There are several respectable 5 megapixel camera phones on the market for consumers. Motorola has introduced their model in China in recent days and will be rolling it out worldwide sometime a bit later in the year. The Motorola Motozine ZN5 was developed in conjunction with Kodak.
The Motozine ZN5 will be a good device for bloggers, social, and photo sharing site users who want to easily and speedily upload their shots to the Kodak Gallery or their favorite photo sharing site. The camera offers a built-in Xenon flash, auto focus, in phone editing, a sliding lens cover, and a 2.4” TFT display. Its 350MB internal memory and an additional 4 GB memory card capacity should allow plenty of shooting. Users will also be able to display slideshows on their TV, print photos, and transfer them to PC via USB cable.
The phone offers WiFi, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, full HTML open source browser, Windows Media player, FM radio, and messaging. PC World offers a hands on review.
For some consumers portability is a highly prized attribute when buying gadgets; so important in fact, they are willing to sacrifice a bit of quality and functionality for the sake of “tiny”. With the introduction of flash based camcorders, smaller, even iPod sized devices are now on the market. They offer the convenience of sliding into a pocket, affordability, and simple design with fewer buttons. Many of these camcorders are particularly designed for easily uploading video to sharing sites such as YouTube with minimal fuss.
The drawback however is fewer manual controls and inferior video quality although for the price it isn’t bad. Some of the current contenders in this market include the Aiptek Z300HD, the RCA Small Wonder EZ200, the Vado Pocket Video Camera, and of course Flip’s new Mino camcorder. The Mino is the most costly of the group at $180 but may also offer the best video performance while the Vado is only $99.
The newest entrant was announced in recent days by DXG. Their new DXG 567V offers 32GB of internal flash memory as well as an SD card slot for an 8GB memory card. Like the Flip Mino and others, it is designed specifically for recording and uploading video online although it can also connect directly to any HDTV. This new mini camcorder is compatible with Windows Vista and XP operating systems and is priced around $179.
Determining which is the best camcorder requires buyers to examine their own needs. For those who prize professional quality films, “full sized” camcorders would be a better choice, but for those looking for simplicity of operation and upload or the pinnacle of portability these devices are worthy of a look.
Mitsubishi is hoping to introduce it’s LaserVue DLP TV models during the third quarter this year. These sets are said to offer twice the color of current flat screen HDTV sets, as well as enhanced clarity, depth of field, and the ability to provide 3D viewing.
These updated DLP TV sets will use laser beams to project images and thus the color wheel and lamp will be eliminated. This is particularly attractive as these are the parts that most frequently require repair on a DLP TV set. With this enhanced performance however, is the news that these sets will use only 50% of the power necessary to operate a similar sized LCD screen making them easier on home energy use.
Gamers should be particularly interested as this technology begins reaching the market as Naranjo and Mitsubishi announced that they are working toward incorporating 3D technology for such sets to accommodate downloadable games and movies.
