Hasta La Gadget!

Photography Blog‘s just put up a rather exhaustive review of Canon’s PowerShot SX200 IS. If you’ve already forgotten, this little guy boasts a 12 megapixel sensor, a 12x optical zoom, and a 3-inch LCD. Among the standout features of the cam, they like the PASM creative shooting modes, and its versatile 12x zoom lens. Drawbacks for the camera include its video mode, LCD (which is a lower resolution than some rivals), and a Smart Auto Mode that leaves a little to be desired. Overall, they seem to think that the camera stacks up quite well against most of its rivals, though they did find that it feel a bit short of its main competitor, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7. There’s one more shot after the break, and hit the read link for the full on review.

Continue reading Canon PowerShot SX200 IS reviewed, deemed pretty decent

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Canon PowerShot SX200 IS reviewed, deemed pretty decent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were hoping to catch up with Microsoft’s “Lauren,” a regular gal who Microsoft surprised with $1,000 to buy a laptop…in a national commercial. And it ends up she’s an LA-based, SAG-eligible actress. UPDATE

Tracked down by TechFlash, “Lauren” (who is really Lauren De Long) says on her site “[she] booked what she thought was a “Market and Research” job regarding laptops. But that’s not all she booked…actually Lauren found out they were shooting a national commercial! Tears, laughter and excitement greeted this new development.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Microsoft test group had been assembled from “recruited prospective computer shoppers.” Shoppers are distinctly different from people looking for jobs. Regardless-

Reading through De Long’s resume, you find that her “special skills” include Cheerleading, Ear Prompter, Hula Hoop, and Stage Combat. So wait, she’s an actress AND a cheerleader AND a stage combatant, but she’s STILL not cool enough to use a Mac? No way. We just don’t buy it.

We were unable to reach Lauren De Long, but we did leave her a message mentioning one of our readers’ offers to give her a free 17-inch Apple PowerBook. When site TechFlash called, apparently De Long said she had signed an NDA restricting her from speaking about her experiences with the HP laptop.

UPDATE: Lauren De Long just returned our call. She said, “Thanks for tracking me down and everything…I’m humbled and honored by all the attention, but I’m trying to gracefully turn down any interviews.” She then confirmed that an NDA sealed her from talking about anything pertaining to the commercial (which means that our own Mitch is out of luck—Lauren can’t do any sort of Mac vs. HP value comparison). But we have good news, Mitch. A number of our readers wrote in letting us know that they’d be happy to take the laptop off your hands! [Lauren’s Site and Lauren’s Bio via TechFlash]

Ruh roh. In a move that will undoubtedly cause an incredibly raucous stir, only to fade away as movie renters realize that Netflix is still the best deal going, America’s most adored by-mail rental service is hiking the price of Blu-ray rentals once again. If you’ll recall, Netflix already implemented a $1 per month fee for Blu-ray customers back in October, and now it’s looking to push that premium higher by around 20 percent across its pricing tiers. The company asserts that the increase (slated to hit April 27th and only applicable to BD customers) is due to it buying more titles on BD to “accommodate the increasing number of Netflix members who prefer renting movies on Blu-ray.” In fact, nearly 10 percent of all Netflix customers are choosing BD now, and obviously these platters cost quite a bit more for anyone (even Netflix) to procure. Head past the break to see how big of a hardship this will be on you.

Continue reading Netflix raising rates for Blu-ray subscribers by around 20 percent

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Netflix raising rates for Blu-ray subscribers by around 20 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a pretty sketchy rumor, but we’re hearing that Canon’s working on a pro video camera based on a 12.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor similar to the one in the Rebel XSi. That makes perfect sense to us, actually — DSLRs with video capabilities like the 5D Mark II and the new Rebel T1i have definitely shaken up people’s expectations of prosumer video, and Canon’s sitting on a well-regarded camcorder division primed to pounce on a new market. According to CanonRumors, the new pro cam will look similar to the XL H1 pictured above with support for EF and EF-S lenses, sport fully manual controls as well as autofocus, and shoot 720p/30/60 and 1080p/24/30/60 to 56Mbit/s MPEG-4. Sounds pretty good, but aye, there’s a rub: word is that Canon’s DSLRs won’t ever get similar video features in order to protect this cam’s high-end $8,000 price tag — which sucks, but also makes perfect (if annoying) sense to us. It’s all rumor for now, but we’ll see how it pans out — the pro and prosumer video market are about to get crazy interesting.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Canon working on DSLR-based pro video camera? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are Dong and Eric man enough? Not likely.

(Credit: Dreamworks Pictures)

After months of speculation, we finally admit it. For some time now Dong and I been involved in a Bromance. There, I said it. Cat’s outta the bag! Judge not, lest ye be judged people. That’s a …

Originally posted at Inside CNET Labs Podcast