LoFi-Fisheye Digicam shoots HD video, fits in the palm of your hand

  Pressing and holding the power button on the top brings the camera to life and it goes straight into HD video mode.

After a fruitless search for a teeny key-chain digital camera with a fish-eye lens out front, Greg Dash decided to design and build his own. The subsequent prototype was just intended for his own use, but when more and more folks asked him where they could buy one when they spotted him snapping photos, he hatched a crowdfunding plan to bring his LoFi-Fisheye Digicam to market. 

Thankfully, monster lenses like the one introduced by Nikon at the 1970 Photokina show are something of a rarity. Today's smaller varieties, however, are still a rather expensive addition to a photographer's toolkit, and certainly something that was out of Dash's price range. Of course, he could have opted to add something like a Turtle Jacket Penta Eye lens wheel to his iPhone, or post-processed images using software or apps for a digitally-manipulated snap, but didn't feel that such things were quite what he was looking for.

"Although apps give the appearance of a fisheye-effect, they're unable to replicate the true 170-degree image due to the limitations in the hardware," he told us. "Snap-on attachments can suffer from low quality construction, can fall off, can break and can be device specific."

He wanted an easy-to-use, pocket-friendly digital camera that had a quality fish-eye lens, was able to record in HD, and included features like time-lapse – criteria that were satisfied in his (roughly) Chobi Cam-sized LoFi-Fisheye Digicam.

Demi Lovato, New Album: Singer Talks 'Dope' Collaboration

Demi Lovato's fans got served with a "Heart Attack" when she teased her new single last week. While we have to wait until March 4 for the track to drop, we can debate who her mystery collaborator is!

"I've been working with incredible producers," Demi told MTV News. "There's so many I don't even know who to name, but I do have a collaboration with somebody. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell, but it'll be dope."

Ahhh, suspense! The "Give Your Heart a Break" singer also hinted at what fans can expect from the project.

"Well, not only does the album say a lot about where I am in life right now, [but] like, there's follow-up songs," she teased. "I feel like one is a follow-up song to 'Skyscraper.' I feel like other ones talk about some issues I haven't spoken about. I'm continuing to let out a lot of things therapeutically on my music and I'm very thankful I have the opportunity to do that."

A big motivation Demi has in finishing the album? Her reality show judging stint!

"Well, I definitely want to back up why I was a mentor on 'The X Factor,'' Demi said. "I don't want to go on my album and kind of make people think, 'Well what does she know about judging?' And I definitely think I'm going to accomplish hopefully a positive response. I just always thought I need to give it my all 'cause that's what my contestants were doing."

FOR THE FIRST TIME CANADIAN COMES UP WITH ASTEROID-TRACKING SATELLITE

The Canadian Space Agency's NEOSSat will be world’s first space telescope for detecting and tracking asteroids and satellites.

In the wake of the meteor blast over Russia and the close quarter fly by of asteroid 2012 DA14last week, many people's thoughts have turned to potential dangers from above. It is timely then that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will next week launch NEOSS (Near-Earth Object Surveillance Satellite), the world’s first space telescope for detecting and tracking asteroids, satellites and space debris.

  

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 A demonstration of the CSA’s first MMMB (Multi-Mission Microsatellite Bus) spacecraft, the suitcase-sized NEOSSat weighs only 80 kilograms (176 lb) and will orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 800 kilometers (500 mi) every 100 minutes. Its key technology is derived from CSA’s MOST (Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars) satellite and, like MOST, it uses a 15-cm (5.9-in) aperture Maksutov telescope that can detect objects down to the 20th magnitude in brightness as its primary instrument.

 

NEOSSat has two missions. The first is NESS (Near Earth Space Surveillance), which is intended to detect and track asteroids, such as the one that made a close quarter fly by of Earth last week. Because of its high orbit, NEOSSat isn’t restricted by the day/night cycle as telescopes on Earth are and can operate 24/7. It will scan space from 45º to 55º from the Sun and 40º above and below the Earth’s orbit. The hundreds of images produced will be sent to the University of Calgary's NEOSSat science operations center for analysis.

The second part of its mission will be as part of the Defence Research and Development Canada's (DRDC's) High Earth Orbit Surveillance System (HEOSS), which aims to reduce collisions by monitoring orbiting space objects – both satellites and "space junk." NEOSSat will be the first microsatellite used for this purpose and will compare observed satellites and debris to existing orbital catalogs and provide updates. This will be used both to help control space debris and for military applications.

While the launch is timely given the events of last week, it would not have detected the meteor that exploded over Russia even if it was already in orbit. This is because NEOSSat is designed to look for asteroids larger than 500 m (1,640 ft), while last week's meteor is estimated to have only measured 17 m (55.7 ft) across. However, NEOSSat will overcome the problem of glare faced by earthbound observatories if a larger asteroid decided to arrive unannounced during the day from the direction of the Sun as the Russian meteor did.

NEOSSat will be launched on February 25, 2013 at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, India, atop an Indian Space Research Organisation PLSV-C20 rocket.

 

  

Sony Xperia Z review

 Focussed on mobile, gaming and imaging

 

 

 

The Xperia Z is one of the main pillars of Sony's new plan to focus on mobile, gaming and imaging. In fact, it's a device that addresses all three of those areas, while also pressing reset on Sony's smartphone past. The handset ushers in a new design language, one Sony's decided to bring to its new tablet too. It's called omnibalance design, but it's best described as a combination of 90-degree angles, even weight distribution and flat glossy sides.

Once you get to look at the phone in person, all Xperias that came before it pale in comparison. The phone feels solid and you'd be hard-pressed to describe any part of it as plastic. Between those mirrored sides, you'll find Sony's first 1080p phone display, measuring five inches and benefiting from the company's new Bravia Mobile Engine 2. Improvements to the Xperia line aren't merely cosmetic, though: Sony's added a 13-megapixel camera (featuring the HDR video-capable Exmor RS sensor) and a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro -- Qualcomm's most potent mobile processor currently available.

Meanwhile, those precious electronics are protected by a shell that's water- (IPX5/7) and dust-resistant (IP5X). It's rare to see such protection on a phone that's not being marketed as a rugged device, let alone a company's new flagship. Sony is looking to succeed in mobile and, with just a week away from the world's premier phone tradeshow, has the company created something that can stand up against current Android champions and win?