Hasta La Gadget!

Thanks to a unique Hybrid GPS technology, Casio says the EX-H20G is the first digital camera to be able to geotag images indoors.

Samsung’s press event kicked things off here in Cologne, and Photokina 2010 just wouldn’t be Photokina 2010 without oodles of talk about mirrorless cameras. After talking up its NX100 for the better part of an hour, the company took a moment to answer a few questions from the crowd. The biggest news, however, was the unveiling of the price point. Up until now, Sammy has remained mum on how much its latest and greatest compact would run, but we were told the 20-50mm bundle would ship at some point in the near future for $599 (we’ve confirmed that it’ll ship in October), while the 20mm pancake lens bundle would go for $649.

In related news, last year’s NX10 will be gaining a huge level of functionality thanks to an October-bound firmware update, which will add full support for the company’s range of i-Function lenses. You heard right — the NX10 you splurged on last year will soon be able to play the same tap-and-scroll settings game as the NX100. Speaking of lenses, Samsung also confirmed that it would be willing to “provide technical information” to other companies in order for third-party i-Function lenses to be created. We didn’t get the impression that any other outfit had come forward with interest, but we couldn’t be happier to hear that there’s no walled garden surrounding the technology — particularly with how impressive it was during our initial NX100 hands-on.

Lastly, the company admitted that it’s hoping to have a 1080p model ready at some point in 2011, and it’s also hard at work on an APS-C sensor that’s better geared for low-light situations. Music to our ears, to say the least.

Samsung NX100 priced at $599+ for October release, NX10 gaining i-Function lens support in October originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s iPad wants your backpack all to itself. Smartly-built applications let design pros leave their old portfolios at home, but there’s plenty more even we schlubs can use them to do.

One advantage of a touchscreen tablet is that it’s an easy device for a user to prepare, then put in someone else’s hands. There’s a learning curve, but it’s quickly overcome. All the navigation is done with simple gestures, and happens with images, videos, or other files at full-bleed. It’s solid and comfortable in the user’s hands; they’re in control; and the buttons, filesystem, and even the designer can just get out of the way.

I’m particularly charmed by Simon Heys’s Minimal Folio ($2.99):

Minimal Folio is a simple way to present images and video on your iPad. The app is unbranded so your folio can do the talking. www.simonheys.com/minimalfolio/

As you can see, Minimal Folio allows you to curate and organize images and iPad-compatible video files into a simple grid, that then can be navigated vertically, horizontally, or both. You can use rows or columns to group related images, or let the user freely navigate between them.

The 1.0 version is pretty lightweight, but according to Heys, future updates promise support for PDFs, external displays, using an iPhone/iPod touch as a remote, and using Dropbox to add/change a portfolio’s contents on the road. (Dropbox integration is one of the handful of advantages the $15 Portfolio for iPad application has over Minimal Folio. Both will also custom-brand the application for companies.)

Add those dimensions, and in addition to the portfolio possibilities, you’re talking about a guided, Powerpoint-style presentation app, a book/menu/article/document/comics collection browser, even a vacation scrapbook for photos, home movies, and souvenirs.

You could complain that this is just an elegant way to group and view files that you can already see on the iPad — but the most valuable iOS apps (Instapaper, Twitter, Flipboard) have proven to be exactly that. Attention and organization command a premium.

Turn Your iPad into a Professional Portfolio [Apartment Therapy Unpluggd]

See Also:

• Wired 11.09: PowerPoint Is Evil
• 15 iPad Apps You Should Download Today
• The Wired Tablet App: A Video Demonstration
• GeekDad Opinion: Enough ABCs From iPhone / iPad App Developers …

Olympus isn’t saying much (and that’s understating things greatly), but it’s using this year’s Photokina trade show in order to tease a new integrated compact camera that’s meant to serve an exceedingly narrow niche. So far as we can tell, this new “flagship” compact camera is the world’s first with an “integrated Zuiko lens,” meaning that it’s actually not a Micro Four Thirds rig. We’re still waiting to speak with someone at the company to find out exactly what the purpose is here, but we’re getting the impression that it’s meant to provide extreme resolution in the palm of your hand — no need in grabbing the D3X if you can capture the next LeBron James mural with something this small, right? The press release insinuates that we won’t know much more until CES 2011 (or sometime in Q1 2011, anyway), but at least we know that the accessory port will enable it to play nice with PEN peripherals.

Continue reading Olympus teases Zuiko-equipped compact camera, leaves us desperate for details

Olympus teases Zuiko-equipped compact camera, leaves us desperate for details originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re expecting to get our grubby paws on an NX100 later today for some longer-term testing, but for now, we wanted to go ahead and get you our initial impressions after handling the new mirrorless compact for a couple of minutes following Samsung’s Photokina 2010 press event. The device itself is far smaller than the NX10 of last year, but it’s still decidedly solid, if not a touch thick. The 20mm pancake lens on the model we tested was well built, and the i-Function capabilities were downright impressive. It took us a tick to grok how it works, but a good 30 seconds of learning presented us with loads of on-the-fly flexibility. You simply tap the i-Function button with your right hand in order to select what type of setting you’d like to change (exposure, ISO, shutter speed, etc.), and then rotate the wheel on the lens in either direction in order to change the value.

Despite our doubts, it actually worked beautifully, and now we’re eager to see this type of technology on even more cameras (even if its reserved for Samsung’s range). The 3-inch AMOLED on the rear was also stunning, sharp and bright, and the whole thing fit in our hands well. We’re still fond of our DSLR for most things, but we could totally see a unit like this making the most sense for amateurs who aren’t fond of lugging around something so gigantic. Ergonomics, design and i-Function? All were stellar — here’s hoping the image and video quality meet those same standards, and we’ll be bringing you those opinions just as soon as we can form them. Video’s after the break, if you’re thirsty for more.

Continue reading Samsung NX100 hands-on (video)

Samsung NX100 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Sep 2010 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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