Filed under: Digital Cameras
Ready for this? Olympus and Panasonic just announced a new mirrorless format and lens mount based on the venerable Four Thirds standard. Dubbed Micro Four Thirds System, the enhanced standard uses the same 18 x 13.5-mm sensor but promises 50% slimmer cameras due to the removal of the mirror box. We’re also looking at smaller lenses (while remaining compatible with existing Four Third lenses with an adapter) thanks in part to a new reduced lens mount which is now 6-mm smaller. With the mirror box gone, Micro Four Third cameras will lose the optical viewfinder so you’ll have to frame up your subjects using a Live View LCD or an external viewfinder.
How big of a development is this? Huge. As Phil Askey, editor over at dpreview puts it, “This is without doubt the most exciting digital photography announcement this year. It’s fair to say that this “extension / addition” to the Four Thirds standard is finally able to deliver on the original promise of that format; considerably smaller and lighter lenses and bodies.”
Unfortunately, no products were announced so you’ve got plenty of time to debate the spec and pour over the illustrations we’ve dropped in after the break.
[Via 1001 Noisy Cameras]
Continue reading Olympus and Panasonic launch Micro Four Thirds, compact “DSLRs” will be yours
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Filed under: Digital Cameras
Ready for this? Olympus and Panasonic just announced a new mirrorless format and lens mount based on the venerable Four Thirds standard. Dubbed Micro Four Thirds System, the enhanced standard uses the same 18 x 13.5-mm sensor but promises 50% slimmer cameras due to the removal of the mirror box. We’re also looking at smaller lenses (while remaining compatible with existing Four Third lenses with an adapter) thanks in part to a new reduced lens mount which is now 6-mm smaller. With the mirror box gone, Micro Four Third cameras will lose the optical viewfinder so you’ll have to frame up your subjects using a Live View LCD or an external viewfinder.
How big of a development is this? Huge. As Phil Askey, editor over at dpreview puts it, “This is without doubt the most exciting digital photography announcement this year. It’s fair to say that this “extension / addition” to the Four Thirds standard is finally able to deliver on the original promise of that format; considerably smaller and lighter lenses and bodies.”
Unfortunately, no products were announced so you’ve got plenty of time to debate the spec and pour over the illustrations we’ve dropped in after the break.
[Via 1001 Noisy Cameras]
Continue reading Olympus and Panasonic launch Micro Four Thirds, compact DSLRs will be yours
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Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs
Sitting up nice and pretty on Lenovo’s US store front are none other than Lenovo’s newest lineup of ThinkPad notebooks. The site breaks down if you try to custom configure and order anything at the moment but it’s good to see the 12.1-inch X200, 12.1-inch X-series tablet, SL, R, T, and W-series of laptops readying themselves for take-out.
[Thanks, Salman and Spencer]
Read — Full lineup
Read — X200
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Filed under: Storage
Intel’s partner in solid state crime, Micron, just announced an update to its RealSSD lineup of SSDs. Based on the typically slower (and cheaper) MLC NAND process technology, the new 2.5-inch (up to 256GB) laptop and 1.8-inch (32GB to 128GB) ultra-portable storage slabs offer a 3Gbps SATA interface and ridiculous 250MBps read and 100MBps write speeds — yes, that’s fast, damn fast when you consider the 70MBps write and 90MBps read speeds of Samsung’s latest consumer oriented SSDs. They even best the listed read speeds of Samsung’s top-ender. Unfortunately, no prices were given though it’s said to be “balanced price to performance.” Expect ‘em to hit the market in Q4 under the Lexar brand, and maybe even Crucial, Seagate, and Intel for all we know.
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
The creative cats and kittens at Obscura Digital have put together a stunning piece of performance art / data manipulation demo which combines their proprietary multi-touch software with Musion’s Eyeliner 3D holographic projection system. Like that BMW installation we saw recently, this is one of those odd combinations of technology and art which is best seen in action rather than described — so check out the video after the break and see the work in all its mind-bending glory.
Continue reading Obscura Digital projects multi-touch “hologram,” blows all sorts of minds
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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Not that anyone could really dance around the facts of the matter at this point, but in an email to Apple employees sent today, apparently Steve said, “It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store. We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.” Apple exec Eddie Cue appears to taking the much maligned service under his wing (as well as the App Store, adding to his original gig as VP of iTunes), hopefully making good on the other bit in El Jobso’s email where resets Apple’s call to action on .Mac’s replacement: “The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.” We’ll see about that!
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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
In yet more news about the perpetually forthcoming Fusion CPU / GPU combos from AMD, new details have been leaked regarding the chips’ sizes, configurations, and other bits of insufferably tedious details that only Professor Frink could truly love. According to this latest report, the “first” Fusion processor will be called “Shrike,” sport a dual-core Phenom CPU, an ATI RV800 GPU, and a footprint of just 40nm. Another chip, codenamed “Falcon,” will debut in 2010 at a 32nm size, based around a platform known as “Bulldozer,” and will be launched to combat Intel’s 32nm offering. Of course, we’ve been hearing about these chips since 2006, so we’re not exactly on the edge of our seats hearing new details of what essentially amounts to vaporware.
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Filed under: Home Entertainment
There’s no official word on the wires, but we don’t think Stuff.tv has a particularly good reason to fake press shots of new Sonos gear, so we’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt until we hear otherwise — the cheeky Brits say Sonos is set to unveil two new ZonePlayers, the ZP120 and ZP90, both of which feature MIMO antennas for extended range. Just as in the current lineup, the £249 ZP90 is a receiver only, while the £349 ZP120 features a built-in amp in a package 43 percent smaller than the ZP100. Should be available soon, separately or in the £699 BU150 bundle.
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Filed under: Laptops
If you’ve been squirming around like you’ve got ants in your pants wondering if Fujitsu’s tiny Lifebook U2010 was going to make its way Stateside — feel free to relax. Word on the street — and from the FCC — is that the diminutive and convertible laptop will come to our fair shores as the U820. The device actually gets a bump in the screen department, featuring a 1280 x 800 display as opposed to the previous specs we had detailing a 1024 x 600 touchscreen. Hit the read link to learn pretty much everything you could ever hope to know about the laptop… and then some.
[Thanks, Will O.]
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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
Movistar’s Chilean outpost has now become — somewhat surprisingly, may we add — the very first carrier in the world to launch the BlackBerry Bold and put it into subscribers’ hands. The carrier’s making sure everyone knows what a coup they’ve managed to pull off, too, proudly proclaiming “FIRST ONES IN THE WORLD” with a red banner draped across the Bold’s image on Movistar’s site. Pricing seems a little high at 299,990 Chilean pesos (about $588) on a two-year contract, but hey, you’ve gotta pay to play; just how badly do you want to be one of the first people on the face of the planet (John Mayer notably excepted) to put this thing to use?
[Via Engadget Spanish]
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