June 21, 2007

Nokia unveils three new Handsets

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, on Monday unveiled three new mobile handsets and said their launch would help boost its global market share from the current estimate of 36 percent.

The new launches include the Nokia 6267, a phone with enhanced music capabilities and multi-media applications using 3G technology; the Nokia 3500 classic, a "stylish" phone with traditional features; and the Nokia 6121 classic, a phone with faster Internet browsing and downloading capabilities.

The Finnish firm in the first quarter this year sold more than a third of all mobile phones across the world, followed closely by rival U.S. handset maker Motorola Inc.

Urpo Karjalainen, Nokia's senior vice president Asia Pacific, said the new launches would take the total number of new handsets launched by the company this year to 26.

"We now see our share of the global market expanding to above the current estimate of 36 percent," Karjalainen told a ceremony in Singapore ahead of the annual telecoms fair CommunicAsia.

Nokia also announced that it has agreed with Malaysia's MiTV Corporation to introduce commercial broadcast mobile TV services in the country in the second half of 2007.

Karjalainen said the mobile TV services in Malaysia would use the Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) technology that allows customers to watch TV channels on their mobile phones.

Nokia has already launched several mobile TV services in the Asia Pacific region in countries such as Singapore, India, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Taiwan, and has conducted trials in some European and North American countries as well using the DVB-H technology.

June 1, 2007

A 12-Megapixel Camera That Doesn’t Mind Working in Low Light

It’s sad but true: sometimes more megapixels in a camera just means more giant, blurry and generally awful pictures. Luckily the 12-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100 has shake reduction and improved autofocus to sharpen things up.

The FX100 uses a 28-millimeter Leica lens and built-in image stabilization to prevent blurring while on the move and, thanks to improved control over sensitivity, even in low light. It can shoot at up to ISO 6400, an impressive range for a small camera, and has a 3.6x optical zoom that can actually stretch up to 7x using some digital trickery that modifies the size of the image in the camera.

The camera has a 2.5-inch display screen and is less than an inch thick. Specialized scene modes include “beach,” “pet” and “baby” as well as a new “burst” mode that takes quick high-resolution pictures in almost any situation. The FX100 includes 27 megabytes of built-in memory, enough for about 10 12-megapixel stills, and has an SD memory card slot for adding more. It can also record video at near-high-definition quality.

This $400 camera comes in silver or black and should be available in July, just in time for taking poster-size vacation pictures