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Panasonic's high-end F-Class in-car navigation units
Shortly after launching its first US in-car navigation system, Panasonic is doing it big yet again across the seas with its "highest-end" F-Class lineup. This well-spec'd trifecta sports a seven-inch VGA touchscreen, a PEAKS processor, an integrated TV tuner, boosted sensitivity compared to prior models, a built-in graphics processor, hard drive, SD card slot, and the ability to map your route online via the Odekake Strada website and transfer the guidance via SD. Additionally, you'll find an SD Link function that nicely interfaces with your iPod, CD / DVD playback abilities, and the flagship CN-HDS965TD can even handle the ill-fated MD format. Users interested in adding Bluetooth streaming abilities can snap up the CY-BT200D module for a stiff ¥21,000 ($175), which actually pales in comparison to the ¥344,400 ($2,861) to ¥354,900 ($2,949) pricetags that you'll find on these luxurious devices.[Via Nikkei]
Alcatel readying 20 "stylish" handsets for the US market
Just over a fortnight after deploying UMTS 900, Alcatel is now announcing that we Americans better get prepared for an absolute onslaught of phones right here in the US market. The 20 phone lineup is being dubbed a "spring lineup of fashion phones" that are reportedly quite the "chic and stylish" bunch. While there wasn't much detail on the specification end, we do know that the handsets will sport "soft-touch plastics, a leather-like finish, and design touches like dots of liquid metal." Of course, the ladies should appreciate the already-promised floral offerings, and those eying a low- to mid-range phone should find at least one option that suits their fancy. Among the barrage will be flavors that sport a 1.3-megapixel camera, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, dedicated music controls, and support for 1GB TransFlash cards to boot. Currently, the outfit is already working to get its GSM handsets approved by AT&T, and the CDMA phones should be good to go on several "smaller regional carriers," hopefully by May of this year.[Via PhysOrg.com]
Nokia re-ups 8800 specs with "Sirocco Edition"
Nokia's 8800 is what you might call a sit-there-and-look-pretty phone; despite its stratospheric sticker price, no one ever asked the Vertu-esque handset (or its North American cousin, the 8801) to lead the pack with its spec sheet. Nonetheless, with over a year of market availability under its belt, we wouldn't mind seeing 'er put out to pasture, and it looks like Nokia's on the same page. The 8800's successor is actually more of a mild refresh than a true replacement; in fact, they didn't even change the model number -- the 8800 "Sirocco Edition" sports a streamlined exterior with a funky-looking dent in its slide, a redesigned keyboard, and not much else. Some folks are claiming the new model will upgrade the cam from SVGA to a full 2 megapixels, which seems believable enough, but the German shop we've got here (currently) shows the same ol' 800 x 600. No word on a GSM 850-friendly 8801 Sirocco Edition in the works, but if the European price of €1099 (roughly $1400) for the 8800 were to carry over, we'd lack the wherewithal to rock it anyway.[Thanks, Gib]
Vertu Constellation gets the FCC treatment
If we're gonna drop a couple grand on a phone, the least it can do is give us quad-band GSM, right? As we reported a couple weeks back, Vertu's new Constellation handset picks up where their previous efforts left off, packing GSM 850/900/1800/1900 plus EDGE data all 2003-like. We weren't able to glean much from the draft manual (which still has Signature pictures in it), but the Constellation looks to rock a variant of Nokia's S40 platform -- we leave that to the world's privileged to decide whether that's an upgrade from the Signature and Ascent's OS. Look for this little slice of leather-covered opulence to drop later this year; we're sure you rich folk will find ways to shed some cash while you wait.
Nikon tweaks D2X DSLR with new D2Xs
Never one to rest on its laurels, Nikon has taken the already highly-rated 12.4 megapixel D2X digital SLR and tweaked several features that are probably very important to professional photographers (but mean little to the rest of us) to come up with the new D2Xs. The major enhancements to this model include an improved 2.5-inch display, longer-life battery, the addition of a black and white mode, Adobe RGB support in all color modes, and better viewfinder performance; other, less exciting improvements are a new menu color scheme, extra 1/3 stop ISO settings, more Custom Curve options, and electronic viewfinder masking in High Speed Crop mode -- we can't even tell you how long we've been waiting for this last option. Making the best even better usually doesn't come cheap, though, but the D2Xs will only set you back a pretty reasonable $4,700 when it's released next month.
