MacNN reports that Apple’s MacBook took one of the top three sales spots during Amazon.com’s holiday season: Amazon.com announced the results of its 2007 holiday season, revealing Apple’s MacBook as one of the top sellers in the online retailer’s PC category, more exactly in the list of products most frequently purchased as gifts by Amazon.com customers in 2007.

Since its update, as we reported in May, the Apple MacBook surged as one of the best selling notebook Macs and you can see it almost everywhere (Starbucks, college, business room etc.).

Entering 2008? Think about making a backup of 2007-related data! Think about a Maxtor OneTouch 4 500 GB External Hard Drive.

This PC- and Mac-friendly drive spins at 7200rpm and features a 16MB buffer.

Backup your files with a push of a button or set up the software to perform convenient automatic backups.
With 7200 RPM and 16 MB cache buffer, you get fast drive performance, seamless data exchange, and instant access to your files.
Simple setup: just connect the USB 2.0 cable, and your Maxtor OneTouch 4 500 GB External Hard Drive automatically appears on your desktop.
For all those precious pictures, videos, music and data files, external hard drive is a must have.

Features:

The Creative SoundWorks Radio CD 745 is more than just a radio, it’s an incredible sounding and extremely versatile sound system with an award-winning speaker design. Its two stereo speakers, combined with a powerful, built-in subwoofer produces incredible clarity and excellent bass when listening to broadcasts from the high-quality AM/FM tuners.

As well as 24 radio station presets, this top-of-the-line system includes a slot-loading CD player which can play MP3/WMA tracks and display their details. Dual alarms allow users to wake up to their favourite radio station or a CD, or to specify different wake-up times during the week and weekend.

Convenient front panel controls, plus the included remote, give users easy access to all its features, and the Creative SoundWorks Radio CD 745 includes versatile connectivity which allows people to connect their MP3 players and enjoy music through the amazing speakers.

iPod owners can add the optional Made for iPod approved dock which adds a remote control for playback and charges the player as users listen.

Available in black and white!

Featuring Ambisound, the HTS8100 delivers full multi-channel surround sound in any sort of room. The 1-piece integrated system fits into the home with ease, providing a full home theater experience with excellent sound and picture quality.

Want dolby digital surround without the wires? Look no further than the Philips AmbiSound Home Theater Sound Bar with Integrated 1080p-Upscaling DVD/MP3 Player.
Philips engineers have tackled this problem. They’ve managed to take the output from 5 distinct channel amplifiers and placed them in a single speaker called a Soundbar. Within the soundbar, speakers are angled to provide a realistic audio environment that literally emulates sound as if it’s coming from all sides. It’s 5.1 surround without the mess! In addition to the latest audio technology, the Ambisound system is only five inches thick and can be easily mounted onto a wall underneath an existing Flat-TV. The simple, yet elegant design enhances the décor of any home theater space, regardless of the room layout or design.

Within the soundbar, speakers are angled to provide a realistic audio environment that literally emulates sound as if it’s coming from all sides. It’s 5.1 surround without the mess!
For maximum audio quality and clarity, the Ambisound SoundBar provides a stylish system with amplifier and a DVD player all in a single speaker called a Soundbar.

Let’s say this is wireless routing with style & coolness or your packets never looked so fine…

Belkin’s new N1 Vision Wireless Router wireless router features an advanced interactive network display that allows you to view the activity of your network.

Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router offers a built-in display for broadband network speed, upload & download speed, individual computer bandwidth usage, connected devices, total data usage over a 24 hour period, devices accessing the network as guests, and a general clock / date.

Packaged in a new sleek and sophisticated design, Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router offers the best in networking performance with its wireless 802.11n* 3×3 MIMO radio design and wired gigabit ports.

The Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router also continues Belkin’s commitment in providing the best user experience through its plug-and-play CD-less installation and simple network security setup.

For more information visit belkin.com/n1vision/intro.

Amazon Kindle is an electronic book (e-book) service launched in the United States by Amazon.com in November 2007.
It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle (AZW) format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet, which uses the Sprint EVDO network.
This means that unlike previously existing e-book readers, the Amazon Kindle can be used without the need for a computer.
Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee.
On the release day, the Kindle Store had more than 88,000 digital titles available for download.

The Amazon Kindle isn’t the most elegant looking gadget ever created (in fact it looks like it came out of the 70’s), but it packs an impressive list of features and could finally bring ebooks mainstream.

Amazon isn’t supporting the industry’s open standard around eBooks. Instead they are using their own proprietary format from Mobipocket, a company they acquired in 2005.

As BBC News reports Amazon Kindle sells out on debut:

A notice on the Kindle pages on the Amazon web store said “heavy customer demand” for the device meant it would be out of stock until 3 December.

Partner site iPodPalace.com published three exclusive videos showing the new iPods best features:

- iPod nano: photos web browsing and much more!,

- iPod Classic Cover Flow music browsing,

- iPod nano playing games.

Apple announces new products, takes the world by surprise and revamps its entire iPod lineup:

- iPod touch, besides the iPhone, one of the most awaited products ever,

- iPod nano, new and greatly improved,

- iPod Classic, hard disk-based - 80GB and 160GB.

The iPod touch is more like an iPhone than a simple iPod:

• 3,5″ wide screen with touch-user-interface
• WiFi connectivity,
• Safari & Widget,
• 8GB and 16 GB capacity,
• wireless connection to iTunes music
• much more…

The iPod nano gets a wider and brighter screen and video support, in 4 GB and 8 GB flavour.

The iPod Classic, the hard disk-based model is still there, for those who can’t stand lacking space for their playlists: 80 GB and a whopping new 160 GB version.

Nikon recently announced 8 new Coolpix digital cameras to celebrate 10 years of the compact camera brand:
- Coolpix P5100 and Coolpix P50,
- four cameras in the Style series; the COOLPIX S700, COOLPIX S510, Nikon Coolpix S51c and COOLPIX S51
- two COOLPIX cameras in the Life series, the Nikon Coolpix L15 and Nikon Coolpix L14.

The eight new cameras in the Nikon COOLPIX line include two cameras in the Performance series, the Coolpix P5100 and Coolpix P50, four cameras in the Style series, including the COOLPIX S700, COOLPIX S510, COOLPIX S51c and COOLPIX S51 and two COOLPIX cameras in the Life series, the COOLPIX L15 and COOLPIX L14.

The Coolpix P5100 will offer 12.1 megapixels, the company’s EXPEED digital image processing technology and a 3.5x Zoom-NIKKOR lens, with ISO up to 3200 and a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, measuring 98 x 64.5 x 41 mm (3.9 x 2.5 x 1.6 in.) and weighing in at approximately 200 grams without battery or SD memory card.

The Coolpix P50 will feature a 3.6x Zoom-NIKKOR lens with 28mm wide-angle capability that covers a range from panoramic landscapes to close-up portraits and up to 2000 ISO.

Both models will also feature Nikon’s face priority autofocus, touted by the company as being “faster than ever” and capable of detecting up to 12(!) faces.

The COOLPIX S700, flagship model of the Style-series, will also offer 12.1 megapixels and measures a compact 89×54x23 mm and weighs just 130 grams (without battery or memory card). Other features include a 2.7-inch LCD monitor and a start-up time of just 0.9 sec, along with one of the fastest shutter release time lag of 0.005 seconds.

It too will feature the new EXPEED digital image processing technology and is capable of achieving up to ISO 3200.

The COOLPIX S510 will come in a range of colours including Silver, Urban Black, and Pink, and offer 8 megapixels.

The Nikon Coolpix S51c comes with a 3-inch LCD monitor, 8.1 megapixels and an ISO of up to 1600 alongside a 3x optical Zoom-NIKKOR VR lens. The Coolpix S51c will also feature Wi-Fi connectivity. A COOLPIX S51 without Wi-Fi capability will also be available.

The Nikon Coolpix L15 will offer 8 megapixels, a 3X optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens and Optical Lens Shift Vibration Reduction (VR) technology which provides the equivalent of a faster shutter speed and minimises the effect of camera shake. The models will also feature a 2.8-inch LCD screen.

The Nikon Coolpix L14 will offer 7 megapixels, a 3x optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens, a 2.4-inch screen and will come with the added bonus of allowing you to shoot 1,000 photos on a pair of Energizer lithium AA-size batteries.

All cameras are available now for pre-order and are expected to be in stores by early November.

Sony Cybershot DSC-H3 8.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom with Super Steady Shot Image Stabilization.

An eight megapixel sensor, a special mode aimed at moving subjects, Sony’s proprietary technology Sony Dynamic Range Optimizer, image stabilizer and a compact body are the key points for this unique superzoom camera.

Somehow oddly shaped (just like other previous Sony prosumer cameras) mainly due to the robust grip, the Sony Cybershot DSC-H3 compact digital features a superb zoom in a truly compact body design (4.2 x 2.7 x 1.9 inches - 13.4 ounces, 106 x 68.5 x 47.5 mm - 380 gr).

The Sony Cybershot H3 - available in silver or black - has a 8 MP CCD but what really stands out is its Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar 10x zoom lens: a 35-mm equivalent of 38-380 mm, aperture F/3.5-4.4 definitely places this Sony offering near the top of this class of cameras. Macro mode allows for less than 2 cm (much less than an inch) focusing distance from the subject.

Super Steadyshot image stabilizer helps avoiding motion-blur in images for both newbies and consumed photographers; for faster shooting, Sony incorporates an Advanced Sports Shooting Mode along with a predictive, multipoint autofocus (9 points matrix).

The ubiquitous Face Detection technology is here too, though it still fails to recognize cool people from their faces…

Sony Dynamic Range Optimizer technology, developed for the company’s flagship Alpha DSLR and reused in this high end compact model, analizes CCD captured data and optimizes exposure and hue before JPEG compression and storing.

The H3 Cybershot has a 2.5″ LCD display, a Li-Ion NP-BG1 battery - rated at 330 shootings by Sony, uses Memory Stick Pro Duo as storage media and allows for VGA-resolution, 30 fps video recording with audio.

Last but not least, the HD output (1080 lines) provides spectacular photo viewing on your Sony KDL-40V2500 40″ Bravia V-Series 1080p LCD HDTV and other compatible HDTV screens (cable available separately).

This a recent (and welcome!) trend even for compact and point-and-shoot cameras: Sony already announced on February the Sony Cybershot DSCW200 12.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot, which sports HDMI output.

Available for pre-order now, and expected to be in stores by November 2007, the price For the H3 will be around US$ 300.00.

Update: Additional lenses for the H3 are now available, both Super Wide Angle , tele zoom and Macro for close-ups.

Canon today launches its new flagship compact for advanced photographers: the Canon PowerShot G9 12.1MP Digital Camera with 6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom.
The successor to the PowerShot G7 (recently named EISA European Advanced Compact Camera 2007-2008) the PowerShot G9 incorporates improvements driven by market feedback with a range of user-oriented enhancements, including RAW image capture and a redesigned grip and thumb rest for improved handling.
Other advancements include a high resolution 3.0 PureColor LCD II, enhanced Face Detection Technology and Red-Eye Correction in playback.
A wide range of accessories, including optional lenses and Speedlite flash units, now also features Canon’s Speedlite ST-E2 wireless flash transmitter.

The Canon PowerShot G9 features:

Apple iLife ‘08 and iWork ‘08 available!

Following the recent August announcements from Apple, iLife ‘08 and iWork ‘08 are now avalaible.

The new iLife ‘08 features the same component softwares as before, same name but some are really brand new.

Concerning iWork ‘08, the package includes:

No Mac user should miss these packages.
No Mac business user should miss taking a closer look to iWork ‘08: a great way to get for US$ 75 a complete Business Software Suite.

Better late than never (see Sourcecrowd’s previous report here) Apple Apple’s new OS X iteration is coming: a definite sign that the Leopard will not suffer further delays is that it is now available for pre-order from a few outlets. So if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on the latest and greatest features when the 10.5 version of the operating system ships in October, click on the Apple links in this post to reserve your copy.

To see some of the nifty new feautures of Leopard and for more information, go to Apple’s website. Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard has a retail price of $129.

The VIZIO Gallevia GV47LF HDTV is a huge 47″ widescreen TV, featuring full HD resolution of 1080p and boosting a fast response panel (8ms). According to the Vizio website, the TV has a full 178 degree viewing angle and a brightness of 500 cd/m2, with detachable stand (allowing users to wall mount the panel) and speakers.
So far, all typical specs for a TV set of this size: what is out of the norm for a panel this big is the diminutive price - $1699.99!
So if you are looking for a bargain showpiece for your living/entertainment room, this product may just fit the bill (and not break the bank).

OpenMoko have announced the Neo 1973, a sim-free, completely open source driven mobile phone running on a flavour of the Linux operating system. Although in its opening stages of development, the phone promises to spread open source to the mobile phone industry just as Linux brought freedom to Pc users: the base version of the NEO sells for $300, has a 2.8″ VGA touch screen, a micro SD card slot, a USB port and 2.5G GSM quad band capability. It shares a complete lack of buttons with Apple’s iPhone, with a touch screen that can be operated by both fingers and stylus. An improved, mass market model has been scheduled for October, to be sold at a $450 price point, adding wi-fi, 3-D motion sensors and graphics accelerators.

It looks like revolutionary devices, not only smart phones but smarter phones, are finally making their way into the stagnant mobile phone market, offering plenty of new choices to the public.