Hasta La Gadget!

The 12.5-megapixel HZ25W combines the compact size of a pocket camera with the larger zooms more common to DSLRs: a 26mm wide-angled lens with 24x optical zoom, in this case. It can also shoot 720p HD video in H.264 format.

There’s no HD output, though. On the upside, the HZ25W (aka WB5000 in Europe) can handle uncompressed RAW images, in addition to standard JPEG files.

Aside from manual controls, aided modes include optical and digital image stabilization, smart face recognition, blink detection, and automatic adjustments to accommodate the color, brightness and movement of what you’re shooting.

Update: The HZ25W is scheduled to hit U.S. shops in October at $400. [Samsung]

Every indication we’ve got is that the Storm 2 is going to foam at the mouth, tear apart the original Storm limb-by-limb, and eat its young when it’s released later this year — and if you want some preliminary evidence of that, look no further than a newly-posted video detailing a few reasons why the new model’s so much better. In the event you’d like to spare yourself four minutes of rimshot-worthy bad jokes, allow us to boil down the video to its bare essentials: the star of the show says the Storm 2 looks better than the original (we’re hard pressed to disagree), it’s got WiFi, you’ve got considerably more free RAM and Flash on board, the revamped SurePress mechanism makes typing easier, the interface is snappier, and shutter lag in the camera is way improved. At the end of the day, it’s still a Storm in every sense of the word, it’s just been tweaked and refined in seemingly all the right ways — which just happens to be a common theme these days. Follow the break for video.

[Via PhoneArena]

Continue reading BlackBerry Storm, Storm 2 face off on video, result predictable

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

BlackBerry Storm, Storm 2 face off on video, result predictable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 07:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Yes, the stickers at the top can be removed.

(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)

A couple weeks back I reviewed the 25.5-inch HP w2558hc, which I still believe is pound for pound, one of the best values for a monitor out there. Soon after my review, HP released the …

Oh Nintendo, you tease. You still won’t give us that jet black Wii console bound for Japan, but you’ve got no problem giving us in North America a taste of the dark side with a black Wiimote and Motion Plus bundle, coming this holiday along with a black nunchuk sold separately. With any luck this is just the sign of things to come, and should the Wii’s sales momentum drop, we’re sure quite a few new colors will start shipping their way over here (light blue, anyone?). On the more portable side of things, the DSi will be adding pink and white to its repertoire on September 13th. Unless the House that Mario Built is feeling particularly nasty, prices should be the same as their pre-existing color counterparts — you wouldn’t put a premium on a palette swap, right Nintendo?

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Black Wii remote bundle coming to North America, no matching console in sight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

These awkwardly-named headphones from Audio Technica solve several problems for me. The ATH-ON300 ONTO (told ya) features a super-thin headband, which has been dubbed the “seamless headband”. This will let me keep my headphones on my ears while cycling — earbuds have a dangerous habit of popping out in the heaviest of traffic.

But better, they will let my stylishly wander the streets wearing both headphones and a gentlemanly Panama hat, as I drown out the din of the city and instead imagine myself in the depths of India, beating malaria with a cold gin-and-tonic. Delicious!

The ‘phones have 30mm drivers and output a dynamic range of 12-23,000Hz, enough to take care of all your compressed MP3 files. At once. The tunes are pumped at a coclear-rattling 100mW and have a 1.2 meter cord. All this for $50.

The downside? Audio Technica seems to have bought the colors from the 1980s. That, and the company says that its colored cans are “designed for women.” There goes my all-male explorer fantasy.

Product page [AudioCubes via Oh Gizmo]