Images are recorded every moment of every day from a multitude (plethora, if you will) of recording devices ranging from cellphones to traffic cameras to the Hubble telescope spacecraft. Photography, in form or another, is all around us. Given the basic definition of the process, photography can be accomplished with any device made for the purpose of recording images – moving or still. Video cameras are basically just still cameras with very, very fast motor drives and longer record times. Most cinematic features are shot at 24 fps or frames per second. That is 24 images each second, repeated until the shutter button is released. The majority of today’s video cameras are recording at either 30 fps or 60 fps. iPhones record video at rates up to 30 fps. The digital age allows us to see these images almost immediately. The closest photographers were able to get to this in the past was by placing a separate film container on the back of their studio cameras that transferred the scene they were recording onto Polaroid (almost) instant film. (And yes, most folks developed a little dance routine out of the “shaking” process that inevitably followed.) Good images can come from [...]

Despite only being a couple of months old – I’ve just finished my second run-through and am finishing up my review – Alpha Protocol is now officially *dead*. In an interview at CVG, publisher Sega makes it official that they have no plans for a follow-up. “Let’s speak very commercially; the game hasn’t sold what we’ve expected, therefore we won’t be doing a sequel,” said Hayes. “The concept was brilliant, though,” he added. “You know this whole thing with Metacritic where you have to be in the high 70s to mid-80s minimum [to have any success] – well, with RPGs you have got to be in the late 80s.” “Whilst we had a Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I love Evernote. I live in Evernote. Evernote is killing me… Evernote has been teasing about something new coming for some time. They have blog posts up about it, are running a contest about it, and have reached out directly about it. But try as I might (and I HAVE TRIED) I can’t get a clue about what they are about to unveil. The only thing I do know is that it must be something pretty major. How do I know that? Simple… I’ve been following the company and using Evernote since the current iteration of the service was in beta. During… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I’ve reviewed a lot of protective cases for the iPhone, from the Otterbox to the Phone Poncho and everything in between. This category of case usually serves one purpose: provide the maximum amount of protection for your precious device, no matter what sort of elements you throw towards it. Usually those elements includes drops, bumps and light weather. The DryCASE from Dry Corp. provides an entirely new level of protection for your iPhone. Can you say Vacuum Seal? I thought you could … The DryCASE is a vacuum-sealed case that allows for full touch screen functionality, including underwater pictures and video. It is Continue reading on Gear Diary …

These days, what with everyone using multiple password-requiring programs, keeping track of your various passwords can be a real pain in the patoot.  And in the enterprise world, there’s a whole lot more at stake than one person’s patoot.  So SplashData has stepped in with an enterprise solution:  SplashID for the enterprise environment. I’m not going to go into all the nifty features that the SplashData folks have included for you; suffice it to say that it’s chock-full.  And it can be yours for an MSRP “as low as $12 per license.”  So if you’re an enterprise IT person, or an enterprise services buyer, really, you should check it out. Full… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

I was perusing the Android Marketplace for new apps and I came across the above application. Yes, you read that right.  It’s a backpack and not really an application.  The backpack in question is a Ecowatt Black Solar Backpack. I am not quite sure what to think of this.  It’s probably not malware, but it’s not software either.  Wouldn’t this violate Googles TOS for the marketplace??  I happened to be using the word Flash in my search and I noticed the multiple uses of the word flash in this.  It sounds kind of spammy to me, but then I thought this wouldn’t be a bad idea.  At first… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Look; I know High School has changed some since my day.  My daughter’s has sushi in the cafeteria, for example.  There aren’t any lockers.  They have an exploding scoreboard above the football field.  (We didn’t even have a home football field–it was right after Prop 13 passed.)  Etc. But some things, one would think, are sacrosanct.  You’re still going to sell out of even bad cardboard cafe’ pizza on Pizza Day.  You’re still going to have the “steady droner” teachers who put everyone to sleep.  You’re still going to have law-flouting, heavily-testosteroned maniacs pulling weird pranks (our High School:  stealing a Howitzer from the local weapons station and parking it in the gym).  You’re still… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The fall TV season is soon to be upon us and it isn’t too early to start getting ready for it. That’s where today’s Gear Deal comes in. Our Gear sponsor has tracked down a 40″ PROSCAN 1080p LCD HDTV for just over $400. The unit features built-in ATSC, NTSC and QAM tuner, three HDMI inputs and 550nit brightness. It has an MSRP of $498 but with this deal you can get it for just $429. That price even includes shipping. For details and ordering visit LogicBUY. Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Is $189 too steep for a Kindle for you? Are you planning on doing all your book shopping from within a Sprint coverage area? If so, check out this deal: Amazon is selling refurbished Kindles with US-only wireless for $109.99! No, your eyes aren’t going bad. $109.99. For a Kindle 2. It’s not the holy grail of $99.99, but it’s very close. And it’s sold directly through Amazon’s WarehouseDeals, so you know Amazon is standing behind the quality of the refurb. If you’ve been using the Kindle app on your iPad but hate the screen in sunlight, this would make the perfect companion device. With wireless on, it would always keep your book in perfect sync… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

There’s no question the iPhone 4 needs a case most of the time. The glass is more delicate than we were initially led to believe, and then there is the antenna issue that continues to dominate online tech chatting. Thankfully a host of cases for the newest iPhone have been rolling out. One of the latest is a new version of an old favorite, Speck’s PixelSkin. Let’s take a look. From Speck: The tactile pixel texture and perfect amount of “squish” is what makes this rubberized iPhone 4 case so grippy in-hand and famously protective. There are rubberized Continue reading on Gear Diary …

In the ever-expanding world of “i” accessories, there are plenty of single purpose items.  Versed General seems to have said “pshaw!”  to that and are offering up their iAngle for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  It’s a stand!  It’s an earbud accessory!  It comes in black or white and it’s $9.99!  One side of the iAngle works as an earbud wrapper, but turn it over and it will act as a stand, holding your iDevice at a good viewing angle. Versed General was nice enough to send us a black iAngle for review.  I have to say, it’s just as advertised.  Made of a flexible rubber, the iAngle was neither too large nor… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

From iLuv- With its stylish oval design and alarm clock functionality, the iLuv App Station Alarm Clock Stereo Speaker Dock for iPhone 3G and 3GS or iPod is the ideal desktop sound system. The speaker dock stands horizontally or vertically, thus accommodating your device’s touch-screen view. The App Station’s key feature is its sophisticated alarm clock functionality with the iLuv App Clock for iPhone–available from the Apple iTunes Store. With the excellent speaker chambers, the App Station is powerful enough to deliver rich dynamic sound, while it charges your iPhone or iPod as you listen. The App Station shows great versatility and enhances the user’s experience of other iPhone 3G, 3Gs, and iPod functions such as Continue reading on Gear Diary …

The summer’s not the only thing turning up the heat on Apple right now as Consumer Reports states, “we can’t recommend the iPhone 4″. Talk about reversing positions… When the iPhone 4 first came out CR took a look and determined that “There’s no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns.” Phew… sigh of relief. Not so fast however… After being able to replicate reception issues out in the real world CR has changed their tune. Actually it is a complete reversal as today CR emailed us and said– Consumer Reports engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4 and established that if your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing to Continue reading on Gear Diary …

(Image courtesy Thundafunda) For this week’s “State of the eBook” I thought we should look at potential winners and losers in the ebook world. With competition and price wars getting fiercer, there’s a few major battles shaping up that may change the competitive landscape. One is (at this point) a slam dunk, while the others are subject to many variables. Without further ado, here are the matchups! Borders vs B&N B&N vs Amazon Amazon vs B&N and Spring Design Spring Design vs B&N Amazon, B&N, Spring Design and Borders vs the iPad Borders vs B&N Let’s start with what I think is just going to be an absolute rout, unless we see a drastic change… Continue reading on Gear Diary …

Today’s Gear Deal comes from the new LogicBlackFriday website. There you’ll find deals, coupons and more. Today’s deal is on the new Lenovo IdeaPad U160. The U160 is an 11.6″ notebook sporting a Core i5ULV processor. The result is good power and long battery life. The notebook comes with 4GB of RAM, a 320GB harddrive and a 1366 by 768 HD display. All that and it weighs just 2.76 pounds. And for even better performance you can upgrade to a Core i7 processor. This configuration has an MSRP of $1199 but our GearSponsor has a coupon for $150 off. That brings the price down to $1049 shipped. For details, to Continue reading on Gear Diary …