Digital Tech News - Digital Technology & Consumer Electronics

SANYO Xacti HD1000 Called the World's Smallest and Lightest Full HD Digital Camcorder

SANYO's slick palm-fitting Xacti HD2 camera offers 720p HD video recording, but the new SANYO Xacti HD1000 HD digital camcorder tops that, recording video in Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels - 1080p) ) and it's said to be the world's smallest and lightest (9.5 ounces) full HD digital camcorder. The Xacti HD1000 utilizes the advanced MPEG-4 AVC/H.246 video format, enabling up to about 85 minutes of Full HD (1920 x 1080) video recording or up to five hours, 14 minutes of TV-quality (640 x 480) video recording onto an 8GB SDHC Memory Card.  Like the previous Xacti HD video cameras, the Xacti HD1000 has a 10x optical HD lens, and 2.7-inch widescreen display. It also captures 4.0-Megapixels still images and has an extra-sensitive ISO 3200 setting.

Lumix DMC-L10 DSLR Camera

Panasonic has introduced the new LUMIX DMC-L10 DSLR camera complete with a 10.1-megapixel Live MOS Sensor and a Supersonic Wave Filter system that prevents dust from collecting on the sensor and degrading photo quality. The DMC-L10 digital SLR also features Face Detection technology which will focus, set auto exposure and can detect up to 15 human faces simultaneously. Panasonic’s Intelligent ISO Control settings, and advanced hybrid-type AF system help to achieve crisp, blur-free images. The camera's 2.5 inch Live View LCD can rotate 270 degrees, making it easier to shoot from high or low angles, and the LCD also features an Intelligent LCD function that offers an automatic brightness level control function. There's a Mode Dial located on top of the camera that provides easy access to the most frequently used settings including Auto mode, each P/A/S/M mode, and five scene modes (Portrait, Scenery, Macro, Sports and Night Portrait) and one custom mode that can be set to your desired preference. The DMC-L10 is equipped with a LEICA D VARIO-ELMAR 14-50mm / F3.8-5.6 / MEGA O.I.S. lens, which has a focal length from 14mm to 50mm.

The Panasonic LUMIX DMC-L10 will be available in October 2007 for $1,299.95.

Walkman Video Players Hit The U.S.

Sony's newest NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610 series Walkman players play audio and video, with support for security-enhanced Windows Media Audio (WMA), non-secure AAC and MP3 music formats, JPEG files for photos, and AVC (H.264/AVC) Baseline Profile and MPEG-4 video codecs.  You can watch your own video clips, or download movie trailers, music videos, podcasts and video clips from the Internet and use shareware to convert the clips for use with these Walkman video players. To get you going, Sony Pictures Entertainment has provided video content for both of the new players at www.sonystyle.com/walkman.

Gigabeat T401 from Toshiba Japan

Remember the first Gigabeat players from Toshiba? That was a while ago, and it was nothing to write home about, but then came the more impressive Toshiba gigabeat S Series digital audio and video players which the Microsoft Zune player design is based on.  Well, Toshiba Japan continues to improve the device, and just released the Gigabeat T401 with a 2.4-inch screen 320 x 240 pixel display, 802.11b/g WiFi, and 4 GB memory. GearLive writes that it is capable of 16 hours of audio or 5 hours of video playback. The Gigabeat T401 player is 9.9 mm thick, USB connectible, and runs on Windows Mobile software. It's available in red, white, or black, and comes in a WiFi free version (available Sept.7th) that costs ¥24,800 (about $217.00) and a complete Gigabeat T401 with wi-fi for downloading content from the Internet (available Oct. 5) that will cost ¥29,800 (about $261.00)

Want more Toshiba Gigabeat related news, check below, I'm GiGone!

Toshiba Gigabeat P5S and P10S MP3 Audio Players

Toshiba GigaBeat P5 NaNa

Gigabeat U101 and U201 Digital Audio Players

Garmin Edge 705 and Edge 605 Personal Training Systems for Cyclists

We know Garmin makes great GPS devices for motorists and motorcyclists, but here are a few devices for people who like to peddle. I'm part of that cycling crowd, so I was happy to see that the new Garmin Edge 705 and Edge 605 can provide cyclists with mapping capabilities, street navigation, the ability to track vertical profiles, climb and descent, altitude, speed, distance, and time, through a 2.2” color display.  The mapping capabilities on the Edge 705 and Edge 605 allow cyclists personalize Routes and destinations with shortcuts, and the higher-end Edge 705 also gives cyclists the opportunity to monitor GPS position, power, heart rate, speed, cadence, altitude and gradient on the same display. Edge 705 users can also share information like courses, waypoints and workouts with each other through ANT+Sport wireless technology.

Both devices can take advantage of Garmin Connect, Garmin's online training site where users can join a worldwide network of cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts and log their workouts, track their totals, share workouts and participate in an online community.

Nokia N95 Phone with 3g HSDPA Set for North America Release

Nokia just went nuts announcing new Nokia phones and services, but here's something U.S. consumers can really be happy about. The Nokia N95 Phone / Multimeda Computer with 3g HSDPA is set for release in North America this September!  Major markets including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, as well as the Nokia Flagship Stores in New York and Chicago will offer the N95, which is compatible with high speed HSDPA networks in North America. The new Nokia N95 has a few product upgrades since the previous N95, including assisted GPS (A-GPS) for faster navigational fixes while using the included enhanced Nokia Maps application, 124MB of operational RAM memory, 160MB internal memory, and a higher capacity battery for extended operating time. For those who don't know abut this awesome device, the Nokia N95 is an all-in-one multimedia computer featuring a 2-way slide concept, integrated GPS functionality with maps, 5 megapixel camera and DVD-like quality video, 2.6" QVGA 16 million color display, 3D graphics, built-in stereo speakers with 3D stereo effect, standard 3.5 mm audio jack, mini USB for data transfer, and ships with a 1 GB microSD memory card. The only problem is the suggested Nokia N95 retail price of $699. Ouch!

Creative ZEN - The Credit Card-Sized PMP

The Zen Stone Plus MP3 Player from Creative is not the only tiny pocketable player news coming your way from the company this Summer. Creative has introduced a thinner, credit card-sized Creative ZEN music, video and photo player with a 2.5-inch colour screen that supports up to 16.7 million colours. The Creative ZEN will be available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB models, and according to Creative, the ZEN is the first Creative player to support AAC music and unprotected iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes store, in addition to MP3 and WMA formats. Supported video formats include WMV9, MJPEG, MPEG4-SP, compatible DivX, and XviD. The device includes a SD memory slot providing even more storage capacity for music, video or photos, and a built-in rechargeable battery that provides for up to 5 hours of video viewing or an estimated 25 hours of music playback. As with most Creative players, the Creative ZEN has a built-in FM radio with 32 station presets, a voice recorder, but it looks like there's no recording from radio on this one. There is also a personal organizer to sync contacts, to do lists, and your calendar to Microsoft Outlook - all making this a pretty impressive portable media player.

HTC TyTN II Smartphone Launching in Europe

HTC has once again come through with a powerful handheld device in the new HTC TyTN II smartphone, which is fitted with speedy 3.5G HSDPA and Wi-fi wireless for connecting to the Internet. That's just to start, this device comes with a complete suite of Microsoft Office Mobile applications, including Outlook Mobile, Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile, as well as Windows Mobile 6 Professional OS with tools like instant e-mail, calendar, notes, tasks, and contacts synchronization. Add the slick tilting 2.8-inch touch screen and the slide-out QWERTY, finger scrolling and panning, plus 5-Way navigation control and you can see how the HTC TyTN II smartphone can help you get the job done on-the-go. It's powered by a Qualcomm MSM 7200, 400MHz  processor and comes with 256MB of and 128MB of RAM.

Nokia N81, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia 5310, 5610 XpressMusic - Go Play Line-up

Nokia is not sitting on the sidelines watching Apple's iTunes and iPhone get all the glory. Today the company not only introduced Ovi, a new Internet services brand name, Nokia Music Store and N-Gage services, Nokia also announced four new handsets including the Nokia N81, Nokia N95 8GB multimedia computer, plus the Nokia 5310 and 5610 XpressMusic cellphones as well. Under the tag line "Go Play," Nokia is focusing on providing full mobile multimedia solutions on the new crop of devices that are specifically optimized for entertainment, music and games.

Casio EX-V8 and EX-Z1080 EXILIM Digital Cameras with YouTube Capture Mode

Casio has released two new EXILIM digital cameras today that have that same YouTube Capture Mode that we saw on the Casio Exilim EX-Z880 and EX-Z77 last month. The YouTube Capture Mode feature enables users to shoot and save movies at the optimum size, quality and other settings for YouTube. Both models have a 2.5-inch Bright LCD display, face detection technology, and they also incorporate the EXILIM Engine 2.0 high-performance image processing module, which allows high quality movies to be recorded at the high compression rate of the next-generation H.264 standard. For YouTubers, Casio has added “YouTube Uploader for CASIO” software with the cameras to help upload movies to YouTube in a few easy steps.

The new slim Exilim EX-V8 digital camera is the follow-up to the slick Casio Exilim Hi-Zoom EX-V7, with an upgraded 8.1 effective megapixels, and featuring a 7X optical internal zoom lens, and four blur reduction technologies including a CCD-shift image stabilization mechanism. The EX-V8 will be available in September for $329.99.

The 10.1 megapixel Exilim EX-Z1080 digital camera is the latest addition to Casio's EXILIM Zoom series, and also features a YouTube Capture Mode.  Being a 10.1 megapixel camera, the EX-Z1080 will produce great photographs even when making large prints, and has high sensitivity of up to ISO 6400 for shooting darker scenes and reducing blur. The EX-Z1080 is priced at $279.99, and will also be available in September.