Sony Intros New Point-And-Shoot Digital Cameras

Sony has announced the DSC-H50 and DSC-W300, two new point-and-shoot digital cameras aimed at consumers. The DSC-H50 and DSC-W300 will be released in May for $400 and $350 respectively.

The DSC-H50 is a 9.1-megapixel camera with 15x optical zoom lens. It features optical image stabilization and 3-inch tilting LCD display covered in scratch-resistant UV hardcoat.

The camera also has an improved “advanced sports” shooting mode that supports shutter speeds up to 1/4000th of a second, user-selectable noise reduction with high, low and standard settings, exposure bracketing mode and “D-Range Optimizer,” which can help provide more picture detail in bright highlights and dark shadows. The camera also features a “NightShot” mode, five color modes, in-camera editing, slide show functions and HD component output.

The DSC-W300 features a 13.6-megapixel CCD imager paired to 3x optical zoom lens. On the back is a 2.7-inch LCD screen and eye-level viewfinder.

Features include optical image stabilization, noise reduction, “Smile Shutter” technology, which prioritizes faces so the camera will release the shutter when subjects are smiling, intelligent scene recognition, five color modes and an improved auto focus system that includes macro ranges.

HP Shows Off Future Printing Technologies

Hewlett-Packard offered a peek into future printing technologies, introducing a new inkjet printer that prints thousands of pages per minute and ink that retains its shine even when exposed to extreme elements.

HP’s water-based Latex Ink is specially formulated to embed in a surface and become part of a media print, said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president of HP’s graphics and imaging business. HP’s Latex Ink can withstand snow and rain and is useful for large-format media used on billboards and outdoor signs.

The company also launched the Inkjet Web Press printer, which can print up to 2,600 A4-sized color pages a minute at a cost of under US$0.01 per color page, Nigro said.

The products were introduced at an event in Tel Aviv.

The Latex Ink includes a specially created formula, called latex polymer, that provides the print surface its durability and color, according to HP. Water-based ink ejected carries the latex polymer and pigment particles to the surface. The inks are 70 percent water and 30 percent of additives and other inks, HP said. The ink was developed by HP and HP Labs.

Unlaminated outdoor displays using the ink can last up to three years, while unlaminated in-window displays can last up to five years.

The printer cartridge uses recyclable material and the company has developed new recyclable substrates for the ink to make printing environmentally friendly, HP said. Other printing technology for large-format media include UV (ultraviolet) curable ink, which interacts with an ultraviolet light source to create a print.

Avoiding speculation, Nigro said Latex Ink may or may not reach consumers in the future. For now, the ink is targeted at enterprises including companies creating billboards, Nigro said. HP is expected to announce products using the ink technology later this year.

HP also showed the Inkjet Web Press, a printer that prints up to 2,600 A4-sized color pages a minute. The printer will be able to print on pages up to 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) wide, Nigro said. It is targeted at replacing the printed pages coming from traditional offset presses.

A printing job with a traditional offset press takes hours and it’s not possible to print on demand. With a traditional offset press, a machine first creates a physical plate with the image etched on it, which is then sent to print. With the Inkjet Web Press platform, hitting the print button sends the image directly to a printer, making high-volume printing more productive by eliminating analog elements like a plate, Nigro said.

The printer is capable of printing broadsheet newspapers and other documents, he said.

The Inkjet Web Press is a breakthrough product as it is 20 percent faster than any other inkjet printer on the market, said Gilles Biscos, president of Interquest, an analysis firm. The speed and width makes it flexible for many different marketplaces including direct mail and books, he said. HP has been in the inkjet business and its research is trickling into many consumer and enterprise spaces.

The printer is built around the Scalable Printing Technology (SPT) platform, which improves the quality of prints by spraying more ink on pages using thousands of nozzles on a single printhead. SPT is already in use on printers like HP’s Photosmart, Nigro said. HP introduced the Photosmart Minilab ml1000 inkjet printer earlier this year, which can print 4-by-6-inch photos as fast as 1,500 prints per hour.

Both announcements are part of HP’s attempt to create a revenue stream by offering more printer supplies, management tools and services. As printer prices decline, customers will continue to pay for supplies like cartridges and services like digital photo prints, which will ultimately generate larger revenues than printer units shipped, HP executives have said.

HP has about a 1.8 percent share in the pages printed segment, and doubling that, will double HP’s printing revenue, Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP’s Imaging and Printing Group, said in an speech last week.

In 2009, 53 trillion documents will be printed, of which 9 percent will be digital, Nigro said. Creating digital pages like image files creates new printing opportunities, like ordering bound specialty photobooks online. That is not possible with an analog press as set-up costs could be high, he said.

Atom-Based Notebooks To Cost Between US$250 And $300

More than 25 low-cost notebooks based on Intel’s upcoming Atom processor are in the works, including models from multinational PC vendors, according to the chip maker’s top executive in Asia.

These Atom-based notebooks will be available in the middle of this year for about US$250 to $300, said Navin Shenoy, general manager of Intel’s Asia-Pacific operations, in an interview. “We’ll see some slightly richer configurations that get up to $350,” he said.

The Atom processor, formerly called Diamondville, is a small, low-power chip designed for inexpensive notebooks, a class of device that Intel and others refer to as netbooks. These machines are intended for first-time computer buyers in emerging markets as well as users in mature markets willing to trade performance for a low-cost notebook that complements their existing computers — a market that until now has been largely dominated by Asustek’s Eee PC.

Atom will offer lower performance than Intel’s Core 2 Duo processors for mainstream notebooks, but the Atom’s performance will be good enough for browsing the Internet and sending e-mails, Shenoy said.

Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner was more specific about the processor’s capabilities, telling reporters that a related chip, called Silverthorne, offers performance similar to Banias, the first version of Intel’s Pentium M processor released in 2003. Silverthorne is designed for small, handheld computers that Intel calls Mobile Internet Devices, and will be available as part of the Centrino Atom chip package set for release during the second quarter.

The introduction of the Atom and the rush of vendors to build the chip into low-cost notebooks could mark the emergence of a new type of device, expanding on the early success of Asustek’s Eee PC. But not everyone is convinced there is much demand for low-cost notebooks, either as a secondary computing device or a substitute for a more capable, and more expensive, notebook PC.

Bryan Ma, the director of personal systems research at IDC Asia-Pacific, is a self-described skeptic and doubts that low-cost notebooks will have more than a limited impact on the market for portable computing devices so long as performance and features are traded for lower prices. “I was never convinced that price was the best way to sell these products,” he said.

But the marketing clout of Intel and top-tier PC vendors could alter this equation by creating additional demand among customers in both emerging markets and developing countries. “Intel, pushing this, gives it more legs,” Ma said.

“There’s going to be some experimentation,” Shenoy said.

Most Atom-based notebooks will have screens ranging in size from 7 inches up to 10 inches, Shenoy said, adding that some models will be equipped with screens that can swivel and lay flat against the keyboard, turning the device into a tablet computer. Devices will ship with either hard disks or solid-state drives that use flash memory and offer battery life ranging from three to five hours, he said.

“Some will be really sleek and thin, some will be a bit more ruggedized,” Shenoy said, adding that Wi-Fi will likely be a common feature.

On the software side, Atom-based notebooks will ship with either Windows XP or some version of Linux. “I don’t think you’ll see a lot of Vista in this space for cost reasons,” he said.

The availability of Windows XP on low-cost notebooks set to arrive during the middle of the year is noteworthy because Microsoft has stated previously that Windows XP licenses will not be sold after June 30. Microsoft officials in Singapore reaffirmed the June 30 deadline in a statement released through the company’s public-relations agency. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Windows XP will completely disappear after June 30.

“There are probably going to be certain exceptions here and there,” IDC’s Ma said.

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