FocuSoft Tech Blog

Fujitsu brings M2010 netbook to North America, packs in few surprises
Canesta gesture controlled TV frees us from the tyranny of the remote
Logitech force-feedback Flight System G940 announced
Video: Beatles Rock Band books surprise gig at Xbox 360 meetup
Acer Aspire Timeline thin-and-lights priced for the US: $600 to $900
LG offer Network Blu-ray Disc Players
Computex see’s Asus 11.6 inch Eee PC
Sigma DP2 Camera Review: It’s Complicated [Review]
The Manual Exposure Control firmware for the 5D Mark II is now available
ECS T800 8.1-inch Android netbook [Video]

Fujitsu brings M2010 netbook to North America, packs in few surprises

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 06:00 AM PDT

You know the basic rundown by heart by now, and Fujitsu doesn’t stray far from the 10-inch netbook script with its newish M2010 “mini-notebook.”

The big “killer” features on display here include standard Bluetooth, three USB ports, a 50 second Windows XP start up time and a digital microphone. The $450 pricetag includes a 3 cell battery rated at 2.5 hours of computing, and you can nab a 6 cell to double your pleasure for $129.

Fujitsu is aiming this one at educational markets, and is touting some beefed up build quality for handling the wear and tear, but we’re not sure there’s anything here that justifies the pricetag or the totally average weight and thickness. The single configuration should be available now online and at select retailers.

Gallery: Fujitsu brings M2010 netbook to North America

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu brings M2010 netbook to North America, packs in few surprises originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canesta gesture controlled TV frees us from the tyranny of the remote

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:37 AM PDT

See the look of euphoric bliss on this man’s face? He’s calm and relaxed because he is using Canesta’s new gesture TV control technology. No longer does this cat have to scroll through hundreds upon hundreds of channels on a standard channel listing.

Au contraire, today he’s using his right hand to wave through a cover view-esque selection of stations, and boy does he make it look easy. The heart of this bad boy is a low-cost 3-D chip that uses a single CMOS sensor to output a continuous stream of depth maps that can be interpreted by as specific gestures, obstacles, faces, or individuals, depending upon the application.

Although the current demo might be especially appealing to you and your couch-potato brethren, the company has big plans for this device in the realms of security, robotics, medical devices, and more. But first, it will have to tear itself away from the couch, Video after the break.

Continue reading Canesta gesture controlled TV frees us from the tyranny of the remote

Filed under: Displays

Canesta gesture controlled TV frees us from the tyranny of the remote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech force-feedback Flight System G940 announced

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:16 AM PDT

Logitech have announced their first force-feedback flight sim controller, the Flight System G940. Comprising a joystick with realistic force-feedback, dual throttle control and rudder pedals, the G940 summons up a huge number of programmable button options and is compatible with most PC flight simulators.

logitech flight system g940 480x405

The joystick gives directional, proportional feedback rather than merely vibrating or rumbling, and has a two-stage metal trigger, mini-stick and analog trim controls. Meanwhile the dual throttle system can be locked into single-throttle mode depending on aircraft and comes with 80 pre-designed button legends for different titles.

Finally, the pedals have a four-bar mechanism, open frame design and feature rudder controls and toe brakes. Pedal-force adjustment lets gamers tailor resistance to their preferred level.

The Logitech Flight System G940 will land in Europe this September, with an MRSP of £279 ($457) plus VAT. It'll launch at the same time in the US, priced at $299.99.

Press Release:

The Sky's the Limit: Logitech Introduces Its First Force-Feedback Flight Simulation Controller

Logitech Flight System G940 Delivers Simulator-Grade Flying Experience, Authentic Controls, Realistic Force Feedback

Los Angeles – E3 — Jun. 2, 2009 — To provide flight simulation enthusiasts with a realistic experience, Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today unveiled the Logitech® Flight System G940. The latest addition to the acclaimed Logitech G-series line of gaming peripherals and the company's first force-feedback flight simulation controller, the design and controls of the Flight System G940 were inspired by military and commercial planes and helicopters.

"There's nothing ordinary about a G-series gaming peripheral, and the G940 is no different," said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech's director of product marketing for gaming. "We approached this project with the goal of redefining the flight sim experience. Whether you're flying an A380, an F/A-18 Hornet or a Comanche helicopter, when you want to feel the wind on your wings, control engines together or independently or master tricky manoeuvres, the G940 behaves and feels like the real thing – from takeoff to landing."

For an immersive experience, the three-component Logitech Flight System G940 features a force feedback joystick, dual throttle and rudder pedals. And, with more than 250 programmable button options integrated into a fully featured HOTAS (or Hands On Throttle-and-Stick) design, you're able to access critical aircraft systems without taking your hands off the controls.

The system is also easy to set up; just connect the throttle and the pedals to the joystick cable, and plug the USB connector into your computer. And all components feature mounting hard points, making it easy to secure them to a surface. The Flight System G940 is compatible with most popular PC flight simulators, including Microsoft® Flight Simulator X, IL-2 Sturmovik™: 1946 and Lock On: Modern Air Combat X-Plane 9.

Force Feedback Joystick

For added realism, the Flight System G940 joystick features Logitech's award-winning force feedback technology, which allows you to control your aircraft with confidence as you feel its movement as well as its reaction to air, turbulence and g-forces. Unlike vibration feedback or rumble technology, force feedback is directionally precise and tactile, so you get an accurate simulation of the forces experienced in the game.

Featuring a two-stage metal trigger, six programmable buttons, mini-stick, 8-way hat and three analog trim controls, the Flight System G940 joystick is designed to put you in complete control of your aircraft. And to ensure comfort during long flights, the joystick has a wide, solid base, a palm rest, a slight forward tilt of the stick and soft touch surface.

Programmable Dual Throttle

To give you realistic control over any aircraft, the Flight System G940 features a split throttle design, for easy control of multi-engine aircraft. When flying a single engine aircraft, a push-button interlocks the throttles for a more comfortable experience.

The interactive, programmable throttle-base buttons integrate with your favourite flight simulation software and illuminate red, green, amber or off to indicate the status of critical aircraft systems – just like they would in a real cockpit. For your convenience, Logitech includes 80 pre-designed legend inserts that slip into the buttons, making it easy to create an authentic switch panel with, for example, GPS, autopilot and landing-gear controls.

In addition to the eight programmable base-buttons, the Flight System G940 provides two eight-way hat switches, four programmable grip buttons and two rotary analog-controls. The included Logitech® Gaming Software allows you to assign virtually every possible control to the G940 in just a few steps.

Authentic Pedals

The pedals – the four-bar mechanism, inspired by the designs of current jet fighters – feature an open frame design with rudder controls and toe brakes, giving you true-to-life control, especially when performing defensive manoeuvres or crosswind landings, or piloting helicopters. An adjustable pedal-force knob lets you change the resistance to fit your flying style. And for added comfort, the pedal base has carpet grips and heel rests to keep the pedals and your feet in place even during the most difficult manoeuvres.

Pricing and Availability

The Logitech Flight System G940 is expected to be available in Europe in September for a suggested retail price of £279 plus VAT.

About Logitech

Logitech is a world leader in personal peripherals, driving innovation in PC navigation, Internet communications, digital music, home-entertainment control, gaming and wireless devices. Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).

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Logitech force-feedback Flight System G940 announced

Video: Beatles Rock Band books surprise gig at Xbox 360 meetup

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:10 AM PDT

Last night Microsoft held an E3 2009 post-press conference event, and while Natal wasn’t anywhere within our reach, we did happen upon Harmonix’s Beatles Rock Band stage, an appropriately cliché setup on the rooftop of The Standard Hotel. We’ll be getting more thorough hands-on time with the instruments later in the week, but for now, enjoy a glimpse at the concert ensemble, blasting forth with (confirmed!) three-part harmony.

[via EnGadget.com]

Acer Aspire Timeline thin-and-lights priced for the US: $600 to $900

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:01 AM PDT

Acer’s Aspire Timeline inexpensive thin-and-lights have been popping up here and there around the world since we first laid eyes on ‘em in April, and now the CULV machines are ready to hit the States.

Pricing is actually a little lower than we initially heard, with the base 15.6-inch 1.3GHz Pentium SU2700 machine coming in at $598, but you’re more interested in the two smaller machines: the 14-inch, 4.2-pound 1.4GHz SU3500 Core Solo unit is $699, while the 13.3-inch, 3.5-pound 1.4GHz SU9400 Core 2 Duo pictured above is $899.

All three machines feature 16:9 1366 x 768 LED-backlit displays driven by Intel 4500MHD graphics, and battery life exceeds eight hours, aided by a PowerSmart energy-saving switch. So — anyone still thinking about an Adamo? Full press release and two more pics after the break.

Gallery: Acer Aspire Timeline thin-and-lights hands-on

Continue reading Acer Aspire Timeline thin-and-lights priced for the US: $600 to $900

Filed under: Laptops

Acer Aspire Timeline thin-and-lights priced for the US: $600 to $900 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG offer Network Blu-ray Disc Players

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT

lg bdps LG offer Network Blu ray Disc Players

I guess Blu-ray hasn't really taken off according to Sony's liking (as well as the other partners in the Blu-ray conglomerate), as it sure is taking its time compared to DVDs back in the day where the latter was released. Well, at least it is making inroads after a short but bitter battle with HD DVD, but it has been more than a year now since HD DVD was declared to have given up the fight, and yet not that many people are adopting Blu-ray players in their living rooms. This time round, LG Electronics aim to offer something different for their new range of Blu-ray players featuring NetCast Entertainment Access and Wi-Fi capabilities in the US.

Consumers will be spoilt for choice when it comes to extensive content-on-demand options for instant access to Roxio CinemaNow, Netflix and YouTube content. It does raise an interesting question though - back in the day where there were just a couple of TV channels, we were extremely hooked and would watch anything and everything. Fast forward to today and you have hundreds of channels, where you will still find someone sitting down on a couch, flipping channels and remarking, "There isn't anything good to watch." Ironic, isn't it? Well, the LG BD370 and BD390 Network Blu-ray players were first unveiled at CES 2009, with the latter being the first-ever Blu-ray player to offer an interactive Download-to-Own and Pay-Per-View options, giving consumers the freedom to purchase content from Roxio CinemaNow at the click of the remote. It also boasts 1GB of internal memory to cater for BD Live functionality.

Both models will feature the following :-

1080p up-scaling for standard DVDs
Dolby TrueHD surround sound
DTS-HD Master Audio Essential
USB 2.0 Media Host
1GB built-in memory (BD390)
Wireless capability (BD390)

The BD370 and BD390 will retail for $299.95 and $399.95 respectively. Image from ibdcegypt.

Press Release

Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.
[ LG offer Network Blu-ray Disc Players copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

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LG offer Network Blu-ray Disc Players

Computex see’s Asus 11.6 inch Eee PC

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT

There have been rumours of Asus looking to launch an 11.6 inch screened laptop, but there are so many rumours these days that it is hard to work out which ones or real. However, it seems that the 11.6 inch Eee PC 1101HA is alive and kicking at the Computex show.

Specs:
11.6-inch LCD
A 1,366 x 768 resolution
A battery good for "up to 11 hours"
Intel's Atom Z520 / Z530 CPU
1 GB of RAM
A 160 GB hard drive
Three USB 2.0 sockets
A multi card reader
Possibly two different six-cell batteries
No prices yet!

Source [Engadget]

Post from: Laptop Pimp Blog - Laptop Reviews for Laptop Whores

Computex see's Asus 11.6 inch Eee PC

11.6 inch Laptops, 1101ha, asus, ASUS Laptops, Business Laptops, Good Laptops, Interesting Laptops, Laptop by Brand, Laptop By Size, Laptop Design, Laptop News, Laptop Rumors, New Laptops, pc, seashell

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Computex see's Asus 11.6 inch Eee PC

Sigma DP2 Camera Review: It’s Complicated [Review]

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT

When I first fiddled with the DP2, I was like “Who would ever want this?” Then I shot some of the most amazing photos I’ve ever taken.

The Set Up: Sigma calls this camera a DSLR in the body of a point and shoot, and they’re kinda right. It’s got the Foveon X3 sensor, which is just a hair smaller than the Nikon and Canon APS-C sensors. Sigma has carefully paired a fixed 24.2mm F2.8 lens in order, they told me, to maximize the benefits of that larger sensor. No zoom lens would do, they said, because picture quality would likely suffer.

To make things even more complicated, for these same reasons, they could only build in contrast-based autofocus. Though more accurate, it takes a lot longer to focus, and, in this camera, tends to give up easily when it can’t quite do it. It was often hard to get a satisfied chirp that meant focus was locked, especially in lower light conditions. Many hastily shot shots are blurry beyond help.

As you can see, this camera is low in the frills department, with greater reward going to those who can shoot manually, and most certainly in RAW. Meaning my first shots were hideous things, and it took a few days for me to become worthy enough to even hold the bastard. Eventually, slowly, I learned what it could—and could not—do.

The Bad News: Let’s repeat: There’s just the one fixed lens, which isn’t much of a wide angle, isn’t much of a macro, isn’t exactly “fast” by today’s DSLR standards, and does not zoom. You have to get in the habit of going to your subjects, then making them stay still long enough to get a decent focus, then a decent shot. To add to the troubles, the sensor that is pristine at ISO 200 is noisy as crap at ISO 800, which means you also have to shoot longer at times to make up for it.

Sigma people said that the ISO should be compared to other point-and-shoots, and that shooting RAW and converting it to JPEG on the computer cuts down on the noise, but even so, check out how crazy the noise was at 1600 after RAW post-processing on the computer:

It’s a mess, you know? I did manage to make some artistic looking black-and-whites by just desaturating the grainy 1600 shots—frankly, they were pretty cool, but it’s something you’d want the option to do, not something you should be forced into.

Other dings the camera gets are a lack of RAW+JPEG mode—what I like to call “insurance+good enough”—some extremely abysmal QVGA video mode that probably should have been left out of the product altogether because it’s pointless, and poor battery life. When Sigma sent me the camera, they included a spare battery. I thought it odd at the time given how insanely great camera battery life is these days usually. Clearly they knew something I didn’t. On top of all that, it’s just not terrifically small—Olympus and Panasonic are pushing Micro Four Thirds cameras that aren’t much bigger. (Course, their sensors are actually smaller.)

The Good News: As I have alluded, I have come around on this camera. Push aside all of the uncool characteristics, focus on what it can do—shooting relatively still objects at relatively close range—and you get some seriously attractive photo work. I can’t show them all to you—the wife lays down a general rule of not posting family pics in Giz reviews—but what I can show you should give you a decent idea of the DP2’s capabilities, coupled with patience and some basic know-how, can deliver. I’ll let them speak for themselves (and yeah, I already know you can do better with your mom’s LG cameraphone, so let’s go easy on the qualitative judgments):

The Rub: As much as I’d like to say it’s a great camera for photographically inclined people to stash somewhere for certain situations, it’s too damn expensive. It costs around $650 street price; for that money you can probably get a clearance-model DSLR model these days, maybe even with a kit lens. In the end, I’ve come to think of the Sigma DP2 as the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA of cameras: Beautiful in concept but complex, powerful and damn expensive—if you hit it everyday, it could well get the best of you. [Sigma]

In Brief
2819214942zplus3 Sigma DP2 Camera Review: Its Complicated [Review] For a small-bodied camera, it has exceptional picture-taking capability and superior image quality

649596e8e8mal 01 Sigma DP2 Camera Review: Its Complicated [Review] Its $650 cost can only be justified by a small percentage of wealthy photo enthusiasts

0f474eeb93nus 01 Sigma DP2 Camera Review: Its Complicated [Review] It’s tricky to use at first

0f474eeb93nus 01 Sigma DP2 Camera Review: Its Complicated [Review] Crap battery life

0f474eeb93nus 01 Sigma DP2 Camera Review: Its Complicated [Review] No zoom lens or any other obvious point-and-shoot frills

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Sigma DP2 Camera Review: It’s Complicated [Review]

The Manual Exposure Control firmware for the 5D Mark II is now available

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 04:54 AM PDT

If you own a 5D Mark II, your probably had today marked on your calander as the day that Canon was going to update your camera. Afterall this firmware is a big deal as it adds the manual exporsure control that should have came with the camera originally.

So if you 5D Mark II owners haven't already, jump over to Canon's website and download the latest firmware. Just make sure to hop back here when you're finished. Thanks.

ECS T800 8.1-inch Android netbook [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 04:50 AM PDT

We hope you've not stabbed your credit card details in for that Sony VAIO P order yet, as ECS have an alternative that might take your fancy. The ECS T800 netbook has the same long-and-narrow form-factor of the VAIO, but pairs it with an 8.1-inch LCD, a choice of 800MHz or 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP3 processors, and the Android OS.

ecs t800 480x389

Video demo after the cut

You also get 512MB of RAM, a 2.5-inch hard-drive or SSD and two USB 2.0 ports, together with a memory card reader and headphone jack. The webcam is a choice of 0.3-megapixel or 1.3-megapixel resolution, and there are two Mini-PCIe card slots saved for WWAN duties: ECS suggest HSPA and WiMAX.

The whole thing measures just 246 x 121 x 20 mm and weighs 800g, and it's apparently set to launch in the second half of 2009 priced under $500. We're already salivating; we reckon you will be too after watching this hands-on video.

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ECS T800 8.1-inch Android netbook [Video]

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