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Photographers bless improved Canon autofocus

After testing Canon's newest professional SLR, professional sports photographer Brad Mangin offers praise for the camera's autofocus system that's as lavish as the scorn he heaped upon the model's predecessor.

Mangin tested the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV at a football game, and his overall assessment published on his blog doubtless was music to the ears of designers at the Japanese camera maker: "This camera performed flawlessly...Canon should be able to keep long-time (and heavily invested) users like me happy with the new Mark IV."

Perhaps not so pleasant to hear was his excoriation … Read more

Getting to know Gay Tony in Grand Theft Auto IV

The final expansion pack (or episode) for Grand Theft Auto IV has been released in the form of The Ballad of Gay Tony. You assume the role of Luis, nightclub owner Gay Tony's right-hand man who must handle his dirty work across Liberty City.

The Ballad of Gay Tony can be downloaded via Xbox Live (for $20) or in a $40 disc form (called Episodes from Liberty City) which also includes The Lost and Damned, GTA IV's first additional episode.

We've had sometime with the final version of the game and here are our thoughts:

Jeff: First thing's first. If you haven't downloaded The Lost and Damned, go out and buy Episodes From Liberty City. It's tough to recall such a great value in gaming prior to this double pack, and Xbox 360 owners don't need a copy of the original GTA IV to jump right in. There is an incredible amount of gameplay value here; it's like getting two full $60 games for less than the price of one.… Read more

Guns, glitz, grime: New Ballad of Gay Tony trailer

The Ballad of Gay Tony is the second of the two episodic expansion packs for the Xbox 360 version of the Grand Theft Auto IV. The game follows the exploits of Luis Fernando Lopez, a member of the Northwood Dominican Drug Dealers, and bodyguard for Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince.

Rockstar Games will unleash this new adventure in Liberty City on October 29.

New GPS platform aims to save batteries

CSR has unveiled a new GPS architecture that it says will let portable devices be constantly location-aware without draining their batteries.

The architecture, SiRFstarIV, was announced on Tuesday along with the first product to use it, CSR's GSD4t receiver for mobile phones and other portable devices.

Mobile phones increasingly have GPS (Global Positioning System) as a feature, for navigation and other location-based services. However, current GPS architecture is a major contributor to battery drain--a situation CSR is hoping to fix.

The U.K.-based company, which has generally concentrated more on Bluetooth chip design, bought GPS architecture firm SiRF … Read more

This Week: A Salute to Bad Ass American Rides

This coming weekend, our country will be celebrating the annual Fourth of July holiday. And what better way to celebrate the rich history of the USA than with a week long tribute to some of the most bad ass American automobiles ever made? I sure can't think of a better way, so here we go with the Super Muscle Car Shootout!

This web video is actually a trailer for the Muscle Car Shootout that aired on the Speed Channel in 2006, but the cars showcased here are simply timeless. Some of the most powerful American performance car classics are … Read more

GTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony coming this fall

This isn't an April Fool's gag. The next installment of Grand Theft Auto is on its way, and like The Lost and Damned and Chinatown Wars, it's still set in the massive world of GTA IV. Rockstar has unleashed a surprise announcement with The Ballad of Gay Tony coming this fall for $19.99, or 1600 Microsoft Points.

The character in focus this time is Luis Lopez, an assistant to Gay Tony, or Tony Prince, Liberty City's premier nightclub entrepreneur. The glitz-addled world could be a little dose of Vice City-style mayhem. According to Rockstar Games … Read more

Hard drive IV just what the doctor ordered

Losing your precious data to a corrupted file can pose a serious threat to your mental health, but Dr. Hard Drive Bag is here to mend your broken heart and recover all your lost files.

Right now, the tool is just a concept by Hyuh Jin Lee, but the idea is novel--in the event of a hard-disk failure (knock on wood), just wheel out this portable hard drive IV and hook up it up via USB to your bedridden computer. Antivirus software will immediately pop up and begin scanning files for corruption, and a feedback light will turn on inside the drip bag to let you know it's on the road to recovery.

At the risk of being tarred and feathered, I'll refrain from making a swine flu joke, but would you guys use this product if it ever came to fruition, or is it too kitschy? Sound off in the comments, check out more of Jin Lee's design portfolio, and peep more pics after the jump!

(Source: Coroflot)… Read more

COMPUSA.com has the Systemax Beast IV Desktop PC for $599.99, after $400 Instant savings.

Save $400 on the Systemax Beast IV Desktop PC from COMPUSA.com >> Regular price is $999.99 >> Sale price is $599.99 >> Savings $400 (40.00%) >> Click here for deal

Showers of April rumors bring flowering of May dSLRs?

Given that the timing is right for manufacturers to update various models, it should come as no surprise that the rumors are leaking left and right--especially at sites whose stock-in-trade is tracking these types of rumors.

My favorite of the moment is over at Canon Rumors, which repeats info suggested in the forums at Fred Miranda. A favorite not because I think the specs are particularly accurate--a full frame 16-megapixel sensor, or maybe 18 megapixels, HD video, 12fps burst, 65-zone metering, 48 AF points (think the AF will get fewer complaints with all those points?), better viewfinder and built-in Wi-Fi… Read more