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Switched On: Get the show on the road
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:Digital convergence makes for some strange bedfellows; these often turn out to be little more than a one-thing fling. Last year, for example, Olympus fumbled after spending big on a SuperBowl ad with the m:Robe 500, an attractive hard disk-based digital music and photo display device with a camera unworthy of the company's heritage. The m:Robe 500 could not play video, but its large screen indicated a dilemma common to many products in this emerging category. Go too small and you have an unsatisfying visual experience. Design a player too large and you lose portability.The most successful digital portable video player to date has been Apple's iPod with video, the apologetic name of which serves as evidence that Apple was unwilling to compromise the device's appealing size for a very large screen. But Apple's competitors have been missing the mark in terms of targeting the video player at a market that has embraced wisps of products such as the iPod nano. Forget the jogger; the driver is a better target for portable video. As the portable audio market has been adding such features as PIMs, podcasts, and pictures, the portable GPS market has also been adding functionality while shrinking size and prices. As a result, the traditional boundaries between automotive and personal navigation products is starting to blur and the product category has attracted domestic interest from Sony, JVC, and other consumer electronics companies.
Olympus' water/shockproof Mju Stylus 720SW reviewed
The 7 megapixel Mju Stylus 720SW from Olympus has some pretty steep claims, including waterproofing up to 10 feet deep and shockproofing for up to 5 foot drops, but does seem to live up to its claims and happens to be a pretty good camera to boot. Available in pink, silver, or blue, the camera's metal housing is the main story here, with claims to be the world's only shockproof digital camera. With all this banging around we would hope for some optical image stabilization, but the digital version seems to do a decent job. The pictures are generally low noise, the camera does a good job of focusing, and the small flash manages to light up an indoor scene quite well. The reviewer liked the 2.5-inch screen, though the resolution was a bit low, but found the workings of the camera to quite quick, and the camera body easy to use and comfortable to hold. You could easily find a 7 megapixel shooter for less than the 720SW's $410 asking price, but good luck with dropping one of those in the drink.
