Amazon on Monday announced it is shipping Kindle Fire one day early. The press release said it’s "already the bestselling item on Amazon." Here are five tech writers with a range of first takes.

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Casio Computer Co., Ltd. announced today that it will release a new EXILIM compact digital camera, the “EX-ZR15”, with the first model going on sale from September 22.

Powered by the EXILIM Engine HS, a high-performance engine combining high-speed shooting technology and high-speed image processing technology, the EX-ZR15 provides a stress-free shooting experience with its speedy functions from startup to shutdown, the company said.

It also offers never-before-possible functions, allowing users to take continuous shots while using High Dynamic Range (HDR)-Art and movie modes. The new “EX-ZR15” is a compact digital camera that takes advantage of high-speed technology and improves on the user-friendliness and photographic functions of the previous “EX-ZR10” model.

Its High-speed Technology, which allows 0.99-second fast boot (activation/start-up) and 0.13-second high-speed auto focus. The high-speed, continuous shutter technology means that the minimum time gap between shots is 0.29 seconds; this allows users to enjoy continuous shooting even in difficult shooting conditions such as at night or when using HDR. Casio EX-ZR15 has a function that makes the background blurry while keeping the subject in sharp focus.

Users can create ultra-wide angle photographs by moving the camera while shooting, and the improved HDR-Art function now lets users shoot movies in HDR-Art mode.

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Young Melbourne-based inventor Edward Linacre has won the 2011 James Dyson Award, making it the second year in a row where the prestigious prize has gone to an Aussie. Linacre stole this year's competition with his Airdrop irrigation concept that collects water from thin air. The Swinburne University of Technology design graduate was driven to transform an ancient cooling technique into a new sub-surface irrigation system, following the enduring Australian drought that saw high levels of farmer suicide along Australia's Murray- Darling Basin.

The Airdrop irrigation concept is a low-tech design that uses the simple process of condensation to harvest water from the air. Utilizing a turbine intake system, air is channeled underground through a network of piping that quickly cools the air to soil temperature. This process creates an environment of 100-percent humidity, from which water is then harvested. The collected water is stored in an underground tank, ready to be pumped out via sub-surface drip irrigation hosing. The Airdrop design also features an LCD screen displaying water levels, pressure strength, solar battery life and system health.

"The one that I made in the backyard at mum's house was creating about a liter of water a day," Linacre told Gizmag. Although the backyard trial was successful on a small scale, Linacre did prove that it could be implemented on a large agricultural scale. "The low-tech solution is perfect for rural farmers," explained Linacre. "[It's] something they can install, something they can maintain ... taking water out of the air and irrigating their crops."

The James Dyson Award is an international competition that attracts designs and inventions from young creators all over the world. As the winner, Linacre will receive GBP10,000 (US$14,000), with a further GBP10,000 (US$14,000) going to Swinburne's Faculty of Design. Edward described the Airdrop system to Gizmag at the Australian Design Awards, in a video that we shot earlier this year.

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The list of supported cameras include Nikon's 1 J1, 1 V1, Coolpix P7100; Olympus' Pen E-PL1s, PEN E-PL3, PEN E-PM1 interchangeable lens cameras; Sony's Alpha Nex-5N, Alpha SLT-A65, and the highly anticipated Alpha SLT-A77; Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FZ150; and Canon's point-and-shoot PowerShot S100. You can find a full list of supported digital camera raw formats on the Apple site.

You can download the 7.2 MB update, version 3.9, from Apple's support site or via Software Update. For those running Snow Leopard, the update requires Mac OS X 10.6.8; Lion users will need Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later.

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Panasonic with its Lumix update offered a minor surprise when unveiling the first 3D camera it made. The DMC-3D1 is chasing the same market as the Real 3D line of Fujifilm. The whole revolves around two cameras with 12.1-megapixel resolution, both having 25-100mm lenses and producing a stereoscopic 3D effect together.

Eight megapixels is the limit when shooting full 3D and videos are not included. Like with its rival, the lenses can be used to try 2D modes as well. While capturing wide-angle shots in one camera, the other one can be used to zoom to telephoto-like distance. It is possible for the users to continuously record video content from one camera while shooting photos from the other.

A unique quad-processor layout provides relatively fast performance by offering relatively quick shooting for a compact camera. Continuous shots with autofocus at 4FPS and 8FPS without autofocus are totally acceptable. Video recording reaches 1,080i. The standout feature for still imaging provides a multi-shot exposure mode able to minimize blur, more than what optical image stabilization could manage. The main interface is served by a 3.5-inch touchscreen. Panasonic will ship the 3D1 this year in December and the price of $500 out-of-the box will match Fujifilm.

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Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) is going head-to-head with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) this holiday season; the fight will undoubtedly also involve Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Time for one of Richi's review roundups of the Nook Tablet vs. Kindle Fire vs. iPad 2. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers can't wait for next week.  Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: TBA...

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A touch-friendly overhaul produces the best Kobo yet. It seems the pressure to embrace touch is invading every corner of consumer technology, even though theoretically an e-Ink style eBook reader such as the Kobo shouldn't really need a touch interface.

 While it's tempting to dismiss touch as a fad, it actually does a lot to improve the Kobo's usability. The Kobo is probably the best e-Ink style alternative to Amazon's slick Kindle. As for buying books directly via the Kobo, you've now got access to Kobo's store via wi-fi. You can also shop for eBooks via the website or Kobo desktop app (Mac and Windows), plus you'll find iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Palm Pre apps.

Kobo has removed the ability to purchase books directly via iOS apps, after Apple demanded a 30 per cent cut of the sale, but you can still use mobile Safari to make purchases. The icing on the cake is that you can buy Adobe-protected ePub books from a wide range of sources and load them onto the Kobo using Adobe Digital Editions (unlike the Kindle).

 iGadget owners wanting to read Adobe-protected ePub should look to Bluefire Reader. The Kobo also supports .mobi, PDF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ and CBR files along with JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF images.

Having reviewed the first and second generation Kobo, I won't go through the whole e-Ink v LCD argument again. I was however really keen to see what touch would bring to the party. There's also a new touch-friendly, wi-fi enabled Sony Reader available - which I'll look at next week. Amazon has also unveiled touch-friendly Kindles, but won't ship them to Australia yet.

The new Kobo eReader Touch has undergone an iPad-esque makeover. The only buttons left are the home button and a sliding power switch. Ditching the five-way rocker for navigating the menus has allowed Kobo to shrink the bezel, making the device around 5mm narrower and 20mm shorter than the previous Kobo while still retaining a 6-inch display. It's also 20 grams lighter.

All of this means it rests comfortably in your hand and slips easily into your bag or perhaps even a large jacket pocket.

The need to press a button to turn the page has always been my key complaint about e-Ink readers. It might seem like a minor issue, but it makes it hard to forget you're using a gadget and become engrossed in the text.

The button on each new Kobo and Kindle has been softer and quieter than the last, but touch was always going to win out in the end. Flicking the Kobo's screen with your thumb or index finger offers a very natural reading experience, although the display is not quite as sensitive as an iGadget and it's easy to get lazy with your swipes.

Ditching the five-way rocker also means that it's easy to hold the Kobo in either hand and turn pages, which is great news for southpaws. The touch interface also makes it easier to navigate the Kobo's menus.

Touch isn't the only improvement with the new Kobo. Extra grunt under the bonnet helps it open books and turn pages faster. It also caches six pages at a time, so the screen no longer flickers with every page turn - an effect which is also a major disruption to the reading experience.

The Kobo still falls short of the Kindle when it comes to buying books on the device. The Kobo store is painfully slow to load and browsing titles is a cumbersome experience.

The onscreen touch keyboard is less painful than navigating a QWERTY keyboard with a five-way rocker, but it's still not as slick as using the Kindle's tiny built-in keyboard. By the time you've struggled to the checkout on the Kobo, you could have already started reading a new book on the Kindle.

Considering you'll spend more time reading books than buying them, the Kobo's cumbersome book-buying experience might not bother you. But if you really are keen to buy books on the go, you might find the Kindle's 3G access a killer feature. Kobo has also followed the Kindle by adding a basic browser, although it's usefulness is limited by the lack of 3G access.

Overall the new Kobo eReader Touch is an impressive device at a reasonable price. Even so, it's hard to ignore just how slick the Amazon ecosystem is and I'd certainly weigh up the Kobo against the Kindle.

If you're determined to stick with the ePub format rather than Amazon's eBook format, then the Kobo eReader Touch is the one to beat.

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HTC Corp said its latest smartphone, the Rezound, will be its first US phone to include audio technology from Beats Electronics, a company it took control of earlier this year. The Rezound will go on sale at No. 1 US mobile service Verizon Wireless on November 14 for $299.99, including a Beats branded headset.

But the device, which runs on Google Inc Android software, will have stiff competition at Verizon Wireless, which is also selling Apple Inc's iPhone, the Droid Razr from Motorola Mobility and the Galaxy Nexus from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

HTC already sells phones in Europe and Asia that use technology from Beats Electronics, which was founded by Dr. Dre, a U.S. rapper and music producer, and Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine. The launch comes at a time when HTC is losing market share, analysts said. The company has risen in a few years from an obscure manufacturer of other companies' phones to become the No. 5 smartphone brand.

But earlier this week, HTC warned that revenue in the fourth quarter, normally a bumper sales season, would fall below third-quarter levels, as it expects phone shipments to fall to a range of 12 million to 13 million from 13.2 million. HTC said on Monday it was more optimistic about LTE 4G phones to be launched in the first quarter. Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

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Noctua today announced a new version of its Award Winning High Performance heatsink “NH-D14″ for Intel’s Upcoming Sandy Bridge-E Platform (LGA2011). The NH-D14 Special Edition “SE2011″ would be the successor to the company’s original masterpiece NH-D14 which has won over 250 awards and set a benchmark in premium quality and quiet cooling.

The NH-D14 SE2011 is specifically designed for the Core i7 3000 Series Sandy Bridge-E processors, Its equipped with the Noctua’s SecuFirm2 Mounting bracket and comes bundled with Noctua’s own NF-P12/NF-P14 dual PWM fans.

The Heatsink features an 6 heatpipe dual radiator design to provide more surface area, better heat distribution and superb airflow efficiency. Equipped with the NF-P12 and NF-P14 PWM controlled fans which use Noctua’s new, custom designed NE-FD1 PWM IC that integrates Smooth Commutation Drive (SCD) technology and thus makes them quieter at lower speeds.

The Heatsink is bundled with Noctua’s Premium NH-T1 Thermal Compound and backed by a 6 Year Warranty, NH-D14 SE2011 is definitely a must have heatsink for Elite and Enthusiast Overclockers.

Price and Availability
The NH-D14 SE2011 will be available soon at a recommended retail price of EUR 74.90 / USD 84.90.

Noctua today announced a new version of its Award Winning High Performance heatsink “NH-D14″ for Intel’s Upcoming Sandy Bridge-E Platform (LGA2011). The NH-D14 Special Edition “SE2011″ would be the successor to the company’s original masterpiece NH-D14 which has won over 250 awards and set a benchmark in premium quality and quiet cooling.


The NH-D14 SE2011 is specifically designed for the Core i7 3000 Series Sandy Bridge-E processors, Its equipped with the Noctua’s SecuFirm2 Mounting bracket and comes bundled with Noctua’s own NF-P12/NF-P14 dual PWM fans.

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This is some really interesting news for Android fans in India. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is listed as ‘Coming Soon’ on Google India’s official page for the handset. The website displays a registration page and lists the headlining features of the highly anticipated Googlephone. In all likelihood, India will feature amongst the 18 selected countries that will receive the handset in the first phase of its global rollout as only 17 other countries are in the list. This is the first time India will get the handset in the first batch as from past instances, the first Nexus smartphone was never officially available and the second, the Nexus S, came here months later.

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