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JVC's Super LoLux analog CCTV cameras let you see in the dark
By Alan Brandon
20:46 November 18, 2009 PST
JVC has announced four new analog high-res CCTV cameras that it claims can produce accurate colors under extremely low light conditions. The new surveillance cams feature the company’s Super LoLux technology for sensitivity as low as 0.05 lux in color mode and 0.006 lux in black-and-white mode. JVC also claims these models use 40% less power making them more eco-friendly and cheaper to operate. Read More
Preschooler’s digital camera: sophisticated features in a kid-sized package
By Jude Garvey
22:58 November 17, 2009 PST
I’d love to be a kid again. Seriously. The technology age has delivered children all manner of sophisticated toys and games, think Nintendo, Playstation and Wii ... just to name a few. Now, they even have a variety of mini digital cameras to choose from, including the Kid Tough camera and the Preschooler’s digital camera. The Preschooler’s camera is a kid-tough unit that is suitably sized for small hands, can take photographs and video, and has a fixed-focus lens - so kids simply line up their shot and press a button. Read More
The Vega touchscreen tablet from ICD
By Paul Ridden
14:21 November 17, 2009 PST
Innovative Converged Devices (ICD) has unveiled its new Vega 15 inch touchscreen tablet, an Android-powered communication and media device that features wireless 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity, a Tegra combined application and graphics processor from NVIDIA, an ambient light sensor and accelerometer. Read More
ZMS-08: world's first Blu-ray quality media processor for handheld devices
By Paul Ridden
19:05 November 11, 2009 PST
With the development of the ZMS-08 system on a chip, ZiiLabs is aiming to bring high performance media processing to low power devices. As well as allowing full Blu-ray quality 1080p video playback, the chip supports simultaneous HD encode and decode, 3D and 2D image processing and advanced audio. Read More
iSteady Shot takes the shakes out of iPhone video
By Jeff Salton
02:53 November 11, 2009 PST
Is your iPhone movie-making prowess giving your viewers motion sickness? Are your carefully planned, in-your-face action sequences of your friends’ skateboarding accidents, or grandma’s 80th birthday party antics not making it to Funniest Home Videos because of your inability to hold your iPhone still while you capture potential money-making footage. Fear not! If what the manufacturers say is true, the iSteady Shot camera stabilizer will soon have you cashing in. For roughly US$100, you can attach you iPhone or iPod nano to device and have your very own Hollywood-style “steady-cam” – check the video below to see what a difference the iSteady Shot makes to everyday filming. Read More
Software to detect objects inside videos
By Jeff Salton
23:57 November 3, 2009 PST
Researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) are developing software that would enable computers to perform video analysis tasks, such as alerting emergency services if a video surveillance camera detects a person falling and not getting up. The software could also be used to search inside videos and look for certain objects, such as basketballs or footballs, hence reducing the time taken to locate a certain game or scene. Read More
Portable power - the Bose SoundDock 10 digital music system
By Mick Webb
17:55 October 26, 2009 PDT
As the number of music-lovers who find their collections bundled snugly into the confines of an iPod continues to grow, so too does the number of increasingly more powerful docking stations that appear on the market to play those tunes aloud. One of the latest additions to the party, the SoundDock 10, comes with a promise from Bose that it delivers quality sound from a minimalist package. The SoundDock 10 features a newly-designed subwoofer, audio input and video output as well as optional Bluetooth capability. Read More
Canon bounces back with the EOS 1D Mark IV
By Paul Ridden
16:21 October 21, 2009 PDT
Canon didn't allow Nikon to enjoy the limelight for too long after all, announcing the forthcoming release of its new EOS 1D Mark IV professional D-SLR camera before the fanfare that accompanied Nikon's D3S had even died down. As well as slightly improving the huge ISO range of the D3S, Canon looks to have seized the opportunity to further raise the standard a little by opting for a 16.1 Mp sensor and 1080p high definition video. Read More
Nikon D3S DSLR - fast autofocus, HD video and six figure ISO sensitivity
By Paul Ridden
10:30 October 16, 2009 PDT
Nikon seems to have once again raised the professional digital photography bar with details emerging of the upcoming D3S DSLR. Rather than try to wow with megapixels, the company hopes that excellent noise reduction and a huge ISO sensitivity range will better serve its customers. The new camera also boasts low light capable HD video, fast and accurate autofocus, a burst frame rate of 9fps and in-camera RAW image editing. Read More
CyberLink TrueTheater Enhancer gives YouTube videos a spit and polish
By Darren Quick
01:10 October 16, 2009 PDT
I’ve always considered YouTube an example of “two steps forward, one step back.” Although it has provided a seemingly endless supply of video to keep us entertained, if not informed, it does so with often low quality video at a time when television services around the world have shifted to digital broadcasts offering improved high definition (HD) picture and sound. CyberLink is looking to bridge the divide with its TrueTheater Enhancer software that is designed to give YouTube content a spit and polish. Read More
New Flip MinoHD announced
By Paul Ridden
15:08 October 15, 2009 PDT
Of Amazon's top five selling camcorders, versions of the Flip take four of the slots. The 4Gb MinoHD holds fourth position, but things never stand still for too long in the world of gadgetry and the MinoHD has just been supercharged. The second generation model features more memory, a bigger viewing screen with better resolution and a more powerful lens. Read More
Austrian composer simulates speech using... A piano?
By Loz Blain
23:54 October 7, 2009 PDT
Remember back in the 80s when Steve Vai used to make his guitar "talk" to David Lee Roth? That video clip is here, but be warned, Roth's bare butt peeking through the holes in his leather chaps is one of the LEAST offensive things in the clip. It seems things have become more refined in the last 20-odd years. This fascinating clip shows how Austrian composer Peter Ablinger has programmed a mechanically-actuated piano to reproduce recorded human speech. And yes, you can somehow understand it. Read More
Take your iPod nano videos to a wider audience with the VideoBuddy AV out adapter
By Darren Quick
18:27 October 7, 2009 PDT
Owners of the new iPod nano 5G will no doubt be racking up hours of video footage by now and looking to inflict - I mean, share - their videos with all and sundry. While the nano’s 2.2-inch display might be ok “on the set”, nothing beats a TV to demand everyone’s attention. If you don’t have Apple TV, or don’t want to waste time turning on your computer to go through iTunes lest your audience disappear, GEAR4 have the perfect solution in the form of the VideoBuddy – a compact Audio Video (AV) kit that connects to the iPod nano dock connector and links to a TV via an RCA cable. Read More
Go live! Livestream Livepack puts a satellite truck in your backpack
By Jeff Salton
22:50 September 30, 2009 PDT
A new backpack from Livestream called the Livepack puts a broadcast TV truck on your shoulders without the weight or cumbersome dimensions – but with the same broadcast capabilities. If you get A-list invitations that put you up close and personal with celebrities, or just fancy yourself as part of the paparazzi, this is a must-have device. The Livestream Livepack crams into a backpack the hardware unit to encode and transmit HD video, a Firewire cable, and six load-balanced built-in 3G modems in order to get the highest possible available bitrate. The system even comes with a dedicated IP address to stream to your Livestream channel - you’ll be a professional roving reporter before you know it (as long as you can provide your own Firewire DV camera). Read More
BEAR-4: The first amateur HD video in (near) space
By Paul Ridden
19:30 September 30, 2009 PDT
After receiving an email from a Japanese enthusiast, a group of amateur radio high altitude balloon buffs jumped at the chance to help record the first ever non-professional near space high definition video, and maybe set a new altitude record on the way. After squeezing the HD camcorder and tracking hardware into a styrofoam box, and a couple of false starts, the 1500g high altitude, hydrogen-filled balloon was away. Read More
Creative gets in touch with ZEN X-Fi2 PMP
By Mick Webb
10:32 September 29, 2009 PDT
Creative's latest personal media player - the ZEN X-Fi2 - is the company's first full touch screen offering and features a 3” screen with a simplified navigational menu in landscape format, X-Fi sound enhancement and a TV-out connection for viewing video and photos on the big screen in a package that weighs just 75g. Read More
Smarter CCTV system to be used to recognize and prevent crime
By Jeff Salton
07:34 September 29, 2009 PDT
The negative impact surrounding terrorism, crime and anti-social behavior has resulted in an escalation in the amount of remote surveillance undertaken around the world, but especially in the UK, which, according to the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), has deployed more than 4 million CCTV cameras. Putting aside privacy issues for another article, the increase in CCTV usage has had very little success in preventing crime. The main problem seems to lie in the amount of video captured versus the amount that can be viewed and interpreted by trained staff. To overcome these shortcomings, UK researchers are investigating the use of computer technology that recognizes suspicious behavior in live Internet-enabled CCTV feeds from buses and trains, allowing control room staff to intervene and protect drivers and passengers from assaults, thefts and other incidents. Read More
Video: Laser/smoke microphone promises the world's most accurate sound capture
By Loz Blain
06:41 September 23, 2009 PDT
The quest for ever more realistic sound reproduction seems set to move to a whole new level. Traditional microphones convert sound to electrical signals by measuring the deflections that sound vibrations cause in a diaphragm. But each diaphragm has its own weight, inertia and resistance, which colors the sound that gets recorded. So American digital audio pioneer David Schwartz, who invented the MP3 sound format, has come up with a novel new type of microphone that virtually eliminates the microphone's mechanical interference with the sound. The laser/smoke microphone uses a laser to measure the deflections that sound makes in a steady stream of smoke - which is virtually weightless. Prepare for a new wave of high-fidelity microphone technology. Read More
OceanoCam can record hi-def videos of the ocean depths on a budget
14:54 September 20, 2009 PDT
It's often said that we know more about the depths of the Universe than the ocean floors of our own planet, but this might soon change with OceanoCam, a newly-developed cheap underwater camera for capturing high-definition video at great depths, aimed at both research community and the entertainment industry. Read More
Viewsonic announce MovieBook VDP400/500 HD PMPs
By Paul Lester
16:56 September 16, 2009 PDT
The PMP market has received a bit of a boost recently and, following our early glimpse of i-Station’s T4 HD, a rather unlikely contender in Viewsonic is looking to take a slice of a market that is traditionally dominated by rivals such as Archos and Cowon. Read More
Video: REVA unveils the NXR and NXG electric cars
By Tim Hanlon
09:29 September 16, 2009 PDT
Last week we brought news of REVA's imminent unveiling of the NXR and NXG electric cars with an emergency roadside assistance system called REVive to combat "range anxiety". Click through for the video of REVA CTO Chetan Maini (and his mother) pulling the covers off the two new cars today, at day two of the Frankfurt Motor Show. Read More
Canon VB-C500VD vandal resistant mini dome network camera has you covered
By Jeff Salton
21:30 September 15, 2009 PDT
Unfortunately for society today, there is an increasing need for quality surveillance - it’s almost mandatory that businesses incorporate security into their list of ‘must haves’. Canon’s new VB-C500VD vandal-resistant mini dome network camera is suited to a wide variety of applications where discreet high quality surveillance over a network is needed, and its wide angle lens means it’s ideal for positioning in tight places, like around ATMs, schools, lobbies, and shopping malls. If set to motion-activation mode, this PTZ (Pan, Tilt, Zoom) camera can send emails or cell phone messages instantly, and being a PoE (power over Ethernet) device, it uses a single LAN cable to power the camera and transfer video and audio data when connected to a PoE switch, saving on installation costs. Read More
Video: DivX demonstrates DivX Plus HD
By Gizmag Team
03:21 September 15, 2009 PDT
After seeing CE devices that were certified for DivX Plus HD playback at IFA 2009, wondering what exactly what DivX Plus HD was, and finding next to no information about it on the web, we decided to go straight to the source. In short, it's a bunch of nifty stuff for both high-definition content consumers and creators, but if you want to know much, much more, click through for the video of Tim Hanlon talking to DivX at IFA. Read More
Aiptek's tiny PenCam Trio HD records 720p video, 5MP stills, and audio
By Darren Quick
22:27 September 8, 2009 PDT
Looks like Aiptek is trying to put an entire movie production and screening system in people’s pockets. Complementing its new range of pocket-sized pico projectors at IFA 2009 was the PenCam Trio HD, an ultra-slim camera that boasts 1280 x 720p HD video resolution, 5MP still image resolution, and a dictaphone function for recording audio. Read More
SanDisk slot in the release of the Sansa Clip+ MP3 player
By Mick Webb
19:48 September 6, 2009 PDT
Hot on the heels of the recently released slotRadio player is the latest addition to SanDisk's ever-expanding family of personal music players, the Sansa Clip+. An update of the popular Sansa Clip, the unit boasts the inclusion of a microSD card slot, offering not only memory-expanding capabilities but compatibility with SanDisk's pre-loaded offerings. Read More
Freedom Glen
- November 25, 2009 @ 02:47 UTC
