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Posts tagged wifi
Apple Launches iPad
Jan 27th
Thanks to what can only be a series of so-called controlled leaks by Apple, we all knew that Apple’s much-awaited new product reveal would be a tablet. And, lo, the iPad is born!
It’s been described by its maker as a revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more.
The all-new Apple iPad features a responsive high-resolution multi-touch display that’s designed to let users physically interact with applications and content. At just 0.5 inches thick and weighing just 1.5 pounds, the iPad is thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook and includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad.
It will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store. iPad will be available in late March starting at the breakthrough price of just $499 in the US (no indication UK/ROI/Europe pricing yet).
“Intimate, intuitive and fun” – CEO Jobs
In a presentation by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, he said: “iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.” He continued, “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”
Every app works in both portrait and landscape, automatically animating between views as the user rotates iPad in any direction.
The precise multi-touch interface is designed to make surfing the web on the iPad an entirely new experience, dramatically more interactive and intimate than on a computer, we’re told.
Reading and sending email is designed to be fun and easy on iPad’s large screen and almost full-size “soft” keyboard. Users can import photos from a Mac, PC or digital camera, see them organised as albums, and enjoy and share them using iPad’s elegant slideshows. It’s also easy to watch movies, TV shows and YouTube, all in HD or flip through pages of an e-book that were downloaded from Apple’s new iBookstore while listening to one’s music collection.
iBooks from the iBookstore
iPad runs almost all of the over 140,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for an iPhone or iPod touch. The iTunes Store facilitates access to the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalogue of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 8,000 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video. Apple also announced the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore and provides what Apple cliams to be the best way to browse, buy and read books on a mobile device. The iBookstore will feature books from major and independent publishers.
Apple also introduced a new version of iWork for iPad, claiming it to be the first desktop-class productivity suite designed specifically for multi-touch devices.
With already-familiar Mac applications commonly found on regular Mac desktop and laptop computers, Pages, Keynote and Numbers make the creation of beautifully formatted documents, stunning presentations with animations and transitions, together with spreadsheets with charts, functions and formulas – all of which look much better than their Windows equivalents. The three apps will be available separately through the App Store for US$9.99 each.
Same iTunes syncing as iPhone and iPod Touch
iPad syncs with iTunes just like the iPhone and iPod touch, using the standard Apple 30-pin to USB cable, meaning that all contacts, photos, music, movies, TV shows, applications (and more) can be synchronised from a Mac or PC. All the apps and content are downloaded to the iPad from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBookstore will be automatically synced to the user’s iTunes library the next time it is connected to the computer.
The iPad has been given a 9.7-inch, LED-backlit display which features IPS technology designed to deliver crisp, clear images and consistent colour with an ultra-wide 178 degree viewing angle.
The precise, capacitive multi-touch display is (according to Apple’s Press Release) “amazingly accurate and responsive” whether scrolling web pages or playing games.
Additionally, the intelligent soft keyboard pioneered on iPhone takes advantage of iPad’s larger display to offer an almost full-size soft keyboard. Many users will welcome the fact that the iPad also connects to the new iPad Keyboard Dock with a full-size traditional keyboard – something considered to be a really important and handy feature here at SimplyDV Towers.
Two versions – Wi-Fi with 3G, Wi-Fi without
iPad comes in two versions—one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G. iPad includes the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the 3G versions support speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA networks. Apple and AT&T announced breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.
Pricing & Availability
The iPad will be available worldwide in late March for a suggested retail price of US$499 for the 16GB model, US$599 for the 32GB model, US$699 for the 64GB model. The Wi-Fi + 3G models of iPad will be available in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of US$629 for the 16GB model, US$729 for the 32GB model and US$829 for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorised Resellers. International pricing and worldwide availability will be announced at a later date. iBookstore will be available in the US at launch.
Smug Footnote by Author
Yours truly even predicted that it was to be called the “iPad”. And guess what? He was right!
Source (Text and Images) Apple UK. Additional words: Colin Barrett
Samsung Full-HD “S” cams to get Wi-Fi connectivity
Jan 21st
With wireless connectivity between digital devices now becoming the norm, Samsung is claiming a first by including built-in Wi-Fi and DLNA connectivity into its new S-Series of full-HD digital camcorders.
Samsung HMX-S10 Full-HD cam
Claimed to be the highest-performing full-HD 1080i camcorders in Samsung’s history, the HMX-S10, HMX-S15 and HMX-S16 are said to incorporate Samsung’s proprietary new Victoria Engine processor and a cutting-edge 1/2.3 inch BSI (Back Side Illumination) CMOS imaging sensor which – we’re informed – combine to yield outstanding image quality and low-light performance.
The basic idea behind the inclusion of WiFi technology into the camcorders is to enable the sharing of video clips and still picture content with others without having to worry about fumbling for wires or cables.
Wi-Fi & DLNA Connectivity
The new Samsung HMX-S15 and HMX-S16 are the world’s first to offer both built-in Wi-Fi and DLNA connectivity. The HMX-S15 and HMXS16 feature Samsung AllShare, which allows consumers to easily access, manage and share content including their full-HD videos across other DLNA certified devices.
With the integrated Wi-Fi connectivity, consumers can now forego having to connect any cables to enjoy their HD video or digital still images on their HDTV or computer. Consumers can also take advantage of built-in HDMI connectivity to view their content on devices that may not be DLNA certified simply by connecting to the source via an HDMI cable.
Schneider lens and 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD
Each of the three S-Series camcorders has been given a Schneider Kreuznach Varioplan-HD lens which features 18x Intelli Zoom. Claimed to be significantly more reliable than a standard digital zoom (which often negatively affects the quality of the recorded image), Samsung’s new Intelli-Zoom allows users to go beyond the camcorder’s 15x optical zoom without sacrificing image quality.
Head-on: Samsung HMX-S10 Full-HD cam
The S-Series Kreuznach Varioplan-HD lens is also paired with Optical Stabilisation to help reduce image blur and shaky video, which can be especially helpful when using the camcorder’s full optical zoom. The Samsung S-Series camcorders also feature decent-sized 3.5-inch wide touch-screen LCDs which house a 3D graphic user interface (GUI). The ultra-bright, swiveling, WVGA LCDs and GUI not only offer fascinating visual effects – we’re assured – but grant users uncomplicated, intuitive and easy access to all of the camcorders’ advanced functions.
“Innovative” New Video Processor and BSI CMOS Sensor
Samsung’s full-HD S-Series camcorders are highlighted by a revolutionary new BSI CMOS imaging sensor, designed to absorb more light than other conventional sensors and deliver unprecedented low-light performance. The new BSI CMOS sensor is further enhanced by Samsung’s proprietary new Victoria Engine video processor designed specifically to optimise performance of HD camcorders. Samsung’s new Victoria Engine video processor offers a 3D noise reduction filter that efficiently suppresses noise while preserving details and edges resulting in crisp video and still image quality. The Victoria Engine’s also expands the range of colour expression and improves video quality with the help of other video processing modules such as contrast, white tone and colour tone enhancement. Amazingly, despite all of its advanced features, the Victoria Engine draws a minimal amount of power thanks to 45 nano chip fabrication technology, drastically extending the camcorder’s battery life to more than 2 hours.
SSD (Solid-State Drive) Technology
In keeping with the current trend for completely solid-state, memory-based, recording, these S-Series camcorders make use of internal Solid State Drives (SSD), which undoubtedly have their advantages over Hard Disk Drives (HDD) in digital camcorders.
As well as being inherently more reliable than HDD – which still runs the risk of being affected by bumps and rough handling – solid-state memory recording and playback media are also faster than HDD.
Samsung’s HMX-S16 offers an internal 64GB SSD while the HMX-S15 offers an internal 32GB SSD. Both camcorders also allow consumers to expand memory capacity using an SD/SDHC memory card. The HMX S10 does not feature internal SSD memory and requires the use of a SD/SDHC memory card.
Other Features
The S-Series camcorders offer a variety of unique features such as a flash to help capture 10 mega-pixel digital still images, storyboard printing and the ability to shoot in super-slow motion with speeds of 300 fps at a resolution of 368×208 and 600 fps at a resolution of 192×112. The S-Series camcorders also are equipped with high-definition Time Lapse recording, which Samsung is confident will give consumers the ability to truly experiment with their creativity. When shooting in the Time Lapse recording mode, the camcorder will record a single image at an interval pre-selected by the user, either 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 30 seconds, and will save each image as one single movie file.
Availability in Europe
We understand that the models in the S-Series will be available throughout Europe in May or June 2010, though this has not been confirmed by Samsung.
Words: Colin Barrett based on information provided by Samsung (subject to change). Images courtesy Samsung UK. Used by permission.
More information: Samsung UK
Eye-Fi offers Wi-Fi clip transfers
Nov 9th
The Eye-Fi Share Video SDHC Card
The Eye-Fi Home Video card is intended to save users time by wirelessly uploading JPEG photos and videos from their camera to their Windows PC or Apple Mac. Using your broadband wireless modem/router as the Wi-Fi communication hub, Eye-Fi is designed to make the transfer and organisation of digital video clips and pictures easy since it will upload to any folder on your computer and allow you to arrange your movies and photos according to date and time. Apple Mac users can even upload directly into iPhoto.
With its 4GB of flash memory, the Eye-Fi Home Video stores up to 2,000 photos or 90 minutes of video (depending on the recording format used) and facilitates automatic backup to the computer thanks to its wireless capabilities.
