HardwareOlympus E-520: Update to a Top Seller
The best-selling E-510 Digital SLR now morphs into the E-520. The updated E-520 borrows heavily from the Pro E-3. Does it live up to its promise?...
When the Olympus E-3 was featured last December, the 11-point dual cross (44 point) sensor stood out from the crowd - in speed and accuracy. As pointed out in that article, Olympus needed to move as much of the E-3 technology as possible to their regular DSLR line as fast as possible. When Olympus announced the E-520 just a couple of months ago it appeared Olympus might have done just that. It does appear the new E-520 brings over a substantial amount of E-3 technology, but it does borrow form other top four-thirds cameras as well. It even brings over contrast detect focusing with 11 points from Panasonic/Leica. However, the 3-point autofocus that appears so dated is continued in the E-520. Where other DSLR manufacturers are now featuring fast 9-point AF modules, Olympus and Nikon still relegate 3-point AF to their entry models. This is somewhat surprising since nothing else about the E-520 is entry-level except the price. At $699 street price for the E-520 with the 14-42mm (28-84mm) kit lens, the E-520 competes with the Nikon D60 kit with VR lens ($699), Canon XS kit with IS lens ($705), Sony A300 kit ($599), and Pentax K200D kit ($699). The Sony A350 kit ($799) and Canon XSi ($799) are a small step up. There are even two lower priced models that compete in the Sony A200 and Olympus E-420 - both of which are available with the kit lens at around the $499 price point. This is an extremely crowded field, with many competing DSLR cameras in the price range from $499 to $799... [ Read more on www.anandtech.com ]
HardwareIntel Will Trump AMD With Six-Core Chip Next Month
Intel announced at the Intel Developer Conference that its new six-core Xeon processors are slated to ship in September, long before rival AMD's competing offering is slated to be available.
HardwareNokia expands 'N' series of smart phones
Nokia has expanded its N series with two new models: the N85 and the N79. The company will also start selling a version of the N96 in the U.S.