May 8, 2006 07:27 - The best digital cameras for $400
We love to read the Cnet reviews in our local paper. Here is the latest.----------------------------------------------------
San Francisco Chronicle, Cnet
If you're shopping for a decent point-and-shoot digital camera, $400 may be the magic number. That amount will buy you a model that can capture good photos; offers a comfortable, attractive design; and doesn’t cut too many corners. Here are some of the best options in stores right now.
Canon PowerShot A700
Cnet rating: 7.6 out of 10 (Very good)
The good: Easy-to-use exposure and focus controls; 6X zoom range; solid image quality; usable ISO 800.
The bad: LCD washes out; sluggish flash recycling.
The price: $350
The Canon PowerShot A700's useful 6X zoom range, decent image quality, acceptable ISO 800 performance and manual controls will attract both photo enthusiasts and casual shooters. The A700 also includes macro focusing down to 0.4 inch, a higher-resolution 2.5-inch LCD, and a rear-sync flash that fires at the end of your exposure to keep car headlights from looking like laser beams. The My Colors option lets you shift colors via presets, and there is also a user-definable Custom Color mode.
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7K
Cnet rating: 7.2 out of 10 (Very good)
The good: Extensive set of manual features; 12X optically stabilized zoom lens; relatively speedy.
The bad: Image flaws such as blooming, fringing and unusually frequent image noise.
The price: $400
The Panasonic DMC-FZ7 is a solid megazoom alternative for beginners and enthusiasts alike. Compared with digital SLRs and other megazoom cameras, this small-and-light 6-megapixel camera feels like a toy. But its powerful 12X (36mm-to-432mm, 35mm-equivalent) optically stabilized lens, manual controls, extended selection of scene modes and VGA movie capture are impressive for a camera of its size and weight. Despite some minor image flaws, it appeals to a broad range of photographers who want to improve -- or prove -- their skills.
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Sony Cyber Shot DSC-T9
Cnet rating: 7.6 out of 10 (Very good)
The good: Excellent design, portability and build quality; decent photo quality; very quick performance; optical image stabilization; 58 MB of internal memory.
The bad: Lens is slow and not very wide at f/3.5 and 38mm; excessive red-eye.
The price: $400
Sony's Cyber Shot DSC-T9 is a beautiful, pocket-size camera that's fast, easy to use and has good image quality. Snapshooters will appreciate the camera's ease of use, and discerning photographers will appreciate the 6-megapixel model's above-average images and responsive performance. A not-so-wide lens and poor red-eye behavior will mar some indoor portraits, but the camera's 2 1/2-inch LCD screen, its thin and attractive body, and its image stabilization keep low-light pictures sharp. The deal is sweetened by 58 MB of internal memory.
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Kodak EasyShare V570
Cnet rating: 7.2 out of 10 (Very good)
The good: Ultrawide lens for an ultracompact camera; abundant scene modes; in-camera panorama stitching and distortion correction; versatile video capture; included dock.
The bad: Average image quality; some controls clumsy to use; few manual controls.
The price: $400
The equivalent of a fixed-focal-length 23mm super-wide-angle lens coupled with a second, narrower 3X zoom gives the dual-lens ultracompact Kodak EasyShare V570 some great versatility. The ultrawide lens is the perfect complement for the V570's in-camera panorama-stitching feature, which can capture a full 180-degree vista with only three shots. Those who love this ultracompact's wide view, high-quality LCD, 22 scene modes and USB dock will be happy to overlook its average picture quality, lack of manual controls and ergonomic glitches.
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May 9, 2006 07:19 - Digital Cameras Rank Highest Among CE Products to Give and Receive This Mothers Day
May 4, 2006 -- With Mother's Day just around the corner on May 14, moms and grandmothers across the country are eyeing consumer electronics, according to research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA(R)). Thirty-two percent of moms would like to receive a consumer electronics device this Mother's Day and 55 percent of moms would choose a digital camera over a $200 gift certificate for a home cleaning service. CEA's study, Electronics for Mom: A Mother's Day Study, released May 2006, surveyed both gift receivers (moms and grandmothers) and gift givers (adults and teens). "As we have seen for years, women are enthusiastic CE consumers. Now they are starting to keep their fingers crossed that some of their favorite devices arrive for Mother's Day in lieu of traditional gifts," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA. "Our study shows approximately $6 billion in potential spending on CE devices for Mother's Day this year. That's quite a few lucky moms who will find a digital camera, DVD player, MP3 player or other exciting device wrapped with a bow on May 14."
Eight-one percent of adult consumers and 97 percent of teens plan to buy a gift for someone this May holiday. For all gift categories, the average adult plans to spend $109 and teens plan to spend $63. This equates to nearly $20 billion potential spending this year across all categories of Mother's Day giving.
Traditional Mother's Day gifts, such as flowers and perfume, still dominate the list of what both teens and adults intend to buy, but when consumers are specifically asked about their intent to buy CE products, the percentage of adults and teens planning to buy such devices more than doubles - from 12 to 26 percent for adults and 16 to 51 percent for teens.
"It should come as no surprise that the number of teens who plan to give CE products this Mother's Day is nearly double that of adults," says Sean Wargo, CEA's director of industry analysis. "An overwhelming number of studies and reports have documented the growing fascination with electronics among the so-called 'Generation Tech.'"
CEA's Electronics for Mom: A Mother's Day Survey (May 2006) was administered via telephone interview to both adults and teens. Between April 20 and 23, 2006, 1,035 U.S. adults and 252 U.S. teens 12 to 17 years of age were sampled. It was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry. Please cite any information to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA(R)). The complete study is available free to CEA member companies. Non-members may purchase the study for $499 at http://www.ebrain.org/crs/crs_all.asp.
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May 9, 2006 16:30 - Digital video on the web - wide open new world
Have you checked out your options for both watching and creating digital video on the web these days. The whole video on the web thing is exploding right now. Everything from regular folks using web video to help sell and bring in visitors to their web sites, to viral videos being loaded to community sites where you can view them and share them with your friends, to real video productions being loaded up for your viewing pleasure on major web sites.Some of the web video options for you to check out:
Google Video
Google has made it possible to create an account with them and then upload your videos to their site. From there folks can view them and share them with others. Or you cna link to the videso from your site and let Google host the video. There is everything from silly backyard videos shot by kids to high end productions done as art. Many small businesses are using it to promote their products via video commericals loaded to this service. No charge (at least not yet) Google Video
Blip TV
A quirky and fun site that features video submissions in the 5 second to 3 minute range. There are only good quality videos on this site as they have a screening process for submissions that keeps out the worhtless stuff.
Blip TV
YouTube
This one is currently in the category of a net phnemenon right now. I tis huge, gathers press coverage weekly, causes controversy on the net, and proivides a place for you to load your movies up to the net. It is a real big space to find and videw videos on the net right now. You can find all kinds of things in this one place that you might not find anywhere else. Including some videos that the TV networks may not want you to see on the net.
YouTube
more tomorrow
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May 10, 2006 20:07 - We told you about them yesterday, now YouTube offers mobile upload service
We told you yesterday about some of the web video options. ONe of those options YouTube today released a version to upload videos to your phone or PDA. Just gets more interesting eh?YouTube
As it tries to expand the ways people can post videos online, YouTube launched on Wednesday a service that allows users to upload homemade clips via their mobile phones or PDAs.
A growing number of handheld devices are capable of recording video. YouTube wants to disconnect users from their Web cams and computers, said Steve Chen, one of the company's founders and its chief technology officer.
Most user-created clips are taken with Web and digital video cameras, Chen said. The new service will likely produce greater numbers of spontaneous and candid clips.
"The good thing about it is that you don't have to go home to YouTube anymore," Chen said. "People may not carry their digital cameras with them when they go out. But everybody carries their cell phone...I'm interested in seeing what kind of content this will produce."
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May 12, 2006 13:56 - Sony and Panasonic working together?
In the world of business you can never count anything out of the realm of possiblity. Today Panansoninc and Sony announce they are working together on a new format for HD. Just twenty years ago these two giants were fighting out the war of Beta versus VHS in the format battle that eventually Panasonic won on the consumer side. Now in the age of digital and HD the two consumer giants are making peace and working together. Read what today's announcement reveal:
Panasonic, the brand name for which Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is known, and Sony Corporation today announced specifications for "AVCHD," a brand new high definition (HD) digital video camera recorder format the two companies jointly established. The AVCHD format allows for recording and playback high-resolution, digital HD images using 8cm DVD media.
The two companies have started preparations for licensing to extensively promote the format throughout the industry.
In Japan, BS digital HD broadcasting and digital terrestrial broadcasting are expanding widely. Coupled with the emerging growth of HD broadcasting across the world, penetration of HD-capable TV sets is gaining unprecedented momentum. This sets the stage for enjoying HD images more easily at home. Panasonic and Sony will extensively promote this format throughout the industry as the new HD digital video camera recorder format best suited for the HD era.
The "AVCHD" is an HD digital video camera format for recording 1080i(*1) and 720p(*2) signals onto 8cm DVD media by using highly efficient codec technologies. The format employs MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for video compression, and Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM for audio codec. This makes it possible to develop HD video camera recorders which achieve compact size as well as high-quality video and audio.
The MPEG-4/H.264 codec is a promising technology which is over two times more efficient than MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 codec technologies. By adopting this technology, an "AVCHD" video camera recorder can record high quality HD video images onto 8cm DVD media.
*1: 1080i one of HD specifications that has 1080 efficient scanning lines by interlace method *2: 720p one of HD specifications that has 720 efficient scanning lines by progressive method [Outlines of "AVCHD" Format] Recording Media 8cm DVD Wave Length of LASER 650nm VIDEO Video Signal 1080/60i 720/60p 480/60i 576/50i 1080/50i 720/50p 1080/24p 720/24p Number of Pixels (Horizontal x Vertical) 1920 x 1080 1280 x 720 720 x 480 720 x 576 1440 x 1080 Aspect Ratio 16:9 16:9 4:3, 16:9 4:3, 16:9 Compression Method MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Sampling Frequency for Luminance Signal 74.25MHz 74.25MHz 13.5MHz 13.5MHz 55.7MHz Sampling Format 4:2:0 Quantization Bit Rate 8bits (Luminance / Chrominance) AUDIO Compression Method Dolby Digital (AC-3) Linear PCM Bit Rate after Compression 64 - 640 kbps 1.5Mbps (2 channels) Audio Mode 1 - 5.1 channel 1 - 7.1 channel System MPEG-2 Transport Stream System Bit Rate up to 18Mbps About Panasonic
Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of US$76.02 billion for the year ended March 31, 2006. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, New York , Euronext Amsterdam and Frankfurt stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/ .
Source PR Newswire
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