Nikon D300s, pro photographers meet up to make magic together

What better way to show off your company’s latest DSLR than by giving it to a couple of professional photographers to work their magic? Nikon’s done just that, handing off its just-announced D300s to noted photojournalist Ami Vitale and sports photographer Robert Bösch. The pair submitted stills and videos from their trial run, and the results are unsurprisingly impressive — there’s only one noticeable instance of rolling shutter, in the beginning of Bösch’s video with the helicopter blades. Of course, there’s no telling how much post-production work went into these pieces, and let’s not forget these are pros in their element — average Joe isn’t gonna be able to pick up this camera and produce the same results. Footage after the break, or hit up the read link to see all the impressions and sample works.

[Via PDNPulse and ProLost Blog]

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Nikon D300s, pro photographers meet up to make magic together originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pre Admaker Defends “Creepy” TV Commercial

Weird? Yes. Creepy? Yes. Successful? Of course!

The latest crop of Palm Pre ads may not be a favorite among some viewers but it does achieve its purpose of getting consumers to talk about the product, says Gary Koepke, co-founder and executive creative director at Modernista, the agency behind the Pre ads. So mission accomplished, says Koepke in an interview with Ad Age.

“The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that’s a good thing,” says Koepke.  “Could the ads work harder to show exactly how the phone works? Yes, but we knew it would be polarizing people to have a woman not shout at them and tell an interesting story.”

Palm’s recent TV commercials featuring a glowing actress, Tamara Hope, speaking in what is supposed to be a soothing voice about the product’s features. The idea is to find the middle ground between the Apple iPhone commercial that showcases the phone and its apps without having a real person in the ad and the ‘life on BlackBerry‘ ads, says Koepke. But the television spot has riled up bloggers for being “creepy.” The ad has also inspired a few YouTube parodies.

Palm has shown no signs that it wants to pull the plug on the ads so it is likely the company is happy with it. Now whether all this buzz has translated into Pre sales is something we won’t know until Palm and Sprint release their quarterly earnings next month.  So far, the two companies have not commented about the number of Pre phones sold since the device’s launch on June 6.

What do you think of the Pre ad? Let us know in the comments.

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Nikon Coolpix S640, S570, S70 leak out, leave little to the imagination

Nikon’s Coolpix S1000pj project-o-camera may be the big rumor du jour, but the company’s also got plenty of other cameras slipping through the cracks these days, like this trio of new compact shooters. Leading off the lot is the 12.2-megapixel Coolpix S640 (pictured above), which is said to pack a 5x, 28mm equivalent wide-angle lens, a 2.7-inch display, an “ultra-fast autofocus system,” a start-up time of just 0.7 seconds, built-in quick retouch features, and your choice of three different colors for $499. Joining it are the 12-megapixel Coolpix S570, which replaces the 10-megepixel S560 and will set you back $349, and the all new 12.1-megapixel Coolpix S70 (check it out after the break), which runs a hefty $599 and includes 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen, a 5x optical zoom, sensitivity setting up to ISO 6400, and your choice of red, black, or champagne colors. No word on a release date for any of them just yet, but it sure seems like they’re about to burst out of the gate.

Continue reading Nikon Coolpix S640, S570, S70 leak out, leave little to the imagination

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Nikon Coolpix S640, S570, S70 leak out, leave little to the imagination originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile releases Visual Voicemail for Android

Listen to your voice mails in any order you choose.

(Credit: Taylor Wimberly)

Just as it continues to introduce new Google Android phones, T-Mobile is also releasing mobile applications to the Android Market. Recent software includes a T-Mobile HotSpot locator and My Account, which lets customers check their remaining minutes, …

Originally posted at Android Atlas

Windows Mobile 7 to be a premium, multitouch beast of a platform

Seeing the gold build of Windows Mobile 6.5 in action was pretty nifty, but Inquirer‘s recent video actually managed to unveil a few juicy tidbits about version 7 as well — a platform that’s shaping up to be that massive, ground-up rewrite of WinMo we’ve all been hoping for for years (as far as we can tell). The lack of multitouch is a sore point for some in 6.5 — not just because of the goodness of the multitouch gestures themselves, but because it’s indicative of a broader failure on Microsoft’s part to recognize that touch-based mobile UIs have been wholly reinvented since the days of Windows Mobile 2003. Redmond looks to be cognizant of that, though with a mention in the video that 7 will “exploit the hardware” and “introduce multitouch,” going on to say that it’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with “competitor devices” — ostensibly a reference to some combination of webOS, Android, and the iPhone. The video also mentions that 6.5 will end up being a “breadth play” while 7 branches out into the premium end of the market — at least to start — and over time, 7 will become Microsoft’s mainstream mobile platform as future versions are released. In other words, Microsoft looks like it could be setting itself up for a two-version cadence going forward — one for the unwashed masses, one for the gadget fiends. You know which category we fall into — and we suspect we know yours, dear readers.

[Via Unwired View]

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Windows Mobile 7 to be a premium, multitouch beast of a platform originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendos Miyamoto Does Not Fear Rival Motion Controllers

miyamoto.jpg

Shigeru Miyamoto, who helped create Mario, Donkey Kong, and Nintendogs, says Nintendo’s competitors face a “big challenge” not only in creating a natural motion controller, but also getting it to consumers.  

“We have sold millions of controllers at a good price point. And we have that delivery system successfully already implemented. For other companies starting from zero and trying to figure out how to get it out there at a decent price point is a big challenge,” said Miyamoto.

Since Nintendo has recorded a 60 percent drop in profits, it will be interesting to see if the company does, in fact, come out on top in sales. 

Via GamesIndustry.biz

Name that Netbook: What should Apple call its rumored tablet PC?

Concept
art for an Apple touch-screen Netbook.

(Credit: Gizmodo)



CNET News Poll

Apple tablet: What’s in a name?
What should the Apple tablet be called?

MacBook Mini

Originally posted at Fully Equipped

Inside CNET Labs 54: You can never feel clean, ever.

Whether from Walgreens or Purell, this little item will not save you.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

I’m getting married next week, so Dong takes this opportunity to get an idea of my mood and anticipation level. I think he may actually be a little sad. You know, missed opportunities …

Originally posted at Inside CNET Labs Podcast

Samsung working on a Zune HD-killer?

Photo of the Samsung M1 MP3 player.

The Samsung M1 authentically emulates my messy, flower-strewn desk.

(Credit: Samsung)

A portable media player with a 3.3-inch OLED touch screen and an Nvidia Tegra chipset? Sounds familiar.

Nope, we’re not talking about the Zune HD. This is the Samsung M1, a PMP that officially popped up on …

Originally posted at MP3 Insider

Fujitsu’s CELSIUS ULTRA gaming PC caught on video

It’s not exactly the most exhaustive of hands-ons, but the video after the break appears to be one of the very first looks at Fujitsu’s much-hyped CELSIUS ULTRA gaming PC which, as promised, made its debut at the big KnastLAN event in Germany this weekend. From the sound of things, however, Fujitsu still isn’t quite ready to dish out many details about the system’s specs, although it does apparently make use of a pair of unspecified overclocked NVIDIA graphics cards in an SLI configuration, and it was reportedly able to run Crysis “impressively” at a full 120 fps. Head on past the break to see it for yourself.

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Fujitsu’s CELSIUS ULTRA gaming PC caught on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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