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A couple of days back I wrote about how the PC remains the best gaming platform. In a recent 10 year anniversary event of Polyphony Digital in New York there was demo hardware for the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 that could well be a glimpse into the future of gaming.

The hardware consisted of four combined PS3 consoles that provided an output of 3840×2160 pixels, in other words four times the resolution of Full HD, or if you like 4×2Mp=8Mp for every single frame. This is 4K digital cinema resolution, and according to the people that saw it, gaming under such conditions must have been awesome. Continue Reading »

The Mazda KAAN is a concept that cannot be built with current technology. To be most possibly seen and “driven” in futuristic computer driving games… [Source: Inhabitat]

Before reading further, I make it clear I am talking about modern gaming PCs and not about any box lying on a desk. So now that this is out of the way I will draw your attention to recent performance and graphics comparisons between the PS3, the Xbox 360 and new powerful PC rigs.

Almost all comparisons point towards PC supremacy (without ultra expensive components) and I have to say that I was astonished by the very obvious differences I saw in online non-HD videos of the recent Fallout 3. And this was for a simultaneous release on all platforms. In cases where the PC release is comings months (or a year) after the console game there is enough time to tweak and tune for some great results, something happening for years now with the GTA series. Continue Reading »

Back in the summer when netbooks were young and we were still awaiting how well they would do in the market I wrote two pieces. The first one was called “5 questions posed by the arrival of netbooks” and set the stage for comparisons with mobile devices both larger and smaller than netbooks, while the second one “PC industry scared of netbooks” talked about PC manufacturers not liking the emergence of so cheap devices. Since then, netbooks have proven that there is a huge market for them and names like Dell, HP and others are fighting for a part of the pie. Numbers look good (especially in Europe) and medium term growth potential is guaranteed because of very competitive pricing.

So given that Intel is more or less alone and dominating (again) the product segment, we are keen to see other players so that competition does its magic to give us consumers better performance for at least the same prices we get now. I have to say that AMD’s plan to not get in the netbook arena is very disappointing. AMD dismisses netbooks as non complete devices that cannot provide the full PC experience. Continue Reading »

When I first saw the ELIICA (Electric LIthium-Ion CAr) months ago I could not believe somebody bothered to make an 8-wheeled electric prototype. Well, now it will retail for $255K (for very very few) and despite the obvious citroenesque looks it is mighty impressive [Source: Designblog]

Nice but where were these designs when people were still buying and playing CDs? [Source: DesignBlog]

The first details of Red’s Scarlet and Epic based DSMC system are finally here. Have you noticed? I am not saying Scarlet and Epic DSMCs because these two now discussed-to-death components are simply the brains (or cores if you like) of Red’s system that lets you combine what you like to build a simple DSLR, a camera, both, or even an upcoming 3D camera! Of course we are talking about high end stuff all the way, specifications that go beyond what we imagine a photo+video machine would look like.

The Scarlet brains range from 3K at 120fps to 6K at 30fps. The even higher end Epic brains range from 5K at 100fps to 28K at 25fps (expected in 2010). Still resolutions start from 4.9Mp and go to an unreal 261Mp! Prices range from $2,500 for the cheapest Scarlet and will top out at $55,000 for the highest end Epic. From then on you add what you like. Fancy a simple DSLR? You combine the brain you like with the right adaptor for your Nikon or Canon lenses. Need a high end camera for serious film making? Combine an Epic brain with modules covering handles, lens mounts, i/o modules, monitors, batteries, storage, remotes, you name it. Continue Reading »

What is the difference between SSDs and flash storage in the form of USB sticks or cards for digital cameras? As for classic hard discs, the larger the capacity of a SSD the better. I have never met a single person, novice or professional, saying that they never need their hard discs capacity no matter how large it is. And with HD content, loads of music and photographs, the appetite for even tighter packing is insatiable. On the other hand, USB stick or flash capacities have recently reached large enough capacites and low enough cost for most users and purposes. Continue Reading »

In principle, Neil Young had a very good idea. Basically you keep your beloved (old) car but make sure that the technology that moves it is more environmentally friendly. How to do that? By replacing its poison spewing engine by electric motors drawing their power from natural gas or hydrogen. For this reason, Young has started Linc Volt, a company doing just that, replacing the classic internal engine by the more efficient and green propulsion. Everything has started with Young’s favourite 1959 Lincoln, a vehicle clearly he does not want to do without. Continue Reading »

That’s how we would use Photoshop if computers had not yet been invented. Brilliant! [Source: Boing Boing]

It is Monday morning, another drab week has started. But cheer up! You can enjoy a short video mostly of Tokyo people traveling to/from work. Made by David Michaud and Florent Porta (with the help of a laptop’s editing) it is the first Canon 5D Mk II video that Canon Japan has agreed to release. Enjoy in HD fullscreen mode!

When Sony is Internet enabling some of its Bravia TV sets, it is at the same trying to bring us back to the 80s. I am talking about Sony’s great new idea called Blu-spec CD.

It is all about making CDs with blue lasers, because factories need to get rid of their now old red lasers to enable the same lines to produce Blu-ray discs. The pits made by the blue lasers will be cleaner than those those of their red counterparts, supposedly making reading by existing CD and DVD players easier, in turn giving better sound results. Fat chance! Continue Reading »

Before anything else, let’s use the Camera Bubble Level to get the sea horizontal in our photos without any Photoshop help [Source: Red Ferret]

There is rumours that in the UK, with the release of Windows 7, there will be bundles of Windows 7 and Windows Mobile 7 that will be ready at the same time. Is that something we should believe or hope for? Hardly, for many reasons.

Firstly Windows Mobile cannot be installed on any mobile phone like it happens on the desktop and laptop side of things. Secondly, it would be quite a coincidence for the customer to need an OS for their PC and mobile device at the same time. Finally there are many incentives to make customers buy many things simultaneously and bundling two things that do not match so well in one go is not the best option. Continue Reading »

We buy mobile phones without even noticing that they have an integrated camera. Almost all of us own at least a compact camera and a lot of us own a compact camera, a DSLR, plus a camcorder. Is that good for the industry of digital imaging? Yes and no. Yes because we are all accustomed to buying imaging goodies and the widespread adoption means large volumes and a lot of choice. No because now that the transition from analogue to digital is over and we have moved away from initial adoption onto replacement cycles, continuous development led to little product differentiation and lower profit margins that allow very little room for new designs to be truly interesting and worth upgrading to on a brisk basis.

So no surprise that in the current situation manufacturers are also looking at niche markets trying to make an entry in smaller but possibly lucrative markets. Recently I came across three nice examples:

1. The Carl Zeiss PhotoScope 85 T* FL is a telescope/camera hybrid with a powerful zoom of 600-1800mm (15x-45x) that has great reach and lets you record 7Mp images. There is also a flip-out OLED display and a IR remote for automatic activation to catch that elusive cougar that you’ve been trying to track all that time. The PhotoScope is also going to become a target for those aiming for vicious applications of various kinds, risking to make the model infamous for those uses only…

Continue Reading »