Sony Z1, A high-end camera phone

With this new high-end device, the Japanese giant wants to confirm the their growth in recent months. In the field of Smartphones, a trend is emerging: that the quality of the image capture. Consumers increasingly replace their cameras on their mobile phones and manufacturers competitive innovation for Smartphones of high quality camera phones. Nokia is a specialty with PureView technology, the Lumia 925 and especially in Lumia 1020 which has the features a high -quality display sensor 40 megapixels. The Xperia Z1 incorporates everything Sony has to offer," and introduces the Japanese group CEO Kazuo Hirai, during the presentation of Z1 at the IFA in Berlin. The Japanese and boasts " worthy performance of a compact camera " with a 27 mm wide angle and large F2.0 aperture, which was made especially for the RS Exmor CMOS sensor for mobile large 1/2, 3'' and 20.7 megapixels. The camera also has the BIONZ processor for mobile. It also has video range of photo applications (including timeshift function that captures 61 shots between the second before and the second after the trigger), and innovative accessories such as optical clip- on Smartphone. Besides these pictures capacity, Z1 has a five-inch screen, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 800 2.2 GHz, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal memory. As Xperia Z, it is waterproof and supports 4G. Sony will offer five free movies from its catalog of VOD, and two months free on the streaming music service, Music Unlimited to the buyers. This Smartphone brings not only the power of Sony mobile phones, through close collaboration with their partners, but it also sets a new standard in high-end Smartphones.

IBM Strikes Gold with $1 Billion Cloud Computing Deal

Few companies have been able to strike as huge a contract as IBM just did with the Department of the Interior. With a $1 billion ten-year contract, IBM has agreed to assist in the transition of the department's networks to a cloud computing infrastructure. IBM, along with nine other companies, was selected to assist with this tremendous endeavor. Drawing on the success of IBM's data storage practices, the strength of its database solutions, its ability to host websites, and many other factors, the Department of the Interior is hoping that this contract will help them with cost-saving measures while providing a secure solution for its ever-growing network of computers and devices.

IBM has a long history of providing technological and networking solutions for federal and state government contracts. With their recent success in the emergence of the cloud computing market, IBM has been at the forefront of development of new services and security in cloud computing. As a result, investors and agencies are all flocking to IBM to assist in the transition from traditional networks to more versatile and secure cloud-based solutions.

The $1 billion contract over ten years is only part of the Department of the Interior’s massive IT budget, which allocates nearly $1 billion a year for the department’s IT needs. With sixteen agencies reporting to the department that manage everything from national parks to relationships with Native American tribes, the department has a wide array of needs. Due to IBM's diverse offerings and portfolio of cloud-based solutions, the transition to the cloud is expected to save the department a tremendous amount of money as it hopes to close hundreds of data centers across the country.

In addition to the Department of the Interior, the agreement with IBM states that other departments may further utilize cloud-based solutions down the road. IBM and the other contractors hope that this contract is only one of many to come as the government seeks to cut down on its expenses and transition its services to the cloud.

So what does this mean for IBM? As this is the company's largest cloud-based contract with US government to date, IBM will continue to expand its portfolio of cloud-based solutions. In addition, IBM, along with all of the other companies included in the contract, will gain a competitive advantage in the highly competitive cloud services market. As technology analysts have seen in recent months, any edge in this market will give companies the potential for huge profits as the industry continues to balloon.

Industry analysts have predicted that the growth of the cloud computing industry has only just started. With large contracts like this one from the Department of the Interior, cloud-based service providers are expecting to see profits and contracts come streaming in during the next few years. The transition from local networks to cloud-based services on a web host will need to be performed by companies with experience. Few companies have as much experience in a wide variety of industries as IBM. This contract could only be the tip of the iceberg in potential profits for one of the oldest computing companies in the world.

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New Sony FDR- AX1 Announced

While the IBC show video opens in Amsterdam; Sony has announced a new camera FDR- AX1, which will be available in late October. This is the first mainstream 4K camera from Sony; it can shoot images with a resolution up to 3840 x 2160 pixels (QFHD). The design of the FDR- AX1 is not new: it is similar to that of the Sony HDR- AX200. It is equipped with a "home" CMOS sensor Exmor R “back-lit” 1/2, 3 inch 12MP, including 8.3 effective. Its goal G Lens 29.5 to 590 mm (20x, f / 1.63 to 3.4) is stabilized and has 3 ND filters. 3 rings to make settings for zoom, focus and iris and are independent to each other. In addition to a microphone, the FDR- AX1 has two audio connectors XLR professional format. 4K videos are saved on expensive XQD cards, a recent XQD format provides efficient transfer rate and was previously used by the Nikon D4. The FDR- AX1 has two locations in this format. Sony want to sell like hotcakes its 4K screens , rather aggressively positioned in terms of quality and price against their Chinese and Korean competitors , it must justify its use until the 4K TV broadcasts becoming widespread.

 All Sony ecosystems are called upon to promote 4K, as there was little 3D, from cloud services PlayMemories until the PS4. Some choices Sony for its FDR- AX1 are sometimes a bit surprising for a camera that still costs 4 € 499.01. For example it uses the codec XAVC S placed in a MPEG4- AVC / H.264 container. It is a variant of the more compressed the XAVC/H264 Level version 5.2 codec. More bad news for users who want to go further than holiday movies on YouTube, the colors are sampled 4:2:0. Without going to a 4:4:4 coding or even RAW images, 4:2:2 would have left a significant latitude for color correction, calibration, clipping paths and masks, and other special effects and overlays on " green funds".

The FDR- AX1 is equipped with a single sensor of small size. In the same price range or less, many Full HD models competing not only have 3 sensors, and their size is larger. They record their video with 4:2:2 colors sampling, better than 4:2:0 solution. Sony seems to recommend a minimum of 4 lux for 4K images is more light than most HD cameras require ( the AX200 , very close to the AX1 requires only 1.5 Lux) and that the risk of require users to frequently use other extra light source. Sony has announced an update to make it compatible with the latest HDMI version 2.0 HDMI. The HDMI 2.0 will see a 4K video on a TV at 60 frames / s with a single HDMI cable. In addition, this update adds compatibility with the AVCHD codec and will also use SD cards for 1080p video.

The FDR- AX1 seems quite clear heat, after initial tests published on the Net. The XQD cards would be hot when removed from the camera. Similarly, AX1 which manages large data flows, processes and compresses, heat up quickly despite the internal fan which it is equipped. This also may be a concern for the sound by the internal microphone of the camera emits noise. This should not pose any problems to professional users, resorting instead to external microphones for their shots, but for the general public or semi pro users, high heat and fan trying to remedy it may hinder the sound made with the built-in microphone on the camera.

Adobe Announces Creative Cloud bundle

Adobe will soon release a bundle Creative Cloud combining Photoshop and Lightroom CC. Called "Photoshop photography program", this offer is particularly target the photographers and graphic designers who had nothing to do with the full range of software included in the overall formula. For € 9.99 plus VAT per month, the customer will be entitled only to CC Photoshop, Bridge and Lightroom CC and their future updates. It also includes 20GB of online storage, access to training resources and the portal Behance ProSite for presentation portfolio. This offer will be online as of from September 17; with the release of Lightroom 5.2 and it can be subscribed, with an annual commitment, before December 31. It will be limited to holders of a license at least CS3 Photoshop / Photoshop Extended. If you are already subscribed to Creative Cloud then it will be possible to change its registration to benefit from the cheaper formula, but subject to have an old Photoshop license. The owners of a license Lightroom, and only that are not qualified, however, to take advantage of this formula.

Canon PowerShot SX510 HS

Small, light, great zoom range with wireless data transfer via WLAN module is the new Canon PowerShot SX510 HS Bridge Camera. Despite 30x zoom, the PowerShot SX510 HS is Canon is in a compact housing. The Canon SX510 HS is a very light bridge camera with 350 grams. The operation is similar to its predecessor. That is about a dial on the surface, the photographer has access to full and half automatics or manual adjustment. On the back of the camera, there are buttons for shortcuts and other settings via a thumbwheel. Newly added is a wireless module that enables wireless transmission of photo and video material on PCs, tablets and Smartphones. If a Smartphone is connected to the camera, you also have the option to combine GPS data with the photos. With the 30- times zoom, the SX510 HS covers a focal length range 24-720 mm. Optical image stabilization ensures sharp images at long focal lengths. The light intensity is from 1:3.4 to 1:5.8, with values in the range of comparable cameras.

A highlight of the camera is its macro mode that allows you to zoom closer than an inch to the subject. When the number of pixels Canon has dared to take a bold step; instead of loading more and more pixels onto the sensor, the manufacturer has reduced the number from 16 megapixels to twelve at constant sensor size, thereby reducing the image noise when shooting under low light conditions. Video records in Full HD quality with stereo sound on. The camera has a slow motion mode and effect filters such as black and white, miniature and fisheye. A DIGIC 4 processor brings the camera up to maximum Speed. In the sequential mode, the SX510 HS shoots 3.8 shots per second at the highest resolution. Reduce the resolution to three megapixels, the number increased to 10.5 frames per second. One advantage of the new Canon is the ECO mode. This power -saving setting ensures that the camera according to the manufacturer with a battery keeps landing by about one-third longer. The Canon SX510 HS is available now at a price of 329 Euros.