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At Canon Expo the company also demonstrated a rather cheesy, but quite addictive new feature for its range of digital cameras. Expected to arrive on new models next year Smile Shot is a system that detects when the person in focus is smiling and then automatically takes a picture. It seems to work too capturing my range of grins while ignoring a pathetic attempt at a poker face. It will be interesting to see the cultural implications of the Smile Shot system. After all it is likely to be working overtime in some chirpy far eastern countries, but might be virtually redundant up in dour old Scotland.

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 6, 2005, 10:13am

At the Canon Expo held this week in Paris, Canon’s CEO, Fujio Mitarai confirmed something that surprised no one - that Canon is lining up a High Definition camcorder. The company even rolled out a mock-up of a future HD cam, but we probably won’t see anything as cool as this for some while. More at HDTV UK.

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 6, 2005, 12:44pm

Must admit that with the Sky box, DVD player, home cinema gear and various streaming devices it is getting mighty crowded under the TV. Maybe I should ditch it all and opt for the clutter-free LGB-40TPVR from Humax Digital. Available now in the UK it is the first 40inch LCD TV to boast both a pair of Freeview digital TV tuners and a 40 Gigabyte hard disk video recorder.

It also features the now statutory, for Freeview, seven day electronic programme guide and the hard disk which can store up to thirty hours of programmes, can also pause live TV.

Humax also claims that the set is HD ready, but this could do with some checking as it sports a DVI input rather then the UK standard Sky-HD-friendly HDMI. Also on board is an analogue TV tuner, so until that great switch off at least users will be able to record two digital terrestrial channels whilst watching a recorded programme; watch a digital terrestrial channel whilst recording another; or simply record two digital terrestrial channels while watching an analogue channel. Got that.

It is set to retail for around £2100. More here

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 10, 2005, 12:50pm

Here’s a product that brilliantly combines two of my favourite things – consumer electronics gadgets, and, ahem, lingerie. Obviously it is only a Photo Shop mock up at the moment - the brainchild of this clever clogs - but surely someone somewhere has to get one together. We can work out what fast forward and rewind buttons might do and the volume control sounds fun. Now if they added random, that could be really interesting.

More here

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 10, 2005, 2:12pm

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the latest upgrade of its long standing series of smartphones. The latest model, the P990 keeps the basic form factor of its predecessor in that it sports a large screen and has a flip open tab with the keys on it, but has several key amendments. The biggie is that it now boasts on board Wi-Fi, which is also apparently compatible with VoiP (Voice over Internet Protocol) calls.
Sony Ericsson has also improved the display so the new model sports a 320×240 resolution screen and added Blackberry Connect support.

The most controversial change is the adjustment of the size of the screen to accommodate a larger QWERTY keyboard. The 910 was criticised for having a keyboard than was small and unusable. The amendment at least brings the keyboard size in line with other smartphones like the Treo and the HP Mobile Messenger.

Unlike previous Sony Ericsson smartphones this one is also 3G compatible which makes it a smaller rival to the recently launched HTC Universal, which is available in the UK as the T-Mobile MDA pro and Orange M5000. It also has a two mega pixel camera, will offer video calling and features the Opera 8 web browser. It goes on sale early next year.

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 11, 2005, 10:45am

I was at the glitzy Mobile Choice Awards last night in Old Billingsgate Market. The lovely Bill Bailey was on hand to present the awards. He did a great job and took delight in mocking us (”right, better get on. After all, for some of you, this will be the best night of your life”).

Sony Ericsson were the night’s big winners, scooping up three awards for Best 3G Phone (the V800), Best Music Phone (the Walkman W800i), and Manufacturer of the Year. Best network went to Orange, though Virgin once again took the prize for best Customer Service, while 3 walked away with best 3G network and Best Prepay Package (”for people without an address” according to Bill). Our jocund host renamed the Readers’ Dream Phone award the “Muggers’ Choice” award, which went, of course, to the Motorola V3 RAZR. Motorola also took the award for Best Fashion Phone thanks to the lovely V6 PEBL. Phone of the Year was the one voted for by the charming, talented and erudite panel of judges (yes, I was one of them). We spent a day locked away deliberating over a stack of phones that included the Sony Ericssons W800i and V800, the Sharp 902 and the Moto V6 PEBL. But ultimately, the prize went to the excellent Samsung D600. A great night all round, which is why I’m off for a little lie down now. For the full list of winners and nominees, check out the next issue of Mobile Choice magazine. [Katie Lee]

Originally by Katie from Tech Digest on September 30, 2005, 6:59am

Remember that ultra skinny NEC camera phone we tipped you off about last week? Well apparently the L1 is on its way to the UK. Luxury retailer Bamford and Sons has apparently scooped a load of the handsets, which is super model skinny compared with its now comparitively bloated Motorola RAZR rivals, and is selling them at a rather pricey £595 a pop.

With the RAZR series being touted by every Tom Dick and Chav now it might be money worth spending.

Read

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on September 30, 2005, 7:22am

Looks like its digital camera goes wireless month in the UK. On sale from now are the £349 Nikon Coolpix P1 and £279 P2 - the company’s first Wi-Fi enabled snappers. The theory being they can send images from the camera or its memory card wirelessly to a PC. The models have a fairly similar design, the key differences being the P1 (an exclusive to Jessops in the UK) can take eight mega pixel images while the P2 takes five. Both feature a 3.5x zoom capability and powerful 36-126mm Zoom-Nikkor lens (35mm equivalent) and sport 16 handy Scene Modes.
More here.

Meanwhile Kodak has launched its Easyshare-One compact camera. It has two very cool features – a touch screen that flips out mobile phone style and integrated Wi-Fi. It not only means you can transfer images wirelessly from the camera but also send images via email from your home wireless network or form a hot spot. The four mega pixel camera is going for a very pricey £400.

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on September 30, 2005, 7:28am

O2′a latest Xda smartphone has arrived in the form of the Xda sp. Sporting a look that’s pretty different from the usual Xda PDAs (ie, it’s got a number pad), the sp is still aimed at professional types - just ones with smaller pockets. Powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 2003, it’s got all the usual Personal Information Management (PIM) features you’d expect, and there’s 64MB of ROM and 32MB of SDRAM to tide you over on memory. If you need more, you can always bump it up via the miniSD slot, saving images and MP3s to your heart’s content. The 2.2-inch screen is just the usual 65K colour TFT and the camera is the standard VGA as well, making this a pretty average phone, with above average software on board. The O2 Xda sp costs from free on business tariffs and is available now in O2 stores or online.

Originally by Katie from Tech Digest on October 3, 2005, 11:01am

Fair enough if, in this world of high technology, you should choose to mock those that rely on painfully analogue technology like the faithfully old cassette player. Yet it seems that we backward tape types have found sympathy with Griffin, manufacturers of just about every worthy iPod accessory. It has revealed a cassette adaptor for all manner of Apple’s iPods that proves to be much more than a way of forcing the old technology to spew out fancy new digital music. Griffin’s SmartDeck allows you to control your iPod by using the controls on the tape player rather than fumbling around for the iPod itself whilst simultaneously negotiating those congested roads. If that’s not a brilliant idea, I don’t know what is.

Read via Gizmodo

Originally by Chris Price from Tech Digest on October 4, 2005, 10:43am