150 Ampere

Sony issued the latest generation of its Walkman MP3 players this week. The A729 and S710F series players offer more than just audio playback. The A-series offers up to 16 GB of storage space in a new design. You’ll get 8 GB of storage with the S-series players. The new crew comes with high-res LCD displays, built-in noise cancellation, and Sony’s Clear Audio technology to minimize distortion and enhance high frequencies.

The new players offer a wide range of music formats, including MP3, WMA, non-DMCA AAC, and LPCM files. The new Walkman series players are also compatible with Windows Vista.

The A-series Walkman players feature a 2.4-inch LCD screen with a slimline case. The S-series Walkman players offer a 1.8-inch LCD screen with QVGA resolution that will display video, photos and graphics. The batteries are long-life, offering between 33 and 36 hours of audio playback time, or 9.5 to 10 hours of video playback, depending upon the model. Charge time is quick as well. The devices can be fully recharged in three hours.

Get the lowdown on Sony’s entire Walkman line from TestFreaks.

This week, Panasonic announced the LUMIX DMC-FX500 10.1 megapixel digital camera, which features an ultra-wide 25mm Leica lens and a 5x optical zoom. The camera also offers a 3-inch wide LCD touch screen control. In addition, the FX-500 features a joystick navigation system and delivers HD video recording capabilities.

Using the hybrid navigation system, the user can make fine control adjustments by touch or using the joystick. The FX-500 also comes with a stylus for touch menu navigation. Users can set the auto focus target and exposure by touching the subject of the shot on the touch screen. The auto-focus will track the subject in the shot even if the subject moves.

The FX-500’s ultra wide lens can capture almost twice the image size that a standard 35mm lens can at the same distance.

The camera also provides a host of automatic settings, including intelligent exposure, which adjusts areas of the image that are under-lit; red-eye correction; gyroscopic image stabilisation; automatic ISO adjustments for moving subjects; intelligent scene selection; automatic face detection; and continuous autofocus.

The camera is available in black and silver and will hit store shelves in the US in May. Suggested retail price USD$400. For the low-down and consumer ratings on the rest of Panasonic’s LUMIX line, check TestFreaks.

Panasonic has introduced a new DAP for the Japanese market that could be making its way east or west soon. The Panasonic D-Snap SV-SD870N features 100 hours of playback time on a single charge. The SV-SD870N comes with a 2GB SD card, but can manage up to 16 GB of SD storage space. The card’s a necessity: the SV-SD870N has no on-board storage memory.

The SV-SD870N will play back AAC, MP3 and WMA files. It also has support for USB 2.0 data transfers, a line-in audio jack and offers ambient noise cancellation for a better listening experience. Panasonic is putting this one on the shelves in mid-April. There’s no word on its cost, or Panasonic’s migration plans for this little device.

If you want to look at other audio options, check out an amazingly full line of MP3 players and their reviews at TestFreaks.

If you’re dying to be the next YouTube darling, Casio has a new digital camera just for you. The Exilim EX-Z9 has a built-in YouTube Capture Mode that enables you to capture THE moment, wherever you are. With the YouTube Capture Mode, you’re always just three steps away from posting the World’s Funniest Video.

The Exilim EX-Z9 captures H.264 video at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 fps, a respectable full-motion resolution for video. Users can upload their video masterpieces using the YouTube Uploader software that comes bundled with the camera. The software’s only good with computers that run Windows.

You’d expect a camera like this to have a lot of memory, and indeed, it does: 18.6 MB, to be exact. You can also jack in some extra storage in the form of SD, SDHC or MMC media cards. As a digital camera, the Exilim EX-Z9 doesn’t disappoint. The camera comes with facial recognition, image stabilization, and auto balancing. If you don’t like fiddling with all of the settings and configurations, that’s fair enough. The EX-Z9 has an “Easy” mode that will take care of most things for you. In Easy mode, most of your menu choices disappear, and you only need to worry about settings that deal with the image size, self-timer and the flash. The exposure settings will take you up to ISO 1600. It’s not the highest ISO I’ve seen, but it’s nonetheless respectable.

Casio plans to unleash the EX-Z9 in March 2008 for a retail price of USD$160, and you can have your pick of the litter in black, silver, pink or orange.

The flash-based iRiver E100 portable media player is out. The E100 will deliver free lossless audio codec (FLAC) support. Want more? How about MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG files, too?

Videophiles haven’t been left out. The E100 will serve up 30 fps video in a variety of formats, including MPEG4 SP, WMV9 and XVID SP. Want to encode your own stuff? No problem. The E100 comes with the tools you need to do just that.

Photo viewing and sharing also come along for the ride. The E100 will display and save JPEG, BMP, PNG and GIF files to an external device and comes with an easy-to-navigate interface that makes finding your files a snap.

The E100 also offers an e-book reader that can also handle text files. For good measure, iRiver added an FM radio tuner and a recording timer, so users can record FM broadcasts for later playback.

The 2.4-inch TFT LCD display is big and colourful. Dual speakers provide excellent sound fidelity, and a mini headphone jack lets you keep your sounds to yourself. The E100 also features both MIC and line in jacks for those times when you want to lay down your own sound.

You’ll need to have a computer that runs Windows XP SP2 or later if you want to use the Iriverplus software for device management. Comes in black, blue, pink or white and runs about €129 for the 8GB versions. 2GB and 4GB models are also available.

Check out the rest of the iRiver line at TestFreaks.

Earlier this week, Sony Ericcson unveiled the new compact T303 slider with plenty of shine from its mirrored screen and chrome finish. The T303’s chic style means it will be at home whether you’re using it for business or pleasure.

The T303 offers all of the functions you’ve come to expect from a contemporary phone: camera, Bluetooth wireless support, FM radio, MP3 music player and Sony Ericcson’s TrackID, which allows you to identify a song’s title and artist based on a small clip.

The T303 is a GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900-capable phone. The camera, at 1.3 megapixels, is serviceable but somewhat below standard. Sony Ericcson’s goal with this phone was to keep the cost low. Without cutting too many corners, the T303 fits the bill.

You’ll also find a USB 2.0 connector, MMS and SMS support, and a host of applications that give function to the T303’s form. Expect to see the T303 in European markets later in 2008. Sony Ericcson hasn’t announced an expected MSRP, but since they’ve categorised it as a low-cost phone, expect it to be as easy on the pocketbook as it is on the eyes.

For the full line of Sony Ericcson gear, check out TestFreaks.

Emobile launched two new handset models, with a plan to provide voice and data services. The handsets are currently available only in Japan, but they’re worth a look. Designed for business users, the S11HT (EMONSTER) from HTC and the H11T from Toshiba are 3.5G HSDPA handsets that can deliver 3.6 Mbps on a download and 384 Kbps on the upload. Each of the phones has an open interface design.

The EMONSTER runs Windows Mobile Professional Edition, and claims to be Japan’s first GPS handset. It also features a 2.8″ tilt-up touch screen that hides a QWERTY keyboard. Extra nav keys on the front help you navigate the menu system.

The HTC H11T is a clamshell model that also sports a 2.8-inch display (no touch!) and comes in four colours: black, white, blue and red. Sadly, it’s not nearly as interesting as the EMONSTER

If you’re interested in the rest of the Toshiba line, check it out at TestFreaks.