Sony brought out a new Reader tonight in NYC that adds a six-inch touchscreen to the e-ink e-reader for adding notes and annotations, as well as a redesigned case and built-in frontlight. With the touchscreen readers can enter text with a stylus on a full-screen QWERTY keyboard to add notes and annotations, search for specific phrases or just flip through the page with a stylus or finger swipe. It'll hit at the end of October for around $400. Hit the jump for more impressions.

Text gets entered by tapping an on-screen QWERTY. Highlighting seems easy enough—just drag the stylus over the phrase you want to highlight. You can then easily search for that phrase elsewhere in your book. You can also tap the screen with finger or stylus to zoom in and out of pages. Format support is the same as previous readers, with the same added .epub support.Response on selecting text and zooming around is a little slow, as is the auto text completion when you're typing a note—typing with fingers is very tough, but with the stylus not so bad. Flipping through the pages with your finger is the most natural thing for the touchscreen and for that it's great.

Bottom line—at $100 more over the PRS-505 you get a built-in frontlight (a $70 add-on on its own) and the ability to annotate while you read. Like the other Sony Readers it's not super responsive (which makes touch controls more frustrating as a rule), but it gets the job done. It's worth noting that Kindle has been able to take notes since the beginning, and it adds web connectivity to the mix, of course. But if you're a chronic underliner and margin scribbler like me and you favor Sony for your e-booking, it's probably worth the premium.

Full press release:

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2008- With the latest edition of Sony’s Reader Digital Book, announced today, readers can truly let their fingers do the walking.

An interactive touch screen display allows for the most intuitive digital reading experience to date. The new model, PRS-700, will join the PRS-505 model in the Reader family to give consumers a choice of how they would like to read electronically.

Svelte and stylish, the newest Reader still sports the dimensions of a slimmed down paperback book. The textured black casing and soft black cover contribute to its envy-inspiring design. And, at about 10 ounces, it’s the perfect way to carry all of your favorite books with you wherever you go.

A sizeable six-inch display with touch screen capability allows booklovers to flip pages with the slide of a finger. In addition, readers can easily search terms within a document or book, create notes using the virtual keyboard and highlight text with the included stylus pen.

Five pre-set text sizes are available so readers can find the one most comfortable for them and for those who need an even closer look, zooming in is as easy as tapping the screen.

The device still features high-resolution, high contrast electronic paper display technology which provides a reading experience very much akin to ink-on-paper. The result is crisp text and graphics that are highly readable, even in bright sunlight. For times when ambient light is not available, Sony is the first to offer a built-in LED reading light.

Expanded memory offers enough capacity to store about 350 average digital books. Using optional removable Memory Stick Duo media or SD memory cards, this Reader can hold literally thousands of books and documents.

“Readers now have another choice in digital books,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division. “This new model has the eye-popping design and intuitive functionality that people have come to expect from Sony.”

Family Resemblance

Like its close relative the PRS-505model, the new 700 model uses minimal power and can sustain up to 7,500 pages of continuous reading on a single battery charge. It supports multiple file formats for eBooks, personal documents and music. With the included eBook Library 2.5 PC software, you can easily transfer Adobe PDF documents with reflow capability, Microsoft Word documents, BBeB files and other text file formats to the Reader. The device can store and display EPUB files and work with Adobe Digital Editions software, opening it up to almost a limitless quantity of content.

Improved Sony eBook Store

Sony’s eBook store will also have a new face. This month, a re-designed page layout with more prominent book cover art will improve the overall visual appeal of the site. A streamlined checkout process along with updated search and discovery make finding and purchasing an eBook a breeze.

Pricing and Availability

The new Reader will be available next month for about $400. It will come complete with a USB cable, eBook Library PC companion software and a color-coordinated, protective soft cover. Both the PRS-505 and the PRS-700 models along with their optional accessories can be purchased direct through www.sonystyle.com, at more than 40 Sony Style® stores nationwide and at authorized retailers across the country.

Meet Dorothy. At 150 inches diagonal, she’s the world’s largest plasma screen and the biggest direct-view TV ever made, built (and named) by Panasonic. We got to play with her recently and as you've seen, it was mind-meltingly awesome. Even though firsthand experiences with Dorothy are akin to filling a leaf blower with nitrous oxide to jet-huff directly into your brain, Dorothy's backstory is almost as incredible, especially when it comes to manufacturing, shipping and yes, managing all the electricity needed to fire her up. So even though you will absolutely never own one—except for you Giz-reading NBA stars and platinum-selling rappers—the story of the world's most advanced television is a thrill, and serves as a crystal ball to the future of all TV. Come, talk to her. She's intimidating, but it'll be good for you.

Why "Dorothy"?
There are currently five 150-inch Panasonic plasmas in existence—and a sixth for CES 2009 is currently being assembled. They’ve been named, appropriately enough, like hurricanes—starting with A and working down. Dorothy’s number 4, hence the D.

Why 150 inches?
It’s all about the upper limits of the manufacturing process. Panel factories crank out the largest single piece of “mother glass” they possibly can, so that they can cut more large TVs per pane of manufactured glass. The ultimate size of a piece of mother glass is limited by the glass’s strength and uniformity—how large the thing can get without cracking. Panel makers will always be pushing this boundary, because the more 50-inch TVs you can get out of each single assembly-line run, the more money you can make on them even if they're selling at lower prices in stores.
Panasonic’s previous biggest piece of mother glass was 103 inches (remember?), from which four 50-inch plasmas could be cut. Their new manufacturing plant, Amagasaki 5 in Japan, has pushed the max to 150 inches—enough glass to birth nine 50-inch plasmas. Dorothy’s as big as she is because she literally swallowed nine TVs. When manufacturing evolves further, creating even larger panes of mother glass, you could see larger trade-show sets, provided they fit through the convention-center doors. 103 inches, how quaint. And look at that lil' 42-incher, looking fit for bathroom viewing only by comparison.

What’s the resolution?
Typically called 4K, it's resolution is 3996x2160. Even though you could technically call this 2160p, it's important to recognize that it's four times as tight as 1080p. Think four 1920x1080 panels Voltroning together to make something that's 8 megapixels, as opposed to the best current TVs' 2 megapixels. The annoying thing is that the industry went from measuring vertical resolution—720p and 1080p—to horizontal resolution—2K and 4K. (More on that here.)

As a result, watching a 1080p Blu-ray disc upscaled on Dorothy is akin to watching a standard-def DVD upscaled on your HDTV. As you can see in the shot below, the upscaler uses two pixels to render a one-pixel wide line from a test disc. But at Dorothy’s scale, it’s less about spotting compression artifacts, which are most visible when you’re close enough to induce nausea anyway. It’s about getting your face blown off.

How’s it stack up to Pioneer’s Kuro, one of the top plasmas in the game?
As far as motion-resolution goes—the all-important ability to maintain crisp images while they’re in motion on the screen—it's actually better. According to HD Guru Gary Merson (who was more interested in running his calibration discs on the 150 than sticking with us for some Counter Strike, God bless ’im), the 150-incher, even as a prototype, scored a resolution of 920 lines on a 1080i signal. Pioneer’s ’08 Kuros, the next best, scored 900. Our bet is that Dorothy can't best the Kuro in the contrast department, but as you can see from all of our shots, it's no slouch. Check out more performance specs in Gary’s 125-TV mega-guide. Below: Gary testing motion resolution.

How much power does she suck down, and at what cost?
Dorothy is addicted to raw electricity—we’re talking two dedicated 15-amp, single-phase, 208-volt lines which produce around 3,000 watts on average. Dorothy peaks at around 7,000 watts of direct consumption. Not exactly EnergyStar.

If I plugged Dorothy in at my apartment (that is, after removing my second-floor balcony door and window and much of the exterior wall while at it, and hiring a crane to bring the TV in), Dorothy’s juice habit would run me around $1.50 per hour of use, at ConEd’s current price of 22 cents per kilowatt-hour. So, after renting the Godfather Blu-ray set, factor in about $15 more in electricity charges for watching the whole thing.

How much heat does the thing put off?
We were expecting getting close to Dorothy was going to feel like putting our faces in a toaster oven. Even standard-size Kuros can feel a little warm. But surprisingly, up front, the heat was far from extreme. It very well could be channeled out the back, but we didn’t see any industrial-grade heat sinks behind her, either, or hear any fans blowing away. (Note: We're not allowed to show photographs of Dorothy's rear, though we did have a peek.)

How much does she weigh?
Around 1,700 pounds not including the stand. For comparison, an actual Mini Cooper with Adam in the driver’s seat weighs about 2,800 pounds.

How does Dorothy get around?
With great care and difficulty. After her inception at Amagasaki 5, Dorothy and her sisters were tested then sent on the trade-show circuit. Unlike the 103, they’re too big even for wooden crates. All that protects Dorothy and her sisters from the elements are the thin membranes of bubble wrap and Styrofoam wrapped around them, and the tarp draped over the open shipping cage. That’s all. Here's a fun fact: Only two 150-inchers can fit in a single 747 cargo hold at a time.

Although we saw a 150-incher at CES last January, Dorothy’s first trip was to IFA in Berlin this September. Afterward, she headed for Panasonic’s North American HQ in Secaucus, NJ where we got the chance to meet. She’s due to appear on Wall Street today (unfortunate timing for the poor girl) for the official US debut, then on to trade shows in Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong before returning home again to Japan.

Thanks for the facts, but what was that about a "mind-meltingly awesome" experience again? Any way to demonstrate that, say with a video of Gran Turismo 5's in-car view?
Why yes we can, and we'll throw in the 42-inch steering wheel for free:

There's more where that came from: check out more hands-on 150-inch action here and here.

How big is too big? That's the question that you inevitably ask yourself once you spend any amount of time with Panasonic's new 150-inch plasma TV prototype. We visited it in Panasonic's towering warehouse in Secaucus, New Jersey last Friday, running it through its paces with 4K footage, Blu-ray movies and Playstation 3 games. After spending a day with it, was it the type of thing I honestly wanted to set up in my living room?

Maybe. Maybe not. The standards that we use to measure other TVs don't apply here. Have you ever seen a TV taller than yourself? A TV that uses more energy than your washer and dryer? A TV that needs to be carried around on a forklift? I'm guessing you haven't. This thing is in a category all its own.

Man, is it impressive. If you stand within a few feet of it, it fills your entire field of vision, quickly making you motion sick if you're playing video games or watching a movie with lots of action. Even standing 20 feet away, you still feel like the TV is the only thing in the room. It's a 4K set, so if you've got the proper ultra-HD footage pumping into it, it makes 1080p look like a second-rate resolution, but even with 1080p, it's absolutely stunning.

Iron Man looked like he was going to jump out of the TV. Robert Downey, Jr.'s baby blues were the size of watermelons in anything closer than a medium shot. Everything was just so big. Seeing a shark leap fully out of the water to devour a seal in Planet Earth becomes even more mindblowing when the shark approaches life size.

And video games? Forget about it. You haven't lived until you've played Call of Duty with life-sized enemies. As I decimated Mahoney over and over again (note to Mahoney: you suck), I felt my hands getting slick with sweat on the controller, my head whipping back and forth to try to see him around corners. My body felt a dissonance because I wasn't moving my legs or having my body jolted with recoil from my automatic weapon.

I've played video games on big TVs before. I visited Panasonic last year to do similar, uh, "tests" on their 103-inch plasma. And while that was awesome, it still felt like playing games and watching movies on a really big TV. The 150 transcends regular TV to become something more. It's like something out of a sci-fi movie, a living wall, a form of primitive virtual reality. It's so overwhelming that you can't really fathom putting it in your house because you can't see it fitting into any kind of reality you inhabit.

Inside the warehouse, we placed a 42-inch plasma next to it that looked pathetic, like something you'd put over your toilet to watch SportsCenter while you take a leak. I wanted to put it in my pocket. Even the 103-incher looked sad and small next to it. And trust me, a 103-inch TV doesn't look sad or small in too many situations.

If this were a true review, I'd have to complain that, since a 4K TV does to 1080p what your new HDTV does to standard-def, you're bound to watch a lot of crappy looking TV on this. If 1080p looks bad, think about all of the channels that come through in standard def. And if you're planning on streaming Netflix movies via your Xbox onto this TV, be prepared for digital artifacts the size of your head.

But you know what? This TV isn't designed for you to put in your living room. Sorry. It's a TV from the future, generously time-teleported back to the present by our friends at Panasonic. You aren't going to hook a VCR up to this thing, and neither are they; it is designed to run with precision-mastered footage, and our current lack of worthy video doesn't diminish the ridiculous potency of the thing.

Believe it or not, Panasonic will begin selling the 150-inch plasma sometime next year, probably for about twice as much as the $70,000 103-incher. Will it be snapped up by anyone? Probably. There are always sultanates and NBA stars looking to have the biggest and most expensive TV in the world, and this definitely fits that bill. But again I'll ask: Is it something normal people would benefit from having in their living room?

I'd say no, but not out of broke resentment and the fact that this would quadruple my energy bill and require me to knock down most of the walls of my home to even get it inside. I don't think people should put this in their living rooms because, when you get down to it, this isn't a TV. I don't want to imagine people watching Two and a Half Men on it. To check the weather on The Weather Channel on this thing would be an act approaching sacrilege. It's more than a TV: it's a glimpse into the future, it's a brazen display of hubris and overkill, and it's a visceral, skin-searing experience. It belongs on spaceships and in museums, not in living rooms. It's only right.

Admittedly, this is a very early, and very rough demo, but the use of IR technology means that navigating the Sphere isn't quite as smooth or intuitive as a multi-touch display. Similar to the HP Touchsmart, I noticed that contact with the sphere had to be deliberate to get an accurate response. And one notable hurdle the Surface Sphere will have to overcome is light sensitivity. Flash photography affected the input mechanism, tricking the computer into thinking a giant hand was touching it.

Similar to the original Surface, photos and video tiles can be shuffled around the Sphere. The coolest demo was by far the Pong-style game, where blockades could be placed on the globe spontaneously using your hand or a Post-it note. There was also a neat demo where you could flick the sphere like a globe to make it simulate rotation, then drag your fingers across to create a paint trail. This has the potential to be pretty awesome.

The big question is why a sphere when so many of us are looking for a more practical application for a surface table, not a less practical one? Walking around to use a UI could be complicated and annoying for the average PC user. Researchers said the sphere was the most challenging surface possible, and if they could get Surface-style multi-touch working on that, they could get it working on anything. Maybe they could use it to model Trident data on a touch globe. They also said that academics could make good use of it, and I agree that I can see this being useful for classroom collaboration. The obvious uses are in public and retail spaces, for advertising and marketing. And a fun implementation is that it could be used for multiplayer gaming, because you can't see the whole sphere at once.

The reception increase is partly to do with the new plastic back. There are 10 radio bands in here, counting 3 GSM bands, 4 3G bands, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. (And one more I don't know?) I don't know how scratch resistant I believe it will be, but Apple says it will be more durable. It looks EXACTLY like the leaked images from awhile ago that were chalked up as iPhone 1 cases.

Apple wouldn't say why 3G life was so good, but I picked up a hint that it was both software and newer 3G chips up to the task.

3G data on the maps and browser were only slightly slower than Wi-Fi.

The locator tech wasn't working for me, on Maps. It spun and spun, probably because I'd turned the Wi-Fi off.
I noticed that the iPhone asked me for permission to give both the maps program and the camera app permission to use my location. It reminded me a bit of a Vista security prompt. It's my phone, of course it can use my location. The camera app was actually using it to do geotagging!

(The camera itself was not noticeably improved.)

The black is very very nice. The white? It's ok, but very feminine, so maybe it's good for Jason or Jesús.

I felt the screen wasn't as smooth as the previous, but that could be the fact that there was zero grease on it, unlike my personal phone. The screen's glass and LCD are identical to the previous iPhone's.

There still isn't any cut and paste, and Bluetooth software hasn't been updated to do A2DP, but the very smooth (and impossible to derail from Apple Messaging) Greg Joswiak didn't say the hardware wasn't improved. I asked if audio streaming was coming, and he looked hesitant to answer. (I'll take that as a yes.) Before he could answer, I spoke for him. "We don't comment on future product announcements." They also denied me a chance to take a photo.

There was a dock, very thin and rounded, with the phone sticking out of the face (there was no border from the dock obscuring the view. I also saw a 2 prong USB power plug much smaller than the old adapter.

Lastly, the metal buttons were chromed, and I frankly liked the black ones better. But these feel more precise, and indeed, the lock button is slightly more recessed than on the first generation phone. The buttons were not made metal for durability reasons, either; this was a pure design decision.

I also played Super Monkey Ball during my 15 minutes with the iPhone. I didn't like how to control the game, I had to set the screen to viewing angles that would compromise my view of the screen. But I did catch on how to play within a few seconds.

Audio? It was definitely clearer than the single mono speaker in the first iPhone. (Even if this one is not stereo either.)

Nothing much has been left unimproved. If you're going to stick with ATT for awhile, $200 seems like a good deal for such improved hardware. What's cool is that since the App store and a lot of the functionality in software will be coming to the first gen iPhone, current users don't really have to feel the pressure to upgrade. Me? I'm certainly going to.

Sadly, we only got to test out the ski-related games. We could see that there was a snowboarding game, but it was not unlocked to play. Yeah, we were mad too. But what we did test out gave us a good idea of how the Wii Fit works.

The first thing that the Wii Fit had us set was our center of gravity. This is the basis for most of the games, since the Wii will be able to determine which way you are leaning by your center of gravity. When we first stepped on the balance board we couldn't help but notice that our size 10 feet barely fit. If we had any larger of a foot, our toes would have definitely hung off.

With our center of gravity set, we quickly found our way to the snow-related games. We first gave downhill skiing a try and found we had no clue what we were doing. Attempting to lift our feet and lean the direction we wanted to go didn't work.

Halfway through ruining the first run, we noticed that in the top right corner of the screen there was a small center of gravity display. This showed our realtime center of gravity, so as we leaned it obviously reflected the changes.

In our next run down the mountain, instead of focusing on our Mii, or character-whatever they call it, we put all of our attention on that center of gravity display. We quickly learned how leaning a certain way or shifting our weight to one foot was correctly changing our center of gravity.

This same principle helped for the ski jump game. When dropping in for the jump you need to keep your center of gravity perfectly. Once at the lip of the jump you quickly shift your weight up, without removing your feet from the balance board. While in the air we had to pay close attention to that center of gravity display, making sure we were never too far off from perfect. If we kept the center of gravity close enough to the center we landed clean.

So will the Wii Fit be saving us from summer hell? We don't think so. Even though the skiing mini-games are fun, come this September, nothing will kill our anticipation to ride. Not even the Wii Fit.

Its showstopper feature, the ridonkulous ISO ratings, fell way short, though you should keep in mind this is a pre-production model, and it could get much better before it ships: A few snaps shot at 6400 had mad noise, evident even in playback on its LCD screen. That aside, I still can't really feel for this camera. The only feature I can say is neat is the tilting screen but Sony has it too on their new alphas. Maybe some more extensive testing would reveal otherwise, but my based on initial impressions, if you're going to pick up a camera that weighs, feels and is priced like a DSLR, just get a DSLR. [Giz @ PMA]

[PMA 2008 Coverage @ Giz]

The other cabinet that caught our eye was the GBD003, a sexy retro tabletop with sleek glossy black design and shiny chrome accents. Sitting two players, it's the perfect size to double as a coffee table. So there's no question—we need one now. That will be $2000 if and when the model finds distribution.

The only catch? The system plays 156 generic titles, not real MAME stuff...until you hack it.

Unfortunately, the $699 price tag combined with a $10-$15 monthly fee (depending on the number of years usage purchased up front) may still be a little too pricey for some smaller businesses.

Creative Announces a Breakthrough in Video Conferencing with inPerson
Public Unveiling of inPerson Conferencing at Consumer Electronics Show

MILPITAS, Calif. - Jan. 7, 2008 - Creative, a worldwide leader in audio and video innovation, today announced inPerson, a breakthrough in technology, design, price and ease-of-use that introduces the entirely new category of inPerson Conferencing. Creative will demonstrate inPerson from January 7-10 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV at the Creative exhibit, South Hall #30642 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Resellers of networking and video communications systems will have the chance to learn more about inPerson at the Creative booth.

"Imagine having seven meetings on seven continents in seven hours, and everyone wants you to be there. With Creative inPerson, you can join a board meeting in Geneva, a one-on-one in Africa, and your child's birthday party in California while you're stuck in the airport in Australia," said Jeff Stoen, PhD, general manager of video and imaging for Creative Labs, Inc. "inPerson is a breakthrough for small group meetings and multi-party, multi-location meetings, and it's great for one-on-one meetings. It enables high-quality inPerson Conferencing with video and audio with the impact of actually being there, from the road, a hotel, coffee shop or meeting room where you have open web access or can enter a security key for access."

"Creative inPerson will revolutionize the way people can communicate. You can be there inPerson without having to travel. As soon as you try it for business, you'll want to have it in your home for inPerson calling with friends and relatives," continued Stoen. "inPerson is lightweight and wireless, and has a high-quality seven-inch screen for high-resolution video, and it can connect to a large flat panel screen, TV or projector for life-size high-resolution video presence. We designed inPerson to increase companies' productivity and reduce the need for costly and burdensome travel while enabling more employees and customers than ever before to meet inPerson. At only $699.99, companies can now equip all of their meeting rooms and even people's desks with inPerson. Now all employees in a company can have the advantage of inPerson Conferencing. Past-generation video conferencing systems have been far too expensive and complicated to provide video communications throughout an organization, and have typically been relegated to just the board room. inPerson changes all of that."

You Can Be There inPerson

• Reduce your carbon footprint - With inPerson you can have your most fuel-efficient meetings ever. Improve your productivity by spending your time closing the deal instead of logging hours and miles just to get to a meeting.
• A fraction of the cost of past-generation video conferencing systems - Priced at only $699.99 with a low-cost monthly service fee, inPerson provides a breakthrough in cost so companies can now equip all of their meeting rooms and communicate with customers and vendors at a dramatically lower cost than with past-generation video conferencing systems.
• Inexpensive inPerson Conferencing - With the monthly service plan you get free inPerson Conferencing with any other inPerson or with anyone with a PC with a web camera and Creative inPerson for PC software.
• Sets up in seconds - and boots up quickly.
• Wi-Fi or LAN connection - For inPerson Conferencing from the board room, coffee shop, hotel, airport or anyplace you can connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot or Ethernet that has open web access or where you only need to enter a security key for access.
• Sure Connect Technology - Designed as part of the monthly service plan to help ensure that you can get a fast and easy connection to inPerson Conferencing.
• Multi-party capability - For an optional monthly service charge, multi-party inPerson Conferencing capability can be added, supporting up to four inPerson locations all on the screen at the same time.
• Stunning seven-inch LCD screen - Supports up to 16 million colors so you can see multiple meeting participants and their facial expressions and body language clearly.
• Video output - You can inPerson Conference in high resolution on the built-in screen or output your video to a flat panel screen, TV or projector for a life-size presence in any important meeting.
• inPerson Audio Technology - inPerson is equipped with dual microphones and Integrated Acoustic Echo Cancellation technology for crystal clear voice, with equal sound quality for one-on-one or group meetings even if you're several feet away. For a more private conversation, you can even connect a headset with microphone.
• High-quality audio output - inPerson features a built-in speaker, or connects to a speaker system for large group presentations. Ultra quiet design with passive cooling eliminates the need for a fan and prevents unwanted background noise.
• Intuitive inPerson interface - A very simple keypad with color-coded control buttons enables quick and easy access to contacts and menu choices.
• Compact and lightweight - inPerson measures only 7.5" x 6" x 1" and weighs only 1.6 ounces, so it's easy to move around the office or fit into a bag or briefcase.
• Wide-angle lens - Built into a rotating bezel so you can easily see more than just one person.
• Excellent low-light performance - If you're joining the meeting from a place with less than ideal lighting conditions, the high-grade sensor delivers superb low-light performance without compromising image quality.
• Battery or AC power - With the optional rechargeable Li-ion battery pack, inPerson goes wherever you go.
• Wireless remote - Designed for ease of use, including all the same buttons that are on inPerson.
More information about inPerson will be posted in coming weeks on www.creative.com.

HF10: This is their top of the line consumer cam featuring two types of flash memory recording: a 16GB internal Flash drive, as well as an SDHC memory card slot. 3.3MP CMOS, 1920 x 1080 video, 24P and 30P recording.
HF100: It's the HF10, but in silver and missing the SDHC slot.

During our hands-on today, both felt great in the hand with solid build quality. Playback buttons that are mounted below the flipout display are absolutely brilliant, but we were very disappointed by the side-mounted video/menu wheel, making it awkward for your thumb to swap modes on the fly. Also of note: the HF10 cannot record both flash formats simultaneously. Here are the full specs...

CANON U.S.A. INTRODUCES THE VIXIA FAMILY OF HIGH-DEFINITION CAMCORDERS FOR THE ULTIMATE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

Models Include Breakthrough Use of Dual Flash Memory, Genuine Canon Optics, And Other Proprietary Technologies, Expanding Consumers' Recording Options

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., January 7, 2008 - Canon U.S.A., Inc. proudly announces the VIXIA family - a new lineup of consumer High-Definition camcorders embracing Canon optical and imaging technologies for superior image quality and flexibility - at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (Booth #12606).

The new HD camcorder family - the Canon VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder, VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory camcorder and VIXIA HV30 HD camcorder - reflects Canon's commitment to High-Definition imaging excellence. In addition, the previously released HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive camcorder and HR10 AVCHD DVD camcorder join the VIXIA family, giving consumers a variety of formats to choose from, all of which deliver a superior High-Definition experience. Also being introduced is the DW-100 DVD Burner*.

"We are very excited about our new VIXIA family of camcorders, as well as being an innovator by offering Dual Flash Memory," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "Consumers are actively investing in HD televisions and they're discovering the value of capturing memories in HD. Whichever format consumers may prefer, including our revolutionary Dual Flash Memory, all VIXIA camcorders share Genuine Canon Optics and a host of Canon technologies allowing precious moments to be preserved with unrivaled color and clarity."

VIXIA Core Technologies

All VIXIA camcorders feature Canon core technologies to create HD video that possesses the highest level of image quality - a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens incorporates over 70 years of optics experience in professional broadcast and photography; a Canon designed and manufactured HD CMOS Image Sensor for Full HD (1920 x 1080) image capture; the Canon-developed DIGIC DV II Image Processor for superior color and clarity; Instant AutoFocus for fast and accurate auto focusing, crucial for HD; and SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization, which corrects a wide range of camcorder vibration for virtually shake-free images.

Dual Flash Memory - The Ultimate Consumer Convenience

Canon's breakthrough use of Dual Flash Memory - the ability to record to an internal Flash drive as well as a removable SDHC memory card - allows consumers to experience a new level of performance, style and flexibility. Dual Flash Memory allows consumers to record video to the camcorder's internal Flash drive even if they do not have a memory card. When the internal Flash drive becomes full, footage can be easily transferred to an SDHC memory card and when it comes time to view their video, the card is simply placed into a memory card reader in a computer or HDTV for instant viewing. Furthermore, having a SDHC memory card slot allows for expandability, since greater capacity can be added in the future by purchasing additional cards.

Flash Memory boasts a number of advantages and end-user benefits for maximum convenience and flexibility. Since Flash Memory is a solid-state memory format and has no moving parts, the camcorder can be smaller, more compact and lighter than ever before, allowing it to be carried anywhere. Additionally, Flash Memory is a highly stable method of storage, and as a result, accidental jolts to the camcorder are significantly less likely to result in failure or data loss. Consumers will also enjoy the camcorder's low power consumption, which leads to longer battery time. Compared with other types of storage, Flash Memory camcorders are able to read and write data faster, so users can start recording faster and have immediate access to their recorded scenes.

VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory Camcorders

Despite their compact size, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders are packed with advanced technology and a wealth of features to create stunning quality video. The VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder offers the flexibility of recording up to 6 hours of High-Definition video to a 16GB internal Flash drive, as well as the option of recording to an SDHC memory card. The HF100 Flash Memory camcorder features an SDHC memory card slot only. The SDHC slot provides future storage expandability with both models. These camcorders also offer other sophisticated new features, including a newly designed Genuine Canon 12x HD Video Lens, a robust Canon 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor, and Full HD Lens-to-Screen (1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution to capture, record and output).

In addition to 24p Cinema Mode, which allows users to mimic the look of Hollywood-style movies, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders offer a new feature called 30p Progressive Mode. Canon's 30p Progressive Mode, once exclusive to pro-level camcorders, delivers clarity for fast action events, such as sports or news, and is the perfect frame rate for clips intended to be posted on the Web. A 2.7" Widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD offers a wide viewing angle, making it visible from any direction. It also offers an expanded color range to more accurately reflect what users will see later on their HDTV. The models use an Intelligent Lithium-ion Battery, which indicate the remaining battery time down to the minute. Furthermore, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders offer a newly designed Mini Advanced Accessory Shoe, providing cable-free connectivity to an optional Canon microphone or video light. A microphone terminal with manual level control delivers additional audio flexibility and a fully functional 3.1 Megapixel digital camera is built right in, allowing consumers to capture high-quality still images with a wide selection of Advanced Photo features.

A quick hands on playing some Unreal Tournament revealed a decent sound with none of the latency issues that are commonly found in Bluetooth devices—although the environment is not ideal for a thorough test. Expect the HS-1200 to hit store shelves this March for $150.

The SensMe feature—which scatters songs along a grid according to how fast or slow they are, creating selectable clusters—also cries out for a trackball to navigate the graph with. A 4-way pad just doesn't cut it. Otherwise, it seems like a solid slider for people wanting GPS and media functions. How much you'd value the new interface is probably the biggest factor other than GPS in going with it over a lower end SE phone.

The problem is that the device we viewed was a prototype. At this point, the Xdock HD can only upconvert to 720p and it is not currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, they are fairly confident that all of this will be remedied in time to meet the Spring 08 launch. So the pressure is on. Plus, $399 is a fairly steep price to pay given the fact that there are cheaper alternatives out there.

Check out the gallery and you'll see the 3008WFP's brushed aluminum housing. The base is piano black, shiny glass that supports the cantilever arm. That's a nice architectural touch, but you lose the ability to raise and lower the height of the monitor.

When we first hooked up and plugged in this display, we were shocked at how bright it was, using a conventional fluorescent backlight (we had hoped for LEDs, but no) to pump out a quoted 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and brightness that was so brilliant, we had to back it off a bit. Dell has also built in its TrueColor technology, pumping out a 117% color gamut that makes the other monitors we had sitting next to it look like they were nearly black and white. Yes, these colors are almost infinitely adjustable, too, so artists and even the keenest eyes won't be disappointed.

Like other Dell monitors, there are plenty of places to plug in whatever suits your fancy, including four USB ports, and slots for nine different types of flash memory cards. That works especially well for those of us who keep our workstations in separate locations from our workspace.

That brings up the DisplayPort connectivity, which we weren't able to test because there aren't any shipping DisplayPort graphics cards yet, but when there are, one of the advantages of that new spec will be the ability to daisy chain monitors. That means that one cable coming from your computer (that might be setting off on a server closet somewhere) can hook up to one of these displays, and then connect to another one beside it, giving you dual displays with just one cable leading back to the mother ship. Nice.

Besides that up-to-date connectivity, you can also plug just about anything else that generates video into the bottom side of this display. That means you can plug in HDMI with HDCP support, VGA, two DVI ports (but you'll need dual-link DVI for that magnificent 2560x1600 resolution), audio outputs from the HDMI, S-Video, composite, component, but it's not easy to plug these things in because all those ports are hard to reach. Sure, they're hidden away, out of sight, and you only need to plug in things occasionally, but it would've been nice to have this huge patch bay a bit more accessible.

Running our suite of DisplayMate obstacle course graphics through this monitor revealed spectacular resolution, worthy of the name UltraSharp. We found it to be an expansive, yet expensive display, but still a great value for its $1999 price. It's the best display we've seen. [Dell]

The Build: Physically, the Pocketsurfer 2 is not really an internet surfer for the pocket; the dimensions of 152 x 75 x 15 mm, mean it is quite far off being comfortably pocket worthy. The 640 x 240 VGA screen is abysmal; it reduces high-resolution images to nasty grainy spaces of general distortion. On a plus note, it has a full QWERTY keyboard that is rather fantastic. It takes some getting used to if you are not familiar with RAZR-type keypads, but once you are about and clicking, it works extremely well...it works extremely well as long as you cannot hear it. The backlight kicks up the most ridiculous buzzing racket, the likes of which I have not heard emanate from a portable electronic device since the cassette Walkman was commonplace. You will not notice it when you are in the urban jungle, but at home, I kid you not, it shall give you a very real headache.

Getting Around: The navigation controls are a disaster; there is no scroll wheel, so you must rely on a four-way direction pad to get you around webpages. On a mobile phone with a 2.5" screen, a four-way direction pad just about makes web surfing possible. On a device with a 5.2" widescreen, that simply is not feasible. Generally, the Pocketsurfer 2 has a solid construction; it's weighty in a good-to-hold kind of way. However, the attention to detail is poor; the chromed plastic pieces are rough and the port coverings are shabby rubber plugs that do not fit properly. The styling of the unit is not so bad, and the poor quality is only noticeable once the gadget is thoroughly inspected. So how does it weigh up for browsing the old internet?

Functionality: Datawind's product runs their very own software, tip to toe, and though the compression system, which promises to load webpages in seven seconds flat sometimes delivers, it is far from consistent. Simply put, everything about the Pocketsurfer 2 is buggy as hell. The start up time is lengthy (approx 35s), when it works. On many occasions it refuses to connect. Indeed, during a private display of the device by Datawind's CEO, a failed connection occurred—in the center of London, I very much doubt that absent cellular network coverage was the cause of the mishap. It was not an isolated incident either; during my testing, time after time a connection would be reset, time out or return with a server error. When you are out and about and want to quickly check your email, the service simply does not cut it. Neither does the sub 5-hour battery. When it does work, the compression/caching of information is impressively fast for a GPRS connection.

The browser itself lacks any form of video codec compatibility, and as mentioned before, the screen will barely display high-resolution images. Even if it did, there is no way to zoom out and get the whole picture, so unless you like your picture viewing in clickity-click parts, this does not really solve the great mystery of succinct mobile web browsing. In the gadget's defense, Google maps seem to work well on the few occasions it loads up without fault, thanks to proper pseudo-GPS information. Also worth noting is the optimized mobile Zoho suite, which could be useful if the text entry delay was not so severe. Unfortunately, the time elapse between a key press and that key taking effect is ridiculously long.

The Price: The UK will see the Pocketsurfer 2 available for £179.98 ($363), with 20hours of web surfing/month included in the asking price. You guys Stateside will have a much steeper deal; the product will be made available via T-Mobile for $29.99 per month (unlimited data plan), on a 12 month contract. The hardware will be an additional $299.

The Verdict: I really tried to love the Pocketsurfer 2, I promise you; I opened my cold, black heart to it and it failed me. I do not want this to read as a blank slating of a company's endeavours, but the void this product fills is sadly non-existent. It has no raw power to natively run apps. It relies entirely on a GPRS connection that is temperamental at best. It has no means of effective navigation. In three words: it doesn't work. The notion of entire back end server reliance for hardware is very much the vision of the future, but the Pocketsurfer 2 is a little ahead of its time in terms of the idea at work. Sadly, it is a little behind in terms of technology implemented. A GPRS connection is never going to be a viable means for mass data transmission; no matter how good the caching system may be. The technology used is simply too out dated (for this purpose) to be functional.

If you desperately want to give the piano black encased gizmo a chance, hit the link to purchase, but do so at your own peril. [US: Linsar, UK: Datawind]

What distinguishes the Zonbu from other operating systems is the Zonbu Plan, which offers automatic software upgrades and synchronized online storage for a monthly fee. It is also what allows the laptop to sell for $279, provided you subscribe for two years. With the $15/mo plan the hard drive links up with the Amazon S3 server and provides backup and additional storage that can be accessed from anywhere. Without the Zonbu Plan, the laptop will cost $479.

The other neat feature of the Zonbu OS, is its potential to integrate with anything. One example is the public folder, which makes any file in the folder remotely accessible and and usable by any script written for Zonbu. We were able to drag and drop images into the public folder and have them appear on our Facebook page, via a Zonbu Facebook App.

On the hardware side, Zonbu went with an Everex laptop, the same manufacturers who offer the $200 Wal-Mart PC. It features a 1.5 GHz VIA processor, 512 MB of RAM, 60 GB HDD and a 15.4-inch widescreen LCD. Their goal is not to create a powerhouse, but to offer a low-cost Windows alternative. The laptop also has a CD-RW/DVD combo drive, 802.11 b/g, 3 USB ports, headphone/microphone jacks and VGA out. The Zonbu Desktop, in comparison, went with a 1.2 GHz processor, and used 4GB flash memory backed by Amazon's S3 server as its primary method of storage.

As we've mentioned in the past, the Zonbu GUI is generally quick and responsive, with programs like Open Office and Banshee music player proving more than adequate. But the OS lacks the polish and power of Vista or OS X. As an example, dragging an image from the browser to the desktop is not possible; sites such as YouTube can also glitch out a little. However, these aren't dealbreakers, but examples to show the difference between the top dogs and new competitors.

• How long do the speakers last when they are away from their dock?
In my test, they ran for over 13 hours, nearly 14 actually. I had both speakers about 20+ feet away from the source, in my combo kitchen/dining room, where we could enjoy music while preparing dinner (linguini with Batali-style clam sauce and Sicilian broccoli, plus homemade creme brulee for dessert) and eating it.• How far can the speakers be from the base and still make sound?
Griffin says 150 feet, and I think that's probably right. It uses 433MHz 900MHz RF, and I was able to carry them pretty far on two separate occasions, and even when I started to lose signal, I could stand still and the signal would smooth out. I think the real answer is: they go as far as you're going to need them to. Best of all, the iPod-controlling remote which uses 433MHz RF works at that range too, so they can follow the speakers to the ends of the earth your property. See me way out in the yard, while the dock is safely inside:• What's the deal with the video outputs? (UPDATED)
There are both S-Video out and composite out. They work with older video-enabled iPods, but not with iPod classics, nanos or touches (or iPhones, for that matter). You don't get much quality from those connections, so you should really aim for small-screen viewing. The wireless is still a convenience, however: if you don't connect the audio output to a TV, you can still hear everything through the speakers. And guess what? There's no annoying out-of-sync latency issue that I can detect.

• So what's the problem?
Sound quality, sound quality, sound quality. Don't get me wrong: For a wireless system, these sound damn good, way better than the Bluetooth stuff I've heard from the likes of Logitech and Belkin, and even Radio Shack's smart Accurian powerline setup. But compared to other docks, there's a lot of high end and not a lot of mids or lows. If you have it turned down too low, it gets tinny, and there's no real satisfying way to enjoy rap music on it.

The bottom line is this: I was blown away by this product as a super-simple zero-setup way to get background sound to places where it matters the most, like the dining room or the patio. Seriously, I will probably buy one of these for just those reasons, even at $300. But when I'm all alone and want to rock out, I would need to seek an alternate source of sonic satisfaction, cuz I won't get it from the Evolve. [Griffin Evolve]
Oh, and special thanks to my dad for the two shots that I'm in.

Like other WM6 devices including Sprint's recently launched HTC Touch and Verizon's Motorola Q9m, it has an interface skin that shields the user from the immediate effects of the Windows Mobile UI. But unlike those other two, this one goes a little deeper, letting you do quite a bit without ever seeing Windows Mobile.

Best of all, it manages this feat of user-friendliness without a touchscreen, just a comfortable click wheel. I'm a fan of the beautiful 2.6" screen as well, and in this case the BB Pearl-style QWERTY keypad/numpad worked great combined with solid predictive typing software. Check out the physical attributes first:Let's face it, the star of this show is the UI, so have at it:While there's no way for me yet to call it a pure 100% victory for T-Mo and HTC—my previous Windows Mobile wounds run too deep for that—I am willing to say that there's a sea change, better interfaces are being designed for WM6, and this is without a doubt the best one we've seen yet. [T-Mobile]

It's a funny little system, consisting of a video-capable USB flash drive, a dock with S-video, AV composite connectors and a power cord, and a remote that the flash drive can hug when not in use. You dock the USB drive to a Windows PC to load videos from the Fanfare service, but you can also dock it in any computer, Mac or PC, and load DivX, xVid and MPEG-4 videos onto it as a mass storage drive.Fanfare setup is extremely straightforward: you sign up for a free Fanfare account, download the Windows-only client software, browse the collections from CBS, Showtime and others (slated for heavy growth in the content-partner area, says SanDisk), and click the "plus" sign when you see something you like. If the TakeTV is plugged in, the video will begin loading. If not, you will be prompted to insert it.At the moment you can't download to hard drive, and need a TakeTV. In the future, SanDisk promises that other flash devices using the TrustedFlash DRM technology would be compatible with Fanfare downloads.

Downloads are encoded in DivX, and an hour of programming takes up just under 1GB of memory. Download time can be slow if your connection isn't up to it, but the experience wasn't unusually sluggish. A 4GB TakeTV can hold up to 5 hours of 720x480 programming.

Once your TakeTV is filled with good stuff—for now, most of it is free—you take it to your TV (like the name implies) and place it in the dock, which you connect to your TV via S-Video or composite, plus stereo audio.Immediately a rudimentary menu pops up, and shows you your content:You select a video and after a potentially long "loading..." period, it starts to play. I'm not going to lie, the video doesn't look great on a big 1080p TV. I know that's being harsh, since it's just 480i, but the Vudu box with 480p upscaled content looked damn fine, and SanDisk's Fanfare content is nowhere near that quality. Shows look blurry (as you can plainly see in the shot below), though the sound (128 Kbps) is just fine.
I had a bit of trouble with a few of the videos downloaded, but let me say that since this is a beta, I'm willing to let that slide. Of course the content on the site was sparse, and I'm willing to let that go for now, too, because I fully expect SanDisk to keep its promise of expanding options.

The beef I have now is with the hardware: the remote sucked—it was non-responsive and not terribly intuitive, and fastforwarding and rewinding were exercises in frustration. While I like the simple USB-drive technique for loading video, either with Fanfare or on your own, I think that the collection of pieces is a bit of a mess: despite the fact that the drive fits snugly in both the dock and the remote, there's no real clear way to hold all of it together in a tidy package. And if you lose the remote or leave the dock at home when you're at a friend's, you are screwed.

I branded this with a "wait and see" verdict because there's so much promise, but not enough delivered yet for a full-on gavel-banging judgment. My advice to you is to join Fanfare as a lurker, before you buy the TakeTV. If you start seeing content you want, you may consider TakeTV as it is currently the only way to make use of Fanfare video. Also, if you have loads of DivX vids and are constantly yearning for a way to shuttle them to your living room, here's your chance. But my early sense is, you'll have to put up with some growing pains before TakeTV is a mature, worthwhile product. [SanDisk's TakeTV Site]

My first thought was that it felt like a toy. The directional pad is a little loose, and the microSD card slot is a little bit too flimsy. But those feelings went away quickly when I started it up, and the only thing I could think was: man, what took Palm so long?

Some other thoughts:

• Like Brian said, that keyboard is seriously tiny. It's much easier to use the screen to type in phone numbers, for instance, and in general, it's significantly more cramped than a Treo.

• The built-in speaker is loud and clear, a little heavy on the high-end, but free of distortion, good for Sprint streaming radio and TV, and of course MP3s.

• You can easily setup email in VersaMail without using a PC—a scenario I suspect is more relevant to Centro buyers than to Treo buyers.

• There's an instant music on/off button on the left side. I haven't located a physical "Back" button though. I wonder if I could reprogram the insta-music button to do that.

• Google Maps with traffic and sat view, but NO GPS!!! I was sad when it hit home, and confused: I thought EV-DO chipsets from Qualcomm had aGPS in there by default. UPDATE: It does have aGPS for E911. But Sprint just told me, "The underlying application for Sprint Navigator and other similar GPS services only operates on a Java platform and is not available for a Palm OS."

• AstraWare Sudoku is one of the games, though I didn't test it out because I was afraid of sliding into an addiction spiral (again).

• Sprint TV looks okay on square 2" diagonal screen. Wouldn't want to see it blown up any bigger, frankly.

If you haven't gotten enough of this tasty little treat from Palm, have a look at our Palm Centro Sizemodo, where we compare it to an older Treo. And an iPhone. [Palm Centro]

The idea of a cheaper, single-source HD-compatible Slingbox is a great one. Before we got this Slingbox Solo, we'd been using a Slingbox Pro for a year, and its variety of inputs has proven to be way more than we've ever needed. (Really, why would we want to watch a DVD via the Slingbox? TiVo is all we want to watch remotely.) But this Slingbox Solo ($179.99), positioned in the Sling product line between the Slingbox Pro ($229.99) and the Slingbox AV ($129.99), hit that Goldilocks sweet spot: It's just right.

The Slingbox Solo carries on that Aztec temple-like design of the Pro, but it's about two thirds the width. If you care about such things, its shiny piano-black surface is definitely a fingerprint magnet, but after wiping it off with a microfiber cloth, it still looks sparkly, low-slung and sophisticated as it takes its place on our component rack.

Looking out back at the business end of the Solo, you'll see that even though it only handles one input at a time, there's no shortage of places to plug in. Whether you choose component, composite or SVideo, any source can be passed through so you can also plug it into your TV after that Sling magic has been performed on your video.

We plugged in our TiVo Series3 HD PVR, and the Sling Solo's setup, functions and quality appeared to be identical to the Slingbox Pro. Just like the Slingbox Pro, even though HD sources go into the Solo at 720p, as long as you're watching the signal over a high-speed home network they come out at 640x480 and then are stretched out to 16:9. That's definitely better than standard definition but certainly not HD.

Using the system over the internet, its quality ratchets down to 320x240 but is stretched out to widescreen. Away from the home network, its video looks a bit blocky and suffers dropouts here and there, but picture quality is mostly dependent on the speed of the internet connection. In both instances, the Solo's video looks just the same to us as the Pro model.

Solo is a worthy addition to the Slingbox line, and unlike the Slingbox Pro, requires no optional adapter to get it working with HD sources. Sure, we would've liked an HDMI port on the back of this baby (also lacking on the Pro), but component video will just have to do. And forget sending HDTV all over the world with the Slingbox—until bandwidth in the United States reaches that of Japan or Scandinavia, the Solo's kind of sub-HD resolution for watching TV all over your house or on the road will be just good enough for now.

Incidentally, Sling is also announcing that Solo also works in Canada ($199.99 looneys), and the UK (£129.99), calling it the company's "first worldwide model." The company's also launching the Slingbox Pro in the UK for £199.99, and that's packing a DVB-T tuner and includes an HD connect cable.