Justin just sent me an image he snapped of a billboard for the Panasonic Lumix line of cameras (click it to see full size).

The billboard reads “If it has a ringtone, it’s not a camera“. A clever advertisement, I must admit. However I wonder if it may also have a more interesting message with it: Are camera manufacturers feeling threatened by modern cellular phones?

When camera phones were introduced, this was unheard of- the image sensor was more of a novelty than anything else. Even today, cheaper phones traditionally use sub-par optics and sensors resulting in washed out color and poor image quality. Generally people dismiss blurry low-light shots as “camera phone pics”. However modern high-end phones are blurring that distinction (no pun intended), with 8+ Mpix sensors and using brand name lenses and optics such as Carl Zeiss.

In fact, Sony claims to employ the same camera bits of their Powershot line of cameras into their higher-end Sony Ericsson phones, making one wonder if there is really any difference at all in image quality.

So what do you guys think? Are camera phones really replacing digital cameras in real-world use? Or will there always be a place in your heart for standalone cameras?

I suppose it could be considered kind of ironic that Justin took the picture using his iPhone 3GS.

This’ll teach me to go to bed at night – turns out the delightfully spec’ed Dell Lightning (the first Windows7 phone I can honestly say I’d like to try on a day-to-day basis) is just the tip of a very cool iceberg.

Next up, there’s the Thunder (Anyone else seeing a theme here? Too bad Blackberry already snatched “Storm”). It’s a GSM Android 2.1 device with a custom UI called “Stage” (which includes Facebook integration, apparently). There’s no slide-down portrait keyboard like on the Lightning, but there is allegedly full Flash support including a Hulu player. Now that’s a heck of a selling point. There’s also an 8 MP camera, as opposed to the Lightning’s 5 MP.

Wait, we’re not done yet! Dell has more Android sets to leak out. There’s the “Flash” (It’ll save every one of us!), with a smaller 3.5 screen than the Lightning or Thunder’s 4.1, more “Stage UI” goodness and probably most interesting to the techs out there, a Qualcomm MSM7230. This is Qualcomm’s “snapdragon” class device, and I can’t wait to see how this thing handles the demands of an “always on” OS like Android. Of the devices leaked so far, this seems more like the “fashionable” device. Unless you count…

…the Dell Smoke. With only a 2.8 QVGA screen, a dedicated hardware keyboard, Dell’s leaked documents indicate this is going to be more “corporate” targeted, but if this thing is a “suit and tie” phone, it’s a designer suit and tie. Simply stunning to look at.

The final phone leaked is the US version of the Areo. It’s got a comparatively anemic processor, and not a ton that catches my eye. Yes, it’s got handwriting recognition and a “special” capacitive stylus… but surely I’m not the only one who far prefers a stylus free device? Yes, there’ll be a Webkit browser and some kind of Flash support, but I can’t say I have any interest in this, knowing that the Lighting, Thunder, and Smoke are coming down the pipe. The Areo does have the advantage of launching first, so expect people who don’t follow tech blogs to plunk down a pretty penny, and then later be upset that they used up their upgrade.

While I’m done with phones, that’s not all Dell has slated (sorry for the pun). They’ve given more info on their “Streak” tablet. It’s now launching with Android 2.1 and still coming “this summer” but the big deal is what it’s being compared to, which is the Dell “Looking Glass”. I fell in love with the name right away. While at the surface the LG is just a “blown up” 7” Streak (Dell – there’s no excuse for putting a mere 800×480 resolution on this thing, or an anemic 1.3 megapixel camera!). Crack it open and you’ll find a Tegra2 chip inside. Throw in the fact that it has actual expandable RAM and you have the first Android tablet I’m interested in trying out.

Those are the devices – and you can get more details at Engadget – and now here’s the commentary: Dell is a powerhouse brand, with tons of presence in every segment of the computer market. The one notable exception has been handhelds. There was a time when the Dell Axim was a great device line – I had an X5 and it was one of the first “pocketable” PocketPCs. Sure, you needed a big pocket, but it was pocketable. However, that line faded into obscurity, and they’ve had a small hole in their lineup since. With this sudden spate of phones and tablets, running multiple OSes and targeted at multiple market segments, Dell seems ready to make a serious attempt at the one area where Apple and “upstarts” like HTC and others are firmly entrenched. Nothing here screams “iPhone/iPad killer!”, but on paper they certainly seem like viable alternatives to it, and they certainly have the market presence to leverage these devices. I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

Yesterday Sprint announced that they too will carry the Google Nexus One. This makes it one of the few smartphones you can get on all 4 US networks with no real variation (and maybe the only one that’s not a Blackberry). There’s no announced date and price, so we’re going to have to wait and see.

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In case you haven’t been paying attention to the mountains of coverage, Google has announced the “real” GooglePhone, the NexusOne. A Snapdragon sporting, AMOLED adorned, Android 2.1 touched smartphone, the NexusOne is taking the tech sites by storm. Several people have asked me my thoughts on the new phone, and I decided to put them here.

Well, after the break anyway.
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Read an absolutely fascinating article on Betanews today. No, not one of the thousand of articles about the rumored iSlate or the possible game-changing NexusOne (show of hands if you saw Verizon coming! We sure didn’t).

No, instead it’s about how AT&T wants to gt the government to force us all to transition to wireless-based telephony. Their argument is that it costs too much to roll out new systems and maintain old ones.

Forget a cell by a big name, that would be a real “gamechanger’.

I may have a new favorite toy. Miccus has this interesting line of products they call “BluBridge”. The arguable centerpiece of the line is the BluBridge Mobile Speaker. While not exactly pocketable (well, maybe with cargo pants), it lets you pair any A2DP device with it for some stereo audio fun. Sure, it also has a USB and 3.5 line-in, but why bother? This is made for on-the-go sound.

I’m hardly a huge audiophile, and as such my Pre’s sound never bothered me. I’d taken to carrying it from room to room as I worked, with Pandora on, playing whatever popped up. However, the difference between just my Pre and my Pre with the BluBridge is like night and day. There’s the occasional “pop” when nothing is playing, but music streams easily and smoothly, with no stuttering. I was able to walk up the steps and almost made it to the far end of my (albeit small) house before the connection was lost. I was also able to fire up my video player and stream the audio to the BluBridge. Another plus is that it has a separate amp/volume control instead of just boosting the volume on the sending device, like some headsets do. It makes for a nice, clear, loud, portable, stereo alternative.

You know what else is neat? The BluBridge is a speaker phone. So if someone calls in the middle of your music, you can have a nice conversation without taking the phone out of your pocket. It’s an elegant solution that I don’t believe many devices in this class feature.

Like I said, I’m not an audiophile, so I got a second set of ears. My test case was rather impressed- to the point that he wanted to know where to buy one. You’re not going to use it for a dance party any time soon, but if you want to have something in the kitchen or a conference call in your house or just a quick stereo speaker, the BluBridge is a solid choice.

But wait, you ask? What it your audio device doesn’t *have* Bluetooth? Not a problem. Miccus makes a bunch of BluBridge adapters. There’s the almost-expected iPod adapter one, and it’s great. It didn’t work with my 5.5 gen iPod Video but it worked fine with a new model Nano. It also worked great with an iPod Touch. Sure, the Touch/iPhone have their own Bluetooth option, but they’re heavy on the battery. We felt that using the BluBridge instead of the internal Bluetooth option gave us slightly better battery life. Still, this is more for the Nano and the like.

More impressive is the mini-jack, a rechargeable device that hooks to any 3.5 device. That’s right, I said any. Once you plug the BlueBridge in and pair your older device to your speaker of choice… boom, you have Bluetooth. This means your aging laptop just got with the program. This is a great product and might even eclipse the BluBridge speaker in some ways. Why? Because it works with *any* Bluetooth speakers (that accept the passcodes 0000 and 1234). I used it with my aforementioned 5.5 Gen iPod Video, coupled with one of Miccus’ ChargeBlocks.

At just $99 the BluBridge, $59 for the MiniJack or iPodBridge, these are really great stocking stuffers. They’re even better when you check out Buy.com and see that they’re all on sale.

When you visit Buy.com you’ll notice that there’s an additional member of the Miccus family, the auto-talk. I’m still testing this device out and there will be a full review soon. However, you may want to take advantage of Buy’s 50% off price and get this. Main reason? Solar-powered hand-free Bluetooth speakerphone for your car.

It’s interesting how married to Operating Systems people can become. My first computer was an Apple IIGS, but then we swiftly moved to Windows. I used to join in deriding Macs, then I got one. Mac OS, especially 10 and up, became my OS of choice. However, I still used Windows (and occasionally Linux) on a daily basis. I’m basically platform agnostic. A platform is a tool, and the one that works best for you is the best… for you. There is no perfect platform for everyone, for computer or phone.

I mention this because of discussions I’ve been having with some fellow techies. This week I finally broke down and bought a Pre. The reactions from my iPhone, WindowsMobile and Blackberry using friends (Sort of sad, but I don’t personally know a single Android user – no I’ve never met Justin) were almost comical in their predictability. I even got complaints about the Pre from a fellow Pre owner… because he’s really a Blackberry user. I’m not saying they’re wrong – I’m just saying the Pre is closer to my “ideal” phone than most of those other options (In fact, I recalled a doodle I drew ten years ago and it resembles the Pre to the point of scariness).

Every phone does its job in one way or another and every phone does it for someone. The cell market is really big enough for everyone. So how about we all just calm down and let people find the right solution?

So, why is the Pre my “perfect phone” (so far, anyway?)? Click the read link and find out.

[Warning – this thing is a fricking essay. I clearly have no life.]
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Let’s just get this out of the way – Bluetooth headsets generally look kind of silly. The bigger, older models with their tacky blinking lights remind some of The Borg (personally, they make me think the Cybermen have infiltrated Torchwood One). They also don’t always have the best sound, can be uncomfortable, and give people momentary pause as to our sanity (“Is that guy on a Bluetooth or is he just nuts?”). While we can’t recommend anything to alleviate the latter, we can happily say there are more and more Bluetooth headsets out these days that don’t look silly, and people seem to finally be paying attention to comfort. Case in point: Sound ID. Founded by an actual Ear Doctor and focusing on how the ear works, Sound ID’s products are meant to be “all day wear”, with clear sound and noise reduction.
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News this morning that the Palm Pre can be had for a mere $99 has made this blogger wonder again – what kind of pricing will we be seeing for the Pixi?

While a $99 price-point for the Pixi seems obvious, with the Pre already down to that price at one of the largest retailers out there, you have to wonder if the Pre may be (at least through some outlets) the first sub-99 smartphone (first that I can recall, anyway, and isn’t that what matters?).

Yet at the same time, pricing for the Samsung HD was announced this week at a staggering $250. That’s a heck of a lot of gre for a psuedo-smartphone of dubious heritage (to be kind). Plus, the HDMI port on it certainly earns it a “Solution in Need of a Problem” award.

So will the Prixi make headlines by breaking a price barrier? Will they make bloglines by being more expensivethan “big brother” Pre? Will I finally break down and give up my SERO for a WebOS device?

Only time will tell.