Hasta La Gadget!

Cosina, the camera giant responsible for many rebranded cameras and lenses, along with its own Voigtländer brand, has joined the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) team. That means it will begin making lenses for the cameras from Panasonic and Olympus.

This is pretty big news. While the lens line-up for the large-sensor mirrorless cameras is growing, with even a Leica-branded lens on sale, it is doing so rather slowly. Adding Cosina to the team means that we should soon see a whole lot of interesting glass which will work fully with the cameras, and without adapters.

Not convinced? The first MFT lens from Cosina is its amazing Nokton 25mm ƒ0.95 prime, a 50mm equivalent lens which can see better in the dark than you can. It will be on sale in October for Around $1,100.

And it’s not just lenses. It’s possible that we could see a Voigtländer camera-body in the near future, too. Given that Voigtländer is a name closely associated with rangefinder cameras, which are the spiritual ancestor of the Micro Four Thirds cameras, this is pretty exciting stuff. An MFT camera with chunky metal body and all-manual knobs and dials? Yes please. Welcome aboard, Cosina!

Cosina Joins the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group [Olympus via DP Review]

Micro Four Thirds Nokton [Cosina]

See Also:

• Noktor ƒ0.95 Lens for Micro Four Thirds Cameras
• Adapter Puts Nikon and Pentax Lenses on Micro Four Thirds Cameras …
• Voigtländer Adapter Puts Leica Lenses on Micro Four Thirds Cameras …

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Well, Sony is a little late to the party on this one, two days behind Panasonic announcing six new BDXL-writing DVRs. But, the company is definitely still on the BDXL bleeding edge, announcing its own suite of six devices, ranging from 320GB to 2TB of internal storage and all but one offering dual tuners. When those tuners have filled that storage they can all write to 100GB BDXL discs, which we’ll remind you one more time are not backwards compatible with current Blu-ray players. Finally, all six of them support 3D playback, because if you’re already jumping on the BDXL bandwagon you surely have your 3D HDTV well and truly dialed in by now. Sony isn’t saying just how much these six will cost, but the premium model with 2TB of storage ships in Japan on September 25. For the rest you’ll have to wait until October 22.

Sony launches six new DVRs, all write to BDXL and play back in 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interactive designer Graham Plumb has created a stunning 3D interface that projects beams of light beaming through a transparent cube filled with water and “a specially formulated emulsion.” The effect are three-dimensional structures constructed out of pure light that he dubs the Reactive Cube (click through for video of them in action).

Like music or fashion, new tech ideas often start as some high-minded proof-of-concept exercise. While not meant for the consumption of the masses, the ideas filter down into everyday use: think Apple’s transparent and translucent iMacs of the early aughts. While this particular interface may never find its way into personal computers or mobile phones anytime soon, it seems like it could be tweaked and fiddled to perform public display duties. Imagine a mall fountain with glowing ads swimming around, or a three-dimensional interactive map encased in a cube in a museum foyer.

via Make

Remember the McFly 2015s, the Official Shoes of Gadget Lab? They were a fairly faithful rendition of Marty McFly’s amazing self-lacing sneakers from Back to the Future 2, forced to the market by the tireless work of the Maloof brothers who spent years badgering Nike into making them.

They looked great, but lacked the flashing lights and auto-lacing functions of the “real” thing. Now, Nike has actually patented a self-lacing sneaker. This, you are no doubt just realizing, is completely frickin’ amazing: It’s entirely possibly that these shoes could actually be in stores in the year 2015, just like in the movie. This would be a weird, time-warping paradox so perfectly mimicking those in the Back to the Future movies that the world might possibly end.

That Nike has filed a patent for these things is mind-bending enough, but pretty much everything has made it in. The shoes will of course fasten themselves, but there are also LEDs a-glowing and a detailed breakdown of the batteries, circuits and control-systems. There is even a charging stand.

One problem Nike might have to face, though, is the existence of prior-art. Not only did the sneakers already show up in the movie, but just last month we saw that an enterprising hacker had made his own self-lacing shoes.

McFly 2015 patent application [WIPO via Nice KicksThakns, Matt!]

See Also:

• Great Scott! The 2015 McFly Sneakers Are Now (Somewhat) Real …
• McFly 2015 Competition Announced
• McFly 2015 Update: Kanye West Digs Our Favorite Sneakers
• Gallery: Hands-On With Nike's Hyperdunk 2015s
• Nike Hyperdunks Make Disappointing Debut, Still No McFly

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Ergomotion’s new wrist-friendly mouse is little more than a symmetrical, two-button laser-mouse with a scroll wheel, but one single tweak to traditional mouse-design should make it a lot more comfortable to use. The mouse is in two parts, a top that looks just like any commodity mouse from the dime-store and a bottom part that sits on the table and contains the lasery bits. These two sections are joined at a central pivot, letting the top rotate, pitch and roll.

This, we are assured by inventor Dr. Jack Atzman, stops RSI and carpal-tunnel injuries because it doesn’t force your hand into a stiff, unnatural position. I have pretty much given up on mice in favor of touch-screens, trackpads and tablets, partially because of the discomfort they cause. I’m not going back anytime soon, but for those with stiff wrists and a rodent addiction this may be a solution.

Otherwise, nothing about this mouse will surprise you, not even the price. The Ergomotion mouse costs a reassuringly dull $50.

Ergomotion product page [Smartfish. thanks, Matt!]