eK-gadgets info

Ready for another go on the Nikon rumor carousel? Apparently, the mythical D60

Word is that the Nikon D60 will replace the D40x in Spring 2008. This info comes from M-L, who also gave us the heads up on the Nikon D3 the day before its announcement, so this is perhaps a little more solid than many of the rumors that we get leading up to new announcements. The source also revealed that a Nikon D90/D80x would not be coming. Perhaps Nikon will be dropping the D70/D80 series as a wedge between the D40 series and D200/D300 series.

Sony has announced the imminent availability of its Cyber-Shot DSC-S730, a 7.2 MP entry-level digicam with 3x optical zoom and 2.4″ LCD. The emphasis here is firmly on value and ease of use though, in the best Sony tradition, style and quality of construction also play a major part. This particular model looks to be a europe-only release although it is entirely possible it will be launched in other markets under a different model designation. The DSC-S730 will be available from January 2008 for the altogether reasonable sum of €139/£99.

 

• 7.2 effective megapixels
• 2.4-inch LCD screen with wide viewing angle
• High Sensitivity ISO 1250 for reduced camera shake
• Easy-to-use on-screen function guide
• 3x optical zoom lens

Light, compact and easy to use, the new Cyber-shot S730 presents a great-value entry point to the world of digital photography.

While it’s remarkably affordable, the Cyber-shot S730 doesn’t compromise on imaging quality. There’s a Sony 3x optical zoom lens to bring distant objects closer, while pictures captured with the 7.2 effective megapixel sensor look crisp with superb detail – even when blown up to A3 size.

The Cyber-shot S730 lets you grab clear, blur-free pictures without the aid of flash if you’re shooting in low light or on cloudy days. Selecting ‘High Sensitivity’ mode on the easy-to-adjust mode dial boosts sensitivity to ISO 1250. This allows shooting at faster shutter speeds to reduce the risk of camera shake, even with moving subjects.

A new multi-point autofocus mode ensures pin-sharp images, even when your subject is moving or isn’t in the centre of the frame.

Pictures and camera settings can be viewed clearly on the large 2.4-inch screen. Touching a button switches instantly to Playback mode, making it quick and easy to check pictures during shooting. There’s also an on-screen Histogram mode that displays image brightness in graphical form – useful if you’re fine-tuning exposure settings for the best possible results.

Even if you’re new to digital photography, the Cyber-shot S730 guides you with a handy display of functions like flash, macro and self-timer settings. There’s also on-screen advice to help you select the right settings for your chosen subject as selected with the Shooting Mode dial.

The Cyber-shot S730 can even help beginners pick the optimum image size for shooting, depending on your preferred printing paper size and the amount of memory space remaining.

The Cyber-shot S730 will be available from January 2008.

 

Look at this sexy cell phone from SKY. It appears as if it directly fell from heaven. The company has announced the launch of this Romantic Wave Slimphone IM-S300 in the Korea market. The mobile phone has a wave-shape design. It has a light violet LED lighting for the front keypad. The Slimphone IM-S300 features 1.3M camera, file viewer, electronic dictionary, 2.2-inch screen, and boasts multitasking capability. You can choose from two available color options: black and white. The price range fixed up for this cell phone will be somewhere ranging between 400,000(KRW) and 500,000(KRW).

Adding to Apple’s iPhone game list, Iphone Playstation Emulator is expected to hit stores soon and bring about ca hange in mobile gaming. A coder called zodttd is presently operating on an emulator (expected to work with both Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch) of the original Sony Playstation for our lovable iPhone.

The PSX iPhone emulator is getting ready to enter beta version. The PSX4iPhone is expected to feature enhanced screen scaling and screen placement. It might offer saving game option and support for memory cards. It may be compatible with approx. 75 percent games. Let us wait and watch for the upcoming Beta.

By: Grahm Skee on December 1, 2007 6:04 PM

The first Zune was something rushed to the market and it showed. The first generation Zune lacked anything outstanding; it really did not offer anything above what the competition was doing. The second time around I am seeing something a bit more impressive. The hardware has been updated and features have been added. The Zune is much more social this time around with the ability to share your listening preferences online. It has also tightly and seamlessly integrated podcasting and the wi-fi has finally been put to good use with wireless sync.

There is a lot of cool stuff going on with the Zune but there is a lot also that will be missed with the hardcore DAP crowd. Read on, let me show you what the Zune is all about.

• Quick Look
• Size: 61.1 x 108.2 x 12.9 mm
• Weight: 128 grams
• Screen: 3.2” 320×240, 64k Color LCD
• Audio Support: WMA, WMA Lossless, MP3, AAC
• Video Support: WMV, MPEG4, H.264
• Rated Battery: 30hrs Audio / 4hrs Video (20 hrs/ 3.5hrs actual)
• Photo Support: JPEG (converted at sync to 640×480)
• Transfer Protocol: MTPZ
• Other Features: Wireless Sync, Podcasting, TV-Out, Wireless Zune to Zune Transfer

Accessories

The Zune 80 comes packed with just the basics: a proprietary USB transfer cable, premium earbuds, and the Zune 80 unit. The notable included accessory is the premium earbuds which, sold by themselves, go for $40. Are they worth that by themselves? Maybe, but I would recommend saving another $60-100 for a really nice set of IEMs- your ears will thank you and you will hear things in your music you never knew were there. But back to the included Zune premium phones; they are a more-than-welcome included accessory, sounding many times better than typical stock earbuds.

The aftermarket line up of accessories is pretty extensive; there are not only official Zune accessories, but many third party manufacturers are making anything from cases to speaker docks. If you are into accessorizing, there are plenty to choose from.

One notable accessory pack that I particularly like is the A/V Accessory Pack. This includes a dock with component and composite out, wireless remove (that works on the XBox 360 also), AC Charger, and A/V TV out cables. The Zune has a great TV interface and since it syncs wirelessly you can keep your dock next to the TV for charging and listening to. The kit sells for $100, a bit of an investment, but I think worth it especially if you are going to use the video out with any frequency.

Design

The Zune 80 is very well built and will hold up well to scratches due to the materials used. The back plate is made of a matte finished metal, the face and buttons are composed of a solid matte plastic, and the screen is glass. Quite a bit of attention was paid in order to keep scratches and fingerprints off the device. None of the surfaces will scratch under normal use to slight abuse; however ,the screen can get quite smudged with fingerprints, but obviously that is the nature of glass.

Overall the design is top notch except for the antenna cover. On the top of the player the antenna needs a little bit of non-metal breathing space for the Wi-Fi. Unfortunately the design team decided to slap a piece of costume jewelry there. It’s a cheap piece of “gold plated” plastic that you might get out of a gumball machine. It is like slapping Pepboy hubcap spinners on a BMW. OK… you get the point. A much better choice would have been a flat black piece of plastic to match the rest of the player.

Screen

The 3.2” 320×240, 64k color screen appears to be the same screen as the first gen Zune 30; the same size, color tone, pixel density. So if you are familiar with the first Zune 30, you already know what the Zune 80’s screen looks like. For those who are not familiar, the screen looks really nice with colors represented well and good pixel response. The downside to the screen is that it does not look as crisp as some, since it is a QVGA screen stretched to 3.2” and black lines in between pixels are much more apparent if you look closely. It’s a good screen, just not anything to get excited about.

User Interface

The user interface has remained unchanged since the initial release of the Zune. This is a good thing since the Zune interface is a very straight forward easy to use. I would have liked more buttons on the Zune, perhaps dedicated volume buttons on the side and/or a short cut button. However, this interface should not be changed in any way as to not disrupt the consistency though the generations of Zunes.

There is one minor improvement that they could get away with changing. There is a need of a short cut back to the “Now Playing” screen. There is a short cut for the main menu which is a long press on the back button. The natural place for quick access to the now playing screen would be a long press on the pause/play button, but this is occupied by the on/off operation. While I think the ideal location for the power switch would be integrated with the hold switch, this is not an option since the hardware does not exist in the hold switch. The next best place for the on/off would be a long press on the center button. Then the short cut to the now playing screen can be a long press on the pause/play button.

Another point I think got over simplified is the way the Zune is turned on. If the player is off of hold you can press any button to turn it on. I understand why it was done, for simplification, but what is not realized is that many people do not religiously use the hold switch. So allowing the Zune to be turned on with any button will drain the battery in many real world scenarios, such as tossing the Zune in your bag, back pack, or purse. Only allowing the Zune to be turned with a long press of the center button (or pause/play, the lesser choice) would alleviate this problem.

Graphical User Interface

The GUI got a nice refresh from the first generation making menu options easier to read and really just more eye candy. The eye candy has done little to slow down the speed and fluidity of the interface; if anything, the smoothness of the GUI has improved. There are still the occasional menu slowdowns and hangs, but I notice this more when the touch interface is on.

One feature needed here is the ability to turn the menu animation on and off. Being able to turn them off would improve the button response time to zero, thus improving the overall usability. The best example of this is in the Toshiba Gigabeat T400. The T400 uses a near identical user interface both being built on Windows CE. Turning the T400 menu animations off makes the player much more responsive.