10/11

HOT STUFF

Wheels of reel Classic cars from movies and TV tinyurl.com/moviecars

THE AUGMENTED-REALITY SNAPPER

Fujifilm Finepix F600 EXR £270 | fujifilm.co.uk

It’s time for compact cameras to fight back against the interchangeable-lens brigade. Joining Sony’s five-star HX9V (below) on the frontline is Fuji’s F600 – a pocketable snapper with a few neat tricks up its sleeve…

Crack open the F600 and you’ll recognise the 16MP EXR-CMOS sensor inside (if you’re the type of person who can identify camera sensors on sight, that is). It’s the same sensor used in its predecessor, the F550, so it should be great in low light. The ability to shoot in RAW will appeal to Photoshoppers.

Using onboard GPS to plot your pics on to a map is nothing new, but the F600 adds an augmented-reality twist. Its GPS Landmark Navigator has a database of must-see POIs whose locations relative to you can be marked on the 3in LCD screen. The Eiffel Tower? It’s that big pointy thing behind you.

Despite its pocket-friendly dimensions the F600 manages to cram in a horizon-bothering 15x optical zoom. If that’s not enough, Fujifilm reckons its 30x Intelligent Digital Zoom can extend the camera’s snooping range without spoiling your snaps, by enhancing sharpness and reducing noise.

If you’re prone to taking pictures of 100-metre sprints or fast-moving birds being pursued by coyotes, the F600 deals with sudden movement using a new Motion Detection system. It identifies when mechanical image stabilisation isn’t enough to keep your subject blurfree, and ramps up the ISO sensitivity in response.

A compact that can’t shoot HD video isn’t worth the space in your velvet-lined pockets. Luckily, the F600 shoots in full

1080p HD, with two mics for recording proper stereo sound. There’s also a highspeed mode for capturing video at up to 320fps. Slow-mo videos, here we come.

Small but highly skilled, the F600 should earn its place on the compact map

Alternatively…

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX9V £340 | sony.co.uk Jack of all trades and master of, well, all of them, Sony’s 16MP pocket powerhouse shoots 1080p video at 50fps, 2D and 3D panoramas and lenticular-style, pseudoanimated pictures.

22 / www.stuff.tv

63mm

37mm

104mm

220g

TECH SPECS Sensor 16MP EXR-CMOS Zoom 15x optical, 30x digital Screen 3in LCD Video 1080p Connectivity GPS Memory 33MB internal (SD/ SDHC/SDXC compatible) School of hack

Speedy Farmville and other gadget cheats tinyurl.com/gadgethack

10/11

HOT STUFF

Pedal power Digitech iPB-10 £500 | digitech.com The iPB-10 is a tech-savvy guitar noodler’s dream come true: dock your iPad into this pedalboard and Apple’s tablet becomes a customisable controller, allowing you to pick out your ideal rig from 87 effects, 54 amps and 26

controllers. The audio processing is handled by the board itself, so don’t worry about your iPad crashing and fluffing its lines when you’re shredding a 10-minute solo on stage. It’s Stevie Ray

Vaughan meets Steve Jobs.

Stevie Ray Jobs, anyone?

Under the seastar Tissot Seastar 1000

from £555 | tissot.ch

The new Seastar 1000 will make you look like a seasoned diver – even if your aquatic exploration begins and ends in the shallow end of the swimming pool. Swiss timester Tissot has built this watch to withstand pressure at up to 300m below sea level, even adding a helium valve for automatic depressurisation. There’s a choice of rubber or stainless steel strap and colours including a funky ocean blue, as well as various dive-friendly attachments.

Rumour mill

LG is preparing to take another walk down the catwalk with a new collaboration with Prada Motorola is working hard on an iPod Nano-style wearable fitness gadget called the Kore

HP is chiselling some inches off its TouchPad tablet to launch a shrunk-down 7in version Apple’s MacBook Air could soon have some competition from the equally sexy Acer Aspire 3951

www.stuff.tv / 23