Sunday, September 13, 2015

Canon's 120-megapixel camera plumbs the depths of your pores

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/11/canon-120-megapixel-camera/

EOS 120M

In case you thought current cameras didn't expose your physical flaws enough, this week's Canon Expo featured a prototype of the company's EOS series packing a whopping 120 megapixels. For contrast, Canon's current offerings top out around 20 to 50 megapixels. But 120? That's enough to capture every pore, wrinkle and even distinct reflections in a person's eyeball. Slideshow-318809

The EOS 120M Camera System (also known as the Y038) may have not have been consumer-ready, but it certainly acted the part. The camera was hooked up to a 24-70mm lens and set up to capture images of artfully arranged knick-knacks like antique books, playing cards and a feather. The resulting photos, displayed on a monitor nearby, seemed almost surreal -- they were sharp, incredibly detailed and colorful, but something about them felt more like realistic paintings. I found myself looking between the physical objects and the digital image, not sure if they were the same thing. Zoom in on the photo, though, and every blade of straw and speck of dirt could be picked out in fine detail.

Another image on display was that of a young girl and, while she wasn't physically there for comparison, there was an incredible sense of intimacy as I zoomed in on her face, making out blonde hairs on her cheek and small creases in her skin. Look into her eyes and you could make out a reflection of the lighting equipment, stands and all, behind the photographer. You know how in crime shows they'll "enhance" a photo of a murder scene, to the point where they can now identify the killer via the reflection in the victim's eye? This could make that a reality.

However, as the 120MP EOS camera is only a prototype, we won't be seeing consumer models heading into creepy hyperrealism any time soon. But, given that Canon also announced a 250-megapixel APS-H CMOS sensor this week, it won't be long before we all have good reason to be self-conscious about our microscopic faults.

[Image credit: Canon]

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Tags: 120megapixels, canon, CanonEOS, CanonExpo, CanonExpo2015, EOS, EOS120M, EOSY038, photography, Y038

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Thursday, September 10, 2015

FCC listing hints at an Amazon Fire TV with microSD slot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/10/fcc-amazon-fire-tv-microsd/

Amazon FireTV

Amazon hasn't announced anything official about a next-gen Fire TV yet, but blogger Dave Zatz has spotted what could be an FCC filing for one. The documents call the device an "HDMI Digital Media Receiver" and were filed by a "Quill Royal LLC," though it's worth noting that Amazon uses shell names all the time. If this is indeed the next-gen Fire TV, then you can expect a more powerful device all around. It has an Ethernet and a USB port that can read flash drives, as well as a microSD card slot. The media player also supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1.

Back in July, some leaked benchmark results included those of a mystery gadget called "Amazon AFTS" with a chip that supports 4K video. It's still unclear if that gadget and the device represented by this filing are one and the same, but people have been expecting a new Fire TV ever since the company stopped selling the first iteration. If you want to see a next-gen version of the media player, you may want to cross your fingers and hope that Amazon didn't put a stop to its development like it did many of its other hardware projects.

Pretty sure I found the next Fire TV... sadly, the filings don't cover video resolution, so 4k remains a question. http://t.co/6ujmBeMWH7

— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) September 9, 2015
[Image credit: John Holzer/Flickr]

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Via: Liliputing, AFTVNews, The Digital Reader

Source: Dave Zatz (Twitter), FCC

Tags: amazon, FCC, firetv

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Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Article: Raspberry Pi gets an official touchscreen display

Although it's pretty easy to hook up a Raspberry Pi to a screen using its HDMI port, it's not exactly the most portable of solutions (especially if there isn't a TV or monitor around). The Raspberry Pi Foundation recognized this, so it set about finding a "simple, embeddable display" capable of g...

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Monday, August 24, 2015

LG's latest 10-inch Android tablet comes with a sharper screen

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/24/lg-g-pad-ii-10-inch-android-tabelt//

G Pad II

Still (still?) looking for the Android tablet that fits your lifestyle? Maybe LG will capture your imagination, / wallet with a G Pad sequel that cranks up the processor speed (now a quad-core Snapdragon 800) while pairing it with a battery that's actually smaller (7,400mAh) than its name-based predecessor. It's now got a sharper 10.1-inch 1,920 x 1,200 display and while there's an LTE option, there's only a single color choice: Brilliant bronze. We'll ignore those with third-place connotations from the outset, but it otherwise sounds like pretty inoffensive Android tablet. LG says that price (even though it's noted in the press release that it will cost the same as its predecessor) and launch dates will be detailed locally when it launches across Asia, the US and Europe. The company added that we'll be able to paw at it at IFA in Berlin early next month. Wurst things have happened.

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Source: LG

Tags: android, gpad2, gpadii, ifa, ifa2015, lg

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Friday, August 21, 2015

MIT figured out how to 3D print using glass instead of plastic

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/21/mit-figured-out-how-to-3d-print-using-glass-instead-of-plastic//

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled a new 3D printing method on Friday that employs transparent glass as precursor instead of plastic. The method, called 3DGP, works basically the same way that conventional 3D printing does though the team found that they could modulate the light transmission, reflection and refraction qualities by precisely varying the thickness of the print.

The system uses a pair of heated chambers stacked atop one another; the 1900-degree F upper chamber acting as a Kiln Cartridge and the lower chamber serving to anneal the constructed structures. Researchers at MIT Media Lab collaborated with the school's Mechanical Engineering Department, the MIT Glass Lab and Wyss Institute to create the 3DGP. The team believes that method could eventually lead to better quality and less expensive fiber optics.

GLASS from Mediated Matter Group on Vimeo.

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Via: SlashGear

Source: MIT

Tags: 3Dprinting, glass, MIT, plastic

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