Fuji updates FinePix X100 to v1.11 with better macro auto-focus and fixes

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  • October 20, 2011 at 8:27 am

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FinePix X100 ~ top view

The Fuji X100 is a fantastic camera that takes amazing low-light pictures, but like most works of genius, it has its quirks. The most frustrating of all, as we’ve found out, is macro (close-up) auto-focusing, it’s really slow and it doesn’t always focus correctly.

Fujifilm has just released an update for the camera which is said to improve macro auto-focus performance and also includes a couple of software fixes — full info after the break.

To check which firmware version you are running, turn on your camera while holding down the ‘DISP/BACK’ button. To update, download the update file here, copy it to an empty SD card, insert the card in your camera and then switch it on while holding the ‘DISP/BACK’ button. The camera should then guide you though the firmware update.
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Global release of Sony NEX-7 camera delayed indefinitely due to Thai floods, Alpha A65 and lens production also affected

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  • October 20, 2011 at 6:06 am

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Sony NEX-7 front dramatic

Bad news for anyone waiting on Sony’s compact mirrorless high-end shooter. The global launch of the Sony NEX-7, which was due to be released in November, just in time to entice holiday buyers, is now being delayed indefinitely.

Months of heavy monsoon rains in Thailand have caused widespread floods and have affected operations in two of Sony’s three production facilities in the country.

Production of the new Alpha A65 translucent mirror camera has also been affected. We reported that some A65 cameras were already shipping, but availability was scarce. Sony is delaying the Japanese launch of the A65, while we would expect general availability to be affected.

A Sony spokesperson has said that the company is considering shifting production to an unaffected production facility. Besides the two cameras, production of lens kits and headphone products has also been affected.
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You can now watch, again, the entire Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Galaxy Nexus event

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  • October 19, 2011 at 11:13 am

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Galaxy Nexus event

If you missed the Google and Samsung event, when was it streaming live, you can now watch the entire event below. The event covered most of the basics of what’s new in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and of course unveiled Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Nexus.

If you are a fan of little green robots, you will find the video after the break.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus announced with Android 4.0, 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD screen (pictures, video)

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  • October 19, 2011 at 1:10 am

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus views

So it’s now official, both the Galaxy Nexus and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich have just been announced. If you had watched the online live stream from Hong Kong you already know the meat. The Samsung Galaxy Nexus is one handsome phone with killer specs.

We had already gotten most of the specs in previous rumors but here is the official recap. The new Nexus will be a very large screened device, with a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD (1280×720 resolution) display. It will run on a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4460 processor, with 1GB of RAM and 16 or 32GB of built-in storage. It has LTE/HSPA+ radios, Bluetooth 3.0 (no 4.0 like the iPhone 4S and Motorola RAZR), NFC, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor and a barometer (say what!). The Galaxy Nexus only got a 5 megapixel back and 1.3 megapixel front-facing cameras but will be able to do 1080p video and motion panoramic photos.

All these are contained in a 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94mm (5.33 x 2.67 x 0.35 inch) curved body — the LTE version will be a bit thicker — weighing 135 grams (4.76 ounces). The battery is 1750mAh.

The bigger news is Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which has a new universal design (merging tablets with smartphones), new typography, a built-in photo editor, better multitasking interface with previews, notifications that can now be individually dismissed, face unlock, Android Beam to quickly share things with other NFC devices, resizable widgets and a host of other changes.

Head over after the break for more photos of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and a video showing-off the goodies.
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Motorola Droid RAZR announced, coming November to everyone around the globe, U.S. for $299 on Verizon (specifications, pictures)

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  • October 18, 2011 at 12:54 pm

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Motorola RAZR front and back

So no surprises here, we got what we expected. Motorola announced its latest flagship handset the Droid RAZR. It will be available in North America, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa starting November. Verizon will carry the phone under its Droid line in the U.S. for $299 under contract — the phone will be known as simply RAZR elsewhere in the world.

As rumored, the Motorola Droid RAZR flaunts a 4.3-inch 960×540 qHD Super AMOLED Gorilla glass display and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It’s an LTE 4G device on Verizon and HSPA elsewhere in the world. It’s wrapped in Kevlar no less, while the phone has received a special nanotech splash-guard coating, so it should be able to take a beating (and splashing) despite its super-thin profile. Motorola is claiming “world thinnest smartphone” at just 7.1mm. Other features include 1GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, Bluetooth 4.0 no less, GLONASS support on top of GPS, 1780mAh battery and it will weight 127g. Oh, it will run Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on launch.

You can find the full specs and pictures after the break.

The RAZR can become friends with a bunch of accessories and docks, such as two lapdocks the 100 and 500 Pro, HD dock and wireless keyboard.
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HP TouchPad gets webOS update for better performance and new camera app

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  • October 18, 2011 at 10:40 am

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HP TouchPad webOS software update 3.0.4

HP had promised to continue to provide over-the-air updates for the now discontinued TouchPad and today we have the first proof of HP’s commitment.

HP has just released software update 3.0.4 for the TouchPad, which will be distributed automatically via Wi-Fi to all devices. The update is said to make the TouchPad snappier, something we’ve found was needed. The new software also includes a new camera app, again something that was lacking, improved messaging and several interface tweaks to make things look nicer.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus last minute leak reveals detailed specs

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  • October 18, 2011 at 7:45 am

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Japanese document

We’re only hours away from the official unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (or Nexus Prime) and we just go our most comprehensive spec list yet. The leaks come from a number of Asian websites and the source is supposed to be Japan’s NTT DoCoMo mobile operator. The phone is expected to be released on November 20th in Japan.

The leaked specs are the same to the ones we’ve already reported, though we are still a bit surprised of the choice for a Texas Instruments processor over Samsung’s homegrown Exynos. Head across the break for the full list of specs, and be sure to also check out our rumor roundup for the Galaxy Nexus, HTC Vigor (Rezound) and Motorola Droid RAZR (Spyder)
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The big boys of Android: Galaxy Nexus (Prime) vs. HTC Vigor (Rezound) vs. Motorola Droid RAZR (Spyder); what we know and specs

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  • October 17, 2011 at 5:28 pm

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Android flagship phones: Galaxy Nexus (Prime), Motorola Droid RAZR (Spyder) and HTC Vigor (Rezound)

Three of the major Android manufacturers are each getting geared-up to release their new flagship handsets, all are large-screened, feature-rich, LTE Android smartphones.

Motorola and Samsung have events scheduled for tomorrow and HTC’s official announcement shouldn’t be far off. In anticipation of the announcements, we though of doing a recap, for all of you Android fans out there who like to live on the high-end. Here is what we know so far, though take everything we mention with a grain of salt as they are based on leaks and rumors.
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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich could be getting a built-in photo editor

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  • October 17, 2011 at 9:44 am

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Google built-in photo editor for Android 4.0

So we’ve just got over a day to go until the wonders of Android 4.0 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ are revealed to us. Knowing that something this big is coming, builds anticipation, which we need to satisfy, somehow. Well the guys over at Android Police have unearthed a number of icons showing off various image editing tools and photo effects.

It has been rumored in the past that Google is working on a photo editor for the Android Gallery and the assumption here is that the editor might be launched as part of Android 4.0. The icons, which you can see above, include tools like crop, rotate, straighten and sharpen, exposure adjustment and even artistic effects. From the leaked icons, there seem to be 19 different image effects, like fisheye, sepia etc.

We’ve been clamoring for an easy way to fix and adjust images within the gallery, so this would be great news. Hopefully, Android 4.0 will bring a lot more exciting new features. Now see, by the time you’ve come to the end of the article, you are so much nearer to the actual launch!
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Sony Alpha A65 shipping now for early pre-orders

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  • October 16, 2011 at 9:36 am

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Sony A65 digital camera shipping now from Amazon to early pre-orders

We had reported that the release date for the Sony Alpha A65 digital camera was pushed to November. Well it seems that this is not exactly the case, as some lucky early pre-orders are already shipping out.

We’ve received the screen capture above (from which we’ve removed any sensitive info), which shows that a lucky individual will be receiving a brand new, latest technology, SLT camera at his doorstep very soon.

Note that the order was placed way back in August, when the camera was announced. The announced delay from Sony could just mean that the company is finding it difficult to meat initial demand, but the camera might still be slowly trickling out. Have you also received a similar notification? Let us know in your comments.

Amazon Kindle Keyboard a.k.a. Kindle 3 receives the cloud treatment with firmware update

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  • October 16, 2011 at 8:54 am

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Amazon Kindle Keyboard a.k.a. Kindle 3

If you own the Amazon Kindle 3, which has now been renamed to Kindle Keyboard, you might want to take note. Amazon has just released a software update for the E-Ink e-Reader, version 3.3. The update brings to the Kindle Keyboard some of the new features found in the latest generation of Kindle readers/tablets such as Whispersync, to synchronize your annotations, bookmarks and last page read with all your devices, and cloud storage for all your documents so you can access them wirelessly anytime.
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Apple’s Siri, Google Voice Actions, the past and the future of voice control

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  • October 16, 2011 at 6:57 am

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iOS 5 Siri and Google Voice Actions for Android

Controlling a device with your voice is certainly nothing new. It’s been implemented time and time again and the execution has ranged from terrible, to gimmicky, to just ok, but it has never taken off. It’s been the sort of thing that you show off at family gatherings to impress older relatives but you never end up using.

It has existed on mobile devices for a while but with very limited capabilities. Feature phones could only do things like call up a number. Then, Google brought it on Android with Voice Search and Voice Actions expanding its capabilities. Now, Apple has officially taken a big step into voice control with iOS 5, the iPhone 4S and its personal assistant Siri. Could this mean that we will soon start using our devices in a different way?

Apple didn’t invent the artificial intelligence (AI) and voice recognition technology that makes Siri happen. In fact, Siri on iOS is the result of Apple’s purchase of same named company, Siri, and the use of third-party voice recognition technology (probably Nuance). But Apple has an incredibly successful history of doing exactly this, taking an existing but flailing technology, ironing out the quirks and making it the norm. The Macintosh made the mouse popular, the iPhone revolutionized touch-screen technology and Siri could be the beginning of a new way to interact with our devices.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound find their way on Verizon MAP with November release date

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  • October 15, 2011 at 5:06 am

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Verizon MAP listing the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and HTC Rezound

Two hotly anticipated Android smartphones have found their way on a Verizon Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) table. This means two things, first a release date is getting near, and second, they will of course be carried by Verizon.

The first handset is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (a.k.a. Nexus Prime), which we are expecting to be announced on October 19 (evening of October 18 in the U.S.). The second is the HTC Rezound (a.k.a. Vigor or DROID Incredible HD).
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Panasonic GH2 MFT camera hacked to record video at an insane 176Mbps

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  • October 14, 2011 at 8:35 am

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Panasonic GH2 MFT digital camera

Panasonic designed the GH2 Micro Four Thirds camera to also shoot great video and the digital camera has received a warm embrace by the amateur video community. Out of the box the GH2 can shoot full HD 1080i video at the maximum AVCHD bitrate of 24 Mbit/s (Mbps).

Leave it to the hacking community to achieve what even Panasonic’s engineers would not have though possible. Not too long ago the GH2 received the hacking treatment with a custom firmware courtesy of user ‘Vitaliy’ which unlocked the GH2 to new possibilities. Well, testers have been pushing the envelope since then and a recent contribution by user ‘Driftwood’ has pushed the GH2 to record video at a whopping 176Mbps in a format titled AVCHD Intra.

What’s incredible is that the GH2 can actually manage such a high bitrate, this is by far the highest for any mirrorless or DSLR camera out there. You can catch two videos recorded at this setting after break, showing off the amazing picture quality.
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