Monday, January 07, 2013

Spotted: Vizio's new touchscreen laptops and all-in-ones (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/vizio-thin-and-light-touch-all-in-one-touch-hands-on/

Spotted Vizio's new touchscreen laptops and allinones handson

If you loved Vizio's 2012 lineup of PCs, you're going to just love what it has in store for 2013. The company is refreshing nearly its entire line, and while these new models usher in upgraded components, they have the same industrial design as the original lot. Perhaps the biggest change is that all of Vizio's new PCs going forward will come with touchscreens, so that the Thin + Light is now the Thin + Light Touch, and the All-in-One is now the All-in-One Touch. (Fair enough!) As you can imagine, that makes the laptops in particular slightly thicker and heavier than they had been, but only slightly. Truly, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference. We were, anyway.

Additionally, Vizio has updated the trackpad drivers, though the touchpad we tested still felt a bit finicky. Just as important, the company's also re-tooled the keyboard so that the buttons offer a springier feel. They keys have the same flat, close-together design they always had, so don't be put off if you see these on the shelf at Best Buy. Even in our quick-hands-on, we immediately noticed our typing felt more accurate, more controlled than it had been with the last-gen models. Finally, Vizio says it's doubled the battery capacity, which is great news because the first-gen laptop we tested couldn't even crack four hours. This seems like a lofty ,claim given that touchscreens are known to hamper battery life anyway, but we're vowing to keep our expectati! ons low and hope for the best. All told, these tweaks address most user complaints, though the SD slot is sadly still MIA.

Under the hood, these machines will all have quad-core processors, with most models giving you a choice between an Intel Core i7 CPU and AMD's high-end A10 chip. Most of them (read: the 15-inch Thin + Light and the 24- and 27-inch all-in-ones) will have 1080p screens, though the smaller 14-inch Thin + Light will rock a lower-res 1,600 x 900 panel. No word just yet on pricing, but we're told these will go on sale in mid-February. Until then, the performance, sharp touchscreens, bigger battery and re-engineered keyboard look very promising indeed. Only when we test a final unit, though, can we tell whether Vizio finally figured out how to make a quality computer.

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Fujfilm announces pricing and availability for X100s and X20 (update: hands-on!)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/fujfilm-x100s-x20-pricing/

Fujfilm announces pricing and availability for X100S and X20

At Fujifilm's press conference today, the company announced that both the X100s and X20 will hit stores at the end of March, with the X100s running you $1,300 and the X20 shipping for less than half, at roughly 600 bucks. A new 55-200mm lens will ship in April, with more options planned for later this year. We had a chance to check out both models, and while the X20 appears to be a perfectly capable shooter, the X100s is definitely the premium variant here. The camera has a very solid feel and quite an elegant retro design, as you might expect based on its predecessor. The digital split image display is mighty nifty as well, as we first saw just this afternoon. Flip through our gallery below for a closer look at both cameras, then jump past the break for a hands-on demo of the X100s from Fujifilm.

Continue reading Fujfilm announces pricing and availability for X100s and X20 (update: hands-on!)

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Vizio's XVT Ultra HDTVs to bring 4K and glasses-free 3D to the masses, we go eyes-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/vizios-xvt-ultra-hdtv-hands-on/

Vizio officially announced its 2013 HDTV lineup this morning and now we've gotten to see the new sets in person. At the top of the list are the company's XVT Ultra models at 55-, 65- and 70-inches, which will bring 4K video to living rooms on an unknown date later this year. The company had the 70-inch set on hand showing some native 4K footage, and as you'd expect, it looked good. Viewing angles approach 180 degrees, and the new design's 10mm bezel is barely noticeable. Speaking of which, the industrial design on the XVT line is understated and premium, with an anodized silver metal band surrounding the edge of the set and minimal branding.

In addition to the 70-inch set, Vizio also had a prototype 55-inch 3D XVT model that was most impressive. Its viewing angles were just as good as the 70-inch set, but the highlight is its glasses-free 3D. Vizio's implementation of the technology takes full advantage of the 4K resolution to provide a high quality 3D picture, and its software maintains a focused picture from all angles. Of course, there are sweet spots for viewing the full 3D depth affect, but outside of those zones, 2D picture quality was maintained. Unfortunately, Vizio hasn't committed to a 2013 release date for glasses-free 3D, but the rest of the lineup, set to debut later this year, will still have the firm's glasses-dependent passive 3D technology. Interested? There's plenty of pics of the new sets in our gallery below.

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Tweak Your DSLR to Capture Images Your Eyes Canât See

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5972988/tweak-your-dslr-to-capture-images-your-eyes-cant-see

Tweak Your DSLR to Capture Images Your Eyes Can’t SeeThe sensor in your DSLR is much more powerful than you may know, and capable of capturing photos on wavelengths that your eyes can't see. With a little work and some easily-available parts, you can tweak your camera to take beautiful, cinematic landscapes that include both visible light and near-infrared wavelengths.

ExtremeTech's David Cardinal explains how he hacked his Nikon D7000 to take shots not just in the visible spectrum that we all see, but to capture near-infared light as well (or both, depending on how he chose to take the photo.) As for why bother? He explains it this way:

The so-called "near infrared" spectrum - from about 700 nanometers (the longest wavelength red we can see with our eyes) to around 1000 nm (the longest wavelength to which our camera sensors are typically sensitive) - is chock full of interesting visuals. Dreary gray skies turn into cinema-worthy masterpieces, drab foliage pops and separates itself from surrounding rocks and buildings, and everyday objects can take on an otherworldly quality.

You can see an example of this in the image above, and more at the link below. Cardinal explains that you can actually have the work done for you by a professional for between $200 to $450, but if you're willing to do it yourself, you can buy the appropriate filters for around $1-200. He also warns that you shouldn't go the DIY route just to save money—you have to really be into the project. After all, the process does risk damaging your camera, as you have to take the housing apart, remove the original filter from the sensor, and clean everything up nicely for good, clear photos.

Even so, if you're a photography buff looking for a great project, or you upgraded your DSLR and you're looking for something cool to do with an old or secondhand model, this project might be for you. The photos really are worth the effort. Hit the link below for a full walkthrough.

How to Turn Your DSLR into a Full Spectrum Super Camera | ExtremeTech

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Swype Now Crowd-Sources Your Autocorrections

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5973700/swype-now-crowd+sources-your-autocorrections

Swype Now Crowd-Sources Your AutocorrectionsSwype, the sliding keyboard that dramatically speeds up typing on Android, just got a little more clever. As well as offering a more fluid typing experience, it now crowd-sources your autocorrections—which should (hopefully) make for fewer embarrassing mistakes.

The new feature, called Living Language, essentially crowd-sources its dictionaries. Opt-in, and you join a population which is having its typing habits analyzed. That should mean, for instance, that your phone automatically recognizes words which are trending globally but wouldn't otherwise appear in your local dictionary—think YOLO, or one of the hundreds of other new terms that spring up every week.

There's also an extra auotcorrect trick up Swype's sleeve. The latest edition will also flag up words that it thinks you may've typed by accident: not spelling mistakes, but words that it thinks you might want to change. (Go on, use your imagination.) The feature is supposed to learn as you type—but it remains to be seen whether it spells the end for Damn You Autocorrect. [Swype via Verge]

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