NEW YORK, Feb 16 — High-tech product releases announced the week ending February 15 include a designer interchangable lens camera, a future-proof Smart TV, the first Galaxy Tab to run Ice Cream Sandwich, a quad-core tablet with an 18-hour battery life, and an inexpensive flip phone.
Industrial designer Marc Newson has added his personal design flair to the Pentax K-01 interchangable lens camera. The K-01 features a 16MP APS-C sized CMOS image sensor, a 3in LCD, full HD 1080p video capture at 30 frames per second (or 60FFS at 720p), a fast burst mode for action photography and an ISO range of 100-25600. The camera has a machined aluminium frame and is available in Marc Newson’s signature yellow, or in black or white versions. The K-01 will be available in March 2012 for US$749.95 (RM2,325) (body only) and US$899.95 (lens kit including new DA 40mm XS — the world’s thinnest interchangeable lens).
“Future-proof” Smart TV with facial, voice and motion recognition
Samsung’s high-end E8000 HDTV packs in next-generation features such as voice and gesture controls and the ability to recognise faces. The TV sports Wii-like motion controls that enable users to select apps, browse the web or change the channel by moving their hand, and a built-in camera with facial recognition technology. The ES8000 series TVs also have smart evolution kits which enable users to upgrade key specs (such as the TV’s processor) when more advanced replacements become available. The ES8000 was unveiled in Korea on February 8 and is expected to arrive in stores worldwide by the end of March. Samsung did not provide pricing information.
The first Galaxy Tab to run Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Samsung has taken the wraps off a new 7inGalaxy Tab 2: its first tablet to feature Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The compact device features a 1GHz dual-core processor, a 7inWSVGA (1024x600p) display, a 3MP rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera. Samsung has also packed in its S Suggest app recommendation feature, its ChatON mobile communication service, a face recognition unlocking system, wireless content streaming with AllShare Play and access to more than 400,000 apps via Google’s Android Market. Samsung did not provide official prices for the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) tablet, however Samsung Hub reports that the WiFi version will be priced at around €349 while the 3G version will sell for €429. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will launch in the UK first before becoming available in the global market in March.
A tablet with a quad-core processor and an 18-hour battery life
The latest device to land in Acer’s Iconia Tab lineup is a powerful 10.1in tablet called the Iconia Tab A510. The device runs on Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and is powered by a fast 1.3HGz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. It has a 5MP real camera, a 2MP front camera, 32GB of internal storage, a MicroSD slot, Micro USB 2.0 and HDMI ports, and features DLNA wireless sharing. Users can watch videos continuously for up to 18 hours on one charge thanks to the tablet’s 9800mAh battery. The Acer Iconia Tab A510 will be available in March for €399.
An inexpensive clamshell phone
Motorola has updated its (ageing) Gleam clamshell handset making it 0.4mm thinner and adding an HTML browser. The feature phone, called the Gleam+, measures in at 13.5mm. It features a LED matrix display on the outside for notifications and alerts, and a 2.8in WQVGA (400x240) display on the flipside. It has a 2MP camera, a FM radio, a WAP 2.0 web browser and talk time of up to 4 hours and 49 minutes. The Gleam+ is priced at €99 outright and will be available in silver and white in March. — AFP-Relaxnews
