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Nikon's new SLR leads the pack for sensor quality

It's not a surprise that the Nikon D3X, the company's brand-new $8,000, 24.5-megapixel SLR, tops DxO Labs' sensor performance test. What is a surprise is the margin by which it leads its rivals from Canon and Sony.

When the French firm unveiled its DxOMark Sensor benchmark test last year, Nikon's D3 was the top scorer at 80.6, a composite number that represents various performance features. Very close on its heels were Nikon's D700 at 80.5, Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark III 80.3, and later Canon's 5D Mark II at 79 and Sony's Alpha A900 at 78.9.

All those cameras were close, but the D3X stands apart with a score of 88. The result shows how much ground Nikon has made up on Canon, which has dominated high-end digital SLR technology. … Read more

New Wi-Fi digital photo frames from Smartparts

Smartparts has added two new Wi-Fi enabled digital photo frames to its lineup, the 10-inch SPX10WF and the SPX19WF. They feature such things as one touch Internet setup and automatic image correction.

As with the current Smartparts Wi-Fi digital photo frames, the new SPX10WF and the SPX19WF have photo e-mail capability allowing users to automatically receive e-mailed photos directly onto their photo frame. They also have Smartparts' SmartFix technology which automatically resizes, enhances, and crops photos to maximize appearance and storage capacity on the frame.

The SPX10WF has an espresso color wood frame with a 10-inch 800x600-pixel 24-bit LCD screen. … Read more

Pandigital introduces new PanTouch Clear line of digital photo frames

In case you're watching the digital-photo frame market, it appears that prices are coming down nicely heading into the spring of 2009. Hitting stores next month, Pandigital's new PanTouch Clear line features an allegedly simplified touch-screen interface and an eye-catching floating-image design for a relatively affordable price.

The PanTouch Clear models come in 7- and 8-inch size frames. They offer 800x600 resolution, a 4:3 aspect ratio, 6-in-1 card reader, and 1 GB of internal memory. They'll be available next month, with the 7-incher listed at $119 and the 8-inch model listed for $139.99. Both models … Read more

Latest problem import? Infected digital photo frames

In 2007, U.S. officials recalled melamine-laced pet food that caused the deaths of cats and dogs and lead-coated toys that endangered toddlers. Now, digital photo frames infected with computer viruses are the latest problem import from China.

"That phenomenon apparently has bled over to the digital side as well," Marcus Sachs, director of the Internet Storm Center at the SANS Institute (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security), said of the Chinese manufacturing problems that get exported. "Essentially, it's a supply chain problem. We've become dependent on a cheap source coming out of Asia."

The culprit … Read more

Memory-maker Transcend offers another place for memory storage

On the short list of things I appreciate in a digital photo frame is a lot of internal memory. Sure, it's cheap enough to buy an extra SD card, but when a flash-memory manufacturer like Transcend makes a frame, I expect it to have a healthy amount. The newly announced PF810 has 2GB thankfully, but also adds a couple things that I just don't care about.

For one, the frame looks decent enough, but what's with the rhinestones on the corners? It's also touch-sensitive, which could be fun if Transcend didn't use a finger-print-collecting gloss-black … Read more

Jobo's new 7-inch photo frame includes a remote

You know it's bad when the most exciting thing about a product is that it comes with a remote control. However, to be fair to Jobo AG and its PDJ077 digital photo frame, most sub-$100 7-inch displays don't include a remote. Or support for CF cards for that matter. The PDJ077 has both.

The LCD also features an 800x480 resolution with a contrast ratio of 400:1 and user-adjustable brightness. The frame has slots for CF, SD/SDHC, MMC, and MS cards as well as a full-size USB 2.0 port for use with external drives. Another … Read more

CES 2009 preview: Digital imaging

CES has always been a much bigger show for camcorders than cameras, and you can expect to see announcements from all the manufacturers--major and minor--with their product line refreshes for the first half of 2009. This year, that means far fewer new models supporting the dying MiniDV and DVD formats and a broader selection of flash- and hard-disk-based models for both the standard- and high-definition markets. Naturally, the latter formats will come in increased capacities as well. The interesting stuff usually happens at the low and high ends; in this case, I'm curious to see if more of the … Read more

Take control of your kitchen with HomeManager

The house I live in now is truly my dream home, and a lot of that is thanks to the kitchen. We're lucky enough to have a semiopen floor plan: our spacious kitchen opens into the family room; a swinging door separates the kitchen from the formal dining room. So the kitchen is truly the heart of our home, the place where we gather with friends and cook while the kids play nearby.

I think of the kitchen as mission control in our house, and AT&T's HomeManager device could be a smart addition to our central … Read more

HANNspree expands into digital photo frames

HANNspree--probably best known for its oddball LCD TV designs--has decided it's no longer satisfied being in just the TV and monitor markets and Monday announced the availability of two digital picture frames.

The $99.99, 8-inch wide-screen HANNspree SD80M4MB (catchy name, right?) features three, themed ceramic interchangeable faceplates: Christmas (HANNsxmas, pictured), birthdays (HANNssweet), and Valentine's Day (HANNsvalentine). The company also throws in two plain ol' frame backings so you can use the two faceplates that are not in use on the photo display as regular frames for photo prints.

The SD80M4MB is loaded up with standard digital … Read more