Name: V-Moda Crossfade LP Headphones| Price: $249.99 [Buy it] | Rating: 4/5

V-Moda are one of the leading headphone manufacturers that mix fashion with great quality sound to make some stunning headphones. V-Moda sent us a pair of the Crossfade LP Headphones for review. Read our thoughts after the break!

The V-Moda headphones come in high-quality packaging which already give you a hint as to the quality of these headphones. Inside the box you will find a black exoskeleton carrying case for the headphones, a carabiner to hook the case onto you bag, two high-quality wires (one with a microphone and controls which is 36 inches long, one without which is aimed for studio usage as it is 69 inches long) which are reinforced with Kevlar to give them a unique and stylish look as well as protect the wire itself. They are also included a 1/4 inch adaptor which can be placed on top of the stock 3.5mm connector to allow this headphones to support even more music devices.

Build Quality:

These headphones are made primarily from metal which gives them a solid feel and an expensive look. The ear-cups are made from metal coated in a black paint with a chrome finish around the edge of the cup. Another metal plate has been added to the back of the ear-cup which visible screws and the V-Moda logo engraved proudly into it.

The ear-cups do not have the classic round design that the vast majority of all other headphone manufactures use, but rather use a v-shape meaning the ear-cup is in a slightly elongated hexagon shape. V-Moda have done extensive research and have come to the conclusion that this shape improves the ergonomics of the headphones.

The ear-cups are connected to the band via two strong metal arms which come together at the connection between them and the head-band.  The metal connection extends to within the headband allowing the arms to be adjusted to the size of your head. The headphone itself is flexible, yet solid, and is coated in a leather skin.

As mentioned above, the headphones come with two separate cables which means that the cables can be unplugged from the headphone’s themselves. The jacks are indented allowing them to bend without breaking the cable. The jack is in between an L-shaped jack and a straight jack as it comes out to an angle of about 45 degrees.

Overall, the build quality is excellent as it feels sturdy in your hand. There is a potential for scratches to appear on the metal plating on the ear-cups, but if you store the headphones in the included exoskeleton case when not in use, you should have no problem.

Comfort:

Comfort is definitely one of the areas these headphones shine. Not only are the ear-cups and headband luxuriously padded, but V-Moda haven’t gone with any old sort of foam, they have gone with memory foam so whenever you place the Crossfade LP headphones on your head, the foam mold around the shape of your head giving you a tailored fit.

When placed upon your head, the pressure exerted onto the side of your ears is just the right amount to keep them sturdy without you feeling like your head is being squashed. The headphones are overly heavy and listening to a couple of songs, you forget they are even there.

Sound Quality:

These headphones are all about bass. I haven’t heard any headphones with a bass like these have. If you turn the bass all the way up on the equalizer, you can feel the vibrations of the bass in your jaw. It’s that strong! But keeping the bass on a level that normal people listen to, it maintains it’s potency and power without overpowering the vocals or acoustics of the song.

The first song I tried on the V-Moda’s was ‘Beamer, Benz, or Bentley (feat. Juelz Santana) by Lloyld Banks‘ which has a heavy bass in the beat. The bass was deep and powerful whilst the vocals sounded ever to slightly muffled and not as clear as, say, the Audio Technica ATH-M50.

Switching to ‘So Bad by Eminem’ the bass and all the mids sounded great, but once again the highs (like the snare drum in the drum) didn’t sound quite a clear as from other headphones that I have listened to. Another Eminem song ‘Love the way your lie (Featuring Rihanna) by Eminem’ had similar results. The beat and vocals sounded great while the high notes sounded ever so slightly muffled.

I tried some DubStep next, ‘Shambhala 2008 by Excision’ and the bass absolutely blew my mind. This leads me to believe that these headphones are definitely for bass lovers who like to listen to Dance, Electronic, Rap and other similar music genres, and not quite as compatible with people who are into classical and rock music. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t, by far, sound bad on those genres, but I believe the headphones weren’t build for that style of music in mind.

Other Observations:

Noise isolation is great in these headphones however they do leak very badly. If you sit in a bus wearing these, people near you won’t have any trouble picking out which song it is that you are listening to.

The microphone has a three button remote on one of the included cables, which can change the volume and pause/play the music on the iPhone, iPods and the latest MacBook line.

These headphones come with the standard 1 year warranty however, if the headphones break after the warranty, you can send in the broken pair and get 50% off a new pair of the headphones!

Specifications:

• Frequency Response: 5 Hz – 30 kHz
• Impedance: 32 Ohms
• Speaker Driver: patent pending 50mm Dual-Diaphragm High-Definition Driver
• Cables: Kevlar® reinforced, 69” stereo audio cable and 36” remote/mic cable
• Plug: 45 degree, 24k gold-plated 3.5 mm (1/8″) stereo plug
• Adapter: 3.5mm (1/8″) to ¼” adapter included
• Weight: 280g
• Warranty: One-year V-MODA premier warranty and Replay Replacement Program – 50% off lifetime replacement guarantee

Ratings:

• Build Quality 5/5 The build quality of these headphones is excellent. Made primarily of metal, they feel solid within your hand and allow you to not have to worry about them breaking if you wear them out and about.
• Comfort 5/5 The memory foam on both the ear-cups and hand band allow for long periods of painless music listening.
• Sound Quality 4/5 These headphones will make any bass lovers say wow, but perhaps aren’t aimed towards classical music lovers.

Total Rating: 4.5/5

You can buy the V-Moda Crossfade LD headphones from Amazon for $249.99 [Buy it]. They come in a range of colours including gunmetal black, purple white and rouge.

iPhoDroid is an automated installer for installing the Android OS on your iPhone 3G or 2G. Up until now, it has only been available for Macs, but finally the developers has gone ahead and released a version for Windows.

This is what Sergio, the creator had to say about his release of the Windows version of iPhoDroid:

YES! It’s today. Gotta tell you Im so thankful for everyone to be so patient and understandable for this Release. The delay was necessary because I made everything for do not mess up your computer and despite Microsoft Windows7 64bit is very tough to accept an un-certificated DLL, I found a very good safe way to run the App without installation and no hassles. All on-the-fly and in one single click, 1SHOT Yeah!! and now it runs on fine over XP and Vista (i386 and x64). I hope all of you help me to keep this Project alive; I never ever thought that this could be this BIG as it is. Thanks everyone and God bless!

To use the program, all you have to do is plug in your iPhone 3G or 2G, click on the button ‘Shoot’ and before you know it, your iPhone will be dual-booted with Android OS 2.2 Froyo and iPhone OS.

NOTE: This is the beta of the iPhoDroid program so use it at your own risk. Some iPhone 3G users are having some error problems. If you are one of these, be patient because the creator is working on a fix. The new download will be up soon!

Click to download: HERE

In light of Apple unveiling the new iPod line yesterday, they have gone ahead and released two new Apple commercials showing off the new iPods. The first demonstrates the iPod Touch with it’s front facing camera and the second, the iPod Nano.

The iPod Touch:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t_IobxOsVc

The iPod Nano:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlkPaHc_5kM

iPod Touch

One of the most popular iPods, the iPod Touch, was given a refresh today along with some great new features.

These features include:

40 hours of music playback

Retina Display: The amazing display that is also found in the iPhone 4.

Dual Cameras and Facetime: Apple promised more facetime devices and now the iPod Touch is on the list. It has a front facing VGA camera, along with a rear camera capable of taking HD pictures and videos and the option to edit them. And along with the camera is the built-in microphone. iPod touches can facetime with iPhone 4s, and vise versa.

A4 processor: Now this is the same processor found in the super-fast iPhone 4, providing better gaming.

3-axis gyroscope

New design: The iPod Touch is now thinner, the curved back is replaced with a more flat back. But the downside is that it’s still chrome which can be a scratch magnet.

Prices: 8GB $229, 32GB $299, 64GB $399

iPod Nano

Apple surprised us this year by completely getting rid of the clickwheel, shrinking the device, and giving it a multitouch display.

It reminds one of a shrunken iPod touch, it has a “springboard” along with voice memos, clock, and FM radio. It still keeps the 30-pin connector despite the size and comes in 7  different colors, and not to forget, it also sports a built-in clip.

Prices: 8GB $149, 16GB $179

iPod Shuffle

Now there is no real “big” change with the Shuffle, but it does come with a few new features.

VoiceOver: Press the new VoiceOver button to get the title, playlist, artist name or battery status.

Playlists and Genius: The iPod Shuffle is now able to play your playlists and has Genius.

Price: 2GB $49

Apple TV

Now the Apple TV hasn’t been updated for a while, so today, Apple did a overhaul on this device.

Design: The Apple TV is much smaller, 80% smaller to be exact, so small it can fit in your hand.

There is no more buying movies on the Apple TV, only renting. And to rent movies and TV shows costs even less ($3.99 for HD movies, $0.99 for single TV episodes). There is also Netflix streaming, as well as YouTube and connecting to MobileMe and Flickr.

It’s HDMI ready, along with a built in ethernet port, and Wi-fi capability.

You can also use the Remote app on the AppStore to control the Apple TV, and you can stream media from your computer to your Apple TV.

Price: $99

iTunes 10

iTunes Ping: A new social feature of iTunes, which works similarly to to Facebook and Twitter, in which you follow people and can comment on the things they are doing.

TV show rentals are now 99 cents.

AirPlay: Listen to your music wirelessly from anywhere, using Airplay accessories.

Improved Syncing: New and real-time capacity bar, to see how much space is left on your device.

New icon

Preview: iOS 4.1

Bug Fixes: Proximity sensor, Bluetooth, and fixes for the iPhone 3G.

High Dynamic Range photos: Photos that try to capture what your eyes see and not just the camera.

GameCenter

HD video upload over Wi-fi

TV show rentals

iOS 4.2

Released in November

Wireless printing

And it also brings all the 4.0 features that iPhone and iPod touch users have (multitasking, folders, etc.) to the iPad

For the first time ever, Apple will offer the opportunity for those who aren’t invited to the Apple media event, that is being held today, to watch the event live via a video stream. More information on how to stream the event after the break!

Apple will be streaming the event via their HTTP lives streaming system allowing you to watch the event on any Apple computers, your iPhone, your iPod Touch or your iPad. The event will be starting at the following times:

• 07:00AM – Hawaii
• 10:00AM – Pacific
• 11:00AM – Mountain
• 12:00PM – Central
• 01:00PM – Eastern
• 06:00PM – London
• 07:00PM – Paris
• 09:00PM – Moscow
• 02:00AM – Tokyo (September 2nd)

If you are wondering what Apple are expected to unveil during this event, you can check out our summary of what we expect Apple to reveal.

NOTE: If you are on a Windows or Mac computer, the below method will not work for you. Instead, what you need to do is install the free VLC program and click on File –> Stream and add the following link:

http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/gear1/prog_index.m3u8

We have embedded the Apple website below to make it easier for you. You won’t be able to stream the event until the times shown above. To view the stream, click on the button on the bottom left of the webpage.

Alternatively, you can watch the live stream directly from Apple’s (http://apple.com/)website. Remember to click on the image shown at the bottom left of the homepage. However, this will not turn into a link until the above times.

September Apple events have usually leaned towards their media devices: the iPods, the Apple TV, and iTunes. The logo for tomorrow’s event definitely doesn’t break the trend. A guitar with an Apple logo carved into it can only mean that we will be seeing music related announcements at this year’s late summer event. Here’s a list of what you may (and may not) be hearing about tomorrow.

New iPod touch with iPhone 4 features

Apple has done this thing where iPhone users get all the nifty upgrades, while the iPod touch must wait another 3 months to get the same updates. As per previous updates, the iPod touch will include all the new hardware upgrades the iPhone 4 got. That means the same 512MB of RAM, the new processor speed, and even that gorgeous retina display.

What many people don’t expect, however, is the addition of Facetime. iOS4 betas have included the feature to make Facetime calls using your email, not just your phone number, which can only mean one thing: Facetime is coming to an iPod touch near you soon.

An update to the iPod nano

Pictures have been leaked of square touch screens being manufactured for Apple. What could this mean? A new iPod shuffle is unlikely to get a touchscreen, but I can’t possibly imagine an iPod nano being sized down to the size of a shuffle. Hell, the iPod shuffle might even be removed from the iPod lineup tomorrow, according to some analysts.

You decide what exactly is gonna happen for yourself, but it’s very likely there will be some sort of Nano update at tomorrow’s event, and it might involve a touch screen.

A flurry of new iTunes features

Back in early December of 2009 Apple acquired Lala, a streaming music service. You could listen to a song once, or pay 10 cents to listen to it as many times as you wanted to,. and 79 cents would get you the MP3. Streaming music services are getting popular now. Grooveshark is one of my favorites, as I wrote about before. Is Apple looking to get into the streaming music service?

Along with that, they could announce a cloud system for your music. If your going to stream your content through the Internet, an iTunes cloud of sorts would be great for their users. And if you’re going to but so many resources into the Internet and media streaming, they may also create a social network around iTunes, but this is less likely. Who knows though. With new features like Game Center, it might be good to tie everything into your iTunes account.

With all these new and possible features, Apple will be competing with providers like Grooveshark for music, and others like Netflix for movie streaming. That’s right: movie streaming is another great possibility for them. All of this is very likely to be announced tomorrow.

New Apple TV with Netflix

Bloomberg reported today that three people are in on a plan for Apple to unveil a new Apple TV bundled with Netflix. The Apple TV was widely disregarded by Apple, but revamping it and giving it the features it deserves may make it win in the market once again.

Along with the addition of Netflix we can also expect new iTunes features to be included: iTunes cloud, music streaming, etc.

Rumors of a new Apple TV started as an actual TV that they would sell, shipped with the ability to hook into iTunes and other services. That idea was trashed though. Then the idea that App Store gaming would appear on a new Apple TV with a remote compatible with existing games, but the idea jumped the gun, and it seemed that Apple didn’t have enough time to release all of it. So who knows what we’ll see in the new product tomorrow, if anything.

Offing the iPod Classic?

Fellow writer Aaron gave me this idea the other day. Some blog reported that Apple may kill the iPod Classic lineup. Sure, it’s not a popular product, but let’s look at the rest of the market. I can’t think of another product with such a high capacity that also comes with a fair price tag for the package. And after all, it’s an iPod, arguably the best MP3 players out there. Sure, it doesn’t do much, but at the end of the day does it have to do much? That’s one device Apple doesn’t have to reinvent. It exists only to have a large capacity. And when the second biggest capacity is an iPod touch with 64GB for a lot of money, the iPod Classic seems like it fits in perfectly.

Don’t expect anything new with the iPod Classic, but don’t expect Apple to drop the axe on it either. That’s one thing you won’t see tomorrow.

New GarageBand? Logic Pro?

Food for though on this one, because I haven’t heard any rumors about it, but given the fact that this is going to be a music event, it’s not at all illogical that we will see updated to GarageBand and Logic Pro, Apple’s two music creation applications.

GarageBand is aimed for a general audience, where you can play around and make music, or you can go deeper and create real content. Logic Pro is meant for professional producers to create music and other forms of content. It comes with a huge library of samples and other good content to work with.

Even without any rumors, Apple may slip us a new version of each application tomorrow.

iPad updates? Unlikely

My primary argument for why the iPad won’t be getting any big attention tomorrow is because of it’s release date. April of this year. It’s only been 5 months, and Apple has a tendency to update their products on a yearly basis. We won’t be seeing any big updates to the tablet until April of next year. Sorry iPad owners, but that’s the way it is.

If you really want something new for your iPad, expect a firmware update which will provide new features added in iTunes (media streaming, iTunes cloud), but outside of that there shouldn’t be anything new.

Things you WON’T see tomorrow

• Mac OS X 10.7: The OSX franchise hasn’t been getting any attention for a long while now. Why? Apple is focused on their mobile market: the iPhone, the iPad, the iPods. Why would they make an OSX announcement out of the blue?
• The Beatles on iTunes: Apple Computer and Apple Corps. are still very much in the same situation they were before. There won’t be any addition of The Beatles to the iTunes catalog. And if there was a time to do it, it was during The Beatles hype, back when Rock Band was making a game for them and when their remastered box set was being released.
• iPhone on Verizon: As much as I would love for Apple to do this, it’s highly unlikely. It’s been circulating the rumor mills for the entire lifespan of the iPhone’s life. But let’s put the facts straight: Apple is part of a 5 year contract with AT&T, and although AT&T has proven themselves an unworthy carrier of the iPhone, that’s the way it’s gonna remain. And again, this is a music event, not a “let’s bring up the age old discussion of who’s gonna get the iPhone” event. Save that discussion for next June.

It’s going to be an interesting event, no doubt. Apple has space to update a lot of their products. A new iPod touch with iPhone 4 features, iPod nano updates, a new Apple TV, and extensive updates to iTunes are amongst the biggest things we should expect tomorrow.

After a flurry of problems with Apple, from the iPhone 4 prototype that Gizmodo got their hands on, to the police investigation into the journalist’s home, to the antennagate fiasco that Apple did a horrible job of taking care of. Remembering all of that and the situation they were in before, it seems that they’ve made an almost full recovery and are ready to announce some great new products for the market.

What do you think is gonna happen tomorrow? What are you looking forward to the most? Leave a comment below letting us know!

9to5 Mac

A new tweak has been released onto Cydia called NoSpot. It a simple, yet very useful tweak, which removes the Spotlight feature from your SpringBoard on your iOS 4.0 iDevice. This is definitely something iPhone 3G users with speed problems should check out. It will solve all your problems!

The Spotlight feature is believed to be the root of the speed problems iPhone 3G users are experiencing on iOS 4.0 firmwares. You can find the tweak on Cydia and download it for FREE.

Name: Nokia N900| Price: $399.99 [Buy it] | Rating: 3/5

The Nokia N900 might be a relatively old phone, but it’s still on sale and it still positions itself in the touchscreen internet-browsing smartphone segment, that same segment that the iPhone, for better or for worse, arguably dominates. How does it fare? Read our review to find out!

Unboxing:

The Nokia N900′s box isn’t anything special. Its quite a big black box, that has a flap which opens at the top, to reveal another flap to be opened which then reveals the phone. Underneath, there are the customary manuals, USB cable and a cable to connect the N900 to a TV. The N900 also comes with a pair of in-ear headphones and several different sized ear tips. This is definitely a welcomed inclusion, and is far better than the earbuds that are usually provided with smartphones. They don’t sound too bad, obviously there no Bose in-ear headphones or Grado iGis, but are definitely better than your average bundled earbuds.

Hardware:

Nokia have always made very desirable hardware, and I don’t think the N900 is an exception. If you want to nit-pick it’s a bit bland, but they do say less is more in many cases, and the lack of physical buttons on the facade of the phone does give it a clean look. Slide the screen up, and you are greeted with a large QWERTY keyboard. Some of the keyboard’s key positions are a bit puzzling, for example the space button is towards the right, which tended to throw me off for quite a while. However, after a while, I did get used to it and it doesn’t bother me that much anymore.

Weight-wise, the phone is quite heavy, although it doesn’t feel too heavy – it just feels solid in your hand. It’s quite thick, which is a shame especially if you carry it around in your pocket.

The phone is designed to be used in a landscape fashion, so when held this way the power button is at the top of the phone, along with a dedicated camera button, volume rocker and infrared port. While an infrared port might seem antiquated, don’t underestimate it’s uses – it can be used, for example, to turn the N900 into a universal remote control, if you’re into that sort of thing.

On both the left and right side of the phone there are speakers, giving reasonable stereo sound. Sound is a bit tinny and lacks bass, but can be played relatively loud without too much distortion. The right-hand side (again when holding the phone in the intended landscape way) also has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, quick becoming a welcome norm in the smartphone world, as well as a switch to turn the screen on and off, which I found easy to use and useful. In fact, I prefer a switch like this to a touchscreen way of unlocking a phone as it works much quicker. Lastly, on the right-hand side is the slot for the stylus. The left-hand side has a mini-USB port, along with the left speaker.

The back of the phone has the 5 mega-pixel camera, complete with Carl Zeiss lens and a dual LED flash. There’s also a handy stand that flips out from underneath the camera, which means you can place the phone at an angle on a surface to watch movies on.

Taking all this into account, the phone feels sturdy in your hand when you hold it. Some may find it too thick, but I wouldn’t say its unbearably so. Build quality is good, with the sliding mechanism feeling sturdy.

Display:

The screen itself is an 800×480 pixel display, and is a resistive touchscreen, which we’ll get into the ramifications of later, but is quite responsive, but does remain a resistive touchscreen, meaning it responds far better with the included stylus. Putting aside issues of touchscreen technology, I found the display very nice. Since its only a 3.5 inch display, pixel density is very high leading to a very crisp, clean image. Colours seem deep and vibrant, and it definitely gives OLED displays a run for their money.

Software:

So far, the N900 seems to be doing very well. However, it is here that it starts to break down. The Maemo operating system is very complicated and much more akin to a desktop operating system than to a phone operating system. Perhaps this is to be expected as it’s based on Linux, but so is Android and it comes off as a far more smartphone-friendly OS.

When you turn the phone on, you are greeted with several homescreens on which you can put your own widgets, shortcuts to apps on the phone, contacts etc, so in that sense it is very customizable. However, forgive me for saying this, but is it really necessary to have 4 screens to swipe through? Maybe I’m not getting the whole “Maemo way of life”, because I just ended up using one of the screens anyway.

Maemo was definitely designed with a stylus in mind, which is evident throughout the OS. However, Maemo is still relatively finger friendly. I found myself not needing to crack out the stylus on that many occasions when using the phone for everyday tasks, until I got to browsing the web. Once you get to the web browser, the stylus becomes much more necessary to reach those smaller links, for example.

Now, I’m in two minds about the stylus. On the one hand, it’s a very old system that makes you look like kind of a dork when you use it in public, however it does still work pretty well. When your using it however, the haptic feedback that’s on by default isn’t really necessary.

Perhaps my misgivings about Maemo are rendered worse because of the resistive screen, which by its nature lacks sensitivity when being used by anything other than a stylus (or your nail, but that isn’t exactly practical). Scrolling through the (IMHO) silly number of homescreens doesn’t work well without using the stylus for example, but I still think that Maemo, at least in it current incarnation, isn’t designed for a smartphone, in the sense that it isn’t quick and easy to get through, but is designed much more like a desktop operating system.

It should also be noted that the N900 lacks multi touch, meaning you cannot do anything like pinch to zoom, which is a real shame as well. Media-wise, the N900 packs 32 gigabytes of memory, so there’s plenty of space for your music, but the media handling capabilities are nothing to rave about.

Performance:

Taking everything that’s been said about it into account though, when used correctly, Maemo is quite snappy in the sense that things load quickly etc. Tasks like browsing the web are done well, with support for adobe flash meaning you can watch YouTube videos, albeit with a slight stutter. This performance is thanks to an A8 cortex processor, running unfortunately however only at 600mhz, coupled with 256mb of RAM.

Battery Life:

The N900 gets about the expected battery life for a device of its type, meaning you should be able to get a days worth of use out of the phone with no trouble. Any more however, and you’ll be pushing it.

Camera:

The N900′s 5 mega-pixel Carl Zeiss lens is extremely good. The phone handles both outdoor and indoor scenes with ease, thanks to the dual-LED flash, and even has an extremely effective macro mode. Nokia has always been good at including great cameras with their phones, and this is certainly no exception.

Video capture is alright, although not quite as impressive. I would’ve loved to see HD video recording from the N900, but we are unfortunately made to make do with 800×480 resolution. Video looks a bit too compressed unfortunately, and the LED flash cannot be turned on when recording video which is a shame.

The front-side of the N900 also has a front-facing camera, which is a welcome inclusion and allows for video calls to be made either over the network or using 3rd party apps.

Conclusion:

Nokia’s N900 bills itself not as a smartphone, but as an internet tablet or even a “mobile computer”. This is very obvious throughout your usage experience, and I think it’s a shame because they have included phone capability in it, and it’s a pocket-able size so it is only logical that one would use it as their day-to-day smartphone.

I really do like the hardware, as I do with most Nokia hardware, but I’d love to see a capacitive touchscreen in there, which seems to be the direction Nokia is taking with its future smartphones. I think the problem with the phone lies in the mediocre software, which isn’t finger-friendly and nor is it made to be used as a smartphone. However, I don’t think Nokia’s in anyway out of the game, and if they keep churning out hardware like this and work on their mobile operating systems, they’ll be producing viable mobile powerhouses in no time.

Ok… that’s a bit harsh, but that’s what I think about the 60D. Anyways, it’s going to compete with the D7000/D95 (The D90 replacement), which, according to NikonRumors, will be coming on the 8th or the 15th.

Specs and Thoughts after the jump.

Control, power, creativity – Canon empowers photographers to take the next step with the new EOS 60D

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland; 26th August 2010 – Canon today announces the latest addition to its world-famous EOS series of Digital SLR (DSLR) cameras – the new EOS 60D. Replacing the EOS 50D, the EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics – empowering photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results.

High speed, high resolution
With an 18 Megapixel APS-C sensor, the EOS 60D offers high levels of detail and a magnification of 1.6x the focal length of the lens to capture poster-size images in a variety of aspect ratios (1:1, 16:9, 4:3 in addition to the standard 3:2 dimension). Canon’s powerful DIGIC 4 technology rapidly processes image information captured from the CMOS sensor’s four-channel output, providing outstanding colour reproduction, as well as high-speed shooting at 5.3fps in bursts of 58 full-resolution JPEGs.

A standard ISO range of 100-6400 is extendable to 12800, providing smooth images with minimal noise in low light conditions. A 9-point, all cross-type autofocus (AF) system also provides swift and accurate focusing, with an extra-sensitive centre point for lenses faster than f/2.8, allowing photographers to artistically employ a shallow depth of field during portraiture or for more atmospheric shooting.

The EOS 60D features Canon’s iFCL metering system, first introduced with the acclaimed EOS 7D, with a 63-zone Dual-Layer sensor. Information on subject location is gathered from the Auto Focus system, and is combined with colour and luminance readings for consistent accurate exposures whatever the situation. The Integrated Speedlite transmitter also provides in-camera control of multiple EX flash units for more creative lighting.

Shoot from all angles
A new 7.7cm (3.0”) Vari-angle wide LCD monitor features a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 1,040k dot resolution, providing added flexibility and allowing photographers to view their images in incredible detail. The Vari-angle wide LCD helps frame shots from difficult angles, and can be positioned with Live View enabled to achieve the desired composition if shooting isn’t possible using the viewfinder. The ability to capture wildlife portraits, overhead shots or ground-level photography is instantly enhanced, and the surface of the screen features an anti-reflective, water-repellent coating to protect the screen allows easy viewing in bright light and from a variety of angles.

Empowering creativity
A new Basic + function makes it easy for photographers to add their own creative touch to images without worrying about changing settings. Photographers can add ambiance to a scene by shooting according to lighting and scene type, with Portrait, Landscape, Close-Up, Sport, Night Snapshot or Creative AUTO modes all available. Different effects can be achieved by shooting with Basic + enhancements such as Daylight, Cloudy or Sunset or pre-set Picture Styles including Vivid, Soft, Warm or Monochrome.

Designed to provide power for those who wish to extend their creative vision, the EOS 60D features a host of new functions that help capture better images and in-camera effects to add an extra dimension. The powerful DIGIC 4 processor supports in-camera RAW image processing, allowing photographers to edit settings such as brightness, contrast, white balance or correct distortion or chromatic aberration. The edited image can then be resaved as a JPEG, ready to be printed or uploaded to a PC or the web.

For photographers who want to add post-production effects to their images without the need for expensive software, the EOS 60D also features a range of new creative filters that can be applied in-camera. Filters including Grainy B/W, Soft Focus, Toy Camera Effect and Miniature Effect provide images with a different feel, allowing photographers to create a themed collection – using Grainy B/W to give images a reportage style, for example – or easily smooth skin tone in portraits with Soft Focus.

EOS Movies: Full HD video with complete control
Offering photographers the freedom to go beyond stills, the EOS 60D captures 1920x1080p HD video with a variety of user-selectable frame rates, including 30, 25 and 24fps, as well as 720p video at 60 and 50fps. Movie Crop mode is also available, recording with the central 640×480 pixel area of the sensor to create an effective magnification of approximately seven times the focal length of the lens.

Full manual control in Movie mode allows photographers to employ their own exposure and focus settings and take advantage of the effects achieved from Canon’s wide range of EF lenses. An external stereo microphone terminal and the ability to adjust sound recording level ensures the audio track recorded matches the visual quality of the video, capturing broadcast-quality sound.

For those who want to share images with friends and family, an integrated HDMI port is compatible with Consumer Electronics Control (HDMI-CEC), allowing video and images to be viewed on any compatible HD-ready TV and controlled via the TV remote.

Designed for flexibility
The EOS 60D features a completely redesigned body, combining an ergonomically enhanced, curved shape with a new button layout to make it quick and comfortable for photographers to change settings. Frequently used camera controls are grouped together for easy access, while the Quick Control Dial, Multi-controller and SET button have all been merged into one Multi Control Dial, enabling photographers to operate menus and enter settings quickly using their thumb. The mode dial also features a lock button, preventing unintentional changes to settings mid-shoot.

A dedicated Quick Control access button allows photographers to instantly reach the most common shooting settings and playback controls. Customizing the functions of a number of buttons is also possible, allowing photographers to tailor the camera to suit their individual needs. To help achieve landscapes with perfectly level horizons, a horizontal Electronic Level can be displayed in the viewfinder or in Live View to assist composition and remove any potential need for post-production correction.

The EOS 60D is one of the latest Canon models to support high-capacity SDXC memory cards, providing up to 2TB of available space, allowing photographers to keep shooting HD video and full resolution RAW and JPEG stills without changing cards. For better management of larger image libraries on the camera, EOS 60D photographers can add a rating of 1 to 5 to their favorite images, allowing them to be easily located and viewed on-screen. Once transferred from the camera to a PC, the tags can also be viewed using a number of image editing and management programs, including Canon’s DPP software.

Share the moment
For photographers who want to transfer content wirelessly, the EOS 60D includes Eye-Fi connected functions. The EOS 60D features a dedicated Eye-Fi section in the User Interface allowing WiFi functionality to be turned off when not required to save battery life

EOS 60D features at a glance:
18 MP APS-C CMOS sensor
Advanced creative features with Basic +
Vari-angle 7.7cm (3.0”) 3:2 ratio LCD
Full HD movies with manual control
DIGIC 4
ISO 100-6400, H:12800
5.3fps shooting for up to 58 JPEGs
9-point cross type AF System
iFCL metering with 63-zone Dual-layer Sensor
Integrated Speedlite transmitter
In-camera RAW processing

Source: Canon

T1T4NIUM’s thoughts:

Canon is cramming too many pixels into too small of an area. Nikon has a 1.5x sensor crop, Canon has 1.6x. Also, their glass (plastic, in the cheaper lenses), cannot resolve this much detail, according to Thom Hogan.

Also, many people getting a dSLR will go for a cheap lens, perhaps the 18-55 and 55-200 combo. Numbers add up well. If you have ever gone and picked up these lenses, they’re light. Unbelievably light. There are many molded PLASTIC elements in them, which do not perform as well as glass.

9 cross-type AF points? Seriously, talk about 2005. Canon made a serious step back with this one.

ISO goes pretty high. Just a ploy to attract customers. Canon actually does not too bad at noise reduction.

Integrated Speedlight transmitter. I’m pretty sure the previous Canon’s didn’t have this, but this is a 60D, a mid range dSLR. Nikon has it in the very low end cameras. If you’re a strobist, plan on bringing a whole bunch of PocketWizards.

That’s all. If you’re entering the dSLR world, and have 2000-3000 dollars to spend, I’d say, wait for the D95/D7000 (2 weeks).

And never get an expensive body and pair it with an 18-55 lens. Ever.

The first one debuted in 1948, called the Land Model 95. 1.5 million were made.

The Land Model 95 used film that had to be peeled off, but was later replaced by film that had to be “shaken” in 1972.

I would say the most well known Poloroid was this one: the collapsible SX 70.

An ad for the SX 70:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaiq_ZZ_eM

Today, we have digital. I myself, have never shot a Polaroid before, and tried using film only once. If anybody out there has not tried shooting film before, well, go out and try it, and learn why we hate it and use digital.

8 out of my 48 shots on film, here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdlXCNDKs6w

Synchronicity is the latest tweak to hit the Cydia Store and is something that I had been hoping to be created for a while now. It allows you to use your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad whilst it is syncing with iTunes.

Instead of being stuck on the lockscreen, you can use your iPhone like you normally would, play a game, answer or call, whatever you want to do except for using the Music.app. This is strongly not recommended because it could cause data corruption.

You can buy the application from the Cydia Store for $2.00. The tweak will work on all iDevices on iOS 4.0/4.0.1.

When I’m not being a good student, hanging out with friends, or writing articles here, I’m mixing and producing electronica tracks. It’s probably my favorite hobby. For the past couple of months I’ve been mixing straight off my laptop, using applications like Virtual DJ and Deckadance to do the job. It’s a good place to start, but after a while you become limited by what you can do with keyboard shortcuts and mouse control. When you mix on a computer, you get all the knobs and faders and buttons, but on your display. Your only control is the keyboard and mouse. The mouse will twist, slide, and press all those different things on the display, and you can map keyboard shortcuts to different levels for faders and knobs, or simply to buttons, but after a while you feel limited. At that point it’s time to move up and get a controller. So for a cheap $80 I got the Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2 controller.

The Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2 is an entry level controller. Many controllers on the market start at $400, whereas the MP3 e2 comes in at a cheap $80. It has all the basic necessities: crossfader, pitch control, low med high, automix and scratch modes, volume control, file navigation (to pick songs from your laptop), the 2 decks that can be manipulated, and finally some rudamentary effects control. Perfect for the aspiring DJ who’s tired of the limitations of a keyboard and mouse. When you understand all the basic concepts of mixing, such as beatmatching and how to fade between songs, a controller will give you more real time control over the music. After all, our hands are the most natural tools in our repertoire, and the MP3 e2 controller lets us use them for everything.

Build quality

Before my purchase I would refer to the controller as cheap plastic, only there for my mixing to be easier. Well not so much anymore. The MP3 e2 controller is well built. The majority of it is still plastic, but it’s not cheap parts. The frame is solid, and it’ll take a lot of use and damage before any knobs or faders break off. A very good build quality for the price!

Usability

The MP3 e2 is overall a very usable controller. There isn’t much to say in the way of what you can do with it. It’s made for entry level DJs, which means the less experienced. There are obvious limitations on what you can do with it, but for the guy who likes to make a mix in his spare time like me, it works very well! When you start to feel limited it may be time to move up to the next level. Pick up a CDJ if you can find the money for it.

Controls

The buttons are laid out well. As with the solid build quality, the controls are also well built. Knobs twist as they should, faders slide with ease. There are two main complaints I have about the controls though. The first would be the size of the controller: it’s small! Good for portability, not so good for ease of use. Stuff becomes tight sometimes. All the buttons are closely packed on the surface. Sometimes you feel like this controller was made for the hands of a baby, not of a grown adult. If the controller were twice it’s size (which would be the size of the typical controller) then it would be much nicer to use. Larger decks, more spacing between the controls, and my hands wouldn’t be bumping into each other anymore. Second, I’ll nitpick some smaller problems. For one, the faders are a little loose. One accidental move and your crossfader is on the other side, and your mix is ruined. Maybe a little more solid there. Buttons also have some problems. They feel awkward, very solid. They have this “click” to them when you press them, and they’re really loud. Odd complaints, I know, but when you get to use the controller you’ll understand what I mean.

Technical Info

The MP3 e2 controller hooks into your computer through USB, with a Type-B connection on the controller side. The required cables come with it. Drivers come on a CD and are required for Windows or Mac OS X to recognize the controller. The controller was designed with Virtual DJ in mind, but other applications such as Deckadance are adding support for the controller.

Conclusion

The Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2 was designed for entry level DJs in mind. To this point I have never found a controller so cheap and down to earth for new and aspiring DJs. If you’ve played around with the software on your computer and know all the basic techniques, then it’s time to step it up and get a controller. For the price and what it gives you, this is the one to have. This is a great place to learn how to control the music with a controller and get used to that, and refine your technique with your new equipment before you begin to spend hundreds of dollars on high end, professional equipment.

You can purchase the Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2 on Amazon for about $80

Name: Acer Stream| Price: £399 [Buy it] | Rating: 4/5

We recently got an Acer Stream Android smartphone for review. While Acer’s Android efforts have been previously lackluster, this new smartphone definitely looks like Acer is taking the Android game more seriously. Read our thoughts after the break!

Unboxing:

The first thing you notice when buying this phone is that the box is extremely small, especially for a phone with such a large screen. I’d say this is a good thing Acer is doing, as many gadget’s boxes are needlessly big and tend to be a waste of cardboard. The small box seems more ecologically friendly, and offers a nice un-boxing experience with its twist-out top piece. Included in the box is the phone itself, a case and screen protector for it (which is a nice touch), an HDMI cable, earphones, the charger, an 8GB microSD card and an adaptor to read the microSD card as an SD card.

Hardware:

When you first hold the phone in your hand, you truly sense that Acer has made a real effort with this phone. It’s thin for a smartphone these days at 11mm, not quite as thin as the iPhone 4, however it certainly isn’t thick by anyone’s definition. The gray metal facade coupled with black accents on the front and a black back make the phone look really quite sexy. Within the screen’s black border are 3 touch-sensitive buttons and one physical button. The touch sensitive buttons offer haptic feedback when touched, so they work well.

Just below the black border are 3 media keys – pause/play, forwards and backwards. These are a welcome inclusion on a smartphone that I haven’t seen on many other phones, as I found them extremely useful and prefer them to other alternatives of quickly changing songs ,like the double-tap of the home button on an iPhone for example.

The left-hand side of the phone has a volume rocker and the power button. I found this an awkward position for the power button, as I kept pressing it when i wanted to change the volume. The other side of the phone has a dedicated camera button, which is a definite plus compared to an iPhone, and a flap to cover the HDMI and USB ports. I found this flap a little bit flimsy, and the colour on it started to chip off ever so slightly after it’d been opened several times.

Overall, it feels very well constructed. The back cover is held sturdily in place, and there no visible screws or anything to hinder the phones lines.
Display:

Definitely one of the Stream’s strong points, the 3.7 inch AMOLED is a lovely screen. It’s extremely bright, and produces vivid, rich colours. Unfortunately however, one of the inherent problems with AMOLED displays is their performance in direct sunlight. When outside, the screen suffers a lot. While its not completely unreadable, it looses all of its vividness and turns to a washed out dull screen. It should be noted though, that this isn’t an Acer problem, it’s an AMOLED problem which all smartphones using the same screen technology suffers from. The display is of WVGA resolution, which means it looks very clear and crisp.

On the downside however, I tended to find that smudges showed up much more on this screen than for example an iPhone’s screen. This is quite annoying, however any smudges are easily wiped off with the provided cloth.

Software:

Acer has done some heavy customization to the Android 2.1 build that the Stream is running. They have split the screen into 2 halves, with the top two-thirds being comprised of three panels. The first one shows the time and date. If you swipe to the right, you get a collection of thumbnail views of your media. Swipe to the left, and you get a thumbnail view of the past 4 applications you’ve used.

The bottom third shows your eight apps that are constantly displayed, with the Android status bar above it instead of at the top of the screen. Swiping up here brings the rest of the menu up, which is scrolled through sideways.

Now, I do admire what Acer are doing here, trying to differentiate their phone by giving it a more media-centric home page. However, the interface is a bit clunky and confusing at times. The thumbnails for the media on the phone are a nice touch, meaning you can thumb through photos or music easily and quickly, but overall I tended to stick with the stock Android UI, which thankfully can be changed to easily.

Now, unfortunately the phone is loaded with “bloatware”, software which sometimes duplicates functionality already present on the Android OS for no discernible reason. Other apps on the phone include urFooz, which I’m still confused as to the point of. Its unfortunate that Acer has chosen to bundle all these unneeded applications, which are very reminiscent of PC bloatware. There’s no way to remove these applications without rooting the phone, so unfortunately you are stuck with the extra applications which clutter the menu.

Performance:

The Stream comes with a Snapdragon 1 Ghz processor, and 512MB of RAM. This combination give for a very snappy experience using the phone. Applications load practically instantly, so your never left waiting around for things to load. This also means that webpages load very quickly, so the experience of browsing the web on the Steam is very enjoyable.

Battery Life:

Unfortunately however, a bright vivid display coupled with a Snapdragon processor is a lethal combination to any battery – and the Steam is no exception. I found myself having to charge the Stream daily, which is definitely on the short side of battery life.

Camera:

I have to say, the camera on the Stream is a bit of a let down. Yes its 5-megapixel and yes it captures 720p video, neither of these are done very well. The Steam does not have a flash, something with I do not understand whatsoever because it is in desperate need of one. Anything aside from outdoors photos do not fare well on the Stream, and I’m quite sure a flash would’ve at least helped in this department.

Onto the video capturing – unfortunately its a let down too. While footage may technically be 720p, movies are extremely pixelated and again in any indoor situation the sensor struggles to get enough light into it. The videos do look alright on the phone’s screen itself, however when they are imported onto a computer, their poor quality is evident.

The phone also offers a micro-HDMI port to output content onto a high definition television. This isn’t great however, because pictures and videos can only be viewed on a big screen from the Nemo app, not any of the stock applications. It would’ve been cool to have a live feed from the phone, so you could browse the web for example on your television, but unfortunately this isn’t possible.

Conclusion:

Acer’s latest attempt at an Android smartphone is definitely a valiant one. The hardware is well designed and well built, with a brilliant screen and very speedy performance. Unfortunately however, the camera lets it down big-time and the Acer UI isn’t perfect. But if your not looking to take perfect photos and videos, then this phone could definitely still be the Android smartphone for you.

An infographic, created by the folks over at Online University, displays all the information on internet memes that you will ever need to know including many examples of some of the most popular memes to-date from Rick-Rolling to the Star Wars Kid. Videos of some of the memes can be found at the bottom of the post.

Here are some of the videos that the infographic talks about:

The Dancing Baby:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5x5OXfe9KY

The Dancing Hamster:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3G5IXn0K7A

The Star Wars Kid:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU

Prison Remake of ‘Thriller’:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Rick Roll’d:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

Dick in a Box:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhwbxEfy7fg

Obama Girl:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU