Here’s a quick heads-up on the next craze, probably… It’s called Flip Video, from Pure Digital and on the other side of the pond they’ve sold a million of them in the past few weeks. It’s a tiny pocket camcorder, around the size of a cellphone, so far so ordinary, but it has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. First it’s cheap, prices in the US start at around $99 or roughly £50. It has a built-in USB connector, so there’s no faffing around with cables, when you want to watch and download your videos to your Windows or Mac PC. Flip Video stores around an hour’s worth of video at quite reasonable quality, and you can upload directly to You Tube or edit the movie. Power comes from a couple of AA batteries and it has a built-in 1.5-inch display screen. Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft continues to hammer away at its Zune digital media player and the services built around the device, but the evolution is largely a case of going where Apple has already taken the iPod and iTunes. On May 5, 2008, Microsoft introduced the latest update to Zune, not only adding new features and enhancements to the device itself but also evolving the Zune software, Zune Social and the Zune Marketplace. The focus of the update is to build on top of what the company started with “Zune Social” in November 2007, namely to extend the social networking community created around the device.
“Zune owners are pretty passionate, and they had a lot of great ideas for making the community more valuable to music fans. And I definitely fall into that category myself - the main reason we’re all here is we love the music,” stated Brian Seitz, a Group Marketing Manager for Zune. Zune Social offers users the possibility to interact in terms of music discovery, comments, playlist browsing, with the update bringing to the table additional capabilities including the ability to send messages to friends, explore their music collections and even drag-and-drop Zune Cards. Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft is gearing up to deliver a free taste of Madonna’s Hard Candy album via MSN. The Redmond company will offer access at no charge to Madonna’s performance at New York City’s Roseland
Ballroom on April 30. Via Control Room and MSN, fans will be able to watch the singer’s concert streamed live, with Microsoft promising that the event will feature the No.1 single “4 Minutes,” from the Hard Candy album released on April 28.
“Madonna is a legendary performer, and we’re thrilled to be bringing this live online broadcast to her fans on the heels of her Hall of Fame induction, her record-breaking 37th top-10 single ‘4 Minutes,’ and in conjunction with the launch of this hotly anticipated new album,” revealed Aaron Grosky, Control Room president. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s just like the old days and I vividly recall when camcorder manufacturers vied with each other for the title of world’s smallest and lightest. Well, Panasonic is up to its old tricks with the HDC-SD9, and it’s the titchiest HD cam to date, and part of the reason it’s so teeny is because it records video data on SD memory cards, rather than a hard disc, or old-school magnetic tape. Some vital statistics for you now, it weighs a tad over 115g, there’s a triple CCD image sensor up front, and maximum resolution is a pin sharp, full HD1920 x 1080P.
Californian company Luxim has developed a new ‘LIFI’ plasma light bulb. It’s not much bigger than a Tic-Tac, according to a report on CNET News, yet it gives off the same amount of light as a streetlamp. The bulb is driven by a RF generator, which creates a high frequency field around it that vaporises a mixture of gasses that changes to a plasma. The result is an intense light, available in a spectrum of colours. The bulbs are long lasting – up to five times longer than conventional lamps and they’re energy efficient too. Applications include street and stage lighting, video projectors, endoscopy and numerous industrial processes.
Here’s a quick heads-up on the next craze, probably… It’s called Flip Video, from Pure Digital and on the other side of the pond they’ve sold a million of them in the past few weeks. It’s a tiny pocket camcorder, around the size of a cellphone, so far so ordinary, but it has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. First it’s cheap, prices in the US start at around $99 or roughly £50. It has a built-in USB connector, so there’s no faffing around with cables, when you want to watch and download your videos to your Windows or Mac PC. Flip Video stores around an hour’s worth of video at quite reasonable quality, and you can upload directly to You Tube or edit the movie. Power comes from a couple of AA batteries and it has a built-in 1.5-inch display screen. Read the rest of this entry »
