150 Ampere

Sony has built a new “smile shutter” into its Cyber-shot W-series digital cameras. Using facial recognition technology, the camera detects when the subject of the shot is smiling and takes a picture. The photographer doesn’t even need to press the button. The function can also be keyed to the smiles of children or adults, which represents an evolution in Sony’s facial recognition technology. The camera has two discrete settings for prioritizing smiles according to age, and can analyze up to eight faces in a shot.

The W-series cameras - as in the W120, W130, W150 and W170 - also feature intelligent scene recognition technology, and when active, will enable the camera to choose the best exposure settings given the conditions. The camera can be set to use the manual configuration selected by the user, but if the camera detects that a better picture can be had, it will take a second photograph with its preferred settings, so you can see just how wrong you were when you thought you could take photos.

On the low-end, the W120 and W130 feature 7.0 and 7.2-megapixel chips respectively with a 4x optical zoom and a 2.5-inch LCD view screen. If you want to step up, you can pick up a W150, with an 8.1 megapixel chip, a 5x optical zoom, a wide angle 30mm-150mm lens and a slightly larger 2.7-inch LCD screen with an eye-level view finder. If you want to go all-out, the W170 offers a 10.1-megapixel chip, a 5x optical zoom and a 28-mm-140-mm wide angle lens in addition to the larger LCD view screen and eye-level viewfinder.

The series includes image stabilization, a semi-manual focus along with an improved autofocus system, ISO settings up to 3200, and built in filters to improve picture quality. Sony has also upped the ante a bit by including picture editing and slideshow capabilities within the camera. With a few spare minutes, users can put together professional-looking slideshows. Sony offers an optional HD cable or camera cradle that will enable users to connect the camera to a high-definition television for later playback.

The new W-series Cyber-Shots will be in the stores in February and March, and range in price from about $200 to $300 depending upon the model you choose. The lower end cameras are available in pink, blue, black and silver. The higher end models are sporting the slightly more tasteful champagne, red, black and silver.

LG showed off its latest at CES 2008 including the Venus, also known as the LG VX-8800. Billed as the successor to Chocolate, the Venus does indeed combine style and quality in a way that at least meets, and in some cases, exceeds the Chocolate bar.

First off, Venus isn’t a girly-phone, so guys can relax, knowing that it comes in a manly black version. You’ll find some sexy in it though, with glass-faced touch screen interface like the iPhone, and plenty of shiny chrome round the edges of the phone, too. Keep a polishing cloth handy to get all of the smudgy fingerprints off of it.

The front isn’t cluttered up with hard navigation keys. A numeric keypad slides below the touchscreen for dialing and other dialing/data entry functions, but the navigation is all done by touch. Venus returns a little haptic love when you press the navigation “keys” on the front face.

The VX-8800 is designed to be a music phone so its feature set takes this into account. A one-touch music key unlocks the music functions of the phone. You can download music or store it on a microSD card. You can also store playlists on the Venus. If music isn’t enough for you, you can also use the Venus to play videos. Touch controls allow you to play, pause, rewind, fast forward and stop the video. It comes with a 2-megapixel camera, which is below par these days, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose. You can record videos with it, but you’ll definitely want the microSD option if that’s how you plan to use the phone.

Venus offers all of the features you expect from a phone: email, web services, chat, instant messaging, voice mail and so on. It also maintains a contact list, usage logs and a host of personalised settings. Bluetooth 1.2 is also part of the package, so you’ll find hands-free calling capabilities, headset support, A/V remote control functions, basic printing and imaging with Venus.

It’s not the highest-ranked phone by LG - that honor goes to the KS20 - but it’s a step up from Chocolate. If you’re in the mood, check out Venus and all the other LG phones at TestFreaks.

No secret there, but Samsung has introduced an ultra-thin 8.2-megapixel digital camera for those who are looking to simplify their daily luggage. The i8 measures 3.5 inches x 2.3 inches x .8 inches and a 2.7-inch LCD viewer. If the dimensions sound vaguely familiar, the Samsung i85 is slightly larger, but for the most part, it’s a similar product. The i8 comes to the table with a 3x optical zoom, respectable for any consumer camera, but 2X shy of what the i85 offers, and an LCD panel that monitors ambient light and adjusts.

It has a range of video talents, including the ability to record MPEG4 video at 800 x 592 resolution. If you just want to watch, the i8 can serve up your basic MPEG, AVI, MOV, WMV and ASF files on the LCD. It’s also NTSC and PAL switchable.

Oh, right. The camera part. Well, it shoots 4:3 and 16:9 format images, and includes built-in image stabilisation and facial recognition. The i8 offers a f/3.5 wide angle and a f/4.5 telephoto lens. The ISO range for the camera runs from 80 to 1,600. The camera also offers seven presets for white balance and a manual balance option. Last but certainly not least, the i8 comes with 195 Mb of internal memory.

The i8 hits the market in February and will set you back about USD$300.

If you’re in the market for a camcorder but don’t want to lug around a brick, Sony introduced two lightweight, high-definition camcorders at CES last week that might fit your bill. The HDR-SR11 and HDR-SR12 come outfitted with 60 GB and 120 GB hard drives, respectively of course, and create 10-mp still and video images. Both models record in high-def at 1,920 x 1,080 and feature a BIONZ image processor and built-in facial recognition technology that will fiddle with the focus, colour controls, and exposure for both still and video shots. The facial recognition technology also allocates more bits to faces to capture better quality images.

Sony’s new lineup also features special noise-reduction technology that zaps out the stuff you don’t want when it converts the image signals into digital format. The latest Handycam models offer a 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen to make image reviewing easy.

Sony also adds Film Roll Index to split long scenes into manageable chunks, and provides a thumbnail image of each chunk for easier review and management. Face Index does just what it says, creating a library of faces to help you find the shots of your friends and family quickly.

The new models should be out of the gate in March.

Last week Sammy announced that it plans to deliver low-cost handsets to market that sell in the £20-£25 range. The handsets will feature colour screens and predicts an increase in sales of 25 percent based on the new strategy and wants to have 25 percent of the mobile market by 2010.

Heading into the low-end price territory is a departure for the Korean phone colossus, which had previously concentrated on the higher-end market. The low-cost mobiles are meant to compete with Nokia. The company expects strong growth in 3G phone sales in India, southeast Asia and Latin America. Sammy holds about 15 percent of the mobile market, behind Nokia, which has about 40 percent.

Currently, the average selling price for a Samsung handset is about £75, a drop from nearly £90 in 2006. Low cost is good, but it’s not the top consideration on my list when I shop for mobiles. Sammy’s got five models in the top 25 on TestFreak’s top-rated mobiles list. The list rates mobiles on design, features and performance, and Sammy’s stuff is solid. There’s always room to improve, but Sammy usually turns in some top-notch hardware. I’m anxious to see what they can do for £25.

Kodak’s latest addition to the EasyShare lineup is the C813. It’s an 8.2 megapixel affair with a 3X optical zoom. The C813 can produce printed pictures of 30″x40″ and includes digital image stabilization. It also enables you to view your images on HDTV or via another HD device.

The C813 offers an effective ISO of 1250, meaning that it works well in both low-light conditions and in situations where the action is fast. You can also use the C813 to capture VGA video at 15 frames-per-second.

If you’re into it, you can get into the camera’s 16 programmed scene modes for specific picture-taking environments, that include sporting events, parties, fireworks, snow, portraiture, and backlighting. The camera also offers three pre-programmed colour modes: colour, black-and-white, and sepia.

The C813 can sport an SD memory card of up to 16 MB, runs on AA batteries, comes with a USB cable for easy connection to a computer or other device, and the EasyShare software, with templates in English, French, and German, if you want to prepare announcements, slide shows, invitations, holiday cards and more.

Check out the entire Kodak EasyShare line and compare other digital cameras at TestFreaks.

TEAC will be showing off its new line of earbuds for the serious audiophiles among us. The inCore Audio ZE-1000 earbuds feature five-layer silicone ear pads which, if you believe the company marketing material, seal out ambient noise up to -30 dB to give you unadulterated listening pleasure from whatever device you have them plugged into. The company swears that the airtight seal is the key to optimal sound isolation. It also suggests that the improved ambient noise-blocking capabilities of these buds may reduce the need to crank up the volume when you’re out and about, saving your ‘drums for your golden years.

The ZE-1000s feature balanced armature drivers, four integrated micro-speakers and the frequency response of the earbuds covers the whole range of human hearing, so you should at least be able to enjoy distortion-free listening. They also come with small, medium and large ear pads, a compact carrying case, a 1/4″ jack and an airplane adapter plug. When you’re on the airplane, by the way, you’ll appreciate the sound blocking capabilities of these things as they prevent you from having to listen to the air hostess blather on about flotation devices, oxygen masks and how to unbuckle your seat belt for the nine thousandth time.

Now, if only TEAC would guarantee that these things would also keep unwanted sound in.

If you’re looking for an MP3 player to try these out with, check out TestFreaks for the latest in portable music gear.