Gizmodo

• 14 megapixels, 720p video
• 5x optical zoom
• Waterproof (10m/33ft), shockproof (2m/6.6ft), freezeproof (-10C/14F), crushproof (100kg/220lb)
• 2.7-inch LCD
• MSRP: $399

Pros:

• Feels as solid as it looks
• Nice wide angle on lens
• Best video of the bunch

Cons:

• Image quality so-so
• Heavy and bulky
• “Tap control” doesn’t really seem that useful

Full review:

All of the cameras I’m reviewing this week make compromises, and Olympus’ major concession is size. The Stylus 8010 boasts better waterproofing and “crush-proofing” than any of the other cameras, but it’s also the biggest and heaviest by some margin. Its bricky design is probably a love-it-or-hate-it thing, and I’ll leave that to the readers to decide. Keep in mind also that while this is the most expensive camera of the lineup, there is a cheaper version, the 6020, which shares many of the 8010’s characteristics but costs $100 less.

So let’s get this clear right away: if all you really want from your camera is a truly rugged feel, the 8010 is a pretty good choice. While it’s not as sleek and sporty as the Casio EX-G1, it’s twice as solid, and the familiar squared shape is reassuring. It really reminds me of the early ELPH cameras in its layout and heft. I thought it ugly at first, but its utilitarian design has grown on me.

For its rugged credentials, here’s the roundup video where it gets tossed and goes underwater:

In addition to that, it claims to be crushproof (i.e. you sit on it or drop your luggage on it) to 220 lb, and freezeproof. I’ve got it in the freezer right now, and I’ll take it out in 20 minutes or so and see how it works. [later] It started right up and took pictures and video, but the LCD exhibited the weird, slow response you get from cold. So that part isn’t exactly protected, but the camera functions.

It’s difficult to really tell in the video above, but the 8010 seems to boast the best video of the lot. That’s actually not saying much, seeing as they’re all smeary 720p or worse, but for the record, Olympus’ seems to look the best. Here’s a still from underwater; click for full size:

That’s not so bad — but it is the best frame I could find from a period of several seconds, and you can see how little detail is resolved everywhere but on the high-contrast koi fish. Quality out of water is similarly mixed, as it is on all inexpensive video devices, but I found there to be slightly less skew and smear on the Olympus than the others. It’s only 15% better, if I had to put a number to it, but hey, it’s something.

Image quality isn’t as good. The lens is quite wide-angle, but it misses out on a lot of the detail that the Casio picked up. If you compare the photos in this set, you can see the loss of detail most clearly in the picture of the tree branch and building — or in the picture of the brick water tower. It did, however, produce exemplary photos underwater, as you can see:

The quality of those photos is largely accidental, since I was just reaching down into the water, but it’s significant that without trying, I got a couple nice pictures of those koi. The Olympus also fired its flash without hesitation underwater, which contributed to the quality. It’s worth mentioning that it also has a LED by the lens, but it’s not very bright and the option to turn it on is buried in the menus.

The main menu is easy to navigate and provides helpful previews of things like white balance and exposure changes. It’s a bit sluggish to navigate, but it gets the job done. The 8010 also has a rather unique thing they call “Tap control.” Essentially you turn it on, and then you can whack the camera in various directions to change settings, modes, and navigate the menu. It’s a cool idea, but you really have to pound the thing to make it work, and it really only seems useful in situations where you’re completely unable to operate the camera, for example when you’re wearing neoprene gloves while diving. I appreciate it, but I just don’t see it being useful to many people.

The layout of the camera is plain and functional. It seems like they deliberately chose tiny buttons for some reason — and they don’t just look small when compared with the rest of the camera. They’re actually tiny. At least they protrude nice and far and are easy to push. I didn’t have any trouble with them, although the D-pad and surrounding buttons are placed incredibly close to one another for some reason.

The HDMI port, USB port, SD slot, and battery compartment are all under the same cover, which was very thoughtful of Olympus. It feels secure and the double-lock mechanism feels like you can rely on it. There’s also a little lens cover that flips away when you turn the camera on. Little touches like that make me sure that I could rely on the camera in a savage environment.

Conclusion

I mentioned the 6020 at the beginning of the review; the differences between it and the 8010 are that the 6020 has only 1GB of internal memory, is slightly less rugged in all ways (but still rugged), and has a slightly slower lens. I think that, given the 8010’s performance and the amount of features it shares with its more inexpensive cousin, it’s hard to recommend the more expensive one. For $300 this would be a very close competitor with the Casio EX-G1 (my pick of the roundup), but at $400 it seems like you’re paying too much — that is, unless super-ruggedness is your main concern.

Product page: Olympus Stylus 8010

So, we will begin. And to begin, it is necessary from choice of place for garage. And here it is necessary that the platform for garage building was equal, with small bias on the West, the south or the east, which would provide natural drain rain and thawed snow. It is desirable to execute also certain complex of jobs on drainage for prevention of bogging platforms. Further it is possible to start planning of the structure of garage. For this purpose on place where there will be garage it is necessary to remove vegetative ground. Then to transfer on the site intended under building, the garage plan in the natural sizes, using for this purpose the special tool. The base takes up loadings of elevated designs and protects walls from soil moisture. Stability and durability of your garage is provided, first of all, with stability and durability of the base, which depend on ground on which it settles down. Reliability of the base of garage depends also on its design, from applied building materials and good waterproofing. Garages erect on the tape bases more often. Such bases are erected under buildings with heavy walls (stone, brick, concrete and other). In dependence on the material applied to erection of the bases, distinguish the bases brick, monolithic, concrete and ferro-concrete. Within one building the bases can sometimes have different depth of building. For example, if you suit cellar not under all building, as well as occurs at garage building. To deepen all bases on the depth dictated by depth of cellar, it is inexpedient. In this case it is necessary to provide smooth transition from one depth of building the base to another. Ledges make this transition. At dense of high grounds the ledge height should be no more than 1 m, and the relation of height of ledge to its length — no more 1:1. At leaky grounds height of ledge no more than 0,5 m, and the relation of height of ledge to its length — no more than 1: 2. By the way, the cellar arranged under garage, is very convenient and economically justified. It will save to you useful area. The cellar height defines depth of building the base. It should be at least on 30 cm below level of floor of cellar.

If you need help with finding car garage – this site will help. Lots of samples of car garage products and direct access to the car garage sellers. All contact info on the site.

P.S. And don’t let laziness to stop you from finding the best deal about car garages. Don’t forget that we are living in the world where info quickly enhances the quality of our life.

That is why if you are properly armed with the info in your topic you can be sure that you will in any case find the way out from any bad situation. So, please make sure to track this web site on a regular basis or – the least time consuming way of doing it – sign up to its RSS feed. Thus you will have a direct shortcut to the freshest informational updates here. Blogging can be helpful, you just need to understand how to use them.

Features:

• Designed for commuters
• TSA friendly
• Waterproofed and rubberized to keep out the weather
• Grab strap and shoulder strap
• Internal organizer keeps stuff sorted

Pros:

• Easy to get your laptop through security
• Waterproofing is the best I’ve seen
• Great price

Cons:

• Space can be a little tight when you add a power supply
• Rubberized bottom has an odd texture
• Laptop storage could use a little more padding

Timbuk2 (originally known as Scumbags) was founded in San Fransisco in 1989 by a former bicycle messenger. The creator’s background really shows in the construction of the bag. The finish and stitching is of the highest quality, and there is a definite sense of purpose about this bag. It is designed for someone who travels, and needs to move quickly through TSA checkpoints.

The Commute 2.0 has several standard messenger bag features that you’ve come to expect. The organizer panel, the water bottle holder, keyfob – all there. Where it gets a little more interesting is the commuter and TSA friendly stuff. There’s a pass through for your luggage handle, a pocket for your airline tickets, and the laptop pocket folds out and lays flat, which allows you to send the whole bag through the xray machine without taking the laptop out of the bag. I for one, love that feature. One thing that was a big odd was the rubberized bottom of the bag. To be honest, I see the necessity of having it for weatherized, but the texture is a bit strange at first. I’m sure if I’d been using the bag for more then a few weeks I’d get used to it, but it was a bit awkward at first.

The bag also comes in multiple sizes, so you can get one that fits your laptop, versus the typical “one size fits all.” The small will hold a standard 14-inch system, the medium holds a 16-inch, and the large works with a laptop up to 17 inches. The one they sent to us to review was the large, and it held the 17 inch laptop in the pocket with relative ease. The problem came from the power brick. The laptop side of things seemed to be designed for systems with smaller peripherals. The laptop I put in the bag was quite large, and so the brick made the bag bulge in a rather uncomfortable way. The padding around the laptop was also a little bit thinner then I’d like. I’m sure it works, and I acknowledge the need to trade padding thickness for size, but it just seemed a little thin to me.

For my dollar, the Commute 2.0 is an ideal messenger bag. It’ll hold your documents, magazines, cell phones, keys, chargers, and laptop with no problems. And you can’t beat the price. The medium will set you back $100, the large is $120, and the small is not currently listed for sale on the Timbuk2 website.

Product page

Features:

• Designed for commuters
• TSA friendly
• Waterproofed and rubberized to keep out the weather
• Grab strap and shoulder strap
• Internal organizer keeps stuff sorted

Pros:

• Easy to get your laptop through security
• Waterproofing is the best I’ve seen
• Great price

Cons:

• Space can be a little tight when you add a power supply
• Rubberized bottom has an odd texture
• Laptop storage could use a little more padding

Timbuk2 (originally known as Scumbags) was founded in San Fransisco in 1989 by a former bicycle messenger. The creator’s background really shows in the construction of the bag. The finish and stitching is of the highest quality, and there is a definite sense of purpose about this bag. It is designed for someone who travels, and needs to move quickly through TSA checkpoints.

The Commute 2.0 has several standard messenger bag features that you’ve come to expect. The organizer panel, the water bottle holder, keyfob – all there. Where it gets a little more interesting is the commuter and TSA friendly stuff. There’s a pass through for your luggage handle, a pocket for your airline tickets, and the laptop pocket folds out and lays flat, which allows you to send the whole bag through the xray machine without taking the laptop out of the bag. I for one, love that feature. One thing that was a big odd was the rubberized bottom of the bag. To be honest, I see the necessity of having it for weatherized, but the texture is a bit strange at first. I’m sure if I’d been using the bag for more then a few weeks I’d get used to it, but it was a bit awkward at first.

The bag also comes in multiple sizes, so you can get one that fits your laptop, versus the typical “one size fits all.” The small will hold a standard 14-inch system, the medium holds a 16-inch, and the large works with a laptop up to 17 inches. The one they sent to us to review was the large, and it held the 17 inch laptop in the pocket with relative ease. The problem came from the power brick. The laptop side of things seemed to be designed for systems with smaller peripherals. The laptop I put in the bag was quite large, and so the brick made the bag bulge in a rather uncomfortable way. The padding around the laptop was also a little bit thinner then I’d like. I’m sure it works, and I acknowledge the need to trade padding thickness for size, but it just seemed a little thin to me.

For my dollar, the Commute 2.0 is an ideal messenger bag. It’ll hold your documents, magazines, cell phones, keys, chargers, and laptop with no problems. And you can’t beat the price. The medium will set you back $100, the large is $120, and the small is not currently listed for sale on the Timbuk2 website.

Product page

Also it is necessary to pay special attention and on such preparatory process, as base alignment. That it to carry out, by means of the special building crane on both parties of your base it is necessary to fix sticks. To make it follows in strictly horizontal position. Otherwise all your efforts can appear vain. Only after that between sticks fill in a necessary solution and make its alignment. Will pay the attention that the laying of walls of garage also should be strictly horizontal. That it to achieve, it is necessary to establish special devices on corners of your future garage. For those who is not familiar with the given concept, it would be desirable to tell that such devices are special wooden sticks which have corresponding division each seventy seven millimeters. The given distance corresponds to height of the brick lying flat wise. Also on that sticks figures which correspond to quantity of numbers of a laying are written that also it is important. It is necessary to establish the given tool we conceal in the image that each figure was on one horizontal with the others. After that between sticks it is necessary to tighten a special thin cord. On it is possible to check up, whether have consulted with a task in view, whether your laying horizontally is executed.

Value of a preparatory stage of building. On the basis of the information set forth above there is absolutely clear that fact, for building of walls of garage the preparatory stage is how much significant. At times, that directly depends on it, how much qualitative, and durable your future garage will be reliable. For this reason experts do not recommend to neglect a preparatory stage, and on the contrary, to give it time and attention maximum quantity.

If you need help with finding car garage – this site will help. Lots of samples of car garage products and direct access to the car garage sellers. All contact info on the site.

P.S. And don’t let laziness to stop you from finding the best deal about car garages. Don’t forget that we are living in the world where knowledge quickly enhances the quality of our life.

That is why if you are properly armed with the knowledge in your topic you can rest assured that you will in any case find the solution to any bad situation. So, please make sure to track this site on a regular basis or – best of all – sign up to its RSS feed. Thus you will have your hand on the pulse of the freshest informational updates here. Blogs can be helpful, you just need to know how to use them.

We managed to video the dismantling of an iPhone 3G S WITH another
iPhone 3G S. The videos are linked off the teardown.

This teardown features our usual world-class photography and exclusive
hardware analysis. We’ll be adding more information over the next few
days as we continue to research the hardware design.

More from iFixit.com..

Pictures of interest:

Removing the logic board:

The logic board, up close and personal:

The aftermath:

Points of interest:

* Thankfully, opening the iPhone 3G S is as simple as the 3G. After
removing two Phillips screws, the two halves of the phone are separated
easily using a suction cup.

* The iPhone is differentiated externally only by a new model number,
A1303. The lettering on the back is now shiny, like the Apple logo.

* The internal physical design is virtually identical to the iPhone 3G.
A random passerby on the street would not know the difference. Heck,
even we were struggling to differentiate the two.

* The new graphics core should drastically improve performance, meaning
Apple’s serious about the handheld gaming market.

* There’s still a “Do not remove” sticker above the logic board.
Naturally, we removed it.

* Nearly all components have been relocated to the front side of the
main PCB, including the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Flash memory chips.

* The battery is 4.51 Watt-hours, or 1219 mAh. That’s about 6% larger
than the iPhone 3G’s battery. Hopefully the hardware runs more
efficiently, since increased battery life will not come from the battery
itself.

* There is an additional antenna connection near the dock connector.
We’re not sure what for just yet. However, we do love exploring these
teasers… Stay tuned!

* For those who are wondering about the fingerprint-resistant coating on
their iPhone 3G S screen: The oleophobic, or oil-proof, technology
evolved from waterproofing. Oil-proof technology is harder to achieve as
oil has a much lower surface tension than water, so it spreads out
easier and thus is harder to get rid off. MIT’s solution was to create a
coating material which creates a layer of micro fibers, but with a much
larger contact angle between the oil droplets and the fibers.

Some comments on usability of the 3G S:

* Camera quality is much improved from the 3G. Close-up shots were
possible down to about 5 cm, and the brightness adjusted well when
picking a focus area.

* The oleophobic screen does seem to clean slightly easier than the 3G’s
normal screen.

* Google Earth (duration of the spinning load wheel) (over Wi-Fi): 3G
S:4.9 sec; 3G: 22.2 sec. A bit faster than Apple’s claim of 2X speed
improvement — although we know that one simple test of one application
means little in the real world.

This story is printed with permission from Miro at: iFixit.com..

By Evan Ackerman

Traditional video cameras tend to be really, really annoying in that in order to use them, you’re constantly looking through them and pushing buttons and stuff. So you miss what’s actually going on. Yeah, you’ve got it all on tape or whatever, but you’re missing the experience of the moment. This is why hands-free, wearable video cameras might be a good idea, and this one from Thanko stands out because of its compact size and ruggedness.

At only 2.5 inches long and weighing at under an ounce, this camera is seriously tiny. It’s small enough to wear around your head without noticing or, alternatively, duct tape to any number of things (an R/C car, a model rocket, your cat, etc.) to capture some unique footage. The camera is waterproof to an impressive 65 feet, and will record QVGA (320 x 240) vids without sound for up to 2 hours on 2 gigs of internal memory. The battery is integrated, and it both recharges and transfers data via USB. It costs $135, which is a bit much for such low resolution and lack of audio, but the serious waterproofing might make it worthwhile.

[ Thanko ] VIA [ Akihabara News ]