Some of the guys in the office are making worrying comparisons to Stargate (and anyway, that's a compliment around here), but how cool does JBL's new On Time iPod speaker system look?

We're yet to hear what it sounds like, but we've liked previous JBL iPod speakers, and at this point we don't care about sound quality anyway, we're just buzzing at the bright-new-shiny-object-ness of the thing, which is available in white or black (shown).

Those who still listen to the radio will be heartened to hear that the On Time has a tuner, and with the clock it makes one very stylee, dual alarm clock-radio.

The unit has yet to touch down in NZ, but expect to see it very soon at a shop near you for around $499.

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More: JBL website

Posted by at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Panasonic has unveiled it's new look product line up for the first half of the year, which includes a revamped LUMIX still camera range, new camcorders and an interesting digital slide projector that aims to recreate the family slide shows of yesteryear.
Highlights in the still camera range, include the TZ1, a compact, 10x optical zoom camera which Panasonic is touting as the world’s smallest 10x optical zoom camera. Then there’s the FX01, another compact but this time with a 28mm (35mm equivalent) wide-angle lens and the FZ7, which features a 12x optical zoom in a more compact body then the popular FZ30.
In common with other vendor’s new models, Panasonic has introduced high ISO settings to many cameras in its range; the FZ7, FX01 and TZ1 all feature a high sensitivity mode that tops out at ISO 1600. And Panasonics Mega O.I.S image stabilisation system is standard in all products in the LUMIX range.
Panasonic’s camcorders continue to feature the 3CCD sensor system for excellent image quality combined with Mega O.I.S. Of Panasonic’s new DVD models, two, the D300 and D250 introduce 3CCD and O.I.S into the DVD range. There are also three new models in the MiniDV range.
The PT-P1Sd is a compact projector that takes SD cards directly and has built-in software allowing you to run slide projections using images on a card without being connected to a PC (although it also comes with the necessary ports for PC and other video source connections). You can apply affects, and use the "daylight" mode button to improve the performance in a day lit room. With the ability to play movies from a DVD player, presentations from a notebook (or as standalone JPGs converted using a downloadable app) and slideshows from a card, the PT-P1Sd looks like an interesting product. We’ll bring you full reviews of products from Panasonic new range when they become available.

Posted by Bruce Buckman at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Our man at the CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover calls it light, interestingly designed, and expensive. Take it away, Martyn Williams: "The buzz on Thursday at Germany's CeBIT show is all about Samsung Electronics' Q1. The device is based on the Origami platform from Microsoft and is the first of a new class of machine dubbed the "ultramobile PC." I had a chance to play with the device as soon as the show opened on Thursday, and here are my impressions.

The Q1 is finished with the same sort of shiny black plastic that is used for the PlayStation Portable, and the few devices on show were already collecting fingerprints. It's going to be one of those products that requires lots of polishing.

In my hands it didn't feel too bad. It's quite light at just under 28 ounces and wasn't too thick to hold easily. It measures about 10.5 by 9 by 5.5 inches.

The Q1 is based on an Intel Celeron M processor running at 900 MHz. It has 512MB of memory and a 40GB hard drive. There are wired and wireless LAN adapters, Bluetooth networking, and a Compact Flash card slot that could be used for other types of modems.

Buttons take up both sides of the display and can be operated by thumb. The right side has Enter and Menu buttons, plus a user-defined four-way button; the left side has a joystick and a button for the auto-scaler. This latter function automatically scales content to match the Q1's 800-by-480-resolution (Widescreen VGA) display.

Along with the buttons, the touch screen display can be used to interact with the Q1. There's a conventional QWERTY keyboard that can be brought up on screen, but much more interesting is the dial keyboard. This appears as two quarter-circles in the bottom right and left corners of the screen that are operated with one's thumbs while holding the Q1. It's going to take users a little bit of getting used to but it's certainly a good option for such devices.

There isn't much too much to report about what's on screen. The Windows XP version running on the Q1 looks just like Windows XP on your desktop, so it immediately feels very comfortable to operate.

One of the nicer features of the Q1 is instant-on for multimedia files. This involves booting up a second operating system--Samsung wouldn't say what it is--and in about 10 seconds you can play videos, listen to music, or look at pictures.

On the negative side, the screen resolution is perhaps a little low. Browsing the Web at WVGA resolution means that lots of scrolling is involved. Battery life could also be better. When watching a DVD using an external drive, the battery life is given as 1.7 hours by Samsung. That works out to about 1 hour and 40 minutes--so you'd better carefully check the running time of DVDs.

Perhaps more important in determining whether the Q1 stands a chance of success is its price. It looks quite expensive. Samsung said the Q1 will go on sale in Europe for $1190, which is slightly over the US$500 to US$1000 price range we first heard about when Microsoft began talking about Origami."

Posted by Chris Keall at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Samsung is previewing a cellphone with a 10 megapixel digital camera at the CeBit tradeshow, happening now in Hanover, Germany. From the front, the SCHB-600 looks like a traditional cellphone. From the front, especially when held horizontally, it looks like a camera (a la Sony Ericsson’s K-700 series … though that tops out at 2 megapixels; mainstream phones are at 1.2mP)

The SCHB-600 is compatible with the CDMA 1X EvDO standard, used by Telecom for its T3G network here. But don’t hold your breath for this 10 megapixel mobile to gain NZ release any time soon after it’s South Korean debut (scheduled for Q2). In any case, Telecom (and Vodafone’s) third gen networks are still crimping down pictures to sub 1-megapixel quality before you send them, to save bandwidth.

Still if, you’re after a cellphone that can output to high-rez A3 poster size rather than grainy 6 by 4s, hold tight. Your dream phone (or should that be camera with bonus cellphone feature?) is on the way.

Posted by Chris Keall at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Panasonic and old-school German camera and lens manufacturer Leica have been working together for some time but now the two companies have now announced the most significant fruit of the partnership yet, the DMC-L1 digital SLR camera. The third part of the equation is Olympus, as the DMC-L1 is a 4/3 system camera, and should help expand the market for Olympus's digital-dedicated SLR system.
While the DSLR market is getting crowded, Panasonic’s entry holds considerable interest with the inclusion of Leica’s new 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 lens for the 4/3 system. The lens (which also features Panasonic’s Mega O.I.S image stabilisation system) has a dedicated aperture ring, which when combined with the shutter speed dial on the DMC-L1 gives the camera a level of immediate manual control (without using an LCD) that will likely appeal to traditionalists. Stay turned for our review of the DMC-L1 when we get our hands on one …

Posted by Bruce Buckman at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )

Toshiba's launch of its latest notebooks featured a bunch of Intel Centrino Duo notebooks. But of course: Asus, HP, Sony and others have also delivered mobile dual core systems to PC World's Auckland Test Centre. Check out Scott Bartley's benchmarks in our coming April issue for more (an early heads up: they are very, very fast). Of more unique interest was talk of an upcoming model that will feature a detachable screen, connecting to the AWOL body of the notebook using Ultra Wideband (a US miliary wireless technology that's much faster than WiFi, or even WiMax, and which was recently cleared for civilian use by erstwhile FCC Chairman Michael Powell (son of the more famous Colin).

In a world of lookalike PCs, Tosh also gets some points for putting a fingerprint reader on every model. The idea is that you don’t need to remember all your passwords; a swipe of the finger will suffice to log-on or enter any site (naturally, Murphy’s Law dictated that it failed in the demo).

Tosh NZ also revealed that, like Lenovo, it’s in negotiations with Vodafone and Telecom to release notebooks with 3G chips onboard - handy if you want to ditch your PC Card modem, or tiresome exercise in logging on via your cellphone. I can see those going well.

Other new products in the line-up will be a harder sell. The Qosmio media centre laptop is still only going to appeal to the two or three people who want to attach their notebook to their TV each time they record something. And while Tosh’s new Gigabeat digital music players boast FM receivers (missing from Apple’s iPod), they don’t have the looks.

Lastly, for people who bemoan there’s no Moore’s Law for notebook batteries, Tosh is still promising ethanol-powered models, sometime next year. Although a little bulky, they promise to keep your laptop juiced for half a day. Me, I’d take that trade-off (just tell me where to buy the ethanol).

Posted by Chris Keall at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 )