Jan 02
We’ll be seeing Samsung’s second generation Galaxy Camera soon, and very soon. The company has revealed this week that the Samsung Galaxy Camera 2 will be appearing at CES 2014 … Continue reading
Jan 01
The slow motion clips in this video by Simmon Hammond look like computer generated scenes from a superhero movie—the exquisite photography, the dramatic color, and the camera moves are just too perfect to be real. But it is real. And it feels magical.
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Dec 28
Just how creative can we get? Apparently, the limits for creativity has yet to be reached, as new kinds of art are being churned out every single day. Having said that, the Panono throwable panoramic ball camera has generated its fair share of interest ever since the idea of it was introduced to the masses, and the team behind the Panono is currently working on its final development. Their efforts have not been in vain at all, since they ended up procuring camera modules with better optics and higher resolution which will be able to boost the camera from 72 to 108 megapixels, giving the Panono the proud distinction of being the first consumer camera to exceed 100 megapixels.
Here is a little bit of background history for those who want to know what the Panono is all about. It comes in the size of a grapefruit, and is obviously ball-shaped, while sporting three dozen (that’s a whopping 36!) camera modules that have been embedded all around it. These camera modules will be able to fire away simultaneously when it is thrown into the air, allowing it to capture everything in every direction in 360° X 360°, delivering fully spherical panoramic images.
With the inclusion of upgraded optics and higher resolution, consumers can now zoom in to see even greater detail when they view their Panono panoramic images on their computer or mobile devices. Checking out a panorama on a mobile device is a snap, thanks to the free Panono App which will offer a fully immersive experience as you will be able to move the images through the simple act of tilting the device up or down, and left or right, as though you were inside the image itself. Those who are interested can pick up the Panono over at their Indiegogo project page.
Press Release
[ Panono throwable panoramic ball camera surpasses 100-megapixels mark copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Dec 26
With little doubt of its ability to shine in the face of the massive amount of non-unique cameras in the field, the Panono throwable panoramic ball camera has, this week, … Continue reading
Dec 26
NVIDIA has updated the Tegra Note 7 to Android 4.3, pushing out a new update this morning which also boosts the DirectStylus pen technology for left-handed tableteers, and adds the … Continue reading
Dec 26
Blynk time-lapse wearable camera
Posted in: Today's Chili
One of the best ways to keep track of your life would be to make sure that you pen down your life experiences in a diary. Over the years, there has been an evolution in making sure that your memories are preserved, including the introduction of photographs to accompany the written experience with some visual representation. Of course, there is also the next level which was all the craze a few years back – blogging, which provided a platform for one to share one’s daily life with the rest of the world according to your level of comfort. Following that, the likes of Twitter and Facebook made it all the more interesting. How about making your own life journal all the more interesting with the Blynk time-lapse wearable camera?
The Blynk time-lapse wearable camera is the latest addition to the market by Lyfeshot, where it will measure a diminutive 2” x 1”, coming in the form of a one-step, hands-free form factor that will be able to assist you in capturing life’s greatest experiences. Just how easy is it to use? As easy as A-B-C, since it sports a simple, one-button operation alongside an extremely easy set-up that makes it applicable to be used in just about any situation.
If you are trying to create a video, all you need to do is to set up the Blynk according to the desired photo capture interval thanks to the free Blynk software. The snapshot intervals can be specially adjusted to take anywhere from one frame (photo) per second, to a single frame per day. You will be able to then figure out how best you would like to make use of the 4GB of internal memory, and it also comes with an internal, rechargeable, lithium ion battery that offers over 24 hours of battery life on a single full charge, never mind when you have set it to take 30 photos every minute. Expect to pick up the Blynk in three colors for $129.99 a pop.
Company Page
[ Blynk time-lapse wearable camera copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Dec 23
MaxStone Kickstarts A Remote iPhone Shutter For Digital Cameras That’s Also A Bluetooth Tracker
Posted in: Today's Chili
A new Kickstarter project is hoping to combine some popular recent gadget trends with commonly sought after DSLR and pro photography features for a Bluetooth gadget that’s unique and more versatile than most in the same category. It’s called the MaxStone, and it’s a smartphone controlled camera shutter, Bluetooth device locator and remote smartphone shutter trigger all in one.
The MaxStone is a small device powered by a single watch battery that you affix to your camera via a simple loop strap. It attaches in touch a way that it covers the camera’s shutter button, and hands down a small, pebble-like main body in front of your camera’s IR sensor. This actually contains an IR blaster that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth, so that you can remotely trigger the camera’s shutter from your device. It’s a lot more low-tech than using Wi-Fi or something like that, but it means MaxStone is much more broadly compatible with a range of camera brands and models.
You can use the MaxStone apps to either trigger the camera’s shutter instantly or via time delay, or program it to take photos at intervals for time-lapse photography spanning nearly a full year, according to MaxStone’s Kickstarter page, and maintaining operation even if your phone is powered down or loses connection. It can also handle video start/stop recording on some models of camera.
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That alone would be pretty impressive in a device that’s priced at a $29 pledge to start for backers, but it also offers a Bluetooth proximity alarm sensor, which makes it possible to set a location gate so that you can receive alerts if you move away from your camera, or whatever else it’s attached to. It can also be used the other way, to located your phone, thanks to functionality that allows it to trigger an alert on your device when you press the MaxStone button. Finally, it can operate as a remote shutter for your iPhone camera, too, which is crucially important for the selfie generation.
The MaxStone was created by Will E and Lia Zhang, a husband and wife team who did the original prototyping and design. Radio engineer Will Griffith helped refine RF communications, and Shawn Han developed and continues to build the MaxStone iOS app. The New York-based team is seeking $50,000, and has raised around $6,500 already, with 59 days left in their campaign. Should everything go as planned, they plan to ship the MaxStone by March, 2014.
I have yet to plunk down any cash for a lost-and-found style Bluetooth tracker, but MaxStone’s versatility and price point might make it the first such device I do back, and yet that’s not even its main function. The team here has the right idea though: bundle a number of smart device features that make sense together, and suddenly people have more than one reason not to look elsewhere or pass on the idea altogether.
Dec 19
A couple of years ago we saw an unusual camera. It looked like a ball and took 360° panoramic photos, like the ones on Google Street View but completely spherical. Jonas Pfeil and his co-inventors are now gearing up to mass produce the camera, which they’re now calling the Panono.
Panono works much like the prototype we saw back then. It has 36 cameras that together can make a 72mp 360° image. Panono can be used in three ways. The fun way is to throw the ball up in the air. The camera will sense when it reaches its highest point, and will automatically activate all of its cameras. You can also prop it up on a stick and trigger it using the Panono mobile app or just hold it in your hand and press its button to shoot.
Whichever method you choose, you’ll need a mobile device and an Internet connection in order to get the final panoramic image. That’s because the camera will wirelessly send the images it took to your mobile device. From there you need to upload the images to a free cloud service that will stitch your images together. If you don’t have an Internet connection, you’ll be able to view the images you took via the app, but they’ll be separated. The camera itself can store up to 400 panoramas (that’s 14,400 “normal” images) so you can still use it without a mobile device.
Pledge at least $500 (USD) on Indiegogo to get a Panono as a reward. You can check out the shots taken with the latest prototype on Panono’s website. Now someone needs to come up with a spherical picture frame.
Dec 19
Tooga Gear Gives Photo And Video Pros Options With A Modular Kit For Hard-To-Get Shots
Posted in: Today's Chili
A new Kickstarter project called Tooga Gear based out of LA wants to provide a versatile, durable camera mounting solution for capturing tricky shots in a modular package that can support DSLRs, GoPros and other action cams, and even smartphones, all in a package that can fit in a small sling bag.
Tooga Gear includes a dolly, suction mounts, a ballhead tripod mount, a protective guerrilla cage and a shell component that ties everything together. The pieces can be switched out depending on your needs, to make for smooth rolling pan shots, footage taken from a camera mounted to any smooth surface, including, to quote the project description, “the side of a plane.”
This is nicer than many similar rigs (of which I’ve used and own a few) because of the accessory mounts built into each leg on the dolly wheels, which can support additional accessories like external fill lights, off-camera flashes and mics. The Tooga Cage, too is designed with two cold-shoe mounts, along with threaded mounts for additional gear. That suction mount kit seems a little more specialized in usage, but you could quite easily mount it to a car window for doing your own follow shots on (hopefully not illegal) chase scene filming.
The entire Tooga kit can be had starting at pledges of $449, which sounds like a lot but is actually a pretty great deal when you compare against the price of any of the components individually (from a decent manufacturer). The team consists of mechanical engineers Shan Kim and Chris Anderson, who has built a number of camera gadgets before, and design students Kay Kim and Benson Lam. The founders have an existing supply chain in place, they say, so that should help them hit their March 2014 anticipated ship date.
The Tooga team is seeking $45,000 to turn its prototype into a shipping device, and it’s just starting out with a little over $3,000 pledged so far. As a sometime videographer, it’s something I’d definitely like to see become a reality.
Dec 16
Nokia has more or less successfully positioned their smartphones to be devices that offer a fantastic camera experience along the way, and the PureView technology which is part of the mix happens to play a large role in perpetuating that viewpoint, too. After all, who can resist the large words “41 megapixels” emblazoned in advertisements for the Nokia Lumia 1020? It is more or less bound to attract plenty of attraction for sure! Well, Nokia has also come up with a highly advanced Camera app in order to take advantage of the advanced cameras in select Nokia Lumia handsets, but today marks a new milestone. Nokia has announced that as long as you own a Lumia device which runs on the Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system, you will be able to download a public beta version of the Nokia Camera app.
This means the Nokia Camera app will no longer be an exclusive app on a PureView-powered camera in a Lumia handset. This particular app will arrive with similar features as that of the existing Nokia Camera model, and in due time, do expect experimental new features to be thrown into the mix, while existing ones will be refined. And when ready, expect these to end up in the stable, non-Beta Camera app via the standard Store update process.
Nokia Camera Beta App Arrives On All Lumia Models original content from Ubergizmo. 
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