A Sharp read

A MODEL shows off a Sharp Galapagos tablet reader during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday. Sharp, Japan’s largest maker of liquidcrystal displays, will start offering an electronic bookstore service in Japanese in December, amid the growing popularity of electronic books.

(PHOTO: BLOOMBERG)

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Garmin-Asus A10 smartphone with GPS

Phone for pedestrians

Garmin-Asus A10 smartphone with GPS

THE virtues of in-car GPS devices have been thoroughly extolled but little has been said about the usefulness of GPS for pedestrian navigation.

Finding a particular place or just getting to a destination – these are tasks for GPS on a mobile phone.

The Garmin-Asus A10 comes pre-loaded with Navteq maps of Singapore and Malaysia. It provides step-by-step and turn-byturn directions when walking or using public transport.

If you’re on foot and looking for a place, this would be a most useful device.

The A10 features Google Maps with Street View and, for drivers, the Junction View and Lane Guidance features let users know the exact lane to enter at intersections.

The phone’s 5-megapixel camera also automatically geotags images with a location’s longitude and latitude.

That’s nifty when you send the photo to friends, as it can help them navigate to the pictured location simply by clicking on the image.

How much: $598 net

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Nokia X3 Touch and Type

Touch and type on light Nokia X3

Nokia X3 Touch and Type JUST when it seems like everyone has written off Nokia, it has launched a number of handsets that seem to indicate that the company has seen the light, finally.

The X3 is a relatively cheap ($295) handset with both touch and keypad input. There is a 5-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom.

Dedicated music and messaging keys are provided. And there is direct social-media access, too.

The X3 is a slim and light device with large keys and a responsive touchscreen. The design is pretty and it should appeal to users who want bells and whistles at an affordable price.

Nokia has just launched the N8, which is supposed to be its answer to the iPhone. If what it has done with the X3 is an indication of what is to come, it may well have a fighting chance.

How much: $295 without a plan

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Still the king of mobile e-mail

BlackBerry Curve 3

THE third-generation BlackBerry Curve 3 incorporates one feature not available in earlier models: 3G connectivity.

It also appears to have a clearer screen and seems faster too. Otherwise, it still does what a BlackBerry does best: E-mail.

BlackBerry, like other handset brands, has been putting smartphone features, including Web and social-media functions, into its devices and that requires mobile broadband connectivity. While the earlier Curves had slower Edge (2.5G) connectivity, the inclusion of 3G in the Curve 3 takes the model back to the fore.

Having used various Black-Berry devices over the years, I must say it works superbly as far as e-mail is concerned. In my view, its e-mail connectivity and delivery speed are as yet unmatched. As a Web device, though, I amnot so sure if Black-Berry is on the right track.

There are now many Black- Berry models in the market. Some have new touchscreens and other smartphone features, but none really match the design and usability of competing models like the iPhone and those of HTC.

Perhaps, BlackBerry should stick to e-mail and continue to build on features that keep it ahead of the pack. How much: To be announced

BY YEONG AH SENG
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BlackBerry Curve 8900 Javelin Unlocked Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, GPS, Stereo Bluetooth and MicroSD Slot--International Version with Warranty (Black)

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3-D television set

Why no-glasses 3-D TV may not catch on

TOKYO

TOSHIBA believes it has a solution for television viewers who like 3-D but hate the glasses.

The Tokyo-based company unveiled yesterday the world’s first high-definition liquid-crystal- display 3-D television set that does not require special glasses – one of the biggest consumer complaints about the technology.

But whether consumers will embrace the new TV remains to be seen. Many might be put off by the fact that they will have to be very close to the screen for the 3-D effect to work.

Already, the glasses-free TV sets are enjoying a buzz in the tech world, but they are not without their detractors, who say that the technology may not yet be up to rolling out a completely consumer-friendly product.

“It’s not a 3-D cinema-quality experience, and there’s clearly room for mprovement,” said CNet of the new TV sets.

“But, again, you don’t have to wear any glasses.”

Electronics and entertainment companies around the world are banking on 3-D to fuel a new boom in TV, movies and games. In Britain, Sky TV and Virgin Media have launched 3-D channels, bringing movies and premiere programmes to viewers there.

But most 3-D TV sets in the market today rely on glasses to rapidly deliver separate images to each eye, which creates a sense of three-dimensional depth.

In its new TV, Toshiba uses a “perpendicular lenticular sheet”, which consists of an array of small lenses that directs light from the display to nine points in front of the TV. If a viewer is sitting within the optimal viewing zone, the brain integrates these points into a single 3-D image.

“The result is a precise rendering of high-quality 3-D images whatever the viewing angle within the viewing zone,” Toshiba said in its release. The system is similar to that of the Nintendo 3DS, the highly anticipated handheld device that features glasses-free 3-D gaming.

Toshiba will offer two sizes – 12 inches and 20 inches – designed for personal use. The technology isn’t advanced enough yet to be integrated into larger screens. The suggested viewing distance for the 20-inch model is 90cm, and 65cm for the 12-inch model.

But will consumers baulk at the price? The TV will go on sale in Japan in late December, Toshiba said. The smaller version will cost about 120,000 yen (S$1,890), and the larger one will be double the price.

There’s also one other potential hurdle that the glasses-free 3-D TV faces, said PC World: that of 2-D.

In January, website Engadget looked at a glasses-free display from Magnetic 3D, a maker of  auto-stereoscopic 3-D displays, and found that the lenticular sheet makes regular 2-D viewing “a messy blur”.

“Unless the world decides that nightly news and cheesy sitcoms are better viewed in 3-D, 2-D will always be important,” wrote PC World’s Mr Jared Newman.

PC World notes that perhaps this is the reason that Samsung has scoffed at the idea of glasses- free 3-D, and why Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute said that LCD 3-D TV sets without glasses won’t be commercially available on a global scale until 2015.

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Galapagos tablet readers

Japan's Sharp to start e-books business in December

Posted: 27 September 2010 1624 hrs

TOKYO - Japan's Sharp Corp said Monday it will launch an e-bookstore service in December with two new "Galapagos" tablet readers, with the service set to expand to movies, games and music early next year.

Sharp's new brand represents a shift for the company from conventional one-off sales of stand-alone products to devices that will continue to "evolve" through periodic software updates, it said.

It will offer a mobile device with a 5.5-inch LCD screen and a trackball for one-handed operation, as well as a device aimed at the home user with a 10.8-inch screen on which magazines can be read across a two-page spread.

In doing so, Sharp will enter an increasingly crowded market looking to exploit the popularity of gadgets such as Apple's iPad and the iBooks store and Amazon's Kindle range of e-readers.

Rival Sony has announced a similar e-book plan jointly with telecoms operator KDDI, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper company and the Toppan printing company. Top mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo has teamed up with Dai Nippon Printing.

Sharp said its devices will automatically download fee-based updates of different newspapers and magazines and will serve as a "concierge" for users by recommending books they might like using their purchasing history.

The company said it had used the name "Galapagos" in reference to the islands that inspired 19th Century British biologist Charles Darwin to formulate his theory of evolution.

Sharp said it aimed to launch the system in the United States and Europe "as soon as possible."

"We want to launch the second batch (of services) around spring, expanding to the distribution of videos, movies, games and music," said senior company official Keiko Okada.

Okada added that the service menu would be broadened to include e-commerce and advertising services.

Officials also said digital textbooks for use in schools is "a very promising market in developing countries."

Sharp will announce the price of the machines and other details later this year.

The company is targeting one million subscriptions in Japan.

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BlackBerry maker RIM unveils 'PlayBook' tablet computer

AN FRANCISCO: BlackBerry maker Research in Motion unveiled a touchscreen tablet computer on Monday called "PlayBook" aimed at business users.

"It is the world's first professional tablet," RIM president and co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis said as he showed off the device at an RIM event in San Francisco.

The PlayBook is one of a number of tablet computers slated for release in a bid to challenge Apple's popular iPad and is the first foray outside the mobile phone realm for the Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM.

The PlayBook has a seven-inch (17.8-centimetre) touchscreen, smaller than the 9.7 inches of Apple's iPad, and also plays Adobe Flash video software, which is banned from the Apple device.

"You are going to be able to get the full Web experience," Lazaridis said, stressing its integration with RIM's BlackBerry smartphone, a favourite among many professionals.

BlackBerry smartphone users can pair their handset with the PlayBook using a Bluetooth connection to view their email, calendar, documents or other content.

The PlayBook also features front- and rear-facing cameras to support video conferencing and allows multi-tasking between programmes.

RIM expects to begin selling PlayBooks in the United States in early 2011 and rolling the tablets out to other countries by the middle of the year.

Lazaridis did not reveal how much RIM plans to charge for the PlayBook.

"RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems," Lazaridis said.

"The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised Web browsing and high performance multimedia," he said.

RIM said that in the coming weeks it would release a software kit so third-party developers can begin tailoring applications, or "apps," for PlayBook.

PlayBook debuted at BlackBerry DEVCON, a combined boot camp and pep rally for outside developers crafting programmes for the Canadian firm's devices.

RIM introduced tools that make it easier to build applications for BlackBerry handsets and make money with ads or "in-app" purchases.

RIM is also launching a free analytics service that provides applications makers with feedback regarding how, when and where BlackBerry owners are using programmes.

"We are enabling developers to better monetise their services and drive deeper engagement to create richer, more interesting social apps for BlackBerry," said Alan Brenner, senior vice president of the BlackBerry platform.

Approximately 35 million people use the BlackBerry "App World" shop, with 1.5 million programmes downloaded daily, according to RIM vice president of global alliances and developer relationships Tyler Lessard.

RIM released tools intended to let developers make "super apps" that can work with data in smartphones to automatically handle tasks such as sensing when a BlackBerry user is driving in a car and read email messages aloud.

RIM also opened the door to more "social" applications that tap into phone features such as chat, instant messaging, and groups, according to Lessard.

Hip, fun or functional programmes made by third-party developers have become vital to the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers.

Apple's App Store features more than 250,000 mini-programmes for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Blackberry's App World has about 11,000 applications, but programmes are also sold at other websites by developers.

Google has been aggressively working to expand an Android Marketplace, which boasts more than 80,000 apps for smartphones running on the California Internet titan's Android mobile operating system.

- AFP/de

Posted: 28 September 2010 0629 hrs

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