Yale Look Video Doorbell Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Yale’s new doorbell cam lets you see who’s rinigng
Coming in October, the $170 Yale Look is a Wi-Fi doorbell cam with its own video monitor.
by Ry Crist
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Video doorbells have gotten a lot of attention over the past year. Now Yale, best known for its locks and deadbolt, wants in on the action.
Its product is called Yale Look, and it’s a $170 video doorbell that you’ll mount directly onto your front door. When someone walks up, a built-in motion detector will see them and start broadcasting the video feed to a touchscreen on the inside of your door. When they ring the chime, you’ll get a notification on your phone, along with the ability to view the feed or engage in two-way audio.
A dedicated video monitor sits on the inside of your door. You can also view the video feed on your smart phone when someone’s at the door.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
That’s not too much different than what you’ll get with similar smart home doorbells from names like Skybell, August, and Ring, but Look sets itself apart with the addition of that dedicated video monitor on the inside of the door. It seems handy for people who don’t want their smart homes to tie them to their phone, but it looks a bit clunky, and also requires you to drill through the door to stay connected to the exterior camera. Good luck selling your spouse on that — let alone your landlord.
The video monitor includes a rechargeable battery that promises to last anywhere from six months to a year depending on usage. When it runs low, you can pop it off of the mount and recharge it via USB. It also comes with an 8GB SD card to store motion-activated video clips.
Yale tells us that the Wi-Fi version of Look will arrive at retail in October, with a second $240 version due out by the end of the year that’ll add in a Z-Wave radio to let it sync up with larger smart home control platforms like SmartThings or Control4. We’ll keep an eye out for both.
Kwikset Convert Smart Lock Conversion Kit Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Kwikset Convert.
Ry Crist/CNET
Kwikset’s been making smart locks for years, but now, it wants to make smart locks out of the dumb locks most of us already use, thanks to a new smart lock adapter called Kwikset Convert.
We first heard about Convert back at CES — now, months later, we got a closer look at it at the CEDIA tech showcase in Dallas, Texas. It’s basically just the interior part of one of Kwikset’s smart locks — the part with the batteries and the brains. You’ll connect it to your existing deadbolt by way of a special set of adapters designed to fit a wide variety of locks, including ones from competitors like Baldwin and Schlage.
Once it’s installed, you’ll be able to connect your lock to a smart-home hub thanks to the built-in Z-Wave radio. From there, you’ll be able to lock and unlock your door from your phone, or automatically by way of preprogrammed automations.
You’ll be able to use Kwikset Convert with a wide range of deadbolts, including those not made by Kwikset.
Ry Crist/CNET
That’s a winning pitch for anyone who’s picky about the type of deadbolt they use, or for renters, who typically aren’t able to swap their deadbolts out for smart versions. It’ll also help Kwikset keep up with the August Smart Lock, which takes a similar approach with its clamp-on, app-enabled lock-turner.
Kwikset’s approach is a bit more hands-on than that, though. You’ll still need to break out the screwdriver to disassemble the interior half of your lock, then retrofit it to work with the Kwikset Convert controller.
Kwikset Convert is slated to arrive by February 2017. Pricing is yet to be finalized, but it sounds like it’ll almost certainly cost less than August, which retails for over $200. We’ll let you know as soon as we get a chance to test one out.
Nest Cam Outdoor review – CNET
Nest takes it outdoors
Nest’s first product in a year isn’t necessarily revolutionary, but it’ll allow for Nest monitoring in an outdoor setting.
by Jeff Bakalar
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The Nest Cam Outdoor will be available this fall.
Nest
Nest Cam Outdoor, a $199/£150 outside-only Wi-Fi security camera, is slated to join the smart home brand’s product lineup this fall. International availability is expected to follow soon after.
Complete with 1080p video resolution, livestreaming capabilities, two-way talk, a 130-degree field of view, and night vision, Nest Cam Outdoor shares a lot of specs with the Google/Alphabet property’s existing Nest Cam, now called Nest Cam Indoor.
The team super-sized the power adapter for the outside version, and extended the power cable to roughly 25 feet. A magnetic disk gives you an instant base plate when it makes contact with a gutter or another obliging surface. And since the palm-sized Nest Cam Outdoor has a magnetic backing of its own, outdoor installation sounds really simple. In theory, at least. Of course, if you don’t have something magnetic handy, the team also includes a screw-in base for a more permanent installation.
In other Nest news:
- Same great Nest, now with even better looks
- CEO Tony Fadell announces he’s leaving Nest
- Nest Cam Indoor review
- A new Nest device to Protect what matters most
On the software side of things, Nest Cam Outdoor will be accessible via the same Android and iPhone apps as before. You’ll still have access to Nest Aware (the brand’s opt-in month-to-month subscription service), too — with a few changes. Nest Aware already allows for advanced features like motion and sound alerts, and continuous cloud recording, but it will add a facial-recognition feature called Person alerts with the launch of Nest Cam Outdoor.
While Person alerts won’t be able to distinguish between specific people and strangers like the ArcSoft Simplicam or the Netatmo Welcome, it is supposed to be able to tell the difference between a face and something else, like a passing car. Maxime Veron, Nest’s director of hardware product marketing, said in an interview that the Nest Cam Outdoor might be able to distinguish among more things in the future, too. Veron also confirmed that IFTTT and Works with Nest integrations will be available at launch.
No, this new security camera isn’t a huge departure for the brand. In fact, we’ve been waiting for Nest’s next piece of hardware for quite awhile. Even so, I’m intrigued by Person alerts and look forward to trying it out when Nest Cam Outdoor hits stores this fall.
Polk MagniFi Mini Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Polk
The competition for compact, affordable sound bars is heating up with JBL, Zvox and now Polk getting in on the act.
The Polk MagniFi Mini ($299) is an “ultra-narrow soundbar and included slim wireless subwoofer” that is designed for smaller living spaces like bedrooms.
Despite the relatively low price it appears to be packed with features, including Bluetooth, networking (with Google Cast) and HDMI with Dolby Digital decoding. It also incorporates Polk’s patented sound modes for use at low volumes or to increase speech intelligibility.
Like the JBL Boost TV the Mini is compact at only 13.4 inches long and 3.1 inches high, though the JBL lacks a subwoofer. The MagniFi Mini includes four 2.25-inch drivers and two 12mm tweeters for the main unit.
The sound bar will be available in October, while UK and Australian pricing and availability are yet to be announced.
LG V20, G5, Note 7, S7 Edge: Display Showdown
If you haven’t realized it, of late, we’ve been detailing the display section of our reviews a bit more than we’ve done in the past. Since we’re always trying to evolve our reviews process, we’re diving deeper into how we look at the displays in smartphones, by taking a deliberate path of uncovering their qualities using our new benchmark process. And with that in mind, we’re focusing our attention on the latest smartphone from LG – the multimedia powerhouse in the V20.
On paper, the LG V20’s display reads very much similar to its predecessor, but we all know that it’s unlikely that the same panel has been recycled. Yes, the V20’s 5.7-inch Quad HD IPS-LCD display with Gorilla Glass 4 is identical to specs found with the V10 last year, as well as the inclusion of its Second Screen, but the company was sure to mention that the Second Screen was brighter than before, going up to 68 nits from the former’s 35 nit reach. All of that is fine and dandy, but most of the attention will be place on the main display – so with that, we’re here to uncover what LG has crafted here with the V20.
This wouldn’t be a fair analysis, after all, if we have nothing else to compare its results against. And that’s why we’re also including the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge, Note 7, and LG G5 into the mix, to see exactly how LG’s latest phone fairs against the competition.
It’s really bright, brighter than most
Right from the get-go, the V20’s display is notable for the sheer amount of luminance it’s able to muster up. Reaching a peak output of 714 nits, the display ensures that visibility isn’t compromised at all when viewing it outdoors – with the sun glaring down on it. In my experience, displays that produce 500+ nits tend to be usable under these conditions, so it’s swell to know that the V20 retains substantial visibility. That, of course, is something worth praising, just because not every phone is able to remain visible when it’s used in direct sunlight. Using them in the dark is one thing, but it’s totally another outside on a sunny day.
In that respect, the V20 earns some respect for being quite usable outdoors. Comparatively speaking, it’s definitely up there when compared to its esteemed rivals – namely the stuff from Samsung’s camp. Relying on a totally different display technology, Super AMOLED to be exact, the Galaxy S7, S7 edge, and Note 7 all produce some respectable levels at a little over 500 nits, well above other high-end phones, but none of them can achieve the same level of potency.
However, the LG G5 is just a smidgen better, but not by much at all. In fact, it tops out at 755 nits, besting the V20 in the process, but we wouldn’t say that it’s enough to make it significantly noticeable day-to-day.
Unbelievably cold color temperature
Right away, something becomes apparent the moment we start surfing the web on the V20. A keen eye is definitely needed to make it out, but as we stare at some of the white dead space while surfing through some sites, it’s quite telling that there’s a colder color temperature with the display here. The color white has a tinge of blue in it, indicating the obvious: that it’s an extremely cold panel.
In our testing, the IPS-LCD display reaches a color temperature of ~9100K, which is nowhere close to the “ideal” temperature of 6500K – indicating that it’s neither too warm or too cold. Unfortunately for the V20, it steers towards the colder side of the spectrum, making it one of the coldest displays I’ve come across dealing with high-end and flagship phones.
Ironically, AMOLEDs have been known to be exceptionally cold with their color temperatures, but in recent years, Samsung has perfected its own homemade Super AMOLED displays to be on par to those using LCD technology. In this scenario, all of Samsung’s recent smartphones exhibit color temperatures that are very close to the ideal level of 6500K.
All told, the V20’s display is just obnoxiously colder toned than most other things on the market right now.
Ouch, it’s poorly color calibrated
Things don’t get better for the V20’s ability to accurately reproduce colors in the sRGB color spectrum chart, where it just fails to hit the reference points within the boundary. Sad to say, it manages to hit only one single target, but fails miserably with everything else. Bringing your attention to its color gamut chart in the sRGB spectrum, you can see how all the colors are inaccurately produced.
Yellows seems to be influenced by greens, while magentas have a hint of blue in them. Even worse, the V20 can’t even properly recreate the color teal, which is arguably the easiest color to reproduce out of the bunch. Honestly, it’s pretty rare for a display to botch the color teal, but the V20 does exactly that – wherein teals creep into blue territory.
Now, it’s one thing to be overblown and saturated, but there’s no consistency to the V20’s color path. For those who are particular about color accuracy, the V20 is an unlikely candidate, due to how it just can’t produce realistic, true-to-life colors. Well, it definitely shows that the V20 follows after the G5, seeing that the two results are nearly identical.
Over on the AMOLED side, Samsung’s offerings are close to perfect as they come when it comes to color accuracy – albeit, you’ll need to set the display to basic mode. Under its adaptive mode, the phones tends to produce more saturation with colors, which is not a bad thing for some folks.
Conclusion
Going back to its specs, we have zero complaints about what we see on paper with the V20’s screen. Quad-HD resolution, check. Sizable screen, check. Second screen, that’s a nice addition. But even though it’s able to push out some serious luminance, the overall tone of the display is subdued. Some displays just have that iridescence and charm when we first peek at them, drawing us closer to inspect them even more. With the V20’s display, however, I didn’t find myself ogling or drooling over the screen – it just looked decent, almost blah in a way.
That, of course, could all be attributed to its poor color temperature and its inability to accurately produce colors realistically. While its luminance isn’t called into question at all, since it’s actually one of the more potent ones out there, the other two qualities I mentioned just limits its ability to be compelling – from a display standpoint, naturally. You might not feel the same way, but if you were to place it besides any of Samsung’s flagships, you’ll see exactly how its superior qualities makes for a mesmerizing display that gets more attention.
What are your thoughts? Shout them out in the comments.
Sleep Number it Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
A good mattress can work wonders on the quality of your sleep. But can it change the way you live once you wake up?
Sleep Number’s latest mattress, called it (their lowercase, not mine), is loaded with sensors that track your heart rate, breathing patterns and nocturnal movement to gather information and use an accompanying app to suggest changes for better sleep. The it mattress was on display in January 2016 at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, and it finally goes onsale beginning September 19 at http://www.itbed.com.
More sleep technology
- Samsung wants to track your sleep and smartly wash your clothes
- Beddit Sleep Monitor Classic review
- Sleep Number x12 bed with sleep monitor, snore-stopper
The it, which will cost $1,099 for a queen (AU$1,390 or £680, converted), is similar to the last Sleep Number mattress we saw at CES 2015, the Sleep Number x12. Both versions incorporate the company’s adjustable system that lets you control your mattress’s firmness. Each mattress also uses the company’s SleepIQ technology to learn more about your sleep patterns.
The big draw of this mattress, though, is its API, which can connect with and gather information from other apps to learn what parts of your daily life are impacting the quality of your sleep. The it’s current partners include Apple Health, Fitbit, MapMyRun, Microsoft Health, Withings Health Mate and Nest.
The goal is to use the information from other apps to gain a more holistic view of your life and all the things that affect how well you sleep, said Pete Bils, the vice president of sleep science and research at Sleep Number. For example, if you let the mattress access your calendar app and it sees that you have an early appointment, the it app could send you a notification that you should go to bed earlier the day before. Or the app might suggest that you change the firmness of your mattress if you had a particularly grueling workout.
At Unveiled, we got early access to CES….
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“All of those things come into play and impact your sleep,” Bils said.
Fortunately, users will be able to choose which apps they want to connect with the it, a comforting thought considering that your mattress already knows a lot about you.
Features
- Available in six standard sizes
- The SleepIQ API and predictive modeling will be available anyone who already uses the SleepIQ sleepers as a software update in 2016
- Made of dual, foam-filled air chambers that can gather sleep information for both you and your partner
Motorola Moto G4 Play review – CNET
The Good Motorola’s Moto G4 Play is the most affordable phone in the G4 line. It’s splash-resistant, comes loaded with a near stock version of Android 6.0, has great battery life and takes good outdoor photos.
The Bad The G4 Play lags when playing games and taking panoramic photos. The display can be hard to read in direct sunlight and you won’t be able to customize the phone using Motorola’s Moto Maker website.
The Bottom Line If you’re on the hunt for an affordable phone with pretty long battery life, the Motorola Moto G4 Play deserves your attention. But the regular Moto G4 gives you even better features for just a little more cash.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
If the Moto G4 didn’t exist, the stepped-down (and even cheaper) Motorola Moto G4 Play would be the deal of the century. For just $150 (or $100 for Amazon Prime members who submit to Amazon Prime ads, like this), £130 and AU$279, you get a budget phone that’s surprisingly pleasant to use, for a rock-bottom price.
But there is a Moto G4, and it comes with a larger screen, a better camera and a much faster processor. Best yet, it only costs a little more — $50 or £39 — than the G4 Play (it doesn’t sell in Australia, but the G4 Plus does). So for my money, I’d invest a little more and get the G4 over the G4 Play.
That said, the G4 Play is actually a great budget find on its own merit. I never encountered a moment where I thought, “I can’t use this.” The G4 Play is the Toyota Corolla of phones; it has that wonderful balance of price and value to do real-world things like text and email, upload photos and snap pictures of cute little Fifi.
Motorola’s Moto G4 Play in the wild
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The Moto G4 Play is pretty much identical to the Moto G4, just a tad smaller (see how specs compare over the page). Despite having a relatively low 1,280×720-pixel resolution for its 5-inch screen, images and websites looked fairly crisp and sharp. But even with adaptive brightness enabled, you might have trouble reading in the noontime sun.
Canon EOS M5 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
With the EOS M5, Canon takes a step toward offering a mirrorless model that might finally compete with its entry-level dSLRs as well as other interchangeable-lens competitors. The camera has the specs and the features to surpass the EOS Rebel T6s/760D, at roughly the same price. I can’t help but wonder if it’s a tacit acknowledgement that while entry-level dSLRs are still selling, the popular ones are around $600 or less, so it doesn’t matter anymore to Canon if they cut into the next price tier up.
Canon plans to ship the body and a kit with the EF-M 15-45mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM lens in November for $980 and $1,100, respectively. I don’t have non-US pricing for anything yet, but those directly convert to roughly £740/AU$1,310 and £830/AU$1,470. A kit with the EF-M 18-150mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM lens for $1,480 (£1,120, AU$1,980) will follow in December; you’ll be able to buy the 18-150mm lens for $500 (£378, AU$670).
Canon’s new EOS M5 mirrorless looks more…
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That new EF-M 18-150mm lens is a compact substitute for the older 18-135mm IS STM, with a longer maximum focal length of 240mm-equivalent, intended as a general-purpose option for the single-lens customer.
What’s notable
- The sensor. One of the biggest complaints about Canon’s previous mirrorless models (like the M3) has been sluggish performance. Canon incorporates its Dual Pixel CMOS into the M5, the same sensor that’s in the 80D, which should provide much better autofocus speed and tracking performance than the hybrid CMOS in the M3 and T6s/760D. It also facilitates the M5’s finally competitive continuous-shooting rating, 7fps with autofocus and autoexposure, and Canon claims its image quality will match or surpass that of the 80D.
- Image stabilization. With the M5, Canon joins the club of mirrorless manufacturers offering hybrid (optical plus sensor shift) stabilization, with 5-axis compensation.
- Design. It has a far more dSLR-like appearance. This is the first Canon mirrorless to incorporate a built-in electronic viewfinder and a real grip. The touchscreen display tilts down for selfies.
- Features. Canon picks up Olympus’ formerly unique capability of using the back LCD as a touchpad when you use the viewfinder to select autofocus areas. Like some of Nikon’s cameras, it also adds Bluetooth for maintaining a persistent low-energy connection between the camera and your phone, in order to quickly wake Wi-Fi for remote shooting and file transfers.
My take
It’s nice to see Canon finally taking mirrorless seriously and the M5 looks like the company’s first real contender in that market.
But it still has to face the similarly priced Sony A6300, which has several advantages, including faster continuous shooting with a sophisticated autofocus system, the ability to shoot 4K video, better battery life, a more compact body and support for a larger selection of lenses without requiring an adapter. However, Canon’s hybrid optical stabilization system does get a win over the A6300; Sony stuck with optical-only for that camera.
Comparative specs
| Canon EOS M3 | Canon EOS M5 | Canon EOS T6sEOS 760D | Sony A6300 |
| 24.2MP Hybrid CMOS III | 24.2MP Dual Pixel CMOS | 24.2MP CMOS Hybrid CMOS III | 24.2MP Exmor CMOS14 bit |
| 22.3 x 14.9 | 22.3 x 14.9 mm | 22.3 x 14.9mm | 23.5 x 15.6mm |
| 1.6x | 1.6x | 1.6x | 1.5x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ISO 100 – ISO 12800/ISO 25600 (exp) | ISO 100 – ISO 25600 | ISO 100 – ISO 12800/25600 (exp) | ISO 100 – ISO 25600/ISO 51200 (exp) |
| None with continuous AF/AE(4.2fps with fixed focus and exposure) | 7fps26 JPEG/n/a(9fps with exposure and focus fixed on first frame) | 5fps8 raw/940 JPEG | 11fps44 JPEG/21 raw |
| OptionalEVF (DVF-DC1)2.36m dots0.48 in/12.2 mm100% coverage | EVF0.4 in/10 mm2.36m dotsn/a | Optical95% coverage0.82x/0.51x | OLED EVF0.4 in/10 mm2.4 million dots100% coverage1.07x/0.7x |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 49-pointPhase-detection AF | 49-point phase-detection | 19-point phase-detection AFall cross-typecenter dual cross to f2.8 | 425-point phase detection, 169-area contrast AF |
| 2 – 18 EV | 1 – 18 EV | -0.5 – 18 EV | -1 – 20 EV |
| 30 – 1/4000 sec.; bulb; 1/200 x-sync | 1/4,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/200 sec x-sync | 1/4,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/200 sec x-sync | 30-1/4000 sec.; bulb; 1/160 x-sync |
| 384 zones | n/a | 63-segment 7,560-zone RGB+IR | 1,200 zones |
| 1 – 20 EV | 1 – 20 EV | 1 – 20 EV | -2 – 20 EV |
| H.264 Quicktime MOV1080/30p, 25p, 24p; 720/60p, 50p | H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/60p, 30p, 24p | H.264 QuickTime MOV1080/30p, 25p, 24p; 720/60p | XAVC S @ 100Mbps; UHD 4K 2160/30p, 25p, 24p; 1080/120p |
| Stereo; mic input | Stereo; mic input | Stereo, mic input | Stereo, mic input |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| n/a | 4GB/29:59 mins | 4GB | 29 minutes |
| n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Optical | Hybrid5-axis | Optical | Optical |
| 3-inch/7.7 cm Tilting touchscren1.04m dots | 3.2 in/8cmTilting touchscreen1.62m dots | 3 in/7.7 cmArticulated touchscreen1.04m dots | 3-inch/7.5cmTilting, flip-up touchscreen921,600 dots |
| 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC | 1 x SDXC |
| Wi-Fi, NFC | Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth | Wi-Fi, NFC | Wi-Fi, NFC |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes |
| 250 shots(875 mAh) | 295 shots(1,040 mAh) | 440 shotsn/a | 350 (VF), 400 (LCD)(1,020 mAh) |
| 4.4 x 2.7 x 1.7 in110.9 x 68.0 44.4 mm | 4.6 x 3.5 x 2.4 in116 x 89 x 61 mm | 5.2 x 4.0 x 3.1 in131.9 x 100.9 x 77.8 mm | 4.7 x 2.6 x 1.9 in119 x 66 x 48mm |
| 13.3 oz376 g | 15.1 oz (est.)427 g (est.) | 20.0 oz (est.)565 g (est.) | 14.3 oz (est.)405 g (est.) |
| $600AU$840(with 18-55mm STM lens)£530(with 15-45mm lens) | $1,100(with 15-45mm lens) | $1,050£844 (est.)AU$1,350(with 18-135mm STM lens) | $1,150£1,350(with 15-60mm PZ lens) |
| April 2015October 2015 (US) | November 2016 | April 2015 | March 2016 |
Epson FastFoto FF-640 review – CNET
The Good The FastFoto is a fast scanner with that streamlines the process of digitizing your printed photos. It handles mixed sizes in a stack quite well.
The Bad The scanner can’t handle 1970s-era Polaroids, and the software makes the mistake of equating fewer features with simplicity, making the system a lot less useful than it could be.
The Bottom Line The Epson FastFoto does what it sets out to do — lets you quickly scan your masses of old print photos — but some folks will find it an expensive and incomplete solution.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Anyone born before digital photography became popular — oh, let’s round it to the year 2000 — or who has parents or grandparents who became adults during the 20th century knows the pain of trying to do something, anything, with the surfeit of physical photos accumulated over time. If they’re anything like my family, they’ve been added to and removed from albums, secreted in tons of locations around the house, and scattered across multiple family members. The more organized actually wrote notes on the back of each one. Scanning them with a flatbed scanner is insanely tedious, and most feeders can’t handle stacks of photos in varying sizes.
So Epson’s taken its decades of scanner know-how and created a scanner designed specifically for the — shall we say, “technologically uninterested” — to digitize the reams of photos they have. The $650 FastFoto (about £495, AU$870, directly converted) can scan a stack of up to 30 photos, in different sizes ranging from tiny 2×2-inch (51x51mm) up through 8.5×120-inch (22x 305cm) panoramas. (That expansive dimension applies only to Windows users. Mac folks will have to make do with 8.5×14.5 inches.) It also has a second scanner inside to scan the backs of the photos to capture notes, identification and processing-date stamps, which can be very useful.
Epson FastFoto adds some twists to photo…
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And it’s pretty fast: I timed it at 1.6 seconds per photo for a 4×6 at 300 dpi, and at 4.2 seconds per photo at 600 dpi. That doesn’t include the pause during processing, though.
As intended, the scanner’s easy to set up and use. You peel off a lot of tape and attach the output tray, go through the step-by-step software installation, and connect to your computer via USB. There are a handful of configuration steps to go through, such as defining what applications launch when you press the buttons on the front, choosing resolution, how to handle scans of the back, and what kind of enhancements to perform automatically.
After you load up a stack of photos, you press a button on the front and it launches the scan utility. Optionally, a dialog will pop up giving you the ability to incorporate a date and keywords into the file name. This is really useful: in addition to giving a specific year, you can get fuzzy and specify “1970s” and “winter”, for example.
It scans the entire stack and processes them afterwards, followed by launching into the application of your choice. Sort of. Your options are Epson’s own FastFoto application on Windows or Finder, Photos or Preview on the Mac. There’s no option to not launch an application, which is annoying when you’re just trying to power through stacks of photos. Epson’s FastFoto application (as opposed to the driver/utility of the same name) lets you browse the photos, share, upload or edit them. The editing options are rotate, crop, auto-enhance, remove red-eye and restore colors. There’s also an option to add a date to the photo that appears in the metadata as a creation date, which is nice.
However, there’s no way to batch rename or update the files in the software — say, if you accidentally named them with 1971 instead of 1972, as I did. And that’s not an easy thing to do without downloading a third-party utility.
AIVAnet 