December 2008 | My Technology

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Denon AVR-2307CI

Product summary

The good
The Denon AVR-2307CI is a full featured 7.1 channel A/V receiver highlighted by its ability to switch among its five HD capable inputs (two HDMI, three component). It converts all incoming analog video sources to HDMI output for a single wire connection to HDTVs. The receiver offers advanced auto setup capabilities, and it's compatible with XM's HD Surround stations and Denon's optional iPod dock.

The bad
The potential convenience of the HDMI features is tempered by the dearth of de-interlacing, and the fact that the on screen display is visible only at 480i resolution both will prove to be an annoyance for many HDTV owners. The remote utilizes an awkward, two sided design.

The bottom line
Denon's AVR-2307CI delivers a strong combination of advanced audio and video features and high end sound quality at a great price, but its HDMI shortfalls keep it from being a slam dunk.

Specifications

Product type : AV receiver
Sound output mode : Surround Sound
Built in decoders : DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, DTS Neo : 6, Dolby Digital, DTS 96/24, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, DTS-ES Matrix 6.1
Price range : $399.00

Denon AVR-4306

Product summary

The good
Incredibly well featured 7.1 channel receiver, excellent sound quality three HDMI inputs, converts analog video to HDMI output, upconverts analog video to 720p/1080i HD resolution, iPod and USB MP3 player connectivity. Internet radio and MP3 or WMA streaming audio via built in Ethernet port, XM Satellite Radio compatible, touch screen remote, multizone, multi source operation, browser based control via home network, accurate autocalibration routine.

The bad
Expensive, intimidating complexity may put off home theater newbies, no built in decoding for next gen HD-DVD and Blu-ray audio formats, no HD Radio.

The bottom line
The Denon AVR-4306 offers the best combination of cutting edge features and superb sound quality of any receiver that we've ever tested.

Specifications

Product type : AV receiver
Sound output mode : Surround Sound
Amplifier total output power : 910 Watt
Price range : $1,499.00

Denon DN-D6000

Product summary
Denon Professional Dual CD or MP3 Player DN-D6000
Manufacturer : Denon Electronics Ltd.
Price range : $899.00

Denon DHT-589BA

General
Product Type Home theater system. Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight AV receiver : 17.1 in x 14.8 in x 6.7 in / 23.8 lbs. Speaker system : Right/left channel speaker : 4.4 in x 3.7 in x 7.4 in / 2.4 lbs. Speaker system : Right/left rear channel speaker : 4.4 in x 3.7 in x 7.4 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 12.6 in x 3.7 in x 5.7 in / 4.6 lbs. Speaker system : Active subwoofer : 15.4 in x 15.4 in x 12.8 in / 22.7 lbs

Audio System

Components AV receiver, Speaker system
Sound Output Mode Surround Sound
Built in Decoders DTS 96/24, DTS Neo : 6, DTS decoder, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II
Digital Sound Processor (DSP) Yes
DSP Preset Qty 7
DSP Presets Matrix, Jazz club, 5ch stereo, Mono Movie, Rock Arena, Video Game, Virtual Surround
Surround System Class 5.1 channel
Signal To Noise Ratio 98 dB
Input Impedance 47 KOhm
Input Sensitivity 200 mV
Total Harmonic Distortion 0.08 %
Amplifier Output Details 75 Watt 8 Ohm THD 0.08 % 5 channel(s) ( Surround ), 110 Watt 6 Ohm THD 0.7 % 5 channel(s) ( Surround )
Built in Display Fluorescent
Additional Features IPod ready, Source direct, On screen display, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Auto sound calibration, Sirius satellite radio ready
Digital Storage Media None

Signal Switching Features

HDMI Switching Yes
HDMI Version 1.3a
HDMI Pass Through Up to 1080p

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes

Denon DP-500M

Denon DP-500M
Manual Operation Direct Drive Turntable Turntables
Manufacturer : Denon Electronics Ltd.
Price range : $698.99

Denon DCM 290

General

Product Type CD or MP3 changer
Width 17.1 in
Depth 15.7 in
Height 4.7 in
Weight 13.9 lbs

Audio System

Sound Output Mode Stereo
Audio D/A Converter 24bit or 192kHz
Total Harmonic Distortion 0.003 %
Additional Features WMA compatible

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Output Yes
Optical Digital Output Yes

CD System

CD system type CD or MP3 changer
Changer load type Carousel
Changer capacity 5
Media load type Tray
Playback modes A-B repeat, Program play, All disks repeat, One track repeat, All tracks repeat, Random play or shuffle
Response bandwidth 2 - 20000 Hz
Signal to noise ratio 108 dB
Dynamic range 98 dB
CD track programming Yes (32 tracks)
Music calendar 20 tracks
CD-R compatible Yes
CD-RW compatible Yes
Digital audio standards supported MP3, WMA
MP3 playback Yes

Bose Lifestyle 35 Series IV

Product summary
Bose Lifestyle 35 Series IV (black)
Manufacturer : Bose Corp.
Price range: $2,699.00 - $2,699.80

Bose Lifestyle 38 Series III

Product Type Home theater system
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 15.7 in x 11.5 in x 3.7 in / 9 lbs , Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 4 in x 6.2 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Active subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs. Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 6.3 in x 4.3 in x 3.1 in / 2.4 lbs. Enclosure Color White.

Audio System

Components Media center, Speaker system
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Built in Decoders DTS decoder, Dolby Digital, Videostage 5 decoder
Surround Sound Effects Dolby Digital, DTS decoder
Surround System Class 5.1 channel
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Timer Sleep
Bass Control Yes
Treble Control Yes
Additional Features On screen display, Bose link compatible, Auto sound calibration, Multi room audio output, UMusic intelligent playback system
Digital Storage Media None

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Coaxial Digital Output Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Output Yes

Speaker System

Speaker(s) 5 x Satellite speaker External Wired, 1 x Active subwoofer External Wired

Radio

Type Radio tuner AM or FM Digital
Preset Station Qty 40
AM Preset Station Qty 20
FM Preset Station Qty 20
Antenna Form Factor Loop AM or wire FM

Turntable

Type None

CD System

CD system type None

DVD

Type DVD player
Media Format CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, Video CD
DVD Repeat Modes A-B repeat
CD Playback Modes One track repeat, All tracks repeat, Random play or shuffle
MP3 Playback Yes
Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
Supported Digital Video Standards MPEG-2
Additional Features Parental lock, Progressive scanning

Monday, December 29, 2008

Bose Lifestyle 28 Series III

Product Type Home theater system
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 15.7 in x 11.5 in x 3.7 in / 9 lbs , Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 4 in x 6.2 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Active subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs. Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 6.3 in x 4.3 in x 3.1 in / 2.4 lbs. Enclosure Color Black.

Audio System

Components Media center, Speaker system
Built in Decoders DTS decoder, Dolby Digital, Videostage 5 decoder
Surround System Class 5.1 channel
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Timer Sleep
Bass Control Yes
Treble Control Yes
Additional Features On screen display, Bose link compatible, Auto sound calibration, Multi room audio output
Digital Storage Media None

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Coaxial Digital Output Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Output Yes

Speaker System

Speaker(s) 5 x Satellite speaker External Wired, 1 x Active subwoofer External Wired

Radio

Type Radio tuner AM/FM Digital
Preset Station Qty 40
AM Preset Station Qty 20
FM Preset Station Qty 20
Antenna Form Factor Loop AM or wire FM

Bose 3-2-1 GSX Series III

Product Type Home theater system

Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 13.4 in x 10 in x 3.3 in / 6.6 lbs , Speaker system : Right/left channel speaker : 5.5 in x 4.1 in x 2.5 in / 1.1 lbs. Speaker system : Subwoofer : 8.7 in x 19.1 in x 14.4 in / 23.4 lbs. Enclosure Color Black.

Audio System

Components Speaker system , DVD player or radio tuner
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Built in Decoders Videostage 5 decoder
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Bass Control Yes
Treble Control Yes
Additional Features Bose link compatible , UMusic intelligent playback system

Connectors

Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes

Speaker System

Speaker(s) 2 x Satellite speaker External Wired , 1 x Subwoofer External Wired

Radio

Type Radio tuner AM/FM Digital
Preset Station Qty 40
AM Preset Station Qty 20
FM Preset Station Qty 20
Antenna Form Factor Loop AM / wire FM
Additional Features FM stereo or mono switch

Bose Lifestyle V20

Product Type Home theater system
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 17.3 in x 7.5 in x 2.7 in / 7.7 lbs , Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 4 in x 6.2 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 6.3 in x 4.1 in x 3.1 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Active subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs. Enclosure Color White.

Audio System

Components AV receiver , Speaker system
Sound Output Mode Surround Sound
Built in Decoders DTS decoder , Dolby Digital , Videostage 5 decoder
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Additional Features ADAPTiQ audio calibration system

Signal Switching Features

HDMI Switching Yes
HDMI Pass Through Up to 1080p
Video Conversion or Scaling HDMI to HDMI scaling

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes

Speaker System

Speaker(s) 4 x Satellite speaker External Wired , 1 x Car center channel speaker External Wired , 1 x Active subwoofer External - Wired

Bose Lifestyle 38 Series IV

Product Type Home theater system
Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 15.7 in x 11.5 in x 3.7 in / 9 lbs , Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 3.1 in x 4 in x 6.2 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs. Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 6.3 in x 4.1 in x 3.1 in / 2.4 lbs. Enclosure Color White.

Audio System

Components Media center, Speaker system
Sound Output Mode 5.1 channel surround
Built in Decoders DTS decoder , Dolby Digital , Videostage 5 decoder
Equalizer Yes
Surround System Class 5.1 channel
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Timer Sleep
Bass Control Yes
Treble Control Yes
Built in Display Fluorescent
Additional Features On-screen display , Bose link compatible , Auto sound calibration , Multi room audio output , UMusic intelligent playback system
Digital Storage Media None

Connectors

Headphone Jack Yes
Coaxial Digital Input Yes
Coaxial Digital Output Yes
Optical Digital Input Yes
Optical Digital Output Yes

Speaker System

Speaker(s) 5 x Satellite speaker - External - Wired , 1 x Subwoofer - External - Wired

Bose Lifestyle V30

Product Type Home theater system

Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 17.3 in x 7.5 in x 2.7 in / 7.7 lbs. Speaker system : Satellite speaker : 2.2 in x 3.3 in x 4.5 in / 1.1 lbs , Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 5.5 in x 2.6 in x 2.4 in / 2.4 lbs , Speaker system : Active subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs. Enclosure Color Black

Audio System

Components AV receiver , Speaker system
Sound Output Mode Surround Sound
Built in Decoders DTS decoder , Dolby Digital , Videostage 5 decoder
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Additional Features ADAPTiQ audio calibration system

Signal Switching Features

HDMI Switching Yes
HDMI Pass-Through Up to 1080p
Video Conversion or Scaling HDMI to HDMI scaling

Bose Lifestyle 48 Series IV

Product Type Home theater system

Dimensions (WxDxH) / Weight Media center : 15.7 in x 11.5 in x 3.7 in / 9 lbs , Speaker system is Satellite speaker : 4.4 in x 3.2 in x 4.5 in / 1.1 lbs.

Speaker system : Subwoofer : 8 in x 21.6 in x 13 in / 26.2 lbs , Speaker system : Center channel speaker : 5.5 in x 2.6 in x 2.4 in / 2.4 lbs

Audio System

Components Media center , Speaker system
Built in Decoders DTS decoder , Dolby Digital , Videostage 5 decoder
Equalizer Yes
Surround System Class 5.1 channel
Built in Clock Sleep timer
Timer Sleep
Bass Control Yes
Treble Control Yes
Built in Display Fluorescent
Additional Features On-screen display , Bose link compatible , Auto sound calibration , Multi room audio output , UMusic intelligent playback system
Digital Storage Media None

Bose 151

Before shopping for speakers, try to imagine where you're going to put them in your room. Speakers can be placed on floor stands, hung on wall brackets, or placed on furniture. Subwoofers typically sound best in room corners or near the left or right front speakers.

The front three left, center, and right speakers usually sound best when positioned with their tweeters elevated to the same height as a seated listener's ears.

In any case, try to keep the center speaker near the same height as the left and right speakers.

You can place speakers on shelves or on in a low cabinet or entertainment center.

Some speakers are better suited to this arrangement than others. "Acoustic suspension" sealed satellites are the most appropriate.

Next best are ported speakers as long as the ports are located on the front of the cabinet. However, speakers with rear mounted ports won't perform at their peak when placed inside a piece of furniture. As for the rear channel surround speakers, they usually sound best when positioned three or more feet higher than the front speakers. However, high fidelity DVD Audio and Super Audio CD music will sound best when surround speakers are placed at the same height (ear level) as the front speakers.

Apredizaje modo esponja y más

hola

Algunas entradas de http://www.enriquedans.com/ no están de acuerdo con mi filosofía, pero este artículo en el país me ha gustado:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Aprendizaje/modo/esponja/elpepisoc/20081221elpepisoc_2/Tes

los tiempos cambian que es una barbaridad

bye

Saturday, December 27, 2008

MegaBlock for Java phones

MegaBlock for Java phones

MegaBlock is a Tetris clone written in J2ME for mobile phones. The source code is released under the Apache 2.0 license.

Free Download: MegaBlock-1.0.0.jar and MegaBlock-1.0.0.jad

Windows 2008, Hyper-V, Quick Migration, Equallogic.

Hi
We are testing an iSCSI SAN, Hyper-V, Exchange 2007, Windows 2008 ... to set up new infraestructures in my company. (CARTV http://www.cartv.es/).
We have tested Windows 2008 with Hyper-V, Quick Migration in a Equallogic PS iSCSI SAN.
Our LAB:
2 PC Desktops HP 5800 (We dont have 2 servers for our LAB ;-( . Both servers are a Windows 2008 clusters. SW2KLAB01 (node 1), sW2K8LAB02 (node 2). Both with Hyper-V role. Both nodes have 2 LUNs from iSCSI Equallogic 10G and 500G.
1 DC. Domain controler SW2K8LABDC01. It is a VM in node 1.
1 Windows 2008 like a NPS role. It is a VM in node 1 too. (SW2K8LAB03)

First test: I would like to probe the new Windows 2008 cluster, with Q disk (quorum) and the share resource (without Q disk). Both tests were well.

Second Test: Quick Migration. I clustered the VM service in node 1 and node2.
I moved SW2K8LAB03 from one node to another.
I only lost 6 pings.
VMware loses 2 ping with V-motion?
How many will Microsoft lose with Live Migration in Windows 2008 R2 ?

My Hyper-V configuration in NOde 1

My Windows 2008 cluster

My CMD window while I did the movement between Node 1 and Node 2 with SW2K8LAB03 (NPS server role).

Thanks to RAXON and Dell (David Pascual) for the Equallogic PS iSCSI SAN and your help.

PS: Performance test with 2 desktops as a Windows 2008 servers. My NICs dont have TOE, so probably I will improve my performance with 2 new servers.
PSS: The pictures are in Spanish. My lab is Spanish Servers. (and my English is not good ;-) ).

PSSS: Any questions? I will answer by email or in a comment in this blog ;-).

I will do more test ....

Santos Pardos

Friday, December 26, 2008

Asteroid Belt for Java phones

Asteroid Belt for Java phones

Asteroid Belt is a game written in J2ME for mobile phones. The source code is released under the Apache 2.0 license.

Free Download: AsteroidBelt-1.0.0.jar and AsteroidBelt-1.0.0.jad

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T70

The Cyber-shot DSC-T70 slaps a 3 inch touch screen on the back of a slim, stylish camera body that houses an 8.1 megapixel CCD imaging sensor and a 3x optical, 38mm-114mm f/3.5-f/4.3 Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar zoom lens with optical image stabilization. When you've got such a small camera body, there's not a whole lot you can do with design, but Sony has managed to evolve the T-series design while keeping the line's sleek, elegant look.

The T70 sports a much thinner sliding lens cover than the T50 did, though it still feels solid and, as in previous models, functions as an on or off switch, though that can be disabled in the menu if you don't want it to. The touch screen doesn't leave much room for hard buttons, and indeed, the only buttons on the camera are on the top power and playback buttons sit to the left of the shutter, while a side to side zoom slider is on the right of the shutter button.

Not only is this zoom slider downright tiny, but its placement makes it prone to accidental nudges that can ruin your framing just as you're about to press the shutter. Sony probably should have tried to fit a zoom rocker on the back, just above the right hand corner of the screen, or at least put the slider to the left of the shutter to help prevent accidents, though I wouldn't want them to move the shutter button too far to the right, either.

The layout and overall organization of the touch screen controls and menus aren't bad. Sony uses the corners to give you access to deeper menus, while icons along the sides let you change commonly used settings, such as exposure compensation, metering, focus, or sensitivity (aka ISO). I was a bit miffed to find that white balance is relegated to the shooting menu even though there is room for it on the right side of the screen.

Despite its nice design, the touch screen doesn't make a very nice interface. The selections tend to be too small to use your finger on them, unless you have long, well-shaped fingernails (this camera's for you, fashionistas), though Sony does include a stylus that can clip onto the camera strap. If you do choose to clip that stylus on, and I highly suggest you do, you might want to tie off a little loop on the end of the strap, so it doesn't slide all over the place. Even with that stylus, the touch screen tended to be unresponsive.

I had to press hard and repeatedly to get it to accept some of my commands, which quickly became frustrating. Also, you have to confirm that you want to access certain menu functions, which slows down the entire process. I assume that this is to prevent accidental changes to these settings, but back when I had physical buttons to press, this was never an issue. Like most cameras these days, the DSC-T70 includes face detection.

Sony's version can see as many as eight faces in the scene and uses them to determine focus and exposure. The Smile Shutter feature expands on face detection by first locating a face and then waiting for that face to smile before snapping a picture. To use the feature, you have to enter the Smile Shutter scene mode, then press the shutter button, point at a face and wait for it to smile, and the camera will take a picture.

The camera will wait for the face to smile again and shoot another, or you can press the shutter button again and it will exit the scene mode. Some people that I showed this feature to found it a little confusing, since the camera typically waits for the face to stop smiling and then smile again before snapping a second picture. It wasn't too intuitive to most people that you'd have to stop smiling, then smile again before the camera would take a second picture. If you find the feature unresponsive, there's a smile level adjustment in the setup menu, though I did fine by leaving it on the medium setting.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300

Besides its stylish sliding lens cover (a signature feature on all Cyber-shot T-series cameras), the T300's display stands out as its most notable feature. You control almost every aspect of the camera via a 3.5 inch touch screen LCD, leaving just a power button, a playback button, a shutter release, and a zoom rocker as its only physical controls. The screen dominates the entire back panel of the camera, barely leaving half a centimeter around it for the bezel.

On the bright side, this huge screen gives you a large, bright view of your pictures and the menus. On the other hand, it leaves almost no room for your thumb to rest while shooting. A large, sturdy lanyard mount on the right side of the camera offers some space, but big thumbs will still tend to brush against the touch screen. Even if you can shoot without accidentally tapping the screen, you're still going to have to delve into the camera's menu system at some point.

The menus aren't just irritating they're downright neurotic and take far too long to navigate, requiring constant reassurance with countless taps of "OK." Change the resolution, hit "OK."

Change the white balance, hit "OK." Enter the camera settings menu by hitting "OK," then confirm each setting by hitting "OK" again. As Sony's highest end point and shoot, the T300 includes all the latest features.

It sports an optically stabilized f/3.5-4.4 33mm to 165mm equivalent 5x zoom lens that delivers a surprisingly long reach for a slim camera.

Unfortunately, that reach comes at the cost of wide angle and speed a 28mm, f/2.8 lens would have been preferable, even if it didn't offer a 5x zoom. The T300 also features several face detection shooting modes, including Adult and Child Priority, which let the camera identify kids or adults faces in group photos and adjust focus and exposure accordingly, and Smile Shutter, which delays shooting until the subject smiles.

A suite of on board photo editing and retouching tools take full advantage of the huge touch panel and included lanyard tethered stylus. A rudimentary paint program lets you draw on your pictures, and cropping and resizing tools can trim them to fit 16:9 wide screen displays, scale down to VGA (640x480) for emailing, or simply crop out bits you don't want to keep.

A variety of effects offer even more options, including digital red eye removal, radial blur, soft focus, and fish eye lens tools that can focus on a single spot in a picture with a tap of the stylus. Finally, the T300 includes a Happy Faces feature that automatically turns frowns upside down.

When you take a portrait and the subject doesn't smile, Happy Faces distorts the subject's mouth to give them a smile. The end results range from surprisingly realistic to Jokeresque. All of the T300's editing tools automatically create copies of pictures you edit; the original shot is preserved, while changes are saved to new files.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W130

This 8 megapixel shooter sports a shiny, colorful new shell and a slightly longer lens, but otherwise feels like a carbon copy of its predecessor, the Cyber-shot DSC-W90. Rounded corners and an attractive brushed metal front plate give the W130 a more stylish look than the W90. Available in silver, black, and pink, it offers some choices for gadget color coordination (though not as much as its 7 megapixel little brother, the DSC-W120, which comes in black, silver, pink, and blue).

Besides the new look, the W130 gets a tweaked control layout from the W90. While it still uses irritatingly small, circular buttons for menu control, the buttons are laid out comfortably around the camera's direction pad and feel much more accessible to large thumbed users. Despite the makeover, the W130 offers few differences from its predecessor.

The camera's 32mm to 128mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.8 lens is the only significant upgrade, offering a slightly longer zoom and wider angle than the W90's 35mm to 105mm equivalent lens.

The W130 keeps the W90's 8 megapixel resolution, 2.5 inch LCD, and optical viewfinder. It also includes the W90's face detection function with Smile Shutter, a handy mode that lets the camera automatically take pictures of subjects when they smile.

It gets a slight downgrade in the internal memory department, carrying only 15MB of space instead of the W90's 31MB.

Of course, you should never rely on internal memory, so either camera would require you to pick up a Memory Stick Duo for shooting more than a handful of photos. A generous set of on board photo retouching and viewing features lets you tweak the photos you shoot with the W130.

The camera can trim and rotate (in 90 degree increments) your pictures after you take them, and digitally remove red eyes. It can also apply sharpening, soft focus, and a variety of other effects to adjust your pictures. Most of these effects feel more like silly toys than useful features, but they can still be fun to play with. The W130 can also display photo slide shows with MP3 music soundtracks, either on the camera itself or (with an optional cable or cradle) on your HDTV.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W90

From the outside, the W90 looks almost indistinguishable from its 7 megapixel little brother. Its slim metal body measures less than 0.9 inch thick and weighs only 5.3 ounces with battery and Memory Stick Duo. Unfortunately, just like the W80, its small, flat buttons can feel uncomfortable to large thumbed users.

Along with the same design, the W90 shares a nearly identical feature set with the W80. The 8 megapixel camera uses a 35mm-105mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.2 lens, giving it a standard 3x zoom range. Its 2.5 inch LCD screen isn't huge by today's standards, but it offers a decent view and leaves enough room on the camera for an optical viewfinder. Despite being part of Sony's budget line, the W90 incorporates a 9 point auto focus system and a face detection mode, both useful when your subject is not in the center of the frame.

The W90 also includes 31 megabytes of internal memory, enough to hold a few dozen photos or about a minute and a half of fair quality VGA footage. Invest in a Memory Stick Duo to get any shooting longevity out of this camera. As with the W80, a generous suite of on board retouching options help offset the W90's cookie cutter feature set.

Once you've taken a picture, you can crop it, rotate it (in 90 degree increments), or remove red eyes from portraits taken with the camera's flash. It even offers a handful of picture effects, like soft focus, fish eye, and cross filter. Most of these retouches feel more like gimmicks than actual useful features, but they can still be fun to play with. In our lab tests, the W90 fared similar to the W80, with a quicker shutter but otherwise slightly slower performance.

After a 1.7 second wait from power on to first shot, the W90 could capture a new picture every 1.3 seconds with the on board flash disabled. With the flash turned on, that wait more than doubled to 3 seconds. That's slower than we like to see, even for a budget point and shoot. The shutter lagged a scant 0.4 second with our high contrast target, and a respectable 1.1 seconds with our low contrast target. In burst mode, the camera captured 15 full resolution shots in 7.4 seconds for an average rate of 2 frames per second.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H10

For the Cyber-shot DSC-H10 budget megazoom camera, Sony didn't change much from its predecessor, the Cyber-shot DSC-H3. Only its 230,000 pixel 3 inch LCD is new, compared with the 115,000 pixel, 2.5 inch version on the H3. Given the lack of an electronic viewfinder, that's a nontrivial enhancement, but pretty much the only one.

At 10.3 ounces with battery and Memory Stick Duo Pro card, the H10 is one of the lighter megazooms, and as compact as any of them.

Still, I found it relatively comfortable to hold and use. The grip is a tad shallow, which make may it uncomfortable for users with larger hands.

A mode dial on top lets you choose from the various exposure modes program auto, full auto, and manual as well as the H10's handful of scene modes and movie mode.

The center control button in the manual, Sony doesn't give it a name, just an iconic representation sticks up a bit high, making it somewhat difficult to navigate without accidentally pressing it. Additionally, the Home and Menu buttons are flatter than I find comfortable. One of my chronic gripes with Sony's menu system is that it doesn't wrap once you've scrolled all the way to the end, it doesn't take you back to the beginning. You've got to scroll all the way back again.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Sony Alpha DSLR-A200

The 10.2 megapixel A200 comes in two kits one with the SAL-1870 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 lens, which we tested, and a dual lens kit that adds the SAL-75300 75-300mm f4.5-5.6 model. Those two lenses, plus the new SAL-55200, currently comprise Sony's complete entry level lens lineup. For other inexpensive alternatives you'll have to turn to compatible Amount Konica Minolta, Sigma, or Tamron offerings.

At 22.4 ounces with battery and CF card, the A200 weighs more than most of its competitors, despite its plastic clad body. It feels solid, though, and the rubberized grip has a deep indent for your finger that makes the camera comfortable to hold.

If you plan to connect the camera directly to your computer rather than use a card reader (which we don't recommend), then avoid the A200.

For one, the USB connector is located inside the CF card compartment, which means you have to leave the door open while downloading, potentially allowing all sorts of schmutz to get onto the card slot contacts (and, if you're as accident prone as me, providing a protrusion to hit and hurl the camera to the floor).

More important, Sony uses a proprietary combo USB/AV connector on all its dSLRs, for no reason that I can see other than to force you to buy a cable from them if you lose the bundled one. That just peeves me. The A200 uses a simple, uncluttered layout for its controls and menu system. Like the A700, the A200 has Eye Start AF sensors beneath the viewfinder.

Operating the A200 is straightforward. There are direct access controls for ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, and drive, bracketing, self timer modes, while flash, AF, white balance, AF area, and D-RangeOptimizer settings are grouped under a screen pulled up by the Fn button.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120

The attractive, metal W120 is available in black, silver, blue, and pink versions. Curiously, the step up W130 only comes in silver, black, and pink. The inch thick camera weighs just 5.4 ounces with battery and Memory Stick Duo card, and slips easily into most pockets. On the backside of the camera, a 2.5 inch LCD leaves room for a small optical viewfinder, a mode dial, and a handful of buttons.

While the small, flat controls feel more comfortable than the last generation W90's buttons, they still seem a bit small for larger thumbs. The 7 megapixel shooter includes a 32-128mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.8 lens with Sony's Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization. The lens offers a slightly longer than usual 4x optical zoom, though slight barrel distortion is present at its widest angle.

A 9 point auto focus system helps the camera lock onto subjects, and face detection can automatically adjust focus and exposure to suit the faces in your pictures. Adult and Child Priority face detection modes can differentiate between and focus primarily on children or adults in group photos, and Smile Shutter mode automatically captures photos when subjects smile.

Sony's Photo Music, an in camera slide show program, lets users show off their photos either on the camera's 2.5 inch screen or, with an optional video connector, on an HDTV. The slide shows can use a variety of transition effects, and users can upload their own soundtracks to the camera.

Despite its broad feature set, the W120 leaves out many of the on board retouching and picture editing tools found on most other W- and T-series cameras. Its brother, the W130, comes with several photo filters, such as radial blur, fish eye lens, and unsharp masking. The W120 can only rotate and resize pictures in the camera. A lot of these in camera editing features are more flashy than functional, but it would have been nice to include at least a digital red eye removal.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150

Above the display is an optical viewfinder so you can shut off the display when battery life is low, but it's uncomfortably small for frequent use. The controls feel tiny and crowded but manageable, even for big fingers. You access context sensitive settings through the Menu button, while the Home button calls up all the camera's options. This can be confusing at first, but makes sense after using it a bit.

A small, slightly sunken dial lets you choose from 10 shooting modes, including Sony's Smile Shutter, which takes a photo when it detects a smile; three for low light shooting and Program Auto with control over ISO, white balance (no manual, though), flash intensity, exposure value, and color. There is no full manual mode, but the Program Auto controls offer more flexibility than most manufacturers include in this class.

Also atypical for its price, the W150 incorporates a 5x f3.3-5.2 28-140mm equivalent lens. That's wider and longer than many.

If you like to edit or play back images on your camera, Sony does a better job than most to make it fun and easy.

There are a handful of effects (some cooler than others) that you can add to images, as well as basic cropping and red eye retouching.

There's a dedicated slide show button, too, for impromptu presentations with music and effects. An optional dock lets you connect the W150 to a TV. Combine the lens, 8 megapixel CCD, 2.7 inch LCD, an optical viewfinder, and a lot of shooting and playback controls and you have an excellent feature to price ratio. Overall, it performs very well. While start up takes a long time at 1.9 seconds, the W150 delivers solid shutter lag times in dim and bright conditions of 0.9 and 0.4 second, respectively.

The average shot to shot time is a better than average 1.5 seconds, but adding the flash more than doubles that time to 3.7 seconds the only real disappointment. But if you like shooting sports or other subjects on the move, the W150 has a very fast (for its class) continuous shooting speed of 1.9 frames per second it can sustain that rate for about 9 frames with a standard card, and up to capacity with a 30MB per second card.

The lens zooms smoothly, and Sony's Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization works well to minimize blur when the lens is fully extended, too. However, it exhibits noticeable barrel distortion in its widest position and minor pin cushioning when fully zoomed out not out of the ordinary for point and shoot models.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S750

Measuring 3.6 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 1.1 inches deep and weighing 5 ounces, the S750 fits easily in a pocket or small bag. Dressed in silver, the body is a combination of metal and plastic it's strong enough to resist damage from banging around in a bag, making it a nice choice for keeping handy for surprise photo opportunities.

The only flaw is that the door on the bottom concealing the rechargeable battery and Memory Stick Pro Duo slot slides open a little too easily even during use.

That, and it's very easy to put the battery in incorrectly since it's not keyed for a particular direction. Instead of the Carl Zeiss lenses found on many of Sony's point and shoot cameras, the S750 uses a Sony 3x f2.8-4.8 35 105mm equivalent lens.

Other than the power and shutter buttons on top, all controls are on back next to the 2.5 inch LCD. The inset mode dial is small, but moves well and stays put when pulling the camera in and out of pockets. All the buttons are tiny, too, and occasionally require repeated presses to get your point across. Navigating the menu system is extremely simple, partially because there just aren't a lot of options on the camera.

It has the requisite scene modes, subpar video capture (320x240 without zoom for up to 10 minutes), and a Program Auto mode that lets you adjust exposure values, metering, focus, ISO, and white balance. A nice bonus for this camera is the face detection, which worked quickly and accurately. One oddity, though, is the ability to pull up a histogram on the screen. I'm not so sure the targeted user for the S750 would find it as helpful as composition guidelines, which are not available.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50

Slightly smaller than the average digital SLR, the H50 is fairly lightweight for its class at just under a pound, but it's obviously not compact enough to put in a pocket. It's available in black or silver with a mix of plastic and metal parts, and the strap attachment loops on each side of the camera swivel, letting the camera point straight down when around your neck.

The large hand grip makes carrying it comfortable, though the lens puts a chunk of the weight out front, throwing the balance off a bit. At the front of the grip sits the shutter button, followed by metering and burst or bracketing mode buttons, and the mode dial. Your thumb rests naturally on the zoom rocker switch on back.

Below the rocker is a context sensitive Menu button, a Home button for full access to settings, and between them a wheel dial surrounding a directional pad and an OK button for navigating menus. The directional pad doubles as controls for flash, timer, macro, and display options, and the wheel dial lets you quickly change ISO, shutter speed, and aperture in manual mode.

The 3 inch tilting LCD is definitely a highlight of the H50, because it allows so much freedom when shooting subjects at both high and low angles. It also performs well in direct sunlight. A button at the top left of the screen, however, toggles between the LCD and EVF a better option in bright sun and when using the long zoom sans tripod.

Dialing through the H50's various modes and exploring the accompanying shooting options reveals just how versatile this camera is. Point and shoot basics like scene modes with Sony's intelligent scene recognition, Smile Shutter, face detection, ISO boost for low light shooting, and an oversimplified Easy mode are all available, letting you hand the camera over to anyone to take pictures.

KankaMSN - MSN messenger for Series 60

KankaMSM is an instant messeging software that enables you to chat with your mobile phone. You can chat everyone who uses MSN or Windows Live Messenger with KankaMSN. Besides KankaMSN is the least GPRS data consuming software in the market. So that you can enjoy spending minimum credits even you chat for hours with your friends.
Application Specifications:

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Themas: KankaMSN Version Beta 0.4 comes with 10 different themas.
T9 Instant Messeging Support: For fast instant messeging KankaMSN serves T9 support to you.
Vibration and voice alerts:KankaMSN informs you via voice alerts and/or vibrations. So that you will be informed with new messeges even you don’t look at you mobile phone’s screen.
Playing Video and Music files:With KankaMSN you can play the audio and video file links that your friends send.
Save Conversation History: If you wish you can save your chat history of your friends to your mobile phone. So that in the next chat sessions you can see your messeging history.

Free Download: kankamsn.jad and kankamsn.jar

via: rodrigostoledo.com

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

FrogEscape for Java phones

FrogEscape for Java phones

FrogEscape is a clone of Frogger written in J2ME for mobile phones. The source code is released under the Apache 2.0 license. J2ME devices with a screen resolution of 240x320 or higher supporting MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1. In other words a modern mobile phone with a decent sized screen.

Free Download: FrogEscape-1.0.0.jar and FrogEscape-1.0.0.jad

via: rodrigostoledo.com

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T700

The T700 replaces the DSC-T300 in Sony's lineup. Like that camera, the T700 has a 10 megapixel, 1/2.3 inch Super HAD CCD sensor, wide 3.5 inch touch screen display, f3.5-f10 35-140mm equivalent Carl Zeiss lens (though the zoom range drops from 5x to 4x), Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization, and shooting features like Smile Shutter, face detection with child and adult priority control, and iSCN Intelligent Scene Recognition.

However, along with improvements made to the LCD's picture quality (921,000 pixels up from 230,000) the T700's internal memory jumps from 15MB to 4GB 3.7GB available for photo storage as well as support for up to a 16GB Memory Stick DUO PRO card. The internal storage combined with the 3.5 inch touch screen LCD and the bundled Sony Picture Motion Browser software is what turns the camera into a digital photo album.

Measuring a little more than 0.6 inch and weighing 5.6 ounces, the T700 is ultra slim and light. We tested a brushed silver version, but it's available in gray, red, pink, and gold, too.

The camera has an elegant feel with a full metal body up front and sides, and nothing but screen on the back. In fact, the only physical controls are the power and shutter buttons on top and the well positioned zoom rocker at the right corner.

The only other button is a small Playback mode button at the top right of the display. On the bottom is the battery Memory Stick compartment, a proprietary connector for use with the included USB or AV cable, and a tripod mount. To take a picture you simply slide down the flat, metal lens cover and click away. You'll want to be careful of errant fingers getting in shots and touching the lens, however, as the lens is positioned at the far left.

Sony's high contrast Xtra Fine display is quite good. At its Normal brightness setting, I had no problem seeing the screen in direct sunlight. Well, no problem after wiping away fingerprints the T700 seems to collect more than most. If having to wipe off fingerprints is a deal breaker, you'll want to skip this camera and probably all touch screen models for that matter of which there are more and more.

Aside from fingerprints, you might take issue with the touch screen's responsiveness. I found the T700's to be fine with fingers, but better with the included stylus (or "Paint Pen" as Sony calls it) likely because I could be more precise with it. It clips onto the wrist strap and allows you to quickly poke around the three on screen menus (Home, Menu, and Display) along with the in camera retouching and painting tools (you can add stamps, frames, or draw on pictures) all while keeping the screen free of fingerprints.

Navigating the camera settings is easy enough. The Home menu gives you access to all the main features and options, while the Menu screen provides context sensitive options; for instance, if you're taking still pictures, you get all the shooting choices like scene modes and resolutions. The DSC-T700 offers 10 scene modes including a new Gourmet option for shooting food as well as the typical auto features.

Canon PowerShot A580

The A580 has a decent selection of Canon's shooting technologies. It offers no fewer than 16 shooting modes, including seven special scene modes such as Foliage, Fireworks, and Aquarium, the latter for capturing images of indoor aquariums without a flash. In Easy mode the camera makes all the decisions, Manual mode gives full access to all menu settings, exposure compensation, and white balance.

But most important, the A580 has a face detection and tracking system that worked as promised, keeping the selected face in focus even as the person moved among other people.

Though it lacks the sleek design of a compact model, with its bulky plastic body and bubble like curves, the larger body does accommodate features like an optical viewfinder, support for AA batteries, and a comfortable grip. But it does look and feel like a toy.

It measures 2.6 inches by 3.7 inches by 1.6 inches a little too big to fit comfortably in a back pocket and it weighs 7.7 ounces. Fortunately the right side hand grip is comfortable and just deep enough to securely wrap fingers around. It also houses the two AA batteries and the SD or SDHC card slot. At the front end of the grip is the shutter button surrounded by a zoom ring to control the 4x, f/2.6-f/5.5 35-140mm equivalent (4x) lens.

The lens is a touch wider and longer than its competitors. The power button and Mode dial are on the top of the body with the rest of the shooting options and menu navigation controlled by a directional pad and miscellaneous buttons on back. This aspect of the design works for me. Everything is easily recognizable from turning off the flash to switching modes to setting the timer. There's a serviceable 2.5 inch LCD for framing your shots as well as playback (a slider to the screen's right lets you jump between shooting and playing).

Canon PowerShot SD790 IS

Canon seems to be experimenting a lot with the design of its point and shoot cameras. That seems to have worked out a little better in the case of the SD790 IS than with its higher end sibling, the SD890 IS. Though I can't say I'm gaga over the new angular look and incised buttons, at least the camera remains stylish and functional.

Not quite small enough to feel like an ultra compact, at 6.3 ounces and 2.2 by 3.6 by 0.8 inches, the SD790 will still fit in a jeans pocket, and it feels surprisingly well made and sturdy. The camera has a typical control layout. On or off and zoom switches sit on top, while the display, menu, PictBridge, review buttons, along with a four way nav plus OK combo dial and movie, camera, program mode switch on the back.

The new buttons sit flush with the body and don't move much, similar to the style that has become popular on cell phones.

In the SD790's case, there are rubber guides to provide delineation between the buttons, plus the buttons are fairly large, both of which make a huge difference in usability.

You navigate via a combo control wheel or four way switch that is differently designed but functionally equivalent to the one on the SD890 IS. The wheel scrolls through some of the modes that you used to pull up via the function (Func) button, such as Stitch Assist, Color Swap, Color Accent, and Digital Macro, as well as the scene modes. The Func button sits in the middle and calls up exposure compensation or long shutter, white balance, My Colors, metering (evaluative, spot and center), compression quality, and image size.

Within this menu and within the menu system in general you can use either the nav switch or scroll wheel. A mode switch toggles among automatic or manual still photo, program exposure (scene), and movie capture modes. The scroll wheel doesn't behave quite as free wheeling as the one on the SD890 IS, which makes a big difference. There are a couple of other minor quirks with the design, however.

The thumb rest, designated by two rows of raised bumps on the back of the camera, isn't where your thumb falls naturally that occurs on the PictBridge and Review buttons. Unless you've got a crushing grip it's not critical, since your thumb actually rests on the rubber divider between the buttons.

Canon PowerShot SD890 IS

In addition to altering the overall design, Canon opted to replace its more traditional four way navigation switch with a four way nav plus wheel. The wheel scrolls through some of the modes that you used to pull up via the function (Func) button, such as Stitch Assist, Color Swap, Color Accent, and Digital Macro, as well as the scene modes. The Func button sits in the middle and calls up exposure compensation, white balance, My Colors, metering, compression quality, and image size.

Within this menu and within the menu system in general you can use either the nav switch or scroll wheel. A mode switch, which doubles as a thumb rest, toggles among automatic, manual, program exposure (scene), and movie capture modes. Normally, I'm a big fan of scroll wheels. But I find the free flying wheel of the SD890 IS too difficult to control.

There's no physical feedback so you can't feel you've scrolled to the next option, and I frequently found myself either zipping past my choice or frustrated because it didn't seem to be changing.

If you pause to figure out which option it's going to stop at Canon should have called it the roulette wheel the options time out and disappear.

Furthermore, when operating the menu, display, and review buttons, my thumb tends to drag the wheel with it.

Finally, though the mode switch works fine for its function, it's neither big enough nor shaped comfortably enough to rest your thumb. I was tempted to give the camera a lower rating for design, but I suspect other users won't find it quite as annoying to use as I do. The f/3.2-f/5.7, 37mm-185mm equivalent lens represents the most notable change from the SD850 IS.

Though a broader zoom range, it's considerably slower (the maximum aperture rises to f/3.2 from the SD850 IS' f/2.8) and slightly narrower (37mm equivalent compared to the SD850 IS' 35mm). That's not necessarily a trade off you want to make.

The wider angle lenses on models such as the SD870 IS and the Panasonic Lumix TZ models make them more flexible for typical snapshots of groups or landscapes, and it's not as if the SD890 IS' zoom reaches far enough to buy you other shots you might not normally get. Features carried over from the SD850 IS include face detection and optical image stabilization; features missing from both cameras include no semi manual exposure modes, such as shutter and aperture priority.

Canon EOS Rebel XSi

Slightly larger than the XTi, the XSi shaves a couple of ounces of the weight to 1 pound, 2.5 ounces. Its smooth plastic body still feels a bit on the cheap side, and I'm not crazy about the grip. I can't quite put my finger on the reason why it's not especially shallow, and Canon improved it over the XTi's with a more rubbery feeling cover. Still, I don't find it as comfortable to hold as most other dSLRs.

The larger 3 inch LCD necessitated some changes to the control layout from the XTi's, and I prefer the new over the old. Almost all the buttons lie under your right hand, and each feels slightly different so that you can grope them without looking. None require two handed operation when you push the button to change ISO, white balance, metering, and so on, the menu persists while you navigate the options. (For more on the camera design, click through to the slide show.)

The biggest operational advantage the XSi offers over competitors is My Menu, which it inherits from older models. With My Menu you can build a go to list of the most frequently accessed menu settings in my case, for instance, Format and Live View settings. However, the menus can be, irritatingly, a bit inconsistent and sometimes dumb.

For instance, you can change ISO sensitivity with either the dial or the navigation buttons, but can only navigate metering choices via the nav. Also, in some cases when you have two columns to navigate, as with Picture Style settings, it doesn't let you move to the right or left. It requires you to move all the way down the first column to get to the settings in the second column.

On some counts, the XSi offers some pretty nice specs, highlighted by the 12 megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor (for Canon's traditional 1.6x focal length multiplier) and 9 point user selectable autofocus system. The latter wouldn't be much of a standout if Nikon hadn't dropped to three area AF in the D60. I also mark the switch from CompactFlash to SDHC in the plus column. The camera also includes the same Highlight Tone Priority mode found in the 1D Mark III, which helps preserve detail in the brightest portion of a scene.

Also, the XSi includes Canon's Auto Lighting Optimizer, which automatically adjusts contrast and brightness in case the image you captured isn't quite perfect. Introduced last year in the 40D, the Auto Lighting Optimizer is now available in all exposure modes and employs face detection to prevent the underexposure of backlit faces I complained about in the XTi (it works).

Remaining specifications are in line with the previous Rebel. For example, shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/4,000 second with a flash sync speed of 1/200 second and the camera employs a 35 zone TTL metering system. Canon also offers the BG-E5 battery grip.

Canon PowerShot SX 110 IS

One of the SX110 IS's biggest lures is its compact size for a megazoom. It measures 4.4 inches wide by 2.8 inches high by 1.8 inches deep and weighs 10.4 ounces and will fit comfortably into a jacket pocket or uncomfortably in a jeans pocket. The optically stabilized 10x f2.8-4.3 36-360mm zoom lens is responsible for most of that weight.

Though slightly smaller than the SX100 IS, the SX110 IS remains large enough that it should be easy to hold securely, but its grip is shallow and the body is slippery. Encased in plastic, the SX110 IS nevertheless feels quite solid and sturdy. A door on the bottom covers an SDHC card slot and battery compartment. Unlike most AA powered megazooms that use four batteries, the SX110 IS is powered by only two, and battery life feels relatively short.

You'll want to pick up some rechargeable NiMH batteries for sure. With the screen now 0.5 inch larger than the SX100's at 3 inches, the PictBridge, face detection, and display and menu buttons once below the LCD have been shuffled a bit.

Face detection, display, and menu buttons join the dedicated exposure compensation button above and below the navigational scroll wheel instead of below the LCD. This actually works better since it puts everything under your thumb.

The wheel surrounds a Func button and has top, bottom, left, and right pressure points for ISO sensitivity, focus (manual and macro), flash, and drive mode unfortunately, it retains its all too easy to change settings responsiveness. The PictBridge button is now relegated to the far left corner above the screen, while a playback button sits between the right side of the LCD and the slight indent of a thumb rest.

Since the release of the SX100 IS, many megazoom cameras have expanded to a full complement of manual and semi manual exposure modes, flash and exposure compensation, and metering modes, so it's no surprise that the SX110 IS is still fully stocked in that department. There's also the de rigueur handful of scene modes, plus a decent face detection mode that lets you scroll through found faces to select one. It still takes longer to use than simply picking a face and focusing on it.

Canon PowerShot SD 880 IS

At 6.3 ounces and measuring 3.7 inches wide by 2.2 inches high by 0.9 inch deep, it'll fit more comfortably in a pants or coat pocket than a shirt pocket, but it's by no means big. Compared with the SD870 IS, the SD880 IS has the latest version of Canon's image processing engine, Digic 4, jumps from 8 megapixels to 10, and offers a few more scene modes.

The 4x f2.8-5.8 28-112mm lens is a highlight of the camera the wide angle is so nice to have on a camera this small, and it's a tad longer zoom than on the SD870. It also records video using the H.264 codec instead of Motion JPEG. On top of the two tone body (it's available in gold or brown and silver or black combinations) are the shutter button and surrounding zoom control, a small power button, and a switch for going between Video, Special Scene modes (SCN), and Shooting mode in Auto or Program AE.

That mosaic like design on the right is the speaker. Scene modes are plentiful 16 in all and include Stitch Assist for panoramas and Underwater for use with an optional casing.

Shooting mode lets you go fully automatic with some minor adjustments, or drop it into Program AE, which gives you control for exposure compensation, white balance, tone, and ISO.

Following the body's curve on the right from top to bottom are Print or Share and Playback buttons, a directional pad surrounded by a thumb dial, and then Menu and Display buttons.

At first glance it looks like there's a lot going on with the controls, and there actually is, but operation remains reliably straightforward. The directional pad is pretty standard instead it's the thumb dial that adds interest here. In SCN mode, the dial is used for rifling through your options. It's also used for swapping between Auto and Program in Shooting mode and tone control in Video.

It works well, but you can barely feel stops when spinning the dial making it just a little too easy to switch out of whichever mode you want. The dial can be used for navigating Menu settings, too. Overall, I like the key design and wheel, but I can also see it confusing new users to the point of frustration.

Canon PowerShot G10

The G10 is physically quite similar to the G9. At 14 ounces, it's heavier by about an ounce, and it's also a bit bigger one to three tenths of an inch on all sides, for dimensions of 4.3 by 1.8 by 3.1 inches. As with its predecessors, the Canon G10's metal body feels like a tank. I'm beginning to wish for just a little bit more grip, though, especially since the thumb rest feels kind of slippery. The dial configuration ranks as the most notable change to the design.

Canon stacked the mode dial inside the ISO dial for right hand operation and added an exposure compensation dial on the left. It retains the four way switch (for setting manual focus, macro, flash, and drive mode) with a Function or Set button nested inside the navigational scroll wheel on the back. And though the focus point, metering, display, and menu buttons remain in the same positions, they now have an odd, angled design.

Overall, I like the changes, and shooting with the G10 feels quick, fluid, and comfortable. The optical viewfinder is relatively large and distortion free, making it quite usable.

Though Canon giveth with the improved wide angle coverage, it taketh away in total zoom range. The new optically stabilized f/2.8-4.8 28-140mm equivalent 5x lens should please landscape photographers, but some folks will miss the 210mm equivalent reach of the G9.

That and the move to a 1/1.7 inch 14.7 megapixel CCD from a 12 megapixel version constitute the most notable feature changes. At least they haven't taken away the stuff I liked in the G9 the built in neutral density filter, two slots on the mode dial for custom settings, ability to change the size of the AF area, a hot shoe, exposure lock, raw support, and the bayonet adapter mount that help distinguish the Canon G10 as a camera for enthusiasts.

The addition of Servo AF is nice as well, but it's odd to use while holding the camera out for LCD view, and unlike on an SLR, there's no focus area confirmation in the G10's viewfinder. I think it'll take some getting used to.

Canon EOS 50D

Canon offers three configurations of the 50D. One kit includes the veteran f/3.5-5.6, 28-135mm IS USM lens, with an angle of view equivalent to that of a 44.8-216mm lens on a 35mm camera, and a second kit comes with the new EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, equivalent to 28.8-320mm. Of course, there's a body only version as well.

Though the 28-135mm lens doesn't provide the coverage or all in one convenience of the 18-200mm lens, I think it's a better lens, and would recommend that kit over the other and perhaps supplementing with the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4.0-5.6 IS lens that dual lens configuration can be cheaper as well. For better or worse, there aren't a lot of significant design or feature changes from the 40D.

At 1.9 pounds, the body has gained a little weight about an ounce but retains the same dimensions: 4.2 inches by 5.7 inches by 2.9 inches. It retains the same comfortable grip and sturdy, partly dust and weather sealed, body, as well as compatibility with the old battery and vertical grip.

I have the same likes and dislikes about the control design and layout as with the 40D. The series of three buttons above the status LCD metering white balance, AF Drive mode, and ISO flash compensation are easy to use, but they feel identical.

The status display delivers complete information and duplicates it on the rear LCD. Following the lead of competitors, Canon added the capability to change settings from that back information display, using a combination of the joystick and the big Quick Control dial on the back. Overall, it remains a good shooting design that upgraders will have no trouble adapting to and newcomers to the line should pick up pretty easily.

Canon squeezed an extra programmable function button below the LCD. You can assign it to directly access LCD brightness, image quality, exposure compensation, image jump during playback, or Live View settings. Additionally, the PictBridge button now does double duty it also lets you toggle between regular and Live View shooting. There are a handful of new features, though no movie capture.

Aside from the bump to 15 megapixels from the 40D's 10 megapixels, the most apparent addition is Creative Auto, a new semi manual mode with capabilities you can view as an advanced Auto mode or dumbed down Program mode, depending upon your viewpoint. All functions in CA are automated, with a few exceptions.

Notably, it replaces shutter and aperture adjustment options with two sliding scales Exposure (brighter or darker) and Background (blurred or sharp) that implicitly adjust shutter speed and aperture. While it's an interesting idea, it seems too much of a newbie feature to put on the 50D. The Rebel series seems far more appropriate. In CA mode you can also can select single, continuous, or self timer shooting; Picture Style photo size and quality and flash mode (auto, on or off).

Canon PowerShot SD770

All the SD770's controls sit on the back of the camera. While the use of a switch to shift among still capture, movie capture, and playback is common and easy to use, it does preclude being able to jump out of playback mode by pressing the shutter button, which many cameras allow, and which can slow you down a bit.

And I have the same complaint as previous reviewers with the four way navigation plus Func or Set button design the control is too flat and the ring too small, causing frequent mispresses on the center button when I'm trying to adjust the ISO sensitivity, macro, flash, or drive mode from the outer ring. The menu based options are pretty basic.

There's full auto, a handful of scene modes, and a manual mode that allows for adjustment of exposure, white balance, color tone and tints, metering (evaluative, center weighted average, and spot), and image size and quality.

You can set the AF frame to Center, AiAF (auto), or Face Detect as usual, Face Detect is generally better than AiAF, but choosing your own subject is best.

You can also choose the size of the AF frame in Center mode, and an AF-Point Zoom option will magnify the area of interest while focusing.

There are two available image stabilization modes, one for compensation along both axes, and one Panning mode that only compensates for up or down jitter. Finally, flash options include slow sync, red eye correction (which post processes the image and saves only the corrected one), and red eye reduction (which prefires the flash to constrict pupils in advance).

Like the SD790 IS and SD1100 IS, some aspects of the SD770 IS' performance are excellent, while others are below par. It wakes up and shoots in a fairly average 1 second, and delivers great focus and shoot times of 0.4 second and 0.6 second, in optimal and suboptimal lighting, respectively. But two consecutive shots take 2.5 seconds and adding flash bumps that up to 3.7 seconds, both of which fall behind much of the competition.

The same goes for its sluggish 0.9 frame per second typical burst shooting rate. Canon rates the battery at 300 shots (using CIPA standard methodology), which is relatively good for an ultra compact. The 2.5 inch LCD remains usable in bright sunlight, which is good I found the optical viewfinder too small and distorted to really be an acceptable substitute. It has a nice, wide viewing angle for impromptu slide shows, though it's a bit small for that purpose. Like the SD1100's, it's a fingerprint magnet.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Samsung DuoCam SC-D6550

Even in this third generation, the DuoCam's camera and camcorder designs each lack the consistency you'd expect from a dual function device. While the menus are attractive and well laid out for both modes, they look and feel very different. The camcorder uses a colorful text based, vertically scrolling menu, while the camera's menus are icon based and scroll horizontally.

The still camera lens has an automatic, built in cover, while the camera lens uses a separate, tethered lens cap. Most of the options for both still and video shooting are controlled using the menus and a small joystick mounted on the left side of the camera. There are a few additional buttons for functions such as activating the color slow shutter mode, deleting stills, and controlling tape playback.

A still camera style mode dial for selecting shooting modes when using the still camera functions sits at the top rear of the camera.

The zoom, start or stop, and still photo buttons are well placed for one handed operation, though those with large fingers may find that the mode dial makes pressing the still button somewhat difficult.

The LCD boasts a Manual Focus button, as well as a small rocker switch for adjusting focus. This works well and offers reasonably good precision, though fine adjustments are more difficult than they'd be with a focus wheel.

Both the memory card slot and the tape door are on the bottom of the SC-D6550, so you'll need to remove the camera from the tripod to swap recording media.

The Samsung DuoCam SC-D6550's resolution lies in the middle of the range for similarly priced competitors. Behind the 10X optical zoom lens used for video is a 1/6 inch, 680.000 pixel CCD. The still camera lens features a 3X zoom (with a focal range equivalent to 38mm to 114mm on a 35mm camera) and is paired with a 5 megapixel sensor. The SC-D6550 offers a wide range of shooting modes for both video and still photos, from the one touch EasyQ button that puts all the camera's settings on automatic to completely manual control.

In camcorder mode, you can set both shutter speed and exposure. When shooting stills, you can choose aperture priority, shutter priority, or full manual control. Still aperture range is now f/2.8 through f/11, a marked improvement over the still camera in the SC-D6040. Manual focus is available in both modes as well.

Samsung DuoCam SC-D6040

Though the performance of both camera and camcorder are less than you'd get from dedicated devices in this price range, the Samsung DuoCam SC-D6040 is an attractive option if all in one convenience is your No. 1 priority. Samsung's first DuoCam, the SC-D5000, was an odd looking, bulky affair with a pivoting dual lens mechanism that would have fit in perfectly in the old Transformers cartoon.

The dark gray, plastic shell of the Samsung DuoCam SC-D6040 on the other hand, resembles, at first glance, a typical midsize DV camcorder.

Only the presence of the second lens at the front of the camera gives away the fact that the SC-D6040 isn't a typical camcorder.

Like Ray Milland and Rosie Greer in The Thing with Two Heads, the camera and camcorder share a body but are different in many ways.

For example, while the still camera lens features a convenient, built in lens cover, the camcorder lens has a separate, tethered lens cap. The camera has a solid, hefty feel, likely because Samsung has, essentially, added the components of a digital camera to a compact DV camcorder chassis. Though it has a sturdy feel, at 1.2 pounds, it's no heavier than typical middle size camcorders.

The still camera's controls are easy to use, but expect confused looks if you ask a stranger to take a picture for you and you hand them what looks like a camcorder. When examining the controls, the only hint of the SC-D6040's dual functionality is a dedicated still camera style mode dial for selecting the shooting mode when using the still camera functions.

The remaining photo settings, such as flash mode and automatic exposure lock, are doubled up onto the camcorder buttons. The buttons are logically laid out, with the most common functions on the sides of the camera and playback controls behind the LCD screen's door. The zoom, start or stop, and still photo buttons are all comfortably placed for one handed operation.

Samsung SCD5000 DuoCam

Samsung just started shipping its $1,400 SCD5000 DuoCam, which combines a 680.000 pixel MiniDV camcorder with a 4.1 megapixel still camera. You'd think a camera and a camcorder would go together like chocolate and peanut butter, but based on our initial observations, we doubt the SCD5000 will be the next taste sensation.

A single device that can shoot good video as well as stills is the Holy Grail of consumer imaging.

Since no sensor or optical system available is optimal for both tasks, Samsung didn't try to fake it, instead housing two separate systems in a rotating module. The company gets points for imagination.

Like mating a poodle with a rottweiler, this solution is awkward on several levels. Who's it for?

The camcorder is low budget, while the camera would normally be targeted at a higher end buyer.

And the large, clunky unit is both bigger and more expensive than two separate devices. We suspect Samsung will need a couple of SCD5000 generations to get the mix right. Maybe by then, two sensor or optical systems will be unnecessary. Or now that Samsung has floated the idea, perhaps another company will simply come up with a more compact design or bring down the price.

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