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Friday, August 13, 2010

DIY Tilt-Shift Photography Guide Makes DIY Lens Selection Simple [Tilt-Shift Photography]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5611848/diy-tilt+shift-photography-guide-makes-diy-lens-selection-simple

DIY Tilt-Shift Photography Guide Makes DIY Lens Selection Simple Tilt-shift photography alters the focal plane of your camera lens and yields some really interesting pictures in the process. Learn about tilt-shift photography and get started with a comparison guide to DIY tilt-shift lenses with this handy guide.

If you're not sure where to start with tilt-shift photography Bhautik Joshi's thorough guide is an excellent starting point. Spanning six sections, the guide covers the science behind tilt-shift photography, DIY models and the strengths of each, information about economical commercial tilt-shift lenses, and more.

Visit the link below to check out the guide or take a peek at photos flagged as tilt-shift on Flickr to get an idea of what you can achieve with a tilt-shift lens.

Like the look of tilt-shift photography but don't have a camera you can attach a DIY lens to? Try out previously reviewed TiltShift and TiltShitMaker to try your hand at faking tilt-shift photos. Have a favorite photography-related DIY project to share? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Tilt-Shift: A DIY Guide [via Hack A Day]

Who Will Watch the Watchmen? More Watchmen! [Street View]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5612186/who-will-watch-the-watchmen-more-watchmen

Who Will Watch the Watchmen? More Watchmen! A few things to be concerned with here: first, Google Street View has gone meta. Second, apparently those vans travel in packs. Third, the universe just collapsed in on itself, the end. [Google via Reddit]

3DTV Still Not Big in Japan [3dTv]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5612007/3dtv-still-not-that-popular-in-japan

3DTV Still Not Big in Japan The land of the rising sun may be the world's fastest-adopter of new formats, but a year on, how are 3DTV sales doing in Japan? The Nikkei examined the situation, and unsurprisingly 3DTV still has a long way to go.

While prices have fallen by 20 per cent for Panasonic and Sony's 3DTV models, they're still up to 50 per cent higher than non-3D sets, which could account for the fact that only 2.6 per cent of 40" or larger TVs sold in Japan between 2nd - 8th August were 3D-enabled.

Nonetheless, we're constantly being bombarded by stats from manufacturers claiming forecasts of millions upon millions of 3DTV shipments in the coming year. Perhaps the James Cameron-directed Black Eyed Peas documentary will change people's minds. (Heh). [The Nikkei via CrunchGear]

Intel's Core i7-970 gets reviewed: great for overclocking, still expensive

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/intels-core-i7-970-gets-reviewed-great-for-overclocking-still/

It may be a cheaper way to join the high-end Core i7 family, but that doesn't mean it's "cheap." Intel's Core i7-970 ($899), which just started shipping to consumers around a month ago, has just undergone a thorough looking-over at Hot Hardware, where the six-core chip was tested alongside its more potent (and in turn, more costly) siblings. If you've no interest in dropping over a grand for a Core i7-980X, and you aren't about to lower yourself by purchasing a quad-core Core i7-975, this here chip might just do you proud. In testing, critics found the 970 to be quick, but hardly mind-blowing, when handling more mundane tasks; stir in a few heavily threaded applications, though, and it managed to "sail past" the quad-core contemporaries and "keep pace" with the aforementioned 980X. All told, the silicon managed to perform around 5 percent worse than the 980X, yet it rings up for around 12 percent less. If you've got the workflow to truly take advantage of all six cores, and you can stomach not having the absolute best, it seems as if the 970 strikes a fine balance -- and hey, if you're down with overclocking, you can probably get that 5 percent back with just a mild uptick in your energy bill.

Intel's Core i7-970 gets reviewed: great for overclocking, still expensive originally! appeare d on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chrome to Phone now available in Android Market

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/chrome-to-phone-now-available-to-all-android-froyo-users/

Chrome to Phone isn't a new product -- we've been using it since May, in fact -- but Google's second mobile announcement today (behind Voice Actions) is that its continuous client app is now "official" and available to all users (with Android 2.2 Froyo) via Android Market. As it was before, websites can be pushed from the Chrome browser to your Android device, with certain apps (Maps, YouTube) taking over for the browser when contextually appropriate. Additionally, the code is open, which we're hoping means this Chrome extension will find its way to other browsers. The team is "looking into" bringing the capabilities to other mobile OSs (the iPhone was specifically asked), but don't get your hopes up: nothing's been submitted, and we didn't get the feeling it was an active push. Incredibly useful? Yes, yes indeed.

Chrome to Phone now available in Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Thunder spied again, still looking awesome

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/dell-thunder-spied-again-still-looking-awesome/

Looks like the faucet's starting to turn wide open on Thunder leaks, seeing how this would be the second we've seen in a single day -- and we suppose you could even count this one twice since the source appears to have two units at his disposal. AndroidSPIN doesn't have any new details to report with this round of shots, but needless to say, talk of a 4.1-inch AMOLED display looks as real as ever, and it looks like all of these test units are running stock Android 2.1. Sadly, considering how long the Mini 5 / Streak was in the leak pipeline prior to release, we can't promise that we're going to see a retail launch on this one any time soon -- but it certainly gives you pause before pulling the trigger on an AT&T-locked version of the Streak now, doesn't it?

Dell Thunder spied again, still looking awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Droid 2 ripped to shreds, where's an astromech when you need one?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/motorola-droid-2-ripped-to-shreds-wheres-an-astromech-when-you/

It's been less than a full day since Verizon's Droid 2 hit shelves (or two, if you count Sam's Club) but the fine folks at iFixit have already managed to make their phone explode into... 24 pieces, if we're counting right. Amazingly enough, the internal construction is almost exactly the same despite Motorola's near-doubling of the horsepower (and addition of 802.11n) inside. You'll find a nigh-identical logic board, speaker, camera and LCD screen -- not to mention the exact same battery, which means original Droid owners will have a handy swap -- and what looks like the exact same steps (but Torx screwdrivers required) to take the clever puzzle of plastic and metal apart. Not that you'd necessarily want to do the same to your new handset -- It's days like this we're glad iFixit is here to take that bullet for us.

Motorola Droid 2 ripped to shreds, where's an astromech when you need one? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Axon Logic's Haptic tablet can run a desktop's OS, has a desktop's price

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/axon-logics-haptic-tablet-can-run-a-desktops-os-has-a-deskto/

Half a year ago, you'd have been forgiven for expecting that today both Windows 7 and Mac OS X would have flagship tablets representing them, in the shape of the HP Slate and the Apple iPad. Alas, one of those devices ran away to enterprise land and the other opted for a mobile OS. It's against this backdrop of disappointment that Axon's Haptic tablet enters, with confirmation that its Atom-based innards are fully compatible with Linux, Windows and Mac operating environments. With a 10.1-inch resistive touchscreen, 320GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, and a trio of USB ports, it's another of those devices you could classify as a keyboard-less netbook, but at least its OS versatility will give it a leg up. Then again, with a pre-order price of $750 and no bundled OS licenses, we suspect it might need a little more than that to succeed where so many have failed.

Axon Logic's Haptic tablet can run a desktop's OS, has a desktop's price originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 reviewed: the best megazoom shooter your dough can buy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz100-reviewed-the-best-megazoom-shooter-yo/

Panasonic and superzoom cameras go together like... well, like any two things that are undoubtedly meant to be together. The company has a history of outdoing itself time and time again when it comes to enlarged point-and-shoots with atypically long zooms, and the all-new DMC-FX100 is most certainly not bucking the trend. Announced just a few weeks back, this here Lumix carries a 24x optical zoom, 11fps burst mode, 1080p movie recording and a 14 megapixel sensor. The gurus over at PhotographyBLOG have been testing its every feature for the past few days, and they drew some rather positive conclusions. Confessing that the FZ38 was a hard act to follow, they still felt that the FZ100 managed to top even that, with the only real (expected) knock being the noise that made itself too evident once you pushed beyond the ISO 400 mark. They also felt that the $499.95 asking price was a bit on the high side, but now that Panny's building somewhat of a reputation in this space, we guess it's entitled to try and take advantage. Hit the source link for the fully skinny, but don't even bother if you're hoping for someone to talk you out of pulling the trigger.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ100 reviewed: the best megazoom shooter your dough can buy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 0! 6:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS prices 10-inch Android Eee Pad under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300, other tablets too

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/13/asus-prices-10-inch-android-eee-pad-under-399-8-inch-eee-table/

ASUS prices 8-inch Eee Tablet under $300, 10-inch Android Eee Pad at $399, other tablets too

ASUS just dumped Windows Embedded Compact 7 for Android for its lower-end tablet devices, and CEO Jerry Shen is passing along the savings. He's pledging that the 10-inch Eee Pad EP101TC, due to ship in March, will cost under $399 -- and if the Notion Ink Adam is any indication that means it'll be $398. Then there's the EP121, a 12-inch tablet running Windows 7 that's positioned rather higher up in the market, as indicated by its $1,000 price tag. Shen says this high cost is due to that docking station able to intriguingly transform it into a laptop when it ships around December or January. Next is yet another Eee Pad due around January, one that will run Windows Embedded Compact 7 on a 10-inch screen and at a price somewhere south of $499. Finally, there's the grayscale Eee Tablet e-reader thing, formerly rumored to be under $599 but now priced at a solid $300 and, supposedly, shipping in October. Surely we're mere months away from tablet saturation at this point.

ASUS prices 10-inch Android Eee Pad under $399, 8-inch Eee Tablet at $300, other tablets too originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Calculate the Perfect Handbrake Video Encoding Settings for Your Device [Video Conversion]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5610568/calculate-the-perfect-handbrake-video-encoding-settings-for-your-device

Calculate the Perfect Handbrake Video Encoding Settings for Your Device Handbrake is an amazing tool for ripping your DVDs and converting your video files, but figuring out the right settings can be a challenge. Let our Handbrake Video Bitrate calculator do the work for you.

With just a little input on your part, the calculator will provide you with a video bitrate to use. Before you get started, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

Quality definitely differs between low, medium and high but low isn't going to make your video look like crap either. All your options are designed to be watch-able, but the bigger the screen the higher you'll want to set the quality. When in doubt, Medium is always a good choice.
If you're just encoding for your computer, just go for it. If you're encoding for your mobile device, be sure to check its encoding specifications (for example, here are specs for the iPhone). While this calculator aims to stay within the bounds of mobile devices (at least at the "Low" quality setting), it's possible it may exceed your device's capabilities. It's always best to double-check before putting in the time to encode a long movie.
The reason this calculator only handles video is because audio bitrate is going to be restricted by your device. For example, Apple devices should always encode stereo audio at 160kbps. A sampling rate of 48Khz is what you're going to want to use in almost every case. If you don't have any device restrictions, we recommend 256kbps for stereo audio. Feel free to choose whatever you'd like, but as a reference point you should know that most of the music you buy online is encoded at 192kbps.

Okay, that's all, have fun!

One Fifth of Americans STILL Don't Use The Internet [Stats]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5610580/one-fifth-of-americans-still-dont-use-the-internet

According to a Pew study, 21% of Americans claim that they don't use the internet (and 5% still connect using dial-up). How is this possible? I think I've even seen homeless people peruse the internet on their iPhones.

Well, 34% of those non-users actually live in a house with internet access. Other than that, 48% think the web holds information irrelevant to their lives, 60% said they were uncomfortable with computers in general, and 90% just plain don't care to be online. And, not shockingly, over two thirds (69%) of those who don't use the internet are over the age of 65, while others may live in rural areas, have a low income, or lack a high school education.

66% of Americans currently access the internet through a broadband connection, though, and that number continues to climb. [Pew Internet via TechCrunch]

Firefox 4 Beta 3 Update Available Now For Multi-Touch Windows 7 Users [Firefox]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5610987/firefox-4-beta-3-update-available-now-for-multi+touch-windows-7-users

It's a small update, but a good 'un—well, for anyone using Windows 7 with a multi-touch monitor. A few other minor upgrades have also been included, such as new JavaScript values for faster graphics. Get the download now. [Firefox]

Start Building Your Smartphone's Kit With These Magnetic Lenses [Lenses]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5611140/start-building-your-smartphones-kit-with-these-magnetic-lenses

They say the best camera is the one you have with you, and for many of us that means the one on our phone. Photojojo's ingenious magnetic lenses are the easiest way to make your best camera even better.

The lenses—there's a .67x wide angle and a 180º fisheye—attach magnetically via a self-adhesive metal ring that you affix around your phone's camera, and supposedly they'll work with any cameraphone. The ring's removable, too, so using the lenses doesn't require any extensive or permanent modification to your precious smartphone.

The macro lens is $20 and the fisheye lens is $25, or you can grab 'em both for $40. For anyone who's into taking real photos with their cameraphone (and that seems to be a lot of you) these could be worth adding to your kit. [Wired]

Samsung shows off portable, HTIB 3D Blu-ray player options and the biggest LED 3DTV yet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/11/samsung-shows-off-portable-htib-3d-blu-ray-player-options-and-t/

We had no idea that the Blu-ray players Samsung showed off at CES would just be the first of a steady stream rolling out this year, and today in New York it's showing off the latest set of 3D capable hardware -- many of which have already shown up on retail shelves. The $499 BD-C8000 is the first portable Blu-ray player that can handle the new 3D discs; while the 10.3-inch screen is 2D only, it folds WiFi, 1GB of memory, HDMI 1.4, a 3 hour battery and all of Samsung's DLNA and widget technology into its very netbook-looking shell for you to take somewhere that has a 3D-ready display. Though that's already shipping on Amazon, we'll have to wait until October to see the $1,799 HT-C9950W 7.1 home theater in a box system, specifically designed (& priced) to match those ultra-thin 9000 series displays (and their sweet touchscreen remotes). Speaking of LED edge lit 3DTVs, Sammy also mentioned it's ready to ship the biggest of the bunch with the 65-inch UN65C8000 (compare that to Panasonic's 65-inch VT25 plasma) which missed the original July launch projection but is already popping up at a few sites for pre-orders at a price as much as $1,500 below its $5,999 MSRP.

Gallery: Samsung 3D Blu-ray player, HTIB and HDTVs

While those fill out the high end of the product line, more frugal buyers of course have the option of selecting older models that are dropping in price, but there are a few new displays and players (that we've seen before) for them too. Samsung's finally officially launching the 50-inch PN50C490 we saw last month that does 3D on a flat panel display in 720p for less than $1,000. Right now, taking it from 3D capable to 3DTV is still an expensive proposition, but we'll wait and see if any new promotions throwing in the starter kit -- updated with a few new Blu-ray 3D exclusives including Dreamworks Animations' How to Train Your Dragon and two IMAX 3D flicks, Shrek series coming soon -- for free turn lookers into purchasers. Check the gallery for more pictures and the press release after the break for more specs and pricing information.

Continue reading Samsung shows off portable, HTIB 3D Blu-ray player options and the biggest LED 3DTV yet

Samsung shows off portable, HTIB 3D Blu-ray player options and the biggest LED 3DTV yet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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