Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

If the just released Flip Mino HD would be available in any of the local stores in the country where I’m currently residing, I would certainly not hesitate in getting this as a gift to myself.  In fact, I might even get another one for my son.  The Flip Mino may be so cool and attractive enough to get you to buy it even before you take a look at its specs.  In fac,t you don’t have to worry about the specs, as you would certainly not be short changed in this department.

The Flip Mino HD is Pure Digital’s take on HD-capable camcorder market.  And instead of clashing with the other HD-capable camcorders in coming out with their own units touting support for large-capacity storage SD cards, Pure Digital opted to use built-in 4GB flash memory only.  For some camcorder users this would be enough for a one-hour video which they can easily upload to YouTube or other video sharing sites.  Find out more after the break.

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Everybody hates being caught by speed cameras: it is annoying, humiliating and also expensive, and that is why Novus have come up with the “Mini Coyote” which allows drivers to alert others of speed cameras in as little as three seconds.  The little gadget will sit on your dashboard, and when you spot a speed camera that isn’t already in the database you press the handy button and before you know it everyone with that gadget knows of it.

“Brilliant!“ I hear you cry, finally a way to beat those money grabbing machines, which it does quite effectively.  Although this idea isn’t new, the super speed at which it does it allows the community of users to quickly build up a good idea of where all the speed traps are due to the fact that it only takes 3 seconds.  The little gadget will then tell you if you are approaching any speed cameras, your speed, and will tell you to slow down if you are going too fast thus avoiding a fine. 

Plenty more after the break.

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The quality of cameras in phones has risen exponentially in the last few years from poor VGA to the fairly good 3 megapixel and beyond.  But there is always progress to be made, and Sony Ericsson have outlined some fairly ambitious aims in the release of their four year plan for smart phones; not only with cameras but other aspects of the phones as well.

However I will begin with cameras, and Ericsson’s vision is that by 2012 the cameras on phones will be capable of 20 megapixels and even the ability to shoot full HD video.  This is incredibly ambitious in four years, especially considering the current economic climate, but there is nothing to suggest that it cannot be done.  This will certainly have far reaching effects regarding home videos allowing near professional home films to be made via phone cameras, which would be pretty cool! 

Keep reading for more info on where Sony Ericsson plans to take phones.

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I don’t know if any of you can remember the old 3D films where the glasses were given out at the start, but just the memory recalls feelings of nausea.  In fact it is these films that automatically put me off anything with ‘3D’ as a prefix.  However the “Novo Minoru 3D Webcam” (Minoru meaning “reality” in Japanese) is different and not just because it is cute.

The webcam is really two cameras that are positioned roughly the same distance apart which is important as it means the images can be correctly interpreted by the brain that sees them.  Conveniently, this also means that when coupled with a study and well designed plastic case, it can create a particularly cute creature that appears to gaze at you.  This is enhanced by the multi-position stand which, when upright, look suspiciously like two arms.  Plenty more after the break.

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Sunday, October 26, a lot of horse racing fans will be seeing the big picture very clearly.  For over a year, Churchill Downs has been preparing to broadcast in HD.  High-definition simulcasts are going to be broadcast at off site betting locations, other racetracks and various places onsite.

The 2008 Fall Meet goes from October 26 through November 29.  The Kentucky Derby, first telecast nationally on May 3, 1953, will be seen May 2, 2009 in high-definition!  Interested? 

Keep reading to find out why Keeneland Racecourse is part of this story…

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Nikon has announced its two new Coolpix point-and-shoot cameras, the S52 and S52c. With both models offering 9.0-megapixels, the S52 and S52c were designed for camera enthusiasts who are looking for a stylish camera with good technical features.

The Nikon Coolpix S52 and S52c are both equipped with 38-114mm Zoom Nikkor lens with 3x optical zoom capability, optical vibration reduction image stabilization, manual sensitivity settings that can go as high as 3200 ISO, enhanced Face-Priority AF, In-Camera Red-Eye fix and D-Lighting that compensates for excessive backlight or insufficient flash in images.

The Coolpix S52 and S52c will be available sometime in May and retailing for $249.95 and $279.95 respectively. The $30 price difference is due to the Wi-Fi capability of the S52c, and possibly because of the color as well. The Coolpix S52 comes in Crimson Red and Midnight Black, while the S52c sports a Vibrant Black color.

Read [Nikon Press Center]

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Its name says Picto, DigiArt, and i90. The company used three different terms to identify this new gadget, and yet none of these is camera, digicam, or videocam. That’s because this new do-it-all can’t really fit into any one of those categories, seeing as how many different features it packs under the hood. It’s got an MP3 player, a voice recorder, a 30fps MPEG-4 video recorder, a 1GB SD memory card included in the retail package, and it’s a 9-megapixel camera with face detection and anti-shake technology. Currently selling for ₩179,000 (or about $185) in Korea, this is about as all-encompassing as a point-and-shoot digital camera can get. Although there haven’t been any details about when, or if ever it will be available in the US, we know one thing’s for sure: if the makers of this gadget were taught only three things during their childhood, these are the following: convergence, convergence, and convergence! Of course while it seems to do just about everything, we are not sure how well it will actually handle each of those tasks.

Via [Akihabara News]

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