Nikon D5000 is avaiable for Pre-order in Amazon

Nikon D5000 is the new Nikon DSLR just announced in April 2009. You can pre-order it in Amazon.


Nikon D5000 Highlights

12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor
Coupled with Nikon's EXPEED image processing and NIKKOR optics, breathtaking picture quality is assured.

3x Zoom AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens included
Legendary NIKKOR optical quality features Nikon VR image stabilization for added sharpness.

D-Movie Mode with sound
Record 720p HD movie clips enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility.

Vari-angle color LCD monitor
Position the 2.7-inch monitor freely for fresh shooting perspectives. Screen flips inward for safe keeping.

19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes
Capture stunning photos in challenging picture-taking situations including Sunsets, Candlelight, Silhouette, Portrait, Landscape, Beach/Snow, and more.

One-button Live View
Easy Live View access offers 4 autofocus modes, including Face Priority AF.

Continuous shooting as fast as 4 frames-per-second
Combined with fast power-up and split-second shutter response, decisive moments are captured easily without annoying shooting lag.

Low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200
Engineered for exceptional low-light shooting.

Built-in image sensor cleaning
Effective 4-frequency, ultrasonic sensor cleaning keeps images spot free.

11-point autofocus system with 3D Focus Tracking
Fast and accurate autofocus delivers razor sharpness.

Auto Active D-Lighting
Restores lost shadow and highlight detail in high contrast exposures—Selectable and Auto modes available.

In-camera Retouch image editing
Creative in-camera image editing, featuring Soft Filter, Straighten, Color Outline Effect, Perspective Control, Red-eye Correction, Image Overlay, Monochrome and more—all without a PC.

Picture Control Settings for personal image control
Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape and 9 customizable settings.

Nikon 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon’s renowned 420-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering II, teamed with the exclusive Scene Recognition System, evaluates each scene for unmatched exposure accuracy.

Durable, high precision shutter
Testing to over 100,000 cycles assures precision and long shutter life.

GPS geo-tagging
GP-1 GPS unit (optional) automatically identifies and records every image’s latitude, longitude and altitude, with satellite time-of-day.

Samsung Eternity Hands On Review

Samsung Eternity Hands On Review



Samsung Eternity vs IPhone

Samsung Eternity best Accessories

I bought couple accessories for my Samsung Eternity from Amazon, and they are working well for last two months.

Here is a list of cheap and best accessories to complement your Samsung Eternity.

All in One Combo Pack



All in One Combo Pack with additional battery


Executive Case with Belt hook



Data Cable and Charger



Kingston 4GB Micro SD card with adapter



AT&T Car charger with IC chip to protect over charging



Premium desktop charger cradle

Samsung's new Ultra Slim LED TV

The other day I was in a Fry's electronics store browsing the new products and I saw this new Samsung LCD with the red tint around the bezel. At first it looked like the same style as the last year model, but when I took a closer look, I found how amazingly thin it was. It was so thin compared to the Sony TV sitting next (according to the spec it is about 1.2 inches thick). Even though I own a Sony XBR right now, but I don’t hang it on the wall. I thought it was too thick to hang on the wall, but this is one is perfect to hang on the wall, it will look just like a picture frame.

I spent about 10 minutes playing with it and found it got 4 HDMI inputs, 120 Hz, USB 2.0 and many more. Samsung says the picture quality is better than last year’s model which I think already pretty good compared to many other brands and in the same league as Sony (how can I let down the brand I own right now?)

Samsung says you can access Internet, browse your online photo collection, check stocks etc. Also it has built in entertainment collection like games, and you can also download contents from online. See for yourself to believe it. Check it out here at Amazon.com.

Sony PS3

A few months back I got myself a PS3 to complement my Sony XBR. Since I am not into gaming I got this to play Blu-Ray movies. At this time this is one of the best Blu-Ray players you can get for under 400 dollars. For some people the form factor may be a turn-off but I like its look. The other low to mid end players offered by Samsung or Sony still don't match PS3 in terms of loading speed, picture quality etc. The Bluetooth remote is awesome, you don't need to point your remote at the player anymore.

The best thing about PS3 that is not available in other players is its wireless media player capability. Just start Windows Media Player sharing in your PC (or install TVersity), the PS3 automatically finds your PC and let you watch all your audio, video, and photo collections in your TV. There is no need to burn your movies into CD anymore. If your PS3 is connected to your home network via Ethernet, then you can even watch the movies in HD quality.

You can get the PS3 from Amazon. You can also apply for Sony Credit Card and get $100 of your purchase.

Nikon's New DSLR

It looks like Nikon is going to announce a new DSLR soon. From the spy shots it seem to have Swivel LCD like Point & Shoot digital cameras. According to some online resources it may be a replacement for either D60 or D400.

The features you can expect are:

• 12+ Mega pixel
• HD video recording capability (most likely 720p)
• Swivel LCD

You can check the details here at Engadget and Nikon Rumors

LG Vu

Before purchasing Samsung Eternity the other phone I considered and researched more is LG Vu. AT&T is marketing this as a TV Phone in which you can watch live TV broadcast and also access episodes (you need to get their Mobile TV package) of your favorite shows from AT&T media web site. This phone has a silver metallic finish, which I think shiny and ugly. Also it feels a little bigger and heavier than Samsung Eternity. But if you like watching TV shows in your phone then you can take a look at this phone.

You can see my Samsung Eternity mini review here.

An update to Samsung Eternity Review - Mobile Email

The Mobile Email that is pre-installed in Samsung Eternity let you access Yahoo, AOL (Netscape), Hotmail and few others. But this application is very slow and does not make use of Eternity's excellent touch interface. You can only scroll by touching the scroll bar at the right. In comparison the Gmail mobile application is very fast and allow you to scroll message up and down easily using your finger tips.

Samsung Eternity SGH-A867 mini review

This is my own mini review of Samsung Eternity based on my experience for the past one month.

I recently extended my contract with AT&T and got a Samsung Eternity(SGH-A867). So far I like it very much and its touch interface (called TouchWiz) is very good. It is not in the same league as IPhone but very close. I compared it with my friend's IPhone and found IPhone presentation (the Icons are beautiful) and touch interface (like pinching) are too good. But I was not ready to pay $30 every month for IPhone data plan and so decided to get the next best. The data plan for Samsung Eternity is $15. But if you have a shared family plan then you can get the data plan for $10 per phone with their shared messaging package ($30 for the whole family).

The browsing with the built-in MediaNet browser seem to be fast. The browser by default uses the 3G network (which is fast) and if 3G is not available or signal is weak the phone switches to some old technology (I don't remember the name). The MediaNet browser by default shows the mobile page (specially designed for mobile phones), if mobile page is not available then it shows the full HTML webpage. But here the difference between IPhone and Samsung Eternity is that IPhone displays the full webpage (the whole page shrinked to fit into IPhone's screen) and let you to zoom in and out using your finger movements. The Samsung Eternity just displays the page like a normal computer browser (does not fit the contents in one screen), i.e. you need to scroll left-right or up-down to see the whole thing. This is very painful, but since I am not planning to use the phone for everyday browsing I am OK with this limitation. Some people seem to overcome this issue by downloading Opera mini browser (modified version). You can read about that in http://www.samsung-eternity.com/. This site has lot of details about the phone customization, third-party applications, ringtones, wallpaper etc.

Samsung Eternity is not a smart phone, so it lacks some of the features required by corporate customers, but this phone comes pre-installed with web-email client called Mobile Email. Using this client you can access Yahoo, Microsoft Live Hotmail etc, but no Gmail. To access Gmail you need to download mobile Gmail application from www.google.com/mobile. Using this Gmail application you access one or more Gmail accounts and also switch from one account to another account easily. From Google mobile site you can also download GoogleMap and Utube applications.

The Samsung Eternity has built-in GPS chip like all new cell phones. But AT&T for some reason locked this feature, so GPS is only accessible from their own AT&T Navigator ($10 per month). The Google Map still be able to show your approximate location (within few 100 meters) using the Cell Phone triangulation technique.

Before Samsung Eternity I had Sony Ericson W680i which is a very good phone, but Samsung Eternity is very user friendly and faster to do any actions such as placing a call, placing a call in hold, switching between two calls etc. One glaring omission in Samsung Eternity is that it is missing Speed Dial, i.e. the ability to dial a family member or friend by just pressing and holding numbers 1-10.

If you like sending SMS/MMS messages to friends and family then you will find this phone very friendly and fast. Once you start a message the phone will show you a virtual keyboard. The virtual keyboard has a tactile feedback, i.e it feels like pressing real keyboard. The keyboard rotates to Landscape mode when you turn the phone to the side. In portrait mode the keyboard is T9 and in landscape mode it is a full qwerty keyboard. You can also send photos or videos with your message. (I heard that IPhone cannot do MMS but I am not sure).

If you like this phone you can get this phone from Amazon
free with new or extended contract, at AT&T it costs $150 after rebate. Online dealers like LetsTalk.com
Samsung Eternity (AT&T)
also giving it for free and sometimes you can even make some money after rebate.

To summarize the pros are:

• Excellent interface and good tactile response.
• Excellent choice for basic emailing, messaging and browsing.
• Sexy look.
• Pre installed free java mobile games.

The cons are:

• The built-in browser is not good for browsing full HTML webpage (you need to scroll up-down or left-right to see the whole page).
• No speed dial
• No auto focus in the built-in 3MP camera.
• Ringtone starts with very low volume then increases. At present ther is no way to turn-off this feature. Some times if the ringtone is very short you may miss a call. (Voice mail and SMS messages are usually notified by short beeps).
• No GPS available for Google Map or other third-party mapping applications.
• No WiFi.

Overall this is is an excellent choice for normal users and one of best AT&T cell phones.

The other carriers Verizon and T-Mobile also has very similar phone. The Verizon version is called Omnia Samsung Omnia and T-Mobile version is called Samsung Behold. You can see the comparision here.