Digital Cameras
July 4, 2005 The slimmest, lightest and most compact digital movie camera in the world - that’s what Sanyo is claiming for its new ultra-compact VPC-C5 and it may well be true. Regardless it is very small and doubles as pocket-sized 5-megapixel digital camera and full-motion MPEG-4 video camera at the same time as offering built-in digital image stabilization which makes it state-of-the-art in that area and it can take digital still images while simultaneously shooting video. Though the RRP is US$699, street prices are already down to less than US$550. Users can also select real-time interpolation up to 10 megapixels which allows photos to be enlarged to "bigger than life" proportions without sacrificing image fidelity, Read More
July 2, 2005 Maybe we’ve been leading a sheltered life but when the new PT-E01 underwater case crossed the Gizmag editorial desk, we were mightily impressed. Here was a device that enabled you to take an 8 megapixel Olympus E-300 digital SLR camera safely underwater, with a range of lens ports to enable different lenses to be used, plus an entire flash set-up. Then we started looking at the market and found that although the PT-E01 underwater case system and its parts are genuine Olympus accessories, that’s about all that’s unique – the growth of the digital photography marketplace over the last few years has seen underwater casings developed for all the major digital SLR cameras on the market and underwater cases are now available for most popular pocket digital cameras and even camera phones too. The pricing at the SLR end of the digital camera range isn’t for struggling amateurs, but complete technical control can be had, even if you’re 60 metres underwater. Read More
June 16, 2005 Citizen Watch and E Ink this week demonstrated a curved clock utilising an electronic paper display(EPD), further indicating that E Ink’s electronic paper is getting ever closer to the mass market. The Citizen clock follows closely on Seiko’s showing of the world's first watch with an electronic paper display at the Baselworld Watch and Jewelry Show in April. Both designs incorporate an ultra-thin, low-power display integrated into a curved face but the most compelling aspect of electronic paper displays is their legibility – the reason electronic paper has been developed is ease-of-use compared to traditional electronic displays and computer screens and hence the primary aim has been the development of ebooks which are friendlier on the eye than a computer screen’s 72 to 90 dots per inch. Read More
June 7, 2005 If you thought digital photography was big, it seems we're already in the transition to video and mobile video and here's another important milestone. With close to a billion copies downloaded, Apple's QuickTime video player has an impressive legacy of developing and supporting the latest digital media open standards and is already a popular Windows technology. Gorgeous video quality is now readily available on Windows machines thanks to the release of a preview (yes, it's free to download now) QuickTime 7 Player and QuickTime 7 Pro for Windows. QuickTime 7 utilises the superb H.264 codec solution for streaming and playback of High Definition (HD) video on the Windows platform. Apple claims QuickTime 7 will change the way users experience video on their computers, mobile phones and televisions. We agree. get it while it's hot (and free). Read More
June 7, 2005 It had to happen one day but we didn’t quite expect it so soon. The digital imaging revolution took another leap forward today with the introduction of the CVS One-Time-Use Video Camcorder -- the world's first disposable digital video camera. For US$30, the CVS camcorder records up to 20 minutes of 640x480 video and sound. The video camcorder's 1.4-inch colour playback screen lets consumers instantly enjoy their home videos and even delete unwanted segments with the press of a button. Once finished shooting, consumers simply return the video camera to their local CVS/pharmacy store and get a DVD to view and share the same day. Video camera processing, that is, burning the DVD for you, costs US$12.99. Read More
June 4, 2005 Korean company Samsung certainly is making a name for itself by announcing category busting numbers in almost every marketplace it tackles and the digital camera market appears set for the same treatment. Last week in China at the 8th Annual China International Photo and Electronic Imaging, Machinery and Technology Fair in Beijing Samsung showed the Pro815 Digimax and in all the key numbers the camera stacks up better than all the currently announced competition. It has a massive 3.5 inch LCD screen on the back, takes an eight megapixel image, has “the world's largest-capacity 1900mAh, 7.4V lithium-ion battery” and most significantly of all, it has an optical 15 times zoom. In 35mm terms, that’s a 28mm to 429mm zoom lens which is the biggest so far offered on a digital camera and one which offers wide angle through significant telephoto. Speculation suggests that as the lens is manufactured by Schneider-KREUZNACH, it’ll soon be available on other cameras Read More
May 26, 2005 Philips 3D Solutions showcased two new 3D technologies this week at the International Display Symposium that could play an important role in the evolution of mobile phone and mobile billboard displays. The first is an LCD monitor that enables 3D to be seen by several people at different angles in front of the screen without the need for special viewing glasses. This technology will find applications in retail stores, shopping centres, airports and indoor events. The second is a display signal processing chip for mobile phones that enables 3D to be rendered in real time with low power consumption. Read More
April 18, 2005 The digital camera market continues to grow at an astonishing rate and the major competitors continuing to shoehorn new features into new cameras at an ever more affordable price – one example of just how far we have come in such a short period of time is the Panasonic FZ5, a camera we recently spent some time with. The 5.0-megapixel FZ5 LUMIX has a 12 times zoom lens – that’s equivalent to a zoom lens on a traditional camera having a ranbge from 36mm to 432mm. As it is TINY, and weighs 320 games with battery and memory card included, Panasonic has also included an Optical Image Stabilizer to compensate for handshake. The result is a camera that’s more than good enough for professional quality imagery – at a street price under US$450. Read More
April 16, 2005 Wacom has announced its first pen tablet to incorporate Bluetooth wireless technology will be a member of Graphire pen tablet family. Mobile office workers, educators and aspiring digital artists will also appreciate the new device and the ability to work where and when they want. The new model, named Graphire Bluetooth, incorporates Wacom's cordless, battery-free pen and mouse and is available immediately, offering a 6" x 8" active area and is priced at US$249.99. Read More
April 9, 2005: One of the factors inhibiting the mass adoption of zoom lenses in mobile phones is the size and cost of a mechanical zoom. Though Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Casio et al continue to astound us with their ability to further reduce the size of their products, the next major breakthrough in zoom lens miniaturisation will be electrowetting , a technology that enables multiple liquid lenses to combine into a zoom lens, offering significant reductions in size, cost, weight and power consumption. Read More
