Digital Gadgets

Canon PowerShot S3 IS Announced

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS is 6 Megapixel hybrid digital camera that is equally at home with photo enthusiasts and digital diehards as it is in the hands of the point-and-shoot “where do I press?” set. Remarkably, whether engaged in VGA quality videography at 30 fps with stereo sound recording, high-resolution still photography, or capturing both at the same time, the Canon S3 IS remains easy to use.

The successor to the five Megapixel S2 IS, the Canon PowerShot S3 IS enhancements begin with Canon’s newly designed 6 Megapixel image sensor that together with Canon’s DIGIC II image processor dramatically reduces “noise” for better image quality and achieves ISO equivalent speed ratings ranging from 80 to 800.

The S3 IS marks the third generation of Canon’s mega-zooming bridge camera.

Including a 6MP CCD, the f/2.7-3.5 12x optical zoom includes an Ultra-Sonic Motor (USM) for fast and quiet operation and an Ultra-low Dispersion element to reduce the effect of chromatic aberration. Canon’s optical Image Stabiliser reduces the effect of blur caused by camera shake, which can appear on photographs (and movies), enabling the use of shutter speeds three times slower than conventional cameras. Canon has also extended the sensitivity range to ISO 800.

The S3 IS can capture VGA movies at a rate of 30fps with stereo sound and individual full-resolution frames can be captured using the Photo In Movie function.

Sporting a striking new finish in gunmetal grey, the compact PowerShot S3 IS answers the demands of advanced photographers with several improvements over its predecessor, including an increased sensitivity range of ISO 80 to ISO 800, a larger 2.0″ vari-angle LCD screen, widescreen (16:9) recording, new movie features and an additional Sports mode.

The PowerShot S3 IS features:
12x optical zoom lens with USM and UD lens element
Optical Image Stabilizer
6.0 Megapixel CCD
Larger size 2.0” Vari-angle LCD
30fps VGA movies with stereo sound and Photo in Movie feature
DIGIC II, iSAPS and Flexizone AF/AE for fast, precise results and 2.3 fps continuous shooting performance
20 shooting modes and My Colors photo effects
High ISO Auto and ISO 800 for low light flexibility
Widescreen (16:9) recording

The PowerShot S3 IS caters for serious photo enthusiasts seeking extended zooming flexibility and fully featured movie recording in a versatile compact digital stills camera.

The camera’s 12x zoom lens gives you a film equivalent of 36-432 mm at a relatively quick f/2.7 at its widest angle, and f/3.5 zoomed all the way in. Even though that lens has a nice long focal length, it still retracts into the camera when not in use.

Alongside Manual, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes, the S3 IS includes a selection of scene modes, such as: Night Snapshot, Snow, Colour Accent and Colour Swap. Other features include: 2in LCD, 0cm Super Macro mode, Widescreen mode and 2.3fps continuous shooting modes.

The Canon PowerShot S3 IS hits the shops in May for £449. Find out more by calling 08705 143723.

The S3 keeps the earlier model’s 12x optical zoom, ups the megapixel count from 5 to 6, pushes the maximum ISO to 800, bumps the flip-out LCD to 2 inches and adds a 60fps QVGA movie mode. Pricing has yet to be announced, but it should be in line with the S2, which currently sells for about $400.

Sony to slap flash memory into new PSP this year?

According to market sources, Sony plans to release a version of its PSP (PlayStation Portable) using NAND flash from Samsung Electronics in the second half of this year.

The PSP will feature 8GB of NAND flash, the sources stated.

Although recent reports stated that Sony would opt not to use NAND flash in the next version of its PSP, and would instead use a microdrive, the sources indicated that Sony was stalling to negotiate better pricing from Samsung.

We’ve heard rumblings of Sony plans to add storage to a new (possibly smaller) version of their PSP, starting with 50GB HDD rumors a year ago, but now we’re hearing of a possible deal between Sony and Samsung to add 8GB of flash memory to the portable. According to “market sources,” Sony has been pressuring Samsung to lower NAND flash prices by toying around with microdrives, but they’re really digging on those low-power flash chips and hope to cram 8GBs worth into a new PSP due the second half of this year — if all this is to be believed, of course.

When rumors circulated on February 16 that negotiations had broken down between Sony and Samsung, spot prices for 1Gbit and 2Gbit NAND flash dropped 5.3% and 3% in one day, according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN).

Deutsche Bank was also cited by the report as commenting that the failure of Samsung and Sony to reach a supply agreement will suppress NAND flash prices further and push oversupply to 10% this year.

It all sounds rather similar to some Sony/Samsung 8GB dealings that went down last year that we assumed were linked to an iPod competitor in the works, which maybe is still a fair assumption. We sure wouldn’t mind a bit of built-in storage in the already media-centric PSP, especially since UMDs are sort of drying up, let’s just hope they can get over this Memory Stick addiction and do it on the cheap — and soon.

According to data from DRAMeXchange, 8Gbit spot prices have fallen from US$39 to US$34 since Chinese New Year, while prices for 4Gbit parts have fallen from US$23.36 to US$16.60

Day One with the Palm Treo 650

Treo 650 died of complications resulting from the 1.17 firmware update. I received my replacement Treo 650 through the Warranty Exchange program offered by Cingular about a week ago, and so far the new Treo has worked like a dream.

I understand the Palm Treo 650 is nothing new. I understand that its really old news. What is new about all this is that I am going to try to use this phone, a PALM OS phone, over the stack of Windows Mobile Phones I have laying around. This is part of an ongoing effort started by myself to learn more about the “other” companies OS versions.

The 1st thing I did was charged it for a while. Then I loaded up the software and saw a familiar face from the past, HotSync!

Knowing little about today’s Palm OS, what I saw next was a shocker. I was asked to press the button on the sync cable and when I did, the software started to whirl! An option came up on the screen asking me if I wanted to sync with some program I didn’t pay attention to or Microsoft Outlook. Well, what do you think I chose? Considering Outlook contains my entire life, Outlook. This was a PLEASANT surprise I was not expecting. ATTN MICROSOFT!!!! Want to make it easy for Palm users to join our fight? Offer this functionality in reverse for Active Sync!!!

I spent a good part of the day on this phone without using any headsets, etc. The reception was good and the conversations were clear as could be. I asked each person I spoke with how I sounded and they all said I was just fine! Total talk time was around 3 hours today. An hour and a half was with one friend of mine and the phone never became uncomfortable. I am hope 13 hours after my day began with 100% charge and the indicator shows a tad over 50% life.

I had attempted to upgrade my old handset to 1.17 according to the directions provided by Palm and Cingular, but the firmware update didn’t go smoothly and I had to repeat the process more than once. The update made the old Treo very unreliable, resulting in periodic White Screens of Death when I ran the Chatter Email application on it.

Mark Blanc, the author of Chatter Email had suggested that there was no conflict between Chatter Email 1.1.4.3p and the 1.17 firmware. From what I’ve seen since I got my replacement Treo 650, he’s right.

My observations for today:

Blaze, the built in web browser, is horrible. I haven’t taken the time to see if there is any settings to make webpages not look BAD. I am definitely not in Windows Land anymore.

Since I started using a Treo with the 1.17 firmware update, I’ve noticed much better support for my Motorola HS850 Bluetooth Headset. The Treo tries to connect to the headset whenever a call is placed or received. This makes a lot more sense than the previous behavior, which required me to press the action button on the side of the headset.

The lesson I’ve learned from my firmware update failure is this: from now on I’m only doing a firmware update if the performance enhancements offered by the update specifically address a problem I’ve recently experienced with my Treo. In other words, I’m not doing anymore updates just to stay current.

Apple plans 17-inch MacBook Pro by June

The 17-inch MacBook Pro is coming sooner or later, we all know it. But it sounds like our most common bastion of Apple rumors, AppleInsider, got a call from their, um, insider at Apple, and apparently the 17-incher is supposedly due to be launched in time for June’s WWDC (where last year they announced the Intel partnership, if you remember); nice, The new flagship model, which will based around a 17-inch widescreen display and feature at least a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor, is expected to round-out Apple’s MacBook Pro product line.

Despite optimism from some of Apple’s current 12-inch PowerBook customers, a 12-inch MacBook Pro model has yet to surface on Apple’s product roadmap, reliable sources have told AppleInsider.

These sources say the 17-inch MacBook Pro has been penciled-in for a release at or around Apple’s annual World Wide Developers Conference, which has historically taken place around June.

Still, there remains the possibility that the high-end Apple notebook could be pushed out the door a bit earlier this Spring. Recent reports indicate that the developmental progress of 17-inch MacBook Pro is on par with that of Apple’s Intel-based iBooks, which are widely rumored for a release by April.

One factor that may prohibit an earlier release of the 17-inch MacBook Pro is the lack of an 8x SuperDrive thin enough to fit in the notebook’s enclosure, which is reportedly just as slim as the 15-inch model.

Due to its sleek industrial design, the MacBook Pro requires 9.5mm thick SuperDrives rather than the 12mm drives used in Apple’s previous line of PowerBook G4 notebooks. Each of the company’s 15-inch MacBook Pro models includes only a 4x SuperDrive because an 8x 9.5mm version of the drive is not yet available in production quantities but we’re not too happy about the idea that supposedly the 12-inch version of the MacBook Pro didn’t show up on their product roadmap.

According to AppleInsider’s proprietary checks, a slot-loading version of the 8x SuperDrive suitable for the MacBook Pro is slated for customer shipments beginning in May. It’s unclear if Apple will add an 8x SuperDrive option to the 15-inch MacBook Pro at this time or reserve the feature for a later revision of the notebook.