Cameras

The rumors about Photoshop CS3 started way back in August 2005, mere months after Adobe Photoshop CS2 shipped. One twist that none of the speculators foresaw, however, was Adobe choosing to test run its first public beta program using a major product. (Lightroom, the "beta" cycle for which is almost a year old, doesn't count.) It turns out that CS2 runs so slowly on Intel-based Macs that Adobe decided to throw those users an early bone.

I suspect Adobe is also using the opportunity to test its activation technology: CS3 will be available only to users with … Read more

BenQ has just announced a new big-screen, high-ISO, compact snapshot camera, just in time for holiday shoppers to ask why the company is announcing a new product in mid-December. The X710 is a slim, 7.2-megapixel shooter with a big 3-inch LCD screen and a 30fps VGA movie mode that can hit ISO 4000 sensitivity for filming in low light. Of course, that setting will probably mean incredibly noisy, grainy movies that look like they come out of 1970s-era video tapes. Still shots can only go up to ISO 1200, which will still probably be pretty darn noisy. The … Read more

Lest there be any doubt about the convergence of digital technology and the human body, consider this: a "bio-inkjet printer."

Carnegie Mellon scientists working on stem-cell research have developed a printer that uses "bio-ink," which Popular Mechanics describes as "solutions of hormones that alter cell behavior." In an article that sounds like natural sci-fi fodder, the magazine says the machine uses a custom-made nozzle that prints highly accurate patterns "to create a blueprint for cells to grow and differentiate into the various types that scientists want to create."

And why not? Manufacturing … Read more

Just when you thought that SD memory cards, with their fancy new SDHC spec, were pulling ahead of Sony's Memory Stick Pro format in terms of capacity and data transfer rates, here come Sony and SanDisk with an upgrade. The two companies have teamed up to keep Sony's proprietary memory card format up-to-date by increasing the maximum capacity to 32GB and bumping the top theoretical data transfer rate to 60 megabytes per second. That makes this new format three times as fast as current Memory Stick Pro media, according to the companies, though the new cards will be … Read more

Problem: My friend was looking to buy her boyfriend a Canon PowerShot SD600 for Christmas, but she needed it ASAP because he was leaving the country for the holidays.

Solution: CNET Shopper.com's Local Shopping to the rescue!

We have this great feature called Local Shopping. Enter your zip code to see if a product is in stock locally within your zip code. I entered my zip code and voila! I get 94105 Canon PowerShot SD600 availability. You can view the store address and the store hours, and map the address. So, if you are ever in a panic … Read more

Fujifilm decided to stop being coy and tell us when, and for how much, we'll be able to buy its recently announced S5 Pro dSLR and Z5fd ultracompact cameras. We first told you about the 6.3-megapixel FinePix Z5fd in November, but at the time we didn't know whether it would be sold in the U.S. at all. Now we can say with confidence that Fuji intends to ship the FinePix Z5fd in March 2007, and it will set you back about $230.

First deets on the FinePix S5 Pro hit the blogs back in September, and … Read more

To quote a wise philosopher we once met, this thing is so stupid it might actually be smart. Even so, we're not sure we'd want to look as dorky as the couple in this photo.

The "Quik Pod" is aimed at people like ourselves: those who are either too slow or slow-witted (or both) to use the camera's automatic timer. But if you must prove to your friends back home that you really did go to the Superbowl--and your Photoshop skills are kind of shaky--this may come in handy to record your attendance.

And as … Read more

Great, yet another thing to make us paranoid. But unlike the eggs and Swarovski crystals of our nightmares, something tells us we're not alone in our discomfort with Hello Kitty.

Actually, we know for a fact that the macrocephalic feline has been alternatingly irritating and creeping out people for nearly three decades (chills). So it was really just a matter of time before it happened to us.

We started to sense something amiss while reading about the latest Hello Kitty MP3 player. But then we had to avert our eyes upon viewing the "Tink Pink X Hello Kitty DC571&… Read more

If the standard silver or black (and the occasional pink) of Kodak's cameras aren't enough for you, then you're in luck. Kodak has announced a partnership with SkinIt, a company that makes custom vinyl skins for gadgets. According to a recent announcement, SkinIt will offer exclusive skins for 28 different Kodak EasyShare digital cameras, ranging from sports logos to bands to comics. SkinIt will also offer custom skins from users photos. SkinIt vinyl skins for Kodak EasyShare cameras will ship next year and retail for $10 and up.