Help mom digitize her old memories

For the woman who gave you life this Mother's Day, help her keep all her old memories with the Photograph to Digital Picture Converter from Hammacher Schlemmer. Looking a little like a small paper shredder, this device lets you feed in photographs which will then be converted into a format you can edit on a Windows PC.

We know what you are thinking--a sub-S$100 scanner can do exactly the same thing. But honestly, we don't think anyone will relish trying to teach their mom how to use a flatbed scanner and Photoshop Elements for resize and touch-ups. This solution is much simpler, even though it costs more at about US$150.

There's one caveat. We suggest you go hide or destroy those old Polaroids of yourself as a little child with your pee-pee exposed. Once your mom gets her hand on this product, you can be sure your most embarrassing moments will suddenly be available on the Internet for all to see.

Via Popgadget

Rover the photographer

Your dog Rover behaves so obediently that when you are in the house you refuse to believe your pet scratched the antique armchair or knocked over Dad's Ming dynasty vase. To prove Rover's innocence, you get the Pet's Eye View Camera and tag it to its collar.

You set the timer to snap a shot every 5 minutes, even though there is also 1- and 15- minute options available. Rover wags its tail as you leave for work. When you get back, you upload the maximum 35 pictures stored in the internal memory to your computer.

At 640 x 480 resolution, you can't make out much of the image but you know Rover drank from the toilet bowl (thank goodness the camera is water-resistant) and likes to jump from the couch (you got seven shots of that). Wait, what is this picture of a paw on the armchair?

With evidence in hand, your dad convicts Rover to 3 gruelling hours of exercise on the threadmill. As for you, your bank account is lesser by US$47.95. Thank Rover for that.

Leave the tripod at home

Some genius must have been standing along the streets and saw a group of holiday-makers desperately trying to find someone to take a picture for them when he came up with the idea for Stand Pouch.

Essentially, the Stand Pouch is just a protective camera case with a tripod connector built into the front panel. According to the demonstration video, you just have to flip the tripod connector out, screw it into the camera's base, and viola! Instant tripod. But you'll still need a flat surface to place the case on.

Typically, when you can place your camera on a flat plane to take a shot, you probably can't angle your camera. Here's where the Stand Pouch comes in handy. The tripod connector can be tilted to different angles like the usual three-legged stand.

While the Stand Pouch may not be available in Asia now, you can still get yours online from America Digital Accessories for US$12.99 in metallic grey or royal blue.

3D camera with three lenses

It's amazing what the factories in China can churn out. From budget power-packed digicams to iPhone clones, they got it all. We reported a 3D camera some time back, and now China company 3DWorld has developed a medium format 3D camera coupled with three lenses on the front.

We all know it looks like something out of Star Trek, but the 120 Tri-lens Stereo Camera is really using an old technology. It is not a digital camera (although on its Web site it mentions "high resolution") and accepts only 120mm format film. The two lenses at the bottom capture two images on one frame, each slightly skewed, while the top lens is reserved for viewing. One interesting feature about the lenses is that they are interlinked, meaning you can turn any one of the lenses to focus and the other two will follow suit.

Specifications for this camera look good, with three 80mm lenses at F2.8 and a wide range of shutter speed from Bulb mode to 1/500 second. A prism is mounted on top to let you focus on the scene and the shooter has a built-in exposure metering system.

While 3DWorld claims that this behemoth of a camera will be a "blockbuster in the worldwide stereoscopic photography", we are not so sure who will want to lug this almost 2kg beast around. If you are interested, this piece of old technology can be yours for US$1,795 at 3Dstereo.com.

One ring to snap them all

If Frodo was a photographer, he'd probably be sporting this on his finger rather than that silly ring everyone is clambering for. From a shutterbug's point of view, I think the camera ring by fred flare is a great piece of fashion accessory whether or not you are a photographer. But the fashionista said it got Ugly written all over it.

Don't get anyone wearing this ring angry though because the protruding "lens" looks like it can inflict some serious pain to whoever says "this is a fashion disaster".

For just US$10, you get to show the world how much of a photographer you are, or at least pretend to be.

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