Ipod Suffle

240 songs. Remixed colors.

The 1GB iPod shuffle lets you wear up to 240 songs on your sleeve. Or your lapel. Or your belt. Available in your choice of remixed colors for just $79. Clip on iPod shuffle and wear it as a badge of musical devotion.

New Colors

iPod shuffle now comes in four new colors and the original silver to suit your music and your mood.

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Clip and Go

Put some music on: iPod shuffle is the only iPod that’s wearable right out of the box.

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iTunes

Collect music on the iTunes jukebox. Buy songs from the iTunes Store. Sync them to iPod shuffle.

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PS3 by Sony!!!

A full year behind the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and lacking the immediately attention-grabbing hook of Nintendo's 360-degree motion-sensing Wii, Sony's long-awaited PlayStation 3 has recently been the subject of much heated debate. Despite its obvious appeal to diehard gamers and fans of the world's most popular console brand – not to mention home theater enthusiasts, what with 1080p HDMI output and extensive online music/video download capabilities – questions have been plentiful.

For example: Is the system, available in 20GB ($499, sans WiFi and a built-in combination Memory Stick product lineup, Compact Flash and SD/MMC card reader) or $599 chrome-trimmed wireless-ready 60GB hard drive models, worth the hefty asking price, the highest since early-'90s systems like CDi and 3DO? Can Sony, who's recently cut back North American November 17th launch date ship projections to just 400,000 units (with some analysts predicting actual distribution of half this number or fewer machines), manage to avoid aggravating a soon-to-be-device-deprived buying public while still keeping up with the competition? And, of course, with so much power and hardware combined in a single unit catered to the highest-end luxury users, is there even a point to upgrading?

The short answer to all: Yes, depending which of school of thought you fall into, your game playing habits and how much disposable income you've got to burn. However, let's get one thing out of the way up-front, before you freeze your poor behind off spending all night camped out in front of the local electronics retailer hoping to score one of the severely under-stocked devices. For a host of reasons ranging from technical niggles to launch lineup shortfalls to pure common sense, it's perfectly fine – and in most cases, even advisable – to skip buying one this holiday season and wait until the dust settles sometime early in 2007.

Right from the get-go, it's important to consider the following fact: You're not actually buying a videogame console here (although surely, that's the machine's strength and the chief function most prospective buyers intend to employ it towards) so much as a full-fledged digital media hub. As slick as everything from cutting-edge digital diversions and Blu-ray movies – video resolutions ranging all the way from 480i up to an eye-popping 1080p are supported – it's what you personally make of the machine that gives the gizmo its true value. So for all of you who've been pestered since, oh, 2004 by your wide-eyed little pride and joys, remember: Dropping $599 just so kids can use the beast as an overgrown Atari may be a little much. They'll be just as entertained by lower-resolution outings for other systems like Nintendo's Wii or Sony's own PlayStation 2. And, in truth, most PlayStation 3 titles right now are simply enhanced ports of existing products anyway (see offerings like Tony Hawk's Project 8 or NHL 2K7). What's more, unless you plan on clocking in time behind the controller yourself, investing in a library of next-generation movies, browsing the Web on your TV, purchasing extra levels/cars/characters/songs/films online or are intent on building the ultimate technophile's living room setup, it's the sort of holiday gift that may be little extravagant for anyone younger than 15.

Lenovo 3000 Olympic laptop

Lenovo's Olympics-inspired laptops revealed

Yeah, you may have thought those Santa Rosa, er, Centrino Pro-based ThinkPads were hot stuff, but they ain't got nuthin' on the future eBay value of the svelte new Olympic-inspired iteration. Shortly after Lenovo unveiled its 2008 Beijing Olympic torch design, the firm has already thrown down snapshots of its Olympic laptop, which certainly looks dashing in its own right. The stunning red and black case design is accented with a motif similar to that found on the torch, and the spiral designs actually seep beyond the external casing right onto the palm rests and around the LCD's bezel. Unfortunately, not much is know about the internal hardware that these presumably finely trained machines will sport, but early details suggests a 12.1-inch XGA display and Intel's L2400 Core 2 Duo processor will be in the mix. Additionally, mum's the word on pricing and availability, but you can rest assured that this bad boy will be one hot commodity whenever it lands in limited quantities. Click on through for a few more glamor shots.

Sony Vaio : All Eyes on You

Brand Analysis Count : 270

Sony Vaio is making lot of noises in the media with its latest repositioning campaign. Vaio is Sony's subbrand in the Laptop segment . Viao was created in 1996 and is a major player in the Notebook/Laptop market across the world. The brand came to India only in 2004. The delay is owning to the restriction in using Wi-Fi 802.11g by the government till 2004.

Vaio is the acronym of Video Audio Integrated Option which denotes the brand's positioning as a product that performs on both video and audio front. Like any other product from Sony, Vaio is also positioned ( and priced ) as a premium brand. Vaio launched its first series of Notebooks with a price ranging from Rs 80,000 - Rs 1,25,000 making it one of the costliest laptops available in India.
Sony has a market share of around 5.4 % of the Indian Laptop market which is estimated to touch a volume of 1.6 million units this year. It is this phenomenal growth of around 40 % that forms the basis of the latest launch of Sony Vaio CR range.
The Indian laptop market is dominated by HP ( 40 %) followed by Lenovo ( 17 %) and Toshiba. There is lot of activity in the notebook segment because of the lowering of the price barrier. Earlier the price of a typical laptop was costing upwards of Rs 45000. Now the entry level laptop price is anywhere between Rs 22,000 - 26,000. This has fueled the growth of this segment. The lowering of prices has attracted a whole set of new customers into this segment. Students , executives and businessmen began looking at laptops as a productivity enhancement tool. Companies began giving laptops to executives to keep them working when mobile. These happened without seriously hurting the sale of Desktops.
The interest of marketers in this segment is evident when we look at the promotions of leading brands in this segment . Most of them has signed up celebrities to endorse their brands. Acer has Hrithik Roshan, Compaq has Shah Rukh, Lenovo has Saif Ali Khan to promote the brand.

Sony Vaio has always tried to promote itself as an aspirational brand and resisted the temptation to get into the volume game. But here in this scenario , Vaio succumbed to the temptation. With technology no longer a major differentiator, Vaio understood that unless the brand repositions itself , it may be ousted by the feature rich rivals.
Viao CR was Sony's take on the new segment. Vaio targets the hip hop Indian youth aged 18-26 with the variant CR. The brand is now positioned as a fashion accessory rather than a learning/working tool. The new variant comes with attractive color options :
Blazing Red
Indigo Blue
Pure White
Beauty Pink and
Aroma Black. The new variant has some attractive features like Luminous Trim that reflects light which gives the laptop a shining look. Lustrous coating, custom Keyboard, and a personalized illumination LCD. The brand is now repositioned to reflect a playful spirit and a zest for life.
The brand now aims to catch the imagination of the youth market who looks beyond the speed and memory into design and aesthetics. At Rs 55000, Vaio tries to integrate aesthetics, brand image and technology to get into the minds of the young customer.


The brand is now running a high profile TV campaign now.

Sony KDS-R60XBR1 LCOS HDTV

I just can't resist poking fun at Sony's seemingly unending supply of strange and unpronounceable nomenclature. It has no direct bearing on a product, per se, but keeping track of all of the acronyms, abbreviations, and manufactured words takes up a sizable chunk of the already overtaxed (and undersized) mind of a reviewer. Regardless, Sony wasn't content just using the name LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) to describe their version of the technology. They instead call it SXRD (sex-erd?), or Silicon X-tal Reflective Display. Believe it or not, the "X-tal" is short for crystal. I'm not saying that JVC's name for their version of LCOS is any better: D-ILA. (This is an even less logical abbreviation: Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier? It doesn't amplify anything.) Each company takes pains to describe how different their version of the technology is from everybody else's. To be fair, this is true. Each of the two companies' core design and manufacturing are different. When it comes down to it, though, the proof is in the pudding, or, in this case, the RPTV.

The first product available with Sony's version of LCOS was the Qualia 004 front projector. Coming in at around the price of a BMW 3 Series, it was admittedly beautiful in design and performance. For that kind of money, one would hope so. Next was the Qualia 006, a 70-inch RPTV that was far more affordable: about the price of a Kia Rio. Sony was certainly headed in the right direction, and, this year, they have come out with the KDS-R60XBR1. The XBR line is kind of like Sony's Acura or Lexus. They're slightly more expensive than other displays in the same size range, but, for that extra money, you are said to get a better aesthetic and better performance. The past few XBRs we've reviewed have lived up to this promise. The question is, does the KDS-R60XBR1 live up to its XBR brethren? Does it live up to the hype of LCOS (and SXRD)?

But First. . .
Aesthetically, the KDS-R60XBR1 shows a family resemblance to other Sony RPTVs. That is to say, it is attractive, without being flashy. It appears as though Sony forged the remote from a solid piece of billet aluminum (they didn't), and it's hefty enough to throw as your first line of defense against intruders (don't). The layout is typically Sony; it's functionally easy to use and shows a complete lack of most of the features you would like to see on a remote. There is no direct input access and no backlight. I hoped that the tiny button with the eighth-note icon on it would play music. It didn't.

There is a copious number of menus. While they're time consuming to navigate, the wide range of adjustments is wonderful. In a strange twist, there is no way to check how much lamp life is remaining.

Getting On With It
To be perfectly honest, the KDS-R60XBR1's contrast ratio absolutely stunned me. At 13,330:1, this is the best contrast ratio of any non-CRT product we've measured. That's nearly three times better than the next-closest display (a DLP front projector, mind you) and of a magnitude better than most of the displays we've measured. True, the majority of this is thanks to a bit of electronic and mechanical manipulation called an auto iris, or, as Sony calls it, Advanced Iris. This fast-moving iris closes on dark scenes and widens on bright ones. So, on a full-on/full-off contrast-ratio test, this device performs to its maximum extent. On regular video material, if you are looking for it, you can see this auto dimming in action. You really have to be looking for it, though.

With the Advanced Iris turned off, so that the iris remains stationary at whichever of its six levels you set it, the contrast ratio measures between 3,100:1 in the "max" iris mode and 5,000:1 in the "min" iris mode. These numbers on their own would be impressive, and that's with the display intentionally handicapped not to perform to its fullest. This is also the first product we've measured with a contrast ratio that exceeds the manufacturer's numbers. For that matter, it's the first one to even get close. Its black level is just as impressive, as low as 0.006 foot-lamberts. This obviously goes a long way toward explaining the contrast-ratio numbers, but let's put that 0.006 into context. The best plasma we've measured had a black level of 0.023 ft-L; the best RPTV we've measured was 0.080 ft-L. Most of the front projectors we've measured have a higher black level than this 60-inch RPTV. Suffice it to say, I was impressed.

Color is cause for an argument somewhere. The KDS-R60XBR1 isn't accurate, but, as far as inaccurate color points go, this is how to do it. Red and green are oversaturated, but they're not off in any other direction. So objects may look really green, but they're not greenish-yellow or greenish-blue like the colors that many digital displays can produce. The result is an incredibly vibrant picture. Everything looks almost too lush and inviting. It may not be accurate, but it sure is pleasing to look at. Sony has said that the oversaturation is particular to this preproduction model and that the colors of units shipped to stores may not deviate as much from the SMPTE specifications. To be sure, I plan to get in a production unit, and I'll post the new measurements at www.hometheatermag.com.

Processing is a mixed bag. The display picks up the 3:2 sequence fast enough, but video processing, on the other hand, leaves a little to be desired. Jagged edges are apparent on the ubiquitous flag-waving test scene. This is disappointing but certainly not a deal breaker. The display scales quite well, especially when you consider that it has to "create" six times as many pixels as a DVD supplies. A good upconverting DVD player may be a little sharper, but it's extremely close. Transitions from light to dark are fairly smooth, with a little noise in the shadowy areas.

HD, as you can imagine, looks stunning. Deep blacks share the screen with bright highlights, an abundance of color, and twice the number of pixels you're used to. This makes for a fantastically watchable image. PBS's Rudy Maxa has never looked so good. The added detail of the 1,920-by-1,080 panels is not as big of a jump from a 720p display as you might expect. It's not like the jump from 480p to HD. Even when I sat close, I only noticed a subtle difference between a similarly sized 720p display and the KDS-R60XBR1. It's subtle but noticeable. Everything is just a little more detailed, a little sharper. For example, the space shuttle in the opening of the D-VHS version of Digital Video Essentials had more visible texture to its skin than I've seen before. As cameras and telecines get better, this difference will probably be even more noticeable.

How does a direct 1080p source look? Well, it doesn't. Like the other 1080p displays we've reviewed, this one doesn't accept a 1080p signal. Even if there aren't many 1080p sources available now (an HTPC being the only one), it won't be that way forever. Sony says that the KDS-R60XBR1 lacks a 1080p input because the copy protection hasn't been worked out yet for the 1080p sources. This is disappointing, as early adopters miss out again. When products do ship with a 1080p output, you won't be able to input the display's native resolution. How bad is this, really? As most 1080p material runs at 24 frames per second, as long as the TV performs 3:2 pulldown well (in this case, it does), then you really shouldn't notice much difference, if any. More disappointing is that you can't expand a 1,280-by-720 signal (or any other resolution) on the RGB input, so there is no way to fill the screen on that input.

The Other Stuff
The built-in tuner is mediocre. It picked up all of the local channels but didn't do a very good job pulling them in to watch. This was with our cheap indoor antenna. Depending on your area, you may need to upgrade your antenna. However, this TV switched between digital channels faster than most displays.

There are a few final issues. On test patterns, there were some color-linearity issues. One side of the screen had a bluish-green tint, while the other side had a reddish-orange tint. On regular video material, this wasn't noticeable. My biggest complaint about this TV is the screen. It added a noticeable sheen or shiny graininess to the image. This is true of almost every RPTV I've seen. With the resolution that this TV affords, it's disappointing that you can't sit closer before the screen's shininess becomes too distracting. I found that a seating distance of about 11 feet offered the best compromise between resolution and screen grain. If the screen noise doesn't bother you, you may be able to sit closer. Do look for that sweet spot, though, so you can sit as close as you can to this TV. Don't let that 1080p go to waste.

As you can tell, I was most impressed with the KDS-R60XBR1. It is quite simply one of the best RPTVs we've ever reviewed, regardless of what it's called.

Highlights
• The only thing more impressive than the black level is the contrast ratio
• Visibly 1080p

Panasonic camcorder PV-GS85

Budget camcorders might not seem flashy, but they play an important part in every camcorder line. They're designed to be an affordable, no-frills product that anyone can pick up for just a few hundred dollars. Since price is their main selling point, however, they tend to lack features that are standard on higher-end models. Among Panasonic camcorders, for example, the PV-GS85 sits as one of the runts of the litter. Still, its 32X optical zoom lens and optical image stabilization make it an interesting runt.

Chunky and simple, the PV-GS85 is almost indistinguishable in design from the crowd of budget MiniDV camcorders. Thanks to the camcorder's incredibly simple control scheme, you can easily record and play videos without ever touching its menu system. All you have to do is set the PV-GS85 in auto mode, and you're off and running. If you really want to fiddle with the menus, you can navigate the PV-GS85's settings with a small joystick that is set into the mode dial. The "advanced" menu holds very little in the way of video settings, however, and it's unlikely anyone would need to delve into the menus often.

Like most budget MiniDV camcorders, the PV-GS85 offers few, if any, impressive features. Its 680,000-pixel sensor effectively records 340,000 pixels at 4:3 and 460,000 pixels at 16:9 wide-screen. The camcorder scores some minor points for recording higher-resolution, wide-screen video, and not simply cropping its 4:3 video, but since both aspect ratios use such a small, low-resolution sensor, it doesn't matter much. The PV-GS85 incorporates a 32X optical zoom lens with optical image stabilization, but neither the PV-GS85 nor its little brother, the GS80, use a Leica-branded lens. Panasonic prides itself in its use of Leica lenses in the majority of its digital imaging products, so the PV-GS85's unbranded lens secures the device's place near the bottom of Panasonic's camcorder food chain.

For a budget camcorder, the PV-GS85 produces rather nice video. Colors looked neutral and accurate, and footage was relatively clean and free of grain. Of course, if you plan on watching your movies on a large, high-definition television, it won't be very impressive; most budget camcorders' standard-definition video tends to look blown out and jagged when upscaled on modern HD screens. Finally, the PV-GS85 failed at recording low-light video. Even enabling Night Mode or Panasonic's Best Pix mode yielded no significant difference when shooting in the darkness of a 50-watt lamp. Fortunately, the PV-GS85 has a built-in video light--so you won't be left totally in the dark, when shooting in the dark. The PV-GS85 also has an SD card slot for recording stills. Since the sensor is so low-resolution, however, the photos are only on par with camera phone photos.

The Panasonic PV-GS85 is a decent budget camcorder in its own right, but you could get a much better camera for the same or a slightly higher price. The comparably priced Canon ZR850, for example, outshines the PV-GS85 in almost every way.

Sony's Handycam HDR-CX7

Join me, if you will, along the slow march toward the obsolescence of tape in video. We've definitely got a long road ahead of us, but it's fun to notice how much camcorders have changed already. On the one hand, tapeless camcorders such as Sony's Handycam HDR-CX7 give product designers the freedom to make smaller, sleeker camcorders. On the other hand, we've yet to see a model that records in the AVCHD format, as this one does, match the quality of the footage we've seen from tape-based models using the HDV format. However, for an AVCHD camcorder, this does produce very nice video, and will likely blow your socks off if you're used to a standard-definition camcorder.

Though it's been on the market in various camcorders for a while now, the AVCHD format has been slow on the uptake in software for editing and playback. Lori Grunin's recent blog post outlines which software titles are compatible and notes whatever glitches she has found when using those programs. Ultimately, the easiest way to watch your HD video is still a direct connection to your HDTV, but there is a modest, and slowly growing, list of software out there if you like to watch on your computer or edit your footage.

Sony's designers definitely made the most of the fact that the HDR-CX7 records its video to MemoryStick Pro Duo cards. The camcorder is little more than a lens and LCD screen in terms of size, though that's both a positive and negative thing. Sure, you can fit the CX7 into almost any bag, and even a large jacket or sweatshirt pocket, but the ergonomics of the grip are a little off. It's certainly more comfortable to hold than Panasonic's SD-based HDC-SD1, but since there's no eye-level viewfinder, I often found myself holding it higher than I would some camcorders, and at a slightly odd angle. Also, since your hand basically covers the right side and top of the CX7, Sony was forced to put a handful of buttons on the left side, behind the LCD screen. That's never a very good move, since you can't readily see that spot when you're shooting, and if you do need to use one of those buttons while capturing video, you'll likely shake the camera horizontally while pressing it. Of the buttons placed there, the backlight compensation button is probably the most worrisome, since it's highly likely you'll use it on the fly, while most of the others would be used before or after shooting.

As usual, the HDR-CX7's main interface is its LCD touch screen. Even though the LCD is 2.7 inches in size, it still felt a bit small as a touch-screen interface. The main virtual buttons are big enough, but ancillary buttons, such as the OK button in the upper-left, or the X (cancel) button in the upper-right of some screens are rather tiny. On more than one occasion, I accidentally hit one of the bigger buttons when trying to hit the tiny ones. Combine that with the fact that the touch screen requires such an extensive tree of submenus, and the thrill of a touch-screen interface starts to wane pretty quickly. Still, some people say they like this kind of interface, so make sure you try it out in a store first to see if you like it before you buy.

Following a recent trend in camcorders, the CX7 doesn't include a minijack microphone input. If you want to add an accessory mic, you have to use one of Sony's in the CX7's Active Interface Shoe (aka proprietary hot shoe), which provides an interface and power for accessories. You have two options to send video to your TV directly from the camcorder. You can either use a mini-to-full-size HDMI cable, or use the composite AV breakout cable included with the CX7. Given that they are rather rare right now, it would've been nice for Sony to include the special HDMI cable, as Canon does with the HG10. A third option is to use the dock, which has the same composite AV out as the camcorder, as well as a component output (also via a breakout cable), and a Mini USB jack to connect to your computer. I was surprised that Sony didn't include a normal-size HDMI jack on the dock. It would've been a really nice touch.

Sony did include some great features though, such as the automatic lens cover, flash for still photos, and a nice complement of manual controls. While it doesn't include the SR7's shutter speed control, the CX7 does have the same exposure shift; manual, indoor, outdoor, and auto white balance; Spot Focus and Spot Metering; Super SteadyShot optical image stabilization; and Super NightShot infrared mode for shooting in the dark. Since the CX7 doesn't include Sony's CAM CTL dial (as the SR7 does), you have to adjust focus on the touch screen, which isn't quite as nice as the dial, but works well nonetheless.

Since the HDR-CX7 records its video to a MemoryStick Pro Duo card, you should plan on buying at least one high-capacity card. On a 4GB Pro Duo card, the HDR-CX7 can fit 32 minutes of best-quality, HD video. Stepping up to an 8GB Pro Duo ups that to a little more than an hour. By contrast, the HDR-SR7 can fit up to eight hours of the same level footage onto its 60GB hard drive.

Footage from the CX7 is very nice. The camcorder's Zeiss T lens is very sharp and Sony's Super SteadyShot does an excellent job of taming hand shake. Its 10X optical zoom might seem tame next to the 30X+ zooms now finding their way into lower-end models, but at a 400mm 35mm-equivalent on the telephoto end (in 16:9 mode), it's got plenty of reach. Plus, by keeping the optical zoom range within reason, you get more reliable stabilization across the entire zoom.

Both the autofocus and metering systems perform quite well, adjusting quickly to changes in subject, lighting, and environment. I was particularly impressed with the autofocus' ability to keep up with changes in zoom and quick changes between near and far subjects. The camcorder's white balance does a very good job. While colors aren't quite as neutral as I've seen in some other models, it's still very close and colors are well saturated and look realistic. Still images are definitely above average for a camcorder. Depending on the shooting conditions, you should be able to get pleasing letter-size or smaller prints.

As long as you don't mind the limited software compatibility and added cost of buying a few high-capacity Pro Duo cards, Sony's Handycam HDR-CX7 is a really nice AVCHD camcorder. As software catches up and flash memory prices continue to drop, it will only become that much more attractive, and the smaller physical size that goes along with a flash-based camcorder will wow your friends and make it more practical to have your camcorder with you when you want it. If Mini-DVDs appeal to you more than flash-memory cards, Sony also makes the HDR-UX7, which can record AVCHD video onto 8cm DVDs and is very similar to this model, though not quite as small in size.