Hasta La Gadget!

There’s a rumor afoot suggesting that Canon will be ditching CCD and adopting CMOS chips for a new pro-level camcorder. Digital cameras and camcorders never been so indistinguishable.

If the rumor is true, Canon will be adopting sub-35mm dSLR sensors (APS-C sized CMOS, or what you see in entry level dSLRs like the Rebel) into their elite camcorders. It’s not a completely new idea. The Red One has long used a CMOS chip to record 4k video, and Canon makes use of a CMOS in the $1000ish Vixia. But with Canon choosing CMOS for a pro-level camcorder, it pretty much means that CCD (the preferred video chip format of the last several decades) is dead. (Once we saw dSLRs shooting 1080p, we knew this day wasn’t far off.) As for the mystery cam itself:

The sub-$8,000 camcorder is said to resemble the XL-H1 (above), accepting EOS lenses and featuring a 12.1MP CMOS that can film 1080p video at 60fps/120hz—that’s MPEG4 encoded at a max rate of 56Mbps. We’re not sure how the camera will record this much data though the Red One offers CompactFlash, RAID and SSD options. There’s also word of a 12bit video RAW format that will require a $4,000ish IO box providing SDI and USB 3 output.

And for the first time in some time, Canon’s prosumer camcorders are exciting again. [canonrumors]

This Apple Netbook is most likely fake–but it's fun to dream.

(Credit: 9to5mac.com)

When it comes to anything Apple–and especially anything Mac Netbook-related–you can blog virtually anything and get a huge response from readers.

Well, Monday’s Apple Netbook entry comes to us from a Russian magazine that printed up what’s almost assuredly fake concept art for a MacBook mini (it’s not quite April Fool’s Day, but we’re close). What’s amusing is that it all looks pretty real on the surface, with a price tag ($899), a release date (sometime this year), and detailed specs that have some folks drooling:

• 10.4-inch WXGA display
• 1280×768-pixel resolution with LED backlighting
• Nvidia MCP79 chipset
• Intel Atom Z740 1.83GHz CPU with 1MB L2 cache
• 2GB DDR3-800 memory
• Nvidia GeForce 9400M GPU
• 64GB solid-state drive
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR connectivity
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n connectivity
• 1 USB 2.0 socket
• 1 Mini Display Port
• Lithium ion 5100mA battery

Looks too good to be true. Or does it?

9to5 via Gizmodo.

See another photo after the jump.
…

While we can only assume that “kitchen-safe” means that it won’t melt when tossed accidentally in the oven nor be fazed by splattering hot grease, we’d still exercise a good deal of caution when reading off of the Demy digital recipe reader. Crafted by Key Ingredient, this here device packs a sealed 7-inch display, storage for up to 2,500 recipes and USB connectivity for syncing with your PC. Furthermore, it provides three kitchen timers, a measurement conversion calculator and an ingredient substitution dictionary to get cooks out of a pinch if they are one special ingredient short. Currently, the device is listed as “shipping soon” from Amazon, though we’d probably start scrounging up those three Benjamins if you hope to own one free and clear whenever “soon” turns to “now.”

[Via PopGadget]

Filed under: Displays, Household

Kitchen-safe Demy recipe reader could revolutionize your cooking originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Take it for what it’s worth, but Smarthouse has it on authority that Sony Computer Entertainment is gearing up to make a worldwide announcement tomorrow, and believe it or not, it could involve the PlayStation 3. Analysts (and patient consumers) have been anticipating a PS3 price drop ever since, oh, December 26th of last year, but we’ve seen absolutely zero evidence to make us believe that one is coming within the next 24 hours. And as Joystiq points out, each Sony region sets its own PS3 price independently. At any rate, we reckon a joint PS2 / PS3 price slashing could be on the table, but we’d highly recommend not getting your hopes up too high. Who knows — we could be getting all worked up over a new firmware that unlocks HD DVD support.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Global Sony announcement rumored for tomorrow, unicorns practically a lock originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Price cut coming: maybe–maybe not.

(Credit: Sony)

The rumors are flying about a possible big Sony PlayStation announcement for tomorrow. The only problem is no one is sure what the announcement involves, with speculation running from a PS3 price drop to a PS2 price drop to something about God of

…