Digital Shutters

Consider this when you start thinking about what gifts to give for the holidays: a photo book. Not just a Christmas card, a photo book.

Is it expensive? Nah, starts at only $10. Is it difficult to make? Nah, software creates it for you.

How do I make it? Go to printmyphotobook.com and follow their simple instructions, and you’re there.

By the way, it’s not just for the holidays. It can have business applications too. It makes for good presentation.

And because the final product looks and feels like a coffee table book, you can actually enjoy its nice layout and classy printing at home, with your very own pictures.

Site: PrintMyPhotoBook.com]

print, photo, holiday gift, coffee table, book, personal

We featured the Archos 604 Wi-Fi here a few days ago, together with its sibling the 604. It’s out in the market now and CNET has got a production unit of the Wi-Fi version that they reviewed.

James Kim, who we recognize from his days with Leo Laporte on the now defunct but personal favorite TechTV (remember TechTV?), did a really good job of scrutinizing the 604 Wi-Fi, from enumerating its nifty features that earned it an excellent 8 out of 10 points, to uncovering its less-than-stellar shortcomings.

The verdict: the 604 Wi-Fi is close to being a great PMP device. Kim said “the 604 Wi-Fi is seemingly the answer to many mobile users’ idealistic dreams. Video, music, and photos packed into a compact multimedia powerhouse, with a screen big enough to surf the Web effectively. The device is impressive.â€?

Among its topnotch features: the awesome video playback, good touchscreen experience, removable battery, built-in kickstand and speaker, and vibrant widescreen display. For a hundred dollars more you can get the optional DVR station which allows you to record from TV or other video sources. Why, for another $150 more you can have this “plug-in mini-cam� which essentially turns your 604 into a hard-drive based videocam.

It’s called the Archos Helmet Camcorder and it gives you on-the-go recording capability to shoot your next worldwide YouTube hit.

But the Archos 604 Wi-Fi has its shortcomings, alas. 30GB is not exactly capacious these days; you have to buy optional kits to record audio and video; bundled accessories are kinda weak; and a few other minor quibbles.

The major gripes however pertain to its processor and surfing speed. For a device this feature-packed the processor used is sluggish. And the Web-surfing, while acceptable, is more of a click-and-wait experience. And don’t forget: with Wi-Fi on, some gremlins gonna sip your juice faster than you can say WTF.

[Via: CNET]

archos, 604, wi-fi, pmp, video, photo

Many people are just so shy they’d wither in front of a camera. Seventy per cent of women and half of all men asked said so. They’d rather do other things or be some place else than have their picture taken.

So, what’s that got to do with Fujifilm’s Face Detection (FD) technology? Nothing.

They just want to steer you towards the direction of their website for you to hear their pitch on FD tech, which they say, they invented. Is that bad?

Not at all. Because if you can wade through some fluffy stuff (“think happy thoughts� in front of a camera), a lot of things said there could be quite useful. For instance, professional photographer James Ferrara’s advice to raise the subjects’ chin just so, to add some sparkle or catch light in their eyes is useful.

Tip #7 even encourages you to be assertive to ask for take two if your driver’s license photo is not to your liking. And did you know that the Fujifilm FinePix S6000fd and F31fd cameras can actually take two shots in succession – one with the flash and one without – so you can choose which shot is better?

By the way, Fuji’s face detection algorithm is meant to help you take better pictures of people. It senses the triangle formed by a person’s two eyes and a mouth to tell the camera that you’re taking a picture of a person, so the camera appropriately adjusts its settings to focus on the person and not the faraway background and deliver the correct skin tones.

[Site: FujifilmFDtech]

face detection, fujifilm, finepix, s6000, f31fd, camera, shy

Adobe has teamed up with the National Association of Photoshop Professionals to launch a new website, “Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips,� to provide resources to professionals who are trying out the new software.

If you’re into photo editing, tweaking digital pictures as a hobby or profession, there’s this free software from Adobe Labs that you can try out, if only to try to understand the digital photography workflow and the RAW imaging format that’s starting to become popular among serious amateurs and professionals.

It’s called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, or simply Lightroom. It’s born of the Photoshop tradition, only more specifically attuned to the requirements of acquiring, processing and managing digital photographs, with an emphasis on the RAW digital format. While Adobe Photoshop has grown over the years to become the all-encompassing highly successful image editing suite that it is today, Lightroom seeks to fill a specific niche in digital photography occupied by the photographer who has recently acquired a digital SLR camera; in short, it’s a photographer’s software.

And while the 18-year-old Photoshop has become an 800-pound gorilla in image editing, Lightroom is no chimp. The 18-month-old Lightroom has features that streamline the importing, organizing, processing and presenting of digital pictures, most useful to the photographer whose library of digital pictures is continually growing.

Lightroom as of today is a work in progress. The current version is Beta 4.1 and Adobe wants you to be part of its development by trying it out and providing feedback to Adobe Labs.

Adobe Lightroom Beta 4.1 is free to download until the end of February 2007.

adobe, photoshop, lightroom, killer tips, imaging

The Archos 604 Wi-Fi is now out in the market and some early buyers are now trying out this new PMP (portable multimedia player, as the Archos folks would like to label it), and user reports are now starting to come in.

The Archos 604 Wi-Fi looks exactly like its twin brother the Archos 604 except for the addition of Wi-Fi and touchscreen capabilities. It has the same 4.3-inch TFT screen, the same 30GB, the same audio, photo and video capabilities, and almost the same dimensions (with the Wi-Fi version coming in 1mm thicker at 18mm but the areal dimensions are the same at 133 x 78mm).

Both Archos 604s can record TV or other external sources, function as camcorders, photo wallets and music players.

The graphical interface and the buttons could take some getting used to, but overall, the viewing experience is great and the subjective sound quality is good, and it could make a great traveling companion for people who want some multimedia on the go. Good battery life too, although with Wi-Fi on, expect to see a significant drain on the juice.

While the base price of the twin Archos may look attractive ($350 and $450) watch out for the extras that you may need to fully enjoy their capabilities. The DVR station, for instance, which allows you to record from TV and most video sources in MPEG-4 format, among other functions, will cost you an additional $100.

[Site: Archos.com]

archos 604, pmp, video, audio, photo, wi-fi

High Tech Computer Corp. has launched the Cingular 8525, a versatile PDA-Phone with High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), which allows users to perform voice and data functions simultaneously.

The Cingular 8525 is also the first HSDPA PDA Phone with tri-band 3G usability and can roam in the US, Europe, and Asia (including Japan). It runs Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.

A great tool for business because it can handle spreadsheets, presentations and other documents, the 8525 is also fun to use with its camera that can shoot stills and videos. All IMs are also supported so you can stay connected via chat with family and friends without using a PC.

If you want one, and you’re in the US and A, be ready to make benefit Cingular with $400 beginning then November 16 (hey, where did that Borat come from?).

[Via: FarEastGizmos.com]

cingular, 8525, hsdpa, 3g, tri-band, pda, phone, mobile, borat

Sony has released its Vaio VGN-TXN15P this time packing EV-DO under the hood. This means that if you’re on the Sprint network, you can rampage all over the Web with an average throughput of 768Kbps with peaks as high as 1Mbps.

The numbers were churned out in a review of the latest Vaio by Laptop Mag, which appreciated its design and long list of amenities but complained about its smallish keyboard and its price of $1850.

“Overall, the Sony VAIO TXN15P is pretty close to being the ultimate ultraportable. Users who are rough on their notebooks may prefer the Panasonic Toughbook W5, which offers more durability but costs $100 more when outfitted with EV-DO,� Laptop Mag said.

The TXN15P is outfitted with a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo processor, 1GB of RAM, 80GB 4200RPM hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, Intel’s GMA950 integrated graphics set, and an 11.1-inch 1,366 x 768 resolution LCD.

Sony promises that this one does not have an exploding battery. Cross my heart and hope…

[Via: LaptopMag.com]

sony, vaio, txn15p, laptop, ev-do, sprint, intel core solo

Fujifilm has this BIGJOB HD-3W rugged camera, intended for tough usage in the construction industry, or anywhere else that could subject it to abuse: a sandy beach, freezing snow, watery park or even shooting in the rain.

The HD-3W is so ruggedly built it could survive sleet and snow, hail and rain, fire and brimstone (well, that last pair could be stretching it a bit). It’s got seals in the right places to protect it from water and dust, plus tough rubber exterior to cushion it from the rough-and-tumble. It can withstand a drop of 70cm, or about the height from your pant pockets.

Why it even promises to be a decent camera: 6 megapixels, 3X optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD screen, and up to ISO 1600. The HD-3W has 23MB of internal memory, but you’d want to use its xD slot for more storage space because it can also record 30fps VGA movies.

Don’t take it diving, though. It’s scared of sharks.

[Via: AkihabaraNews]

fujifilm, finepix, bigjob hd-3w, construction, camera, ruggedized, rugged

Yes, this is a cellphone. But first, it’s a PDA. It’s also a PC. In highfalutin’ language, it’s a mobile convergence device.

The Samsung SPH-P9000 enables you to do wireless calls, video conferencing, internet and various multimedia data applications such as MP3 player and movie viewing. It even includes a 1.3 megapixel digital camera and camcorder.

The device was unveiled at the Samsung Mobile WiMax Summit 2006 which ended today at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

Measuring in at 143 x 92 x 29.7 mm when folded, the 560g device runs Windows XP powered by a 1GHz Transmeta CPU, with an embedded 30GB of storage. Its 5-inch Wide VGA screen, according to some who have tried it, could get tiresome for longer periods of viewing. And the device gets a bit too hot after prolonged use.

Well, we either have to use it intermittently at short periods, or let the Samsung whiz kids remedy that; there’s plenty of lead time to fix those glitches before the SPH-9000 finally hits Korean store shelves in the first half of 2007.

[Via: Samsung.com]

samsung, sph-p9000, convergence device, DeLuxe MITs, windows xp, cellphone

This holiday season, Shutterfly Inc. encourages you to send the good old Christmas card the old fashioned way: a real X’mas card, crisp and shiny, that comes through the mail with the postage stamp on it. Yes, the kind delivered by your almost forgotten postman.

Shutterfly is also suggesting that you let them make it for you, with their state-of-the-art equipment, eye-catching layout and your photos.

Their new Photo Collage Cards, has 15 multi-photo layouts with up to nine pictures per card. Shutterfly offers users many creative choices for their holiday cards, with more than 450 greeting card styles and 175 4×8 photo card options. Shutterfly also enhanced its card creation process to maximize users’ creativity with the option to write a personal greeting (e.g. “Merry Christmas from Uncle Bruno“) on the front of their cards, using added font choices and colors.

It’s really easy. Go to shutterfly.com, upload up to nine photos, add a personal message, preview your card, pay, and then Shutterfly will mail them back to you or directly to everyone on your list.

See, you don’t even have to go to the post office to lick some stamps. Shutterfly will do the licking sending for you by mailing your cards directly to recipients.

Nice idea, really, if you ask me. Survey said women just love this stuff.

[Site: Shutterfly.com]

shutterfly, greeting cards, christmas, cards, photo collage