Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V gets reviewed, deemed one of the best super-zooms around

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-hx100v-gets-reviewed-deemed-one-of-the-best/

Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V been available for a little while now, but it's flown somewhat under the radar when it comes to in-depth reviews. Photography Blog's now chimed in with its take on the camera, however, which is not only thorough but effusive in its praise. According to the site, the HX100V is simply one of the best super-zoom cameras they've tested (30X, in this case), with it delivering some excellent still images and best-in-class 1080p video, along with some welcome added touches including an intuitive focus / zoom ring and built-in GPS (although the latter will lead to a 25 percent hit in battery life if you leave it on all the time). Some of the few drawbacks are a lack of a RAW shooting mode, and an LCD that folds out but doesn't rotate, but the site says those are pretty easy to forgive considering everything else you get for the $400 or so asking price. Hit the source link below for the full review.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX100V gets reviewed, deemed one of the best super-zooms around originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

Photography Blog | Email this |&nb! sp;Comments

LG's DM50D HDTV / monitor promotes a passive 3D lifestyle

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/lgs-dm50d-hdtv-promotes-a-passive-3d-lifestyle/

LG is talking up its forthcoming DM50D 3D monitor -- not a lot, mind you, but just enough to get us interested. The company offered up a largely spec-free press release on the forthcoming set, heralding the adoption of passive 3D glasses, "Flicker Free" capabilities borrowed from its Cinema 3D TV line, and double the brightness of conventional 3D sets. The display has a built-in DTV turner, HDMI capabilities for connecting with 3D-capable consoles and the like, and the ability to view images and videos directly from a USB flash drive. It'll be hitting Europe in July, with more of the world getting a crack at it later. Peep the 2D release after the break.

Continue reading LG's DM50D HDTV / monitor promotes a passive 3D lifestyle

LG's DM50D HDTV / monitor promotes a passive 3D lifestyle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

Akihabara News | | Email this | Comments

Gigabyte intros Llano-compatible A75 motherboards for the DIY set (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/gigabyte-intros-llano-compatible-a75-motherboards-for-the-diy-se/

Llano-based PCs are still trickling their way into the market, but if you're the enterprising type you can just up and build your own. Gigabyte just announced a family of seven A75 series of motherboards, all of which are compatible with AMD's spankin' new Fusion A6 and A8 chips and A75 chipsets. To recap, the Fusion A-Series combines a discrete-class Radeon HD GPU and either a dual- or quad-core CPU on the same die, though all of the A6 and A8 models are quad-core. These 35- and 45-watt chips are also stereoscopic 3D-capable and support USB 3.0, DirectX11, OpenCL / OpenGL, and both 1600MHz DDR3 memory and lower-power 1333MHz DDR3L memory. As for the motherboards, they allow for 108dB audio with 7.1 surround sound, and you can use Gigabyte's Easy Tune 6 utility to realize Fusion's promise of overclocking. They also use the company's DualBIOS technology to prevent failure to do BIOS corruption, while each USB port has its own fuse to prevent port failure. Hit the source link for information on where to buy, and mosy on past the break for the full PR and a short demo video.

Continue reading Gigabyte intros Llano-compatible A75 motherboards for the DIY set (video)

Gigabyte intros Llano-compatible A75 motherboards for the DIY set (video) originally appe! ared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

Gigabyte | Email this | Comments

Fring optimizes its four-way video calling app for smiley iPad 2 owners

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/fring-optimizes-its-four-way-video-calling-app-for-smiley-ipad-2/

Sure, you could have fired up Fring to make four-way video calls from your iPad 2 this whole time, but you'd have saddled with an iPhone-sized interface on your 9.7-inch IPS screen. And, as we say around the Engadget compound -- tablet optimized or get the frack out. OK, we don't really say that, but everything is better when it's designed for the screen you intend to use it on. So, we're very pleased to tell you that Fring has been updated with proper iPad support (cue cheers). Basically there's no reason to use Facetime now, with its lame single-caller and WiFi only limitations. Hit up the source link if you're in the group video chatting mood.

Fring optimizes its four-way video calling app for smiley iPad 2 owners originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

SlashGear | source

Fring | Email this | Comments

Sony's new VAIO Z ultraportable laptop with Power Media Dock hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/sonys-new-vaio-z-ultraportable-laptop-with-power-media-dock-han/

Now that we've seen Sony's new VAIO Z in its luscious press shots, it's time to face reality and lay our itchy hands on this 13-inch ultraportable laptop, along with its eccentric expansion dock that packs both a Blu-ray drive and an AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics chip (with 1GB of video RAM). Said dock is connected to the notebook via Light Peak -- a first for Sony -- but there's a catch: Sony's only implementing the architecture and not the connector, so for the time being, this sweet high speed connection is only compatible with the docking unit and nothing else.

Anyhow, here's a quick recap: what we have here is a 1.18kg feather-light machine packing a 256GB SSD and 1.3 megapixel webcam, plus a matte LCD display with resolution at 1600 x 900 or an optional 1920 x 1080. Oh yes, for an extra cost, you get some sweet full HD action at just 13 inches. This upgraded display performed well in the relatively dark confines of the press event, but how it fares under direct sunlight remains to be seen. Read on for more hands-on impression.

Gallery: Sony VAIO Z hands-on