Common Paradox Tech Blog

If you’re familiar with commercial jingles, then you’ve heard Timex boast it can take a licking and keep on ticking. Well, Pentax just released a new digital camera that can take abusing and keep on shooting.

We’re talking about the rugged Optio W90, a 12.1 megapixel digicam Pentax claims can withstand up to 20 feet of water, is shockproof up to 4 feet, and has no trouble with sub-freezing temperatures. When you’re not abusing the W90, you can preview pics on its 2.7-inch LCD with 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, capture movies in 720p HD at 30fps, and hook it up to living room display with its HDMI output.

Pentax also announced a more traditional Optio X90. This too comes with a 12.1MP sensor, as well as a 2.7-inch LCD with an anti-reflection coating, Triple Shake Reduction technology, high speed continuous shooting up to 11fps, and a 26X megazoom, super-telephoto lens (26-676mm equivalent).

Both the W90 and X90 will be available in April for $330 and $400, respectively.

Image Credit: Pentax

Patently Apple brings another interesting Apple proposal to our attention — this one involving using the iPhone camera to detect swipes backward, forward, and the accelerometer to detect pause or play for things like Voice Mail without having to move the iPhone away from your ear. But that’s not all:

Consider the following example [...]

Swipe Backward, Forward, Pause, or Play on Your iPhone via Camera Gestures — Apple Patent Watch is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The latest iPad/iPhone SDK not only makes it easier for developers to build universal iPad/iPhone apps, but it also appears to have support for a front-facing camera, zoom, camera flash, and video conferencing. Oh, and some snazzy accept/decline buttons.

Keep in mind that the iPad SDK is the same as the iPhone SDK at this time, so we can’t really know which sections of the framework are intended for which device. Not to mention that Apple sometimes leaves some stray test conditions in the code and those may never make it into a final OS.

In other words? Let’s not get too excited here. [MacRumors]

WhenWillApple has found an interesting screen in the just-released(ish) iPhone 3.2 SDK for the iPad — one that once again hints at camera functionality.

We don’t want to set anyone up for anticipointment, so we’re seriously not expecting any last minute camera additions before next months iPad launch, but the regular stream of rumors sure isn’t [...]

iPad Camera Spied Again in iPhone SDK 3.2? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Just because you didn’t make it into the police force, it doesn’t mean you have to go through life with a naked belt. Strap Brando’s camera belt lock on for size, and feel the testosterone course through your veins.

You can unlock it in just a second according to Brando, so that all-important kingfisher shot is never missed, and then to secure it safely you just push it down again on the lock. They don’t specify compatibility with manufacturers, but judging from the photo it looks like Canon 350D owners are sorted—and for only $14, too. [Brando]

Perhaps we haven’t learned everything about the iPad just yet. Could an iPad with a camera be in the near future?

Mission Repair, a company that fixes broken Apple products, apparently got their hands on some iPad parts. Their pictures showed off the internal frame, which curiously enough has a small hole on the top of the frame.

When the Mission Repair team took a camera out of a MacBook and placed it inside the iPad’s top hole, it fight right in. You can see a comparison of the MacBook camera and the iPad slot in the image above.

As 9 to 5 Mac points out, there is other evidence to support the possibility of a camera in either the upcoming iPad or in a future version of the device. And as we’ve discussed previously, the iPhone 3.2 OS hints at camera support for the iPad.

A front-facing camera just makes sense for the iPad: it provides the device with teleconferencing and webcam properties that could alone make it worth purchasing. Apple’s exact plans for an iPad camera, when they would roll it out, or why they didn’t include it in last week’s demo is anybody’s guess.

[Img credit: Mission Repair]

Tags: apple, Apple iPad, Apple Tablet, camera, ipad, Tablet

According to Mission Repair, Apple’s iPad has a space for an iSight webcam/camera inside the device. Based on parts seemingly obtained through unofficial channels, the frame appears to have a very similar area to the MacBook’s existing iSight webcam enclosure.

If true, this is almost the exact same situation that occurred with the iPod touch G3, [...]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple iPad Frame has Space for Missing Front-Facing Camera?

One of the glaring things missing from the Apple iPad is a camera. Interestingly, though, a source confirmed to Engadget that the iPhone OS 3.2 — the operating system running on the iPad — has several different software hooks that include at least some basic support for video calling.

That strongly suggests Apple may include a camera in the next version of the iPad. Some code that supports toggling a video call between full screen and a smaller screen area also hints at the probability of being able to video chat and do other tasks at the same time. It’s not all that much to go on, but it does suggest that multi-tasking may be coming along down the road for the iPad, and perhaps the iPhone as well.

So why no camera in version one? It’s anyone’s guess, but maybe Apple decided to hold off on supporting video conferencing over 3G until either AT&T improved its network to better support the relatively high data bandwidth video calls require, or until they were able to reach an agreement with another cell carrier. Perhaps they wanted to come in as cheaply as possible and leave some room to grow in version two.

In any case, there’s good reason to hope for camera and video chat support in the next iteration of the iPad. Check out the Engadget post for some other details revealed from the iPhone OS 3.2 Software Development Kit, and let us know what you think: would the iPad be more attractive to you with a camera on board?

Tags: apple, camera, ipad, iphone, iphone OS 3.2, Skype, video chat

While more and more TV shows are learning that its simply easier to use the apps that come on smartphones, there are still some that insist on making a custom interface to accomplish simple tasks, like taking a picture. Leverage happens to be one of those shows, making fancy with the taking of pictures instead of just using the camera app that comes on the Palm Pre. But hey, making the phone look fancier than it is? Sure, that’s cool too.

Thanks to Mvsscooby for the tip!