Deep Tech

Visually splashy Google+ for Android catches up to iOS

Google has released the Android version of an overhauled Google+ app, part of the company's attempt to move to a "simpler, more beautiful Google," in the words of Vic Gundotra, the company's senior vice president of engineering.

The new app catches up with the iOS Google+ app that Google released a couple of weeks ago with a new visually rich, photo-first interface. And in some ways it surpasses it, for example in its support for tablets.

Google trails Facebook by far when it comes to the magnitude of membership on the overt social-network Google+ site, but the company more

Apple update supports Canon 5D Mark III raw files

Evidently the Canon 5D Mark III SLR must be a pretty hot item.

Because Apple just released an update to its Mac OS X camera support whose sole purpose is to let iPhoto, Aperture, and other photo applications view and edit the new camera's raw images.

Usually such Apple updates add support for a collection of new cameras, but time is of the essence now that the 5D Mark III is shipping. Many photographers who use this class of camera shoot raw images (data taken directly from the image sensor, not processed into JPEG by the camera) for the more

Zeiss debuts cine-friendly ultrawide, tele lenses

Carl Zeiss today announced 15mm and 135mm members in its CP.2 family of adaptable lenses geared for both cinema and SLR uses and due to ship in the fourth quarter.

The CP.2 line of Compact Prime lenses can be fitted with adapters to Canon or Nikon SLRs, to PL-mount cameras common in the video and cinema industry, Micro Four Thirds cameras from Olympus and Pansonic, or Sony's NEX cameras with E-mount lenses. The CP.2 line is geared for cinema purposes, though, for example with a long-travel focusing ring.

The lens family spotlights the convergence of traditional more

Next-gen Chromebooks built on faster Ivy Bridge chips?

It looks like Google will fulfill its promise of faster Chromebooks by using Intel's Sandy Bridge and imminent Ivy Bridge processors, a big step up from the current Atom-based products.

Chromebooks run Google's Chrome OS, a browser-based operating system that runs only Web applications. But under the covers, handling the hardware itself, is the Linux operating system. Google's plans can be divined from an even lower-level open-source project called Coreboot that handles the earliest stages of firing up a computer.

To work, Coreboot needs to know how to talk to a computer's hardware, and yesterday, Michael Larabel of Phoronix spotted a big Google contribution to Coreboot. more

Adobe touts tools for Flash-to-HTML conversion

Many developers are ready to dump Flash in favor of Web standards -- and for those who aren't ready, Adobe Systems is throwing its weight behind a new project called CreateJS to ease the transition.

CreateJS is a collection of libraries -- prewritten code, essentially -- that lets people program with Web standards such as HTML5 and JavaScript the way they're accustomed to with Flash. And along with the libraries there's the Toolkit for CreateJS, an extension for Adobe's Flash Pro developer tools that lets programmers work with Flash Pro and then export an HTML/JavaScript more

Canon 60Da tackles astrophotography after 7-year hiatus

The ceaseless succession of new Canon and Nikon SLRs has a certain predictability, but an unusual model came out of left field today: Canon's astrophotography-oriented EOS 60Da.

The 60Da is a close cousin to the Canon EOS 60D, a higher-end 18-megapixel model geared for enthusiasts. But the 60Da has one big difference: its infrared filter has been modified so it doesn't screen out so much "hydrogen-alpha" light, a deep-red 656.28-nanometer wavelength of light produced by excited hydrogen atoms.

By letting in about three times the amount of hydrogen-alpha red as a regular 60D, the $1,500 60Da can capture much better photos of energetic nebulae, Canon said. It's due to go on sale this month.

NEX-FS700 pushes down Sony's 4K videocamera prices

Some folks satisfied with conventional 1080p video think the push to higher 4K resolution is silly -- but Sony execs are not on the list.

The company announced a new 4K videocamera today with interchangeable lenses, super-slow-motion options, and a Super 35mm-sized image sensor. Initially it'll shoot only conventional 1080p video, Sony said, but it's "4K-ready," meaning that with a planned firmware update it'll also be able to produce video imagery about 4,000 pixels wide.

Other high-end features include built-in 2-, 4-, and 6-stop neutral density filters, which can block light so videographers can shoot with more

Phase One goes industrial with aerial, repro cameras

Trying to find new markets for its high-end photo gear, Phase One today announced camera systems for aerial photography and for reproducing artwork.

Both cameras use the company's big, expensive, medium-format image sensors, but the camera bodies are modified compared to what it sells to its more typical customers, photographers taking fashion and product photos. For one thing, they're made with rugged aluminum bodies to better withstand industrial conditions; for another, they drop the reflex mirror and viewfinder of ordinary cameras.

The iXR is geared for reproducing artwork or machine-vision needs; it can be controlled via live view more

Microsoft's IE reclaims lost ground in browser battle

Microsoft's Internet Explorer regained some of the browser usage it's lost in recent years, holding Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Safari at bay in March.

IE rose from 52.8 percent of worldwide browser usage in February to 53.8 percent in March, a relatively large monthly jump in the statistics tracked by Net Applicaitons.

Meanwhile, the top four rivals dropped: Firefox from 20.9 percent to 20.6 percent, Chrome from 18.9 percent to 18.6 percent, Safari from 5.2 percent to 5.1 percent, and Opera from 1.7 percent to 1.6 percent.

IE more

Google's Go language turns one, wins a spot at YouTube

Google has released version 1 of its Go programming language, an ambitious attempt to improve upon giants of the lower-level programming world such as C and C++.

Graduation to Go 1, which happened this week, makes the project less academic and more real in several ways. For one thing, Google has declared it mature enough to use. For another, it's available for use on Google App Engine, a foundation for cloud-computing applications.

And last, there's a bit of validation for Go readiness: it's being used today on one of the Internet's highest-profile sites.

Go is used more