Focus on Imaging, Europe’s biggest annual photography show passed in a flash. Held at Birmingham’s NEC at the beginning of this week, the event exposed major players including Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Sony and HP to professional and amateur photographers from all over the globe.

Frequency Cast, a UK based technology radio and podcast station, has just had a look at the Active watchphone from our client sWaP.

The guys at Frequency Cast have previously looked at the sWaP Classic and have now reviewed the latest model. Listen to the podcast here and hear them look at all of the watch’s features in-depth: http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/swapwatchactive.html

The new Wacom Cintiq 21UX has just been launched. Wacom has also just uploaded this video outlining the Cintiq 21UX’s unique features…

MEET THE NEW CINTIQ 21UX (2)
Uploaded by wacompro. – Discover more science and tech videos.

New Cintiq provides enhanced pen performance and innovative ergonomics for more creative control, comfort and productivity

Wacom, today introduces its newly redesigned Cintiq 21UX interactive pen display, delivering state-of-the-art pen performance and innovative ergonomics. Designed specifically to meet the demanding needs of professional photographers, designers, artists and animators, the new Cintiq 21UX offers unparalleled creative control, comfort and productivity.

Alex Burmaster, Communications Director, UK & EMEA, Nielsen’s online division, has recently been investigating into how much time users spend on social networking sites and the results are really interesting. (Nielsen Wire)

Friday 26th February: MEDION®, a leading consumer technology vendor, today announces the latest additions to its growing computer portfolio – the MEDION® AKOYA® E4028 D, E4217 D and P7220 D desktop PCs and the MEDION® AKOYA® E6215 and P6625 laptops. Demonstrating MEDION’s commitment to delivering the latest technology, all five models feature new 2010 Intel® Core™ processor technology that provides smart multi-tasking, with a boost. Also included is Windows® 7 as standard and the quality specification and build associated with the MEDION®brand. With prices to be confirmed, these new MEDION® AKOYA® models will be on sale from mid March exclusively from www.medionshop.co.uk.

Here are some photographs from last night’s PC Advisor awards, which were held at Bloomsbury Lanes near Russell Square.

Sophie and Sarah were there to collect Medion’s Readers Choice award for Best PC Brand, a fantastic award to win that was given based on a combination of customer service and hardware reliability. The runners-up in this category were: Acer, Dell, HP Compaq and Packard Bell.

New digital camera case ideal for snap-happy divers

Surrey, UK: OverBoard, a leading designer and manufacturer of waterproof travel and sports gear and official kit supplier to the RNLI, today launches its Waterproof Zoom Lens Camera Case. This case is the latest addition to OverBoard’s extensive product range, providing 100% waterproof protection and extra security for a telescopic lens. The 0.42mm thick matt TPU material case is perfect is an excellent holiday companion, allowing users to capture some unique underwater pictures

With most of the big announcements taking place over the first two days, today was mostly a chance for hands on tests of the many funky new handsets which have been launched.

So Day 2 at Mobile World Congress seems to have been owned by HTC, with the launch of its newest additions to the Android stable – the Legend and the Desire. And going by initial press reactions, both have been very well received. Read a review of both here by our friends at Trusted Reviews, but quote of the day came from Apple fanboy and iPhone enthusiast Pietro Ranieri, our man on the ground in Barcelona. According to Pietro, who got a sneak peak, “I’ve heard a lot about Android handsets but didn’t realise they could be this good. It looks better than the iPhone”. Whether he’ll retract this statement after being outed remains to be seen, but if Pietro was impressed then HTC seem to have a couple of winners on their hands.

Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile phone conference kicked off yesterday in Barcelona where over 1,300 exhibitors were showcasing the latest in mobile technology.

Major announcements included:

London February 12th 2010 – sWaP (smart Watch and Phone), the leaders and innovators of mobile watchphone technology, announces the latest new edition to its extensive watchphone range, the Active. This stylish, sporty, ulta lightweight, touch screen watch phone operates with all networks (except ‘3’) and provides a tri-band connection to make and receive calls in high clarity. The Active is available now from a number of High Street and online retailers including F.Hinds (TBC) and www.amazon.co.uk for £299.99.

Here are a few images from last night’s sWaP Active watchphone launch event at the Kingly Club in Soho.

The Active is a new watchphone for the sport-minded. It offers a tri-band connection, Bluetooth connectivity, texting, video and still picture camera, mp3 and mp4 player and WAP broswer to name a few of its tricks. The Active is water resistant and also has a light-weight rubber finish.

Last weekend saw the start of the RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship and, for those who just can’t get enough of extra dimensional occasions, the first ever 3D screening of a rugby match.

“Hump it, bump it, whack it might be one possible recipe for a good sex life, but it won’t win us the World Cup.”

So said former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates after England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, and little did he know how he’d be proved right 16 years later by one of his Stamford Bridge protégées.

There was an interesting article in a few of the papers this morning from London based design company Seymourpowell. The feature looked at a new and possibly revolutionary method of air travel which is being developed alongside Samsung, although I had to check the date to make sure it wasn’t April 1st!

The widescreen interactive pen display replaces the blackboard enabling face-to-face interaction with the audience

The ideal pen tablet for on-the-go professional creators of digital content

So apparently, today has been dubbed National Sickie Day, unofficially of course. It seems that the first Monday in February is when most people phone the office with their best ‘ill’ voice.

California, January 26th 2010 – Blue Microphones (www.bluemic.com ), a leading innovator in microphone technology and design, announces the UK availability of its consumer model, the Snowball.  Ideal for podcasts, Skype conversations and home recording, the Snowball is a professional USB microphone featuring a proprietary condenser capsule that projects a smooth open sound with a natural high end.  The Snowball has been developed by Blue Microphones to ensure that sound is picked up as effectively on the desktop as in a recording studio.  

Last Friday (22nd January), we launched the new BeBook Neo eReader. This eBook reader comes with WiFi connection and integrated Wacom touchscreen technology so you can make notes and download eBooks whilst on the move.

Endless Ideas, specialists in eReader technology, today launches its exciting new eBook reader the BeBook Neo. Following the success of the BeBook One and Mini, the Neo includes WiFi technology to allow users to find eBook retailers wherever they are in the world, download an eBook and even surf Google and Wikipedia whilst on the move. The Neo is available for pre order and will be available to buy in the second half of February.

CES 2010 l Scosche success

Scosche was a huge success at CES 2010 after collecting four ‘CES 2010 Best-of-Show Awards from iLounge’

Scosche’s award winning products include the IDR655M earphones, flipSYNC, Bluetooth Plug-and-Play Handsfree and Streaming Audio Car Kit. Scosche also won a ‘Special Award for Innovation’ from iLounge for showcasing the broadest collection of innovative accessories for the iPhone and iPod.

CES 2010 l Incipio success

Editors spend many hours selecting and testing the most exciting yet-to-be released iPod and iPhone cases. Companies from around the world showcasing their innovative new designs for speakers, headphones, cases, apps and in car accessories.

Really interesting concept this, the marrying of your trusty old TV and your social media site/feeds…

The idea behind this is that we are now in a generation, or an upcoming generation, of TV users that also sit with a laptop/smartphone watching TV but interacting on various social media sites like facebook, myspace, twitter, linkedin as we watch.