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Aetho's 'Aeon' GoPro stabilizer looks slick, and so will your video
"Shoot video that's worth watching" reads one of the straplines for Aetho's "Aeon" handheld GoPro stabilizer. It sounds kinda obvious, right? But, if you've ever walked/ran/danced/dived/whatever with a GoPro in your hand/mouth/knees/whatever you'll know it's not that simple. You thought you had an oak-like steady grip, turns out you shake like a cold chihuahua -- and the GoPro does a wonderful job of translating that to your videos. Aethos's marketing copy suddenly doesn't seem so vapid, does it? Especially once you see what the Aeon can do for your footage. Which, helpfully, you can right here in this article.
DJI's Inspire 1 hand-held gimbal brings its flying camera down to earth
DJI is perhaps best known for its drones. The company also makes some pretty sweet photography gear. Often, these two skill sets meet in perfect harmony -- like the 4K camera-toting Inspire 1 video drone. DJI thought it was a shame to keep that new camera limited to aerial photography though, so it's setting it free with a hand-held gimbal (motorized camera stabilizer). In fact, the gimbal part is the same as the one that's on the drone, but attached to a handgrip mount. The result is a small, yet extremely stable 4K video camera. Similar devices exist for GoPros, but DJI's design is not just more visually appealing, but also more practical and comfortable to use. We were lucky enough to get to try it out for ourselves in the desert.
NYC now has hundreds of ad beacons in phone booths (update: mayor orders them removed)
Buzzfeed has learned that New York City allowed hundreds of bluetooth beacons to be installed without public consultation, a decision that has roused the ire of privacy groups. Outdoor ad outfit Titan installed around 500 Gimbal beacons in phone booths around Manhattan, skirting normal red tape by saying they were deployed for maintenance purposes only. However, it admitted it's also using them to decide when to rotate ad panels and recently pushed smartphone ads to Tribeca Film Festival participants. The devices can also pick up location and time data, though Titan told the NY Daily News that it is "absolutely, categorically not" doing so unless users opt in and install a third-party app.
DJI brings its smooth video tech to the ground with Ronin camera gimbal
DJI's best known for its versatile photography drones, but the company's bringing its stabilization technology to ground-based shoots with the Ronin camera gimbal. The compact device, which appears to be a more consumer-friendly version of last year's Movi Freefly, is designed to work with a variety of compact cameras, from DSLRs to a Red Epic. The handheld gimbal is based on the firm's ZenMuse tech, which you'll find in select camera copters. A single videographer can control the rig, or you can have a second operator manage pan and tilt wirelessly. Ronin can be configured in less than five minutes using a companion smartphone app, which enables auto calibration after balancing the camera. Pricing should come in under $5,000, and DJI says to expect the device to ship later this quarter.
Qualcomm releases proximity beacons that track Android and iOS shoppers
Short-range location services are all the rage these days, but they're nothing without the Bluetooth beacons that make them possible. Qualcomm is fulfilling that behind-the-scenes need today by releasing its Gimbal proximity beacons. Both the tiny Gimbal Series 10 and the weatherproof Series 20 let shopkeepers offer area-based discounts and information to customers as they wander through stores, with position accuracy down to one foot. They only support Apple devices for now due to iOS 7's native iBeacon feature, but Qualcomm also promises that Android support is on the way. Stores may not mind the limited utility, though, since the beacons are so cheap. Series 10 beacons cost as little as $5 each when bought in bulk, while the Series 20 costs $10; either way, they're trivial costs if they lead to a few more impulse buyers.
Hands-on with Freefly's shockingly awesome $15,000 Movi camera gimbal
One of the hottest gadgets at NAB isn't quite what you'd expect. Freefly, the company behind a series of professional-grade cinema hexacopters, is demoing its new Movi three-axis stabilized camera gimbal. We heard some rumblings about such a device last week, but the $15,000 price tag is quite a turnoff -- until you see it in action. We dropped by the company's booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center to check it out with an attached Canon EOS-1D C. Movi weighs in at just 3.5 pounds, jumping to 10 pounds once you mount the Canon camera and lens. It's a very robust system, despite the weight and footprint, letting you pull off shots that otherwise may require hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, and a substantial crew. In other words, you can capture incredibly compelling motion scenes with just a single camera operator. Don't take our word for it, though -- join us past the break to see Movi in action, along with a glowing testimonial from director Vincent Laforet, who Freefly tapped to shoot the gimbal's very first sample reel.%Gallery-185161%
