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Engadget

Pure Digital Debuts Flip Mino HD

by Thomas Ricker, posted Nov 12th 2008 at 9:56AM


Pure Digital's Flip Mino just broke free from the confines of the VGA kiddie-pool to find itself tip-toeing gingerly into the shallow end of sacred high-definition waters. But with a retail price of $230, it's best to temper your expectations of the new Flip Mino HD. For that price you get about an hour's worth of fixed zoom, 720p, MPEG-4 video recorded to 4GB of built-in flash memory. Plug the USB cam into your PC or Mac to launch the built-in FlipShare editing software for fine-tuning your videos before sharing (compressed down to 480x270) to MySpace, YouTube or direct over email -- HD sharing via an unnamed partner is coming early next year according to Pure.

Walt's buddy, Katie Boehret, over at the Wall Street Journal already put hands to gear and came away duly impressed by the video and improved sound quality. The she-Walt also found the FlipShare software to be much improved over the Flip's previous bundled wares while the camera remained dead-simple to use. All in all, well worth the $50 premium over the previous Flip Mino. Sample video posted after the break.

Continue reading Pure Digital Debuts Flip Mino HD

Engadget

Target Holiday Gift Card Doubles as Digital Camera

by Engadget Staff, posted Nov 11th 2008 at 12:30PM


Okay, we don't know who came up with this idea, but we have to give them some credit for innovation, not to mention (in our opinion) some pretty attractive design sense. Yes, Target's new gift card gimmick this holiday season is that it doubles as a cute, disposable digital camera. The little device runs on two AAA batteries, has a self-timer, and is packaged with a USB cord, driver disc, instruction manual and a voucher for 40 free prints from Target. The camera itself is a 1.2-megapixel affair with 8MB of memory on-board, which means it can store about 50 images. Now, we know this just a ploy to get us to buy Target gift cards, but we're kind of smitten with this little thing. Oh, and: Bah! Humbug! [Via Coolest Gadgets]

How to Modify Your Scanner to Be a Camera

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 10th 2008 at 7:19PM

Thanks to GeekSugar.com, we located this video tutorial on how to convert your flatbed scanner into a camera on Make.com.

Since even inexpensive digital cameras produce pretty good pictures these days, and since you can use a scanner to accurately scan your traditional photographs, we're thinking of this project as more of a digital party trick than anything else.

And while the folks at GeekSugar refer to the scanner-camera's pictures as "vintage-y," we think they look a lot more more like first-generation, black and white digital pictures than first-generation, black and white tin types. That, of course, begs the question: How old does something have to be in order to be classified as "vintage?" Anyway, head on after the break for a more detailed writeup on how to mod your scanner to take pictures. [From Make, via GeekSugar]

Continue reading How to Modify Your Scanner to Be a Camera

Obama's Personal Photographer Posts Election Pics on Flickr

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 8th 2008 at 1:55PM

Behind the Scenes Election Night Photos on Flickr
It used to be that the only place you could get behind the scenes photos of political campaigns was from established photo-journalists published in mainstream print media outlets like Time and Life. Much like his methods for fund-raising and grass-roots organizing, Obama seems to be taking a more transparent, Web-oriented approach to photography and the campaign image.

The historic night with the Obama camp was documented by David Katz, his long time personal photographer, and 82 of the resulting images were posted straight to flickr by the campaign, rather than waiting several weeks for a spread in a glossy magazine or feature story on the Web. In fact, months of images from the campaign trail are available on flickr, and they're interesting to compare with the regular high-resolution pro shots we're so used to seeing in newspapers, magazines, and on the Web. The above photo shows Obama quietly watching John McCain's concession speech. Other snapshots show equally personal moments, like his family pausing to look at the new president elect with pride, moments before he took the stage to give his acceptance speech.

The photo album is clearly inundated with traffic: Currently most photos are loading slowly and flickr may offer an error message. But, give it time, and you'll get your chance to take a look behind the scenes of this historic moment. [From: Gawker]

Augmented Reality Brings Pop-Up Books into the 21st Century

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 3rd 2008 at 7:16PM

Augmented Reality Brings Pop-Up Books into the 21st Century
Children at the Frankfurt Book Fair were treated to an unexpected surprise last week when they swung by a booth run by ArsEdition and Metaio. A book called 'Aliens & UFOs' was being shown off that uses "augmented reality" technology from Metaio.

Metaio's Unifeye software uses a standard-issue Webcam and a Windows-based PC, and the system is able to render real-time 3-D images that float above the pages on your computer screen. This 21st century update of the timeless pop-up book requires no special markings or paper to function -- instead, the software uses the camera to recognize the specific dimensions and images on a page and renders the appropriate models and animations. Moving the book around causes the 3-D rendering to follow the pages around, but only as long as they stay within the field of view of the camera. We know, it sounds kinda zany, but it makes sense immediately when you see the video after the break.

Metaio hopes to extend this technology beyond children's books to catalogs and presentations for designers. Imagine picking up an IKEA catalog and being able to see photo realistic 3-D renderings of the furniture in a room, allowing you to get a better sense of its dimensions.

Continue reading Augmented Reality Brings Pop-Up Books into the 21st Century

How to Take Better Night Photos

by Evan Shamoon, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 5:16PM



DIY photography Web site Photojojo has compiled a series of tips for aspiring night shooters. It might take a little bit of work and planning, but you can shoot great photos at night. The article goes through various approaches you can take -- using your camera's Night-Portrait Mode, being the most obvious -- and helps you sort through what might be most appropriate for your particular situation. It covers (in minimal detail) high ISO settings (the digital equivalent of using different-speed film on analog cameras), as well as motion and color tips.
Our favorite tip, however, is the last one.

"Bokeh" means the parts of your photo that aren't in focus. We like those parts.
A quirk of physics dictates that unfocused points of light in a photograph take on the shape of the aperture. You can make a lens hood with a specially-shaped aperture (a heart, for example) and turn all the points of light into that shape.

It's really easy, super cheap, and lends an unexpected "how-did-you-do-that?" touch to night photos. Make any shape you want: stars, ghosts, butterflies. You can even buy specially-shaped hole punches at craft stores.
Now, young photographer: go forth, and bokeh. [From: Photojojo]

New Software Duplicates Keys With Photo Taken From 200 Feet

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 1:46PM



Scientists at UC San Diego have designed software capable of reproducing a key, with nothing more than a photo of it, Slashdot reports. A copy could be successfully created from a photo of a key taken from as far as 200 feet away.

Startled by the number of folks who inadvertently post images of their keys online, the researchers designed the software in order to demonstrate the ease with which a potential thief could gain access to a house or car. They hope that folks will exercise the same vigilance with photos of their house keys that they do with their credit card and Social Security numbers.

Would-be thieves be warned, though: that car whose key you just copied might just turn right back around and bite you. [From: Slashdot]

Zombify Your Photos

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 31st 2008 at 4:48PM

http://www.switched.com/2008/10/30/danny-elfman-launches-our-greatest-fear-political-video/
Since it's Halloween, we can't help but get in the spirit with a little bit of zombie making fun.

The online photo editor Picnik has added a fun seasonal tool under effects to "zombify" an image. The steps are simple, upload a picture with one or more people in it where the face is clearly visible. Then go to the create tab and select "effects." Then you can use a slider increase the level of zombification applied.

It's all the fun of being a zombie with out all the brain eating. [From: URLesque]

'Poladroid' Adds Vintage Polaroid Look to Your Photos

by Thomas Houston, posted Oct 24th 2008 at 6:16PM

Shake it like a... well, you know. Since switching to digital, we've often missed the look and feel of prints from our old Polaroid cameras. Sure, you can boot up Photoshop and employ a set of filters and level adjustments to achieve the Polaroid look with the washed out colors and white borders, or you can check out the new Poladroid software.

Once you open the app, drag your photos onto the Polaroid camera icon, and you'll hear that familiar Polaroid click sound. A mini print will pop up on your screen that will lack a recognizable image, just like the real thing. Over time, the picture bleeds into the frame -- it takes about a minute or two to see a fully developed image (an x appears on the bottom of the image once it's ready). Double click on the prints at any time to save the Poladroidized images to your desktop.

It's a great concept, but the execution still needs some work. The software is slow (yes, the original Polaroid took time to develop, which is part of the charm, but the software seemed to cause our computer to hang several times), and the novelty of the interface wears off after the first few picture developments. Looking to apply the effect to a lot of your photos? It's going to take awhile.

We threw a couple of photos we had sitting around onto the app, and added the results below -- check out flickr to see more results from around the Web. For now, the software is Mac only, but a Windows app is apparently in development. Still, despite the sluggish feel, the pictures often turn out sufficiently vintage, and the app is definitely worth the free download. [From: TUAW]

Shoppers Think Bigger is Better, Even When it Isn't

by Tim Stevens, posted Oct 24th 2008 at 10:01AM


We've already talked about megapixels and how bigger is most certainly not better; higher quality (e.g. better lenses, larger sensors) cameras with lower megapixel counts can take better shots than newer ones with higher ratings. But a lot of folks out there don't seem to have received the message, as a new study has found that shoppers will prefer that which has the higher number, even when there's no difference otherwise.

The Journal of Consumer Research has published a study in which a number of tests were performed, including one in which people were shown two copies of one picture, slightly modified to look different in terms of sharpness and color. With no additional information, only 25-percent of people liked the sharper picture. But when they were told the sharper one was taken by a camera with a higher megapixel count, 75-percent then chose the sharper image, which was otherwise identical to the other one.

So, this holiday season, don't be so easily fooled. Shop around and read reviews to get the products that are best, and not just those that have the highest statistics on the box! [From: ars technica]

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