Oh no! Yet another manufacturer is dropping support for HD-DVD, this time coming from home theater heartthrobs Onkyo. While not committing to total abandonment of the troubled format, it’s definitely an ominous sign of things to come. Onkyo, though, is oddly mum about switching over to the competing Blu-ray format, neither confirming or denying that it […]

Oh no! Yet another manufacturer is dropping support for HD-DVD, this time coming from home theater heartthrobs Onkyo. While not committing to total abandonment of the troubled format, it’s definitely an ominous sign of things to come.

Onkyo, though, is oddly mum about switching over to the competing Blu-ray format, neither confirming or denying that it will develop next-gen players using Sony’s technology in the future. It wouldn’t, however, make any sense to not embrace the winning disc technology as soon as possible.

Onkyo suspends HD DVD support [Wesley Tech]

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Via [crunchgear]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Unfortunately, details are extraordinarily scant at the moment, but it appears that Canon is readying one more fix for the EOS-1D Mark III, which has been plagued with an autofocus issue for what seems like ages. Apparently, the forthcoming fix — which could involve hardware and / or firmware alterations — will make improvements even over last year’s tweak. Reportedly, the firm’s AF engineers are confident that they have now realized the “root cause” of the problem, hinting that this solution may in fact be the last. Per usual, there’s been no clues handed out as to when users will actually be notified that a fix is available, but we’re sure official word will stream out soon enough if there’s anything to this.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Kodak claims to be “revolutionizing” image capture, though you always have to take press releases with a grain of salt. However, it does appear that the company has made some interesting advances in camera technology for mobile devices, which will hopefully lead to bigger and superior images from our phones in the near future. The company’s new KAC-05020 snaps its proprietary Color Filter Pattern technology together with a redesigned CMOS pixel for the “world’s first” 1.4 micron, 5-megapixel device. The new sensor shrinks the pixels down, but manages to maintain picture quality by harnessing the aforementioned CFP. That technique adds a fourth layer of “clear” pixels to the red, green, and blue ones which already exist, thus collecting a higher proportion of light striking the sensor, improving low light photography, reducing blur, and generally making you look like Ansel Adams. The chip is also capable of 720p video at 30 FPS, as well as extreme low light settings, like ISO 3200. Kodak will be showing the new technology off at the Mobile World Congress this month, and then hopefully cramming it into phones for us very, very soon.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

We already witnessed the overseas announcement of JVC’s palm-friendly GR-D850, but now it looks as if the firm is making it official here in the US of A along with a slightly (and we stress “slightly”) more advanced sibling. The GR-D870 High-Band Digital Video Camera features the same 1/6-inch 680k pixel CCD, 35x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD monitor, DV in / out and 3D Noise Reducer, but steps it up ever so slightly by tossing in a SD / MMC card slot for snapping digital stills (up to 640 x 480) while recording footage to miniDV. So yeah, nothing to get too antsy about or anything, but the GR-D870 can be snapped up immediately for a nickel under $250, while the GR-D850 will run you $20 less.

[Via LetsGoDigital]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Eye-Fi still hasn’t taken the world by storm, but the company is hard at work improving the WiFi-enabled SD card, which is now available in Ritz Camera outlets. The newest feature for the cards, due on February 12, is called “Smart Boost,” which will intelligently prioritize where data is going to improve battery life. If your computer is on or awake, the Eye-Fi will send photos across the LAN to the client software, which will then handle the upload to your fave photo service, but if the Eye-Fi doesn’t detect your machine, the chip will send images the service directly. Of course, this is all assuming you’re still on your home network, so the practical effect is pretty low, but it’s nice to see the company trying — just let us know when the Eye-Fi can use open hotspots, okay?

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Check out what we saw while prowling around Sony’s booth at PMA — a compact shooter badged “DSC-XXXX.” Intriguing — the overall form factor says S-series and the 8.1-megapixels, 3x zoom callouts fit the bill, too. Some super-secret new Cyber-shot from the wizards at Sony? Sorry folks, it’s just the DSC-S780, so new they didn’t have time to print up the right model number on the casing.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

We haven’t heard much about Jobo’s Photo GPS camera add-on since it was announced around the time of last year’s PMA show, and it now looks like that’s been for good reason, as the company’s apparently decided to have another go at this whole “product launch” thing at this year’s PMA. From the looks of it, however, not much has changed with the device itself in the ensuing months, with it still promising to attach to your camera’s flash hot shoe and record GPS information as you shoot, and squeeze all that data into your images’ EXIF metadata (or XML file in the case of RAW images) when you sync it up. Assuming things don’t change any further, you can now apparently look for the unit to hit “mid-year,” when it’ll set you back $159.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras, Features

Well we finally got our grubby mitts on the recently discovered Agfaphoto DV-5000G camera / camcorder / game player, and we’ve got pictures to prove it. Unfortunately for us, seeing the device in person didn’t change what we already know is true — you can’t play NES games on it, thus making ownership of the device a way less attractive offer. Of course, that’s our little niggle with the camera — you may think it’s just what the doctor ordered, and maybe these pictures will help you arrive at that decision.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

PMA isn’t just about gear announcements — there’s also super-thrilling corporate strategy and reorganization to talk about, and it looks like Samsung’s making the biggest move in that arena, with plans to integrate its digital camera division more closely with the rest of its consumer tech operations. Samsung Opto-Electronics has been a free spirit until now, but Sammy says that in order to achieve its goal of becoming one of the top three digital camera vendors in the market by 2010, it’s going to have to tame those wild horses and bring everything under one roof. The plan is to allow product lines like HD camcorders and displays cross-pollinate with the cameras, eventually producing more models like the NV24HD pocket cam and HMX20 camcorder — and hopefully for cheaper prices, since Sammy will be able to better manage suppliers and the retail channel. No word on what new models are in store, of course, but hopefully we’ll be seeing some interesting results of this lovefest at next year’s PMA.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

We spent some quality time around Sigma’s monstrous APO 200-500 F2.8 lens this afternoon, and what can we say? It’s gigantic. If you’ve ever wanted to the look of a portable rocket launcher without all the hassle at the airport, this is definitely the way to go. A feast for your eyes awaits in the gallery below.

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