Sony Nex 5: A Little Professional

This campaign sees professional photographers positioned to take a shot holding a large
SLR camera that has been replaced by a Sony compact camera.
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney, Australia
Creative Director: Steve Back
Art Director: Nils Eberhardt
Copywriter: Steve May
Art Director: Justin Carew
Photographer: Andreas Bommert
Retoucher: Marc Sterne
Published: 2010

Intel Says Computer Users May Be Denied Class Status in Antitrust Lawsuit

Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chipmaker, said a special master appointed to review an antitrust lawsuit brought by computer users recommended rejecting their request for class-action status.
The recommendation will become the court’s ruling unless the plaintiffs object within 21 days, Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said today in an e-mailed statement.
The purchasers of computers with Intel microprocessors “have not established that they will be able to demonstrate an antitrust violation through common proof,” Special Master Vincent J. Poppiti wrote in a report yesterday to U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel said July 13 it logged record sales for the quarter, beating analysts’ estimates, with more than $11 billion in sales.
The consolidated lawsuit “generally accuses Intel of wrongfully offering discounts to computer manufacturers,” allegedly inflating prices, according to Mulloy.
Intel fell 30 cents to $21.03 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading in New York at 4:30 p.m.
The lead case is Paul v. Intel Corp., 05CV485, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

FCC gives thumbs-up to first LTE phone, more in offing

The Federal Communications Commission has finally approved the first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) phone for sale in the US. Though the first LTE handset will be available through MetroPCS, the FCC has now opened the door for other LTE devices, including those for Verizon's in-testing LTE network.
The Samsung SCH-r900 will be the first LTE phone to market in the US, which MetroPCS hopes to launch "this summer" according to InformationWeek. We're still mostly in the dark as to where MetroPCS plans to build out its LTE network (the company said earlier this year that it was targeting a number of metro markets, but only named Las Vegas), but regardless, it looks like Sprint will soon have to share the 4G limelight.
One company that has been keeping the world slightly more up-to-date with its LTE buildout plans is Verizon. The carrier is already testing its network in Seattle and Boston, with around 30 more markets expected by the end of the year. Those markets, according to rumors from Engadget, include a number of airports, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.
Verizon apparently plans to make its first commercially available LTE devices laptop data cards, but the question many have been asking is whether Verizon's LTE rollout could hail the launch of the Verizon iPhone. In addition to rampant rumors of a possible January release, Ars has heard from someone in the know that Verizon is already testing an LTE iPhone in Boston and that the official launch is dependent upon the mass expansion of the carrier's 4G network. We hear an announcement could come as soon as September (a month when Apple traditionally holds an event to introduce new iPods), but we're still filing this one in the rumor category.
If you're looking for a primer on LTE technology, check out our recent feature on the state of 4G.

RIM plans to counter Apple's iPad with 'Blackpad' in November

By Slash Lane

Published: 03:20 PM EST

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion plans to enter the touchscreen tablet market and compete with Apple's iPad this November, when it will release the "Blackpad."

Two people familiar with the plans confirmed the product to Bloomberg, and the device will reportedly be called the "Blackpad." RIM already acquired the blackpad.com domain name this month.

The hardware is said to sport a 9.7-inch screen, identical to the iPad's dimensions, will also be priced similarly to Apple's touchscreen tablet, which starts at $499. It will include both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and will allow users to connect to the Internet through their BlackBerry. Apple does not currently allow iPad users to access 3G cellular data networks with their iPhone.

Sources said that RIM has no plans to undercut Apple's iPad pricing, as the company hopes to make additional profit from its tablet rather than sell a huge number of devices at a lower price.

"RIM is stepping up its competition with Apple on multiple fronts," author Hugo Miller wrote. "The company is hosting an event in New York Aug. 3 at which it will debut its BlackBerry 9800 slider phone, according to one person familiar with its plans. The device will feature a full touchscreen like Apple's iPhone and a slideout Qwerty keyboard to allow for easy e-mail typing, the person said."

The report also cited analyst Ashok Kumar with Rodman & Renshaw, who said the hardware will include front- and back-facing cameras for video conferencing. Earlier this month, Kumar told AppleInsider that Apple was planning on a hardware fix for the iPhone 4 antenna to address reception issues. At its iPhone 4 press conference, Apple did not reveal any plans for a hardware fix, and instead announced it is giving away free cases for all handset buyers through Sept. 30.

RIM's Blackpad will be one of a number of devices that aim to compete with Apple's iPad, which sold 3.27 million units in its first quarter. On Thursday, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated that his company intends to have a greater presence this year in the "slate PC" market, as his company has dubbed it.

Computer maker HP also hopes to leverage its $2 billion acquisition of Palm as it releases its own tablet later this year. HP's offering will be based on the webOS mobile operating system, which is expected to hit version 2.0 later this year.

Also slated to arrive this year are tablets based on Google's Android mobile operating system. In April, The New York Times reported that the search giant was exploring the idea of creating its own touchscreen tablet that would allow users to read books and browse the Internet.