Samsung was the first company to talk about 240Hz LCD HDTV, but Sony will be world’s first to actually ship a 240Hz LCD HDTV.  Sony will ship their new W1 series of HDTVs with 240Hz imaging on November 10th in Japan. There will be two models 46-inch KDL-46W1 and 40-inch KDL-40W1, both the HDTVs will have full 1080p support, 3,000:1 contrast ratio, BRAVIA Engine 2 image processing and 24 frames-per-second support. All the usual ports will be there including HDMI, component, audio in/out and USB. The 46-inch TV will be priced Yen 400,000 ($3,700) and the 40-inch TV will be priced Yen 290,000 ($2,650).

Zunited has posted image send to them by a source in Canada. The image shows the box for Zune 16GB and Zune 120GB. Zunited says that it can almost guarantee the credibility of the image as it was taken from a 2-megapixel camera phone. FCC documents had already revealed the Zune 120GB few days back and the documents clearly showed the glossy surface of the 120GB Zune. From the image it looks like Zune 16GB will also borrow the same glossy look. Microsoft has not comment on the 16GB or 120GB Zune rumor, but has said that device updates would be part of a larger strategy in the fall that includes software upgrades.

Harman Kardon announced two new speaker system meant to be used with Mac and iPods. The First speaker system GLA-55 is powered by a 100-watt digital amplifier and sports a DSP equalizer. The speakers can be attached to a Mac via 3.5mm headphone jack, and it has a woofer and tweeter configuration for each speaker. The speaker uses a clear plastic casing that shows off its magnets and wiring. The GLA-55 will ship by end of this year for $915.
The second system is an all-in-one MS 100, which has a built-in CD player, FM radio and iPod dock. The two-way speaker system features 5-inch drivers and dome tweeters, powered by a built-in digital amplifier. The ports on the system include, S-video out, composite video out, USB, optical audio out and auxiliary inputs. It will also ship by end of 2008 for an unknown price.
[Via Electronista]

Engadget is reporting that Panasonic will ship the massive 150-inch plasma TV it showcased at IFA in 2009. The new 150-inch plasma with 4K resolution 4,096 x 2160 Advanced HD will hit the assembly lines as soon as Panasonic starts their newest plasma factory in May 2009. Panasonic says that presently none of their assembly lines can handle 150-inch glass. The four prototypes that it produced and is showing around the world are hand-made 150-inch glass sheets. So with in a year 150-inch plasma with 4k resolution will supersede the 103-inch plasma as the biggest baddest plasma.

At IFA, Samsung has launched two new 22-inch LCD displays 2233Hz and 2243Hz, both the displays have 5ms gray-to-gray response time. Samsung claims that the new LCDs improve the poorer black-to-white response time that LCD makers often omit from their specifications. The company brought the full pixel response time down by using a new imaging engine, the response time reduced from 27ms to 9ms, resulting is artifact free image quality in extreme color changes during movement.
The difference between 2233Hz and 2243hz is that the first display is aimed at consumers with its glossy wineglass look, whereas the 2243Hz is designed for business with its simpler matte finish, two extra USB ports and its ability to rotate in portrait view. Both the displays will include standard set of ports like USB, DVI and VGA. Samsung has yet not given the shipping date or pricing for the displays. 
[Via Engadget]

German headphone manufacturer Ultrasone AG announced PRO 900 headphone with S-Logic Plus technology. The new S-Logic technology reduces sound pressure on the listener’s eardrums, while improving the sound impression. PRO 900 are closed-back headphones with a new 40mm titanium-plated driver and a new soft USC-Cable that is paired with Neutrik connectors.  The headphones have a frequency range of 6-42K Hz and Impedance of 40 Ohm. The Ultrasone headphones contain MU-Metal shielding that reduces the amount of radiation directed to the listener by up to 98%, as compared to conventional headphones. How much radiation does a headphone give out? Anyway, the PRO 900 is available now from Ultrasone’s network of dealers for $599.

Apple has been filing touchscreen patents for quite some time now. But the latest patent that Apple has filed with US patent office in April 2008 is the most detailed touchscreen patent by Apple. The patent deals with almost all the aspects of a touchscreen UI for a tablet kind of handheld device. The 52 page patent talks about controls with finger inputs, avoiding accidental input, scrolling horizontally or vertically and touch QWERTY keyboard.
Controls such as option boxes or buttons would enlarge when the thumb is place on them or when a finger targets a button. For scrolling, Apple illustrates iPhone like scrolling method and two-finger scrolling where one finger can also be used to select from the list. Apple also explains scrollwheel use where if user touches certain number of fingers or when a user touches a specific area of the GUI a iPod like scrollwheel will appear that will allow both horizontal and vertical scrolling.
The new patent is an update to a patent that was originally applied in 2004 and was granted to Apple. The patent expands and extends the original patent by including various new aspects of touch UI design.
[Via AppleInsider & Slash Gear]

The IEEE has approved a new variant of WiFi that is geared towards better handling roaming between access points. The new 802.11r standard also known as Fast Basic Service Set Transition is designed to keep a secure WiFi connection active by anticipating the needed security settings at the next access point. The 802.11r standard achieves this by determining the security info for next access point before actually hopping to the access point. Additionally switching from access point to other access point takes less than 50ms in downtime. This fast switching between access points is quick enough to keep a VoIP call alive while switching access points. The technology can also improve office networks that require more than one access point to provide full coverage. Makers of home WiFi routers have not announced any plans to implement this technology in their products. It is also yet not know whether the new standard will requires a hardware upgrade or software upgrade can bring this functionality to routers available today.
[Via MacNN]

Google has posted on the Android Blog that Android Market, an App store like solution will be offered for Google’s Android based phones. The post goes as follows:

It all sounds very good, but there is only one problem – carriers. Will the cellphone carriers adopt the open and unobstructed environment for all content policy? For example, Is Verizon going to allow WiFi on it devices to take advantage of WiFi enabled application or will any carrier allow tethering applications on their network/devices. Whatever Google might claims, but the truth is Android market will be open and unobstructed to the extent that the carriers will allow and Google can’t do anything about it.

Russia cellphone carrier VimpelCom has announced that it has reached an agreement with Apple to launch the iPhone 3G in Russia. It was previously reported that Apple was in talk with more than three carriers in Russia. But VimpelCom will be the first carrier in Russia to offer the device. VimpelCom has not announced an officially release date for the iPhone, however the company said that it will launch the device before end of this year. It is believed that Apple will also make deals with two other major cellphone carriers in Russia the Megafon and MTS. This will give three carriers right to sell iPhone in Russia. Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO had said earlier that deals with both Russian and Chinese carriers will be made before end of this year. Now China is the only major country without an iPhone deal in place.

Samsung has also joined the 13.3-inch ultra thin and ultra light race by announcing their new X360 a 2.8 pounds notebook. The laptop is 0.66-inch thin at its thinnest side and 1.2-inch thick at its thickest side. Though not as sleek as the MacBook Air, but still impressive. Samsung will use the new Centrino 2 Ultra Low Voltage processors for the notebook (1.2GHz or 1.4Ghz). Storage options available are 64GB SSD, 128 GB SSD or 120GB 5400 RPM hard drive. The laptop will come with 1GB RAM standard – it can support up to 4GB memory. The 13.3-inch screen has 1280 x 800 resolution and the laptop uses X4500 integrated graphics card. X360 has no optical drive, but it comes with 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI ExpressCard, HDMI out, VGA and Ethernet. Other features on the laptop are 1.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR. Samsung claims battery life range of 6 to 10 hours, for 10 hours will have to get the optional larger battery pack. Samsung has yet not announced that pricing or release date. 

Earlier today, Sony revealed the KDL-40ZX1 the 9.9mm thin LCD HDTV that it will ship on November 10th and now Philips is showing a prototype 32-inch LCD HDTV that is just 8mm thin. Though Philips doesn’t have a shipping date, but it is interesting as a prototype can be made into a shipping product very soon, say about 6 to 12 months. Philips says that they are using the same LCD panel they currently use, but the thinness is achieved by using ultra thin LED backlighting. The company uses two thin strips of LumiLEDs – 30 on top and 30 on the bottom. Dr Giovanni Cennini a scientist with Philips said that this 8mm design would scale to panel sizes of 42-inches and probably higher.
[Via Engadget]

Few days back AT&T had send all iPhone 3G owners text message guiding them to update to the latest 2.0.2 software via iTunes. Many have speculated that Apple’s latest iPhone update is aimed at resolving the call drop problems. And even after the update has been released few users are still reporting the problem. RoughlyDrafted is now reporting more details via an AT&T source that explains the original issue and why some users didn’t notice any immediate impact after updating their devices.
According to the RoughlyDrafted’s source “In UMTS, power control is key to the mobile and network success. If the user equipment (UE) requires too much downlink power than the base station or Node B can run out of transmitter power and this is what was happening. As you get more UEs on the cell, the noise floor rises and the cell has to compensate by ramping up its power to the UEs”
The source continues, “If the UE power control algorithm is faulty then they will demand more power from the cell than is necessary and with multiple users this can cause the cell transmitter to run out of power. The net result is that some UEs will drop their call.”
The iPhone update 2.0.2 fixes the power control on the mobile and that’s why AT&T is sending the text messages. The source says, “ In a mixed environment where users are running 2.0, 2.0.1 and 2.0.2, the power control problems of 2.0 and 2.0.1 will affect the 2.0.2 users.” Hence, even after updating their iPhones some users are still having call drop problems.
The source says that he has seen dropped call graphs that correspond to the iPhone launch and when the 2.0.2 firmware was released. The graphs clearly show that 2.0.2 software has already started to make difference. So people, if you haven’t updated you iPhones do so as soon as possible, it will not only help your reception, but will affect others also.

If the 103-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV did not impress you, the company is showing a 150-inch plasma at the IFA show in Berlin. The 150-inch HDTV has 4K resolution for ultra clear picture quality. Panasonic is not giving any information about whether the massive plasma HDTV will ship or will it remain a concept.
Along with the massive 150-inch plasma, Panasonic is also showcasing new super slim prototype plasma HDTVs in 50-inch, 58-inch and 60-inch screen sizes. The plasma HDTVs is just 24.7 mm thick making them one-fourth the size of recently launched VIERA plasma HDTV range. Panasonic says that the new HDTVs will also weigh half the present plasma TVs weight. The super slim TVs will also include Wireless HD, potentially requiring only the power cable to work. Again Panasonic didn’t announce a date for when we will see the technology in the market.

Sony announced their new 10.1-megapixel Cyber-shot T500 digital camera with HD movie mode for capturing high-quality HD video clips. The camera has 5X optical zoom, 3.5-inch LCD screen, anti-blur technology and easy file management that allow users to easily upload images on web or email them. The new camera will be available in black, silver and red colors. The new HD movie mode on the camera allows continuous shooting time of up to 10 minutes per clip. You can store up to 60 minutes of video on a 4GB Memory Stick. The video is captured in 720p resolution and you can grab still images in 1280 x 720 without interrupting video shooting. The T500 will ship in October and Sony has yet not announced the price for the camera.
[Via Sony]

Toshiba unveiled the first LCD HDTV with true upscaling at IFA. The new ZF series LCDs use Cell processor based Resolution+ technology developed by Toshiba that upscales SD sources to HD quality video.  The new technology also helps in sharpening details, smoothing edges and enhancing over all image quality. Initially Toshiba will launch two models using Resolution+ technology 40-inch 40ZF575D and 46-inch 46ZF575D. Both the LCDs will offer full 1080p video, 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 6ms response time and 100Mz 5:5 pulldown image processing. The TVs will have four HDMI ports, Component video, RGB and PC input. Toshiba plans to ship the new ZF-series in fourth quarter, but they have yet not announced the pricing.

Sony today announced three new series of Walkman portable media players. All the three series support MP3, WMA and drag-and-drop file management. The S-series has two models 4GB NWZ-S736F and 8GB NWZ-S738F. Both the players will support variety of audio/video codec including AAC, Linear PCM and MPEG4. The S-series will also come with in-built noise cancellation technology and will have a SensMe feature that creates song shuffles based on users listening habits. The battery life on the player will be 40 hours.
The E-series will also have two models 4GB NWZ-E436F and 8GB NWZ-E438F. Both the models will come in various colors and will deliver 45 hours of battery life. On the low-end the B-series will again have two models 1GB NWZ-B133F and 2GB NWZ-B135F. The B-series will have FM tuner and Voice recording functionality. The entire Walkman range will ship in October before holiday season begins and will have price range of $45 to $180.
[Via Engadget]

At IFA, Sharp introduced their new super slim XS1 Aquos LCD HDTV that is just 23mm thick (not nearly as thin as Sony’s ZX1). The XS1 will be available in 52-inch and 65-inch size with full HD resolution, 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 100Hz motion processing and detachable speakers. Sharp also launched the new D65E lineup that will come in range of 32-inch to 52-inch models and will feature 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Sharp claims that the new D65E series is designed with environment friendliness in mind. The price for the new HDTVs will range from Euro 899 ($1328) to Euro 2,299 ($3,400). Along with new HDTVs sharp also launched Blu-ray player BD-HP21H that will support Blu-ray profile 1.1 and will feature a quick start mode. All the new Sharp products are due in UK for October release.

IFA Berlin is starting on 29th August and we have got a list of new HDTVs that will be announced at the trade show. The most interesting new HDTV that will be shown at IFA is Sony KDL-40ZX1. We have heard a lot about how thin OLED display are, at about 3mm, but they are available in only 11-inch size and no one wants to watch a movie on an 11-inch TV. The KDL-40ZX1 is the worlds thinnest LCD TV at just 9.9mm (0.38-inch) and it has 40-inch screen size. There are few concepts HDTVs that are slightly thinner, but there is no production LCD TV that even comes close to KDL-40ZX1. The specifications on the TV are LED backlighting, 3,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz MotionFlow, x.v. Color and BRAVIA Engine 2 image processer. There is only one HDMI on the screen itself, all the other ports like component, USB, audio out/in are available via the base station. The TV can also be used with a 5GHz wireless base station but that will limit the video output to 1080i only. The KDL-40ZX1 will ship on November 10th in Japan for 490,000 yen ($4,500).
[Via Engadget]

Canon Rumors has leaked the specifications of upcoming Canon 5D Mark II Digital SLR. According to the website the camera will have 21.1-megapixel full frame sensor, DIGIC IV image processor, ISO up to 12,800, 5 fps continues shooting mode, 3.2” high resolution LCD screen, Liveview and 19 point autofocus. The 5D Mark II will also support HD movie recording like the new Nikon D90. The Viewfinder will have 100 percent coverage and the camera will support EF lenses only. Canon 5D will also have full weather sealing to keep moisture and dust out. There is no information available about the exact release date or pricing for the camera.

By the end of this month Creative plans to release three new products Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! portable USB sound card, N400 USB speakers and EP-430 in-ear headphones.
The X-Fi Go! will have microphone-in and headphone-out ports along with X-Fi audio processing software and 1GB of storage capacity. The features on the X-Fi Go! include EAX Advanced HD 4.0, OpenAL for games, X-Fi 240bit Crystallizer and CMSS-3D processing. On the software side the card will come pre-loaded with Alchemy and WaveStudio. The Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! will be price around $50-$60 mark.
The second product on Creative’s list is N400 USB powered X-Fi speakers aimed for use with notebooks. The speaker will have 2W RMS for each of twin 2-inch drives, media controls on the front panel and integrated X-Fi sound processing. The speakers will come with a zip-up case for about $80.
Creative will also launch EP-430 in-ear headphones that will ship in six colors. The headphones will use 10mm Neodymium magnet drivers and oxygen-free copper cord. The headphones will be priced around $20.
[Via MacNN]

NVIDIA released their cheapest 9-series desktop graphics card 9400GT. The new card has just 16 processor cores but the company says that it will have twice the performance of 8400 graphics card. The GPU engine on 9400 has graphics clock speed of 550MHz and processor clock speed of 1400MHz. The card will come with 512MB of memory that will have clock speed of 400Mhz, memory width of 128bit and bandwidth of 12.8GB/sec. The features supported by the card are PureVideo, PhysX, CUDA, HybridPower, DirectX and OpenGL. The 9400GT will come with dual-link DVI and VGA port for video output. It is shipping now for $59.

On Monday, Gothenburg Post had posted results of 3G-reception test done on the new iPhone using Bluetest’s test chamber for wireless devices. The test showed that the values for the iPhone’s 3G antennas were completely normal. The news website also said at the end that of the article, “If you are in Gothenburg and have an iPhone with a bad 3G connection, let us know. Maybe we can do some more turns in the test chamber.”
The GP news website received very few calls about iPhone with same problem even though the article was one of the most read. GP borrowed iPhones of Peter Planstedt and Stephanie Semic as they lived where other mobiles displayed a lot of bars on their screens. But their two iPhones showed few or none or switches over to EDGE. The tests were again conducted in Bluetest’s test chamber.
Charlie Orlenius tested the two iPhones and both phones had no problems with the 3G communications in the test chamber. They send and receive signals in a fully normal manner during the test. Eva Wieselgren the author of the article then went back to Peter and Stephanie’s home, there the author’s iPhone that never had any problem showed EDGE on the display, whereas Stephanie’s phone showed 3G but with low bars. Anders, the photographers, had many 3G bars on his Sony Ericsson.
So Eva decided to do a non-scientific test and loaded the first page of GP’s site on the Sony Ericsson and the iPhone. The Sony Ericsson with 3G took 46 seconds to fully load the page and the iPhone that was showing EDGE took just 32 seconds.
"I do not draw any conclusion from this, there is so many factors influencing the outcome," Wieselgren reported. "We can at least be certain of one thing. The three iPhones we tested had nothing wrong with their antennas."
[Via Apple Insider]

The latest rumor from IFA indicates that Samsung is planning to introduce new YP-Q1 MP3 players in Berlin. The YP-Q1 will have a 2.4-inch screen and a touch control pad below the screen. It will support MPEG4 and WMA video formats only. But will have a long list of audio format support including MP3, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, AAC, eAAC and eAAC+. It will also support images in JPEG, GIF and PNG formats. The other features on the player are FM radio with RDS, built-in microphone and support for DNSe 3.0. The Samsung YP-Q1 will came in three capacities 4GB, 8GB and 16GB in four color options white, black, silver and pink.

Today Morning, when Microsoft sent a teaser “Say Goodbye to Laser” on 9.9.08, we said that if Microsoft follows its regular pattern, we will know about the event or technology that Microsoft will reveal at the event before September 9th. Well our statement came true with in hours.  Amazon.de has posted MS Explorer Mini Mouse with “BlueTrack” technology for notebooks. BlueTrack is the revolutionary new technology that Microsoft will reveal at the event on September 9th.
The technology uses a new optical sensor Blue Specular, born from a combination of Blue LED and lens with wide angle. BlueTrack technology allows the mouse to function perfectly on surfaces such as granite, wood and carpet, on which neither optical nor laser mice worked. The radius of the tracker on mouse equipped with BlueTrack technology is four times larger that previous technologies allowing it to track movement better on any surface. An Italian website is showing the price of the new mouse as Euro 90 ($132).

SanDisk today launched new Extreme III SDHC cards aimed at pro and high-end amateur photographers. The new cards have read/write speed of 30MB/s, which is 50 percent faster than previous generation cards. The increase in read/write speed will increase camera’s performance for continuous shooting and will also improve speed for transferring photos from camera to computer. The increased transfer speed will also be useful in recording HD video on a camcorder or camera. The new cards will be available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities for $65, $110 and $180 respectively. All three cards will ship in September.

In a recent survey done by ChangeWave to gauge IT spending for smartphones, the company found that Research In Motion continued to overshadow its two main competitors in terms of planned 4th quarter purchases with 79% of respondents planning to buy RIM’s smartphones. But that was down 3-points from high it registered in May. Additionally Apple continued to show considerable momentum in terms of corporate planned purchases – up 4-points from May. In a survey done by the company for consumer smartphones, they found that RIM had a weaker visibility and the iPhone 3G had huge demand.
In another positive for Apple, 19% reported that release of the 3G iPhone has made their company more likely to purchase Apple products in the future. The survey shows that presently RIM appears to be confronted with visibility issues on both the consumer and corporate fronts. While iPhone is beginning to gain real traction in the corporate market, along with its well-established reputation in consumer market.

Microsoft hardware division known for their mice and keyboards has sent out an Apple like teaser saying “Say Goodbye to Laser” on 9.9.08. The company has planned an event in Seattle on September 9th to introduce its latest product lineup. You can watch the teasing on Microsoft’s hardware website. Right now it looks like it’s a new mouse technology that Microsoft will use to replace the laser technology used to track relative position of a mice. Microsoft is not offering any details except the teaser about the new product or technology. But, if it follows Microsoft’s regular pattern like when they teased about Origami project, we will know before September 9th what the event is all about.
[Via Seattlepi]

After numerous rumors and leaked inventory screenshot, Nikon today officially announced the new D90 Digital SLR. The D90 is an upgrade to Nikon’s super successful D80 DSLR and will feature a 12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor with integrated dust reduction system. Nikon claims that D90 is world’s first DLSR to offer users the ability to shoot D-movie video footage in resolutions up to 720p.
The other features on the D90 are ISO up to 6400, 11point autofocus, 3-inch Live View LCD, 4.5 fps continuous shooting, SD /SDHC storage and HDMI output. The startup takes just 0.15 second and the camera has 65ms shutter release lag. When coupled with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm Lens, D90 offers Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor and Vibration Reduction technologies.
Nikon will ship the camera in September for $1,000 in body-only version and $1,300 as a kit with AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm lens.

Guardian is reporting that UK’s Advertising Standards Authority’s have banned TV ad for Apple’s iPhone showing the Internet navigation prowess of the iPhone. The ad was banned when two complaints were received saying that the ad was misleading consumers because iPhone did not support Flash or Java, which are both integral to many web pages.
The ad showed iPhone’s Internet capabilities by zooming in on a weather forecast for Cape Town and a map of how to get to Heathrow airport. Then a voice says, “You never know which part of the internet you’ll need… which is why all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone.”
None of the content shown in the ad used flash or Java and nowhere in the ad Apple says it supports either technologies. But Advertising Standards Authority said that claims made by Apple implied that “users would be able to access all websites and see them in their entirety”. And because the ad had not explained the limitations of the iPhone, the ASA concluded that “the as gave a misleading impression of the Internet capabilities of iPhone”.
Just imagine if Advertising Standards Authority applies such principles on all the ads that air on TV, we won’t see 90 percent of ads anymore. 

Michael Arrington has posted on TechCrunch that “some time in the next week more than 6 million iPhone 3Gs will be in people’s hands around the world.” He believes Apple might already have crossed the mark after the launch of the iPhone 3G in 20 more countries on August 22nd. Michael bases his assumption on the report that Foxconn is building iPhones for Apple at the rate of 800,000 units per week. BusinessWeek has also reported that Apple is making 150,000 iPhone per day. If the number is true, Apple will ship more than 40 million iPhone 3Gs in first 12 months compared to around 6 million original iPhones sold by Apple in first year. In fact, Apple has sold more than 6 million iPhone 3Gs in first 7 weeks.
The iPhone 3G has already become the fastest selling mobile handset when it reached one million mark in less than three days after launch. If iPhone sales continues at this pace by summer of 2009, iPhone would become single most sold smartphone ever and one of the biggest mobile platform for developers.

LG led the global CDMA handset market by shipping 12.7 million units in second quarter this year. The company has topped the market for past six quarters. LG achieved a market share of 27.5% the highest level it has ever reached. The second ranked CMDA handset maker was Samsung with 8.2 million units and 17.7% market share. Motorola followed Samsung with 5.1 million units and 11% market share. US accounted for nearly 60 percent of all CDMA handset sold by LG with 7.6 million units shipped in US alone.
[Via Digi Times]

Today, Nokia officially provided details about upcoming N79 and N85 Handsets. The N85 is a two-way slider phone like N95 and has a 2.6-inch AMOLED screen with 320 x 240 resolution. Internal memory on the phone is just 78MB, but you can use microSD card to add up to 8GB memory. For communication and navigation the phone features quad-band GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), WCDMA (900, 1900, 2100MHz), WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and A-GPS. The N85 has a 5-megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom, autofocus, dual LED flash and seven scene modes. For music the phone has FM radio, 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and support for audio format like MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC and eAAC+.  The video format supported by the phone include MP4, 3gp, H.263 and H.264. Battery life on the phone is 4.5 hours of 3G talk time and 6.9 hours of GSM talk time. The phone will ship in October for Euro 450 ($657). For more information about the N85 click here.
The N76 is a classic candybar phone with 2.4-inch screen with 320 x 240 resolution. Like N85 this phone also has very less on board memory, but you can use microSD card to add more memory. It supports quad-band GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), WCDMA (900, 2100MHz Europe only), WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and A-GPS. The phone also features a 5-megapixel camera with 20x zoom and dual LED flash. The audio/video formats supported are MP4, 3gp, H.263, H.264, MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC and eAAC+. The battery life on the phone is 3.5 hours of 3G talk time and 5.5 hours of GSM talk time. It will ship in October for Euro 350 ($512). For more information about the N79 click here.

Reuter had reported – citing an unnamed Orange employee that the firm was paying people to stand outside of its stores. Orange today said that the report weren’t true.
The story about Orange hiring people to stand in like to create excitement about the iPhone was widely reported by various new agencies and blogs after the iPhone was launched last Friday. It was also reported that iPhones sales were slow in Poland.
However, an Orange official wrote in an e-mail response to queries from Ad Age today that this was not the case, and included a statement “in response to the rumors in the polish press.”
“As part of the excitement around the launch of the iPhone, some of our team have been joining customers outside our shops. Their aim is to welcome people to the Orange shop, share in their excitement and give information about Orange tariffs,” wrote a spokeswoman from parent France Telecom Group, which owns the Orange brand. The spokeswoman further added that the sales of the iPhone were strong and the company was very happy.
Basically the Orange employees were not queuing up but were helping/guiding new customers and they were not actors. What I don’t understand is whether it was simply a result of inaccurate coverage or a try to give negative impression about iPhone demand.

Along with the new mid-level 50D digital SLR, Canon also announced four new PowerShot cameras. The company launched two new A-series cameras, one new ultra-zoom SX-series camera and a new E1 camera focused on teenage markets.
The A-series get A1000 IS and A2000 IS digital cameras. The first one features a 10-megapixel sensor, 4X optical zoom and a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The A1000 IS will be available in four two-toned colors blue/silver, brown/silver, gray/silver and purple/silver. The second A-series camera A2000 IS is also a 10-megapixel camera with 6x optical zoom and 3-inch LCD screen. It will ship in two-toned gray/sliver color only.
The ultra-zoom PowerShot SX110 IS digital camera features a 9-megapixel sensor, 3-inch LCD screen and 10x optical zoom. It will be available in silver and black colors. The PowerShot E1 the teen friendly camera will have a 10-megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom and 2.5-inch LCD screen. It will be available in three colors blue, pink and white. All the four cameras will feature DIGIC 3 image processor, optical image stabilization, face detection, motion detection and red-eye correction.
The A1000 IS and A2000 IS will ship in September for $199.99 and $249.99 respectively. The ultra-zoom SX110 IS will ship this month for $299.99. The last in the lineup E1 will ship in mid-September for $199.99.

AndroidGuys have posted full design and naming scheme of the first Google Android based phone on their website. The Android phone, which was previously called the HTC Dream, will now be known as T-Mobile G1. It will have a “banana” like shape and a slide-out touchscreen that will expose the QWERTY keyboard below. The traditional D-pad is replaced by a trackball that will allow owners to use certain features one-handed.
The phone will include 3-inch touchscreen, 3.1-megapixel camera, 528MHz processor, 3G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. According to the documents submitted by HTC to FCC the G1 will measure 4.52” x 2.16” x 0.64”.  It is believed that Google and T-Mobile will announce the phone in November 2008 and will price is unusually low with the help of ad-subsidized service where customers pay less in exchange for viewing occasional ad banners.

Rumors about Canon’s new 50D have just turned real as Canon announced their new DSLR today. The 50D is an upgrade for Canon’s 40D model and has identical body as the 40D, but it elevates the pixel count to 15-megapixel from 10-megapixel.
The 50D uses the new Digic 4 image processor and the company claims that even though the resolution has increased it won’t impose a significant performance penalty, and the 50D will be able to maintain burst speeds close to 40D’s. The new camera will have continues shooting of 6.3fps compared to 6.5fps of 40D.
The other new features added to 50D are 3-inch live view LCD with face detection, ISO up to 12,800, additional settings for Auto Lighting Optimizer and high ISO noise reduction, and variable raw image sizes of 7 and 3.8 megapixels. Canon has also tweaked autofocus, added support for in-camera lens databases and improved dust prevention by using a fluorine coating in front of the low pass filter to deal with sticky dust. The Canon 50D will ship in October for $1,399 body only and $1,599 with f3.5-5.6 28-135mm IS USM lens.
[Via CNET]

Yamaha the company known for its high-end audio/video gears has launched a new Blu-ray player BD-S2900. Compared to other offerings on the market, this Blu-ray player sets itself apart by offering high-end features like HD Audio Bitstream output, 24-bit Deep Color and it can also send 1080p at 24fps with audio signals like Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus over HDMI cable.
The output options on the box include S-Video, composite, HDMI, optical digital, coaxial digital and 5.1 analog audio out. One interesting feature on the player is its ability to produce picture-in-picture if your Blu-ray disc supports that function. The BD-S2900 is available now for $1,200.
[Via Slash Gear]

HTC today introduced their new smartphone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard and Windows Mobile 6.1 standard. The front of the phone is shared by the LCD screen and numeric keypad. The phone doesn’t have touchscreen, but uses the menu keys on the numeric keypad for managing the user interface.  The S740 comes with 2.4-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera, 528MHz Qualcomm processor, 256MB on board memory, microSD card slot and aGPS. For communication the phone supports GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz), WCDMA/HSDPA (900, 2100MHz), WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR. The battery life of the phone for 3G use is 320 minutes talk time and 280 hours standby, whereas for 2G it is 380 minutes talk time and 400 hours standby.  It measures 4.57” x 1.70” x 0.64” and weighs 4.93oz. HTC S740 will ship in Europe in September 2008.

BGR got their hands on an internal Verizon wireless document that the company is giving to its sales agents to help them convince current and potential customers to not go for the iPhone. The document is labeled “3G iPhone Myths” and it attempts to challenge iPhone selling points. The three myths it covers are - 3G iPhone is now twice as fast, the new 3G iPhone is now half the price and iPhone data plan includes all data.
Verizon itself dismisses its first point by saying “The new 3G iPhone will be twice as fast only where AT&T has 3G coverage.” But then it points out that only 50 percent of US population has 3G coverage. Come on, Verizon haven’t you seen the promotional materials that AT&T and Apple use, they clearly write that for faster speeds you will need 3G coverage. Additionally if you are buying an iPhone in an area where there is no 3G coverage, AT&T and Apple inform you that you won’t get 3G data. It is also a known fact that HSPA connection is faster than EVDO Rev A.
The second myth that Verizon wants to clear is that the iPhone 3G will cost more than the original iPhone over the span of two years. Verizon says “They cut the device price by $200 but raised the service price by $240.” Verizon should be thankful to AT&T that they raised the data price from $20 to $30. If AT&T had continued with $20 data plan it would have forced Verizon to lower its data rates further.
The last myth according to Verizon is iPhone data plan covers all data. Verizon points out that its premium data plan includes navigation, MMS, SMS and over the air music service, whereas iPhone data plan doesn’t. The best part of the iPhone is that it is not dependent on the carrier to get new features, if some company makes the navigation software you can add it to iPhone via App Store without having to worry about carrier. We believe that email is a better alternative than MMS and as for SMS you have to pay extra to AT&T for that. The last thing on Verizon’s list is over the air music. Verizon charges $1.99 for each song when you buy it over the air using your mobile phone.
If a company starts sending this kind of internal memos, it’s a clear sign that they don’t have an equivalent or better product to offer. And hence are trying to misguide its customers about the products offered by other companies.

The Gothenburg Post took the new iPhone 3G and tested its 3G antennas. The post used a Bluetest’s test chamber for wireless devices with small antennas to test the iPhone reception. The equipment measures how the mobile sends and receives signals under different conditions. These chambers are used by many companies to test their mobile devices.
Magnus Franzen, an antenna engineer with the company did the tests on the iPhone. First he tested the TRP value—in which mobile is ordered to radiate at full power at three different frequencies. Then the TIS value was tested. Here the test measures the mobile’s performance in receiving signals. Magnus said after the tests were done that the values were completely normal for the iPhone.
They further compared the results found on the iPhone with Sony Ericsson P1 and Nokia N73. The P1 was little better at receiving signals and the N73 was a little better at transmitting signals. According to Magnus the difference was small between iPhone and the two devices at around 2 dB. Mats Anderson, CEO of Bluetest said, “It is not much. At a difference of 4-6 dB one might start to wonder it there is anything wrong.”
[Via Gothenburg Post]

IFA show in Berlin has started to attach manufacturers of portable media players even though it is known for HDTVs. iriver will also showcase it latest media players along with Cowon at the show. The P20 media player features a 4.1-inch AMOLED touch screen and iriver’s Spinn technology. The player will support video, TV broadcast, music, photos, radio, text, voice recording, flash games and electronic dictionary. The battery life will be 12 hours for music, 9 hours for video and 8 hours of DMB TV broadcast.
The other portable media player M3 is a fully functional GPS navigation unit with 3.5-inch touchscreen. Along with navigation the unit will support video, music, photos and voice recording. iriver will provide more details about the two products on Friday when the show floor opens.

Digg’s founder Kevin Rose had posted a video few days back, providing details about the upcoming iPods. On an episode of ‘This Week in Tech’ that aired on 24th August, he went further and announced that Apple will release the new iPods and iTunes 8 on September 9th.
Kevin also claims to be aware of multiple iTunes 8 features, but provides details about only one feature that will look at users music collection and make recommendations of its own. iTunes already has a similar feature that provides recommendations based on purchase made at iTunes store. To what extend the new recommendation feature will go is unknown.
Kevin also said that he has additional images of the upcoming iPod nano that he sent to TWiT show host Leo Laporte. Though Leo neither confirmed nor denied the legitimacy of the images. With in two weeks we will know whether Kevin is right or wrong about the iTunes and the new iPods.

Olympus has introduced four new digital cameras and the most impressive of the lot is Stylus 1050 SW a $299.99 camera. This semi-rugged camera can withstand fall from 5 feet height, temperatures as low as 14 degrees F and submersion to 10 feet. But the most interesting thing about this new camera is “Tap Control”—tapping the camera twice on back, top or sides will switch the camera into different modes. The camera has a 2.7-inch screen, 10-megapixel sensor, 3X optical zoom, ISO up to 1600, digital image stabilization and 27 shooting modes.
The second camera Stylus 1040 is a super-compact with just 16.5mm thickness and is priced $199.99. It features 10.1-megapixel sensor, 3X optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD screen, digital image stabilization and 27 shooting modes. The camera is almost similar to Stylus 1050 SW aside from the tap control and semi rugged design.
The Olympus SP-565 UZ is an update to SP-560 UZ; it increases the pixel count from 8-megapixel to 10-megapixel and optical zoom from 18x to 20x.  The camera has combination of sensor-shift and ISO-boosting dual image stabilization to improve handheld zoom shooting. The 10-megapixel camera will ship for $399.99.
Olympus also introduced the budget FE-20 with 8-megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch LCD screen. It will be priced around $200 mark. All the four cameras will ship in October.
[Via Engadget]

Today, at IFA, Cowon launched three new portable media players. The top of the line L3 Personal Navigator is a successor of the L2 and it features a 7-inch screen with 800 x 480 resolution. Aside from navigation the L3 is a full-featured portable media player with T-DMB TV tuner and a SD card slot for memory expansion. Cowon has introduced touch buttons on the player and the company calls them “Shadow Touch Button”.
The second player is Cowon O2 that has a 4.3-inch touchscreen with form factor similar to Cowon’s D2 portable media player. This is dedicated media player with T-DMB TV tuner to watch TV along with media stored on the internal storage. The player will be available in two colors initially white and pink; it will come in three capacities 8GB, 16GB and 32GB.
The last player is the newly designed S9 Curve that has a 3.3-inch AMOLED capacitive touch panel with 16 million colors and 480 x 272 pixels. The features on the player include 500MHz dual-core chip, T-DMB TV tuner, FM radio, TV-out, G-sensor accelerometer and Bluetooth with A2DP profile. The player will last for around 40 hours on a single charge.
Cowon has not yet announced the shipping and or prices for any of the three portable media players. But we might hear more from Cowon during this week of IFA show in Berlin.

Sony announced a new wireless, multi-room audio system with iPod support. The new S-AIRPLAY system uses Sony’s S-Air technology, which provides a wireless multi-room solution without complicated set-up requirements. Wireless audio is transmitted through the system’s main dock in one room to the S-Air speakers plugged in power outlet in various rooms with in range of 164 feet. 
The S-AIRPLAY system comes with one docking station and two S-Air wireless speakers, but the system can support up to 10 speakers simultaneously. Along with iPod support the docking station also has AM/FM radio tuner. This allows listeners in one room to hear their favorite radio station, while listeners in another room can enjoy music from the iPod at the same time.
The S-Air wireless speakers include remote control capability so you can advance or go back to previously played songs without going near the docking station. The speakers also incorporate sleep timers and an alarm clock function, making them perfect for bedside placement. The S-AIRPLAY will ship in September for $400 and additional S-Air wireless speakers can be bought for $130 each.