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Tokyo train station gets facial scan payment systems
First they want to scan our brains for passwords, now they want to scan our faces as train passes? Privacy advocates, get on your tin foil hats facemasks, we've received report that Tokyo's Kasumigaseki Station will be shutting down their totally antiquated FeliCa RFID / NFC payment systems for an hour or two daily for a couple weeks, and switching on biometric cameras that snap faces, match them to train passes, and grant entry (or deny it if your train fare's depleted or late, or you, you know, are a terrorist). Despite lawyers calling it of questionable or outright dubious legality, it's gonna happen over there alright -- at least at Kasumigaseki Station -- so if you're in Tokyo and use this station, we have two suggestions: first is to wear a rubber mask of your pal so as to get on free and avoid detection. Second is to go to the next stop down the road in a show of protest for this system and in support of basic civil liberties and rights to privacy. You know, either works.[Via Smart Mobs]
BenQ's E310 and C510 digicams
Looks like BenQ's got some new digital cameras today they were too ashamed to announce during the week. They ain't much to look at -- and probably aren't so hot to actually use -- but if you're one of the "fist adopters" BenQ claims to be going for here, you may want to avert your eyes. E310 is your basic 3.2 effective / 5.0 interpolated megapixel CMOS camera with a 1.5-inch LCD, and power source; the C510 is a 5 megapixel shooter with a 2-inch display and 16MB memory. Both use SD AAA and AA cells (respectively), and rock it old-school USB 1.1 style. Don't expect to pay too much for either, but don't expect to get too much out of your purchase, either.
Samsung GX-1S DSLR reviewed
It's been a couple of months since Samsung dropped their first DSLR, the GX-1S, and we'd yet to hear anything of it since -- until now. DigitalCameraInfo has a review up of the sub-$1g DSLR, and they were pretty thorough in giving it the once-over. The reviewer found the device to be rather small for its class -- which of course we love to hear -- but didn't like the way it felt in the hand, and weren't particular impressed with its button layout. It scored on ease of use, color, and low noise on low ISOs, even though it underexposed a few too many shots and apparently wasn't quick to the draw on autofocus. Basically it doesn't sound like the camera to wait around for, which doesn't surprise us given Samsung's less than mindblowing digital camera releases to date. Even if you just want something with a Pentax lens mount that's not a Pentax, the GX-1S "seems to be a re-branded Pentax" according to DCI, so you should probably put that credit card away for now and see what develops in time for Photokina in a few months.[Via DPBlog]
Sony working on 60fps CMOS for high-res stills
In a move that promises to minimize the trade-off between digital still and video cameras, Sony announced today that it is working on a CMOS chip capable of capturing images from every pixel at a blazing 60fps. The problem with current imaging devices is that consumers must sacrifice image quality when they are recording video, but risk missing important shots due to shutter lag and the general non-continuous nature of still photography. Along with a new digital signal processing chip also being developed by Sony's engineers, the sensor should allow cameras to be used strictly in video mode, with high-res stills capable of being extracted later. No word on when we'll see actual products sporting the new tech (regular CMOS sensors are only starting to replace CCDs in consumer devices), but it's nice to know that camera manufacturers are finally throttling back on the megapixel race and instead focusing on improving the imaging experience.[Via Digital Camera Info]
Philips sues Kodak over patent infringement
It's been a mixed day over at Philips: on the one hand, they had the pleasure of announcing a new offspring, Liquavista, but now they've been forced to air some dirty laundry concerning fellow consumer electronics manufacturer Kodak, taking the NY-based company to court for allegedly infringing upon a sixteen-year-old patent. Philips claims that while several digital camera manufacturers license the JPEG compression technology protected by patent number 4,901,075 (refer to the schematic above for all of the technical details), Kodak refuses to do so, even though many of their products supposedly take advantage of the "Huffman codeword" magic outlined within. Financial details of the suit have not been made public, but Kodak doesn't sound like it's going to budge, saying that it will defend itself "vigorously."[Via Reuters]
Nikon's P3 reviewed
It's not been long since Nikon announced their latest volley of (WiFi enabled) digital cameras, and we've been pretty curious to find out how the P3 in particular stack up to the competition. Digital Camera Review snagged one of those 8.1 megapixel, 3.5x optical zoom, 802.11b/g-equipped shooters to play around with, and they seemed to dig the camera in whole with its Vibration Reduction (VR) image stabilization and manual features, even despite its chunky size and drab aesthetics. The WiFi still isn't apparently anything to write home about -- and it won't be until your camera doesn't require a host computer to do things like move around photos (or post them on the Interwebs) -- but the P3 definitely seems to have the hobbyist-ready features and image quality to make up for the limited use wireless and its size.
Kodak's Bluetooth camera module
We're not entirely sure of the purpose here, but Kodak filed with the FCC for a Bluetooth camera module that "is to be installed only by the professionals and used only with any product produced by Kodak." Yes, this thing's internal -- normally they'd just file for a camera with the radio, but this isn't the camera, this is the component. See why we're a little confused? So unless Kodak's going to start offering Bluetooth upgrades for their point-and-shoot cameras (which would arguably cost in parts and labor more than the camera itself), it's dubious this is anything more than a proof-of-concept for future, yet unearthed-in-the-FCC cameras, like the one in which the device appears to be implanted (that dual-lenser that sure as hell aint a V570, that much we can tell you).[Via MobileWhack]
