Nikon D800

The 36.3 megapixel D800 SLR delivers for photographers working in the studio or other controlled environments. Nikon’s D800 has an ISO range of 100 to 6400, 91K RGB 3D color metering, razor quick auto focus, a 3-inch 921k-dot LCD screen, and B-frame data compression allowing for up to thirty minutes of video recording. For those who aren’t too disappointed with Nikon’s release, the camera will be available in March for $3000 USD.


Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4

“Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 4 software provides a comprehensive set of digital photography tools, from powerfully simple one-click adjustments to cutting-edge advanced controls. Create images that inspire, inform, and delight.”

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 is the latest edition to the vastly expansive Adobe creative suite and boasts a host of updated features designed to improve performance and convenience for its users. The newest version includes a book creation module, improved support for video, soft-proofing capability and Google-Maps-powered geo-tagging module, a feature that is in line with social media’s development into an increased amount of platforms. For those buying Lightroom for the first time, the program will cost $149 USD, but if you are updating your current version, expect to pay a reduced rate of $79 USD

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom.html


Rolex 2012 – Everyone should have at least one

The Rolex Submariner is one of the most imitated, sought-after, and important timepieces ever made. It is the gold standard against which many dive watches are measured and is a true horological institution in and of itself. Hell, it’s even appeared in 11 James Bond films. The Submariner first went into production in 1953, and was showcased at the Swiss Basel watch fair one year later. It’s only fitting that the next chapter in the Rolex Submariner also be revealed at Baselworld 2012. This new Submariner retains many of the same specifications and all of the same character that has helped it withstand the test of time: 300 meter water resistance, a 40mm Oyster case crafted from 904L stainless steel, scratch-proof Cerachrom bezel with platinum graduations, COSC certified mechanical Rolex movement, and that iconic Mercedes-style hour hand. The 2012 casing gets the most significant facelift, with the removal of the date window and its love-it-or-hate-it crystal cyclops. Wearers will also notice the updated, next-generation Rolex Oyster bracelet. And the luminous application on the indices and hands now glows blue. All worthy updates, but this is still very much the venerable Rolex Submariner. If it isn’t broken, why fix it?


Nokia 808 Pureview Smartphone to come with 41 Megapixel Camera… Yes 41 Megapixels!

Nokia 808 Pureview Smartphone

The Nokia 808 Pureview is Nokia’s latest entry in the Smart phone arena. It will comw with a 41 Megapixel Camera equipped with a Carl Zeiss Lens. It will also shoot Video in full HD, and do the rest of stuff all Smart Phones do.

 

“Sorry, did you just say 41-megapixels?

Yes, that’s right. But this combination isn’t about shooting pictures the size of billboards! Instead, it’s about creating amazing pictures at normal, manageable sizes. There’s a combination of benefits.

The technology means that taking typically sized shots (say, 5 megapixels) the camera can use oversampling to combine up to seven pixels into one “pure” pixel, eliminating the visual noise found on other mobile phone cameras. On top of that, you can zoom in up to 3X without losing any of the details in your shot – and there’s no artificially created pixels in your picture, either.

Otherwise, you can use ‘Creative Shooting Mode’ to capture images at high resolution – 38 megapixels; then reframe, crop and zoom to find the best “picture within the picture” after the image has been shot and before saving it at convenient sizes for sharing and storage.”
Nokia.com

 

Check out some unretouched  pictures this thing takes: http://cdn.conversations.nokia.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Archive2.zip

 

Nokia 808 Pureview Smartphone

Nokia 808 Pureview Smartphone


Apple Ipad New Launch

Apple today introduced the new iPad, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, featuring a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, and a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G connects to fast networks worldwide, including AT&T’s and Verizon’s 4G LTE networks, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life, while remaining amazingly thin and light. The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $499 USD for the 16GB model, $599 USD for the 32GB model and $699 USD for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 USD for the 16GB model, $729 USD for the 32GB model and $829 USD for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the U.S. through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPad will also be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK, and the US Virgin Islands on Friday, March 16. Customers can begin pre-ordering their new iPad today, and the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 USD for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 USD for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. Additional information is available here.

New Retina Display – The new iPad’s Retina display delivers four times the number of pixels of iPad 2, so dense that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels when held at a normal distance, making web pages, text, images and video look incredibly sharp and realistic. The 3.1 million pixels in the Retina display are more than one million more pixels than an HD TV, and with 44 percent increased color saturation the new iPad displays colors that are unbelievably richer, deeper and more vivid. Movies are now capable of playing at full 1080p HD-resolution, delivering an incomparable viewing experience on a mobile device.

A5X Chip – The powerful new A5X chip with quad-core graphics was specifically designed by Apple to deliver a fast, responsive user experience while supporting the incredible Retina display. With double the graphics performance of the A5 chip, the A5X provides a superb balance between performance and power efficiency so users can enjoy all the benefits of the stunning new display while experiencing a smooth Multi-Touch™ interface, immersive gameplay, incredible visual depth and all-day battery life that iPad is known for delivering.

iSight Camera – The 5 megapixel iSight camera features advanced optics for taking stunning pictures and recording full HD video. Backside illumination allows you to take great photos in low-light conditions and a new video image stabilization feature removes the bumps and shakes typically seen when filming with a hand-held device. Images can be enjoyed on the large Retina display, then edited, enhanced and easily shared with friends and family using the built-in Photos app on iPad.

Network Connectivity – iPad Wi-Fi + 4G with built-in next generation 4G LTE has the most comprehensive support for fast networks worldwide including HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, and now both CDMA and GSM iPad users have the ability to easily roam internationally. The world-ready iPad delivers blazing download and upload speeds so web pages load incredibly quickly and email with large attachments can be sent and received easily. Personal Hotspot can be used to share the fast network connection on your iPad with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB**.

iOS 5.1 – With iOS 5.1, the latest update to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, the new iPad has a number of new features and enhancements including: a redesigned Camera app with video stabilization technology; the ability to delete photos from Photo Stream; support for dictation in English, French, German and Japanese; and Personal Hotspot. iOS 5.1 also works seamlessly with iCloud®, a breakthrough set of free cloud services including iTunes® in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud, that works seamlessly with your iPhone®, iPad, iPod touch®, Mac® or PC to automatically and wirelessly store your content and push it to your devices. When content changes on one of your devices, your other devices are updated automatically.

Dictation Support – The new iPad also supports dictation, another amazing way to get things done just using your voice. Instead of typing, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, then say what you want to say and the new iPad listens. Tap done, and iPad converts your words into text. You can use dictation to write messages, take notes, search the web and more. Dictation also works with third-party apps, so you can update your Facebook status, tweet, or write Instagram captions.

iPhoto App – Apple also introduced the iPhoto® app, along with major updates to iMovie® and GarageBand®, completing its suite of iLife® apps for iOS. iLife and the iWork® apps, Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers®, have all been updated to take advantage of the new iPad Retina display. iPhoto includes breakthrough Multi-Touch features so you can use simple gestures to sort through hundreds of photos and find your best shots, enhance and retouch your images using fingertip brushes and share stunning photo journals with iCloud. iMovie now gives you the ability to create amazing Hollywood-style trailers as you record HD video, and GarageBand introduces Jam Session, an innovative and fun new feature that allows a group of friends to wirelessly connect to play instruments and record music together live on their iOS devices.


New Lawsuit Means All Major Labels Are Suing Grooveshark=No more!

Contributor: BEN SISARIO.

Grooveshark, a popular digital music service that is being sued for copyright infringement by three of the four major record companies, now has problems with the one big label that it has a licensing deal with.

On Wednesday, EMI Music Publishing filed suit against Grooveshark’s parent company, the Escape Media Group, for breach of contract, saying that since striking the deal in 2009, Escape has “made not a single royalty payment to EMI, nor provided a single accounting statement.”

In the suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, EMI seeks unspecified damages. But in a series of recent e-mails and legal correspondence included with the filing as evidence, EMI asks Grooveshark for at least $150,000 in royalties.

In a statement, Grooveshark said: “This is a contract dispute that we expect to resolve.”

Grooveshark lets users upload songs to the company’s servers, which other users can then stream free. Founded in 2006, it has signed up 35 million users and attracted major advertisers like Mercedes-Benz.

With the music industry coming to rely more and more on fully licensed services like Spotify and Rhapsody that stream music by subscription, EMI’s suit highlights the legal gray zone in which Grooveshark operates.

Grooveshark says its service is legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal law that protects Internet companies that host third-party material if they comply with take-down notices from copyright holders.

But the company has repeatedly run afoul of the big music companies. EMI made its licensing deal with Grooveshark only after it settled an earlier copyright infringement case. And late last year, the Universal Music Group, the largest label, filed a federal copyright infringement case against Grooveshark, with Sony Music and the Warner Music Group later joining the suit.

Last year, a consortium of investors led by Sony made a deal with Citigroup, EMI’s owner, to buy the company’s publishing division for $2.2 billion. Universal, owned by the French conglomerate Vivendi, agreed to buy EMI’s recorded music division for $1.9 billion. Both deals are subject to approval from government regulators.

Via NYtimes.com

 

phil@gadgetables.com


Chicken and Waffle Wings?!

Contributor: Nick in Food I Made.

“It’s no secret that chicken and waffles taste amazing together, but why should you have to deal with two foods sitting separately side by side when you can just combine them into one delicious handheld snack? That’s the exact question that led me to create these chicken and waffle wings.

The waffle breaded chicken wings were actually amazingly easy to make. I started off by cooking four “drumette” sections of chicken wings and whipping up some waffle batter. Once that was done I simply dunked the wings in the batter and placed them in my waffle iron with the ends of the wings (which I left unbattered so the wings would be easier to pick up and eat) sticking out. After that all you really need to do is drizzle some syrup over them and you’re all set!

If you try making these yourself the one thing you’ll need to be sure of is that you select wings that have a decent amount of meat on them. No one wants to take a bite only to get a mouthful of waffles and barely any chicken. The chicken wings I used were 1/4 of a pound each and I ended up with the perfect chicken to waffle ratio.

You know how back when I made the chocolate covered deep fried Triple Double Oreos I commented that they’d be the perfect food to be sold at state fairs all across the country? Forget about those for a second, because these chicken and waffle wings are what fair goers need to be eating this summer!”

via dudefoods.com

 

Imma try this ASAP!

phil@gadgetables.com


Warner Brothers Will Make Netflix, Redbox, Blockbuster Wait Longer for New Movies.

Contributor: Peter Kafka.

Want to watch a new movie just out on DVD from Warner Brothers? You’re going to have to buy it, or wait even longer to get it from Netflix or other disc renters.

A new deal between Time Warner’s movie studio and Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster will double the “window” for new releases. That means the services will now have to wait 56 days after the discs first go on sale to offer them to their customers, instead of 28 days. [UPDATE: Redbox parent Coinstar now says they haven’t agreed to a new deal; see below]

The move is part of Hollywood’s ongoing campaign to bolster flagging DVD sales, and sources tell me the new deal is supposed to be announced at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Warner Brothers executives have already talked publicly about extending the current window.

This is the second time that Warner has been able to get the rental services to wait before distributing its movies.

In 2010, it struck deals with Netflix, and later Coinstar’s Redbox, to wait 28 days before renting its new discs. Coinstar and Netflix later landed similar pacts with most of the other big studios. (Coinstar did up end up in legal battles with Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox, which like this Web site is owned by News Corp.)

Two years ago, Netflix was able to argue that by delaying access to DVDs, it was able to get its hands on more streaming content, and lower prices for the discs it did buy. This time around, though, Warner won’t be granting any additional digital rights to the studios. It will simply be offering them the ability to buy discs in bulk, at a significant discount to retail pricing, like they already do.

Earlier today, news broke that HBO, another Time Warner unit, would stop selling its DVDs to Netflix altogether, but sources tell me the two moves aren’t directly related. Next week’s planned announcement is supposed to be tied to Warner Brothers’ continuing push for Ultraviolet, an industry consortium that’s supposed to allow home video buyers to watch their purchases on multiple machines, in multiple formats.

Reps for Time Warner, Coinstar, Netflix and Blockbuster parent company Dish Network declined to comment.

UPDATE: Coinstar is now commenting, via email. “The current agreement Coinstar has with Warner Bros. is to receive movie titles 28 days after their release. No revised agreements are in place.” The company’s current deal with Warner Bros. expires at the end of January; PR chief Marci Maule referred me to comments CEO Paul Davis made last fall about pursuing “workarounds” if studios try to extend their windows.

Via allthingsD.com

 

phil@gadgetables.com


Best Buy Responds To Reports That It Is Dying A Slow Death.

Remember the article: http://www.gadgetables.com/informative-article-about-how-bestbuy-is-deterioting/ apparently, BestBuys’ CEO Brian Dunn replied: “

As CEO, I know that criticism goes with the job,” writes CEO Brian Dunn, “and I’m well aware we have some challenges. I also know that errors we make often translate into a poor experience for our customers, and that is simply unacceptable.” is concerned.

Read the Fully: http://consumerist.com/2012/01/best-buy-responds-to-reports-that-it-is-dying-a-slow-death.html

 

Best Buy CEO Defies Critics.

By MIGUEL BUSTILLO and MATT JARZEMSKY.

Best Buy Co.’s chief executive shot back Friday at critics who have been calling the retailer a relic, as the electronics giant reported lower December sales compared with the year before.

In a lengthy blog post, CEO Brian Dunn acknowledged that some criticism about his company’s performance had merit, calling an episode last month in which the retailer canceled online orders that were placed weeks before Christmas “our fault” and “not representative of how we EVER want to treat our customers.”

More fundamentally, Mr. Dunn said, detractors who have questioned the speed with which Best Buy was adapting its business model to growing online

competition had a “fair criticism.”

But he took strong exception to recent claims, largely on tech blogs, that the Richfield, Minn. company—and specialty-store chains in general—were doomed by the rise of Internet merchants such as Amazon.com Inc., which are outflanking some brick-and-mortar chains on selection as well as price.

He cited a recent study by researcher NPD Group, which found that roughly 80% of electronics were still bought in stores, and added that Best Buy saw store visits climb last quarter.

“This misguided perspective is especially troubling for me, because it blatantly and recklessly ignores overwhelming evidence to the contrary,” Mr. Dunn wrote on his blog, Brian’s Whiteboard. “Best Buy is a financially strong and profitable company.”

Mr. Dunn’s defense met a mixed reaction online even on his own blog. The very first response on Brian’s Whiteboard came from someone—identifying himself as a former Best Buy sales manager—who said he now uses the Internet to search for better deals on sites such as Amazon.com

“I will buy it in your store…use it while I order another one for 75% less on Amazon and then return the new in the box one at your store,” the commenter wrote. “It’s shoppers like me that are multiplying because of research that is available on the Internet and that is why there is concern” about the company.

Best Buy shares have plunged 30% in the past 12 months as the world’s largest electronics retailer by revenue has struggled with slowing sales. Last quarter its sales rose 0.9% at stores and websites open at least 14 months, breaking a streak of five consecutive quarters of declining sales.

But the gains, largely the result of heavy Black Friday promotions, were achieved at the expense of profits, which fell 29%, raising further questions among analysts about whether the company could flourish in the new competitive environment.

Best Buy provided another muddy picture on Friday when it reported that its same-store sales for December slipped 0.4% domestically and 4.3% internationally, but that profits held steady. It did not change its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings.

Analysts generally greeted the results as a positive, saying Best Buy’s situation remained more positive than dire predictions suggested. “Not as bad as feared,” Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter titled his note to investors.

Via http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203471004577144441608627950.html

 

Check-out Brian Dunns’ Profile: http://people.forbes.com/profile/brian-j-dunn/11391

 

phil@gadgetables.com


Excavator on Rooftop of 12-Story Building in Taiyuan, China

Via Chinasmack.com

Read the Fully: http://www.chinasmack.com/2012/pictures/excavator-on-rooftop-of-12-story-building-in-taiyuan-shanx.html

Seriously, how?

phil@gadgetables.com