A Widescreen Video Product From Microsoft

Amongst the several revolutions unleashed by the internet in our lives, is a change in lifestyle that encourages people to capture moving images and upload them on social networking sites such as Facebook, besides storing them for posterity and the grandchildren. To capitalize on this trend, Redmond, Washington-headquartered Microsoft Corporation has launched a webcam that it claims is the first such device for the PC for widescreen images.

Christened “LifeCam Cinema”, the device comes with a price tag of USd 79.95. An associated product is LifeChat LX-1000, which is a headset with audio and microphone, and costs USD 24.95.

The LifeCam Cinema can be used in common indoor settings where there is insufficient light. Working with a native 720p sensor, the webcam delivers widescreen video capture at 16:9 ratio. The product comes with software that smoothens the video across the frames by reducing image graininess and noise. The widescreen property makes it possible for an angle of capture that extends up to 74 degrees.

Microsoft’s Windows Live software has been upgraded to handle files generated from LifeCam. The Movie Maker that comes with Windows Live can support the HD images that LifeCam produces.
Read more about the new camera gizmo launched by Microsoft, here.

Apple Introduces New Version Of iPhone

Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple Inc has announced the release of its latest version of the iPhone mobile device, christened iPhone 3G S.

The product is priced at USD 199 for the 16GB model, and at USD 299 for the 32GB model. The earlier model (without the “S” suffix) is now available at USD 99 for the 8GB model.

More notable features of this device include 3 megapixel autofocus camera, video recording capability, hands-free voice control. The 3G S comes incorporated with iPhone OS 3.0, which comes very close to the desktop OS in its features such as Cut/ Copy/ Paste.

The device deploys the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for 3D graphics, and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for networking speeds.

The autofocus camera also has a “tap to focus” feature, with which users can readjust the focus and exposure on one particular object or area of interest on the display by simply touching it. Video clips, once captured in the phone, can be trimmed appropriately, and then emailed or MMSed. The voice control feature has built-in microphone through which appropriate voice commands can be issued, which can then automatically activate the dialing of the corresponding number, or playing a desired music.

Read about the latest offering in mobile technology from Apple, here.

Nikon D5000

Nikon is now targeting more amateur DSLR users with it’s new D5000 which is a new low end camera for them. It is currently available for preorder at Amazon and includes many features and capabilities of its pro counterparts. The Camera has Video capabilities just like the Nikon D90 and Canon 5D Mark II Just don’t expect as good results.

The Camera is based on a 12.3 Megapixel CMOS Sensor with a built in Dust reduction system. The camera has kind of a Sony style rear screen that rotates 180’ and moves down 90’. It’s a 2.7” 230K dot screen. The EXPEED processor quickly moves through images at 4FPS and allows for an ISO of 6400.

As I mentioned it does include Video Capability, which allows for up to 720P Video in the AVI format and of course if it has video it has to have live view. The viewfinder sports 95% frame coverage and AF has 11 points, which is actually pretty good for an entry/Mid-range level camera.

I have to say this camera is really impressive and includes a lot for an entry-level/Mid-range body. The body ships with an 18-55 VR lens like the Nikon D60, which is a pretty good starter lens, but if you want better image quality you’re going to have to fork out more money for a better one. Now is a great time to get a new DSLR as everyone’s pretty competitive these days.

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

Looks like everyone is bringing out new DSLR’s these days first Nikon and now canon. These cameras’ are both competitors and are Entry/mid-range cameras. The Canon comes with a higher resolution 15.1 Megapixel CMOS vs. the 12.3 of the Nikon. They both include video with the Canon coming with a full HD or 1080P vs. the Nikons 720P. The Canon also comes with a slightly larger screen at 3” it doesn’t however flip down like the Nikon.

The Screen as mentioned is bigger but it also has 920K dots that is very high resolution and is also antiglare which should make outdoor view much easier. The viewfinder is similar compared to the Nikon D5000 where they are both a 95%. The canon however only ships with 9 Autofocus points rather the 11 that Nikon comes with. The Canon also supports up to ISO 12800 that seems a bit extreme to me especially seeing that the camera is 15 Megapixels my guess is the camera gets grainy at about ISO 3200.

The features of this camera are really wonderful and the video capabilities are what surprised me the most out of anything. I wonder how they managed to implement a 1080P capable SLR on such a small sensor for such low price! That’s fantastic on Canon’s part.

Nokia Unveils Point & Find Platform

Finland-headquartered Nokia Corporation has announced the launch of a new platform, called “Point & Find”, that will bring information about any real-life object in a user’s vicinity to their fingertips; all they have to do is to point their Nokia device to the object and click on Find. The Point & Find beta version has become available in the US and UK immediately.

One instance of the usage of the new platform is that of the Nokia user pointing their camera phone at a movie poster, and the phone downloading the entire trailer of the movie, plus its reviews, as well as the address and driving map of the movie hall closest to the user where the movie is being played.

The platform is open-service, which means that other companies can build applications, campaigns, and promotional activities around the platform.

The platform uses advanced real time image processing and recognition technologies to link the user to digital content and services. The platform is also capable of recognizing bar codes, can integrate GPS positioning, and also can perform category-specific text-entry search. The action of pointing the camera and clicking on Find leads to all the phone’s capabilities being put to use to evaluate the object and search a huge database with virtually-tagged items. So all the businesses have to do now is to add their virtually-tagged items to the Nokia database and wait for customers to point their mobile phones to the object they want the consumer to buy.

Read about the latest groundbreaking technology from Nokia, here.

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