DPreview

Amsterdam, 4th August 2009 – Nikon Europe today announces the introduction of the world’s first camera with integrated projector as part of its brand new range of COOLPIX cameras. The ground-breaking COOLPIX S1000pj is expected to shake up the compact digital camera market as people begin to see the benefits of sharing and viewing photos and videos using personal projection.

The COOLPIX S1000pj doesn’t just pack a punch with its projector – the compact camera delivers high resolution images with 12.1 effective megapixels and a 2.7” wide viewing-angle TFT LCD monitor. With a high ISO 6400 sensitivity and using Nikon’s exclusive image processing concept, EXPEED, the camera offers the kind of high quality images you expect from Nikon. This is all wrapped up in a sleek aluminium silver or anodized black casing that contains a wide-angle 5x zoom NIKKOR lens.

Mark Pekelharing, Product Line Manager Consumer Products at Nikon Europe B.V: “The launch of our unique COOLPIX projector camera is exciting for gadget and photo lovers everywhere – and another first for Nikon with a compact digital camera that can project images. People can’t help but be blown away by such a beautifully crafted device. It’s packed with everything you need to take amazing photos so easily as well as to show your pictures; a great screen and amazing projector. Sharing photos and videos has never been so easy – or so fun.”

One touch projection
If you’ve ever wanted to share your photos or videos at a party or relive a day’s memories while on your travels, then now you can with one-touch projection on the COOLPIX S1000pj. The built-in projector easily projects an image size from approximately 5 inches up to 40 inches*1. A supplied remote control means that you can wirelessly operate both the projector and usual camera functions, and a simple projection stand is supplied for optimal viewing wherever you are.

Getting the shot you imagine
The COOLPIX S1000pj features Scene Auto mode, whereby the camera automatically selects the appropriate scene mode based on the contents of your shot, allowing picture perfect images at the touch of a button. In addition, five functions to reduce image blur and the Smart Portrait System ensures that you can get those ‘red carpet smiles’ every time. An additional feature enables users to ‘airbrush’ someone’s face using the Skin Softening function to reduce the appearance of blemishes. Together with face tracking and anti-shake functionality, the COOLPIX S1000pj helps you to get the shot you envisaged without any hassle.

The COOLPIX S1000pj will be available at an RRP of £389 / €429*2

my Picturetown
You can now store your images safely and securely using Nikon’s my Picturetown, a free online digital photo storage and sharing service. Easily share photo memories with friends and organise precious memories into online collections. You get 2GB of space free to use for storing thousands of memories and you can upgrade your membership to Gold Account at any time if you need to store more pictures.

Features

Sharper results with five advanced Nikon image stabilising features*3
Nikon's Optical lens shift and Electronic VR image stabilisation systems combine to help produce blur-free images. High ISO 6400*4 capability allows faster shutter speeds when shooting in low light or capturing fast-moving subjects. Motion Detection automatically controls shutter speed and the ISO setting to compensate for subject movement and camera shake. And, Nikon’s original BSS (Best Shot Selector) function automatically shoots a series of sequential frames and saves the one with the sharpest focus.

Nikon’s Smart Portrait System with Skin Softening
Face-priority AF helps produce more satisfying portraits by adjusting focus and exposure for as many as 12 faces in the framed shot. Skin Softening function detects and analyses a framed subject’s skin, and then adjusts smoothness to produce enhanced results. Smile Timer automatically releases the shutter when the subject smiles, while its Blink Proof function shoots two sequential frames, then saves the one in which the subject’s eyes are widest open. Blink Warning presents an alert when it suspects that someone in the shot has blinked. In-Camera Red-Eye Fix automatically corrects any perceived red-eye effect before saving the image to memory.

Intelligent automated shooting modes that promote carefree shooting
Nikon’s Scene Auto Selector makes it faster and easier to capture the moment by eliminating the need to manually select a scene mode to match the intended shot. This intelligent function determines the subject, analyses the surrounding settings, and then automatically selects the appropriate scene mode for optimal results. Subject Tracking enhances the shooting experience by following the subject’s movement to ensure clear focus and quick response when that special shutter opportunity presents itself. Subject Tracking even functions if the subject moves out of the frame for a second or two.

Quick Retouch
Quick Retouch automatically adjusts the contrast and saturation of selected photos to create an enhanced copy with the right finishing touch.

Other Features

* 2.7-in. high-resolution LCD monitor with anti-reflection coated cover
* 16 handy scene modes for optimised shooting in various settings
* D-Lighting
* Active Zoom
* Auto Sort and Favorite Pictures functions
* Four movie modes with sound
* Time zone function for easy setting of multiple locations
* Approx. 36 MB of internal memory
* Hi-Speed USB connectivity

*1 Projection area size dependent upon light conditions of the room

*2 Availability dates can vary from region to region. Specifications and equipment are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer. August 2009 ©2009 Nikon Corporation.

*3 The camera selects and uses only the features required to optimise each image.

*4 ISO 3200 and 6400 are available only for image sizes of 3M (2048 x 1536) or smaller.

Google Wave is a product that helps users communicate and collaborate on the web. A "wave" is equal parts conversation and document, where users can almost instantly communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Google Wave is also a platform with a rich set of open APIs that allow developers to embed waves in other web services and to build extensions that work inside waves.

What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

For more information about Google Wave, please visit wave.google.com.



Real-time collaboration
Concurrency control technology lets all people on a wave edit rich media at the same time.


Natural language tools
Server-based models provide contextual suggestions and spelling correction.

http://labs.opera.com/news/2009/04/01/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNxbyp6thM

3DConnexion launches SpacePilot pro mouse for 3D professional applications. This mouse comes with 27 customizable buttons and with SpaceNavigator rotational controller (our lab has one).

Better computer-vision algorithms overlay digital information on the real world.

By Kate Greene

Today, Microsoft researchers will demonstrate software that can, in real time, superimpose computer-generated information on top of a digitized view of the real world.

Adding additional visual data to a video display is a technique known as augmented reality. Michael Cohen, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, in Redmond, WA, says that the approach could add another dimension to future smart phones. "You could be out on the street, hold the device up, and it could recognize a restaurant and deliver ratings and the menu," he says. A smart phone featuring an augmented-reality display could also overlay a bus route and an estimate of when the next bus is due on top of a particular street. "It essentially becomes your portal to information," Cohen says.

Cohen and his colleagues will demo the augmented-reality technology at TechFest, an annual showcase of Microsoft's research projects, in Redmond. Their software, which runs on a small portable computer, analyzes scenes from a camera, matches to those stored in a database, and overlays supplementary information on the display. The researchers note that a smart phone with augmented reality could help allow engineers to "see" the pipes or electrical cables below a street. In the demonstration given at TechFest, the software will be used to lead people on a treasure hunt to a hidden prize of a (virtual) pot of gold.

Augmented reality has been an active area of research for more than a decade, although it has often required a head-mounted display and a backpack's worth of computing equipment. In recent years, cell phones and portable computers with cameras and other sensors have become powerful enough to handle the computational workload needed to run an augmented-reality system. Researchers at Nokia and Columbia University, for instance, are also developing augmented-reality systems, and a Japanese startup called Tonchidot hopes to turn the concept into a product.

Most augmented-reality systems must be able to orient themselves accurately in order to function reliably. Some locate their position using GPS or by triangulating several Wi-Fi signals, and determine which way they are pointing using an accelerometer and a digital compass. Microsoft's augmented-reality device focuses on being able to recognize objects within a scene, using sophisticated computer-vision algorithms. Since the demonstration is carried out in the controlled environment of the conference hall, the researchers are not using location-detecting sensors; instead, they're relying solely on computer vision.

Recognizing elements of a scene regardless of the angle or lighting is a significant challenge. Cohen and his colleague Simon Winder, a senior research engineer at Microsoft, have developed algorithms that perform this task frame by frame, for a video feed in real time. The algorithm instantly matches frames to previously analyzed images stored in a database. In developing the algorithm, the researchers determined the best parameters or characteristics to help the system match each scene. Cohen explains that they used machine learning to quickly test different parameters and determine the ones that will provide the best matches.

For today's demo, Cohen's team took pictures of the conference hall in which TechFest is being held. The photos were analyzed using the computer-vision software, and the key features were stored in a database on a laptop computer that employs a built-in video camera to capture a scene.

"In about a tenth or a fifteenth of a second, the software is able to recognize a scene and look it up in a database," says Cohen. For the treasure-hunt game demoed during TechFest, the software displays a trail of bubbles that point to the direction in which the user should walk to find the prize.

Since it is just a research project, Cohen stresses that there is still plenty of room for improvement. For one thing, the parameters used to identify physical features of objects could be refined to make matching even more accurate, he says.

Another challenge to consider is how this kind of system would work in a less controlled environment, says Kari Pulli, a research fellow at Nokia. "The most common augmented-reality application is to use it as a museum guide," he says. "That's easy to do because the environment is fixed." The challenge is to make sure that such systems can work in an unfamiliar context, like a city street. But Pulli believes that this could become possible thanks to databases owned by Microsoft, Google, and Navteq that contain images of street views.

Cohen says he's optimistic that the computer-vision algorithms developed by his team could have myriad uses--from augmented-reality systems to gaming and robotics--but he doesn't foresee them being used in a specific Microsoft product anytime soon.

Microsoft in talks to acquire local startup 3DV Systems

By Guy Griml

The first Israeli exit of 2009 is hitting the road. Software giant Microsoft is negotiating to acquire the Israeli startup 3DV Systems for about $35 million, despite the alarming condition of the global economy and grim forecasts of more pain to come.

This is no dream exit, however. To date 3DV Systems has raised $38.6 million in financing, according to IVC Online, which means that at least some investors will be losing money.

Speaking of which, the company is owned by Elron, a member of Nochi Dankner's IDB group, the venture capital funds Pitango and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and RDC Rafael Development Corporation.

3DV Systems develops "virtual reality" imaging technology for digital cameras that it sells, called ZCams (formerly Z-Sense). Its main targets are the gaming market ("enjoy a genuinely immersive experience," the company says on its Web site).

Now that graphics have become so advanced, it explains, the key to making a real difference lies in how you can control the game. The ZCam lets players control the game using body gestures alone, rather as PlayStation's EyeToy does, or Microsoft's Vision or Nintendo's Wii. 3DV Systems argues that its system is better than these, adding that you don't have to wear anything.

Microsoft apparently plans to use 3DV Systems' technology in its own gaming technology, probably in the Xbox 360.

ZCam is also useful in video-conferencing; for example, to change the background behind the subject being filmed. You could be talking from your home and deploy a background that makes you seem to be at your office, an airport, whatever. You could place presentations behind you as a background.

In the car industry, the product could identify the right moment to deploy airbags or identify driver fatigue. In the home, it could become a means to control the digital house.

AR-media

The Development Lab of Inglobe Technologies

TED 2009: MIT Students Turn Internet Into a Sixth Human Sense