Facebook's Bringing Video Chat Via Skype

Facebook was going to make this announcement this next week, but their plans were foiled. They're planning on launching a video chat platform which will be powered by Skype. Facebook's Seattle team is behind this venture. Skype and Facebook already have a pretty strong relationship. The social networking giant had already come to Skype with social data integration and now it seems that Skype is coming to Facebook. Rumours of this service were already in motion last year but were never to be seen materialized. The event at which Facebook was going to announce this This, of course, is interesting timing with Google's Google+ release which has a group video chat service of its own called Hangouts. Hangouts has been gaining traction and integrating a group video chat service into a social network does seem to hold relevance. Whether Facebook's chat service will be group or not remains to be seen but if it does support group video, it outdoes the novelty of Google+ Hangouts. While neither Facebook, nor Skype have commented on the matter, the service is confirmed to launch next week.

Android Users Invited to Google’s Pool Party

Google is making good use of its acquisitions. One of the recent acquisitions was Slide, which they bought sometime last year. A new photo sharing app has been developed by them for the Android platform. The app allows users to click photos using their Android devices and upload them to the service into pools, which are basically groups of users, similar to Circles on the new Google+ social networking service. This should be in direct competition to the Instagram app on the iOS and Picplz on Android.

Takes aim at Picplz, Instagram and the likes

The app is freely available on the Android market, but the service is currently available only on invitation basis. Those interested can get an invite from www.poolpartyapp.com. It’s interesting to see Google launching so many products and it appears as if there are some clashing services. Google+ by itself allows users to post photos quickly on their service using their phones and a separate product might be redundant, unless there are plans to include Pool Party into Google+ sometime in the future.

Adobe Offers 50 Per Cent Discount on Premiere Pro CS5.5 for Final Cut Users

Adobe is taking advantage of the negative response to Final Cut Pro X and is offering Final Cut users a 50 per cent discount on Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5. Between July 1st and September 30th, any video professionals that have bought any version of Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer can avail a 50 per cent discount on Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 or Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium. Eligible Adobe suite and point product customers can also access the discount. Final Cut users get a 50 per cent cut The negative backlash against Apple's Final Cut Pro X includes complaints that Final Cut Pro 7 project files cannot be imported into Final Cut Pro X. Adobe, capitalizing on these complaints, is touting its ability to import Final Cut (any version) and Avid projects into Premiere Pro CS5. The latest version of Premiere Pro, like Final Cut Pro X is a 64-bit application. It also has enhanced meta data support, an optimized real time playback engine and native support for 4k or higher resolution files. Apple in the meanwhile, is promising to bring improvements to Final Cut Pro X. They've already launched an FAQ (http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/faq/) page for Final Cut Pro X. They're promising to bring better multicamera editing to the next big Final Cut Pro X update as well as releasing its API for XML support over the next few weeks.

Preview: A Glimpse of Olympus’ PEN E-P3

Olympus is one of the brands known for their micro four-third, mirror-less cameras. Their first generation of PEN digital cameras have been out since a  while, now. They just launched the next generation of PEN cameras, two days back with the E-P3 model being the flagship model in the range.

A very colourful, sleak E-PL3

Some of the folks from Olympus were down here and we were invited for a briefing to get a first hand experience of their cameras. We were able to use the E-P3, and the E-PL3 cameras for a while and click a few quick snaps while we were there. The E-P3 is officially out and pieces should be available at the end of this month and early July. We should receive our review samples next week.

The E-P3 is the top of the line product under the renewed PEN series of cameras whereas the E-PL3 (PEN Lite) is a slightly lower end model. There’s also a mini E-PM3 (PEN Mini) model expected later in the year. The first impression when you use the product is that the body is the build quality.

Touchscreen and camera controls at the back

The quality of the lens being used also feels better. Zooming and focussing is much smoother and autofocus is faster than in the previous models. The interface too has been jazzed up.

Integrated, folding flash unit built into the E-P3

From the brief experience we had with the interface, it looked smooth and the animations were fluid and more appealing. The colours, fonts and artwork used were some of the best we’ve seen on any camera. All of the usual switches and buttons are where you'd expect them to be. The E-P3 fits fine for enthusiast who would typically go in for a point and shoot camera.

The E-PL3 is a lighter and more compact camera. One of the things missing is the in-built flash unit. The flash is a separate unit that’s bundled with the camera.

Folding screen for easier shooting

It comes with a foldable screen, but for one, lacks the touch feature. Almost all of the other features are present. The interfaces are slightly different in each of the cameras. The cameras are available with some customisations - different colours will be available and there’s also the option of hand grips made available to the user.

PRF-D58 lens filter on top of the 40 - 150mm Zuiko lens

There are quite a few lenses available and accessories such as wireless flash units, wireless data transfer modules, macro photography lights that fit on to the camera flash mount are being sold by Olympus. As with any unconventional, non-mainstream system, there’s a need for an ecosystem for the cameras. Olympus is even selling straps, camera covers, flash units, and camera grips.

From the short time that we played with the camera, it’s pretty clear that Olympus has really pushed the envelope with these new PEN cameras. They’ve managed to squeeze in a load of features into a smaller camera. From the little we experienced, it looks very impressive. We can’t wait to get our hands on it and try out all that we saw. We await our review samples.

Buying Guide - Digital Point and Shoot Cameras

We’ve all used mobile phones and it’s easy to say that the cameras on the smartphones don’t provide the same kind of performance and functionality as a digital camera would. This is the very reason people like to go out and buy a decent point and shoot camera. Digital cameras, like mobile phones and notebooks are a very hot topic and there are plenty of players in the market. Each brand releases a new range of camera once or twice a year, so there are plenty of choices. And when there’s plenty of choice, there’s also plenty of confusion all thanks to the marketing gimmicks that each one uses. This quick guide should hopefully demystify most of the claims of the companies and you should end up with the best deal possible.

Megapixel is not everything!

Many of us might assume a camera to be good if they have a high resolution. It’s not the case. Point and shoot cameras have tiny sensor size and beyond a certain sweet point, you aren’t getting any more detail from it.

Small sensors with large resolutions offer little performance improvement

These days any camera with a resolution of 10 to 12 MP is more than sufficient. It’s enough resolution and detail for you to be able to take printouts and enough to fit any display. Don’t go out hunting for a 14 MP point and shoot camera.

Zoom capability

What is more interesting than the sensor resolution is the optical zoom lens on a camera. It allows you to zoom further. Look for a larger optical zoom lens on a camera. The cheapest of cameras today come with a 3x or 4x optical zoom lens. Something in the range of 6x is optimum for both indoor photography and outdoors.

A large optical zoom lens is more useful than a large image resolution

If you like taking wildlife photographs, then even a larger zoom lens camera is recommended. Ultrazoom cameras or Superzoom cameras, as some people like to call them have optical zooms anywhere between 12x and 30x. The quality of zoom lens may not be excellent, but at least you have the capability. Ignore everything to do with digital zoom as it only helps deteriorate the quality of the image, rendering it useless.

Manual focus

Focus, on all point and shoot cameras and all digital cameras, in general for that matter is automated. All DSLR cameras and the recently introduced micro four-third cameras come with a manual focus feature. If you’re a slightly more serious photographer and want to experiment with your camera, look for cameras that have a manual focus option.

Aperture and shutter priority features

Just like manual focus, there are some other controls that are handy while shooting in different situations. The aperture and shutter priority mode are two such features. While camera manufacturers very proudly display all sorts of colour profiles and shooting modes, very little emphasis is given to the aperture and shutter priority modes. These two modes allow some control over the camera and it’s handy when you’re clicking fast action shots or shooting in low-light areas.

Display size A camera with a large screen is a great thing to have to view photos on, as well as while shooting photos. Look for cameras that have a 3-inch display. The resolution of the display might also be stated by the manufacturer. A large screen on a camera is handy while shooting photos The higher the density, the better it’s bound to be. This is not to say that all high resolution displays are excellent, but it’s an easy way to filter out the good screens from the bad. Video recording capability Video recording on point and shoot cameras have been around for ages now, but in recent times, there have been some advancements. Camera manufacturers are providing HD resolution recording on almost all point and shoot cameras, today. Look out for cameras that have a minimum of 720p video recording. Make sure that the recording frame rate is a minimum of 24fps. While the video quality isn’t directly comparable to a good HD camcorder, it’s still a bonus feature, worth having on your point and shoot. Aesthetics and build quality The aesthetics of the camera is an important factor of the camera. Look for a camera that comes with a solid build. The zoom trigger is bound to be used the most after some of the buttons at the back such as the directional keys. A comfortable grip on the camera is a good thing to have Loose zoom triggers and buttons means that you’re likely to run into issues a few months down the line. If you’re visiting a mall or a camera showroom, try and get a hands on feel of the product before you buy it. You’ll also get an idea of how compact the device is and how easy it is to operate the menus and hold in your hand. Touchscreen, 3D anyone? Some manufacturers have tried focussing their efforts on newer features such as touchscreens and 3D. For features such as touchscreen, the interface and the touch functionality has to be flawless, to be practical. 3D, although a neat feature to have is still not mainstream. Best to wait till 3D is more refined There are very few users using 3D TVs and so the only ones viewing the images you shoot will be you. Since 3D is still in its early stages, you’re likely to end up with an average quality camera with bugs. It’s a good idea to wait a while till the technology matures. Bundled freebies To make offers more attractive, manufacturers bundle freebies with the product. Look out for offers where free memory cards and carry pouches are bundled with the cameras. Of course, be careful and make sure that you’re not being overcharged for those freebies. If a bundled memory card is of 8GB capacity and higher, it might be a good freebie to have. Otherwise, 4GB SD cards are really cheap and are worth no more than Rs. 400 in the market. Cheap pouches are also available for that much. Keeping these points in mind and it will be hard to go wrong with your next camera purchase.

Anonymous Establish Snitch Sites

Online activist group Anonymous have been a lot in the news lately, most recently for their teaming up with hacker group LulzSec and posting sensitive data about various governments and other high profile targets. Now, a subgroup of Anonymous has started two ‘leak’ websites which contain sensitive data from governments and corporations. These groups are localleaks.tk and hackerleaks.tk.

Hackers helping hackers!

According to a report, the Local Leaks website contains information pertaining to corruption and wrongdoings such as police brutality, work place harassment, etc. at a local level. Users can submit information anonymously and the site states that their first priority is to provide a safe, secure and anonymous way for local government or corporate employees to disclose sensitive information.

The Hacker Leaks website is a place where hackers can disclose sensitive data they obtain. The site states "Hackers helping hackers to leak material of interest. You download it; we’ll disclose it for you.” The site received its first submission which was a list of personal information of Orlando, Florida officials. Anonymous have targeted several Orlando sites in protest of the arrests of members of the group Food not Bombs.

Commander X, Editor-in-Chief of the sites claims that they don’t obtain the material and that they merely publish it. Thereby further stating the fact that these websites do not violate any law.

For more information on Anonymous and other hacker groups,


Hackathon
After the Sony PlayStation Network was hacked, hacker group LulzSec and Anonymous have literally wrecked havoc on the Internet. What may be the hacking coalition of the year, Anonymous and LulzSec together announced the forming of AntiSec. These two 'organizations' have forged what some companies would term an 'unholy-alliance' .

Along with Anonymous and LulzSec many other groups are also attacking and disrupting Internet sites. These hacker groups are mainly targeting the sites for fun using Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. They claim that this form of attack are their most abundant but most mild.

IIFA awards 2011, Toronto

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