Sony Cyber-Shot Pocket Camera - W180 & W190

Sony introduced two new Cyber-Shot pocket cameras of W series including W180 and W190 with high smart zoom features. Smart zoom boosts maximum magnification to a frame-filling 18x for the Cyber-shot W190 and 17x for Cyber-shot W180. Both cameras have a 3x optical zoom.
Other features of the W180 and W190 are 10.1/12.1 effective megapixels, 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD screen, SteadyShot and High Sensitivity ISO 3200, Improved Face Detection recognizes up to 8 faces in a scene and Smile Shutter.

The new Sony W180 and W190 come in silver, black and red. The Cyber-shot W180 and W190 compact digital cameras will be available from July 2009. No words on price yet.

Adidas Shoe With Microprocessor‏

Adidas puts computer on new footing hoping the new Adidas 1 will be to the sneaker industry what Apple's iPod has been to digital music, Adidas will put on sale March 18 what it bills as the world's first computerized "Smart Shoe."


But consumers will decide whether the bionic running shoe's $250 price tag — four times the average shoe purchase at stores such as Foot Locker — is a smart idea.

Adidas claims its new shoe, already profiled in Time and Popular Science, delivers on its promise to automatically and continually adjust itself to a runner's size, pace, terrain and even fatigue level.

The Adidas 1 uses a sensor, a microprocessor and a motorized cable system to automatically adjust the shoes' cushioning. The sensor under the heel measures compression and decides whether the shoe is too soft or firm. That information is sent to the microprocessor and, while the shoe is in the air, the cable adjusts the heel cushion. The whole system weighs less than 40 grams.

Batteries are included: replaceable lithium batteries estimated to be good for 100 hours of running. Users can turn the shoe's brain off — when it's off, they're regular sneakers — to save battery life. The chip also shuts itself off, keeping the same cushioning, if a runner walks more than 10 minutes.

Adidas' computer-driven shoe — three years in the making — is the latest innovation in the $16.4 billion U.S. sneaker industry, following other technology-driven shoes such as the Nike Shox and Reebok Pump.

Predicting Adidas 1 will turn the industry "upside down," communications chief Uli Becker says it rolls out worldwide by April 1. The primary sales targets: hard-core runners — and 17-year-old boys looking for the newest, coolest shoes. "This is new territory ... that we want to define," says Becker.

But will consumers shell out $250 for a pair of sneakers?

Shoe fanatics have been known to drop $300 to several thousand for genuine 1980s-vintage Nike Air Jordans.

The top-end running shoe from New Balance lists for $199.99. With runners typically replacing shoes by 500 miles, the $250 Adidas could push costs to 50 cents per mile, though the company says Adidas 1 cushioning will outlast traditional shoes.

A retail expert says that's beside the point. "Yes, there will be price resistance. But there will be plenty of people who have to be the first on the block to have them," predicts Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for NPD Group.

Bob McGee, editor of Sporting Goods Intelligence, says the "retro" shoe trend is waning and performance sales are heating up, allowing higher prices: "People are going back to running shoes and basketball shoes."


Adidas is spending an estimated $20 million on the roll-out.