Digital Shutters

Here’s a mobile solution for your scanning requirements on-the-go. The DSmobile 600 from Pentax Imaging Company measures only 1.5 inches high and 11 inches long. It is capable of scanning anything from as small as a business card up to as large as a legal size paper 8.5 x 14 inches.

This lightweight scanner weighs just 12 ounces but packs a resolution of 600dpi. It has no need for a power cord or a battery because it draws its power from its USB 2.0 interface that you can connect with your laptop.

Its software bundle includes DSmobileSCAN to automatically save scanned documents in Adobe PDF; PageManager 7 to scan and organize digitized files with the ability to view, edit, send, and save files in many formats; and TWAIN to control all scanner details and settings.

The DSmobile 600 Scanner will be in stores in January for US $135.

[Via: DPnow.com]

dsmobile, scanner, mobile, laptop, lightweight

How about adding a little more (ahem!) functionality to your camera phone? This doohickey attaches to your mobile phone and turns its camera into a telescope. Oh, what a whole new world opens up to you with a little telescope!

This works with Nokia phones like the N70, 6680 and other models and Sony Ericsson’s K750i and 800i, etc. It essentially adds 6x optical zoom to your camera phones capability and it promises a non-distorted view of distant scenes.

Hong Kong’s mobile.brando.com offers this for $19.

[Site: MobileBrandoHK]

camera, phone, telescope, nokia, sony, ericsson, hong kong

My, my…what a disappointment; I was rooting for the Pentax K10D digital SLR and hoping that its vaunted 22-bit analog-to-digital conversion would make a lot of difference in image quality.

But no, that 22-bit jazz did not seem to matter at all. DP Review has put the K10D on its paces and examined it thoroughly, and the Pentax entry-level (actually their top model) DSLR disappoints where it matters most: image quality.

A camera has one and only one purpose in life: to take pictures. If you don’t take good pictures, you’re not a good camera. If you fail in image quality, all your 72 seals to fend off dust and water will not count. If your image quality does not measure up, your Shake Reduction will not rattle the competition. If you fail in image quality, you are a failed camera.

If it’s any consolation, DP Review gave the K10D a Highly Recommended rating, but just barely. While it delivers smooth clean images with good color and tone, the photos are not as crisp as it should have been.

Notes DP Review’s Phil Askey, “Either a poorly implemented demosaicing algorithm or a strange choice of sharpening parameters means that while the K10D’s JPEG images have plenty of ‘texture’ they can lack the edge sharpness we’re used to seeing from semi-pro digital SLR’s. Pentax may well have been aiming for a smooth film-like appearance but I at least feel that the inability to tweak this out by increasing sharpness is a mistake.â€?

To be able to produce good crisp images you have to shoot in RAW, and then tweak the image in Adobe Camera RAW or another third party converter because the supplied converter produces similar results to the camera.

Is there a way to save this very promising camera? Maybe it’s just the in-camera software that needs a little tweaking. Perhaps Pentax engineers should go back to the drawing board and fine-tune its algorithm?

Please, Pentax. I’m still rooting for you.

[Via: DPreview.com]

pentax, k10d, disappoint, dslr, camera, image, quality

Tom Glocer is CEO of Reuters, the news agency. He’s a self-confessed geek, and he hobnobs with the Queen.

Recently, his news agency Reuters announced a collaboration with camera maker Canon and Photoshop creator Adobe to develop a system to authenticate digital images. This aims to basically answer the question: Is your photograph fake?

You see, Reuters has had a few digitally doctored photographs pass under their noses before and they acted quickly to disavow those photos each time they come to light, and Reuters vigorously, vehemently stated that they always stand for truth, no doctored images for them.

Recently also, Reuters made a deal with Flickr owner Yahoo to encourage what Glocer calls “amateur photographers� (even if many Flickr members are actually photographic experts and professionals) to submit photos to the news agency, essentially turning user content into news content, which Reuters sells. Of course Glocer’s not the only one eyeing Flickr pics; Scoopt.com is also interested in those Flick photos, there’s money in them thar photos.

However, the new amateur photography, as Glocer calls it, “runs the risk of being doctored and portrayed as actual events… amid all the noise, all the amateur pictures and editorial, the victim could be the truth and fact-based journalism.â€?

That’s why he wants the help of Canon and Adobe to determine whether a photo has been photoshopped or not.

Okay, Tom, that takes care of fake photos of authentic events. What about authentic photos of fake events, any ideas?

[Via: DigitalCameraInfo.com]

Hey…look at this, a monitor does not have to be a boring square frame after all. BenQ has spruced it up, beautified it, artsified it, and called it Art Museum. Gee, if you’re a professional photographer laboring on your work of art, this monitor could certainly remind you of some lofty aesthetic standards.

The BenQ FP785+ Art Museum is a 17-inch LCD monitor wrapped in an exquisite painting by Milanese artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766). BenQ had to get the nod of the National Palace Museum of Taiwan to use Casiglione’s masterpieces.

A monitor this pretty should also perform pretty well, so here are the specs: 6ms response time, max res 1280 x 1024, display area, 338 x 270mm, pixel pitch 0.264mm, display colors 16.2 million, typical contrast 700:1.


And just like any work of art, it comes in a limited edition of just 1,300 for each design, comes with a certificate too (like a gold bullion or a diamond purchase or a master’s painting) plus a specially designed mouse pad for your soon-to-be upgraded ugly mouse. Expect a limited edition price tag to go with this artsy-fartsy monitor.

[Site: BenQ.com]

BenQ, FP785+, Art Museum, LCD, monitor, display, castiglione

We saw it coming from a mile away: with PC cards already offering broadband capability and EDGE connectivity to notebook PCs it was just a matter of time before the laptop PC itself would offer these features built right in.

Hewlett-Packard has announced its first notebook PC in the United States to feature built-in global mobile broadband capabilities. “The HP Compaq nc6400 Notebook PC with integrated Cingular Wireless UMTS/HSDPA-based technology allows business professionals to connect in more areas at broadband speeds to corporate networks, email and the Internet without being tied to a wireless hotspot,� according to HP’s press release.

So, even away from a hotspot, as long as there’s a cellsite nearby, users of the nc6400 can connect to the internet via Cingular Wireless BroadbandConnect or high-speed EDGE services in the US. Ditto for countries where there are UMTS or GPRS/EDGE networks available. Cool.

While we’re on the subject, why not build into the notebook PC the very capabilities that make the cellphone so successful? Instead of trying to cram the PC’s powerful capabilities into the tiny form factor of a mobile phone, why not build the mobile phone itself into the PC? That way, you can make a call directly from your notebook PC, which is not a new idea at all. Hello, notebook PC?

[Via: HP.com]

hp, nc6400, broadband, built-in, mobile, phone, edge, wi-fi

Here’s bad news that’s also good, depending on what end you’re at on this debate: the camera feature on your cellphone may now be disabled whether you like it or not.

There is now a system which can allow network operators – that means your mobile phone service provider (Vodaphone, T-Mobile, Cingular, Globe, etc.) – to disable the camera function of cellphones inside the premises of corporations who are paranoid about industrial espionage.

The system is being distributed by mformation, a provider of mobile device management software, and what it does basically is turn off (or turn on) any application which runs inside the handset. This includes the camera function as well as picture messaging (MMS), Bluetooth and WiFi.

The mobile network will sense the employee’s location and then temporarily disable the camera’s functionality via an OTA (Over-The-Air) message. Conversely, it can also enable and correctly configure the Wi-Fi capability within cellular handsets.

What all this really means is that you may no longer take photos inside your office cubicle, or download the latest games onto your phone while at work. Bad news for you; good news for your boss.

[Via: TheInquirer.net]

mobile, network, disable, cellphone, camera, phone

This is the retina of a mouse, as seen under a microscope. It was photographed by Thomas Deerinck, a researcher at the University of California in San Diego as part of a study into neurofibromatosis, a usually fatal childhood illness that can cause tumors to form on the optic nerve and other locations in the nervous system. This brilliant photograph won first prize in the international 2006 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition, giving Deerinck $5,000 worth of Olympus products.

The annual competition showcases microscopic photos and videos of life science subjects, in a nexus where science and art combine to show nature’s astounding works of beauty. It is sponsored by Olympus.

Photo above was taken by M.R. Dadpour of the Department of Horticulture, University of Tabriz in Iran. It is a picture of the Zinnia flower primordium, which won 3rd prize in the competition.

This photo, which looks like it came out of a Terminator movie, was shot by Ralph Grimm of Jimboomba, Australia using a darkfield illumination technique on his specimen, the housefly proboscis; 8th prize.

All winning photos can be viewed at BioScapes.com.

[Via: PhotographyBLOG]

bioscapes, olympus, art, science, nature, microscopic

Dan Margulis is known as the experts’ expert on the logical and effective ways to make any image look its best, according to Design Tools Monthly, and imaging guru Scott Kelby looks up to him as “the father of digital pre-press”. In fact, in 2001, he was one of the first three individuals - and the only writer - to be named as a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame.

His book “Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correctionâ€? is now on its 5th edition and it has been completely revised for the era of digital photography. It is arguably the most influential book in Photoshop history, according to its publisher Peachpit Press. It is commonly referred to as “the bible of electronic pre-press” and, since its first edition in 1994, has introduced most of the advanced correction techniques that are assumed knowledge for today’s professionals.

Margulis’s ability to reduce complicated concepts to words will help users grasp concepts regarding color, curves, and channels. The book also offers the reader an in-depth understanding of the most advanced Photoshop techniques.

The book is available as an eBook in the PDF format from Peachpit for $43.

[Site: Peachpit.com]

margulis, photoshop, color correction, digital photography

Mask Pro 4 offers masking and selection tools more advanced and easier to use than those in Photoshop. When it comes to wispy hair, hazy fog or transparent glass, the native masking tools in Photoshop will be a challenge to use to extract a subject from a background you want to change. You need a plug-in for that.

Software maker onOne says their Mask Pro 4 plug-in creates super-accurate paths from a selection or mask without the jaggies that Photoshop leaves on sharp edges. This capability is essential for senior portraits, fashion and table-top catalog photographers.

Here’s how Mask Pro does it: the software uses the concept of “keep colors” and “drop colors” chosen by the user and then based on those user selections, the application’s algorithm will remove only those selected colors from an image. When a “drop color” is found in another pixel, Mask Pro 4’s powerful color decontamination technology will remove only that color value from the pixel, leaving that pixel (or pixels) semi-transparent. This eliminates the edge halo effect often seen when masking a transparent object or edge.

While Mask Pro 4 is easy to use, especially by those already familiar with image editing software, it has built-in videos to teach users how to best use its comprehensive toolset for masking a wide range of images.

Mask Pro 4 ($80) is shipping now and may be bought directly from the onOne website.

[Site: onOneSoftware.com]

[Via: CameraTown.com]

onOne, mask pro, masking, selection, photoshop