Sony readies 24.8 megapixel full-frame sensor

Sony is taking the DSLR segment much more seriously than Canon and Nikon would like. In addition to the new A300 and A350model announcement, the actual big news is that Sony is readying -possibly for production in 2008- a 24.8 megapixel 35 mm equivalent full-frame sensor! Sony’s announcement mentions 12-bit processing, a 6.3 frames/second rate and low noise characteristics. So get ready for a truly professional model announcement very soon.

Is it time to start talking about the Big Three in DSLRs? I believe yes, as Sony will cover every user need with a complete range of five -or more- DSLR models.

Sony makes impressive DSLR move with new A300 and A350 for PMA 2008

Today is the first day of PMA 2008 and I have to say that I have never seen before so many DSLR launches in a single show by so many manufacturers. Sony has been up to now silent but the wait was worth it as it is releasing two new DSLR models in its Alpha range, the A300 and the A350. They both squeeze between the entry A200 and higher end A700. Features are nothing but rich:

• A350 resolution is an impressive 14.2 megapixels, in direct competition with Pentax’s new K20D. The A300 has the usual entry DSLR 10 megapixels.
• Live view which means that pictures can be taken by just looking at the 2.7 inch screen. In fact, to leave free room for the live mechanism, the viewfinder is smaller than that of the A200 as this was deemed a necessary sacrifice for this very useful feature.
• Great -I will say it again great!- tilt 2.7 inch monitor that can be positioned at “difficult” positions to take advantage of the live view feature when unusual camera positions do not allow viewfinder use.

Undersea cable damage hammers Internet connectivity in Egypt and India

See what happens when Internet connectivity relies on just one main option? A cut undersea cable in the Mediterranean Sea is estimated to have limited Internet access in Egypt by 70% and India by 60%! Information from Egypt states that it is not known what caused the damage but repairs will need several days. Sounds like a lot of fun…

The Egyptian stock market has continued transactions but it is pointed out that some international transactions have been affected. At the Cairo International Airport ticket sales have been halted but flights continue as scheduled.

Skyfire brings the PC web surfing experience to smartphones (video)

Web surfing on mobile devices is a so far perenial problem and all kinds of indirect solutions are being used. Skyfire is a californian company that wants to make smartphone web surfing identical to that on a PC. Its software is free, currently in beta stage and supports embedded content like Flash 9, Quicktime and Java.

Judging by the company demo video that follows, Skyfire works like a dream over an American EVDO network and loads pretty quickly.

New Nikon D60 DSLR coming to PMA 2008

In the build up to PMA 2008 we already know of the new DSLR cameras from Canon, Pentax and Samsung, for which you can read here. Of course Nikon could not be left behind and chose its official announcement time to be much closer to the PMA opening day this Thursday. The D60 is the new baby and it looks incredibly close to the older D40x that it will probably replace. It incorporates the following features:

• 10 megapixel sensor.
• A dust protection system that combines self-cleaning sensor shake-off and an airflow design to sweep dust away.
• 3-area autofocus.

Video games grow 28.4% in the US in 2007

Video games are the entertainment stars of 2007 as their software side of the business sold $9.5 billion in the US, an amount similar to what was spent for movies and music. The bad news -at least for me- is that PC games account for only 9.5% of sales. Whether piracy or less interest in PC gaming is responsible for this disappointing result is hard to say, sales show that consoles are dominant since their hardware side sold a healthy $9.35 million. The surprise? It is the Wii which has smashed competition from both Microsoft and Sony.

The story behind Finland’s technological success

In technological comparisons between the EU and the US it is almost always forgotten that in both blocks a few states contribute a large piece of the technological pie and raise the average that eventually appears in the statistics. This state for the US is of course good old California. In the EU, although Germany is still the industrial powerhouse, in technological terms the top spot has been clinched by much less known Finland. Considered as frozen backwater up to the start of the 80s and often joked at by its swede neighbours, Finland consistently appears in the world’s technological top positions for more than ten years now, fighting with the likes of South Korea, Singapore and Japan!

A very interesting post by CNET discussed the very issue of Finland’s ascent to technological fame and how its Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen explains this success. Like in all things tech, good planning and farsighted investment are critical. And in this Finland has excelled, as it has decided from the early 80s that head on competition with low labour cost economies is not wise and it was better to move in high tech fields where it can be ahead of the pack.

Amazon MP3 service will be available internationally in 2008

We have already discussed here how well Amazon MP3 develops into a veritable iTunes threat and it was pointed out how nice it would be to have the service available universally. Apparently Amazon has been listening and is planning an international rollout for its well received MP3 service. Launched only in September 2007, Amazon MP3 has managed to quickly secure offerings from all four big labels, not less than 3.3 million songs and 270,000 artists. Now if you are stuck in finding something good to listen to, nobody will believe you any more…

New DSLR cameras coming in PMA 2008

Tired of CES and Macworld yet? Time for something more focused, because PMA is no generalist show but concentrates exclusively on imaging stuff. I am not going to deal with compacts at all, as models change with the the frequency of weather changes, I am going to concentrate on my favourite part of the show, DSLR cameras :-) There is already wind of new DSLR models for the show, the timing is quite critical as 2008 is going to be good for this segment and fierce competition is a certainty.

Canon is going to reveal its 450D/Rebel XSi that will replace its current 400D/XTi. With 12 megapixel resolution, a larger viewfinder, live view, spot metering, 3 inch screen, 14-bit processing and high ISO noise reduction it is a definite improvement but times are changing and the competition is not as weak as in previous years… A point to note is that resolution is higher than the 10 Mp of the more expensive and capable 40D, a case of dismay among Canon customers expressed vocally in the past with the 400D/XTi and the 30D.

Japanese cellphone novels become best sellers!

It is common for novels to inspire films or films to inspire games -and vice versa- but cellphones inspiring novels? It’s already happening in Japan, and in fact last year novel downloads that were written on cellphones and are read on cellphones have outsold traditional print publications! And not only that, the more popular forms of those successfully make it to print form. Five of last year’s print top ten -including the top three- were originally cellphone novels!

The writers are typically young women that can type really quickly with their thumbs on their tiny cellphone keyboards. Most writers and readers belong to a generation that grew up with a cellphone planted in their hand and consider it an extension of their body. In fact, it is not uncommon for young people to feel more at comfort with a cellphone than with a computer, as it can be carried and used everywhere, even at places where no other activity is possible, the metro, waiting for the bus…