We had a feeling the Olympus XZ-1 would be a winner, and Digital Photography Review seems to think so, too — it called the 10 megapixel, full-manual point and shoot “the best photographers’ compact currently available” at the end of a thorough review. Most of the praise was heaped on that F1.8-2.5 Zuiko lens, providing an “unbeaten combination of range and brightness” whose potent, detailed low-light performance was practically enough to cancel out the publication’s worries about the lack of a adjustable noise reduction setting. Though the publication admitted that the camera lacked the customization of certain Micro Four Thirds cousins, it didn’t miss most of the advanced controls, preferring the streamlined menus and manual dials for easy access to common adjustments. (Battery charging over USB and a dedicated movie button were also deemed nice touches.) In fact, the only major ding DPReview had for Olympus was the complete omission of auto exposure and autofocus locks for focus-and-recompose shooting, but if you’re willing to snap shots using Olympus’s 11 AF points and aren’t looking to tote a set of expensive interchangeable lenses around, this might be the one. Dive into our source link to find out for sure. Olympus XZ-1 reviewed: $499 for sweet simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. One thing that has set Sony apart from its home console rivals has been the extended lifecycles of its hardware. Riding the momentum of a massive install base, both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 each kept selling strong nearly a decade after their debut, and years after their respective successors were introduced. In fact, as late as 2009, Audiovox began offering a PS2 integrated into an aftermarket ovehead car video system with a 10″ screen. Sony could pursue this strategy in home consoles because the PS2 was the runaway unit volume leader of its generation. Not so with the PSP. When Sony introduced the PlayStation Portable , it entered a portable console market with fierce, entrenched competition from the incumbent Nintendo, and the powerful widescreen handheld was outsold by the Nintendo DS and its later derivatives. Sony couldn’t attain the market share it needed to steamroll existing competition. With Sony’s announcements this week, however, the PlayStation purveyors seem to have found a way to take their one-two punch on the road with a strategy that takes the PSP and segments its evolution. Continue reading Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides
January 30, 2011 No Comment
It’s been a long time since we used a laptop that had a monochromatic display — it was a giant white block of a thing that is not missed — but flip around just about every laptop we use today and you find a backside that stubbornly refuses to change color no matter the light that hits it. Is that a problem? Not really, we think it’s quite fine since we’re not often staring at that bit, but for Toshiba such tedium simply won’t do, so it’s introducing the Dynabook Qosmio T750 with a color-shifting lid. Turn it in the light and it shifts and shimmers, just like the chameleon paint tuners have been using on custom rides for decades. Here, though, we’re told it’s done with multiple layers of film, no paint at all. Oh, the inside? A 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M, 4GB of DDR 3 memory, and a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display that’s LED backlit — which is also capable of displaying multiple colors, in case you’re interested. Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Zipcar adds the plug-in Prius PHEV to its fleet, probably not changing name to Zapcar
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Would you like a plug-in Prius , the sort that we spent a few days with last year, back when the seasons were changing and there was only a hint of this killer winter to come? Well, too bad, because you still can’t buy them. But Zipcar can, apparently, adding eight of the things to its fleet, and they’re available now in Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Given the company has 8,000 total cars available your chances of securing one of these particular Priuses (Prii?) is slim, but if you score, know that they charge in just three hours on a 110 outlet, and half that if you’re wired for 220, so no fancy-pants charging station is required for use. Zipcar adds the plug-in Prius PHEV to its fleet, probably not changing name to Zapcar originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve been seeing more and more shoes infused with different sorts of technology in recent years, but none quite like this WeSC Karmatech concept developed by some students at Sweden’s Hyper Island “digital school.” Described as a “social take on Nike+,” the shoes apparently wouldn’t have an accelerometer but they do pack an RFID chip that allows the wearer to interact with their surroundings — automatically check in at a location and share it on Facebook or Twitter, for instance, or get access to exclusive deals or special events. Of course, it is just a concept, but the students note that it would be relatively cheap to implement (at least on the shoe end of the equation), as the RFID tags themselves only cost a few cents. Kinda gives a new meaning to “sneakernet,” doesn’t it? Head on past the break for the video. Continue reading WeSC Karmatech concept makes your shoes more social with RFID WeSC Karmatech concept makes your shoes more social with RFID originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Intel’s mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through
January 29, 2011 No Comment
The forecast for speedy, razor-thin laptops is looking pretty sunny right about now, because it seems Intel’s SSD 310 truly does bring the power of a full-sized solid state drive on a tiny little board. Storage Review and The SSD Review thoroughly benchmarked the tiny 80GB mSATA module this week, and found it performs even better than advertised — easily tearing through 200MB / sec reads and 70 MB / sec writes — which put it slightly behind Intel’s legendary X25-M series but well ahead of the company’s X25-V boot drives . While we’re still not seeing Sandforce speeds from Intel’s tried-and-true controller and 34nm silicon and they might not make Toshiba’s Blade run for the hills, we can’t wait to test it out in some new Lenovo ThinkPads when they integrate the SSD 310 later this year. Oh, by the way, that big green board up above isn’t the drive. It’s actually the tiny one on top. Intel’s mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Amazon rolling out Netflix-like unlimited video streaming for Prime subscribers?
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Rumors of Amazon either purchasing Netflix or launching a competing option have been circling and now one of our readers says he’s seeing an unlimited video streaming section to complement the current Amazon VOD options. That’s a nice bonus for the $79 / year package that currently adds a few free shipping bonuses and it would be cheaper on a yearly basis than Netflix’s Watch Instantly ($95.88.) As seen above and in the gallery, it consists of “unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of 5,000 movies and TV shows” with selections that mirror the Watch Instantly catalog closely. Resolution is apparently limited to a “pretty solid” 480p SD, but there’s no word on audio or subtitle options. We’ll wait to hear if anyone else is seeing a similar page before assuming a wide rollout, but it certainly appears that there could finally be a viable competitor to the Netflix juggernaut . Gallery: Amazon.com unlimited video streaming menus [Thanks, Pavel] Amazon rolling out Netflix-like unlimited video streaming for Prime subscribers? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …PS3 firmware 3.56 hacked in less than a day, Sony’s lawyers look confused (update)
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Sony’s taken some strong steps against PS3 cracking in the past week — not only has it taken to the courts and won a temporary restraining order against Geohot and fail0verflow for cracking the console, but it also released firmware 3.56 , which locked things down again. Unfortunately, that restraining order doesn’t mean anyone else has to stop a-crackin’, and wouldn’t you know it: 3.56 was cracked open in less than a day by KaKaRoToKS, who was behind one of the first 3.55 custom firmwares . Now that the 3.56 signing keys are out, we’d guess updated custom firmware is soon to come — and we’d bet Sony’s lawsuit will just inspire an entirely new wave of people to jailbreak once those hit the scene. Way to put that genie back in the bottle, Sony. Update: We’re hearing that new custom firmware isn’t on the table quite yet, because Sony changed most of the locks, and is reportedly actually storing the all-important ECDSA private key with random-number cryptography this time around. Be warned: if you upgrade to 3.56, there’s no easy way back down. In related news, Github complied with a DMCA takedown notice to remove KaKaRoToKS’s repositories, so you’ll have to head on over to Gitorious (at our more coverage link) to get at the fail0verflow tools. [Thanks, Tomi R] PS3 firmware 3.56 hacked in less than a day, Sony’s lawyers look confused (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Pico projectors just keep shrinking, and a new prototype developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Engineering is helping said shrinking along pretty strikingly. The team has developed a prototype pico which is just 6mm thick, making it the world’s slimmest ever. Better yet, the projected image is 10 times brighter than a pico projector of its size would have previously been — had it existed. The new lens on the projector is so small that it could potentially be integrated into smart phones without boosting size or weight. The new prototype is made of 45 red, green or blue microlenses, each with a 200 x 200 pixel LCD, inspired by a microlens array called a fly’s eye condenser. The resulting resolution is nearly, but not quite, WVGA with 11 lumens of brightness. The prototype will be shown off at Nano Tech 2011 in Tokyo. [Image credit: Fraunhofer Institute] German researchers prototype 6mm thick pico projector originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A researcher at North Carolina State University is warning of an Android 2.3 security vulnerability that gives attackers access to your personal information, further proof that Gingerbread isn’t all sugar and spice (to be fair, that SMS issue has since been remedied ). According to Xuxian Jiang, the bug allows malicious websites to access and upload the contents of a user’s microSD card, including voicemails, photos, and online banking information to a remote server. The flaw apparently resembles a similar bug in previous version of Android, thought to have been addressed with Gingerbread. However, as Jiang points out, that fix is easily bypassed. Apart from removing the microSD card, disabling JavaScript, or switching to a third-party browser, Android 2.3 users have little recourse in squashing the bug. The folks at eWeek reported that Google is working on a solution to the problem, but there’s no word on when we can expect to see an update. Android 2.3 security bug shows microSD access vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 10:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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