Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"Fujitsu has unveiled what the company is calling the “world’s first truly wireless display,” using a combination of cable-cutting wireless data and an inductive power system. Set to go on show at CeBIT 2011 this week, and expected to spawn commercial displays “within the next year,” the Wireless 22-inch Fujitsu screens use SUPA (Smart Universal Power Access) hotspots built into desks, countertops and office panels."

While this would make setup and replacement a piece of cake, they are going to face a big chicken and egg problem. Businesses aren't going to buy these until inductive power is standard in workspaces and the lifecycle for most office furniture is measured in decades rather than years (at least at my work, my desk is older than I am).

"By combining the data with a scheduler, you’ll even be able to know how much energy is consumed in the absence of the user. Each outlet of the power strip has a contactless power sensor that can measure up to 2,000W."

Anyone who has wanted to know how much power their gadgets use has probably heard of the Kill A Watt. As great and handy as it is, I have always found one thing lacking about it and that is being able to record the statistics it records. There are whole home solutions, which aside from costing a pretty penny also only give you information on a very broad scale. This looks to be close to a compromise imbetween. You can monitor individual devices, and it hooks up to your network, which I am hoping, lets you record on a computer somewhere. Honestly, I'd be happy if there was a solution that would work with something like Z-Wave and give me a per outlet recording capability. With power prices on the increase, I really would like an easier and more comprehensive way to tracking my energy vampires. Anyone seen a better solution?

"The Fuji FinePix F200EXR ($399) is a compact camera with a one-of-a-kind sensor. The SuperCCD EXR sensor found in the F200EXR allows the user to select what's most important in the photo they're taking: high resolution, high sensitivity and low noise, or wide dynamic range. Previous SuperCCD sensors have been better that the competition in terms of noise, and Fuji is looking to widen their lead in that area, while also improving dynamic range (which is never a strong point on compact cameras). I'll tell you more about the SuperCCD EXR later in the review. The sensor isn't the only thing that's changed since the FinePix F100fd from last year. The F200EXR also features a larger LCD, manual controls, new film simulation modes, improved flash metering, and support for HD video output. Some things that haven't changed include its 5X, 28 - 140 mm lens, image stabilization, elaborate face detection system, and VGA movie mode."

"Mixed bag" seems to describe this camera quite effectively. The dynamic range feature works fairly well in some photos, and less so in others, and at ISO 800 the images it takes are noticeably better than competing cameras from Sony and Canon. On the negative side, it lacks HD video capture like many other cameras on the market today, and even with the VGA-resolution videos you can't zoom while recording video. Lacklustre battery life and soft images round out the not-so-good category. It's a competitive market out there in the point and shoot category, and it seems like there are better cameras out there than the F200EXR.