Technabob » olympus

Olympus LS-20M Takes Over Where Flip Left Off

Range — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:52:29 +0000

For people who still want a dedicated video camera and were despondent when Flip recently closed its operations, the new Olympus LS-20M might be able to fill that void. This dedicated pocket video cam has got a focus on audio captures, making it a multi-purpose device.

The LS-20M will capture video in 1080p and records audio in 24-bit with variable gain. The onboard screen is only 2 inches, which might make it a little difficult to see what you’re shooting. In addition to full HD, it also does 720p and 640×480. It captures everything at 30FPS.

One thing that is nice about this gadget is the high-quality 96 kHz/24-bit Linear PCM audio recording and stereo microphones on the front of the camera.

I do question the usability of the LS-20M though. There are a lot of small buttons on its face, which could get confusing, and the lens is located at the top of the device, between the microphones. I guess you’ll end up pointing this device like a remote, so I’m not sure how you can look at the screen while recording. It does support something called “Reverse Angle Recording” which allows upside-down recording, so maybe that will help. The Olympus LS-20M should be available in June for about $300 (USD).

[via CrunchGear]

Olympus TOUGH TG-810: The First Camera You Can Sit On (Without Destroying it)

Range — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:30:54 +0000

There are quite a few rugged cameras available, but only the new Olympus TOUGH TG-810 is crushproof up to 220 lbs. Technically speaking, you could sit on it and try to crush it and it should survive. It even looks indestructible.

The TG-810 is also waterproof up to 33 feet, shockproof (meaning that you can drop it safely from a height of 6.6 feet), and freezeproof (it can withstand temperatures as low as 14˚F). That’s a pretty rugged camera!

The rugged camera has a 14 MP sensor, 5× optical zoom, 720p HD video recording capability with HDMI out, panorama, 3D and underwater shooting modes, and more. It’s also got a built-in GPS, electronic compass, and a manometer (depth sensor). The TOUGH TG-810 will be available on April 11th for about $400 (USD).

[via Ubergizmo and Akihabara News]

Olympus μ9000 Digicam: Beauty is in the 10% Larger Than Normal Eyes of a Person

Lambert Varias — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:30:57 +0000

Our eyes are one of our most distinguishing features; change them even just a bit and the consequences are sure to be dramatic. Put a green mask over Dick Grayson’s eyes and suddenly people won’t recognize him, all they see is this young and athletic sidekick doomed to wear a costume whose color scheme seems to be inspired by traffic lights. So! Modify your eyes and you modify your very fate. With that in mind (not really) the inventors of Olympus invented the μ9000, a digital camera seemingly targeted towards casual users who usually find themselves taking pictures of ugly people.

Aside from the usual digi-cam features, the μ9000 also has a “beauty mode” that packs several face-enhancing post-capture edits, like red-eye removal, and the option to enlarge a person’s eyes and add shine to them. I am not making this up. I wish I was.

The feature called “Shiny Eye” is self-explanatory, while “Dramatic Eye” bumps up the height of a person’s eyes by 10%. Yet another proof that the ancient mathematical expression Japanese = weird is correct.

But honestly, do you see any difference between the eyes in the image above? There’s barely any right? And how do we know that those eyes belong to the same person? So I challenged the geeks of Olympus (not really). I sent them a picture of this earthworm and asked them to give it the Dramatic Eye treatment:

Here’s the result:

My god. That’s horrible. This camera is awesome. You can buy the μ9000 at Rakuten for ¥37,600 ($384 USD).

[via Inventor Spot]

Olympus Vj-10: Am/Fm Radio With Hard Disk

Technabob — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:57:52 +0000

Olympus is showing off this new tabletop radio design that integrates a 37GB hard drive to store up to 2500 hours of MP3 and WMA audio files. The Radio Server VJ-10 features an easy-to-read 3.9-inch backlit LCD screen for viewing track, title, and radio station information.

You can upload tunes to the player via the radio’s USB port, can also use it as an external storage device for other files (though I’m not sure why you’d need to do that.) The AM/FM radio also offers timed recording of over-the-air broadcasts, so you can listen to radio programs whenever you want. It’s also got an audio input for direct encoding of analog sound sources. To enhance sound quality, they’ve also included SRS WOW XT acoustic enhancement.

The VJ-10 is currently slated for release in Japan this March, with no release date announced for other markets. Olympus has not announced a price.

[via Akihabara News]