This week our product round-up includes the latest digital camera from HP (pictured), productivity software release from Microsoft and eBay’s new Skype service.
HP Photosmart R927
What is it? Digital camera
Price: €579
NO bigger than a deck of cards, HP’s new Photosmart R927 digital camera can make you look slimmer!
Gary Tierney, head of HP Ireland’s Imaging and Printing Group, said: “The Photosmart R927 uses technology that has a similar effect to that of mirrors in an amusement park. It slims the centre of photos and slightly widens the outside to maintain perspective.”
The new Design Gallery on the camera has a portfolio of tricks such as 10 different border effects, 12 different filters and four different colour effects to personalise images.
The camera, which has a full-colour LCD screen with a 170-degree viewing angle, boasts HP’s Instant Image Advice System, which indicates problems within an image that need correction, such as a shot being overexposed.
Microsoft Office 2007
What is it? Productivity software
Price: Ranges from €118 to €539
WE were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the forthcoming version of Microsoft’s Office 2007.
Our first view of Excel 2007 shows that Microsoft has put a lot of effort into dynamic formatting so that business users can create even more elaborate and colourful graphs for their reports.
Word 2007 again follows this path of making documents a richer media experience, only this time it boasts the ability to protect documents by saving them as PDFs. The new Word can also be used as a blog editor.
In terms of Outlook 2007, Microsoft has focused heavily on including instant messaging and RSS (real simple syndication) as part of users’ email experience. You’ve been warned!
Skype service on eBay
What is it? Voice over IP to improve e-commerce
Price: Free
Introducing Skype functionality to its listings, eBay.ie is making it even easier for buyers and sellers to communicate with each other. The new service will let sellers add Skype functions including free internet voice calls and instant messaging to their listings across a range of categories.
Sellers will be able to include a Skype Me button on the eBay.ie listings page that buyers see. By clicking the button, buyers will be able to talk to sellers or use Skype instant messenger at no cost to ask about items and discuss deliveries or postage.
The pilot programme will start from mid-July 2006 and will be trialled in categories including art, antiques, stamps, coins, pottery and glass, sports memorabilia, real estate, baby products, musical instruments and audio consumer electronics.
By John Kennedy
