For the last five years I have been doing interviews with people around the world tracing radio’s switch from analogue to digital production. These are challenging times for the medium, the future seems to be different for every single country. This documentary in the making takes some case studies explaining where radio understands it’s role in society, and therefore why it’s needed in the future. Interested when it’s ready? Drop me an e-mail and be the first to know.

Sony announced today a new Handycam®, the HDR-TG7VE which they claim to be the world’s smallest, lightest Full HD camcorder with GPS. I’m looking for something light with good quality to be able to capture interviews in hd quality, often at short notice. Could this be the answer? The blurb reads…

Inside there’s a 16 GB memory that stores up to 6 hours of Full HD video and stereo sound from an on-board mike positioned at the top. If you want to shoot for even longer without downloading to a laptop, you’ll need to buy an optional Memory Stick™. There’s a sensitive GPS receiver inside that plots your location as you travel. After shooting, Map Index shows where clips and still photos were taken as ‘map pins’ on the LCD screen. You can also retrace your journey when you’re back home, with exciting on-line maps displayed on your PC using the supplied Picture Motion Browser software.

Shooting controls are pared down to a minimum. It’s easy to switch instantly between video or stills mode: just press REC Start/Stop for video, or touch the adjacent PHOTO button with your thumb and you’re ready to grab 4 megapixel still photos. >These days, 4 megapixels doesn’t sound like much when even my cheap cybershot has 7.

The high-resolution 2.7-inch LCD touchscreen now features a ’seamless’ design, with a newly-simplified menu system. The power is ON as soon as you flip open the LCD, and start-up from standby is quicker than before, so there’s less risk of missing an important moment. Just flip open the LCD touchscreen and you’re ready to start shooting in a fraction of a second. Standby power consumption is also improved to almost zero, letting you keep the TG7VE ready for action in a pocket or bag with less battery drain. Sony doesn’t say how long the batteries last if you keep the GPS functionality switched on.

After shooting, connect the TG7VE to your PC, and quick uploads to image-sharing web sites are just a few mouse clicks away. Easy-to-use Picture Motion Browser software

(supplied) lets you manage and browse your clips and still shots in a calendar view. Shots and clips can also be uploaded without fuss to popular sites like YouTube™, Facebook, Flickr and Daily Motion.

This new camera is in a different price league to its competitors from Kodak and Flip. I had hoped Sony would be different by offering an option to connect an external microphone. That option does not seem to be there, yet it would cost only a few pennies to implement.

So this camera, coming to stores in Europe for 900 Euro sometime in May 2009, whilst it has a very useful GPS facility, more and more important in many of my location based projects. However, I have my concerns about the sound quality. Since you can always shoot less than perfect video with great sound, (but never the other way round), I am curious to see and hear what recordings look like when they have been made on a city street. I will reserve full judgement until we’re able to test a sample.

Handycam® HDR-TG7VE Manufacturers Specification table

Movie format HD: AVCHD, SD: MPEG2

Recording media 16 GB internal memory (increased with optional Memory Stick™)

Image Device 1/5” Exmor CMOS Sensor with ClearVid Array

Number of Megapixels (Gross) 2.3 Megapixels

Number of Megapixels (Photo) 4 Megapixels

Image Processor BIONZ

Lens Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar

Zoom 10x Optical, 120x Digital

SteadyShot Yes

Audio System Dolby Digital Stereo with Zoom Microphone

Automatic Geotagging by GPS Yes

Face Detection / Smile Shutter Yes / Yes

Highlight Playback Yes

LCD Type 2.7” Wide Clear Photo LCD plus

Body Size/ Weight *without Memory Stick™/Battery (g) 62(D) x 117(H) x 30(W) / 230g

I was delighted to meet Rose Schuman, a young graduate of Brown University of Rhode Island, and now travelling the world from her base in California. You don’t have to travel far in India or Africa to find places where Internet access is out of the question, especially in villages where mains electricity and ADSL are in short supply. Now there’s a series of practical trials to try to change that.

Rose has called it the Question Box. In the Indian villages of Ethida and Poolpur, a few hours from New Delhi, they have installed a simple system for getting information online. Now this trial is to be adapted and expanded in Uganda.

Rose explains in this interview at SxSW how they have tackled the problem of access to relevant information. As community radio starts to become more widespread in India, I can see the radio station providing the portal in local languages, and broadcasting the answers to FAQ’s over the radio.

In the run up to a name change on October 1st 2008 (when they dump the name Matsushita Electric Industrial and just become Panasonic), an on-line museum of design has opened. Not sure where in Europe it is coming from, but its an interesting selection of Panasonic designs through the last 90 years. During the time that I tested radios for Radio Netherlands “Shopping List” I recall that the Panasonic short wave portables were usually robust but not at the leading edge…perhaps with a few exceptions. For a time the RF-4900 with its digital frequency readout was a great tabletop and then there was the RF9000 (1982-1985) which cost something like 3000 Euros in its day and was basically designed to show what Panasonic could do in the labs. I am a bit surprised they didn’t pick that for the on-line museum. It was an amazing set – I wonder what kind of customer they had in mind? In Holland they put a few into luxury yachts.

By the way, the museum is an interesting tour, but the navigation is a nightmare – Flash design on steroids. And sadly, no search, so the content is there, but the context is often missing. Worth a short visit though.

In the run up to a name change on October 1st 2008 (when they dump the name Matsushita Electric Industrial and just become Panasonic), an on-line museum of design has opened. Not sure where in Europe it is coming from, but its an interesting selection of Panasonic designs through the last 90 years. During the time that I tested radios for Radio Netherlands “Shopping List” I recall that the Panasonic short wave portables were usually robust but not at the leading edge…perhaps with a few exceptions. For a time the RF-4900 with its digital frequency readout was a great tabletop and then there was the RF9000 (1982-1985) which cost something like 3000 Euros in its day and was basically designed to show what Panasonic could do in the labs. I am a bit surprised they didn’t pick that for the on-line museum. It was an amazing set – I wonder what kind of customer they had in mind? In Holland they put a few into luxury yachts.

By the way, the museum is an interesting tour, but the navigation is a nightmare – Flash design on steroids. And sadly, no search, so the content is there, but the context is often missing. Worth a short visit though.