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Rihanna slams Snapchat over ad that mocked domestic violence
A few days ago, Snapchat allowed an ad on its platform that plenty of folks thought made light of domestic violence. The ad was apparently for a game and it asked if viewers would rather "Slap Rihanna" or "Punch Chris Brown," likely referencing Brown's 2009 felony assault on the pop star. Snap then apologized for letting the ad through, telling the BBC that the ad had been published in error and had been removed immediately. Now Rihanna has seen the ad and responded on her Instagram Story, and Snap came back with another apology.
2010 Range Rover gets 12-inch 'dual view' touchscreen
We've seen dual view prototypes for ages now, but you can bank on said technology (dubbed Parallax Barrier) being front and center on Land Rover's forthcoming flagship vehicle. Announced today at the New York Auto Show, the 2010 Range Rover will arrive with a 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system that puts off different images depending on the viewing angle. In order words, the driver can check out the route to grandma's house while the lucky soul riding shotgun peeks a DVD -- in theory, at least. The navigation system is HDD-based and also includes a USB socket and a dedicated iPod port. Land Rover even spruced up the voice activation system, giving motorists the ability to voice their concerns about climate and volume (and get instant results). Check the full snippet just past the break.[Via Engadget Spanish]
Sharp's AQUOS DV-ACV52 HD DVR handles DVD, HDV, and VHS
Sharp's HD DVR lineup has been steadily (albeit quietly) growing for a few years now, and while the company did loose five new offerings in the AQUOS DVR arena earlier this year, the multi-faceted DV-ACV52 has the stage all to itself now. Besides packing a built-in digital TV tuner, 250GB hard drive, and HDMI outputs, this convergence device allows playback and dubbing on a variety of formats including VHS, DVD, or DV / HDV via the i.Link FireWire connector. Other niceties include composite / S-Video outs, optical audio output, and the ability to record one OTA broadcast to the HDD while another goes straight to VHS / DVD. Sadly, we don't envision this Japanese-bound unit ever gracing US shores, but it will be making smiles across the sea next month for around $925.[Via MediaMentalism]
JVC's Mini DV, DVD, and HDD player / recorder
While you might color us impressed if JVC's latest player / dubber handled recordable HD DVDs or Blu-ray discs, the SR-DVM700 really isn't much more than a brushed up version of its DR-DX5S from back in the day. Sure, it can offload content from Mini DV tapes, DVD-R/RWs, DVD-RAM, and basically any other analog device, but you still won't be compiling your data on any of the newest high capacity optical discs. Nevertheless, JVC's latest touts "six-way dubbing", provides on-deck / remote controls, an MPEG2 image processor, and a 250GB internal hard drive. It also provides a foolproof UI to handle your dubbing needs, component outputs, front / rear AV inputs, rack-mountability, simple editing and authoring features, and a simultaneous video recording function to dub to multiple sources at once. Although pricing and availability details haven't been divulged, we suspect this triple-duty device will be hitting Japanese DV stores soon.[Via AkihabaraNews]
Annotation helps you get your ducks in sequence
Have you ever said to yourself, "Gosh, I have all this animal observation DV footage, but no way to log the behaviors?" OK, maybe not. How about "Wow, I'm running this focus group/sleep study/usability project and I'd love to tag my tapes with timecoded subject actions?" Either way, Annotation 1.0 might help.This app from cleverly-named vendor SaySoSoft is the first commercial release of a tool previously deployed in academic settings. You can 'score' your rich media content with a timeline of events or observations, then play back the event timeline like a player piano. The timeline is searchable or exportable as CSV for further statistical analysis. There's a demo download available and the full package will set you back $299.[via Versiontracker]
First pics of RED "Spike" camcorder prototype surface
It's been quite awhile since a single camcorder, of all things, got as much hype as the elusive RED machine from Oakley founder Jim Jannard, but this mysterious beast is escaping the treacherous realm of vaporware and emerging into reality according to the man himself over at DVXuser. Aside from shooting HD footage at 60fps with those fine 11.4-megapixels, the all-aluminum cam is finally making its debut, and a few glamour shots of the first prototype, dubbed "Spike," have now been released. It's noted that actual production units will not sport a shiny finish (sorry, blingsters), and the official forums will open up tomorrow at RedUser.net. Ole Jim also mentioned that the machined prototype "should be operational" within days, and hopes to garner a good bit of attention at the next NAB expo. While the initial batch of $17,000 pre-orders are long gone, the firm just might take more orders for a small window of time in "early 2007," but it's shakily committing to a "May 31st" or earlier ship date for those lucky (and loaded) individuals already on that coveted list. Be sure to tag the links below for more very-not-fuzzy sneak peeks.[Via DVGuru]
Sony's new HVR-V1U HDV cam does 24p
Pro video types without the budget for a high-end HD setup have a new friend in Sony's HVR-V1U cam: the HDV camcorder is the first in its class to shoot 1080p video at 24fps, the holy grail of indie DV cinematography. Sony's V1U is the followup to their Z1U, and is the pro companion to that FX7 prosumer cam we saw the other week. Along with the 24p action, the cam can shoot full-res 30p and 60p flicks, along with with slow-mo vids at up to 240 fields per second. In another boon to pros, the camcorder can record to HDV tapes while simultaneously pushing video to the new HVR-DR60 hard-disk recording unit which offers 60GB of space for up to 4.5 hours of recording in either HDV or DVCAM/DV mode. Other highlights include dual XLR inputs, a 20x optical zoom lens and a 3.5-inch LCD. Of course, this stuff isn't exactly "cheap" in most literal senses of the word: the camera and HDD recording unit are dropping in December for $4,800 and $1,800, respectively. Still, plenty of good things going on here, and if you don't have need for Canon's interchangeable lens capabilities, you'll save a whole lot of cash in comparison to the XL H1, and get some 24p action to boot.
Gawker updated with more camera support, desktop time-lapsing
Gawker, the clever app for recording, sharing and combining time-lapse movies, has been updated to version 0.70 with some unique features. It is now compatible with non-iSight cameras, including even DV cameras, and can record from up to four cameras simultaneously (when you consider the power of using other cameras through Bonjour, this gets pretty interesting). The ability to capture desktops as well as a countdown timer have also been added.Gawker is an open source project and available from its home at SourceForge.
Bella Catapult enables camcorder-to-iPod recording
Camcorder accessory manufacturer Bella has just announced a new device that will let you toss those MiniDV cassettes straight out of your bag and replace them with your iPod or nearly any other USB 2.0-compliant storage system. The Catapult, as it's known, is a paperback-sized digital encoder that plugs into any standard or HD camcorder with a FireWire port and processes the video as you're recording, eliminating the need to convert your footage later on. Besides saving time and offering access to higher storage capacities, the Catapult also enables your cam with a number of features not available out of the box, such as time-lapse recording, remote trigger capabilities, and both pre- and post-recording ability. Pre-recording is an especially attractive option, as it seems to buffer whatever your CCD is capturing for a preset timeframe, allowing you to essentially "turn back the clock" and preserve events that already happened once you hit the record button. Bella tells us to expect their new product sometime during the second half of the year, for some amount of money less than $300.[Via T3]
360 cam to usher in home surveillance?
eHomeUpgrade.com has big plans for the forthcoming Xbox 360 USB camera. Forget video chat, face-mapping, snapshots, and motion-capture gaming ... what about home surveillance?! Wow.Imagine if you will, a network of wireless, motion-tracking cameras stationed throughout your home. Now imagine your Xbox 360 is the hub. And now, there you are, secure in your living room, clutching your controller and ... watching ... watching every twitch on your 42" plasma.
Xacti HD1 camcorder caught on tape
We caught wind of the Xacti HD1 high-def camcorder last month, but it hasn't hit the shores here just yet. Akihabara spotted it in the wild and grabbed a short video of Sanyo's 720p camcorder; our first thought: wow is that small! The 80x119x36mm camcorder captures 30fps at 1280 x 720 res and rumor has it that we'll see it for around $800 here next month. Check out the video and then decide if this small wonder is worth $800 to you. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than that HDC-1000 we pointed out earlier; plus it's a tad more portable.
Sanyo announces worlds smallest HD camcorder
If you've been just dying to record high definition video on the go, Sanyo has the camcorder for you. The Xacti DMX-HD1 measures at an amazingly small 80x119x36mm, and weighs only 235g, including battery and memory card. It will record 1280x720 resolution video at 30fps in MPEG-4 format.With a 2gb SD card you can expect to get about 28 minutes of recording time in high definition. JCN reports the price as $1040, but DV Guru caught a look at the camera during CES and says we can expect it in March for just $800. They've also got video of the device.
Sony DCR-DVD505 Handycam camcorder
Here are the deets on the Sony DCR-DVD505 DVD Handycam from last night's press preview -- like the DCR-SR100, the DCR-DVD505 records in 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Surround Sound with support for the ECM-HW1, an optional Bluetooth microphone allowing you to record center channel audio wirelessly from up to 100 feet away. It supports DVD-R/RW/ RW formats as well as capturing 4.0 megapixel stills to Memory Stick Duo storage. It's also got dual recording functionality so you can capture 3.0 megapixel stills concurrently while shooting video.
Canon releases four consumer camcorders: ZR500, ZR600, ZR700, and Elura 100
Canon is throwing down four new consumer camcorders designed for DV beginners -- three models in the ZR series and the Elura 100. All four sport Canon's Widescreen high resolution feature allowing full-screen image viewing on widescreen TVs, and each uses a 2.7-inch Widescreen display planel. The ZR series features 25x optical zoom, with the ZR500 and 600 (pictured above left and right, respectively) doing an 800x digital zoom and an 1000x digital zoom available on the ZR700. All the ZRs also include a level shot control to avoid crooked shooting and digital photo capture to SD media, and are available for $299 (ZR500), $349 (ZR600) and $399 (ZR700), respectively, with the Elura coming in at $399. Look for availability on the ZRs at the end of this month, with the Elura making its appearance at the end of February.
