Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M Review

The Samsung W880 ups the ante with a world's first 12 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom. Featuring a hardware Mode dial and a real zoom lever it does feel like a real camera and you may find yourself struggling to find the mobile phone under the digicam skin. Now while W880 is South Korea bound only, it's enough to give us a taste of what's coming in the shape of the rumored Samsung M8920, which should make it our way sometime next year - but with Wi-Fi and GPS on board.


Samsung SCH-W880 AMOLED 12M official photos

Designing a mobile phone (or any other portable gadget for that matter) is a balancing act - the engineers must juggle between cost, size and features, all the while being limited by the current state of technology.

Say cost doesn't matter - that still leaves only so much that can reasonably be crammed into a mobile device. Progress is made, technology advances, which results in things getting cheaper, smaller and with more features. And quite soon, things that seemed impractical a few years back can now be released as a consumer device.

This is how the Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M came to be - it contains all the mechanical elements of a point-and-shoot camera, but still has enough room left for the phone parts. It's not the first phone to achieve that but it's the first 12-megapixel one and the added 3xoptical zoom and xenon flash pretty much put it on par with a typical point-and-shoot camera.

The Samsung W880 has some high-end imaging functions too - tracking touch autofocus, 720p@30 fps video recording, 3.3" big AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with WVGA resolution. That's not something you see every day on a cameras and it's top notch inmobile phone terms. Even the degree of control over how a photo is taken beats out consumer cameras, let alone cameraphones.

Now, keep in mind that the we're previewing a prototype here and it's a prototype of a phone meant for the South Korean market only and although it has tri-band GSM and support for UMTS, those are meant for roaming only - the AMOLED 12M is for South Korea and South Korea only.

So, why bother with a preview then? Well, there's a global version coming in the beginning of next year and that might actually land in a store near you. It will look just the same but will drop the T-DMB TV receiver, which has little use outside of South Korea anyway, swapping it for the more practical Wi-Fi and GPS. Supposedly, the global GSM version will be allegedly calledSamsung M8920, but that has yet to be confirmed by an official source.

Samsung W880 AMOLED 12M live shots

In this preview we focus mainly on the camera - admit it, it's the most interesting aspect of the Samsung W880 and it's the camera that has us holding our breaths.

For now, we'll just concentrate on the essentials - we take a look at the hardware, next we have a video walkthrough of the interface and finally, we focus on the camera, with plenty of still photos and video samples.

Photo Recovery Software Review: Adroit Photo Recovery Performed Best!

Did you ever accidently delete an important digital photograph on a memory card or computer and then empty the recycle bin? Perhaps your computer got infected by a virus which then corrupted the hard disk with your photographs? Then again, maybe you have had the case where your camera card will not even show up as a readable disk when inserted into the card reader! Enter the world of photo recovery software - software designed specifically to recover deleted photos.

We looked at four different photo recovery software packages: Digital Photo Recovery, Hetman Photo Recovery, Photo Rescue and Adroit Photo Recovery. Adroit Photo Recovery software came out on top due to ease of use, quality of recovery, efficiency of recovery and it recovers 15-20% more photos than the other software packages. The price for the various software packages was less of a consideration as all software packages were within the $30-$50 range with Digital Photo Recovery at $29.00, Photo Rescue at $29.00, Adroit Photo Recovery at $39.99, and Hetman Photo Recovery at $49.95.

We selected the four photo recovery software packages for the following reasons: Adroit Photo Recovery has been developed after years of research conducted at NYU-Poly and has been getting good press coverage by reputable publications such as The New York Times. Photo Rescue has been getting good reviews by PC Magazine. Hetman Photo Recovery got the highest CNET user rating (however comparable user ratings on all the photo recovery software packages are not available). Digital Photo Recovery has one of the highest CNET downloads.

What We Tested?

In order to compare the photo recovery applications, we used a 1GB USB card containing images from a camera. The card originally had 130 images of which we deleted 121, and left 9 of them as is. We then ran the application on all 4 applications.
Note: We only tested JPEG recovery as that is still by far the most popular camera format. Adroit, Digital Photo Recovery and Photo Rescue all support a limited number of Camera RAW formats (very high definition camera files). Hetman doesn’t seem to support RAW but supports a number of other photo formats that the others do not. However, since we are interested in the most common type of photos we only used the JPEG format.
Here are our findings:

Ease of Use:

The user interface in all software packages was simple and not confusing. Typically it took at least three steps in almost all the software packages to recover files. In Photo Rescue, however, it took four steps for quick recovery and more than four steps for advanced recovery.

Adroit Photo Recovery provides for automatic detection of devices even if you plug in a removable drive after the software has started. Digital Photo Recovery and Photo Rescue have refresh buttons that can be clicked and for Hetman you have to restart the application for the drive to be detected.

Adroit and Photo Rescue accepted disk images while others did not. Adroit also provided the best source information data while the other software packages provided limited information for screening and finding the right data. Recovery tips and help manuals were readily available in most software packages except in Digital Photo Recovery which had limited help features and no help manual. Adroit Photo Recovery has no help manual.

Note: While all the applications recovery from most removable media like USB sticks, camera cards, and external hard drives, Digital Photo Recovery can recover from most CD/DVD formats. We did not test this functionality.

Quality of Photo Recovery: Adroit Photo Recovery was the only software that could recover fragmented photograph files and distinguish valid and invalid photo files. As a result, Adroit was able to recover more photo files than other software. All software packages were able to recover photo files from corrupted drives though in some the error messages needed to be ignored.

Trying to recover the deleted photos we got the following results:

1. Adroit Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (120), Partially Recovered (1)

2. Digital Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (113), Partially Recovered (8)

3. Hetman Photo Recovery: Fully Recovered (109), Partially Recovered (11)

4. Photo Rescue: Fully Recovered (109), Partially Recovered (13)


Efficiency of Recovery: Most software packages showed the thumbnail pictures of recovered photo files though Hetman had other options for viewing files. Adroit also provided useful information about the photo files such as date-time information, height, width, size of file and other information useful for recovery. Hetman also provided some of this useful information.

In summary, at $39.99, Adroit Photo Recovery is a steal to help recover those priceless photographs. More information on Adroit Photo Recovery can be found at the Digital Assembly site http://digital-assembly.com/products/adroit-photo-recovery/. Note: All of the software can be used for free to see if they recover your photos. You will be able to see a preview of the images recovered, and if you are satisfied with the recovery then you will have to pay to save the recovered photos. Check out for yourself as to what makes sense for you.

LCD Screens for BPO and ITES Companies: What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens?

Business Process Outsourcing ("BPO") and Information Technology Enabled Services ("ITES") companies are using LCD screens to improve productivity, quality of service and the "look and feel" of their operations.

For example, many LCD monitors have been sold to BPO companies such as ICICI Bank's Hyderabad call centre, EXL Service, and WNS India. These LCD screens are being used for displaying incoming calls to be addressed, call centre performance as a feedback loop for individual call centre executives, training information and local customer market information, among other usage. Since LCD monitors (or LCD Information Displays as they are called) are sleek and occupy less space than conventional solutions like Video Cubes, and with real estate space in a call centre or network operation centre being a premium, LCD monitors are an ideal fit for the BPO and ITES industries. LCD monitors also consume ~50% less power, emit little heat or radiation compared to PDPs. For large screen sizes, LCD displays provide better image and sound quality compared to all other conventional display technologies.


Below please find an analysis of what BPO and ITES Companies are considering when purchasing these LCD screens.

What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens for BPO and ITES Companies?

Price: Price is always a vital factor for making a purchase decision however BPO and ITES companies are increasingly using a high quality LCD monitors vs. LCD TVs based on the Total Cost of Ownership. Even though LCD TVs are cheaper, their life span can be shorter, especially if operated for extended number of hours in a day. LCD monitors are meant for 24x7 operations and are rugged devices with longer life and lower total cost of ownership.

Rugged Devices with Extended Operations Capability: LCD Information Displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. LCD Information Displays are fan-less closed box units and hence it is harder for dust and other contaminants to penetrate the box. LCD TVs have fans and are not closed devices. For BPO and ITES Companies where failure of a screen can create major problem or loss of business, it's not advisable to risk using LCD TVs.

Network Capability: Make sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity, which allows remote monitoring of the various LCD screens. Alarms can be set incase an LCD screen is not working or if there is an imminent failure in the LCD Unit (eg. unit is overheating). Power and other controls can be monitored remotely and devices and switched off or dimmed when not in operations to conserve energy and reduce electricity bills.

Power Consumption: LCD monitors consume less power than any other display technologies. The electricity bill for a large BPO may run into several Crores Indian Rupees annually. Shifting from less energy efficient displays to LCDs have shown savings of 20% or more on the total electricity bill for a NOC Room. Also, since LCD screens emit less radiation than PDPs, BPOs prefer them to protect the health of their employees who need to spend long hours in front of monitors.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and faster response time resulting in better picture clarity. LCD screens cause less eye fatigue and hence it's easy to work for long time. They emit zero radiation, which will ensure lesser or no eyestrain even at times of continuous use and are not even affected by magnetic interference. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs grants easy viewing in ambient light or where the background light is being reflected on the screen.

Learn about new features by checking out details available at most LCD screen manufacturers websites. Sharp is the LCD information display industry leader and more details can be found at their site. Information can also be found at NEC and Sony sites. You should also read other related articles to make the right decision for your LCD purchase!

More details about the LCD displays visit http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com

LCD Screens For Financial Markets - What to Consider When Purchasing These LCD Screens?

Financial institutions are using technology to improve the quality of services being offered. LCD screens are prime contributors to quality improvement and improving the overall "look and feel" of various financial institutions like banks and stock markets trading centres.


For example, ICICI Bank in India is using LCD monitors to showcase the bank products and to show the token number for waiting clients, all on the same screen. New York Stock Exchange is using LCD Information Display screens to show stock information and news. The screens provide a clear, continuously updated status list of stock prices, currency exchange rates and other financial information

Financial institutions are also using LCD screen for security purposes where multiple security images are seen on one large screen to give a full panoramic picture of the activities happening in a bank branch or other financial institution.

When buying LCD screens financial institutions are purchasing LCD Information Displays and not LCD TVs. Below please find an analysis of why financial institutions are buying LCD Information Display and what they consider when purchasing theses screen.

What to Consider When Purchasing these LCD Screens for Financial Institutions? LCD Screen Price: Price is always important however financial institutions are increasingly evaluating the Total Cost of Ownership. Even though LCD TVs are cheaper, their life span can be shorter, especially if operated for extended number of hours in a day. TVs unlike displays are meant for limited number of hour viewing unlike LCD information display that are meant for 24x7 operations.

Ruggedness and Extended Operation Capability: LCD Information Displays unlike LCD TVs are fan-less closed box units. As a result it is harder for dust and other contaminants to penetrate the box. Further LCD informational displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited viewing. Ruggedness and life of the LCD screen is very important to reduce failures of the LCD screens. For financial institution operations where failure of a screen can create significant inconvenience or loss of business, it does not make sense to risk using a LCD TV.

LCD Network Capability: Please make sure that the LCD screen features RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. The network connectivity enables remote monitoring of diverse LCD screens. You can also set alarms if an LCD screen is switched off or not working. Remote monitoring of power and other controls can also be done easily. For example, incase there is no signal, a power save mode can be activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight by activating an energy saving feature.

Picture Quality: Most large LCDs are high definition. High definition LCDs offers better picture resolution, contrast ratio, brightness, colour reproduction and fast response time which results in enhanced picture clarity. High definition, brightness and contrast ratio are vital features for LCDs to have in financial sectors as they have crucial pricing information and other related details. Further, the non glare feature of LCDs allows for easy viewing in ambient light or where there is background light being reflected on the screen. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle, making it easy for viewing. Check viewing details to ensure that it meets your quality requirements.

New LCD screen features are continuously emerging in order to attract the prospective users on a large scale. You can read other related articles in order to make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

More details about the LCD and plasma displays visit http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com

LCD Screens For Medical Applications and Hospitals

Technology is improving patient care and increasing revenue per bed and overall cost structures of hospitals. LCD screens are key contributors to cost improvement and improving overall "look and feel" of hospitals

For example, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital is using LCD Information Display screens to improve patient flow and increase family member awareness about patient location. In any large hospital, a great deal of coordination is required to move patients through the operating facility efficiently and seamlessly, from the pre-operative through to the recovery areas. Which treatment rooms are available? Which patients are ready for surgery next? Has a procedure in the operating room been completed ahead of schedule? Tracking each patient and coordinating resources requires staff to have immediate access to patient case data, at any time. The idea behind installing the LCD Information Display screens was to provide doctors, nurses and orderlies with better visual access to the operative status of each patient in its operating facility - without having to find a terminal and log in. The screens would provide a clear, continuously updated status list of each patient in the operating and treatment areas. These digital signs would tell staff which rooms are available, which patients are ready for transport, and what actions need to be taken for smooth operation of the facility. Patient safety and quality of care were also elevated with this solution

Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in India is using LCD Information Display screens for medical imaging and collaborative medical diagnosis. The key needs for deploying LCD information display screens vs LCD TVs were picture quality, large size and no fan noise in the operating theatre room. Large LCD displays are also being deployed in hallways, waiting areas, nurse monitoring centres, and video imaging diagnostic centers.

The display needs for these hospitals large screens are usually similar. Large LCD information displays are the technology of choice for large screens due to their low radiation emissions, low power usage compared to Plasma, increased ruggedness and high resolution. Below we outline key needs of LCD screens for hospitals:

LCD Information Display vs. TV Price: Price is an important criterion however many hospitals, buy on price versus functionality important and length of usage. As a result they will buy an LCD TV rather than a LCD Information Display as they can find cheap LCD TVs. LCD TVs are not closed end boxes so they result in premature failure or desired functionality is lacking resulting in the LCD TV being replaced sooner than it should be.

Internet Connectivity: Increasingly patients are demanding Internet connectivity to their rooms and are willing to pay for such facility. LCD screens need to be equipped with computer inputs such as VGA, HDMI or DVI inputs. The computer inputs are available on LCD information displays and usually not available on LCD TVs though some new LCD TV models do not have this issue.

Reduced Biological Pollution, Ruggedness and 24x7 Device Operations: LCD screens for hospitals need to be rugged and closed. LCD Information Displays are rugged (vs. LCD TVs) as LCD Informational Displays are fan-less closed box units that can offer protection from dust and biological pollution, which is very important for hospitals. LCD Informational Displays are made for 24x7 operations while LCD TVs are made for limited hourly viewing in a day.

Network Connectivity: The network connectivity is required for remote monitoring of the various LCD devices.Be sure that the LCD screen has RS-232 and LAN network connectivity. Having this connectivity, alarms can be managed if an LCD screen is switched off or performing poorly. For example, an energy saving feature can be initiated so that when there is no signal, a power save mode is activated to reduce the brightness of the LCD backlight.

No Sound or Tuning Capability in Individual LCD units: No need for internal TV speakers as sound is output through pillow speakers which control noise in the patient room and hallway by limiting individual TV volume. Individual TV tuners are not required as TVs channels are fed through cable tv tuners to provide better image and selection.

Picture Quality: Picture quality is an important criterion in hospitals. Select high definition LCD screens. High definition LCDs provide better picture resolution, better contrast ratio, high brightness, high colour reproduction and fast response time resulting in better picture clarity. Most new LCDs have 176° viewing angle and have non glare features for easy viewing in daylight. Check the viewing specifications to make sure that the LCD screen you are buying meets your quality needs.

LCD display market is continuously evolving New LCD screen features are continuously emerging. Check with the LCD screen manufacturer to learn about new features. Read other articles and make the right decision for your LCD purchase.

For more information on LCD Screen, check out Sharp's official LCD monitor site!
http://lcddisplay.sbsil.com/

Power Hungry Plasma Displays to be Banned in Europe and California (USA)

European Union and California wants to ban plasma screen televisions plasma screen televisions as they “guzzle” too much power and adds to the global warming issue. (See articles in Daily Express: http://www.express.co.uk and LA Times: http://www.latimes.com)



Press Coverage on Ban: According to the Daily Express, “A 42in plasma television uses over twice as much power as a traditional television set. Some of the larger models can take as much as electricity to run a fridge freezer”.

LA Times reports that “(California) State regulators are getting ready to curb the growing power gluttony of TV sets by drafting the nation’s first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models…”. The regulation is expected to pass in mid-2009. According to LA Times, “During a peak viewing time when most sets are on, such as the Super Bowl, TVs in the (California) state collectively suck up the equivalent of 40% of the power generated by the San Onofre nuclear power station running at full capacity. Televisions account for about 10% of the average Californian’s monthly household electricity bill”. Further the article goes to describe how Plasma screens are more power hungry than LCD screens.

Power Usage Comparison of Plasma vs LCD: We looked at various professional large screen displays that businesses would buy, to see if what is being reported is correct. Below we analyze some of the Plasma professional display brands against the Sharp LCD screens to understand how plasma screens compares with LCD screens. Our finding was that Plasma displays consumed almost twice as much power per display than LCD display of similar size.

Comparing Panasonic Plasma Display vs. Sharp LCD Display
· 65” Panasonic Plasma Display: A 65inch professional plasma display by Panasonic (TH-65PF11), which is high definition display, consumes 755W of power, according to the company display brochure. (see: http://www.panasonic.co.in)
· 65” Sharp LCD Display: A 65inch profession LCD display by Sharp (PN-S655), which is also a high definition display but using LCD technology, consumes 480W of power, according to the company display brochure. (see: http://www.sbsil.com)


We looked at other professional display brands to see their power consumptions.

· 60” LG Plasma Display: LG does not offer a 65inch professional plasma display for business use. The 60inch plasma display LG plasma display (60PG70FR) uses (690W-760W) of power. (see: http://www.in.lge.com)
· 50” Sony Plasma Display: The largest professional plasma display offered by Sony is 50inches (FWD-50PX3/S). The 50inch plasma display uses 440W of power compared to Sharp 46 inch LCD display using 312W of power.

Do your own analysis but it does seem that Plasma displays consume more power than LCD displays. By placing restrictions on display companies EU and California governments hope to encourage display companies to produce more efficient displays and TV screens. With the growth of flat-screen TVs, this is bound to make a difference. As consumers and the world gets more “green” conscious, it makes sense for business to be aware about recent trends as this will save them more money in the long run

LCD Screens Transforming Digital Signage and Advertising in Restaurants and Retail Stores

It is not hard to understand why LCD displays screens are rapidly being adopted by retail stores and restaurants. InfoTrends conducted a digital signage study where they polled consumers and found that "digital signage displays have a 47.7% effectiveness on brand awareness, increase the average purchase amount by 29.5%, create a 31.8% upswing in overall sales volumes, generate a 32.8% growth in repeat buyers and generate 32.8% more in-store traffic".



LCD display screens are being used by restaurants for displaying the menu and entertainment, by garment and clothing retail stores to show videos of fashion shows and to showcase various products, and by automobile dealers as video walls to provide the feel of the car on the road and to keep the customer occupied as they wait for sales agent or other people.

LCD Display Usage in Restaurants: When visiting KFC Hyderabad (India), what grabs your attention is not so much the smell of food but the vibrant colours of the four 42-inch LCD display panels which serves as the overhead menu board. KFC Hyderabad sought the help of Sharp Business Systems India to set up the digital signage solution. LCD digital menus can be maintained from a remote central location or a local PC set up in the store. The benefit of remote central management is that menu, promotions, video, pricing and other items displayed on the LCD displays in the retail outlet can be managed from one central location to provide consistency and to make sure that the changes are made consistently across all stores at the same time. Consumers receive dynamic previews of the offering with potential for positive impact on sales. If restaurants have the networked point-of-sale cash registers collecting time based purchased data, marketing can get instantaneous feedback on how different promotions and pricing are having impact on sales.

Restaurants are also using LCD displays as televisions to spruce up the restaurant atmosphere. It is now a common expectation to have LCD TVs in restaurants that show the local sports or the news.

LCD Display Usage in Showrooms: Whether it is women clothing store, automobile showroom, convenient store or a department store, LCD displays are appearing in all these locations. A typical store has up to four LCD displays per site. InfoTrends study showed that business that had installed displays in their showroom, predominantly expected the display usage in their showrooms to increase. To grab and hold consumer attention, retailers are using LCD displays in a video-wall format or in a daisy chain format along with stand alone units. The content could be a mixture of video along with text or a combination. The goal is to target specific customers with specific information and this information may change with the time of the day - creating a retail company-owned, closed-circuit television network that runs nothing but the retail company programming.

Why do Retail Businesses Select LCD Displays vs. Plasma Displays?
There are a number of reasons why retailers and restaurants are selecting LCD display over plasma displays.

· Fan-less Architecture of LCDs: LCD displays do not have a fan potentially resulting in less noise and distraction. This is less of an issue with newer higher end plasma displays, however it is worthwhile to keep track as you evaluate the two options.

· Rugged Design of LCDs: LCD displays are closed-box units and more rugged. There is less chance of oil fumes, dust or other elements getting into the unit and reducing the life of the unit.

· Resolution and Picture Quality: (A) Video resolution on LCD displays and plasma display are comparable but computer data is better observed on LCD displays. (B) LCDs are better to view in ambient light or in brightly lit rooms. As businesses usually work during the day in ambient light, LCDs are more desirable for most business applications. (C) Plasma manufacturers have made much of their viewing angles. However with new LCDs the view angles are 176°. There is not much difference between the two technologies in viewing angle. (D) There have been concerns with burn-in for Plasma screens especially for static images. However, many Plasma manufacturers have improved their anti-burn in technology. There are no burn-in issues with LCD screens.

· Life of the Display Unit: LCDs can be operated 24x7 for 50,000+ hours equivalent to 5+ years of continuous viewing. Plasma, on the other hand, typically has a half life of 30,000 hours. At half life, the phosphors in a plasma screen will glow half as brightly as they did when the set was new. There is no way to replace these gases; the display simply continues to become dimmer with use. An LCD TV will last as long as its backlight - and in many models the backlight bulbs can be easily replaced!

· Power Consumption: Plasma TVs use more power than LCD - twice as much

Technology for both plasma and LCD display continues to change. Be sure to check updates to the technology for apple to apple comparison.