Olympus XZ-1 Review

Review: The Olympus XZ-1 digital camera offers aspiring photographers a chance to step up to better image quality and manual controls, without all the bulk and expense of a full DSLR.


The XZ-1 is a new addition to the Olympus lineup, and packages the power of a DSLR into…well, almost point-and-shoot size. While the device might be a little much for some pockets (not all) to handle, its capability and simplicity should at the very least cause pause before your next camera purchase.
Unlike some Micro-Four-Thirds or even beginner DSLRs, there’s nothing intimidating about the make and mold of the XZ-1. That said, novices might find themselves relying on its iAuto settings before rushing into any of its manual capabilities. But once you get there, you’ll be happy you took the plunge.
Olympus also outfits the XZ-1 with a highly capably OLED display, and of course, a wide-angle lens that can step up to just about any dimly lit scenario.
Our first impression of the XZ-1 is how sleek and compact the wide-angle camera feels. Its chassis is very reminiscent of the Nikon CoolPix P300. It’s remarkable that manufacturers are able to fit extremely capable lenses onto such discreet bodies, and looks alone will tell you the XZ-1 is a pocket cam. However, put one in the palm of your hand and you’ll immediately understand you’re dealing with a real machine. The camera has some heft (but not bulk) to it, something new photographers might shy away from but enthusiasts will find to be a comforting indication of quality. Just to give you an idea, the XZ-1 weighs in at just under 10-ounces, and units from Olympus’ entry-level digicams usually come in around four to six ounces. If you’re a fan of all things thinner, lighter, and smaller and in the market for a wide angle camera, you might be leaning toward something like the CoolPix P300 (6.7-ounces), but we personally like a little bit of weight when using compact DLSRs for manual shooting.
While we’re being shallow, we should address the fact that the XZ-1 comes in white and black. We’re fans of both options: The white is inarguably eye-catching, but there’s the all-business look to the matte black.
Onto more important things. The XZ-1 measures 110.6mm x 64.8mm x 42.3 mm (width x height x depth) and offers shooters a nice, wide 3-inch OLED display. The OLED screen gives photographers a clearer, sharper, more contrasted image – and its resolution of 610,000 pixels doesn’t hurt either. The functions are simple to master, with a dedicated power butter and shutter, a top dial for adjusting your manual settings as well as selecting iAuto, auto-scene options, and built-art filters. On the camera’s back panel, you have your dedicated video recording button, playback function, and turning dial for determining shutter and aperture manually, as well as a host of other settings. This dial also serves as your navigator for scrolling through photos.

The flash is manual only: Experienced shooters will appreciate a camera that doesn’t self-determine when to light up a setting and newbies might find themselves momentarily confused, but in general this is an appreciated feature of the camera. It also comes with a hot shoe attachment.
The design is simple without being obnoxiously minimalistic, and transitional learners will be able to use the manual settings without feeling alienated by a crowded screen. DSLR loyalists will of course find the lack of a viewfinder with all the settings annoying, but sacrifices have to made when using a compact camera – and that’s one of them.
In addition to the XZ-1 itself, Olympus includes a lithium ion battery, USB cable, AV cable, USB-AC adapter, the various required straps and lens caps, and a setup CD.

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Incase Courier Collection for spring offers bike-conscious designs

The new Courier Collection from Incase focuses on cycling convenience and bright colors. 

A new collection from Incase for spring and summer of this year features a set of modern bags catering to the urban cyclist, hence the ‘courier’ title. The collection’s two standouts are the well-equipped Courier Messenger Bag (above, $180) and the Courier Messenger Backpack ($150), but the line also includes a few other items, like a hip pack and iPhone pouch. The weather-resistant messenger bag is made of 1680D nylon with a waterproof lining and has an exterior waterproof stash pocket as well as a variety of interior pockets, including two that are lined with plush faux-fur for gadget protection. An ergonomic, padded cross-body strap features a one-handed adjustment slack pull and a large side release buckle for convenience and comfort on cycling trips around town. Other bike-conscious features include bicycle lock storage, a pump tie-down, removable stabilizer strap, and an exterior reflective panel.



The messenger backpack (above) offers many of the same design and convenience factors as well as a faux-fur lined laptop compartment that fits up to a 17-inch laptop and a wide-mouth top opening for quick access. Side access compartments leave room for all your smaller items while padded shoulder straps and adjustable front straps keep you comfortable on the go. The collection is available in tonal black-on-black, dove gray with orange accents, or our favorite, minty jade green with black and orange design details.
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Audible content comes to Amazon’s Kindle via Wi-Fi

Amazon updates its Kindle e-reader to receive Audible.com purchases via Wi-Fi, also launching a 30-day free AudibleListener Gold trial that includes two free audiobooks.

Amazon purchased online audiobook seller Audible way back in 2008. The move came only a few months before the online mega-retailer released its Kindle e-reader, which has supported the Audible audio format since its 2007 launch. Now, Amazon has officially announced that, moving forward, Kindle users will be able to download audiobook purchases straight to their device over Wi-Fi.
Previously, Kindle owners had to go through the convoluted process of purchasing their content from Audible.com, downloading it to their computer and then transferring the files to their device via a USB connection. This simplifies matters considerably, and will hopefully (from Amazon’s perspective, at any rate) inspire consumers to mix in the occasional audiobook with their e-book purchases.
Audible offers more 50,000 titles for download via Wi-Fi. To kick things off, Amazon is offering two free audiobooks with a 30-day free trial run of an AudibleListener Gold Membership. For those who are new to the service, users have the option of purchasing individual audiobooks at full price or signing up for one of two subscription plans.
Gold members receive one free credit per month — or 12 credits for a full year’s paid subscription — which is good for the free purchase of most regular-length books on the site as well as a 30 percent discount on any addition purchases. Platinum members get two credits per month (or 24 for a year pre-paid). Both plans also get a free digital subscription to either The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal as well as access to exclusive sales and promotions.
Audible on a Kindle seems to defeat the purpose of a device designed for reading that is too large to fit inside a pocket, especially with the service also available for most mobile operating systems and the rising adoption of smartphones among consumers. That said, if Kindle is all you’ve got and you’d much prefer to close your eyes during the daily commute and just listen, that option just got a whole lot easier.

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MSI GX680 gamer notebook packs Core i7, Nvidia graphics

MSI's new MSI GX680 gamer notebook packs a second-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 55M graphics, and room for ample memory and storage.
Computer maker MSI is rolling out something for the gamers with its new MSI GX680 notebook, packing most of the punch and storage capacity of a high-end desktop system into a portable form factor—although we’d wager carrying one of these 7.7-pound monsters all day might be a little tiring. The GX680 packs a second-generation Intel Core i7 2630QM processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 550M discrete graphics with 1 GB of video RAM, driving a choice of to 15.6-inch displays.

“The GX680 notebook computer boasts superior performance and the best wrap around sound available,” said MSI’s associate VP for global sales Eric Kuo, in a statement. “What’s more, new generation GX680 features cinema-grade THX TruStudio Pro smart wrap around sound, so regardless of the kind of music you play, it’s faithfully reproduced.”
The GX680 is seriously expandable: it has four DDR3 memory slots for adding up to 16 GB of RAM and a dual hard drive configuration for up to 1.5 TB of storage in a RAID 0 configuration. Users will have a choice of two 15.6-inch displays: a HD 1366 by 768 LED backlit model, or a Full HD 1,920 by 1,080-pixel model. The GX680 sports HDMI and VGA video output, along with a Blu-ray player/DVD Super Multi burner, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, a 5-in-1 digital media card reader, 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR wireless networking gigabit Ethernet, and a 1.2 megapixel webcam. Gamers will be able to show off a bit with the GX680 as well: if has an LED light show built into the chassis that users can activate with a dedicated hotkey: lights embedded in the front of the notebook and keyboard pulse with the notebook’s audio. Think of it as a dedicated visual social filter.
The GX680 ships with a 9-cell lithium-ion battery, and users can select between five power modes to get the perfect blend of power savings and performance for any given situation. The notebook also comes with MSI’s i-Charger technology that pushes more current through USB ports so users can charge cameras, phones, and media players up to three times faster via USB.
MSI hasn’t released any pricing or availability details, but expect to see the GX680 available through MSI’s normal retail channels soon.

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Hands on with Color, the social app of the moment

Our hands-on impressions of the much-hyped social app that promises to invade your privacy and revolutionize geo-social platforms.
Are you sick of Color already? Maybe just the deluge of puns involving the app’s name that are sure to continue hitting your news feed? It’s not even out of its infancy and already it’s taking over. Based on the idea of creating a social network that is entirely location-based and contains nothing more than various photo-streams, Color is making headlines for its potential to unite strangers as well as the ever-trending mobile, social, and location platforms. And of course, it’s also being heralded as the straw that broke privacy’s back. With all the fanfare surrounding the digital world’s game-changing new app, we had to give it a shot.
Let’s address some of the more objective aspects of Color. Right off the bat, Color isn’t an entirely intuitive experience. The initial setup has a familiar, businesslike feel to it: You fill out a simple form (anyone else find catharsis in filling out forms?) asking your first name and for a self-portrait. And then it gets sort of isolating – albeit, most of this can be attributed to the fact that Color hasn’t found a wide audience yet. Even still, the UI is a cluttered, busy experience – and a wordless one at that. It’s all symbols and images, without accompanying user explanation. For example, choosing an individual image from the photo stream courtesy of anyone within your 150 foot radius yields three graphics. It took awhile to determine what each did and while Color’s clearly going for a minimalist approach, it’s done that and some – to the point of mild confusion and occasional annoyance.
All that said, some of Color’s randomness is a coup for the app. It’s more like a bulletin board of images than a neatly stacked pile, which has a certain aesthetic appeal to it. UI issue will probably be some of the first kinks Color works out in its already promised upgrade.
Now, it’s important to get this criticism out of the way because it doesn’t have very strong legs to stand on: Not enough people are using this yet for it to work like it’s supposed to. Over the course of 24 hours, our photo stream was limited to the same handful of users in our proximity…and one of them works down the hall. It would be interesting (and yeah, sort of creepy) to see the goings-on of various strangers in your vicinity, but not if it’s the same five people. Especially since they’re all within the same office building or apartment complex. The idea of seeing someone in the elevator who says “Hey I recognize you from Color!” is pretty harrowing.
Of course, if this thing really takes off like it’s supposed to and lives up to its $41 million potential, the rotating faces and photos would get exponentially more interesting.
The one thing this app’s developers have nailed is the technology. It utilizes a patent-pending Multi-lens function which uses proximity algorithms to find other smartphones in your area using the app. Since that’s the entire idea Color is based on, of course it should work, but it was still impressive seeing photos of the view from the opposite side of our office’s tower.
Color’s potential seems huge. At the very least, it’s an intriguing concept, and at most we’ll have to agree it’s a revolutionary (albeit creepy) one. If you felt pretentious uploading your mundane images to Facebook and Twitter, at least in those cases you’re being judged by people of your choice. With Color, you don’t have a ton of control over who sees what – and whether or not that’s a good thing is a matter of opinion.

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Nintendo 3DS coming Sunday; retailers offering trade-in discounts

Need a Nintendo 3DS? They launch Sunday March 27, and retailers are hoping to lure in gamers with trade-in discounts on old DS systems.

Nintendo is on the verge of launching its new Nintendo 3DS hand-held gaming system, which will be one of the first consumer products to include 3D display technology that doesn’t require the use of awkward 3D glasses. The systems go on sale March 27, 2011—yes, we’re aware that’s Sunday—but Nintendo and its partners are hosting a number of Saturday launch events so consumers can get their hands on their 3DS systems starting at midnight. And a number of retailers are hoping to offset the standard retail price of $250 by offering discounts on trade-ins of older Nintendo DS handhelds.

Nintendo itself will be hosting its official launch event in New York City at Best Buy in Union Square; Nintendo 3DS “sampling” will happen from 12 noon through 8 PM, and at 9 PM NIntendo will kick off the formal launch party, with sales starting promptly at midnight. The event should run through 2 AM, and the company will be providing live entertainment, supplies of branded giveaways, hosting demos, and making sure plenty of food trucks are parked nearby.

Not to be outdone, GameStop will be hosting launch events of its own, opening more than 800 of its retail stores at 12:01 AM March 27 to give gamers a crack at the new system. For folks balking at the $250 price tag, GameStop will also be offering $50 to $100 credits toward the purchase of a new Nintendo 3DS system for folks who trade in a used Nintendo DS Lite, DSi, or DSI XL system.

Mega-retailer Walmart doesn’t want to be left out of the mix either: Walmart says it will have the Nintendo 3DS available in all its stores and online on launch day, but Walmart customers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina get a special treat: they can trade in up to two used Nintendo DS systems for $100 credit apiece towards the purchase of a Nintendo 3DS. Walmart plans to run the trade-in promotion through April 30, or while supplies last.

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Microsoft pays a premium for Nortel IPv4 addresses

The Internet handed out the last IPv4 addresses earlier this year...and now Microsoft is paying a premium for IPv4 addresses from bankrupt Nortel Networks.

Earlier this year, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) distributed the last unallocated blocks of IPv4 addresses, meaning, in some senses, the existing Internet had “run out of space.” Exhausting the pool of IPv4 addresses doesn’t mean the end of the world, but it should serve as impetus for network operators and organizations to shift to the much-larger (and more complex) IPv6 technology. However, it also means that when significant blocks of old-school IPv4 addresses go up for sale, they might command a premium…and tech giant Microsoft has just proven that by paying some $7.5 million to acquire a sizable block of IPv4 addresses from bankrupt Nortel Networks.
Details of the acquisition came to light in papers filed with the Delaware bankruptcy court handing Nortel Networks’ divestitures. Microsoft will be paying the $7.5 million to acquire some 666,624 IPv4 addresses that were being sold off as part of the company’s assets. Doing the math, that means Microsoft is paying about $11.25 per address—that’s more than it costs to register a domain name, even in pricier TLDs like .com. More than 80 companies bid on parts of Nortel’s assets, although only four placed bids for the IPv4 address space. If the sale is approved, Microsoft will take control of just over 470,000 of the addresses immediately, with the remaining addresses being released to Microsoft as Nortel’s former customers migrate to other spaces.
Nortel was once the largest maker of telecommunications equipment in North America, but the once-mighty telecommunications company was one of the first to fall during the recent worldwide economic downturn, filing for bankruptcy in early 2009.

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