A word of caution. If you don’t want to end up hating your current dSLR camera, read no further. Nikon’s 16-megapixel beast of a camera, the D7000, has landed. As soon as you pull it out of the box, you realise this is one serious camera — it weighs in at almost 700g without a battery, card or lens, and measures 5.2in x 4.1in x 3in — the sort of dimensions that need real commitment to lug around. The magnesium alloy top and back covers add an extra bit of durability not normally seen in prosumer-grade SLRs. With the second LCD readout display on the top and a 3-in 921000-pixel LCD, the D7000 looks a cut above the current crop of mid-range, all-black dSLRs on the market.

But the real reason I tagged the D7000 with the ‘beast’ moniker isn’t its weight. It’s the internals it packs in its somewhat portly frame. The D7000 uses a 16.2-megapixel APS-C size sensor, the largest sensor in a Nikon camera short of the full-frame professional grade cameras.

The sensor comes with a massive 39-point autofocus system — it detects and tracks the subject precisely with 39 focus points — and Nikon’s ultra-fast EXPEED 2 image processor. All of this translates into really fast autofocus and shutter res-ponse, making even the previous generation of comparable Nikon cameras feel outdated.

Video capabilities are much improved too, with 1080p (24 frames per second) and 720p 30fps video options — however the focus tracking in video is a tad slow. Serious shooters will love the dual high- capacity SD card slots and six images per second continuous burst mode upto 100 shots. Response time is blazing fast even when you’re shooting uncompressed (RAW) images, and even when shooting bursts of 10 to 20 images, the camera barely seemed to breathe hard doing it.

The D7000’s pure performance could have come to naught if the images hadn’t been exceptional but the camera doesn’t disappoint, and image quality and colour reproduction was the best I’ve seen, and the level of detail was terrific. Shooting with this camera over a week, you realise just why the model has been so popular internationally since its release, despite the pricing. If you’re a Nikon owner with a hankering for top-notch image results but are forgiving towards video, this is the camera you’d want to spend your money on…

• Rating: 9/10

• Price: Rs 89,950 (with AF-S 18-105mm VR Kit Lens); Rs 74,450 (body only)

• URL: http://bit.ly/gFnjNJ

Smart storage

Hard disks and home storage are a dime-a-dozen but most folks still find it an uphill task getting all this storage available on their home networks and to all their devices. The premise behind the FreeAgent GoFlex Home Network Storage System is that it plugs into your wireless router and lets you wirelessly back-up, store and access files on all of the computers in your home — whether they are Macs or PCs.

Setting up the GoFlex Home Network Storage System is a cinch — all you need to do is plug the device into an AC Adapter and then connect the included ethernet cable from the FreeAgent GoFlex Home Network Storage System into a port on your wireless router. Run the GoFlex Home Installer software on the included disc to detect the storage on your network, and you’re ready to go. For Mac users, it’s handy to note that the storage device readily integrates into your Mac’s Time Machine backup software.

From there on, you can choose a complex variety of options to share the files — share with your friends or stream to your other media consoles, password protect the contents etc. Plus it has one more trick up its sleeve — there is a USB port for connecting a USB printer to it for sharing a printer with all the computers on your network, or for adding an external USB drive (over and above the system’s built in drive). The price is a mild deterrent but the convenience of a ready-to-use network attached storage makes it worth it.

• Rating: 8/10

• Price: Rs 8,000 (1TB), Rs 12,000 (2TB)

• URL: http://bit.ly/gMNFRL' http://bit.ly/gMNFRL

Browser boost

From the folks that make browsers for every device conceivable, a Mobile App Store was only a matter of time. Opera has launched the Opera Mobile Store to allow the more than 100 million users who use an Opera browser on their mobile phones to get access to free and paid applications, customised to your mobile operating system and make/model of phone. Available for Java, Symbian, BlackBerry and Android operating systems, the storefront experience is customised to each user’s phone, providing a tailored catalogue based on the phone’s operating system, local language and currency.

• Price: free

• URL: http://bit.ly/fbIT1k' http://bit.ly/fbIT1k

Control freak

Shouldn’t universal remotes truly be… universal? If you’re tired of jumping hoops looking for the perfect remote, look at the Peel. You get an infra-red blaster which easily attaches onto your iPhone or iPod, and an app which runs on your device. Together they can control a massive number of TVs, media players and the like. The iPod/iPhone also plugs into TV channel databases (if available) and serves up a programme guide on your device as well.

• Price: $99

• URL: http://bit.ly/f725Qm