The new version Gerber multi-tool the ‘Steady’ includes a pop-up tripod screw that will hold a small digital camera onto the top of the tool.
Its standard screw size will let you mount mini cameras, smartphones, and possibly light SLRs.
The tool has 12 other implements and a knife. The Steady will ship in 2012 sometime and will cost $65.
Gerbergear.com
ElipseAR is a set of tools for Augmented Reality and Computer Vision development. Thanks to that toolkit features like image matching and tracking, 3D animation rendering, geolocation using the camera view, face recognition, will be easy to integrate on your AR project.
All those tools are free for commercial use.
More info: www.elipsear.com
Apple® today announced that in just one day, over one million users bought and downloaded Mac OS® X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Available through the Mac® App Store™ for $29.99 (US), users are buying Lion faster than any other OS release in Apple’s history.
“Lion is off to a great start, user reviews and industry reaction have been fantastic,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Lion is a huge step forward, it’s not only packed with innovative features but it’s incredibly easy for users to update their Macs to the best OS we’ve ever made.”
Lion introduces more than 250 new features to the Mac, including Multi-Touch® gestures; system-wide support for full screen apps; Mission Control, an innovative view of everything running on your Mac; the Mac App Store, the best place to find and explore great software; Launchpad, a new home for all your apps; and a completely redesigned Mail app.
Available in 123 countries, the Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes® account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews. The Mac App Store is built right into Lion and available for Snow Leopard® users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X version 10.6.8.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
Packt announce jQuery Mobile First Look, a new book which aims to show the features of the jQuery Mobile framework, what they do, and how they can be used. Written by Giulio Bai,this book covers all the factors that a developer needs to know before starting mobile web application development. The book also suggests the best practices and methods to accomplish things in an alternative way. For more details, visit: www.packtpub.com/jquery-mobile-first-look/book
jQuery Mobile is a Touch-Optimized Web Framework (additionally known as a JavaScript library or a Mobile framework) currently being developed by the jQuery Project team. The development focuses on creating a framework compatible with a wide variety of Smartphones and Tablets, made necessary by the growing-but-heterogeneous tablet and smartphone market.
jQuery Mobile First Look book starts with an introduction to jQuery Mobile. The book gives an overview of the key features of the framework and how they can be used to implement a mobile web application. The topics covered include everything the jQuery Mobile developer needs to know in order to create a full-feature web application for mobile devices. The book presents information about buttons, toolbars, dialogs, forms, and list views.
Using this book, readers will discover why jQuery Mobile is highly regarded when compared to other libraries and frameworks. The jQuery users will learn to display content to suit their needs and make everything look like a full-fledged RIA even on a mobile screen. This book will show readers how to enjoy programming by letting a simple yet effective JavaScript library handle the hassles that they would encounter otherwise.
Allowing existing users to get a look at the features of jQuery mobile, this book is targeted at jQuery developers who want to enter the exciting world of mobile web development. This book is an interesting and beneficial read to jQuery users. To read more about the book, please visit: www.packtpub.com/jquery-mobile-first-look/book
Line2 app is a tri-mode VoIP/Cell calling app now available for Android phones and tablets. Toktumi, Inc., the company that developed Line2, announced today that its SMS-enabled VoIP app can now be downloaded in the Android marketplace. Line2 becomes the first VoIP app for Android to feature carrier-grade SMS texting combined with feature-rich calling functionality, allowing customers to use one number for both types of communication.
Customers use Line2 to add a second line to their smartphone or turn an iPod or tablet device into a fully-featured telephone. The app allows customers to make phone calls and send texts where they don’t have cell reception, reduce their cell bills, add a second line for business use, or get another number so they can keep their personal cell number private. Many customers take advantage of Line2’s free port-in offer, which lets them move an existing number to Line2 free of charge.
Line2 for Android includes all of the functionality and features that are currently available to Apple iOS users plus few Android-only features, such as the ability to speak their text messages and have them transcribed so they can text without typing.
Line2 is a free download that comes with a free trial. After that, service costs just $9.95/month for unlimited US/Canada calling and texting
www.line2.com
Neil McAllister writing on InfoWorld has posted an in-depth look at the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 3G.
McAllister’s verdict; “The Chromebook is lightweight and inexpensive, and it offers a full-featured Web browsing experience. But its low-end hardware, lack of versatility, and primitive support for commonplace computing tasks such as printing, file management, networking, and media playback make it a poor choice for everyday use, particularly in a business setting.
All in all, the Samsung Series 5 is an average-quality netbook with a large screen and a higher-than-average price tag, while Chrome OS itself feels more like a proof-of-concept project whose time has not yet come. As a browser terminal it functions well, but for everything else it falls short — and despite all Google’s cheerleading, for most users that simply won’t be enough.”
Read more: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/google-chromebook-lacks-luster-purpose-796
The renowned remote desktop sharing application, Mikogo, makes the move to its third platform with the announcement of its native Linux client. This release now enables businesses to host and join free desktop sharing sessions from any three of the major platforms – Linux, Windows and Mac computers.
Mannheim, GERMANY – The free desktop sharing application, Mikogo, today releases the first open beta version of its software for Linux computers enabling users on Linux computers to start or join desktop sharing sessions. A significant milestone for Mikogo and desktop sharing as whole, this release now provides businesses with a free and easy-to-use application for online meetings, web presentations as well as remote support sessions, available on the three major operating system platforms.
For the last two weeks, the Mikogo Linux version has been in a closed beta stage, as it was thoroughly tested by a group of beta testers. Following positive feedback and a successful closed stage, Mikogo releases its new software openly making it available for any individual or business looking to start or join online meetings from a Linux computer.
“The addition of a native Linux client to Mikogo now means that businesses can both start and join online meetings from any of the three major platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux,” says Mark Zondler, the Co-Founder and Creator of Mikogo. “Many of our users requested this not only for themselves but for their clients who also use Linux, so it will broaden the use of Mikogo within companies around the world.”
Linux users can now visit the Mikogo website and download the free Linux application to their computers. Upon opening the program, they are presented with the new-look Mikogo user interface and are able to host a desktop sharing session as well as invite meeting attendees to join from either a Linux, Windows, or Mac computer. The new Linux client also enables people to join a session from a Linux computer, which was started on either one of the three available platforms for Mikogo.
By building the Linux client on the latest release of the Mikogo software, Version 4, provides the software with a wide range of features, including switch presenter, remote keyboard/mouse control, file transfer, chat, scheduler, recording, profile manager, and software customization, just to name a few.
This most recent achievement strengthens the already renowned remote desktop application, however is far from the end for Mikogo’s product developments. “We have plans to soon release mobile apps for our software along with further software developments in the pipeline,” explains Zondler.
The open beta release of the Mikogo Linux software can be downloaded for free from:
www.mikogo.com/download/new-version-4/
Artist Ken Murphy has used a compact camera, a Canon firmware hack, and a motorized telescope mount to create, panoramic time-lapse movies.
Murphy shot two movies, one with a Canon A590 and the other with a Canon G12—both point-and-shoot compact cameras. He installed the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) software on the cameras, amd programed them to take photographs every five seconds. The cameras were mounted on a panning telescope mount ($250) which slowly rotated the camera 360 degrees. A full rotation took 60 to 90 minutes.
“The camera (a Canon A590 with CHDK installed) snapped an image every five seconds while the motorized mount slowly rotated, making a single rotation in 90 minutes. I assembled the images into this panoramic movie, in which each “pane” is actually the same movie, slightly offset in time. The panes combine to make a single 360-degree view.”
“For this I used my new Canon G12, also running CHDK. I used the camera’s built-in neutral density filter and shot 2-second exposures at roughly 5-second intervals, as I wanted people and passing cars to blur out a bit. The camera made two full rotations in two hours.”
Read more: http://www.murphlab.com/2011/07/07/panoramic-time-lapse-movies/
Murphy has also been working on his History of the Sky project, where an image of the sky is being captured every 10 seconds from a camera installed on the roof of the Exploratorium, on the edge of San Francisco Bay. More: http://www.murphlab.com/hsky/
Infosyncworld have posted an informative review of the Canon PowerShot S95, covering the four primary upgrades to the S95, from the s90 -720p HD video, RAW shooting, HDR (High Dynamic Range Shooting mode) along with a few other Scene modes, and Hybrid Image Stabilization, over the previous model s90.
Canon PowerShot S95
Read more: http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-s95/11424.html
Another review: http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Canon_PowerShot_S95/
Infosyncworld has published “Top 5 HTC Phones – Summer 2011” with a video that reviews the top HTC smartphones, including the HTC Droid Incredible 2, HTC Inspire 4G, HTC Thunderbolt, HTC Sensation 4G and HTC EVO 3D. The article is well worth a read if you are in the market for one of these phones.
Read more: http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/top-5-htc-phones—summer-2011/12149.html
Photographer’s Guide to the Canon PowerShot S95: Getting the Most from Canon’s Pocketable Digital Camera
This book, a complete guide to the operation and features of the Canon PowerShot S95, is a follow-up to the author’s earlier guides to advanced compact digital cameras, including the Leica D-Lux 4 and D-Lux 5, and the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and LX5. The new book, like the earlier ones, explains all operations, features, menus, and controls of the camera in clear language, providing guidance not only about how to accomplish things with the camera, but when and why to use certain features. The book does not assume any specialized knowledge by the reader, but adopts a patient and helpful tone in explaining topics such as autofocus, manual focus, depth of field, aperture priority, shutter priority, HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, and RAW files.
The book’s more than 170 color photographs provide illustrations of the camera’s controls and menus, and also include examples of the various types of photographs that can be taken using the many creative settings of the camera, including the My Colors settings, which let the photographer alter the color processing of images; the Scene mode, with settings that are optimized for various subjects, including landscapes, portraits, and underwater shots; and special features such as the Smart Shutter and Miniature Effect options.
In addition, the book goes beyond the realm of everyday photography, and provides introductions to more advanced topics such as infrared photography, street photography, macro photography and creating 3D (three-dimensional) images that can be viewed with conventional red and blue 3D glasses.
The book also includes a full discussion of the video recording abilities of the PowerShot S95, which can record high-definition (HD) video with stereo sound.
In three appendices, the book provides information about accessories available for the camera, sets forth a list of useful web sites and other resources for further information, and includes a section with helpful “quick tips” that give particular insights into how to take advantage of the camera’s advanced features in the most efficient ways possible.
The book includes a detailed Table of Contents and a full Index, so the reader can quickly find needed information about any particular feature or aspect of the camera.
The book is available now in PDF format for download through http://www.whiteknightpress.com. The paperback version is expected to be available before the end of April 2011 through Amazon.com and other online sellers.
Publisher: White Knight Press, Henrico, Virginia, USA
Author: Alexander S. White
Publication Date: April 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9649875-6-2
Format: Perfect bound paperback, 5.5 x 8.5 inches (140 x 216 mm)
Interior: 256 pages, 174 mostly color photographs and illustrations, full Index and Table of Contents; 3 Appendices
Retail price: $24.95 paperback (coming soon); $9.95 PDF download (available now)
Web site: http://www.whiteknightpress.com
Tony Bradley writing on PCWorld has posted “Office 365 vs. Google Docs Showdown: Feature by Feature” an article comparing features on Google Docs and newly release Microsoft Office 365.
“Google has tried to challenge Microsoft with Google Docs–the productivity component of its Google Apps suite–and now Microsoft is taking the battle onto Google’s turf with the cloud-based Office 365.”
The article covers, Browser Compatibility, File Systems, cost and Real-Time Collaboration.
Read more at: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/231294/office_365_vs_google_docs_showdown_feature_by_feature.html