What is so special about this app? It is an iPhone app released by a company owned by Greg Grunberg, who is an actor from popular “Heroes” TV series (about mutants with superpowers).
Here is how this app looks like:
From its annual All Hands Meeting in Tokyo this week, the Bluetooth SIG formally adopted Bluetooth Core Specification Version 3.0 High Speed (HS), or Bluetooth 3.0. This latest iteration of the popular short-range wireless technology fulfills the consumers’ need for speed while providing the same wireless Bluetooth experience – faster. Manufacturers of consumer electronics and home entertainment devices can now build their products to send large amounts of video, music and photos between devices wirelessly at speeds consumers expect.
Bluetooth 3.0 gets its speed from the 802.11 radio protocol. The inclusion of the 802.11 Protocol Adaptation Layer (PAL) provides increased throughput of data transfers at the approximate rate of 24 Mbps. In addition, mobile devices including Bluetooth 3.0 will realize increased power savings due to enhanced power control built in.
Orange today announces the eagerly anticipated HTC Touch™ 3G for business customers. Available at Orange in exclusive matt black, the Touch™ 3G cleverly combines work and leisure applications in one device through a range of powerful multimedia and mobile email capabilities. The Touch 3G additionally offers UMA technology, enabling calls to be made over a Wifi/Broadband connection, allowing customers to benefit from enhanced network coverage.
With capacity for a 32GB MicroSD card, busy professionals can use the HTC Touch™ 3G to catch a movie, listen to music or surf the web on the move while mobile email means they easily can keep on top of their work load. Powered by Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional, customers can simply, easily and cost-effectively synchronise all Outlook email, contacts and calendar information directly with their phone.
The Sanyo Xacti HD2000 is a recent upgrade from the HD1010. It looks similar, it feels similar. So what’s changed?
What’s in the box?
Have a look at Matt’s Sanyo Xacti HD2000 unboxing video for more.
Sanyo Xacti HD2000 specification:
Video
Zoom: 16x optical
Resolution: 5.31Mp (HD)
Definition: High
Scan method: interlaced & progressive
File type: MPEG-4
Image size: 1920×1080
Focus types: Continuous area AF, manual
Minimum illumination: 2lux
Monitor: 2.7in TFT LCD screen
Interface: HDMI, component, S-video, composite
Formats: NTSC, PAL
Power: Li-Ion battery
Still
Zoom: 10x optical
Resolution: 8Mp
Sensor size: 1/2.5in
Sensor type: CMOS
Image size: 3264×2448
File type: JPEG
Sensitivity: ISO50-3200
Storage: SD/SDHC
Focus types: 9 point AF, spot
Normal focusing: 50cm-infinity
Close focusing: 1cm-1m
Metering types: Multi, centre-weighted, spot
Exposure compensation: /- 1.8EV in 1/3 step increments
Shutter speed: 1/2-1/1000sec
Flash: In-built
Monitor: 2.7in TFT colour screen
Interface: USB 2.0 via docking station (included)
Power: Li-Ion battery
Size: 112.6x90x54.5mm
Weight: 311g (inc. battery and card)
Full specification can be found on the Sanyo Website
General:
Sanyo have adopted the pistol grip design again for the Xacti HD2000. It has a compact and robust feel to it with almost all of the controls at just a thumb’s reach away.
Front
The Lens – 10x optical zoom, focal range = 6.3-63.0mm (35mm equiv = 44.4mm-710mm), aperture = f/1.8-f/2.5, filter diameter = 40.5mm. The lens also has a built in neutral density filter.
The Sensor – 1/2.5 inch CMOS
The microphone and headphone sockets are located near the top of the pistol grip along with the infrared remote sensor.
Top
The integrated flash is located on the top and has a button to manually activate it
Right side
The right side of the pistol grip is the battery housing. Nothing else here!
Left side
The flip out 2.7 inch LCD screen can be seen here in the closed position. The perforated section on the back of the LCD houses the inbuilt microphone and speaker.
The Screen
The LCD screen flips open and can twist around 270 degrees. The switch you can see to the left of the screen is a menu type selector – switching between normal and simple.
The controls
Pistol grip
The SD card fits into the back of the pistol grip. At the bottom of the grip is a DC in socket for charging the camera.
Highlights:
Lowlights:
Review:
Opening the box and emptying the contents would make you think that the Sanyo Xacti HD2000 is a complicated device as there is so much there! This is not the case! Once you’ve managed to get your head around all the cables, adaptors, remote, docking station, etc (or just ignore them for the moment) the device itself is quite strikingly simple!
Conveniently the battery was already charged up (thanks Matt!), so when I flipped open the LCD screen the first feature of the camera came to light. It switches on and off with the opening and closing of the screen. The time it takes from being switched off to being ready to shoot is surprisingly fast. Without getting into the different settings, the basic functions of the camera are quite clear from the controls which are all a thumbs reach away. You can take still pictures, record video footage, playback the images and video.
Looking into what features the Xacti HD2000 offers opens up a whole other chapter and I could go on and on about the different features.. but. I won’t. I’ll try and pick out the main highlights and lowlights. After that, I recommend that you have a look at Matt’s sample videos taken with the Xacti HD1010. I know it’s not the HD2000 but the features are pretty much the same so you may find the videos useful.
The fact the this camera is relatively small and compact makes it really appealing and easy to carry about. The pistol grip design that Sanyo have decided to stick to seems to work well and the positioning of the controls is well thought out.
For still photos the 8MP camera takes a decent picture in good lighting. It has a feature aptly named the ‘face chaser’ which, well… you can guess! This can detect up to 12 faces in the frame which is useful for getting your pictures as sharp as possible.
The main issue I have with the camera is the low quality of images in low light situations. You can use the flash but I’m one of those people who hates using built in flashes. The light bounces straight off the subject giving a really unnatural look to the picture. So what can I do about that? The ISO (light sensitivity of the sensor) can be changed manually and can be set right up to 3200. I tried a few shots at different ISO levels but still not that thrilled about the camera in low light. The noise levels on the pictures are pretty bad (especially on the higher ISO settings.
But, apart from the low lighting issue, it’s possible to take some good pictures with the camera and you can take advantage of the 10x optical zoom and handshake reduction/stabiliser setting
Video recording is a breeze with Sanyo’s Xacti HD2000. As mentioned before, the controls are nicely positioned making it very easy to start and stop recording without too much movement when pressing the capture button. The video stabiliser helps with and handshaking and the zoom is a 16x advanced zoom. This is an upgrade from the 10x zoom on the Xacti HD1010.
You can probably guess what I thought of video recording in low light!! Say no more!! In fact, I have to mention one thing though. There is no light/lamp for taking video in low light. Would have been a useful feature to include in this upgrade.
Moving on! There are seven different video formats you can choose between and an additional setting to record voice only (the different formats can be seen in more detail on the Sanyo website). On the highest resolution (Full-HR 1920×1080 (60fps/24Mbps)) the video output is excellent. As you can imagine it take up a lot of memory though. Matt mentioned that he uses the HD1000 to record the unboxing videos and has it set to HD-SHQ 1280 x 720 (30 fps/9Mbps). You can see the quality in the unboxing videos is pretty good even though it’s at a lower setting.
The most interesting video format is definitely the ‘Web’ format, or more commonly known as the slow motion format. It’s great fun to play about with an you can get some pretty amazing footage. Again, check Matt’s videos from the HD1010 as he’s got footage in there using this slow motion feature.
One feature I really like is that you can take still pictures whilst recording video footage. This is definitely not a standard feature with camera/video camera devices.
The Xacti HD2000 comes with a docking station where you can place the camera to charge, connect to a pc or connect to a TV. You can also charge the camera by plugging the charger straight into the bottom part of the grip so you don’t need to take the docking station with you if you don’t want to. There is also a remote control included that you can control the camera with and carry out almost all of the functions with from it.
Software:
The CD ROM provided includes Nero 8 Essentials and Xacti Screen Capture 1. It also includes the instruction manual. (there is a hard copy one in the box too).
The footage captured will play on recent versions of QuickTime, which most people already have installed on their PCs/Macs.
Conclusion:
The Xacti HD2000 has definitely impressed me. It’s compact and easy to use design makes it enjoyable to use and the quality is generally quite impressive (just don’t put me in any low light conditions!!)
The fact that it’s just so simple to use makes it a great camera/video camera for anyone to use.
The only thing that would really put anyone off would be the price. Whilst writing this review I checked out the price range that the Xacti HD2000 was selling for and it ranges from £400-£500. If you’re looking for a good camera to take still pictures with you could buy a pretty decent DSLR camera and even be given change from the money we’re taking about here.
It’s a shame that the price is what’s letting this camera down as I did enjoy using it.
Reviewed by: Emma
Our latest podcast is now available to download, in episode 33 we discuss the HTC Touch Diamond2 review, SPB Mobile Shell 3.0 software, Samsung Tocco Ultra review, iPhone applications, Nokia N97 and HTC Magic launch dates and much more.. You can subscribe via iTunes, RSS or download the mp3 file here. Full show notes after the break.
Apple has approved an illegal clone of Donkey Kong with illegally used name (albeit with added "i" at the beginning) and with illegally used (cloned) game layout from original Donkey Kong of Nintendo! Go get this game ($0.99) now as we think that soon it will be removed from the app store…
What is Donkey Kong? It is a classic arcade game – one of those old games thanks to which Japanese company Nintendo became huge corporation. Since Nintendo has its own mobile gaming console – Nintendo DS (lately extended with DSi model that features camera also) – there is not even one game from Nintendo in app store of Apple. We are sure that Nintendo will not tolerate clones though…
Here is how this game looks like:
We’ve recently been looking at a number of the Sony Ericsson Cybershot and Walkman phones and this is our latest, the Sony Ericsson C510.
The C510, as the ‘C’ in its name suggests, is a member of the Cybershot range and as such is more camera oriented. However it only has a 3.2 megapixel camera and while image quality is certainly not all about the number of pixels it would seem to be a bit limiting given that there are 5, 8 and 10 MP camera phones out there now. We’ll have to wait for Nick’s review to see how it shapes up.
The accessible Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot™ handset is jammed packed with the highest quality imaging technology and encased in a stylish handset design expected from Sony Ericsson.
The Sony Ericsson C510 is a small, slim and attractive looking handset, it’s also light and easy to pop in a pocket and a handset that’s easy to take with you on a night out. Check out the unboxing video for a closer look:
Sony Ericsson C510 specification:
Don’t forget that you can find many more unboxing videos on our other site www.unboxings.com
Posted by: Matt
SPB have finally updated their popular Mobile Shell to version 3.0. It’s been quite some time since they announced this newer version and it’s excited almost everyone who has ever had the pleasure of using this Today screen replacement. I had fears from the recent video that this version was going to overstretch Windows Mobile resources and was too complicated to be stable. It’s been released today and lets take a look at it.
The final version of Windows Mobile 6.5 is expected to be unveiled at Microsoft’s Tech Ed 2009 event on 11th May.
A post on a Microsoft developers blog announced:
Stephanie Ferguson, GM of Business Experiences at Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business is going to deliver the kick off presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5 on Monday, May 11th at 1:00PM – 2:15PM. This Tech Ed 2009 session focuses on Windows Mobile 6.5 and is targeted at both IT Professionals and Developers, with a cool demo and an outline of great stuff to come.
The OS will be an updated and more fully featured version than the one that received mixed reactions when shown off at Mobile World Congress in February. However, devices running the new system are still not expected to be available until Q3 at the earliest.
Posted by: John
Here is a smooth video of the emulator running on the Pre. Note how the game appears on one of the ‘cards’ and can run in the background. My question would be, does the game pause automatically when flicking between cards and runs when highlighted. In any case it’s still an excellent feature on the phone that just packs in a huge amount of extra value.
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