Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung is no stranger to teasing its fans, and with expectations running high that it’ll introduce a true cameraphone — the Galaxy S 4 Zoom — in London on June 20th, you’ll have to forgive us for being more than curious for what’s in store. We’ve already seen a hint of such a device at the FCC, but now it seems that we may be looking at the hybrid phone / camera in all its eyebrow-raising glory. Thanks to SamMobile and TechTastic, we’re treated to purported renders and “in the wild” shots of the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, which line up with expectations that it’ll be based on the Galaxy S 4 Mini. If this is the real deal, in addition to similar specs, it seems that we can expect a dedicated shutter button on the righthand side, which is situated below a volume rocker that’s said to activate the camera’s optical zoom lens. On the opposing side of the cameraphone, you’ll find a dedicated tripod mount. Could this be an intentional leak in response to a similar outing from Nokia? Only time will tell, but we hope to know for sure in the coming days.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Source: SamMobile, TechTastic

While the tech fraternity is obsessed with perfect white balance, the creative community may want a bit of variety. That’s the idea behind the Rainbow Flash Wizard, a device that lets photographers coat their subjects in any color that takes their fancy. In essence, the device is a color wheel that you can mount over your flash gun — giving you a rainbow of new lighting options. As well as creative settings, seasoned pros can use the unit to correct under or overexposed shots without resorting to post-processing. If you’re interested in getting your hands on one, the device’s creators have taken to Kickstarter to raise $78,000, with a $70 pledge getting you an early-bird discount.

Filed under: Cameras, Peripherals

Comments

Source: Kickstarter

Canon is releasing new interchangeable lens “EF-M11-22mm F4-5.6 IS STM” for mirrorless camera EOS M in late July.

“EF-M11-22mm F4-5.6 IS STM” is a wide-angle lens but at the same time it can be used for approaches to objects as little as 0.15m away. As a wide-angle lens, it features image stabilizer for the first time among the EF lens series.

Also, because it has “Dynamic IS” (effective only when video recording), you are able to shoot a stable video while walking around.

Estimated price: ¥50,000

Sure, you love the HDR pictures coming from your point-and-shoot, smartphone or perhaps even your Glass. But what if you want to Hangout in HDR? An enterprising grad student from the University of Toronto named Tao Ai — under the tutelage of Steve Mann — has figured out how to shoot HDR video in real-time. The trick was accomplished using a Canon 60D DSLR running Magic Lantern firmware and an off-the-shelf video processing board with a field programmable gate array (FPGA), plus some custom software to process the video coming from the camera. It works by taking in a raw feed of alternatively under and over exposed video and storing it in a buffer, then processing the video on its way to a screen. What results is the virtually latency-free 480p resolution HDR video at 60 frames per second seen in our video after the break.

When we asked whether higher resolution and faster frame rate output is possible, we were told that the current limitations are the speed of the imaging chip on the board and the bandwidth of the memory buffer. The setup we saw utilized a relatively cheap $200 Digilent board with a Xilinx chip, but a 1080p version is in the works using a more expensive board and DDR3 memory. Of course, the current system is for research purposes only, but the technology can be applied in consumer devices — as long as they have an FPGA and offer open source firmware. So, should the OEM’s get with the program, we can have HDR moving pictures to go with our stationary ones.

Filed under: Cameras, HD

Comments

Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this roundup, we’ll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You’ll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won’t stick around long.

Well folks, there’s quite the pair being served up today. A 32GB Nexus 7 slate and Roku 2 XS are both included on today’s list in addition to three more tempting buys. The essential details await on the other side of the jump for your careful consideration.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets

Comments

Source: Slickdeals