A taste of adventure with Veho’s new Muvi K2 action camera

​Who doesn’t love adventure? Or, at the very least, the idea of it. I won’t lie — that’s what appeals to me most about action cameras: It’s the potential adventures they promise. The scuba diving trip you haven’t taken yet, or the white water rafting you’ve yet to enjoy. With a dedicated action camera, you’re one step closer to making it happen. Like getting some fancy new trainers to spark off that exercise kick.

The problem is… I’ve become a bit of a collector. I have a shoebox full of these things, and I just can’t stop myself from eyeing up the next one. On this occasion, that would be the new Muvi K2 series from Veho. It’s not the company’s first action camera — I already tested that one some time ago. What’s surprising is that Veho is back with a new model at all. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with its Muvi cameras; in fact, I was genuinely surprised at how good the last one was. It’s more that the action camera market is already saturated, dominated by one company in particular. Whatever the reason, Veho did make a new rugged camera, and it’s called the Muvi K-Series K2.

The model I tried was the K2NPNG edition. It’s the top-of-the-line one that comes with all the bells and whistles. It also comes in a manly case that looks like it should house a power drill. It’s just a carry case (and that’s cool enough in itself), but it really is a great presentation — much better than the packaging GoPro’s equivalent Black edition comes in. Along with the camera, the NPNG edition includes a bunch of accessories that include a clip-on LCD screen, waterproof casings and a stack of mounts. If there’s anything I love more than an action camera, it’s a well-accessorized one.

I’m going to skim over how much it looks like a GoPro. Yes, it’s very similar, but also, different enough that it doesn’t feel like a knockoff. While it’s similar in size, it’s not identical, so it won’t fit in the GoPro gimbal for a drone, for example (it’s 10 grams heavier, too, if we’re counting). It does come with an attachment so you can use any GoPro mounts/accessories though. So, if you’re a collector/serial owner like me, you’ve likely already got plenty of things you can use with this, and I knew just the place to test it out.

Navajas is a small town on the east coast of Spain, a few kilometers inland from Valencia. It’s nestled between two mountainous ridges that create a natural canyon. It’s this geography that gives the town its most famous natural asset, a waterfall called “El salto de la novia.” A river that runs through a gorge in the arid rocks is fed in part by this waterfall. It also happens to just be a lovely place to be, especially on a hot summer’s day. The mix of shade, sun, cool water and, of course, the natural water feature, makes it the perfect spot for a dip, or a nap, depending on whatever takes your fancy. It also seemed the perfect place to take the K2 for a spin.

The biggest complaint I had with the K2 — at least in the beginning — was the controls. Generally, these kinds of cameras are fairly easy to use. I can navigate my GoPros, or Drift cameras almost blindfolded. The K2 is a little more nuanced. For starters, there are different shutter buttons for photo and video recording. Pressing either once will put the K2 in that respective shooting mode. To take a picture or start recording, you have to press again. Confusingly, you then push a different button to stop recording. It’s therefore very easy to accidentally record long videos of your pocket. I had plenty of accidental underwater shots (of my hand).

The settings menus are similarly baffling at first glance. If you’re in photo mode, and want to change the video-recording settings, you won’t find them in the menu, until you jump back out, swap to video mode and then go back into settings. There are even two separate power buttons. It might be something that gets easier with practice. I hope it is, anyway.

The pictures and videos themselves are pleasing enough. That said, I don’t think it quite did the Spanish weather the justice it deserves. Despite great sunshine, some light clouds seemed to create problems for the light sensor, or the humidity could have been hazing the lens a little (it can still fog up, even in the case). In video recordings, this reaction to different light situations can be noticeably slow; as you move the camera, you can see the image change as it adjusts to the new light. The sharpness in the middle distance (say, if there are trees behind the subject) can be fuzzy at times, too. Color representation on the whole seemed pretty decent, though, and it’s pretty quick at grabbing photos. While that sounds like something basic, it isn’t always true of cameras in this category.

I think what I like most about the K2 (at least this NPNG edition), is that it’s a good all-round deal. At $300, it’s the same price as you-know-who’s equivalent camera in terms of features. The difference being: Veho’s flagship comes with a host of other accessories that would easily cost another $100 on top (the case and LCD display alone probably cost more than that). There’s a trade-off here, of course: value for money compared to a more proven image chip and a strong brand name.

For me, as an enthusiast, the K2 makes a good case for a secondary (or heck, these days, even tertiary) camera. Ideal for taking a time-lapse movie (it has a mode that turns the images into a video on the camera directly), while you spend all day having fun on the mountain. It has a few other unusual video features, too, like a G-Sensor mode that starts recording when it detects motion, which could open up plenty of other creative avenues. I, for one, have only spent a relatively short time with it, but I’m already throwing it in my bag when I go places. Something I don’t normally do.

Filed under: Cameras

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Source: Veho

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Inhabitat’s Week in Green: Tesla Gigafactory, Blue Lagoon and an electric unicycle

Tesla has emerged as one of the world’s most exciting and successful electric vehicle manufacturers — and now the Silicon Valley company is getting into the battery business in a big way. Tesla CEO Elon Musk just unveiled new images of the company’s $5 billion battery “gigafactory” — and he also broke the news that it will be powered entirely by renewable energy! Most vehicles fall into a specific category: sedan, pickup truck, station wagon, etc. — but Toyota’s new U Squared concept is the Swiss Army knife of cars. The insanely flexible vehicle folds out to seat up to four passengers, or you can fold down three seats and roll out an array of racks, movable rails and storage trays to accommodate everything from surfboards and bikes to bulky equipment.

In other transportation news, we showcased the world’s smallest (and cutest) electric car, and designer Austin Marhold has created a tiny electric unicycle that weighs just 24 pounds and fits between your shins. The self-balancing unicycle is reportedly very intuitive to ride, lightweight and portable. A family of four recently embarked on a 6,200-mile e-bike trip across the country. If they make it, they’ll break the world record for an e-bike trip, and they’ll be promoting clean transportation alternatives along the way. And a man from Oregon has transformed a school bus into a rustic mobile cabin using salvaged shingles made from leftover forest cuttings.

When we think about renewable energy, solar, wind and hydropower might be the first sources that come to mind — but they aren’t the only natural sources of clean energy. Geothermal energy powers much of Iceland, and it also provides an incredibly unique water source for the country’s biggest and most famous spa. The stunning Blue Lagoon, named for its milky turquoise hue, is fed by runoff water from the nearby geothermal plant, and its waters are as healing as they are luminous. Current solar technology tends to be expensive and difficult to produce — but a team of Australian researchers found a way to change all that by upgrading existing printers to spit out a solar cell every two seconds! In other energy news, a nonprofit organization called Solar Sister is distributing solar-powered products like lanterns and cellphone chargers through women’s rural networks in Africa. The Indian government recently announced plans to install as many as 2,200 solar-powered mobile communication towers throughout the country in hopes that mobile technology can push development in economically weak regions. And in Russia, a researcher is exploring whether cloud power could provide some of our clean energy and water needs. The scientist has created a tethered blimp that captures water from the clouds with a mesh that hangs vertically in the air and sends water to a hydropower plant on the ground via conduit attachments.

In design news, iPhone fans may have been salivating this past week at Apple‘s announcement on Tuesday, but all we could focus on was the Apple Watch, which got us all hot under the collar with its health- and fitness-tracking sensors and apps. Speaking of Apple, did you know that Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent? When an interviewer asked what Jobs’ kids thought of the iPad, Jobs replied, “They haven’t used it. We limit how much technology our kids use at home.” We’re in agreement with the idea of limiting children’s access to screen-based technology for their own health and development, which is why we’re thrilled that a new, decidedly low-tech Waldorf School just opened up in lower Manhattan. And as far as innovative toys go, the Dino Pet is one of the wildest we’ve ever seen — the living lamp glows in the dark due to the bioluminescent dinoflagellates it contains.

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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In this Chinese city, phone addicts get their own sidewalk lane

Some places have lanes for bicycles, others for motorcycles, but there’s a place in mainland China that boasts a different type of lane altogether: one for phone addicts glued to their screens. According to a Chinese publication, the cellphone lane above was spotted along a place called Foreigner Street in Chongqing city, one of the five major cities in the country. The sidewalk was most likely painted on for everyone’s safety, because, hey, if there’s distracted driving, there’s also distracted walking, as perfectly demonstrated by the woman in this video. If the idea sounds familiar, it’s because the National Geographic did something similar back in July as an experiment. The society stenciled “NO CELLPHONES” on one-half of a DC sidewalk and “CELLPHONES: WALK IN THIS LANE AT YOUR OWN RISK” on the other half. The result? Well, among other things, they found that the people actually glued to their phones didn’t even notice the markings at all. Typical.

[Image credit: News.cn]

Let’s see how this works: http://t.co/l1n3657Ktm pic.twitter.com/r5KTwXgR9f

– Chris Buckley 储百亮 (@ChuBailiang) September 13, 2014

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Simon James Cox (Twitter), Chris Buckley (Twitter)

Source: News QQ

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The Big Picture: NASA gets ready to build the ‘next great rocket’

See the gargantuan structure above that dwarfs that line of puny humans at the bottom (bet you didn’t even notice them at first glance, huh)? It’s a welding tool — the biggest one built for spacecraft, in fact, that’s slated to help Boeing build the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The structure’s officially called the Vertical Assembly Center, and it stands 170 feet tall with a width that measures 78 feet: not exactly surprising, considering the SLS is a 200-foot-tall behemoth. It’s but one of the many tools Boeing intends to use to build the core stage of NASA’s “most powerful rocket ever” after the two organizations finalized their $2.8 billion deal in July. The core stage will house cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen used to power the rocket’s four engines, and building it brings the SLS much closer to the launch pad for deep space exploration.

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Source: NASA

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Recommended Reading: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and ‘Gone Girl’

Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you’ll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read.

David Fincher’s Musical Dream Team
by Christopher Ross,
The Wall Street Journal

David Fincher’s new film chronicles the investigation faced by a man when his wife disappears and his innocence comes into question. We’ve come to expect a certain level of cinematography from the director in light of his recent efforts, and to help keep matters on the up and up, he employed Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross once again to create the score. This isn’t the first time that the Reznor/Ross duo has teamed up with Fincher though, as the pair provided award-winning work for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

[Photo credit: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images]

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Formula E’s first race ends in spectacular fashion

Worried that the all-electric Formula E racing league will somehow be less exciting than its gas-powered Formula 1 counterpart? Don’t be. The inaugural Beijing race ended on Saturday with about as much drama as you’d expect from conventional motorsports. The last lap involved a neck-and-neck battle between Renault’s Nicolas Prost and Venturi’s Nick Heidfeld that ended in a spectacular crash at the last corner (shown below); Prost says he inadvertently clipped Heidfeld while jockeying for position. Audi’s Lucas di Grassi ultimately claimed the historic first win by waltzing past his wrecked rivals. There’s no guarantees that the upcoming Malaysia race will produce such a spectacular finish, but it’s clear that eco-friendly competitions don’t necessarily lead to friendly driving.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: FIA Formula E

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