I saw this at CES, but because of those pesky NDA agreements I couldn't write about it until now. Olympus formally announced it new 7.5 MP E-300 digital SLR today and it has a new twist. The camera comes with a Live View LCD that gives you the through-the-lens image of what the sensor sees. This is old hat for point-and-shoots, but it is a big step for SLRs.

Interestingly, the sensor that provides the image on the LCD isn't the same one that captures you pictures; the e-300 has two sensors. That does drive the costs up a bit, to $1,000 just for the body. We will let you know if the image quality is worth it when we get one into the labs for testing.

Of course, you can still use the plain old optical viewfinder as well, and for real-time manual adjustments this is still clearly the better option. Still, this make using the auto mode a lot easier. It should ship in March. You can get the whole e-300 story here.

I've seen Home Theater PCs (HTPC) with built-in LCD screens before, like the Voodoo Aria PC.  The LCD touchscreen is useful for accessing the Windows MCE interface when the PC is stuck in a cabinet or other semi-accesible area. 

The OrigenAE S210 is a HTPC case with a 12-inch touch sensitive LCD screen built into the front panel.  Lilke the X15e case used in the Voodoo Aria, the S210 is a horizontal AV-style HTPC case that can fit in your home theater rack.  Improvements like built-in IR recievers and the larger screen make the S210 more suitable for installations "in the open" rather than hiding the PC in a closet.  Stats like a quiet 140mm fan and space for twelve hard drives make me drool to see one in action.  Once Microsoft addresses the issue of multiple monitors in Windows MCE, this could be the TiVo-killer you've been looking for.

OrigenAE is an enclosure maker, not a true system builder, so it will be up to DIY end users or system builders like Alienware and VoodooPC to come up with PCs that use the S210 case.  I look forward to seeing one in action sometime in 2006.

[Found on enGadget via HTPCnews]

I love it when companies give Apple some much-needed competition. It's no fun when one company dominates!

SanDisk introduced the Sansa e200 series MP3 players. It may look similar to the iPod nano, but the e200 offers video playback; the disadvantage is its available capacities: 2GB, 4GB, or 6GB. So, I guess that means we won't be able to store lots of video on it. Darn, and I thought SanDisk really had something here. They could've made the screen bigger, too. (The controls look pretty cool, though.)

It features:

-1.8-inch TFT color screen
-Durable casing made of liquidmetal
-backlit controls for fast interface navigation
-Replaceable and rechargeable Lithium Ion battery for up to 20 hours of battery life
-MicroSD expansion slot for additional memory
-Digital FM tuner, on-the-fly FM recording, and voice recording
-Supports Subscription Music Stores

The player comes with a travel pouch and lanyard, stereo headphones, and USB cable. Look for the Sansa e200 player at the end of March (priced between $200 and $300).

[Found via Ubergizmo]

If you're a Nintendo DS fan, like I am, you've probably heard rumors of a new DS design; now it's official. According to a Nintendo press release, Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's president, announced the Nintendo DS Lite: "a slimmer version... also featuring brighter screens... two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and more than 20 percent lighter." That's good news for those of us who carry around more gadgets than anyone probably should.

The DS Lite will ship first in Japan (of course) this coming March. Nintendo isn't saying yet when it'll show up anywhere else. Check out John Ricciardi's story on 1Up.com for some extra insider-type details on the new DS.