Mobile phones
Motorola takes 3 to a new level
Until now, the verdict on UK 3G mobile network 3 has been great applications (Video Calling and Premiership goal downloads), shame about the handsets. That looks set to change with the launch of the triple band Motorola A920 early next month. Pitched as a rival to gadget cameraphones and top-end personal organiser-style smartphones like the Sony Ericsson P800, the A920 crams a huge number of facilities into its rectangular frame.
Crucially it takes 3's video services to another level, in that it offers both Video Calling and playback at 24 frames per second - nearly four times faster than 3's current flagship handset the NEC e606. The handset makes the most of this, allowing the user to expand images to fill its 208x320 screen in either portrait or landscape mode. Video on the A920 is sharper and more detailed than on the NEC's smaller screen.
The other A920 big feature is integrated GPS, which enables the user to access 3's service that directs them to their nearest pub, cashpoint, etc. Running Symbian's 7.0 operating system (similar to the Sony Ericsson P800), the A920 also includes support for POP3 email (another feature missing from the NEC e808), an integrated speakerphone (no headset required during video calls), photo messaging, MP3 playback, and extra storage via an SD card. There are no price details yet.
Becks winner
Having previewed the GX20 earlier in the month, Online has had a chance to play with the new "Becks phone" and it looks as though Vodafone and Sharp have another winner on their hands.
The device, successor to the David Beckham-promoted GX10 and GX10i, has the same clamshell design as its predecessor. But it has an even bigger and better screen, and the mini screen on the lid is also in colour. It can be set to show a picture of the person phoning you as it starts to ring.
In addition to ordinary high-quality still photos, you can take 10 second video clips (with sound) and send them to friends with similar phones (if the network supports it). The tri-band phone (which means it works in the US) comes with some free retro games, and plenty more can be seamlessly downloaded (at a cost). And it only weighs 105g. Pricing has yet to be announced.
www.vodafone.co.uk
Phones up
The cameraphone market will double by the end of the year, according to ARC Group wireless industry analysts, by which time there will be 55m users. The growth will come from existing mobile users upgrading, rather than first-time buyers. ARC also predicts that the mobile handset market will grow by 10.3% to 444m units this year, and will continue to grow to 689m in 2008. However, the fastest growth is expected in the Asia/Pacific region. This is already the world's largest handset market, with 174m handsets sold last year, but "penetration remains low". European sales fell last year, and ARC says "growth is expected to be slow up to 2008". Beyond 3G phones, ARC expects mobiles to support more networks, including Wi-Fi wireless Lans.
www.arcgroup.com
Incoming!
One of the crazes currently sweeping Asia is the "incoming ringtone service", which enables the caller to decide which ringtone you will hear on your own phone, albeit just for that call. NTT DoCoMo has just launched its Melody Call service in Japan, at ¥100 and ¥200 per month, but operators in Taiwan, China and Singapore already offer similar services.
According to the PMN news service: "The most advanced option offers a choice of 3,000 different ringtones which can be assigned to individual callers, so that each person calling hears a different tone."
www.pmn.co.uk/20030822 docomo.shtml
Mating calls
It is one of the most familiar sounds of the English summer - the sound of starlings making their repetitive high-pitched mating calls. But something is amiss among the rooftops and hedgerows where the birds live. Starlings have begun to imitate the ring tones of mobile phones. Researchers at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and in Denmark, had noticed over the past year that the birds are adapting their mating calls.
Starlings, well known as mimics, are members of the same family as the mynah bird. But until now they have limited their mimicry to that of other bird songs or, in some cases, shepherds whistling at sheep dogs. "The birds incorporate the sounds because it is believed that the richer the sound, the variety of tones it has, makes the male more attractive to the female," says a spokesperson for the RSPB.
Digital cameras
Kodaks for the keen
Kodak is pitching its new digital camera at what it describes as "advanced amateur photographers". Capable of capturing four megapixel images, the DX6490's key feature is its Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon optical zoom lens, which magnifies images up to 10x - much more than most of its rivals. Also new is Kodak's Colour Science Imaging Chip, which the company claims produces richer colours and enhances shooting in low light conditions. Other facilities include a 30x digital zoom, a range of manual controls, a 2.2 inch LCD monitor and 16MB of internal memory with the option of increasing this via adding an SD/MMC card. The camera will go on sale in early September for around £400.
wwwuk.kodak.com
Canon takes aim
Canon has unveiled a pair of cameras including a scaled down version of one of its key professional digital SLR models. Based on the widely respected EOS 10D, the EOS 300D is a 6.3 mega pixel model compatible with any of the 60 Canon EF lenses.
It features Canon's Digic processor, extensive exposure control options, a 1.8inch LCD monitor and support for the recently-launched 2GB CompactFlash storage cards. It goes on sale next month for £900. It will be joined by the PowerShot A80a four megapixel, 3x optical zoom model due in October priced at £350.
www.canon.co.uk
Gadgets
Tosh's tiny beat
Japanese company Toshiba has become the latest manufacturer to unveil a rival to the Apple iPod hard disk-based MP3 player. Only this time the Tosh is actually smaller than its rival.
Available soon in Japan, the Gigabeat 20 20GB player is 3mm thinner and 20 grams lighter than the iPod. With a casing made from aluminium alloy, the Gigabeat 20 plays MP3, WMA and WAV files and features a USB 2.0 connector for fast file transfer. It also trumps the iPod in battery performance, offering 11 hours' playback to the Apple product's seven.
www.toshiba.co.jp
Remote harmony
Universal remote controls that operate your TV/hi-fi etc are great ideas - in theory. Yet keying in all those codes to teach the remote to control your various devices can be a real pain. Harmony has a neat way of making the process more pleasant. Its SST-768 connects to a PC's USB port and then goes online to download all the data for the remotes it is replacing.
The controller is due on sale in September, retailing for around £250.
www.harmonyremote.com
4GB to go
You could soon have a 4GB hard drive in your camera, PDA or MP3 player, as long as it has a CompactFlash II memory slot. Hitachi has announced that it will start shipping the new sizes in its tiny Microdrive format, which it acquired when it took over part of IBM's storage business.
Hard drives are cheaper than chips. Hitachi expects the 4GB card to cost about $500, which is a third of the price of a 4GB memory card. The drawback is that not many people need that much capacity. A 4GB drive should be able to hold about 36 hours of video, 64 hours of MP3 music, or 8,000 good quality photos.
Online shopping
Midnight shoppers
Tesco claims this week that this month's hot weather has caused a boom in night-time shopping on its website. The supermarket says orders placed between midnight and 6am have jumped by 73%.
"Instead of counting sheep, people are turning to their computers instead," suggests Tesco's David Clements. "They've decided that, since they can't get to sleep, they may as well do something useful."
What are they ordering up in these nocturnal visits? Bizarrely, cooking utensils, silver foil, tomato ketchup and toilet rolls are doing particularly well. But the most commonly ordered item, the shop claims, is greaseproof paper. We suggest you insert your own gag here.
www.tesco.co.uk
· Contributions from Ashley Norris, Jack Schofield, Victor Keegan, Sean Dodson and Neil McIntosh
