Canon EOS 40D

This has been the apple of my eye sorta speak when it comes to Digital SLRs, and i have dreamed about having this camera since the days of the 10D. As the years go by the camera seams to mature, gaining little tidbits from its more professionals models down the line.

This new Canon 40D will have 10.1 MP, DIGIC III image processor, Better auto focus, More sensitive Metering range, Better white balance, Better auto ISO, Focusing screens, Larger LCD monitor, LCD Live View, Tilt correction, 6.5 fps Up to 75 JPEG Large/Fine images, Wireless connectivity with the WFT-E3/E3A Grip.

Thats just a few of the improvements made to the camera. For a full more detailed preview check out D Preview.

New iMac

Apple released the new iMac today, changing its body from plastic to a more modern and sleek Aluminum case. As Apple likes to push the boundaries of design while loading there products with features it will still have all the bells and whistles such as an iSight camera, Wi-Fi, and a Super Drive.

They have also added a Glossy Widescreen Display that will deliver rich and vivid colour. Along with the display changes Apple has also upgraded the graphics in the iMac.

The 2.0GHz 20-inch iMac includes the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 dedicated video memory, while the 2.4GHz 20-inch model and the 24-inch model offers extreme graphics power with an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR3 dedicated video memory.

Apple has also gone and released a new super slim Keyboard that should be a nice companion with the new iMac.

Apple Keyboard

Microsoft ‘Milan’ Surface Computer

Microsoft has come put with a Surface computer that has a table top interface allowing users to control objects on the screen with there hands. its a lot like the Minority Report and defiantly looks very futuristic. In the room there are infrared cameras that will recognize objects on the screen, so something like a glass will tell the computer first were it is, and maybe play an animation around it. so imagine being at the bar and you put your pint glass down and seeing advertisements floating around your drink.

The same goes with wireless devises. put a camera on the table and the pictures will flow out of it. manage the images by tossing them around rotating by hand and then if you want to move them over to your PDA then place it on the table and drag the content over and there you go, you just transfered the data without hooking them up to a computer.

Watch the movie: Read on..

Google Street View

Google is always up to something cool, and this time its Google Street View. Every wanted to know were you were going but you more of a landmark navigator than a physical address person? Well thats exactly what you can do with Google Street View. At the moment the areas supports are San Fransisco, Denver, Miami, Los Vegas, and New York.

as you look on the map (only Google.com) you will see a small camera indicating Street View. click to zoom, and any area or street with a blue boarder will indicate a VR. place your little character wherever you like and a window will pop up allowing you to look around the area, you can even go for virtual walks as well as tours.

I must say i was impressed with this new feature and the detail in the VR’s are actually quite good. I can only speculate that there is some sort of parabolic mirror on a upward facing video camera and a vehicle of some sort drives around recording this allong with GPS way points.

For more information on Google Street View check out the little video here.

Links:
Google Street View Intro
Google Street View

Safari Beta Public 3

Well about 2 hours ago Apple released the Public Beta of Safari Apples Browser. There are a number of cool features added, one worth noting is that it will now run on a PC

There benchmarks show it beating out IE7 Opera and Firefox in everything from Java, HTML, and Application Launch. Faster is always better.
Read on..

Adobe Media Player Philo

Adobe is working on a media player doubed “Philo”, its a visual RSS aggregator. Meaning you can feed it a RSS stream and it will take and pars the data and with a few extra lines in your RSS file that contain branding assets Philo will pull in header, footer and other graphical assets needed to customize the look of the player.
Read on..

Google Gears: Offline Web Applications

Google has come out with Google Gears that will allow developers to create Off line Web Applications, that means a plug in to install to allow your computer to support this feature.

It will be interesting to see how people take advantage of these new tools, i could see some one using the client or users computer to do the muscle work for complex commands. Not to mention the ability for a developer who is on a business trip finishing up some changes last moment on the flight over to deliver the project to the client.
Read on..

Google Analytics New Beta Interface

To my suppress when i opened my e-mail there was a notice from Google telling me about there new Beta Version of Google Analytics. I was just on the site this morning and must say the changes are welcome. I had a quick glance at it and could barely contain my self.

The visual changes a appealing to the eyes, the sleek flash interface. Jeff Veen is running Google user experience design and has been working on the project. Since Google bought Measure Map they have been busy working on this new version.

I’m always one to enjoy were my viewers are coming from and now by clicking on geographic locations you can drill down to State or Provence, Very cool.

Take a tour and see the changes.

Related Sites:

• Google Analytics Is Re-Launched: Do These Five Things First In V2
• Google Analytics
• Read a Case Study

Cintiq 21UX

Well along with a new job comes new toys. I have not had much time to really play with my new Cintiq 21UX monitor, but the experiences i have had in illustrator and photo shop have been amazing. I find my self needing to know more shortcuts using the stylus opposed to using the mouse. Your arm will be very sore at the end of the day. Not that knowing all the little shortcuts is a bad thing. I really like using the Cintiq 21UX in photo shop especially when doing photo retouches. its much more natural. I’m not a big illustration person so i don’t find it really beneficial in illustrator for my self. i tend to stick with the mouse since I’m mostly doing page layouts now.
Read on..