Archives for May 2006
DIGA's trident thrust
Philip Wong | May 09, 2006
Panasonic fulfills its easy operation claim by outfitting the DMR-ES15 with super multiformat recording and playback features. Out-of-the-box compatibility includes all +/-R formats available in the market inclusive of the latest Dual-Layer, while 1-second quick-start recording and task-based navigation menus round up the user-friendly functions of this new model.
On top of the promising two-time LP mode recording capability, playback performance is beefed up with a pair of high-performance digital-to-analog converters (DAC). Expect better pictures and pristine audio with the onboard 12bit/108MHz video and 24bit/192Khz audio DACs.
Filling in the shoe of networking is the EMR-ES15's DV terminal for videocams. This is enhanced with automated recording and playlist creation designed to simplify video transfer plus easy retrieval and editing.
The new DMR-ES15 is now available for sale in Singapore at S$399 (US$262.50).
More info here
Liquid-crystal glasses
Juniper Foo | May 09, 2006
Here's the long and the short of it. Thanks to a team of researchers in Arizona, it's bye bye soon to headache-causing bifocals, which are essentially two lenses in one that are so often disorienting to use. What lies ahead are liquid-crystal eyeglasses that can automatically change focus depending on the line of sight of the wearer. In scientific terms, a layer of liquid crystal is sandwiched between two layers of glass containing a circular array of transparent electrodes. The electrodes are activated by an electrical field that causes the liquid crystal to reorient within less than a second into rings, focusing light to pass through the lens in a certain way. If being four-eyed ain't your thing, there's always Lasik for the vain pots.
Via CNET News.com
Price: N.A.
Availability: Prototype
Device: Bifocals
Basic specs: N.A.
Aperture price drop
Candace Lombardi | May 08, 2006
Apple Computer has slashed the development team for Aperture, its professional image software for RAW-format work flow, the insider news Web site Think Secret has reported.
The team's engineers have been absorbed by other departments or completely let go, according to the Web site.
The move is not entirely a surprise, as the software has seen a host of problems. Software glitches, such as an initial incompatibility with Intel-based Macs, have plagued Aperture since its release.
In February, Adobe began offering a beta version of Adobe Lightroom, Aperture's chief competitor, for free. Before the Aperture 1.1 upgrade, many online-forum posts had reported that the beta version of Lightroom performed better than Apple's pricier software.
Read more
Pong Clock
Juniper Foo | May 08, 2006
This 2-in-1 clocky should appeal to old-school video gamers old enough to remember a game of Pong (cutting-edge stuff back then). Designed by Netherlands-based design studio Buro Vormkrijgers, the clock features a random game of Pong with the left player scoring every hour and the right player winning every minute. At midnight, the game is over. To play, you hold down the two back buttons for 2 secs, then use them to control the right paddle in a game of Pong against the clock. Depressing the two buttons again for 2 secs returns this to a clock. How neat is that?
Clock or game? You pick
Via News.com blog
Price: 199 euros (US$240)
Availability: Too bad, it's out of stock, with a limited number sold on eBay
Device: Clock
Basic specs: Licensed by Atari, two buttons to either adjust time to your local settings, or play a game of Pong, 220 and 110 volts compliant, 180 x 120 x 30mm, 500g, comes in a smoked pmma casing with laser-engraved logo, autograph and serial number on the back side
It's all about the math
Damian Koh | May 05, 2006
We're really getting tired of all the math but an interesting thought came up when it was reported that Michael Cohen, a scientist at Microsoft Research, tried this summer to create a photo with 10 billion pixels. Do we even have 10 billion hairs on our body?
It's a little hard to swallow, but according to Cohen, you'll need at least 1,000 10-megapixel frames to form a 10-gigapixel picture. We're speculating these images would be used for commercial purposes which require Internet mapping and high-resolution photography services. Otherwise, the end picture aims at providing the user with a more familiar angle view compared with rooftop shots taken by satellites.
"The technique involves taking several hundred pictures with a standard digital camera, stitching the photos together and then compensating for changes in the position of the sun, the movement of clouds and other environmental factors during the time it took to take all of the photos", wrote Michael Kanellos from CNET News.com
You can even go one step further by weaving several gigapixel shots captured from different angles to create a three-dimensional photograph. Move aside, Google Earth.
Now before you decide to plonk the cash for Casio's 10.1-megapixel Exilim EX-Z1000, you may also want to know that pictures are taken with the camera mounted on a motorized rig and a computer controls the angle of the rig and the shooter.
Microsoft pictures a 10-gigapixel photo.
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