Immersive Media is the company responsible for Street View on Google Maps. The above video experience is the same idea (a 360 degree panorama of imagery), except in seamless full motion video. You can pan and zoom in every direction besides straight down while the video plays, and enjoy 4 channel directional sound. There are a bunch more demos on the Immersive Media website, but I liked the Humpback video the best, because it’s as if you’re actually standing in the boat, looking around, trying to spot the whales.
The camera system is shaped like a dodecahedron, made up of 11 cameras and 4 mics. It records 2400×1200 pixels at 30 frames per second, and you can easily embed GPS data directly into the video, up to 3 hours of which is recorded onto hot-swappable HDs. The entire system weighs in at only 25 pounds, so it’s actually something you can walk around with. If you want to know how much it is, you’ll have to ask. Immersive Media is currently mounting their system on vehicles and doing Street View-ish tours in a few North American cities, perhaps in the hope that Google will get interested.
Personally, I’d like to see it combined with the VR portion of the HARV system that I wrote about today over on BotJunkie… Talk about an immersive experience!
It might look like another boring candybar-style cellphone, but the DV300T from Mustek is actually a compact digital video camera. While the 2-inch LCD screen is not as convenient as the pop-out swivel screens on other tapeless video cameras, the DV300T seems to be going for a slim design over everything else.
It includes a standard VGA CMOS sensor which is fine for capturing near-NTSC or PAL quality video, but for still photos the images are actually interpolated to a resolution of about 3.1 megapixels, which isn’t exactly ideal. Since the lens is fixed, you have to rely on an 8x digital zoom for getting in closer to the action, but the DV300T at least includes some level of digital image stabilization to help improve your footage. On-board you’ll only find about 64MB of memory, but it will accept SD cards allowing you to considerably expand the amount of storage. Of course Mustek has also thrown in voice recording, MP3 and even eBook functionality, but what doesn’t have those these days?
Unfortunately I can’t find any pricing info for the DV300T, but given the basic VGA sensor and the paltry amount of on-board memory, I can’t imagine it will be that expensive.
Sometimes I wonder if the people from the RIAA and the MPAA ever sit down and fabricate new ways to pin poor sales of music and/or movies on today’s youth. Actually, after reading the latest announcement from the MPAA, I’m almost positive that they do just that. If you remember way back in 2005 they released a statement saying that 44% of their lost revenue comes from college students downloading pirated movies over the campus networks. According to their most recent study, that number was a complete fabrication (they call it human error).
Now they would likely argue the point and say that they weren’t making that number up at all However, when their latest reports show that the percentage of revenue lost may actually be closer to 3%, I have trouble believing it.
I actually did a little study just now, don’t ask where my figures come from, it’s not important. My study shows that the MPAA and RIAA would regain 110% of the lost revenue from piracy if they would stop spending so much money trying to sue their own customers. You’d be surprised at how many people still actually go to the movies when they’re actually good, and buy them when they come out on DVD.
If you’re still worried that my numbers may be a bit off, don’t fret. There’s a chance in a few years I’ll actually do the study and correct them. Until then, just go with it.
When I leave my house for any period of time I don’t generally worry about my place getting broken into, as I live in a pretty decent neighborhood. Since I have pets there’s usually someone stopping by to check them regularly, so I don’t usually give things a second thought. However, if I were the paranoid sort, I’d buy myself a Rovio in a heartbeat.
The Rovio is a WiFi-enabled spybot that can navigate your entire home with ease. There’s really not much more you can ask of a spybot. This little guy can patrol your house 24×7, and you can access its audio and video footage from anywhere in the world. Look for this guy to hit stores this fall for around $299.
I’ll admit there’s not much in terms of features that makes this new portable DVD player from Plezo really stand out. But if you’re looking for a player that does everything, the PPD-1920S seems fairly robust when it comes to functionality. The 9.2 inch screen is relatively large for a portable player, and it’s able to swivel up to 270 degrees, allowing it to be flipped around and used as a tablet player. If you’re wondering how big 9.2 inches really is, just use the round DVD tray lid on the player as a size reference.
It also supports Divx, which is a must-have feature for any video capable media device these days. And it can presumably play those videos off an MMC or SD card thanks to a dedicated slot, or a flash drive since it also includes a USB port. From what I can tell the player even includes AV in and out connections for watching the videos on a larger display, or using the PPD-1920s itself as a display for another external device.
It’s currently available in the Korean and Japanese markets for about $362.
This is a great little device for ‘that friend of yours’ who’s always copying DVDs or CDs. The DVD Coach from EZ-Dupe looks to be about as large as the first personal CD players to hit the market, but includes 2 drive trays allowing you to copy DVDs or CDs without the need for a computer.
However it will work just like any other external burner when connected to a PC, and will even allow you to use the drive as a Lightscribe labeler with the proper media. Those who still use audio CDs can even use the DVD Coach’s track editing feature to create a custom audio disc from their own playlist. Unfortunately I have no idea where the name ‘DVD Coach’ comes from, unless it was inspired by the Craig T. Nelson sitcom.
You can find the DVD Coach online and it looks to range in price from about $340 to $460.
Video projectors are a great way for a group of people to ‘enjoy’ a PowerPoint presentation, but what about those times when you don’t have access to a large space? The NEC WT615 uses a unique mirror projection technology to achieve a 100 inch diagonal screen at a throw distance of just 65cm!
While the max resolution of just 1024×768 isn’t exactly impressive by today’s standards, it should be more than adequate for anything besides watching hi-def video. Because it can be setup and used in spaces not necessarily designed for it, the projector includes advanced ‘Digital 3D Reform’ picture correction technology as well as the ability to correct the image based on the color of the wall it’s being projected on. It even has optional support for connecting to a PC or PDA via a wired or wireless network.
Finally the WT615 also has a whiteboard function where you can write live onto the projected images using an electronic pen, and even capture those notations back to your PC or PDA. All that for about $3,500.
I don’t claim to entirely understand the following video, which does a remarkably good job of explaining how to try to wrap your mind around the 10 dimensions in which our universe (according to some people) exists. I will say that I could comfortably get though dimension number 5 (if only because it was already explained in nearly the same way in Donnie Darko)… After that, it started getting weird. But, you know, cool. Enjoy:
If you’re a birdwatcher with a particular fondness for owls or simply pursue other ‘hobbies’ that require the cover of night then a set of night vision goggles can be a useful accessory. But if those head mounted versions are either too cumbersome or too obvious to local law enforcement you might want to pick up this slightly more compact version from iGen.
The NV2020 is only about 9 inches long but apparently has twice the sensitivity of older generation ‘intensifier tube technology.’ What that basically means is that it can amplify the ambient light of whatever you’re looking at up to 650 times the original level. And if things are still too dark it also includes an invisible infrared light source to boost the light levels without scaring off whatever you’re staring at. The NV2020 also allows for multiple color output options instead of just the traditional green and even has a composite video connection allowing the image to be recorded via a camcorder.
It’s currently available from SkyMall for $699.95.
Usually if you want to take underwater movies or even photos you have 2 options. 1) You can simply dunk your digital camera or camcorder under the water and hope that it grabs one or two frames before water gets in and shorts everything out. And 2) You can buy an expensive and incredibly bulky underwater housing for your camera that while protecting it will also limit its functionality. But there’s now a third option with the Sanyo Xacti CA65 waterproof camcorder that works underwater while still keeping a sleek profile.
It comes in the form of one of those ultracompact camcorders that rely on SD cards for storage but it’s still capable of capturing 6 megapixel digital images or recording VGA size video at 30 frames per second. The video is stored as either MPEG-4 AVC or H.264 clips making it easy to view on your computer and email to friends. Of course the waterproof nature of the camera does have its limitations. It’s only rated to a depth of 1.5 meters and they really only recommend using it underwater for about 60 minutes. In addition the waterproof seals that are used should be replaced every year to ensure they keep doing their job properly.
But at just under $470 from Amazon it could be a good choice for you adventurous types looking to capture some extreme memories.
The camera system is shaped like a dodecahedron, made up of 11 cameras and 4 mics. It records 2400×1200 pixels at 30 frames per second, and you can easily embed GPS data directly into the video, up to 3 hours of which is recorded onto hot-swappable HDs. The entire system weighs in at only 25 pounds, so it’s actually something you can walk around with. If you want to know how much it is, you’ll have to ask. Immersive Media is currently mounting their system on vehicles and doing Street View-ish tours in a few North American cities, perhaps in the hope that Google will get interested. 
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By Andrew Liszewski
