Gizm0 - Gadget Blog for the Technology Obsessed.

Don’t get too excited, this is a concept phone, but a prototype has already been built and shown at Mobile World Conference (MWC 2008). Using NVIDIA’s sick engine, this phone takes the wind out of the N96 hype. Of course one is expected to arrive Q3, and the other may or may not arrive soon, but it should. Its the illness. Don’t want to read specs? Try 12 megapixel still photos and 720P video. That’s right, shoot progressive HD video on your mobile phone.

Here are the jawdropping specs:

• ARM11 MPCore
• HD AVP (High Definition Audio Video Processor) 720p H.264, MPEG-4, and VC-1/WMV9 Decode
• 720p H.264 and MPEG-4 Encode
• Supports multi-standard audio formats including AAC, AMR, WMA, and MP3
• JPEG encode and decode acceleration
• ULP (Ultra Low Power) GeForce GPU
• OpenGL ES 2.0
• D3D Mobile
• Programmable pixel shader
• Programmable vertex and lighting
• CSAA support
• Advanced 2D graphics
• Up to 12Mpixel camera sensor support
• Advanced imaging features
• True dual display support
• 720p (1280×720) HDMI 1.2 support
• SXGA (1280×1024) LCD and CRT support
• Composite and S-Video TV output

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You were fun, iPhone, but now you’re starting to get a little heavy in the pocket - that shine is getting dusty, and you’re creakin’ like a 40 year old. Your features are getting all confused. You blank in and out cause your light sensors are broken. That EDGE data is starting to creep slower than molasses, and gosh darnit, I don’t want to see a miniature version of the NYTimes, I want to see a mobile version! Oh yeah your camera sucks and how come you can’t shoot video? Aren’t you supposed to be the illness?

Face it, we’re bored with the iPhone’s pet tricks. On to the new. We’re consumers and gadget freaks and we want more, more, more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enter the Motorola Z10, the cell phone that knocks the iPhone out until June or so when a 3G version of the Mc phone is unveiled. Even then I might be enjoying the video camera on my Moto 210 too much to give it up. Here’s hoping the 3G iPhone has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

The Motorola Z10 has a 3.1 megapixel camera, which isn’t that great at all, but passable. Key however is the phone’s slick look and ability to shoot video.

Like Music? Peep this beauty, the Samsung SGH-i450. Featuring a full digital music player, a 3.5mm headset jack, and Bang & Olufsen speakers. The dual-slider design also offers a touch wheel for menu navigation. Slickz.

Nokia N96: the top phone for Europeans

This thing is the new champ but it sure does cost a whole lotta dough (550 euros). We’ve called it the world’s first superphone. For goodness sakes you canwatch TV on it. But peep out the price, 550 euros is like $800 or something. Still for the feature obsessed, this is the king.  As picky as we are, this thing has more features then we could ask for.  Well, let’s hope the N97 can shoot HD video!  Just kidding, the N96 doesn’t even arrive until late summer 2008!

Full specs of Nokia N96 include:

• WCDMA2100/900 (HSDPA) / EGSM900, GSM850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS) connectivity
• DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz
• S60 3rd edition, FP2 UI
• 2.8” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colors
• 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and auto-exposure
• Dual-LED camera flash, video light, recording indicator, auto-focus assist light
• Secondary VGA (640 x 480 px) camera for video calls
• Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
• Digital Video Stabilization
• Built-in GPS/A-GPS
• WLAN - IEEE802.11 g/b
• Stereo FM radio (87.5-108MHz, 76-90MHz) with RDS
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 with Micro USB type B interface
• 3.5mm stereo headset plug , TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP stereo/EDR
• 950 mAh battery with up to 220 min talk, 220 hrs standby time, 5 hrs video, 14 hrs music or 4 hrs TV playback
• Dimensions: 103×55×18 mm
• Weight: 125 g

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Sony Cyber-shot W300 

The Sony W300 is the first point and shoot to cross 12 mega pixels, stuffing a whopping 13.6 mega pixels into its compact point-and-shoot frame.  There are also a few “pro” features thrown in, like high-speed shooting at an impressive 5 frames per second, although they had to drop the megapixel count to just three for that to work.  There’s image stabilization built in and ISO up to 6,400.   Don’t get too excited about that either,  manufacturers usually promise more then they can achieve at the highest ISOs.  Still, an ISO of 6,400 makes ISO 1,600 seem like a reasonable proposition.

In addition, to the above, the Sony W300 sports a 3X optical zoom and a reasonable $350 price - its due to ship in May.

Sony Cyber-shot H50

If the optical zoom is really important to you, you might want to opt for the companion Sony Cyber-shot H50, which sports an unusually high 15x optical zoom, but takes down mega pixels down to 9.1.  While sacrificing pixels, the Cyber-shot H50 is a more powerful camera in many ways.  Besides the optical zoom, which is quite impressive for a point and shoot, the Cyber-shot H50 also rocks a powerful flash.  It can illuminate subjects up to 55 feet away.  There’s also optical image stabilization as well as a dynamic range optimizer to keep blow outs and highlights in check.  Its scheduled to come in at $400 but might just be the more useful camera overall.  Point and shoots aren’t usually used to make poster-sized prints, and  9 quality megapixels is enough for gorgeous 8×11 prints.

We also like this matte-gray finish - very new and very modern.  Sony is trying to take the lead and the Cyber-shot H50 as well as the Cyber-shot W300 stuff more features then we’ve seen in a point and shoot.  No word on their movie modes, we’ll update you as we find out more.

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By now you laptop hungry freaks are probably salivating between the ThinkPad X300 and the Macbook Air. We’ve already previewed the battle and frankly suggested you go with the lowest priced Macbook Air. $1,799 is a damn bargain for the ‘Airs. But if you gotsta hook up your shiznet, with either laptop, you’re going to end up at roughly the same price point, $3,000. With solid state, DVD, ethernet, etc., the ThinkPad X300 is clearly better configured. The DVD burner for example, is built in, and ethernet can be ordered integrated into the laptop. With Mac, its “accessorize me!” But here’s the real weak point of the Macbook Air — that darn non-removable battery. Sure you can get it replaced for “the same price as a new Mac battery” but what a horrible day that’ll be when we have to stand in line at the genius bar or something, waiting for our number to come up.

With the ThinkPad X300, batteries come in various strengths and weights, and are swappable, you know, just like back in the day. The ThinkPad X300 is also wi-max ready. Yummy!!! Of course this means absolutely nothing. There’s no wi-max signal anywhere we can think of, and we’re in New York City, but hey, at least we can say its future proof!

What this boring chart from macsource.com can’t reflect are the two aesthetic choices you have to pick from. Are you 3-day stubble cool and turtlenecky or do you rock monkey suits and a briefcase?   Like the Presidential campaign, it also largely comes down to a choice of colors, silver or black.

We have Apple’s very BMW-like silver and slick or the Thinkpad X300’s silky black, complete with a fingerprint reader and a keyword that clickity clacks. Let’s face it, the ThinkPad X300 is the more serious machine - but we wouldn’t go so far as to call it the superior machine.  It could be, if it ran on Apple’s far superior operating system.  Chance of that happening?  Don’t hold your breath.

Here’s the tale of the tape, but as we’ve said before, unless you’re a dedicated PC-guy by virtue of your corporate job, the $1,799 Macbook Air is your best bet. All specs aside, our metrics indicate that the Air will provide you with more daily gadget joy not to mention actually turn a few heads at the coffee shop. We don’t know about you homie, but if we just dropped three G’s, We’re gonna wanna see some envy in people’s faces.

The Thinkpad X300 is small and light but beautiful, it is not. No aesthetically-oriented person (e.g. hot females) will give you two shits about the mad coin you dropped on that thing. Show her the Macbook Air and the black American Express and she’ll probably just go ahead and marry you. Still, just between us gadget heads, we know Apple can do better. Macbook Air, you’re mad cool but we’re already looking for Macbook Air Pro, your bigger brother. And he better come with wi-max. Whatever that is. Gizm0 Crack House Team Delta Force, Out!

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Its a beauty. The Lenova X300 is about 3 lbs and as thin as the Macbook Air. Yep, it fits inside that manilla envelope made so famous by Steve Jobs. In many respects, the Lenova X300 is in a league of its own. Not only is it the thinnest, but its also the most power-efficient Thinkpad ever made. Here are some highlights:* It weighs 2.93 lbs, and at its thinnest is .73 inches, and at its thickest is .93 inches. That’s about as thin as the Macbook Air but half a pound lighter. Sweet.

* Here’s where you might be tempted to switch from the Macbook Air: Unlike the Macbook Air, it has a built in DVD burner and three USB slots.

* Standard memory is 64 GB SOLID STATE and screen size is 13.3″ inches of LED backlit glory - some say it looks exactly like the Thinkpad T41’s 14.1″ display.

* Temperature of the actual laptop is always a balmy but not too hot 86 degrees, even two hours into running a DVD movie. That’s great if you’re putting the laptop on your well, lap, for hours on end.

* WiMax ready later in 2008. Meanwhile, its got 802.11n built in and tests have shown that it pulls an impressive 130 mbps.

* Its still a ThinkPad, which means the keyword is the best ever made.

* Price? $2,500-$3,000. The Macbook Air can be had for $1,800, but when configured with a 64 GB solid state hard drive like the Lenova X300, the price and specs match up quite nicely.

MacBook Air, fully spec’d, has its match. You’re either a ThinkPad X300 or a Macbook Air person - for mobile professionals, these two are your best bets.

The Thinkpad X300 is fully loaded and is impressive for managing to stuff a DVD player/burner inside its guts and still weigh/cost the same as the Macbook Air (with solid state). What would we do? Take the Macbook Air without solid state or anything else..for $1,799. What a deal. But for ultraportable enthusiasts and PC folks who want it all, the Lenova Thinkpad X300 is the cream of the crop.

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With the announcement of the Canon Eos Rebel XSi (e.g. the Canon 450D), one has to pause.  Yes, the newly unveiled Nikon D60 is a great update to the D40 and D40x, but being resolution whores, its hard to miss that the Rebel XSi is 12 megapixels to Nikon D60’s 10 megapixels.   Despite Nikon fanboy assertions otherwise, Canon is not a toy company, 12 megapixels is not just a number.  Canon  has their sites set on killing the megapixel race (24 megapixels on their top camera, the Mark III).  Even hardcore Nikon man Ken Rockwell  has given Canon props for their superior resolving ability when he compared the Canon 5D to Nikon D3.  We also noticed that Canon has a much more generous 3″ LCD “Live View” display, as compared to Nikon D60’s 2.5″.  That’s a huge difference if you want to enjoy the photo you just snagged.  2.5″ sucks.

Nikon D60 does have one very sweet feature - its called Active-D Lighting.  Basically it compensates  for all of those blown highlights that make digital photography and cinematography so challenging.  According to Senor Ken Rockwell, “This feature automatically identifies highlight areas that will be lost, and does its best to bring them under control. It works, and it works automatically.”

So which do we get for our entry level DSLR?  Well the Nikon D60 is slightly more affordable then the Rebel XSi,  (about $750 with lense kit at Adorama vs Canon Rebel’s $799 at J&R).

This reminds us of the battle between Sony and Panasonic camcorders.  The Panasonic HVX200 never had the resolution of the Sony FX-1 or Z1 (they’re both HD camcorders).  The Panasonic was always given credit for producing better looking, more filmic images - probably because of the way they handled dynamic range and highlights, while Sony always resolved better, which matters when you’re considering blow-up to theatrical size screens.

Therein lies your answer.  Are you planning on printing your pics to enormous gallery size displays?  If so, all the way to the high end, Canon is a better choice.  If the D3 can’t resolve as well as the Canon 5D, which is half the price, then resolution whores should stick to Canon.  If however, glorious photos without too much photoshop work is what you’re after, the Nikons are better choices, all the way down to the Nikon D40 (which is what the D60 essentially replaces).  Us?  We’re resolution whores, because we can do whatever the hell we want with the pic in Photoshop, except pretend we shot it in 12 megapixels!

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Now that Blu-Ray has won the hi def dvd format war, its time to start that pirated movie cloning business (just kidding).  Well, if you ever wanted to, you’d probably buy something like this - the Aleratec LightScribe Blu-Ray Disc duplicator.

Using three drives and supporting high-end blu-ray lightscribe technology, this bad boy houses a trio of LightScribe-enabled SATA Blu-ray burners that can toast BD-Rs at 6x as well as your everyday DVDs and CDs at very  high speeds. You’ll also find a built-in eSATA connector and dual channel eSATA host adapter bundled in.  The cost? $3,199.  Oh well, it was a good idea while it lasted.

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Barcelona, SPAIN - Sony Ericsson launches the Xperia X1, which sounds like an S.U.V., but perhaps that’s the feeling they want to convey - a utilitarian device for the modern urbanite.

This so-called convergent slider device, (we prefer aspiring superphone) packs in a funky design, Wi-Fi, assisted GPS, A2DP stereo Bluetooth, and an auto focus 3.2 megapixel camera with a photo light and video recording. Neat. We especially like the photo light. That one trick opens up the whole world of phone photography into dusk and night.

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Wanna see the Sigma DP1 being manhandled by overexcited gearheads? This crossover between a point and shoot and DSLR boasts 14 megapixels and a gorgeous Leica/Canon G9 rugged style. Looks kinda hefty to us. What do you think?

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There’s a new breed of cameras gaining in popularity - the crossover or high end point and shoot.  There’s of course the Canon G9, and now Sigma DP1.  Besting the Canon G9’s 12 megapixels, the Sigma DP1 boasts 14 megapixels.

Dropping this Spring, the Sigma DP1  employs a “14-megapixel Foveon sensor that defines its shooting characteristics. The new three-layer silicon technology (also used in the SD14) captures each portion an RGB image in one pixel instead of three and allows the sensor to be several times larger than for other point-and-shoots this size; this provides both a major lift both to resolution as well as color response” this according to the good folks at Sigma.

Most exciting too us (besides the high pixel count) is the shallow depth of field capability of the Sigma DP1. Using “a custom-tailored 16.6mm f4 lens that can produce a shallow depth of field effect normally impossible with compact cameras.”  We don’t know the price but we’re guessing its going to be competing with the $400-$500 Canon G9.  No word on video capability but if its not at least 720P like the Lumix FX35, we’d be disappointed.

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