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A quick look around any fine online camera store these days and one thing becomes immediately clear. That one thing is - you really don’t have to spend a fortune to get quality anymore.

Canon has just released a new IXUS model, the 110 IS – which continues the Canon tradition of mid-range cameras chalked full of outstanding features. If any single range of cameras best sums up Canon’s ‘bang for buck’ philosophy, it must be the IXUS.

Take a look at some of the IXUS 110 IS features…

12.1 Megapixels

The number of megapixels determines the amount of sharp detail a digital camera can record. With more megapixels, you can print at larger sizes, plus crop and enlarge without sacrificing quality. IXUS cameras provide all the resolution you need for finely detailed, photo-quality prints with plenty of scope for post-shoot cropping.

4x Optical Zoom

Get the shot you want with a powerful 4x Optical Zoom and genuine Canon optics. Not only does the zoom get you up close quickly, but Canon optical technology ensures that your shots are bright, clear, and alive with true, vivid color.

Optical Image Stabilizer

Any slight shake while hand-holding a camera can cause blurred photos. Canon’s optical Image Stabilizer (IS) technology ensures crisp, clear images by detecting and correcting this camera shake. The camera is able to microscopically adjust its own lens with absolute accuracy up to 4,000 times every second, so the image you see is the image you capture.

Motion Detection

When the camera detects a face, Motion Detection Technology will now adaptively vary the shutter speed according to the speed of the face movement. The amount of camera shake is also taken into consideration and the aperture is set to obtain the optimum exposure for that perfect shutter speed.

Face Detection Technology

Canon’s Face Detection Technology ensures superb people shots by automatically detecting subjects in the frame and setting the correct focus, flash level and exposure. With Blink Detection technology turned on the camera will show a warning that a person in the photo had their eyes closed. This displays for three seconds whilst reviewing the shot right after shooting.

Summary

From a huge 12mp lens to integrated optical stabilizers, face detection and wide-screen movie capability, the IXUS from Canon contains everything possible the average camera toting tourist or home movie aficionado could want – all in one small and sleek package.

Available in no less than four different colours, the CANON IXUS IS 110 is now available from all good camera retailers.

SOURCE: Canon.co.uk | WarehouseExpress.com IXUS page

The ubiquitous ringtone - another one of those omnipresent features of modern life. And how far you’ve come, young ringtone. What started out as a collection of monophonic squeaks and squeals became a multi-billion dollar industry, almost overnight.  Believe it or not mobile phone ringtones have been around for over a decade now, with the first commercial ringtone services said to have emerged with the Nokia mobile phones of early 1997.  Gradually, they have become an established part of modern life with some of them becoming headline news over the years.

So as we look back over the history of ringtones, a few stand out as the “big hits” or “classics”. Though there are very few established lists of the top-selling ringtones of all time, we’ve tried to put together a list of the 10 most ‘influential’ (ie. Everywhere!) - of all time.

10. Crazy Frog

It was always going to be on here somewhere, so let’s get it out of the way first. The “Crazy Frog” ringtone was based on an animation called “The Annoying Thing” by Erik Wernquist, and made famous by the mobile content company Jamba who heavily promoted “The Crazy Frog” on TV and the internet. The ringtone spawned a chart hit based on a remix of “Alex F” which went to No.1 in the UK, Japan, Australia and a number of European countries.

9. Ridin’

Ridin’, Chamillioniare’s hit single of 2006 rocked the ringtone world. It sold the most ringtones ever to that point topping out at over 2.3 million sold, which actually eclipsed the amount of singles sold from the same single. “Ridin’” was awarded “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group” at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also nominated for Best Rap Song. Number 91 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

8. Sir Mix-a-lot

In 1992, Sir Mix-a-Lot, a rapper had a huge hit with “Baby Got Back” which was re-recorded as a ringtone with the lyrics “Pick up the phone! Pick up the phone! ‘Cause you don’t wanna miss this call and I cannot lie!.” This was one of the first “ringtone remixes” of popular songs to achieve success after being marketed by Jamba, the same company that produced the Crazy Frog ringtone.

7. iPhone ringtone

When Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iPhone in early 2007, his demonstration included a ringtone, which was quickly made available as a recording by a number of websites. The ringtone has been described as like “holy angels tinkling” and was eventually included within the standard ringtone set on the iPhone.

6.  Eminem – Lose Yourself

Eminem’s Oscar winning song from the soundtrack of 8 Mile. As millions knew instinctually, the instrumental at the beginning made for the ideal ringtone buildup before the epic head-nodding audio explosion began. When this played you didn’t want to answer the phone. That was my excuse, anyway.

5. Classic telephone ring

With the rise of personalised tones a lot of people have decided to avoid them in favour of the classic “bell ringing” sound of a normal telephone. A number of surveys over the years have shown this to be one of the most popular tones.

4.  CTU Ringtone

The popular TV show “24” features a highly recognisable ringtone on the phones in the CTU office complex. The same sound is now being marketed as a ringtone for mobile phones and is rapidly becoming a big hit.

3.  Super Mario Brothers Theme

Created by Koji Kondo, the Japanese composer and musician best known for his scores for various video games produced by Nintendo. This is the number one selling ringtone ever in Japan, and set the benchmark that all annoying video game based ringtones aspire to.

2.  Mr T. (Pick Up Yo’ Phone, Fooo)

Many things in life defy explanation. This is one of them. Do yourself a favor and find it. Truly, hours of fun.

1.  Nokia Tune

The Nokia Tune, based on a 13 note rendering of “Gran Vals” by Francisco Tarrega, a 19th-century Spanish musician, is typically included within all Nokia handsets as the default ringtone and has therefore become famous or infamous due to its popularity. It is the typical ringtone of the middle-aged business man who hasn’t got the time or inclination to work out how to change it.

I’m standing on a street corner in the general proximity of Shepherd’s Bush station. My significant other and I have been wandering around for 15 minutes in search of a live music venue, a venue, where we were set to meet friends almost an hour ago. As passer-bys glance at us from the corners of their eyes, what began as a calm conversation about where we were going has escalated into a heated debate, a debate that I’m quickly losing. I’m stubborn and should ask for directions. She’s prone to over-reacting and should trust my sense of direction. Never have two people been so right, and so wrong at the same time.

I do that thing where I pull out my phone and fiddle with it aimlessly; giving the impression that somewhere in that plastic frame is the answer to all my problems. This buys me some time to think and I come to the realisation that I don’t in fact know where we are going, I am stubborn, and maybe I should ask for directions; but I wont, because I can’t let her win. At this point I accidentally click an inconspicuous little app that I downloaded earlier called Spoonfed Radar, and the answer, and victory, has arrived.

Released by the guys at start-up Spoonfed, this app aims to answer the age-old question ‘What’s going on near me now?’ Spoonfed Radar provides detailed information about the best Live Music, Comedy, Theatre, Exhibitions, DJ Music and Beery Fun events across London. This can be done either through genre searches, or the unique radar feature, which pinpoints your location and displays everything that’s happening in your area. Once you’ve pinpointed a venue, contact information, weekly schedules, directions and more are immediately available. The layout is sleek, user-friendly and simple, and the information provided is very helpful.

I’m really impressed by this app, especially considering that it represents the company’s first foray into the mobile arena. It’ll be interesting to see how the app develops as the company grows and new features are added, though at it’s current state it is definitely a great app for Londoners to own. Spoonfed Radar is currently available for free at the iphone application store. For more info check out Spoonfed, or take a look below at the video promo below.

The idea of leaving your house and setting out on a car journey to a new place will often involve you using a sat nav. Millions of motorist world wide rely on a sat nav to take them from A to B, but now Healthcare professionals have found a useful tool for sat navs.

Following an impressive £12 million investment, scientists at Newcastle University , England have developed a new piece of digital technology which will be used by the elderly and disabled members of the community. The new Sat Nav for the elderly will be able to allow those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease the ability to navigate their way through supermarkets.

Professor Paul Watson, who helped develop the new system states: “Many older people lack the confidence to maintain normal walking habits. This is often due to worries about getting lost in unfamiliar, new or changing environments.”

The new technology is designed to assist the elderly whether they live at home or in residential care with normal day to day activities, which may prove both challenging and confusing with out it.

Source : Barchester Healthcare

Remember the cloth that came with your glasses? The grey micro-fibre one, the one you used 4-5 times then somehow lost. It worked so well. Remember that cloth? Sure you do. How about the cloth that came with your camera? That one was incredible - never a smudge. Gone now. Great while you had it though.

Did you get one with your mobile phone?

Me too (no, I don’t know where mine is either).

Where did they all go?

The concept is wonderfully simple; find yourself a perfect cloth material for safely and effectively cleaning optical glass, sew it into a pouch to keep it in good condition and attach a clip for you to fix it to something so you can always find it when you need it. At the top of the storage pouch is a plastic clip, allowing you to attach your Spudz cloth onto your chosen optical product, making it always easily accessible. How brilliant is that?

Spudz are available in a range of colour designs and sizes. What makes Spudz so convenient is the design. Unlike other lens cloths, the Spudz lens cloth stays attached to the inside of the storage pouch. The snap hook also provides an easy way to clip it to a keychain or camera bag and keep it available at all times.

Many photographers have already found Spudz to be an essential part of every photo shoot. Spudz will clean finger prints, moisture and dust particles from lenses gently because of the special Micro-Fibre cloth inside.

The latest addition to the Spudz range is a cleaning cloth that is also 18% grey so cleaning your lens and calibrating your camera have never been easier.

Ideal for a number of uses, and finally available in the UK, Spudz are selling as fast as the brilliant concept behind them suggests they should. Find yours at fine online camera retailers.

It is no surprise that professional photographers and snap-happy amateurs require the highest quality, longest life batteries possible. If you are an aficionado of the hobby, or it happens to be your profession - that’s exactly what you get with the Canon LP-E6 Battery Pack.

This battery pack is a must have for heavy shooters. For those familiar with Canon’s very popular EOS 5D Mark II and its long-running BP-511 series battery, on the surface this battery pack may look the same - but the new lithium-ion LP-E6 battery pack is approximately 30% more powerful than the previous BP-511A – with 1800 milliamp-hours capacity, vs. 1390 mAh for the previous-generation BP-511A.

Far from just a more powerful power supply, this new battery teams up with the EOS 5D Mark II camera in new ways to give photographers a precise outlook on remaining strength of a battery, as well as managing multiple batteries.

It’s a fact that today’s digital SLR users almost always have at least one, and often multiple, spare battery packs for their cameras. But with more than one battery pack, it can sometimes be hard to keep track of whether all batteries are being used fairly evenly (in other words, that one or more aren’t languishing at the bottom of your camera bag), and to have an idea of when you’ve last charged each one.

Using the battery pack with the Mark II, you can actually “register” or memorize each LP-E6 battery pack you own, and keep track of up to six separate batteries right on the camera’s LCD screen. Each LP-E6 battery pack has a microchip with a unique, 8-character serial number. You don’t see this number on the outside of the battery, as it is embedded in the battery’s information source but once the battery pack is installed in the camera, you can register it using a menu command.

The Battery Information displays the information which is extremely useful to the working photographer on location. At a glance, he or she can immediately tell how much remaining battery power is available, and furthermore get information to assist in managing this and other LP-E6 battery packs:

1. Charge Remaining: Special circuits and a memory chip in the battery communicate the precise percentage of charge remaining in the battery, in 1% increments.

2. Shots Taken: At a glance, you can see how many times the shutter has fired using this particular battery, since it was last charged-up. (Please note – this display will never show the total number of times the camera’s shutter itself has fired; it only displays the number of shots taken on this battery charge).

3. Battery Performance: It’s a fact that rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charge-discharge-charge cycles they can go through, after which they can begin to lose their ability to hold a charge. While the LP-E6 should allow photographers hundreds of charge-discharge cycles, it’s useful for the working photographer to know whether a battery pack is nearing the end of its useful life after several years of use. The Battery Performance indicator does just that, with a 4-stage icon.

With 30% added life over previous versions and ‘smart’ features that separate it from the competition, it is not hard to recommend the Canon LP-E6 Battery Pack, available from WarehouseExpress.com and other fine retailers.

SOURCE: WarehouseExpress.com | Canon

Until recently, one quick glance at any movie and you could instantly tell whether or not it had been shot with a ‘professional’ camera, or a store bought camera. A fact made more obvious by the Hi-Definition (HDTV) capabilities of all modern television sets.

But thanks to technological innovation, what was once a truism of the film world happily is no longer the case. Until recently, amateur filmmakers had to grin and bear the fact that the equipment they used would never achieve the same quality, or ‘look’, of the big boys in Hollywood. To achieve the ‘pro look’ on your home movies you had two choices, either spend huge money on a professional grade video camera (which more than a few did), or accept the fact that, as a mere mortal with pockets that do not reach into the many thousands, you simply did the best you could with the equipment at your disposal.

Then, Canon’s Legria HF S100 came onto the market, and the rules of the game changed overnight.

Canon’s Legria HF S100 combines the latest in Hi-Definition technology and User Creativity with the convenience of SD Memory for unlimited expansion. All the expected features are there from 25p Cinema Mode to Custom Key and Dual Shot to Video Snapshot. The Canon Legria HF S100 High Definition Camcorder is the perfect camera for enthusiasts looking for a step up without the professional budgets.

As with many of its products, with the S100 Canon has exclusivity and patents on many of its components and features that make it not only a product leader, but a true innovator as well.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of these:

Canon Exclusive: 1/2.6-inch, 8.59-megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor

The S100 captures 1920 x 1080 High Definition video through its Canon designed and manufactured 1/2.6-inch, 8.59-megapixel HD CMOS image sensor, similar to the CMOS image sensors made famous in Canon’s EOS Series Digital SLR cameras.

The HF S100’s powerful CMOS image sensor provides high color resolution and advanced color reproduction for brilliant results. It is also unique in featuring Canon’s proprietary noise reduction technologies for crisp, sharp images. Low noise technology also means that even in dimly lit scenes, the signal from each pixel is as pure as possible, with minimal noise or other aberrations. It’s the ideal sensor for HD.

1920 x 1080 Full HD Recording

The Canon HF S100 not only captures images in Full HD, but records and outputs at 1920 x 1080 as well, so you get Full HD from lens to screen. Your memories are preserved in stunning clarity, and ready for playback on your HDTV. With the advanced codec in the HF S100, you can also record at the highest AVCHD bitrate of 24Mbps.

Canon Exclusive: SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization

The high-resolution images of HD video demand a steady hand. It’s easier to get those clear, steady images with the HF S100, thanks to Canon’s innovative SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization. It combines gyro- and image-sensors to give image stabilization through a wider range of camera motions. Some image stabilization systems correct one type of camera motion or vibration better than another. But Canon’s SuperRange OIS corrects for a wide range of camcorder motion: the fast vibration you’d experience while recording from a moving car; the medium-speed motion of hand-held recording; and the slower motion of body sway. No matter what you’re recording and how you’re recording it, the HF S100’s stabilization design corrects camcorder shake instantly.

Direct to SDHC Memory Recording

As major manufacturers push headlong in the direction of truly solid-state digital recording of not only standard definition video but the very latest high definition formats, too, we’re seeing an ever-increasing tide of models that offer recording to memory cards (such as SDHC and Memory Stick) and also to flash memory that’s actually hard-wired in to the camcorders themselves. If you’ve been studying the market for any length of time you’ll be aware that it is rapidly killing off other traditional recording media such as DVD and tape; even HDD (hard disc drive) is singing its swansong as a recording/playback medium. If you’re keen to acquire a camcorder which is more future-proof than others, the Legria HF S100 records directly to high capacity SDHC memory cards - a 32GB card can store over 12 hours of HD movies at the most efficient setting.

So for the aspiring Spielberg’s out there, your time has finally come. If you fancy having the ‘pro look’ on your home movies at an affordable starting price of less than £1100, these features and many more come standard on the Canon Legria HF S100 AVCHD Camcorder. Order yours online today!

SOURCE: Canon | WarehouseExpress.com

That IS the question isn’t it?

Sure you’ve been looking at new Graphic Tablets for awhile now, but for some reason never pulled the trigger. Or, you did lay out good money a few years back only to find that the technology was fiddly & lacked durability.

This spring, industry leaders Wacom changed all that with their newest release, the Intuos4. Built for creative professionals, in four different sizes, S, M, L and XL, it delivers probably the most natural drawing experience you can imagine.

The Wacom Intuos4 range takes graphic tablets to the next level with features you will wonder how you ever worked without. The new Intuos 4 OLED display shows you immediately what each customisable ExpressKey does, whilst the ambidextrous design allows the OLEDs to flip their display to match your preferences. At the same time, the Touch ring in the centre lets you scroll menus, zoom and select additional programmeable functions and shortcuts.

Overall, the ability to customise the ExpressKeys and TouchRing are vastly improved and your workflow will instantly find great improvement with graphic editing programmes like PhotoShop CS, Lightroom, Aperture 2 and others. Add to that the increased sensitivity with 2048 levels of pressure and you will be able to edit photos down to the smallest pixel with super fine control. The ability to modify the TouchRing with your favourite shortcuts with a radial menu function will make Intuos4 a pleasure to use on all sides.

Available in 4 different sizes ranging from the Small/A6, Med/A5 and Large/A4 to the professional XLarge/A3 unit, and, in wide format 16:10 to match most screens and software windows.

Discover for yourself where it all begins: Discover the world of Intuos4. Head to WarehouseExpress.com to see the entire Wacom Intuos4 Graphic Tablet product range.

So you bought your first telescope. Welcome to the world of astronomy! Now, what are you going to see with it?

Here’s a compiled (hopefully obvious) list of what’s out there to discover, and what you should expect to find when you do:

- The Moon: The Moon is a target that will show tremendous detail in an decent small scope. Even a telescope as small as 2.4 inches (60mm) will reveal a wealth of detail. You’ll be able to see craters, mountains, “seas”, and a number of other fine details. The Moon rarely disappoints a first-time viewer - as you begin your sweep of the heavens, get used to the functions of your telescope by using the moon as a reference.

- Mercury: Mercury is hard to see because it never gets far enough away from the Sun. If you do manage to locate it, at best you will only see the phase (no surface detail can be seen even with large telescopes).

- Venus: Venus is also is also fairly close to the Sun and harder to see. When you do see it expect only to see its phase in a telescope; no surface detail will be seen since the planet’s surface is permanently hidden by a thick, white atmosphere.

Mars: Mars is easily seen in a small telescope, but often a big disappointment to first time viewers. It only reveals subtle detail when it is close to Earth (and this occurs for a period of about 2 months every few years). When Mars is close to Earth, you might see a white polar cap, and perhaps some surface markings.

- Jupiter: Jupiter is the planet that consistently shows the most detail in amateur telescopes. However, even at high magnification Jupiter will only look about the size of some of the medium sized craters on the Moon. On any given night you’d be able to see cloud bands, the 4 Galilean Moons, and maybe the Great Red Spot.

- Saturn: Saturn will show its glorious rings, but the planet will not look too large even at magnification of around 100x. Keen eyed people (with good viewing conditions) might also spot some subtle cloud bands. Saturn’s largest moon Titan will also be visible nearby but only as a moderately bright dot.

- Uranus: You’ll need to know exactly where to look to find Uranus. At best it will look like a small green dot. Even in large telescopes Uranus shows only as a small, featureless disk.

- Neptune: Like Uranus, you’ll need to know exactly where to look, and at best Neptune will look like a somewhat dim small blue dot (it won’t really look any different than a star). No amateur scope can see any detail on Neptune.

- Pluto: Pluto is out of the question for a small telescope; it generally requires an experienced observer using at least an 8 inch telescope (in a dark sky with a highly detailed finder chart) just to see it as a very faint dot!

- The Sun: You can look at the Sun with a small telescope. However, you MUST USE A SPECIAL FILTER FOR OBSERVING THE SUN WITH ANY TELESCOPE. Failure to do so will result in permanent blindness. DO NOT attempt solar observation unless you are sure you have the correct special equipment AND you know proper procedures. Please adhere to the golden rule when looking at the sun with a any telescope: when in doubt, don’t.

- Stars: Stars will look brighter in a telescope but they will not look any larger. No amateur telescope has anything close to the power required to make a star look larger. They are simply too far away.

- Deep Sky Objects: In addition to planets and the Moon, there are a number of other objects within the reach of a small telescope. These are the so called “deep sky” objects. These include galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, and double stars. However, the quality of the view you will have on these kinds of objects depends to a very large degree on how much light pollution you have in your area. To locate most of these objects you’ll have to use a star atlas (first you’ll have to learn the basic constellations in order to find your way around the sky).

Don’t own a telescope yet? If you know the right brand names to look for, you can find great value at online Astronomy specialist vendors like WarehouseExpress.com.

Quality Telescopes to choose from at WarehouseExpress.com:

The range of telescopes currently in the market is enormous. All shapes, sizes, features and retail prices are well accounted for. We’ve picked three that stand out from the crowd:

The Sky-Watcher Astrolux 3”: A great beginner telescope. An easy to operate reflector telescope which is ideal for the first-time buyer or younger user. Perfect for all-round use, the 76mm aperture gathers 18% more light than a 70mm aperture, making the telescope suitable for simple study of star clusters and nebulas.

Sky-Watcher Explorer-130P (f/650) 5.1”: This telescope offers the true astronomy buff a great package. Highly recommended for the beginner or experienced observer wanting excellent results, from a telescope of decent aperture and of manageable proportions. Whether your interest is Deep-Sky, the Moon and Planets, or a combination of both, the Explorer-130P offers excellent all-round diffraction-limited performance.

Meade ETX 125PE: Two of the biggest challenges when trying to look at the night sky are aligning the telescopes and finding objects. The Meade ETX-125 Premier Edition telescope eliminates these two challenges and makes astronomy as easy as pushing a button right out of the box.

SOURCE: WarehouseExpress.com | astronomy.com