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OhMiBod's next remote-controlled vibrator promises to last a lot longer
Sex toys have come a long way since the early days of crudely-shaped, buzzing hunks of plastic. They're sleek, discreet and boast all kinds of features designed to give your sexy time a techy twist, from connected cameras to VR compatibility. But these additions can often come at the expense of battery life, and no-one wants to run out of juice in the middle of playtime. Enter the Esca 2, the second iteration of the Bluetooth-enabled interactive vibrator, which boasts a larger battery capacity.
Logitech launches TV Cam HD for living room video chats: built-in Skype, 720p, $200
If Cisco's ill-fated Umi video conferencing system had been more like this, would it have survived? Logitech is about to find out, one way or the other, once its TV Cam HD -- recently spotted at the FCC -- arrives in the US this month. The $199.99 device hooks up to your TV and contains all the processing power needed to run Skype and transmit wide-angle, 720p footage of your couch over WiFi or Ethernet. Unlike the previous TV Cam, there's no need for a Viera Connect HDTV -- anything with HDMI-in will do. The company is banking on the notion that families will forgo the use of their existing mobile devices and laptops in favour of an always-on dedicated system with incoming call alerts, four noise-cancelling mics and a Carl Zeiss lens that "gets the whole family in the video call, so everyone from grandparents to grandchildren can move around naturally." If you're tempted, the publicity video after the break gives a decent overview of the product in action.
OmniVision's OV2722 sensor promises 1080p tablet video chats, probably more than you wanted to see
We're seeing rear cameras on smartphones and tablets get better all the time; what about at the front? OmniVision might have that side tackled through the OV2722, a 1080p-native CMOS camera sensor. It won't allow for magnum opuses of photography like the company's own 16-megapixel behemoth, but it's just big enough and thin enough (at 3mm deep) to give a serious upgrade to the 720p-or-lower front cameras that prevail today, including webcams on Ultrabooks. The new sensor is both thinner and better in low light than an earlier iteration, so we'll hopefully see fewer instances of blurrycam self-portraits and video calls. The OV2722 is in mass production now for unnamed clients, although we're worried that the resolution jump will show us a little too much detail in that chat with Aunt Mildred.
InFocus Mondopad is a 55-inch multitouch display with an identity crisis (video)
What do you get when you mix buzzwords like "cloud" and "tablet" with an enourmous multi-touch monitor? The InFocus Mondopad, that's what. The company anticipates that this 55-inch 1080p high-definition panel "wall tablet", equipped with WiFi and a 720p webam / soundbar, will bring pad-like functionality to your next presentation in a big way. The proprietary software mimics the feel of a mobile OS -- only bigger and blander looking -- with basic apps like a whiteboard and web browser, as well as support for Office, JPG, and PDF files. Also inside is Intel's vPro tech, enabling remote access and file sharing with mobile devices -- or having dual-screen sessions with a 58-inch iPhone table, for instance. Pre-ordering one will run you $5,949 for delivery in July and VoIP service through Vidtel will cost $49 a month per connection. No word yet on whether a more portable version is the works, but you'll find some PR and a video walkthrough after the break. Update: We've been informed by InFocus that the Mondopad is running Windows 7 along with pre-loaded apps.
PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video)
Why a school district would ever think it was acceptable to secretly snap pictures of its students -- in their own homes, no less -- is totally beyond us, but with any luck the Lower Merion School District webcam caper will soon have its day court. Yesterday, an attorney for plaintiff Blake Robbins' confirmed that an agreement was reportedly finalized to stop the school from spying on its students while preserving evidence for the lawsuit. "What gets me in this situation is that I can't imagine there's a parent anywhere who would support the school district's actions here," said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director (and all around good guy) Vic Walczak. "[W]hat the school allegedly has done here is the equivalent of the principal breaking into the house, hiding in the child's closet, and then watching him or her from there." Yuck! For more info on the technical aspects of this case, peep the video after the break. Update: Seems that someone dug up some of the school's policies surrounding the webcam surveillance, and suffice it to say, the bullet points listed here are downright crazy. How crazy? How's about "possession of a monitored MacBook was required for classes, and possession of an unmonitored personal computer was forbidden and would be confiscated." Oh, and "disabling the camera was impossible."
School allegedly uses students' laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues
Hold onto your butts, kids, we've got a doozy of a story. Let's take this one slow: a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania accusing the Lower Merion school district of "unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation" of webcams in laptops issued to students, without prior knowledge or consent. The tale begins when Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko of Harriton High School informed a student that he was "engaged in improper behavior in his home"; the suit alleges that when pressed for details, Mastko told both the boy and his father that the school district could remotely activate the webcam -- a capability that is apparently being used. The school district has yet to respond to the accusations, so at this point we've only got the plaintiff's side of the story -- for all we know this kid took a picture of himself and somehow accidentally uploaded it on the school network. Then again, some purported Lower Merion students just emailed Gizmodo and claimed that their MacBooks' green webcam lights went on at random times, but they were told by IT support that it was just a technical glitch. Holy alleged invasion of privacy, Batman, this could get mighty interesting. PDF of the complaint available below. Update: The Lower Merion School District superintendent Christopher McGinley has issued an official response on its website, acknowledging "a security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops." Going further, he says the district " has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever" but that the matter is "under review." [Thanks, Yossi]
Microsoft's LifeCam Cinema HD webcam lets you film those YouTube confessionals in 720p
For when the world needs to see with pristine detail your cat playing inside a paper bag in the middle of the kitchen, or every blemish on your face as you regale the exciting story of your day, Microsoft's unveiled the LifeCam Cinema HD webcam. The USB 2.0 device captures life in 1,280 x 720 HD resolution at 30 frames per second, with auto focus, 4x digital zoom, a noise-canceling mic on top, and something called ClearFrame for smoother video, somehow. It's not without caveats, of course, requiring a dual core processor (1.6GHz minimum, 3GHz recommended) and listing for $80, but it does happily tout its Windows 7 compatibility out of the box. Interests piqued? The webcam'll be popping up in stores on September 9th, which as it turns out, is becoming a rather busy day for tech enthusiasts.Update: Looks like the 720p mode is capped at 15FPS. Tsk, tsk.
BT-1 Bluetooth webcam for Mac finally shipping
To think, we've been waiting on the edge of our seats since January to get our hands on Ecamm's BT-1 wireless, Bluetooth-enabled webcam for OS X. Sure, 640 x 480 / 15fps H.264 video quality is comparable to what our MacBooks get anyway, but hey, at least you can be a little more artsy on your Skype calls without losing that prime display viewing angle. All that waiting doesn't matter now, anyway, since it's finally shipping out. Price is $150 and it includes a mini-tripod and USB charger cable -- can't seem to get rid of wires entirely just yet. As for Windows support, it's still not there officially, but we've no doubt some intrepid young coder with an afternoon to spare will fix that.
Vision Cam works with PS3
The Xbox 360 only accepts the Xbox Live Vision Camera as a means to utilize its Video Chat, Picture Message and Personal Gamer Picture features. That being said, the Vision Camera, being a USB webcam, can work on a PC. You can add the Playstation 3 to the list, as the PS3 now accepts virtually all USB cameras, thanks to its 1.54 firmware update. While only one of our bloggers had the fiscal irresponsibility to pick up a PS3, does this affect any of you multi-platform readers. And if so, how would you feel using the Vision camera during a video chat on the other console?
Anything goes (so long proprietary peripherals) (PS3 delight #002)
Microsoft's been doing the talking, Sony is doing the walking. PlayStation 3 is the console for those that value choice. From a standard three-pronged power cord to a standard hard drive bay, Sony's hardware is compatible with a vast range of products, including additional operating systems (e.g., Linux).Already own a USB headset? What about a web cam? As Microsoft forces us to buy into -- often inferior -- proprietary devices, Sony welcomes us to use those peripherals we might already have lying around. Bravo!PS3 delights vs. PS3 annoyancesWii delights vs. Wii annoyancesXbox 360 delights vs. Xbox 360 annoyances
HP's two megapixel wide-angle webcam
Almost lost amid all the other news HP made last week was this humble little webcam, apparently known only as the HP 2-Megapixel Webcam. Though there's certainly nothing flashy about it (which we kinda dig, given some of the other webcams we've seen), it does pack a fairly decent feature set, with a 2-megapixel still resolution, 800 x 600 video at 30 frames per second, face-tracking, and an integrated microphone. Best of all, however, is the wide-angle lens, which'll give you (or the person on the other end) a spacious view of 76 degrees diagonally and 65 degrees horizontally. The cam itself measures 6.1 x 1.9 x 2.9-inches and comes with a handy stand that'll also double as a clip to attach it to a LCD monitor or laptop. No word on price, though it should be out sometime before the holiday season. [Warning: PDF link]
Gawker - record, share, combine time-lapse movies with an iSight
Gawker is a really interesting open source app that takes a very simple, yet powerful, approach to capturing time-lapse videos from an iSight camera - be it your own or someone else's. As you can see in this image, Gawker can utilize smart networking abilities of Bonjour to see if any other Macs on your network are running Gawker with an iSight, or you can enable iSight access over the web. You even have control over image quality, resolution and fps.Check out the project's examples page for some intriguing samples of what this software can do, such as sped-up footage of snow melting in Colorado and a PowerBook hard drive replacement.After a little tinkering, I must say Gawker is darn slick and drop-dead-easy to use. But before you ask: I'm not sure if other cameras are compatible. Head over to Gawker's project page for more information.
