Birth Of Compact DSLRs

A Short History To Begin With
Ever since the SLR (Single Reflex Lens) began to take the digital path (DSLR), the weight of the camera increased tremendously because of the components that needed to be included with the camera for the digital sensors to work, specially the digital signal process. As a result, DSLR was getting bigger and heavier. Even though there were many efforts to bring out lighter DSLRs, but that was at the expense of features like speed, quality and above all, ease of use.

M 4/3
Big and heavy was the standard rule until one day Olympus and Panasonic got together to create something evolutionary, the M 4/3. So what is it? Micro Four Third (M 4/3) is a system in which instead of having the pentaprism and the mirror to reflect the image to be seen by the sensor, it would use the sensor right away to provide a live view of the picture. Now this made way for smaller and lighter designs by removing the 2 elements which wer not needed by the digital sensor.

Practical Implementation of the M 4/3 system
The first camera that was based on the M 4/3 design is the Olympus PEN E-P1. Even though the initial reactions were that since it was light and small, it would be crap like the Point-and-Shoot cameras. But later, it had some good reviews.
Then Olympus released an update to it, the E-P2 which resolved some of the problems of the drawbacks of the E-P1. Finally, they released a low-price model, the Olympus PEN E-PL1.
Panasonic too came up with their own model, the Panasonic GF1 based on the M 4/3 design.

The Latest Entry
The latest entry to this mirrorless compact digital SLR category is Sony with their models the NEX-3 and the NEX-5. Both are 14.2 megapixel shooters with APS-C sized CMOS sensors that can shoot high-definition videos. The NEX-5 is capable of shooting videos at 1080p in AVCHD format and at 720p in MP4 format. The NEX-3 is only capable of recording at 720p in MP4 format. These will have a 18-55 mm lens or a 16 mm lens. In addition to that, Sony will launch a 18-200 mm lens.
More information about these two cameras can be found here.
                                                                                                                                                          

Does Your Blog Have A 7-Digit Alexa Rank

I couldn't come up with a good topic to post about, so I decided to post about Adgitize's special summer promotion. Those who are not members of Adgitize or do not know at all about it, Adgitize is an ad service on blogger's budget. Let me first write a small review of it.

As a publisher, you need (recommended) to show ads on your blog (maximum of 10 slots). You will get points for the ad views and the page views. You can also get 100 daily for writing 1 blog post (max 1 per day). You also get points by clicking on the Adgitize ads on other blogs (max 100 per day).

Now comes the main point, the advertisers. The cost of advertising your blog on the Adgitize network is only $14 per month. With this special promotion, you can easily get back $14.57, if not more. Now here's how you can do it -
1) As an advertiser, you will get 100 points daily.
2) You need to click on 51 adgitize ads (100 for publishers) on 51 different blogs to get 100 more points.
3) Write 1 post daily, you get 100 more points each day.
4) You will get more points for the page views and ad views. Other members have told from their experience that their page views increase by about 75+, daily. And because of the traffic, you will have a good Alexa rank too, as many Adgitize members use the Alexa toolbar. So if you have a 7 digit Alexa rank, there's every reason for you to advertise here.
So you have 300+ points. Now as per their special promotion, you will get a minimum of $0.47 for getting 300 points (plus you have some extra too). $0.47 for 31 days add up to make $14.57. So you can easily make some profit and also get some more visitors to your blog, a win-win situation.

This promotion will run through July 31, 2010. If they meet their goal of getting 25 new advertisers per month, they will run the promotion for the whole year. So what are you waiting for? If you are not a member yet, sign up here (affiliate link, will be great if you can help a fellow blogger out...haha..shameless promotion) and start advertising.
                                                                                                                                                            

NComputing U170 - USB Virtual Desktop

Before mentioning about the gadget, I will like you to ask those parents with two kids about the ideal solution for sharing time on a single computer. I think most parents will grow another grey hair instead of finding an ideal solution to it. Isn't that so?

Here come the NComputing U170 Virtual Desktop, a rather elegant solution to this problem, although it can easily be extended to suit a small business or a school set-up. The premise is simple - modern day PCs are so powerful that people (specially kids) use only a small fraction of the processor's capacity, and the U170 taps this unused resource so that a computer can be shared by many users.

All you have to do is plug the U170 into the PC via USB, connect the second set of monitor, keyboard and mouse and install the program on the host PC and voila! The second fully-functional independent PC is ready to go.

So what are the advantages? Well, there are many. Firstly, you just need to buy the U170 (about $100), a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and speakers. So you save money on RAMs, motherboards, processors, video cards and other hardwares. Further, you need to maintain only one PC with the OS and the anti-virus, so here also you save some money. You also save on electricity as it draws only about 2 watts of power, much less than an independent PC.

need to connect more PCs? Just add more U170s, upto 9 maximum. But if you are running a memory exhausting application like Photoshop on the host PC, then the connected PCs are bound to suffer. Well, the question is, do the kids need to use image and video editing softwares?
                                                                                                                                                                    

Google Pacman Logo - Its Playable

Did you notice the Google logo today? I guess almost everyone has, so this is for them who are yet to notice the main feature of the logo - it's playable. Yes, you can play the real game which you used to play on the video games.

Commemorating the 30th birthday of the popular video game of the 80s and the 90s, Pacman, Google has used the Pacman logo (or should I say the game) on its search engine homepage. By clicking on the "Insert Coin" button or simply keeping the page open for around 10 seconds will start the game. The direction(arrow) keys are used for control. So what are you waiting for? Open the search page and start playing instead of searching.
For more information about this logo, and about Google's strategy to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript instead of Flash to develop the logo, please visit Questechie.

                                                                                                                                                         

Looking For A Sound System

Recently, my Intex 2.1 sound system has been giving me a lot of problems. To be fair, I don't like Intex speakers. One of my friends has got a Intex 5.1 system, and I don't like its sound quality. The treble is okay, but the bass...its just not there. Anyway, I have decided to upgrade my sound system for my PC, and I have decided to buy a 5.1 system this time. So, the search begins....off course with Google.

My budget is around 6000 INR (approx $130). So, the first search was something like "5.1 speakers for pc". From here. I went to a forum where two models got my attention - (1) Creative Inspire T6060 and (2) Altec Lansing VS3251. So, I searched again for these specific models. First was the Altec Lansing. But the very first impression was not good. I didn't like the looks, so its out. Next, the Creative Inspire. This one looks good, very modern. The review said that its a value for money product with very good sound quality. The only con is the wired remote (not wireless). Well, that's not a problem for me. Further, it costs about $100, so its pretty much inside my budget.

But wait a minute. The review also stated two more models - (1) Logitech X540 and (2) Logitech Z5500.
So, back to Google. First, the X540. This one looks good too. I think it looks better than the Creative. The satellites are wall-mountable, a feature which can come handy in my room. This too has a wired remote. Price?About $100 again.
Next is the Z5500. Oh man! This one is awesome. Look at the subwoofer. It has got plenty of features. And also comes with a SoundTouch Control Centre and a wireless remote. But oh! The Logitech guys broke my heart. This one will create a huge hole of 400 bucks in my pocket. So, goodbye to Z5500.

Back to the Creative and the Logitech X540. While reading more and more reviews of these two, suddenly one thing caught my attention. My default sound card that came with the Intel motherboard does not support surround sound. Which means that i won't be able to get the real surround sound effect that these two are capable of. I need a sound card. So I googled "Creative 5.1 sound card" (I knew Creative had one). Yup, got it. Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 will be good enough for a basic 5.1 system. But the price? Again I took help of Google with the keyword "price" attached to the previous search.  Woot woot! It costs only around $25, which means that either the Creative Inspire T6060 or the Logitech X540 plus the Creative Sound Blaster will be very much within my budget. But......there's still a BUT......The Logitech Z5500.....I want that......... :(
                                                                                                                                            

Future Kitchen Concept - Aion

This may look like a command deck of a Starship Enterprise, but in real, this is a futuristic kitchen. And it not only looks like a command deck, but also shares another feature related to aerospace.

Designed by Antoin Lebrun, the Aion kitchen concept uses specialized plants developed by the aerospace industry. These plants are known for their cleaning and filtering properties. Apart from providing a renewable supply of fresh water and vegetable soap (while cleaning), they also filter smoke and fumes while cooking. 

For the cleaning purpose, simply putting the utensils in the sink and closing the hood will start the natural clean cycle. Further, the display shows the current status along with illuminated lights indicating cooking or washing etc. 

This is a very eco-friendly concept to reduce wastes and smoke, but unfortunately, it's just a concept at the moment.
                                                                                                                                                          

SmartFaucet - Tap With A Touch Screen

You may have got the most wired house in the neighbourhood, but the SmartFaucet from iHouse will surely blow your mind.

It's a water tap with built-in face recognition that automatically adjusts the water pressure, temperature and the lighting to your preferred settings (yeah, you read it right, it's a water tap).

What's more?? The touchscreen display even allows at-a-glance access to e-mails , appointments and the outside temperature while the LED illuminates the flow with temperature matching colors!!!

A Contest And A Giveaway

I will talk about the giveaway first. Sheila of The Ad Master has come up with a very unique giveaway, titled "National I Can't Come Up With A Blog Post Day!". And she will give away 100 bucks to the winner. So, to get those 100 bucks, all you have to do is...... well, it will be better if you check out her blog. The drawing will take place on June 1, so hurry.

Now about the contest. The host of this one is Ritz of A Girl Blogger. She will give a free domain name and a 1-year "Blogger's Budget" hosting plan from Kind Hoster. I think if you are a member of Adgitize, you are familiar with Kind Hoster.  Since I am still using a blogspot domain name, so I was interested in their plans. They have got some very affordable hosting plans. The "Blogger's Budget" plan at $10/year has 500 MB of disk space and 5 GB of bandwidth. They also offer 1-click setup for platforms like Wordpress, Jhoomla and many others. Apart from he above mentioned plan, there are three more hosting options. Please check them out here.

Notion Ink Adam

I have already mentioned about this product from the Indian company, Notion Ink, in my earlier post. but that was along with some other competitors, so this one is going to be a standalone post about the Adam.

After the fall of the biggies, it's upto this small Indian company to give some competition to the iPad. By "fall of the biggies", I am referring to HP and Microsoft who have called off their plans for the Slate and Courier respectively.

So start with the looks, the Adam has got a sleek look and design, one that will impress almost everyone. It's about 13 mm thick an is quite light weight at around 650 gm.
The powerhouse inside this tablet is something to watch out for, which maintains a good balance between speed and power. It's run by the Dual Core Cortex A-9 processor which gives a nice web experience, supports low power flash and enhances battery life. Further, the Nvidia Tegra 2 low power graphics card enables full flash acceleration, allowing to watch videos at 1080p resolution.
And did I mention enhanced battery life? Yup, the guys at Notion Ink claims that the Adam can play 140 hours of audio and 16 hours of HD video at one go. Now that is something to watch out for.

The display of this device needs a special mention. The 10.1 in Pixel Qi screen has transmissive, transflective and reflective display modes which can be used in regular times like while watching videos or web browsing. The non-Pixel Qi, low power display mode can be used while reading books. Its capacitive screen with multi-touch.

The Android interface has been nicely customized to suit the 10.1in screen of the Adam and has the multi tasking capability. The Adam also comes with a e-book client and supports all major e-book formats. A 3.2 MP swivel camera is mounted on the top. Connectivity options include WiFi and 3G.

But the best thing that will help the Adam to get some market share will be its price. It is believed that the Notion Ink guys will price it aggressively to attract many potential iPad customers. Off course you don't expect an awesome display like the iPad, or millions of apps to choose from the Apps Store, but if priced very aggressively as compared to the iPad, it will be a winner. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the launch date. The developers are still waiting to get a stable Flash for the Adam, then there would be a 2-months testing before it gets launched (source - Notion Ink Blog). So, we will have to wait for a longer time.

A Peek Into The Future

The fast advent of technology and the new innovative ideas which result from it is not unknown to anyone. So what can we expect from the gadgets in the near future? We all have a lot of expectations from them, but here are a few prospects in terms of technology and design concepts.I repeat again, these are concepts.

Origami DVD Player

To ensure maximum portability, the Origami DVD Player concept uses an e-paper (a fully flexible display technology) which can be folded and crumbled in any manner. The screen folds back neatly in the whole thing becomes as small as the size of a DVD. As mentioned, this is just a concept.

HP LiM

We will get to see a lot of transparent displays in the future, and here's one such concept from HP - the Lim (Less Is More) Concept. It includes a transparent display, a wireless keyboard and has bamboo fabric across the aluminium frame. And yes, don't miss the virtual trackpad. 

 Eyemove PC

The Eyemove PC combines the functionality of a digital projector into one circular shaped device. No need for any monitors. Further, with the wireless controller, you can forget your mouse and keyboard. You have it all-in-one with the touchscreen wireless controller.

P-ISM Pen Style Computer

The P-ISM includes five (5) pens for the following five functions -

a) a pen-style cellular phone with handwriting data input

b) a pen-style projector

c) a pen-style camera/scanner

d) a virtual keyboard

e) a personal ID key, also pen-styled.

All the P-ISMs are connected with one another with short-ranged wireless communications.

I will update this if I get to know some more gadgets like this. By the Way, I have made a mistake in my previous post. I had missed the most important thing about that. The information provided was wrong. This time I have made sure that I leave no stone unturned in providing the correct information.

Google "Translate For Animals"

Do you understand the meanings of all the sounds made by your pet? Even if you are very much familiar with your pet, I bet you don't understand all the communications that he/she might want to make. It is nothing new that there is a huge, and I mean really huge communication gap between humans and animals. The gap is so huge that humans were totally clueless about the animal sounds. But thanks to Google (yeah, king of everything.right?) that the gap is going to reduce to some extent.

"Translate For Animals" is the app that I am talking about. This Android app will translate animal sounds into meaningful English sentences or words. It is a beta application aiming to narrow the communication gap between humans and animals. Google has taken the help of the world's top language synthesis teams and also of the experts in the field of animal cognitive linguistics in order to develop this app.

This app is made for the Android phones. Using it is pretty easy. Just search the Android marketplace and install this app in your Android phone. Then record your pet's sound. The record will then be sent to their cloud database for processing purpose. It will be interpreted and transcribed in English to your phone. Then just hear the translated version. Simple, isn't it?

Nothing can be said about the accuracy, but this one is surely going to be a fun experience. While trying to know about the feelings of your pets, you will come much closer to them. And this will also increase your love for your pets.

Here's a link for a demo(opens in a new tab). Translate For Animals

Oh! I am sorry that I neglected the crucial thing about this app. Thanks to Arafat for letting me know about that. Check the comments section to know it. :P
Care to share? If you like this post.

10 Gadgets For Dreaming, Not Owning

Which is the world's "most techiest" (sorry for that double-superlative) phone? How much will it cost? Whatever be it's cost, it is still not considered to be a thing of luxury unless the manufactures put some diamonds in it, and bring them to the market as "Designer" products meant only for the billionaires. Yes, with designers expanding their field, there are gadgets like mobile phones, cameras, MP3 players which cost a few hundred dollars.
Here's a list of the world's 10 most expensive gadgets, sizzling in features as well as looks:


Most Expensive Computer
Well, you can't own this, but there's no harm in dreaming. The Earth Simulator, built by Japanese company NEC to evaluate the effects of global warming and solid earth geophysics. It also held the record of being the fastest supercomputer in the world between 2002-2004, capable of 35.86 trillion floating point calculations per second. In March 2009, it was replaced by Earth Simulator 2.
Price : 206,600,000 pounds.


Most Expensive Mobile Phone
The iPhone 3G Supreme, designed by a British company is said to be the most expensive mobile phone. Made from 22-carat gold, it has 136 diamonds in the front bezel and an Apple logo at the back with 53 diamonds. The button is made up of a rare diamond of 7.1 carats.
Price : 1.92 million pounds.




Most Expensive TV
Yalos Diamond, from the Italian manufacturer Keymat Industrie is the world's most expensive television. Plated in white gold and studded with 160 diamonds, the TV has 1080i and 720p HD picture format and a contrast ratio of 1200:1.
Price : 67,175 pounds.




Most Expensive Laptop 
Luxury brand Luvaglio London had announced in 2007 that it will release by special order the mosr expensive laptop ever sold. With a 17-inch widescreen LED lit screen, a Blu-ray drive, 128GB memory, an integrated cleaning device, and a diamond power button that doubles as the laptop security feature, the laptop would cost a million pounds.


Most Expensive MP3 Player
London-based Meng Duo Ltd launched the world?s most expensive media player — Presidential MP3 by Douglas J.  This one is studded with several diamonds and will be hand delivered to the buyer anywhere in the world.  The player includes 1GB of memory, a 65k color screen for video playback and support for audio and video file formats.
Price : 25,000 pounds.





Most Expensive Camera
The  Hasselblad H3DII-50 is the world's most expensive camera.  This multi-shot full-color camera comes with a 50-megapixel CCD sensor that captures four shots in a row, moving the sensor by one pixel between each shot to record full RGB values at each position.
Price : $34000.


Most Expensive Blackberry
UK-based designer Alexander Amosu has launched the most expensive Blackberry, made of 18-carat gold and studded with 4459 diamonds. The device can be personalized with the owner's name and company logo.
Price : $200,000




Most Expensive Computer Keyboard
Made from the hairs of virgins and then powdered with gold dust, the Happy Hacking keyboard by PFU is said to be the world's most expensive keyboards.  It lacks numeric keypad, and keys outside the typewriter key area are mainly accessible through the Fn key.
Price : 2190 pounds.



 Most Expensive Computer Mouse
Cast from 18 carat white gold and set with 59 brilliant cut diamonds, the most expensive mouse is manufactured by the Swiss brand Pat. it  comes with a 3-button wheel optical mouse design, options for USB or PS/2 connections for either PC or Mac and a 800 dpi Resolution. 
Price : 12,494 pounds.




Most Expensive Speakers
The Ultimate from Transmission Audio is the world's most expensive speaker. It consists of twelve 500W speakers, an Audio Laboratory BP-1 dual-mono power amp and a BC-1 preamp. Further, Ultimate also features forty 15″ subwoofers and another twenty-four 8″ woofers. On the high-midrange and high frequency levels, ribbon technology is employed for high fidelity and reliability. Each Ultimate speaker comes with its own 31,000 Watt power amplifiers. The manufacturer also claims the Ultimate can generate up to 146dB SPL.
Price : $2 million.


So.....well, nothing more to say after all these. Just dream...dream...and dream.