Olympus just announced it’s “new” E-450 four thirds shooter. Really though, it could have just as easily been announced as the E-420 plus, a tweak to “world’s smallest DSLR” announced last year. Both cams share the same 5.1 x 3.6 x 2.1-inch and 13.4 ounce dimensions, 10 megapixel Live MOS sensor with live view, 3.5fps continuous shooting, 2.7-inch LCD, ISO 1,600 max sensitivity, and four thirds lens mount. So what’s new? Well, the E-450 has a newer TruePic III+ image processor, a longer 30-minute exposure, improved flash control, and now several “art filter” modes like “pop” and “soft focus” — pointless if you’re doing any kind of post processing on a computer. Then again, it’s only $699 when bundled with the ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 and ED 40-150mm f4.0/5.6 Zuiko zoom lenses. To prove just how entry-level this shooter is, it’ll be available exclusively on QVC (yes, that QVC) on May 9th.

Continue reading Olympus E-450 four thirds shooter is a tweaked E-420, still small

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Olympus E-450 four thirds shooter is a tweaked E-420, still small originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shuttle’s back with another mini HTPC, the H7 4500H, only this time you can swap out that DVB-T tuner with a DVB-S for satellite TV. The cost of going for the latter means you have to settle onboard graphics only, but either way you’re still getting DVR capabilities and Windows Media Center. Max configuration for the Vista-based machine includes 2.83GHz Intel Core 2 Quad, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285, 1TB SATA HDD, 4GB DDR2 RAM, and a Blu-ray writer. It’s also got HDMI, SPDIF, eSATA, FireWire and six USB ports. Starting price is around €775 ($1,020), but if you’re planning to get the whole kit and kaboodle, the price jumps to about €1858 ($2,450).

[Via I4U]

Filed under: Desktops, Media PCs

Shuttle’s Mini H7 4500H media PC joins Blu-ray, DVB-S tuner in matrimony originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reuters – Microsoft Corp. is to exit its Encarta encyclopedia business later this year after losing ground over the years to freely available reference material on the Internet on web sites like Wikipedia.

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Microsoft to discontinue Encarta
(Reuters)

Sorry, that’s not actually Dark Helmet, it’s a researcher demonstrating the latest Brain Machine Interface (BMI) cooked up for robotics. While it’s not looking too portable, it’s a far nimbler setup than the original MRI Scanner first concocted by Honda to control robots in near real-time back in 2006. This time, Honda Research Institute in coordination with Advanced Telecommunications Research (ATR) and Shimadzu Corporation have achieved robotic thought control using a sensor cap to measure electrical potential on the scalp and cerebral blood flow. While we’ve seen much of this BMI tech applied to video games in the past, Honda claims its technology achieves the world’s highest accuracy at 90% without special training. Impressive, even though it’s clearly R&D work for now. Check the video after the break.

[Via Akihabara News]

Continue reading Honda’s ASIMO could be thought controlled in Spaceballs 2

Filed under: Robots

Honda’s ASIMO could be thought controlled in Spaceballs 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No money for a secondary display? No use for that worn-down PSP? There’s hope for the future, friend. Hacker avi has discovered that Sony’s handheld makes for a wonderful status monitor, providing a clean look at your PC’s CPU usage, memory allocation and system temperature levels. All you’ll need is a bit of training in Python, Lua for the PSP and a sister willing to stop watching UMD movies long enough for you to give this a go.

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

Sony PSP hacked for use as PC status monitor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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