The Content-Aware Scale feature in CS4

An article from AppleInsider has a very interesting video clip on the upcoming Adobe Photoshop CS4. I particularly like how it can be used to compress and skew the areas of non-importance on a digital image. This will totally open up a new dimension for photoshopping images.

Mobile Device Collaboration

I learned from GeekBrief.TV today that Microsoft has applied a very interesting patent on "Mobile Device Collaboration". What this means is that when more than one mobile devices are in the proximity of each other, all of them can share some sort of resources together, or "aggregates". I found the display aggregation, CPU aggregation and the bandwidth aggregation to be the most interesting. This concept also reminds me that I read some fantasy novels which have stories about artifacts collected from different places. Bringing them together would produce something more powerful, or unveils a treasure map. Maybe if I put a few of them together, it will reveal to me the road to success!

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3

I am slightly disappointed with the specs of Canon G10 and the review of Nikon P6000. So I heard that Panasonic has a new camera coming out called the Lumix DMC-LX3. I think it is quite a nice camera, and I think I will have a look at this camera as my other alternative to the big guns in the Photography world. Wonder if it is already available in Sydney yet?

Check out the camera from dpreview.

Photokina 2008 has arrived!

Well this is the first Photokina I noticed since I got myself a DSLR. This means lots of new cameras will be coming out!

I am waiting on reviews of the Canon G10, and the Nikon P6000, plus any other potential ones that will be mentioned in TWIP photo. Listen to their podcast!

Google's G1

Today I read a news article on SMH regarding the new G1 mobile phone. Although the phone isn't very "sleek" looking, I am tempted to try it out. Comparing with iPhone, Xperia and the new one from Samsung, the trends are obvious that the consumers now can afford the technology that should have arrived back many years ago when PDAs around.

How ironic that when the PDA markets were dying before, and people who are holding one of these are often being called "nerdy". But now it became the very "IN" thing and everyone wants to have one. Well I guess that's kinda like fashions.

Canon announces G10

The guys are so right (TWIPPHOTO) that lots of new cameras are coming out ahead of the Photokina 2008. Dpreview has an article today about Canon announced the NEW G10! I was kinda waiting for that one coming. It has some very interesting features. Earlier last month, dpreview also mentioned about a new Nikon Coolpix P6000 coming out. I really like how it has ISO3200 and ISO6400, built-in GPS receiver and a smaller form factor, which the Canon model lacks of. The G10 only has some fanciful features like slightly more effective megapixels, slightly larger LCD size and higher screen resolution, which don't really matter much when it comes down to taking the actual picture. Good quality photo at high ISOs and higher optical zooming are the prime factors I am really looking for.

I will be reading more reviews on these two cameras, before heading to the store when they become available.

The iPods

Went to Apple store today on George St today finally, to put my hands on those new iPods. First thing I headed to was the new iPod Nano.

iPod Nano
Orange, nice colour! Put on my hand, feels very light, even lighter than the first generation. However, I am starting to notice the bright reflective surface! Both the screen, and the body itself are just too shiny. I accidently touched the top edge of the Nano, oh it's sharp. In fact I've never recall they ever made the nano or any other iPods that have sharp edges. I just don't like it. Although navigating the menu items are quite smooth and quite a nice interface. The other thing is, the games that comes with it, one of the game can actually detect the orientation of the iPod nano, hence adjusting the GUI from landscape to potrait, or vice versa. Pretty cool.

+ Very quick user interface
+ Intelligent GUI
+ Slim factor form
+ Attractive design
+ Lightweight

- Screen and the surface of the body too reflective
- Edges too sharp

iPod Touch
Gotta admit this iPod Touch is better than the first generation (which I am currently using everyday). For the fact that it has a built-in speaker, so I can use the device even if I forgot to carry my headphone around. I don't quite like the speaker sound dial on the side, it's not so easy to press, though it is still much better than purely using the GUI to control the sound. Nice design, not much to complain about, but tell me why when iPhone 3G is costing similar in prices and can actually surf the Internet on the go using 3G, how many ppl would still be buying the wifi-based iPod Touch that is not that much cheaper??

iPod Classic
Tried the new iPod Classic 120GB. A bit tempting to get one for the fact that it's also an external HDD. Oh wait.. 120GB for $300+ ??? Well perhaps back a few years ago when portable HDDs are still quite expensive, it wouldn't matter much, but now I could have a much bigger capacity HDD, with a lot less money. Also I found the user interface quite laggy. I do think eventually Apple will stop the iPod Classic line.

iPod Shuffle
Nice colours. But where's orange!?

Conclusion
Gotta say this refresh I found slightly disappointing. But I hope that is only because they are focusing on bringing the newer better Macbooks next month! :D

Microsoft releases BlueTrack Mice

At last the computer mouse gets a blue light! Well according to the video podcast of GeekBrief #426 I watched today, M$ has introduced a new type of mouse that will have even higher precisions than a laser mouse, and works on a lot more different types of surface!

Check them out from the Microsoft website.

If they are really good, I think I might get one myself!

The 5 items from Canon

Okay, here is the Flickr site for the curious:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/canonphoto5/

I have ideas for these 5 items, but now I need some assistance and time to set them up!

Received my 5 items from Canon Photo5!

Today I was surprised to see what I have received. They are xxxxxx, ---, ###, @@@, and ***** :)

I have already came up with ideas on what to do, I just need some time, patience and assistance to start shooting!

The original iPod inventor

A news article in SMH today talked about how Apple admitted they did not invent the iPod. It was someone called Kane Kramer who laid his design 30 years ago.

I hope he will get lucky and have Apple providing him with all the latest technology goodies for the next 30 years :P

This is inspiring, I should put all my previous designs up on the web too!

Federer held the US Open Grand Slam trophy for the 5th consecutive time

Well done Roger. Although not as exciting as everyone anticipated for a Nadal VS Federer match. Hopefully next year we'll see a bit more rivalries between the two and possibly more from the Big 3, or 4 ;)

Apple Event: Watch for the new 4G iPod Nano!

Look forward to see another new member of the iPod family. Leaked photos have been put on different websites... but you don't have to wait too long. The event is about to start!

I do wish they'll announce new Macbook too though!

Lenovo came up with something convenient

Read an article today on CNet and discovered that Lenovo has designed an external drive that could tell you how much disk space left by a touch of hand, without even need to plug it in. This sounds pretty cool to me and very convenient for some.

I've always like the idea of getting the information needed in the quickest way!

Canon Photo5 competition!

Whether you own a Canon or not, whether you have a SLR or not, as long as you have a camera and you are an Australian, you can enter this competition. Creative and passionate are what counts.

Check it out:
http://www.canon.com.au/photo5/competition/default.aspx

Sony recalling laptops

There's an article about Sony recalling their laptops on SMH. If you have a Sony, better to check if your model is affected.

Chrome Browser from Google

Not sure if you are aware about this new application, but recently SMH has been reporting Google's new Internet Browser - Chrome. Today I learned more about it from this news, and I am not so sure if I really want to use it as my primary Internet browser. I don't use every single product that Google produced. I use my Gmail mainly, and of course, their flagship search engine. I kinda shift to neutral when I realised that a lot of online stuffs are now associated with them somehow.

I just don't like them putting too many fingerprints on the things I do or use online. It's unfortunate that the Blogger that I am using forced me earlier to use my gmail logon to sign-in. Some people might like the idea of single sign-on. By having one simple username and password, they can pretty much access everything online without remembering all different accounts and passwords. But not me. I deter from their online word processor, their online spreadsheet, my photo album and many more. I don't mind to use them indenpendantly though. However, it sounds too risky to me if one's google account gets compromised. Someone can impersonate an online identity by using just one logon. It is just way too powerful.

Therefore, this browser is not really for me :)

*New PSP* coming out soon

For the Sony fan I came across an article today talking about a new PSP will be releasing in Japan next month, with improved LCD and built-in microphone. I was kinda waiting for a new model to come out as well, but a bit disappointed that the look remains the same as the existing one, except perhaps looking smaller. Well this is kinda boring, at least they should come up with another colour??

Let's see how popular this will become in a month or two?