Leica releases M9 ‘Titanium’ designed by Walter de’Silva

In collaboration with the chief designer of the Volkswagen Group, Leica presents a unique special edition

The outcome is a unique camera with a new interpretation of the characteristic features of Leica rangefinder cameras, which blends precision engineering, unique style and extraordinary design. As a result, the LEICA M9 ‘Titanium’ is an especially desirable object for both Leica connoisseurs and aficionados of outstanding design. Made from solid titanium, this special edition is strictly limited to just 500 cameras worldwide, and is supplied a set together with a LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens, the exterior metal components of which are also manufactured from solid titanium.

Walter de’Silva has given the Leica M camera an ergonomic, precise and logical ‘look and feel’, without changing the intrinsic character of the rangefinder. Furthermore, the compact construction and technical features of the LEICA M9 ‘Titanium’ retain the distinctive style of a true Leica M camera.

The LEICA M9 ‘Titanium’ is constructed exclusively with premium quality materials. For instance, all visible metal elements of the camera body are made from solid titanium, a particularly light but extremely strong and durable metal that can only be manufactured with special tools. In addition, the exposed surfaces are also treated with a hard coating applied by a specialised company in Switzerland. Scratch-resistant, sapphire-crystal glass is employed as a protective cover for the camera monitor, and further enhances the exclusive and rugged character of the product. The camera’s trim, which uses leather typically reserved for the interiors of Audi’s premium automobiles, fits perfectly with the body’s titanium surface and provides outstanding grip. The grip characteristics are also enhanced by a specially designed and embossed diamond pattern. Furthermore, the Leica logo has been restyled and is elaborately hand- engraved in pure resin, inlaid with white enamel, sealed with a clear varnish and then polished.

In addition to the camera and lens, the LEICA M9 ‘Titanium’ special edition set includes a distinctive shoulder holster, a carrying strap and finger loops in two different sizes, made from the same premium Audi leather used on the camera body. Also part of the set is a book devoted to the design process leading to the creation of this high quality, special titanium edition and which also includes an interview with Walter de’Silva. The unique set is presented in an elaborately handcrafted black presentation case with recesses for the camera and lens, and lined with Alcantara microsuede in Leica red.

The LEICA M9 Titanium is available in the UK from authorised Leica dealers including the Leica Store Mayfair: www.leica-storemayfair.co.uk, tel: 020 7629 1351. A full list of authorised UK Leica dealers is available at www.leica-camera.co.uk. The UK suggested retail price of the LEICA M9 Titanium set is £19,800 including VAT.

New York City’s ritzy Plaza Hotel is upping the ante of luxury (read: not having to leave your bed, ever) with the addition of Apple iPads to every room. The gadgets come loaded with Intelity’s ICE (Interactive Customer Experience), which will let guests order room service, talk to the concierge, schedule wakeup calls, make reservations at restaurants, get info on New York destinations, and check airline information. The iPad can also be used to control the room’s lights and temperature.

The Plaza insists that the device isn’t going to replace actual hotel workers, however. “They are not meant to replace our concierge service and the personal touch we are known for,” Plaza general manager Shane Krige told the blog Luxist. “It is to provide more choice. At a five star hotel you should have choices—if you want to use the iPad, you can do so. If you want a butler service, that is available, too. If you want to be left alone, that is a choice, as well. By putting the iPads in the guest rooms, we are bringing a new technology to everyone’s fingertips.”

The hotel claims to be the first to offer these services through the iPad. The Plaza first adopted the device for its Palm Court Hotel, back in June.

The Plaza is located at Central Park South and 5th Ave in Manhattan, conveniently across from Apple’s flagship store.

Yesterday saw the launch of MWC which is a conference about everything new coming out in the world of gadgets and mobiles in the next 12months. To be fair there is some pretty exciting stuff to be released in the next few 12months.

Sony were first out of the block with what is going to be known as the playstation phone aka Sony Xperia play.

Sony Xperia Play ($TBA) the PlayStation Phone, the Play is powered by Android, and features slide-out gaming controls, a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor with Adreno GPU, a five-megapixel camera, a four-inch, 480×854 touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, and access to PlayStation content through the PlayStation Suite store.

I have been looking at getting a brand new sound system for my new living room and I think I may have found one, the Meridian speakers are immense, the sound quality on them is so crisp it is unbelievable!

These Meridian audio speakers are  compact and elegant DSP3200 Loudspeaker and are  available in a high-gloss black and high-gloss white finish. They retail for around £3,750.

The Audio Core 200 Stereo Audio Controller Unifies all audio sources ranging from a TV to a games console, and forms an elegant stereo system with any pair of Meridian DSP Loudspeakers. The Audio Core 200 can also be combined with the i80 universal dock for iPod, as well as the Meridian Sooloos Digital Entertainment Systems, to realise the full potential of a digital music library this retails for about £1,500

The HP Slate 500 (£500). Powered by Windows 7 Professional and a 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor, the Slate features an 8.9-inch touch screen, an active digitizer for pen support, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, an HD accelerator for video playback, front- and rear-facing cameras — of the VGA and 3 megapixel variety — and an included dock with HDMI output. In other words, it means business

I am going to be a VERTU owner pretty soon, I have worked with these guys before and their service is amazing!!!

It packs all the high-end design features that set a Vertu apart from more common mobile phones, but packs a full QWERTY keyboard and a wider screen to keep its user connected and in the loop.

For the Quest, Vertu has also introduced new features like Vertu Remote Assist that allows the tech support team on call ’round the clock to go into the phone and fix whatever’s not working. There’s also Vertu City Brief, providing users with fingertip access to information on whatever location they’re traveling to. All that and more, packed into a choice of stainless steel (matte or polished) or 18-karat gold case with a leather back and sapphire crystal screen.

Sony has unveiled its newest line of Internet-enabled TVs, complete with the highly anticipated Google TVsoftware.

Sony’s new Internet HDTVs, unveiled yesterday at a press event in New York City, sport 1080p edge-lit LED screens, with the exception of the 24-inch model. They come with four USB ports, four HDMI inputs and Wi-Fi capabilities. They are available in four sizes: 24-inch, 32-inch, 40-inch and 46-inch. The 24-inch model rings in at $599 UK price is around £399, while the 46-inch will cost you a hefty $1,399 (UK price around £1199).

The big selling point of the new TVs is their inclusion of Google TV. The Internet TV software brings Hulu,Twitter, Netflix, YouTube and Pandora to your living room screen, not to mention search capabilities and a myriad of Android apps. Web surfing is powered by Google Chrome, while apps are powered by the Android OS. It integrates the web with your existing cable or satellite TV by making it simple to search your TV shows and your favorite websites at the same time. The service was revealed earlier this year at Google I/O.

A controversial parts of Sony’s new Google TV-enabled devices is the remote, though. It looks like a combination of a PlayStation 3 controller and a QWERTY keyboard, complete with dozens and dozens of buttons. In fact, Sony says some of the remote’s design elements are borrowed from the PS3. Some people may love the extra functionality, but others might be turned off by all of the buttons.

The new TVs become available this Saturday on SonyStyle.com and in Best Buy stores nationwide this Sunday, making this weekend the first indicator of whether consumers are demanding TVs that can also surf the web. Google desperately wants to dominate the living room screen and get people to use the web even more than they already do. Whether consumers will pony up the extra cash for Google TV devices is a question we’ll soon be able to answer.

This is it people, its what the world has been waiting for, which manufacturer would be the first to bring out a tablet PC to rival Apple’s IPAD. It looks like RIM have won the race with what they call the “Playbook”.

The 7-inch tablet runs on the new BlackBerry tablet operating system also announced today – BlackBerry tablet OS.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in the United States in early 2011, before rolling out to other countries.

The tablet has a 7-inch LCD multi-touch screen, weighs 400g and is less than half an inch thick. This makes it smaller and lighter than the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch screen and weighs 700g, but bigger than the 5-inch Dell Streak.

The BlackBerry PlayBook has two HD cameras – a 3Mp front-facing and a 5Mp rear-facing camera, which offer 1080p HD video recording and support video conferencing.

BlackBerry announced today, the playbook comes with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. However RIM has announced its intention to offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Users with a BlackBerry smartphone will be able to link the two using the Bluetooth connection. This means that you can view content from the smartphone, such as your email and calendar, on the larger tablet screen.

I can’t wait to get mine!!!

With Apple bringing out the IPAD and absolutely blowing everyone out of the water, it has taken the competition abit of time to catch up. However the beauty of them waiting is that they have been able to bring out a product that has every feature contained. For example, the IPAD doesn’t have a built in webcam but the competitors such as Samsung and HP have.

Below is a review of the HP Slate which is a real product — even though there being numerous mentions from HP VPs and various leaks state that — but it’s far from “official.” Somehow, though, a somewhat-thorough video review was just posted on the ol’ Interweb for the whole word to see.

Remember, this product is head for the enterprise market and you probably won’t be able to buy it, so don’t get all flame-happy when you see with your own eyes that Windows simply isn’t meant to be controlled with you fingers.

This demo is a laughable mess when it gets to the demonstration even though the person recording says the Slate is ”pretty responsive, pretty quick.” My opinion is it still need abit of work, however I am sure the HP guys are working hard on bringing out a product that is worthy to take the crown from Apple

[via Gizmodo]

EA Sports has unveiled its European TV ad, which made its debut during yesterday’s Manchester United v Liverpool clash.

The two-minute ad is fronted by Wayne Rooney, but also sees appearances by Brazil and Real Madrid player Kaka, German midfielder Mesut Ozi, Barcelona star Andres Iniesta and Algeria and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema.

The TV ad also reveals that the Official PlayStation Magazine awarded the game 10/10, this is a an amazing game and I am sure it will divide many of my friends as to wether Pro Evo is better or FIFA is?

Enjoy..