Hasta La Gadget!

There’s a brand new compact digital camera here in the Olympus camp and it’s aiming for greatness with Stylus XZ-2 iHS on its name tag and high-performance point-and-shoot action on its list of checkmarks. This device has the lovely 4x optical / 4x Digital zoom iZUIKO DIGITAL f1.8-2.5 large-diameter lens favored by the predecessor to this device from Olympus and adds a hybrid control ring, a touch-sensitive tilt screen, and a TruePic VI image processor. You’ll be rocking with Full HD movie recording as well as FlashAir compatibility to rock and roll with your smartphone or mobile-connected tablets instantly – social time!

Inside you’ve got a 12-megapixel 1/1.7″ high-sensitivity back-lit CMOS sensor teamed up with the same processor you’ll find in the impressive Olympus OM-D E-M5 we reviewed earlier this year. That’s the TruePic VI processor and with it combined with the lens, you’ll have faster recovery time as well as shutter releases on a regular basis. You’ve got up to ISO 12,800 with the device’s speedy f1.8 lens for full-resolution photos that look excellent even in dim conditions.

The hybrid control ring is what Olympus lets us know is the world’s first of its kind. Here you’ve got function settings able to be assigned with ease and switches between digital operations and analog with little effort. You’ve also got touch controls, of course, with the XZ-2′s touch screen on the back with Live Guide and a user interface quite similar to the OM-D we’ve reviewed and the PEN shooters also just revealed today.

This camera will be available in November of 2012, just in time for the holiday season, and will be appearing with a USB cable, video cable, Lithium-ion battery pack, battery charger, shoulder strap, Olympus ib software CD, manuals, registration card, and a healthy dose of love from Olympus. This unit will be available for an estimated street price of $599.99 USD and will be available in any color just so long as its black. This unit has an accessory port – as you may have noticed – so you’ll be able to be compatible with what Olympus notes is a “growing range of Micro Four Thirds accessories” – fun stuff!

Olympus Stylus XZ-2 iHS revealed with flagship aspirations is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you thought LG’s Optimus G and Nokia’s Lumia 920 had future touchscreen tech all sewn up, then be ready to welcome Sony’s own contribution. Its sensor-on-lens touchscreen will debut on the Xperia V, combining the sensor and lens component of a standard capacitive display, reducing the number of layers, glare and other interference. This improves both image quality and the screen’s responsiveness — Sony reckons the experience brings it in line with the aforementioned on- and in-cell touch display technology. During our brief hands-on at IFA, we found the Xperia V was certainly responsive enough, but perhaps some of that sensation can be attributed to the new screen, rather than the dual-core Snapdragon processor powering it. We’ll be sure to give it a thorough testing when our review model appears.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Sony Xperia V packs new sensor-on-lens touchscreen tech, promises a ‘true direct touch experience’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI has proudly introduced its new all-in-one PC namely the Wind Top AE2051. Powered by an AMD E2-1800 APU with an AMD Radeon HD 7340 graphics, the computer includes a 20-inch touchscreen display, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard disk drive, a DVD burner, WiFi, a card reader, a 0.3-megapixel webcam for Skype video calls, USB 3.0, HDMI and a keyboard-mouse set. The MSI Wind Top AE2051 runs on the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit operating system. Sadly, there is no info on pricing or availability at this time. [PCLaunches]

If you want to get in on the Windows 8 universe with one of the first touchscreen PCs in the world to feature said software out of the box but don’t want to spend a pretty penny to get it, the HP Pavilion 20 All-in-One PC might be just the ticket for you. This machine includes a wireless keyboard and mouse in the box and will be appearing on the 23rd of October for just $499. And while that price shocks your mind, making you think that no high-class AIO could possible be that cheap, have a peek at its features here and now, starting with a choice of Intel or AMD processor right out of the box!

You’ll be working with HP Connected Remote and Photo for your perfectly tuned control of videos, music, and photo slideshows. You’ll do this from the PC itself or from a connected smartphone or tablet – wirelessly, of course. This machine has a slim design not unlike what we’ve seen from HP earlier this year in their all-in-one lineup across the board. HP has taken a lovely minimalistic approach to their all-in-one designs this season, and it’s continuing on to Windows 8!

This HP Pavilion 20 all-in-one machine will be bringing you a simple set of components that do not sacrifice in overall performance. That is to say, do not sacrifice if you’re looking for an average everyday experience with your PC. If you want to do some hardcore video processing and next-level gaming all day and night long, you might want to ramp up a bit. For those of you that want an all-in-one experience that’s ready for media consuming and light workloads, this model may be your most awesome choice at the price it’s being offered.

This machine will be coming with options in many components, including – as mentioned – Intel Core or AMD processors as well as up to 2 terabytes of storage inside. You’ll be rolling out along with many other HP computers on the 23rd of October with Windows 8, and you’ll be doing it for right around $500 USD – that wont break the bank! Hit up our HP tag portal for more HP releases this week – Windows 8 ahoy!

HP Pavilion 20 AIO PC brings Windows 8 touchscreen at $499 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon today took wraps off a whole new family of Kindle tablets and e-readers, taking aim at top, middle and bottom of the portable media device market. The biggest announcement of the day was the new series of Kindle Fire HD tablets, ranging in size from 7″ to 8.9″ and aiming squarely at Apple’s iPad juggernaut.

Priced at $499 USD (32GB) to $599 (64GB), the top-of-the-line Kindle Fire HD offers an 8.9″ 1920×1200 touchscreen display (for full 1080p video playback), 4G LTE connectivity, Dolby audio, dual stereo speakers (so you get stereo in either landscape or portrait modes), and a front-facing HD camera for video chats. Also revealed was an improved dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi system which claims to be 40% faster than the latest iPad at streaming content on a compatible Wi-Fi network. The tablet is powered by a speedy 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP4470 CPU with a PowerVR 3D graphics core.

In addition to the 4G LTE model, a Wi-Fi only Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is available for just $299 (16GB) or $369 (32GB), dramatically undercutting Apple’s pricing scheme for similar models. Those who pick up the 4G model will be happy to hear that AT&T and Amazon have teamed up to offer a full year of 4G service for just $49. However, this does include only 250 MB a month of data, so you could burn through that quickly – especially with streaming HD video content. 3GB and 5GB data plans are also available, but pricing wasn’t announced.

There’s also a 7″ Kindle Fire HD going for just $199 (16GB) or $249 (32GB) with all of the same features, but a slight cut in processor speed down to 1.2GHz, and a reduction to 1280×800 screen resolution, but there’s no 3G or 4G option available for the 7″ model at this point. We can only imagine that if Apple is to reveal an iPad Mini, it will be similarly priced and spec’d.

All models offer an IPS display with polarizing filter and anti-glare technology to make the screen as useful as possible in a variety of viewing environments. include unlimited cloud storage for content from Amazon, as well as integrated Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and Exchange support. Of course, you’ll also be able to load Android apps, as well as have access to the Kindle Owners’ free Lending Library with these tablets.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ models are expected to ship on November 20th, while the Fire HD 7″ model will be available next week – on September 14th. And if you’re perfectly content with the plain old Kindle Fire display and Wi-Fi, you can grab one today for just $159, with the bonus of a 40% speed bump, twice the memory and improved battery life from the original.

If you’re in the market for an e-Reader, today is your lucky day – with the reveal of the Kindle Paperwhite, you can finally get the benefits of an electrostatic ink display, but also be able to read it at night. The Paperwhite offers not only a super-sharp paper-like display, but has a built-in light so you can read it in bed without an external light source.

Amazon claims an astounding 8 week battery life for the Paperwhite, even with the light on! Amazon also says the paperwhite display has 62% more pixels and a 25% higher contrast from standard E-Ink displays, as well as a bunch of specially optimized fonts for making reading as good as any paper book you ever looked at.

The Wi-Fi model of the Kindle Paperwhite is going for just $119 (if you’re willing to look at Amazon’s special offers), or $139 without, while the 3G version is $179 (with offers) and $199 (without).

Amazon is accepting pre-orders now for all new Kindle models.