Author: Gary Cutlack
CES 2009: Samsung's other four digital cameras – the WB500, ST10, ST50 and ES55
As well as four tasty-looking compacts for the lady-blogger’s handbag, Samsung has also revealed a chunkier wide-angle snapper for the man who wants to look like he’s a proper photographer – plus some extremely odd novelties and a 10megapixel £79 job for kids and grandparents.
Samsung has been busy. Here are four more of its camera department’s new designs in a big list, starting with the…
…the WB500, which is Samsung’s first go at doing a mega-zoom camera. This model maxes-out at 10x – and features a wide-angle 24mm lens to battle Panasonic’s extremely popular Lumix range. It has a 10megapixel sensor and can also record movies in HD spec.
Samsung UK has given the WB500 a tentative RRP of £229 and says it’ll be out in the UK from January 2009. Which means soon…
New developments in the Tetris world – now it helps reduce mental trauma
Tetris. Always with the bloody Tetris. We’ve had Tetris ice cubes, Tetris chocolate, another kind of Tetris ice cubes, Tetris watches, Tetris furniture and even Tetris MADE REAL – now it’s time for life-affirming Tetris making people better news.
Basically, some doctors have been using the timeless obsessive/compulsive block-tidying puzzle game to relieve the symptoms of stress sufferers. They found that playing Tetris 30 minutes after being exposed to harrowing imagery…
CES 2009: Pentax announces Optio P70 and Optio E70, possibly the most forgettable cameras in history
The rather non-glamorous Pentax has revealed a couple of thoroughly mid-range new digital cameras – the Optio P70 and Optio E70.
The P70, on the left there in the fetching white finish, is the most impressive model, managing 12megapixels with a 4x optical zoom, a 2.7″ LCD monitor round the back and what Pentax calls its “Pixel Track Shake Reduction technology” image stabilisation tool. It’ll also come in red and silver, if you’re mainstream enough that one of the first things you look for when buying a camera is what colour it comes in.
Meanwhile, the E70 (right) is a bit more “entry level” – offering “large control buttons,” a 10megapixel sensor and 3X zoom. Both will be out in the US this February…
Japanese space researchers design handy combined toilet/underpant system
Demand a toilet AND underpants in one handy device? The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has got it covered!
The clichéd slightly wacky Japanese scientists have built the amazing below gadget, which could eliminate toilet trips for good. Poo and wee are sucked out by a pump, with a built-in washer/dryer system cleaning up the resulting mess, leaving you relaxed, fresh and dry. It’s genius. Especially if the suction pump also comes with optional ‘entertainment’ attachments.
Might not be the most comfortable thing to wear about the place, but it’ll definitely…
Facebook is… the nation's most popular thing-to-do on Christmas Day
Astonishing figures from web stat counter Hitwise estimate that one in 22 of all internet data requests was for a Facebook page on Christmas Day, as everyone used their new netbooks to change their status to read “…is stuffed, drunk and nauseous.”
That’s up 69% from the traffic Facebook managed to harvest at Christmas of 2007, giving the popularity-boasting friends/dating portal a 4.65% share of the ENTIRE INTERNET and making it the…
WE CAN REBUILD HIM: Ten gadgets to keep Steve Jobs alive and well for another 30 years
Apple needs Steve! The world needs Steve! Steve Jobs says he’s a little bit sick, but technology can keep him going for longer, just like Steven Hawking.
Here’s how Steve Jobs can ensure he lives to be 100 – or more – thanks to the modern technology he loves and has helped shape, guaranteeing peace of mind for all Apple fans and the company’s panicking shareholders.
1. PORTABLE DEFIBRILLATOR
The worst case scenario can be averted. Steve needs to employ a nurse to be with him at all times, ready to pounce with the Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator should he collapse while ordering the Coffeee of the Day from the local Starbucks. Pay her minimum wage and you’ve got 24-hour-a-day Steve reassurance for less than 20k a year.
2. BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR
A cheap, standard high street blood pressure monitor would reassure us all of Steve’s health. An Apple engineer could add a wi-fi adaptor and have it feed data to the Apple web site, letting the world see a reassuring count of Steve’s current blood pressure in real time.
3. SHOEI X-SPIRIT CRASH HELMET
If Steve was to fall over and bump his head, the results for Apple, its shareholders and fans would be devastating. We therefore propose that Steve encases his precious brain in a Shoei X-Spirit Helmet, the finest cranium-padding money can buy. You can’t put a price on Steve’s brain stem and frontal lobe! The matte black will also match his outfits.
Xbox 360 shifted "almost double" the units this Christmas compared to 2007
Credit crisis, financial disaster and aura of commercial misery everywhere you look? What credit crisis, financial disaster and aura of commercial misery everywhere you look?
That’s what Microsoft UK will be thinking at this very moment, having sold “almost double” the number of Xbox 360s in the UK over the Christmas period compared to Chrimbo 2007, thanks to the price cuts and its zany new casual interface for girls/children/the elderly…
Grey Warships of Death preparing for Blue Screen of Death – UK Navy fleet updates to Windows 2000 and XP
The UK’s warship fleet is getting itself an update, with versions of worst-windows-ever Windows 2000 and best-windows-ever XP rolling out across the fleet.
First to replace its ageing custom software with the “new” Windows operating systems is the HMS Montrose, which will soon enter a refitting phase where its old kit will be replaced by standard PCs.
The Type 23 frigates, which make up the bulk of our sea-faring death machines, are expected to gradually switch over to Windows machines as and when they’re due for a servicing, and, as ever, it’s all about reducing costs. Navy man Commodore Graham Peach said the Windows-based warships “will enable us to provide…
Forward-thinking police combating potential terrorism via Google Adsense
London’s Metropolitan Police Service has thought up a great way to spend a bit more money – advertising for super-grasses via Google’s ubiquitous Adsense text ad system.
The advert, spotted by a blogger and pictured to the left there, encourages web browsers to report any “Right Wing Extremists” they know to the authorities, while clicking on the ad’s text link takes you to the Met’s anti-terror home page, where you’re advised in a bit more detail what to do if you think your mate is running a bomb factory out of his studio flat in New Cross. Here’s how The Met says you can spot a terrorist…
Facebook Furore of the Week: Mothers getting bras into a twist over breastfeeding photo ban
Who says we’re not in touch with women’s issues here on Tech Digest?
Over 80,000 users have joined a Facebook group called “Hey Facebook, Breastfeeding is not Obscene,” after the site started deleting innocent photos of women breastfeeding their newly hatched, soft-headed, screaming, purple-faced spawn. Here’s how Facebook defines an offensive nipple photo…
“Photos containing a fully exposed breast – as defined by showing the nipple or areola – do violate those terms on obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit material and may be removed”…
