Visualized: Qualcomm takes the red pill, uses 130 HTC Ones to capture slo-mo Matrix moves

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/21/qualcomm-snapdragon-booth/

Don't lie: we know that at least once in the last fourteen years, each and every one of you have pretended you were in the middle of an action scene from The Matrix -- y'know, the slo-mo "bullet time" pan shots that circle around Neo as he fights Agent Smith. Even if you can't bring yourself to admit it, our friends at Qualcomm seem especially inspired by this cinematic effect; enough, at least, to collaborate with HTC to create the "Snapdragon Ultimate Photo Booth." This rig, which is a result of daisy-chaining 130 One devices together, is meant to showcase the power of Qualcomm's SoCs to mimic the sci-fi masterpiece. While bullet time is now frequently used in today's movies, it's not every day that we get to see the concept recreated using nothing but smartphones. Check out the minute-long video below, which features break dancers, fire breathers and plenty of other creative ideas.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC

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Microsoft Surface Pro 2 review: a tablet that works best as a laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/21/microsoft-surface-pro-2-review/

We could debate all day about whether the original Surface Pro was supposed to be more of a tablet, or a laptop with a detachable keyboard. Either way, we think we can agree on this: The original wasn't perfect in either role, not with its short battery life, heavy build and kickstand that wasn't designed to be used in the lap. Now, less than a year after the original came out, we have the Surface Pro 2, which addresses many of the shortcomings we complained about on the original. In particular, it moves to a two-stage kickstand that sits less precariously on people's legs. A Haswell CPU, meanwhile, should take care of the battery life problem. Even the keyboard covers have received mild upgrades, though unfortunately, they're still not included in the $899 starting price. But does all of that add up to a real improvement?%Gallery-slideshow101465%

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

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Article: Meet Raspberry Pi NoIR, an infrared camera board for low light photography

If Raspberry Pi owners wanted to use the device's camera board for nighttime photography, they had to engage in some extremely delicate tinkering, as the unit's IR filter was firmly attached. Until now. The folks at Raspberry Pi took to their blog today to announce the debut of Pi NoIR, an infrar...

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/18/raspberry-pi-noir-infrared-camera/

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Watch People Freak Out When They See Ghosts Inside an iPhone Camera

Source: http://gizmodo.com/watch-people-freak-out-when-they-see-ghosts-inside-an-i-1447482764

This prank is such pure evil genius that you can't help but laugh. And feel bad because you'd get freaked out too. Funny man Jack Vale scared the creepy crawly goosebumps out of people by asking strangers to take his picture with his iPhone. Why's that scary? Because Vale had pre-recorded a fake 'ghost' (or zombie) walking through the frame of the camera so people would think they just saw a dead person that wasn't there in real life move across the screen. What the people thought they were seeing in real time was actually a horrifying recording.

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Fujifilm XQ1: Fuji's New Tiny Cam Packs Tons of Power in Your Pocket

Source: http://gizmodo.com/fujifilm-xq1-fujis-new-tiny-cam-packs-tons-of-power-i-1447508427

When Fujifilm announced its beautiful pocket camera, the XF1, last year we were genuinely psyched, which made the camera's disappointing handling even more of a bummer. With the XQ1, Fuji has fixed some of the XF1's annoyances and packed in the same hot image sensor that's on the badass X20. Now we're talking.

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