Olympus grabs for entry-level DSLR dollars with $600 E-600
August 31, 2009
We had some pretty overwhelming evidence that Olympus’ entry-level E-600 was more than just some fancy Photoshop, and sure enough, the outfit has today made things official for us. Designed as a low-cost E-620, the 12.3-megapixel shooter drops only the backlit buttons, a trio of ‘art filter’ modes, aspect mask control and the two-shot multi exposure mode from an otherwise heralded device. If you can live without those, you’ll find a delectable $599.99 price tag that includes a 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko zoom lens, a 2.7-inch swiveling Live View LCD, in-body image stabilization, a dust reduction system, sequential shooting at four frames per second and the ability to accept CF, UDMA and xD memory cards (sorry, SD lovers). It’ll be available from respectable camera outlets this November — just in time to satisfy that nagging need on the forthcoming holiday gift list.
Real Rhapsody iPhone app due to arrive soon
August 25, 2009
The Rhapsody streaming music service from RealNetworks may be coming to the iPhone soon, according to a post on the RealNetworks blog. The iPhone app is finished and being sent off to Apple for review this week. There’s a video demo of the app, and it looks like a decent front end for the subscription-based service. An Android app is also in the works.
The iPhone app isn’t too flashy, but appears well-designed, offering all of Rhapysody’s basic features, like searching and playlists. The app’s best feature is a song queue that you can fill up and save as a playlist, which looks quite useful. There’s also a music guide that shows current charts and what’s new this week, and also allows you to browse by genre.
This is all good news for Rhapsody’s 750,000+ subscribers, but I have to wonder whether an app that seemingly provides an alternative to Apple’s own iTunes Music Store won’t just be hit with one of Apple’s notorious “duplicate functionality” rejections. Considering that the FCC is currently inquiring into a similar rejection of Google Voice, and that there are other streaming music apps on the store already - albeit free, and not with Rhapsody’s extensive song library - it seems likely that Rhapsody will get a pass. Apple’s been trying to clean up its review process, but the whole thing is still unpredictable, so this should be interesting to watch.
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Nokia Booklet 3G is really real, as seen on camera
August 25, 2009
Not that we thought it was a fabrication this morning, but Reuters has managed to snap a few pictures of the Nokia Booklet 3G “mini laptop” to assure us that there is indeed at least one physical unit in existence, located at the company’s Helsinki headquarters. As seen in another photo, the model sports the blue lid, and just so you’re absolutely clear how a 10.1-inch netbook sizes up to an actual phone, we’ve got a side-by-side with an E71. Looks like we’ll have to wait until Nokia World to figure out what Intel Atom processor they’ve got inside that makes sense to pair with a HDMI output, however.
Update: Nokia might be mum on the issue, but Intel tells Pocket-lint that it’s got the 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 chipset, which isn’t exactly known for its HD video prowess but can technically do up to 720p. No word on any other technology that make the HDMI port more logical, but if there is was, it’s probably not coming from NVIDIA or Broadcom — both companies have denied involvement with the Booklet.
Google refutes USA Today report on blocked Skype application
August 23, 2009
While Apple was busy batting away the FCC with its litany of reasons why its app approval process is totally hunky-dory, Google was apparently having its own VoIP-related firefight. It seems that an article in the USA Today which hit newsstands this morning alleges that the internet giant sought to block (dare we say reject) a full Skype application from making its way into the Android Market. The story claims that the application was neutered to become “a watered-down version of the original that routes calls over traditional phone networks” — which would obviously cast a decidedly malevolent slant to the benevolent company’s policies.
Here are the facts, clear and simple: While the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services.As we told USA Today earlier in the week Google did not reject an application from Skype or from any other company that provides VoIP services. To suggest otherwise is false. At this point no software developer — including Skype — has implemented a complete VoIP application for Android. But we’re excited to see — and use — these applications when they’re submitted, because they often provide more choice and options for users. We also look forward to the day when consumers can access any application, including VoIP apps, from any device, on any network.
Windows Mobile 6.5 ‘touch interface’ update in February to coexist with WinMo 7?
August 19, 2009
The evidence that Windows Mobile 6.5 could soon be moving beyond the stylus to gather finger-friendly, multi-touch, capacitive screens into its long, loving arms has been mounting with the leak of the HTC Leo ROM and TouchFlo 3D 2.6. Such a move would quickly put Microsoft back on track to compete with the iPhone and Android devices like the HTC Hero. Now DigiTimes, based on sourced information from Taiwanese handset makers, is reporting a “touch interface” version of Windows Mobile 6.5 set for release in February 2010 — an upgrade to the initial Windows Mobile 6.5 launch expected on October 1st. However, instead of phasing out Windows Mobile 6.5 with the Q4 2010 launch of Windows Mobile 7, DigiTimes asserts that Microsoft will lower the price of WinMo 6.5 to compete against open-source Android devices while positioning WinMo 7 to go head-to-head with the iPhone. In other words, Microsoft appears to be adopting a dual-platform mobile strategy like we’ve heard before, regardless of Steve Ballmer’s recent grandstanding against Google’s dual-platform approach.
reMail 2.0: keep your entire email archive in your pocket
August 17, 2009
I have to admit that I was wrong about reMail. When I wrote about version 1.0, I assumed that nobody would have a problem trusting reMail’s secure servers to store and index their email messages for faster searching, and that nobody wanted to download an entire Gmail archive to an iPhone. Wrong, and wrong again. However, version 2.0 of reMail addresses these issues by eliminating the need to trust reMail with your email passwords and letting you carry your whole email account in your pocket.
On another positive note, reMail is getting rid of its subscription fee and charging a flat fee of $4.99 for the app. Before you pay that 5 bucks, you’ll probably want to know what reMail does that the combination of Apple’s built-in Mail app and Gmail’s mobile version doesn’t do. Aside from the ability to download your archive (attachments included), you get full-text search instead of just subject lines, and search speeds that are reportedly 5 times faster than the other options.
TomTom navigation for iPhone 3G and 3GS arrives (update: Video!)
August 17, 2009
True, it’s not the first app offering turn-by-turn driving instructions for the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS — but it is from TomTom, an industry heavy-weight that is finally delivering on years of rumor and speculation. After starting with New Zealand a few hours ago, the iTunes App Store is now populated with region specific TomTom apps for NZ ($95), Australia ($80), US and Canada ($100), and Western Europe ($140). If that sounds expensive… it is; dedicated TomTom navigators start at $120. In other words, this isn’t one of those knee-jerk 99 cent App Store purchases. Naturally, that price does not include the announced TomTom iPhone car kit (rumored to cost £113.85 (about $194) with bundled mapping software) that mounts and charges your iPhone 3G or 3GS while enhancing its GPS performance, speaker, and microphone. Our advice: wait for the reviews before dedicating your non multi-tasking iPhone to the dashboard for navigation duties.
Update: Recombu took the software for a spin and seem duly impressed by their ability to navigate streets with an iPhone taped to the dash (not a joke). They say that when a call comes in, the TomTom app “turns off but restarts as soon as you finish the call.” Lame.
Update 2: TomTom says the upcoming car kit dock / windshield mount will also work with the iPod touch and third-party apps — it contains a faster, more accurate GPS chip than the one in the iPhone.
