Sony Cybershot W200

The Sony Cybershot W200, a 12.1 megapixel camera is among the most powerful compact digicams. It comes with a Zeiss brand 3x zoom feature and Sony’s Super SteadyShot technology for image stabilization. The all metal body makes this camera look extremely sleek and sophisticated and it comes with a 2.5 inch LCD screen and also has an optical viewfinder. The dimensions of this camera are 91 x 58.5 x 27.3 mm and its weight of 173 g gives it a good solidity.

Some other features in this camera include high ISO for low light conditions. The camera has scene options for twilight, soft snap, twilight portrait and landscape. Some other innovative features include the Dynamic Range Optimizer that facilitates extending detail in the highlight and shadow areas. The performance of this camera is quite impressive and it starts up within two seconds. The AF system in the camera is quite flawless and is capable of focusing accurately in no time even in low light situations without depending on the AF assist light. The image stabilization system works exceptionally well too.

The battery life of this camera is fairly decent with each charge capable of delivering around 300 shots. The Bionz processor delivers rich details and the camera also performs well so far as clarity and color aspects as concerned. The menu for this camera can be accessed through its control functions that are housed in a space near the LCD screen. The buttons can be accessed without problems even though they seem to be crowded in a small area. The face detection system with its additional processing is also a helpful feature. The macro mode works within 4 cm distance of a subject. The Sony Cybershot W200 also comes with the Clear RAW technology that helps in reducing noise when images are captured with high ISO levels.

Yahoo Home Page Gets a New Look

Yahoo today launched what some are calling a significant overhaul to its home page. Yahoo says the new home page is designed to help you stay on top of what is going on in your world, and on the rest of the planet. What the search company has really done, however, is tweaked its old design and added some new, more flexible features that just might pull more users into its sphere. This includes adding more personalized features and the ability to pull a wide range of third-party services into Yahoo in ways that weren't previously available.

My Favorites

The most significant change is in Yahoo's right-hand column, which has been renamed My Favorites. Under the old home page, this column was filled with Yahoo services including games, shopping, Yahoo personals and other features. The new design allows you to choose from a wide range of third-party sites and services, including Facebook, news sites, and e-Bay. Yahoo has also moved Yahoo Mail, Messenger, and other Yahoo service over to the "My Favorites" section. When you hover over any of these widgets, a display pops up with an advertisement and your information.

For me, the best functionality came with the Facebook widget. The widget is a full-functioning mini-Facebook, and looks a lot like the mobile version of the social network. It includes your full news feed, and links to your 'Events & Birthdays,' Profile, and Friends list. If you pull your cursor off the pop-out widget, the service will disappear after a second or two. A similar Facebook feature can also be embedded in your iGoogle account.

App Maker

In addition to the more than 65 widgets you can place on your new Yahoo homepage, you can also make your own. Just click on 'Add' at the bottom of the My Favorites list, and then at the very top of the widget list you can enter the Web address for anything you want to keep track of and give it your own name. If the import is successful, you now have a new widget on your home page.

I tested this out by adding Today@PCWorld and FriendFeed to my page. Today@PCWorld worked out fine, but Yahoo wasn't able to add an icon to the pop-out widget, and I wasn't able to add my own. Not suprisingly, I wasn't able to add my home page from FriendFeed, but I did have the option to add the home page for several FriendFeed users.

Trend Setter

Taking its cue from Twitter's Trending Topics, Yahoo now features the current top ten favorite searches. The Trend Setter box is located on the top left of the home page, where users used to access their e-mail, messenger, games and weather under the old design.

Personalized News

The news tabs have moved down a bit, but now have a local news section. Just type in a U.S. City or Zip and Yahoo delivers news from local news outlets.

PC To Mobile Sync

This feature isn't available yet, but Yahoo says that soon your Yahoo mobile page will match the edits you've made on the desktop version.

If you want to try out the new features you have to opt-in when you arrive at Yahoo's home page; alternatively, you can go to Yahoo.com/trynew. Today's launch is only available to users in the United States, and availability will expand over the coming week to users in France, India, and the U.K. Mobile device users will also see the new Yahoo home page this week, but the company didn't specify which countries would see the mobile version first. If you live in the rest of the world, Yahoo says it will be rolling out the new home page to more countries in the coming months.

Intel Announces More Efficient, Much Cheaper Solid-State Drives

Intel made a splash when it launched its first solid-state drive (SSD) last year: Its models delivered the best performance we'd seen on SSD to that point. The company today announces its second-generation drive, the Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drive (SSD). This new 2.5-inch drive, available in the same capacities as before -- 80GB and 160GB -- uses smaller and less expensive 34nm NAND multilevel-cell flash memory, which translates into big cost savings for consumers.

The previous X25-M used 50nm flash circuits. Intel says the new iteration has improved on some aspects of performance, with up to a 25 percent reduction in latency (which translates into greater speed for accessing data); Intel says a standard hard drive's latency spec would be at 4000 microseconds, while the new X25-M carries a rating of just 65 microseconds. The new drive also has faster random-write input/output operations per second (IOPS) compared with the first-generation model: It's up to two-and-half-times as fast for the 160GB model, and two times as fast for the 80GB. Intel says the 80GB model can deliver up to 6600 4KB write IOPS performance, while the 160GB model can achieve 8600 IOPS. The drives also feature a similar boost in random write performance, which Intel says will translate into faster system and application responsiveness.

Notably, Intel rates the life expectancy of these mainstream drives at 1.2 million hours mean time between failures. Only enterprise-class magnetic hard drives are given comparable ratings by hard-drive makers.

The new X25-M models carry significantly lower prices as compared with the previous-generation drives. Now, the X-25M 80GB has a channel price of $225 (compared with $595 a year ago), and the 160GB version has a channel price of $440 (down from $945).

Intel's price move is bound to make SSD a more affordable and viable option for consumers than it has been thus far. The X25-M drives still carry a price and capacity premium -- storage-hungry fiends will look to hard drives with more than triple the capacity, not to the Intel SSDs to satisfy their needs. But SSD has its strengths, especially if you're using it for disk-read intensive tasks. I anticipate more SSD makers will turn to the new flash chips to achieve competitive pricing with Intel; and the new pricing should help drive SSD adoption, which has been slow to take off over the past couple of years.

First USB 3.0 Motherboard on the Way

The long-awaited arrival of USB 3.0, which offers speeds as much as ten times faster than 2.0, is almost over as ASUS has revealed the first motherboard to feature the faster standard.

The P6X58 Premium board features both 3.0 and 2.0 ports, allowing for greater functionality with USB devices both old and new. ASUS has also made it super easy to tell the new ports from the old, with the USB 3.0 connectors sporting blue connectors.

No word on when or how much this board will set you back — but it's official, USB 3.0 is on its way.

Gmail Wish List: Five Features

In the early days, Gmail hooked us with its innovative features, like the way it threaded together e-mails under the same subject. And Google continues to add more clever features, such as the recently discovered option to auto-unsubscribe to spam newsletters. While they're working on it, we have our own ideas for some new -- and, perhaps, unconventional -- features we'd like to see in Gmail.
Act Like Xoopit

It's a shame that Yahoo just bought up Xoopit, a service that organizes the photos and video in your e-mail. Sure, you can use Xoopit with Gmail for now, but who knows how long the service will remain available? And it'd be nice to have an integrated service for searching videos and images -- kind of like a Google Images just for your inbox. Maybe the competition will get Google working, if it hasn't already.

Drag and Drop Everything

Gmail recently allowed users to drag unused mail categories, such as Spam, into a folder that keeps them out of sight. Why not expand drag and drop to the rest of Gmail? Dropping attachments from the desktop would be helpful, but it'd be even better to throw e-mails into separate categories and tear e-mails away into their own browser tabs or windows.

Smart Signatures

A common complaint with Gmail is the inability to select from multiple signatures, but let's take it a step further: What if Gmail could look at the e-mail you're writing and, based on the contact and context, suggest the appropriate signature? A simple button at the bottom would sit next to the drop-down list everyone's waiting for, and if you forgot to sign, Gmail could remind you before sending, in the same way its Attachment Detector works in Gmail Labs.

E-Mail Preview

Ever get an e-mail that's sort of interesting, but probably doesn't need to be read in full? A preview function -- beyond the limited text you see on the main page -- would be useful for eliminating chaff from your inbox without ignoring it completely. Ideally, a pop-up box would show just the text of the e-mail, along with options to immediately archive or delete. This would come in handy while searching through old e-mails as well.

Did They Read It?

It's a little creepy that there is a program that can silently determine whether your e-mail recipient actually read what you wrote. Still, we wouldn't mind having DidTheyReadIt in Gmail. Imagine clicking a check box before sending and seeing a green light pop up next to the subject once the e-mail is read. Combine this with Gmail's experimental "Unsend" feature, and you've got a powerful way to snoop on your correspondents.

Shoot Action Videos With Helmet Cameras

With video capabilities built into almost everything these days, from digital cameras to tiny cell phones, it's never been easier to record your favorite moments. But just try carrying one of these devices down a ski slope, or filming scenery while bouncing down a bike trail.

To show off the more active parts of your life, consider investing in a helmet cam--a small digital camera that can be mounted to your helmet, bicycle handlebars, motorcycle foot pegs, surf- board, pet, or just about anywhere else you can think of. I use my helmet cam to capture scenery on cross-country trips on my motorcycle.

If you're of a less death-defying nature, helmet cameras are also ideal for shooting video that would otherwise be hard to capture. For example, I set it on the ground to capture close-up footage of chipmunks.

Choosing a Helmet Cam

When shopping for a helmet cam, look for something very small and light. They come in two basic styles: all-in-one or two-piece designs. All-in-one units provide the smallest overall package. Sometimes, these devices are "lipstick" cameras, meaning they're housed in a long tube with a built-in media reader. Two-piece designs feature a similar lipstick-like camera but connect via a cable to a separate recording unit.

The advantage of an all-in-one is that when you take your helmet off, you won't have to hassle with cables or find a place to carry the recording unit. The advantage of two-piece units is that the recording unit usually contains an LCD screen, which works as a viewfinder and allows you to review your footage. A viewfinder is nice to have when mounting the camera, so that you can make sure the camera is pointing where you want it. Without a screen to review your footage, it can be difficult to tell if you've captured the shots you want. But depending on how you plan to use your helmet camera, you might be able to do without it. For most activities, (bicycling, skiing, etc.) you won't be able to pay attention to a viewfinder while in action, and you might find that you don't want to spend a lot of time reviewing footage in the field, on a tiny screen.

Lenses and Image Quality

Because helmet cameras are intended for capturing video rather than still pictures, they don't pack the

huge pixel counts of even inexpensive still cameras. Most helmet cameras deliver somewhere between 640-by-480 and 769-by-494 resolution video, which is enough data to create an image that will look good when shown on a standard definition TV, and plenty of data for online playback. Because they don't have zoom lenses, you'll need to give some thought to what kind of field of view you want on the camera. Most cameras offer a field of view that's slightly wider than the human eye, though some go farther than this, sometimes producing a fisheye-like effect.

The advantage of a wide-angle lens is that you don't have to be as careful with aiming the lens. With an extremely wide field of view, you'll stand a better chance of getting the shot, even if your camera isn't aimed quite where you think it is.

Be careful of going too wide. An extremely wide-angle lens can look at little bit off, simply because we're not used to experiencing the world in extremely wide angle. What's more, some wide-angle lenses get very soft around the edges. Most vendors are good about posting sample footage on their Web sites, so you'll want to look at these movies to assess whether a particular camera's field of view and distortion is acceptable.

Other Features to Consider

There are some other amenities you'll want to consider as well:

Durability: This is a critical consideration when strapping a camera to your head in potentially adverse conditions. While you can recover from concussions and minor scrapes, your camera is more vulnerable. If you're going to be using the camera in inclement weather, or in a shock-laden environment (say BMX riding, skateboarding, or boxing) then you'll want a camera that is waterproof and shockproof. If you're opting for a two-piece unit, then you'll want similar durability in the recording module and the cables and connectors.

Batteries: Almost all helmet cameras run on AA batteries, which makes it easy to replace batteries in the field. A set of rechargeable AAs will give you much longer battery life. Depending on your camera and your batteries, you should be able to get at least five or six hours of shooting time. If you find a helmet camera that uses a proprietary battery, you might get longer life, but you won't be able to pick up extra batteries on the go.

Remote: A remote control is most likely essential. Some cameras use infrared (IR) remotes, which can be a problem if you're keeping the recording unit in your backpack. A radio frequency (RF) remote doesn't require line-of-site and can be a better choice if you're using a two-piece unit.

Microphone: Most helmet cameras are also capable of recording sound, but bear in mind that an exposed microphone plummeting down a hill or cruising along a highway will primarily pick up wind noise. If you want to record your voice while shooting, then get a camera with an external mic jack, or one that has a microphone--either wired or wireless--that can be placed inside a helmet (obviously, on some helmets this won't be possible).

How to Mount Your Camera

One of the trickiest things about working with a helmet camera is figuring out where you want to put it, and how you can get it to stay there. When evaluating cameras, look at what kind of mounts it provides, and consider whether it will work with your helmet. Most cameras come with a few options, ranging from adhesive-backed pieces of Velcro that you can attach to a helmet, to zip ties that you can use in conjunction with custom mounts to fix the camera on a handlebar. You'll also want to give some thought to bumps and vibration. If you're on a bicycle, mounting a camera on the handlebars will probably yield shakier footage than if you mount it on your helmet and let your body act as a shock absorber.

Some helmets present mounting problems because they're not necessarily smooth. For example, I was all set to use adhesive Velcro to attach a camera to the top of my motorcycle helmet, before I realized that the top of my helmet isn't flat--there's a big crease in it. The only flat part that was big enough was on the side of the helmet. This works OK, but means that I have an easier time shooting things on my left than I do on my right. If you have a bicycle helmet with a vented, unusual shape, then there may not be a flat space big enough to Velcro a camera to. You'll need to use a zip-tie mount, or another type of custom mount.

While it's easy enough to find the top of the helmet when it's sitting on a flat surface, bear in mind that when you're in action, the top of your helmet will be at a different height and angle on your head. The easiest way to position the camera is assume the position you'll be shooting from, and have someone else mount the camera on your helmet. Shoot some test footage to ensure the camera is rigged properly. Because there's no way to tell for sure if your mount will be stable in the field, you'll want to pack extra Velcro, zip ties, duct tape, or other appropriate adhesives.

Shooting Tips

The best advice for shooting with a helmet camera is to be aware of its limitations. Understand your camera's field of view, and think about how to use it. You'll want to be careful about lots of fast pans, and you should try to minimize camera shake, lest you make your audience seasick. Depending on what activity you're engaged in, getting smooth footage could be difficult. If your shots are too shaky, try experimenting with different places to mount the camera.

Make sure you shoot ample amounts of footage. Since you won't be able to film with great care, you'll want to get a lot of coverage to choose from. Remember to record shots other than your helmet-mounted point-of-view. Editing a bunch of first-person footage together can make for a pretty boring result, so take the camera off its mount and use it like a normal video camera from time to time. Shoot some establishing shots of your location, and interview people you meet along the way. If you can mange it, position the camera to shoot some footage of yourself while you engage in your activity. All of these shots will give you more to edit with when you get home.

No matter what kind of camera you use, remember that every story needs a beginning, middle, and an end, whether you're shooting with a camera in your hand or on your head.

There are a lot of helmet cameras out there. Here are a few options:

VIO POV.1.5: A two-piece model that yields very good image quality, the POV.1.5 scores with its interchangeable lenses (giving you a choice of focal lengths), cable-mounted microphone that can easily be fixed inside a helmet, RF remote control, rugged design, and a huge assortment of mounts. The recording unit is a little big--too big for handlebar mounting--but the overall design is very thoughtful ($700; http://www.vio-pov.com).

HoytTech HCR-100X: Another two-piece unit, the HCR-100X has a smaller recording unit than the Vio, making it more reasonable for mounting in a visible location. Offering a special "IR/Night sensitive" option and a huge range of accessories, the HCR-100X is a great, full-featured choice ($530; http://www.hoyttech.com).

Oregon Scientific ATC5K: An all-in-one unit with a built-in viewfinder, the ATC5K offers the best of both worlds by eliminating the wires and storage hassles of a two-piece unit. It offers a few mounting options and a fairly wide field of view ($230; http://www.oregonscientific.com).

GoPro Motorsports Hero Wide: An all-in-one with a huge assortment of mounting options, the Hero offers a whopping 170-degree angle of view. Like the other cameras here, it's waterproof and shockproof, and ready to handle a tremendous level of outdoor abuse ($190; http://www.goprocamera.com).

Sony Ericsson Launches 8.1-megapixel Camera Phone

Anyone looking for a camera phone that packs a little more punch than the obligatory low-end cameras found on most phones these days will undoubtedly gravitate towards the new C905a Cyber-shot. With an 8.1-megapixel lens, it boasts the highest camera resolution available through AT&T. Supplementing the snazzy new image sensor is a feature set for snapping photos on the go: Face detection, red-eye reduction, smart contrast sensors, and BestPic options that let you take several successive pictures and save the best ones. Like the previous Cyber-shots, the C905a has a slider phone form factor with dedicated camera keys on the body of the unit ensuring you don't miss choice photo ops because you're muddling around in menus. All that will cost you $230, though if you start a new two-year contract you can get a $50 mail-in rebate.

Social media mavens, on the other hand, will prefer the W518a Walkman, a flip phone that emphasizes the mobile music functionality. When shut, the outside has a small display that shows the ID tags of whatever you're currently listening to, and it has Play/Pause, Next Track, and Previous Track buttons to make it easy to control without having to open the phone up. It comes preloaded with a Facebook app, so you don't have to wait until you get to your home computer (or shell out the money for a full-fledged smartphone) to get your hourly dose of the mundane, and it has a standard-issue 3.2-megapixel camera. You also don't need to wait to get home to download new music either; both Napster Mobile and eMusic Mobile are available for your digital downloading dollars.

Perhaps most noteworthy, however, are the new control options: Advanced Shake Control lets you shuffle or skip songs by flicking the phone with your wrist, and "Gesture Control" lets you deny calls or set your alarm to snooze by waving your hand in front of the camera. It's also substantially cheaper than the Cyber-shot: the W518a will only run for $100, which comes down to $50 if you sign a new two-year contract and get the $50 mail-in rebate.

If that caught your attention, don't forget to check out some of our recent phone reviews, like the high-end Sony Ericsson W995a or the details on Sony Ericsson's Android phone from earlier.

Ancient Atari Joysticks Unearthed

On a recent excavation, Chris Locke unearthed an amazingly well-preserved fossil of Hilarofustis atarium, commonly referred to as the Atari joystick. This is the most recent "discovery" he has made, but among his Modern Fossils collection you can also spot long-dead boom boxes, aged iPods, obsolete hard drives, and ancient phones.

Yep, technology gets old, fast. While most formerly cutting-edge tech ends up in a pile of yesterday's trash, Locke does his best to preserve specimens the best way he knows how: by burying them.

It started when Locke had some extra rubber after making molds. "I grabbed an old Nintendo controller I had lying around--it was an iconic symbol of my childhood--and I thought it'd be cool to preserve it as a fossil," he says.

That gave him his first taste. Now he regularly haunts his local Goodwill store in Austin, Texas, which receives electronics donations from nearby companies."The guys [at Goodwill] get a kick out of what I'm doing, and they are always on the lookout for cool gear that I could use in my projects." When he's done re-creating something in stone, everything goes back to Goodwill so that the staffers can recycle the parts. ("They just loan me the stuff...which I then destroy.") And whatever they don't have, he looks for on eBay.

Here are a few of the "finds."

Hilarofustis atarium

One of our earliest specimens, Hilarofustis atarium occupies the same position on the food chain as Dominaludus nintendicus but predates it by several years. Examples of this particular species are somewhat rare, especially today, as so many other species have arisen to take its place.

Dominaludus nintendicus

This is an early example of the "game controller" unit, specifically from the mid-1980s. The earliest examples of this species appeared in Japan, but quickly spread throughout the United States and the rest of the world within only two or three years.

Ludustatarium temperosony

First seen in the mid-1990s, Ludustatarium has been found throughout the world. Similar in origin and function to Dominaludus nintendicus, Ludustatarium is obviously a more complex evolution of the form.

Dexteludicrum repuerasco

First seen around 1989, Dexteludicrum repuerasco has also appeared worldwide. Dexteludicrum repuerasco obviously bears some of the same traits as Dominaludus nintendicus, but it includes extra components.

Ambulephebus sonysymphonia

First found in the late 1970s, often in close proximity to Asportatio acroamatis, suggesting a possible symbiotic relationship. This species rapidly evolved into many other forms, including a large, round version (Ambulephebus discus) and the rare Ambulephebus minidiscus.

Experts theorize that the entire Ambulephebus genus was virtually wiped out by the sudden appearance of Egosiliqua malusymphonicus near the turn of the century. Some Ambulephebus remain, but not in the numbers once seen.

Egosiliqua malusymphonicus

Egosiliqua malusymphonicus, which first surfaced in 2001, remains today in several forms, most closely resembling this one. Some observers speculate that it evolved from Ambulephebus sonysymphonia, while others suspect that Egosiliqua was the natural predator whose presence led to the eventual extinction of Ambulephebus.

Pretty cool, but how does he do it? Locke explains the process: "I make a mold of the actual item in many cases. I start by coating the device in release agents so that the mold separates, then I pour on the rubber. Others I embed in stone, and I give it more of a stone-carving look. For those, I mix up plaster and a whole lot of sand. I start chipping it away with specialized tools. Basically I'm trying to re-create what happens in nature--and what archeologists uncover in Utah--without the whole traveling-to-Utah thing."

The rubber allows him to cast pieces in plaster, resin, concrete, wax, and even soap--but as you might expect, that doesn't come cheap. The mold for the boom box, the biggest one so far, took 8 to 10 hours and $250. So you can only imagine the costs involved in making something even larger, like an Apple II. But Locke still keeps plugging along, practicing his art and making a few dollars on each sale. Would he love to sell more? No doubt--after all, there's a long line of tech he wants to see properly preserved.

As I write this, he's finishing up a Barbara Streisand 8-track tape and an old Motorola Meteor bag phone. (Fun fact: Some rugged cell phones sold for $2000 back in 1992.) Still on deck are a turntable, an 8-track player, a brick phone, a Commodore 64, and his white whale: "I'd really love to get my hands on a Nintendo Power Glove," says Locke.

Toshiba Will Sell Blu-ray Player This Year

Exactly a year and five months after Toshiba brought an end to the high-definition disc format war, the Japanese consumer electronics company confirmed its plans to produce its own Blu-ray Disc player. Previously, rumors trickled in about Toshiba considering such a move; Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun this weekend reported that Toshiba will adopt the format it once battled against.

The format war was vigorously fought, as Toshiba and Microsoft backed HD DVD, and Sony, Panasonic, and a consortium of consumer electronics companies promoted Blu-ray Disc. The winner of this battle would control over the lucrative, high-definition successor to the quarter-of-a-billion dollar standard-definition DVD business.

Toshiba withdrew HD DVD from the market in February 2008 after a series of crippling blows gave rival Blu-ray a clear edge. At the time, Toshiba indicated that, in the absence of HD DVD, it would instead pursue "a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies."

Toshiba has certainly made strides with its video processing and cell processor. But none of the aforementioned technologies have yet to replace DVD players for home entertainment.

In light of all of this, the news that Toshiba will produce its own Blu-ray player is actually unsurprising. Still, it is appropriate to wonder aloud why Toshiba would swallow its pride and enter into the competitive Blu-ray Disc player market?

The answer comes down to one word: Business. Toshiba couldn't beat Blu-ray, and the company has realized there was money to be made by joining them. Just last week, the Digital Entertainment Group released its mid-year report, and Blu-ray Disc was clearly doing well in spite of the weak economy: Both disc sales and hardware sales are up as compared with last year.

When Toshiba abandoned HD DVD, I noted that, although the company did not announce any plans to produce its own Blu-ray drives, I found it impossible to imagine that Toshiba would completely abandon the market for movie disc players. After all, this was a market that Toshiba helped pioneer with the original DVD, and a market that Toshiba historically did well in (second only to Sony).

Pride aside, Toshiba had other, competitive reasons to turn to Blu-ray. The DVD player is an integral part of home theater systems. HDTV makers love to provide multiple entertainment components to consumers-and without a Blu-ray Disc player, Toshiba has had an obvious gap in its lineup. And the company has forfeited sales and market share to those companies producing Blu-ray Disc players.

It's about more than just Blu-ray Disc players: Already, Blu-ray can be found integrated into HDTVs for convenient, all-in-one entertainment systems. As this feature becomes more common, Toshiba's HDTV lineup will be at a disadvantage without a comparable offering.

The timing of Toshiba's plans actually makes perfect sense. Blu-ray has entered its mass market phase, says Blu-ray Disc Association chairman Andy Parsons.

The format is at a point of growth; Blu-ray players aren't an Aisle 4 commodity in drug stores just yet. Player manufacturing costs have fallen off dramatically as compared with a year ago. And the street prices for players are also lower-you can now easily find a player for under $200.

All of these factors were, apparently, too great for Toshiba to ignore. That said, whether the company jumped into the fray because of Blu-ray's worldwide popularity, or just its dominance in Japan remains unclear from what little news released today. But it's worth noting that as of winter 2008, the Blu-ray Disc Association noted that Blu-ray had achieved over 50 percent market share in Japan-clearly, that means Toshiba has been leaving potential revenue on the table for its competitors to grab.

Early word is that the first device would be a Blu-ray Disc player that could ship by year's end. However, given that Japanese consumers favor Blu-ray recorders (which command more than 70 percent of the market share) as opposed to players, I can't help but imagine that Toshiba will be developing a recorder, too.

The idea of a recorder leads to some interesting possibilities. We here in the U.S. have, sadly, yet to be graced with Blu-ray Disc recorders. Most manufacturers are concerned about a perceived lack of interest in such a device in the DVR-friendly United States. Nonetheless, a consumer can dream: Perhaps Toshiba will be the company with the vision to bring recorders to our shores.

Microsoft Office vs.Google Docs: A Web Apps Showdown

The future may be the cloud, but it also may be Microsoft that ushers us into that realm of possibility and imagination.

Today, Redmond unveiled as a part of Office 2010 a suite of Microsoft Office Web apps that will compete directly with Google Docs. While Microsoft isn't letting anyone play around with the apps just yet, on paper, Microsoft's Web apps look like they could blow Google's online services out of the water -- beta or no beta.

Forget about the half measures of Office Live Workspace; Microsoft's new Web apps will let you create, edit, and save documents right online. Here's a quick head-to-head between Google and Microsoft Web apps.

Price

For personal users, Microsoft's Web apps will cost the same as Google Docs: nothing. All you'll need is a Window Live ID, and you'll be able to use Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word online for free.

Winner: Tie
Look and Feel

Google Docs has a very nice basic feel to it, in keeping with the simplicity and ease of use that Google brings to its products. Microsoft, however, has no qualms about complicating things, and this time that attitude may yield good results. Microsoft says its Web apps will have a similar look and feel as their desktop counterparts, including the Ribbon feature. Microsoft also promises the Web versions of your formatted documents will render properly in most browsers, including Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox. There's no word on Microsoft's plans for the Chrome or Opera browsers.

Winner: Microsoft. You may have to switch browsers if you're a Chrome head or Opera freak, but that's a small price to pay for the look and feel of Microsoft Office in your Web browser.
Collaboration

One of the strong suits of Google Docs is real-time collaboration in the Web browser. Microsoft is bringing similar functionality and calling it co-authoring. What's not clear, however, is how exactly co-authoring works. Microsoft says you must save a document to a SharePoint server or a Windows Live site before you can collaborate, but the company doesn't say whether you can work together on a document right from the Web browser or if you need to use the desktop version. It's also not clear whether co-authoring works only on a private network, or if you can collaborate via the World Wide Web. I've asked Microsoft to clarify.

Winner: Google. Real-time collaboration right from the Web browser is a winning feature for ease of use and Google Docs will work from almost any computer with connectivity. Until Microsoft explains itself more clearly, we'll assume co-authoring will be limited.

Presentations

Both Google and Microsoft will let you create presentations and do limited editing online. Microsoft says Powerpoint's Web app will let you pick a theme, edit slide layout, add or remove slides, edit text, and add animations. PowerPoint online will also give you the choice of full-screen presentations, while Google has a near full-screen view.

Both Google and Microsoft give you the capability to instantly share your presentation online. Google lets you share through the browser and connect to anyone with a Google account. Microsoft, on the other hand, is keeping it in the family, since instant PowerPoint sharing will be dependent on the Microsoft Office add-on Communicator 2007 R2.

New desktop features included in PowerPoint include basic video and image editing.

Winner: Google. Both presentation apps are almost equal in terms of functionality, and depend on desktop versions for deeper editing power. But Google's capability to share with anyone in the world right through the Web browser gives it a slight lead over the extra features of Microsoft's Web app.

Spreadsheets

What can I say about spreadsheets to get you excited? Not much; you're still going to be stuck in a world of macros, formulas, cells, and rows. Microsoft Excel's Web app will allow co-authoring and you can use the same Excel formulas you know from the desktop version. But Excel online will be a reduced version of its desktop counterpart. Microsoft also says it will simplify online sharing for Excel documents allowing you to easily publish a spreadsheet to blogs, wikis or other Web sites.

Winner: Microsoft. The familiarity of Excel, plus the claim of easy Web publishing may push Excel over top of Google spreadsheets.

Word Processing

The world's most popular word processor should have Google running scared. If Microsoft comes through on its promise to deliver a desktop look and feel to the online version of Word, it could be all over for Google. Both Google and Microsoft will allow you to create tables, bullets and styles and have spell checkers, but Word online will also give you auto-correct.

Winner : Microsoft (for now). Auto-correct is a nice feature, but I will also give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and assume its editing features are going to be deeper than Google's since it can port more features online from Word. I may be proven wrong.

According to my calculations, Microsoft just barely comes out on top with a score of three to two and one tie. However, Microsoft is making some big promises with its Web apps, and since no one has seen them yet it's hard to know for sure how well they'll work. Google may also stage an even bigger challenge to Microsoft later this year since the company is promising that Google Docs will undergo "dramatic changes in the next 12 months."

Microsoft's Web apps will be available to technical preview users later this year, although with limited functionality. The rest of us will get our hands on Microsoft Office Web apps during the first half of 2010.

Intel May Release New Nehalem Chips

Intel appears ready to deliver, starting next month, new server, laptop and desktop processors based on its new microarchitecture, which offers improved performance.

The new chips will be based on the Nehalem microarchitecture, which cuts down on bottlenecks that plague its current chips. Nehalem chips are also able to execute more tasks while drawing less power.

An industry source with knowledge of Intel's plans said the company will deliver new Xeon server processors belonging to the 5500 and 3500 chip families starting early August. Chip specifics weren't immediately available.

A Digitimes report Monday also said that the chip giant will bring its latest chip microarchitecture to high-end mainstream desktops and laptops starting in September. The company will launch quad-core desktop chips code-named Lynnfield in early September, followed by quad-core laptop chips code-named Clarksfield later in the month, according to the report, which cited industry sources.

Intel officials declined comment, saying the company doesn't talk about rumors. "But I can say that Lynnfield and Clarksfield are on track for second half 2009 production," an Intel spokesman said in an e-mail.

The Lynnfield and Clarksfield chips will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process, according to Intel's road map, and should be shipped before its shift to the more efficient 32-nm manufacturing process later this year.

The company will also launch chips for new ultrathin laptops -- the Celeron SU2300 and Celeron 743 processors -- in September, according to the Digitimes report.

This will be the first time Nehalem-based chips will reach mainstream audiences, after being mainly reserved for expensive systems like servers and gaming PCs. Nehalem integrates a memory controller into a CPU and provides a faster pipe for the processor to communicate with system components like a graphics card and other chips. It also allows execution of two software threads simultaneously, so a system with four processor cores could run eight threads simultaneously for quicker application performance. The chips will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process.

While the new Nehalem chips may be limited to desktops and laptops on the higher price band, affordably priced systems could see new chips when Intel switches to the 32-nm process. The 32-nm chips will integrate a graphics processor and CPU in one chip, which could boost graphics performance while drawing less power than existing processors.

The Pirate Bay to Take On YouTube, Hulu with The Video Bay

Watch out, Hollywood -- another threat to your profits appears to be setting sail and headed in your direction. A site called The Video Bay aims to make pirated TV shows and Hollywood movies available in hi-def quality for streaming through your Web browser -- no hefty downloads required. The site, reportedly in development by the people behind the controversial site The Pirate Bay, is aiming to compete with Hulu and YouTube. As far as I can tell, the new venture isn't bothering with any cumbersome legal issues such as copyrights and content licences.

The Video Bay is currently in an early pre-testing mode and when visited earlier today failed to play videos and audios seemingly available for streaming. From what I can tell The Video Bay is merely an experimental playground. No final launch date is set.

Given the legal battles The Pirate Bay has been through earlier this year, the future of The Video Bay doesn't look good. Back in April when the legal battle between Hollywood studios and The Pirate bay was unfolding, I was writing that sites like TPB are like weeds: when you try to kill one, they grow back even stronger. Despite $3.8 million in damages owed to Hollywood, The Video Bay could pose an even stronger alternative to peer-to-peer pirating that requires downloading content to your PC. The Video Bay, where users stream content through a browser, would lower the technical bar significantly for viewing pirated content. Pirates wouldn't have to mess with video formats, players, and converting ISO images to video files. But the big "if" here is whether The Video Bay can evolve past its current incarnation, which is about as functional as a car with square wheels.

While Hollywood is bracing themselves for The Video Bay, the people behind the site are publicly stating that The Video Bay is "subjected to both live and drunk (en)coding, so please don't bug us too much if the site ain't working properly."

Cool Search Engines That Are Not Google

How do you find a new search engine if all you know is Google? Typing “search engine” into the usual box might lead you to Microsoft’s newly launched Bing, the combined search at Dogpile, or the former king of search, Altavista.

But for those willing to dig around, searching for search engines can reveal a treasure trove: The net is rich with specialized search services, all trying to find a way to get their slice of the billions of dollars Google makes every year answering queries.

For this article, we surveyed some 50 specialty search services and picked out our favorites. What follows is not a systematic ranking or review, but a general guide to a very vibrant world that few have bothered to explore in depth.

The variety of search startups is mind-boggling, and hints at the challenges Google may face staying on the bleeding edge of search innovation in the coming years. (There’s even something for micro-philanthropists: Good Search donates a penny to the charity of your choice for each search you run.)

None of the sites we sampled are likely to replace Google as your go-to search engine for general queries, or dent Google’s growing sway as the world’s information broker any time soon. But even a cursory tour will make you start to think differently about what’s possible in search, and show up some of Google’s shortcomings.

Take mobile. Google works fine on the iPhone, but for quick searches on the go, ChaCha can’t be beat. Simply text your question to 242242 and you’ll get an answer sent back to you.

In the age of Twitter, there’s fierce competition to be the quickest indexer on the net — a feature even Google co-founder Sergey Brin admits his company can improve upon. IceRocket, OneRiot and Scoopler are typical of the trend.

The smartest one we found is Collecta. It scours the net for the most recent blog posts, news stories, tweets and comments and displays them in a continuous waterfall. It’s a torrent of information to keep track of, but if you are worried about your company’s online reputation or want the latest news on Iran, it’s indispensable.

Keeping tabs on local news and events isn’t easy — even in the days of news aggregators. Enter Trackle. Think of it as a standing search engine that will notify you of news and events you want to know about. Want to follow stocks, know the weather, find news about your neighborhood, buy a treadmill on Craigslist, follow the big game while at work or find deals on specific products? Trackle searches constantly for you and sends you emails or text messages (your choice) when Apple stock falls or your team scores a run. The interface is clunky, but the idea of a search robot beats the hell out of an RSS feed any day.

Want to learn about a general topic such as the Iranian revolution or paella? Try Kosmix.com, which relies on services around the web — like Wikipedia and Flickr — to compile web pages stocked with useful and relevant information.

Some of the most interesting search engines we found are those that focus on a narrow niche and deliver in-depth targeted results on very narrow topics. Familiar examples are travel sites like Orbitz and Kayak, which search multiple databases to find cheap airfares and hotel rooms.
Newcomer Voyij is a travel sale search engine that looks exclusively for deals departing from your home city. The site’s focus is more on people ready for an adventure than on business travelers looking for a cheap ticket. The top return on a recent search for Chicago vacation packages was $193 per person for a two-night trip to Bloomington, Minnesota, staying at the the Ramada at the Mall for America. If a mall with a waterpark isn’t your thing, you can shell out about $25 a piece more for a trip to Minneapolis where you’ll stay at the Millennium Hotel. (Yelp to see if it’s any good).

Don’t even have the scratch for trips at those prices? Try Indeed.com, a meta-search engine for job hunters. When you get to the interview, fire up Parkingspots.com to find the best place to put your car.

Want to see a concert to celebrate your new job? Pick up a ticket using meta-search eninges FanSnap.com or ZebraTickets.com.

Some search innovators are tackling interface design to help take some of the guesswork out of search links. If you’re looking for something visual — say Michael Jackson moon walking — try Searchme.com, which shows entire web pages in its results as if they were album art in iTunes.

For music, try Fizy.com or head to video search engine Blinkx.com to navigate your way to streaming songs you can’t find anywhere else.

When it comes to modern web searching algorithms rule the roost, and attempts to improve results with an assist from the people who use them have generally failed. Google’s search wiki feature has not gained much traction and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales’s human-powered search engine went out of business.

But that’s not stopped a handful of companies from trying to one-up Google by inserting a human element into search.

Scour, a customizable meta search that let you choose which of the Big Three’s (Google, Microsoft and Yahoo) search results should be favored, and lets you mark sites as spam and add comments. Xmarks.com takes its popular bookmark synchronization browser plug-in and uses that data to overlay information on search results from the big search engines.

Hunch, the much-hyped site started by Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, doesn’t want to be a search engine at all. Like Microsoft’s Bing, Hunch is supposed to be a “decision engine” that cuts through the deluge of web data to give answers. You tell it a bit about yourself (such as a favorite historical figure) and it will try to help you decide whether to get a 50lb mutt or a pedigree, designer Puggle. It’s entertaining, but so far its suggestions aren’t impressive.

Supernaturalrecipes.com and foodblogsearch.com are cooking search engines that cut through unfiltered recipe search results with handpicked sites delivered through a custom Google search engine. Both have good result if you are looking for a good gnocchi recipe or if you need a recipe to take care of all that basil and couscous in your house.

Then there are search engines that mean business.

Take Spyfu.com, for example. This little secret agent focuses on Google’s AdWords program and will tell you what keywords your competitors bid on, how much they pay per click and what the search volume is for various search terms. It feels illegal and is totally fascinating. Check out how much GM used to spend on little text ads before its recent crash. For serious advertisers, there’s a premium version too.

Panjiva tracks overseas factories and their U.S. customers by indexing publicly available customs data. It’s a great way to keep track of where your competition is getting their products made and by whom. But more importantly, it’s an amazing demo of what can be done with open government data, and one should expect to see more examples like it, now that the feds have committed to sharing raw data with the nation via Data.gov.

Then, of course, there is Wolfram|Alpha, the net’s algorithimic genius that the tech press is agog over. It that can tell you the relative humidity of the city you were born in on the day you were born, and it does calculus, too. But it’s not a search engine.