NEW TECHNOLOGY

Digital Cameras Are Revolutionary Gadgets

One of the greatest new types of gadget to come into play recently is the digital camera. There are a lot of reasons why digital cameras are so much better than film based cameras, and they all come down to the computer technology that goes into digital cameras. Digital cameras can capture images on special chips that can pick up light and color and convert it into digital data. That digital data is then stored on some kind of computer storage device, which is most often based on flash memory technology these days, though in the past digital cameras have stored pictures on things like floppy disks as well (as preposterous as that may seem to us today). The flash memory can either be built into the camera or be a detachable form memory card or memory stick. Many cameras have combinations of both forms of storage media and pictures from both can be transferred onto a computer for editing, posting on the Internet, or printing out into the form of a more traditional photograph.

One of the greatest new types of gadget to come into play recently is the digital camera. There are a lot of reasons why digital cameras are so much better than film based cameras, and they all come down to the computer technology that goes into digital cameras. Digital cameras can capture images on special chips that can pick up light and color and convert it into digital data. That digital data is then stored on some kind of computer storage device, which is most often based on flash memory technology these days, though in the past digital cameras have stored pictures on things like floppy disks as well (as preposterous as that may seem to us today). The flash memory can either be built into the camera or be a detachable form memory card or memory stick. Many cameras have combinations of both forms of storage media and pictures from both can be transferred onto a computer for editing, posting on the Internet, or printing out into the form of a more traditional photograph.

The ability to transfer digital photos to a computer is what really makes digital cameras so much better than their film based ancestors. That's because there's so much that can be done with a photo once it's on a computer. For example, you can edit the photo to take out any of the dreaded "red eye" effect that still invariably shows up in some photos despite the best efforts of camera makers to avoid it to begin with. There are also plenty of other special effects that can be added to pictures though even relatively common software programs. For example, a picture can be made to look much older by adding a sepia filter to it and making it a little fuzzy so that it appears slightly out of focus. Besides changing the overall appearance of a digital photo, photo editing programs can also change what's in the photos. For example, it's possible to "clone" trees in a picture and paste them over utility poles. It's also possible to paste the heads of some people onto the bodies of other people or to put people into photographs in order to make it look like someone was in a place where they've never actually been. This can be especially useful for family reunion photos where not everyone could make it to the reunion.

Once a photo has been loaded onto a computer and any editing has been completed, there are a number of things that can be done with it. For example, it's possible to post the photo on the Internet, either on your own web site or on a photo sharing site. It's also possible to email it to specific people, or you can print it out so that you can assembled an actual physical photo album. The thing that the digital camera does best though is allow its owner to take numerous photos and eliminate the ones that aren't up to his or her standards without the expense of developing all of those photos. In that sense, digital cameras are much more economical than film cameras, and better for the environment when you look at how toxic photo developing is.

All of these features make digital cameras incredibly useful gadgets.

USB And Flash Memory Technology Offer Enormous Improvements In Gadgets

There are a lot of new technologies that have made gadgets incredibly more versatile in the past few years. One of the is the USB connection. USB technology allows gadgets to be connected to an increasing variety of devices for greater versatility and functionality. Essentially, USB technology started out as just a way to connect computers to their peripherals. Printers and scanners could suddenly be connected to computers using the USB connection that took up much less space than the older parallel port and cable technology. Then, as digital cameras became more common, USB cables served as a good way to connect them to computers in order to transfer over digital photos. Then the implementation of plug and play protocols with Windows XP and other similar operating systems eliminated the need to install drivers before taking advantage of most USB devices. This particular advancement opened up various electronic companies to the idea that more gadgets could take advantage of USB technology. There are a lot of new technologies that have made gadgets incredibly more versatile in the past few years. One of the is the USB connection. USB technology allows gadgets to be connected to an increasing variety of devices for greater versatility and functionality. Essentially, USB technology started out as just a way to connect computers to their peripherals. Printers and scanners could suddenly be connected to computers using the USB connection that took up much less space than the older parallel port and cable technology. Then, as digital cameras became more common, USB cables served as a good way to connect them to computers in order to transfer over digital photos. Then the implementation of plug and play protocols with Windows XP and other similar operating systems eliminated the need to install drivers before taking advantage of most USB devices. This particular advancement opened up various electronic companies to the idea that more gadgets could take advantage of USB technology.

Now we have a large choice of gadgets that take advantage of USB technology to connect with computers and even home entertainment devices. One example of this is the portable media device. Portable media devices can display video and digital still photos, play audio, and in many cases even be used to play video games. Most of them download video from computers that have in turn downloaded it from the Internet, but some of these gadgets can download video from digital video recorders. This is tremendously beneficial when it comes to getting a variety of video to play on these things!

Of course there are plenty of other gadgets that use USB technology. They include MP3 players, digital audio recorders, and video game controllers. Even more traditional things have made the move to USB connections. Like many mice are connected to computers using USB connections. These can be wireless mice that send their signals to the computer through a wireless receiver that plugs into the computer's USB port or a variety of wired mice. Plus, since power can be sent over a USB connection, there are more options for things like heated mice and mice that glow in a variety of colors. There are even some battery chargers that take advantage of USB technology.

Another handy new technology that goes into gadgets is flash memory. In fact, flash memory is often used along with USB connections in a variety of gadgets like digital cameras, thumb drives, MP3 players, and even some portable media devices. In addition to all of these types of gadgets, flash memory is even finding its way into laptop computers. Flash memory is especially attractive for use on laptop computers because of the fact that its more energy efficient that hard drives and more resistant to shock. Another advantage that flash memory has is that its faster than hard drive technology, and in some cases it's built into hard drives along with conventional technology to improve access speeds. It still has the disadvantages of being more expensive than hard drive technology and not quite as reliable.

One of the fascinating things about technologies like flash memory and USB connections is that they're still relatively new. Which means that we can expect to see more ingenious uses developed for them in the future.