FujiFilm wants to make sure that when you buy their latest point-and-shoot, the Z700, that you’re completely covered. You know, in the “detect this” department. After all, what good is a camera that can only detect red eye? Or only detect faces? All of that’s in the past. Well, welcome to 2010, where the next big thing is . . . Pet detection!

The Finepix Z700 from FujiFilm is the first of its kind (we’ll let you be the judge of whether that’s a good thing or not). The camera proper has a 12MP lens, and it’s of the point-and-shoot nature. It’s got a touchscreen interface, so we know this won’t appeal to everyone. Unfortunately though, it looks like the Z700 is still a bit rough around the edges. During an event this last week, the camera was fully capable of taking regular photos, but when it started snapping photos of animals, things got rocky.

Apparently, when a dog is in motion, consider the “pet detection” a no-go. It’s just not happening. Furthermore, while the camera was able to snap shots of a stuffed animal without a problem, when a real animal was used things got a bit more hairy. We’re sure these things are still being worked on, but for now, if you’re willing to drop $280 dollars on this thing when it comes out later this month, make sure that you’re pet meets the minimum requirements (yes, there’s a list) first.

via Gizmodo

It’s been a rough few weeks for the folks at Palm. First false rumors about Palm shutting down production lines, followed by less than stellar results have once again started the usual suspects putting Palm on either some death watch or have them about to be sold to (insert vendor’s name here _____). Regarding the second, I don’t believe Jon Rubenstein came out of retirement to build a world class product only to have it sold to (insert vendor’s name here _____). But with regards to the whole death watch theme, Palm reminds me a lot of TiVo these days. It’s not just the death watch meme that’s plagued TiVo for years, it’s the fact that Palm suffers from their own version of the TiVo paradox.

What’s the TiVo paradox? It’s a term I coined to explain how hard it is to market the contextual value of features. A distinct conflict existed between consumer understanding of TiVo features and their ability to value the functionality. This was the TiVo paradox. While the purpose of TiVo features was clear and consumers valued features exclusive to TiVo, they don’t learn to appreciate the entire package of features until they used them. The net result was a rabid fan base of users who loved and praised the product and other users who couldn’t understand the cost of a $500 “digital VCR”.

TiVo’s features were relevant to the TV viewing experience based on a user’s immediate contextual need; the pause and rewind live TV feature is the killer feature for a sports fan, while remote access to the electronic programming guide is key to the busy traveler’s DVR experience. Without trying these features, users are unaware of their overall value as they come together as a whole. Want to pause TV when the phone rings? That’s the killer app at that moment. Recording a show using an EPG to simply search for it? That’s the killer app at that moment. Skipping commercials when you watch recorded content? That’s the killer app at that moment. Contextual functionality ONLY comes together when you get to see the whole, not a piece or part. When you see only pieces, you just get a very expensive VCR not a TiVo.

This is exactly the issue I think Palm is having right now.

Palm’s features by themselves are not “killer applications”. In fact, they look a lot at the surface like most of the other phones that are out there. There are, however, a multitude of features related to things like Synergy that are totally contextual, that at a given moment in time BECOME the killer app for using the device. It’s something you see reflected in the base of the webOS user. Those who use webOS are totally fans of the experience and don’t discuss issues such as a lack of applications. They focus on the contextual experience that delivers on the notion of mobile social context.

The problem for Palm (as TiVo learned) is this is a nasty marketing problem since there’s no good way to get the message across in 30 seconds. It’s important for Palm to start focusing it’s marketing on getting the message of mobile social context out there; at the same time Palm needs a better way to leverage the fan base that make up webOS users, since those are the folks who have made the leap of faith and for whom the light bulb has already lit up. I don’t think Palm is anywhere close to being down and out but they need to re-think how to tell a great story of engineering and technical achievement and break the Palm Paradox.

Spring Design had previously been promising early March 2010 availability for the Alex, though that time period came and went.  In fact, at time of posting the company’s store page still reads “Thanks for your patience. We’re almost ready with our Alex store. Keep checking in and by the first week of March you’ll be able to order your Alex online.”

Before that, a February 22nd release had been suggested.  We’ve got a request in with Spring Design for more information, and will update as and when we hear back from them.

How long does it take to get an 8GB memory card to the market?  If you’re Eye-Fi, and the card is the WiFi 802.11n-toting Eye-Fi Pro X2, then it’s a couple of months; the company has announced that its latest wireless-enabled memory card is shipping from today, promising faster transfer speeds and improved overall performance.

According to the Eye-Fi blog, that’s all down to their new X2 engine, which bundles together a 200 MHz ARM926 processor with an MMU, dedicated flash and radio interface engines, and encryption acceleration hardware.  Combined, they’re good for improved WiFi-triangulation geotagging accuracy and “Endless Memory”, Eye-Fi’s new system whereby images and video are automatically deleted from the X2 once the card has verified that they’ve been correctly uploaded to the server.

The Eye-Fi Pro X2 will also come with Eye-Fi Center, the newest version of the company’s desktop manager app for PC and Mac.  Eye-Fi Center will also be available for existing Eye-Fi owners, though so far we can’t find it to download on their site.  As for the Eye-Fi Pro X2, that’s available for $149.99.

Room in your heart for another Motorola Android smartphone running MOTOBLUR but stuck on Android 1.5?  The T-Mobile CLIQ XT by Motorola is set to hit the market imminently, and we’ve got our full review over at Android Community.

Based on the original Motorola CLIQ, but dropping that handset’s slide-out hardware keyboard in favor of a slimmer chassis and Swype text-entry system, the CLIQ XT certainly has a reasonably packed spec-list.  A 5-megapixel camera, multitouch and Flash Lite support are all this season’s must-haves, and despite the CLIQ XT being positioned as a mid-range device they’re all onboard.

Still, it’s been a long time since Android 1.5 was current, and as we’ve learnt the hard way in the past, it’s not about the specs but how the device delivers.  Does the Motorola CLIQ XT do enough to push past its OS limitations in what’s now a far more competitive Android segment?  You’ll have to read the full review to find out.

The storm of iPad preorders this morning has reportedly been “so overwhelming” that Apple’s customer services team are apparently warning would-be buyers that there may not be stock to pick up in-store come April 3rd.  According to multiple MacDailyNews readers, buyers who have contacted Apple’s customer card team to change their order from delivery to in-store collection are being told that the tablets may in fact be in short supply at their Saturday launch.

That’s because, to change from delivery to pick-up, the order must in fact be cancelled and then re-placed as an in-store collection.  However, the “overwhelming” number of orders have seemingly left Apple uncertain as to whether they’ll have sufficient store units to satisfy that demand.

It’s unclear whether this is a US-wide situation or limited to certain stores, and Apple themselves are yet to officially comment.  Previous rumors and leaks suggested that iPad production had faced issues and that initial numbers of devices would be limited; however they were quickly followed by reports apparently from component suppliers that production was on-track according to schedule.