Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re the type who likes to risk life and limb in pursuit of pleasure, then you know the best way to document your exploits is with a little helmet cam action. Bike Rumor is reporting that Contour, one the leaders in this (admittedly niche) field, will soon be releasing a new POV shooter called the Contour Plus. The site came across some Giant pro cyclers testing the device, who claim the Plus will improve on the ContourGPS by adding an HDMI-out port, boosting image quality, and widening the viewing angle from 140 degrees to 170. And, for those who really like to live dangerously, the Plus will supposedly pack a Bluetooth radio so you can stare at the iPhone viewfinder app while hurtling down a snow-covered slope or through an obstacle-riddled bike path. Of course, this is all unofficial at the moment, but the “little birdy” whispering in Bike Rumor’s ear said the updated cam will land in the next month or two. One more blurry shot after the break.

Continue reading Contour Plus helmet cam spied, offers wider view of your extreme antics

Contour Plus helmet cam spied, offers wider view of your extreme antics originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An image of the FlipLive, the camcorder Flip was going to reveal April 13. Photo: Gizmodo

Cisco axed the Flip business division just a day before it was supposed to debut a live-streaming Flip camcorder.

Called the FlipLive, the camera would have been able to stream video to Twitter and Facebook, or e-mail a link to a real-time video feed, using Wi-Fi. Gizmodo got exclusive access to images of the device, which sports the Flip’s signature candy bar design.

Live-streaming content used to only be available to big-budget news teams with large, satellite-laden trucks. Today, most smartphones and tablets are equipped with cameras, making it dead simple to upload media to the cloud.

But live-streaming continues to be a bit more of a hassle, requiring a smartphone, a hefty data plan and an app for broadcasting live video such as Ustream. Combine this with the unreliability of U.S. 3G networks, and it makes live-streaming a pretty difficult feat.

FlipLive, which relies on Wi-Fi rather than 3G or 4G services, sounds like it could have been a pretty cool gadget, providing kids, soccer moms and citizen journalists with a simple way to deliver live footage to an audience for a low price. But alas, it will probably never see the light of day.

On Tuesday, Cisco officially shut down the Flip camera business. Blame for Flip’s demise has been placed on both Cisco, who purchased Flip maker Pure Digital in 2009, and on the the rise of the smartphone. Rumors of a Wi-Fi-enabled version had been floating around since late 2009, but nothing ever surfaced (until now).

Reportedly, 550 employees will be laid off with the Flip business’ closing.

Exclusive Images of FlipLive /the Giz

NASA’s Robonaut 2 is something of a celebrity around these parts, owing to his dashing good looks and insatiable appetite for publicity, which can now be put to good use with a new toy the landlubbers are sending his way: a professional 3D camera. The human-aiding robot that presently calls the International Space Station home will soon be joined by Panasonic’s AG-3DA1, a full 1080p 3D video recorder with twin lenses and dual 2 megapixel 3MOS sensors. Panasonic is also loading up the next Space Shuttle Atlantis flight to the ISS (scheduled for June 28th) with 25.5-inch 3D LCD monitors and rugged Toughbook laptops to help with documenting proceedings aboard the research vessel. The new shooter costs a whopping $21,000, and though it’s not clear whether NASA paid for it or Panasonic just decided to be charitable, the space agency should have the cash to splash after deciding to shelve the James Cameron-approved project to slap a zoom-equipped 3D imager on its next Mars rover. We’re just wondering if the human world is quite ready for 3D video blogs from its favorite robotic astronaut.

Continue reading Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 camera will shoot 3D video, Robonaut vlogs on the International Space Station

Panasonic’s AG-3DA1 camera will shoot 3D video, Robonaut vlogs on the International Space Station originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The seasons come and go, but Toshiba‘s line of Camileo pocket camcorders tend to look the same, with their pistol grips and flip-out screens. But now, Tosh is getting ready to ship two new models in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and one of them, at least, takes the company’s design in a different direction. The B10 camcorder has a candy bar shape with a front-facing lens — much like the Flip camcorders that kicked off the pocket cam craze in the first place. The B10 shoots at Full HD resolution, snaps 16 megapixel stills, has 16X digital zoom, and takes SDXC cards as large as 64GB. Prefer the ole’ pistol grip? The P100 boasts the same specs and adds 8X optical zoom — still a rarity in inexpensive pocket cams. Toshiba hasn’t announced pricing yet, though the two will go on sale sometime in the second quarter. In the meantime, check out the press release for more deets.

Continue reading Toshiba intros Camileo P100 and B10 pocket camcorders, strays from tried-and-true pistol grip

Toshiba intros Camileo P100 and B10 pocket camcorders, strays from tried-and-true pistol grip originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Most of the time when one product takes on another in a no-holds-barred face-off somebody walks away with a championship belt. Not this time. Here it’s Gunleik Groven, Norwegian filmmaker and photographer, comparing the RED One Mysterium X and the Arri Alexa, two pro-quality shooters that come in at a price semi-pro producers can afford — the RED clocking in at $42,485 the way Gunleik configured it, the Arri at $70,000. There are some obvious differences, like the RED shooting at 4K and the Arri at 1080p, but the vast majority of the comparisons here are far, far more subtle than that, meaning you’re just going to have to pore over the comparison on the other end of the source link yourself and download the gigabytes of sample footage that’s been thoughtfully provided. If you do need something of a conclusion, though, it’s this: “These are both excellent cameras we could only dream of 5 years back… you cannot really complain on the equipment if you don’t get your shot with either of these.”

Red One faces Arri Alexa in high-res, Choose Your Own Adventure-style face-off originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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