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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Nikon D3x Specs Leaked: A Mighty Flagship Cometh [Nikon]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/nkBkBxvyEpE/nikon-d3x-specs-leaked-a-mighty-flagship-cometh

The long rumored, medium-format-friendly D3x is profiled in detail in an upcoming issue of Nikon Pro, and Nikon Rumors published the pages themselves and a rundown of details, including 5fps 24.5-megapixel shooting, 51-point autofocus and a 922,000-dot LCD screen for Live View. Here's the basic spec rundown:

• World's highes-res SLR with Live View
• 51-point MultiCAM3500FX autofocus system
• Scene Recognition System
• Expeed 16-bit processing to handle detail on the 75MB image files
• 3-inch, 922,000-dot LCD
• 35.9mm x 24mm FX format sensor (If you can't think in metric, that's 1.4" x 0.94")
• Weather-resistant magnesium body
• Designed for medium-format shooting
• ISO range of 100-1600 with a Lo1 (equivalent to ISO 50) with boosts up to ISO 6400
• 24.5-megapixel shooting at up to 5fps; cropped 10-megapixel shooting at up to 7fps
• 12ms start-up time; 41ms shutter-release lag time
• Writes files to dual CF slots at 35MB/s
• USB 2.0, HDMI and AV-out jacks, with 10-pin terminal for GPS and other accessories
• Same lithium-ion battery as D3

Believe it or not, there's even more data over on Nikon Rumors, plus some very interesting pictures, so go have a look. [Nikon Rumors]

Mumbai Terrorists Watch World React With Horror Using BlackBerrys [BlackBerry]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ONfSXpI42Y0/mumbai-terrorists-watch-world-react-with-horror-using-blackberrys

The terrorists in Mumbai might have committed inhuman acts, but in at least one way, they are just like you and me. When authorities cut the cable feeds to the hotels where the terrorists held over 200 hostages, they relied on another piece technology to monitor the police response and the world's reaction to the attacks: BlackBerrys. Commandos were not only surprised to find the devices in the terrorists' rucksacks, but that they used the internet to look beyond local Indian media for information, watching the global reaction in real-time as well.

It's somewhat striking that the terrorists' use of BlackBerrys "caught the anti-terrorist forces by surprise." While perhaps another step forward in the sophistication of their organization, in that it it makes communication more instant than ever, it's long been reported that terrorist networks use the internet and cellphones for communication. Why wouldn't they use the same tools that millions around the world use? They don't all live in caves, you know.

That said, it doesn't make it any less scary, either. [Courier Mail via Business Sheet]

Nokia N85 Pops Up On Amazon But Won't Arrive in Time for Christmas [Nokia]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/of3y-0ywC3A/nokia-n85-pops-up-on-amazon-but-wont-arrive-in-time-for-christmas

The Nokia N85, with all its OLED goodness (and steep asking price), is now available at Amazon for preorder, unlocked and on sale. Unfortunately for you Xmas lovers, this item will arrive after December 24, so those of you wishing to take advantage of the $100 or so off ordering from Amazon will get you will just have to wait until after the holidays (list price says $1,200, but we had it at about $660 in the link above). [Amazon — Thanks, Ron!]

Homemade Backyard Digital Observatory's Spectacular Images Rivals Hubble's [Digital Cameras]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lETdrCsFfcI/homemade-backyard-digital-observatorys-spectacular-images-rivals-hubbles

Greg Parker is a professor of electronics at Southampton University. He's also a wizard. Like his co-author Noel Carboni. Real wizards, capable of obtaining some images that rival the best of Hubble's and giant Earth-based telescopes using less than $15,000 in equipment and more patience than any money in the world could buy. Their magic: A refrigerated CCD chip, a rotating dome, and some smart post processing in Photoshop.

These images will be part of Star Vistas, a book that will be published next year and will collect all their photos of space, taken since they met online four years ago. The two alien Peeping Toms started to collaborate online in 2004. Neil—a Photoshop wizard with an astronomy inclination—helped Greg post-process his images of M33, which is a member of our local group of galaxies along with Andromeda (M31, who they also got in their book) and our very own Milky Way.

Greg uses a 28 cm Celestron NExtar 11 GPS reflecting telescope with Hyperstar lens, an optical assembly that attaches to the telescope secondary mirror, turning it from a slow f10 to an ultrafast f2 astrograph. This system is not designed for the human eye, so he got a matching Starlight Xpress SXV-H9C one-shot color CCD camera.

To increase the performance of the camera, he had to get rid of the noise in the sensor, which is produced by heat during long exposure times. This is achieved by installing a solid-state refrigeration system, which lo! wers the temperature of the CCD to 55º F less than the ambient temperature.

In addition to this, there is a last ingredient in the recipe: Parker moves the dome in his observatory by hand ever half hour, to adjust to the rotation of the Earth, which results in a moving sky.

In other words: Magic. [Star Vistas via Daily Mail]

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite media streamer says hello to the FCC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/28/netgear-digital-entertainer-elite-media-streamer-says-hello-to-t/

Netgear returns with the Digital Entertainer Elite network media streamer taking an early peek from cover to go through its paces at the FCC test center. Two years after the EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD, the EVA9000 model adds support for a 3.5-inch SATA internal HDD, 802.11n and more to its predecessor's lengthy list of features. The leaked spec comparison after the break reveals AVI, XviD, DivX and h.264 decoding returning plus Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, MKV, TS, M2TS file support that should chew through any HD files you've got and then some. Why wait for an official announcement, shipping date or price? The FCC already had its fun, so check out the PDFs for a full manual plus pictures inside & out, then once this box hits the stage at CES just pretend like you never saw it with the cover off.

[Pictures via AVSForum]

Continue reading Netgear Digital Entertainer Elite media streamer says hello to the FCC

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment