Month: July 2009 (Page 8 of 13)

UPDATE: Garmin 310XT Now Available

July 14, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

A couple months ago we ran a feature on the Garmin 310XT – a super duper all-in-wonder fitness watch that was as of yet unavailable. Rejoice you masochistic types – Jeff from runningcenters.com dropped by to let us know that the watch is now available on that site for early release.

You can check our post on the watch at this link. Here’s what Running Centers has to say:

Finally, a GPS-enabled training device that isn’t afraid of the water. The rugged Forerunner 310XT is the triathlete’s indispensable training tool — a GPS-enabled, swim-proof trainer that tracks bike and run data and sends it wirelessly to your computer. This multi-sport device has up to 20 hours of battery life, tracks distance, pace and heart rate (optional), and goes from wrist to bike in seconds…

Thanks for the update, Jeff.

GPS, News

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Duke Nukem’s disease – Who comes up with this sh!t?

July 14, 2009 / Gary Fairchild

This has to be one of the funniest videos I’ve seen in a while. It’s so right on with the arm swaying up and down while you walk. The kitchen scene is hilarious. And how about him climbing up the curb? Too good.

Via: OhGizmo!

Websites

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App Store Hits 1.5 Billion Downloads

July 14, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

It’s really becoming a year among years for Apple. The super-trendy company was once a sleeping puppy in a den of wolves, quietly wooing customers to the questionable promise of a more stable lifestyle. Since then they’ve released the Kleenex of the MP3 player market and turned tens of millions to the iPhone. Just three months ago their app store hit 1 billion downloads and just this month the store had its first birthday.

Today marks another milestone for your favorite fruity company. According to an Apple press release, the app store has reached 1.5 billion downloads to date. We already know Apple’s iPhone as host to the fastest growing development community in the world, sending coders on a rite of passage with dreams of hitting it rich. Those quasicultish seekers have made more than 65,000 apps available in 77 countries around the world.

Our congrats to Apple. May your useful apps continue to improve and your frivolous apps continue to make us scratch our heads as we look at the download counts.

You can read the full press release here.

Apple, Apps, Computers, Gaming, Mobile

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Fuji Set to Bring 3D Stills to the Masses

July 13, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

In years gone by, Fujifilm was the name in digital photography. They pioneered the first digital still camera in 1988 and held almost 30% market share. That was then, and unfortunately for Fuji, now is a time in which they hold less than 7% of the market and face stiff competition from companies like Nikon and Olympus.

Fuji is releasing a new camera with hopes of getting their mojo back. Called the FinePix Real 3D System, their new camera is (omg!) a 3D still camera, the first of its kind for a consumer market. The camera works by employing two lenses that sit approximately the width of a pair of human eyes apart. The result is binocular vision that recreates depth perception in the same way your brain does. The only problem is that the left and right images have to be directed to your left and right eye for the effect to work.

That’s part of Fuji’s strategy for the Real 3D. As the first 3D consumer camera, they’re the first with a real need for 3D media that doesn’t involve a pair of red and blue glasses. For starters, they’re looking at a 3D picture frame, which would direct each image at the viewer’s appropriate eye, and 3D film, which functions as a lens overlay for a photo print, achieving the desired effect.

I went to an art exhibit last year where a physical media photographer was showcasing photos he had take by sort of hacking this method. He shot the images and then put them into one of those viewfinders you see at Niagra Falls and other popular tourist destinations. The pictures were incredible, especially the dead bird splayed out on the pavement.

Success of this kind of product really depends on the success of the media, though. If the frame and the film are overpriced, it doesn’t matter how cool the pictures are. No one will be able to appreciate them. Fuji seems to be aware of this and plans to price at least the film under the $5 mark. The camera will run you a cool $600.

Cameras, News

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Rumor Central: Apple to debut $800 tablet this October

July 13, 2009 / Gary Fairchild

According to MacRumors, Apple plans to debut a netbook this October. The rumor has the netbook display measuring 9.7 inches and touchscreen enabled. Here’s MacRumors take on things:

Taiwanese news site InfoTimes reports [translation] that Apple is slated to debut its long-rumored netbook this October. Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wintek, and Dynapack have reportedly received orders from Apple related to the manufacturing of the new device.
The report notes that Apple is looking to adopt a 9.7-inch touchscreen for the new netbook, slightly smaller than the 10.1- or 10.2-inch screens typically used at the large end of the netbook range.
According to reliable information, Apple will not follow the current market trend (by producing netbooks with screens about 10.2 or 10.1 inches in diagonal length.) Instead, Apple will produce screens with about 9.7 inches in diagonal length. Touch screen will be installed. Wintek will be the main manufacturer of the touch screen.
Exact pricing remains unknown at this time, but the inclusion of a touchscreen and Apple’s history of refusing to compete at the lowest price points suggest that the netbook may be priced at around $800.
Because Apple will adopt touch screen technology on its netbooks, Apple will not target low-end consumers, avoiding direct competition with Acer, Asus, as well as their less-than-500-dollars netbooks. Apples netbook (or a “tablet” as many call it,) will probably be sold at around $800 USD each.
Apple has repeatedly stated that although it has been looking at the growing netbook market, it is not interested in releasing a low-end netbook product that produces an inferior user experience as current products do. Other sources have recently “confirmed” that an Apple netbook is in the works, but claim that it will not arrive until 2010.

My take? I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a netbook or tablet coming from Apple soon. The netbook market seems mature enough now that Apple can step into the ring. Apple is never first into any market; they always seem to wait and see how things progress then take whatever has been done and do it better. They aren’t always better, but there’s no question that they usually push innovation.

My concern with it is that at $800, are they really going to compete in the netbook market? It just sounds too pricey. Acer, Dell, and Asus are all producing faster, lighter, more reliable, and cheaper netbooks. And at $250 – $400 a piece, who would want to pay double that?

Apple, Computers

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