Death of the Digital Middleman
After a summer-long delay, Kodak has begun shipping the first digital camera with Wi-Fi technology that will allow consumers to send photos directly to friends and family by e-mail without a computer.
Owners of the new EasyShare-One, priced at $600, can send photos through a Wi-Fi transmitter at home or work, or pay $5 a month to connect the camera with any of T-Mobile USA's 6,000 hot spots at stores, airports, hotels and other establishments.
Owners of the new EasyShare-One, priced at $600, can send photos through a Wi-Fi transmitter at home or work, or pay $5 a month to connect the camera with any of T-Mobile USA's 6,000 hot spots at stores, airports, hotels and other establishments.
A menu on the EasyShare-One's liquid-crystal screen gives shutterbugs the option of e-mailing pictures and video clips or posting them to Kodak's online photography site. Though the photos are actually routed through the Kodak site, users can set up their accounts so the messages appear to arrive from a personal e-mail address.
Camera-equipped cell phones already offer photo-sharing capabilities but typically produce low-resolution images. The new 4-megapixel Kodak camera has storage room for up to 1,500 photos and a 3-inch touch screen -- big enough for the camera to double as a portable album.
Camera-equipped cell phones already offer photo-sharing capabilities but typically produce low-resolution images. The new 4-megapixel Kodak camera has storage room for up to 1,500 photos and a 3-inch touch screen -- big enough for the camera to double as a portable album.
get it yourself: Dell will soon stop sending low-end computers to customers' homes without a shipping charge.
Starting October 10, Dell customers buying basic models have to pick up their computers at the post office, said Jennifer Davis, spokeswoman for Dell's U.S. consumer business, or pay shipping charges for home delivery.
Dell's direct sales model helped it become one of the lowest-cost computer makers as it bypassed retailers. But aggressive price-cutting caused the company to miss analysts' revenue-growth forecasts last quarter.
The new shipping option is convenient for customers who aren't at home when deliveries are scheduled, Davis added. Now they can pick up their computers at the post office after work or on Saturdays, depending on hours of operation.
Davis said the fee for home delivery had not been determined. Post-office pickup will eventually be made available on all Dell consumer computer models, including the new luxury line called XPS.
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Seriously, play nice: The European Union's Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes will meet Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer next Wednesday to discuss competition issues.
The EU and Microsoft have locked horns in court over the company's Windows software. EU competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said Kroes and Ballmer would discuss "general competition issues" when they meet for breakfast on October 5. Ballmer will also attend the launch of a new periodical published by a European think tank on his visit to Brussels.
The commission said earlier this month it had received informal fresh complaints about the U.S. software giant, potentially paving the way for a new competition case against Microsoft.
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The incredible, maneuverable egg: Nissan has developed a concept car featuring an egg-shaped cabin atop a wheeled platform that swivels 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces.
The bubble-shaped, three-seater electric car, named Pivo after the word "pivot," operates on an experimental system called drive-by-wire, which eliminates the mechanical linkages between cabin and chassis to enable steering, braking and shifting through electronic signals.
At the preview this week, a driver slid the 8-foot Pivo into a tight imaginary parking spot, then rotated the cabin with the push of a button to face "backwards" to come out of the space in one motion. Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's celebrity design chief, said the real-world application of the concept could be only a decade away.
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Sticks are for kids: Walt Disney said it would start selling $50 portable music MP3 players for kids, joining the digital music industry dominated by Apple.
Disney Mix Sticks, about the size of a pack of gum, hold 60 songs on an internal 128-MB storage card and can hold additional 1-GB memory cards. They also can play songs sold on small memory cards.
Apple is the biggest seller of portable digital music players but others are crowding into the market. Disney said its players, in four styles including Forever Princess and Sassy Pixie, would be available at Target, Sears, Limited Too, Wal-Mart.com and at Disney's online store in mid-October.
Starting October 10, Dell customers buying basic models have to pick up their computers at the post office, said Jennifer Davis, spokeswoman for Dell's U.S. consumer business, or pay shipping charges for home delivery.
Dell's direct sales model helped it become one of the lowest-cost computer makers as it bypassed retailers. But aggressive price-cutting caused the company to miss analysts' revenue-growth forecasts last quarter.
The new shipping option is convenient for customers who aren't at home when deliveries are scheduled, Davis added. Now they can pick up their computers at the post office after work or on Saturdays, depending on hours of operation.
Davis said the fee for home delivery had not been determined. Post-office pickup will eventually be made available on all Dell consumer computer models, including the new luxury line called XPS.
- - -
Seriously, play nice: The European Union's Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes will meet Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer next Wednesday to discuss competition issues.
The EU and Microsoft have locked horns in court over the company's Windows software. EU competition spokesman Jonathan Todd said Kroes and Ballmer would discuss "general competition issues" when they meet for breakfast on October 5. Ballmer will also attend the launch of a new periodical published by a European think tank on his visit to Brussels.
The commission said earlier this month it had received informal fresh complaints about the U.S. software giant, potentially paving the way for a new competition case against Microsoft.
- - -
The incredible, maneuverable egg: Nissan has developed a concept car featuring an egg-shaped cabin atop a wheeled platform that swivels 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces.
The bubble-shaped, three-seater electric car, named Pivo after the word "pivot," operates on an experimental system called drive-by-wire, which eliminates the mechanical linkages between cabin and chassis to enable steering, braking and shifting through electronic signals.
At the preview this week, a driver slid the 8-foot Pivo into a tight imaginary parking spot, then rotated the cabin with the push of a button to face "backwards" to come out of the space in one motion. Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's celebrity design chief, said the real-world application of the concept could be only a decade away.
- - -
Sticks are for kids: Walt Disney said it would start selling $50 portable music MP3 players for kids, joining the digital music industry dominated by Apple.
Disney Mix Sticks, about the size of a pack of gum, hold 60 songs on an internal 128-MB storage card and can hold additional 1-GB memory cards. They also can play songs sold on small memory cards.
Apple is the biggest seller of portable digital music players but others are crowding into the market. Disney said its players, in four styles including Forever Princess and Sassy Pixie, would be available at Target, Sears, Limited Too, Wal-Mart.com and at Disney's online store in mid-October.
posted by saleem™ @ 8:30 AM
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