Hasta La Gadget!

Incredibly, Panasonic’s been the proud parent of a 103-inch plasma since January 2006. Here we are almost five years later learning off a 3D variant, model TH-P103MT2. The Full HD 3D plasma with 5m:1 native contrast ratio is expected to cost about 8.5 million yen or a bit more than $100,000 when Panny begins taking orders tomorrow, November 18th — and that still doesn’t include the cost to ship, handle, and install the 439 pound TV onto the wall of your country estate. At least it ships with one pair of active shutter glasses.

Panasonic’s 103-inch 3D plasma hits for massive $100,000 price originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic says it will start selling Android-based smartphones in Japan next year, overseas in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so executives at Panasonic probably aren’t in any big hurry to get ahead in the long, long wait for a Model S, but a $30 million gift could probably get ’em just that. Panny has this week sunk quite a few bills into Tesla by way of a common stock purchase, and while the two have expressed fondness for each other before, this kind of investment doesn’t happen without a serious tie-up being in the works. Of course, Panasonic just so happens to be the planet’s leading battery cell manufacturer, and as of now, it’s being called Tesla’s “preferred lithium-ion battery cell supplier for its battery packs.” So yeah, you know where to look first when things start overheating, melting or spontaneously erupting in flames.

Continue reading Panasonic sinks $30 million into Tesla, begs for an earlier Model S build

Panasonic sinks $30 million into Tesla, begs for an earlier Model S build originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Nov 2010 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How do you follow up on an almost perfect camera? If you’re Panasonic, and that camera is the mirrorless, lens-swapping GF1, then you forget about incremental updates and just ruin everything.

The new GF2 tosses many things that were good in the compact, Micro Four Thirds GF1 in the name of miniaturization. But first, what’s new? The GF2 gets an update to the Venus Engine image processor which boosts the maximum ISO to 6400, a touch-screen, which now controls almost everything, and an upgrade to the HD video mode, now shooting 1080i and 720p at 60fps, with a built-in stereo microphone. The 12.1MP sensor, however, is the same one found in the GF1.

Gone are the mode selector dial on the top plate, along with the very useful drive-mode lever that surrounded it and offered quick access to burst, self-timer and bracketing modes. Also missing are most of the buttons on the rear-panel. The camera keeps the multi-function D-pad along with the playback and quick-menu buttons, but loses the AF/MF selector, the AF/AE lock and display buttons and also the dedicated depth-of-field preview button.

All these functions are now shifted off to the touch-screen, which has the same 3-inch, 460,000-dot resolution as the GF1. The menu system has been completely redesigned (thank God), and some neat functions have been added. For instance, you tap on a face and to focus and the GF2 not only sets the exposure mode to “portrait” but can also lock on and follow the subject around the screen.

Clearly Panasonic is positioning this as a step-up for compact users, not as the do-anything pro camera that was the GF1. And what do we get for these sacrifices? A few fractions of an inch shaved off the size (4.4 x 2.7 x 1.3-inches vs. 4.7 x 2.8 x 1.4-inches) and a weight saving of a half an ounce.

The kit lens has also changed, from the lovely 20mm ƒ1.7 of old to the 14mm F2.5. You can also pick the adequate 14-42mm zoom, just as you could before, or pick a box that includes both.

If you currently own and love your GF1, there really is nothing to see here. If you’re thinking of buying the GF1, you still should, as this new camera is something completely different. In fact, it might be worth keeping an eye on what Olympus does with its Pen series, as from now on that seems it may be be the only way to get a proper Micro Four Thirds camera with actual buttons.

Price TBA, the GF2 will go on sale in January 2011.

Press release [Panasonic]

PAnasonic GF2 Hands-on video [Which? UK]

See Also:

• A Month With the Lumix GF1, And Why I No Longer Use The Nikon D700 …
• Hands-On With Panasonic's Leica-Lite GF1
• Tiny Panasonic GF-2 Spotted on Paris Billboard

Rumors have been swirling around an imminent update to Panasonic’s GF-1 for the last week, but now we have a photograph of the Lumix GF-2. The word from the snitches and stool-pigeons on the street has been that the GF-2 will be tiny, and will keep the same sensor as the current GF-1.

As you can see, it is very small, with some reports claiming that it will be smaller than Sony’s NEX cameras, the current kings of the mirrorless slimming contest. This photograph was snapped by a French reader of the 43 Rumors site, outside the Salon de Photo show which opens in Paris tomorrow. This rings true: every year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ad billboards betray new products days before the show begins.

But you want more details, right? The GF-2 will sport a new image processor, record “Full-HD” and will come equipped with a touch-screen. Looking at the photo, it appears that the size reduction might come at the expense of utility: Apart from the shutter-release, there appear to be almost no controls on the top plate, and certainly no dials. I guess the touch screen will fold these into some slow-to-navigate menus instead. A shame, as the controls on the GF-1, which I have and love, are pretty great.

Panasonic may also be offering a new kit, with a 14mm ƒ2.5 lens instead of the 20mm ƒ1.7 found on the GF-1.

Hopefully Panasonic won’t mess this up. We should find out tomorrow, as the same rumor sources point to an announcement in the morning. Availability of the new model is not expected until 2011, so if this does turn out the be the LX-5 with interchangeable lenses it appears to be, you can still snap up the awesome little GF-1 before it ships.

Panasonic GF2 image spotted in Paris [43 Rumors]

See Also:

• A Month With the Lumix GF1, And Why I No Longer Use The Nikon D700 …
• Hands-On With Panasonic's Leica-Lite GF1