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Pocket Filmmaker: How to light smartphone videos like a pro

Welcome back to CNET's guide to pocket filmmaking, where we show you how to turn the smartphone in your pocket into a camera capable of shooting video projects worth sharing.

In this episode, we look at the importance of correctly lighting your movies, whether it is with natural light, the use of reflectors or by using some very handy, portable and inexpensive light packs. We also examine which settings on your phone can help you get the best images possible.

Editors' note: Jason Van Genderen was the winner of several short film-making awards at festivals including Tropfest NY, Tropfest … Read more

LED lights could become network devices, too

Today, you've got wireless networks that use radio waves and you've got optical networks that use light traveling in tiny glass fibers. Tomorrow, if Fraunhofer Institute research comes to fruition, a combination of the two could turn living-room lights into network devices.

The German applied-research lab has developed wireless networking that uses rapidly blinking LEDs to transmit data through the air. The technology can send data at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second -- and by using three colors of light, triple that data rate is possible, Fraunhofer said.

The technology could be useful in crowded, interference-prone … Read more

Strobe Light Review

Strobe Light is exactly as it sounds: a strobe light. For that reason alone, this review will be very simple. Turn on the app and it starts to flash. Not so rapidly as to give you a headache and not so slowly as to attract the attention of a nearby emergency vehicle, but as you would expect from a strobe light for a party or concert. That alone is a nice feature; it works well on both the iPad and iPhone and it doesn't drain your battery quite as rapidly as some flashlight apps that have strobe functions.

That … Read more

Five things to consider before buying LED bulbs

As your incandescents burn out, it's a good time to consider switching to LED bulbs. By now, you probably know that LEDs have an impressive lifespan (20-something years!) and are very cost-effective. You probably also know that they're a pricey investment that can run five times more expensive than incandescents.

Despite the cost, now's the right time to switch to LEDs. These bulbs have made significant advances over the last few years, finally delivering the warm light incandescents have comforted us with for decades.

More than ever, there is also an overwhelming number of LED varieties, and … Read more

Is Darth Vader the world's favorite 'Star Wars' character?

Will it be Han Solo? Jabba the Hutt? Yoda? Chewbacca? Or possibly Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia?

Or will Darth Vader run away with the competition?

Today, Lucasfilm announced "This is Madness," its first-ever "Star Wars" NCAA basketball-style tournament, an effort to determine who is the world's favorite "Star Wars" character. Mashable was first to report the story.

There are four regions, two from the Light Side, and two from the Dark Side. StarWars.com plans on announcing the winner on April 9. There will be four rounds of voting before the winner … Read more

Apple launches two iPhone ads to flaunt new features

Apple released a set of snazzy new iPhone commercials today dubbed "Brilliant" and "Discover" to show off various features and apps on the smartphone.

Choreographed to upbeat music -- the same as its recent iPad ads -- the commercials display the phone in a pair of hands that click, tap, and swipe through various games, apps, and videos.

"Brilliant" highlights how people can use the smartphone to pay for a Starbucks coffee with the Passbook app, use the scientific MyScript math calculator, and control the dimming of a lamp with the new Hue Lighting … Read more

Light it up: Epic LED show to wrap SF Bay Bridge in swirls and stars

With the flip of a switch Tuesday night, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, already known as one of the world's most amazing bridges, will undergo an epic transformation.

Starting tomorrow evening, anyone looking at the San Francisco side of the Bay Bridge at night will be wowed by the ever-changing swirls, bursts, star fields, and other patterns of the Bay Lights Project, the world's largest LED art installation.

Created by artist Leo Villareal, the project features 25,000 1-inch LEDs strung for 1.8 miles along the bridge's cables that together make up the pixels on what … Read more

Illuminated range hood reaches the ceiling

Crowded kitchens create interesting conundrums. Finding the perfect balance between essential devices and cosmetic touches can be tricky and relies upon a certain hierarchy unique to kitchen appliances and gadgets. Most people would probably agree that the stove and the refrigerator top the list of essentials; it's hard to not work around these two behemoths of the kitchen. But when it comes time to place the next piece of the puzzle, rarely does one next look up.

Installing into the kitchen ceiling, the Frecan Paradigma (Spanish site) is a combination range hood/lighting system that puts a previously under-utilized … Read more

Create Databases with 4LightData Base for Mac

In personal and business settings, tools such as databases, word processors, spreadsheets, and Web browsers have become an everyday necessity. 4LightData Base for Mac is designed to handle all your data efficiently, but unfortunately it might not be the solution for all of your document creation needs.

4LightData Base for Mac is a free multiple-component productivity suite. The interface of the program is very simple but doesn't follow any logical order. The program is a collection of pieces that contain basic versions of a database, a word processor, a Web browser, a drawing program, and a spreadsheet. Although it … Read more