The high cost of a good reputation

Auction site eBay doesn't trust sellers to behave honestly. Bill Thompson isn't surprised.

At the moment I've got 100% positive feedback but the number of transactions is so small that it doesn't really signify.

However, heavy sellers and those who make a substantial proportion of their income from the site care deeply about the reports they get from other buyers and sellers.

Their concerns about negative feedback are well-grounded: In 2002 Paul Resnick and his colleagues did a proper randomised control experiment to assess the value of an eBay reputation, looking to see how much people would bid for articles from sellers with different scores.

They found that sellers with established reputations can expect about 8% more revenue than new sellers marketing the same goods.

The move is being seen by some as a clear indication that the brave new world of online communities is faltering

Cheerleaders for crowdsourcing, hive minds and the wisdom of the crowds like to point to eBay as an example of a working online community where little intervention is needed, a "self-governing nation-state" that essentially manages itself, according to Thomas Friedman in The World Is Flat.

Unfortunately, however, like many other communities that seem to be happy and relaxed but are in turmoil just beneath the surface, eBay is more like the fictional murder-prone village of Midsomer than the perfect market.

Buyers and sellers seem to be engaged in a war of attrition where negative feedback is one of the main weapons, and now eBay has announced that sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback on buyers, hoping that this will help to rebalance things.

Both sides in a transaction get to leave feedback on the site, but it seems that sellers are threatening to leave negative comments on buyers' profiles if they say anything at all critical, knowing that this will make it harder for them to trade in future.

When Bill Cobb, eBay's head of North American operations, announced the changes he admitted that "the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave honest, accurate feedback because of the threat of retaliation".

The way eBay works has been likened to a colony of bees

But eBay probably reckons that it can weather the storm and that its users will adapt to the new dispensation since the costs of setting up on another auction site are so high.

The move is being seen by some as a clear indication that the brave new world of online communities is faltering.

In the Financial Times Patti Waldmeir was sad that "the company has basically admitted that the cybersouk model does not work: buyers did not tell the truth about sellers, and sellers did not tell the truth about buyers. And in a market where traders lie, the trust that is so central to online commerce cannot flourish".

This seems to be an excessive response to the change, which is more about rebalancing the system than ditching the very idea of customer feedback.

eBay already relies strongly on external legal systems to support its business.

The company's "level of integration with and dependence on law enforcement is remarkable", as Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu point out in their excellent book Who Rules the Internet, so taking some of the feedback elements away from the customers is not itself a radical shift.

Research shows a bad reputation can dent sales

We could see the development of policing in the 18th century as a similar process, one that reinforces community bonds by taking certain sanctions away from individuals and vesting them in the group as a whole.

In this light eBay's move marks a growing maturity, not a failure of nerve.

After all, as Nick Carr point out, no system managed by humans can be perfect or last forever.

"Sometimes, we're inspired by fellow-feeling", he says. "Other times, we act selfishly or with prejudice or we try to game whatever system we're part of. And the more times we're confronted with other people acting selfishly, or fraudulently, the more we retreat into self-interest ourselves."

eBay's reputation system did well for many years, and even with the changes in place it is far from useless for sellers or buyers.

Perhaps we should applaud the senior team for following Clinton, Obama and McCain, the front-runners for the US presidency, in being bold and embracing change instead of lambasting them for leaving a broken system in place just because they are afraid of the reaction.

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Google bets on Android future

Gaming and surfing on Google Android

But the company is going much further. At the end of 2007 it lifted the lid on Android, an open mobile operating system that is being used to power a new generation of devices under the Open Handset Alliance, a group which involves firms like HTC and chip designer ARM.

Android is the creation of Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms.

He believes that a lack of openness in the mobile phone space has stifled innovation to date.

"What Android enables for third party developers is the kind of programming we see on the internet," he says.

"What it enables is agility and rapid innovation and the same kind of innovation that happens on the internet."

Android was developed by former robot maker Andy Rubin

Mr Rubin says that by opening up the phones - from the operating system, released under open source, to the drivers and the application framework - developers will have more freedom to innovate, and more scope also.

But if you talk to Symbian and Microsoft, two companies that also build mobile operating systems, both claim to be open also.

Mr Rubin says: "There's a distinction we have to make - and it's an important one - between open source and open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).

"APIs are essentially documentation, they're the way that somebody like Symbian or Microsoft will allow third party developers to develop for their platform.

"Open source is a mechanism by which the source code of the operating system is actually for free and that way the carriers and OEMs are not really locked into a single vendor, nobody really owns this.

"It means they are free to take it into the direction that's important to them; they can fix bugs, add enhancements so in the end the consumer has a better experience."

Mr Rubin believes this will lead to greater variety of mobile experiences - driven not by the rules and regulations of an operating system but by the ideas of developers.

In essence, it could lead to greater variety of phones and of what those phones are capable.

Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance, with manufacturing partners like HTC and chip designers like ARM.

At the Mobile World Congress earlier this month the first reference handsets running Android were on show.

The first Android phones are expected in the second half of 2008

The browser was responsive and driven by both touch and a mini-track ball.

Google Maps supported Street View, the ability to see stills of real world locations, which has not been seen on a mobile device before.

Mr Rubin says Android is running on a phone powered by a 300Mhz chip, which puts the device in the mid-range of smartphones.

"A lot of applications we are seeing on phones today, in some of the newest and most powerful phones, are doing internet style web browsing.

There should be nothing that users can access on their desktop that they can't access on their cell phone

"But that is just one of the components of the internet we need to bring to cellphones. There should be nothing that users can access on their desktop that they can't access on their cellphone.

Mr Rubin points out that not all net experiences are available through the browser.

"Applications like Google Earth and YouTube have specific functionality that hasn't yet effectively been brought to mobile.

"Up until Android that wasn't possible on the phone - you could only access functionality given to you by the operating system."

The iPhone is a great 1.0 product said Mr Rubin

This is not Mr Rubin's first foray into overturning the "natural order" of things.

A former roboticist and Apple engineer, he created Web TV, and the device which led to the pioneering Sidekick handset.

"One of my passions throughout my whole career is consumer products; making things my mom would use.

"That need wasn't satisfied doing robotics. that was behind the scenes factory stuff."

So what does he make of Apple's first phone to the market?

"It's a great 1.0 product; I use one.

"Apple has that great balance of being both a hardware and software firms so they have a lot of flexibility.

"One of the things that is a challenge for them is having an incredible footprint worldwide - there are different types of communications standards, regulatory issues, and different language issues.

"I'm hoping that doesn't limit them."

With about three billion people using mobile phones worldwide and the number of devices that can access the net climbing rapidly, the future of the web is definitely mobile. And with no one company dominating the mobile arena as yet, the race is very much on.

Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Private data, public interest?

The use of material taken from personal profiles on social networks by newspapers is to be the subject of a major consultation undertaken by industry watchdog the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

This comes in the wake of increasingly numbers of newspaper stories that include images and text taken from sites like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.

But the subjects of press reports are not always happy with the use of content they have uploaded.

Tim Toulmin, director of the PCC, in an interview with BBC Radio 4 says the organisation was getting complaints from people about material, "that is being republished when they themselves are the subject of news stories".

Mr Toulmin says it would be useful to establish principles to guide the press in their use of social network content.

"It's down to the PCC to set the boundaries in a common sense way about what sort of information it is acceptable to re-publish," he says.

To that end the PCC has commissioned research by Ipsos MORI into public attitudes.

The newspaper watchdog wants to discover if people are aware that material they upload could be used in newspaper reports.

Public or private?

There has been some public resentment of the use of social networks by the press.

People may post less information if they knew it journalists might use it

More recently in the UK, media interest in the spate of suspected suicides among young people in Bridgend has lead some in that community to express concern about the way social network profiles were being used by journalists.

Bridgend Welsh Assembly Member Carwyn Jones, said: "It does raise questions of the sensitivity of publishing those photographs for the world to see."

Local MP, Madeleine Moon went further saying that some in the community had complained of reporters posing as young people on social networking sites in order to obtain quotes.

Ms Moon, who has spoken with the PCC, stressed she had no evidence to substantiate these claims, but she did feel that there was a clear need for guidelines for the press.

But the wider issue of how reporters should use information taken from social networks is far from clear-cut.

Taking a photo from a social networking site is, some argue, a less traumatic way of obtaining images and personal detail, than a reporter visiting the home of a grieving family. Digital door-stepping can be much less intrusive than the real thing.

Mr Toulmin says the matter is one of degree: journalists do have a right to use publicly accessible content and the public have responsibilities when they post it.

And many who publish to social networks, in Mr Toulmin's view, do not regard that information as private but actively want to share the information.

He said: "Half the charm is accumulating as many people as possible to be their friends...there will then be an argument about the extent to which you yourself are concerned about people knowing that information."

Similarly if information is already in the public domain there would be little point in denying the press access.Clear case

Mr Toulmin also believes any new guidelines should not prevent the press reproducing content clearly in the public interest to publish.

The PCC has already ruled to this effect. It supported the right of a local newspaper to enter an online community undercover and to republish an image found there, because the complainant, a police officer, was the subject of a criminal investigation.

Some papers covering the Virginia Tech shootings used information from social sites

"They will I think be forced to go further in educating people," he says.

Guidance from the PCC will only apply to newspapers.

With the most popular blogs surpassing the circulation of many local papers, and competing effectively for advertising revenue, this is not a small concern.

Mr Toulmin acknowledges this is important, but adds: "The press do have obligations over and above those that govern the online community."

But not everyone in the media shares that view: Bob Satchwell of the Director of the Society of Editors thinks the press should be subject to no greater regulation than the public.

Says Mr Satchwell: "Traditional media is already regulated in various ways; broadcasting by the statutory regulation, the press by the PCC, so there are far greater constraints on traditional journalists and media than there are on the wider public, so called 'citizen journalists' and bloggers."

However, there are some restrictions that apply to all who use social network content.

The British Journal of Photography in a recent article concludes that publication of images on social networks does not automatically grant rights to republish photograph elsewhere.

In the end copyright law may resolve part of this issue, if the deliberations of the PCC do not.Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Web desktop targets 'cybernomads'

Many in developing world rely on computer centres

A virtual desktop aimed at users who access the web via cybercafes is attracting interest from organisations set up to bridge the digital divide

Offered by Luxembourg-based start-up Jooce, it is being billed as a way of personalising any computer.

Jooce is targeting the estimated 500 million people who log on to the internet from a cybercafe every day.

Its free web-based desktop could prove valuable for those who can't afford their own PC, said experts.

Jooce offers users the functionality they would get from their personal computer on any machine, allowing them access to files, e-mail, instant messaging, storage and other applications.

"It's a platform that will make it much easier for the world's cybernomads to manage their digital lives," said Jooce founder Stefan Surzyck.

"The one thing that has been missing is a place on the internet where these people can properly manage their online lives - their very own private space online," he said.

A public desktop - known as a Joocetop - is also available to allow friends to access and share files. A dedicated e-mail client is also in development.

Bandwidth issues

Jooce offers a personal desktop on any computer

Eloisa San Mateo is a regional IT coordinator for the Philippines National Computer Centres - government-sponsored cybercafes set up to provide net access for those in remote areas.

She sees potential for Jooce as a storage device for those who use the centres but has some concerns.

"It seems to require a lot of memory and while the performance of Jooce on high-end computers is very good, when it is run on lower spec machines with poor bandwidth it takes too long," she said.

She is currently running workshops to give locals a feel for the system and is looking to install it on machines over the next six months.

Meddia Mayanja is a senior program officer of Telecentre.org, an organisation that offers advice to telecentres in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He sees new technologies such as Jooce as crucial if publicly-funded net access centres are going to remain relevant and useful to the audience they intend to serve.

"It is one of many applications that add value to users," he said.

Jooce is also working with the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) to bolster its telecentre programme - a network of cyber kiosks across the developing world.

In India, it is partnering with charity Mission 2007 and ISP Tatatel to support their digital divide activities.

It is also seeing big interest from China.

Heavy-weight backer

Jooce is one of many companies which offer so-called web-based operating systems.

Companies such as Global Hosted Operating System (g.ho.st), desktoptwo and startforce also offer net-based desktops allowing users to access files and applications from any browser.

Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with JupiterResearch, believes the concept of a web OS is a misleading one.

"WebOS is a buzzword but it has little that technically represents an operating system and is more about aggregating functionality," he said.

"It is a crowded market but it is interesting that people are more and more looking to have their digital personas linked into online universes," he said.

Jooce has been in public beta testing for one month and in its first week of operation had 60,000 sign up for a free account.

It has a heavy-weight backer in the form of Mangrove - the venture capital firm that provided the initial funding for voice-over-IP platform Skype.

Online technology news site CNET.com has nominated Jooce as a finalist in its 2008 Webware 100 awards.Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Legal aid for whistle-blower site

Whistle-blowing site Wikileaks is getting legal help to fight an attempt to keep it offline.

Freedom of speech and digital rights groups plan to argue on its behalf at a legal hearing on 29 February.

The hearing will decide whether to continue a court order that removed links to some of the Wikileaks sites from the net's address books.

The order was sought by Swiss bank Julius Baer after internal documents were placed on Wikileaks.

Speech test

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are planning to "intervene" for Wikileaks at the continuation hearing.

The rights groups claim the order that knocked Wikileaks offline in the US raises "serious First Amendment concerns".

"Blocking access to the entire site in response to a few documents posted there completely disregards the public's right to know," said ACLU attorney Ann Brick in a statement.

The order granted for Julius Baer by US district judge Jeffrey White ordered Dynadot - the company that hosts the Wikileaks website in America - to remove all mentions of the site from its address books.

Anyone in the US trying to find Wikileaks would have to consult this address list to find the website.

The bank took the action in mid-February because, it is understood, the documents hosted could have had an impact on a separate case being heard in Switzerland.

Julius Baer said the case had nothing to do with free speech.

"This action has been brought solely to prevent the unlawful dissemination of stolen bank records and personal account information of its customers," lawyers for the bank wrote in court papers.

"Many of those documents have also been altered and forged," said the legal filing.

However, the attempt to get the documents removed spurred many other sites to host them and Wikileaks' sites in other countries were largely unaffected by the ruling.

The US site itself was also reachable by those that knew its numerical net address rather than just its English name.

In total, 18 organisations have pledged support for Wikileaks in documents filed to the US court that will hear the legal argument.Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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EU extends net safety programme

The Safer Internet programme educates children about net dangers

The European Commission is spending 55m euros (42m) on making the net a safer place for children.Action plan

Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Browsers go head-to-head

The top two browsing programs of net users got a big update this month as Microsoft released Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) and Mozilla unleashed Firefox 2.0. Here we take a quick spin through some of the features to be seen in the new versions.

Microsoft's IE7 program is the beefier of the two browsers with the download package weighing in at 14.8 megabytes (MB). By contrast Firefox is a svelte 5.4MB. However, neither should tax a broadband connection.

Differences start to show up once the software is downloaded. Once it is done installing, IE7 demands a re-start before you can use it. Firefox installs without that need. It's a minor difference and a minor inconvenience for those that choose Internet Explorer.

Both take about the same amount of time to install and get started-up but once they are running more subtle differences start to become apparent.

At first glance Firefox 2.0 looks more familiar as its main page layout hardly differs from earlier versions.

But IE7 does look changed because, for a start, the grey menu bar is hidden. It can be resurrected by hitting the "alt" key but you might be surprised by how much you need to call on it when you can't find it.

Hidden information

With IE7 Microsoft has brought tabs to its browser but both deal with them in slightly different ways.

With IE7 a blank tab is always available but with Firefox the new tab only appears, and takes up some screen space, when you open one up.

IE7 has a neat feature that lets you see thumbnails of all of the tabs you have open at any one time, letting you leap to the one you need with a click.

However, it seems to take a moment longer than Firefox 2.0 to close tabs when you are done with them.

Opening up quite a few webpages in each browser shows up another quirk. Firefox 2.0 seems to do a better job of using the text that webpages use to describe themselves.

Often in IE7, the only information you get about a webpage you have open but hidden on the bottom taskbar is "http://" - the rest of the title is obscured.

Again, a minor difference and a minor niggle.

Searching a webpage is still more elegant in Firefox 2.0 than IE7.

Calling up the search function in Firefox prompts the appearance of a text box tied to the bottom of the page and typing your search term in that takes you to the first appearance of that word or phrase on the page - provided it is there, of course.

In IE searching calls up a floating box in which you have to type your text and then click or hit a key to find the term or phrase.

Feeding frenzy

One of the very useful inclusions in Firefox 2.0 is a live spell checker that watches over your metaphorical shoulder as you type text into any field on any webpage. It is possible to add a similar function to IE7 but only via an add-on.

It will be interesting to see how many people download and install it.

When it comes to RSS - the system that feeds updates of webpages to those interested - Firefox 2.0 does a slightly better job of making it easy to subscribe to new feeds.

With only a click it was possible to add a feed to popular blog-following sites such as Bloglines to IE7 and Firefox

Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 also benefit from thousands of plug-ins, or add-ons - that can be installed to add more functionality to the browser.

These range from RSS readers to Instant Messaging clients, Voice over IP programs, and mini iTunes controls - all accessed from inside the web browser page.

Finally, both IE7 and Firefox 2.0 have introduced systems that warn users when they are about to visit a site that is known to be used by phishing gangs. These pages are made to look like that of a bank to trick people into handing over confidential information.

Firefox handles this by updating a locally held list of known phishing sites every time you use the browser.

Microsoft's IE7 checks in via the web to make sure a site is safe to visit. In the short tests run by the BBC news website, IE7 occasionally took longer to load a page as it carried out a check to see if it was a phishing site.

Despite these minor differences, Firefox 2.0 and IE7 are now broadly comparable - something that could not be said of IE6 and Firefox. But it will be up to users to choose which one best meets their needs.Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Web icon set to be discontinued

Netscape lost ground to Microsoft's internet Explorer

The browser that helped kick-start the commercial web is to cease development because of lack of users.

Netscape Navigator, now owned by AOL, will no longer be supported after 1 February 2008, the company has said.

In the mid-1990s the browser was used by more than 90% of the web population, but numbers have slipped to just 0.6%.

In particular, the browser has faced competition from Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), which is now used by nearly 80% of all web users.

"While internal groups within AOL have invested a great deal of time and energy in attempting to revive Netscape Navigator, these efforts have not been successful in gaining market share from Microsoft's Internet Explorer," said Tom Drapeau on the company's blog.

Browser wars

Netscape was developed by Marc Andreessen, co-author of Mosaic, the first popular web browser.

Mosaic was written while Mr Andreessen was a student at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1992.

Firefox was created by many of the Navigator developers

After graduation he set up Netscape Communications Corporation and began development of the Navigator browser. The first version was released in 1994.

It was quickly a success and dominated the browser market in the mid-1990s.

But other companies followed its success, notably Microsoft, which bundled its Explorer software with its operating systems.

This culminated in a highly-publicised legal battle, which saw Microsoft accused of anti-competitive behaviour.

Although the settlement saw Netscape gain many concessions from Microsoft including the ability to exploit IE code, it has been unable to gain back its market share.

The demise of Navigator was compounded in 2003 when AOL, which bought Netscape in 1998, made redundant most of the staff working on new versions of the browser.

Many of the staff moved to the Mozilla Foundation which develops the popular Firefox browser. This browser has a 16% share of the browser market.

Fade away

Although a core team has continued to work on the secure browser - it is currently on version nine - AOL has decided to finally pull the plug.

"After 1 February, there will be no more active product support for Navigator nine, or any previous Netscape Navigator browser," wrote Mr Drapeau.

"We feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reins fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox," he said.

Users of the browser will no longer receive security or software updates after the date.

Old versions of the browser will still be available for download, but will no longer be supported.

Microsoft is expected to launch a new version of IE in 2008, whilst the third version of Firefox is currently available as a beta, or test version.Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Final goodbye for early web icon

Netscape's demise A web browser that gave many people their first experience of the web is set to disappear.Web window

Firefox uses the same technology as Navigator developers

Netscape is a wonderful browser, and it will be so in the future Future return?

Flock is designed to take advantage of web 2.0 sites

Texan tango 'Troops chased me' Bound for Baghdad

Source from: news.bbc.co.uk

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Review: Nikon D300 solid as a little tank

(CNET) -- When you build the follow-up to a hot camera, how do you turn up the heat? When Nikon shipped the D200 a couple of years ago, its combination of speed and photo quality blew away the limited competition, and provided a powerful, relatively inexpensive alternative to Nikon's then top-of-the-line D2X.

The D300 faces a far more crowded field. Not only does it take on its venerable and now lower-priced predecessor, but also a cluster of far-from-shabby dSLRs just at or below its price: the Canon EOS 40D, the Sony Alpha DSLR-A700, the Olympus E-3, and the Pentax K20D.

Nikon's offering a body-only box of the D300 as well as two kits: one with a DX 18mm-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF lens (27mm-202.5mm equivalent with the camera's 1.5x crop factor) and one with a DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens (27mm-300mm equivalent). I tested the latter kit, and also used the camera with two non-DX lenses: a preproduction version of the 14-24mm 2.8G ED and the 24-70mm f/2.8G ED IF.

For the most part, Nikon sticks with the tried-and-true body design and interface of the D200, with its intelligently laid out controls. The dust- and weatherproof body weighs a hair over 2 pounds, and feels as solid as a little tank.

The viewfinder is bigger and brighter, with 100 percent coverage. There are a few behaviors I'm not fond of, like the hard to manipulate metering dial (discussed in my more-detailed analysis of the design) and occasionally problematic AF-mode navigation (discussed below), but find the camera's operation comfortable and fluid. Nikon carries over the ultraflexible user-settings menus, which consists of two banks--shooting settings and custom settings--with four nameable slots each.

Though the DX-format (23.6x15.8 mm), 12-megapixel CMOS sensor is new, the D300 otherwise retains the raft of features that made the D200 so powerful, plus some high-profile enhancements. Most notably, the D300 increases to 51 AF points with 15 cross-type sensors, which contributes to the camera's new 3D-tracking 51-point Dynamic Area AF mode, and replaces the Group Dynamic AF of its predecessor. Essentially, the D300's 1,005-point 3D color matrix meter does double duty, feeding a low-resolution digitized version of the scene to the new Multi-Cam 3500DX AF module for tracking analysis. (You can see an interesting video simulation of it on YouTube.)

Based on the description (and the suggested use in the manual), the 3D tracking mode seems like an optimal solution for shooting well-defined subjects--those with strong color contrast relative to the background and which occupy a large percentage of the scene--that remain within the frame. And in shoots at a local dog run, it worked best for portrait-type situations, where it tracked the dogs' wildly moving heads while they themselves remained relatively stationary within the frame. However, for shots where the subject moves too quickly to keep in the viewfinder--as happens with most of the other dog-run shots--Nikon suggests using the 51-point dynamic AF without the 3D tracking. That works relatively well. (You can also choose 21-point or nine-point without 3D.)

Unfortunately, if you need to switch quickly between those two AF options, as I do in the aforementioned scenario, you're out of luck. There's no direct-access control and you can't assign the selection to one of the three custom buttons; the closest you can get is to add it to My Menu, or waste an entire custom setting bank for that one feature. For me, since the 51-point without 3D is the more generally useful of the two modes, the 3D tracking will just be woefully underutilized, and might as well not be there at all. And frankly, I miss the AF-group visual feedback provided by the D200.

The same goes for the D300's Live View shooting. Like the 40D, it supports autofocus, but the D300 uses the typical too-many-mirror-flips implementation that makes it far less useful than it could be. There's actually a flow chart in the manual explaining the series of steps it takes to shoot in Live View--with a tripod it can use contrast AF, which doesn't require the constant mirror flippage. It is neither complicated, nor the shooting experience one should expect.

Like Canon, Nikon has a lot invested in lens-based optical-image stabilization technology, so the D300 lacks the in-body sensor-shift stabilization that Sony, Pentax, Olympus, and Panasonic offer. That's not a big deal if you already have an investment in Nikon's VR lenses or don't really use/care about stabilization. But if you do care about it and making your first dSLR purchase, or contemplating shifting from another brand, then don't discount its importance; the fact that the two kits require a choice between VR and non-VR lenses foreshadows future lens choices you'll have to make.

Other boosts over the D200 include an upgrade to a 3-inch LCD with a 170-degree viewing angle, a stop higher on the sensitivity scale to an effective ISO 100-6,400, the addition of a 14-bit raw mode, and an HDMI connector for optimal HDTV output. Before going into production, Nikon dropped the Virtual Horizon capability (which did make it into the D3). Nice features carried over from the D200 include built-in wireless flash control; selectable 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, or 13mm center-spot for center-weighted metering; and a shutter-speed range of 1/8,000 to 30 seconds. (For a complete list of the D300's features and capabilities, check out the PDF manual.)

There's nothing to complain about with the D300's shooting speed--though it delivers average performance for its class, the D300 does belong to a pretty zippy class of cameras, and it outpaces the D200 on a few tasks. CNET Labs' tests indicate that it wakes up and shoots near instantly, in about 0.1 second. Under good, high-contrast lighting, it focuses and shoots in just under half a second, rising to 0.9 second in dimmer conditions.

Typically, it captures consecutive frames in the same half second, edging up to 0.6 second with the built-in flash enabled. And it delivers a quick 5.8 frames per second for high-speed burst shooting. (We tested without the optional battery grip, which brings the speed closer to 7fps.) Nikon traditionally delivers excellent low-light focus performance in its dSLRs, and the D300 is no exception. Even shooting a black cat sitting in the shadows of a dimly lit apartment proved no problem.

As for photo quality, the D300 delivers great results, with a visibly superior noise profile to the D200 as well as to the Sony DSLR-A700 (which uses the same sensor). At their best, photos are sharp, with excellent exposures, accurate colors, and broad tonal ranges. Flash with the SB-800 Speedlight unit especially showed off how well the metering system works, with none of the harsh, overexposed look that I frequently get on the most difficult shots. (For more details on the photo quality, click through the slide show.)

Although the lack of in-body stabilization can be a big liability for certain users, and its interface not quite as streamlined as I'd like, these negatives are more than offset by the great performance and class-leading photo quality delivered by the Nikon D300--earning it an Editors' Choice.

Source from: edition.cnn.com

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