DELL has recently launched the "Windows 7 Free and Easy Upgrade from Vista" program on select platforms. This promotion will enable Dell to be at par with their retail partners by letting customers purchasing a Dell PC starting October 5, 2009, to have Windows 7 installed on their PC by October 22. Below is Dell’s recent announcement:
Let Dell do the heavy lifting and upgrade your new PC to Windows 7 for you.
For those customers who are waiting for Windows 7 to arrive, Dell has a deal for you. Dell is expanding their upgrade program with a new option - the Windows 7 Free and Easy Upgrade program - which takes the hassle out of upgrading a PC to Windows 7 because Dell will do it for you. Now customers can purchase popular PCs like the Inspiron 15 or 17 laptop, Studio 15 laptop, Inspiron 546 or Studio desktop and Dell will install Windows 7 Premium on it before shipping.
As the program name implies, there are no additional charges associated with this. Dell’s goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers to order a new PC powered by Windows 7 and get on with the daily business, and around Oct. 22, or soon after the new PC will arrive. Of course for those customers who prefer a do-it-yourself, Dell is still offering the Windows 7 Technical Upgrade program, in which a customer buys a qualifying PC with Vista Home Premium, Vista Business Pro or Vista Ultimate, and registers for the Windows 7 upgrade kit, which then ships within a few weeks of October 22.
Dell is looking forward to the customer’s feedback on this new option in our upgrade program, and depending on customer response, Dell will investigate adding additional PC models as well as expanding it on a global basis. Go to http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/windows-7-easy-upgrade?&s=dhs.
For more details, head over to the Direct to Dell blog: http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/.
As progress is inevitable, particularly in the world of silicon; Intel’s Ultra-thin and light will be getting some more cores.
According to Digitimes, Intel will be replacing nearly all of its processor line that's intended for ultra-thin and light laptops.
Around this quarter, Intel will be transitioning most of the CULV chips to dual-core offerings. The top-end Core 2 Duo SU9000 will be kept, however chips below it, the Core 2 Solo SU3000 and the Pentium SU2000, will turn into Core 2 Duo offerings.
The entry-level Celeron 700 will still remain to become the lowest-cost option in the segment.
Intel will also be refreshing the Intel Atom platform for netbooks, however despite the chipmaker's firmness that it'll be released this year; OEMs predict that actual product will be offered in the first quarter of 2010.
Sony Ericsson releases the world’s first ever motion-activated headphones that sense the user. The intelligent MH907 headphones mean users just need to plug-in two earphones to start listening to music and remove one earbud to pause it. To start listening again one simply needs to plug the other earphone back in. You ca do exactly the same to answer and end calls – it’s as easy as 1,2,3!
Sony Ericsson’s SensMe™ Control technology responds without the need to press a button and with a Clear Audio experience users encounter better sound on the move and enjoy their favorite music as it’s meant to be heard.
Sony Ericsson also created a humorous extraordinary film to demonstrate the product’s unique technology. Partnering with internationally celebrated animator Kristofer Ström, the short film debuting today shows a cartoon character riding the bus and then switching effortlessly between phone calls as well as listening to his favorite music. To watch the film visit: www.sonyericsson.com/putyourearsincontrol.
“With the MH907 consumers can pocket their phone but still stay connected all day, every day by simply plugging in or removing their earbuds – there is no need for a remote control or any buttons,” announced Jacob Sten, Senior Vice President, SEMC Accessories. “At Sony Ericsson we think it is very important to listen to what our customer needs and introducing the world’s first ever motion activated headphones highlights our commitment to offer our customers a complete Communications Entertainment experience. The MH907 supports our realigned brand strategy, which aims to build a fun, playful and inclusive interaction with consumers.”
For more information on the new product, visit: http://www.sonyericsson.com/putyourearsincontrol
Hewlett Packard announces its DreamScreen products that would represent a new class of wireless connected screens knocking out Apple in coming up with a beautiful tablet-like computer.
The screens are hybrids of digital photo displays and slate computers. Though they’re not multi-touch screen-enabled, however these could be made possible as soon as manufacturing costs come down. You can control the panels through the touch-enabled controls located on the border of the screen.
DreamScreens are not full-fledged computers that run regular Microsoft Windows operating systems, however you can utilize them to keep up with Facebook friends, share Snapfish personal photos, listen to Pandora Internet radio, view photos as they’re updated in real-time, and enjoy music and photo collections that are stored on other networked computers. It’s a type of computer that is appropriate for casual use by broader, mainstream audiences who might use it while browsing TV.
Consequently, Apple is now rumored to be working on a very similar project however it’s expected to be announced next year. Considering the technology of the iPhone, Apple is expected to also do a multi-touch screen as well as the full Mac OS X operating system integrated. Nevertheless, the price of this technology would definitely be higher than HP’s product.
DreamScreen screens really look attractive and beautiful plus the user interface is far easier and convenient than a typical computer. You’ll almost feel like you’re using an iPhone, except on a much larger display but only with side controls instead of the multi-touch screen. The 10.2-inch DreamScreen 100 costs around $249 and is most suited for a bedroom nightstand or dresser. The 13.3-inch DreamScreen 130 costs around $299 and is most suitable for use on coffee tables or a kitchen counter.
It’s no longer necessary to boot your computer just to take care of mundane tasks such as viewing a calendar or to see what your friends are up to. The DreamScreen screens come with 2 gigabytes of built-in memory for storing music, photos, and home movies directly on the machine. DreamScreens also have a USB and flash memory card connectors so that you can easily load digital content from a USB drive or digital camera. Wireless capability is also available (via 802.11 b/g wireless networking) or you can just drag and drop content from a networked computer to the screen using your finger.
You can conveniently use the touchscreen to look for (non-iTunes) songs, searching via album, artist or genre. The screens also will fetch album cover art plus they have good speakers as well as connections for headphones or external speakers. You can listen to Pandora songs as well as assign them the thumbs up so that DreamScreen can recognize your favorites.
HP also included their newly dubbed service called the HP SmartRadio that collates streams of live Internet broadcasts from over 10,000 radio stations around the globe. Users can have the ability to listen to their favorite radio stations on the Internet by location or genre in any place. Moreover, DreamScreen can also let you check the time, date, and weather.
Setting up DreamScreen is easy. You can use the remote control that ‘s placed nearly invisible atop the screen. Touch controls become visible only when you touch the border of the screen. The DreamScreen 100 is now available online at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, and HPDirect.com. The DreamScreen 130 will be available by this fall.
Thanks to a third-party application from Jajah, Twitter users can now make voice calls directly to each other by just clicking on links on the microblogging service.
The Jajah@call service will allow Twitter users create a VOI (voice-over-Internet) voice chat session by typing @call@username where the username is the recipient’s Twitter identification. Though the calls can only last two minutes during the beta test, they are positive that it may change over time after further developments.
Jajah, a Mountain View, California-based firm, already operates an Internet calling service with over ten million users. Currently, this service makes it very easy to make voice calls, provided that both parties are Twitter friends and both also have Jajah accounts. The service is free and works on any Twitter-enabled device.
With this new Internet service from Jajah, you can still keep your phone number private and still talk to just about anybody on Twitter. Competition is consequently just got interesting. Last Tuesday, game voice chat service Vivox also announced that it could allow Facebook users talk to each other similarly with Jajah also by sharing a link. Vivox offers voice chat for roughly15 million users. Jajah is currently raising a funding round this spring.
Google wants its online news site to feel more like the good old print product.
And the company is prepared to pay for it.
Google took the wraps off of Fast Flip on Monday, a slick online tool that lets readers flip through articles from newspapers and magazines as quickly and effortlessly as if they were turning the pages of a magazine.
The company said it will share advertising revenue with the 30 publishers whose content is currently available on Fast Flip, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and Newsweek.
Obsessive Google-watchers may recall that rumors of this product emerged back in June.
But the company officially released Fast Flip on Monday, making it available on Google Labs, the company’s outlet for products that are still in the testing phase.
Google is essentially hosting images of the first page of various articles from its partner publishers. A Web surfer can browse by topic or news source and scroll through fast-loading snapshots of all the relevant articles. There’s a “recommended” section that aggregates the most popular articles thanks to a new recommendation tool that Google has added (watch out Digg!).
Google is running banner ads alongside the article thumbnails, the proceeds of which will be split with publishers (though Google won’t disclose the terms of the revenue split). If a Web surfer wants to read the full article, they’re redirected to the publisher’s actual Web site.
“The publishing industry faces many challenges today, and there is no magic bullet,” said Google Distinguished Researcher Krishna Bharat in a blog post announcing Fast Flip. “However, we believe that encouraging readers to read more news is a necessary part of the solution. We think Fast Flip could be one way to help, and we’re looking to find other ways to help as well in the near future.”
It’s a fine balancing act by Google, which can continue to stand behind its argument that it helps news sites by sending traffic their way while also sharing a bit of the wealth.
But Bharat acknowledged in an interview with Reuters that various aspects of Fast Flip, including the business model, are subject to change.
Whether the current iteration will be enough to assuage some of Google’s most vocal news industry critics remains to be seen.
Missing among the list of FastFlip partners is Dow Jones, whose chief executive called Google a “digital vampire” this summer.
Source: Reuters.com
Steve Jobs stepped back into the spotlight for the first time in nearly a year on Wednesday, drawing a standing ovation before unveiling new and cheaper iPods for Apple Inc.
But Apple's shares closed 1 percent lower after hitting a year's high in the session. Analysts said they dipped because investors took profits after a steady run-up in the days before the event. One analyst also pointed to Jobs' appearance, saying the 54-year-old chief executive looked "frail."
Dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, Jobs took the stage and thanked everyone in the Apple community for their "heartfelt support."
Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, spoke with characteristic passion about new products and dropped his signature line -- "one more thing" -- before introducing a new iPod nano with a video camera.
It was his first public appearance since returning to work in June after six months of medical leave, during which the charismatic corporate showman underwent a liver transplant.
"I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. I wouldn't be here without such generosity," an emotional Jobs told the audience, urging them to all become organ donors.
"I feel great. I probably need to gain about 30 pounds, but I feel really good. I'm eating like crazy. A lot of ice cream," Jobs later told the New York Times in a short interview. (For a photo, please click here)
Apple shares initially rose about 1 percent to a year's high before retreating to close $1.79 lower, or 1 percent, at $171.14 on Nasdaq. For a graphic please click on here.
"I'm sure (Jobs) looking so frail -- the guy's had the most extreme surgery you can have -- didn't help matters, but I think people have come to grips that the torch is going to be passed. It's just a matter of when," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams.
"The stock's had such an incredible move, I wouldn't read too much into it. It's probably just some profit taking."
Apple's stock has doubled this year, valuing the company at $155 billion -- triple that of smartphone arch-foe Research in Motion -- and second only to Microsoft's $221 billion among tech companies on the S&P 500.
Jobs started off by announcing a new version of Apple's popular online media store, iTunes, and updated software for the iPhone. He then unveiled new iPod features and colors, and announced price cuts for other models ahead of the crucial holiday season.
The audience at the event in San Francisco included Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, who recently stepped down from Apple's board amid increased scrutiny from regulators about the companies' ties.
Since late last week, analysts had been expecting Apple's stock would get a boost from an appearance by the company co-founder. The shares rose in the afternoon to $174.47, their highest since August 28, 2008. But they quickly retreated.
Continue here>>
Source: Reuters.com
MSI will release the world’s first enormously large touchscreen net-top come 2010. Talking about gigantic display and powerful graphics, the MSI AE2400 will be the world's largest touchscreen net-top at 24”.
The AE2400 can display 1080p video. It will be configured with an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU plus an Nvidia GeForce 9400 graphics processor. This extremely large self-contained computer will also be capable of multi-touch as well as pre-installed with Microsoft’s Windows 7. Visit Engadget for a brief video of MSI’s upcoming innovation.
Pricewise, the AE2400 will be sold at roughly $1000. However, there’re no confirmed details on the other hardware configured for the machine as well as its release date. I’ll keep you updated as soon as further information will be released by MSI. Just stay tuned.
Palm's latest version of webOS has been leaked. The chief feature of webOS 1.2 is support for paid applications. Reviewers have considered the Pre’s app selection notoriously weak; hence allowing developers to offer paid apps is an extremely necessary step.
Surprisingly, Palm's app process seems to be following in the footsteps of Apple a bit too close. Embedded within the code for 1.2 is the sentence, “Palm had to delete this application from the App Catalog and your device. If you paid for this app, your money will be refunded.”
If you find that a bit annoying, you're not alone. It's understandable that Palm intended to have the ability to remove any, if not all, apps that they deemed to be breaking copyright law or policy, however it's completely understandable that you do not want to give them that power over your phone. That line was discovered in the apprevokedalert_scene.html file, and private webOS users being able to find a way to disable it in pretty short order is still expected.
Aside from those two features, there’s a 'select all' option in the edit menu, “improved browser functionality”, and finally a “find as you type” support for email. All in all, the new webOS1.2 is gearing up to be a solid update. It might be a little necessary to come out soon enough to save the Pre's app market from dying a premature death in the market.
Toshiba, which once led the charge against Sony's Blu-ray with a competing high-definition format, introduced its first Blu-ray disc player on Thursday.
The BDX2000 provides 1080p digital output and supports Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, which Sony calls BD-Live, to take advantage of interactive features through an Ethernet connection. BD-Live enables movie studios to offer a variety of downloadable content with Blu-ray DVDs, including bonus scenes, shorts, trailers, subtitles, and interactive movie-based games. Ring tones for mobile phones could also be made available.
The Toshiba player features a polished front panel that drops down to reveal the player's primary functions. The player can connect to digital TVs using a HDMI connector. Connecting to Toshiba's REGZA LCD TV enables the user to control both devices from a single remote control.
The BDX2000 also has a SD card slot for plugging in photos or video taken on a digital camera and then showing them through the player onto a TV.
Scheduled for availability in November, the player has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $250.
Toshiba announced last month that it planned to launch a Blu-ray disc player this year, and said it had joined the industry group in charge of the Sony-backed format. The Blu-ray Disc Association is responsible for the development and promotion of the format.
Toshiba, which backed HD DVD in the format battle, conceded defeat in February 2008 after Hollywood studios and Wal-Mart lined up in support of Blu-ray. Toshiba had hoped to compete against Blu-ray with other technologies, but falling prices and rising sales of HDTVs caused sales of Blu-ray players to increase dramatically, making it impossible for Toshiba to ignore the product category, analysts say.
Source: TechWeb.com
Guitar Hero 5 hits shelves with Kurt Cobain, Carlos Santana and Johnny Cash. Check out report from Lindsay Claiborn (Reuters.com) below:
Source: Reuters.com
Online video site YouTube is in talks with several major movie studios about renting movies to users by streaming the movies over the Internet according to a person familiar with the talks on Wednesday.
It would mark the first time the world's most popular video site would charge its users to watch videos.
YouTube, which is owned by Internet search giant Google Inc, has held discussions with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, Sony Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp, and Time Warner Inc's Warner Brothers about online movie rentals, the person said.
In many cases, the movies would be available for rental for a fee in a system similar to Web rental programs from Apple Inc's iTunes, Netflix and Amazon.com with newer movies. YouTube would likely charge a similar fee around $3.99 a rental.
YouTube, which is the world's No.1 video website, currently offers video for free, on an advertising-supported basis.
It currently has a range of archive movies, TV shows and promotional clips from the three named studios and other partners on its site.
"We hope to expand on both our great relationship with the movie studios and the selection and types of videos we offer our community," said YouTube spokesman Chris Dale.
YouTube is in the midst of talks and negotiations with a wide range of media content partners as it ramps up efforts to build a substantial library of current and archive professional movies and videos that it can monetize.
The site, best known as a place to seek out fun videos uploaded by users that feature themes such as skateboarding dogs and dancing babies, recently started to emphasize a growing amount of professional videos.
Advertisers are believed to favor professionally made videos over those of users. Hulu, a video site owned by News Corp, Walt Disney Co and NBC Universal, has had relative success attracting both users and advertisers with a range of full-length TV shows and older movies.
Last month, YouTube announced a partnership with Time Warner Inc properties including CNN and TNT. It agreed a similar deal in March with Walt Disney.
YouTube owner Google has come under growing criticism from Wall Street analysts and investors concerned the expense of serving millions of videos to users around the world everyday is costing the company more money than it earns from advertising.
Source: Reuters.com
For lovers of Twitter, little is as exciting as adding a new dimension to their tweets.
BlackBerry users will be tickled by TwitVid, a simple way to post short videos on Twitter using their phones (TwitVid, and similar apps have been available on the iTunes App Store for months).
After downloading the App, using it is simple. From within the app, click “Record a New Video,” record, enter your tweet and send. It will be posted on your Twitter page with a link to the video. TwitVid will tell you how many characters are left to type, allowing for the link, so you don’t run over your allotment.
Although your message is limited in length, Adil Lalani, co-founder of TwitVid, said the site puts no limit on the length of a video (your carrier or phone may restrict the size of files, though).
Anyone with a video phone can use TwitVid, even without an app. First log in at the TwitVid Web site, which will assign you an e-mail address. Using that assigned address, send a video as an MMS or an e-mail with the video as an attachment with your tweet in the subject line. It will post like a standard tweet.
Now instead of just telling people you are having coffee — again — you can show them how you look drinking it.
Source: NY Times
Facebook has decided to make worldwide changes to its privacy policy resulting from negotiations with Canada's privacy commissioner.
Last month, the social network was found to violate Canadian law by holding on to users' personal data indefinitely.Facebook has now agreed to make changes to the method it handles this information as well as be more transparent about what data it collects and why.
It will also ensure clearly that users can deactivate or delete their account.
"These changes mean that the privacy of 200 million Facebook users in Canada and around the world will be far better protected," said Jennifer Stoddart, Canadian’s privacy commissioner. "We're very pleased Facebook has been responsive to our recommendations."
She further noted that the decision might also have implications for other social networking websites.
Facebook Vice President of Global Communications and Public Policy, Elliot Schrage, believe the new policies set "a new standard for the industry".
'Unrestricted access'
Facebook also said it will make changes that will give users further control over the data they provide to third-party developers of applications, ie: games and quizzes, aside from updating the privacy policy.
There are approximately 950,000 developers in 180 countries that provide applications for the site. The changes will require applications to state which information they wish to access and acquire consent from the user before it is used or shared.
"Application developers have had virtually unrestricted access to Facebook users' personal information," added Ms Stoddart. "The changes Facebook plans to introduce will allow users to control the types of personal information that applications can access."
The site will further encourage users to review their privacy settings and make it clear to users that they can delete or deactivate an account as well as the difference between the two.
Michael Richter of Facebook stressed out that if a user chose to deactivate their account, the site would still store their information "even if it is for 10 years".
"We're committing to that user," he noted. "We want them to know that if they change their mind they can always come back."
The social network confirmed that work on the changes will start immediately but it would take around 12 months to implement.
The regulator began its investigation as a result of complaints by the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa. Canada is the first to complete a full investigation of Facebook's privacy practices. The country has roughly 12 million Facebook users, about one in three of the population.
South Korea's LG Electronics announced on Sunday that it would launch their 15-inch television set using organic display technology next month. It is perhaps the largest commercial model so far.
Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, which employ self-glowing materials, have superior picture quality, consume less power and are slimmer than commonly used liquid crystal displays (LCD) that need backlight units.
However high price has kept it from becoming a mass-produced technology in a market dominated by cheaper LCD panels. OLED screens are making inroads into high-end cell phones but costs to apply the technology for PCs as well as TVs are still prohibitive.
Sony Corp launched the world's first OLED TV in late 2007 yet it has not followed with new models.
LG, the world's second-biggest TV brand, held in a statement that it would be unveiling a 15-inch AM-OLED TV during the IFA 2009 consumer electric show in Berlin in September.
The TV set would be commercialized in Korea in November and subsequently overseas by next year.
Research firm DisplaySearch assumes the market for OLED TV to reach 2.33 million units in 2013 compared with estimated 320,000 units in 2011 as per the data provided by LG.
An LG executive further noted, "We are planning to unveil a 40-inch grade (OLED) product in a not too distant future."
Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard includes software for many printer and scanner models. This article lists software provided for printers and scanners. This software can be installed from the Mac OS X Install DVD, and updated by using Software Update (some models have software available through Software Update only).
To view the complete list of printer and scanners that are supported with Mac OS X v10.6, see below or use your browser's Find feature to look for a specific name or model number. If you cannot find a driver for your specific model, check the list to see if a driver is available for a series of printers that may include your model. For example, a printer with the model number 5070 might use the driver for the "5000 Series".
For more information about setting up and using printers in Mac OS X v10.6, see this article.
Source: Apple.com
Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, is devising a major revamp to how people contribute to some pages. The site will be requiring revisions to pages about living people and some organizations to be approved by an editor.
This is a rather radical shift for the site, which apparently allows anyone to make changes and alterations to almost any entry. The two-month trial, which proved to be controversial to some contributors, will begin in the next couple of weeks as per a Wikipedia spokesperson.
"I'm sure it will spark some controversy," said Mike Peel of Wikimedia UK, a chapter of the organization that operates Wikipedia.
The trial had been approved in an online poll, with 80% of 259 users in favor of the trial. Peel said further, "the decision to run this trial was made by the users of the English Wikipedia, rather than being imposed."
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales first outlined the said proposal last January this year. It was met by a storm of protests from Wikipedia users who argued the system had been poorly thought out and rather would create extra work.
'Lock down'
The two-month trial will assess a system of "flagged revisions" on the English-language Wikipedia site. This means that any changes made by a new or unknown user would have to be approved by one of the site's editors before the changes were to be published. At the same time as the changes are being considered over, readers will be re-directed to earlier versions of the article.
Wikimedia believed the system was "essentially a buffer, to reduce the visibility and impact of vandalism on these articles".
There have been numerous high-profile edits to pages that have provided false or misleading information about a person. For instance, last January of this year; US Senator Robert Byrd’s page falsely reported that he had died.
If a page has numerous controversial edits or is repetitively vandalized, editors can lock a page, so that everyone cannot edit it. For instance, editors had to lock down two pages about the initial reports of the death of Michael Jackson to stop further speculation about what had caused his death.
"For these articles, flagged protection will actually make them more open," noted Mr. Peel.
The decision was purposely created to focus on the pages of living people because they were the "most high-profile pages with the highest probability of causing harm".
He added that, "[The trial] may also be extended to organisations which are currently operating.”
The system has already been in operation on the German version of Wikipedia for over a year.
The changes to the English language site - which now has more than 3 million pages - will be rolled out in the coming weeks. The changes will be discussed in Buenos Aires this week during the annual Wikimania conference.
Flash News: AT&T posted a new version of Navigator, the version 1.2i.5: this should the correct the problem, and update properly.
A lot of users of the $10-a-month AT&T Navigator iPhone app have been complaining of a little problem. The periodic crashes of the app every time it calculates directions. Not to worry, the problem is easy to fix. Stop blaming yourself for doing something wrong.
“There is a software glitch. It’s our issue, not Apple’s,” confirmed by Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman.
The problem occurs in an indefinite number of phones when people use the update button to get the most recent copy of AT&T Navigator.
This is the easy fix:
Remove first your current copy. You won’t lose your contacts or any other information so don’t worry.
In order to remove it, hold your finger on the icon of the AT&T Navigator on the phone’s home screen until all of the icons wiggle around. You will see a white X in a circle on the upper left corner of all of the application icons. Touch the X on the AT&T icon, and then press “yes” when it asks you if you are sure you want to remove it. Then press the phone’s home button to stop the other icons from dancing.
Next, go to the App Store to download a fresh copy. The application is free. You will need to re-enter your name, e-mail address and pin number to get all of your stored data.
Casio recently released their two latest models for their Exilim Zoom line of digital cameras designed for first-time buyers who are on a budget. The Exilim Zoom EX-Z280 and EX-Z33 are currently priced at $180 and $120, respectively. Specifications are pretty pedestrian, already covering all the basic features casual photographers are looking for, and with a few surprises.
The 12.1-megapixel EX-Z280 has a multipurpose wide-angle 26mm lens with a 4X optical zoom, cased in a nice-looking, compact chassis. It offers CCD-shift image stabilization and face detection. The EX-Z33 is a 10.1-megapixel shooter with a 3X optical zoom lens.
Casio has added a number of new scene modes that include a makeup setting for better portraits and a handheld night scene that compensates for camera shake. The EX-Z280 captures video at high-resolution 1280 by 720 pixels, while the EX-Z33 shoots video in standard definition.
The latest camera models will be available in September. The EX-Z33 will be offered in black. The EX-Z280 will offer black, light pink, vivid pink, silver, and blue.
The Obama administration unveiled new rules on Thursday for searching computers and other electronic devices when people enter the United States, attempting to address concerns about violating privacy and constitutional rights.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security defended such searches as necessary to detect information about potential terrorism plots as well as other crimes such as child pornography and copyright infringement.
"The new directives announced today strike the balance between respecting the civil liberties and privacy of all travelers while ensuring DHS can take the lawful actions necessary to secure our borders," DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.
Between October 1, 2008 and August 11, 2009, 221 million travelers were processed at U.S. borders and about 1,000 searches of laptop computers were conducted, of which 46 were in-depth examinations, the agency said.
Searches often involve asking people to turn on the device to verify it is what it appears to be, the DHS said.
Privacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation have pushed Congress to stop border officers from searching laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices without probable cause when people enter or return to the country.
The rules permit searches of such devices without a person's consent. The review is to be done in the presence of the owner, unless there are national security or law enforcement reasons to conduct it elsewhere.
Immigration and customs officers can also hold the devices or the data, which may be copied without the knowledge of the owner for further review, according to the rules.
The new regulations note that border officers should be particularly careful when handling legal or business materials or other sensitive data like medical records or information carried by journalists.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
