By David Ponce

Seems like everyone is excited about the Lytro, a “light field” camera that was released yesterday. And for good reason as it fundamentally shifts the way pictures are taken. Instead of having to focus on your subject, you simply frame your shot and take it. The Lytro captures “color, intensity, and vector direction of all the rays of light and then assembles that information in post-processing.” The picture below gives you a quick overview of the principle behind it. Once the data is processed, you can then access a “living picture” through software that seems to be available on the Mac only at the moment and lets you choose pretty much any focal point. Yes, after the picture is taken. We’ve embedded a few of these pictures at the end of the post; have fun clicking around and seeing the focus shift.

Seeing as the technology is fundamentally different that traditional cameras, the company doesn’t speak of resolution in terms of pixels, but rather light rays; the Lytro can capture 11 million rays of light. Without delving into science speak, we’re a little confused by this particular terminology since our understanding of physics precludes the existence of a discrete “ray of light”. Instead, a particular point in space will bounce back a nearly infinite number of photons in all directions, some of which will fall on the sensor. But… no science speak! We simply think that “11 mega-rays” is marketing speak.

The camera boots up almost instantaneously and has only one button: the shutter. It comes in 3 colors and 2 capacities: 8GB and 16GB, allowing for 350 or 750 pictures.

Hit the jump for more of these pictures and links.

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By David Ponce

After this $200 rebate, the Toshiba Satellite L750D-ST4N01 will cost $499. Think about that for a second. You can get an AMD quad-core processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 640GB Hard Drive, 1366×768 LED backlit display, Bluetooth 3.0, webcam, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, memory card reader, USB sleep-and-charge port, HDMI, 5.25 hours battery, weight of 5.48lbs and more for less than half a grand. That’s a lot of laptop to fit in 15.6 inches, and for not a lot of cash. You also get free Norton Internet Security Software.

[ $200 Off On Quad-Core Toshiba Satellite Laptop ] Via [ LogicBuy ]

By David Ponce

Tired of getting your ass handed to you by foul-mouthed prepubescents in online gaming? Put some odds on your side by getting what is undeniably a better gaming setup than a console controller: a mouse and keyboard. The grandiosely named Tactical Assault Commander 3 (or TAC 3) from Hori plugs right into your PS3 and replaces the controller with what you see in the picture. Aside from the obvious and immediate advantages, the TAC 3 has some unique features. The mouse sensitivity can be adjusted on the fly allowing for a quicker movement radius, or a more delicate one depending on your preference at any given time. There’s also a quick response button on the mouse. When held down, the left and right movements of the mouse become extra sensitive allowing for quick toggling and turning around when necessary (within game limits). Finally the keyboard has a dedicated walk button with adjustable speed and interchangeable keys.

The TAC 3 is released on October 24th, the same date that Battlefield 3 hits the shelves. It’s $100 and comes in black or the pictured camo. A small price to pay for your dignity.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By David Ponce

We’ve been big fans of Nooka for some time and have written about their products on several occasions. And while the watch as a timekeeping device may be a dying breed, we firmly believe it’s one of the few ornaments men can wear without wandering into metrosexual/douche territory. We happen to like the look of Nooka’s latest design, the ZIZM.

The ZIZM’s unique faceted crystal lens produces a refracted view of time on the ZenH display. This faceted surface creates a pattern that continues throughout the entire design of the timepiece including Nooka’s first silicone strap. The Zizm is sized by cutting the silicone strap to create the perfect fit for each wearer.

It’s $375 and the company is taking pre-orders now. It comes in black and blue and starts shipping October 24th. Hit the jump for two more pictures.

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By David Ponce

So your Blackberry went quiet for three days and now you’re getting some free apps? Sweet, dude! But that’s nothing compared to what some others got in Abu Dhabi and Dubai: a potential extra three days of life. It appears that the Emiratis are notorious texters-while-driving and their vehicular mortality rates happen to be five to ten times global averages. And in what may be the clearest proof of the correlation between the two, officials in Abu Dhabi reported a 40% drop in traffic accidents during the three days the Blackberry service was down while Dubai’s numbers came in at 20%.

There are no reports on the increase in post traumatic stress disorders caused by the outage.

[ Source Article ] VIA [ Geek.com ]

By David Ponce

It’s pretty amazing the amount of data that can be extracted using nothing more than the camera on your smartphone. While there already are a number of applications that are able to give you your heart rate by doing nothing more than resting a finger lightly on the camera, a new application under development could also measure heart rhythm, respiration rate and blood oxygen saturation. A team led by Ki Chon, professor and head of biomedical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have engineered algorithms that “analyze video clips recorded while the patient’s fingertip is pressed against the lens of the phone’s camera. As the camera’s light penetrates the skin, it reflects off of pulsing blood in the finger; the application is able to correlate subtle shifts in the color of the reflected light with changes in the patient’s vital signs. ”

Of course this wouldn’t be news if they hadn’t checked to see if the results gathered from the application correlate with those taken with traditional instruments: they do. Professor Chong believes it will also be possible to detect atrial fibrillation (AF), which is the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia. And while the tests were conducted with a Motorola Droid phone, Chong hopes to have his application ported to several makes of smart devices. While not available yet, it is in the final stages of development.

“Imagine a technician in a nursing home who is able to go into a patient’s room, place the patient’s finger on the camera of a tablet, and in that one step capture all their vital signs,” Chon said. “We believe there are many applications for this technology, to help patients monitor themselves, and to help clinicians care for their patients.”

[ WPI Press Release ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

By Ian Chiu

Mini Cooper makes one of the world’s most adored cars and is driven by some of the most fanatical drivers. The Mini Cooper flash drive from Zero Basic has immortalized some of the more classic models delivered. The long history of the little car that’s won the hearts of so many of its owners stretches back more than 50 years. The varied life and many uses of the Mini has been produced as almost a diorama of the most notable stages.

Each Mini Cooper flash drive sports 4GB of storage in a highly detailed rendition of 11 selected historic versions. With details down to tire treads and working headlights, the drives are made to cater to the hearts of Mini Cooper fans. The USB plug is also cleverly hidden away inside the trunk of the car and can be easily flipped out with a switch on the undercarriage. A sampling of the drives and a mini-history of each can be found at Everything USB.

[Mini Cooper Flash Drive Review - Everything USB]

By David Ponce

Many of the deals we announce on this column sport processors made by Intel. But not today’s IdeaPad Z575 from Lenovo. The 15.6-inch laptop features up to an AMD A8 quad-core processor which have Radeon HD graphics integrated into the CPU. The Z575 weighs 5.73 lbs and is 1.4 inches thick, coming well featured with three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB combo, media card reader, Ethernet, VGA, and HDMI. Today’s deal has you saving $250 on the AMD A4-3300M 2.5GHz dual core model which comes with Radeon HD 6480G integrated graphics, 4GB DDR3 RAM and 500GB hard drive. Final price is $449 shipped.

[ $250 Off On Lenovo IdeaPad Z575 ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By David Ponce

You’re sure Martha at cubicle 24C is stealing some of the Reese’s Pieces from the stack you keep on the corner of your desk. You know, the ones you have to eat because of your low blood sugar? You know it’s her because you see the glint in her eye every time she casually comes by to say hello. But you’re on to her and with this insanely expensive little device, you can have all the proof you need for an HR melodrama of epic proportions.

This new ingenious small covert hidden camera video recording system is built into a tiny iCharger for charging up an iPhone, iPad or iPod. However, the iCharger stand contains a little secret. Hidden inside is a high grade high resolution low light covert hidden video camera.

-Motion Activated Recording for Weeks of Mpeg-4 AVI Video
-Time/Date Stamp for Evidence Authentication
-Actually Charges Your iPhone, iPad or iPod
-Powered By Any Wall Outlet
-Records Directly To Included 4Gb SD Card (upgradable to 32GB)
-Can Connect To TV with Cable For Viewing
-450 TVL Color CCD Camera

Did we mention insanely expensive? Yeah? Because we’re talking about $300 to stop peanut butter and chocolate theft.

Really?

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Chip Chick ]