Hasta La Gadget!

It’s fitting that Fujifilm’s thoroughly gorgeous FinePix X100 kicked off this week’s flood of Photokina releases, and now we’ve learned a few more precious details from the outfit’s press conference. For starters, it’ll be a non-zoom apparatus, much like Olympus’ Zuiko-equipped concept that was also launched here in Köln. Fujifilm’s Adrian Clarke noted that the decision to include only a 23mm f/2 fixed lens was made in order to not make image quality compromises that are necessary when allowing for a zoom. We’re sure that’ll strike some as displeasing, but those who aren’t afraid of moving forward and back could probably care less. Furthermore, he affirmed that the company was aiming for a March 2011 ship date, with a retail price to hit near the $1,000 mark. That’s hardly affordable, but Fuji’s making no bones about this being a decidedly high-end piece.

After the presser, we were able to score some hands-on time with a pre-production model, and we have to say, this thing just feels like a thousand bucks. It’s as solid as a stone, though light packers won’t appreciate just how heavy it is. Regardless, the body exudes quality, and the grip was as comfortable as ever. Sadly, no fully functional units are present here at Photokina, but we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll see one at CES. It’s doubtful that Fuji will sell oodles of these given the limitations and price, but to the niche that’s interested, things are looking up.

Update: We just stopped by the Fujifilm booth in order to grab some video time with this guy, and sadly, the model that they had on display lacked a sensor of any kind. However, the dedicated toggle switch to flip between the OVF and EVF is a lovely touch, as were the dedicated control dials up top. Have a look yourself just beyond the break.

Continue reading Fujifilm’s FinePix X100 ships March 2011 for $1,000, we go hands-on (update: video!)

Fujifilm’s FinePix X100 ships March 2011 for $1,000, we go hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate releases a new version of the GoFlex Portable drive that comes standard with USB 3.0 and 1.5TB of storage.

The first of the portable edge lit LED TVs from VIZIO that were announced at CES is now shipping, as the 7-inch VMB070 is available at the company’s online store and Wal-mart stores everywhere. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s still a 1-inch thick, 1 pound 800×480 resolution LCD screen with edge LED lighting that can tune into 1080i or 720p ATSC broadcasts through a flip up antenna, packs a battery with a claimed 3.5 hours of life and display video from a composite input or pictures via USB. You’ll have to wait for the step-up 9- and 10-inch models if features like ATSC M/H tuning for viewing on the go or HDMI inputs are a necessity but with its $159 MSRP some cuts may be excusable to avoid running down your cellphone / laptop battery watching Slingboxed broadcasts at the tailgate party or out in the backyard on Saturdays and Sundays.

Continue reading VIZIO’s 7-inch portable VMB070 Razor LED TV now available

VIZIO’s 7-inch portable VMB070 Razor LED TV now available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continuing today’s series of rebadged Panasonic shooters, let us welcome the Leica V-Lux 2. As we noted yesterday when we spotted and photographed what was still unannounced hardware, this camera is pretty much a standard issue FZ100, only outfitted with a red dot logo and more highfalutin marketing language. Let’s not let that detract from what’s an appealing shooter, however: a 14 megapixel CMOS sensor can be brought 24 times closer to the action thanks to a superzoom lens, while an 11fps burst mode and 1080i video recording will cause a few of your DSLR-sporting buddies to look on in envy. Moreover, given the FZ100’s sterling reputation, there should be little doubt the V-Lux 2 will be a similarly pleasing piece of kit — although after seeing the £675 ($1,053) price tag for this October, we find ourselves asking a familiar question, why the massive markup, Leica?

Continue reading Leica V-Lux 2 looks like an FZ100, shoots like an FZ100, costs a lot more than an FZ100

Leica V-Lux 2 looks like an FZ100, shoots like an FZ100, costs a lot more than an FZ100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IOS 4.2 will bring AirPrint, the “revolutionary” technology which will let you print words and pictures from your paper-sized iPad onto paper-sized paper. Let’s leave aside that you could already do this using may third-party apps, and that printing is a somewhat backwards thing to be doing with an iPad anyway (like using a remote control to actually push physical buttons), and take a quick look at the tech itself.

AirPrint promises “driverless” printing, which isn’t strictly true. Instead, it works in one of two ways. First, you can print to any printer attached to a computer on the same network as your iDevice. This will work with the next update to OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and uses drivers already present on the host computer.

The other option is to print to an AirPrint-compatible printer, which will actually contain its own drivers. Instead of each printer requiring a different driver to make it work, Apple requires the printers to be capable of receiving an AirPrint print-job. This will work because printers these days are really low-powered computers.

This turnaround is quite amazing, and undoes decades of stupid incompatibilities. It also shows us just how wrongheaded were the complaints about the lack of printer support or USB-ports in the iPad. Instead of making a machine that acted like the current hard-to-configure computers, Apple decided to make a machine that just works. If third-parties want to sell peripherals for it, they’ll have to play the game. In this case, that game is buying licenses from Apple to use the dock-connector, the AirPrint spec or AirPlay, which allows wireless streaming of music and video from iOS devices.

It’s clear that these schemes will be a money-maker for Apple, but my guess would be that the original idea was to get rid of annoying drivers.

There’s actually a third way to print wirelessly from an iDevice, and that’s to one of HP’s new printers, the Photosmart eStation, the HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus and the HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One. These AirPrint-ready, but they are also email-ready. Each printer is internet-connected, and has its own email address. You just send it a document and it will soon be tattooed across a sheet of dead-tree. How’s that for progress?

HP adds three Web-connected printers to ePrint lineup [CNET]

See Also:

• iOS 4.2 First Look: iPad Gets Multitasking, Printing
• AirPlay