Whatever you plan to do with your computer, there is usually a peripheral made just for the task. If you want to game there are a myriad of gaming mice on the market and if you just want to do boring old computer work, there are peripherals for that too.
Bella has announced a new wireless mouse called the HD Mouse that is aimed at professional and amateur video editors. The mouse is designed for multimedia users and includes software that allows the user to program mouse movements to act like gesture commands. The mouse has 1600dpi of sensitivity and a wireless range of up to 26 feet.
I like using multiple monitors for my computer; they are cool for gaming if you extend the desktop. The big downside to multiple monitor setups is that the bezel around the monitor makes for a gap in the on screen image that can be annoying and get your fragged if you miss something right in front of you.
I have also seen big video walls where the gaps make the video pretty much unviewable. Samsung has announced a new line of large format monitors that are 46-inches in size and have very thin bezels. The monitor bezel is 2.4mm on the right and bottom and 4.3mm on the top and left sides making the space between screens only 7.3mm (we can assume that there has to be some space between each screen, accounting for the extra .5mm of space).
It’s March, which means that there is some sort of madness involving college basketball. There’s a small nagging part of me that says I should care, but when it comes to basketball, I just don’t. It would seem that Activision’s marketing team is “on the ball” when it comes to the latest Guitar Hero: Metallica ad. Perhaps you’ll recognize a few of the old guys in the above clip.
I’m from Indiana (and no, I don’t know why we’re called Hoosiers either) so I immediately recognized the fake band’s frontman as being Bobby Knight. I thought having him throw the drum kit was a nice touch. The other band members are Roy Williams, Rick Pitino and Mike “Coach K” Krzyzewski.
Sony’s new LocationPorter is an interesting device. It seems designed for those doing on-site reporting, or who need to provide a live video stream, but don’t have access to a professional broadcast truck or similar type equipment. So instead of a satellite or microwave signal, it relies on the internet via a LAN or 3G connection. From what I can tell you can plug any camcorder or live feed into the LocationPorter, and your video will be converted to H.264 MPEG-4 on the fly, so it can be easily streamed. On a single 3G connection your footage gets smooshed down to a 352×240, 5 to 15fps stream (64 to 160kbps) but the device can actually use two simultaneous 3G connections to boost the data stream up to 320kbps. And when connected to a LAN, the video can be streamed up to 30fps.
Unfortunately, as you can see in the video below, the LocationPorter isn’t exactly compact, and has to be worn over the shoulder like a bag. In fact, it reminds me of the VTRs that videographers used to have to carry, before the tape mechanisms were integrated into the cameras. So it’s almost like we’ve taken two steps forward, but one step back.
These corkscrewy cables are Flexicords, which can stretch out to 10 feet from their coiled length of about 1 foot. It’s designed to help keep things neat and tidy by keeping excess cable from lying around all over the place for you to trip over and fall and smash your head open. Flexicords aren’t sproingy; rather, they have “patent-pending Memory Cord™ Technology” that holds the cord in whatever position you bend it into, which opens up all kinds of exciting cordy art project possibilities. To recoil the cord, the Flexicord packaging includes a “simple recoiling tool” which is basically just a tube that you wrap the cable around.
You can get Flexicords in HDMI, S-video, composite, CAT5, and four flavors of 6 foot USB cables. They’ll be for sale in February online for a little bit more than you’d pay for an equivalent non-Flexicord cord.
They say necessity is the mother of invention, but who’s the father? Well that would be Will of course, because where there’s a will, there’s a way. Or it could also be this guy, who created an automatic baby walker using a cheap stroller, a not-so-cheap battery powered electric drill and a little ingenuity. The front wheels are permanently fused at an angle so the stroller just goes in circles, but it’s apparently enough to put his son to sleep, even with the drill’s electric motor running right next to his head.
I think it’s impressive that many consumer and prosumer digital video cameras can record a 1920×1080 high-def signal onto a commonly available miniDV cassette tape, but that convenience comes at the cost of your footage being highly compressed, which kind of sucks, particularly if you’re the type who likes to do a lot of post-processing. So Ikonoskop, who is already known for their 16mm film cameras, is now offering a digital motion picture camera that not only captures in true 1920×1080 HD, but stores those frames as individual 12-bit RAW, DNG or TIFF files.
The camera uses proprietary 80GB memory cartridges that can record at 240MB/second and have the capacity to store about 12 minutes of footage, audio and metadata. It also features a Super-16 sized sensor, which allows you to use pre-existing Super-16mm lenses. The frame rate can be adjusted between 1-60 fps and on-set monitoring can be accomplished with either a standard video connection or HDMI. The preliminary pricing for the A-cam dII is around $9,800 which includes a battery, a 9mm lens and one of the 80GB memory cartridges. Not too shabby.
As Blu-ray DVD players gradually drop in price, how do you convince consumers to spend their money on a standard-def player instead? Well, if you’re LG, you come out with a new model that looks extremely stylish, but still has a lame corporate sounding name. The DVS450H can be used horizontally, vertically or even mounted on a wall, and features a design that’s meant to compliment today’s flat-panel TVs. Instead of a slide-out tray, a sliding door reveals where the DVD is inserted, and the glossy piano black finish is only interrupted by 5 touch sensitive buttons and a hidden LCD display. And while it can only play standard-def DVDs, the DVS450H supports the DivX HD and Xvid-H formats and will provide a full 1080P signal via an HDMI connection. The player should be available sometime in October, and will have a suggested retail price of around $238.
I have to give LG credit for at least trying to make the over-saturated digital photo frame market a bit more interesting. Their DP889 unit not only features an 8-inch LCD display but also has an integrated DVD player. So not only can you browse photos that are stored on a DVD or a CD, but you can also use the unit as a portable DVD player with the supplied battery pack providing up to 3 1/2 hours of playback. Other features include audio/video inputs and outputs allowing you to connect other devices like a game console, a 3-in1 memory card slot, a flash drive compatible USB port, built-in speakers and even dual headphone jacks. And while LG lists the DP889 as having an MSRP of $279.95, Circuit City currently has it on sale for $199.99.
Related Tags: Mouse, Peripherals, Video
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