Sony  on Thursday announced its smallest HD camcorder, the Handycam HDR-TG1. Measuring 4.7 by 1.3 by 2.5 inches (LWD) and weighing a mere ten ounces, this flash memory camcorder is definitely designed for the frequent traveler.

The HDR-TG1 records in the AVCHD format at full HD resolution (1920 by 1080), contains a 4-megapixel still image camera, and includes a 4GB Pro Duo Mark2 media card. It also offers the ability to see up to 8 faces within a scene and will automatically adjust focus, exposure, and color while shooting video, thanks to its face detection technology.

Using the BIONZ processing engine, the tiny camcorder has a Carl Zeiss 10x optical zoom lens with improved dynamic range that should increase the quality of still images.

Overall, Sony seems to have a decent travel camcorder on its hands. The HDR-TG1 will retail for roughly $900 and will be available in May. 

I actually like the Macbook Air but found the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 to be a vastly more useful product in the class. I'm one of the few folks that have been using an early version of the HTC Shift , a smaller screened ultra light tablet with a keyboard and a touch screen which is superior to both offerings in some ways and just released on Amazon.com for $1500 (someone screwed up, this wasn't supposed to happen until next week). This got me thinking: The perfect next generation ultra-sexy notebook should be a blend of all three products.

I'll do a quick summery of the ThinkPad X300 and MacBook air because both have been out awhile and then spend some time on the HTC Shift which most of you have never seen or heard of before.

ThinkPad X300 and MacBook Air

Both of these products are very thin. The Macbook Air leads on design and price while trading off usability. The X300 is vastly more practical in use but is nearly twice as expensive as the entry level Macbook Air and it is not as attractive. This comes down to battery life, flexibility, price, and appearance.

The X300 has, with a bay battery, the ability to hot swap batteries and you can carry spares, which means you will have as much battery life as you need. It has an optical drive if you need it, and it comes with a second generation flash drive as standard, providing extra durability and performance.

It is massively wireless with WiMax, WAN, Ultra Wideband, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth radios. It also has a full ThinkPad Vantage load of tools: Security and enterprise support typically associated with a ThinkPad.

The Air is drop dead gorgeous and currently the thinnest notebook on the market from any branded vendor. But with only 2.5 hours of battery life and a fixed battery it really isn't that portable. However, it is far more affordable at around $1800 (without a slower older SSD than the X300 comes standard with).

As Monty Python would say, now for something completely different.

The HTC Shift

The HTC Shift weighs in at well under two pounds (a little over half the weight of the Macbook Air) and has a small 800 x 480 pixel 7" touchscreen, built in Sprint WAN, built in GPS and has about 2 hours of battery life when running Windows Vista.

But, what makes it interesting is that it has a second mode using a limited version of Microsoft's mobile platform that provides the device with massive battery life for email, calendar, and contact management. Basically, you hit one button and move from Windows to Windows Mobile which is a vastly more limited but also a vastly more power efficient mode.

This is the first Origami 2.0 device I've had a chance to use and it is much improved over Origami 1.0. This provides more of a Media Center like experience under Vista and rapid access to pictures, videos, and Music. In Origami, which loads much like Media Center does on top of Windows Vista, you get something that probably approximates to what the Mobile Internet Device experience will be in the next generation Atom (Silverthorne) systems that Intel has been talking about with even smaller devices.

In use, unless you have really small hands, the keyboard is too small to touch type, but if you can hunt and peck it is a great little keyboard.
Another really cool feature is a touchpad that sits to the right and, even though it is tiny, it performs its function very well (I actually liked it better than the touch screen). The device comes with a fingerprint reader for security as well and implies it can be used for business successfully.
Unlike the first generation Origami and UMPC products, this thing is actually surprisingly snappy, but it won't set any performance records. By the way, it was fully functional when connected to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

At around $1600, it is cheaper than the better looking Macbook Air and provides a better mobile experience, but the Air is still more useful as a laptop thanks to its larger screen and keyboard. However, battery was another thing and with the option of an extended battery (an extra $50) and spare batteries I'd be more comfortable with the Shift on the road. Strangely enough, in my case, I could actually live with the screen just fine. But the keyboard is simply too small and I found myself using an external keyboard whenever I got the opportunity.

But, when I looked at all three products, I could see a blend that could be the perfect laptop.

Blending the X300, Air, Shift Into the Perfect Notebook: The New ThinkPad Butterfly?

Starting with the Shift, the dual mode long battery life aspect is wonderful and it is also the most affordable of the three. The Lenovo is the most practical, usable and comprehensive product and the Apple is one of the most beautiful notebooks that is currently available. In addition, the perfect product needs the battery life and wireless capabilities shared by the Lenovo and HTC products and, were you to wrap all of this up in a bow, I think you'd have a laptop that a lot of us would favor over anything else.

The HTC Shift is a very innovative product for the right kind of user and it is well worth looking at for an idea of what is to come. I believe that the Shift, the ThinkPad X300, and the MacBook air all indicate that the industry is starting to aggressively hunt for the ideal next generation notebook, which will be a blend of what these products currently offer at a price we can afford. Whoever gets this right, will have an amazing product. Of course, some may remember the ThinkPad folks may have been close to right with a product called the ThinkPad 701 Butterfly in 1995 that stared in a James Bond movie. Maybe someone can make that concept more practical.  

Windows Mobile, like Windows itself, has had a checkered history. Early versions were maligned as being feature-poor and difficult to use. However, in a tale familiar to anyone who has followed Microsoft, the company stuck at it, and the portable operating system started to come into its own. The most recent release, Windows Mobile 6.0, added Vista-like themes to go along with a significant upgrade to the OS internals. Having conquered Palm in the dying PDA market, Windows Mobile was now ready to go toe-to-toe with other phone operating systems and platforms such as BlackBerry, Symbian and various Linux derivatives.

All seemed well in Windows Mobile land, but then Apple released the iPhone running a stripped-down version of OS X and a new multitouch user interface. Despite Steve Ballmer's prediction that the phone had "no chance" of gaining significant market share, a recent survey by Net Applications showed the iPhone actually overtaking Windows Mobile in web browsing share: 0.09 percent for the iPhone versus 0.06 percent for all Windows CE and Mobile devices put together. All of a sudden Windows Mobile phones seemed like they were stuck in the past, and minor UI annoyances stuck out like a sore thumb.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Microsoft is busily preparing both a minor UI refresh (Windows Mobile 6.1) and a major new release of the operating system (Windows Mobile 7.0). A gallery of screen shots from the 6.1 refresh compiled by Boy Genius shows an emphasis on simplification: the screens are more task-oriented and have less clutter than their immediate predecessor. A new and clearer font adorns the UI, and new features such as zooming, copy and paste in Internet Explorer, and auto-configuring ActiveSync for e-mails are sure to be welcome additions to the platform. In addition, Microsoft is making it easier (and more Windows-like) to switch tasks by adding a standardized task manager to the platform.

As far as Windows Mobile 7.0 goes, there are no leaked screen shots as of yet, but big changes are afoot. Microsoft plans to completely redo applications such as Internet Explorer, bringing the mobile browser up to par with Apple's Mobile Safari. The e-mail and SMS applications are also scheduled for complete rewrites. Microsoft plans to make the user interface even more consumer-friendly.

Beyond 7.0, Microsoft is even hinting at a completely redesigned Windows Mobile 8.0, which will again redo the internals of the operating system to keep up with newer and more powerful mobile hardware. Details for this release are scarce, although Microsoft promises features such as being able to go from a person's address in their contact info directly to a map view with directions to where they live. It all sounds like the iPhone really lit a fire under the posteriors of the Windows Mobile team, and that can only be good news for smartphone users. 

 Samsung surely loves limelight as Sprint proudly launches the Samsung Instinct touch-screen phone to its customers. The large touchscreen phone works on the same technology as the Samsung Anycall Haptic phone.

The Samsung Instinct touch-screen phone measuring 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches holds its head high in the air with amazing features as GPS navigation, TV and web browser. As per Haptic technology which means ‘touch related’, the phone gives you a feeling of typing while operating its touchscreen QWERTY keypad. To enhance the experience of touch, the Samsung Instinct also provides voice activation features where one can make/receive calls, send text/picture messaging, access traffic, movie, sports, news and search.

Now Sprint customers will be able to download music tracks for 99 cents each through the Sprint Music Store using the Samsung Instinct touch-screen phone. If music does not excite you, then just hop on to the Sprint TV feature and avail of the live TV and on-demand entertainment function.

There is no clarity about the pricing of the Samsung Instinct touch-screen phone as yet; however there are plans in the pipeline to provide this sleek phone on a special unlimited data plan of $69.99 per month via Sprint.

Lenovo, with its forthcoming X300 subnotebook, is among a gang of four (Fujitsu, Toshiba, Sony...) that already has an established tradition of miniature models. It surely sees new opportunity in Apple's announcement, to go with the new opposition that it represents.

The X30 is meatier than the new MacBook: it has a 2.0 GHz Intel LV processor, up to 4GB of RAM, 64GB SSD option, WiMax or HSDPA, GPS and a 1440x900 13.3" display, despite being lighter than the Air with this 2.5lb loadout. It has three (3!) USB ports and gigabit ethernet.

On the downside, the XP or Vista-equipped box is much thicker. It's also cast in standard IBM black, though I must submit that this particular look is the industry's best example of Pollardian neutrality this side of a faceless OEM laptop from Taiwan.

Advanced components on the X300 include solid state storage drives (with no moving parts, they consume less power and are considered less likely to break down than traditional hard drives). The X300 also offers several wireless connectivity options including Wireless USB (UWB) and a Wireless WAN option that utilizes native GPS functionality built into the system. Style-wise, the X300 is closer to the size of an actual paper notebook than a ThinkPad notebook has ever been. And it offers numerous design flourishes including a glossy bottom bezel, select illuminated buttons, and for the first time in X Series an integrated camera option and stereo speakers.

RESTON, Va. – Groovy is getting its groove on and is moving up the charts.

At the 2G Groovy/Grails Experience conference here, Scott Davis, author of several books on Groovy, Java and editor in chief of aboutGroovy.com, said the Groovy language is moving fast up the charts of languages favored by developers.

Groovy now ranks 31 on the list of top programming languages, according to Davis and data from the TIOBE Software BV. Groovy had cracked the top 100 six months ago, moving from 103 to 52, and jumped to its current position in a January poll. Java remains the most popular programming language today, followed by the C language, Visual Basic, PHP, C++, Perl, Python and C#. Fortan, ColdFusion and ActionScript, also rank higher than Groovy.

Groovy, based on Java, is a dynamic language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine, or JVM. James Strachan, the creator of Groovy, first discussed the language on his blog in 2003, but early versions of the language did not appear until 2004, and a 1.0 release came out in January of 2007.

"Groovy is what Java would look like if it had been invented in the 21st century," Davis said, noting that Groovy is "the next generation of Java."

Davis, who delivered the opening keynote for the Groovy/Grails Experience, said people often ask whether Groovy will be a replacement for Java.

"It's like saying do you think icing will ever replace cake," Davis said. "It's the same kind of relationship here. What we do is put a nice Groovy facade over Java things like icing over a cake."

Davis said there is a symbiotic relationship between Groovy and Java. And that makes all the difference between Groovy and other dynamic languages that run on the JVM, he said.

"There's JRuby out there," Davis said. JRuby is an implementation of Ruby that runs on the JVM.

"JRuby is a great dynamic language if you already know Ruby," Davis said. "And Jython is a great dynamic language if you know Python. But when you run JRuby on the JVM you've got this weird kind of disconnect."

However, "Groovy is targeted at us: Java developers," Davis said. "It is for us by us."

Moreover, "because of the linguistic similarities between Java and Groovy it's painless for developers to switch between Java and Groovy," Davis said.

To implement Groovy, all a Java developer needs to do is "add a single JAR (Java Archive file) to your classpath; you don't have to rewrite a single line of code," Davis said.

Groovy runs on Java 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6.

Meanwhile, Grails is a Web application framework based on Groovy that is patterned after Ruby on Rails. Grails co-creator Graeme Rocher said Grails 1.0 shipped earlier this month. Rocher is the project lead for the open-source Grails project.

"Grails is a fully integrated, modern Java Web application in a box," Davis said.

Grails includes support for Asynchronous JavaScript and AJAX frameworks.

"The plug-in system is really where the strength of Grails comes from," Davis said. "Grails is a simple core, but it's infinitely extensible through its plug-in system."

Salil Deshpande, a partner at Bay Partners, a venture capital firm, said, "what's cool about Groovy is it's basically a language that is very Ruby-like, but it's a superset of Java."

Further, Deshpande explained that because Groovy is based on Java then "enterprises can preserve their legacy investments in Java" to extend their development to a dynamic language or lightweight Web development framework such as Grails.

"For the six to nine million Java developers out there, it's easier for these guys to go to Groovy and Grails instead of Ruby and Rails," Deshpande said.

Indeed, Matthew Porter, founder of Contegix, a managed hosting firm, said Contegix went to Groovy and Grails for several reasons, including being able to use their existing skill set in enterprise Java.

Last week I was about to install blog Rush widget on my blog, then I realised that it will a good idea first to check and read reviews about the product as I was kind of skeptical about the technology behind. Boy, I am happy I did too many red flags with this company

http://paidopps.blogspot.com/2007/11/blogrush-scam-site-closes-accounts.html

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Apple Inc. updated its iPhone and iPod Touch lineup Tuesday, doubling the memory and setting a new premium price for its high-end models.

The latest iPhone features 16 gigabytes of memory and retails for $499. The previously released 8 GB version of the hybrid cell phone, multimedia player and wireless Internet device costs $399.

The new iPod Touch comes with 32 GB of memory and retails for $499. The older 16 GB and 8 GB versions of the combination multimedia player wireless Internet gadget cost $399 and $299, respectively.

The new devices are available through Apple's online and retail stores. The updated iPhone is also available through AT&T Inc.'s online and retail stores.

Apple said that all iPhone and iPod Touch models come with updated software that the company announced in January. It includes a new maps application and the ability to watch movies from the iTunes movie rental service.

MySpace already allows users to customize their personal profile pages. But they generally must go off the site, grab the lines of programming code they are interested in and cut and paste that into their profiles. Now, users will be able to add those features more directly.

Under the MySpace Developer Platform, an outside e-mail provider can write a program that sits on the personal home page users see when they log on. Users can check for new messages right there.

Or — instead of taking visitors to another site to view photo albums — a photo-sharing service can write a program that appears on a MySpace profile page that friends visit.

The company unveiled details of the previously announced platform Tuesday and said developers would be able to write and test interactive programs, called "widgets," on up to five users for a month before making them available to the broader MySpace community.

MySpace's launch of a developer platform follows a May decision by its smaller rival social network, Facebook, to open its platform to developers. That has proven a boon for music-sharing startup iLike.com, photo-sharing service Slide Inc. and other companies.

Those applications, in turn, have helped make Facebook more popular, although it still ranks second behind MySpace, a unit of News Corp.

By bringing features from other sites with the developer program, MySpace hopes users will have fewer reasons to leave the site — and view ads elsewhere.

Amit Kapur, MySpace's chief operating officer, said all applications would be treated equally, even though the openness means competitors could siphon traffic from MySpace's own products — such as the MySpaceTV feature that competes with Google Inc.'s YouTube.

"If somebody builds a better feature than we do, we want to see that succeed," he said. "It's shortsighted for us to think we can do everything."

Age, hometown, photo albums and video clips posted on MySpace profiles will be among the data available for incorporation into the widgets. The company said developers would have access only to data already publicly visible, and users can keep that information from developers by restricting profile access to friends only.

MySpace will let developers sell ads, sponsorships and products on special pages assigned to each application, but no ads will appear on the widgets themselves.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Monday that its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo Inc was generous and it expects Yahoo's board and shareholders to agree to the buyout quickly.

"We trust the Yahoo board and the Yahoo shareholders will join with us quickly in deciding to move down an integrated path," Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in an annual strategy meeting with analysts.

Microsoft's comments follow a weekend of maneuvering by Yahoo, which, according to sources familiar with Yahoo's strategy, is considering a business alliance with Google Inc to rebuff Microsoft's proposal. It has also received preliminary contacts from media, technology, telecommunications and financial companies, another source close to Yahoo said.

At the same meeting, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell also said the company may borrow money for the first time in its history to fund a portion of the 50-50 cash and stock offer for Yahoo.

"If you look at the cash component ... we could fund most of that through our cash holdings, but it's likely we're actually going to borrow for the first time," said Liddell. "It's going to be a mixture of the cash we have on hand plus debt."

Liddell said he expects Microsoft's revenue to grow at a double-digit percentage in the coming fiscal year starting in July despite a potential U.S. economic slowdown.

Microsoft also announced that its first major update to Windows Vista was released to manufacturing. Usually, large organizations wait for the first major update before deploying a new operating system.

Shares of Microsoft rose 5 cents to $30.50 in early Nasdaq trading, while Yahoo shares rose 44 cents to $28.82.

(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Michele Gershberg in New York, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Copyright 2008 Reuters