Considering the amount of time people spend on their mobile devices, especially their smartphones, you’d think that printing from them would be pretty commonplace by now. Especially with the fact that they’re all fused with WiFi and Bluetooth. But, it’s still not everywhere quite yet, so when Kodak announces a brand new printer that features the missing link, well, we get pretty excited.
Kodak is still saying that they’ve got the cheapest total ink replacement in the market, and that’s all well and good for them. The 6150 AiO Printer features 4-in-1 flexibility, offering up print, scan, fax, and copy all in the same unit. It has the latest technology when it comes to WiFi, and Kodak is positive that you’ll be happy with how easy it is to set up. It has an “intuitive control panel,” which means you’ll be able to do all your paper needs from both a touchscreen display, as well as a more physical, button-filled fashion.
But, as we mentioned above, the single best feature is the fact that you can choose to print what you want from your smartphone. As of right now, Kodak has support for BlackBerry devices, and thanks to a brand new application that you can find in Apple’s App Store, called Kodak Pic Flick App, you can print from your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, while on the go. You can order your very own 6150 AiO printer from Kodak’s website for $229.99 right now if it’s caught your attention.
It’s been a few months since Kodak came forward and announced the Playsport Video Camera existed, but the time’s finally arrived and the feature-packed HD camera is available right now. It may not be the most attractive piece of hardware out there, but you’ve got to admit: it’s pretty cool that you can throw it into a shallow pool of water, right? Well, at least the picture makes it look fun.
Kodak’s quick to point out that the Playsport Video Camera is waterproof. You can submerge it up to 10 feet (3 meters) of water, and still keep snapping your favorite photos, or grabbing some HD video. That’s right, the Playsport can capture full 1080p HD video at a full 30 frames per seconds (FPS). It also features things like electronic image stabilization, a brilliant 2-inch color LCD display with an integrated LCD glare shield, and the ability to capture 5MP HD stills, at a 16:9 ratio.
You can also expect to find face recognition, and the ability to expand the integrated memory with either SD or SDHC memory cards, all the way up to 32GB. That’ll give you about 10 hours of HD video, give or take. It has the ability to upload images directly to social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, using the software on the camera, or the USB cable that comes with it. Finally, you can pick up the Playsport Video Camera in three different colors: Abyss (black), Wave Crash (blue), and Adrenaline Rush (purple). It’ll set you back $149.99, but with all those features, you can’t pass it up, right?
Pentax’s huge medium-format 645D digital camera has had a public outing in Toronto this past weekend, demonstrating its updated Kodak 44 x 33 mm sensor – that has climbed from 30- to 40-mexapixels since we first saw the concept back in early 2009 – and general all-round awesomeness. Shooting a single frame per second, the Pentax 645D is apparently intended for scenery and other still-life photography, rather than anything faster moving. Scolirk grabbed some hands-on time and a demo video you can see after the cut.
Video demo after the cut
The reason for the massive bulk – aside from the huge sensor, which is apparently 1.7x the size of a regular DSLR CCD – is that the 645D can use film lenses. That opens up plenty of interesting possibilities for still-life photographers.
As for the 645D itself, Pentax have used roughly the same control layout as the K-7, together with that DSLR’s integrated HDR creation functions, and there’s a 3-inch LCD preview display with 170-degree viewing angles. Storage is via twin SDHC card slots, and there’s a new dust removal system. Expect it to arrive – and be expensive – by the end of 2010.
Announced all the way back at CES 2010, Kodak’s latest point-and-shoot digital camera has finally gone up for sale. The Kodak Slice is a 14-megapixel compact, with an internal 5x optical zoom, image stabilization and a 3.5-inch 16:9 capacitive touchscreen on the back. As well as taking photos it can record 720p HD video at 30fps.
As well as 2GB of onboard storage there’s a microSDHC card slot, though you’ll have to make do with USB 2.0 as there’s no HDMI or A/V connectivity. There’s both face and scene detection, and an automatic “Smart Shoot” mode which will pair those features with ISO and dynamic range balance for better shots. ISO settings from 64 to 3200 are possible.
Finally you get a “Share” button which allows you to preselect which photos you want to upload to various different social networks – including Facebook, Flickr and YouTube – and have them automatically sent when you next plug the Slice into your computer. The Kodak Slice is available now, priced at $349.95.
Kodak has a line of digital cameras that are designed to make it easy for users to shoot and share pictures called EASYSHARE. Kodak has added a new model to the EASYSHARE line called the M580. The camera is designed to allow for easy sharing of photos on social networks like Facebook, Flickr, and others.
The camera has a 3-inch LCD on the rear and uses a 14MP sensor. Optical zoom is 8x and the camera has shake reduction. HD video recording at 720p resolution is supported at 30 fps. The lens us a 28mm wide angle unit using Schneider-Kreuznach optics.
The camera has a hoard of automatic features designed to give you great pictures no matter the setting. The camera has face recognition and can be set up to recognize up to 20 faces automatically. The feature automatically tags faces for search and the tags carry over to editing software. The M580 has 64MB of internal memory and stores to SD/SDHC cards. The camera can be pre-ordered now for $199.99 and is expected to ship on April 23.
You need quite a few fingers to count off all the reasons why this particular hack is awesome: it’s based on a digital camera with a hacked OS, plays classic 3D shooter Doom, and uses authentic keyboard buttons for control. The handiwork of JJ Dasher, The DoomBOX is based on a Kodak DC290 digital camera with a custom port of Doom for its hack-friendly Digita OS.
Video demo after the cut
Apparently Digita was quite a popular platform for hacking at one point, and there are various ports of different apps for it including a MAME emulator. Having settled on Doom, however, the camera’s button layout didn’t suit, so JJ crafted a custom enclosure with buttons salvaged from a vintage soft-feel PC keyboard and laid out in as close to the usual pattern as space allowed.
A bigger speaker, LED indicator for CF card activity and room for a future internal battery round out the hardware changes. It’s not pretty, no, but we still want one.
Could all the Golden-i wearable computer need to be more consumer-friendly be a dashing hat? Probably not quite – after all, there’s still the rather noticeable eyepiece to take into account – but William Gerwin’s Kodak Sponsored Studio project does do a better job at removing some of the geek-factor to a wearable system.
Gerwin’s intent is a little different to the Golden-i, which prioritizes remote data access rather than predominantly capture. The headset has a 10.1-megapixel camera and an integrated pico-projector, which both hook up wirelessly to a mobile hotspot which uploads content directly to a remote cloud server. When you want to share content, you do so publicly via the projector, and the whole thing is built into a pair of headphones.
So, more of a life-blogging tool than the Golden-i claims to be, but as a model of how to make wearable computing more aesthetically acceptable it’s a little more successful than the Kopin’s plastic-heavy style. Unfortunately it’s all just a concept right now.
Apple and other electronics firms seemingly find themselves embroiled in patent infringement suits all the time. One name we don’t often hear with infringement suits is Kodak. Kodak has filed a suit against Apple and RIM alleging patent infringement.
Kodak alleges that both RIM and Apple are infringing on patents it holds on digital imaging. Kodak has filed the suit with the ITC with the specific claim that camera-enabled devices from Apple and RIM infringe on a patent Kodak holds having to do with previewing images.
Kodak also filed another suit against Apple alleging that it is also infringing on patents Kodak holds for certain computer processes. Kodak claims that it has been working with RIM and Apple for years to resolve the issues unsuccessfully and is resorting to a suit for resolution. Kodak is seeking a limited exclusion on the importation of the infringing devices that include digital cameras along with unspecified damages.
Apparently Kodak’s attorneys were having a little courtroom separation anxiety — just a week after settling that long-running patent case with Samsung, they’ve filed three separate actions against Apple and RIM based. Two of the cases are based on the same patent at issue in the Samsung litigation: the first is an International Trade Commission complaint alleging that iPhones and BlackBerrys infringe the Kodak patent on previewing images, while the other is filed solely against Apple in the Western District of New York and also includes a patent on processing images at different resolutions. Apple’s also the sole focus of the third case, which alleges infringement of several patents on computer programs calling to other programs — sounds obvious, but Kodak’s already enforced them against Sun in a 2004 case. Kodak says all it’s after is fair license terms, and that it’s not trying to push anything off the market — the man with the gun always sounds so reasonable, doesn’t he?
Apparently Kodak’s attorneys were having a little courtroom separation anxiety — just a week after settling that long-running patent case with Samsung, they’ve filed three separate actions against Apple and RIM based. Two of the cases are based on the same patent at issue in the Samsung litigation: the first is an International Trade Commission complaint alleging that iPhones and BlackBerrys infringe the Kodak patent on previewing images, while the other is filed solely against Apple in the Western District of New York and also includes a patent on processing images at different resolutions. Apple’s also the sole focus of the third case, which alleges infringement of several patents on computer programs calling to other programs — sounds obvious, but Kodak’s already enforced them against Sun in a 2004 case. Kodak says all it’s after is fair license terms, and that it’s not trying to push anything off the market — the man with the gun always sounds so reasonable, doesn’t he?
