Mike Slocombe

Pentax Optio A20 Offers Three Types Of Anti-Shake
Despite increased pixel counts rapidly reaching the wall of diminishing returns for consumers, Pentax have joined the trend for beefing up the megapixel ratings with their new Optio A20 compact digital camera.
Stuffing in a ten megapixel sensor, the A20 is an attractively understated lightweight compact which offers three types of anti-shake, a 2.5inch LCD screen and enough power from its two AA batteries to grab around 220 images on a single charge.
The 1/1.8-inch CCD sensor captures enough information to create A3 sized prints, with the SMC PENTAX zoom lens (38mm-114mm equiv) offering seven elements in five groups, with three aspherical elements correcting spherical aberration.
No shake, non rattle and non roll.
A new Application Specific Integrated Circuit (whatever that is) claims to serve up more image-processing power, with the camera unusually offering three different types of Anti-Shake functions.
The first, SR (Shake Reduction), is a proper stabilisation system that employs two gyro sensors to detect the amount of shake and an image sensor (CCD) that moves both horizontally and vertically to reduce the wobbles.
Pentax’s “Blur Reduction” mode uses the time-honoured bodge of whipping the ISO rating skywards (up to 1600) when the light goes low, at the expense of a lower 5M (2592 x 1944 pixels) resolution,
The third function, Movie Anti-Shake, helps reduce wildly oscillating video clips via software wizardry, with the process resulting in movies with a narrower field of view than during normal recording.
Pentax have also included their new Face Recognition AF & AE function, which claims to automatically detect the position of someone’s boatrace in the photo frame, adjusting the focus and exposure accordingly.
The Optio A20’s auto-tracking AF feature should help doting mothers grab photos of their little darlings as they run into walls, with the focus frame automatically following the movement of the subject inside the photo frame.
The movie capabilities of the A20 are pretty good too, with the little fella capable of grabbing 640 x 480 pixels footage at 30 fps (frames per second), captured in DivX (MPEG-4 compliant) movie format (not supported on Macs).
As ever, there’s a veritable flotilla of auto/scene modes covering Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Program modes, with Shutter-Priority AE and Manual Exposure offered for the adventurous.
The Optio A20 supports two types of removable storage media – SD and the new SDHC memory cards, with the camera offering 22MB of built-in memory.
The camera should be hurtling off shop shelves in the US from October 2006, priced at around 350 bucks, while UK pricing and release dates will be announced at a later date.
Pentax Optio A20 specifications
Sensor 1/2.5″ Type CCD, 10.0 million effective pixels
Image sizes 3648 x 2736, 3072 x 2304, 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480
Movie clips 640 x 480 @ 30fps, 320 x 240 @ 30fps
File formats JPEG Exif v2.2, DCF, DPOF, PRINT Image Matching III, AVI MPEG-4
Lens 38-114mm (35mm equiv), F2.8-5.4
Image stabilization SR (Shake Reduction), Movie anti-shake,
Conversion lenses No
Digital zoom up to 4x
Focus TTL contrast detection AF
AF area modes 5-point multi AF, Spot AF, Tracking AF switchable
AF assist lamp Yes
Focus distance Normal: 0.35m – infinity
Macro: 0.12m – 0.4m (at full wide-angle setting to 11.5mm)
Supermacro: 0.06m – 0.15m (at full wide-angle setting)
Metering TTL metering, Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
ISO sensitivity Auto, ISO 64, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800
Exposure compensation +/- 2EV in 1/3 steps
Shuttter speed 1/2000 sec to 4 sec
Aperture F2.8-5.4
Modes One shot, Self timer, Continuous, Remote Control,
Self timer 2 or 10 secs
Continuous shooting n/a
Flash Auto, Flash On / Off, Soft Flash, Red-eye reduction
Range: Wide: approx 0.06m – 7.1m / Tele: approx 0.35m – 3.5m
Viewfinder No
LCD monitor 2.5-inch TFT Low-reflective type, 232,000 pixels
Connectivity NTSC / PAL, USB 2.0 Hi-speed, AV out, DC in
Storage 22MB built-in memory, SD / SDHC card compatible
Power Rechargeable D-L18 Lithium-ion battery, Optional AC adapter
Weight (no batt) 125 g (4.4 oz)
Dimensions 88.5 x 54.5 x 23 mm (3.5 x 2.1 x 0.9 in)
Pentax
23 August, 2006
Camouflage Your Online Searches With Lostinthecrowd.org
Unspam Technologies has announced the launch of a new website – lostinthecrowd.org – that sneakily helps keep Web searches private.
When you use a search engine, your search enquiry is associated with a unique identifying “cookie” stored in your browser’s cache, and this can be easily accessible to prying eyes (or, in the recent case of AOL, made available to all and sundry on the Web and now fully searchable here ).
Over time, these records can provide an in-depth record of your surfing habits and provide snoopers with information you’d perhaps like kept to yourself.
Of course, routinely clearing the cookies from your browser is the safest option, but Lost in the Crowd takes a different approach by automatically placing random queries through the search engines you use from your tracking cookie.
While it won’t stop your search queries being indexed, it will help camouflage your activities as Eric Langheinrich, CTO of Unspam explains, “It’s as if you had a bunch of monkeys running searches on your behalf. While search engines would still see your real searches, it would be hard for them, or anyone who may subpoena their data, to separate those searches you care about from those the monkeys randomly typed in.”
“Your identity, in any meaningful way, becomes ‘lost in the crowd,” he added.
Langheinrich said that Unspam has no intention of making any money out of the service, citing that the site’s sole purpose was to focus people to the issue of online privacy.
Although we can see this coming in useful in some situations, we’d always recommend that users make a habit of regularly cleaning out their browser’s history (in Firefox, it’s Options -> Privacy -> History), or use the truly excellent freeware cleaning application CCleaner (Windows only, www.ccleaner.com)
www.lostinthecrowd.org
23 August, 2006
Zeiss Ikon SW SuperWide Camera
We know that we’re looking at a camera that’s only going to appeal to a tiny niche of photographers, but it’s such a beaut we had to bring it to your attention.
The Zeiss Ikon SW SuperWide camera is a delightful rangefinder style compact 35mm camera which is compatible with M mount lenses – meaning you can strap on superwide-angle lenses like the Distagon T* 2,8/15mm ZM and the Biogon T* types from the ZEISS ZM range.
Zeiss are world renowned for their ultra-high quality lenses (often seen in upmarket Sony cameras), but this release marks their welcome return as a high end camera manufacturer.
Tough as nails
Clad in an all-metal, traditional rangefinder casing, the Zeiss measures up at (5.4″ W x 2.9″ H x 1.3″ D), weighs 395g (13.9 oz) and looks like the kind of thing you could drag around a battlefield and deflect bullets with.
Directly above the lens is an accessory shoe for fitting the corresponding superwide viewfinder, with a second built in shoe for taking a flash (or a bubble level/other accessory.)
The camera takes good ol’ 35mm film ranging from ISO 25-3200 (manually set in 1/3 f-stop increments) with aperture priority or manual exposure modes.
Exposure levels are set via a combination of 3 LEDs which indicate shutter speeds ranging from 1/2000 sec. – 8 sec. in automatic mode (1/2000 – 1 sec. + B in manual mode.)
The camera is scheduled for an October release, priced at a not-entirely-unreasonable €799/£545(without VAT).
There are also rumours that Zeiss are considering a digital version, which has already caused great pools of expectant dribble to form around this writer’s mouth.
Zeiss Ikon SW SuperWide Camera Specifications
Camera type: 35mm camera with focal plane shutter and TTL light metering
Film format: 24 x 36mm on 35mm film
Lenses: Intended to be used with short focal length types of the Carl Zeiss T* ZM-mount lens family in combination with an external viewfinder. Other M-mount lenses, including M39 screw mount lenses with an M – mount adapter can be used
Exposure metering: TTL center-weighted metering at working aperture
Metering range at ISO 100 and f/2: EV0-EV19 (f/2-4 sec.,f/16-1/2000 sec.)
Film speed range: ISO 25-3200 manually set in 1/3 f-stop increments
Exposure modes: AE with aperture priority or manual; AE lock option for a single exposure or for a sequence of exposures; exposure compensation +/-2 f-stops in 1/3 stops set at shutter speed dial
LED display: Combination of 3 LED indicates shutter speed setting situation
Shutter and shutter speed: Vertical-travel metal focal-plane shutter with electronically controlled speeds accurate to 1/12 f-stop
Range in Automatic mode: 8 sec. to 1/2000 sec.
Range in Manual mode: 1 sec. to 1/2000 sec. in 1-stop increments; B.
Flash synch: Synchronization at 1/125 sec. and longer shutter speeds
Film transport: Rapid-wind manual advance lever, with ratcheted partial advance
Camera body: One-piece aluminum base structure, external magnesium covers, tripod thread 1/4 inch in base, two accessory shoes for external viewfinder and flash
Batteries: One CR 1/3 Lithium or two 1.5 V cells type LR44 or SR44
Dimensions: 138mm W x 72.5mm H x 32mm D (5.4″ W x 2.9″ H x 1.3″ D).
Weight: 395g (13.9 oz.)
Zeiss
22 August, 2006
Samsung 70in HD LCD TV
Samsung is getting ready to unveil what it reckons is the first 70in HD (high-definition) LCD (liquid crystal display) panel.
Due to be announced later this week, this mother of all HD screens will measure a full 5 inches wider across the diagonal than the current largest high-definition LCD panel in use.
Samsung also say that their wall-filling slab o’screen will support the so-called 1080p ‘full HD’, which makes up 1,080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scanning.
The declamatory display serves up a hefty 1,920 by 1,080 pixels resolution, supports a massive 1.07 billion colours with video signals reproduced at 120Hz, compared to the 60 Hz of conventional Full HD LCD panels- this higher speed lets moving images be reproduced with much higher clarity.
Samsung will be wowing the crowds with a prototype at the IMID (International Meeting on Information Displays) 2006 technical conference that is taking place later this week in Daegu, South Korea.
Executive Vice President Kim Sang-Soo of Samsung Electronics was ready to parp his company’s PR trumpet: “Our new 70-inch LCD is not only significantly larger, but also sets a new benchmark of excellence in terms of video image reproduction, viewing angle and image quality. We’ve designed it to dramatically enhance the large screen LCD TV user’s viewing experience. ”
Naturally, the pricing will be in the ‘arm & leg’ department, but even those with chequebooks vast enough for this beastie will have to wait, as the monster screens aren’t expected to start shunting off Samsung’s assembly line until the first half of 2007.
Samsung 70in HD LCD TV Specifications
Display size: 70″
Resolution: FHD (1,920 by 1,080 pixels)
Mode: a-Si
Brightness: 600nit
Contrast ratio: 2,000:1
Number of Colours: 1.07 billion
Color saturation: 92%
Response time: < 8ms
Viewing angles: 180° top, bottom, left and right
No. of polarizers: 1
Terminology
Full High Definition (FHD): The FHD requirement for a wide screen (aspect ratio of 16:9) is 1,920 pixels across by 1,080 rows high (the highest resolution available).
Polarizer: A multi-layered optical film is placed at the front and back of the LCD panel as a filter that only allows light waves of a certain rotation to pass through.
Nit: Not something that crawls around your barnet but an abbreviation for the measure of brightness properly called candela per meter square (cd/m2).
Samsung
22 August, 2006
Egrips For Smartphones, iPods, PDAs And More
Are you the owner of a pair of super slippery hands that seem unable to keep a firm grip on your mobile or PDA?
Or are you one of those people who like to multitask when you’re running around the office but have found the shiny surface of your phone a little too slippery on occasion – sometimes with disastrous results? (we know of at least two people who have managed to drop their phones down toilets).
If this sounds like you, then you may be interested in investing in some Egrips Appliques.
We’re not sure what the Frenchy-sounding name is all about, but the company offers a range of protective stick-on covers for a wide selection of electronic devices such as cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras, iPods, MP3 players, gaming devices etc.
Like many of the best ideas, it’s a simple one: simply stick on a pre-cut set of protective silicone grips on to your device and the thing should become much more ‘sticky’ and less likely to end up on the floor, under your brake pedal or floating in your karsey.
Made from a super thin material, the makers claim that the “specially formulated adhesive” won’t damage your precious gadget while the super-grippy material will prevent it from, “sliding around on dry surfaces, like car seats, centre consoles, counter tops, desktops, laptops and more.”
The grips are reasonably priced around the $10-$12 mark and are available from the egrips website.
21 August, 2006
BoxWave Dual Handsfree Stereo Adapter For Palm Treo Review (80%)
If you’re fed up with having to use the rubbish headphones that came with your Treo, you may want to consider investing in BoxWave’s Dual Handsfree Stereo Adapter.
Like many other mobile manufacturers, Palm elected to use the non-standard 2.5mm headphone socket, meaning that you can’t use your favourite headphones with the device.
Although many electronics stores like Maplins carry simple 2.5mm (male) to 3.5mm (female) stereo adapters, your listening pleasure is going to be interrupted every time you take a call as you’ll have to unplug your headphones every time. Not cool.
So here’s where the BoxWave’s Dual Handsfree Stereo Adapter comes in.
The unit features a simple (gold plated) 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter which connects up to a small control unit which includes an integrated microphone, single-touch answer call button, volume control, and a switch for toggling between music and handsfree phone mode.
The adapter also comes with a removable lapel clip so that you can clip the microphone to your jacket, and to avoid the usual spaghetti tangle of wires, there’s a clever cable retract/recoil design that winds in any excess cabling.
Giving it some welly
We tested the adapter with a Palm Treo 650 and a pair of Grado SR60 cans.
Giving it a bit of welly with some MP3s played back on Pocket Tunes, everything worked as advertised, with the music mode automatically pausing the tunes whenever a call came in on the Treo.
As soon as the call was finished, the music would kick back in again, so there was no need to go rummaging about in bags or pockets. Sweet.
We also liked the retractable cable, although there’s no denying that the combination of adapter, cable coiler and control unit added a bit of bulk.
Although we initially had a problem with a noisy potentiometer (that’s a volume control to most people, but we’re trying hard to impress you here), Boxwave were quick to send out a replacement, so it looks like their customer service is on the case.
Overall, we found the BoxWave to be well worth the outlay (currently on offer from their site at $20.95) and a great investment if you want to be able to get the best music performance out of your Palm Treo 650/700p/700w.
If you haven’t got a Palm, you might be interested to note that Boxwave also do a Dual Handsfree Stereo Headset which replicates most of the functionality of the Palm version, but has non-removable headphones – check out their page for compatible models.
Features: 80%
Build: 80%
Value For Money: 85%
Overall: 80%
BoxWave Dual Handsfree Stereo Adapter
17 August, 2006
USRobotics Adds Two Skype USB Phones
USRobotics has rolled out two new Skype Certified handsets, the oh-so-catchily named USR9601 USB Internet Phone and the seductively monikered USR9602 USB Internet Mini Phone.
Both phones plug into an available USB port and integrate with the Skype desktop application to provide “easy voice communications” to the Skype community.
According to USRobotics, the phones come with technology enhancements designed to get rid of the annoying echoes that plagued earlier handsets and banish the ‘orrible “tunnel” sound suffered on cheapo handsets.
Both phones – neither of which are lookers – come with an integrated keypad letting VoIPers make calls to Skype contacts via assigned speed dial numbers, or to dial telephones anywhere in the world with SkypeOut.
The more expensive of the two phones, the £30 ($49.95) USR809601 offers a high-resolution, blue back-lit LCD screen for contact information and call status, while the entry level ($24.95, £13) USR9602 USB Internet Mini hasn’t a single LCD pixel to its name.
“Our collaboration with USRobotics provides the growing Skype community with high quality, affordable Skype devices that make Internet communications easy whether you’re at home or in the office,” hyped Manrique Brenes, director of hardware for Skype.
“USRobotics and Skype are committed to enabling the world’s conversations; these new USB Internet phones are a great example of our shared vision,” Brenes added, while we pondered over how one gets a job as an “enabler of world conversations.”
USRobotics USB Internet Phone USR9601A Specifications
Plug-and-Play for auto installation
Echo cancellation and noise reduction technology
Supports full-duplex communication
Dialed and incoming number memory
USB
Supports USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports
USB Powered (no external power supply needed)
USB Port: A-type interface, Universal Serial Bus Specification, Revision 1.1
Dot matrix LCD Screen: Time and date, Caller ID, Call states and duration
Dimensions/Weight
USB Phone
5.9 x 1.75 x .8 in / 15 x 4.45 x 2.03 cm
0.44 lb / .2 kg
Handset Functionality
Blue back-lit display
Echo cancellation, noise reduction
Dial Skype contacts (Speed Dial)
Dial Skype-Out numbers using phone keypad
Place calls on hold and mute calls
LCD State Indications: Skype online, Skype offline & missed calls
Selectable ring tones
Minimum System Requirements
400 MHz Pentium II IBM compatible PC with 128 MB RAM and 5 MB free hard disk space (or higher)
Available USB port or a USB hub with external power supply
Windows XP/2000 or Macintosh X or higher
USRobotics USB Internet Mini Phone USR9602 Specifications
HiFi Voice technology
Plug-and-Play
Echo cancellation and noise reduction technology
Supports full-duplex communication
USB
Supports USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports
USB Powered (no external power supply needed)
USB Port: Mini-USB type B female on handset
Mini-USB type A-to-USB type A cable, 2.5 m
Universal Serial Bus Specification, Revision 1.1
Dimensions/Weight
USB Internet Mini Phone
5.9 x 1.75 x .8 in / 15 x 4.45 x 2.03 cm
0.44 lb / .2 kg
Handset Functionality
Control Skype contact list, history scrolling, utility activations, and tabs switching
LED Indicator: Off – handset idle, Blinking – Incoming Skype call, Slow Blinking – Handset microphone is muted
Echo cancellation, noise reduction
Dial Skype contacts (Speed Dial)
Dial Skype-Out numbers using phone keypad
One button call pick-up, hang-up, mute and hold
Speaker volume adjustment
Buzzer/Ring tone selection
Minimum System Requirements
400 MHz Pentium II IBM compatible PC with 128 MB RAM and 5 MB free hard disk space (or higher)
Available USB port or a USB hub with external power supply
Windows XP/2000
USB Robotics
16 August, 2006
Samsung SCH-B470 Offers Picture In Picture DMB
Yet more proof that Koreans are spoilt rotten when it comes to having the very latest must-have mobile gadgets comes in the form of Samsung’s brand new phone – displayed, as ever, by scantily clad models.
OK, the Samsung looks a bit weird with its ET-like swivelling head, but – check out this out – not only does it boast Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), but it’s got Picture in Picture too!
Perfect for those with an attention span that can only be measured in milliseconds, the SCH-B470 lets TV-mad users view two channels at the same time via a split screen, just like your big TV at home.
The chunky black clamshell phone also lets users switch between having a small Picture in Picture (PiP) display showing the secondary channel or splitting the display in half, with the two selected channels sharing the total viewing area.
Naturally, users can also elect to fill the screen with just the one channel for fuddy-duddy, old-school types who are satisfied with just one channel playing simultaneously.
It’s not all endless fun for tech-savvy Koreans though, as there’s only twelve S-DMB channels currently available.
More features
As well as the way cool PiP TV modes, the SCH-B470 comes with a swivelling 2 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, a flip out and rotate 2.2-inch LCD screen and some sort of ‘pet’ game to entertain users when there’s nowt on the telly.
With all that cutting edge technology stuffed inside, it’s no surprise that the phone comes with a hefty price tag, expected to hover around the 700,000 KRW ($728, £384) mark.
Samsung Korea
What’s DMB?
16 August, 2006
Mobile Internet Population Hits 34.6 Million In US
With more Internet-enabled handsets on the market, it’s not surprising that more punters are getting a bit of Web action on the move, with email and weather sites being the top two most visited mobile sites.
According to mobile data spods Telephia, the population of the “mobile Internet” clicked up to 34.6 million users in June 2006, up 6 percent from the 32.7 million users recorded by the company in January.
Their figures also revealed that once punters are hooked up to the mobile Internet, their addiction grows, with users notching up an average 34.3 sessions in June, compared to 31.4 user sessions in January.
Bernard Brenner, director of mobile content for Telephia commented, “Even as the subscriber rate grows, the number of people using the mobile Web is also increasing. It’s an increasing number in an increasing market.”
Top US Mobile Websites (June 2006)
The top ten of the most popular mobile Websites contains the expected big names, with Yahoo Mail being the most viewed, registering a unique audience of 6.51 million mobile users, accounting for 3 percent of subscribers.
This is followed by the Weather Channel with 5.9 million users and a 2.7 percent share, with ESPN.com in third place with 5.3 million users /2.5 percent.
In fourth place is Google Search (4,356/2.0 per cent) and then MSN Hotmail (3,441, 1.6 per cent), MapQuest (3,067/1.4 per cent), AOL Mail (2,907/1.4 per cent), CNN (2,799/1.3 per cent), Yahoo! Weather (2,740/1.3 per cent) and, finally, Yahoo! Search (2,531/1.2 per cent).
When it comes to mobile browsers, Openwave, Motorola and Nokia browsers have the highest adoption rates, with Openwave registering more than a quarter of all mobile Web users.
Telephia
16 August, 2006
Dell Recalls 4 Million Laptop Batteries
Dell has announced that it is to recall millions of laptop batteries over fears that they could overheat and pose a fire hazard.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Dell are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission in what the commission is describing as, “the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry.”
This big daddy of product recalls involves 4.1 million lithium-ion batteries manufactured for Dell by a unit of Sony and sold between April 2004 and July 2006.
The recall comes after Dell says it received six reports of batteries overheating, resulting in property damage to furniture and personal effects, although many suspect the figure to be much higher.
The problem hit the headlines in June 2006, when a Dell laptop burst into flames during a conference in Japan.
Photos of the flaming computer were posted on the tech site The Inquirer, with the eye witness reporting that the computer “suddenly exploded into flames” and “produced several explosions for more than five minutes.”
A battery of battery recalls
This isn’t the first time that Dell has issued recalls for its batteries either.
In December 2005, the company was forced to recall 22,000 batteries in the United States after fears that they could overheat and create a fire hazard.
The jumbo-sized recall adds up to 18% of the 22 million notebooks Dell sold during the period, this rather raises questions about about the safety of other laptops using Sony-built batteries.
Inquirer
Images courtesy of The Inquirer.
15 August, 2006