Until now, the only thing that separated the BlackBerry from the iPhone—apart from the iPhone's better, faster and more powerful operating system—was the push email on the BlackBerry. (Well, and the physical keyboard that some people say they could never part with.) I was a CrackBerry addict myself before getting the iPhone, and the only thing I missed (sometimes not really, because it can get very annoying) was the push email.

With iPhone OS 2.0 and MobileMe (or the enterprise connectivity options) the push email difference is completely gone.

The push mail works flawlessly. Even over international connections: to do the cellphone network test I used a Vodafone Spain SIM card running on the Vodafone UK network here in London. Not a single glitch—the thing just worked almost instantly. Knowing that Apple is using Sun Java Messaging Servers, probably paired with Synchronica or Consilient's over-the-air synchronization modules, I'm not surprised. It feels like they have put together a rock-solid operation.

If you couple that with the fact that both consumers and enterprise iPhone users are going to be able to push sync everything, including calendars, address book and web bookmarks, you can see why Research In Motion is going to have a very tough time defending against the Apple juggernaut on software features. The combination of multimedia, consumer and enterprise features on the iPhone, coupled with the flawless Application Store and its user interface, makes any BlackBerry look like a useless brick.

UPDATE: While we love the push email, Ars has some tests that show why the iPhone may not be ready for primetime enterprise.

The whole thing feels like having iTunes in the palm of your hand. Once you authenticate your remote by entering a four-digit code—the iPhone or iPod touch needs to be in the same wireless network—it's all a matter of opening the application and starting to surf your iTunes library.

There are five sections on the remote:

Playlists
Here you have access to your personal playlists, just like in iTunes. This includes the smart playlists as well. All changes in iTunes are reflected in real time on the remote, just as you would expect.

Artists
This is a browser view by artist, which looks identical to the one on the iPod.

Albums
Same as Artists. Here you can see the artwork, streamed directly from iTunes.

Search
The search engine is a little bit weird but works great. It's live, so when you start writing, the results start to appear on the screen. However, you can't click directly on the list. When you are done writing whatever you're searching for, you click on the result list and it activates. Then you can scroll through it, with all your results neatly organized by Albums, Artists and Songs.

More
Here you will find access to the rest of the media in iTunes, from audiobooks to music videos and, of course, movies.

You can associate several libraries to the remote. There is a Settings button on the top left corner. When you click on it, you can Add Library and also turn on the Stay Connected option, which is listed under Performance. I don't know if this is related to Wi-Fi power consumption or just to the fact that, while being always connected, you won't need to reconnect after your iPhone wakes up.

There are no delays in the operation so far. Everything works fast and smoothly. Now, the only thing I want is having playback on the iPhone. Not just control iTunes remotely, but actually accessing the media from the iPhone or iPod touch, via Wi-Fi or 3G network. That would be the key to avoid having too little space: get an unlimited data plan and just access everything on your computer remotely. We can only hope that this is what Steve & Co. have in mind for the next version.

As you can see, MobileMe's setup is quite straightforward. Like with .Mac accounts on the original iPhone, the preference panel only requires you to add your user name and password. After the information is verified, the iPhone takes you to a screen where you can turn on and off the synchronization of calendar, mail, bookmarks, and address book. In its current beta state, the synchronization process completely obliterated my current data, replacing it with Addy's.

Unfortunately, as you can see in the video, she didn't have any data in her .Mac account except for mail messages (she has never synchronized her current Sony Ericsson or MacBook with the .Mac servers, so everything was empty after the first sync). I don't know if completely replacing the existing iPhone contents is the desired behavior or a bug in the iPhone OS 2.0 beta, so we would have to wait for the release of the new operating system this Friday to see how it it really works. There are two possibilities: either the synchronization would mix the existing data and the incoming data in the iPhone, or it would assume that you would like to fully replace your iPhone contents with a fresh copy from MobileMe.

After the first synchronization over the air, however, the push synchronization didn't work. We would have to wait for tomorrow—which apparently could be the date for MobileMe activation—to see how it goes. Stay tuned for our ongoing iPhone 2.0 and MobileMe testing.

Smaller than the 8800, but bigger than the Curve, it feels really nice in your hand. Well, our hand. The keyboard is solid, as expected—BlackBerries live and die by the keyboard. Sweet design, more features, a great browser and the most consumer-oriented feel of any BlackBerry yet. This is the BlackBerry you've been wanting.

The reception increase is partly to do with the new plastic back. There are 10 radio bands in here, counting 3 GSM bands, 4 3G bands, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. (And one more I don't know?) I don't know how scratch resistant I believe it will be, but Apple says it will be more durable. It looks EXACTLY like the leaked images from awhile ago that were chalked up as iPhone 1 cases.

Apple wouldn't say why 3G life was so good, but I picked up a hint that it was both software and newer 3G chips up to the task.

3G data on the maps and browser were only slightly slower than Wi-Fi.

The locator tech wasn't working for me, on Maps. It spun and spun, probably because I'd turned the Wi-Fi off.
I noticed that the iPhone asked me for permission to give both the maps program and the camera app permission to use my location. It reminded me a bit of a Vista security prompt. It's my phone, of course it can use my location. The camera app was actually using it to do geotagging!

(The camera itself was not noticeably improved.)

The black is very very nice. The white? It's ok, but very feminine, so maybe it's good for Jason or Jesús.

I felt the screen wasn't as smooth as the previous, but that could be the fact that there was zero grease on it, unlike my personal phone. The screen's glass and LCD are identical to the previous iPhone's.

There still isn't any cut and paste, and Bluetooth software hasn't been updated to do A2DP, but the very smooth (and impossible to derail from Apple Messaging) Greg Joswiak didn't say the hardware wasn't improved. I asked if audio streaming was coming, and he looked hesitant to answer. (I'll take that as a yes.) Before he could answer, I spoke for him. "We don't comment on future product announcements." They also denied me a chance to take a photo.

There was a dock, very thin and rounded, with the phone sticking out of the face (there was no border from the dock obscuring the view. I also saw a 2 prong USB power plug much smaller than the old adapter.

Lastly, the metal buttons were chromed, and I frankly liked the black ones better. But these feel more precise, and indeed, the lock button is slightly more recessed than on the first generation phone. The buttons were not made metal for durability reasons, either; this was a pure design decision.

I also played Super Monkey Ball during my 15 minutes with the iPhone. I didn't like how to control the game, I had to set the screen to viewing angles that would compromise my view of the screen. But I did catch on how to play within a few seconds.

Audio? It was definitely clearer than the single mono speaker in the first iPhone. (Even if this one is not stereo either.)

Nothing much has been left unimproved. If you're going to stick with ATT for awhile, $200 seems like a good deal for such improved hardware. What's cool is that since the App store and a lot of the functionality in software will be coming to the first gen iPhone, current users don't really have to feel the pressure to upgrade. Me? I'm certainly going to.

Because the page is like an image, you can pan and scroll around fast and easily, but zooming in and out is a bit clunkier. Typing in a text field requires you to type something on Skyfire's text input, then sending that to Skyfire, then sending the resulting image back to your phone.

Although it touts Flash video, support, watching YouTube videos is still more like a fast slideshow than an actual video—though most of the video quality depends on your connection type and speed. It's no iPhone Safari browser—and probably will never be because of the fact that rendering is done off-phone—but it's a reasonably close approximation for now.

* Multi-line text entry (2,000 character limit)
* Auto-complete text entry
* Paste into URL or search
* Ability to delete bookmarks
* Multiple zoom modes for touch screen phones
* Double tap to Zoom In and Zoom Out
* Support for custom virtual keyboards (SIP)
* Web search shortcut in softkey menu
* Access to the Windows Mobile Taskbar in softkey menu
* Persistent settings for SmartFit, Mute and Zoom size
* Support for 12-key and ½ QWERTY devices
* Password masking
* Backlight usage based on system settings
* OK button sends Skyfire to the background

[Skyfire]

Sadly, we only got to test out the ski-related games. We could see that there was a snowboarding game, but it was not unlocked to play. Yeah, we were mad too. But what we did test out gave us a good idea of how the Wii Fit works.

The first thing that the Wii Fit had us set was our center of gravity. This is the basis for most of the games, since the Wii will be able to determine which way you are leaning by your center of gravity. When we first stepped on the balance board we couldn't help but notice that our size 10 feet barely fit. If we had any larger of a foot, our toes would have definitely hung off.

With our center of gravity set, we quickly found our way to the snow-related games. We first gave downhill skiing a try and found we had no clue what we were doing. Attempting to lift our feet and lean the direction we wanted to go didn't work.

Halfway through ruining the first run, we noticed that in the top right corner of the screen there was a small center of gravity display. This showed our realtime center of gravity, so as we leaned it obviously reflected the changes.

In our next run down the mountain, instead of focusing on our Mii, or character-whatever they call it, we put all of our attention on that center of gravity display. We quickly learned how leaning a certain way or shifting our weight to one foot was correctly changing our center of gravity.

This same principle helped for the ski jump game. When dropping in for the jump you need to keep your center of gravity perfectly. Once at the lip of the jump you quickly shift your weight up, without removing your feet from the balance board. While in the air we had to pay close attention to that center of gravity display, making sure we were never too far off from perfect. If we kept the center of gravity close enough to the center we landed clean.

So will the Wii Fit be saving us from summer hell? We don't think so. Even though the skiing mini-games are fun, come this September, nothing will kill our anticipation to ride. Not even the Wii Fit.

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Its showstopper feature, the ridonkulous ISO ratings, fell way short, though you should keep in mind this is a pre-production model, and it could get much better before it ships: A few snaps shot at 6400 had mad noise, evident even in playback on its LCD screen. That aside, I still can't really feel for this camera. The only feature I can say is neat is the tilting screen but Sony has it too on their new alphas. Maybe some more extensive testing would reveal otherwise, but my based on initial impressions, if you're going to pick up a camera that weighs, feels and is priced like a DSLR, just get a DSLR. [Giz @ PMA]

[PMA 2008 Coverage @ Giz]

The iSight webcam is a round hole instead of a square, the lid has a convex design, and slowly goes to a point on the sides. The MagSafe charger is slightly smaller, and it's silver. The MagSafe connector is also new, and connects at a 90-degree angle instead of just pulling out like the current ones. We've got photos vs. the Sony Vaio Steve mentioned during the Keynote as well, so check the gallery.

The touchpad (full impressions here) lets you pinch to expand all the pictures in iPhoto, and if you zoom in far enough you hit one picture. Once you start using the two fingers to scroll around inside one picture, it starts to lag. It's not as responsive as an iPhone. The trackpad is bigger than on current laptops—not so narrow but more fat. The button (mouse button) is smaller than a MacBook's though.

On the top of the screen, next to the iSight, is an ambient light sensor and a mic. Since the bottom is curved down, it doesn't have a hard 90 degree edge that you hit your hand on when you're typing. Very nice.

Verdict? Ultra light, ultra awesome.

You've already seen the details. The FyreTV streams you DVD-quality adult IPTV from major studios, letting you enjoy content without having to store it locally. You've got three packages to subscribe with beyond the mandatory $9.99 monthly fee that gives you a certain bucket of minutes.

• Buying more on-demand minutes to use as you watch, which will be somewhere between $0.17 to $0.24 a minute.
• Buying a specific movie to get unlimited viewing.
• Buying a monthly pass to get unlimited access (for that month) to a specific studio's content, which gives you all the movies in their catalog. This will be somewhere around $24ish, depending on the studio.

The box performance was great. DVD quality video was good on the cheap Vizio set they were demoing it on. The remote control was super responsive, and when you queue up a video it streams incredibly fast (probably because of their setup on the floor, so we'll have to see how it performs in the real world when we do a hands-on at home).

Other great functionality include bookmarking, favorites, playback history, playlists, scene ranking (1 to 5 stars), combination tag searches (Blondes, Boobs, Blondes + Big Boobs were the ones we used) and easy fast forward/rewinding through scenes.

FyreTV's best news is that their box will have no stickers (as shown in the pictures) or markings on it, so you can hide it in plain sight next to your DVR and have your in-laws be none the wiser. Why watch porn on your little computer monitor when you can watch it on a 150-inch HDTV in your living room? Oh and if you've read this far, it means you're definitely interested in this thing. We're going to have a special code soon for Gizmodo readers that will get you into the expanded beta (they went from 5,000 to 10,000 beta units) ahead of everyone else. [FyreTV]

Photo credit: FyreTV

The thing is rather stiff but still flexible, has good build quality, and gets the job done except for the loss of the ability to pause music and answer calls while listening, as you can do with the stock iPhone buds. The most remarkable aspect? Monster Cable only mildly rips you off with this one, charging just $9.95 for this headphone adapter (almost exactly price-matching a similar one from Belkin) that shouldn't even be necessary. [Monster Cable]

The other cabinet that caught our eye was the GBD003, a sexy retro tabletop with sleek glossy black design and shiny chrome accents. Sitting two players, it's the perfect size to double as a coffee table. So there's no question—we need one now. That will be $2000 if and when the model finds distribution.

The only catch? The system plays 156 generic titles, not real MAME stuff...until you hack it.

The units we got to play with were both fully working—one of which was hooked up to a Mac and the other was running in demo mode. Here's what we think:

• Each key's display is very bright and very crisp.
• The keys aren't too clacky and aren't too soft. A good and happy medium between the old ass IBM clackers and the scissor-style laptop keys.
• Unless you wash your hands regularly (which apparently trade-show attendees do not) the keyboard gets greasy. Very greasy. I need some anti-herpes wipe.
• The shift and caps lock keys were working, and they change the entire layout to CAPS (just as you'd expect). We've got video of this later, but it's very crisp and makes it extremely easy to tell whether or not YOU"VE GOT THE SHIFT KEY HELD DOWN.
• It's extremely customizable. We didn't get to see it here, but you can use the utility to change the background, foreground, and make the whole keyboard rainbow-colored if you so wish.
• It's super responsive hitting the keys as well—absolutely no difference between this and a regular keyboard.
• It feels very solidly made, more so than many other keyboards.
• Taking keys out is fairly easy, and it pops right back into place.

Is it worth $1500? We weren't sure before, but after getting hands-on time with it we're definitely leaning toward a maybe. And if they can lower the price by 50%, then it's a yes. It's one of those things that we'll save up money for and buy after a drunken night out.

We also got to meet Art Lebedev, the guy responsible for the Optimus and many other designs, and we can totally tell that he's on the level and a great guy to boot. In case any of you still thought the Optimus Maximus was vaporware, it's not.

Unfortunately, the $699 price tag combined with a $10-$15 monthly fee (depending on the number of years usage purchased up front) may still be a little too pricey for some smaller businesses.

Creative Announces a Breakthrough in Video Conferencing with inPerson
Public Unveiling of inPerson Conferencing at Consumer Electronics Show

MILPITAS, Calif. - Jan. 7, 2008 - Creative, a worldwide leader in audio and video innovation, today announced inPerson, a breakthrough in technology, design, price and ease-of-use that introduces the entirely new category of inPerson Conferencing. Creative will demonstrate inPerson from January 7-10 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV at the Creative exhibit, South Hall #30642 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Resellers of networking and video communications systems will have the chance to learn more about inPerson at the Creative booth.

"Imagine having seven meetings on seven continents in seven hours, and everyone wants you to be there. With Creative inPerson, you can join a board meeting in Geneva, a one-on-one in Africa, and your child's birthday party in California while you're stuck in the airport in Australia," said Jeff Stoen, PhD, general manager of video and imaging for Creative Labs, Inc. "inPerson is a breakthrough for small group meetings and multi-party, multi-location meetings, and it's great for one-on-one meetings. It enables high-quality inPerson Conferencing with video and audio with the impact of actually being there, from the road, a hotel, coffee shop or meeting room where you have open web access or can enter a security key for access."

"Creative inPerson will revolutionize the way people can communicate. You can be there inPerson without having to travel. As soon as you try it for business, you'll want to have it in your home for inPerson calling with friends and relatives," continued Stoen. "inPerson is lightweight and wireless, and has a high-quality seven-inch screen for high-resolution video, and it can connect to a large flat panel screen, TV or projector for life-size high-resolution video presence. We designed inPerson to increase companies' productivity and reduce the need for costly and burdensome travel while enabling more employees and customers than ever before to meet inPerson. At only $699.99, companies can now equip all of their meeting rooms and even people's desks with inPerson. Now all employees in a company can have the advantage of inPerson Conferencing. Past-generation video conferencing systems have been far too expensive and complicated to provide video communications throughout an organization, and have typically been relegated to just the board room. inPerson changes all of that."

You Can Be There inPerson

• Reduce your carbon footprint - With inPerson you can have your most fuel-efficient meetings ever. Improve your productivity by spending your time closing the deal instead of logging hours and miles just to get to a meeting.
• A fraction of the cost of past-generation video conferencing systems - Priced at only $699.99 with a low-cost monthly service fee, inPerson provides a breakthrough in cost so companies can now equip all of their meeting rooms and communicate with customers and vendors at a dramatically lower cost than with past-generation video conferencing systems.
• Inexpensive inPerson Conferencing - With the monthly service plan you get free inPerson Conferencing with any other inPerson or with anyone with a PC with a web camera and Creative inPerson for PC software.
• Sets up in seconds - and boots up quickly.
• Wi-Fi or LAN connection - For inPerson Conferencing from the board room, coffee shop, hotel, airport or anyplace you can connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot or Ethernet that has open web access or where you only need to enter a security key for access.
• Sure Connect Technology - Designed as part of the monthly service plan to help ensure that you can get a fast and easy connection to inPerson Conferencing.
• Multi-party capability - For an optional monthly service charge, multi-party inPerson Conferencing capability can be added, supporting up to four inPerson locations all on the screen at the same time.
• Stunning seven-inch LCD screen - Supports up to 16 million colors so you can see multiple meeting participants and their facial expressions and body language clearly.
• Video output - You can inPerson Conference in high resolution on the built-in screen or output your video to a flat panel screen, TV or projector for a life-size presence in any important meeting.
• inPerson Audio Technology - inPerson is equipped with dual microphones and Integrated Acoustic Echo Cancellation technology for crystal clear voice, with equal sound quality for one-on-one or group meetings even if you're several feet away. For a more private conversation, you can even connect a headset with microphone.
• High-quality audio output - inPerson features a built-in speaker, or connects to a speaker system for large group presentations. Ultra quiet design with passive cooling eliminates the need for a fan and prevents unwanted background noise.
• Intuitive inPerson interface - A very simple keypad with color-coded control buttons enables quick and easy access to contacts and menu choices.
• Compact and lightweight - inPerson measures only 7.5" x 6" x 1" and weighs only 1.6 ounces, so it's easy to move around the office or fit into a bag or briefcase.
• Wide-angle lens - Built into a rotating bezel so you can easily see more than just one person.
• Excellent low-light performance - If you're joining the meeting from a place with less than ideal lighting conditions, the high-grade sensor delivers superb low-light performance without compromising image quality.
• Battery or AC power - With the optional rechargeable Li-ion battery pack, inPerson goes wherever you go.
• Wireless remote - Designed for ease of use, including all the same buttons that are on inPerson.
More information about inPerson will be posted in coming weeks on www.creative.com.

HF10: This is their top of the line consumer cam featuring two types of flash memory recording: a 16GB internal Flash drive, as well as an SDHC memory card slot. 3.3MP CMOS, 1920 x 1080 video, 24P and 30P recording.
HF100: It's the HF10, but in silver and missing the SDHC slot.

During our hands-on today, both felt great in the hand with solid build quality. Playback buttons that are mounted below the flipout display are absolutely brilliant, but we were very disappointed by the side-mounted video/menu wheel, making it awkward for your thumb to swap modes on the fly. Also of note: the HF10 cannot record both flash formats simultaneously. Here are the full specs...

CANON U.S.A. INTRODUCES THE VIXIA FAMILY OF HIGH-DEFINITION CAMCORDERS FOR THE ULTIMATE CONSUMER EXPERIENCE

Models Include Breakthrough Use of Dual Flash Memory, Genuine Canon Optics, And Other Proprietary Technologies, Expanding Consumers' Recording Options

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., January 7, 2008 - Canon U.S.A., Inc. proudly announces the VIXIA family - a new lineup of consumer High-Definition camcorders embracing Canon optical and imaging technologies for superior image quality and flexibility - at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (Booth #12606).

The new HD camcorder family - the Canon VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder, VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory camcorder and VIXIA HV30 HD camcorder - reflects Canon's commitment to High-Definition imaging excellence. In addition, the previously released HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive camcorder and HR10 AVCHD DVD camcorder join the VIXIA family, giving consumers a variety of formats to choose from, all of which deliver a superior High-Definition experience. Also being introduced is the DW-100 DVD Burner*.

"We are very excited about our new VIXIA family of camcorders, as well as being an innovator by offering Dual Flash Memory," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "Consumers are actively investing in HD televisions and they're discovering the value of capturing memories in HD. Whichever format consumers may prefer, including our revolutionary Dual Flash Memory, all VIXIA camcorders share Genuine Canon Optics and a host of Canon technologies allowing precious moments to be preserved with unrivaled color and clarity."

VIXIA Core Technologies

All VIXIA camcorders feature Canon core technologies to create HD video that possesses the highest level of image quality - a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens incorporates over 70 years of optics experience in professional broadcast and photography; a Canon designed and manufactured HD CMOS Image Sensor for Full HD (1920 x 1080) image capture; the Canon-developed DIGIC DV II Image Processor for superior color and clarity; Instant AutoFocus for fast and accurate auto focusing, crucial for HD; and SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization, which corrects a wide range of camcorder vibration for virtually shake-free images.

Dual Flash Memory - The Ultimate Consumer Convenience

Canon's breakthrough use of Dual Flash Memory - the ability to record to an internal Flash drive as well as a removable SDHC memory card - allows consumers to experience a new level of performance, style and flexibility. Dual Flash Memory allows consumers to record video to the camcorder's internal Flash drive even if they do not have a memory card. When the internal Flash drive becomes full, footage can be easily transferred to an SDHC memory card and when it comes time to view their video, the card is simply placed into a memory card reader in a computer or HDTV for instant viewing. Furthermore, having a SDHC memory card slot allows for expandability, since greater capacity can be added in the future by purchasing additional cards.

Flash Memory boasts a number of advantages and end-user benefits for maximum convenience and flexibility. Since Flash Memory is a solid-state memory format and has no moving parts, the camcorder can be smaller, more compact and lighter than ever before, allowing it to be carried anywhere. Additionally, Flash Memory is a highly stable method of storage, and as a result, accidental jolts to the camcorder are significantly less likely to result in failure or data loss. Consumers will also enjoy the camcorder's low power consumption, which leads to longer battery time. Compared with other types of storage, Flash Memory camcorders are able to read and write data faster, so users can start recording faster and have immediate access to their recorded scenes.

VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and VIXIA HF100 Flash Memory Camcorders

Despite their compact size, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders are packed with advanced technology and a wealth of features to create stunning quality video. The VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory camcorder offers the flexibility of recording up to 6 hours of High-Definition video to a 16GB internal Flash drive, as well as the option of recording to an SDHC memory card. The HF100 Flash Memory camcorder features an SDHC memory card slot only. The SDHC slot provides future storage expandability with both models. These camcorders also offer other sophisticated new features, including a newly designed Genuine Canon 12x HD Video Lens, a robust Canon 3.3 Megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor, and Full HD Lens-to-Screen (1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution to capture, record and output).

In addition to 24p Cinema Mode, which allows users to mimic the look of Hollywood-style movies, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders offer a new feature called 30p Progressive Mode. Canon's 30p Progressive Mode, once exclusive to pro-level camcorders, delivers clarity for fast action events, such as sports or news, and is the perfect frame rate for clips intended to be posted on the Web. A 2.7" Widescreen Multi-Angle Vivid LCD offers a wide viewing angle, making it visible from any direction. It also offers an expanded color range to more accurately reflect what users will see later on their HDTV. The models use an Intelligent Lithium-ion Battery, which indicate the remaining battery time down to the minute. Furthermore, the VIXIA HF10 Dual Flash Memory and HF100 Flash Memory camcorders offer a newly designed Mini Advanced Accessory Shoe, providing cable-free connectivity to an optional Canon microphone or video light. A microphone terminal with manual level control delivers additional audio flexibility and a fully functional 3.1 Megapixel digital camera is built right in, allowing consumers to capture high-quality still images with a wide selection of Advanced Photo features.

A quick hands on playing some Unreal Tournament revealed a decent sound with none of the latency issues that are commonly found in Bluetooth devices—although the environment is not ideal for a thorough test. Expect the HS-1200 to hit store shelves this March for $150.

The Impressions: It uses the exact same UI as the previous version, but is actually really preliminary and buggy in the version we played with (it was power cycling for a short while). They assured us that the phone is really early in the development cycle. The UI looks nice and has glossy icons and not too much text (read: not too Linuxy for people who are afraid of Linux), but it's nothing you've never seen before if you've seen the OpenMoko phones.

The hardware is solid and feels about as wide as the iPhone, but a bit thicker (with rounded corners). It's too early to tell how well this will do in the mass market, especially compared with the Google Android platform, but Freerunner does show promise.

The SensMe feature—which scatters songs along a grid according to how fast or slow they are, creating selectable clusters—also cries out for a trackball to navigate the graph with. A 4-way pad just doesn't cut it. Otherwise, it seems like a solid slider for people wanting GPS and media functions. How much you'd value the new interface is probably the biggest factor other than GPS in going with it over a lower end SE phone.

The problem is that the device we viewed was a prototype. At this point, the Xdock HD can only upconvert to 720p and it is not currently compatible with the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, they are fairly confident that all of this will be remedied in time to meet the Spring 08 launch. So the pressure is on. Plus, $399 is a fairly steep price to pay given the fact that there are cheaper alternatives out there.

PANASONIC UNVEILS TWO NEW FULL-HIGH DEFINITION CAMCORDERS, WITH NEW FACE DETECTION AND INTELLIGENT SHOOTING GUIDE

World's Smallest and Lightest* SD Card HD Camcorder Makes Debut at CES 2008

Las Vegas, NV (January 6, 2008) - Panasonic, a leader in High Definition and digital video technologies, today announces two new full-High Definition 3CCD camcorders, the HDC-HS9, a hybrid model that can record to either an SD (or SDHC) Memory Card or its built-in 60-GB hard disk and the HDC-SD9, the world's smallest and lightest* SD card High Definition camcorder, weighing in at just 0.606 pounds. Both the SD9 and HS9, which feature new Panasonic camcorder technologies, Face Detection and Intelligent Shooting Guide, will be displayed at the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas from January 7-10 at the Panasonic booth #9405.

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 and HDC-HS9 offer full-High Definition**, 1920 x 1080 progressive recording (24 frames per second)*** and use the AVCHD video format. In addition, the new models feature Panasonic's original 3CCD system, Advanced MEGA O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), and a Leica Dicomar lens - three components that also contribute to the high-quality video output. Advanced MEGA O.I.S. checks and compensates for hand-shake around 4,000 times per second, about eight times more effectively than Panasonic's previous systems. In a 3CCD camera system, the light received through the lens is split into its three primary color components - red, green and blue - and a signal from each is processed by one of the three CCDs to provide rich and detailed video images.

"Consumers will be amazed by the richness and clarity of the video taken with one of these new High Definition camcorders, as this is quality they are accustomed to getting when they go to the movies," Alex Fried, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. "Panasonic is bringing the benefits of High Definition right into the living room, so anyone can enjoy high-quality videos in the comforts of their home. And with new features such as Face Detection and Intelligent Shooting Guide, these new intuitive technologies help consumers easily produce video content they would be proud to view in High Definition."

The SD9 and HS9 are the world's first**** camcorders to feature Face Detection for use in recording moving images. Face Detection automatically locates any faces in the picture and adjusts the exposure, contrast and skin tone to achieve optimal results. Thus, even when the faces are backlit or the lighting is low, faces are clear and not lost in the shadows.

Panasonic's Intelligent Shooting Guide makes important shooting features that are available on the camcorder, but often go unused by the consumer, more intuitive and obvious. For instance, with Intelligent Shooting Guide, the SD9 and HS9 will detect when shooting conditions are poor and then display tips on the LCD as a way for the user to correct the error before recording the content. Intelligent Shooting Guide can detect errors in the following common shooting situations: when the camcorder is panning too quickly or tilted; when the user's hand is swinging; when the
subject is backlit; or the lighting is too low. Now common shooting errors can be noticed prior to the playback and corrected accordingly.

The HDC-SD9 records on both SD and SDHC Memory Cards, and is even more compact than its predecessor, the HDC-SD5 model. After recording with an SD9, the SD Memory Card can be inserted into the SD card slot on certain Panasonic PZ Series VIERA HDTV's for easy, instant playback of High Definition video. Moreover, both the SD9 and HS9 are compatible with Panasonic's VIERA Link and can connect either to a VIERA HDTV via an HDMI cable, or the user can operate the camcorder using the TV remote control and following on-screen prompts.

The HS9 is a hybrid model and can record full-High Definition images onto either an SD (or SDHC) Memory Card or to its built-in 60-GB hard disk. A 16-GB SDHC Memory Card*** can hold approximately six hours of video, and the 60-GB hard disk can hold around 23 hours (both in HE mode). This gives the HS9 a total capacity of approximately 29 hours of full-HD recording. In addition, the HS9 can copy recorded video images from the SD Memory Card to the hard disk, or vice versa, with the push of one button, so no computer is needed.

Other new features on both the HDC-SD9 and HDC-HS9 include:

• Intelligent Shooting Selection Playback - Helps prevent recording errors being viewed during playback, as it will automatically skip over any shots that have serious errors, such as hand swing, fast panning, out-of-focus images or shots of the ground taken when the user forgets to turn off the camcorder.
• Advanced 5.1-Channel Surround Sound - With five microphones, when recordings are played on a 5.1-channel home theater system, viewers will be surrounded by clear, detailed sound. A Zoom Mic feature lets the microphone get as close as the camera's zoom lens.
• High-Speed Burst Shooting at 24 Frames/Sec - Ability for the camcorder to take up to 24 consecutive 2.1 megapixel resolution still images in one second or up to 72 consecutive shots in three seconds.
• World Timer - Handy for travelers this feature makes it easy to set the time when crossing time zones and again when returning home by switching between the two times with a press of a button. Simply select the destination from the display map, and the camcorder is automatically set for that time zone.
• 0.6-Sec Quick Start - Starts recording just 0.6 second from the time the LCD is opened, making it easier to catch those special moments that come with no warning.

Both models will be available in March 2008 with manufacturer suggested retail prices of $799.95 for the HDC-SD9 and $1099.95 for the HDC-SH9.

* For 3CCD camcorders capable of high-definition recording, as of January 6, 2008.
** In HA/HG mode.
*** "Full-HD video with 1920 x 1080 pixels" in Panasonic home-use camcorders refers to video recordings with 1,920 pixels in the horizontal direction and 1,080 pixels in the vertical direction.
**** 1 GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Usable capacity will be less. SDHC Memory Cards can only be used in SDHC host devices, which support the SDHC Memory Card.

About Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company
Based in Secaucus, N.J., Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company (PCEC), a market and technology leader in High Definition television, is a Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (NYSE: MC) and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Panasonic's exclusive Panasonic Plasma Concierge customer support program (888-972-6276) is administered through its Virginia-based Call Center, recognized as a Certified "Center of Excellence" by the Center for Customer-Driven Quality™ at Purdue University. Information about Panasonic products is available at www.panasonic.com. Additional company information for journalists is available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.

Check out the gallery and you'll see the 3008WFP's brushed aluminum housing. The base is piano black, shiny glass that supports the cantilever arm. That's a nice architectural touch, but you lose the ability to raise and lower the height of the monitor.

When we first hooked up and plugged in this display, we were shocked at how bright it was, using a conventional fluorescent backlight (we had hoped for LEDs, but no) to pump out a quoted 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and brightness that was so brilliant, we had to back it off a bit. Dell has also built in its TrueColor technology, pumping out a 117% color gamut that makes the other monitors we had sitting next to it look like they were nearly black and white. Yes, these colors are almost infinitely adjustable, too, so artists and even the keenest eyes won't be disappointed.

Like other Dell monitors, there are plenty of places to plug in whatever suits your fancy, including four USB ports, and slots for nine different types of flash memory cards. That works especially well for those of us who keep our workstations in separate locations from our workspace.

That brings up the DisplayPort connectivity, which we weren't able to test because there aren't any shipping DisplayPort graphics cards yet, but when there are, one of the advantages of that new spec will be the ability to daisy chain monitors. That means that one cable coming from your computer (that might be setting off on a server closet somewhere) can hook up to one of these displays, and then connect to another one beside it, giving you dual displays with just one cable leading back to the mother ship. Nice.

Besides that up-to-date connectivity, you can also plug just about anything else that generates video into the bottom side of this display. That means you can plug in HDMI with HDCP support, VGA, two DVI ports (but you'll need dual-link DVI for that magnificent 2560x1600 resolution), audio outputs from the HDMI, S-Video, composite, component, but it's not easy to plug these things in because all those ports are hard to reach. Sure, they're hidden away, out of sight, and you only need to plug in things occasionally, but it would've been nice to have this huge patch bay a bit more accessible.

Running our suite of DisplayMate obstacle course graphics through this monitor revealed spectacular resolution, worthy of the name UltraSharp. We found it to be an expansive, yet expensive display, but still a great value for its $1999 price. It's the best display we've seen. [Dell]

SlingPlayer for BB is only available and certified for one particular European BlackBerry Pearl version with Wi-Fi that's not even available in the US right now, but you can try loading it onto other phones and see if it clicks. Sling is adding more models soon, as they've been known to do, so it won't be long until you're hopping onto the can to sneak 5 minutes with Judge Judy in the afternoon.

It supports 16:9 widescreen video, as well as four input-output sets (ATSC, S-video, composite video and component video, along with analog or digital audio out). If you've got a fast enough Ethernet network (most should be unless you're throwing files around concurrently) or a fast enough Wi-Fi network, you can view the full 1080i video on your laptop or a spare TV.

We got to put our hands on it earlier in the week, and the unit itself looked and felt nice (the black looks a bit nicer than the earlier units' designs). We didn't get to see it in motion just yet, but we'll give it a whiz at CES. This'll be available in August '08 at $399.

The Build: Physically, the Pocketsurfer 2 is not really an internet surfer for the pocket; the dimensions of 152 x 75 x 15 mm, mean it is quite far off being comfortably pocket worthy. The 640 x 240 VGA screen is abysmal; it reduces high-resolution images to nasty grainy spaces of general distortion. On a plus note, it has a full QWERTY keyboard that is rather fantastic. It takes some getting used to if you are not familiar with RAZR-type keypads, but once you are about and clicking, it works extremely well...it works extremely well as long as you cannot hear it. The backlight kicks up the most ridiculous buzzing racket, the likes of which I have not heard emanate from a portable electronic device since the cassette Walkman was commonplace. You will not notice it when you are in the urban jungle, but at home, I kid you not, it shall give you a very real headache.

Getting Around: The navigation controls are a disaster; there is no scroll wheel, so you must rely on a four-way direction pad to get you around webpages. On a mobile phone with a 2.5" screen, a four-way direction pad just about makes web surfing possible. On a device with a 5.2" widescreen, that simply is not feasible. Generally, the Pocketsurfer 2 has a solid construction; it's weighty in a good-to-hold kind of way. However, the attention to detail is poor; the chromed plastic pieces are rough and the port coverings are shabby rubber plugs that do not fit properly. The styling of the unit is not so bad, and the poor quality is only noticeable once the gadget is thoroughly inspected. So how does it weigh up for browsing the old internet?

Functionality: Datawind's product runs their very own software, tip to toe, and though the compression system, which promises to load webpages in seven seconds flat sometimes delivers, it is far from consistent. Simply put, everything about the Pocketsurfer 2 is buggy as hell. The start up time is lengthy (approx 35s), when it works. On many occasions it refuses to connect. Indeed, during a private display of the device by Datawind's CEO, a failed connection occurred—in the center of London, I very much doubt that absent cellular network coverage was the cause of the mishap. It was not an isolated incident either; during my testing, time after time a connection would be reset, time out or return with a server error. When you are out and about and want to quickly check your email, the service simply does not cut it. Neither does the sub 5-hour battery. When it does work, the compression/caching of information is impressively fast for a GPRS connection.

The browser itself lacks any form of video codec compatibility, and as mentioned before, the screen will barely display high-resolution images. Even if it did, there is no way to zoom out and get the whole picture, so unless you like your picture viewing in clickity-click parts, this does not really solve the great mystery of succinct mobile web browsing. In the gadget's defense, Google maps seem to work well on the few occasions it loads up without fault, thanks to proper pseudo-GPS information. Also worth noting is the optimized mobile Zoho suite, which could be useful if the text entry delay was not so severe. Unfortunately, the time elapse between a key press and that key taking effect is ridiculously long.

The Price: The UK will see the Pocketsurfer 2 available for £179.98 ($363), with 20hours of web surfing/month included in the asking price. You guys Stateside will have a much steeper deal; the product will be made available via T-Mobile for $29.99 per month (unlimited data plan), on a 12 month contract. The hardware will be an additional $299.

The Verdict: I really tried to love the Pocketsurfer 2, I promise you; I opened my cold, black heart to it and it failed me. I do not want this to read as a blank slating of a company's endeavours, but the void this product fills is sadly non-existent. It has no raw power to natively run apps. It relies entirely on a GPRS connection that is temperamental at best. It has no means of effective navigation. In three words: it doesn't work. The notion of entire back end server reliance for hardware is very much the vision of the future, but the Pocketsurfer 2 is a little ahead of its time in terms of the idea at work. Sadly, it is a little behind in terms of technology implemented. A GPRS connection is never going to be a viable means for mass data transmission; no matter how good the caching system may be. The technology used is simply too out dated (for this purpose) to be functional.

If you desperately want to give the piano black encased gizmo a chance, hit the link to purchase, but do so at your own peril. [US: Linsar, UK: Datawind]

The video quality is definitely good, but not quite as good as iPhone over Wi-Fi. The good news is that it loads faster and looks better than iPhone over EDGE. The interface is pretty solid, and allows you to scroll horizontally between featured videos and popular videos. The standard desktop options like favorites, commenting, playlists, related videos, rating and searching are also there.

What makes this better than the iPhone is the ability to upload videos directly from your phone. How cool is it to shoot a camera vid, dump it onto YouTube, then call your friends to tell them about this crazy homeless guy you saw on the road? And speaking of roads, you can even GPS tag it with the Ocean's GPS so you know exactly where it is you were when you shot it. Only available on the Ocean for free. [Helio]

You can play files off of a CD/DVD. This feature wasn't listed on the Xbox Team's website as one of the supported locations for playing back content, but this is fantastic for homes that have wireless networks (or no network at all). In fact, reading off a disc is probably the best way to ensure your movie won't cut out in the middle due to network congestion (unlikely) or someone turning off the computer accidentally (fairly likely).

It supports almost all files. It played back all TV shows we threw at it, including My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Battlestar Galactica, and The Venture Bros.. Most of these, and most TV downloaded TV shows, are encoded in XviD format. As for DivX, that's supported back to version 5.0, but it's unlikely that you're going to find any DivX 3 or DivX 4 online, unless you're talking about old files you've saved for a couple years.

AC3 Audio is supported. Nice! AC3 support was added in the Spring Update, but it's nice to see it working with DivX/XviD. Too bad it's not 5.1 though. 5.1 is supported!

It supports Windows Home Server as well. Along with USB drives and WMP11 streaming, you can also stream DivX/XviD from Windows Home Server too. It makes sense to store all your videos on here, since videos are big and WHS has a lot of room. QED.

Video Stretching is kind of weird. The Xbox will try and auto-fit your video to the screen when it starts playing, but it gets confused easily with different video dimensions. You'll want to manually change the playback mode to either letterbox or stretched, depending on what kind of content (widescreen, fullscreen, PAL) you're playing back.

You can skip through a video with the bumpers. RB and LB let you skip forward and back through the movie, but might not be granular enough to get to the place you want to be. You'll have to use the trigger buttons to FF or RW.

It's fast. If your network connection is fast enough (my network is Gigabit