808

Listen to music in style with the 808 line from Voxx

LAS VEGAS--The new 808 brand headphones from Voxx International have a sleek over-the-ear design and promise to give high-performance audio at a reasonable price.

Voxx promises studio-quality materials and engineering in these full-size over-the-ear headphones featuring powerful 40mm drivers, a foldable design for easy storage, and come with multiple detachable cords and a protective travel case.

The full-size 808 headphones come in three styles including black matte, black high gloss, and white high gloss and will be available this month for $99.99. For a more compact version of the 808 line, the On-Ear 808 Drifts and In-Ear 808 Switch … Read more

Smartphones with unusual features (roundup)

These days, almost every smartphone contains the same bag of tricks, with little to differentiate handsets, apart from the hardware and maybe some software extras.

Sure, one might have a better camera, more external or internal storage, and other specs that help us tell one phone from another. But on the whole, you can access e-mail, text messages, and social networks from them all, share photos and videos, surf the Internet, and install any number of apps.

This kind of uniformity is actually good news, since it means that even midrange smartphones can be just as capable as high-end products, even if they have a smaller screen or shorter battery life, for instance. Of course, there are some smartphones that stand out from the crowd for a certain physical or software feature. In no particular order, here's the current crop of unique handsets that have me looking twice.… Read more

The 404 1,125: Where we're not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Nokia again faces make-or-break point with new Lumia phones.

- CNET First Take: Nokia Lumia 820.

- CNET First Take: Nokia Lumia 920.

- Why Nokia nixed an SD card slot for the Lumia 920.

- The secret behind Nokia's 41-megapixel camera phone.

- Nokia's new PureView image stabilizer is amazingly faked in this promo video.

- 4Chan goes public with its API, boasting 22 million unique monthly visitors.

- Spike Jonze's new film is about a man who falls in love with his phone.

- Kinsey Institute pulls app encouraging users to log sexy time.… Read more

Nokia imaging chief throws cold water on 41-megapixel PureView

Nokia is expected to unveil a new smartphone tomorrow featuring PureView camera technology. There's just one problem: that branding might not mean what consumers think.

In a tweet this morning, Nokia imaging head Damian Dinning said that the "PureView" branding "is NOT a single specific feature or specification." That came just minutes after he said that the technology is "about blending optics, pixels, and image processing in new and different ways to allow you to do things you otherwise cannot."

Dinning also laid down the death knell: "as said many times before, … Read more

Smartphones with unique designs (roundup)

Phone-makers use every trick in the book to differentiate their phones on store shelves, from bright colors to unusual proportions, textures, and materials.

Here are five smartphones that turn heads for striking shapes, aggressive style, and distinct physical features that you just don't see every day.

Nokia 808 PureView (unlocked), June 2012 You can't expect to slip a camera module as large as the 808 PureView's 41-megapixel shooter into a smartphone chassis without a little give. The trade-off is a thicker middle and a huge hump at one end of the phone that makes for some potentially … Read more

Nokia 808 PureView camera vs. Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. iPhone 4S (pictures)

The Nokia 808 PureView's fame comes down to its camera, which can capture up to 41 megapixels of digital information and output incredibly detailed images at 5, 8, and yes, even 41 megapixels if that's what you really want.

The secret to the camera's performance is the extra-large sensor, which is physically much larger than usual 5-megapixel and 8-megapixel sensors (see the difference here.) Still, the camera's software has to render the image correctly as well.

I added my own shootout to CNET Asia's excellent photo test, to see how well the camera performed in … Read more

With Nokia 808 PureView, Symbian draws final U.S. breath

commentary Raise your hand if you know what Symbian is. Now keep it raised if you ever expected to see another phone running Nokia's mostly defunct OS in the U.S.

It may be "popular demand" that's bringing the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone to the U.S. by way of Amazon, but it sure as shooting isn't because of its operating system.

What makes the 808 PureView shine -- the sole feature that puts it on the map -- is its 41-megapixel hulk of a camera, which uses a clever technique and some larger-than-usual parts … Read more

Amazon to sell Nokia 808 PureView with 41MP camera

If you have extra cash in your pocket, Nokia and Amazon are ready to bring your Nokia 808 PureView jealousy to an end.

Today, Nokia announced that it will sell the Symbian OS phone, famous for its jaw-dropping 41-megapixel camera, via Amazon to U.S. customers. It'll cost you $699.99 for the unlocked handset, in addition to the cost of a SIM card and AT&T plan. You can technically use the handset on T-Mobile's network as well, but it'll top out at 2G speeds.… Read more

Taking Nokia's monster camera phone for a spin

Sigh. Sometimes I'm green with envy when reading about the adventures of my colleagues at CNET Asia. It's not because they get to fly out of the world's coolest airport (though that's partially it) or because they can stuff themselves silly with Singapore Noodles, but rather because they usually get awesome cell phones before they land in the United States, if they do at all. … Read more