After spending more than a year being washed around the Pacific Ocean, a Canon EOS 1000D camera and the photographs contained on its SD card have been reunited with its owner.
As you would expect the Canon EOS camera, pictured below, is no longer working. But the SanDisk Extreme III SD card inside of it was able to be washed, and more than 50 images were recovered. With a date stamp suggesting the camera had been in the salty depths for over a year.
The camera was found during a scuba trip by Markus Thompson, who was diving in Deep Bay just outside Vancouver. After publishing some of the images on Google+, Markus was able to track down the Canon EOS 1000D camera’s original owner. A firefighter and his family from British Columbia and reunite them with their photographs and Canon EOS 1000D paperweight.
Toshiba continues to refresh its laptop line-up with the Portege Z930, a super-light ultrabook. So slight, in fact, that at 1.12kg, it's the lightest 13.3-inch laptop around.
It's not the most lithe ultrabook full stop though. That title goes to the Gigabyte X11, which weighs just 975g, though its screen is 11.6-inches across, so it's not a fair comparison with the Toshiba.
The Portege Z930 weighs less than the same size Apple MacBook Air (1.35kg). Impressive indeed. At its thinnest point, it's just 8.3mm. But because it's slim and light doesn't mean Toshiba has scrimped on the specs. Built for business, it boasts an 8-hour battery life that will last you the whole working day. Provided you're not too busy to power down for lunch, that is.
If you do choose to eat at your desk, the keyboard features a spill-resistant membrane, protecting your documents should you tip over your sparkling San Pellegrino (or whatever it is important business types drink).
You can choose up to 512GB SSD storage and up to 12GB RAM. It's powered by a third-generation Intel Core processor. And thanks to Intel's Rapid Start Technology, it'll boot up in seconds.
Other specs include one USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA sockets and an SD card reader. Bluetooth 4.0 comes as standard and the stereo speakers feature SRS Premium Sound 3D, for fully immersive noises.
It's due sometime between July and September and will cost £899. That means it's cheaper than the same size MacBook Air. Apple is expected to refresh its laptop line-up very soon though, with the new MacBook Pro set to resemble the Air in looks and dimensions. It might also feature a retina display, which would be a serious offering. (cnet)
The world may not be ready for another Facebook-flavored smartphone, but that hasn't stopped designer Michal Bonikowski from dreaming one up. Ubergizmo reports that Mr. Bonikowski has imagined his own take on a handset targeted at Facebook addicts. Judging from the pictures posted by the tech Web site, unlike HTC's ill-fated Status phone, this fantastic device sports a big 4.2-inch display.
It's also painted Facebook blue and has a distinctively HTC-esque aesthetic complete with a flat slab of a body with softly blunted edges. The handset even flaunts a unibody metal chassis like the HTC One S and HTC One V.
Made to be an ultra-communicator,Mr. Bonikowski envisions the phone to have an 8-megapixel main camera plus a high-resolution 5-megapixel front-facing camera for sharp video chats too. It's certainly a far cry from the HTC Status (aka Cha Cha), which was tiny, plastic, and had both a painfully tiny screen and physical keyboard.
But is there any demand for a Facebook-centered gadget like this? If Facebook's weak stock performance is any judge, perhaps not. I feel that if a Zuckerberg sanctioned mobile gadget is to succeed, it better take a page from the Nokia Lumia 900's playbook and be very aggressively priced.
In any case I think that this is the wrong direction for smartphones to go. I'd rather pay a little more for a higher degree of functionality. Image a phone that you could effortlessly flip from pure stock Android over to a manufacturer's best software interface (Sense, Touchwiz, what have you) at will without any data loss or warranty headaches. Now that's a smartphone worth dreaming about.
The Transformer AiO boots up in Windows 8, but you can switch it to Android at the touch of a button. Handy if you want a greater selection of apps, or want to play a game only available on Android. It's a touchscreen desktop, but take it out of its base and you can walk around with an 18.4-inch tablet.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of battery life you get out of it when detached from its base.
The screen is a 10-point multi-touch LED-backlit display. It can still switch between Windows 8 and Android when out and about, effectively giving you two desktops and two (massive) tablets in one package. Which has got to be worth a look.
There's no word on price or availability yet, or which version of Android it'll ship with. But rest assured we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
The Transformer AiO continues Asus' range of computers that turn into other devices. First there was the Transformer Prime that shed its keyboard to turn from a laptop into an Android tablet. Then Asus outed a laptop with a screen on the lid -- close it, and you can use it as a tablet. Known as the Asus Taichi, it runs Windows 8 in both guises.
This is the latest Windows 8 PC to be announced at Computex in Taipei. Windows 8 isn't due until October, but if this little lot is anything to go by, it looks set to reinvent the PC.
We've long bemoaned the Android rollout process, but now comes good news, of sorts. Ice Cream Sandwich -- the latest version of Android -- is now used on 7.1 per cent of devices, according to Google's stats.
This is up from the 5 per cent a month ago. But it still pales in comparison to Gingerbread, which accounts for 65 per cent of all Android devices. So ICS still has a long way to go. The figures become all the more unimpressive when you consider Android Jelly Bean is due for release in the next couple of months.
There is a caveat. These figures record Android devices which access the Google Play online store for apps and games, so they're not 100 per cent accurate. But they're about as close as we're going to get.
More bad news if you were hoping Ice Cream Sandwich would become standard anytime soon -- Gingerbread actually increased its market share slightly since last month. So it looks like ICS is a long way off topping the charts.
This is a little disappointing considering ICS is about six months old now, and as we say, about to be surpassed by Jelly Bean. Still, it is an improvement on how the year started for ICS, with it appearing on less than 1 per cent of devices. The whole palaver over the rollout for the Samsung Galaxy S2 turned off a lot of customers. One engineer thinks waiting five months for the update is perfectly reasonable. And the real kicker? Ice Cream Sandwich could even make some Android devices worse.
Sony Xperia acro S, the new flagship droid from Sony is a scratch resistant, dust proof and water proof phone that comes with a combination of Android 4.0 ICS and 1.5 GHz dual core Scorpion Qualcomm MSM8260 Snapdragon chipset processor. Basically, the phone resembles Xperia S and features similar hardware specifications but the additional protection features in the phone are newly added. Design and looks of Xperia acro S are also similar to Xperia S. The droid features 4.3 inches HD LED-backlit LCD Capacitive touch screen display powered by Sony Mobile BRAVIA Engine. It has 16 GB on-board storage and micro SD card slot expandable up to 32 GB. Other features like high speed data network connectivity, 12 MP camera we already have seen in Xperia S. 1910 mAh battery is impressive. Overall, features of the phone are quite impressive but lack freshness. Take a look at the specification and features
GSM Network:GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G Ntework:HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 GPRS/EDGE:Yes 3G Speed:HSDPA up to 14.4 Mbps and HSUPA up to 5.76 Mbps Bluetooth:Yes, v2.1 with A2DP and EDR Wi-Fi:Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot NFC:Yes GPS:Yes, A-GPS support and GLONASS Browser:HTML5
Battery
Size:1910 mAh Type:Li-Ion Standby Time:290 hrs in 2G and 310 hrs in 3G Talk Time:6 hrs 40 min in 2G and 7 hrs 10 min in 3G Music Play:23 hrs
Media & Entertainment
Audio Player:Yes Format Support:MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV Video Player:Yes Format Support: MP4/H.263/H.264/WMV FM Radio:Yes, stereo FM radio Pre-Installed Apps:Yes SNS Integration:Yes Adobe Flash Support:Yes Loudspeaker:Yes 3.5 mm Audio jack:Yes HDMI port: Yes
Additional Features
Document Viewer:Yes Predictive Text Input:Yes Colors:White, Black, Pink
Price & Availability
Price:N/A Availability:coming soon by third quarter
It is very rare that among the annals of Ufology there should appear a UFO case which involved military, yet is accompanied with actual photographic proof. Such is the case of an event which took place over the Los Angeles area on February 25, 1942. A giant UFO would actually hover over the city, and be witnessed by hundreds of observers.
Pearl Harbor Scare:
As America was gathering its senses after the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, there was a heightened feeling of insecurity and anxiousness. The skies were being watched as never before as a giant UFO moved through California, alerting the military and civilian watchers as well. This case is known as the "Battle of Los Angeles," and is one of the most important cases in Ufology.
Surreal Sight:
It would be early morning on February 2, 1942 when the incoming craft sirens were first heard in the Los Angeles area. Many Americans were expecting another wave of Japanese fighter planes, and thought this is what they would see as they left their homes, and ventured outside. How wrong they were! The first sightings of a large UFO would be made in Culver City, and Santa Monica.
A Total Blackout:
Air Raid Wardens were ready to go at the first hint of an invasion. But, this invasion would be something other than Japanese planes. The giant hovering object was soon lit up by the gigantic spotlights of the Army's 37th Coast Artillery Brigade. Everyone who looked up was shocked by the sight of the giant UFO sitting above their city. Military aircraft were sent to confront the object.
UFO Takes Direct Hits:
Because of a well-organized alert system, the whole California southern section was searching the night skies in a matter of minutes. What they saw were beaming searchlights illuminating the night sky, all of them converging on one thing-a UFO. A similar scene would be repeated later during the The Norwood Searchlight Incident albeit, on a smaller scale. The beams of light would soon be accompanied by tracer fire from anti-aircraft artillery, all of the rounds aiming at the invading craft. The giant UFO would take direct hit after hit, yet without damage.
Hanging Magic Lantern:
The 37th Brigade was relentless in its attempt to bring down the large object, but found no success. The barrage of spent shells would fall over the entire area-no place was safe this night. Many were injured, and there were even reports of death from the falling shells. According to newspaper reports, eyewitnesses described the sight of the UFO like a "surreal, hanging, magic lantern."
Classic Photograph Taken:
As the large UFO moved into more lighted areas, view of the object became better. It moved directly over the MGM studios in Culver City. Fortunately, an extremely good quality photograph was taken of the object-beams attached, tracer fire visible. This photograph has become a classic UFO photograph. The UFO would soon move over Long Beach before disappearing altogether. Woman Air Raid Warden Gives Testimony:
Woman Air Raid Warden Gives Testimony: "It was huge! It was just enormous! And it was practically right over my house. I had never seen anything like it in my life!" she said. "It was just hovering there in the sky and hardly moving at all. It was a lovely pale orange and about the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. I could see it perfectly because it was very close. It was big!"
More Eyewitness Testimony:
"They sent fighter planes up and I watched them in groups approach it and then turn away. There were shooting at it but it didn't seem to matter." "It was like the Fourth of July but much louder. They were firing like crazy but they couldn't touch it."
"I'll never forget what a magnificent sight it was. Just marvelous. And what a gorgeous color!" she said
The Guns Fall Silent:
The giant invading airship was now gone, and the citizenry of the southern California area began to resume normal activities. This was an extremely important event-one that will not be forgotten. Only the news of the war kept this from becoming a major news event. This case must have been in the mind of President Ronald Reagan when he warned us of an "alien threat, from outside of our world.
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