Canon will ship its new EOS 6D in December for $2,099 (body only) — the company’s first DSLR with built-in Wi-Fi and GPS.
The compact 1.7-pound camera will also be offered with a zoom lens for an additional $800. Although lighter than the 5D, there’s no fold-out arm for the viewfinder and no built-in flash. Users will need to rely on the SD card since there’s also no Compact Flash.
“Like the 5D Mark III (and its predecessor, the popular Mark II), the EOS 6 is a full-frame camera (meaning the CMOS image sensor is as large as a frame of 35mm film),” explains Mashable.
“The megapixel count is slightly less (20.2 MP instead of 22.3), though it’ll be tough to tell the difference,” adds the post. “The 6D also packs the relatively recent DIGIC 5+ image processor, which gives it a speedy continuous shooting rate, at 4.5 frames per second.”
The DSLR records 1080p video at 30 frames per second and 720p at 60 fps.
“For still pics, the 6D has an HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode, which captures three different exposures of the same shot and combines them for better detail and color,” notes Mashable. “There’s also a Multiple Exposure mode that lets you merge up to nine different pics into the same image, no Photoshop required.”
Director and Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Vincent Laforet has published an extensive review of the new Black Magic Cinema Camera.
The Pros: beautiful images, great detail, sensor that provides filmic look, overall design, price (under $3,000).
The Cons: sensor size, ergonomics, awkward position of start/top button, lack of interchangeable battery and hot shoe.
In an update to his review, Laforet notes that Black Magic Design has announced an MFT version to launch in December.
“That camera will sport a Passive Micro Four Thirds mount that can be adapted to use with PL Lenses,” he writes. “This new mount means that a much larger series of lenses will now work with this camera and in effect changes my opinion on the lens limitations.”
“The MFT version of this camera will likely make a lot more sense for most users than the EF in my opinion,” he adds.
The Associated Press Video Hub is now out of beta, offering 24/7 news videos. Content is curated from the Internet and supplemented by the AP’s archives.
AP is hoping the service will help recruit publishing clients. The UK’s Daily Telegraph has signed on with a significant investment in production equipment.
“TMG’s existing three-camera studio will now be able to stream directly to the Web as a story breaks,” reports TheNextWeb. “Used in conjunction with a series of new content deals, this will give the Telegraph’s digital subscribers access to key live events as they unfold.”
In 2003, AP became one of the first to launch a live news service. “Today, around 200 broadcasters use it as a live video source, tapping AP’s coverage to bring news and analysis to their own viewers,” notes the post.
“AP Video Hub is already proving itself as an indispensable tool for online news providers,” says Sue Brooks, AP director of video transformation. “The addition of live content will enable our customers to create even richer storytelling experiences for their customers.”
Many successful tech innovators are putting their earned money into new start-ups.
“Jeff Bezos has Blue Origin, a company that builds spaceships. Elon Musk has Tesla, an electric-car company, and SpaceX, another rocket-ship company. Bill Gates took on big challenges in the developing world — combating malaria, HIV, and poverty,” according to Technology Review.
Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft, explains why he’s involved with TerraPower — a company built to “commercialize a promising new kind of nuclear reactor.”
He writes that “in the next few decades, we need more technology leaders to reach for some very big advances. If 20 of us were to try to solve energy problems — with carbon capture and storage, or perhaps some other crazy idea — maybe one or two of us would actually succeed. If nobody tries, we’ll all certainly fail.”
He sees a focus on nuclear energy as imperative to the future.
“In the U.S., more than 700,000 metric tons of depleted uranium — the by-product of enrichment — sits in storage. TerraPower’s technology is designed to use that depleted uranium as fuel, turning the cheap by-product of today’s reactors into enough electricity to power every home in America for 1,000 years,” Myhrvold explains.
Those with established money can likely help the cause. “Our challenge now, especially for those of us whose financial success is the greatest, is to think big,” he writes.
“Move over, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Valve Software today revealed a new television-friendly version of its massive Steam digital video game distribution service,” CNET reported last week. “Aptly named Big Picture, the new view transforms Steam into a more polished experience for the big screen.”
The new interface allows users to purchase and play 2,000-plus games on big-screen TVs. The interface also has its own browser for playing Web-based games.
“The browser features reticle-based navigation (meaning players move a scope around to zoom or scroll); cloud-saved favorites; and tabbed browsing,” explains CNET. “For those wanting to ditch keys completely, Big Picture offers Daisywheel, a directional-based keyboard that supposedly makes it easier to type with a controller.”
“PC gaming continues to be the leading edge of entertainment, whether it’s social gaming, MMOs, graphics hardware, free-to-play, or competitive gaming,” notes Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “With Big Picture for Steam, we are trying to do our part to give customers and developers what they want — their games, everywhere, optimized for the environment in which they are playing.”
According to Valve, the PC version is available in beta, with a Mac version coming soon. The CNET post includes a Steam promo video.
“Sesame Street” has been on the air for 42 seasons — and the brand remains relevant as its creative forces come up with new ways to entertain and educate.
“Sesame Workshop has teamed up with Microsoft to create ‘Kinect Sesame Street TV’ — one of the most innovative children’s video games we’ve seen in a while,” reports Mashable. “With the help of the Microsoft Kinect sensor, it puts kids (and adults) into the game, letting them engage and interact with their favorite characters.”
Included are eight interactive games that take kids through activities and competitions, while interacting with favorite characters.
The focus will be on both physical activity and cognitive learning. “The characters introduce words; concepts like over and under, numbers, letters, and free play. But this play gets kids up and off the couch,” details the post.
“Kinect Sesame Street TV” is currently available on Xbox 360. The post includes a video demo.
Mobile payments have yet to see major traction. In fact, only one percent of mobile consumers in the UK have ever used a mobile handset to pay at a retail store, according to a new report from Deloitte.
However, mobile devices are still being used in stores and have increased retail sales.
“In the U.S. Deloitte says that using apps and mobile websites while shopping accounted for a 5 percent bump in retail sales, equating to $159 billion in in-store sales,” TechCrunch writes, noting this percentage increase was also seen in the UK but for lower dollar value.
“Fueled by the rise in apps and mobile websites catering to shoppers, as well as smartphone ubiquity, Deloitte forecasts that the impact of smartphones on retail in the U.S. will rise to 17-21 percent — working out to $628 million – $782 million in sales by 2016,” the article continues.
The report found that 46 percent of smartphone owners used their devices to research products before visiting the store or while they were shopping.
This research influences purchases and, “as Deloitte points out, this is a call to retailers to sort out better mobile experiences for their users, even if they are not directly linked to making purchases, and only to carry more information about the products,” TechCrunch reports.
Electronics purchases are most affected by mobile usage, while mobile has little effect on convenience stores and supermarkets.
As for mobile payments, Deloitte says, “until more contactless technology gets adopted at the retail end, this is bound to remain on the sidelines.”
Entertainment veteran Michael Green started The Collective in 2005, a media company that represents YouTube talent.
“The company aims to capitalize on the shifting landscape in the entertainment business, in part, says Green, by partnering with artists… who he believes are well positioned to take advantage of the continued decentralization of media consumption,” writes Businessweek.
Noticing the trend, YouTube executives have gone out to recruit established brands to set up content channels. Media companies like the Onion, Pitchfork and Vice are producing content that competes with YouTube’s homegrown talent.
In order to compete and stay relevant, many of these self-funded artists and entertainers are signing on with agencies like The Collective.
“Green says that partnering with The Collective frees up artists to focus on creative challenges while his team concentrates on the business side,” notes the article. “In general, The Collective tries to retain ownership rights to their client’s material while maximizing licensing deals with third parties.”
This is a growing area of entertainment business, notes Businessweek: “Brand spending in the digital video world has ballooned in recent years, growing from $324 million in 2007 to $1.8 billion in 2011, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.”
The Google Fiber IPTV project in the Kansas City area will offer channels from Disney and Turner Broadcasting as part of its new service.
“Google Fiber TV service already includes almost two hundred channels, but we’ll continue to add more over time,” notes Larry Yang, senior product manager, Google Fiber. “And since our TV service runs on a gigabit network, we can offer access to all our HD channels for no extra charge.”
According to Advanced Television, the new channel offerings include: ABC Family, ABC News Now, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Longhorn Network, Ovation, SOAPnet, TBN, TBN Enlace and Velocity.
As previously reported, Starz and Showtime are already offered as optional add-on packages.
“Customers taking the Gigabit + package can add on 17 Starz channels for an additional $10 per month,” notes the post. “They can also add on 11 Showtime channels for an additional $10 per month. Popular Hispanic channels will also be available for an additional $5 per month, including Univision Telenovelas, Bandamax, and Telehit.”
Time Warner has redesigned Flixster to focus less on its native UltraViolet digital locker and more on helping users find the films they want on any movie rental service.
Flixster’s redesign “now highlights purchase and rental options from Vudu, Amazon, and iTunes. And it even shows users when movies are available through subscription services like Netflix,” explains TechCrunch. “That means that pretty much any movie available online can be found on the app — which is big news for movie lovers.”
Since Time Warner also owns Rotten Tomatoes, the new Flixster site allows people to filter search results based on Tomatometer rankings. Users can also filter based on year, popularity, genre and other factors.
The site redesign also allows one-click UltraViolet registration with Facebook connectivity. Users can earn rewards for tasks like creating a “want-to-see” list or downloading related apps.
“Of course, Flixster isn’t the only video discovery engine out there focused on premium content,” notes the post. “There’s Fanhattan, which also hooks into multiple video services, and is available for the iPhone and iPad. In addition to getting the website redesign out of beta, Flixster is working on a relaunch of its mobile apps, which will bring a lot of the same functionality to those devices.”
Timing, Netflix and Apple may prove to be the three leading causes behind Blu-ray’s demise as a storage device, notes ReadWriteWeb.
Timing: Blu-ray came to prominence in early 2008 when Warner Brothers, Netflix, Walmart, and Best Buy decided to drop HD-DVD. But 2008 was also the beginning of the U.S. recession, and many people did not upgrade to a new player and a new TV.
Although more people have upgraded since then, a 2011 study shows that 57 percent of households still use standard DVD players.
Netflix: Streaming video services now dominate the market. “These days, every game console and most televisions bundle multiple streaming video services, every cable provider offers its own suite of pay-per-view titles, and iTunes offers thousands of films and TV episodes for purchase or rental,” explains ReadWriteWeb.
Apple: Since Sony led the drive behind Blu-ray, Apple failed to implement the technology into its devices. This led software publishers to use either DVDs or the cloud to ship their products. Even though Blu-ray would probably be the best option for software providers, consumer’s laptops cannot support the content.
For now, Blu-ray will survive because “Americans still like to own things,” suggests the post.
“Blu-ray is the most archivable, durable format for HD video storage. So until a cloud-based service emerges as a clear winner, there will be a case to keep that stack of discs by the TV. But all data storage formats run their course, and no amount of data-density improvements can stop the natural progression to streaming media.”
Nikon has finally announced its $2,099 (body only), full-frame, 24-megapixel D600. The new DSLR costs considerably less than the D800.
“As such, the D600 — which offers similar build quality and operational ergonomics as the popular DX-format D7000 — is hugely significant,” reports Digital Photography Review.
“It matches or exceeds the pixel count of every other full-frame DSLR bar one (the D800) at the sort of price point that up to now, has been almost exclusively the preserve of high-end APS-C cameras.”
The review notes that users will be impressed with the new camera’s “5.5fps shooting at full-resolution, 100 percent viewfinder coverage, full HD video capture with an option to record uncompressed footage via HDMI and customizable 39-point AF system.”
The review provides detailed specs and side-by-side comparisons to the D7000 and D800.
“It’s interesting to note, too, that with the D600, Nikon has significantly undercut Sony’s recent full-frame offerings — the SLT-A99 and Cyber-shot RX1, not to mention presented a daunting challenge to arch-rival Canon,” according to the review.
Passwords for online banking, social networks and email could soon be replaced by the wave of a hand if Intel’s prototype technology comes to fruition.
The technology aims “to do away with the need to remember passwords for growing numbers of online services,” reports Reuters. “Intel researchers have put together a tablet with new software and a biometric sensor that recognizes the unique patterns of veins on a person’s palm.”
“The problem with passwords — we use too many of them, their rules are complex, and they differ for different websites,” notes Sridhar Iyengar, director of security research at Intel Labs. “There is a way out of it, and biometrics is an option.”
“Making laptops, tablets and smartphones responsible for identifying users would take that requirement away from individual websites and do away with the need to individually enter passwords into each of them, Iyengar said.”
To answer security issue questions, Reuters explains that “a device using the technology would use built-in accelerometers to detect when a user puts it down, and would then log its owner off to keep unauthorized people from getting in.”
According to Intel CTO Justin Rattner, the palm-reading technology will require software and sensors built into devices, but not the development of new chips.
“Looking to the future, all computing will become wireless computing, with an ever-increasing demand for faster wireless communication,” Intel CTO Justin Rattner said in a statement.
To address this trend, Intel has worked to develop WiGig, a multi-gigabit wireless docking technology that provides speeds of up to 7Gbps, ten times as fast as current Wi-Fi networks.
Intel demonstrated the technology at its annual Intel Developers Forum, claiming “WiGig is on track to becoming the most important next-generation multi-gigabit wireless technology,” Computerworld reports.
WiGig is based on the IEEE 802.11n standard and “operates in the unlicensed 60GHz frequency band, which has more spectrum available than the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands used by existing Wi-Fi products,” the article explains. “This allows wider channels that support faster transmission speeds.”
The specification also supports Wi-Fi over 60GHz and a wide range of applications. It enables wireless connectivity using HDMI and display extensions, which could allow laptops to connect to TVs to stream video.
“The technology is nearly ready, and with chips from multiple WiGig member companies already in production and certification ready for mid-2013, I would expect a real explosion in the number of WiGig devices coming to market soon,” said Ali Sadri, chairman of the WiGig Alliance.
Square COO Keith Rabois claims “nearly all retailers” will soon ditch registers in favor of tablets. Rabois suggests the shift could happen within the next eighteen months.
“Everyone will be migrating to iPads and comparable devices, which will be powered by an app — that is, hopefully, Square,” says Rabois.
Of course, he could just be overly optimistic because of his ties to mobile payment company Square, but a “survey by the National Retail Federation last fall found that while only 6 percent of retailers said they used mobile point-of-sale devices, half of the respondents said at the time that they planned to adopt such devices over the next 18 months,” writes AllThingsD.
Market researcher NPD also reports that 75 percent of merchants plan to buy a tablet within the year.
“Essentially, Square’s biggest goal is to enable any merchant, regardless of their resources, to offer a mobile experience similar to the one Starbucks offers today through its application,” explains the article. “In August, Starbucks announced that it was investing in Square, and was going to start using it to process all of its credit and debit transactions.”
“Any merchant that is focused on customer service and the ambiance of their experience will be intrigued by what we offer,” claims Rabois.
Canon will ship its new EOS 6D in December for $2,099 (body only) — the company’s first DSLR with built-in Wi-Fi and GPS.
