Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been a long time coming, but the patience has paid off with Sony’s A77 finally getting its first pro review. Sure, the $1,400 cost of entry (body only) will weigh heavily on even the most enthusiastic cameraman conscious. But, what’s a few hundred dollars when it comes to a camera that Popular Photography says has “radically changed the world of DSLRs”? It seems only the rival Canon 7D holds a candle to this would-be king, besting Sony’s latest when it comes to noise and performance at higher ISOs. However, the A77 wins on its all-around charm, with a 24.3 megapixel Exmor APS-C sensor, articulated LCD screen, world-first OLED EVF and impressive video-shooting chops. Video-wise, that top dollar gets you a high-end performance of 60fps at 1920 x 1080 with the fast phase-detection auto-focus we’ve also seen on its predecessors, the Sony A55 and A33.

Popular Photography does add a single caveat to the largely very positive conclusion: video enthusiasts should probably hold tight to see what Canon and Nikon counter with. Especially if you’re in possession of multiple lenses. Aside from that, what’s stopping you? Dig in to all the nitty-gritty details below, and we’d advise cutting down on those impulse eBay purchases — this magnesium-alloyed beauty will certainly make a financial dent when it lands, if not a physical one.

Sony A77 reviewed: A 24.3 megapixel game-changer? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on October 18, 2007 by CyberNet.

Mozilla has started to to post some more information regarding how Firefox 3 will adapt itself to the look of multiple operating systems. One of the big changes that Mike Beltzner, Mozilla’s User Experience Leader, mentioned in an article was the two different icon sets that will be created for Windows alone. There will be one for Vista and one for XP. Each set will contain 120 different icons, which means they have 240 icons that they need to make for the two different Windows Operating Systems.

An inventory of the necessary icons have already been posted, but none of them have been updated to reflect the changes that are yet to come. As of right now they are looking for a contributor or a contractor that is willing to produce the icons in the time frame that they have. Here’s what they would like to have done at each milestone:

• 10 icons done in XP and Vista styles as an initial proof-of-concept by the end of the month
• the most frequently viewed icons delivered as a first draft in time for Beta 2
• the full set of icons delivered as a second draft in time for Beta 3
• the ability to make small revisions before the release candidates

The icon inventory site says that the due date for the second milestone (Beta 2?) is in early December, and the third milestone (Beta 3?) isn’t until February 15th! I thought that Firefox 3 would be out by January of next year, but that doesn’t appear to be the case at all.

There are also some lower priority items for Vista that will probably not make it into Firefox 3, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed:

A Windows Vista theme which can be installed by Vista users to include Vista-like widgets and control layouts, tabstrip and other changes for Vista look and feel (to be shipped alongside, not with, Firefox 3)

That almost sounds like a theme utilizing the Aero effects available in Vista, much like what Internet Explorer 7 does. That would be truly awesome if that’s the case.

Beltzner has also begun discussions about the new theme for Linux which has got to be a tough cookie to crack. Think about all of the different Linux distributions available and how many of them look different. It’s probably going to be pretty strenuous to develop something that looks good on them all, and lets not forget that they are also working on a Mac-specific theme. There’s no doubt that they have their hands full.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

Related Posts:

Firefox 3 Themes: Vista on XP, or XP on VistaFirefox 2.0 Themes – presented by Learn FirefoxEasily Compare The Different Windows Vista ThemesMozilla’s Progress on Platform-Specific ThemesFirefox Replaces Extensions Manager With Add-ons Manager

Walk along that sparse borderline between Bluetooth headset and pearl necklace and you’ll eventually come across a company called Novero. It specializes in vaguely ridiculous bejeweled wireless things, but it has some serious products too — including these surreptitious little Rockaway earphones that have just been approved by the FCC. They’ll cope with hands-free calling, 5.5 hours of stereo music and 250 hours in standby — plus they weigh just 10 grams. Perfect for any NYC cabbie wanting to flout the rules at 50MPH.

Barely visible Bluetooth earphones from Novero spotted at the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So, Nikon finally has a mirrorless camera, after what was quite possibly the most dramatic launch event the company has ever conducted. Sure, competing models from Panasonic, Olympus and Sony have already reached the second, or even third generation before Nikon lifted the veil on its J1, but did last month’s long-awaited announcement bring us the ILC to rule all ILCs? Well, no, not at all. Nikon isn’t targeting pros or even advanced amateur shooters with its latest addition to the interchangeable lens camera family. Instead, the company is marketing its J1 to soccer moms (and dads), fashion-conscious young folk, and casual shooters who want some of the versatility of a DSLR, but are willing to sacrifice excellent image quality for a more compact design. But what about the rest of us? Will Nikon one day reward our patience with a true class competitor? Perhaps, but that’s definitely not what we have here.

Nikon built the $650 J1 “from the ground up” — a reference to its 10.1 megapixel, CX-size sensor with a 2.7x crop factor, along with a handful of quirky features that we probably won’t use, but that some of you (or perhaps your family members) may love. Jump past the break to see what we really liked about the camera, and what left us rather unimpressed. And it you’re dying to judge its performance for yourself, you can check out a handful of untouched images at the coverage link below the conclusion, along with a variety of sample videos spattered throughout.

Continue reading Nikon 1 J1 review (video)

Nikon 1 J1 review (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A revamped set of Energy Star requirements went into effect last week, much to the chagrin of plus-sized plasma TVs everywhere. Under the new specification (Version 5.3), sets bearing that vaunted blue sticker will have to be, on average, about 40 percent more energy efficient than standard models, while larger displays will be held to even stricter requirements. The latest iteration also calls for qualifying TVs to adhere to a “hard cap” of 108 watts (irrespective of size), essentially disqualifying any plasmas at least 50-inches in size, and any larger, non-LED-backlit LCDs. Among those sets that qualified for certification under Version 4.2, a full 14 percent consume more than 108 watts (mostly 2010 models), and only three are LED LCD-based (including Samsung’s UN65D8000). Some newly disqualified 2011 models, however, may still bear blue stickers, due to Energy Star’s ongoing transition process. “With the intention of seeing products that meet the newest requirements on retail shelves when 5.3 takes effect, EPA halted certification of new TVs that met the 4.2 requirements (but not the 5.3 requirements) as of May 31, 2011,” Energy Star product manager Katherine Kaplan explained to CNET. “All new products certified since May 31 meet the 5.3 requirements. A product newly manufactured and certified in June had to meet the 5.3 requirements to be labeled.” Hit up the source link below for more details.

Energy Star 5.3 now in effect, some chunkier TVs left out in the cold originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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