Hasta La Gadget!

Leica has long been a high-water mark in photography, and its digital offerings are no exception. Today, the company took the covers off of four new models in its lineup, owing to Photokina getting underway tomorrow. The D-LUX 6, V-LUX 4, M, M-E and S are all going to be on display at the show, and each boasts not only Leica’s signature killer looks, but also enhanced internals to match.

What you might notice if you’re a fan of Leica’s line is that the naming on the M and S-series shooters seem out of step with past versions, since they don’t include a number to indicate their relative place in the overall line. That’s because Leica’s taken a page out of Apple’s iPad naming conventions book, dropping the sequence and merely iterating on the hardware itself. The new M is a successor to the M9 rangefinder, and the S succeeds the S2. The D-LUX 6 and V-LUX 4 both replace earlier numbered versions of the same, of course.

Starting with the most affordable of these new cameras, the V-LUX 4 offers a 12.1MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, with a built-in 4.5-100mm f/2.8 zoom lens, ISO sensitivity ranging from 100 to 6400, and a burst rate of 12 fps at maximum resolution. It supports SDXC media, and captures video at up to 1080p with a cap of 29 minutes per clip. The sensor is new on the camera, as is the one stop higher maximum ISO and it basically stands as Leica’s answer to an entry-level DSLR, albeit with a fixed lens. The V-LUX 4 retails for $899 and will be available in November 2012.

The D-LUX 6 brings a new f/1.4 -2.3 4.7 to 17.7mm zoom to the compact camera, along with a 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor and ISO sensitivity ranging from 80 to 12,800. It handles video recording at 1920×1080 at 60 frames per second, and has a 1.4MP resolution electronic viewfinder. The much faster lens and full HD video recording should be welcome improvements over the original. The D-LUX 6 will be available for $799 as of November.

Next up, there’s the M-E, a paired down version of the current M9 that should appeal to budget shoppers (relatively speaking – it still retails for $5,450 body only). The M-E operates an entry-level device for the Leica rangefinder line, providing an 18MP CCD sensor, with high light sensitivity and an emphasis on photography essentials, including straight up manual focus. The M-E overall is an interesting statement, and one that will probably appeal to a lot of core photographers looking to hone their art without the frivolities that things like scene modes and video shooting have brought to most digital photography. It’s available now from authorized Leica dealers.

By contrast, the new Leica M offers the frills, including a 24MP full 35mm sensor, which blends elements advantageous to CCD sensors like good color rendering with a CMOS design. 1080p video capability is also present on this monster, along with a 3-inch display protected by Corning’s fabled Gorilla Glass, all protected by a weather-sealed magnesium alloy body. The M’s frills will cost $6,950 for the body when it arrives in early 2013.

Last but not least there’s the new Leica S, priced the same as many decently equipped small cars at $21,960 for body and available as of December. It pushes the envelope for medium format digital photography, thanks to a new image sensor and board that offers impressive buffer performance for continuous shooting (up to 32 consecutive, full resolution 37.5MP images at 1.5fps) as well as a new predictive autofocus system for better capturing moving subjects. The S also offers integrated GPS and a ton of other features that are no doubt worth dropping 20 grand on, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Alongside this refreshed camera lineup, Leica also dropped new S-series lenses, including a 24 mm f/3.5 prime ($7,450.00), a 30-90mm f/3.5-5.6 general purpose zoom ($9,950) and a 120mm f/5.6 tilt/shift lens ($6,950). So maybe like me you’ll just be looking at all this new gear and drooling rather than pulling out your credit card, but that’s some damn good dreaming material for amateur photographers.

HP CEO Meg Whitman has taken on a lot since stepping into the position last September, and one thing she’s focused on has been making HP’s line of PCs and laptops more aesthetically pleasing. Whitman tells The Wall Street Journal that the laptop she was given when she started at the company was “a brick,” and that now one of her goals is turning that around. Where she’s pulling inspiration from may surprise you, too.

The WSJ write-up pegs Whitman with a desire to have the design of HP’s machines rival that of Apple‘s. “I don’t think we kept up with the innovation,” she said. “The whole market has moved to something that is more beautiful.” That part is definitely true – lately we’ve seen the market leaning toward some incredibly sleek-looking Ultrabooks, which go for excellent design and speed over raw power.

When Whitman took over in September 2011, HP’s laptops were all designed by different teams, meaning that there wasn’t any one common theme that immediately told consumers “this is an HP machine.” In the time since, HP has doubled the size of its PC team, and appointed HP PC executive Stacy Wolff to devise a look and feel that all HP machines could share. We’ve seen the fruits of that labor with HP’s latest line up of machines, which includes the Envy X2, the Spectre XT, and the Envy One. All of them are sleek looking products, and it’s easy to see that HP was taking some design cues from Apple when it sat down at the drawing board.

“Apple taught us that design really matters,” Whitman said, continuing by claiming that the company has “made a lot of progress” with its latest machines. Though HP has undeniably come up with a common look for its new products, it will undoubtedly have some stiff competition from the other Windows 8 manufacturers out there, who are all touting some impressive laptops and all-in-one PCs of their own. Have a look at our story timeline below for more on HP’s recent exploits.

HP CEO sings the praises of Apple design is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve come a long way, guys. In 2005, the best possible laptop you could buy from Apple scored around 1,000 on Geekbench, a popular performance testing program. The newest iPhone 5—a phone—demolishes that number. More »

Ever since Apple has launched iPhone 5, the company’s stock has seen a significantly higher rising rate. It has been bolstered by the news of strong iPhone pre-order sales across all wireless carriers as well as forecasts by analysts of a record high sales by Apple this quarter.

Apple seems willing to carry on this positive sentiment. It recently announced that it was able to land 2 million iPhone pre-orders within the first 24 hours. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 benchmark: narrowly beats Galaxy S3 [geekbench], iPhone 5 lands 2 million pre-orders within 24 hours,

Advanced Micro Devices’ Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Seifert, has decided to leave AMD three short years after joining the company. As you may recall, Seifert briefly took the reigns of AMD as interim CEO in early 2011, until the firm found a permanent replacement in Rory Read later that year. No word on why Seifert has decided to depart the chip maker — other than “to pursue other opportunities” — but we do know that Devinder Kumar, AMD’s current Senior VP and corporate controller will replace him on an interim basis. The full announcement awaits in the PR after the break.

Continue reading AMD CFO Thomas Seifert calls it quits, Devinder Kumar takes his place on an interim basis

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

AMD CFO Thomas Seifert calls it quits, Devinder Kumar takes his place on an interim basis originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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