Archive for November 24th, 2009
Creative’s Third Generation Vado HD
Creative’s third-generation Vado HD may be an incremental upgrade, but it fixes many of the complaints users faced with the previous Vado HD. Gone is the unsightly protruding lens that sticks out like a sore thumb. The camera is now flush with the chassis and features manual exposure. It’ll also respond better in low light or brightly lit conditions through some processing algorithm wizardry since the new Vado HD has the same sensor and lux performance. The option to plug in an external microphone provides a solution for the less-than-stellar audio recording capabilities of the Vado HD.
The list goes on. Aside from being marginally smaller (98.8 x 57.6 x 15.8mm) and lighter (93g), the new camcorder also has a headphone output, motion-detection mode (records video once motion is detected), support for Mac and PC out-of-the-box and the ability to capture JPEG images at 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution. Vado Central, the bundled software that lets you edit recorded clips, now has a one-click uploading option to post videos directly to Facebook, YouTube, Photobucket, Box.net and KinKast. Oh, it comes in five colors (white, red, black, green and purple), too. Only one model is available and that’s the 4GB one, which is half the storage capacity of the previous Vado HD. That said, 4GB is still plenty of memory for recording up to 1-hour clips in HD+ quality. Note that the previous Vado HD battery and charger won’t work with the new model.
Stick Booster
Sanyo is introducing a portable USB recharger that can power mobile devices, such as the iPhone, that require a higher current for charging. The Eneloop Stick Booster, part of the same family of power products as the USB Solar Panels, comes with two rechargeable Eneloop AA NiMH batteries. The company says the batteries can be recharged some 1,500 times, and Eneloops are more effective than dry cells because they don’t meet the current requirement of some devices. The aluminum-construction Stick Booster weighs 76g and is 148mm long. When switched on, it can provide power for about 90 minutes on two fully charged Eneloop AA batteries.
Tamrac’s New Foldable Tripod
Most tripod legs are hollowed and allow the extensions to fit inside. However, Tamrac has taken a different approach and designed what is possibly the most innovative tripod we’ve seen this year. The ZipShot is a compact three-legged support whose design is inspired by collapsible tent poles. With a rugged bungee cord inside the legs, users just have to pull apart the joints and fold the tripod. The rounded edges at individual sections help to guide the aluminum legs to join together. Tamrac rates the ZipShot to be able to support up to 1.3kg, which means the tripod can accommodate most point-and-shoots and entry-level dSLRs. However, PopPhoto said it is wiser to activate the self-timer function when taking pictures because the thin legs are rather unstable and can shake when the shutter button is pressed.
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