smile
Cameras
Optio V20 from Pentax has 5x Zoom, Smile Recognition and Blink Detection
5:00PM Gizmodo US Edition | Six months after Pentax released the Optio V10, the japanese company has upped the stakes with the V20. The slimline point-and-shoot has upped the zoom from 3x to 5x, as well as increasing Digital SR mode to ISO 3200 and ISO 6400. With a nice, big 3-inch LCD screen on the back, smile recognition and blink detection, (Earl Hickey, this one’s for you) the V20 will be available in Japan next month for the equivalent of US$288 Bonus shot of the V20 after the jump.
Cameras
Sony’s Happy Face Cameras Contort Frowns Into Awkwardness
4:28AM Brian Lam | Katie B. over at the WSJ did a roundup of camera tech. I liked this section on Sony’s Happy Face Retouch that automatically turns frowns into smiles. Sort of: It took already captured images of my friends’ faces and turned their frowns or ambivalent looks into smiles, but didn’t adjust the subjects’ eyes. Though this was good for laughs, the eerie-looking grins pasted on faces reminded me of painted-on clowns’ mouths. And some attempts to retouch a face couldn’t detect the face to alter it. But a handful of the Happy Face Retouches looked somewhat natural. Silly Sony, smiles happen with your entire face, not just the lips and teeth. P.S. FWIW, Katie does not normally smile like a zombie. [All Things D] More »
Gadgets
Joyrider, Possibly the Most Expensive LED Spoke Lights in the World
8:32PM Addy Dugdale | Moritz Waldemeyer, London-based shiny, spangly design person, has designed what must be the most expensive pair of spoke lights evah. Auctioned off at the ICA Gala Fundraiser in London last week, the Joyrider LEDs, which put a smile on the wheels of your bike, went for almost US$4,000. Perhaps that’s because they came attached to a couple of vintage-style bikes that Waldemeyer has designed. More »
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