Hasta La Gadget!

A prerequisite for launching a cloud storage solution is a strange name, we understand that much. But where Picasa, Flickr and Box all at least hint at their intentions, Canon’s new photo service sounds more like a plot device from Lost than an online repository for your snapshots. Project 1709 is actually named for the beta launch date (today, September 17th) and looks to take on the big players in the field with a slick UI and integration with social networks. The tiled design puts all your uploaded images in an easy to navigate and glanceable layout, with a focus on organization. Pics can be filtered based on tags you add, date or locations pulled from the EXIF data. All the camera’s settings are also exposed, allowing you to figure out how exactly you captured each shot. There’s even deep Facebook integration that makes it easy to not only publish photos to your profile, but pull them in from the social network along with comments. You can sign up at the source link, or simply learn more from the gallery and PR below.

Continue reading Canon launches Project 1709: a strangely named photo service with deep Facebook hooks

Filed under: Internet

Canon launches Project 1709: a strangely named photo service with deep Facebook hooks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Project 1709  | Email this | Comments

In America, it’s not illegal to sell disgusting cow purée washed with ammonia for human consumption. But, according to BPI, the company that makes this dystopian meat filler, it’s illegal to talk about it. Time for a $1.2 billion lawsuit. More »

Head over to iCloud.com today and you’ll find Apple‘s own central console showing off a couple new features, both of them bringing the environment into the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 universe. The first of these iCloud changes is a brand new drop-down notifications bar – what you’re seeing here is a note from the Apple calendar showing us that we’ve got an imminent date with a skateboard. The other update is that Notes is now a cross-platform system – now in the browser-based iCloud environment, you’ll be able to make a note to yourself on your iPhone or iPad and have it wherever you need it, no matter the device – just head to the web browser.

This update makes iCloud a place where you’re able to get a full range of Apple-based update and schedule apps: Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Reminders. You’ll also be able to work with Find My iPhone with both your iPhone and your iPad, and iWork allows you to stay up to date with your documents as well. Find My iPhone also works with newer MacBook Pro models and will almost certainly be working with other future Apple devices galore as well – keep them all up and safe!

For those of you new to this environment, inside iWork you’ll still have to purchase the various apps for them to work inside iCloud. Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are each ready to work with the iCloud universe just so long as you’ve got them and have them connected. The entire iCloud suite is made to keep you updated with your notes, mail, documents, and schedule no matter which device you’re on, just so long as it’s an Apple device or has a web browser.

Have a peek at our recent iCloud news bits in the timeline below and get pumped up about the iPhone 5 hitting shelves very, very soon. Do you have yours pre-ordered like the 2 million other people out there in iLand? Stick around SlashGear for more iPhone 5 action as more bits appear in the trenches!

[Thanks for the tip, Jack!]

iCloud updated for iPhone 5 and iOS 6 with Notes and Reminders is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Canon unveiled a new entry in its DSLR lineup this morning, the full-frame Canon 6D which arrives sometime in December. The camera is priced at $2,099 U.S., at or slightly above where its previous generation 5D Mark II is currently sitting at most retailers, and well under the $3,500 asking price of the 5D Mark III or the $6,800 1DX. It’s an attractive and affordable choice for those looking at at a 7D, which is based around much smaller APS-C sensor tech, and right on par with Nikon’s latest D600 full-frame, which also retails for $2,099. The question is, with these kinds of specs in a full-frame body at these prices, is it only a matter of time before APS-C gets retired altogether?

Here’s a detailed look at what the 6D brings to the table: It packs a 20.2MP full-frame sensor, and an 11-point autofocus system with a single cross-type sensor. The native ISO range is 100 to 25,600 (expandable to 50 to 102,400), and Canon claims it’ll focus in lower light situations than any of its previous shooters. It has a Digic 5+ processor, the same as its more expensive brethren, shoots at a maximum of 4.5fps in burst mode, and boasts environmental sealing against dust and splashes. For video folks, it shoots 1080p video at up to 30fps, and 720p at up to 60fps. There’s an SDXC slot for memory, and it uses the existing LP-E6 battery type (which works with 5D Mark II and III, 60D and 7D), and on top of everything else it’s Canon’s first DSLR that incorporates GPS and Wi-Fi radios into the body, rather than requiring the purchase of costly add-on equipment.

There are some things that are disappointing here and things that could really change the way a Canon-owner shoots. The focusing system is maybe the most potentially disappointing feature; the 7D (introduced in 2009) had a 19 point AF system, all of which were cross-type (more accurate), and the burst mode seems slightly sluggish at the top end, especially in comparison to the Nikon D600, which clocks in at a maximum of 5.5fps. There’s also the viewfinder, which provides a look at 97 percent of the image, but not a full field of view. That’s bound to disappoint.

But the 6D also offers a lot more that wouldn’t have been conceivable at the $2,000 price point in the past, including full-frame image quality with greater dynamic range and presumably much-improved low light performance vs. APS-C-based cameras. Plus, the built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, while present in a number of compacts from companies including Canon, is relatively rare in DSLRs, and represents a huge total cost-savings vs. buying Canon’s official transmitters and GPS dongles for their other high-end shooters.

But the 6D is still about $1,000 more than Canon’s entry-level DSLRs, like the T3i and T3,  which are among its most popular sellers. Cutting down that gap without hamstringing a full-frame device even further could be difficult to do. And the sacrifices Canon has made with the 6D have certainly rubbed some the wrong way, according to the long threads of complaints at sites like DPReview, so this could be a case of missing two market segments by trying to appeal to both.

Whatever the 6D isn’t, it is an entry-level full-frame from Canon to match the one recently introduced by Nikon, and both are going to change the shape of the DSLR market. Neither may kill the APS-C, and neither company likely wants to at this point, since so many of their users have invested in lenses that only work on crop sensor bodies. Users forced to upgrade and leave those behind too quickly would get their nose bent out of shape, but with mirrorless designs using Micro Four Thirds and other smaller sensor types catching up to DSLRs in terms of performance, ultimately full-frame is the way to go to keep shoppers looking at and interested in single-lens tech. The Canon 6D, warts and all, is a good bridge device to get users moving towards a full-frame future.

Announced — and subsequently unveiled — alongside the PowerShot SX160 IS, Canon’s PowerShot SX500 IS is the pricier of the two superzooms, clocking in at around $100 more than the lower-end point-and-shoot. And certainly the camera feels a bit sturdier than the more plastickey model, with a black body and protruding lens that resemble higher-end mirrorless models. Along the top you get the retractable flash, a large On / Off button, function wheel and access to that 16x optical zoom.

As with the SX160, the back features a three-inch LCD, to the left of Record, Display, Play and settings like Macro, Flash and ISO. Aside from simply feeling more solid that the cheaper model, the SX500 also offers up features like Zoom Framing Assist, which can be accessed via a devoted button on the front of the camera, letting you zoom out to help find your shooting subject — a function it performs quite quickly. Like the SX160, the SX500 is hitting this month, though it’ll carry a somewhat loftier $330 price tag.

Filed under: Cameras

Canon PowerShot SX500 IS hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments