Thursday 18 June 2015

DxO ONE

Digital Photography Review reports: [edited]

The DxO ONE connects to your iPhone via a Lightning adapter. Weighing 108g 67mm tall, 48mm wide x 25mm deep, the DxO ONE is small enough to fit in your pocket, yet features a 1"-type BSI-CMOS sensor. That means great low light sensitivity due to the BSI design, and fantastic Raw dynamic range. Combined with the bright F1.8 lens, you'll get far better image quality than your iPhone's camera, with better low light performance and control over depth-of-field.

DxO is a leader in digital image-processing. The SuperRAW feature captures four Raw images in rapid succession, then combines these images in the desktop software using spatial and temporal noise reduction algorithms to generate a high quality, lower noise image. Simple image averaging of four images should lead to a 2 EV increase in noise performance due to shot noise considerations alone which, by itself, is impressive. But there's even more going on.

If there's any subject movement, the algorithm takes the sharpest representation of that subject. Furthermore, the quartet of shots are carefully analysed for motion blur to attempt some de-blurring of the image, which simulates image stabilisation.

Connect the camera to your iPhone, and you're instantly taken to the App store to download the camera app. A couple of steps later, and you're on to taking your first photo. After your app is already installed, connecting the ONE to your iPhone launches the app.

Price: $599
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Wednesday 10 June 2015

Google Project Soli


Airows reports: [edited]
Google is developing a new interaction sensor using radar technology that can track movement with impressive accuracy. It's the size of a small computer chip and can be inserted into everyday objects.

Thanks to Keith Seckel for the heads-up


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Thursday 4 June 2015

Batteriser

TechHive reports: [edited]

Batteriser is a simple metal sleeve that promises to give consumers up to eight times more life from their disposable batteries, AAA through D.

A completely new alkaline battery is rated to generate 1.5 volts, but once its output drops below 1.35 or even 1.4 volts, it effectively becomes useless to many devices. The battery’s chemical cocktail is still loaded with juice, but the circuitry in many gadgets (especially more sophisticated ones, like Bluetooth keyboards and bathroom scales) considers the battery dead.

This is where Batteriser comes in. It’s essentially a voltage booster that sucks every last drop of useable energy from ostensibly spent batteries. So, instead of using just 20 percent of all the power hidden inside of your Duracells and Energizers, Batteriser makes effective use of the remaining 80 percent.

Voltage boosters are nothing new, but Batteriser scales down the technology to the point where it can fit inside a stainless steel sleeve less than 0.1 mm thick. Roohparvar says the sleeves are thin enough to fit inside almost every battery compartment imaginable, and the combined package can extend battery life between 4.9x for devices like remote controls and 9.1x for various electronic toys.

Batteriser will cost $10 for a pack of four when it goes on sale in September.
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