During his keynote address at the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington, D.C., this morning, Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer said the company will soon introduce a number of Windows 7-based slates, targeted at both consumers and enterprises.

“This year one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and Windows 7 phones,” he said. “We want to give you a great consumer-oriented device, but a device that fits and is manageable with today’s enterprise IT solutions. They’ll come with keyboards. They’ll come without keyboards….They’ll be dockable. And they will be in many form factors, many price points and many sizes. But they will all run Windows 7….They will run Windows 7 applications. They will run Office.”

And they will be built by 21 manufacturers, including Asus, Sony (SNE), Dell (DELL), Fujitsu, Lenovo, Panasonic and, yes, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) too. Though HP is developing a tablet based on Palm’s webOS, its work on that Windows 7 tablet Ballmer showed off at CES in January evidently continues.

“Over the course of the next several months you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that I think you’ll find quite impressive,” Ballmer said. “This is a terribly important area for us. We are hardcore about this.”

Hardcore, eh? So I guess your approach to the mobile market would be softcore, then?

[Image credit: JavierGC]

The Japanese electronics giant is trying to shift more resources into environment-related businesses such as rechargeable batteries and solar panels. Yet nearly half of its revenue still comes from the audiovisual segment, consisting mainly of televisions. Also complicating the situation is the fact that its TVs aren’t making money.

Pressured by competition from South Korean rivals in traditional gadgets and appliances, Panasonic late last year acquired smaller Japanese electronics maker Sanyo Electric.

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The next logical category of camera after basic point-and-shoots (and before digital single-lens reflex, SLR, cameras) are the so-called megazoom cameras, capable of zeroing in on a subject with around 20x optical zoom strength. They also have fairly high megapixel counts, capturing about 10 to 12 MP each, and offer several automatic and manual settings for capturing photos.

The Nikon Coolpix P90

Most of the cameras in this category resemble SLRs, with bulkier builds and protruding zoom lenses. But they cost somewhere in the $400 range—significantly less expensive than SLRs, which often cost over $1,000 for the camera body alone (lenses are typically sold separately). If you don’t want to spend the money or you aren’t completely sure you want to commit to learning the ins and outs of an SLR, this midrange model is a sound compromise.

Of course, these cameras have some downsides. Serious photographers who have grown accustomed to the high-quality photos of SLRs will point out the comparatively poorer photo quality of megazooms. But for average users like me, the quality of photos captured using a megazoom digital camera is a welcome upgrade from a point-and-shoot.

Another significant difference for point-and-shoot users will be adjusting to the size and overall bulk of megazoom cameras. Users can’t toss them into a small purse or pocket on the way out the door like they do with compact point-and-shoots. Instead, megazooms are usually seen hanging from neck straps or stowed away in camera shoulder bags.

Canon's PowerShot SX20 IS

Some smaller cameras are categorized as megazooms, including the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS1K and Casio Exilim EX-H10BK, though both look more like thick point-and-shoot cameras. These Panasonic (PC) and Casio models cost between $250 and $300 and offer 12x and 10x optical zooms, respectively. But they aren’t capable of some of the more advanced features found on expensive megazooms—like 24x optical zoom or some manual settings and shooting modes.

This Christmas, I was fortunate to receive one such megazoom camera, the Nikon Coolpix P90, which costs around $400. Though I’ve used other cameras in this category, I was especially struck by how the capabilities of this megazoom altered my photo-capturing behavior.

In the Snow

Granted, not everyone will react as I did, but I took my camera and set out on photography jaunts around my neighborhood in Washington, D.C., scaling piles of snow to capture just the right angle, and using tree branches to frame shots of the Capitol in the distance.

The details and colors in the photos that my camera captured were so much more vivid than those on my admittedly older point-and-shoot that I wondered what took me so long to make the upgrade.

I spent the first week with this camera using it in its Auto setting—an old habit that carried over from my point-and-shoot days (also because I didn’t have time to read through the manual).

But even in the automatic mode, photos looked astonishingly good—prompting compliments from family and friends. A week later, I delved into the camera’s user manual and learned how to use many more features.

A Downside

One big downside: Though the Nikon Coolpix P90 weighs only 16.2 ounces, its bulky shape prohibits it from being carried along on a whim.

I brought the camera on a family vacation, but left it in my room rather than trying to fit it in my bag during a trip to the beach and on a zip line ride through the rain forest. A compact point-and-shoot would’ve easily fit into a pocket.

But then I have my BlackBerry Curve 8900′s camera—with 3.2 megapixels, auto focus and a built-in flash—for snapping photos on the go. (Plus, I can instantly share the shots via email, Facebook or Twitter.)

As more mobile devices include good quality cameras, like Google’s (GOOG) new $179 (with T-Mobile) Nexus One super-smart phone with five megapixels and a flash, fewer people will need to carry point-and-shoots for quickly capturing digital memories.

A Pleasure to Edit

Editing photos captured by a megazoom is a real pleasure. I cropped and zoomed to my heart’s content, noticing more details in photos after looking at them on my computer than when I initially took the pictures. When I needed to trim someone or something out of a shot, I didn’t worry about degrading the photo’s overall quality. And because of their high resolution, my photos can be enlarged with very little quality or color compromise.

The Casio Exilim EX-H10BK

In addition to Nikon, many other companies make cameras for the megazoom category. Some examples are Canon’s $400 PowerShot SX20 IS, Sony’s (SNE) $480 Cyber-shot DSC-HX1 and Casio’s $400 EX-FH20. These offer several shooting modes, as well as scene modes for common settings like sunsets, backlight, night portraits, burst mode and panoramas. They have optical and/or digital-image stabilization to thwart shaky hands, settings for focusing in on a subject manually or automatically, and ways to save frequently used manual settings.

Flash Features

Some megazooms have built-in flashes, while others use an external mount so that a flash can be snapped on or off for use. (My Nikon came with a built-in flash.) They often have more than one flash that fits in the mount, leaving users with the choice of which one to use.

The digital cameras include LCD viewing screens as well as optical viewfinders. (The latter is commonly left off of many small point-and-shoot cameras, but it’s really helpful for people who want to hold the camera up to one eye for steadier shooting.)

Some LCD screens, like the Canon’s, swing out and swivel around. The Nikon’s can be adjusted up 90 degrees or down 45 degrees for shooting below or above a subject.

No matter which model, the megazoom category of digital cameras offers a combination of advanced features and affordability that could entice people who are ready to take the next step into a world of more serious digital photography.

Email

mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Just 3½ years after Samsung Electronics Co. introduced the first Blu-ray player for $999, prices have dropped to as low as $80, making them an irresistible item for many consumers this year. Shoppers can now find dozens of brand-name Blu-ray players by the likes of Samsung, Sony Corp. (SNE) and Panasonic Co. (PC) in the $130 range at large retailers, with some available for $99 or less in promotions.

But shoppers are also flocking to models that cost a bit more, starting around $150, for their ability to stream content from the Internet, including movies, television shows and music from services like Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Google Inc.’s (GOOG) YouTube and Pandora Media Inc.

Sales of both basic and new-wave Blu-ray players were up 53 percent during the week of Black Friday, according to market-research company NPD Group Inc., which obtains point-of-sale data from undisclosed electronics sellers, excluding Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT)

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Over the past 20 years, 3-D-capable devices like set-top boxes as well as 3-D programming have become available at home. A lack of standard broadcasting formats, relatively little content and the need for 3-D glasses, however, have kept it from a broad audience.

Tech companies are betting that will all change, and when it does, you’ll be able to lose the glasses.

According to new data from Thomson Reuters, 3-D-related patents have risen sharply in recent years, led by companies such as Samsung, Panasonic and Toshiba. “It will only be a matter of time before 3-D televisions start showing up in the home,” the report says.

Patent activity in the 3-D television space grew 69 percent over a five-year period, with more than 1,000 unique invention patents filed last year alone. This year is on par, with 486 filed in the first half of 2009.

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Want to watch YouTube on your TV? There are plenty of devices and services that let you do that, with more on the way.

But starting next month, at least one gadget is getting its YouTube feed shut down. Syabas Technology, which makes a line of set-top boxes called “Popcorn Hour,” says Google’s (GOOG) video site has told it to remove YouTube content beginning December 2.

This one is a straight he said/he said: Syabas, via a blog post from COO Alex Limberis, says it has an agreement to use YouTube’s clips, but that YouTube had changed the terms of the agreement recently. YouTube won’t address that claim directly, but offered this statement:

Since July of 2008, YouTube’s Terms of Service has restricted implementations for televisions based on our APIs. YouTube has been in active discussions with various developers on how best to implement YouTube on set top boxes and TVs. There are several companies, however, that have deployed solutions, like video scraping technology, to circumvent the rules and violate YouTube’s Terms of Service.  Companies that have negotiated agreements to use our APIs, like TiVo, Sony, Panasonic and PS3 are not impacted.

The first-gut reaction here is to draw a parallel between this move and Hulu’s attempt to prevent video software start-up Boxee from using its stuff.

But in that case, at least, Hulu was trying to restrict access to a data stream it was making freely available to the rest of the world. Here, both sides agree that YouTube requires a contract before it will release its API to commercial partners.

So, the real question is: Did the two companies have an agreement, and what if, anything, has changed recently.

Gentlemen?

[T-shirt image courtesy of Zazzle.com.]

In this session of D7, Greg Harper, president of Harpervision and co-founder of Gadgetoff, always sure to bring the novel and the wacky, will present a plethora of gadgets the technophile has collected. Harper says that in total, he brought “$20,000 [worth] of portable tech gadgets.” (Note to the Four Seasons Aviara: Increase security.) He’s known for doing these demos, at which he pulls out one interesting product after another from his cornucopia of gadgetry–to the astonishment of the crowd! Papa Harper’s got a brand new bag, and we’re about to find out what’s inside….

Session Highlights

Live Blog

• Kara apologizes for starting up again late: “Carol Bartz just trashed my hotel room.”
• Walt and Kara: Greg is sure to be funny and fun. This gadget maniac travels the world collecting the coolest.
• Harper comes out to the accompaniment of the theme from “Inspector Gadget.” Apropos.
• Harper: Talking really fast–Sony (SNE) camera (HDR TG5V) with GPS built-in.
• Walt: Where’s my Red Sox video?
• Harper: A complete media server (an MVIX, I think). Kara: It looks like a bomb. Harper: Hook it up to any device! It has many gigs! Etc.! Walt: Why don’t you just use your iPod? Harper: Says something about some headphones being custom-made for his ears…and other stuff.
• His Digital SLR is the Canon (CAJ) 5D Mark 2: He likes. Also, here’s a new camera from Panasonic (PC). It goes underwater and shoots in HD. Now, this! A Casio, Exilim FC100, which shoots up to 1000 FPS–watch water drop, one drop at a time.
• Now: A GPS system that automatically transmits to satellite. OK, now a water-purifying straw! Its an “Istraw” that freaking purifies your water all on its own. Amazing.
• If that’s not enough for you, says Harper (insert an editorial “Uh…”), it’s a flashlight/alarm/smoke detector, from Flare Safe. Even more amazing!
• “Astro” Dog Collar: It has GPS so you can keep track of your dog. That’s pretty handy. From Garmin (GRMN).
• Portable radio: AM/FM/HD. Walt: I think radio sucks in general.
• Harper: Now this doohickey you wear maybe/probably around your neck at the beach registers how much UV you are exposed to. Walt: If you wear this, you won’t get laid. Harper: Maybe you!
• Breathalyzer/Bad Breath Monitor: Also a music/video player. It detects bad breath if you blow on it. Listen, I prefer the old fashioned method: someone awkwardly handing me a breath mint. That’s the natural way.
• New Mifi!–It’s portable WiFi, from Novotel. Now back to GPS–hidden in my bag is a… drum roll… tracker! No one better steal my bag! Kara: Who? Like terrorists?
• Oops, missed something. He’s the Micromachine man. Speaking of whom, he’s now showing a microcomputer of some sort.
• Blu-Ray player: It grabs YouTube, Picasa directly, and plays DVD and SD cards. Walt: WiFi? Harper: No. You can take it on the road. Walt snarks about the lousy Panasonic UI. Nice one.
• Sony OLED music player: Has noise cancellation–built in; it’s digital noise cancellation. Also has Slacker, which is “Tivo for music.” Walt: Slacker’s on BlackBerry too. And, do you think this will take over the market iPod dominates? Harper: Heh heh, it’s an interesting product. (Translation: No.)
• A pocket-projector, the PK 101 from Optoma: Very cute. You can use it when you’re sitting on the plane on the back of the seat of the person in front of you.
• And now: A Chinese knock-off of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. Typical Chinese. But instead, it says “Welcome” upon loading. Imagine that! Look, the UI is so terribly different! It has mode-switching, which means it too has a built-in video projector. Did the Chinese steal the blueprints for the next-gen iPhone somehow?
• Some funky looking mask: For diving, it’s good to up to 100-plus feet. There’s a built-in camera with HD video. Walt: And how scared were the TSA guys? Audience laughter.
• Whoa! Harper has some super-spy illegal device that can automatically shut off everyone else’s cellphones. It’s like something out of “Men In Black,” but for cellphones instead of depressed housewives.
• Another media server. Is he starting to repeat himself. Kara: one more crazy thing, OK?
• Glasses with built-in Blutooth headset.
• Kara: Thank you so much. Every year, Greg brings weirder and weirder stuff
• And the “Inspector Gadget” theme plays him out. Excellent! On the nose, but just so.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090527/d7-tech-demo-whats-in-greg-harpers-bag/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20090324/sanyo-earnings-unable-to-hold-a-charge/ http://allthingsd.com/20090324/sanyo-earnings-unable-to-hold-a-charge/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:05:54 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=15273 More ugly news from the Japanese electronics industry today. Sanyo Electric, the world’s largest producer of rechargeable batteries, this morning slashed its earnings forecast for the second time in as many months. The company, which is set to be acquired by rival Panasonic (PC), had expected to break even for the year ending this month. But the econalypse forced it to adjust even that tame forecast. Sanyo now expects to post a net loss of $920 million for the year. “We were hit by a sharp decline in earnings at our rechargeable-battery, chips and electronic-component businesses in the fourth quarter,” Sanyo VP Koichi Maeda, explained. “We expect the tough business environment to remain through the first half of the next fiscal year.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20090324/sanyo-earnings-unable-to-hold-a-charge/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20090204/myspace-boots-pervs/ http://allthingsd.com/20090204/myspace-boots-pervs/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:27:54 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=12538

[ See post to watch video ]

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