Crave

LAS VEGAS--Digital SLRs showed strong growth last year, but the sales surge will begin to moderate, according to a new report by the Camera and Imaging Products Association.

SLR cameras are bulky and expensive, yet they're also responsive, work better in dim conditions, and are flexible because photographers can change lenses. Year-over-year sales of digital SLRs grew 42 percent to 7.5 million units worldwide in 2007, CIPA said this week.

By contrast, the SLR growth rate will dip to 22 percent in 2008, 13 percent in 2009, and 9 percent in 2010, the CIPA predicted. That corresponds to digital SLR shipments of 9.1 million, 10.3 million, and 11.2 million units, respectively.

It's been tough forecasting camera shipments because purchasing patterns have changed, so analysts have had to push back the year camera shipments are expected to peak. The old days of one camera per family are fading, replaced by the one-camera-per-family-member era. And some people buy multiple cameras for different jobs--tossing into a purse, traveling, or shooting their children's sports events.

The market for compact digital cameras also will grow, CIPA said, but it's a significant notch below SLR rates. It grew 26 percent to 92.9 million units in 2007 and is expected to grow 11 percent to 102.8 million this year, 7 percent to 110.1 million in 2009, and 5 percent to 115.3 million in 2010.

The total digital camera market topped 100 million for the first time in 2007--barely--with sales of 100.4 million. Expect 111.9 million for 2008, 120.4 million in 2009, and 126.5 million in 2010.

The CIPA findings made the rounds here at the Photo Marketing Association trade show, where camera makers salivate over the prospect of millions of high-end SLRs being sold. Even if growth rates are tapering off, they're still positive. And the fact that SLRs today typically cost at least $700 means serious money is on the table.

CIPA also shared statistics for SLR lenses, and there, too, growth rates are slowing. A total of 12.5 million were sold in 2007. That number is forecast to jump to 14.7 million this year, to 16.3 million in 2009, and 17.4 million in 2010.

(Credit: Exhibitor Online)

A new study from Nokia predicts that by 2012, a quarter of all entertainment will be created, edited, and shared within peer groups rather than being generated by traditional media.

Jointly conducted with the trend research firm The Future Laboratory, Nokia's study asked trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles. The company also used information gathered from its 900 million customers as well as views of leading industry analysts.

"From our research we predict that up to a quarter of the entertainment being consumed in five years will be what we call 'circular.' The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up, and pass it on within their peer groups-- a form of collaborative social media," says Mark Selby, vice president of multimedia for Nokia. Nokia pinpoints four emerging trends that propel this kind of "circular entertainment": immersive living; geek culture; G tech; and localism.

Selby continues, "We think it will work something like this: someone shares video footage they shot on their mobile device from a night out with a friend. That friend takes that footage and adds an MP3 file--the sound track of the evening--then passes it to another friend. That friend edits the footage by adding some photographs and passes it on to another friend and so on. The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."

Tom Savigar, trends director at The Future Laboratory, adds, "Consumers are increasingly demanding that their entertainment be truly immersive, engaging, and collaborative. Whereas once the act of watching, reading, and hearing entertainment was passive, consumers now and in the future will be active and unrestrained by the ubiquitous nature of circular entertainment. Key to this evolution is consumers' basic human desire to compare and contrast, create and communicate. We believe the next episode promises to deliver the democracy politics can only dream of."

Of course, you have to take surveys sponsored by big brands with a grain of salt. Nokia's intent is obviously to ride the wave of a powerful current and promote its mobile devices as the venue where that new kind of "circular," convergent entertainment will take place. Moreover, user-generated content (and user-generated entertainment in particular) is neither a breathtakingly new phenomenon, nor is it beyond any dispute that the traditional networks will just sit and watch their dominance wane.

Nokia's study also ignores the fact that the distinction between traditional and "circular" entertainment is becoming increasingly difficult. In times of professional mash-ups, amateur reality TV, and 24/7 life-casting, where does original content end and recycled content start? What if traditional entertainment becomes a micro-format within user-generated entertainment and vice versa? Naturally, the two intermingle, and it may not even be too bold a statement to forecast that at some stage of a highly fragmented and collaborative distribution chain, all entertainment will be "circular" in 2012.

Google Maps has worked hard to place just about every capability you'd want when you stare at a map into its Web app. That includes the ability for third-party developers to ornament Google's maps with their own KML, or keyhole markup language, mapplets.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

AccuWeather.com announced today its Forecast Snapshot for Google Maps. The add-on slips into the MyMaps tab of a user account and offers multiple ways to fetch the weather forecast while fixating on a particular locale.

Click the map, or enter the ZIP code or city into the AccuWeather.com search bar to grab meteorological data in Celsius or Fahrenheit. AccuWeather.com displays a three-day forecast in the sidebar and on the map face, but the widgetlike qualities stop there. Clicking for compressed or extended forecasts, animated radar, or anything else opens new tabs on AccuWeather.com.... Read more

(Credit: FirstStreet)

See what we mean about personal weather stations? They're everywhere, we tell you. Not only that, but just one isn't enough for some inflicted with OCMD (obsessive-compulsive meteorological disorder).

To wit: The "TV Weather Station" doesn't just provide the usual temperatures and forecasts; it can track up to 11 weather conditions at the same time. You can even get microclimate information up to 200 feet away from any part of your property so you can decide whether it's a croquet or a Slip 'N Slide day.

Unlike the typical standalone devices, according to OhGizmo, this one is a receiver that hooks up to a television set by a cable. Granted, it may not be the highest tech available, but you can get one for every TV in the house and make every room your personal Weather Channel. Then again, maybe it will just become obsolete.

If it's flashing, you'd better take it.

(Credit: Ambient Devices)

The folks from Ambient Devices came by the office yesterday to give me a look at the company's upcoming products and also let me know that their new weather-forecasting umbrella is now on sale. The Ambient Umbrella, which automatically receives weather data from Accuweather.com via Ambient's Infocast Network, has made some appearances on blogs, but it's now an official product with an official price tag of $125--though it's selling for $139 at Hammacher Schlemmer. I saw the thing in action, and while it isn't exactly super high-tech, the handle of the umbrella has a little ring of blue LED lights that start flashing when rain is forecast.

According to the press release, "The Ambient Umbrella's handle illuminates when precipitation is expected, to remind the user to carry the umbrella. The Ambient Umbrella is designed to stand by upright by the door, near a coat rack or in an umbrella stand--so it will be visible whenever the user goes outdoors. The handle's illumination behavior changes according to the forecast; for example, the handle shows soft, intermittent pulses for light rain, and very rapid, intense patterns for thunderstorms.

"The Umbrella has a high-quality, 'gust-buster' dual-canopy design and requires very simple activation via the Ambient Devices customer service phone line. The Ambient Umbrella will provide a year or more of battery life with one 'C' cell battery."

Needless to say, rain or not, this is one umbrella you might not want to take out on the town for a night of heavy drinking, which studies show correlates to a near 100 percent chance of losing your umbrella. While $125 (or $139, as the case may be) may seem like a lot for an item that I'm used to buying on a New York City street corner for $3, I can see how an affluent, weather-challenged person might think it well worth the dough.

It's bad luck to open this umbrella inside too.

(Credit: Ambient Devices)

(Credit: Gearlog)

Next to digital photo frames, one of the most common products in gadget catalogs is the weather forecaster. But this trumps them all: an umbrella that tells you if it's going to rain.

The "Ambient Forecasting Umbrella" has an LED light built into the handle that pulses when it detects chances of showers according to an automatic AccuWeather feed. As Gearlog says, "If the chances of rain are 60 percent then the umbrella handle will pulse once every second. But if you see it pulsing a hundred times a minute then that means there's a 100 percent chance of rain."

Or you could just look out the window. And even if its forecasts are correct, will you be able to watch YouTube on it?