Thursday, January 13, 2011

Active-i sunglasses slyly capture video, plays it back on integrated display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/12/active-i-sunglasses-slyly-capture-video-plays-it-back-on-integr/

Interactive Group -- the same folks who ruined our lives last year with Cyber Clean -- are back. Seriously back. The company's latest gimmick gizmo is the Active-i sunglasses, hailed as the planet's smallest standalone video and audio recording / playback device. Put simply, you'll get a set of somewhat unsightly sunglasses (with "polarized lenses for optimum UV-protection," no less) with a built-in video camera right along the bridge of the nose. It's placed there for maximum stealth, and it's capable of capturing up to two hours of low-res video; after the deed is done, users can actually view it back on the monocular viewer, or if you need to break it down Jack Bauer-style, you can offload clips onto your PC or Mac via USB. There's also a TV output, a microSD expansion slot and a bundled carrying case, but your guess is as good as ours when it comes to pricing. Something tells us your local spy store may be more "clued in."

Continue reading Active-i sunglasses slyly capture video, plays it back on integrated display

Active-i sunglasses slyly capture video, plays it back on integrated display originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinect hacked to work with Flash, Wiimotes, we can't imagine what's next (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/12/kinect-hacked-to-work-with-flash-wiimotes-we-cant-imagine-wha/

Kinect hacked to work with Flash, Wiimotes, we can't imagine what's next
It's safe to say that, on the console gaming front, the Wiimote and the Kinect are competitors. But, take a step away to the world of PC gaming, and suddenly they can get along like old chums. That's what's demonstrated in the video below, created by YouTuber demize2010, which shows Call of Duty controlled by Wiimote, Nunchuk, and Kinect, enabling reloads, knife attacks, and peeking around corners. But wait, there's more! The Blitz marketing agency has worked up a demo in which the Kinect can be used with a Flash interface, which doesn't look too dissimilar from what Microsoft uses on the Xbox. This could open the door to fancier websites -- if indeed any large number of PC owners ever actually wind up buying a Kinect. Both videos can be seen below.

Kinect hacked to work with Flash, Wiimotes, we can't imagine what's next (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OCZ quits DRAM business to focus on super-speedy SSDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/ocz-quits-dram-business-to-focus-on-super-speedy-ssds/

OCZ, a company that started life a decade ago by churning out DRAM modules for enthusiasts to throw into their towering rigs, has now announced it's abandoning that market entirely. As PC Perspective points out, it's grown increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate their products when it comes to memory -- most of it just works and most of it is pretty fast -- and continually declining prices have apparently forced OCZ's hand. The San Jose-based company's new primary breadwinner will be solid state drives, which already account for a substantial proportion of revenues and look set to grow exponentially as their own prices dip a little further into the range of the affordable. It's a shame we'll no longer have that bold Z to look at when picking out memory sticks for our next self-built machine, but maybe it's all for the best. Check out an interview with an OCZ VP at the source link below.

Continue reading OCZ quits DRAM business to focus on super-speedy SSDs

OCZ quits DRAM business to focus on super-speedy SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Goo.gl URL shortener API lets third party developers in on the outrageous fun that is Google URL shortening

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/12/new-goo-gl-url-shortener-api-lets-third-party-developers-in-on-t/

Just a quick note, because we know how much you love APIs: Google has opened its URL shortening service to third party developers. That's right -- not only can you use Goo.gl to generate QR codes, but now you can build it into your own software. As well as support for URL shortening and expanding, the API will also let you track your history and analytics. Says Ben D'Angelo of the URL shortening team: "You could use these features for a wide variety of applications, enabling behaviors ranging from auto-shortening within Twitter or Google Buzz clients to running regular jobs that monitor your usage statistics and traffic patterns." The team is also working to improve spam and malicious site detection for the service. Since the government of Greenland seems to be a bit more stable than that of a certain Muammar al-Gaddafi, we're sure that Google won't run into the same problems that vb.ly did (although we wonder if things would change if Kuupik Kleist got his own voluptuous Ukrainian nurse). Hit the source link to get coding.

New Goo.gl URL shortener API lets third party developers in on the outrageous fun that is Google URL shortening originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony outs CLM-V55 video monitor for interchangeable lens cameras

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/13/sony-outs-clm-v55-video-monitor-for-interchangeable-lens-cameras/

To take John McEnroe's famous quote badly out of context, you cannot be serious about video recording without giving your devices a nice big display for videographers to monitor their recordings through. Sony's clearly in agreement and has today revealed the CLM-V55, a 5-inch clip-on unit for its interchangeable lens cameras, that provides WVGA resolution, tilt / swivel adjustments, and color peaking plus pixel magnification to make sure focus is just how you like it. The primary beneficiaries of this would be those delightful A33 and A55 siblings, which strive to combine the fast autofocus of a camcorder with the image quality of a DSLR, along with the NEX-VG10, an all-out camcorder that can nonetheless exchange its lenses and even exploit Alpha-mount glass via an adapter. You can see it outfitted with the V55 after the break, right next to the full press release. Launch is expected in March at an as yet unannounced price.

Continue reading Sony outs CLM-V55 video monitor for interchangeable lens cameras

Sony outs CLM-V55 video monitor for interchangeable lens cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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