Archive for July, 2006
Digital Technology Enriches Kids’ Toys
Korea Times, South Korea
Moms and dads who are too busy to play with their children are purchasing more and more complex toys that make use of digital technologies.
Unlike traditional toy PCs that only mimic the exterior of adult’s PCs, the new digital toys have real high-tech functions such as a digital camcorder, a barcode reader or an infra-red sensor.
Also, a wireless baby monitor has been introduced for the first time in South Korea.
Digital toy company Bizkiz released several gadgets for kids this year. A toy camcorder named Zutti Zebra, which hit the market earlier this month, can be connected to either TV, PC or cassette player for children to review what they shot with it.
“Using it, children can play various roles such as reporter, singer or movie director. It helps them learn how to express themselves and socialize with each other,’’ the company said in a statement.
Another company Ianybe specializes in e-books for children. The Anybe player looks like a PDA or a cellphone, and it contains more than 600 volumes of video books in its embedded memory.
If a kid who cannot read wants to play the video book, he or she simply has to put the paper book’s barcode onto an attached barcode reader on the back of the device. Then it automatically plays both video and audio content corresponding to the paper book. The company said it is updating some 20 new books every week.
“It maximizes the learning effect as it plays the storybook in video and audio simultaneously,’’ said Cho Hyung-min, the company’s CEO. “In addition, parents can create their own contents and barcodes for tailored educational content.’’
The device is also capable of playing and recording MP3 files, which can appeal to the parents also, the company said.
Imported gadgets are also available.
Last month an Internet shopping mall RoitsNine began selling a wireless baby monitor named Momsee. It is composed of a wireless digital camera and a receiver that has a 1.5-inch LCD screen.
The baby monitor lets parents watch and hear their baby through the network. It self-filters background noise and lights according to the baby’s moves. The infrared sensor allows for night viewing, while the monitor can be connected to TV sets for a larger view.
July 31st, 2006
Pentax K100D DSLR reviewed
Posted Jul 29th 2006 8:10AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Digital Cameras
Pentax certainly isn’t new to the budget-DSLR scene, and its K100D is another fairly affordable offering into the single-reflex lens world. When we first got wind of this camera a few months back, our biggest excitement stemmed from the more manageable naming system, but ePhotoZine actually found quite a bit more to love about the K100D than the refreshing model name. While this unit is an awful lot like the *ist DL 6.1, that’s actually not such a bad thing.
The most substantial update to the 6.1 megapixel camera is the CCD-shift shake reduction system — a first in the Pentax DSLR lineup — that presumably helps reduce blur in moving and low-light situations (i.e. OIS). Reviewers found the system beneficial, but poorly implemented nonetheless; there’s no visual indication the system is actually working or how effective it is until you view the finished image, which isn’t exactly useful in the field. Also, the camera had a tough time digesting more than 3 RAW shots in succession, often forcing the operator to wait until the buffer was clear before shooting could resume. However, if those two relatively professional complaints won’t apply to you, the K100D produced excellent images and was said to “perform well for its price point.” While the 2.5-inch display, sturdy enclosure, 200 to 3200 ISO settings, and impressive 11-point AF system were viewed quite fondly, it should be noted that your CF cards aren’t welcome here, as only the SD format is accepted, and 4 AA batteries are used in favor of a proprietary cell. But if you’ve been chomping at the bit to grab a DSLR on the cheap, and you can live with the, um, unstable anti-shake system, you can snag the K100D now with a bundled 18-55mm lens for $699.99.
July 31st, 2006
Olympus Introduces Smallest and Lightest � 710 Digital Camera
Hardware Zone
SINGAPORE, 26 July 2006 — Olympus, the industry leader in opto-digital technologies and pioneer in the digital camera market, today introduced the 7.1-megapixel Olympus µ 710, the world’s smallest and lightest compact digital camera in the 7MP category.
The camera also wins kudos in being the world’s slimmest, all-weather compact digital camera.
All-weather construction requires the use of specially coated high-durability rubber materials to seal the gaps between individual components, increasing the number of parts and making it more difficult to achieve size reductions. For the µ 710, however, a more efficient component layout and a newly developed lens unit were employed to reduce overall size and body thickness.
Blending stylish looks with high performance
The µ 710 shares the compact, all-weather construction that is a feature of the Olympus µ Series, and is equipped with a 7.1-megapixel CCD and a 3x optical zoom lens. It features a wave motif design with attractive contours and a special front body finish that gives it the distinctive lustre of high-quality jewelry. The body fits comfortably in the palm of the hand and offers a sure grip for stable shooting. The front of the body is coated with a special scratch- and weather-resistant finish.
The digicam comes in four body-colour variations so that consumers can choose a colour that best suits their lifestyle and personal preference. These include Platinum Silver, Platinum Black, Sunshine Orange and Caribbean Blue.
Elegant “Platinum” Colour Schemes
The sophisticated Platinum Silver and Platinum Black models carry a platinum alloy coating with a jewelry-like finish that gives the body a luxurious surface texture.
Striking Two-Tone Colour Schemes
The distinctively different Sunshine Orange and Caribbean Blue models feature a stylish two-tone colour scheme on the back of the camera, and a clear hard coat on the front of the camera that enhances weather and corrosion resistance. Offering excellent protection against weather and climate, they are an ideal choice for active users and marine and winter sports enthusiasts.
Better low light shooting with BrightCapture Technology
Bright Capture technology assures bright, easy-to-view display of subjects on the monitor when shooting in low light and helps reduce blurring caused by camera shake or subject motion.
When the Bright Capture button (indicated by an icon in the shape of a hand) on the back of the camera is pressed, the camera automatically increases ISO sensitivity in response to low light conditions. This in turn causes the camera to use a faster shutter speed, which reduces the incidence of blurring due to subject motion or camera shake. As a result, users can preserve the mood of the moment at weddings and other intimate events by shooting without flash in low light. The µ 710 offers full-resolution 7.1-megapixel shooting at sensitivities up to ISO 1600, enabling users to enjoy the benefits of high resolution and high sensitivity when shooting.
The µ 710’s large, 2.5-inch monitor and Bright Capture function also make it easy for users to compose their shots when shooting in low light, because the Bright Capture function overcomes the problem of poor visibility by automatically increasing the brightness of the LCD monitor image.
New Shooting Guide function – Photography made easy
A new Shooting Guide function allows users to simply choose the type of image they want to obtain, and have the camera automatically apply optimum settings to achieve the desired result. Users can therefore obtain the results they want without referring to a printed manual — even entry-level users can easily and comfortably take advantage of various shooting techniques.
The Olympus µ 710 – other features:
* Large, 2.5-inch LCD monitor with low-light subject display capability
* Scene Guide that allows optimum 20 Scene Programme Mode Selection
* 32MB (approx.) internal memory
* Versatile in-camera editing functions, including red-eye correction, brightness, frame compositing, and calendar creation
* Up to 200 shots per charge (CIPA test standard) with included rechargeable batteries
* Easy Print button for one-touch direct printing of selected photos
Pricing and Availability
The Olympus µ 710 is now available at all major retailers and dealers at the recommended retail price of S$599 (inclusive of GST), and includes a 512MB xD-Picture Card
July 28th, 2006
Canon, Nikon profits jump on strong digital camera sales
Channel News Asia, Singapore
TOKYO : Japanese camera makers Canon Inc and Nikon Corp both reported sharp rises in quarterly profits, riding high on the popularity of high-end digital SLR models.
Canon said net earnings rose 28.8 percent to 105.91 billion yen (US$913 million) in the three months to June, the second quarter of its business year, as revenue increased 12.8 percent from a year earlier to 1.03 trillion yen
Canon, Japan’s top maker of digital cameras and office automation equipment, which was already predicting a record full-year performance, raised its outlook on the basis of another strong quarter.
For the six months to June, net profit climbed 22.2 percent to 214.17 billion yen on revenue of 1.95 trillion yen, up 11.2 percent year-on-year.
Rival Nikon Corp’s net profit almost double to 14.75 billion yen in the June quarter from 7.75 billion a year earlier.
Operating profit rose nearly 74 percent to 24.2 billion yen, as revenue increased 9.8 percent to 172.8 billion yen.
Once debt-ridden Canon, which has won acclaim for its rapid turnaround, has been focusing its efforts on more lucrative single-lens reflex (SLR) digital cameras, as has Nikon, helping them weather a price war in the compact market.
“Within the camera segment demand for digital single-lens-reflex (SLR) cameras and compact digital cameras continued to realise healthy growth during the term,” Canon said in a statement.
“In the optical equipment segment, although the market for steppers, used in the production of semiconductors, indicated a trend toward moderate recovery, the market for projection aligners, which are used to produce liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, declined,” it added.
In the second quarter, revenues from the camera business jumped 22.3 percent while business machines were up 8.6 percent, and optical and other products up 20.8 percent.
For the full-year to December, Canon now projects a record net profit of 440 billion yen, up from 384.1 billion in the previous year, on revenue of 4.13 trillion yen, up from 3.75 trillion.
“Demand for digital cameras is expected to continue enjoying robust growth in Japan and overseas markets,” the company predicted.
Nikon said in January it would end production of all but two of its eight SLR analogue models and all of its non-digital compacts, while Canon said in May it would stop developing traditional film cameras. - AFP/de
July 28th, 2006
Churn in camera market coming to an end
The Age, Australia
CAMERA makers are reporting an interesting phenomenon in their sales statistics: many customers are now buying their third or fourth digital camera. This is good news for camera makers but unsettling for the prospective first-time customer.
One person writes in a web forum: “Back in the old film-camera days, you could buy a nice camera and probably five to eight years later it still was a good camera. Now, with the digital cameras, I have seen how fast they become obsolete. Do you think there will be an upper limit for digital cameras where you can buy a nice body and it will be a good piece of equipment several years later?”
At the top end of the market, where the single-lens reflex cameras are found, model life is reassuringly long. The Nikon D100, for instance, was in production for four years before it was replaced with the D200.
The frantic action is at the compact end of the market. At the popular price point of $600 to $700, model life is short and there is no hope of buying a camera today that will still be current in a year’s time.
Compact cameras have quickly acquired higher-resolution sensors and such useful technology as image stabilisation. Zoom lenses have gone wider and longer, and automatic exposure, focusing and image processing have all improved so that today’s cameras are superior to those of three years ago.
Photographic distributor Robert Heim says there was a formula used in the digital camera business in its early days: “For every $100 spent on a new camera it will be kept for one month.”
This was a period when a 2-megapixel camera cost $2000. Mr Heim says now that 5, 6 and 8-megapixel sensors are commonplace in cheap cameras, the turnover rate has slowed to one new camera every two years.
Gfk ConsumerScope, which tracks the camera business, reported earlier this year that 39 per cent of buyers were purchasing a second or third camera.
Marketing manager at Canon Australia Stuart Poignand says more than half of Canon buyers are buying a second or subsequent camera.
The economics of photography have been transformed by digital. With film cameras, the improvements were in film emulsions, chemicals and papers, so there was little to be gained in swapping one $300 camera for another. The big costs were in film and processing ($23 for every 24-exposure film), developing and printing. However, in digital, the pictures cost nothing if they are shared electronically, as most are, so buying a replacement digital camera is not as indulgently expensive as it might look.
Meanwhile, Canon has made the unilateral decision that the megapixel wars are over. Its new Ixus 800is is a 6-megapixel camera, which has surprised observers. But the company reckons that 6 million clean pixels together with an image-stabilised lens and exemplary in-camera processing is what people really need.
Will consumers buy this reasoning when a 6-megapixel Canon costs $100 more than an 8-megapixel Sony? After all, bigger is better, right?
Compact camera technology is now mature. With many brands taking their sensors from the same source company, it is hard to get a resolution advantage.
Gimmicks such as wireless connectivity will only seduce a few gadget freaks, and the big battle is now over price and retail margins. Makers are skimping on materials and features - more plastic, less metal and no optical viewfinder - and moving manufacturing to China to reduce costs.
July 27th, 2006
Digital Camera Webcast with PC Magazine Experts
Gearlog, NY
Set a reminder for this one: PC Magazine’s camera lead analyst Terry Sullivan and staff editor Tony Hoffman are sharing their expertise online next Wednesday, August 2 at 2 PM Eastern time / 11 AM Pacific. The Webcast will last for an hour, with a quick video presentation, then Q&A. These guys are good; if you want to get better with your digital camera, they can help.
July 26th, 2006
Two Digital Camera Magic Tricks
Personal Tech Pipeline, NY
Software developers have figured out how to “stitch” together or combine images to do “magic tricks” with your digital photos.
The first trick is to gather together a bunch of photos and “stitch” them into a panorama — a 360-degree panorama if you like. You don’t need a special camera, a special lens or even a tripod.
Basically, you simply take pictures using your existing camera in such a way that you capture everything you can see in 360 degrees. That means taking dozens of photos
Then, you simply drop all these in a folder and point software called Autostitch at them. Autostitch will find the points of overlap in your pictures to figure out the “puzzle” you have presented it with. Then, it will create a single photo with all your photos as a panorama. Magic!
The second trick is to create a composite photo out of several pictures that eliminates anything that’s moving. Let’s say, for example, that you want to take a photo of Mayan pyramids, and you really want to capture that ancient feel. Unfortunately, a bunch of overweight tourists with Bermuda shorts and baseball caps are milling around, spoiling the effect. Yelling “fire” won’t clear the area, so you’re going to have to rely on a hilariously named service called Tourist Remover.
Simply take several shots — four or five should do it — and feed them into Tourist Remover. The service will spit out a single photo, minus all the tourists. Tourist Remover performs this awesome trick by looking for objects — or people — who are in a specific place in only one of your pictures, and wipes them out, using image data from the other pictures. The result is that you capture a scene that didn’t exist at the time you took the shots.
Tourist Remover is part of the online photo service, Snapmania.
Posted by Mike Elgan at 04:44 PM | Permalink
July 25th, 2006
Two Digital Camera Magic Tricks
Personal Tech Pipeline, NY
Software developers have figured out how to “stitch” together or combine images to do “magic tricks” with your digital photos.
The first trick is to gather together a bunch of photos and “stitch” them into a panorama — a 360-degree panorama if you like. You don’t need a special camera, a special lens or even a tripod.
Basically, you simply take pictures using your existing camera in such a way that you capture everything you can see in 360 degrees. That means taking dozens of photos
Then, you simply drop all these in a folder and point software called Autostitch at them. Autostitch will find the points of overlap in your pictures to figure out the “puzzle” you have presented it with. Then, it will create a single photo with all your photos as a panorama. Magic!
The second trick is to create a composite photo out of several pictures that eliminates anything that’s moving. Let’s say, for example, that you want to take a photo of Mayan pyramids, and you really want to capture that ancient feel. Unfortunately, a bunch of overweight tourists with Bermuda shorts and baseball caps are milling around, spoiling the effect. Yelling “fire” won’t clear the area, so you’re going to have to rely on a hilariously named service called Tourist Remover.
Simply take several shots — four or five should do it — and feed them into Tourist Remover. The service will spit out a single photo, minus all the tourists. Tourist Remover performs this awesome trick by looking for objects — or people — who are in a specific place in only one of your pictures, and wipes them out, using image data from the other pictures. The result is that you capture a scene that didn’t exist at the time you took the shots.
Tourist Remover is part of the online photo service, Snapmania.
Posted by Mike Elgan at 04:44 PM | Permalink
July 25th, 2006
Casio Exilim EX-Z70 Digital Camera
Buy N Shoot, Australia
Following the release of Casio’s EX-Z70 almost a month ago in Europe, CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. in conjunction with Hagemeyer Brands Australia Pty Ltd, announced today the release of the EXILIM ZOOM EX-Z70, a new addition to its stylish series of EXILIM® digital cameras. This newest high-resolution member of the EXILIM family delivers an effective 7.2 megapixels.
The EXILIM series has a reputation for transforming the digital camera market. Slim and stylish, packed with superior functionality, and astonishingly easy to use, EXILIM cameras combine the benefits of compact size, intuitive controls, large displays, and long battery life. The release of the new EX-Z70 complements the already available EX-Z60, a high-performance, 6.0-megapixel model released earlier this year. The EX-Z70 increases the resolution to 7.2 megapixels for even more detailed, beautiful photographs.
Like its forerunner, the EX-Z70 features Easy Mode, a user-friendly camera menu for beginners. Easy Mode simplifies the wide array of camera settings to three easy menus (image size, flash, and self-timer). With Easy Mode, users can make camera settings using simple onscreen descriptions, enabling even beginners to get started right away with the fun of photography. A combination of other powerful features ensures that beautiful photos are captured with just a touch of the shutter button:
~ Anti Shake DSP for reducing photo blur due to shaky hands or moving subjects
~ BEST SHOT function for getting optimal photo results simply by selecting a sample image of the type of scene the user wants to shoot
~ Large 2.5-inch LCD for great visibility
The camera’s lightweight aluminum body comes finished in either luxurious black or high-quality silver. The top of the body is rounded to give it a soft look, and the overall design is a perfect blend of fashion and functionality. The EX-Z70 captures those priceless moments in a stylish package that puts superior image quality in the palm of every user’s hand.
July 25th, 2006
Taiwan market: BenQ aiming for 8% share of digital camera market by end of 2006
DigiTimes, Taiwan
BenQ expects its market share in the Taiwan digital camera market to rise to 8% from the current 5% by the end of this year, by focusing on models with 3-inch wide screens and models with an ultra slim profile, according to the company.
The Taiwan digital camera market is led by Sony, which has a 25-30% market share, followed by Canon and Nikon each with 10-15% and Casio with 8%, according to industry sources. Other leading Taiwan-based brands, including Digimaster, Premier and Acer, have a market share of 1% each, the sources indicated
To become more competitive in the Taiwan market, BenQ shifted its mainstream digital camera models from 3-4 megapixels to 5-6 megapixels in the first half of this year, the company noted. For the second half of 2006, BenQ will leverage it’s relationship with TFT panel maker AU Optronics, which is an affiliate of the BenQ Group, to adopt 3-inch wide TFT-LCD screens and use lens kits supplied by Pentax for its new models, the company said.
July 25th, 2006
Previous Posts