Now priced at $160 (as of December, 14, 2009)--half what it cost when released last spring--the DMP-BD60K remains at the top of its class. Its terrific design, plethora of features, and stellar image quality enable it to fend off challenges from such newer top-notch challengers as the LG Electronics BD390 and the Samsung BD-P3600.

In our tests, the DMP-BD60K deftly handled every type of content we threw at it well, from bright colors in Pixar animations to subtle shades of gray in black-and-white cinematography. The opening racing scene from Cars possessed superb dimensionality that was lacking when viewed on our reference player, the Sony PlayStation 3. Reds looked very red, and tire treads stood out. Similar details emerged in all of our tests: in the Vatican architecture in a Mission: Impossible III scene; and in napkins, clothes, and hair in a dinner scene from The Searchers (chapter 4). The black-and-white opening scene of Good Night and Good Luck displayed detailed shades of gray, though one judge felt that the blacks could be better.

The DMP-BD60K did an excellent job of upscaling regular DVDs. Colors remained well-balanced, and we could see more detail than we expected--though in a The Phantom of the Opera scene, the faces of people far from the camera tended to show some pixelation.

Panasonic made the DMP-BD60K compact, sleek, and attractive, so it will fit wherever you want to put it. The player's Power and Eject buttons are large and sensibly positioned.

The programmable remote control has large buttons, and the ones you're most likely to use are situated where your thumb can easily find them. The remote isn't backlit, but the playback buttons (Play, Stop, Pause, Skip, and so on) are blue and thus stand out visually.

The DMP-BD60K features Panasonic's VieraCast Web portal for accessing certain Web content sites, including Amazon On Demand, Picasa, and YouTube.

On all counts, the Panasonic DMP-BD60K is a well-made Blu-ray player, and it ranks among the best such devices you can buy today.

Following closely on the heels of the HTC, the first manufacturer to launch a mobile handset based on the Google Android operating system, Samsung has come out with a one-of-its kind mobile device.

Featuring the standard Android 1.5 OS platform, Samsung’s Galaxy makes way for a lot of customisation starting right from the way its home screen displays. Just drag icons from the menu screen to the place you want and Voila! You have a home page of your choice. But dragging is not so smooth, thanks to the slow response of the touchscreen.

The 3.2” OLED screen renders a pleasing image quality and at 1.9mm it’s the slimmest Android device in the market. The 5-megapixel snapper on board is nothing to talk about with the quality of pictures ranging from good to mediocre. Internet
browsing, however, is comfortable and you will never get lost with the superfast GPS that comes packed with it.

Competition has been hotting up in the smartphone segment. With the consumer sentiment improving, mobile companies have released a slew of devices across price segments

While the world's top cellphone maker Nokia added another business phone -- E72-- to its line-up this week, other key players in the segment like Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC and LG too have not been far behind in bolstering their mobile portfolio in the Indian market.

Here's looking into the three big launches of Nokia (E72), Samsung (Corby Mate) and Sony Ericsson (Satio).


Looks

Nokia E72: In looks Nokia E71 appears largely identical to Nokia E72. Measuring 114 x 58.3 x 10.1 mm, the phone weighs 128 grams. It boasts of a super slim body at 10mm frame. The phone sports a 2.36 inches TFT display and full QWERTY keyboard.

Samsung Corby Mate: Samsung's Corby Mate is a slider phone with a QWERTY keypad.

Sony Ericsson Satio: The phone measures 112mm x 55mm x 13.3 mm (LxWxD) and weighs 126 gm. The mobile phone comes with a 3.5 inch, 360 x 640 touchscreen.


Specs

Nokia E72: The phone packs a standard 3.5 mm audio jack as opposed to the 2.5 mm in E71. The 360MHz CPU in the E71 has been replaced with the 600MHz CPU. The phone ships with a noise cancellation feature. It also comes pre-installed with Nokia Messaging and a host of Office Productivity Suites as well.

Samsung Corby Mate: The slider phone is loaded with a wide range of social networks support, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Corby Mate provides quick messaging access, threaded inbox, and shortcuts for direct access to social networking sites, from the phone’s home screen. On multimedia front, it comes with FM Radio with RDS.

Sony Ericsson Satio: Satio is powered by ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor and PowerVR SGX graphics. Other features include: USB port, FM Stereo, HTML browser, accelerometer, support for multiple audio and video formats and Java support.



Operating system

Nokia E72: The phone is based on Symbian OS Series 60 platform.

Samsung Corby Mate: The phone runs on Samsung's proprietary OS.

Sony Ericsson's Satio: The phone too runs on a Symbian operating system.


Memory

Nokia E72: As for the memory, the phone comes with an internal memory of 250MB, which can be further expanded upto 16GB.

Corby Mate: With 40MB of internal memory and MicroSD card support, the device has enough space for multimedia.

Sony Ericsson Satio: The phone comes with 128MB of onboard memory and supports microSD cards of upto 32GB.


Camera

Nokia E72: The mobile phone boasts of a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and Carl Zeiss optics. Users can record videos at VGA resolution of 640480px.

Sony Ericsson Satio: The phone packs a 12.1 megapixel camera with Xenon Flash. It also carries Face and Smile Detection technology.

Samsung Corby Mate: The phone's camera is a very basic 2 megapixel.

The Dell Studio XPS 16 is designed for those who want power, cutting-edge features, and style. If you're someone who likes to make a statement with your notebook, the metal and leather looks of the Studio XPS 16 will help you in that area too. Sleek design combined with a 1080p display and powerful components come together to make for an awesome notebook. But is the Studio XPS 16 compelling enough to make shoppers spend some extra cash during tough economic times? Let's take a closer look and find out.

Our review unit of the Dell Studio XPS 16 features the following configuration:

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz)
* Memory: 4GB - 2DIMM DDR3
* HDD: 320GB 7200rpm
* Graphics: ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 (512MB)
* Display: 16.0" 1080p Full HD RGBLED LCD with 2.0 MP Webcam
* Optical Drive: 4X Blu-ray Disc Combo Drive (DVD/CD +/- RW +BD Read)
* OS: Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64 bit)
* Software: 15-month Trend Micro security subscription, Microsoft Works 9
* Wireless: Intel Wireless 5100
* Mediabay: 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
* Battery: 6-cell and 9-cell batteries
* Other: Facial Recognition Security; Dell Dock; Dell Video Chat; 2GB Data Safe Online
* Dimensions: 0.95"-1.34" x 15.15" x 10.02" with 6-cell battery (H x W x D)
* Weight: 6.53 lbs with 6-cell battery


Build and Design

Dell has successfully managed to turn around its corporate image over the last year or two. During the first half of this decade most consumers criticized Dell for making heavy, thick, and boxy laptops that offered great value but where short on style. While Dell sales floundered several companies like HP, Apple, and Sony made significant market gains by developing sleek notebooks that offered a more "personalized" appearance. Dell started to change all that in late 2007 with the XPS M1330 followed by more attractive notebooks in the XPS, Inspiron and Studio notebook lines. Following the huge success of the XPS line, Dell is now making the XPS brand a "modifier" for all their notebooks. In other words, you could buy a nice Studio 15 notebook or get better performance, superior build quality and more style with the new Studio XPS 16.

The first time you look at the Studio XPS 16 it's clear that this is something entirely new for Dell. They've taken the sleek lines and brushed aluminum accents from the XPS line and combined it with the multimedia features and a few chassis design elements from the Studio line to create a solid desktop replacement. I use the term "desktop replacement" because most people in the market for a 16-inch notebook aren't planning to haul their notebook everywhere and use it during regular airline travel.

What the Studio XPS 16 lacks in mobility it more than makes up for in solid design and construction. As mentioned above, the Studio XPS 16 takes several design elements from the latest XPS notebooks: the wedge-shaped profile, drop hinge, slot-loading optical drive, and touch-sensitive media buttons are all hallmarks of the XPS M1330 and M1530. That said, there's more to the Studio XPS 16 than just design elements from other Dell notebooks.

Another nice touch is the use of leather on the lid over the hinge area. We've seen leather-wrapped notebooks before, but this subtle use of leather looks a little more appealing and might even be practical. Since many people carry their laptops in their hand with the hinges pointed down this leather area provides a soft, textured surface for you to hold and keep a tight grip on your notebook.

In terms of overall chassis construction the Studio XPS 16 is quite solid and suffers from virtually no flex or creaks when squeezed and twisted between your hands. Construction is mostly magnesium alloy and some plastic with brushed aluminum accents around the hinges and the outer edge of the notebook. The Studio XPS 16 isn't quite as rugged as the Dell Latitude or Precision business notebooks but it should survive a drop from your desk without significant damage.