Monday, September 15, 2014

Samsung's new flagship NX1 shoots 28.2-megapixel stills and 4K video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/15/samsung-nx1/

Samsung's new flagship camera shoots 28.2-megapixel stills and 4K video

This week marks the start of Photokina, the camera show where pretty much every brand will unveil their latest and greatest pieces of kit. We'll hear from everybody in due time but right now, Samsung is in the hot seat. The tech giant just unveiled the NX1, the company's first camera that records 4K video. In addition to doing UHD footage at 30 or 24 frames per second and Cinema 4K at 24fps, it shoots stills with a 28.2-megapixel backside-illuminated APS-C CMOS sensor. In burst-capture mode, you can snap up to 15 frames per second at full resolution. ISO sensitivity now ranges from 100 to 51,200. Similar to the NX30, a more mid-range camera in Samsung's lineup, this has WiFi and NFC, along with a 3-inch Super AMOLED articulating display and a 1,366 x 768 electronic viewfinder. In this case, though, it's 802.11ac WiFi, there's Bluetooth too, and the EVF promises a shorter lag time of around 5ms.

Under the hood, the NX1 makes use of a new auto-focusing system with 205 Phase Detect points, which Samsung says cover 90 percent of the frame. It's those focusing points pros will care about most, though Samsung also tweaked its algorithms to better predict where a subject is going to move. The AF assist light also has an improved reach -- up to 15 meters. As for the body, it's a magnesium-alloy affair -- both dust- and water-resistant -- with an LCD status display on top, next to the mode dial.

The NX1 arrives in mid-October, priced at $1,499 for the body only. In addition, Samsung will sell a new 50-150mm with f/2.8 aperture through the entire zoom range. In addition, it brings four-axis optical image stabilization and the ability to limit focus to a custom range. So far, Samsung has declined to say whether its other cameras will get a firmware update to support this new lens and its custom-focus feature, though the company does have a pretty good history of providing software updates to older models. That will arrive next month too, at a cost of $1,599. There will also be an optional battery grip, which packs a 1,900mAh cell (about the same size as on the main camera), and which should give you an extra 500 shots, give or take.

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Friday, September 12, 2014

New Ultralight Ceramic Cubes Can Be Squished and Recover Like a Sponge

Source: http://gizmodo.com/new-ultralight-ceramic-cubes-can-be-squished-and-recove-1633644849

New Ultralight Ceramic Cubes Can Be Squished and Recover Like a Sponge

A CalTech scientist and her team just announced the development of one of the strongest and lightest materials ever created. It's light enough to float like a feather, and so uniquely strong, it can be crushed and completely recover its shape. And—get this—it's made of ceramic.

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This Is The Best 3D Food Printer We've Seen Yet — And It Makes Stunning Desserts

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/3d-systems-chefjet-printers-2014-9

CES chefjet 2014There are a number of 3D food printers on the market, promising to print everything from pasta to Nutella. But most simply create shapes from pre-prepared ingredients. 

One company, however, has gone a different direction, designing 3D printer that turns sugar into gorgeous geometric confections in your own kitchen.

“They work a lot like making frosting,” Liz von Hasseln, co-inventor of 3D Systems' ChefJet, told Business Insider. “If you’ve ever made frosting and left the bowl overnight in the sink, you’ll know that it gets quite hard and that’s essentially what happens inside the ChefJet Printer.”

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creationsThe project started when von Hasseln and her husband Kyle, who were graduate students at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, forgot that they were supposed to bake a birthday cake for a friend. Their tiny apartment didn’t have an oven, but they did have the 3D Systems printer they were using for their thesis project. 

After tweaking the existing technology to print layers of sugar, they printed their friend’s name as a cake topper and a business was born. The von Hasselns quickly realized the potential of their invention and established Sugar Lab, designing and printing 3D candies in flavors like mint, sour cherry, and vanilla.

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creationsSugar Lab was purchased by 3D Systems last year, and now the von Hasselns are the company's Creative Directors of Food Products. Later this year, they will unveil their sleek ChefJet, which prints in black and white, and slightly larger ChefJet Pro, which can print in color, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

The machines are roughly twice the size of a microwave and look like something one would see on a futuristic cooking show hosted by Spock. 

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creationsAnd the possibilities with sugar have gone far beyond the candies Sugar Lab originally printed. “We’ve done everything from drink sweeteners to complicated toppers for elaborate wedding cakes," von Hasseln said. "We even did a cake stand for a wedding cake. When you 3D print the frosting, it becomes a structural component of the dessert other than just an embellishment.”

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creationsThe end results are gorgeous, geometric creations — especially with the ChefJet Pro, which can make such exact color designs that the end product resemble expensive china. 

The technology is still limited to sugar, but the ChefJet and ChefJet Pro come with a sort of “digital cookbook” that’s organized by food types. If you’re working on a wedding cake, there’s a cake section. If you’d like to make sugar cubes or candy, there’s a section for that, too.

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations&! ldquo;We want to enable people to be able to create beautiful, customized things that they can print on the ChefJet without having to learn 3D dimensional digital modeling from scratch,” von Hasseln said. “We’re working hard to make sure they’re very user friendly and intuitive right off the bat.”

But don’t expect to run out and buy a ChefJet or ChefJet Pro anytime soon. In its current iteration, ChefJet is meant for the professional market, to be used alongside other industrial kitchen equipment by pastry chefs, molecular gastronomists, and mixologists. 

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations“We are looking at the ChefJet printer as a professional-grade machine,” von Hasseln said. “The ChefJet and ChefJet Pro are really the only printers on the market that are appropriate for that level. They’ll be the first kitchen-certified 3D printers, meaning they’ll be used in commercial, professional settings. No other 3D printers have done that.”

In other words, this is not the next microwave  yet. But as the science continues to evolve, von Hasseln does see additional practical uses for her invention.

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations“We think that sugar is a great place to start 3D printing food,” Liz said. “But beyond sweets, we see tons of potential for other edible substrates. We’re really excited to continue to experiment with starches, spices, or even proteins down the line. And even further down the road, we see potential for things like personalized nutrition and pharmaceuticals." 

“We’re at the v! ery begi nning of 3D printing,” she added. “This is a very exciting time.”

3D systems chefjet chefjet pro creations

SEE ALSO: From Oreos To Nutella — The Latest 3D Printed Foods Are All 100% Edible

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Article: LG says white OLED puts it a decade ahead of competitors

LG believes it will be "impossible" for other RGB OLED manufacturers to successfully compete with its white OLED technology. LG's investment in white OLED might be ready to pay off as the company achieves high production quantities for its 4K OLED TVs while competitors using RGB OLED still strugg...

http://www.cnet.com/news/lg-says-white-oled-gives-it-ten-years-on-tv-competition/#ftag=CAD590a51e

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The Apple Watch Has A Really Clever Way Of Defeating Thieves

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-watch-anti-theft-security-2014-9

Apple Watch sensors

Apple chose to stay silent on some key topics about the Apple Watch during Tuesday's launch event. The battery life was skimmed over, and it wasn't clear what kind of security would be going into the device. But as technology reporters are getting to test out the Apple Watch, we're learning more about how it will work.

Mashable has reported on the clever way that the Apple Watch will prevent thieves from gaining access to your credit cards. The Apple Watch will include NFC payment using the Apple Pay system, meaning that customers can link their credit cards to their watch in order to pay for items by holding their watch near a special sensor.

That will make the watch a tempting target for thieves.

There have been questions over how secure the Apple Watch actually is, as it seems to have weaker security when compared to NFC payments on the iPhone 6. Customers need to hold their finger on the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the new iPhone before paying for items.

Apple Watch has no such feature.

Luckily, Apple has come up with a clever way to make the new watch secure. As Mashable notes, it works using the four circular sensors on the back of the device. Two of the sensors are infrared, and the other two measure light. Apple uses these sensors to measure things like your heart rate. But it's also using the sensors to tell when the Apple Watch is on your wrist. If you take off the watch, then the device's screen locks you out. You need to enter a code on the Apple Watch before it can be used for payments again.

SEE ALSO: What An Actual Watch Expert Thinks Of The Apple Watch

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