Kodak EasyShare P712

READ MORE: Digital Cameras, Kodak, Kodak EasyShare P712, P712, Superzoom


Kodak is aiming high into the "superzoom" category with its EasyShare P712, a 7.1-megapixel digital camera. It has a 12x optical zoom that gives you the equivalent of 36mm-to-432mm of long-lensed goodness. Also along for the ride is a 2.5-inch LCD screen as well as a high-rez electronic viewfinder and 30fps 640x480 video capture capability.
Kodak touts the quickness of the P712's autofocus system, where you can focus, click and capture a frame in less .07 seconds. The f2.8 - f/3.7 Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 12x zoom lens has optical image stabilization, helping you hold it nice and still, especially when you're shooting with a long lens. The camera will be available this month for a retail price of $648. – Charlie White
Kodak EasyShare P712 [Digital Photography Blog]

Electric Car Removed from Smithsonian, Replaced by SUV

READ MORE: Corporate Greed, Corruption, Electric Car, GM, Gadgets, Hybrid, Smithsonian, cars

Is it a case of bad timing, or is it a little fishy that just a week before the documentary critical of GM, Who Killed the Electric Car? is to be released that one of the few examples of the EV1 electric car in existence has been removed from the Smithsonian's Museum of American History by its curators? Prototypes of the EV1, called an "engineering marvel," were the only mass-produced electric vehicles ever to hit the highways and byways of the US, and the leased cars were inexplicably removed from circulation and destroyed by GM.
The EV1 will be replaced at the Smithsonian by an SUV, the robotic VW Touareg designed by Stanford University. Is it a coincidence that GM is one of the largest financial supporters of the Smithsonian, and its EV1 was mysteriously removed from that museum on the eve of the premiere of this GM-critical documentary? Hmm. Just asking. – Charlie White

Smithsonian Kills the Electric Car [treehugger]

Sharp DV-SV97H DVD/DivX Upconverting Player

READ MORE: DV-SV97D, DVD, DivX, Home Entertainment, Sharp, Upconverting










This DVD player from Sharp is kind of a bridge from the current DVDs to the next generation, high definition DVDs. Except the bridge goes through DivX territory, so it's not really a bridge. Maybe a really crooked bridge. Perhaps bridge wasn't such a good term to describe it. Anyhoo, this plays back "DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R, CD-RW/-R, VCD/SVCD, MP3/JPEG/MPEG-4" and has "DTS/Dolby Digital/MPEG Audio Stream Output."
The player has an HDMI output which can upconvert DVDs to 720p or 1080i. DivX can also be played at high definition, which is nice for DivX encoded HDTV TV shows that you can download from the internet.
No price yet, but it should be available later this month. – Jason Chen
Sharp DV-SV97H DVD player with HDMI upscaling [Tech Digest]