compact

Lexar Media has overhauled its 2007-era dual-slot professional flash card reader to support fast new cards and the higher-speed USB 3.0 interface that have arrived in the last four years.

Like its predecessor, the new reader handles CompactFlash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) memory cards. Unlike its predecessor, it can handle SDXC, a newer member of the SD card lineage that provides for larger capacities, and SD's UHS-1 higher-speed interface.

Things didn't change on the CF side of the shop; the older model supported the present high-speed standard for CompactFlash, called UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access). CompactFlash … Read more

It's hard enough to keep up with a digital music collection spanning thousands of tunes over gigabytes of disk space, but what do you do if you have LP records, cassette tapes, Edison wax cylinders, and other musical media? Duck Software's Album Tracker can help music lovers get a handle on their ever-expanding libraries. It's a highly customizable music database that lets you organize your music by genre as well as title, artist, and other typical categories. It's not a music or media player and doesn't try to reorganize or convert your library; it simply … Read more

Canon all but abandoned optical viewfinders on its PowerShot cameras; the high-end G12 was the only one. That changed at CES 2011, though, with the announcement of the Canon PowerShot A1200, an entry-level point-and-shoot with a real-image zoom viewfinder.

Along with the viewfinder, this budget-friendly 12-megapixel compact is powered by AA-size batteries, has a large selection of shooting options, uses an f2.8 28mm-equivalent wide-angle lens with a 4x zoom, and captures 720p HD-resolution movie clips. About the only thing missing is optical image stabilization, but you can counteract hand shake by using the viewfinder.

Like most cameras in its … Read more

If you walked into a store and saw Panasonic's Lumix DMC-ZS8 and its Lumix DMC-ZS10 next to each other, you might not immediately see the differences, let alone $100 worth of them. Even after picking them up, you might notice only that the ZS10 has a GPS receiver and a touch screen. And a stereo mic. Oh, and look, it records full HD video in AVCHD with a one-touch record button.

But if none of that matters to you, then maybe the more hidden differences will, like the fact that the ZS10's screen is twice the resolution of … Read more

Photographers and videographers with a lot of data spend a lot of time waiting for files to transfer to their computers, sometimes paying a premium for FireWire 800 ports to edge out the speeds of USB 2.0.

Now the USB 3.0 generation of flash card readers is starting to arrive, though, including Delkin Devices' $40 USB 3.0 Multi-Card Reader and Writer. The company announced yesterday that the products are now shipping from its San Diego factory.

Its raw data transfer rate of 5 gigabits per second promises to leapfrog the 800 megabits per second of FireWire 800 … Read more

Although spring is rapidly approaching, the engineers at Ford are keeping the needs of cold weather dwellers on the forefront. The U.S. automaker announced on Tuesday that the Ford Focus Electric's battery pack won't be slowed down in below-freezing temperatures thanks to an active liquid-heating system.

"Batteries are similar to people, as they both achieve maximum performance working under moderate, unchanged temperatures," said Sherif Marakby, Ford director of Electrification Programs and Engineering. "Using a liquid-heated battery system allows Ford to keep the Focus Electric's battery at a moderate temperature and improve performance whether … Read more

Even after using a preproduction model for the past few days, I've really had a hard time classifying the new Nikon Coolpix P300. As part of its P series, geared to enthusiasts, you'd think Nikon was taking on models like the popular Canon PowerShot S95 and the new Olympus XZ-1. But while it has the basic black, no-nonsense design, fast lens and broad manual feature set of those models, it uses a relatively small but backside-illuminated (BSI) 1/2.3-inch sensor similar to mainstream consumer cameras like the PowerShot Elph 500 HS--it's priced lower than the former … Read more

A common problem with slim point-and-shoots is that users with larger hands may find it difficult to hold and operate the camera. A recent Sony patent (PDF) for a foldable grip may just resolve this issue, and I have to say it is quite clever.

According to the diagrams, it's possible to increase the grip's surface area by pulling the front plate out sideways so it folds and becomes a grip. Presumably, this will also expose the lens and turn on the snapper, much like the Cyber-shot T-series shooters.

But as with all patents, this apparatus will remain … Read more

Panasonic, out from under the product deluge that is CES 2011, announced today refreshed versions of its high-end point-and-shoot cameras. If you recently bought the compact megazoom Lumix ZS5, ZS6, or ZS7, the rugged TS2, or the touch-screen ultracompact FX75, you may not want to read on because some of the new tech is actually worth having.

The ZS10 and ZS8 get a wider, longer lens than their predecessors, and the former gets a 3-inch touch screen. The TS2 update, the TS3, gets GPS and is more rugged. The FX78 (replacing the FX75) gets a larger touch screen, a less … Read more