Archive for August, 2008

By August 12, 2008 Read More →

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 Review

Well, I’m sure by now you have all seen the adverts from Panasonic showing the Golden Gate bridge shrinking in size to allow people to take a picture with their “ordinary” cameras. Panasonic are pretty much singing the virtues of their wide angle lenses that adorn most of the new Lumix range.

I tested out the L10 quite a few months ago and today we will be looking at the camera seen in most of the latest adverts, The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

Introduction

There are a whole host of pocket size high mega-pixel cameras on the market these days making choosing a new camera a very difficult process for many people. Most camera shops point of sale advertising seems to always go on about pixels, pixels and more pixels, without really explaining to users that for most of us printing out standard sized images, 3Mega Pixels is probably enough.

Although having a higher pixel value: The DMC-TZ4 has 8.1 Megapixels – (Compared to the older TZ3 with 6 and the TZ5 offering 9.1). The huge difference Panasonic have done with this new camera is drop in a massive 10x Leica Optical Zoom lens with image stabilisation in a very small hand held camera.

This should certainly offer a differentiator compared to the multitude of reasonably priced pocket digital cameras.

What’s in the Box?

Once again with Panasonic, a rather stereotypical camera box hides the TZ4 camera, slightly larger than many of the pocket handheld cameras at 5.9x10x3.6cm but with a 10x Optical Zoom lens packed in it’s a pretty small sized camera.

Standard battery, charger, leads and manuals accompany the camera. See Matt’s Unboxing video for more.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 specification:

  • 8.1-megapixel effective CCD for images up to 3264×2448 pixels
  • Leica DC Vario-Elmarit Lens 10x "Wide" optical zoom, covering 28-280mm (35mm equivalent)
  • MEGA O.I.S. (Optical image stabilization) system
  • Intelligent Exposure and Digital Red-eye Correction
  • 9-point AF system with focus-assist lamp
  • 2.5-inch TFT color monitor with (230k pixels)
  • Program AE, Macro, Intelligent AUTO + 21 scene modes
  • Burst (3fps @ 8M; 10fps @ 2M) and AE bracketing capture modes
  • 640×480/320×240 (4:3) or 848×480 (16:9) QuickTime movies, 30fps or 10fps with audio
  • Shutter speeds from 1/2000 to 8 seconds
  • Built-in flash with auto, fill, slow synchro and red-eye reduction modes
  • TTL Auto White Balance, 5 presets and custom set
  • 27MB of internal memory plus SD/SDHC/MMC memory card slot
  • Plug-n-Play USB, Mass Storage compliant
  • PictBridge Direct-Print compatible

General

The look and feel of the DMC-TZ4 is pretty good, a sturdy looking camera that certainly looks like it would stand the test of time and the odd drop or two (although don’t worry Matt, I didn’t try this…). Packing that 28mm Wide Angle lens with 10x Optical zoom really puts this camera into a different league with very few rivals at this time. This should allow many users to compose such a wide variety of shots without having to move their location!

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 angled view

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4

Any users of other Panasonic Lumix camera equipment should have very little trouble operating the TZ4 as the vast majority of controls and functions are the same across the range.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 top view Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 top view zoom

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 top controls (click to enlarge)

Located on the top of the camera is the now standard thumb wheel control used to select features such as iA (Intelligent Auto), Scene Selections, or Video Mode . The On Off switch is located just alongside the thumb wheel but does require some effort to turn on and off so there should be no accidental power issues. The Shutter Control is on the right hand side of the camera and located around this is the zoom control – I liked this position as it enabled control of the shutter and zoom functions easily with just one hand (or finger even).

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 back view

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 back view

The rear of the camera contains the remaining controls for accessing the camera menus, setting changes and viewing modes. The display screen is also of a very good size 2.5” screen with excellent resolution and viewing angles.

A very simple “Play/Record” button at the top right offers a quick way to review images or take images without having to fiddle with the main thumb control wheel.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 connectors

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 connectors

Connectors on the side offer the standard USB connectivity and Video out.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 memory card slot

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 battery & memory compartment

The battery compartment is located at the base of the camera, with a slot for SD/SDHD memory Cards. The camera does have 27MB of storage built in which will hold a picture or two in an emergency.

 

Highlights and Lowlights

I already use a Panasonic Lumix FX-33 camera for standard point and shoot pictures when out for the day or at events. Like many people, the convenience of being able to slip a camera into a pocket does certainly have advantages compared to a bulky SLR, but many of the smaller cameras don’t quite have the zoom capabilities.

I tested the camera in a wide selection of environments, from indoor low light shots, to bright sunny days (well, sunny as they can be in the UK).

 

Highlights

  • The Leica Lens is an excellent wide angle lens (28mm) having the 10x Optical zoom (280mm equivalent) is a real benefit against standard 3x zooms offered by many cameras.
  • The colours are very vivid and dynamic, this seems to be a pretty standard feature across the Panasonic range I have tested so far.
  • Very sharp pictures from the Leica lens and sensor
  • Very small lens distortion on edges
  • Good flash pictures indoors
  • Really bright infrared zone for focusing in dark environments, although this may be a little disconcerting for some being lit up bright red!

Lowlights

  • Although a small camera considering the Lens Zoom size, it is not tiny like some cameras and not quite as easy to slip into your pocket. With a large lens, it is also quite heavy.
  • The camera still offers Panasonic’s standard selection of scene modes (such as Night Time, Snow, Beach) and still has Baby 1 and Baby 2… I may be missing the point here but after trying many of these scene options I really can’t see a great deal of difference.
  • The use of scene modes I found was questionable even further when using the Intelligent Auto mode and the Intelligent Exposure feature. These two features seem to pretty much compensate for almost all picture taking opportunities.

REVIEW

As usual with reviews, they tend to start quite late in the evening once normal day to day activities have taken place, monsters have gone to bed and everyone is happy…. This tends to lead to the usual unboxing on the Kitchen table and the first few shots taken of really interesting things such as the washing up….

Actually, this really wasn’t a bad place to start with the usual washing up some 4 Metres away I tried the 10x Optical zoom and pressed the shutter. (This is when I noticed the high intensity Infra Red focus aid light half the kitchen). For a close on 300mm zoom lens, inside the house with the inbuilt flash, I was really surprised with the quality of the first few shots. Never before has “Microwave and Dishwasher Safe” been readable from the other side of the kitchen. Even zooming in on the picture in preview mode should no real blurring or lost focused (I’m sure there is some appropriate photography name for this).

The lens action was quick zooming in and out and the focus was certainly quick considering the amount of light that was available.

Rather than stay with pictures of pots and pans, a rare summer moment arrived the following day allowing a variety of photographs to be taken. Again, the Panasonic DMC-TZ4 did pretty much exactly what it said on the tin. Clear sharp images and pretty fast shutter speeds. The focus was also much faster than the L10 SLR I tested a few months ago.

The colours taken on the camera were really consistent throughout the day, however, as with many cameras, the colours looked far better towards the end of the day (This is really more to do with the light levels and the fact pictures tend to look more realistic out of really bright light rather than the camera)

Shooting into the evening and towards dusk the camera still performed well. The shots taken with flash were realistic and didn’t tend to suffer from over exposure or unnatural “whiteness” I think this must be the Intelligent Exposure settings as I didn’t have to change any settings at all.

After taking a few more shots I decided to try out some of the scene settings and additional features. From what I could see, the majority of the scenes and settings were the same as the Lumix FX33 I use at the moment. The same strange options for Baby1, Baby2 scene settings were available. If anyone wants to let me know if they have used these settings or seen any advantage I’d love to know! Saying that though, the night setting does help and work well providing longer exposure times for dark backgrounds but still a difficult setting to master and achieve the best results.

For me though, the Zoom lens was really the best feature of the camera, and was the only real thing to set this camera apart from the other cameras in the Lumix range who all have similar pixel sizes and facilities. Having such a large zoom in a compact camera really allowed a much wider range of shots to be taken, and the image stabilisation worked fantastically. Couldn’t take some of the shots I did on full zoom in quite low light on the older Canon DSLR for sure without lots of shake.

Conclusion

As you can tell, I’m not a true fan of scene modes, so for many of the shots taken, I used Intelligent Auto mode. Yeah, I know, allowing the camera to do everything for you will probably be frowned on my some of the higher end photographers out there, but I am not a photographer, I just like the ease of pointing a camera at something, pressing the button and pretty much getting better results than I would if I had played with the settings.

This allows me to take more time to think of the things that tend to mess up pictures more, making sure the composure is ok, trying to work out what the heck the 1/3rds rule is all about and making sure some large tree is not sticking out from behind people’s heads.

May be they won’t let me review camera’s again or the professional photography guys will come after me, but, as I said, I’m not a professional camera man – I just want to take simple shots and get the best results that look good to me at least.

The Panasonic certainly helps achieve this with its automatic mode and excellent zoom capability – Photography for the masses.

So – Will I be trading my FX33 in for the TZ4, well, no. Not because there is anything wrong with the camera I could find very little to fault. If I was looking for a new camera the TZ4 would definitely be right up the top of the list, but as a compact camera it just seems that little large to slip in the pocket compared to the DMC-FX33 and I really don’t like carry things around with me!!

Despite that, the Zoom mode will really win a huge amount of people over and this camera has to be a really good choice for someone who doesn’t mind their compact cameras a little bigger

 

Review by: John

Posted in: Reviews
By August 12, 2008 Read More →

Sony introduce new Bravia models

Sony have just announced new Bravia HD LCD TV models, details from the press release:

Introducing the state of the art BRAVIA™ X4500 and W4500 series

 

BRAVIA™ X4500 series

  • Full HD 1080p

  • Graceful floating design with translucent frame

  • Best-ever clarity, colour, contrast and definition with BRAVIA™ ENGINE 2 PRO

  • Rich, deep colours, superb contrast and reduced power consumption from new RGB Dynamic LED backlight (46, 55-inch)

  • Smoother, sharper fast-moving action with Motionflow PRO100Hz technology (46, 55-inch)

  • Enjoy digital music and photos from networked DLNA devices

 kdl_40x4500_cw

BRAVIA™ X4500 series

BRAVIA™ W4500 series

  • Full HD 1080p

  • Innovative styling inspired by new ‘draw the LINE’ design concept

  • Superb clarity, colour and contrast with BRAVIA™ ENGINE 2

  • Smoother, sharper fast-moving action thanks to Motionflow 100Hz with Image Blur Reduction technology

  • Enjoy digital music and photos from networked DLNA devices

 kdl_40w4500

BRAVIA™ W4500 series

 Whether you’re into the latest movies on Blu-ray™ Disc, nail-biting PLAYSTATION®3 games or sparkling HD broadcasts, there’s a mouthwatering choice of  BRAVIA™ televisions for serious viewers who demand the ultimate entertainment experience.

 

“The unique blend of advanced technology and leading design of both the BRAVIA™ X4500 and slim speaker systems, mean that consumers can now view crystal-clear images with atmospheric sound without compromising on the look and feel of their home”, explained George Damigos, General Manager, Marketing, TV Marketing Europe.

 

“Together with the feature-packed W4500 series, these two new BRAVIA™ ranges represent the absolute pinnacle of Sony innovation in bringing you the best-looking pictures and an unmatched home theatre experience.”

 

BRAVIA™ X4500 series: the very last word for serious home theatre fans

The stunning flagship of the BRAVIA™ range, the top-of-the-range X4500 series represents the very last word in unmatched picture quality and breathtaking design.

 

Available in three screen sizes (40-inch, 46-inch, 55-inch), it’s packed with state-of-the-art Sony technologies to deliver Full HD 1080p pictures and dynamic sound that effortlessly surpass anything you’ve seen before. With no less than 4x HDMI ports for connection with a wide array of HD sources, the X4500 series is the ultimate choice for discerning home cinema enthusiasts who demand an uncompromised theatrical experience.

 

Thanks to a unique new ‘floating’ design, the exquisite looks of the X4500 series are guaranteed to grab your attention before the TV is even turned on. In addition to the supplied sterling silver speaker covers, there’s a choice of optional speaker covers (Ruby Red or Obsidian Black), letting you customise the X4500 series to complement and enhance your personal living space.

 

To get the absolute best out of your favourite movies, TV broadcasts and games, Sony’s new BRAVIA™ ENGINE 2 PRO filters, cleans and optimises image data before it’s displayed on the Full HD 1080p LCD panel. As well as reducing picture noise, this powerful processor widens colour range and smooths motion while boosting contrast for deep, cinematic blacks.

 

For amazing results with any picture source like DVD, the latest-generation DRC (Digital Reality Creation) 3.0 boosts the resolution using advanced up-conversion-technology to stream a Full HD 1080p picture. This ensures detail-packed images that take full advantage of the highly detailed 1920×1080 panel.

 

A true cinematic experience in your own home demands rich colours and true, deep blacks. For the first time ever, 46-inch and 55-inch X4500 series models feature an energy-efficient RGB Dynamic LED backlight that momentarily dims in dark areas of the picture, reducing light leakage for enhanced contrast and deeper blacks. Clusters of red, green and blue LEDs provide a wider palette of colours than conventional white LED backlights. The result is stunning reproduction of Blu-ray Disc™, DVD and TV broadcast sources, just as the director intended.  

 

46- and 55-inch models excel with smooth, lifelike reproduction of sports and other fast-moving action. Motionflow PRO 100Hz technology intelligently creates extra frames, inserting them into the signal and doubling the displayed frame rate. In addition, ‘backlight blinking’ successively switches off horizontal backlight portions of the frame with each frame. This significantly reduces picture blur without the fatiguing ‘flicker’ effect of conventional black frame insertion systems. The 40-inch screen size model also features new IB Reduction. This ‘cleans’ original frames before new frame insertion for a sharper image still with reduced motion blur.

 

Along with the W4500 series, the X4500 series is the first BRAVIA™ television that connects seamlessly with other networked devices via DLNA in your home. It’s easy to access, share and enjoy digital photos and music with other certified devices around the home – like VAIO Blu-ray Disc™ PCs and other compatible media devices.

You can also view your pictures  by inserting a USB Memory stick into the USB input on the side of the TV or by directly connecting your Cyber-shot™ or other digital cameras to your BRAVIA™.  Enjoying your detail-packed photos in Picture Frame Mode on a 40 inch or even larger screen will bring your memories back to life.

 

The ultimate BRAVIA™ entertainment experience is completed by an innovative audio system with 6 main speakers and 2 woofer speakers on the 55X4500 and 4 main and 2 woofer speakers on 40X4500 / 46X4500.

Surround effects can be optimised for sports, live music concerts or movies, or customised for maximum enjoyment of any type of programme. The combination of the ultra-thin shape with the leading technology of the finger speaker and assist woofer produces a remarkably crisp sound quality without altering the style and design of the TV.?

 

BRAVIA™ W4500 series: incredible images with any HD source

Whether you’re into sports, gaming or general TV viewing, the BRAVIA™ W4500 series delivers incredible picture and sound quality to get the very best out of your favourite HD sources.

 

Available in three screen sizes (40-inch, 46-inch, 52-inch), the set features effortlessly contemporary looks inspired by Sony’s audacious ‘Draw the Line’ design concept. Sharing many of the same picture innovations as its X4500 sibling, the BRAVIA™ W4500 series is packed with latest Sony technology for the best-looking Full HD pictures you’ve ever seen.

                         

BRAVIA™ ENGINE 2 processing guarantees superb clarity, colour, contrast and definition, while Motionflow 100Hz technology keeps fast-moving action crisp and clear. In addition, new IB Reduction ‘cleans’ original frames before new frame insertion for a sharper image with reduced blur.

 

The W4500 series also lets you enjoy multimedia content from other devices on your home network that support the DLNA standard.

 

The BRAVIA™ X4500 and W4500 series Full HD LCD televisions will be available from September 08 (X4500) and October 08 (W4500).

BRAVIA X4500 and W4500 Series: Key Features

 

X4500

W4500

Screen size (inch)

40, 46, 55

40, 46, 52

1080p Full HD

Yes

Yes

10-bit panel

Yes

Yes

BRAVIA™ ENGINE

BE 2 PRO

BE 2

Live Colour Creation

Yes

Yes

RGB Dynamic LED Backlight

Yes (46-inch, 55-inch)

No

Dynamic Contrast Ratio

50,000:1(40-inch) 1,100,000:1 (46-inch, 55-inch)

50,000:1

Deep Colour

Yes

No

Motionflow

PRO 100Hz (46, 55-inch), 100Hz (40-inch)

100Hz

24p True Cinema™

Yes

Yes

x.v.Colour

Yes

Yes

Integrated MPEG-4 AVC HD tuner²

Yes

Yes

BRAVIA™ Sync

Yes

Yes

DLNA (music/photo)

Yes

Yes

Picture Frame Mode

Yes

Yes

PhotoTV HD

Yes

Yes

HDMI™ inputs

x4

x3

USB port

Yes

Yes

Optical digital output

Yes

Yes

S-Force audio

Yes

Yes

XMB™

(Xross Media Bar™)

Yes

Yes

Finger Speaker & Assist Woofer

Yes (40-inch, 46-inch)

No

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By August 11, 2008 Read More →

Motorola Atila new Windows Mobile 6.1 handset

image The Boy Genius has got his hands on another exclusive picture and spec on a forthcoming Motorola Windows Mobile handset. The Atila is actually the first Motorola device that will have tri-band UMTS/HSDPA. Not sure on a release date, but specs after the break.

Posted in: Phones
By August 11, 2008 Read More →

Xperia X1 coming to UK in October

image We have just been told by Superetrader that they are expecting the Sony Ericcson Xperia X1 to be available in the UK from the 10th of October. It seems like a long time ago that this device was first announced but hopefully this is a sign that Sony Ericsson are making sure that the X1 will be a great user experience out of the box. Really looking forward to getting a look at this device with its stunning display and Windows Mobile overlays.

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Posted in: Phones
By August 11, 2008 Read More →

Palm Centro 2 images leaked, Update no its a fake!!!

image Palmaddict have uncovered some very interesting details on what could be the Palm Centro 2, this device does not have a keyboard and appears to be running Windows Mobile so I am not sure if these images are 100% as the Centro line has always been a Palm OS device. See the full details after the break.

Looks like I was right this was a mock up by a student http://koreansensation.deviantart.com/art/Palm-Centro-Magazine-Ad-70375854

Posted in: Phones
By August 11, 2008 Read More →

Nokia E71 unboxed

You don’t have to buy a Blackberry or Windows Mobile device to pick up your email these days, most high-end mobile phones have a built in Email client these days. However, if you want to send more than just the odd email you’ll probably want a device with a built-in keyboard. The Nokia E71 is just such a device. It includes a QWERTY keyboard as well as some other features that you might only expect to find in a Windows Mobile phone – GPS is just one of those features.

e71_angled_left

The Nokia E71

Phillip is working on a full review of the E71 at the moment so until that’s ready you can see our unboxing video below:

Nokia E71 unboxed

Overview of Nokia E71

The Nokia E71 is the newest device is the latest device from Nokia.  Replacing the hugely popular Nokia E61 series of devices, the E71 builds on this success with improved features and functionality.

The E71 is the ultimate messaging device.  With a full QWERTY keyboard on the front of the device, responding to and creating emails, has never been so easy.

Ergonomic design means that the Nokia E71 sits comfortably in the hands of the user.  Aided by a range of communication and connectivity options, including GPRS 3G and HSDPA, connectivity to the internet, email, friends and family is simple, whether in the UK, Europe or the USA.

With a crisp 2.36” display, whether completing business or personal tasks, everything appears perfectly on the screen.  So whether viewing images, video, calling or messaging, the E71 is perfect device for using when relaxing after a long day of working away from the office.

Nokia E71 Specification:

  • Operating System – Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI
  • Processor – ARM 11 369 MHz
  • Memory – ROM :  256MB internal memory (110MB available),  RAM: 128 MB
  • Display – 2.36” TFT, 320 x 240 pixels, 16M colours
  • Input – Full QWERTY Keyboard, Five Way Scroll Key
  • Expansion – microSDHC (TransFlash), up to 8GB, hotswap
  • Cellular –GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, GPRS Class 32, 100 kbps, EDGE Class 32, 296 kbps, HSDPA/WCDMA  900 / 2100  3.6 Mbps
  • Connectivity – Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, WiFi 802.11b/g, Infrared
  • Camera – 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA 22fps), flash; secondary videocall camera
  • Built-in GPS receiver
  • FM radio
  • Battery – Standard battery, Li-Po 1500 mAh (BP-4L)

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
By August 10, 2008 Read More →

msmobiles review of the HTC Touch Diamond

image Another review of the HTC Diamond, this one is definitely worth a read as it is based on the latest Rom and makes interesting reading compared with our review we did back when the device was first released. Check out msmobiles for all the details.

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Posted in: Phones
By August 10, 2008 Read More →

Mobility Today reviews eWallet

ewallet Alli Flowers over at Mobility Today has just posted a great review of eWallet. For anyone who has never used a security app before, you may be wondering why you would need it. You might have your wallet stolen, or lose or misplace a credit card, but you rarely do this and lose or misplace your mobile phone at the same time. Where do you currently keep all your credit card information in case your card is lost or stolen? How many people can answer that quickly, or access that information easily? If you use eWallet, it ceases to be an issue. Store all your credit card information safely and securely in eWallet. Access the information quickly and easily if you need to cancel your card or if you are doing something like making an online purchase and don’t feel like getting up to get your wallet. For the full review head over to Mobility Today.

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Posted in: Phones
By August 10, 2008 Read More →

Juice Pack for iPhone 3G’s

mophie-juice-pack-3g Looks like someone has taken action against the iPhone 3G’s non-removable battery.

"A new version of its Juice Pack that slides on back and alleges an additional 6 hours of data usage attached to a 3G network. It features an on-board charge indicator in the form of four LEDs and can pass a USB connection through to the iPhone 3G within, simultaneously charging both the Juice Pack and the handset."

Thanks to Engadget Mobile

 

Posted in: Phones
By August 10, 2008 Read More →

Lotus iNotes Aims for iPhone 3G

image IBM’s Lotus Domino Web Access software, also known as IBM Lotus iNotes, will bring your Lotus e-mail, calendar and contact details to the Apple iPhone 3G. IBM says the Lotus functionality is planned for delivery to the iPhone sometime in 2008, although no official announcement has yet been made and the company is stating that Lotus iNotes on the iPhone represents “current IBM plans and directions, which are subject to change.”

Posted in: Phones
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