Lily is a compact drone camera that flies automatically and follows you around

Drones with cameras in them aren’t new, but all of them require someone to fly the drone around so if you want to record yourself doing something cool you need someone to control the drone. 

Not with Lily. This compact drone will automatically follow you around and shoot video without any manual assistance. Lilly flies by simply tossing in the air. It detects fall and kicks into life instantly. It will then follow you around and shoot video for up to 20 minutes on a full charge.


Lily requires the help of the wireless control module that needs to be on you for Lily to follow you around. The control module also has buttons to access basic functions of Lily, like the shooting modes it is capable of. The module is small and can be attached to the wrist using the waterproof strap they provide.

Speaking of waterproof, Lily itself is waterproof but it’s not recommended you try to fly it underwater (because it won’t). Once in air, it can record 1080p video in 60fps or slow motion 720p videos in 120 fps. You can also take 12 megapixel still images. It has a microSD card slot for storing videos and photos.

Lily can fly to a height of 50 feet, and can fly at up to 40 km/h top speed. It can go as far as 100 feet from the tracking device. It has an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, barometer, GPS, and front and bottom facing cameras. It has digital gimballing to keep itself steady all the time with image stabilization. It can interact with your phone through an app and show you a low resolution live feed on it. 

Lily is still in the pre-order phase, where the creators need support to actually make these. For your $499, which is the asking price of this device, you get yourself one and also help support the company. You can pre-order it now from their website, which allows international shipping.

 

Nikon 1 AW1, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 J4 Compact Cameras Launched in India

Nikon on Friday launched the Nikon 1 AW1, Nikon 1 V3, and Nikon 1 J4 compact cameras in India.

While the Nikon 1 AW1 comes with a 11-27.5mm F/3.5-5.6 lens kit at Rs. 39,950, the Nikon 1 V3 and Nikon 1 J4 come with 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-ZOOM lenses priced at Rs. 43,950 and Rs. 24,950 respectively. The cameras are also listed on the company's India website.

The Nikon also states that the 14.2-megapixel sensor featuring AW1 camera is the first waterproof, shockproof and freeze-proof interchangeable lens camera. While it can stay underwater without any camera body for up to 15 metres, it can also absorb fall shocks from up to 2 metres and temperature as low as -10 degrees. The camera also features an Advanced Hybrid Autofocus System, which chooses the best image and records videos depending on the contrast and other settings.

World's Fastest Camera Claimed to Capture 100 Billion Frames Per Second

A team of biomedical engineers has developed the world's fastest camera, a device that can capture events up to 100 billion frames per second.

The current ultrafast imaging techniques are limited by on-chip storage and electronic readout speed to operations of about 10 million frames per second.

"For the first time, humans can see light pulses on the fly," said Lihong Wang, professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Because this technique advances the imaging frame rate by orders of magnitude, we now enter a new regime to open up new visions," said Wang.

The team used a technique called compressed ultrafast photography (CUP) to make movies of the images they took with single laser shots.

This is a series of devices customised to work with high-powered microscopes and telescopes to capture dynamic natural and physical phenomena.

Once the raw data are acquired, the actual images are formed on a personal computer.

"These ultrafast cameras have the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of very fast biological interactions and chemical processes and allow us to build better models of complex, dynamical systems," said Richard Conroy from National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, US.
The camera may have wider application in areas like biomedicine, astronomy and forensics.

"Combine CUP imaging with the Hubble Telescope, and we will have both the sharpest spatial resolution of the Hubble and the highest temporal solution with CUP," said Wang.

"Each new technique, especially one of a quantum leap forward, is always followed a number of new discoveries. It's our hope that CUP will enable new discoveries in science ones that we can't even anticipate yet," said Wang.

The research appeared in the journal Nature.

Satechi Smart Selfie Extension Arm Monopod ($50, roughly Rs. 3,100)

This telescoping monopod from Satechi helps get more than just yourself in the frame. Similar to the Kodak unit, this monopod has spring-loaded rubber pieces that grip the phone on its sides, holding it firmly in place. From there, you simply extend the telescoping device out to its full three feet and get lots of buddies or surroundings into the shot.

What really helps is that a shutter button on the grip of the pole connects to your phone via Bluetooth, allowing you to snap the selfie without reaching up to the phone. Once I paired the monopod to my phone and launched my default camera app, I was able to easily snap various selfies with a birds-eye view and other vantage points longer than my arm.

 The Satechi unit worked fine with my phone's default camera, but not with other camera apps I enjoy, such as FxCamera and Candy Camera.

Samsung's new Galaxy Note models do let you fit more people in by stitching multiple images together. You tilt the phone left and right, and the Note's software does the magic behind the scenes. The shot won't be as instant, though, as what the monopod can provide.

Nokia Lumia 1520 review

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is just like the rest of the premium Lumia smartphones we've seen, but bigger and faster. The advanced imaging and the custom app selection by Nokia will make the difference against Android phablets, with the Snapdragon 800 making sure the Finn won't feel outgunned. Sounds like a promise for the best experience yet on Windows Phone.

A few months ago Nokia was in the headlines for what seemed the wrongest of reasons to people who fondly remembered the Finns from their glory days. Voices were rising once again above the lamenting choir, about what might have been had Nokia gone with Android instead.

Oh well, we're well past the what-ifs and should-haves. And no, it's not because Microsoft's check has already been written. Nokia's first phabet has crossed into what was, until now, a strictly Android territory. And not just average droids either, but some of the biggest, meanest species of Android we have seen.

The latest GDR3 version of Windows Phone finally has support for quad-core Krait processors and Full HD displays. There's an attempt too, to make better use of the size and resolution by adding an extra column of contents across the interface. It was about time Microsoft brought the platform back in the hardware race and we are delighted to finally meet the first Windows Phone to aim for the pole position.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Quad-band 3G with 42 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support
• Penta-band LTE Cat4 support, 150Mbps downlink, 50Mbps uplink
• 6.0" 16M-color ClearBlack IPS CLD capacitive touchscreen of 1920 x 1080 pixels; Corning Gorilla Glass 2; Nokia Glance
• 20MP PureView sensor (15MP effective), 1/2.5" sensor size, ZEISS lens, Optical Image Stabilization, dual-LED flash
• 1080p@30fps video recording; 2x lossless digital zoom
• 1.3MP front-facing camera
• Windows Phone 8 GDR3 OS with Nokia Black
• 2.2GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
• GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS support
• Free lifetime worldwide voice-guided navigation
• 32GB of inbuilt storage
• microSD card slot, up to 64GB
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• Wireless charging with optional accessories
• Built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port
• Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP and file transfers
• SNS integration
• Xbox Live integration and Xbox management
• NFC support
• Digital compass
• Nokia Music
• FM radio

Main disadvantages

• Screen has average sunlight legibility
• Non-user-replaceable battery
• No system-wide file manager
• No lockscreen shortcuts

At first glance the Lumia 1520 looks like a magnified Lumia 1020 - it has the same design and build, only without the camera hump. The trademark unibody is the right bit more impressive at that size, while the PureView camera has lost some of its sensor area and half of its pixels, but hopefully kept the amazing image quality.

CES 2013: Sony Xperia Z and Xperia ZL hands-on

In 2012, Sony found itself behind the pace, offering its first dual-core droids just a few weeks before the competition switched to quad-core architectures. Keen to catch up, the Japanese start the year with a bang, courtesy of the quad-core Xperia Z. A near-identical alternative version, called Sony Xperia ZL, gladly doubles the fire power.

The Sony Xperia Z (previously known by its codename Yuga) is another first for Sony - the company's first 5" smartphone. The 5" LCD screen boasts 1080p resolution, which means that each inch of the screen fits 440 separate pixels. It should come as no surprise that the screen is backed by the second generation of the Sony Mobile Bravia engine for even better image quality.

auto&tech™ ©2013

Wearable click-free camera will capture a day in your life

A groundbreaking camera that decides itself when to take a shot will go on sale in Britain in November, in the first consumer application of technology developed by the British maker OMG Plc.
The device, called the Autographer, uses five in built sensors and software developed by Microsoft Corp to choose the best moment to capture an image without any intervention from the user.

The high-resolution pictures, which can number 2,000 in a day, can then be combined to create a visual record of an event like a party, a music festival or a typical day in the life of the owner.
The Autographer, which can be worn around the neck, clipped to clothing or placed in a particular vantage point, is the first consumer device from OMG, whose stop motion technology is used in fields ranging from computer game development to surveying roads.

Samsung Galaxy Camera, The first Android based Camera

The new Samsung Galaxy Camera is the first Android based 16.3MP compact digital camera from Samsung . It is loaded with the latest Android Jelly Bean OS and sports a huge 4.8-inch touchscreen HD display . You can browse the Internet using its in-built 3G/4G (optional) and Wi-Fi support !

Samsung Galaxy Camera specifications :

• Display : 4.8-inch HD Super Clear Touch Display
• Image Sensor : 16.3 effective megapixel 1/2.3″ BSI CMOS
• Lens : F2.8, 23 mm, 21x super long zoom
• IS : Optical Image stabilization
• ISO : Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
• Network : 4G, 3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps): 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
• Processor : 1.4GHz Quad-Core processor
• OS : Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
• Memory : 8GB ＋ memory slot : micro SDSC, micro SDHC, micro SDXC
• Video : MPEG4, AVC/H.264 , Full HD 1920×1080 30fps
• Slow motion Movie 720×480 120fps
• Video Output : HDMI 1.4
• Smart Pro : 10 modes
• Share shot, Auto Cloud Back-up
• AllShare Play, Family Story, Drop box
• Google Mobile Services
• GPS Navigation : A-GPS, GLONASS
• 3G/4G : Optional
• Wireless LAN : WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
• Bluetooth v4.0
• Battery : 1650 mAh
• Dimension (WxHxD) : 128.7 x 70.8 x 19.1 mm
• Weight : 305g
  
  auto&tech©2012

570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera takes its first picture

Scientists have announced that the world's most powerful 570-megapixel digital camera has captured first images of starlight from eight billion years ago.
The ancient rays have crossed countless distant galaxies to find their way to a mountaintop in Chile where a giant sky mapping machine called the Dark Energy Camera recorded them, the Daily Mail reported.

The light may hold within it the answer to one of the biggest mysteries in physics - why the expansion of the universe is speeding up.
Although dark energy appears to account for about 75 percent of the energy-mass content of the universe, scientists have no real idea what it is.

The Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration has announced that the camera, which took eight years to build by scientists on three continents, has achieved its first light.
The first pictures of the southern sky were taken by the 570-megapixel camera on September 12.
"The achievement of first light through the Dark Energy Camera brings us a step closer to understanding dark energy, one of the biggest mysteries in the whole of physics," Professor Ofer Lahav, of University College London, who heads the UK arm of the consortium, said.
"The deep observations with the DES camera will tell us why the universe is speeding up and if a major shift is required in our understanding of the universe," Lahav said.
The camera, which is roughly the size of a phone booth, is the most powerful survey instrument of its kind, able to see light from over 100,000 galaxies up to 8 billion light years away in each snapshot.
The camera's array of 62 devices have an unprecedented sensitivity to very red light and will allow scientists from around the world to pursue investigations ranging from studies of asteroids in our own Solar System to the understanding of the origins and the fate of the universe.
Scientists will use the new camera to carry out the largest galaxy survey ever undertaken, and will use that data to probe dark energy by studying galaxy clusters, supernovae and the large-scale clumping of galaxies.
auto&tech©2012