Hasta La Gadget!

Not to be outdone by GE and its onslaught of ordinariness, AgfaPhoto has now rolled out seven new compact cameras of its own on the eve of PMA, which range from the most basic of point-and-shoots to a ruggedized, underwater cam. Arguably the most interesting of the lot are the OPTIMA 1438m (pictured above), 1338mT, and 8328m, which boast between 8 and 10 megapixels, 3x and 4x optical zooms, and a 32mm wide-angle lens on the 1438,, which also packs an all-metal body and a more than reasonable $210 price tag. Rounding out the offerings are the sub-$100 sensor 830S and 530S, the HD video-capable DV-5580Z, and the rugged OPTIMA 830UW, which will work up to ten meters underwater, operate in temperatures of -5°C, and survive a fall from up to one meter (it runs $350). Looking for more? Then dive into the links below for the complete rundown and plenty of pics.

Read – PhotographyBlog, “AgfaPhoto OPTIMA 1438m, 1338mT, 8328m”
Read – PhotographyBlog, “AgfaPhoto DV-5580Z”
Read – PhotographyBlog, “AgfaPhoto sensor 830s and 530s”
Read – PhotographyBlog, “AgfaPhoto OPTIMA 830UW”

Filed under: Digital Cameras

AgfaPhoto debuts seven new cameras of varying compactness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The upcoming Touch Book from start-up Always Innovating will be the first netbook that detaches its screen from the keyboard in order to create a standalone touch screen tablet.

Whether that versatility will make it a top must-get gadget is up in the air. After all, many available tablet laptops (Fujitsu makes the best ones), are able to switch between tablet and laptop form with the help of a simple twisting hinge between the keyboard and the screen. And Asus displayed its own version of the ‘flip-style’ tablet netbooks at last January’s CES show.

But the Touch Book, with its versatile design, appears to make good on previous failed promises by gadget-makers to physically transform for different feature applications. One example of this is that the netbook/tablet is magnetized and is light enough to stick on the fridge as a kitchen computer, or you can just use it to watch a movie on your lap without getting weighed down by an extra keyboard.

Almost always, we find it’s the user who needs to adjust work/play habits to accommodate the physical limitations of gadgets.

The netbook tablet, previewed at this week’s DEMO 09 conference in Palm Desert, is also aiming to be the first notebook to come out with an ARM processor (from Texas Instruments), which has promised to boost the battery and processing performance of all netbooks. Always Innovating is claiming the Touch Book will have a battery life up to 15 hours due to this chip. Brian earlier talked about the further implication of ARM processors right here, including always-on booting. 

The Touch Book will also have plenty of open source features, and will come with a 3-dimensional accelerometer, a 1024 x 600 8.9-inch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and perhaps most surprisingly (and limiting), only 8GB of storage, provided in microSD form. This means that this could be a great portable travel device, but you’d be bothered by the endless accounting of cards for your travel gadgets.

As for the OS, it’s a custom Linux that works like a regular system when using the keyboard but switches to a touch-screen interface, presumably increasing the desk icons and focusing on media features. 

According to Always Innovating, the Touch Book will be available in the next few months for $300 for the tablet only, and for $400 for the rig with the keyboard. Check out a video from Always Innovating CEO Gregoire Gentil showing the tablet after the jump.

—

Photos: Always Innovating, Rafe Needleman/CNET

The Sony ICF-C414 alarm clock.

(Credit: Sony)

With so many of us dreaming on a budget these days, it makes sense that Sony’s latest Dream Machine clock radio (the ICF-C414) retails for a measly $20.

Granted, there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles to inflate the price–no …

Sony BDP-S560

(Credit: Sony)

Standalone Blu-ray players have finally started catching up to the Sony PlayStation 3 for Blu-ray playback, but Sony’s game console is still the only Blu-ray player with built-in Wi-Fi.

Luckily, that appears to be changing in 2009, with both Samsung and LG announcing wireless Blu-ray …

The Sony ZS-E5 boombox is adorable (and cheap).

The ZS-E5 boombox unveiled for Sony’s 2009 line show is a bit of an oddity. Instead of slapping on an iPod dock like most of today’s portable speaker systems, this little toadstool-esque music box keeps things simple with a CD …