Samsung's MV800 MultiView camera comes with a swiveling display perfect for self-portraits

If you have spent any time on the Internet, then you are no doubt familiar with the tendency among camera-owning people to photograph themselves from strange and often awkward angles. You might have been in that very same situation yourself. Is there any cure for this unfortunate trend?

The Samsung MultiView MV800 may be solution. While most cameras have their LCDs on the opposite side of the lens, the one on the MV800 is hinged, allowing it to be flipped to the other side of the device. That’s not a new feature as far as cameras go, but it is a rare sight in a camera so small. Which is why the MV800 is a big deal.

The device features a 16-megapixel sensor and 5x f3.3-5.9 26-130mm lens. Samsung has also furnished the device with a variety of filters as well as support for taking panorama photos.

Samsung hasn’t announced a price for the camera, but its a fair bit it will retail for around $300 when its released at the end of September.

Android-powered Kyocera Milano to be available from Sprint on September 9 for $49.99

Kyocera is planning on releasing a new device to join the Echo in Sprint’s smartphone lineup. The Kyocera Milano, however, unlike the Echo, will forego the unique form factor for a more generic look and feel. The Kyocera Milano will be a midrange Android-powered offering, that will have its price as one of its main features.

Alongside that, though, will also be a side-sliding full physical QWERTY keyboard. So the Milano is clearly aimed at the texting-addicted youngsters, perhaps even to those older who like to shoot an email off their phone now and again.

But other than that, it’s a no frills phone really. Nothing high-end or bragworthy about it, so the early adopter crowd will surely steer clear of it. The Milano will have an 800 MHz processor, a 3-inch touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 512 MB of ROM, 512 MB of RAM, microSD card support (with a 2 GB unit included in the sales package), stereo Bluetooth, 3G (no 4G WiMax here), and a 1340 mAh battery. The Kyocera Milano runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

According to the leaked flyer you can see above, the Kyocera Milano will become available at Sprint on September 9 for $49.99 (after a $50 mail-in rebate) with a new two-year contract. So it’s anything but expensive.

Skype From Your Home Phone

Skype has finally built a standalone analog telephony adapter (ATA) (via their FREETALK brand) that you can hook up with your home phone line. Called the FREETALK Connect•Me Home Phone Adapter it is a PC-less standalone Skype device. It's a relatively small device that can be plugged directly into a wall outlet. It's sort of an oversized AC adapter with connectors on the bottom, as seen here:


In the picture above you can see the two-prong electric plug and then a white phone wire (to landline), black phone wire (to phone), and a blue network wire. I'm not sure I like the idea of this device requiring that I hang it against the wall in one of my wall electric outlets. It would have to use the bottom of a two outlet configuration due to the size of this and the wires coming out. I know in my house there are various AC adapters, surge protectors, etc. using up the wall outlets. I suppose you could connect this to the end of a surge protector, but that too is a prime spot and might look ugly/messy with 3 wires coming out of it.



I suppose in theory if you wanted to go 100% Skype you could skip the landline connection and connect the phone port directly up to your home wiring - after disconnecting your traditional phone line of course - you don't want voltage coming from the CO frying your brand new Skype ATA.

I'm not sure the REN (ringer equivalence number) on the FREETALK Connect•Me. I've written about this before, but I'll mention again that most telcos provide enough current to ring five telephones, also known as the standard 5 REN, however VoIP analog telephony adaptors (ATAs) often limit it to just 3 REN. If you connect more than 3 phone devices your phones ringing will be very weak or it won't ring at all. Interestingly, Skype's FAQ says, "A landline is not required to use the home phone adapter for Skype. However Skype should not be considered as a replacement landline service." Doesn't spark confidence, does it? Could be 911-related along with the inherent liabilities. Hence the disclaimer here.

Of course, Skype isn't the first or only one to offer a standalone Skype device that also works with your existing home phone line. There is the Philips VoIP841 or even the ActionTec Internet Phone Wizard which I reviewed in 2005, six years ahead of this product.

Specs:

• Dimensions:
  • Measurements: 95 (height) x 62 (width) x 32 (depth) mm.
  • Weight: 100 gram.
• Connectivity:
  • 1 FXO.
  • 1 FXS.
  • 1 x LAN (DHCP).
• Codecs:
  • G.722.
  • G.729.
  • Skype NWC.

Sony Begins Bid for Tablet Market

First tablet will be available next month, starting at $499.


Sony is launching its first two Android tablets, the first of which is now available for pre-sale and will be in stores beginning next month.

The debut Sony Tablet S starts at $499. With a unique tablet design, it features a 9.4-inch touchscreen display and weighs roughly 1.33 lbs.

Available later this year, the Sony Tablet P has two 5.5-inch displays with a folding design, and weighs just under one pound.

Among the entertainment features, Sony’s Tablets include Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited, as well as “PlayStation certified” gaming including Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes.

According to ABI Research, worldwide annual media tablet shipments are expected reach more than 120 million units in 2015. The firm found that Android media tablets have collectively taken 20% market share away from the iPad in the last 12 months, though no single vendor using Android has been a significant challenge to the Apple technology.

Apple searching for another missing iPhone prototype left in SF bar

Apple is urgently working with police to recover another missing iPhone prototype, this time left in a bar in San Francisco's Mission District.

The new prototype went missing at the end of July, according to a report by CNET.

Apple's security team scrambled to find and recover the missing device to avoid a replay of the embarrassing incident that occured shortly before the launch of iPhone 4, when a similarly misplaced advanced prototype was found and ended up in the hands of Gizmodo, which paid the finders $5,000 and subsequently published photos of the device just prior to its official unveiling.

Two of the individuals allegedly involved with finding and fencing the stolen iPhone 4 prototype last year, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, have been charged with misappropriation of lost property and possession of stolen property, but the San Mateo County district attorney's office decided that arguing a case against Gizmodo would be too much work.

Searching for the missing iPhone 5

Apple tracked the location of the missing prototype from the Cava22 bar on 22nd Street in the Mission (pictured below) to a house in San Francisco's nearby Bernal Heights neighborhood. Company representatives contacted police asking for help in recovering the device, which Apple reportedly described as "priceless."

Police questioned a man in his early twenties at the location, and while admitting he had been at the bar said he did not have the prototype or know anything about it. He allowed police to search the house for the device, but nothing was found.

Apple's representatives reportedly offered the man a cash reward for its recovery with "no questions asked," but the man continued to report no knowledge of the device.

Apple never filed a police report detailing the loss (which would have made any reported details of the device public), and has apparently still not recovered the phone. The report noted that the prototype may have been sold on Craigslist for $200, but neither Apple nor Craigslist would comment on the matter.