Photofly - 3D Models from the WEB

from Between the Poles by Geoff

October 13, 2010

3D Models with a Digital Camera

Project Photofly is a technology preview of a web service that allows you to convert digital photographs taken with a consumer digital camera into a 3D image (point cloud).  You take pictures around the objectyou're interested in and then use a free download Photo Scene Editor to upload your images to the Project Photofly server, where the 3D point cloud is generated from your images.  Using the Photo Scene Editor, you can manually stitch photos by identifying 3D points in common, add reference geometry, and make measurements. You can also view the 3D point cloud using the Photo Scene Editor.  The 3D model can be exported to a DWG file so you can continue to work with AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, or other design application.

Last month Autodesk held a Project Photofly contest.  People were asked to submit photo scenes of buildings. This month Autodesk is holding a second contest, but this is bit different from the first one.  This time it's not limited to buildings. Anything that is designed can be submitted.

New Garmin Etrex Models

Garmin Updates an Economical, Best-Selling Handheld GPS

By Fred Zahradnik, About.com Guide May 31, 2011

This morning Garmin announced major updates to its eTrex handheld GPS model line. The eTrex, long a budget favorite starting at $99, was starting to look outdated, with its old-school form and low-resolution screen. The new eTrex line, to become available by the third quarter of 2011, features "enhanced ergonomics, an improved interface, paperless geocaching, and in certain models, a 65k color screen with expanded mapping capabilities," states Garmin.


The new line consists of the eTrex 30 ($299), with a color screen, built-in 3-axis, tilt-compensated electronic compass, and a barometric altimeter (to supplement GPS altitude readings). The eTrex 20 ($199) has a color screen, but no compass or barometric altimeter. The eTrex 10 ($119) has a black-and-white screen.


In the upgrades, Garmin strove to maintain the simple, lightweight, waterproof durability that has made the original eTrex line popular. Upgrades include support of geocaching GPX files and paperless geocaching, and brighter screens.Image © Garmin

US Smartphone Market Shares

A Smartphone Stalemate in The States

from All Things Digital by John Paczkowski

The battle for smartphone supremacy has reached a precarious balance in United States–for the time being, anyway.
According to Nielsen’s February to April survey of the smartphone market in the States, Google’s Android OS, Apple’s iOS and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS control the three largest shares.
And while Adroid remains the undisputed leader with 36 percent of the market, that share has remained essentially stagnant for the past three months. Also largely unchanged during that period, Apple’s smartphone market share which continues to hover at 26 percent and Research in Motion’s which vacillates between 22 and 23 percent.
In other words, the three companies are in a deadlock and have been for 3 months. How much longer can that parity last? Tough to say, though I imagine we’ll see some changes in the months ahead as more Windows Phone 7 devices arrive at market and perhaps even a profound shift if/when Apple brings the iPhone to Sprint and T-Mobile.

And a bit of a musical break...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI&feature=player_embedded from All Things Digital by Peter Kafka

 It’s a 9-minute “lip dub” of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” a 1971 classic that’s enjoying a renaissance this weekend, via the citizenry of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Panasonic TS3 - GPS, Compass, and rated to 10m underwater

• January 25, 2011 12:01am EST
 

Rugged Panasonic Camera Packs GPS, Compass and Barometer

from PCMag

By PJ Jacobowitz

• 
  

On Tuesday, Panasonic launched four new high-end compact cameras. The model that most piqued my interest was a new rugged model, the Panasonic Lumix TS3; it featured something I've never seen in a point and shoot camera – a barometer.

The Panasonic TS3 is an update to last year's Editor's Choice Panasonic TS2. The rugged body on the new TS3 has been improved to withstand more challenging conditions; it can operate in depths of 40 feet underwater, 14 degrees Fahrenheit and can survive drops up to 6.6 feet. Video recording has also been boosted to AVCHD captures at 1080p30.

View SlideshowSee all (18) slides

More

The GPS in the TS2 is paired with a digital compass, so you'll have the option to tag your photos with the location and the direction in which it was taken. The camera's barometer will indicate your depth, but it was unclear if this information will be stored in each photo.

Other specs on the TS3 include a 2.7-inch LCD (230K dot), a 4.6x optical zoom lens(via 28-128mm, f/3.3-f/5.9) and 12.1-megapixel captures.

Panasonic also announced the Lumix DMC-FX78, a lens-centric camera. The 5x optical zoom lens (24-120mm) will be very bright; its corresponding maximum apertures will open to f/2.5 (t) and f/5.9 (w). The back of the camera will feature a large 3.5-inch (230K) touch LCD. Like the TS3, the FX78 will do 12.1-megapixel captures and 10800p30 video capture in the AVCHD codec.

Lastly, the Panasonic Lumix ZS10 and a less expensive version, the Lumix ZS8, were also announced. The Panasonic ZS8 will do 14.1-megapixel captures, 720p30 MPEG video capture, 3-inch LCD (230K dots) and pack 16x optical zoom lens into its 1.31-inch thick body. The ZS10 will have the aforementioned features, but adds GPS, 1080p30 AVCHD video capture, burst capture of 10 images per second, and a LCD with twice the resolution (460K dots).

All of the cameras, except for the ZS8, will be able to capture and create psudeo-3D images by quickly snapping 20 pictures and layering the best top of each other. (A true 3D camera would require a camera with two lenses with two corresponding image sensors.)

Panasonic did not announce pricing for the new cameras but did say they will be availible in March.

Final Numbers for Q1 in Smartphones Bloodbath year 2: Electric Boogaloo

from Communities Dominate Brands by Tomi T Ahonen

2 people liked this

It took a while, but we finally have the numbers for all 4 major analyst houses (Gartner, IDC, Canalys and Strategy Analytics). I did as I always do, I calculated the average of their totals, to find the quarterly total smartphone sales - which came to 101.2 million, and we saw a growth of 2% in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2011 from the fourth quarter (Christmas-quarter) of 2010.

BY MANUFACTURER

This is how I report (or when numbers not officially given, am doing my official estimate) of the top 10 biggest smartphone brands by manufacturer in Q1 of 2011:

Rank . . Brand . . . . . . . Millions sold . . . . . . Market Share Q1 . . . . (market share Q4)

1 . . . . . Nokia . . . . . . . 24.2 million . . . . . . . 24% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (29%)
2 . . . . . Apple . . . . . . . 18.4 million . . . . . . . 18% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (16%)
3 . . . . . RIM . . . . . . . . 14.5 million . . . . . . .  14% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14%)
4 . . . . . Samsung . . . .  12.6 million . . . . . . . 13% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (11%)
5 . . . . . HTC . . . . . . . . . 9.7 million . . . . . . . 10% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  9%)
6 . . . . . SonyEricsson . . 4.9 million . . . . . . . . 5% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  5%)
7 . . . . . LG . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 million . . . . . . . . 5% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  4%)
8 . . . . . Motorola . . . . . . 4.1 million . . . . . . . . 4% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  5%)
9 . . . . . ZTE . . . . . . . . .  2.2 million . . . . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  2%)
10 . . . . Sharp . . . . . . . . 1.8 million . . . . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  2%)

The big movers are Nokia in crash-dive, lost 5 market share points in just one quarter, and Samsung and Apple who both picked up two market share points in the quarter. HTC, LG and ZTE are also growing, Motorola is slipping back further into the pack. RIM, SonyEricsson and Sharp are roughly holding station.

BY OPERATING SYSTEM

I also did some forced math to try to squeeze as close as possible the operating system numbers that are reported, to the above total number and as usual, this is the more difficult bit, but this should be close. (Please remember, I only count smartphones, not tablet PCs or other devices that might run on say iOS or Android etc) The market shares by operating system as I see it for Q1 are:

Rank . . . Operating System . . Market Share Q1 . . . . . (was market share Q4)

1 . . . . . . Android . . . . . . . . . . 35%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . (30%)
2 . . . . . . Symbian . . . . . . . . . 25% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (32%)
3 . . . . . . iOS . . . . . . . . . . . .  18% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (16%)
4 . . . . . . Blackberry . . . . . . .  14% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14%)
5 . . . . . . bada . . . . . . . . . . . .  3% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  3%)
6 . . . . . . Windows Mobile . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  2%)
7 . . . . . . Phone 7 . . . . . . . . . . 2% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  2%)
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (  1%)

First, remember that Symbian also still has Japanese makers who support it in addition to Nokia (that is why the percentage here bigger than in the above). Also very interesting race among the small operating systems is hidden in the percentages. Several sources say bada sold 3.5 million (thus almost 4% when rounding off), compared to about 2 milllion for old Windows Mobile and 1.6 million for new Phone 7. So even in Q1, Microsoft's newest operating system is being beaten even by its older sibling, and Samsung's new OS outsells all Microsoft Phone 7 partners combined, by more than 2 to 1.

A number we should look out for. Samsung has not given a split of bada vs Android vs Microsoft handsets, but if those analyst numbers and quoted numbers are roughly right, we should have been at about 8.8 million cumulative bada shipments by end of Q1, so sometime now during Q2, we should pass 10 million cumulative bada devices. Expect that kind of noise soon from your Samsung team..

And in the Nokia-watch.. How is my model compared to Nokia reality. When I did my 'Nokia premium smartphone customer give-away sweepstakes' blog, I projected the following (which we can now compare to actuals for Q1)

TOMI PROJECTION IN FEBRUARY FOR NOKIA MARKET SHARE CRASH IN 2011

Quarter . . . Market Share . . . Unit Sales . . . .  ASP . . . . . Total Revenues of Smartphones
Q1 2011 . . 28% . . . . . . . . . .  29 M . . . . . . . . 146 Euro . . 4.3B Euro
Q2 2011 . . 21% . . . . . . . . . .  25 M . . . . . . . . 136 Euro . . 3.3B Euro
Q3 2011 . . 16% . . . . . . . . . .  21 M . . . . . . . . 126 Euro . . 2.6B Euro
Q4 2011. .  12% . . . . . . . . . .  17 M . . . . . . . . 116 Euro . . 2.0B Euro

I said clearly in my blog that it was my 'best case' scenario, as there was plenty of Nokia doom and gloom at the time, following the Stephen Elop stunning Microsoft announcement of February 11 (including my previous analysis of the decision and how it was made). But there were several competent analysts who came to the blog who said they felt I was being too harsh on Nokia, that while it would be bad, it wouldn't be quite that bad. Well, now we have the very first evaluation of those numbers. And yes, it is worse. I had expected Q1 best case to be and what it actually was:

COMPARISON NOKIA Q1 AHONEN PROJECTION VS REALITY

My projection Q1 . . 28% . . . . . . . . . .  29 M . . . . . . . . 146 Euro . . 4.3B Euro
Nokia actuals Q1 . . 24% . . . . . . . . . .  24 M . . . . . . . . 147 Euro . . 3.6B Euro

So Nokia is already 4 market share points below what I projected, 5 million unit sales below what I projected. It is almost spot-on on the average sales price drop as I predicted, thus total smartphone revenues are 700 million dollars below what I projected for the quarter. If you thought Nokia's year 2011 was going to be an annus horribilis based on Ahonen's doom-and-gloom blog, it is clearly going to be far worse...

Make your own guesses how much worse Q2 will be than my original projection in the above, haha..

ANDROID SPLIT

Also as many are intersted in how the Android world is doing, I am continuing with my best guess of how the Android manufacturer internal market shares are going. I find for Q1 that the Android family splits its 36 million handsets sold like this:

HTC . . . . . . . . . . 26%
Samsung . . . . . . 24%
SonyEricsson . . . 13%
LG . . . . . . . . . . . 13%
Motorola . . . . . . . 11%
Others . . . . . . . .  12%

I will come back later with some gossip and news about the various brands how they are doing now in Year 2 the Electric Boogaloo..  But I wanted to post these market share numbers as I know many of my readers have been waiting for them. Enjoy

Android Apps on Windows??? Beam me up Scotty!

BlueStacks code lets Android apps run natively on Windows

updated 04:45 pm EDT, Thu May 26, 2011

BlueStacks runtime puts Android apps onto Windows

A start-up software company called BlueStacks has created an Android runtime 

environment for Windows that will let users run Android apps alongside Windows 

programs. BlueStacks has achieved the feat without emulation, which hinders 

system performance. The native x86 Android runtime is said to be highly responsive.

The runtime was demonstrated in public for the first time at the Citrix Synergy 

conference, and the company has raised $7.6 million in Series A funding from

 interested investors so far. The company also partnered with Citrix to deliver the 

Android apps through the Citrix Receiver.

BlueStacks CEO Rosen Sharma said the mechanisms that bridge the file systems, 

networking configuration, and notifications are tightly integrated into the platform. 

The software allows users to launch Android apps in their own windows and from 

shortcuts. Users can also run what looks and performs like Android, including the 

launcher. Third-party apps don't have to be recompiled to work here.

Sharma wants to see his software on hardware such as convertible netbooks that 

can offer both Windows and Android functionality and features.

BlueStacks plans to announce its first hardware and OEM partners within the

 next couple of weeks. An alpha release may come in June or July, and the company 

intends to offer a downloadable version for end users. [via Ars Technica]

By Electronista Staff

industry, software, Android, BlueStacks

Article Tags :

Read more: http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/05/26/bluestacks.runtime.puts.android.apps.onto.windows/#ixzz1NWMWkLSW

64GB Class 6 MicroSD

2011/05/24  Kingmax Unveils World's Largest Capacity 64GB Micro SD Card: Wide Application , Perfect for High-End Mobile Devices

▲ KINGMAX 64GB Micro SD Card KINGMAX has implemented the 9 Stacked Die technology for this Class 6 micro  SD card. It complies with the latest SD3.0 and Class 6 specifications but is also  compatible with SD Card Association’s SD2.0 specification. Although it comes in  a compact size, it definitely satisfies consumer’ needs for massive multimedia  data storage. Simply plug the micro SD card into mobile devices and one can  instantly enjoy the convenience of memory expansion. Whether it is high- resolution or video clips, photos, mp3 files, mobile games or multimedia downloads;  the 64GB micro SD card makes entertainment on-the-go possible. Moreover, with the  help of an adapter, KINGMAX’s micro SD card can also be used as a SD card or  USB flash drives. With its wide ranging applications from digital cameras, multimedia  players, PCs, PDAs, card readers to printers, this multi-purpose tiny memory card is  definitely a great value buy! KINGMAX’s micro SD card has a built in Error Correction Code (ECC) which acts through  controller to auto detects and reconstructs lost data during transmission to ensure  reliable data transfer. In addition, micro SD comes with Wear leveling algorithm  function which allocates all the information into different areas in the memory  card to increase each area’s average usage and helps to maximize product  lifetime. From multimedia files, address book, business applications to personal  data, KINGMAX’s mega-capacity 64GB micro SD card makes files storage fast and easy; enabling consumers to enjoy quality and convenient on-the-go experience.   All of KINGMAX’s micro SD cards have been approved by various safety and environmental  standards including CE, FCC, and RoHS; they have also been certified compatible with  major OS. KINGMAX is proud to say all of its products are subjected to the most  stringent quality control; all products go through rigorous testing to ensure product  quality. And finally, all microSD products come with lifetime warranty to provide 100%  satisfaction guarantee to customers Product Feature:  ‧High compatibility & reliability ‧Ultra fast transfer rate ‧plug and play Product specifications: ‧SD3.0 ‧Capacity：64GB ‧Speed：Class6 ‧Dimension：15 mm x11 mm x1.0mm ‧Wear leveling algorithm to maximize product lifetime ‧Built-in Error Correction Code that auto corrects data ‧Energy efficient, extends mobile devices’ battery lifetime

Good Value Hardened WinTel Notebooks and Tablets

Rugged PC Review "Let me begin by saying that this machine has unbelievable pedigree. If you've seen those Mercedes Benz commercials that show how the latest, greatest  supercar Benz has a direct lineage to an old Mercedes Benz 180 sedan from the mid-1950s,  it's the same for the rugged DRS ARMOR X10gx tablet." Read the full review Tablet PC Review "Meet the toughest tablet on the block... the X10gx is content to sit tight and take any abuse the user or environment can dish out." Read the full review GottaBeMobile "No case. No bag. No concerns about it breaking  in a fall or getting caught in the rain. I could really get used to this kind of worry-free experience." Read the full review Government Computer News "The ARMOR X10gx proves that it's built to  survive whatever Mother Nature can hurl its way." Read the full review