Just How Impressive is the RED Epic's Resolution?

There are cameras, and then there are freaking big cameras. Who better to deliver such a freaking big camera than RED? The company first exploded onto the scene last year when they released their RED ONE 4K camera, one that's capable of capturing RAW video at a staggering 12 megapixel resolution... one that is so high, no TV on the market could display its video in raw form.

Yesterday, the company unveiled their Epic 5K and Scarlet 3K models, due out in early 2009, and released with them a resolution comparison chart, in case there was any doubt about just how ridiculous the resolution was. While the wimpy 2 megapixel 1080p resolution takes up the entire dark gray area, the 5K (~15 megapixel?) Epic is truly unparallelled.

I think "Epic" is appropriate.

You can see how basically it would take seven or eight of the newest 1080p hi-def TVs to show an entire 5K image, and even then it wouldn’t be the whole thing because Red shoots to a special raw format with more color depth than your TV can display.

Source: CrunchGear

This magic Ain't Worth Jack

I first heard about the magicJack last September at DigitalLife in New York, and was at first skeptical. Well, I was always skeptical, because the product itself didn't seem to make much sense. Just how could a device give you free phone service for such a menial fee? Well as it turns out, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

Rob at BoingBoing Gadgets stumbled on the magicJack's EULA, and it is not pretty. In order to have the device "pay" for itself, you have to agree to forced advertisements, else the device will be useless (as if it isn't to begin with?). Even better is the fact that once you sign the agreement, you also sign away the ability to sue if the device somehow acts in a way to defraud you.

To make matters even worse, the device will take it upon itself to scan both incoming and outgoing phone numbers in order to deliver relevant advertisements. Need more convincing that this product and its company is worthless? Their web site counter is a piece of JavaScript that auto-updates every second or two. This is the ultimate in crapware... stay away.

It gets sexier. When you access MajicJack's instant web help page, a bizarre series of "compatibility tests" take place first, reporting lies like "Your MagicJack is functioning properly" even if you don't have one installed. Even the "look how many people came for a free trial" counter on the homepage is a fake, a javascript applet that increments itself automatically.

Source: BB Gadgets

Playstation Store Revamp Launched

After two antagonizing weeks of waiting, the revamped Playstation Store has finally launched this morning. In order to access it, you'll first need to download the latest firmware update, but within minutes you will be able to peruse the much improved offering.

Whereas the older store was essentially a customized web browser, the latest version is an actual application, so it looks far cleaner and is very responsive. It's not all good, however, as the launch day traffic is having an apparent effect, leaving icons missing or slow to load. In one category, it took well over a minute for all of the icons to appear, and even at times, some disappeared. Luckily, these issues are not likely to remain for too long.

For those who were hoping that the new launch would also come with a slew of new releases, don't get your hopes up. All that was launched alongside the fresh face are two GT5 videos and add-on content for Stardust HD and Lair. Am I the only one who wants to see more PSx Classics released? We've only seen three releases this year, and the last one was two months ago!

April 15th Tech Roundup

Motherboards & Processors
• AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition - Tech Spot
• ECS A780GM-A v1.0 - Phoronix
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 - Overclockers Club

Displays & Video Cards
• ASUS EAH3870 TOP 512MB - Hardware Canucks
• Foxconn 9600GT 512N - Madbox PC
• HIS HD 3870 IceQ 3 Turbo - Bjorn3D
• Palit GeForce 9800GTX - Motherboards.org
• Sapphire Radeon HD 3650 GDDR3 512MB - PC Perspective
• Sapphire Radeon HD3870 X2 1GB - Big Bruin

Memory & Storage
• DDR3 1800MHz Round Up - Pro-Clockers
• Hitachi Deskstar 500GB SATA/300 7200RPM 16MB - Viper Lair

Peripherals & Gadgets
• ASUS DRW-2014 L1T DVD-RW - Virtual-Hideout
• Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro Clutch Edition - Benchmark Reviews

Cooling
• Coolink ChipChilla Chipset Cooler - Tweak Town
• Thermaltake DuOrb CPU Cooler - OCIA
• Vizo Sleet RAM Coolers - Techware Labs

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Cooler Master Cosmos S - Hardware Logic
• In Win B2 Stealth Bomber - Legit Reviews
• Rosewill RX82-U HDD Enclosure - techPowerUp!
• Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W Power Supply - Think Computers

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• ASUS Eee PC 4G XP Sub-Notebook - Tech Report
• Sony alpha DSLR-A350 - Digital Trends