Cube 3 3D printer brings user-friendly hardware, higher resolutions for under a grand
Like clockwork, 3D Systems is offering up a refresh to its entry level Cube line. The third iteration of the Cube line, introduced almost exactly a year after its predecessor, features a new, semi-enclosed body, speedier printing and resolutions of down to 75 microns. The ink cartridges have been redesigned, as well, for an experience that’s “easier than changing an ink cartridge. The printer features Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, for printing from the Android / iOS Cubify app and a build volume of up to six-inches squared. You can also print with two materials (ABS and PLA, naturally) and two colors at the same time.
The Cube 3 is queued up for a Q2 launch, with a price starting at under $1,000.
Filed under: Peripherals
CubePro 3D printer does up to three colors, can create basketball-sized objects
It’s hard to say whether “sub-$5,000″ really qualifies as consumer-level pricing. We suspect that whatever the final cost of the new CubePro ends up being when it ships in Q2, it’ll be priced at “prosumer” levels, at best. Still, the followup to the CubeX boasts some pretty enticing specs. Like its predecessor, the Pro can create prints the size of a standard basketball and can manage up to three colors at a time, with resolutions as fine as 75 microns. The printer itself is more enclosed than the last version, with a “controlled print chamber,” which helps maintain the integrity of the print. And there is, naturally, built-in WiFi, so you can use the printer with the new Cubify iOS / Android mobile app.
Filed under: Peripherals
Canon’s targeting new parents with VIXIA R52, R50, R500 camcorders
Your smartphone can shoot video; your tablet can shoot video; and, if you even still own one, your point-and-shoot can shoot video too. So why, then, might you pick up a mid-range camcorder? Fortunately for manufacturers, there are still a few perks to owning a dedicated video camera. If top-notch image stabilization is what you’re after, you’ll probably turn to Sony, but if you’re a new parent looking to document your young child’s early years, Canon wants your business. The company’s latest VIXIA camcorders sport a variety of family-friendly features, from livestreaming to your smartphone with the R52 and R50 (think expensive baby monitor), to an “Advanced Baby Mode,” which can register up to three babies and track their height, weight and age over months and years of shooting.
Internally, all three cams are quite similar. They include 3.3-megapixel CMOS sensors, 32x optical zoom lenses with optical stabilization and 1080/60p video capture. The $450 R52 and $400 R50 also include internal storage — 32GB on the pricier model and 16GB on the other — letting you capture footage simultaneously to the embedded storage and a standard SD card, with archival-quality AVCHD recorded on one and upload-ready MP4 on the other, if you’d like. The $300 RF500 excludes built-in storage, so you’ll need to add an SD card to store captures there. The pricer pair also packs WiFi, with support for livestreaming and recording directly on a connected smartphone or tablet. Finally, you can also use the R52 and R50 with Canon’s new Pan Table accessory, adding to their practicality as a home-security appliance. Expect all three VIXIA camcorders in stores this March.
Canon unveils WiFi-equipped PowerShot SX600 HS, ELPH 340HS point-and-shoots
It’s hard to get excited about an ordinary point-and-shoot after Canon just showed off its funky PowerShot N100, but if practicality’s the name of the game, this new duo will have you covered. The first model, the PowerShot SX600 HS, includes a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, a DIGIC 4+ processor, an 18x 25-450mm, f/3.8-6.9 optical zoom lens and a 3-inch 461k-dot LCD. There’s also built-in WiFi and NFC, so you can pair the camera with an Android smartphone or tablet and transfer stills and video with ease. There’s a Mobile Device Connect button, enabling instant access to wireless features, such as app control and uploads. The SX600 includes a Hybrid Auto mode, which records four seconds of video before each still photo; a Smart Auto mode with 32 pre-defined shooting modes; and a dedicated movie button, giving you instant access to 1080p captures.
Next up is the PowerShot ELPH 340HS. This more portable cam will set you back 200 bucks, and includes a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, a DIGIC 4+ processor, a 12x 25-300mm, f/3.6-7.0 optical zoom lens and a 3-inch 461k-dot LCD. It also sports WiFi and NFC, with the same functionality outlined above, along with the same Hybrid Auto, Smart Auto and video shooting modes. The 340HS is expected to hit stores in March for $200, available in purple, black and silver. The $250 SX600 HS will be available a bit sooner — it ships at the end of February in red, black and white.
India’s Micromax announces dual-boot Android/Windows 8.1 tablet
If you know Micromax at all, there’s a good chance you live in India — or maybe you’ve caught wind of one of those low-cost Canvas handsets. Turns out the company is the second-largest smartphone maker in its native country, on top of dabbling in the HDTV and tablet spaces (and really awful slogans like “Nothing Like Anything”), among others. Micromax is hitting CES this year with a pretty interesting offering: a dual-boot tablet. Targeted, perhaps, at the indecisive, the LapTab runs both Windows 8.1 and Android Jelly Bean, so you don’t need to permanently commit. The tablet’s got a 10.1-inch 1,280 x 800 display and front- and rear-facing 2-megapixel cameras. Inside is a 1.46GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage. The tablet goes on sale early next month with a wireless keyboard and an as-of-yet undetermined price.
Filed under: Tablets
Canon claims significantly improved audio quality with VIXIA Mini X camcorder
Canon’s instant-sharing VIXIA Mini camcorder lineup is welcoming a new model to the family. The Mini X, which will be available alongside the existing Mini, adds a handful of enhanced audio-capture features aimed at making the camera more attractive to pros. The X packs microphones that are 250 percent larger than its predecessor and Linear PCM audio encoding, along with a feature that automatically selects ideal audio settings depending on the scene, a mic input jack with manual audio level control, a headphone jack for monitoring, uncompressed HDMI output and embedded timecode, making it easy to merge footage (and audio) with output from other cameras.
On the imaging front, there’s an f/2.8 fisheye lens, a 12.8-megapixel high-sensitivity CMOS sensor and a DIGIC 4 processor. The lens is fixed, but the camera offers an option to shoot in either a wide-angle or close-up mode — with the latter, you can also take advantage of electronic image stabilization. You can shoot regular footage, along with slow- or fast-motion and interval captures, with 1080p output in either MP4 or AVCHD. Like Canon’s point-and-shoot lineup, the Mini X also includes WiFi, enabling live streaming and remote control when paired with an Android or iOS device. Additionally, there’s a 2.7-inch touchscreen with full rotation, letting you make adjustments and handle framing directly in the camera, if that’s how you like to roll. The VIXIA Mini X, which is also compatible with Canon’s Pan Table accessory, is expected in stores in March with a $400 MSRP.
ZTE’s 5.5-inch Grand S II lets your friends unlock the phone with their voice
After a brief tease last week, ZTE has at last revealed the Grand S II. The Android 4.3 smartphone has all the necessary ingredients of an early 2014 flagship, including a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800, a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel sensor up front. However, its real centerpiece is its voice recognition, which is more elaborate than ZTE hinted at a few days ago. The Grand S II will recognize multiple users’ voices; unlike the Moto X, you can let friends and family unlock the phone solely through speech. Other voice features are familiar, but welcome. You can take photos with spoken commands, and a My-drive mode tweaks the voice recognition for quicker hands-free control while in the car. We’re not big on the 16GB of built-in storage, but the hefty 3,000mAh battery should last longer than the 1,780mAh pack in the original Grand S. About the only mystery left is the Grand S II’s launch schedule, but we hope to learn more about that in the near future.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: ZTE
Canon PowerShot N100 sports modified design, WiFi, rear-facing camera
We weren’t quite sure what to think of Canon’s PowerShot N, an unusual-looking point-and-shoot with a large touchscreen and a square design that launched at last year’s CES. That model didn’t follow the traditional pocket camera form factor, and while we were happy to give Canon some props for innovation, we weren’t convinced the N would be a success. And now, well-received or not, the non-traditional cam is back. This year, it’s the PowerShot N100 — and Canon even had the chutzpah to price this thing higher than its 2013 equivalent, at $350. That sum will net you a 12-megapixel CMOS sensor, Canon’s latest DIGIC 6 processor, a 5x f/1.8-5.7 (24-120mm) optically stabilized zoom lens, and a 3-inch, 922k-dot touchscreen that flips up 90 degrees. There’s WiFi, like last year’s model, along with NFC, so you can tap the camera to a compatible Android smartphone for instant image and video transfers.
But the spec Canon is pushing most with the N100 is a secondary rear-facing camera. We’ve seen plenty of rear-facing cams on smartphones and even a few tablets, but this appears to be the first time a manufacturer is including one on a dedicated point-and-shoot. The intention here is that photographers will use this second camera to capture their own expression in still or video form alongside content coming in through the primary lens. We first experienced this concept with LG’s Optimus G Pro, and while it’s a bit gimmicky, we can see Dual Capture resonating well with Canon’s target demographic. There’s also a Hybrid Auto mode that snaps four seconds of video before each still photo, a Creative Shot mode enabling a handful of assistive options and a standard video mode for capturing clips at up to 1080p. The PowerShot N100, available in black and white, will run you $350 when it ships in May.
ZTE’s Android-powered Projector Hotspot dishes out 1080p video and US-native LTE
We’ve seen some pretty clever hotspots in our day, but ZTE is determined to trump them all with its new Projector Hotspot. As the name implies, it’s both a 1080p DLP projector (with HDMI and WiFi Display support) as well as an 8-device LTE hotspot, giving your mobile devices a big screen and internet access at the same time. However, it’s smart enough that you sometimes won’t need another device at all. This hotspot runs Android 4.2, folks — you can hop online through its 4-inch touchscreen and project content from any app or website. ZTE plans to bring the Projector Hotspot to the US sometime in 2014, although it isn’t yet saying which carriers (if any) are involved with the launch.
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Networking, Mobile
Source: ZTE
Canon’s app-controlled Pan Table lets you create pro-level effects for $100
We don’t typically pay much attention to camera accessories, but this one’s definitely piqued our interest. The Pan Table, available later this quarter from Canon, pairs with the company’s Android and iOS Camera Access Plus apps to enable some pretty cool panning effects. After mounting your camcorder, you can move the platform 200 degrees to the left and right as you shoot video. It can also tilt up and down by 20 degrees, but you’ll need to make those adjustments manually. Unfortunately, Canon is unable to share pictures of the device at this time, but once the Pan Table does materialize, it will operate for up to nine hours on a pair of AA batteries, or you can power it indefinitely using the bundled AC adapter. It ships in March for $100.
Filed under: Cameras, Peripherals, Canon
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