Friday, December 28, 2012

Zooming in on the Samsung Galaxy Camera


The Galaxy Camera is almost like an Android smartphone, except you trade the phone for a hefty 16-megapixel camera. It's somewhat odd, having a camera with a network plan, but there are some great advantages too.First, a few basics. The camera has a 21x optical zoom with lots of shooting modes and options for video, and has 8GB internal memory. (It accepts microSD cards for up to 32GB external memory.) The display is 2.35″ x 4.16″, and the overall size of the camera is just over 5″ wide and nearly 3″ tall.

It also has a built-in speaker and a headphone jack. External controls are at a minimum: a power button, shutter button with a zoom dial, and a button on the side that pops up the flash. Everything else is controlled via the touchscreen. The tablet portion runs Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The camera retails for $549.99 and is available for both Verizon or AT&T, or I've spotted unlocked versions on Amazon at a premium.Now, I'm not a camera expert. For years I used various version of the pocket-sized Canon PowerShot, a fairly basic point-and-shoot that did the job.

Last year I upgraded to a Sony Cyber-shot which let me shoot HD video, but I mostly stick with the automatic settings for taking photos, occasionally switching if I'm taking shots at night or in the snow. The Galaxy Camera has auto settings or manual "expert" settings if you want to control the aperture, exposure, shutter speed, and so on. Or you can use "smart" mode to pick from a number of presets like Landscape, Macro, Waterfall, Action Freeze, Panorama, Silhouette, Sunset, Night, and Fireworks. Most of those adjust the settings to help you capture photos in particular situations — nice, but fairly similar to some of the presets I had on my PowerShot.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Snappy new camera technology

Tired of taking lousy photos? One of many new smart phones could snap up your game. Many are coming with incredibly innovative camera features. Consumer Reports says the new technology can help you solve some age-old photo challenges.For example, it can be really tough to get a good group photo. If just one person is blinking or has a bad expression, it can make or break a photograph. But what if you could get the best take of each person and then combine those into one photo? You can actually do that with some smart-phone cameras.

Here's how-after snapping a photo, you choose a person and thumb through her poses in the photos you've taken. Pick the one you like best, and combine it with the best takes of the other people in the photo. Voila, you've got the best picture possible!Phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II, LG Optimus G, and the Nokia Lumia 920 all offer that feature.The Nokia Lumia 920 also takes care of another problem. If someone ruins your shot by walking in on it, you can remove them. All you have to do is tap on what you don't want in the photo, and the camera takes it away.

On some smart phones, you can set it to certain words such as "cheese." And the camera automatically takes the picture. It's on phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II and LG Optimus G.And ever miss a shot because you didn't take it fast enough? The LG Optimus G senses when your finger is about to snap a photo and takes multiple shots so that you don't miss the moment.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Android Meets Point-and-Shoot Camera

The Galaxy Camera looks like a regular camera from the front, but flip it around and it looks like a big-screen Android phone. It has a 4.8-inch HD Super Clear Touch display, which looks and acts very much like Samsung's Galaxy S 3 phone. It is powered by Android 4.1 or Jelly Bean. You can navigate through the operating system just as you would on a phone. Yes, you can surf the Web, even check your email and download and use apps from the Google Play Store thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi radio and the built-in LTE. (There are Verizon and AT&T versions of the camera -- more on the pricing soon.)

You can't text message or make calls on the camera (that's not a complaint -- holding a camera up to your ear doesn't look all that cool) but you can easily snap photos and upload them to Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or other sites. And snapping pics and sharing them is really a cinch. Kodak Sells Digital Camera Patents to Apple, Google, Other Tech Giants.While Wi-Fi-enabled cameras are a dime a dozen, the Android operating system is easy to navigate, especially when it comes to adjusting settings and selecting photos to share. If you're an Instagram fan, this is the ultimate Instagram camera. And your shots will look better than most of the others in your feed.

That's because 16.3-megapixel camera has a 21x optical zoom and takes very good still shots. Shots in natural lighting were well balanced, and while low-light performance wasn't spectacular, it was acceptable for the specs. However, the photos I took were not as good as shots I take with a $600 Canon DSLR (I've got the Canon T2i) or a micro-four-thirds camera. They were better than photos taken with the iPhone 5 or Galaxy S 3, but about the same as what you get from an average point-and-shoot.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Kodak Sells Digital Camera Patents to Apple, Google, Other Tech Giants

A group of tech heavyweights, including Apple, Google and Facebook, have joined forces to purchase approximately 1,100 digital imaging and processing patents from Eastman Kodak for $525 million, the company announced Wednesday. Once a thriving camera and photo company, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 in early 2012, hoping to restructure.

Intellectual property aggregators Intellectual Ventures and RPX organized a consortium of 12 tech companies — Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Fujifilm, Google, HTC, Huawei, Microsoft, RIM, Samsung and Shutterfly — to make the purchase. Each company will split the $525 million cost.The portfolio was said to be worth around $2.5 billion, but Kodak settled for the $525 million. Partially, that's because Kodak isn't in the position to negotiate.

But it's also because Kodak extensively licensed these patents to other companies. "That makes the portfolio far less valuable, because there's very little exclusivity when a patent has already been licensed to someone else," says Harvard Business School professor and former Kodak VP Willy Shih.According to bankruptcy court documents, Kodak has already earned $3 billion from licensing its patents. Those licensing fees made up a significant part of Kodak's revenue in the last few years.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Verizon gets Samsung Galaxy Camera with cheaper data plan

Samsung's Galaxy Camera, a point-and-shoot that runs the Android OS, has made its way over to Verizon after launching on AT&T last month.At $550, Verizon's Galaxy Camera is $50 more expensive than AT&T's version, but it does have a couple advantages: A data plan for the camera only costs $5 per month on Verizon if you're on its Share Everything plan, compared to $10 on AT&T (although Verizon says this is a "promotional price"). Also, the data itself is faster, because it uses Verizon's 4G LTE network, whereas the AT&T version only connects to slower HSPA+ networks.

Otherwise, both cameras have the same specs. There's a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, a 21x zoom lens, an aperture of F2.8 to F5.9 and optical image stabilization. Video records in 1080p at 30 frames per second, or in 720p at 60 frames per second.Around back, the Galaxy Camera runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on a 4.8-inch 720p display, Nikon launches D5200, entry-level D-SLR camera,and it has full Google Play Store access for downloading apps such as Instagram and Facebook. Other specs include a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot for up to 64 GB of additional storage.

Verizon's cheaper data plan makes the idea of a connected camera a bit more palatable, but it still seems like a lot to pay if you're not constantly uploading photos on the road. Keep in mind that Verizon's Share Everything plans allow your smartphone to serve as a wireless hotspot at no extra charge. Most users should just skip the data plan altogether and connect the camera to their phone's hotspot to share and upload photos.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Nikon launches D5200, entry-level D-SLR camera

Nikon India today announced the launch of the D5200 D-SLR camera, a compact and lightweight entry-level model that delivers exceptional performance via Nikon's all-new DX-format CMOS sensor, which has an effective pixel count of approximately 24.1-million pixels. The Nikon D5200 will be available from December in three colors — black, red and bronze at MRP of Rs. 46,950 for D5200 body and AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Kit Lens D5200 allows photographers capture images with the swing-out-style Vari-angle LCD, making self-portraits possible.

It flaunts a number of advanced features such as 39 focus points, Scene Recognition System, i-TTL balanced fill-flash and auto white-balance control. Equipped with D-Movie function, the camera supports recording of full-HD 1920 x 1080 50i/60i movies for sharp HD movies exhibiting excellent detail. The D5200 has the ability to connect with smart devices via the Wireless Mobile Adapter WU-1a, or be remotely controlled via the new Wireless Remote Controller WR-R10/WR-T10 (both available separately).

Nikon D5200 is also equipped with Special Effects mode that enables the application and adjustment of special effects while shooting. This makes recording of original and creative still images and movies that combine the superior definition of the high pixel count with a variety of forms of expression simple and fun. The camera also sports a broad range of standard sensitivities, from ISO 100 to ISO 6400, with even higher available settings; (Hi 2) is equivalent to approximately ISO 25600. T

Monday, December 10, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Camera Review

Samsung breaks new ground with their latest innovation to camera technology -- The Samsung Galaxy Camera. This camera is the first to offer total connectivity via an available data plan.SHA faulted over speed camera audit. Complete with an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, this device is far more than a point and shoot camera. The Galaxy has created a class all its own - a hybrid breed combining the best features of a camera and a tablet. Welcome -- the camlet.

Wi-Fi enabled cameras are not new, in fact, they have been around since 2005. And Samsung might not have been the first to popularize this technology, but they undoubtedly have created a product that is sure to please the social media fanatic. Based on specs alone, the Galaxy Camera soars to the top of the point and shoot genre. But good specs only paint part of the picture. The true sign of a great camera is in the ergonomics, the speed and the image quality. Does the camera do what you want it to do? Is it fun? Does it make you want to take pictures?

But to judge the Galaxy solely as a camera is missing half the picture. The Galaxy Camera is powered by a 1.4GHz Quad-core processor.  It reacts quickly to the touch or swipe of a finger. The simplicity of the user interface in unmatched at this time. The camera's intuitive functionality is observed while viewing the gallery, surfing the web or searching for apps. Once set-up, the Galaxy can automatically save your images to the Cloud Back-up feature. In addition, the Galaxy has the capability to connect, upload and share to an endless lineup of social media sites and apps. Although the Galaxy has been reported to have 3G wireless, I was able to experience 4G connectivity.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

SHA faulted over speed camera audit

Lawmakers chastised the State Highway Administration Wednesday over an audit that criticized the agency's work-zone speed camera program even as officials said that any problems with the program have been resolved.The state Office of Legislative Audits released a report last week that criticized the highway agency for failing to have its vendor's cameras independently tested for accuracy during the first nine months of the program. Auditors also faulted the 2010 process by which the SHA awarded the contract to manage the cameras to the sole bidder, now known as Xerox State and Local Solutions.

The vendor is the same company that manages speed cameras in Baltimore school zones that were found in a Baltimore Sun investigation to be generating erroneous tickets.Quickly Solve the Problems You Met in Using Spy Cameras.Senate Minority Leader E.J. Pipkin, an Upper Shore Republican, noted the auditors' finding that while bids were being evaluated, highway officials had cut the required percentage of readable license plate images from 95 percent to 90 percent. He suggested that if the minimum had been set lower earlier, the state could have attracted more bidders.

"This is a growing business, to say the least," Pipkin said.Auditors also found that during a pilot project from October 2009 to June 2010, only 44 percent of the violation photos were readable. The report found that the agency did not establish benchmarks called for in the contract with Xerox.Melinda Peters, who became state highway administrator late last year, said that after the pilot program began, officials realized that the radar-based technology initially used was inadequate for multilane highways. She said that technology was replaced with a laser-based system with a much higher readability rate.

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