplied you will need to fork out for your own. The music player is hugely listenable for the commute but not suited to prolonged sessions.

Similarly with no bundled USB cable, transferring your digital tunes from your PC involves a microSD card via a SD card reader. Again, and unsurprising considering the phone’s £60 prepay price tag, you will need to invest in a memory card up to 16GB but then it’s just a case of dragging and dropping your music files.

Battery life is impressive, cursory glances at your social networking feeds, liberal web browsing and average call and text usage means you’ll be topping up the juice every two days.

The Cedar is another tidy addition to the GreenHeart range and will suit those not just looking for a traditional user-friendly 3G handset at an affordable price - it can be picked-up for £80 SIM-free, around £60 pay-as-you-go and free on a £8.50 a month Virgin Mobile – but trying to reduce their carbon footprint.

Sony Ericsson Cedar Specifications:

OS: Sony Ericsson
Processor: Not quoted
Storage: 280Mb int, Micro SD
Screen: 2.2-inch 320x240 capacitive
Connectivity: Bluetooth with A2DP, 3G, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, 3.5mm jack, aGPS
Camera: 2MP
Video: 640x480, 30fps
Talk time: 4 hours 56 minutes

Dimensions: 111 x 49 x 16 mm

Weight: 84g

LG Optimus One review

2010-11-09T09:58:00.000+05:30

Android on a budget, but the Optimus One is far from nasty

The smartphone market is growing at such an incredible rate - but only at the more expensive end. Those looking to take the plunge into the world of apps and touchscreens on a budget have had very little to play with - but now that’s starting to change.

Android has been chucked into low-price phones before, but these have come with a bucketful of irritating features too. But recently we’ve seen the Orange San Francisco emerge as a really decent budget Android effort, and LG is looking to go one better with the Android 2.2-toting Optimus One. It's the latest handset in its Optimus range, following the excellent LG Optimus 7.

For a shade under £130 you’re getting all the Google goodies that you’ll see on the Google Nexus One, so there has to be a trade off somewhere, and that’s in the build quality. The 3.2-inch screen is just about big enough in our eyes, and while the display is pretty clear and responsive the chassis feels very large, cumbersome and plasticky.

It’s not terrible though, and once you dive into the phone you’ll quickly forget about that. The interface is mostly the standard Android offering, although LG has worked a little magic: customisable icons at the bottom and a few more widgets will impress the first time smartphone user.

LG Optimus One review: Screen and camera

The screen is only HVGA, which means when zoomed out things like pictures and the web look a little pixelated and messy - but pinch to zoom works relatively quickly and helps improve quality.

The keyboard is similarly a little low-rent, especially in portrait mode; we’re not using the default multi-tap 9 key default offering, and while we’re glad to see a mini-QWERTY in the options, the accuracy is poor and forces you into landscape use most of the time.

Another area LG has skimped on is the camera - although most people won’t be buying the Optimus One for its snapping power. The 3MP sensor with no flash is reasonably quick to take pics, and auto focus does help improve these. The video camera is poor though - the VGA resolution is fine, it just looks like you’ve smeared beans all over the lens.

LG Optimus One review: Verdict

But it’s not fair to focus on the niggly points with the Optimus One - from the moment you pick it up having only forked out £130 for it, you’ll be impressed with how similar it is to the top end Android phones on the market today.

And with a 1500mAh battery kicking things along, HTC should hang its head in shame, as this is a much bigger power pack than that plopped in the Desire HD, and this is under a third of the price. It laughs in the face of the resistive screens of the T-Mobile Pulse Mini and ZTE Racer, and even rivals the more-expensive HTC Wildfire for functionality.

In short - don’t look at the specs when buying the LG Optimus One, as that’s not what it’s about. Instead realise that the few tradeoffs you have to make are necessary to get a cutting edge Android phone for less money than it takes to replace a cracked iPhone screen. LG looks to have got the perfect blend of price and functionality - Android is ready for the masses

LG Optimus One Specifications:

Panasonic Lumix G10 review

2010-11-09T09:57:00.000+05:30

The G10 makes up in value and usability for what few of its sibling's features it omits

Last week we brought you news of the new Panasonic Lumix GF2. If you're on a tighter budget, sharing the same Micro Four Thirds lens mount is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10, a 12.1 megapixel option for those wanting a smaller form factor for portability and user friendliness yet the look, layout and responsiveness of a more ‘serious’ camera.

Like other hybrid models it’s mirrorless, allowing for both the smaller body size and more physically diminutive lenses, as there’s now less space between sensor and lens.

Panasonic Lumix G10: Lens

Despite the double-digit model number, the 12.1 megapixel Lumix DMC-G10, sharing a Live MOS chip with the Olympus E=PL1, comes across as a pared down version of Panasonic’s costlier Lumix DMC-G2.

Despite overall dimensions being an exact match, the G10’s is just a tad lighter than the Panasonic Lumix G2 at 558g

It comes with the same 14-42mm, 28-84mm equivalent lens kit form. The lens is optically stabilised as the G10 doesn’t feature in-body anti shake. This is an omission it shares with Canon's EOS 500D and the Nikon D3100, another pair of possible competitors.

Available in black body colour, it omits the G2s touchscreen and the quick access movie record button. The LCD monitor, like on most DSLRs, is also fixed so lacks the tilting flexibility of the G2’s or the Sony Alpha A33 translucent mirror ‘SLT’ rival.

The electronic viewfinder has a lower resolution at 202k dots, but is perfectly usable, and to be honest we didn’t notice a marked difference between the G10 and G2 in terms of operation.

Anyone who has handled a DSLR before will find the control layout similar, whilst it also includes useful features from Lumix compacts lower down Panasonic’s range. For example, timesaving user friendliness is maintained via a ‘Q.Menu’ (Quick Menu) button which provides a short cut to the adjustment of key features to save otherwise wading through menu screens to select the setting you want.

Panasonic Lumix G10: Features

As we’d expect of a DSLR/compact hybrid, you get 1280x720 HD video saved in Motion JPEG format rather than AVCHD favoured elsewhere. The monitor again comes in handy when shooting moving images as well as stills, where its higher than usual 460k-dot resolution, which provides near life-like visibility, gets a chance to truly shine.

For anyone thinking about switching off the built in flash for a more natural look and taking photographs in low light you get improved maximum sensitivity setting over the original G1, here a top ISO6400, as on the G2.

Panasonic Lumix G10: Conclusion

To be picky the kit lens can suffer from some barrel distortion at maximum wide angle, but edge-to-edge sharpness is well maintained. What we really enjoyed were the G10’s colours – especially vivid if selecting ‘Expressive’ colour mode. Overall pictures have a softer more filmic look rather than the overly crisp feel we’re used to getting from digital images, which we feel here makes for a plus.

For those after a bargain, the G10 is the current cheapest Micro Four Thirds body plus kit lens on the market. Anyone upgrading from a Panasonic compact could not go wrong.

Panasonic Lumix G10 Specifications

Sensor: 12.1 megapixel (effective) LIVE MOS sensor
Lens: 14-42mm kit lens via MicroFour Thirds mount
Screen: 3-inch, 460,600 dots
Viewfinder: Electronic, 202,000 pixels
Stabilisation: SteadyShot Inside (sensor shift)
Video: 1280x720 30fps
Storage: SD, SDHC, SDHXd
Battery: Up to 380 images
Connections: USB, HDMI mini
Dimensions/Weight: 558g, 124x84x74mm

HTC 7 Trophy review

2010-11-08T15:44:00.000+05:30

Solid, but little to set it apart from the WP7 pack

The HTC 7 Trophy is an odd sort of phone to review – compared to its Windows Phone 7 brothers and sisters it has practically no defining features, other than the same slick OS that responds stunningly under the finger, screen scrolling around to the merest flick.

What it does bring is a softer hit on the wallet – you can pick one of these WP7 wonders up for just £25 a month. But does that budget tag leave it wanting in areas that the likes of the HTC HD7 and the Samsung Omnia 7 have hit with such aplomb?

The same Windows Phone 7 interface might be present on the HTC 7 Trophy, but the 3.8-inch screen, which is more tall and thin than the likes of the iPhone 4, is in the sweet spot in our opinion in terms of portability and viewing.

The chassis is a little plasticky, and for that the Trophy suffers, as it feels like it's living up to its budget moniker.

But the shape of the phone, coupled with that 3.8-inch screen, means it feels really nice to hold in the hand, and the rubbery finish means it's not too likely to slip out either.

There's been a pseudo-push to make the Trophy into a gaming device, as HTC has commented on it having that place in the portfolio on a number of occasions.

To our eyes, there's absolutely nothing that marks it out as a gaming phone when it packs identical internals to its HTC Windows Phone 7 brethren. That's not to say that gaming isn't good - it's top notch in fact, and the combination of dedicated GPU, colourful and pin sharp screen and slick processing power make it a dream to drop into a casual game on.
However, we prefer the large size of the HD7 for gaming on the Xbox Live platform, as it simply offers more space to spin your fingers around the touchscreen.

HTC 7 Trophy: Media

Where the HTC 7 Trophy does do well is pocketablilty, where it sits comfortably and is therefore unobtrusively great for listening to music on.

It's a shame that there are no media controls on the exterior of the phone, meaning it’s hard to control the device when it's in the pocket. However, a tap on the volume key brings up some music selection options for the lock screen, so that's a definite bonus.

Video seems less impressive on the Trophy for two reasons: firstly, the only way to get movies on the phone is through the Zune software from your PC, and that will require you to convert most of them for some reason, which takes an age. The second is that the screen lacks the vibrancy and contrast ratios of the Samsung Omnia 7 - it's not a terrible experience, but if you're after a Windows Phone 7 handset for watching movies, we recommend checking out Sammy's option or the bigger HTC HD7.

HTC 7 Trophy: Verdict

It's tricky to recommend the HTC 7 Trophy over other handsets because there's so little that marks it out. Sure, it has the HTC Hub to download apps like the Flashlight and Notes, and excellent Sound Enhancer (although this is only available through an external app, so you have to drop in and out of the music and video player to change the quality).
But if you're willing to pay a little more for a Windows Phone 7 handset, then the 8GB of internal storage, slightly poorer build of chassis and lack of any real USP over the others in the range mean it might be better if you look at other options for a new Microsoft phone.

HTC 7 Trophy Specifications:

OS: Windows Phone 7
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor
Storage: 8GB int
Screen: 3.7-inch 480x800 LCD
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, 3.5mm jack, HSDPA, N WiFi
Camera: 5MP led flash, autofocus
Video: 720p, 30fps
Talk time: 3 hours 30 mins

Dimensions: 119x62x12mm

Weight: 140g

Panasonic Lumix GF2 review: hands-on

2010-11-05T07:33:00.001+05:30

Subtle body tweaks and some notable new features

Today Panasonic announced the successor the Lumix GF1; Camera of the Year at the 2010 T3 Gadget Awards. T3 was lucky enough to have some hands-on time with it earlier this week.

Available in black, silver and a really eye-catching red, the GF2 is billed as ‘the world’s smallest and lightest body’ dimensions are 19% smaller that the GF1, so it feels noticeably slimmer.

It’s also 7% lighter, but due to the aluminium chassis still feels substantial and well built, but with a newer more comfortable curved grip.

The main difference to the top plate is the removal of the mode dial. Instead you can access all exposure and scene modes by tapping the touchscreen to reveal a virtual exposure control screen.

We’re not convinced this is preferable; however quick a touchscreen may be, it’s not the same as having a dial at your fingertips, although Panasonic has included a dedicated iA button, which novices can press to instantly switch to full Auto mode.

The pop-up flash remains, now extending further from the camera body, to reduce the vignetting (darkness in corners) effect. The slimmer body has meant a more compact BLD-10 battery. Panasonic couldn’t state exact battery times, although confirmed will be slightly less than the GF1’s 380 images.

Panasonic Lumix GF2: New features

Despite having the same 12-megapixel resolution as its predecessor, at the heart of the GF2 lies a new sensor. First seen on the Panasonic Lumix GH2, this Live MOS sensor is eight times the size of a sensor you’d traditionally find in compact camera, delivering images with detail more akin to a pro-level camera.

There’s also a new Venus Engine FHD image processor with enhanced noise reduction means you can shoot at higher ISO levels without image noise spoiling the shot.

Video resolution has also been boosted from 1280 x 720p AVCHD Lite to 1920x1080i at 25fp, outputted via the mini HDMI port. Panasonic was the first camera manufacturer to introduce continuous autofocus with video and here a simple touch of the screen refocuses the shot.

Panasonic Lumix GF2: Touchscreen

Retaining the same 3-inch 460,000 resolution screen as the GF1, as we’ve mentioned, the GF2 now supports touch controls. Large icons make the interface intuitive and as well as touching to focus, you can also press the screen to release the shutter (like with the G2). The Touch Q-Menu is fully customisable, so you can simply drag features you use frequently.

Elsewhere Peripheral Defocus lets you adjust the depth of field by dragging a yellow bar across the screen, which is incredibly useful for novices, perhaps otherwise intimidated by aperture priority mode.

Panasonic Lumix GF2: Availability and conclusion

First impressions of the GF2 are pleasing, the slimmer size is certainly preferable, yet it still feels incredibly solid and reassuring. Despite packing lots of manual control into the GF2, Panasonic’s clearly spent time ensuring it retains its user-friendly controls. We’re not entirely convinced about the removal of the mode dial, but we’ll reserve judgement until we try the camera out properly.

The Panasonic Lumix GF2 will be available in January in three configurations: with a new 14mm pancake lens; with a 14-42mm lens and with both lenses. It’s also compatible with 11 Panasonic MicroFourThirds lenses, including the 3D lens.

HTC Desire Z review

2010-11-04T06:33:00.000+05:30

Excellent full QWERTY, makes this another HTC hit

Announced in September along with the HTC Desire HD, the HTC Desire Z is the first Android 2.2 equipped HTC handset with a slideout keyboard and a natural extension of the HTC Desire.

At 14mm deep, the Desire Z is a chunky handset, compared to the Desire HD’s 11.8mm, although comparative to the 13.7mm of Motorola’s excellent Milestone 2, which also has a pull-out QWERTY. Weighing 180g, it’s quite heavy, but is still slim enough to fit into a pocket.

The screen is surrounded by a aluminium trim, matched by an aluminium battery cover, elsewhere there’s a darker grey, rubberized coating on the handset. It feels solid and well built, but again lacks the wow factor of the HTC Legend.

In common with other Android handsets, you get Home, Menu, Back and Search touch controls along the bottom of the screen, although the strip the controls are on is a little too slim if you’ve got large fingers.

There’s also a square touch pad, which functions a bit like a joypad; move your finger left and right to scroll through the homescreens, it works in both orientations, although there’s quite a distinct movement to master. Elsewhere there’s a 3.5mm jack, microSD port and a microSD slot alongside 1.5GB storage.

HTC Desire Z: Keyboard and email

However good virtual keyboards have become - and HTC has developed some of the best we’ve seen on smartphones - for many people a solid keyboard is essential, especially if you type lots of text messages and emails.

The keyboard slides out vertically using a unique ‘Z’ hinge, referring to the shape of the hinge used between the keyboard and the top section with the screen. After initially trying out the hinge in September we were a little worried about its durability, but over the days we’ve been using it, it feels strong, although we'd still treat it with care. There’s little danger of the screen accidentally sliding open like with some smartphones.

Spread over four lines, the QWERTY has dedicated full stop and comma buttons easily reached using your thumbs, while numbers are accessed by holding the FN key down. Keys are small, but with ample space between each one, while the soft rubber coating ensures comfort even for long emails. Two shortcut keys located on the bottom right can be used to assign Apps and Shortcuts

The Desire Z is clearly designed for regular emailers. Sync multiple email accounts including Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo as well as Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Choose to display selected or all accounts, each distinguishable using different coloured tabs.

HTC Desire Z: Interface

Like the Desire HD, the Desire Z is equipped with HTC Sense. Customise five homescreens with apps and widgets, which you can organise into folders.

HTC Sense syncs social networking accounts like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts, while Favourite contacts are now displayed alongside status updates. As well as syncing your contacts with each account and your phonebook, it automatically links connections, although on occasion you’ll need to do this manually.

The new Notification bar is a welcome addition, letting you quickly swap between icons of previous applications, alongside connection information, new messages and email.

Running an 800Mhz processor, the Desire Z never feels slow, although flicking through homescreens it's perhaps not as quick as the Desire HD, but this is a very minor gripe.

HTC Desire Z: Screen and browser

The 3.7-inch screen has a resolution of 480x800, the same as the Desire and Desire HD, although it’s bright and text is sharp and a cut above most handsets, it doesn’t come close to the dazzling whites and deep blacks you’d get with the Apple iPhone 4 or AMOLED Samsung Galaxy S. Web pages in particular have a yellowish tint that you only notice when you put the Desire Z next to an iPhone. However, this is probably a harsh comparison, because so few phones have Retina displays or AMOLED screens.

Although not as generous as the Desire HD’s screen, it’s still a good size for video. HD clips look fantastic, as sharp and detailed as you’d expect. You Tube fares less well, it’s a little soft, but fine for casual use. Support for Flash 10.1 lets you playback a host of videos, including those on T3.com Elsewhere, when browsing pinch to zoom works very well and text re-wraps exceptionally quickly.

HTC Desire Z: Camera and video

The Desire Z is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera, which despite having less pixels than the Desire HD’s 8-megapixels, will comfortably produce 13x10-inch prints

Photo enthusiasts will appreciate a solid shutter, alongside a virtual one. Autofocus is quick (and you can tap to focus) but there’s slight lag between depressing the shutter and the photo being taken, it’s not terrible by any means, but certainly not fantastic for fast-moving action.

Photos are fine, without being fantastic. Colors are bright, detail is sharp, especially close-ups, you can make tweaks to the sharpness, contrast, exposure and saturation. Like the Desire HD we found Auto white balance produces the most accurate results, Daylight looks unnatural. Be careful using the ISO settings, noise is really visible around ISO 400 and ISO 800 is practically unusable. The single - instead of dual - flash is surprisingly powerful, so the Desire Z will easily illuminate a small room.

720p footage isn’t fantastic. Although it’s smooth and bright, detail seems soft and lacking definition, for example in one test shot leaves on a tree appear so soft they tend to blur into each other and in another you can’t see the fine detail on brickwork on a house. So if 720p video is your forte, we’d suggest the iPhone 4 or Samsung Galaxy S instead.

Like the Desire HD there’s no HDMI, instead you can transfer files using DLNA.

HTC Desire Z: HTC Sense and conclusion

Elsewhere Fast Boot launches the phone within seconds. Battery life isn’t as disappointing as the Desire HD, but you’ll still need to charge it every evening.

You can read more about HTC Sense.com in our HTC Desire HD review. It's an online portal where you can download additional content, such as apps, wall paper and music, as well as wiping your phone remotely or making it ring, even when it’s turned off (although we’ve yet to get this working with the Desire Z or Desire HD). It’s probably best viewed as a nice extra rather than essential feature.

Anyone who’s struggled with a virtual keyboard will appreciate the Desire Z, the QWERTY keyboard is excellent and although the handset is thicker than rivals, it’s doesn’t add that much bulk. HTC Sense is excellent as always, it’s intuitive and offers lots of customisation.

OK, the screen is smaller than the Desire HD, but we don’t think that’s a big deal browsing and HD movie playback are both excellent, it not market leading. While we welcome the HD 720p movie mode, it's not the best we've seen, but it's fine for casual use. Plus, it’s highly unlikely you’d buy the Desire Z for it’s multimedia capabilities, it’s primarily an emailing and messaging phone, and an excellent one at that.

HTC Desire Z specs

OS: Android 2.2
Storage: 1.5GB int, Micro SD slot
Screen: 3.7-inch 800x480
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, N WiFi, DLNA, 3G, HSDPA, 3.5mm jack
Camera: 5MP with LED flash and autofocus
Video: 720p
3G Talk time: 6 hours 40 mins

Dimensions: 119x14x60mm

Weight: 180g

Sony Alpha A33 review

2010-11-03T06:47:00.001+05:30

Alpha featuring translucent mirror technology for faster reaction times and live previews

Neither a compact nor a digital SLR in its purest sense, though outwardly resembling the latter, the 14.2 megapixel A33 has not done away with the mirror mechanism like the Olympus E-P2 and Panasonic GF1, but rather established a first by making the mirror translucent.

Thus Sony is referring to it not as a SLR but rather an ‘SLT’ (Single Lens Translucent mirror) camera. The benefits are: faster autofocus, a 7fps burst mode and improved response times across the board. In practice power up is nigh instantaneous and you can be taking the first shot within a second. Not a great deal larger than a superzoom camera, at 433g, the A33 also feels lighter than we’d expect a DSLR to be.

Sony Alpha A33: Controls

With an 18-55mm zoom lens offered in kit form, you also get a high-resolution live preview, so there’s no delay while the mirror flips up out of the way and Live View kicks – as you get on competing DSLRs. Thus in practice photographers can hit the one touch record button on the A33 and be recording Full HD video clips straight away – in fact this is the first time a movie mode has appeared on a DSLR-styled Alpha.

Sony’s AF system automatically adjusts as filming takes place so there’s no manual lens adjustment required as on the Olympus Pen series.

One thing to note re: video. You’ll need a bang up to date computer for to recognise the AVCHD compression format the Sony shoots in, but if you haven’t got one of those select the widely recognised MPEG4.

Sony Alpha A33: Features

Handling wise the A33 probably comes closest to Panasonic’s G10 (which it resembles up to a point) for DSLR-like design and control layout. Menu systems are easy to navigate and overall these are less convoluted than the Sony NEX-5 series compact/DSLR hybrids, which this is also competing with.

Yes , it’s a little plastic-y but feels solid when held via a decent-sized hand moulded grip, which is an improvement on those found on entry level Alpha DSLRs.

The A33 also comes with an adjustable widescreen format 3-inch LCD for more creative framing when for low to the ground or high over the heads of a crowd shots it isn’t always possible to get an eye up to the viewfinder. Visibility is knife sharp thanks to a whopping 921k-dot resolution and it can be flipped through 270° and screen-in to the body for added protection when inactive.

Sony Alpha A33: Picture quality

Pictures are both sharp and colourful. As we’d expect to see from Sony with its expertise in the visual medium, colours are warm and well saturated as a default. The supplied zoom and senor combination delivers crisp detail in the main and the only time you’ll need to take charge and switch to manual focus is when the A33’s lightning fast AF is wont to focus on subjects nearest to it, when faced with busy scenes, rather than necessarily the subject you actually wanted.

Other than that the A33 simplifies the art of taking pictures and features some of the most up to date spec you could hope to find on a consumer camera.

Sony Alpha A33 price: Approx £570 with lens

Sony Alpha A33 Specifications

Sensor: 14.6 megapixel CMOS sensor
Lens: 18-55mm kit lens via Sony A mount
Screen: 3-inch, 921,600 dots
Viewfinder: Electroinc
Stabilisation: SteadyShot Inside (sensor shift)
Video: 1920x1080 50i
Storage: MS PRO Duo, SD, SDHC, SDHXd
Battery: Up to 340 images in Live View mode
Connections: USB, HDMI mini
Dimensions/Weight: 433g, 124x92x85mm

Philips Cinema 21:9 3D TV UK release date revealed

2010-11-03T06:44:00.000+05:30

Cinema style 3D TV landsing from Philips this month

The world’s first cinema dimension 3D TV, the Philips Cinema 21:9 Platinum TV range has been given a November release date following its official unveiling at IFA in Berlin back in September.

A whopping 58-inches across the 21:9 cinema proportioned 3D TV from Philips will land in the UK later this month with a £3,999 price tag and Philips’ Ambilight Spectra 3 technology for an added visual pop.

Although not boxed with the required active shutter 3D specs, the Cinema 21:9 Platinum edition, less catchingly known as the 58PFL9955, will feature Bright Pro, 400Hz Clear LCD technology enhancing the 21:9 image as well as Perfect Pixel HD processing.

Internet capabilities join the cinema styled fry as the 3D Platinum edition TV hosts Philips Net TV hook-up alongside a fully interactive built-in web browser.

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj review

2010-11-02T07:27:00.000+05:30

Nikon's new projector camera: kit kudos or gimmicky gadget?

Nikon's original projector camera, the S1000pj was incredibly innovative, combining a decent camera with a projector, but lacked computer connectivity - which meant you couldn't connect it too a laptop to beam images or other documents.

The new Nikon Coolpix S1100pj stlll has the real lamp projector built into the front of its body, making it possible for you to project images and video onto flat surfaces and taking (not only) a camera everywhere, but a projector too. We take a look at features, quality and price tag...

The Coolpix S1100pj is a retro looking compact,similar to its predecessor, but rounder and funkier. Nikon has done very well to cram all the technology into this relatively flat body, without turning it into a bulky beast.

The projector and the need for a focus wheel gives the camera a different look from run of the mill compacts, but it's still uncluttered - in fact you only have three buttons on the back. Build quality is good and it feels nice in the hands, it's very much a decent bit of kit, not a cheap gimmick.

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj: Projector

Activate the projector by pressing the button in the centre of the focus projection. You can project from as close as 20cm up too 2m. A3 sized pictures look okay (that's from around 1m) but we wouldn't take it much further as it isn't very bright, despite being listed as 14 lumens, 40% more than its predecessor.

The projections look good, but not amazing and are certainly not a crisp as photographs, and the same goes for video. However, it's a completely new viewing experience, which would be great at parties.

You can also connect the Nikon S1100pj directly to your computer, so you can project images, or indeed presentations, from computer, via the camera, which is great for business users.

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj: Camera

While the built-in projector is obviously the Coolpix S1100pj's headline feature, let's not forget it's a camera. It has a 14.1MP sensor (S1000pj was 12MP), 5x zoom Nikkor lens and lens-shift and electronic vibration reduction.

Image quality from the Nikon Coolpix S1100pj is good: sharp, with crisp edges and realistic colours although the camera doesn't handle high contrast particularly well and you will see some chromatic aberration.

There are no manual modes, it's a basic point and shoot. You get Easy Auto, Auto, Smart Portrait and a host of Scene modes. In Auto mode you can change ISO, white balance and exposure compensation, but that's as far as creative settings go.

A Retouch Menu enables you to edit and enhance in camera, effects include Fisheye, Soft Focus, and a clever Miniature Effect. Of course there's video too, assessed via a convenient and prominent record button on the back.

It also boasts a new 3-inch high resolution touch screen, which means the back is free from multiple buttons, although you have to apply more pressure than is normal and the interface is slow.

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj: Conclusion

With a street price of £300 it's not a cheap option and at this price point, if you just wanted a camera you could get a high end compact with manual features, such as the Canon PowerShot S95. However, if you'd enjoy - and use - the projector, which is what you're paying for, then get one and enjoy it – it'd be great for Christmas gatherings!

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj Specifications:# Sensor: 14-megapixel

Sensor: 14-megapixel
Lens: 5x optical Nikkor
Screen: 3-inch 460,000
Viewfinder: n/a
Stabilisation: Lens shift and electronic VBR
Video: 720p
Storage SD, SDHC
Battery 220 shots
Connections: Hi-Speed USB
Dimensions/Weight: 101x63x24mm/180g with battery and card

HTC 7 Mozart review

2010-11-02T07:23:00.000+05:30

HTC's Windows 7 cameraphone entry

The HTC 7 Mozart is one of five phones announced for the UK at the launch of Windows Phone 7, and thanks to a slightly different chassis and additional tech it stands out from the pack.

The headline feature is an 8MP camera with Xenon flash, which none of the other 4 WP7 handsets can offer. But does the superior snapper hit the right notes on the Mozart?

HTC isn't able to do too much with the interface on its Windows Phone 7, thanks to Microsoft wanting to lock down the experience to make it consistent across all devices.

The good news is this isn't a bad thing: the slick feel under the finger and simple to use tiles on the home screen are a joy to use, and will offer an attractive experience to many, including new smartphone users.

HTC 7 Mozart: Screen and build

The 3.7-inch screen is a fraction small to our eyes - it's taller than the Apple iPhone 4, but oddly thinner. However, the chassis fits nicely in the hand, something which can't be said about the HTC HD7 and its 4.3-inch screen, for instance.

We're not sure we're fans of the aluminium unibody design here from HTC on the 7 Mozart: on the HTC Legend it felt premium and slick, but here, with a multitude of lumps and bumps, it’s not as impressive.

The other little customisations HTC has been allowed to put on by Microsoft include a Hub, where more apps can be downloaded, a stock ticker and a sound enhancer too.

The latter is the most useful - you can choose from Dolby Mobile, SRS virtual surround sound or an equaliser, and all make a difference to movies and music.

But sadly, thanks to Microsoft's lack of third party customisation on its phones, these aren't in the media player; you have to drop out and fire up a separate app... not so bad for music, as it stays running in the background, but terrible for movies

HTC 7 Mozart: Camera

Apart from the single metallic chassis, the other USP of the HTC 7 Mozart is the camera, packing an 8MP snapper with Xenon flash and HD video recording

The camera is oddly disappointing; if you need to use the flash (which is set to automatic by default) then the camera shutter will sound, the flash will go off; then again in about half a second before the pic is saved. We lost count of the times that we moved the camera after taking the picture - it should be much faster.

The camera boots up quickly, even in lock mode, and the snapping without the flash is fast and accurate, although you're forced to use a central auto focus, which can lead to oddly-metered pics.

The quality isn't up to much, as the amount of noise (especially when zoomed in) is quite high - the only good photos we got were when we snapped in bright light outside.

Video is acceptable for HD, although despite the 30fps spec; the choppiness of the video is really annoying at times, and in low light is gets pretty blurry.

HTC 7 Mozart: Verdict

The HTC 7 Mozart will attract a lot of people trying to work out which Windows Phone 7 device is for them, as it's easy to look at the megapixel count in such decisions. It's certainly a lot more pocketable than the HTC HD7, and it feels more premium than the LG Optimus 7 and HTC 7 Trophy.

But if you're locked to Orange, we suggest you look at the Samsung Omnia 7, with a much nicer screen (but a poorer camera) or if you're not fussed by Windows Phone 7, one of the Android lot - it might take a year or so for Microsoft to get things like copy and paste and Flash video working on its platform anyway.

HTC 7 Mozart Specifications:

OS: Windows Phone 7
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 1 GHz processor
Storage: 8GB int
Screen: 3.7-inch 480x800
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, 3.5mm jack, N WiFi
Camera: 8MP with Xenon flash
Video: 720p, 30fps
Talk time: 5 hours 50 mins3G

Dimensions: 119x60x12mm

Weight: 130g

Future mobile networks could be "wireless" humans

2010-11-01T15:25:00.002+05:30

Want access to the internet? Get a human.

Experts from Queen's University Belfast believe that humans wearing wireless sensors can be the backbone of powerful mobile Internet networks, which can provide constant access to the World Wide Web.

High-bandwidth networks on these sensors would do away with the need for a large amount of mobile phone base stations.

Dr Simon Cotton says, "In the past few years a significant amount of research has been undertaken into antennas and systems designed to share information across the surface of the human body."

He continues to say that research on how to transfer information to another location, ie outside of the body, has been limited. In his opinion, the benefits of humans wearing such sensors would be improvements in mobile gaming and remote healthcare.

Calling it body-to-body networks or BBN, the next generation of smartphones could be the main carriers of the new technology.

Dr Cotton and his team have been awarded a five-year Research Fellowship by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering and Physical Research Council (EPSRC) to further research and develop this concept.

Logitech unveils wireless solar keyboard K750, does away with batteries for good

2010-11-01T11:38:00.000+05:30

When Logitech first introduced wireless peripherals, we'd be lucky if our alkaline cells lasted a week, but these days the firm's low-power mice can go months on a charge. Now, the company's taken the next logical step, and made a solar keyboard. With an ultra-slim 1/3-inch profile and a full slate of laptop-style chiclet keys, the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 isn't your average rack of buttons to begin with, but the ambient light solar panels installed on the top of either side should mean you'll never need to plug it in to recharge. That's not a claim we'll be able to test easily, of course, as the company tells us its low-power integrated circuits can theoretically run for three months even if you leave it in a dark desk drawer. It uses the same 2.4GHz Nano Unifying receiver as several other Logitech wireless products, too, meaning you'll only need a single one of your netbook or set-top-boxes' precious USB ports. That's often a concern on MacBooks as well, though you can see from the prominent Windows key this particular product doesn't quite have a Mac-friendly setup.

Though we're obviously far away from being able to tell you how the solar panels fare in normal use, we're typing up this article on one of the boards right now. So far, we're loving the flat, firm feel of the slab and rounded finger-friendly indents on each key, though the QWERTY layout's actually a little cramped for our tastes. We'll let you know how it holds up over the long haul. Find it next month for $80, though, if you're already sold.

Google Nexus 2 gets Android 2.3 Gingerbread

2010-11-01T08:19:00.002+05:30

Google Nexus Two whispers: designed by Samsung, packs Android 2.3.More details are surfacing on Google's latest hush-hush incarnation of its own-brand smartphone, the Nexus Two. The reportedly Samsung-designed follow-up to last year's Nexus One has been tipped to be the first handset on the market to come running Android 2.3 - or Gingerbread, as the kids call it.

The updated Gingerbread OS is rumoured to include an updated user interface, improved social networking capabilities and access to an Android music store, although Google remains tight-lipped on whether the handset even exists.

From what details have been leaked so far, the Google Nexus Two looks and feels a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S, with a 4" AMOLED touchscreen and a black gloss plastic shell. New additions include the now compulsory front-facing camera for all those video calls you're itching to make.

The Google Nexus Two is expected to get its big debut at a Samsung press event in New York on November 8th.

Samsung Galaxy Tab: Early Carphone Warehouse launch

2010-10-31T13:08:00.000+05:30

Carphone Warehouse bringing the Samsung Galaxy Tab to customers this Monday at 8am, sharp

Would-be Samsung Galaxy Tab owners are an hour closer today to getting their hands on Sammy's iPad-bothering Android tablet - so long as they pick it up from the Carphone Warehouse. On the day of launch (Monday 1st November), five Carphone Warehouses will open their doors early to appease the expected clamour of customers.

The five Carphone Warehouse branches - which will open as early as 8am - are the 272-274 Oxford Street and Centrepoint Oxford Street stores, the Cornmarket store in Oxford, the Commercial Road store in Portsmouth and the Princesshay store in Exeter.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab will be available to the early birds (and everyone else, for that matter) for £499 with a £10 rolling contract, or £529.99 SIM-free.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab comes packing a 7" multi-touch touchscreen which Samsung claim makes it ideal for use as an e-reader, a 1GHz processor, front and rear-facing cameras and an expandable 16 or 32GB of storage - all at near-as-dammit half the weight of Apple's iPad.

Nokia N8 used to shoot a short film

2010-10-29T14:48:00.000+05:30

Will we see a full length feature being shot on a mobile phone one day?

Nokia is fighting it out to get a space in the smartphone market. With a whole host of smartphones in the market, Nokia is upping the stakes by marketing its N8 model as having a film-quality video camera.

But does it work?

The seven-and-half minute long "The Commuter" stars Dev 'Slumdog' Patel as the hapless commuter whose car gets clamped down accompanied by a host of talent like Charles Dance, Ed Westwick and Pamela Anderson.

The entire short film was shot on the Nokia N8.

Dev Patel says he got involved in the project because of he was interested in the concept of it being shot on a mobile phone. He said: "I'm always interested in embracing new technology in film-making and the main reason I really wanted to get involved with 'The Commuter' was because it was being shot just on mobile phones."

He also added that he hoped the project would inspire and encourage the next generation of filmmakers. "I wanted to encourage the next generation of filmmakers by showing that you don't need expensive equipment and big budgets to make your own movies. The quality of a camera phone, like the Nokia N8 allows filmmakers to produce amazing HD movies and I hope ‘The Commuter’ shows aspirational filmmakers that you can create a great movie even using a mobile phone."

Toys 'R' Us to stock cheapest tablet with £90 Elonex eTouch

2010-10-29T07:09:00.000+05:30

Elonex eTouch tablet trumps Next to cheapest Android offering

Retail chain Toys ‘R’ Us has announced it is to stock the Elonex eTouch tablet in the UK with the device becoming the cheapest Google Android powered tablet on the market with prices starting from just £90.

Undercutting the price of the Next and Disgo tablets by almost £100, the Elonex eTouch will be available in two forms, a 7-inch device priced £89.99 and a 10-inch model that will cost wannabe tablet initiates £149.99. Both devices have a distinct iPad knock-off look about them.

Featuring a 1GHz ARM 11 processor and a 2GB solid state drive expandable via microSD card, of which a 2GB card is included, the 10-inch Elonex eTouch tablet also comes equipped with Google’s Android 2.1 mobile operating system, Éclair, and miniUSB, USB 2.0 and 3.5mm audio jack ports.

“This is yet another new, exciting and innovative product that we are confident to bring to our sales floor. It is important that Toys ‘R’ Us inspire this young and inspirational market offering the best affordable products on the marketplace”, declared Toys ‘R’ Us Marketing Director Mike Coogan on the new tablet offerings.

With Toys ‘R’ Us entering a key sales period as the festive rushes begin, the introduction of the Elonex eTouch could be a clever ploy to get parents to splash out on themselves when picking up a few gifts for the kids.

HP Pavilion DV6 review

2010-10-28T13:03:00.000+05:30

Solid mid-range laptop with a patterned screen bound to divide opinion.

HP’s DV Pavilion range isn’t a bad choice for budget models from a top name brand. We reviewed the Pavilion DV6-3085ea, which is a higher-specc’d addition to that range that can handle most multi-media apps. However, it does come loaded with HP bloatware and has a shocking touchpad.

The Pavilion DV6 we reviewed has a solid feel, that's thankfully not too plasticy so it’s good for hoofing around town. The top has a nice burnished aluminium finish but the copper layout is a little too feminine for our liking. There’s also a filigree pattern on the lid, which looks good if you’ve had enough to drink but it’s not something we really want to look at every day.

HP Pavilion DV6: Navigation

A real let down is the touchpad. We like the solid keyboard but navigating the touchpad spoils the experience. The left and right click had to be held down under duress to work and the cursor pop all over the place, thanks to a badly implemented touch-sensitive controls.

We aren’t too enamoured with the ridiculous array of HP apps already pre-installed on the laptop. We didn’t find anything useful and they can slow down start up time.

The 1366x768 resolution LED display is serviceable and vibrant, but has a limited viewing angle.

HP Pavilion DV6: Performance

HP has packed a great set of features for a mid-price model, including 1GB of ATI’s HD5650 graphics horsepower. Add that to 4GB and a capacious 500GB hard drive and you have some decent grunt. ATI’s quad-core P920 at 1.6GHz doesn’t offer as much ompah as Intel’s Core-i models but we didn’t have any multitasking lag issues for a spot of Crysis Warhead with graphics set to medium.

HP also bundles Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and a big 500GB hard drive so storage is excellent. There’s no Blu-ray drive but there is an HDMI out and a Lightscribe DVD player. This is pretty cool as it lets you laser-burn discs with info or images and the results beat shoddy handwritten labels.

Last but not least, battery life is an absolute choker. On performance mode we got just over an hour and ten minutes with everything maxxed. That only went up to two hours and eighteen minutes in power saving mode.

The HP Pavilion DV6-3085 is solid addition to HPs range, but it doesn’t stand out from the crowd and you will need get a second battery if you’re taking it beyond your office or desk.

HP Pavilion DV6 Specifications

    * OS: Win7 Home Premium 64bit
    * Screen: 15.6-inch 1366x768 pixels
    * Processor: AMD Phenom™ II P920 1.6Ghz
    * Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 Graphics 1Gb RAM
    * Memory: 4GB Ram
    * Storage: 500Gb
    * Connections: N WifI, BluetootH, headphone out, VGA, HDMI, 4x USB, eSata Card reader
    * Optical drive: SATA Optical drive
    * Battery tested: 80 mins high/138 mins power save
    * Battery claimed: not quoted
    * Dimensions/Weight: 378x245x31mm/2.48kg

Samsung Introduced RF710-S02US Laptop

2010-10-28T12:54:00.000+05:30

Samsung has introduced a laptop namely, Samsung RF710-S02US which comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system. It features 17.3-inch screen display with resolution up to 1600 x 900 pixels, 0.3MP Web camera, 1 x Headphone jack, 1 x Microphone jack, and many more. The Samsung RF710-S02US laptop is powered by Intel Core i7-720QM Processor and boasts NVIDIA GeForce 330M with 1GB memory, 4GB of DDR3 RAM etc.

Samsung RF710-S02US Laptop Features

    * 17.3-inch screen display with resolution up to 1600 x 900 pixels
    * 1 x Microphone jack & 1 x Headphone jack
    * SD, SDHC, MMC, or SDXC memory card slot
    * NVIDIA GeForce 330M with 1GB memory
    * Intel Core i7-720QM Processor
    * 4GB of DDR3 RAM
    * Hard disk with 640GB capacity
    * Bluetooth & 802.11b/g/n WiFi
    * 0.3MP Web camera
    * 6-cell lithium ion battery

The Samsung RF710-S02US Laptop also includes 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x VGA, and 1 x HDMI connectivity options. The Samsung RF710-S02US Laptop is available at the price tag of $1,099.99 with one year warranty.

Digital Stream DPS-1000 review

2010-10-28T07:09:00.000+05:30

Digital Stream's media streamer boasts iPlayer but it's rough around the edges 

Digital Stream is a new name on UK shores having recently produced a Freeview HD PVR. The DPS-1000 is an HD ready media streamer with the added bonuses of social networking and catch up TV.    

But is it a living room essential? As a viable alternative to your laptop for BBC iPlayer or media streamer?

Speed is not the DPS-1000's strong point. Using the latest firmware downloaded straight to the box, booting ‘from cold’ takes a leisurely 90 seconds on average though from standby it's near instantaneous.

The DPS-1000 uses Onyx software as found on some Cello-branded TVs which allows you to create user profiles including login details for Facebook etc. Functionality is grouped under three headings - Home Media (for playing your own files), BBC iPlayer and Web TV. The latter offers YouTube, Flickr and an assortment of vodcasts from the likes of Jamie Oliver, UEFA and, er, Sesame Street.  

Widget apps for news and weather, Facebook and Twitter appear on the main menu or can be called up while watching a video, using the large remote control, which looks a little cheap and is festooned with buttons which takes time to get used to.

BBC iPlayer gets the TV-friendly 'big screen' interface but while shows were marked as being 'also in BBC HD' selecting this option saw us presented with the SD version instead.  The DPS-1000 can play the most popular media formats including MKV, AVI, XviD, WMV, MP4, and MP3. but can only output HD up to 1080i.

The device has no problem playing files stored on USB drives or our networked PC running Windows Media 11 and Western Digital NAS drive. However, video playback via HDMI looks a tad softer in many cases than when using our PlayStation 3 and you can't create playlists either.

Open web browsing is possible using the remote and a virtual onscreen keyboard (you can use a real keyboard but mice aren't supported). The web browser also frequently struggled to load even seemingly simple pages with any haste over a 20MB connection.

The DPS-1000 has no onboard storage so you'll need to connect an external hard or flash drive using the two ports provided or use networked devices such as a PC or NAS drive. A dongle of your own is required for wi-fi too. HDMI and Scart outputs are included but, while Dolby support is claimed, the DPS-1000 doesn't have separate audio outputs.      

It may be inexpensive at £90 but the DPS-1000 has too many shortcomings to recommend it especially when there are better products available for around the same money such as the Western Digital WD TV Live (£100) for streaming capability, (though admittedly it doesn't have iPlayer), or even a set-top bo like the Humax FOXSat HD (£120), which offers iPlayer support.

Digital Stream DSP-100 Specifications

* Video formats: MKV, AVI, VOB, ASF, WMV, MP4, MPEG 1/2, MPEG-2 TS, MOV (
* Audio formats: MPEG 1/2, MP3, M4A, AC3, WMV, WMA, AAC, HE-AAC Storage: Nine
* Storage: N/A
* Connections: HDMI, Scart, 2 x USB, Ethernet
* Dimensions: 170 x 35 x 125mm
* Weight: 421g

Canon PowerShot S95 review

2010-10-27T14:08:00.000+05:30

Canon's new Powershot: Substance and style

Successor to the popular Canon PowerShot S90, which quickly became a popular top pocket camera for many pro photographers, is the new Canon PowerShot S95 with f/2 28mm wide-angle lens with 3.8x optical zoom and a plethora of features usually seen on DSLR cameras.

The understated design is a perhaps a bit plain, but suits the seriousness of the camera's feature set.

As well as being slimmer than the S90, at 29.5 mm thick, the Canon Powershot S95 features a matt body, rather than gloss, making it easier to grip.

The lens control ring (which proved a real hit with the S90), and the mode dial have both been improved so have more friction. More substantial improvements are HD video shooting and the inclusion of Canon's brand new HS System, which combines a 10-megapixel CCD sensor and DIGIC 4 processing, enabling the camera to shoot at ISO 3200 at full resolution, with minimum noise.

Canon PowerShot S95: Features

The Canon PowerShot S95 is better likened to a DSLR than compact in terms of its feature set: it offers you ultimate control and a fully manual experience.

From the control ring you can adjust various settings including: ISO (1/3 stop increments), shutter speed, aperture, focus and exposure compensation, thankfully it's all very quick and intuitive: there's no missing the moment while you dig around in endless menus.

There's a custom setting that lets you pre-set the lens Control Ring function and the rear Multi-Control Dial, in addition to a dedicated shortcut button, which will please advanced users. Of course you don't have to be a pro to use the PowerShot S95, there's an Auto mode, Program mode and lots of scene modes too.

Canon PowerShot S95: Picture quality

Images quality is incredible good for a compact camera: expect sharp, crisp clear pictures with hardly any digital noise. High contrast is handled much better than in any compact we've seen for a long time and colours are excellent: vivid yet realistic and skin tones are also flattering yet realistic. Macro shots are brilliant too: pin-sharp. Low light performance also deserves a mention, the new HS system really works: this is certainly a camera you'll get good night shots from.

We're as impressed with the Canon PowerShot S95's image quality and we are with the top spec feature set. All in all a powerful compact camera; idea for those who want full manual control without the bulk of a DSLR

Canon PowerShot release date: Out now, find out more from Canon

Canon PowerShot S95:
* Sensor: 10-megapixel 1/1.7CCD
* Lens: 3.8x optical zoom f/2.0-4.9
* Screen: 3-inch, 461,000,000
* Viewfinder: n/a
* Stabilisation: Lens shift
* Video: 1280x720 24fps
*Storage: SD/SDHC/SDXC card
* Battery: 300 mins playback, 200 photos
* Connections: Mini HDMI, Hi-Speed USB
* Dimensions/Weight: 99x58x30/193g

Wi-Fi only Samsung Galaxy Tab coming pre-Christmas?

2010-10-25T21:03:00.000+05:30

Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab to drop price of Samsung tablet

A cheaper, Wi-Fi only version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab is expected to launch ahead of the Christmas rush after spy shots of a Best Buy sales catalogue revealed the existence of a silver Sammy tablet that has scrapped the 3G mobile internet signal.

Priced at $499 on the Verizon network, the Wi-Fi only Galaxy Tab is believed to be readying for a black Friday launch with the 7-inch, Android 2.2 devices further looking to challenge Apple’s market leading tablet the iPad which is available in a variety of storage sizes for both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G models.

Whilst there is no official word from Samsung on such a device, UK pricing of the 3G inclusive 1GHz processor packing pocket-friendly tablet emerged last week ahead of is official launch on November 1st.

Carphone Warehouse was the first distributor to announce pre-order prices for the Samsung Galaxy Tab Wi-Fi + 3G with the iPad competitor lining up at a hefty £499 subsidised by a monthly contract or £530 as a standalone device, a price point later matched be supermarket giant Tesco which began its own pre-orders shortly after.

Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M Review

2009-11-19T08:34:00.004+05:30

The Samsung W880 ups the ante with a world's first 12 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom. Featuring a hardware Mode dial and a real zoom lever it does feel like a real camera and you may find yourself struggling to find the mobile phone under the digicam skin. Now while W880 is South Korea bound only, it's enough to give us a taste of what's coming in the shape of the rumored Samsung M8920, which should make it our way sometime next year - but with Wi-Fi and GPS on board.

Samsung SCH-W880 AMOLED 12M official photos

Designing a mobile phone (or any other portable gadget for that matter) is a balancing act - the engineers must juggle between cost, size and features, all the while being limited by the current state of technology.

Say cost doesn't matter - that still leaves only so much that can reasonably be crammed into a mobile device. Progress is made, technology advances, which results in things getting cheaper, smaller and with more features. And quite soon, things that seemed impractical a few years back can now be released as a consumer device.

This is how the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M came to be - it contains all the mechanical elements of a point-and-shoot camera, but still has enough room left for the phone parts. It's not the first phone to achieve that but it's the first 12-megapixel one and the added 3xoptical zoom and xenon flash pretty much put it on par with a typical point-and-shoot camera.

The Samsung W880 has some high-end imaging functions too - tracking touch autofocus, 720p@30 fps video recording, 3.3" big AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution. That's not something you see every day on a cameras and it's top notch inmobile phone terms. Even the degree of control over how a photo is taken beats out consumer cameras, let alone cameraphones.

Now, keep in mind that the we're previewing a prototype here and it's a prototype of a phone meant for the South Korean market only and although it has tri-band GSM and support for UMTS, those are meant for roaming only - the AMOLED 12M is for South Korea and South Korea only.

So, why bother with a preview then? Well, there's a global version coming in the beginning of next year and that might actually land in a store near you. It will look just the same but will drop the T-DMB TV receiver, which has little use outside of South Korea anyway, swapping it for the more practical Wi-Fi and GPS. Supposedly, the global GSM version will be allegedly calledSamsung M8920, but that has yet to be confirmed by an official source.

Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M live shots

In this preview we focus mainly on the camera - admit it, it's the most interesting aspect of the Samsung W880 and it's the camera that has us holding our breaths.

For now, we'll just concentrate on the essentials - we take a look at the hardware, next we have a video walkthrough of the interface and finally, we focus on the camera, with plenty of still photos and video samples.

Photo Recovery Software Review: Adroit Photo Recovery Performed Best!

2009-11-16T10:47:00.000+05:30

Did you ever accidently delete an important digital photograph on a memory card or computer and then empty the recycle bin? Perhaps your computer got infected by a virus which then corrupted the hard disk with your photographs? Then again, maybe you have had the case where your camera card will not even show up as a readable disk when inserted into the card reader! Enter the world of photo recovery software - software designed specifically to recover deleted photos.

We looked at four different photo recovery software packages: Digital Photo Recovery, Hetman Photo Recovery, Photo Rescue and Adroit Photo Recovery. Adroit Photo Recovery software came out on top due to ease of use, quality of recovery, efficiency of recovery and it recovers 15-20% more photos than the other software packages. The price for the various software packages was less of a consideration as all software packages were within the $30-$50 range with Digital Photo Recovery at $29.00, Photo Rescue at $29.00, Adroit Photo Recovery at $39.99, and Hetman Photo Recovery at $49.95.

We selected the four photo recovery software packages for the following reasons: Adroit Photo Recovery has been developed after years of research conducted at NYU-Poly and has been getting good press coverage by reputable publications such as The New York Times. Photo Rescue has been getting good reviews by PC Magazine. Hetman Photo Recovery got the highest CNET user rating (however comparable user ratings on all the photo recovery software packages are not available). Digital Photo Recovery has one of the highest CNET downloads.

What We Tested?

In order to compare the photo recovery applications, we used a 1GB USB card containing images from a camera. The card originally had 130 images of which we deleted 121, and left 9 of them as is. We then ran the application on all 4 applications.
Note: We only tested JPEG recovery as that is still by far the most popular camera format. Adroit, Digital Photo Recovery and Photo Rescue all support a limited number of Camera RAW formats (very high definition camera files). Hetman doesn’t seem to support RAW but supports a number of other photo formats that the others do not. However, since we are interested in the most common type of photos we only used the JPEG format.
Here are our findings:

Ease of Use:

The user interface in all software packages was simple and not confusing. Typically it took at least three steps in almost all the software packages to recover files. In Photo Rescue, however, it took four steps for quick recovery and more than four steps for advanced recovery.

Adroit Photo Recovery provides for automatic detection of devices even if you plug in a removable drive after the software has started. Digital Photo Recovery and Photo Rescue have refresh buttons that can be clicked and for Hetman you have to restart the application for the drive to be detected.

Adroit and Photo Rescue accepted disk images while others did not. Adroit also provided the best source information data while the other software packages provided limited information for screening and finding the right data. Recovery tips and help manuals were readily available in most software packages except in Digital Photo Recovery which had limited help features and no help manual. Adroit Photo Recovery has no help manual.

Note: While all the applications recovery from most removable media like USB sticks, camera cards, and external hard drives, Digital Photo Recovery can recover from most CD/DVD formats. We did not test this functionality.

Quality of Photo Recovery: Adroit Photo Recovery was the only software that could recover fragmented photograph files and distinguish valid and invalid photo files. As a result, Adroit was able to recover more photo files than other software. All software packages were able to recover photo files from corrupted drives though in some the error messages needed to be ignored.

Trying to recover the deleted photos we got the following results:

1. Adroit Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (120), Partially Recovered (1)

2. Digital Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (113), Partially Recovered (8)

3. Hetman Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (109), Partially Recovered (11)

4. Photo Rescue: Fully Recovered (109), Partially Recovered (13)

Efficiency of Recovery: Most software packages showed the thumbnail pictures of recovered photo files though Hetman had other options for viewing files. Adroit also provided useful information about the photo files such as date-time information, height, width, size of file and other information useful for recovery. Hetman also provided some of this useful information.

In summary, at $39.99, Adroit Photo Recovery is a steal to help recover those priceless photographs. More information on Adroit Photo Recovery can be found at the Digital Assembly site http://digital-assembly.com/products/adroit-photo-recovery/. Note: All of the software can be used for free to see if they recover your photos. You will be able to see a preview of the images recovered, and if you are satisfied with the recovery then you will have to pay to save the recovered photos. Check out for yourself as to what makes sense for you.

LCD Screens for BPO and ITES Companies: What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens?

2009-05-08T11:12:00.002+05:30

Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO") and Information Technology Enabled Services ("ITES") companies are using LCD screens to improve productivity, quality of service and the "look and feel" of their operations.

For example, many LCD monitors have been sold to BPO companies such as ICICI Bank's Hyderabad call centre, EXL Service, and WNS India. These LCD screens are being used for displaying incoming calls to be addressed, call centre performance as a feedback loop for individual call centre executives, training information and local customer market information, among other usage. Since LCD monitors (or LCD Information Displays as they are called) are sleek and occupy less space than conventional solutions like Video Cubes, and with real estate space in a call centre or network operation centre being a premium, LCD monitors are an ideal fit for the BPO and ITES industries. LCD monitors also consume ~50% less power, emit little heat or radiation compared to PDPs. For large screen sizes, LCD displays provide better image and sound quality compared to all other conventional display technologies.

Below please find an analysis of what BPO and ITES Companies are considering when purchasing these LCD screens.

What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens for BPO and ITES Companies?

Price: Price is always a vital factor for making a purchase decision however BPO and ITES companies are increasingly using a high quality LCD monitors vs. LCD TVs based on the Total Cost of Ownership. Even though LCD TVs are cheaper, their life span can be shorter, especially if operated for extended number of hours in a day. LCD monitors are meant for 24x7 operations and are rugged devices with longer life and lower total cost of ownership.

Rugged Devices with Extended Operations Capability: LCD Information Displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. LCD Information Displays are fan-less closed box units and hence it is harder for dust and other contaminants to penetrate the box. LCD TVs have fans and are not closed devices. For BPO and ITES Companies where failure of a screen can create major problem or loss of business, it's not advisable to risk using LCD TVs.

Network Capability: Make sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity, which allows remote monitoring of the various LCD screens. Alarms can be set incase an LCD screen is not working or if there is an imminent failure in the LCD Unit (eg. unit is overheating). Power and other controls can be monitored remotely and devices and switched off or dimmed when not in operations to conserve energy and reduce electricity bills.

Power Consumption: LCD monitors consume less power than any other display technologies. The electricity bill for a large BPO may run into several Crores Indian Rupees annually. Shifting from less energy efficient displays to LCDs have shown savings of 20% or more on the total electricity bill for a NOC Room. Also, since LCD screens emit less radiation than PDPs, BPOs prefer them to protect the health of their employees who need to spend long hours in front of monitors.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and faster response time resulting in better picture clarity. LCD screens cause less eye fatigue and hence it's easy to work for long time. They emit zero radiation, which will ensure lesser or no eyestrain even at times of continuous use and are not even affected by magnetic interference. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs grants easy viewing in ambient light or where the background light is being reflected on the screen.

Learn about new features by checking out details available at most LCD screen manufacturers websites. Sharp is the LCD information display industry leader and more details can be found at their site. Information can also be found at NEC and Sony sites. You should also read other related articles to make the right decision for your LCD purchase!

More details about the LCD displays visit http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com

LCD Screens For Financial Markets - What to Consider When Purchasing These LCD Screens?

2009-04-22T08:02:00.001+05:30

Financial institutions are using technology to improve the quality of services being offered. LCD screens are prime contributors to quality improvement and improving the overall "look and feel" of various financial institutions like banks and stock markets trading centres.

For example, ICICI Bank in India is using LCD monitors to showcase the bank products and to show the token number for waiting clients, all on the same screen. New York Stock Exchange is using LCD Information Display screens to show stock information and news. The screens provide a clear, continuously updated status list of stock prices, currency exchange rates and other financial information

Financial institutions are also using LCD screen for security purposes where multiple security images are seen on one large screen to give a full panoramic picture of the activities happening in a bank branch or other financial institution.

When buying LCD screens financial institutions are purchasing LCD Information Displays and not LCD TVs. Below please find an analysis of why financial institutions are buying LCD Information Display and what they consider when purchasing theses screen.

What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens for Financial Institutions? LCD Screen Price: Price is always important however financial institutions are increasingly evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership. Even though LCD TVs are cheaper, their life span can be shorter, especially if operated for extended number of hours in a day. TVs unlike displays are meant for limited number of hour viewing unlike LCD information display that are meant for 24x7 operations.

Ruggedness and Extended Operation Capability: LCD Information Displays unlike LCD TVs are fan-less closed box units. As a result it is harder for dust and other contaminants to penetrate the box. Further LCD informational displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. Ruggedness and life of the LCD screen is very important to reduce failures of the LCD screens. For financial institution operations where failure of a screen can create significant inconvenience or loss of business, it does not make sense to risk using a LCD TV.

LCD Network Capability: Please make sure that the LCD screen features RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. The network connectivity enables remote monitoring of diverse LCD screens. You can also set alarms if an LCD screen is switched off or not working. Remote monitoring of power and other controls can also be done easily. For example, incase there is no signal, a power save mode can be activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight by activating an energy saving feature.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs offers better picture resolution, contrast ratio, brightness, colour reproduction and fast response time which results in enhanced picture clarity. High definition, brightness and contrast ratio are vital features for LCDs to have in financial sectors as they have crucial pricing information and other related details. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there is background light being reflected on the screen. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check viewing details to ensure that it meets your quality requirements.

New LCD screen features are continuously emerging in order to attract the prospective users on a large scale. You can read other related articles in order to make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

More details about the LCD and plasma displays visit http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com

LCD Screens For Medical Applications and Hospitals

2009-04-13T10:14:00.001+05:30

Technology is improving patient care and increasing revenue per bed and overall cost structures of hospitals. LCD screens are key contributors to cost improvement and improving overall "look and feel" of hospitals

For example, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital is using LCD Information Display screens to improve patient flow and increase family member awareness about patient location. In any large hospital, a great deal of coordination is required to move patients through the operating facility efficiently and seamlessly, from the pre-operative through to the recovery areas. Which treatment rooms are available? Which patients are ready for surgery next? Has a procedure in the operating room been completed ahead of schedule? Tracking each patient and coordinating resources requires staff to have immediate access to patient case data, at any time. The idea behind installing the LCD Information Display screens was to provide doctors, nurses and orderlies with better visual access to the operative status of each patient in its operating facility - without having to find a terminal and log in. The screens would provide a clear, continuously updated status list of each patient in the operating and treatment areas. These digital signs would tell staff which rooms are available, which patients are ready for transport, and what actions need to be taken for smooth operation of the facility. Patient safety and quality of care were also elevated with this solution

Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in India is using LCD Information Display screens for medical imaging and collaborative medical diagnosis. The key needs for deploying LCD information display screens vs LCD TVs were picture quality, large size and no fan noise in the operating theatre room. Large LCD displays are also being deployed in hallways, waiting areas, nurse monitoring centres, and video imaging diagnostic centers.

The display needs for these hospitals large screens are usually similar. Large LCD information displays are the technology of choice for large screens due to their low radiation emissions, low power usage compared to Plasma, increased ruggedness and high resolution. Below we outline key needs of LCD screens for hospitals:

LCD Information Display vs. TV Price: Price is an important criterion however many hospitals, buy on price versus functionality important and length of usage. As a result they will buy an LCD TV rather than a LCD Information Display as they can find cheap LCD TVs. LCD TVs are not closed end boxes so they result in premature failure or desired functionality is lacking resulting in the LCD TV being replaced sooner than it should be.

Internet Connectivity: Increasingly patients are demanding Internet connectivity to their rooms and are willing to pay for such facility. LCD screens need to be equipped with computer inputs such as VGA, HDMI or DVI inputs. The computer inputs are available on LCD information displays and usually not available on LCD TVs though some new LCD TV models do not have this issue.

Reduced Biological Pollution, Ruggedness and 24x7 Device Operations: LCD screens for hospitals need to be rugged and closed. LCD Information Displays are rugged (vs. LCD TVs) as LCD Informational Displays are fan-less closed box units that can offer protection from dust and biological pollution, which is very important for hospitals. LCD Informational Displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited hourly viewing in a day.

Network Connectivity: The network connectivity is required for remote monitoring of the various LCD devices.Be sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. Having this connectivity, alarms can be managed if an LCD screen is switched off or performing poorly. For example, an energy saving feature can be initiated so that when there is no signal, a power save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.

No Sound or Tuning Capability in Individual LCD units: No need for internal TV speakers as sound is output through pillow speakers which control noise in the patient room and hallway by limiting individual TV volume. Individual TV tuners are not required as TVs channels are fed through cable tv tuners to provide better image and selection.

Picture Quality: Picture quality is an important criterion in hospitals. Select high definition LCD screens. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle and have non glare features for easy viewing in daylight. Check the viewing specifications to make sure that the LCD screen you are buying meets your quality needs.

LCD display market is continuously evolving New LCD screen features are continuously emerging. Check with the LCD screen manufacturer to learn about new features. Read other articles and make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

For more information on LCD Screen, check out Sharp's official LCD monitor site!
http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com/

Power Hungry Plasma Displays to be Banned in Europe and California (USA)

2009-03-25T12:36:00.003+05:30

European Union and California wants to ban plasma screen televisions plasma screen televisions as they “guzzle” too much power and adds to the global warming issue. (See articles in Daily Express: http://www.express.co.uk and LA Times: http://www.latimes.com)

Press Coverage on Ban: According to the Daily Express, “A 42in plasma television uses over twice as much power as a traditional television set. Some of the larger models can take as much as electricity to run a fridge freezer”.

LA Times reports that “(California) State regulators are getting ready to curb the growing power gluttony of TV sets by drafting the nation’s first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models…”. The regulation is expected to pass in mid-2009. According to LA Times, “During a peak viewing time when most sets are on, such as the Super Bowl, TVs in the (California) state collectively suck up the equivalent of 40% of the power generated by the San Onofre nuclear power station running at full capacity. Televisions account for about 10% of the average Californian’s monthly household electricity bill”. Further the article goes to describe how Plasma screens are more power hungry than LCD screens.

Power Usage Comparison of Plasma vs LCD: We looked at various professional large screen displays that businesses would buy, to see if what is being reported is correct. Below we analyze some of the Plasma professional display brands against the Sharp LCD screens to understand how plasma screens compares with LCD screens. Our finding was that Plasma displays consumed almost twice as much power per display than LCD display of similar size.

Comparing Panasonic Plasma Display vs. Sharp LCD Display
· 65” Panasonic Plasma Display: A 65inch professional plasma display by Panasonic (TH-65PF11), which is high definition display, consumes 755W of power, according to the company display brochure. (see: http://www.panasonic.co.in)
· 65” Sharp LCD Display: A 65inch profession LCD display by Sharp (PN-S655), which is also a high definition display but using LCD technology, consumes 480W of power, according to the company display brochure. (see: http://www.sbsil.com)

We looked at other professional display brands to see their power consumptions.

· 60” LG Plasma Display: LG does not offer a 65inch professional plasma display for business use. The 60inch plasma display LG plasma display (60PG70FR) uses (690W-760W) of power. (see: http://www.in.lge.com)
· 50” Sony Plasma Display: The largest professional plasma display offered by Sony is 50inches (FWD-50PX3/S). The 50inch plasma display uses 440W of power compared to Sharp 46 inch LCD display using 312W of power.

Do your own analysis but it does seem that Plasma displays consume more power than LCD displays. By placing restrictions on display companies EU and California governments hope to encourage display companies to produce more efficient displays and TV screens. With the growth of flat-screen TVs, this is bound to make a difference. As consumers and the world gets more “green” conscious, it makes sense for business to be aware about recent trends as this will save them more money in the long run

LCD Screens Transforming Digital Signage and Advertising in Restaurants and Retail Stores

2009-03-20T11:38:00.005+05:30

It is not hard to understand why LCD displays screens are rapidly being adopted by retail stores and restaurants. InfoTrends conducted a digital signage study where they polled consumers and found that "digital signage displays have a 47.7% effectiveness on brand awareness, increase the average purchase amount by 29.5%, create a 31.8% upswing in overall sales volumes, generate a 32.8% growth in repeat buyers and generate 32.8% more in-store traffic".

LCD display screens are being used by restaurants for displaying the menu and entertainment, by garment and clothing retail stores to show videos of fashion shows and to showcase various products, and by automobile dealers as video walls to provide the feel of the car on the road and to keep the customer occupied as they wait for sales agent or other people.

LCD Display Usage in Restaurants: When visiting KFC Hyderabad (India), what grabs your attention is not so much the smell of food but the vibrant colours of the four 42-inch LCD display panels which serves as the overhead menu board. KFC Hyderabad sought the help of Sharp Business Systems India to set up the digital signage solution. LCD digital menus can be maintained from a remote central location or a local PC set up in the store. The benefit of remote central management is that menu, promotions, video, pricing and other items displayed on the LCD displays in the retail outlet can be managed from one central location to provide consistency and to make sure that the changes are made consistently across all stores at the same time. Consumers receive dynamic previews of the offering with potential for positive impact on sales. If restaurants have the networked point-of-sale cash registers collecting time based purchased data, marketing can get instantaneous feedback on how different promotions and pricing are having impact on sales.

Restaurants are also using LCD displays as televisions to spruce up the restaurant atmosphere. It is now a common expectation to have LCD TVs in restaurants that show the local sports or the news.

LCD Display Usage in Showrooms: Whether it is women clothing store, automobile showroom, convenient store or a department store, LCD displays are appearing in all these locations. A typical store has up to four LCD displays per site. InfoTrends study showed that business that had installed displays in their showroom, predominantly expected the display usage in their showrooms to increase. To grab and hold consumer attention, retailers are using LCD displays in a video-wall format or in a daisy chain format along with stand alone units. The content could be a mixture of video along with text or a combination. The goal is to target specific customers with specific information and this information may change with the time of the day - creating a retail company-owned, closed-circuit television network that runs nothing but the retail company programming.

Why do Retail Businesses Select LCD Displays vs. Plasma Displays?
There are a number of reasons why retailers and restaurants are selecting LCD display over plasma displays.

· Fan-less Architecture of LCDs: LCD displays do not have a fan potentially resulting in less noise and distraction. This is less of an issue with newer higher end plasma displays, however it is worthwhile to keep track as you evaluate the two options.

· Rugged Design of LCDs: LCD displays are closed-box units and more rugged. There is less chance of oil fumes, dust or other elements getting into the unit and reducing the life of the unit.

· Resolution and Picture Quality: (A) Video resolution on LCD displays and plasma display are comparable but computer data is better observed on LCD displays. (B) LCDs are better to view in ambient light or in brightly lit rooms. As businesses usually work during the day in ambient light, LCDs are more desirable for most business applications. (C) Plasma manufacturers have made much of their viewing angles. However with new LCDs the view angles are 176°. There is not much difference between the two technologies in viewing angle. (D) There have been concerns with burn-in for Plasma screens especially for static images. However, many Plasma manufacturers have improved their anti-burn in technology. There are no burn-in issues with LCD screens.

· Life of the Display Unit: LCDs can be operated 24x7 for 50,000+ hours equivalent to 5+ years of continuous viewing. Plasma, on the other hand, typically has a half life of 30,000 hours. At half life, the phosphors in a plasma screen will glow half as brightly as they did when the set was new. There is no way to replace these gases; the display simply continues to become dimmer with use. An LCD TV will last as long as its backlight - and in many models the backlight bulbs can be easily replaced!

· Power Consumption: Plasma TVs use more power than LCD - twice as much

Technology for both plasma and LCD display continues to change. Be sure to check updates to the technology for apple to apple comparison.

"iPhone killer" The first touch screen phone from Nokia 5800

2009-03-13T09:34:00.006+05:30

Though 5800 XpressMusic will be directly compared with the iPhone 3G and its features will certainly attract touchscreen gadget fans, like other Symbian phones the applications on 5800 XpressMusic appear with translucent overlay and at times appear cluttered.

Network and Communication
The 5800 XpressMusic supports 3G networks with quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band WCDMA, HSDPA, WLAN (802.11 b/g), HSCSD, and TCP/IP support. With Flight Mode found in music phones, the 5800 supports 3G networks for faster Internet over data networks.

The phone includes Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch built-in application, while Mobile Transfer Protocol support and TV out (video out cable bundled) allow streaming of multimedia. Also featured is Bluetooth version 2.0 support for file transfers.

Touchscreen Display
The 5800 XpressMusic is a full touchscreen phone with three buttons on the front panel - Talk, Menu control, and End. The 3.2-inch haptic touchscreen display offers a widescreen 640 x 360 pixel resolution, featuring acceleration sensor for Automatic Screen Rotation (ASR) and 3D Image engine. To make the best of touchscreen 5800 features, a 'Media Bar' drop-down menu for easy access to favorite media applications such as music, videos, and photos is provided.

In addition, there is a 'Contact Bar' drop-down menu, which allows adding four contacts, as well as access to recent activities such as messages, call history or emails with a single touch. The touch interface supports input via finger, stylus, and plectrum. Text input is possible with full QWERTY thumbboard software while stylus can be used for applications that require handwriting recognition. The phone is also believed to have a proximity sensor for auto turn-off feature.

Music
The 5800 XpressMusic has 81MB of internal memory and comes bundled with an 8GB microSDHC card; that can pack 6000 songs enjoyable over 3.5-mm jack, says the company. The memory is expandable up to 16GB maximum. Besides that, the 5800 features Nseries digital music player that supports audio files in MP3, SpMidi, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA format. With eight-band graphic equalizer, music can be enhanced with bass boosters, stereo widening and loudness. Similar equalization options are found in Sony Ericsson's Walkman series and K series digital music players.

Apart from the above, the 5800 boasts of dedicated audio chip that promises clearer surround sound output with integrated stereo speakers. Radio fanatics are taken care of by Stereo FM radio usable with headset.

Video and Picture
The phone houses an autofocus 3.2 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss Tessar lens that offers VGA video recording at 30 fps. The Symbian 5th Edition has a browser capable enough for Flash video streaming, along with H.264, On2 VP6 and Screnson Video Codecs. For that the browser uses a special plug-in based on the new Adobe Flash Lite 3, which is also found in N85.

The 5800 features 128 SDRAM memory, which helps in better video streaming for the browser having Adobe Flash Lite 3 plug-in. The Real Player featured is capable of playing videos in Landscape mode. The video editor can be used to cut long clips short as well. The maximum clip length is 1hr 30 minutes in high or normal quality, depending on the memory card size that you'd use.

You can view detailed specifications of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic here.

Nokia will make 5800 XpressMusic available worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2008 at an estimated price of 279 Euros (a little over Rs. 18,000) excluding taxes and subsidies. So, if it comes to India, expect more than the stated price, which includes taxes obviously. The phone does sound like it has a big opportunity to attract Nokia-loyal customers who're looking for touchscreen music phones at a mid-range pricing.

Stay tuned for full details on the performance of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic once our test labs get their hands on it.

LCD Screens For Commuter Trains (Metro) And Railway Stations

2009-03-09T09:54:00.001+05:30

Large LCD screens can be found on the train, at the railway station and in railway control rooms. Recently, January 9, 2009, the Indian Western Railways announced that they will install 4,000 large panel LCD screens in 67 trains. The LCD screens will be installed by an OOH media company who will earn revenue from the advertisement on the screens and Western Railways will get a license fee of Rs 7 Crore (approx. US$1.75M) per year for the duration of the contract (which is 5 years). These LCD screens will play a mix of entertainment, information and advertising for 18 hours a day in all trains. LCD screens can also be found in the railway stations. Trivandrum Central, the biggest railway station in the state of Kerala in India, is considered "swanky" by most visitors as a result LCD flat screen televisions contributing to the overall look and feel.

However the LCD display needs for these railway displays are usually similar. Below we outline key needs of LCD screens for railways:

Price: Price is an important criteria however many OOH media companies, to their detriment, usually buy the cheapest LCD screen available for a given format size. Railways require rugged closed LCD displays. Buying cheap LCD displays or LCD TVs which are not closed boxes, may result in premature failure of the screen.

Ruggedness and 24x7 Operation Capability: LCD screens for railways need to be rugged. For this reason, it is important to have LCD informational displays vs. LCD TVs as LCD informational displays are fan-less closed box units that can offer protection from dust and other contaminants. Further LCD informational displays are made for 24x7 operation while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. Ruggedness and life of the LCD screen is very important to reduce failures of the LCD screens. LCD failures will cause inconvenience to passengers and may disrupt traffic flow at railway stations.

Network Capability: Be sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. The network connectivity allows for remote monitoring of the various LCD screens. Alarms can be set if an LCD screen is switched off or if it is not working. Power and other controls can be monitored remotely. For example, an energy saving feature can be activated so that when there is no signal, a power save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity. High definition, high brightness and high contrast ratio are important features for LCDs to have in railway environment for easy picture viewing. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there is background light being reflected on the screen. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check the viewing specifications to make sure meets your quality requirements

Slow-scan (legacy) Signal Capability: If the LCD screens are being installed in the old chassis of the old CRT television or in a mixed network of CRT televisions and LCD displays, the LCD screen needs to be slow-scan legacy signal compatible.

New LCD screen features are continuously emerging. Check with the LCD screen manufacturer to learn about new features. Read other articles and make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

More details about the Sharp LCD panel can be found at Sharp Business Systems LCD site http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com

Sony HDR-SR11 Review

2009-02-20T10:26:00.001+05:30

The Sony HDR-SR11 is a solid, beefy charcoal-gray and black-bodied camcorder. Pick it up and you know it’s sturdy without the lighter-than-air feel of inexpensive Mini DV and DVD camcorders or even expensive flash-only models such as the Canon Vixia HF10 . It weighs 20.4 ounces without the battery, 23.4 with and measures 3.37 x 3 x 5.5 (WHD, in inches). By comparison the HF10 with 16GB of on-board capacity weighs around 15 ounces but it holds only two hours of Full HD video versus over seven for the Sony. Even with the extra weight it fits nicely in the palm of your hand once you adjust the Velcro wrist strap.

The front of the -SR12 is dominated by a 12x Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* (T star) lens which equals 40-480mm in 35mm terms. This is a solid range but like the HF10, I wish the opening focal length was a bit wider for shooting landscapes. The lens has a built-in cover that opens and shuts when you power on/off. Also here is a built-in auto flash to help your stills. This camcorder is one of the first featuring a 5.7-megapixel CMOS imaging device which not only helps deliver the Full HD video but improves photos as well. Sony uses a bit of digital legerdemain (interpolation) to give the 10MP images touted on the spec sheet (more on these in the Performance and Use section). Still this 5.7MP sensor is one of the most potent ever used in a consumer camcorder. The $1,099 Vixia HF10 uses a 3.2MP CMOS sensor, by comparison.

Other front features include a small backlight compensation button—a nice option to have quickly on hand--the remote sensor/infrared port and the CAM CTRL dial. The latter lets you quickly move into manual focus and fine-tune adjustments. This is the default setting but you can change it to exposure, AE or WB shift, if that’s more to your liking. And if you decide to shoot in total darkness using the NightShot mode, keep your hands off the infrared port since that’s the illumination for the video. Remember NightShot videos are lovely shades of green and an acquired taste. Sleeping babies still look cute, no matter what the color!

Along with the strap, on the right you’ll find the HDD safely tucked away with a few unobtrusive embossed logos. Unlike almost every other camcorder, the HDR-SR11 has quality doors covering the outputs rather than flimsy pieces of plastic. Nicely done, Sony. The far left compartment has the USB and A/V outs while near the front are mic and headphone jacks along with a mini HDMI output. As an added bonus, the –SR11 is supplied with a Handycam Station that repeats several of the ports found on the camcorder itself (DC-in, USB and A/V out) along with a Disc-Burn button that lets you copy material to DVD on your PC. Realize these DVDs will have AVCHD-encoded video if you’re shooting in HD and only work on Blu-ray players; you won’t see anything on a legacy DVD machine.

The left side has a piano black finish and features a swing-out 3.2-inch 16:9 touchscreen LCD. This high-quality display is rated 921K pixels, far greater than the typical 230K dots found on most screens. You use the LCD not only to frame your subjects but to walk through the various menu options. Simply tap on an icon on the bottom right with your fingertip and you have access to five screens worth off camcorder options ranging from type of focus, spot metering, scene modes, white balance, fades as well adjusting the mic and video quality. Move into camera mode and there are four screens with various options. Conversely you can just press the Easy button on opposite the LCD and the –SR11 is in full-on Auto mode where you simply aim-and-forget. For the most part, I liked the menu system; it’s very easy to follow and operate. Some may complain there are no options for shutter speed, aperture and so on but I really didn’t miss them. I did have some issues with the system as I’ll point out in the Performance section.

Emerging Trend - Large LCD Monitors For Surveillance and Security

2009-02-06T07:25:00.000+05:30

Increasingly video-based surveillance and security systems are being widely adopted by both corporations and consumers primarily due to increasing need for surveillance in these turbulent times but also due to affordability of security systems, ease with which surveillance systems can be installed and value-add features such remote monitoring that address special surveillance needs. As a result video-based surveillance systems are increasingly appearing in public areas such as airport lounges, shopping centres, retail stores, colleges, universities, manufacturing facilities and corporate offices. These video surveillance systems can be CCTV or IP based. Consider the benefits that a video surveillance system provides and the broad adoption by the market is quite understandable. A surveillance and security system:

· Helps deter employee theft and shoplifting theft,
· Helps monitor & document performance in manufacturing or other facilities resulting in potential reduction in maintenance cost and/or employee productivity improvement,
· May help reduce insurance cost and fraudulent liability claims, and
· Can continuously document events so your entire business has greater protection.

Reasons for Large LCD Monitor Adoption:Within these surveillance systems packages, large LCDs monitors (>42") are becoming the industry norm. The reasons being:

· Size: Large screens allow for continuous and simultaneous monitoring of multiple camera video feeds on one screen with clarity. Smaller screens require that the images from the video feeds to rotate creating holes in the monitoring data.

· 24x7 Operations: Professional LCD monitors are meant for 24x7 "round the clock" operations with long life. CRT televisions or Plasma television each have their issues with round the clock operations such as static or flicker for CRT televisions. Also, the life of a CRT or Plasma TV is much shorter when operated in 24x7 operation mode as compared to an LCD monitor. CRT and Plasma televisions are built to be on for a few hours per day.

· Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity which is especially helpful when the camera is being zoomed in or multiple images are viewed simultaneously. High Definition LCD TV allows you to view minute details like number plates of a speeding car, face of a person etc. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there is background light being reflected on the screen. It is harder to reduce glare in CRT or plasma televisions. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check the viewing specifications to make sure meets your quality requirements.

· Robustness: LCDs generate less heat than a CRT or Plasma television. The fan-less design for most large LCD monitors results in a closed box display with less noise. The fan-less design and the closed box display also results in less dust entering the system and provides for a more robust architecture.

· Space: LCD monitors are flat panel displays requiring less space than normal CRT TVs. They can be wall mounted. The LCD monitor can be encapsulated in a fire retardant frame to protect the display

· Better Video and Data Merger: Increasingly programs are being utilized to identify theft or issues in real time and data is being merged onto the video stream in real time. LCDs provide for better merging and viewing of data with video.

· Remote Monitoring and Operation of Large LCD Screens: Alarms can be set if an LCD screen is switched off. Power and other controls can be monitored remotely. For example, an energy saving feature can be activated so that when there is no signal, a power save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.

· Value-add Features: Value-add features such as touch screen zoom-in /zoom-out and image swap or other functions such as internet access can be easily found or added onto LCD monitors.

Purchase Consideration When Buying a Large LCD Monitor: Besides price there are a few items to consider when purchasing an LCD monitor.

· Match LCD Monitor to Camera Capabilities: If you buy a monitor with lower resolution than the cameras installed then the camera capabilities will not come through. Ideally the monitor should be equal or better resolution than the camera. Also, if the cameras are black and white, then a black and white monitor can be used.

· Input /Output Connectors on the Monitor: With the increasing use of PC and digital video devices, it is important to have both analog VGA and digital DVI input terminals to the monitor. Also, be sure that the monitor has BNC connectors for direct connection from a video feed to the display. BNC connectors support video looping, which provides output (loops back) to a centralized recording facility (DVR) or to other displays in a daisy-chain pattern. When scrolling through different images, this allows for seamless integration between pictures.

· Picture Quality Features: Consider the resolution, contrast ratio, brightness, colour reproduction and response time to meet your surveillance need.

· Value-add Features: Consider the value-adds that address your need. Such as, do you need remote monitoring, touch screen capability, or internet access?

Make the knowledgeable decision and your surveillance system can address your needs for many years.

For more information on LCD monitors, check out Sharp's official LCD monitor site! http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com/

Sharp 108” LCD TV /Display: An Eye-Catcher for Businesses!

2009-01-06T10:17:00.000+05:30

In November, Sharp India did the product release for the largest flat panel LCD display in the world – the 108-inch LB-1085 model. It is an eye-catcher that stops you in your tracks to just look at the crystal clear picture — better than what one would see in a movie theater.

Basic Features: With screen dimensions of 93.9-inches wide by 52.9-inches high (7.8-feet by 4.4-feet), full-HD resolution with 6.21 million pixels (1,920 x 1,080), a TFT (thin-film transistor) active matrix drive system, and array of inputs, including HDMITM, Blue-ray and DVI-I for high definition connections, it is not surprising that the picture is awe-inspiring. The contrast ratio is 1200:1, producing a good black color, the brightness is 400 cd/m2, producing bright vivid colors, and the response speed of 6ms is super-fast for viewing fast moving videos.

Once you see a movie or play a video game on this screen, you cannot imagine viewing a smaller screen. However, at current prices of INR 97 lakhs, this is only going to be accessible to a few exclusive high net-worth individuals and sure to be a prize possession for the limited few that can afford these TVs.

Business Value Proposition: The value proposition should be more acceptable to corporate looking to leverage world-class infrastructure to attract and retain customers or those building an office or boardroom environment that will be current for a few years. The fan-less design makes the 108-inch Sharp LCD display more attractive than the 103-inch Panasonic Plasma display, not because of the larger size but because of the robustness cutting edge LCD technology and closed fan-less design architecture. Combine the robustness of the unit with fact that LCD images are easier to view in ambient light than plasma images, viewing angles being approximately the same (the viewing angle for the 108-inch Sharp LCD is 176°) and the fact that LCD displays can be operated 24x7 for over 5 years with no deterioration in image quality, 108-inch Sharp LCD should be the longer term choice for businesses.

Other features will welcomed by businesses:
· Remote Monitoring and Management of Monitors: Up to 100 LCD monitors can be monitored and managed remotely. For example, the power can be switched off to conserve energy and remote diagnostics can be performed to diagnose problems with the monitor before dispatching a technician to fix the problem.
· Efficient Power Management: The 108” monitor is equivalent to having four 52” monitors placed together, however the power usage is much better than having four 52” displays.
· Fan-less Design for Quieter Operation: No fans in the display, results not only in a more robust architecture that better protects the display from dust and other environmental conditions, but there is less noise.

Business Usage: We will not be surprised to see these displays appear in:
· High-end malls: Not just to highlight or advertise key products and shops, but to show music videos and events at the mall. How can this not jazz up the malls and in the current environment of using every tool to drive traffic to the mall, this display will surely will be a must-have feature
· Live Events, Trade Shows and Reality TV Sets: Grabbing attention in all these applications is the key to success and 108-inch display does just that
· Training Centres: With LCD being a better technology to show both data images and along with the size advantage, we will be sure to see more training centres using the 108-inch Sharp display. Combine digital whiteboard capabilities that can be added-on and the value-add is even more significant.
· Security Monitoring, Network Operation Centers & Other Control and Command Centres: The ability to see multiple images at the same time and the ability to zoom in and out on troubled spot creates a value-proposition for this large display
· Advertising: Again the Wow! factor will drive adoption in this market

More details about the Sharp 108-inch LCD panel can be found at Sharp Business Systems LCD site (http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com) or go to www.sbsil.com and select “Professional LCD Display”.

Nokia N78, quad-band phoneGSM/GPRS/EDGE Symbian smartphone

2008-12-19T12:53:00.000+05:30

Nokia announced several new phones and these phones are going to be released to the market really soon. So it would be useful for all of you whom are interested in these phones. Here are the updated release dates compiled for you.

Nokia N78 is quad-band phoneGSM/GPRS/EDGE Symbian smartphone. It has also dual band HSDPA support. It is integrated with a FM transmitter which allows any music to be played at FM Radio. Nokia N78 has the same menu with the Nokia N81. Nokia N78 uses S60 3rd edition, FP2 and has a 2.4″ QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT display with 16M colors. It offers A-GPS support, Wi-Fi, 70MB on-board memory, expandable via microSD slot.

Surprisingly Nokia N78’s camera is only 3.2 mega pixel auto focus camera. Again it may disappoint you but it can record video in VGA resolution at 15fps. However it can also play VGA videos at 30fps. The connectivity set includes the mentioned Wi-Fi b/g with UPnP, microUSB v2.0, 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP stereo audio.

Should Businesses buy a Projector or an LCD display?

2008-12-15T13:26:00.000+05:30

With the price of large (>32”) LCD displays decreasing rapidly and new functionalities being added to LCD displays, does it still make sense for businesses to buy a projector vs. an LCD display?

Some of the variables to consider when evaluating this question are product quality, price, picture quality, screen size and other such considerations. We discuss these and other factors from a typical business organization perspective. Read other articles and make your informed judgement.

Product Life: LCD TVs or displays typically have a backlight life of 30,000 to 60,000 hours (ie, if you have the display on for ~6 hours every day, the backlight will last for 16 years). Even then the backlight can be replaced in most LCD displays. A projector bulb typically has a life of 2,000 hours.

Price Considerations: A basic projector can be found for INR 25,000. However, if the projector is going to be used for video conferencing or board room presentation, a high resolution, good contrast ratio and saturated colour projector would be required. The cost of such a projector is close to INR 1 lakh. Thereafter, you need to factor in the prices of projector bulb and projection screens. A typical projector bulb needs to be replaced almost every year or two with bulbs costing Rs 20,000+ per bulb. We have added these costs over a five-year period to compare a projector vs. an LCD (see chart below). With 46” LCD TV or display costing around Rs 135,000 – Rs 150,000 and dropping, price becomes less of an issue when considering whether to buy a Projector or LCD display

Figure: Total Cost of Ownership Comparison for Projector vs. LCD Display

Basic Device capital cost for projector is INR 70,000 and that of an LCD display is INR 150,000, Projector Screen Capital Cost (Wall Mount Screens INR 5-15K) is INR 10,000, Consumable cost of the projector is 20,000 x 3 = INR 60,000, Consumable life of a projector is 2,000hrs and that of an LCD display is 60,000hrs and the Cost of Ownership of a projector is Rs.140, 000/- and Rs.150, 000/- for an LCD display.

Assume: 5years of usage @ 5hrs a day ~ 6600hrs of use. This translates to 4 lamps in 5 years requiring the customer to buy 3 lamps in addition to 1 supplied with machine.

What is clear from the above figure is that a Full High Definition 46” LCD Display is, at best, only marginally costlier than a XGA Projector of ~2500AL. Additional costs of low screen installation costs and lower device loss costs are purely additional.

Picture Quality: Projectors such as a DLP or LCD projector use glass panels to combine red, green and blue colours to create the image. When sitting close to screen, the viewer can see the different colours at the borders of an image, aptly described as the rainbow effect. The rainbow effect takes away from the image quality and can give headaches. High-end projectors have been able to reduce the rainbow effect, however the problem still remains and these high-end projectors cost more. LCD TV or LCD displays do not have rainbow effect issues and the quality of the picture is good at close range.

Rather, projectors cannot compare with the picture quality for an LCD display. The vividness of the colours, the contrast ratio, the colour saturation and image sharpness are much better for an LCD display than a projector. When viewing a projector image, especially in ambient light, the viewer has to dim the lights or close the curtains unless the business has purchased an even more costly higher lumen projector. Not true with LCD displays, as the brightness and colour quality are much better.

Viewing angles used to be an issue with LCD displays but this issue is no longer true. Most LCD displays can be viewed from up to 176 degrees.

Dead or Stuck Pixels: Projectors can suffer from dead pixels and LCD displays can suffer from stuck pixels. Both dead pixels and stuck pixels result in white spots in the projected image. However, the manufacturers of both technologies have worked hard to minimize such issues and in most cases they provide warranty against such issues.

Screen Size: A common thought is that screen size is not an issue for most projectors as the thinking is that the projector image can be made larger by moving the projector away from the screen. This is not true as the image quality deteriorates as the image becomes larger. With projectors, most buyers opt for maximum optimized projector image sizes from 76-inches to 120-inches and the actual working normal projection image used is much smaller. Today, if businesses need a large LCD display in the maximum projector image size, a wide variety of competitive LCD displays can be found in this range.

Portability: Projectors are easy to carry and move around. For a business this could be a value-add or a drawback. LCD displays are durable and can be moved however they are not as light as projectors.

Power Consumption: Projector power consumption varies more from unit to unit, with brighter conference projectors requiring more power than smaller portable projectors. It is hard to compare the two technologies on this performance parameter.

Connectivity: Most LCD displays have more number and different types of ports than projectors. As a result more types of devices can be connected to an LCD display than a projector.

Other Value-Add Features: New features are appearing in LCD displays that could be quite valuable for businesses. For example, touch screen features on LCD displays allow for LCD displays to be used as digital whiteboards where the data written on the display can easily get captured electronically in a text document.

For more information on Sharp’s LCD monitors, check out Sharp’s official LCD monitor site! http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com/

Nokia's N97 Smartphone, a Laptop in Your Pocket

2008-12-04T07:57:00.000+05:30

Review on Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

2008-11-28T10:28:00.000+05:30

Product summary

The good: The Sony PSP is a slick portable gaming system highlighted by an impressive wide-screen display and PS2-like graphics. It also boasts built-in Wi-Fi, a Web browser, and the ability to play music and videos, as well as to store images.

The badThe bad: The Sony PSP's multimedia functionality is underwhelming, especially for video, requiring expensive memory cards. The load times on the UMD games can be excessive.

The bottom lineThe bottom line: The Sony PSP elevates portable gaming to the next level, but its multimedia functionality falls short of its full potential.

Specifications:
Type Handheld game system
Form Factor Handheld
Width 6.7 in
Depth 2.9 in
Height 0.9 in
Weight 9.2 oz

Game Console
Color Support Color
Media Type UMD (Universal Media Disc)

Processor
Type 333 MHz
Data Width 128 bit

Memory / Storage
RAM Installed ( Max ) 32 MB - Integrated
Cache Memory 4 MB

Display
Type LCD display - 4.3 in TFT active matrix - Color - Internal
Display Format 130,560 pixels
Color Support 24-bit (16.7 million colors)
Resolution 480 x 272

Audio
Built-in Speakers Speaker(s)
Sound Output Mode Stereo

Communications
Connectivity Features IrDA , IEEE 802.11

Input Device
Type Game pad - Integrated

Connections
Connector Type 1 x Headphones / remote control , 1 x USB ( Mini-USB Type B ) , 1 x DC power input
Expansion Slots Total (Free) Memory Stick PRO Duo

Power
Power Device Power adapter - External
Battery 1 x Game console battery - Rechargeable - Lithium ion
Included Qty 1
Capacity 1800 mAh

AT&T Launches New LG Incite Windows Mobile 6.1 Smartphone

2008-11-20T10:02:00.000+05:30

LG and AT&T have announced the launch of the new LG Incite Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone with stylish, sleek look and sophisticated technology, claiming as the first LG mobile device to offer Windows Media Player 10, supporting an enterprise-grade mobile solution which aimed to manage and protect Windows Mobile 6.1 phones - Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008.

“LG Mobile Phones has done an outstanding job in its first offering in the U.S. smartphone arena with the LG Incite, and AT&T is pleased to the be first U.S. carrier to offer an LG smartphone,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Smart Devices for AT&T’s wireless operations. “It is a great looking smartphone with powerful capabilities that will provide our customers with a new and outstanding choice in our Windows Mobile smartphone portfolio, which is the broadest in the industry.”

Impressive highlights of LG Incite from AT&T:

* Crystal-clear 3-inch WQVGA (240 x 400 pixels) 262K TFT LCD flat touch-sensitive screen
* 3 megapixel camera with auto focus and video recording capabilities
* Bluetooth 2.0 capable with EDR and integrated Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
* Built-in aGPS supports AT&T Navigator
* microSD memory card slot supports up to 16GB
* Equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft ActiveSync 4.5
* On-screen virtual keyboards: a full, QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode and a 20-key keyboard in portrait view (with haptic keys that provide vibration feedback)
* Talk Time: Up to 8.67 hours ; Standby Time: Up to 21 days

“LG is excited to offer a phone with a different capability than anything we’ve offered in the U.S. thus far,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of Marketing and Product Strategy for LG Mobile Phones. “As a leading provider of handsets, LG constantly looks toward the future and strives to incorporate the newest technologies as they become available to our consumers.”

According to the press release, “The Incite is pre-loaded with everything you’d expect, including AT&T Navigator, powered by TeleNav, featuring turn-by-turn voice and on-screen directions with colorful 3-D moving maps that can be used in vehicles or while walking. AT&T Navigator also features traffic alerts, re-routing and other location-based services. There also is business and personal e-mail access through Microsoft Direct Push and AT&T’s Xpress Mail service, instant messaging and AT&T Mobile Music service, which provides fast access to downloadable music from eMusic.”

The new LG Incite smartphone which measures 4.21 x 2.2 x 0.55 inches and weights only 4.23 ounces (with battery) is now available exclusively through AT&T for $199.99, after a new two-year service contract and $100 mail-in rebate.

Notebook Mice BeWare

2008-11-19T10:03:00.000+05:30

Tired of using the trackpad ? Why don’t you get a mouse ? You did ? But it’s too big or it’s not what you wanted ? Than Razer has the solution for you. Razer just unveiled their Pro|Click Mobile NoteBook mouse. It has a a 1200 dpi resolution which delivers a very accurate use, an ambidextrous design, it uses Bluetooth for notebook connection ( no Bluetooth adapter included though, only for those with built-in hardware), powered by 2 AA bateries an a black, white, red, white and pick color scheme to fit all tastes. A pouch is also included to help protect the mouse while traveling. All of this for the price of $49.99. Are you still reading ? I thought you’d be shopping by now.

Mid-end Sony Ericsson XPERIA

2008-11-18T11:00:00.000+05:30

A mid-end Sony Ericsson XPERIA concept phone has surfaced — as reaction to the Xperia X1 price tag. Courtesy of Razec from Esato, this time in the 2009 SE phones thread. Codenamed as Sore, this phone will be powered by Windows Mobile.

It’s much the same as the previous designs, except for the fact that the display is smaller. This can mean only one thing: this is the “dumbed down” version of the phone or the “poor man’s XPERIA”, if you dare to call it that.

Why is SHARP the LCD Technology Leader for Large TVs and Information Displays?

2008-11-17T10:56:00.000+05:30

Did you know that Sony is looking to buy the LCD panels for its large TVs and information displays from the Osaka LCD plant two-thirds owned by Sharp? (Read: Business Week article: “Sony and Sharp’s LCD Linkup”, 27 February 2008).

It Starts with the Most Advanced LCD Manufacturing Plant: Since developing the world’s first 14-inch color TFT LCD TV in 1988, Sharp has consistently led the industry leading edge LCD technology. Today Sharp’s Kameyama, Japan manufacturing facility is the most advanced LCD panel manufacturing facility in the world. The plant uses 8th –generation technology to produce glass substrates for LCD panels. The new Osaka plant, to be operational by 2010, will use 10th –generation technology to produce the world’s largest LCD panel sheets, measuring 2.8 meters by 3 meters in size where each sheet can produce six 60-inch sets or three 108-inch sets. The LCD panel produced with this technology will be the thinnest and lightest than any LCD panel produced to date.

The Highest Resolution and Industry Leading Picture Quality: The Sharp’s LCD Information Display, with full high definition 1920 x 1080 native resolutions and with flicker-free, full color (16.7 million) TFT active matrix LCDs, delivers dynamic visual impact to audiences with true life color reproduction and crisp text image on a large screen format. Sharp’s monitors offer extensive color adjustment capabilities including black level (brightness), contrast tint, white balance (RGB manual setting) and gamma value. The LCD technology achieves high brightness, high contrast ratio and wide 176 degree viewing angle for large format displays with response times of 6ms or less. And these monitors come with anti-glare and low-reflection properties enabling Sharp monitors to be placed in bright areas where other screens might appear washed out. These full high definition displays are a must for a variety of applications like Conference Room LCD White Boards, Digital Signage, Exhibitions, Education, CAD/CAM Designing, Medical Imaging, Simulation, Process Control, and Stock Exchanges applications. It is also finding increasing use in Video-conferencing to deliver true to life images along with the Dolby 5.1 channel sound.

New Features and Sizes that will WOW! You: Sharp’s monitors can be operated in landscape or portrait modes. Very few competitors provide this feature for large monitors. A Black TFT/Bright Pixel Elimination feature ensures that if a pixel in the LCD monitor fails, it is effectively invisible to the viewer. And Sharp’s 108” LCD monitors are the world’s largest commercially available LCD monitors. In addition to leading the movement toward larger screen sizes, Sharp has met the demand for superior image quality by achieving such “firsts” as a resolution that is four times higher than that of current HD (4096x2160), the world’s highest contrast ratio (1,000,000:1) and the ultimate in fast-motion image processing with 120Hz frame rate conversion and an incredible pixel response time of 4ms.

Operational Efficiency and Reliability that Saves Money: Large screen display customers are experiencing lower operational costs, increased efficiencies and high reliability with Sharp LCD monitors. Sharp closed-box fan-less design protects the screens from dust to maintain the life of the screen

For more information on Sharp’s LCD monitors, check out Sharp’s official LCD monitor site!

Samsung debuts OMNIA - Everything you wish for in your Mobile

2008-11-15T21:47:00.000+05:30

The all-in-one Super phone from Samsung

New Delhi, September 24, 2008 : Samsung Mobile today announced the launch of its top of the line, premium, all- in- one Super phone, Samsung OMNIA in the Indian market. Samsung OMNIA (SGH-i900) brings together sophisticated style and fun, dynamic multimedia experience along with high performance business capabilities to raise the bar in mobile convergence and performance, taking the consumer's mobile experience to the NEXT level.

OMNIA, meaning ‘everything' in Latin and ‘wish' in Arabic, goes far beyond the current top-of-the-line features available in today's mobile phones. Announcing the launch of Samsung OMNIA in the country today, stated Mr Sunil Dutt, Country Head-Samsung Telecom, " Samsung OMNIA is our flagship model aimed at users who desire a lot of functionality, a lot of style, a lot of usability and a lot of entertainment in one innovative device. Samsung OMNIA will help users to be at the forefront of work and play and at the same time, to stay connected anytime, anywhere".

The all- in- one mobile with everything in touch

Samsung's patented TouchWiz user interface makes entering data and text simple. With unique widgets, users can customise and personalise the way they use their phone. Samsung OMNIA's high resolution touch-sensitive 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD screen uses intuitive tap, sweep, drag and drop operations as well as an on-screen qwerty keyboard. Further, the OMNIA facilitates easy and convenient calling and texting with a dedicated dome key for controlling communications.

Vivid, lively multimedia experience with the Samsung OMNIA

Samsung OMNIA comes with a five-megapixel CMOS camera with the latest value-added features, which include auto-focus (AF), face detection, smile detection and auto-panorama shot.

Available with 32 GB Memory (16GB Internal Memory + 16 GB MicroSD card from Sandisk) and 24 GB Memory (8GB Internal Memory + 16 GB MicroSD Card), Samsung OMNIA ensures ample storage space for digital assets.

It delivers the ultimate in digital entertainment with a wide 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD screen for viewing videos and slide shows in high-resolution and advanced audio capabilities. MultiCodec support for DivX, Xvid and other video formats eliminates the hassle of file format conversions.

"OMNIA is for people who expect the ULTIMATE from their mobile devices and who don't compromise on their desires. All functions of this device including amazing video quality are to be experienced to be believed as they set the NEXT benchmark in the industry" states Mr. Dutt.

Rounding out the fully comprehensive feature set, Samsung OMNIA also offers GPS, including navigation and geo-tagging capabilities, so users can get their bearings wherever work or life takes them.

Bringing a PC environment to Mobile

The new Samsung OMNIA allows users to switch seamlessly between Microsoft Outlook email and productivity applications that replicate the look and feel of their PC - with a stroke of their finger.

Based on the most up to date Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system, Samsung OMNIA gives users a mobile extension to their PC experience, with access to MS Office documents such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word. Users can also send and receive email and manage their appointments in Outlook while on the go. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system means users can download additional programs as they would on their PC and customize it for their individual needs. For ease of navigation, an optical mouse similar to those on laptop computers offers improved usability and one-handed control.

Samsung's pursuit for design perfection

The Samsung OMNIA presents Samsung's absolute leadership in design. It features an ultra-slim 12.5-mm profile and a platinum-look finish that fits snugly in the palm of the user's hand. The elegant hairline patterns on the back of the phone bring the perfection in style.

Samsung OMNIA is priced at Rs.39,999/- (32 GB Memory ) and Rs 37,999/- (24 GB Memory) .

Lenovo’s Thinkpad USB Secure Portable HDD

2008-11-15T17:10:00.000+05:30

Lenovohas introduced a new portable hard drive, designed to keep all your important data safe, the Thinkpad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive.

Two versions are available, one with 160GB of storage and the other with 320GB.

The drive features a numeric keypad which lets you ass a password to the drive, making sure that the data is encrypted using 128-bit advanced encryption, and that you are the only one able to access it.

These new secure portables hard drives will go on sale later in the month for $179 for the 160GB version and $219 for the 320GB version.

Solar Tree Gadget Charging Concept Is Natural Geek Beauty

2008-11-13T07:54:00.000+05:30

Great concept from designer Vivien Muller for a modular, Lego-like little bonsai tree with 54 mini photovoltaic panels as leaves to soak up juice from the sun and charge your gadgets. Adapters get tucked away beneath a nice little tray, and your gadgets lay on top, basking in the shade. Vivien can you make this, please? I can't keep a real plant alive worth a damn, but this I think could place in the windowsill and be just fine with. More shots of the detachable pieces follow.

Should you buy an LCD Monitor or an LCD TV?

2008-11-11T13:12:00.000+05:30

Lately businesses are buying large format (>32 inch) LCDs for video conferencing, boardrooms, receptions, and for a number of applications such as retail showroom advertising and surveillance. A key question being asked is whether they should buy an LCD monitor (also called LCD information display panel) or an LCD TV. Some people think that an LCD TV is an LCD monitor plus a TV tuner and they are surprised to find that an LCD monitor may cost more than an LCD TV. For them, it just doesn’t make sense.

Here’s what is an LCD monitor and what it is not:

A better image for LCD monitor: An LCD monitor produces higher quality images and has high brightness and contrast levels as well. An LCD TV is likely not going to offer the same resolution as an LCD monitor! This is could be very important when viewing data.

A longer-life more rugged-dust proof system: An LCD monitor is a closed end device with no fans and moving parts. An LCD TV usually has a fan, is not a closed box and may have moving parts. Most LCD monitors can be operated on a 24/7 basis however LCD TVs can not and the numbers of hours that an LCD TV can be operated should be checked. Typically LCD monitor has a life of 50,000 hours or more.

An LCD monitor can be operated 24/7: An LCD TV cannot and built for max 6-8 hour continuous operation.

Are you looking to connect displays together for advertising effect? An LCD Monitor can be easily connected together to create a video wall. The bezel can be removed and the gap between the monitors can be minimal and there are connection outlets in the monitor so that an image can be displayed across monitors to seem as one large image. This cannot be done in an LCD TV. LCD Monitors can be connected in a mirror image format so that the same image appears in all the monitors at the same time.

Lower energy consumption: The energy consumed by LCD monitor is very less and since the electro-magnetic radiations emitted are also less, it is also less hazardous to health.

Monitors can be networked: An LCD Monitor can be connected to the network and remotely controlled and monitored. As a business anyone would want to know which monitors are working and which are not from one central location so that a technician can be dispatched to take care of faulty monitors and this can easily be done incase of an LCD monitor. Further networked LCD monitors allow for remote content management and scheduling as well which is an added advantage for big businesses.

Should you buy an LCD monitor vs. LCD TV? Consider the different variables and make the knowledgeable choice.

For more information on LCD monitors check out LCD monitor sites such as Sharp, NEC and Samsung.

Samsung Metal L700 Mobile Review

2008-11-10T13:38:00.000+05:30

Samsung L700 is a lower midrange fella and its main selling points are solid construction, metal body and fast 3G speeds. Before you frown at the shortish specs list do remember that it's not aiming high. It's set instead to address a chronic shortage of style in this price range.

We are yet to see what kind of difference Samsung L700 will make, but you can bet it's going to be a tough fight against some pretty popular handsets there already. When we pick cell phones to review we rarely go down to this market segment, but our experience tells us the L700 will probably win its share of content customers.

While certainly not the hottest looker there is, we rarely see such commendable build quality and freehanded use of metal in the competition. We hit the pedal to the metal without much further ado to see how the L700 handles the race track.

What to Consider When Buying an LCD Monitor

2008-11-10T09:26:00.000+05:30

An LCD monitor, or Liquid Crystal Display monitor, is a screen actively sought after as a large format TV screen or an advertising screen as a result of the highest quality images produced on these screens.Top 10 items to consider when buying and LCD Monitor:

1. Resolution Quality: Some of the key features to consider when buying an LCD monitor are resolution quality and aspect ratio. In the era of Blue-ray and high definition, it is important to buy a Full HD monitor and not go with HD ready.

2. Number of USB Hubs: These hubs usually come with the display. They prove to be very useful for plugging various media devices directly to the display vs. going through a central medial player.

3. Pixel Defects: Sometimes, when the same image is left on the screen for long, the pixels get worn out or are dead. This develops a black or white dot on the screen, thus not producing any image in that area. Pixel defects may be as a result of manufacturing defects. Make sure the warranty covers Pixel defects or spotting defects.

4. Attached Speaker Evaluation: Some monitors come with attached speaker systems. This is usually expensive when compared to the separate speaker system and usually poor quality than a stand alone system. If such an attached speaker system is available in the monitor, then it should be noted that a quick-mute button and readily accessible volume controls should be available in the monitor itself.

5. Viewing Angle:Most new LCD monitors have wide viewing angles. It is important to consider viewing-angle performance if you plan to use the monitor to view images or movies. The best way to judge is to see the unit in person.

6. Digital interfaces: Data interfaces are very important for businesses. For example, as a business you would like to remotely manage and control the various LCD monitors. Businesses should strongly consider LCD information display (also called Professional Displays) vs. an LCD TV. The Professional Displays come with the right variety of interfaces. If entertainment and TV show watching are the only concerns then interfaces are less important as most LCD monitors come with adequate interfaces.

7. Bright Pixel Elimination Feature: New LCD monitors have bright pixel elimination feature that ensures if a failed pixel occurs on the monitor, it is effectively invisible to the viewer. Not a must-have but a good feature to have.

8. Configuration Programming Software: Included programs that let you configure display settings using your computer keyboard or mouse are a big improvement over struggling with tiny front-panel buttons.

9. Portrait Capability: Increasingly portrait format is being used for exhibitions and store displays. Be sure to check that the LCD monitor you are buying supports the portrait format. Using landscape format in portrait can result in reducing the life of the LCD monitor. Portrait-capable LCDs, however, often have superior viewing-angle performance. Not all LCD monitors.

10. Included Cables: Last but not the least item is to check to see what cables are included. Manufacturers often don't provide the digital cable on dual-input models.

As a wrap-up, with technologies such as LCD monitors, it pays to buy the new generation solution as it will extend the time you will use the monitor.

LCD vs. Plasma Large Screens for Businesses: Why LCD wins ?

2008-11-09T18:55:00.000+05:30

Businesses are rapidly adopting large high definition TVs and monitors for advertising, video conferencing, conference rooms, entertainment and information display, among other uses. We talked with a number of audio visual consultants, system integrators, distributors, vendors and customers and found there was confusion and misunderstanding as to what is better – LCD or Plasma for large screen use for various applications. Understandable, considering the rapidly evolving technologies, numerous choices, the gamut of reviews and the various applications these large screens are being used. We are hoping we can clarify but research the technologies yourself and make the knowledgeable choice.

Quick Introduction to the Technology: Plasma screens use a matrix of plasma gas cells which are charged by electrical voltage to create a picture. LCD screens are made up of liquid crystals placed between two glass plates. Below we compare the two technologies on features important to businesses.

LCD vs. Plasma Comparison: Size
LCDs are generally lighter and thinner as they don't contain the gas-filled chambers and heavy glass panels present in plasmas. Historical wisdom was that larger size screens available were Plasma while smaller size screens were LCDs. Today, commercially, Panasonic has 103” plasma while Sharp offers 108” LCD. Smaller size Plasma screens are currently not available. A draw for large size screens. Smaller size Plasma screens are currently not available. LCD vs. Plasma for Screen Size: A draw for large size screens.

LCD vs. Plasma Comparison: Picture Quality

A number of variables go into picture quality. We will outline them and summarize the findings.

Video Resolution: High resolution is available for both Plasma and LCD screens and resolution is usually comparable for both technologies (1920x1080 is considered as high resolution and available in both Plasma and LCD screens). Lower price models for both Plasma and LCDs have lower resolution and typically for <45” screens they are 1366x768 in resolution or lower. Be sure that you compare apples to apples. Overall: A draw between the two technologies.

Data Resolution: Data resolution for LCDs is much better than for Plasma. The number of pixels per square inch on an LCD display is typically higher than any other display technology including Plasma, so LCD monitors are especially good at displaying large amounts of data. For the same reasons, LCD screens will also be better screens for video gaming than Plasma screens. Plasma displays produce a very jaggy image when viewing static images from computer images. Users may want to consider a commercial version plasma if their application calls for a lot of computer use.

Color Accuracy: Plasma color richness and naturalness will prevail in rooms with lower to normal lighting due to higher contrast ratio. LCD screen contrast ratio is relatively lower, but with anti-glare & brightness features of LCD screens, LCDs will be better in ambient light or in brightly lit rooms. As businesses usually work during the day in ambient light, LCDs are more desirable for most business applications.

Viewing Angle: Plasma manufacturers have made much of their 160° viewing angles. However with new LCDs the view angles are 158°. There is not much difference between the two technologies in viewing angle

Burn-in: There have been concerns with burn-in for Plasma screens especially for static images. However, many Plasma manufacturers have improved their anti-burn in technology. There are no burn-in issues with LCD screens.

LCD vs. Plasma for Picture Quality: LCD wins.

LCD vs. Plasma Comparison: Life of the Screen
LCDs can be operated 24x7 for 50,000+ hours equivalent to 5+ years of continuous viewing. Plasma, on the other hand, utilizes slight electric currents to excite a combination of noble gases (i.e., argon, neon, xenon), which glow red, blue, and/or green. This is an essentially active phenomenon, so the phosphoric elements in plasma displays fade over time. Typically half life is 30,000 hours but some manufacturers state a new half life of 60,000 hours. At half life, the phosphors in a plasma screen will glow half as brightly as they did when the set was new. There is no way to replace these gases; the display simply continues to become dimmer with use. An LCD TV will last as long as its backlight - and in many models the backlight bulbs can be replaced! Since this is nothing more than light passing through a prismatic substrate, there is essentially nothing to wear out in an LCD monitor.

LCD vs. Plasma for Screen Life: LCD wins.

LCD vs. Plasma Comparison: Power consumption
Plasma TVs use more power than LCD – twice as much. Plasmas use electricity to light each and every pixel you see on a screen - even the dark ones. Also, note Plasma TVs get heated up quickly and require fans to cool the TV.However, some manufacturers point out that the power use of a plasma TV is directly dependent on picture brightness, whereas an LCD picture requires a constant source of illumination. The theory goes that plasma should use less power over time. But in reality plasma TVs require significantly more power to achieve the same brightness level as an LCD. This is significant, since your investment on UPS (higher KVA) will have to be much larger to give similar backup to a system using Plasma. No wonder, IBMs & HPs never even considered Plasma for their Laptop screens!

LCD vs. Plasma for Power Consumption: LCD wins.

LCD vs. Plasma Comparison: Lightness and Versatility
Both types of flat-panel screens can be wall-mounted. Plasma sets weigh a lot more than LCD screens (even those of comparable screen-size), so setting them up or moving around could be a problem, especially wall mounting in new houses with stud walling. Further the bezel for LCD screens can be removed and a video wall solution can be created – can be quite valuable for advertising and monitoring

LCD vs.Plasma for Lightness and Versatility: LCD wins.

To summarize, while for home video solutions, Plasma may be an OK choice, but for office and professional usage, LCD is definitely the correct choice!