Muscling in on the mobile market

Most people would agree that the iPod rejuvenated the digital music market and, by the by, restored the fortunes of Apple.

With the launch of the iPhone, Apple is looking to do the same again - set the trends, corner the market and leave everyone else looking like also-rans.

But selling phones to people is very different to selling them a portable music player.

To begin with, most people already have a mobile phone. In the UK, upwards of 80% of households have one. Worldwide, more than one billion handsets were shipped in 2006. By comparison Apple, which has a more than a 70% share of the mobile music player market, sold 39 million iPods in 2006.

And with the iPhone, Apple will not be creating a market, it will be muscling in on a lot of very established companies.

Direct competition

A quick look at the technologies Apple is pushing in the iPhone shows that many others devices, either on shop shelves or about to be launched, share these features.

Take the touchscreen, for instance. Many smartphones - which more resemble a PDA than a plain handset - can be used with a stylus or a deft finger.

Nokia's 6708 and SonyEricsson's M600 and P990 are examples of this. All are made for corporate road warriors and, it has to be said, they look like it.

SonyEricsson also makes the W950 music-playing phone that has a touchscreen plus buttons, stylus and handwriting recognition. It also looks a lot funkier than the business versions.

The iPhone is not the only mobile with a touchscreen

Gilles Oriol, product marketing manager for Western Europe at SonyEricsson, declined the opportunity to talk directly about Apple's iPhone. "We do not comment on rival products," he said.

But, he told the BBC News website, that he "doubted" that SonyEricsson would ever make a phone that only had a touchscreen.

"It must remain a good telephone first," he said, "consumers are more willing to dial a number with the keyboard than they are to do it with a touchscreen."

"Also," he added, "the point about a touchscreen is that it affects battery time. You need a powerful battery because to use the touchscreen means it remains on all the time."

Apple's iPhone is due to make its appearance in the US in June, but before the big day Asian rivals will have launched handsets that will be in much more direct competition.

In February, Samsung showed off the F700 that resembles the iPhone in many ways. The screen of the F700 is smaller at 2.78in (7.06cm) compared with 3.5in (8.9cm) for the iPhone - but in almost every other respect they are very similar.

The two have comparable amounts of memory and features, but the F700 has the advantage of including a slide-out keyboard and a five megapixel camera. By comparison, the iPhone Steve Jobs showed off in January only has a two megapixel camera.

Looks matter

But the greatest competition for the iPhone in terms of looks might come from the phone that LG has designed with Italian fashion house Prada.

Not only does this have a touchscreen, but it also shares some of the sleek looks of the Apple gadget.

LG's Prada phone

John Bernard, marketing manager for LG UK and Ireland, said the Prada phone was being designed long before Apple made its announcement.

He said that Prada had been looking for a partner to help it make and market handsets for several years.

Prada oversaw the design process for the phone, he said, and had the final say on what it looked like and the way that people navigated through its many menus.

"It looks gorgeous and that's what people are going to be buying it for," he said.

So far LG has no plans to sell the phone in the US, believing the customers in Europe and Asia are a better fit for its charms. It will be aimed at those who are aged between 20 and 45, said Mr Bernard.

He admitted that the slimline look of the phone had meant some compromises on features such as onboard memory.

But, he said, for many consumers good looks outweighed features. "The Motorola Razr is not a very well-specced device but it's one of the most popular ever."

The fact that people will buy for looks rather than features suggests, said Mr Bernard, that the mobile market is changing. No longer do people buy phones for what they can do but for what they say about them as a person.

A fact that has worked well for Apple when it comes to selling iPods - but the competition in the mobile world suggests that may be a tough act to follow.

Source

NOKIA: Nokia announced the new Nokia 6288 for China market

Nokia 6288: Captivating slide phone with leading-class video
capture and playback capabilities

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced the new Nokia 6288 for China
market, a compact tri-band GSM slide phone that adds high-quality
video capture and playback capabilities among its mix of other
compelling features. The built-in FM radio and music player on the
Nokia 6288 supports multiple formats such as MP3, AAC and eAAC+ allows
easily accessible mobile music enjoyment. Nokia 6288 has been launched
worldwide during Q4 2006 and since it has enjoyed strong sales
momentum, while this is a new version tailored to the requirements of
China market. The Nokia 6288 for China is expected to begin shipping
at the end of March, 2007.

"Nokia believes that high quality video recording and playback is fast
becoming a lifestyle trend in China - especially when you can freely
record whatever, wherever and whenever. The high quality playback of
video recordings or watching of favourite videos on its large, bright
2.2" QVGA (320x240 pixels), 262,144 colour display is exhilarating on
the Nokia 6288", said Marko Rantanen, Vice President of Nokia Mobile
Phone, SMO China Area. "We are seeing video fast becoming a mass
market phenomenon and can be seen as the next wave after digital
photography which is already supported in many of our Nokia devices".

The Nokia 6288 is ideal for smooth and high quality video playback
recorded on miniSD memory card fitted to its hot swappable slot (which
supports up to 2GB - miniSD card sold separately). Outfitted with a 2-
megapixel camera with 8X smooth digital zoom and integrated camera
flash, the Nokia 6288 makes it easy to capture rich colour still
images and videos of special moments.

The Nokia 6288 also includes dedicated camera and zoom buttons making
it even more convenient to record a video or snap a picture of family
and friends. Videos taken with the Nokia 6288 can be edited and sent
to family and friends via MMS and email or upload to video sharing
sites on the Internet. While Bluetooth technology lets you print
pictures directly to any compatible picture printer.

Besides its excellent video and imaging qualities, the Nokia 6288 also
supports Video Ring Tones for more fun and rich multimedia experience
and comprehensive organizer features with its calendar and contacts
synchronization capabilities.

The Nokia 6288 weighs approximately 115g and is available in high
gloss brilliant black. Other exciting colours are planned to be
introduced in the near future.

About Nokia

Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth
and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects
people to each other and the information that matters to them with
easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and
solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides
equipment, solutions and services for network operators and
corporations.

Source

Philips 598 Cell Phone Tells Women They're Too Fat

Philips is telling us that the 598 cell phone is designed specifically "for women" with all sorts of features that the feminine contingent may appreciate. We're not just talking about the glossy black casing accented by shiny gold trim. It's got a digital diary and datebook, shopping list, discount manager (which I guess goes well with the shopping list), body weight index, and basal metabolic rate measurement. Why don't they do like some of those phones available in Japan that keep track of that time of the month too?

I don't know about you, but most of the women that I have encountered just want a phone that looks nice and is easy to use. Sure, there's a contingent of tech-heads out there too, but then again, they probably wouldn't be all that interested in the basal metabolic rate feature.

One female commenter said, "As a woman, this phone does nothing for me. I don't need a phone version of a Cosmo mag telling me I'm too fat."

Source

AppleTV could extend iPod dominance: analysts

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - With Apple Inc. expected to roll out its AppleTV home media device this month after a slight delay, Wall Street analysts have begun to project what role the new gadget will play in consumers' living rooms - and in Apple's financial results.
Apple shares (AAPL : Apple Inc
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 91.13+1.54+1.72%

8:10pm 03/19/2007

Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
Create alertInsider
Discuss
Financials
Sponsored by:

AAPL91.13, +1.54, +1.7%) rose $1.52, or almost 2%, to close at $91.19 Monday after two analysts issued upbeat notes on the upcoming product.
The company originally said it would begin shipping AppleTV in February, but later set its release for March and has since remained tight-lipped. The product will allow users to transfer to their televisions the digital movies and music they've stored on their PCs using Apple's iTunes software.
Apple has sold more than 90 million iPod portable media players and has about 110 million active users of its iTunes online store, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. That customer base should "give Apple a significant early lead in the digital living room" over Microsoft Corp.'s Media Center PCs that run the Windows operating system, Munster wrote in a research note.
Because the iTunes customer base is nearly 10 times larger than the estimated 12 million active users of Media Center PCs, the AppleTV could be "a Trojan horse" that Apple can use to extend its dominance from portable digital players into the market for home media centers.
Comparing iTunes and AppleTV to the Microsoft (MSFT : Microsoft Corporation
News , chart , profile , more
Last: 27.83+0.50+1.83%

8:10pm 03/19/2007

Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
Create alertInsider
Discuss
Financials
Sponsored by:
MSFT27.83, +0.50, +1.8%) offering "is not apples-to-apples," Munster acknowledged, because the Media Center's television link goes through Microsoft's Xbox game console, whereas the AppleTV will stream digital content directly to a TV using a wireless link.
Munster expects Apple to sell 2 million AppleTVs in 2007. He projected that every 500,000 units sold above that target will add 2 cents a share to his calendar-year earnings estimate of $3.11 a share.
Munster currently holds an outperform rating and a $124 price target on Apple's stock.
Munster's comments echoed those of ThinkEquity Partners analyst Jonathan Hoopes, who said Monday that even though the upcoming iPhone has claimed much of the Apple spotlight, "the potential is huge for this small (AppleTV) device."
The product will come with 40 gigabytes of storage, capable of holding up to 50 hours of movies and TV shows, and will carry a $299 price tag. The device measures about eight-by-eight inches and is one-inch thick.
Hoopes said that in addition to being able to wirelessly stream content stored on iTunes, the AppleTV potentially offers the ability to provide services traditionally offered by cable TV companies -- including digital-video recording, video-on-demand content, gaming and advertising.
Hoopes kept his buy rating and $120 price target on Apple's stock unchanged.

Source

New Google Phone to rival Blackberry and Apple iPhone?

Though best known for their pioneering search engine technology, Google have their digits in many slices of the internet pie. From mapping the planet with Google Earth to online movie clips with Google Video, not to mention more obscure developments emanating from Google labs, such as Google Mars and Google Ride Finder, the search engine king is certainly not afraid of exploring new areas of technology.

One of the most hotly speculated Google offshoots is the somewhat mythical Google Phone. Bigmouthmedia first reported on the Google Phone in December 2006, but since then, Google has remained tight lipped on the subject.

However, in a new development, Isabel Aguilera, head of Google's Spanish and Portuguese operation, has publicly acknowledged that Google is "investigating" the development of a mobile phone that works as a portable internet access device. In reply to this, Erin Fors, a spokeswoman for Google HQ in the US responded with a short statement:

"Mobile is an important area for Google and we remain focused on creating applications and establishing partnerships with industry leaders to develop innovative services for users worldwide. However, we have nothing further to announce."

Despite Google's reluctance to speak further on the matter, the mobile industry blogosphere is buzzing with Google Phone talk and Richard Windsor, phone analyst with London based Nomura, recently told clients at a major European conference in Germany that an unspecified Google representative had confirmed that the company is working on its own phone device.

Adding fuel to the Google Phone fire, a venture Capitalist with Boston based Polaris Venture Partner, Simeon Simeonov, wrote on a blog that an inside source close to Goggle had informed him that the company is developing a slick low-cost, internet-connected phone with a colour, wide-screen design that would rival the Blackberry and Apple's iPhone, and which could handle VOIP (voice over the internet calls). However, in contrast to the Blackberry and iPhone, the Google Phone is expected to be a mass-market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don't have a PC, rather than being a high end luxury phone.

Despite's Google's huge successes in the internet business, some within the mobile phone industry don't believe that Google's success in the PC search world will translate well into the mobile search world. Finnish mobile giant Nokia believe the Google Phone will meet with limited success because Google lacks the necessary relationships within the phone industry that are required to compete with the already established mobile phone leaders.

Source

Apple iPhone components scheduled for April delivery

"Nanya Printed Circuit Board Corporation, a Taiwan-based supplier of printed circuit boards (PCBs), has had its high density interconnect (HDI) PCBs used in mobile phones certificated by Apple iPhone, and is scheduled to deliver the products in early April, according to company sources," Steve Chuang reports for CENS.

"Apple has unveiled its first handset, iPhone, and planned to launch the product in June this year, and therefore the firm's contracted suppliers have to step up shipping relevant components and parts starting in the beginning of April. Among them, Nanya has had its HDI PCBs certificated by iPhone, and is scheduled to deliver those to Apple iPhone in April," Chuang reports.

Chuang reports, "Based on an estimated shipment of 10 million iPhones, Nanya PCB is very likely to score 30% of orders released by Apple iPhone, contributing NT$300 to 400 million to the company`s sales revenue for this year and boosting the its profit margins in the second quarter and the third."

Source

Early launch for iPhone?

Apple’s wrapping up development of it’s touchscreen wonderphone – is an early release just around the corner?

Could iPhone be launching earlier than expected? What more secrets are there under the hood?... [more images]Apple’s begun asking suppliers to send components for the iPhone to manufacturing plants, at least according to the China Economic News Service, which says manufacturing of the handset will begin in earnest next month.

It means Apple has finally got the go ahead from electronics watchdogs the FCC, as well as finishing development of the iPhone’s software.

The last time we saw the iPhone in the flesh, Apple still had work to do on its calendar, and had left a mysterious gap in the bottom right of its main menu.

The latest nugget of information means Apple has plugged the gaps in development and could even launch the iPhone early, if manufacturing goes well.

Speculation across Apple fansites is rife that the company will drop something special at next month’s NAB convention. Last week the Mac maker hung gigantic banners inside the glass windows of its flagship New York stores, only to whip them back down hours later.

Did Apple forget to add a detail? Maybe that detail was subject to FCC approval, or still in development. Whatever the reason, hopefully we’ll learn a few more iPhone secrets next month.

In the meantime, check out everything we already know about Apple's mobile masterpiece in T3's iPhone Bible.

Source

LG's Prada wins prestigious European design award

[LG announces its Prada handset has been chosen the 'Best of the Best' for 2007 by the red dot Design Awards committee. red dot Design Award, along with IF Design Award, is one of the most prestigious industrial design awards in Europe.]

LG Electronics(LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications, was again lauded this year by the red dot Design Awards committee at this year's red dot Design Awards 2007, as it took home over two dozen awards, including the event's highest recognition.

LG received awards in 29 categories including the 'Best of the Best' award for PRADA Phone by LG, its full touch screen handset which has already created a worldwide buzz. LG's accolades eclipsed its total of 20 awards received at last year's event, when it also won two 'Best of the Best' awards.

Sang Young Shin, the head of LG Electronics Corporate Design Center, said, "LG has proven our design expertise through recognition from this prestigious design organization for the past several years. With this momentum, we will solidify our commitment to emotive product design."

The PRADA Phone by LG (LG-KE850), the world's first full touch screen interfacephone and winner of red dot's 'Best of the Best' award was co-developed by mobile communications leader LG Electronics and famed design house PRADA. The unique handset is the perfect balance between LG's leading mobile communications technology and PRADA's unsurpassed design capabilities.

Other award-winning products of LG include SHINE phone, both slide and bar types, steady-selling SolarDOM, Lightwave Oven, 'Art DIOS' side-by-side Refrigerator, LCD TV, Plasma TV, all three models of Fantasy Monitor, Touch Screen MP3 Player and many more.

red dot Design Award, along with iF Design Award, is one of the most prestigious industrial design awards in Europe. The gala award ceremony will take place on June 25, 2007,in the Essen Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany. The award-winning entries will be exhibited in a special exhibition titled "Design on Stage. - Winners of red dot Award: Product Design 2007" from June 26 through July 23, 2007, in the red dot design museum in Essen. The red dot design museum houses the largest permanent exhibition of contemporary design in the world.

Last year LG already broke industry records by winning in 20 categories at the red dot design awards and 11 categories at the prestigious iF Design Awards. Some products that propelled the company to the top were its wall-mounted projector, dual-core widescreen notebook PC,industry darling and best-selling handset LG Chocolate. The wall-mounted projector and dual-core widescreen notebook PCdid especially well, winning red dot's 'Best of the Best' design award in 2006. The company also won the 'Design Team of the Year 2006' of red dot design award for its focus on design management. This was only the second time that the design department of an Asian company has won red dot's 'Radius' Trophy.

Source

Affordable 3G LG phones to hit world market soon

THE general perception that the third-generation (3G) handset is an upmarket gadget will be a thing of the past when LG Electronics Mobile Communications starts to market its affordable phones that support the 3G platform worldwide soon.

The slim, multimedia phone LG-KU250 was chosen as the winning handset under the GSM Association's (GSMA) 3G for All campaign and the result was announced at the 3GSM Congress in Barcelona, Spain, recently.

GSMA is the global trade association representing about 700 GSM mobile operators across 214 countries.

GSMA chairman Craig Ehrlich said the range of 3G handsets remained relatively limited and at a premium price level, particularly for pre-paid customers who made up over 60% of the global mobile subscriber base.

Therefore, he said, the association had embarked on the campaign with the aim of making 3G mobile services accessible to a much wider user base, especially in developing countries.

Ehrlich said 12 of the world's leading mobile operators had selected the LG-KU250, which is only 15mm thick, from 19 handsets submitted by eight vendors.

He said that by agreeing on a common set of requirements, the 12 operators would enable LG to achieve major economies of scale in manufacturing, logistics and marketing.

“These will enable those cost efficiencies to be passed on to consumers,” he said at a briefing for Asian media representatives at the 3GSM Congress. The briefing was organised by Ericsson.

Ehrlich said the price gap between 2G and 3G handsets would also be narrowed, and more compelling and affordable content and services would be made available.

“We expect LG to start shipping the LG-KU250 handsets worldwide in April,” he added.

Ehrlich said the LG-KU250 handset would be available at a wholesale price of 30% to 40% less than a typical entry-level 3G mobile phone and be competitive with the multimedia 2G handsets on sale today.

The product, which has a chipset supplied by Qualcomm, supports video calls, high-speed Internet access, MP3 music and video playback/recording, multi-tasking and a wide range of other multimedia services.

Additional specifications include Bluetooth capability, an external memory slot, standby time of 300 hours and 3G voice talk time of 180 minutes.

“The LG-KU250 has a clear mass market appeal and will help fuel interest in 3G services worldwide,” he added.

Ehrlich noted that although there was only one winner, GSMA would not stop the other 18 participating handsets from entering the marketplace.

“The other manufacturers that lose may also commercialise their products, and if they do so, consumers will have a wider choice of affordable 3G phones to choose from,” he added.

Meanwhile, the GSMA has announced a new initiative to promote the worldwide use of mobile phones for payments at points-of-sale.

A total of 14 operators, representing about 900 million mobile users, have agreed to take part in the association's Pay-Buy Mobile programme, which seeks to define a common global experience for mobile phone payments.

Ehrlich said mobile payments would be made using a SIM/Universal Integrated Circuit Card embedded in handsets, plus the Near Field Communications technology that would link mobile devices with payment and contactless systems.

The first phase of this initiative will begin with a business model analysis, followed by an end-to-end trial in South Korea later this year.

Korea Telecom Freetel, South Korea's leading mobile communications operator, will lead the trial, which will include participants in the value chain, from banks and credit card providers to retail organisations and handset makers.

Source

Sony to launch PS3 in Australia, Europe, New Zealand

BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Remember when game consoles just played games, were simple and inexpensive? Well, no more!

In another series of long-awaited rollouts, Sony will launch on Friday its PlayStation 3 in Australia, Europe and New Zealand, and its price has escalated. Japanese gamers forked over 412 U.S. dollars in PS3's initial launch, Americans anteed up 599 dollars, but European gamers will have to pay 779 dollars to 840 dollars, while Australians must pay up to 839 dollars for a game console that also connects to the Internet, plays high-definition DVDs and stores photographs from a digital camera and music from an iPod.

The PS3 is big gamble by Sony, under its British chief executive Sir Howard Stringer, to regain dominance in home entertainment. The often-delayed product is expected to hit the Japanese giant with losses of 2 billion dollars this fiscal year. It takes a significant loss on every PS3 it manufactures and will hope to recoup the money from sales of 36 games that will be available at the launch.

Experts in Britain believe the PS3 will make a solid but unspectacular start this week.

"A lot of eyes are on Howard Stringer and whether the PS3 can reclaim the home entertainment crown for Sony," said Paul Jackson, principal analyst at Forrester Research.. "One product will not bring the corporation to its knees but they are pinning a lot of hopes on it ... And I doubt whether Sony expected such a negative backlash from the online community.'

Bloggers have given the PS3 a lukewarm reception.

One, named "Guspaz," wrote: "Assuming Sony sells every console in Europe that they ship, they'd still have sold only two-thirds as many as the Wii (and a quarter as many as the [XBox] 360). I don't think that it's too late for Sony to turn the PS3 around, but since it would involve swallowing their pride, popping their ego balloon, and taking heavy financial losses, I don't think it's likely to happen."

But David Carnoy, an editor at www.cnet.com, said: "Though not without a few minor drawbacks, the PS3 is a versatile and impressive piece of home entertainment equipment."

Sales of the PS3 in America have not been outstanding. In February it sold 127,000 units, trailing behind Nintendo's less costly Wii console, which sold 335,000, and Microsoft's XBox 360, which sold 228,000. Even Sony's PlayStation 2 -- the most popular game console -- sold 295,000, continuing to outperform its more expensive successor.

Retailers in Britain are trying to downplay concerns thousands of people will be left disappointed by a shortage. Sony has had time to ship 1 million PS3s for Friday's European launch, with 220,000 available in the UK -- by far the biggest console debut yet. Virgin Megastores said it had received several thousand pre-orders.

"The number of customers asking our sales staff about it over the last few weeks has been phenomenal," said Stephen Lynn, a senior manager.

Source

Bond Goes Where No Blu-Ray Has Gone Before

The Blu-ray edition of Casino Royale has made it into the charts this week at #7. This is the first Blu-ray title to enter Amazon's Top Ten List.

Blu-ray has only been around for about a year, yet things look promising for the new technology. This high ranking is expected to be followed by record breaking sales in the first week. This will also promote the new format. People may think that Blu-ray is the way to go in the ongoing format war.

Source

Canon Powershot SD1000 Review

Review: "...Despite its four-digit number, Canon positions the PowerShot SD1000 as a replacement for last year's SD600, which also puts it below the new SD750 in the company's line. Resolution has been bumped up to 7.1 megapixels from the SD600's 6MP, but despite an almost identical controls layout (though different cosmetic design), Canon made a few changes on the inside.
Despite our minor gripes, the PowerShot SD1000 is a top-notch compact camera for its price range. Most users will be pleased with its excellent image quality and the useful, if not extensive, feature set...."

Source
Read the rest of the article

Canon Adds New Models to PowerShot Series

Canon Extends PowerShot Digital Camera Line-up With Two New Feature Rich Models

Canon’s New PowerShot A550 and PowerShot A460 Cameras Offer Consumers A Great Shot Every Time In A Fun And Simple Package

Singapore – Focused on consumers looking for a functional yet powerful compact camera, Canon announces the introduction of two PowerShot A-series compact digital cameras – PowerShot A550 and PowerShot A460 - that combine fun, functionality with high-resolution and high quality photography; all in a compact form that fits comfortably into the hand. These new models are feature-packed and are the perfect upgrade for users of existing entry-level cameras. They also provide a smooth transition for first-time digital camera users.

“The new Canon PowerShot cameras will deliver exceptional value to consumers,” explains Andrew Koh, Director and General Manager of the Consumer Imaging and Information Division at Canon Singapore. “They continue Canon’s long standing tradition of providing users with imaging excellence; giving them the opportunity to capture all of life’s special moments.”

The DIGIC difference
The cameras feature Canon’s proprietary DIGIC II imaging processor for crisp, vibrant images, responsive performance and lower power consumption. The DIGIC II processor combines the roles of imaging processing and camera function control into one chip, resulting in faster display and write times for each image and lower power consumption, which extends battery life.

Get it right the first time
Both the PowerShot A550 and A460 digital cameras empower customers, enabling them to get the best out of their photographic endeavors. The cameras come with Canon’s AiAF “smart” auto focus system with Canon’s iSAPS intelligent scene analysis algorithm to determine optimum settings for focusing, exposure and white balance. Users can also select a wide range of shooting modes all at the touch of a single dial. These shooting modes include Full Auto, Auto with manual adjustment of exposure compensation and white balance, Portrait, Night snapshot, Kids and Pets and other special scene modes.

Both models are also able to record movies with sound of up to 1GB or 1 hour, making them perfect for capturing memories in motion with point and shoot simplicity.

Direct print
Both cameras come with a Print/Share button that accelerates direct printing to compatible Canon and PictBridge enabled printers and one-touch image transfer to computers for uploading to the Internet, or as email attachments. Users just need to connect their camera to a compact photo printer, press the Print/Share button and wait for the photos to be printed. Canon’s digital cameras are also PictBridge compatible. They work with PictBridge enabled printers and offer excellent image quality and ease-of-use such as uploading onto the Internet or as email attachments.

PowerShot A550
The PowerShot A550 digital camera sports a high resolution 7.1 megapixel CCD sensor with a 2-inch LCD screen and a high quality 4x optical zoom lens, along with a 9 point AiAF auto focusing system to ensure that images are clearer and sharper. In addition, the camera includes an AUTO Hi ISO function to assist users in taking pictures by automatically adjusting to the most suitable ISO setting for the situation. The camera also effectively utilises a high resolution CCD sensor that enables active use of the digital zoom range without compromising image quality, as well as a Digital Tele-Converter function that shifts the angle of the view toward the telephoto end by extracting and digitally enlarging the centre portion of the captured image.

The camera retains many hallmark A-series features, including an optical view finder and a comfortable handgrip, making handling it easy and comfortable while providing yet another option for viewing the subject and saving battery power while shooting.

PowerShot A460
Like its A430 predecessor, the A460 combines fashion and function, offering a sleek, eye-catching body design and go-anywhere portability. Canon’s PowerShot A460 features a 5.0 megapixel resolution with a 4x optical zoom lens and a 2-inch LCD screen.

The camera comes in three vibrant and attractive colours – Gracious Silver, Lapis Blue and Vin Rouge and boasts a number of advanced capture and playback features, including a newly added slide show that gives users a choice of three special effects for image playback on television. A super macro setting allows users to shot from as close as 1cm from the subject and eight special scene modes. Additional features include an optical viewfinder and compatibility with MMC, SD and SDHC memory cards.

Pricing and availability
The Canon PowerShot A550 and A460 are now available at Canon authorized dealers at a recommended retail price of SG$369 and SG$279 respectively.

Source

SanDisk Sansa e260R

The SanDisk Sansa e260R is similar to the Sansa e260 , but this model features slick integration.

The player we tested has 4GB of memory, but models are also available in 2GB, 6GB, and 8GB capacities. A slot for a tiny microSD Card lets you expand the memory, or switch easily among a variety of media files on several cards.

The player is roughly as tall and wide as the iPod Nano, but it's a little thicker and weighs nearly twice as much. It has a relatively large and bright 1.8-inch color screen, though it's still too small for watching long videos. Beneath the screen, a rotating plastic thumbwheel lets you scroll through lists and adjust the volume. A select button sits at the center, and four directional buttons surround it. Because the thumbwheel protrudes from the faceplate and has a ridged surface, it makes operating the directional buttons difficult and uncomfortable. This strange design ruins the otherwise smooth interface.

The channels are organised by genre, or program a custom channel to your own tastes. The preprogrammed channels are a great way to discover new music and in my opinion are preferable to listening to the frequent rotations and commercials on FM radio. Plus, you can always skip ahead to the next track.

There are settings which let you switch to PlaysForSure mode

where the player behaves like the regular Sansa e260 and works with online stores such as Napster, Urge, and Yahoo.

To upload photos and videos, you must use the included SanDisk Media Converter, which converts them to its own format. Annoyingly, the player doesn't natively support any standard image or video formats, not even JPEG.

The e260R has a built-in FM tuner and you can record live radio, though there's no timer for scheduling recordings. The headphone's cord acts as an antenna, and reception can vary as you move around. The tiny built-in microphone works well for voice recording. Unlike with many audio players, you can change the e260R's battery yourself; a battery kit even includes a screwdriver for easy removal of the four small screws on the back of the player.

In our audio-quality tests, the e260R fared no better than the regular e260. It received a very low score in our frequency-response test, where we play a sequence of tones from 20 Hz to 20 kHz and measure the deviation between them. Music didn't sound as lively as it did on other players when I listened through a good pair of headphones.

However, the player's low audio quality and uncomfortable thumbwheel make it hard to recommend.

Source

Kodak V803: 8 easy megapixels

WHEN digital cameras were still a novelty, it was difficult to imagine that they would one day become so ubiquitous or so powerful. Yet today, we have the likes of the new Kodak EasyShare V803, an 8-megapixel consumer camera that’s both feature-packed and easy to use.

Like other cameras in the V series, the V803 has a generous 2.5-inch high-resolution LCD display at the back and five buttons on its left that enable you to quickly toggle flash settings, review photos, delete them, tag pictures or videos for e-mailing or printing, or call up an on-screen menu for more options.

The compact (10.3 x 5.4 x 2.5) camera comes in a sturdy, smoothly rounded aluminum body that’s available in eight colors. Holding down the power switch at the top next to the shutter button brings the V803 to life and pops out its Kodak Retinar 3x optical zoom lens (equivalent to 36 to 108 mm).

You can shoot in auto mode for general picture taking or select from 21 different settings.

An on-screen menu activated by pressing the “SCN” button next to the power switch provides quick access to these settings, making it easy to adjust to a wide variety of shooting conditions (bright beach scene, light is behind the subject, candlelight, sunset) and subjects (distant scenery, close-ups or subject in motion).

The camera has only 32 megabytes of internal memory—enough for 10 shots at 8 megapixels—so you’ll probably want to add an SD card so that you can keep shooting without having to download and delete photos.

As you might expect, picture quality and color are excellent, especially in daylight and normal lighting conditions, and the 8-megapixel sensor picks up an incredible amount of image detail. The V803 also does a decent job of capturing audio and video in MPEG4 format.

The camera’s lithium-ion battery seems extremely efficient, and I was able to shoot for days on one full charge without ever having to worry about recharging.

My main problem with the V803—and it’s not a trivial one—is that there’s a noticeable delay of five to six seconds between shots, whether you’re shooting with flash or not. Dropping down to the lowest 1.2-megapixel setting doesn’t seem to make any difference. What this means is that the V803 is not the camera you want to use if you need to take follow-on shots quickly, say, to capture candid moments. By the time you’re ready to shoot again, that moment will probably be gone.

Another irritant is that the zoom lens cannot be retracted, even when you only want to view your pictures.

Unlike the V570 I reviewed a year ago, the V803 has thankfully shed the cradle in favor of a standard USB cable that you can connect to a computer. The camera comes with software for Windows and Mac OS X, but I was also able to import pictures into my Linux PC using open source software.

Retailing for about P16,995, the V803 is a capable and handsome compact camera that can take gorgeous pictures. If you don’t need to take them in quick succession, then you might want to give this one a closer look.

Pros: Sturdy and smart compact design, sharp details at 8 megapixels and good color, easy to use

Cons: Long delay between shots

Source

Directed Electronics 2007 May Start Slow

VISTA, Calif. — Directed Electronics Inc., which makes security and entertainment systems for homes and automobiles, said Friday it expects a sluggish start to 2007, due mostly to fewer new subscribers at Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

The company said Sirius, a key customer for its satellite radio business, expects to add 2 million new subscribers in 2007, which is down from 2.7 million new subscribers in 2006. The subscriber forecast comes on the heels of lower-than-expected retail sales of satellite radio receivers in the fourth quarter, which led to higher inventory levels at stores.

Directed Electronics expects first-half earnings to fall to less than half of what it earned in the same period a year earlier, with the first quarter most challenging. It expects revenue in the range of $83 million to $87 million.

The company earned $4 million, or 16 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2006 on revenue of $74.3 million.

Directed Electronics expects fiscal year profit of between 95 cents per share and $1.05 per share on revenue in the range of $475 million to $510 million.

Last year, the company earned $21 million, or 81 cents per share, on revenue of $437.8 million

Analysts currently forecast a first-quarter profit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $109.4 million. They expect fiscal-year profit of $1.27 per share on revenue of $548 million.

Shares of Directed Electronics fell 27 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $8.95 in premarket electronic trading.

Source

Panasonic revamps DMP BD10 Blu-ray player

Panasonic have introduced an improved version of their DMP BD10 Blu-ray player with the BD10A BD.

The most significant improvement is a new audio decoder which offers the lossless 7.1 audio formats of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD which are both High-res formats.

Panasonic has introduced compatibility on the BD10A BD with its AVCHD disc shot on the companies range of HD camcorders, and there is an upgraded version of VIERA link which enables users to operate multiple connected components with a single remote control.

There is nothing much to differentiate the new model from the old, and it is a little disappointing that the BD10A BD does not have an Ethernet port.

Good news for original BD10 owners is that they will be able to upgrade their existing machines with firmware enhancements to bring playback enhancements in-line with the new model. Already available is a patch to enhance picture quality and stability which must be downloaded and burnt to a cd from Panasonics support website.

Source

Motorola Launches New VoIP Router for Vonage Customers

Motorola and Vonage announced the release last week of the Motorola VT2542, a new wireless router that makes it easier for customers to use VoIP, broadband internet, and fax services all at the same time.

Specifically designed for Vonage customers, the new router features voice-over-data prioritization to maintain optimal call quality while talking on the phone and surfing, or when two members of a household are using Vonage at the same time. The device also features VPN support, a secure web-based interface, and compatibility with standard Vonage features like conference calling, call forwarding, call transfer, and call waiting.

“The Motorola VT2542 is just the latest innovation that gives our customers more options to meet their communication needs,” commented the CEO of Vonage, Mike Snyder. “Vonage’s successful relationship with Motorola has produced ground-breaking devices that help our customers communicate, when, where and how they choose.”

Source

Two Name Disputes Concluded

Apple settle with Cisco and Beatles Label

Apple and Cisco have settled their name dispute over the new ‘iPhone’. In future both companies will use the name, both parties have let it be known. Both sides would recognize those ‘iPhone’ trademark rights registered up to now and put aside all actions currently in train in connection with the disagreement.

It needs to be otherwise examined as to what extent the equipment from both producers embody joint features in the areas of security and communication for both companies and consumers. Further details of the agreement remain confidential.

Apple introduced its new iPhone at the beginning of the year and had, as a result, been sued by Cisco (as we have reported). The latter company, which had acquired the trademark ‘iPhone’ when taking-over InfoGear Technology, had asserted its rights to the name.

And in the dispute with the Beatles’ Apple Corps an agreement was also recently forged. The record company has disputed for years with Apple over the Apple logo and the trademark name. It formed the opinion that by selling ‘iTunes’ music over its internet site Apple had broken an agreement of 1991, which provided for the use of the ‘Apple’ trademark by the same-named computer concern. The Beatles label certainly made it a condition that the computer manufacturer was not to engage directly in the music business. When Apple did indeed enter the music business with ‘iPod’ and ‘iTunes’, the Beatles perceived this agreement to be broken and proceeded anew against Apple. The British High Court found in favor of Apple, and as a result the music label decided to fight this judgement.

According to the agreement now brokered, Apple will in future own all the trademark rights and will place a few of them at the disposal of the London-based record company, on a licensed basis. The details of the agreement, especially any possible payments from Apple to the Beatles’ firm, were not made public in this case either. Apple chief Steve Jobs has declared that he is a great Beatles fan. This was noticeable at the presentation ceremony for the new ‘iPhone’, when the Beatles song ‘Lovely Rita’ provided the background music.

Source

Apple offers to pay employee taxes on misdated stock options

Apple Inc. continued its effort to get out of a stock option backdating quagmire on Friday, offering to pay any extra taxes incurred by employees and let them correct option "strike" dates.

Apple outlined the offer in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that estimated the cost of the plan would be 67,000 dollars.

Fewer than 100 employees could be subject to additional income taxes due to exercising misdated stock options since 2005, according to Apple spokesman Steve Dowling.

Apple will also let employees with unsold options correct strike dates, days used to determine the price at which they can buy stock, and pay the workers for any loss of value, according to the filing.

"If they still hold the option, we will adjust the stock price and make up the difference in cash," Dowling told AFP. "If they have already exercised, we are paying the extra taxes on their behalf."

Because of Internal Revenue Service rules, the offer does not apply to Apple officers such as chief executive Steve Jobs. Jobs voluntarily cancelled his outstanding stock options, according to Apple.

Jobs has been questioned by US federal investigators as part of a probe into the granting of stock option awards at the Cupertino, California-company which makes Macintosh computers and the best-selling iPod digital music players.

Apple has said that Jobs was aware of irregular backdating of stock options for some executives, but that he did not personally benefit from the awards.

Other technology firms, including McAfee and CNET, have also been roiled by the wide-ranging federal probe into the granting of stock options at over 100 companies.

The backdating of stock options is not illegal itself. But it is improper to manipulate the date on which stock options are awarded, or to grant such rewards without disclosing them to shareholders in security filings.

Executives could reap bigger rewards cashing in stock options if the date on which they were granted is manipulated to when a company's share price was at its lowest.

Following an internal review overseen by former US vice president Al Gore, Apple said that it would account for extra non-cash stock-based compensation expenses of 84 million dollars, dating to 2004.

Source