Hasta La Gadget!

It was only hours ago when Nikon officially unveiled the Coolpix S800c, but we’ve already laid our hands on this eccentric device. As you’ve probably already heard, the main selling point here is that said “smart camera” is powered by a slick (and near-vanilla) Android 2.3.3 with Google services, so with the built-in WiFi, you can upload your 16-megapixel images or 1080p videos straight to your various social networks or other cloud services. Or you can, if you’re in the mood, just play Angry Birds on the S800c, but that 1,050mAh battery might not be ideal for prolonged entertainment. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to share any images taken with the demo units (sorry, usual Nikon protocol), but what we can tell you is that both the camera’s speed and quality weren’t bad at all, and likewise with the 3.5-inch 854 x 480 OLED multitouch display — the high pixel density makes the PenTile arrangement more forgivable.

The most interesting thing we discovered was that it seems the camera part of the S800c can run independently from Android while the latter is still booting up. You see, rather than letting the device stay on standby like most other Android devices, Nikon uses a shut-down timer that activates once Android goes on standby. When the camera’s completely switched off, hit the power button and you’ll go straight into camera mode which lets you shoot immediately, then about half a minute later the interface seamlessly goes back to smart mode, which is when you can hit the back or home button to toggle the Android unlock screen (though we’d rather go straight into the home screen). This cunning trick would probably explain why we couldn’t get any internal hardware detail from the few benchmark tools we installed, but we did squeeze out a score of 614 in Vellamo — detailed breakdown in the gallery below. Anyhow, you can see the camera in action in the video after the break.

The Nikon Coolpix S800c will be available next month for $350 in the US and £379 in the UK. As always, stay tuned for our review.

Update: Nikon’s released some sample shots. Take a look.

Continue reading Nikon Coolpix S800c hands-on: a closer look at the Android camera (video)

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Nikon Coolpix S800c hands-on: a closer look at the Android camera (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Toshiba quits Windows RT tablet race, Toshiba Thrive receives Android 4.0.4 ICS update earlier than expected,

OnLive, the most prominent game streaming company is no more. The Company has apparently been experiencing financial difficulties, and had to lay off about half of its staff. People left the company with boxes late on Friday. The company says that its assets have been purchased by a “newly formed company with substantial funding”.

I’ve discussed the challenges of the cloud gaming business back in 2008, but the news came as a shock to the web industry as OnLive was seen has the “natural evolution” of traditional video games, and many were expecting high end game consoles to to be eventually replaced by cheap boxes connected to the network. That explains the recent noise about Ouya, a $99 Android console, which has raised 6 million of dollars in funding. OnLive was announced for Ouya recently.

The demise of OnLive is a stark reminder that the video game streaming business is an extremely difficult one, and that it is still very much “experimental”. That said, OnLive deserves some credit for pushing the model as far as they did. So… what happened? (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: OnLive to continue operations under new management [official], iPhone, iPad and Macs could be banned on Aug 24,

This could be one of four things

1. A very elaborate hoax. If it’s a hoax, kudos to whoever made it because it would require the same amount of design and engineering effort that would go into an actual smartphone. Not to mention all of the collaboration that would have been needed between the numerous different sites that have posted images and video already. That’s an insane amount of work for a laugh, so I don’t think it’s a hoax.

2. A decoy made by Apple to throw everyone off the scent and root out leaks. Now THAT would be amazing. I’m secretly rooting for this option if only because it would be so diabolically awesome.

3. An early model or sample of a design that Apple is working on. Maybe, but we have seen this same design pop up in too many places and it looks way too far along in development to be a model or early sample.

4. An actual production sample of the next iPhone. This is where I would put my money. I’m fairly convinced this is what the next iPhone will look like. If true, this design will be noteworthy for being the first unibody iPhone, making it the thinnest, strongest, and lightest housing to date. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 5 photo leak could be a red herring, iPhone 5: photos of an alleged fully assembled unit [Rumor],

The Ultrabook concept (ultrathin but powerful laptop) was introduced by Intel in 2011, and the first MacBook Air with default solid state storage came out in 2010. Since then, almost every major computer producer has come out with a thin and fast laptop sporting speedy storage, quick wake times, and a small footprint. For the most part, these computers were high-end devices: they were fast, and they were expensive.

Enter the Lenovo U310, a seemingly perfect laptop for the back-to-school set that needs something light for Facebook and Word, but doesn’t see the need to spend over $1000 on a higher-end laptop. Sure, the base configuration doesn’t have a SSD, and yeah, it’s bulk more closely resembles the MacBook Pro than its svelte cousin the Air. On the other hand, it’s packing Intel’s new Core i5 processor. But does Lenovo’s U310 offer enough value to warrant a recommendation? Let’s take a look… (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Macbook Pro Review, with Retina Display, Dell XPS 13 Review,