Panasonic has the news day all to itself with its newfangled pair of Micro Four Thirds shooters, and in case you were wondering -- yeah, this is the exact same duo that we saw slip out on Friday. Up first is the Lumix DMC-G2, which looks an awful lot like the G1 it replaces and is touted as the first interchangable lens system camera with touch-control shooting. Granted, we haven't exactly warmed to the idea of using a touchpanel to fire off a shot, but hey, it is what it is. Other specs include a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, Venus Engine HD II technology, a 3-inch rear LCD and a 720p (AVCHD Lite) movie mode, though curiously enough a price and release date eludes us. Moving on, there's the DMC-G10, which is supposedly the "world's lightest" interchangeable lens camera with a viewfinder; this one packs the same 12.1 megapixel sensor and Venus Engine HD II as on the G2, but the 3-inch LCD lacks tilt / swivel / touch options. We're still waiting on pricing for this one as well, but now is as good a time as any to mention that both fully support those obnoxiously expensive SDXC cards. Huzzah!

Panasonic gets official with Lumix DMC-G2 and DMC-G10 Micro Four Thirds cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps it's unfair to peg as "pricey" a trio of cameras with as yet unannounced pricing, but Sigma's got a bit of rep in that department. It also has a reputation for cramming incredible sensors inside beautiful, minimalistic form factors, and that certainly doesn't seem to be changing. The DP2s (pictured) and DP1x compacts (followups to the DP2 and DP1s, respectively) share a tweaked rear design that should hopefully make the notoriously obtuse cameras a bit easier to operate, and the DP1x is also putting the "Quick Set" button and True II processor from the DP2 to bear on its wide-angle view. Both cameras also boast a new, faster auto focus algorithm, but at the root of it all is the same old 14 megapixel DSLR-level CMOS sensor. In fact, Sigma's also stuffing this DSLR-style sensor into a DSLR, the new SD15. It was originally announced way back in 2008, but it's apparently really happening this time. It includes the same True II processor, a larger 3-inch LCD, and all those fancy DSLR perks like swappable lenses and a 77-segment AE sensor. Unfortunately, there's no word on price or release dates for any of this trio just yet.

Sigma's new DP2s, DP1x and SD15 shooters could make you poor with the click of a shutter originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At CES, we determined that if you insist on buying a 3DTV this year, Panasonic should be on the very short list. Now, the company has priced a 3DTV for the first time—$5,900 when converted from yen.

Though Panasonic announced that they'd be selling 3D plasmas in the US starting this year, they'd never spoken of price until a recent press conference in Japan where they stated that their 54-inch, 3D-capable Viera TH-P54VT will run the equivalent of $5,900.

That's a lot of money. However, the TH-P54VT won't be the cheapest model available from Panasonic this year, as Panasonic promised 3D models as small as 50-inches.

CrunchGear notes that Panasonic seems to be pricing 3D as an $800 upsell over their premium 2D plasmas, though from piecing together prices, even that estimate may have been a bit conservative.

In truth, there's no way 99% of the population will drop $5k on any TV when you can finally score a decent quality, 46-inch LCD or plasma for under a grand. If Panasonic wants glasses-based 3D to take off, they need to price the tech to sell. [Panasonic via CrunchGear]

With a couple of leaks to get our mouths watering, Pentax has at last confirmed its new trio of Optio cameras: the I-10 (pictured), H90, and E90. The SLR-inspired I-10 sports a 5x zoom, 12.1 megapixel sensor, 2.7-inch LCD and 720p / 30fps video capture. There's also optical image stabilization, smile capture, and face detection to round out the feature set -- not bad for a $300 camera. Meanwhile, the similarly classy, 80s-inspired H90 checks most of the same boxes (including HD video, 12.1 megapixel stills and 5x zoom) with a $180 pricetag -- we can only guess its sacrifices involve a downgraded lens, sensor or general sense of class. Finally, the E90 throws off all classic pretension and does up 10 megapixels, 3x zoom and a 2.7-inch LCD for a mere $100. No optical stabilization here, but the 6400 ISO and Digital Shake Reduction mode should help out a little bit. All three cameras ship next month. PR is after the break.

Continue reading Pentax confirms Optio I-10, H90, and E90 budget-friendly shooters

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Pentax confirms Optio I-10, H90, and E90 budget-friendly shooters originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Everyone is trying to guess what are the features of the tablet that Apple may announce on Wednesday 27. What's its name? What's the OS? How big? Tell us what you think and win an Apple tablet.

You fill out the survey linked below before the Apple event, and whoever gets closest to having all the answers right is eligible to win a free Apple tablet—whatever it ends up being called—courtesy of us. There is a reasonable chance that a few people will get the correct answers. In the event that there are, all of those who made the cut will go into a drawing, from which we'll pick a winner at random.

Click here to complete the survey of features. The winner gets an Apple tablet.

Your name and email will only be used to contact you in case you win the tablet.

Here are my guesses:

Name
I think they will call it iBook, just because it's a good brand, a short name that sounds great, and ties in with the whole tablet format.

OS
The tablet will run a variant of iPhone OS, with additional software classes to address its special features. Fundamentally, it will be like the iPhone OS—it should be able to run apps straight away (although developers will tailor them to the new screen size, selling them in the app store as fatter apps that support both the iPhone OS and the Tablet OS).

Screen
The screen won't be OLED, but I would like to think that—given Apple's push towards LED backlighting, with its energy savings and better image quality—they will use a 10.1-inch LCD-LED display.

Connectivity
The connectivity is a tricky one. Since I believe the Apple Tablet is a complete new paradigm in computing, one goes away from desktop metaphors, and is always connected—it makes sense that it supports 3G. But would Apple tie this thing to a carrier, like some rumors say? And if they do, and it's AT&T, would I be able to have two SIMs under the same AT&T number?

Camera
Another tricky one. Some people say no webcam at all, other say no cameras at all, others say both. I want to believe that this thing will, at last, support videoconferencing.

Storage
The top model will have 64GB.

Material
I like the idea of the back being chrome, so I can touch up my makeup.

Keyboard
Another tricky one. I want to believe that Apple is including a stylus and that their handwriting technology—already present in Mac OS X, coming from Newton OS—is good enough. However, this will require multiple-language support, something that doesn't seem to be implemented right now. So I want handwriting, but I'm leaning to a screen-based keyboard.

User interface
The iPhone has been a huge hit because it's simple. No complicated desktop metaphors, no confusing windows, just a modal device that morphs into different devices. Normal people, regular consumers who hate normal computers—the majority—get it. It will be like the iPhone, modal, hopefully with aggressive multitasking, and a clever way to navigate through running applications.

Extras
Another wild guess. USB 3.0 support would be nice, or even Lightpeak, but I really want this thing to support a stylus.

Battery life
This could have 10 hours of battery life. If its guts are not much different than an iPhone, there will be a lot of empty space in there, enough to fit some extra battery cells.

Price
People are guesstimating a wild range. Mine: $600, and they will still make money out of it. My gut feeling is that Steve Jobs and Co. believe this will be their biggest contribution to computing since the original Apple Macintosh. And they will want it to be cheap, so it can spread quick, like wildfire.

Main functions
Like the iPhone was a phone, an iPod, a web browser and a mail machine, this device will also have three or four main functions (apart from the thousands that it can take thanks to the applications). My wild guess is that movies will be a good one, as will web, ebooks, and videochat/communication.

Main role
While many computer fans will see this device as a secondary device or a peripheral, I believe Apple will position it as a full computer. Like I said before, most people don't need a computer. Most people don't spend hours writing emails or documents outside of the office. Most people don't spend hours doing spreadsheets or painting photos outside of work mode. Most people just browse, send the occasional image, do some chat, access Facebook, tweet a bit, read, browse, watch movies, listen to music... that's why the iPhone has become such a driving force in the industry, with many regular consumers adopting it as their main computing device. My guess is that this computer will be the main computer of most of the people who buy it. Not for the office, but their personal computer.

Now is your turn to give us your guesses, and get a chance to win an Apple tablet.

Click here to complete the survey of features. The winner gets an Apple tablet.

Your name and email will only be used to contact you in case you win the tablet.

Ah, here we go again: another report from iSuppli breaking down the bill of materials (BOM) for one of our favorite smartphones. This time it's the Droid / Milestone under scrutiny, Motorola's beefcake slider that currently sells for $560 month-to-month on Verizon ($199 on contract). According to iSuppli's analysis, Droid brings a $187.75 bill of materials that breaks down into $179.11 worth of components and $8.64 in manufacturing costs. Naturally, the BOM does not include licensing fees, software costs, accessories, or the massive outlay this device has received in advertising support. Nevertheless, it makes for interesting apples-to-apples fodder when comparing costs with the Nexus One ($174.15 in materials only), iPhone 3GS ($178.96 materials and manufacturing), and original Palm Pre ($138 materials and manufacturing). The single most expensive component on the Droid is the 16GB removable microSD card ($35) bundled with the Droid. And after a controversial MOTO report that demonstrated a lackluster capacitive touchscreen on the Droid, it's interesting to compare the Droid's 3.7-inch TFT LCD ($17.75) and capacitive touchscreen overlay ($17.50) with that of the iPhone 3GS ($19.25 spent on a smaller 3.5-inch LCD and cheaper $16 touchscreen overlay) and Nexus One (whopping $23.50 for 3.7-inch AM-OLED display and $17.50 for the touchscreen assembly). Rounding out the top-end costs are the Droid's 5 megapixel autofocus CMOS sensor ($14.25), Qualcomm baseband processor / RF chip ($14.04), and TI application processor ($12.90).

Droid more valuable than Nexus One or iPhone 3GS according to iSuppli originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Olympus goes point-and-shoot crazy with nine new compact cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Details are exceedingly light on Averatec's HS-105 netbook, but all you really need to know is in the processor: there's a 1.6GHz Atom N270 running the show. Unfortunately, that's the same CPU that has been powering the bulk of netbooks for the past year or so, and with Intel's Atom N450 already being used in a few choice rigs, there's hardly a reason to cast a glance at this one. If you insist, other specifications include 2GB of RAM, a 945GSE graphics set, 10.1-inch LCD (1,024 x 600), 160GB / 250GB HDD, WiFi and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. There's nary a word on price or release, but we fully anticipate the sticker to fall somewhere between "ultra cheap" and "let's get two."

Averatec's HS-105 netbook looks good, should've waited for Pine Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Art Lebedev introduces 'Fleximus' camera concept

Art Lebedev introduces 'Fleximus' camera concept originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Candidly speaking, we can't honestly envision too many of you fine folks running out and purchasing one of Creative's new ZEN X-Fi2 portable media players given the availability of such robust alternatives. That said, we'd be remiss of our duties if we didn't point out that the PMP which shocked us at IFA is now on sale directly from Creative. $129.99 buys you an 8GB model, while $179.99 nets you 16GB and $229.99 provides 32GB. We know -- that 3-inch LCD and integrated FM tuner look good from afar, but remember kids, it's all about the UI.

[Thanks, Tyler]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Creative's ZEN X-Fi2 touchscreen PMP now on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos has been on a real PMP tear as of late, releasing the Archos 2 Vision, 3 Vision, and the Clipper all in one pop back in August. The company's now launched yet another Vision model, the entry-level 1 Vision. This tiny little 4GB dude has a 1.5-inch LCD and supposedly gets about 20 hours of battery life per charge. No video support in this puppy, but the €30 (somewhere in the realm of $45) pricetag should temper some of your crushing disappointment over its lack of features. The Archos 1 Vision should be available in Europe by the end of November.

[Via PMP Today]

Super cheap Archos 1 Vision DMP set for release this month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, nobody gets excited about business computers, and these Lenovos (including the company's first business all-in-one) are pretty snooooore. But one of them could be your next office computer, and it's our duty to inform and educate you fine cubicle-folk.

Let's look at the best-case scenario: The A70z all-in-one. It's thoroughly unremarkable in specs, offering a 19-inch LCD (isn't that kind of small these days? Not that the iMac's insane 27-inch model should be the benchmark, but still...), up to a Core 2 Duo processor, and up to 500GB storage in a decent-looking if not particularly noteworthy package (pictured above). It also boasts of a fast startup and shutdown time and is only 2.4 inches thick (the new iMac is about an inch thick, for reference, though of course it costs several times more). The A70z will start at $500, which sounds pretty cheap, but the base model is likely to include a Celeron proc and a much lower-capacity HDD, for starters, so don't get too excited. The Acer Z5610, for example, costs $800 to start (not that far from an A70z with similar specs) in a much more slick package.

Winning second place (out of two) is the A58e tower. Clearly a $350 business-oriented tower desktop that boasts of "up to 320GB of data storage, up to 2GB of memory and a DVD burner" isn't exactly up our alley—but just as music critics must cover the latest Coldplay album, so must we bite the bullet and mention this snoozefest of a computer. Keep in mind that these prices aren't actually that low: Dell's base package Vostro desktop tower starts at only $300, with similar specs.

It's useless to brand computers like these objectively "good" or "bad." The A58e and A70z don't need to have catchy names, or up-to-the-minute specs, or eye-catching designs or even prices that are all that low. They will be bought, and they will be used. They will churn out Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoints and TPS reports, and they will suffice for those duties. They will provide no joy, unless you are a goofy salesman who sends adorable emails back and forth with your office's frumpy-yet-cute receptionist, and even then it will take about four years before anything happens between you two, so maybe you should just get another job because this one is clearly sucking the life out of you. Yet, they will be bought.

These computers will also match your office's Mr. Coffee. (Note: Speculation.)

At any rate, the 70z is available from the end of November, and the A58e is available now. [Lenovo]

Whoa, what have we here? It's Alex, the dual-screen e-book reader from Spring Design looking very much like the Barnes and Noble device rumored for a Tuesday launch. It features a 6-inch E-ink EPD (electronic paper display) and 3.5-inch LCD running Google's Android OS for browsing the web or viewing video, audio, photos, and notes. It also packs a removeable SD card, speaker, headphone jack, and WiFi or 3G EVDO/CDMA and GSM radios. An interesting Duet Navigator feature even lets you toggle content captured on the LCD and present it back to the EPD to save on battery life. The device is planned for release sometime this year without any details on who might be involved in that exercise.

Filed under: Displays

Spring Design Alex: dual-screen Android-based e-reader originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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