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Lloyd L. Chambers -- better known as Mac and imaging guru diglloyd -- has joined forces with retailer Other World Computing to offer a reconfiguration of Apple's Mac Pro computer, dubbed the MPG Photo Workstation. Lloyd is widely known for the meticulousness of his methods, whether it's testing lenses and photo gear in real-world situations, or testing Macintosh computer configurations and hardware to determine what *really* works to boost performance, vs just costing a lot of money and sounding cool. (See his sites http://diglloyd.com for photo tests, and http://MacPerformanceGuide.com/ for in-depth Mac...
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Over 100 exhibitors will showcase their latest developments in imaging technology and innovation at the PMA Digital Life Expo to be held Friday 4th to Sunday 6th June at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. In addition to the enormous range of cameras on offer today, major exhibitors, such as Panasonic, Hewlett Packard, Apple and Samsung, will feature key digital consumer products and illustrate how the modern camera integrates with...
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Google has unveiled its Translate for Animals application for Android – allowing the search giant to 'encourage greater interaction and understanding between animal and human'.

The incredible Google Translate for Animals application, which is available now, allows you to select the animal from a menu and then translate their noises into human language.

"Making the world's information universally accessible is a key goal for Google. Language is one of the biggest challenges we have in this area, so for the past year we have been targeting our efforts on removing language barriers between the species," explains Google.

Exciting

"We are excited to introduce Translate for Animals, an Android application which we hope will allow us to better understand our animal friends.

"We've always been a pet-friendly company at Google, and we hope that Translate for Animals encourages greater interaction and understanding between animal and human."

The application will be available on Google's Android operating system, allowing you to finally find out what your dog, cat or even chicken is saying to you.

"Built on the Android mobile operating system, Translate for Animals is an application for your phone that recognises and transcribes common words and phrases that are common to a species, like cats, for example," adds Google.

"To develop Translate for Animals, we worked closely with many of the world's top language synthesis teams, and with leaders in the field of animal cognitive linguistics, including senior fellows at the Bodleian Library in Oxford."

Hugh Liddle, engineer on Translate for Animals, told TechRadar: "People spend a lot of time with their animals - in many cases, years of daily interaction.

"In line with Google's goal to open up access to information, our mission on the Translate for Animals team is to make that information available across languages.

"During the course of product development, we realised that understanding Fido or Lassie is an age-old problem that our technology could plausibly solve."

Google Translate for Animals is available now from www.google.co.uk/translateforanimals

Free Application Enables Photographers to Easily Manage and Share Photos Hosted on Zenfolio Menlo Park, CA Zenfolio Inc., the premier provider of online photography presentation and sales solutions, today announced the release of its new iPhone application, myZenfolio. This free application, available immediately for download on the iTunes Store, allows photographers to easily manage and share photos hosted on Zenfolio. The perfect mobile...
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LONG BEACH, Calif. March 24, 2010 Epson America today launched a Web site sweepstakes Experience the Excellence $50,000 Scavenger Hunt designed to infuse fun and familiarity with Epson printers, inks and specialty papers through an interactive experience on the new Designed for Excellence Web site. On the new site, visitors can immediately enter to win prizes and have a chance to win a grand prize of $50,000...
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31 March 2010 -- (Alpha) digital SLR users can now enjoy even more control over creating beautiful, low noise images with the latest release of Image Data Converter software. Image Data Converter SR Version 3.2 now features new algorithms that significantly reduce image noise at high ISO settings when converting RAW data to JPEG files. Processing is most effective at ISO 800 and higher, delivering impressively natural results with minimised...
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Lets pros quickly shift orientation, and hold camera position TEL AVIV, March 31, 2010 Leaf Imaging today announced the availability of the Leaf Aptus-II 10R digital camera back, with internal rotating sensor, for medium and large format photographers who often need to change orientation during a shoot. The Leaf Aptus-II 10R is available for a variety of medium and large format cameras, and is best suited for architecture, landscape, portrait...
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March 2010 We are happy to share with you that our new Kata backpack Bumblebee Ultra Light has won the prestigious red dot design award for 2010. The reddot design award is an international design competition. This year more than 1,600 companies from 57 countries took part in the competition with a total of 4,252 entries. Our product was competing in the Entertainment Technology and Cameras category and in previous...
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Marketing Essentials International & Bourne Media Group develop new business resource encompassing a range of educational materials Akron, OH & Gig Harbor, WA (March 31, 2010) Marketing Essentials International (MEI) and Bourne Media Group (BMG) announce today the formation of GoingPro, a totally new program providing educational opportunities and business advice for emerging professional photographers interested in all styles of...
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Sony has released the latest version of its Image Data Converter camera software. Version 3.2 is based around new image processing algorithms and features additional noise reduction at ISO 800 and above, with minimised color noise up to ISO 12800. Registered Alpha DSLR users can download the latest version from Sony's website.

After details seeped out elsewhere last week, today saw the official unveiling of the Acer Timeline X. We popped along to see the new models at their launch in central London.

A 12-hour battery life is cited for the Timeline X, though this doesn't apply to the cheaper £599 models – you'll be paying a couple of hundred pounds more for that privilege.

Up to nine different variants will be launched by Acer, employing the Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, while different models also pack AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series graphics up to the HD 5650 with 1GB of onboard memory.

All have LED backlit displays, helped along by Intel display technology that conserves battery power.

These are touted as thin and light laptops. In reality they're not – 24mm is the cited thinnest model, but as a rule the range isn't exactly lightweight, between 1.4Kg and 2.4Kg. 3 to 4GB of RAM is standard, with a minimum of 250GB of storage.

This is the 14-inch model.

The headline models are the 13.3-inch 3820T, 14-inch 4820T and the 15.6-inch 8820T. An 11.6-inch model will also be available (baggsy that one), but Acer representatives admitted that model wouldn't be with us "until Q2" – that's June to the rest of us.

As you'd expect, the different variants of the Timeline X are also well stocked with ports.

In terms of looks, we have to say we were a little disappointed. Acer has tried with a lovely brushed aluminium finish, but when open the systems don't exactly scream beauty.

They do, however, seem to have a fine quality about them. The keyboard is a little spongy, but will only take a little while to get used to, while the trackpad and mouse buttons were pleasant to the touch. Side ports are incorporated well into the chassis, too.

For the record, the lowest power processor in the line is the Core i3 330M, going up to the Core i7 620M. All also have Windows 7 Home Premium and Dolby Home Theater v3 technology.

We also took a look at the larger 15.6-inch variant - that's shown in these images below:

Virgin Media has announced it is now selling the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the HTC Desire from today - and it has them in stock too ahead of other networks.

Both existing and non-Virgin Media customers can phone up and order the phones from today - beating the likes of Vodafone, Orange and O2 to the punch.

The HTC Desire, as we brought you news of earlier this week, will be available for £30 per month on a two year deal, with a free phone.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is available on a similar contract, although it's £50 more than the HTC Desire on pay as you go, £449.99 compared to HTC's effort at £399.99.

Offers on offer

Existing Virgin Media customers also get a raft of extras from the firm, including free calls to other Virgin Mobiles, free calls from their home phones to Virgin Mobiles during their inclusive home phone inclusive periods, and either a £5 lower tariff for the same contract term or a shorter 18 month contract for the same monthly tariff.

Virgin Media is also offering its customers the BlackBerry Bold 9700 on an exclusive deal for one month, before opening it up to the wider public, as it seeks to expand its portfolio of cutting edge smartphones.

If you want to check out the phones yourself, head on over to Virgin Media's mobiles page to see what's on offer.

Twitter has tweaked its main landing page, giving live tweets, trending topics and selected tweeters more of a billing on the sign-in/sign-up page.

The sign-up page was only revamped last year, but the microblog is keen to show off the real-time functionality of its offering.

"Today, we're testing a new design that bubbles up more of the information flowing through Twitter," said Doug Bowman on the Twitter blog.

"This builds on a series of changes starting last year when we redesigned the homepage to make search and trending topics more visible and easily accessible to everyone."

"Not just status updates any more"

Bowman explained that the changes should show that Twitter is 'not just for status updates any more."

"It's a network where information is exchanged and consumed at a rapid clip every second of the day," he stated.

"With so much being shared, we know that there's something of value for everyone. People who internalise the value of Twitter understand the power of this simple medium.

"But it hasn't been easy to make that value transparent or obvious for curious folks coming to Twitter for the first time."

Twitter will monitor the effect of its changes, so this may not end up being the final home screen.

The days when the T-Mobile G1 was the big cheese in the Android world are happily gone. Now, the Android OS is being used to create some truly industry leading handsets and HTC is behind some of the best.

But which is the one for you to spend your hard-earned on? The Hero-a-like Legend? The insanely powerful but stupidly monikered Desire? Or do you trust your mobile dollar in Google with the Nexus One?

The HTC Legend

What makes a phone good? Well, the easy answer is one that packs the most into the smallest frame - but Apple came along with the iPhone and changed that perception almost overnight.

No, apparently what's best is the combination of beautiful hardware and a slick user experience - so step forward the HTC Legend.

If you imagine an HTC Hero met an Apple Macbook Air one night in a bar, got along famously and ended up getting so drunk that they woke up shame-facedly together in the morning, this would be the result.

The HTC Legend is hewn from a single block of aluminium, giving it a polished and expensive look, in the Marmite-esque 'lip' chassis. Not only that, but the 3.2-inch screen is actually an OLED, which means colours are gloriously saturated and the blacks are wonderfully dark.

The HTC Sense UI is also in full force here, and while we could witter on about the social networking integration in the contacts menu or the improved camera UI, we just care about the fact we can pinch the home screen in to view all our open widgets in one glance (called Leap view).

We're also digging the ability to see all our friends' feeds in one place through Friend Stream - we know that it's an option on the HTC Desire as well, but it seems to suit the Legend a little more.

It's a smooth, sleek and ultimately satisfying to hold phone - and it's packing a fair whack of grunt under the hood as well.

Who's gonna buy the Legend? If you're the kind of person that values form as much as functionality (and for some reason don't want the iPhone) then you should definitely give the HTC Legend the once over.

Sure, it's not got the processing power of the Desire or the bells and whistles of Google's device, but it looks superb, handles better than most phones out there and what's more - it shouldn't break the bank when it appears.

Read TechRadar's in-depth HTC Legend review

The HTC Desire

The TechRadar office is currently divided between those that want the HTC Legend, for all its Fancy Dan looks and svelte charm, and those that crave the raw power of the HTC Desire.

(We're keeping an eye on the situation, lest it break out into a dance number a la The Jets and The Sharks).

It would be wrong to say the Desire is an ugly device, as it comes in at less than 12mm thick, which means it's ultimately pocket-friendly.

And by Jingo, it's a powerful beast. Yes, it's 'only' running the Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor (we say 'only' because it's about the tenth phone to do so), but there's more than just a decent chipset in action here.

The whole Sense UI has been optimised for the HTC Desire, and this means that it excels in two key areas beyond the Legend: multimedia and internet.

The screen is 4x the resolution of the Legend, which means a high-res display and a terrific device to watch video and view photos on.

There's an 8GB memory card in the box too in order to help you start stuffing content onto the device, and while it doesn't have the same standby time as the Legend, it does have a larger battery to help cope.

And the internet experience on the HTC Desire is phenomenal (we might have to rethink the battery claim, as we'll probably be on the internet all the time when using this device).

Somehow HTC appears to have optimised the browser in such a way that even over EDGE connectivity, heavy web pages load in seconds. The text reflow (which admittedly is the Legend as well) is a dream, allowing users to zoom into text as and when they like at the size they want.

In short, if you've got deep pockets or carry a bag with space for a phone with a 3.7-inch screen, there's very little reason not to pick up the HTC Desire.

Who's gonna buy the Desire? Trust us when we say that Technophiles are going to be all over this phone. Multi-touch, flash video, WVGA screen - it's the spec-enthusiast's dream. It might be a little bit pricier than some, but it will apparently come in at a lower cost than the Nexus One.

Read TechRadar's in-depth HTC Desire review

The Google Nexus One

Looking over the other two on trial here, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Google Nexus One doesn't really have a prayer against the might of HTC's own children.

But the Nexus One is a powerful beast in its own right - pulling in some of the same specs as the HTC Desire, but adding in some upgrades too.

Take for instance active noise cancellation. This means that when you're walking down the street and the traffic gets too noisy, the person on the other end of the phone won't notice almost at all - which is a pretty handy trick.

It's also got support for a dock as well - meaning you can pop your phone onto your desktop and play Bluetooth music in wonderful A2DP stereo sound too.

And while many are cooing over the Sense UI used on the HTC Legend and Desire, it's certainly not suited for all tastes, with the plethora of home screens looking a bit much at times.

The Nexus One also has the added weight of Google behind it - which device do you think will always get the next Android upgrades first? That's right - its own child.

The trackball and smooth touch sensitive keys are bound to appeal to another demographic, especially those that find the optical trackpad a very strange experience to use.

And the little touches, like living wallpaper, are present on the Nexus One - we're not sure it's automatically better than the HTC Desire, but it's certainly another option worth considering.

Who's gonna buy the Nexus One?

Those clued in to the way Google is working will probably favour a little bit of the Nexus One over the HTC Desire - simply because it's a native home overlay, making it much easier to code over the top of.

Yes, we don't have a UK release date or even UK pricing, but we're still fans of a trackball and smoother touch sensitive keys - so don't rule out the Nexus One just yet.

Read TechRadar's in-depth Google Nexus One review

Leaf has announced the availability of its latest Aptus II 10R digital back equipped with an internal rotating sensor. Previously available in its AFi-II cameras, the system can change from portrait to landscape orientation without removing the back. Priced at €24,995, the back includes a 56 x 33mm sensor (with 56MP on an area over twice the dimensions of a 'full-frame' sensor), 3.5" touch screen LCD, 80-800 ISO range and is compatible with most medium and large format cameras.

Imerge announced the arrival of its XiVa music store this week, something it hopes will mark an 'evolution' of online music purchasing.

The store is in collaboration with 7digital. Essentially, through your Imerge machine you will be able to purchase content from the 7digital download store, which has been given a whole new user interface.

The store is currently only available on Imerge's flagship AV server, the MS1-HD and the company's MS1 and AS1 products.

Chatting to an Imerge spokesperson at the launch event, they explained that this was just the beginning of the service and it's possible that it will be rolled out to other Imerge products.

It also seems that there is even the potential that the store will be prepped for use on mobile phones at some point. This is because the UI is using Silverlight.

At the event in London, TechRadar managed to get hands-on with the store and were impressed with what we saw.

The UI is sleek and it's plain to see that it's been built with TVs in mind. This is the main draw for the XiVa store – it's meant for the living room. This is not sit-forward experience like iTunes on your PC or Mac, this is all controlled through your remote control and it's all the better for it.

The browsing on the store can be done in a number of ways. Through physically typing in the name of the track – involving cursor pointing and clicking – or visual searching through the myriad albums on offer.

We found that looking at the cover art while browsing was the best way, simply because the high-resolution images sparkled on the hi-def TV.

The amount of songs on the store is immense – we're assured it's around the 8 million mark, with more added to the database on a weekly basis.

What is also good is that there is a preview option for every track, so you can try before you buy. It's only 30 seconds but it's enough time to make your choice.

Once you have selected a track, it's a simple process to paying for it. At around 99p for a song, though, it's definitely not the cheapest music service we have tried.

The downloads come in the form of DRM free 320Kbps MP3. While this is certainly high quality. We would have expected FLAC to be available, especially for playback on something as high-end as the MS1-HD – and it's an audio option 7digital does offer – but this was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, this codec will be available at a later date.

The great thing about the music you buy is that it is not locked to your system. Because of something called a 'Skylocker', you can transfer the music to your iPod, or whichever device you wish. Once done, you will get all the metadata associated with the track.

The XiVa Music Store is a great additional feature to those who have spent thousands on their Imerge system. Available as an update this week, it's a genuinely decent piece of software which opens up the opportunities of music listening in the home.

Yes, there are others on the market – namely Kaleidescape – but the XiVa Music Store is definitely a contender.

There is a problem, though. This isn't enough to bring people to purchasing a MS1-HD – it's more a thank you to all those who have already got the devices in their home. The pieces of kit which have the store are expensive. Very expensive.

But, with promise that this store will be spread across to products that are in a price band which will entice everyday consumers – the XiVA musicm8 maybe? – it looks like Imerge could well have a winner on their hands.

Acer has announced the latest in its Timeline series of thin, light and power-frugal laptops with a UK release date of May.

The Timeline X (meaning 'excellent') promises up to 12 hours of battery life. We will need to get our hands on the laptop to be sure of that claim, but the machines do boast various power saving options including Acer's own PowerSmart and backlit LED panels boosted by Intel Display Power Savings (iDPS) guaranteeing the same image quality but using 30 per cent less power.

Prices start at £599 and there will be up to nine variants.

The original sell of the Timeline range was that the laptops were powerful while having that all-important lengthy battery life. Acer has supplanted the low-voltage processors in last year's range with variants of Intel's Core i3, i5 and i7 processors.

Graphics and sound are also pretty serious, with AMD's Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series graphics alongside Dolby Home Theater v3. Dimensions are also small (24mm thick) - but the weight isn't too low, between 1.8Kg and 2.4Kg. Sizes vary from 13.3 to 15.6-inch screens.

There will also be a 11.6-inch variant available at a later time, says Acer. That'll probably hit the streets in June.

The company also officially announced the Acer Aspire Ethos line, with two new models, the 8943G and 5943G. Both are designed for entertainment, with 5.1 surround, AMD Radeon 5000 series graphics and processors up to quad core Intel Core i7.

TechRadar will be getting its hands on the new laptops soon - so watch out for our review.

Sky's chief executive Jeremy Darroch has insisted that Ofcom's decision to set the pricing for the broadcaster's key sports channels will adversely impact on UK sport.

Sky had already issued a statement outlining its objection to Ofcom's rulings, but Darroch has now expressed how he believes the ruling will affect sport.

"I think Ofcom's decision is likely to hit British sport where it hurts," said Darroch.

"I think their actions are likely to drive down the value of TV sports channels and reduce competition in the marketplace."

Risk-free?

Darroch believes that there is now no need for rival broadcasters to even think about bidding against Sky when they can take the channels 'risk-free' through wholesale.

"Certainly, businesses that have so far shown little appetite to invest in sports I think will be less likely to do so if they can get access to Sky's channels at a risk free, knock down price governed by the regulator.

"And I think that risk is undermining the virtuous cycle that's been created in British sport over the last few years with sustained investment, much of it from broadcast TV rights, that's really flowed through at all levels and has had positive effects right through sports.

"That's one of the reasons why the sports governing bodies in particular I think are concerned about the decision - and with good reason."

Few would deny that Sky has had an almighty impact on sports such as football in this country, making the Premier League perhaps the most vibrant and envied on the planet.

But, the arguments are likely to rage as to whether the consumer will benefit from the inevitable lower prices, or if they will lose out should UK sport feel the pinch.

Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Foundation and the e-ink screen tech wizards at Pixel Qi Corporation have signed a permanent and royalty-free cross-licensing agreement which allows both organisations to share and use their laptop screen innovations in the future.

Pixel Qi has been developing some interesting dual-mode displays recently, which we've seen a glimpse of in devices such as Notion Ink's Adam tablet PC – which effectively lets you switch between e-ink (readable in full sunlight) and a traditional backlit LCD screen (for multimedia, video, web surfing and so on).

Dual-screen technologies

Pixel Qi's Mary Lou Jepson developed part of the new 3Qi screen tech while at OLPC, and she is one of the driving forces behind the development of the tech – responsible for this latest cross-licensing agreement on all future and current IP covering multi-mode screens between OLPC and Pixel Qi.

OLPC now has full license to all Pixel Qi "3qi" screen technology, including 70-plus patents in process and all current and future IP developed by Pixel Qi for multi-mode screens.

Pixel Qi in turn receives full license to the dual-mode (indoor and outdoor) display technology used in the OLPC XO.

Nicholas Negroponte notes : "We are not aware of any blanket technology license of this scale of current and future inventions by a commercial firm to a non-profit humanitarian effort and hope to set an example for other corporations to follow."

Samsung hasn't even got the plastic wrapper off its new Galaxy S 'super phone', and there are already rumours of a new model.

However, in true Sony Ericsson-style form, it's going to simply take the Galaxy S, a roll of sellotape and a QWERTY keyboard and hey presto! The Samsung Galaxy S Pro.

Admittedly this is from the Italian HD Blog, which states that the hardware would be very similar.

Slide out changes

In fact, almost identical - a 4-inch screen, 1GHz processor, Android 2.1 and a dedicated GPU - but the slide out keyboard underneath.

We would be amazed here at Castle TechRadar if was called the Samsung Galaxy S Pro, given that Sony Ericsson is using that naming strategy for the X10 Mini Pro and the Vivaz Pro.

But it seems that there will be something along these lines later this year, with a possible UK release date mooted for sometime this summer.