Nikon Intros Three new Coolpix Digital Cameras

Nikon on Thursday introduced three new models to its Coolpix digital camera line. The P80 will be released in April for $399.95. The S52 and S52c are coming in May for $249.95 and $299.95, respectively.

The P80 is a 10.1 megapixel model featuring an 18x optical zoom lens that offers a 27 – 486mm focal length (35mm equivalent). It also features optical vibration reduction. Other features include an all-new Sports Continuous Mode, which lets you shoot up to 30 consecutive pictures at four, six or 13 frames per second (depending on resolution). It has light sensitivity up to ISO 6400 and a 2.7-inch LCD monitor with anti-reflective coating and 230,000 pixel resolution.

The S52 and S52c both sport 9.0 megapixel sensors, 3x 38-114mm zoom lenses, optical vibration reduction and ISO 3200 sensitivity. They also have 3.0 inch LCD displays and use Nikon’s “Expeed” image processing, which the company claims reduces noise in images.

The S52c can send images through e-mail using a built-in Wi-Fi connection and supports Nikon’s “My Picturetown” online service and Flickr. The S52 uses USB 2.0 to connect to a host Mac or PC, instead. The S52 will be available in red or black; the S52c will come in black only.

Sahara Launches an 8 Inch Laptop

Sahara Computers launched its latest entry level 8 inch laptop — Sahara- S- NB522434- EB00 in the Indian market.

This latest model, a new addition to Sahara’s Image Book Series, is an entry level product which comes with lots of features. The company claims it to be one of the smallest notebooks with 60 GB hard drive. The 8 inch LCD TFT display screen is bright and sharp. It weighs about 1.1 kg.

The laptop is a Linux based notebook, focused for entry level users, students and frequent travelers, it comes with AMD Geode LX 800 Processor. It has an extended battery life of respectable 4.5 hrs. It is a Wi-Fi enabled notebook and has a PCMCIA slot, card reader which comes with one year carry-in warranty. It is offered with a leather carry bag.

Sahara- S- NB522434- EB00 is available for Rs. 14,999. It is available in India through Sahara Computers’ authorized channel partners and all ITJ stores.

Sony Launches World’s Smallest HD Camcorder

Sony has developed what it says is the world’s smallest high-definition video camcorder. The Sony HDR-TG1 measures 32mm by 119mm by 63mm and weighs 300g.

It’s a tall and thin camcorder with a fold-out display – a design along the same lines as Sanyo’s Xacti line of high-def camcorders, but the Sony camcorder is about two-thirds the volume of Sanyo’s latest full high-def model.

Sony plans to put it on sale in Japan later this month and in the US in May.

One of the secrets of its thinness is the lack of a DV tape desk, hard-disk or optical drive. Instead the TG1 records to a Memory Stick Pro Duo or Pro-HG Duo memory card. The camera lays down AVCHD format video at 1,920 by 1,080 resolution (so-called ‘Full HD’). AVCHD is a high-def format developed by Sony and Panasonic that’s designed to provide some compatibility between camcorders and living room disc players and other entertainment hardware.

In the highest quality ‘FH’ mode, which is full HD resolution at 16Mbps, the supplied 4GB card will be able to store 25 minutes of footage. This lengthens to 55 minutes in HQ mode, which records a 1,440 by 1,080 resolution image at 9Mbps. The SP and LP modes record drop the video bit rate – and thus the quality – to 7Mbps and 5Mbps, respectively and result in 65 minutes and 85 minutes of recording time.

As with other card-based cameras, higher capacity cards mean more recording time.

In addition to video the camcorder can also take 4-megapixel resolution still images. Like some of Sony’s still cameras the TG1 has face detection and can track up to eight people in the shot.

Other features include an optical 10X zoom, 2.7-inch widescreen touch panel LCD monitor and HDMI connector.

It will be available in the US in May and will cost about $900.

Sony Unveils Wall-Mountable VAIO Notebook

Sony has added to another notebook in their VIAO lineup with the release of the VAIO LM notebook.

The VAIO LM features PC design reminiscent of Sony’s BRAVIA LCD TV’s with its 19-inch screen framed by a transparent bezel. The new laptop can be wall-mounted and features wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control.

Aimed at those who want the functionality of a PC in their living area, the VAIO LM is designed as an entertainment hub that doubles as a TV, with in-built TV tuner, built-in 1.3MP camera with face-tracking software, 2.1-channel speaker system and sub-woofers.

The VAIO LM features an Intel Core2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00GHz), 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB HDD, Windows Vista Home Premium, and nVidia graphics card. The laptop comes with the latest VAIO Music Box software, it lets users define default channel capacity for music in advance, so that the system is able to automatically select signal descriptors for sound classification into 24 channels. Besides, VAIO LM new Movie Story software allows users to create and edit their own video easily.

The VAIO VGC-LM18 is available across Sony stores for Rs.1,09,900.

Acer Unveils Multimedia-Optimized Notebooks

Acer unveiled a line of multimedia-optimized laptops in New York at its first-ever U.S. press conference, where it also announced the close of its acquisition of Dutch computer-maker Packard Bell.

Acer unveiled the Aspire 8920 and 6920 series of notebooks with a new design, the company is calling Aspire Gemstone “blue.” The laptops, which come in both 18.4-inch and 16-inch versions, include a Blu-Ray disc drive, full high-definition (HD) LCD screens and support for the Dolby Pro Logic 2.0 surround-sound audio system.

Speaking at a press event, Senior Corporate Vice President Jim Wong said the new design is aimed at bringing a “true multimedia innovation” to the notebook form factor. The new notebooks are based on Intel Core 2 Duo processors and run either Windows Vista Ultimate or the Windows Vista Home Premium OS because of the multimedia functionality those OSes can deliver. However, Wong said, Acer would consider running a different OS — presumably Linux — on machines that don’t require rich multimedia capability.

The New York event, was a U.S. coming-out party of sorts for the Taiwanese computer-maker. Acer is eager to woo U.S. consumers now that it is offering not only its own notebooks here, but also eMachine computers from Packard Bell and PCs from U.S. computer-maker Gateway, the acquisition of which Acer revealed last August.

In his first official press appearance in the U.S., Acer’s President Gianfranco Lanci clarified company’s branding strategy going forward, saying products from all three companies will remain in the market under their own names. “We didn’t buy a company to kill the brand,” he said.

Lanci said Acer plans to keep all three brands in the U.S. and Europe, although Gateway computers — including the eMachines brand — will be sold in “some countries only.” In Asia and the U.S., the Acer and Gateway brands will be most prominent, including the Gateway eMachines brand in the U.S. Lanci said Acer is basing its brand distribution on how well the different products sell in each geographic area.

Having all three brands also will diversify Acer’s market penetration across its three main geographical regions, broadening its reach in the U.S. while reducing the amount of business that comes from Europe, he added.

For the most part, Acer will keep the design of each of the three brands consistent with their current design. The new Aspire Gemstone “blue” design, for instance, will only be used for Acer notebooks.

LG Launches Widescreen Entertainment Notebooks

LG announced the launch of its new range of widescreen entertainment notebooks — the E200 and the E300.

The latest range of entertainment notebooks come with a 12.1-inch (E200) and 13.3-inch (E300) widescreen along with power saving module which offers extended battery life.

The notebooks are powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processor technology. The E200 as well as the E300 notebooks have a curl-fit design with LG Fine Bright LCD technology that delivers vivid and life like images.

The notebooks include ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset and an 1.3MP LG Smart Cam. The new notebooks also feature a 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (XD/SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro), an Express Card Slot (34) and a built-in DVD Writer.

The notebooks have a glossy look and are currently available in black color. The High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) technology provides uncompressed, crystal-clear digital video and audio via a single cable. The user just needs to connect an HDMI cable to digital TV or LCD monitor and can experience an improved quality of digital entertainment contents on the notebook.

The E200 and E300 are available for Rs. 51,500 and Rs. 57,000 respectively.

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.