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Nikon's imminent D800 could offer high-sharpness option

It looks like Nikon's highly anticipated D800, a large-sensor SLR that supplants the three-year-old D700, will cater to photographers who want to leave behind that mixed blessing of digital photography, the antialiasing filter.

The job of that filter is to remove moire artifacts--wavy lines and other visual distractions that can occur when an image sensor's grid of pixels captures an image with repeating elements such as fabric patterns. The antialiasing filter works by slightly blurring the image, which is convenient when moire is a problem but which degrades sharpness in the many situations where it's not. … Read more

Get a Kodak Pulse Wi-Fi digital photo frame with extras for $69

One of my all-time favorite products--seriously--is the Kodak Pulse digital photo frame. After buying one for myself, I hooked up my parents, my sister, and even a few other relatives. We're all head-over-heels in love with the thing. I'll explain why in a minute.

For what promises to be a limited time, Wal-Mart has the refurbished Kodak Pulse 7-inch digital photo frame for $69, plus sales tax and $4 for shipping. (You can also opt for free in-store pickup.)

But wait, there's more. In addition to the Pulse, you get an 8GB Centon SDHC memory card and … Read more

Add effects to your images with Photo Frames & Effects Free

Photo Frames & Effects Free is a basic image editor with a handful of special image enhancements. It's definitely not the most impressive or comprehensive image editor we've seen, but for simple tweaks and effects it's not a bad choice.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive, with a tabbed menu giving users access to editing features, effects, and filters. The editing menu contains the basics, such as rotating and resizing tools and white balance and contrast controls, though we were surprised to find that the program doesn't seem to have a cropping feature. The … Read more

Sony readying Wi-Fi touch-screen photo frame

For the last three years, two things have been missing from Sony's digital photo frame lineup in comparison to the competition: Wi-Fi connectivity and online services.

This is set to change with the upcoming introduction of the DPF-W700, a new digital photo frame by Sony. The picture display has features and synchronization with Facebook that competes in a growing market directly against Kodak and Chumby on most major U.S. retail shelves.

The W700, available in black and white, features a 7-inch touch-screen 800x480 LCD (16:9, WVGA) with LED backlighting and flick and click navigation. Compatible content include a variety of media like the usual MPEG variants and raw AVCHD files. Internal memory is fair at 1GB, but there is support for MS Pro/Duo, SD/SDHC/SDXC storage cards, and Mini-A and Mini-B USB port for thumb drive or computer connections. Included Wi-Fi support is impressive with the full range over 802.11b/g/n and networking capability.

Word of the device was actually quite random, first showing up on the Federal Communications Commission site, and then in a Google search which leads to a newly launched portal at a Sony Middle East Web site. The specifications are on full display there, confirming integration with Facebook and Sony's Personal Space file-sharing Web site. The W700 displays 100 photos per each account synced from each service, culling from recent albums, mobile uploads, and other useful directories. … Read more

Rumors of 36-megapixel full-frame cameras

With all the hullabaloo lately over medium-sensor compact cameras and ILCs, some photographers would have been justified despairing over the dearth of news about full-frame (35mm-sized sensor) cameras. Well, despair no more. The rumors have started to flow surrounding a new 36-megapixel full-frame sensor from Sony that's slated to appear in a new Sony SLT-series camera in 2012 and a Nikon D800 before year's end.

As far as I can tell, few details are available about the sensor, but Nikon Rumors has some not-so-crazy speculative specs, including 4fps burst shooting, 1080/30p video, larger LCD, and triple card slots. SonyAlpha Rumors says that the long-rumored A99 will incorporate the sensor, replacing the dSLR A900 with a fixed mirror model. That means waving good bye to the stunning optical viewfinder of the A900, albeit replacing it with a more video-friendly model.

While I'm really looking forward to seeing what Sony and Nikon do with the new sensor, I'm not looking forward to the inevitable posts about how this spells the death of the medium format, just because the resolutions overlap. That said, the bigger format may take a hit from people who buy it just to produce the big pictures.… Read more

MiFrame: The ultimate iPad picture frame?

You can hang your iPad on your fridgestrap it to the back of a seat, and even mount it under a kitchen cabinet. But what about simply putting a frame around it?

That's the idea behind Striped Sail's MiFrame, which docks, charges, and accentuates the iPad--and functions as a plain old picture frame when your tablet isn't around.

As you probably know, your iPad already has a pretty awesome Picture Frame mode. But a docked iPad can also display stock updates, weather reports, your latest tweets, animated landscapes, and a lot more. (See our list of five killer apps for your docked iPad.)

The MiFrame provides a photo-frame-style home for your iPad, standing it upright and charging it via a standard dock connector. A 5-foot USB cable supplies AC power via your iPad wall wart. You can position it in either portrait or landscape orientation, though switching between them does require a bit more than just rotating the frame--you have to perform a bit of reassembly.… Read more

Get a Chumby 8 digital frame for $129

It started with August's $99 HP TouchPad and culminated with yesterday's $199 Amazon Kindle Fire, but suddenly the tablet deals are everywhere. (Well, not everywhere--cough, Apple store, cough.)

For example, today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished 32GB Motorola Xoom Wi-Fi 10.1-inch tablet for $349.99, plus $5 for shipping. Price just a couple months ago: $600.

Meanwhile, the 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook is now selling for $299.99 at retailers like Best Buy (where it's currently backordered, interestingly). Days earlier, it was $499.99. Of course, unless you need built-in cameras, I can't see choosing that over the Kindle Fire.… Read more

Disable the Picture Frame button on the lock screen of your iPad

In just four easy steps we are going to show you how to disable the Picture Frame button on the lock screen of your iPad. With it enabled, anyone who picks up your iPad can begin viewing the photos stored on your iPad with the tap of a button--even if you have your iPad passcode protected.

Read more

Lockdown-evading Chrome Frame exits beta

Google, after working for months on a version of its Chrome Frame that can sidestep PC lockdown constraints, has released the first stable version of the plug-in for Internet Explorer.

Chrome Frame embeds a version of Google's browser into older versions of Microsoft's browser. Chrome Frame shows Web pages using the Chrome engine when Web programmers have set a flag that the software checks for.

One problem with the approach is that the very people who most need the technology often are those who don't have enough administrative privileges to install a newer browser than, say, the … Read more

Entertaining, yet unimpressive iPad bowling

Strike Knight is a free, ad-supported pinball-shuffleboard game from the makers of the classic Paper Toss. In terms of gameplay, you pretty much get what you pay for--but the execution is fun and funny, with great attention to detail.

The interface puts you in a bar, complete with the hubbub of background noise. You're looking down the length of a realistic shuffleboard-bowling game, on which you're trying to slide a metal puck to knock down bowling pins. The details of the interface are convincing and entertaining (the crowd and an animated "Strike Knight" on the back-glass … Read more