LG Shine

Like the Chocolate, the LG Shine is a slide-design phone, and is very much intended as a fashion statement. Whereas the Chocolate was dark and mysterious, with its hidden touch sensitive keypad, the Shine positively sparkles with light and has a more conventional keypad.

The reason for the name "Shine", is that the phone is highly reflective, having a shiny stainless steel body and a large LCD display that turns into a mirror when not in use. It's definitely a cool-looking phone and one that will attract attention.
The device itself feels sufficiently weighty for such a small phone - with its brushed stainless steel covering, it's little wonder. This helps to make it feel suitably expensive, but considering the small size and minimal thickness it's still a lightweight.The steel covering means it's strong, too - no chance of breaking this phone in two. The construction is perfect and the slide action is well weighted, revealing a gorgeous laser-etched keypad that lights up in blue.

The front mirrored fascia is finished in tough plastic rather than metal (transparent metal is difficult to come by), and despite the delicate appearance of the front screen it's proven rather scratch resistant.The good looks of the handset don't stop at the exterior - the interface is particularly easy to use as well. Navigation is via the nifty scroll bar on the front of the phone, making navigation of the menus relatively easy. It can be a little imprecise at times - sometimes pressing down on the scroll bar to select something can result in moving the cursor to something else - but apart from this it's intuitive and nice to use.

LG has also added a good scroll wheel to the device on the main body, just under the screen. This becomes your main navigational tool, and is an excellent way of finding what you want on the device. It makes a big difference to have this when, say, searching through your contact list.
Other buttons lie along the right-hand side of the phone, where there is a noticeable lack of a ‘cancel-and-exit’ button which came in handy with the LG Chocolate. Now they’ve decided to hide it away on a slide-down keypad, which can be a little fustrating. Nevertheless, the camera and MP3 player now have their separate buttons on the side, which makes it much easier to quickly take a snap.

The LG Shine is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and picture quality generally is decent. There is a lot of graining as expected but at 1600×1200 it will suffice for taking recognisable pictures. The light for the LG Shine it seems has to be activated manually via the menu causing it to stay on constantly and there is no option to have it flash when taking a picture.

In all the LG Shine does many things superbly and gives off the right impression. With a few operating system tweaks, some better themes and better software it could be a serious killer mobile. Instead it ranks highly and would be a mobile to look out for if you are in the market for a simple and elegant mobile.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T100

The Sony T100 spices up the ultra-slim digital camera market. It comes with 8.1 megapixels, a 5x optically stabilized zoom lens, face detection, and even high-definition output. The trendy and glittery T100 has an enormous 3-inch LCD screen and automatic exposure modes with a smattering of manual controls that makes it appealing to point-and-shooters. It weighs 6 ounces with the battery and Memory Stick Duo card. There is subtle branding on the front that fits the overall style. The camera is also available in red or black. Slide the front panel down and the camera powers up and you’ll see the flash, lens, mic and AF Illuminator sensor. Of note is the Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar glass that’s a 5x non-protruding optical zoom

The DSC-T100 easily slips into a pocket but make sure there’s no change or keys there to prevent scratching the 3-inch LCD screen on the back. The LCD takes up most of the rear real estate, as you’d imagine. There’s just the wide/tele toggle switch, Menu and Home keys as well as the typical four-way controller with center set key. The top of the camera has a shutter button with power and playback keys angled to the side. The right of the camera has the battery/memory card compartment while the bottom simply has a tripod mount and an input for Sony’s bizarre hydra-headed connector that lets you connect it to a TV using A/V inputs or a computer via USB.

With the Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 shooting in low light doesn’t have to result in blurry, grainy photos. Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization counters camera shake and stabilize images so you can easily shoot with longer exposure times. Also, it can identify up to 8 faces in the camera’s LCD frame, and automatically adjust white balance and flash as well as focus and exposure for sharp, clear photos. Sony’s Clear raw noise reduction technology will help reduce the picture noise common to low-light exposures.

The camera comes with a typical kit including the body, strap, rechargeable battery/charger, hydra-cable, printed manual and CD ROM with basic software and drivers.

Acer Aspire 4710

Acer has announced its new Acer Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook PC which is powered by 1.73 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5300, and it features 14.1 inch WXGA Widescreen display, integrated Wi-Fi Wireless LAN connectivity, Dolby stereo speakers, integrated webcam with microphone and a 8X DVD writer.

Acer-aspire-4710-notebook-pcWeighing about 3 kg the Acer Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook PC is powered by 1.73 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5300. Each processing core of Intel dual-core T5300 processor has a 1024 MB of L2 cache (2-MB total), and this processor can deliver up to a 533 MHz FSB.
The Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook features Intel 943 GML Express chipset motherboard with integrated 3D graphics, 1024-MB DDR II SDRAM, 667 MHz (max 2048 MB), 160-GB Serial-ATA hard disk drive (5400rpm) and 8x DVD Super Multi Double Layer Optical Drive.

The multiformat DVD writer is capable of burning both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer DVD+/-R optical discs allowing storage of up to 8.5 GB of data on each dual-sided DVD media. In addition the DVD writer can also burn 40x CD-R and 24x CD-RW medias.

Acer Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook is equipped with 14.1-inch (35.81cm ) WXGA TFT LCD display with Acer CrystalBrite Technology which offers maximum resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels powered by Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 with up to 224 MB of shared system memory, supporting Microsoft DirectX 9.0, and integrated 3D graphics.For connectivity to various devices, the new Acer Aspire 4710NWXMi notebook PC comes equipped with integrated Intel/PRO Wireless 2200BG Acer InviLink 802.11b/g LAN connection, and Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR connection. In addition the notebook also features 10/100/1000 gigabit Ethernet network card for wired networking, an integrated 56 kbps v.92 fax/modem, one Type II PC Card slot, and AC/MC 97 soundcard.

The Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook PC also features 1.3 Megapixels WebCam and built-in Microphone providing easy video conferencing via VoIP and video IM chats.

With Linux preinstalled the Acer Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook PC also sports integrated 5-in-1 media card reader - supporting Secure Digital (SD), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick PRO (MS PRO), xD-Picture Card (xD) cards.

Weighing 2.4 kgs, Acer Aspire 4710 NWXMi notebook PC is equipped 71W 4800 mAh Li-ion 8-cell battery pack which can provide upto 3-hour battery life. Acer QuicCharge technology enables 80% charge in 1 hour or 2-hour rapid charge system-off.

Samsung SGH-T809

Samsung released its new T809 model. Straying from the typical flip phone shell, the T809 is packaged in a sleek slider design.

Creating a striking first impression, the T809 features a large full-color screen, resembling the look and feel of high-end plasma televisions. Slim enough to fit into consumers' pockets, the T809 offers an integrated 1.3-megapixel camera, MP3 player with external stereo speakers, and Bluetooth wireless technology to ensure it doesn't stay hidden for long.

Being that ultra-thin phones are best sellers these days, it's no surprise that the sleek T809 measures under 0.6-inches thin. Built of plastic, rather than metal-alloy as the RAZR and A900, the T809 is a lightweight at just over 3.0 ounces, but lacks the rigidity and sturdy feel the former devices had.

Being wider than other phones, the majority of the front panel prominently displays a large state-of-the-art 262K-color screen. Above, users can capture odd angled photos and video clips with the versatile 1.3-megapixel camera lens. Below, a 5-way navigational keypad is surrounded by Dial, Exit, Cancel, and Left and Right Keys. External speakers on the bottom corners provide an open-air listening experience for music and sounds.On the left side, Volume Keys adjust earpiece and tone levels during calls and standby, while a Headset Jack allows listeners to enjoy music privately. The right edge contains a TransFlash memory card slot for additional space useful for storing MP3 files and photos.

Slid open, the numeric keypad is revealed offering comfortable and convenient menu navigation and text messaging through T9 predictive text.Out of the box, the Samsung SGH-T809 comes with a Standard 800 mAh Li-Ion Battery, Travel Charger, Stereo Handsfree Headset, USB Data Cable, 32 MB TransFlash Card, PC Studio CD, and User Manual.

Sony Cybershot DSC-W55

The 7.2 megapixel Sony DSC-W55 features a 3x optical zoom lens with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar branding, 2.5" 115,000 pixel LCD display, optical viewfinder, and a maximum sensitivity of ISO 1,000 equivalent. Auto and Programmed Auto exposure modes are offered, as well as seven scene modes (Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Beach, Snow, High Sensitivity, Soft Snap).

Other Sony W55 features include 2x "Precision" (interpolating) digital zoom, up to 14x "Smart zoom" (which simply crops to achieve the zoom effect, resulting in lower resolution images, but no softening due to interpolation), three metering modes (multi-pattern, center-weighted or spot), +/- 2.0EV exposure compensation and a 2 or 10 second self-timer. The DSC-W55 captures movies in MPEG1 format with audio at resolutions up to 640x480 pixels, at a rate of up to 30 frames per second.

Like other Sony models, the W55 uses Memory Stick Duo memory cards and comes with a fairly generous 56MB of internal memory available for image storage. Sony DSC-W55 interfaces include USB 2.0 (high-speed), A/V (NTSC or PAL), and DC input via a dummy battery that's included with the optional AC adapter. Power is provided to the Sony W55 via a Sony NP-BG1 Li-Ion rechargeable battery.

The Sony W55 is offered in a variety of colors including Caribbean blue, pale pink, elegant black and sleek silver and is carrying a list price of US$200.

Canon PowerShot SD800

The Canon SD800 IS Digital ELPH features a compact, stylish case with rounded horizontal edges, and a retracting lens to make it pocket-friendly. The Canon SD800IS includes a 7.1 megapixel imager, and a Canon-branded 3.8x optical zoom lens covers an optimized range of 28-105mm equivalent, a good wide-angle to moderate telephoto.

What's really cool, though, is that the Canon ELPH SD800 IS incorporates Canon's excellent Image Stabilization (hence the "IS" in the model name) technology that drastically reduces the effects of camera shake at slow shutter speeds, or long zoom settings. This means that with the SD800 IS Digital ELPH, you can shoot in low light without having to put the camera on a tripod to avoid the camera shake. IS typically lets you take crisp shots under light conditions four times darker than you could manage without it.

Exposure is fully automatic, but the user can tweak it with 2.0 EV of exposure compensation, and three metering modes to handle difficult lighting, while 10 scene modes keep the camera approachable for beginners. A long-exposure mode in the Canon SD800 ELPH also lets you manually set exposure times up to 15 seconds long, and a large 2.5 inch LCD display plus an optical viewfinder -- rather rare on digicams these days -- gives you a choice when framing images. The Canon SD800 Digital ELPH also sports a rather wide ISO sensitivity range, from 100 to 1,600.

Canon also manufactures a line of photo printers, and prides itself on the level of integration between its cameras and printers. The Canon Digital ELPH SD800 IS is PictBridge capable, so is able to print to any printer that supports PictBridge directly, without the need for a computer in the middle. When connected to a Canon printer, though, you can set paper size, print quality, and a number of other parameters; capabilities lacking in basic PictBridge connections.

Nikon Coolpix S500

The Nikon S500 is a compact camera that will, fully automated, do its job by means of the intelligent software inside the camera. Actions are being performed nearly completely automatic and correct the image quality if needed. The compact format and the light weight make it easy to take the camera along in your pocket. An important component of the camera is the VR image stabilization system; it directly contributes in the image quality, in this case the sharpness of the picture. Although the Nikon S500 does not have an exceptional large range, such a system will alleviate movement blurring, which has been caused by a too long shutter speed in bad lighting situations. It's a pity that the Nikon Coolpix S500 has not been equipped with a 28mm wide-angle lens.
The image quality of the Nikon Coolpix S500 compact camera is fine and the color saturation is average.n excessive artificial light, the Nikon S500 may deviate from its excellent white balance metering, but this can be adjusted by selecting the right white balance setting in the camera's menu.
Focusing with the Nikon Coolpix S500 goes nice and smooth and, with a few exceptions, will never fail.Noise is strongly visible here and to my opinion you should only use this option in emergencies.
The camera sets lighting and image processing so it is adjusted to the type of subject; this way the end result will be bit more appealing than a picture taken in the standard Auto mode. The Nikon Coolpix S500 also has a panoramic setting, less convincing because of the lacking of a wide-angle setting, but it will still give nice results nevertheless.
The camera is extremely users friendly and gives a fine end result. In regards to comfort and user friendliness the Nikon S500 does not seem to need many improvements.