4 reasons the Yankees will regret the $150 million Jacoby Ellsbury deal

USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale is reporting jacoby ellsbury wife-ellsbury-free-agent-contract/3864129/">Jacoby Ellsbury has signed a seven-year contract with the New York Yankees that is in excess of $150 million, ending his seven-year stint with the Boston Red Sox.

Reactions to the deal were mixed. Some Red Sox and Yankees fans felt the signing was the second coming of the Johnny Damon deal, with the Yankees grabbing away another likable Red Sox center fielder and, in doing so, hurting their biggest rival.

This is silly. The Red Sox were never going to pay what Ellsbury (and his agent Scott Boras) wanted. Ellsbury is 30 years old and has been injury-prone is his career so far. The Yankees just gave him a seven-year deal. Let's count all the ways this is problematic.

1. The Yankees will be paying Jacoby Ellsbury $20 million a year until he's 37

So the Yankees just went through a nasty ordeal in which they needed a league suspension to get out of paying a declining superstar (Alex Rodriguez) a massive amount of money every year. So, granted this incredibly lucky reprieve, they turn around and offer a another massive contract to a guy entering his 30s? Um, what?

2. Ellsbury is known for his speed, something that typically declines in human beings when they are in their late 30s

Yankees fans lamented Alex Rodriguez's decline, and the massive amount of money he was owed, when his bat speed slowed down a bit. Know what deteriorates faster than bat speed in guys as they age? Speed speed. Ellsbury is a phenomenal hitter, but he relies as much on his legs as anything, both on offense and defense. We'll see how fast he is when he's 35, and how happy Yankees are that he still has two years left on his deal.

3. The Yankees already have Brett Gardner

Wait, the Yankees already have a speedy, 30-year-old center fielder who's stolen 50 bases in a season before? Yes, yes they do. Now, Ellsbury is a better player than Gardner. No one is arguing that. But is he that much of an improvement to justify spending $150 million over seven years? To the people who respond: "But Gardner is injury prone!" um, have you met Jacoby Ellsbury?

4. The Yankees have not learned from the mistakes of others

Two years ago, the Angels spent huge bucks to sign Albert Pujols. Last year, they spent huge money signing Josh Hamilton. Both were in their early thirties, and had produced big numbers up until that point. Both immediately fell off from their peak production, and now the Angels are saddled with two massive contracts, when all they want to do is build around their young phenom Mike Trout.

Everyone thought those two deals made the lessons clear: Don't pay guys for past performance. Don't overpay for guys entering the tail end of their careers. Don't get stuck with long-term deals with aging superstars that you'll regret later.

The Yankees apparently learned nothing from these deals. They threw big money at Ellsbury, and they'll probably throw big money to keep Robinson Cano, who is 31. If they can win a title in the next couple years with Ellsbury and Cano at the heart of their lineup, then they made a good call. If they miss that window, though, might be a rough few years in the Bronx.

Yankees sign Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year, $153 million deal

They were shut out of the postseason for just the second time in the wild card era, they watched their bitter rival waltz away with a championship, they were dragged through an ugly public feud with their star player, they watched their TV ratings and attendance numbers plummet. It was not a good year for the Empire. So how would the Empire respond to defeat, debacle, and humiliation?

Like they always do: The Empire strikes back. The Yankees and jacoby ellsbury agreed to a seven-year, $153 million deal Tuesday, according to multiple reports. The deal, the third-richest ever contract for an outfielder, is pending a physical that is expected to take place Wednesday. The signing came on a breathless day that saw a flurry of moves in major league baseball, none bigger than the All-Star centerfielder's move to New York, a move that significantly strengthens the Yankees in the short-term but will be a deal they regret years from now if Ellsbury's injury history continues. (Yes, the Yankees have money, but just how easy has it been for them to unload A-Rod or Mark Teixeira?)

Here's the thing: even after their big moves this offseason - the signing of All-Star catcher Brian McCann also became official on Tuesday - the Yankees are not done. What's next? Shin-Soo Choo? Carlos Beltran? Masahiro Tanaka? Robinson Cano? Everything is still in play.

Clearly, though, the Yankees in recent days began to feel like their longtime second baseman was slipping away. (Reports had the Mariners emerging as serious players in the sweepstakes.) So instead of forking over the more than $200 million to Jay-Z, the Yankees went out and landed the second-best free agent available, a 30-year-old centerfielder who, when healthy, is one of baseball's best all-around players (he should have won the AL MVP in 2011), an impact hitter who plays elite defense and is a plus runner who adds value with his baserunning (he led the AL in stolen bases in '08, '09, and '13). Ellsbury is also the kind of dynamic player who will make the Yankees exciting again-the early expectation is that he will play center with Brett Gardner and Alfonso Soriano in the corner outfielder positions and Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells on the bench.

It's hard to believe - considering that we're talking about the Yankees here - that almost no one saw this coming. The deal rocked the baseball world Tuesday night, but it is far from a crazy gamble for New York. In the short term, the signing will look good for the Yankees. Speedy outfielders like Ellsbury do tend to age well, and even when Ellsbury is no longer an elite burner, he can still be an impact bat in the Yankees order. Ellsbury will see an uptick in his power numbers, with Yankee Stadium's short rightfield porch.

But let's remember what kind of player he is-the big question with Ellsbury has always been his health. He had a huge 2009 season, then played in just 18 games in 2010. He looked like one of the best players on the planet in 2011, then played just 74 games in 2012. It's reasonable to expect three our four great seasons from Ellsbury, but odds are, in 2017 or 2018 we'll be talking about Ellsbury as one of the more overpaid players in the game.

After 2008, the last time Yankees missed the playoffs, they went out and spent on CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett, and they won the World Series the next year. This Yankees club still does not look like a championship team - they still have too many questions in the rotation. But there's no doubt that they are already much better and good enough to make a run at the Red Sox and Rays in the AL East in 2014. They are already the big winners of this strange, unpredictable, wild offseason. And the Empire is not yet done - far from it.

Nikon D5300 First Shots: Can Nikon's new mid-level DSLR not only beat the D5200, but compete with the D7100?

<Nikon D5300 Cyber Monday Dealp>by Roger Slavens

In less than a year's time, the recently introduced Nikon D5300 has replaced the mid-level consumer D5200 DSLR. And while its upgrades may not be revolutionary, the new model stands as a compelling, affordable option for advanced amateurs who may be eyeing the higher-end, prosumer D7100 -- as well as an enticement for owners of Nikon's older models to take a step up. We just got the Nikon D5300 into the lab, and we've published our first batch of First Shots -- Still Life* test images -- for you to analyze closely.

The D5300's enhanced DX-format, 24-megapixel APS-C-type CMOS sensor was designed to maximize the camera's resolving power by omitting the optical low-pass filter (as Nikon did earlier this year with the D7100). If the D5300 can minimize moire and anti-aliasing as well as the D7100 did, forgoing the OLPF in a consumer-friendly DSLR could be the move that opens up a realm of incredible detail and sharpness to a mass audience. What's more, the D5300 incorporates Nikon's latest processor -- the EXPEED 4 -- which even the company's most recently announced full-frame prosumer DSLR, the D610, doesn't have. This next-generation imaging engine purports optimize the DSLR's detail-versus-noise output and enhance color accuracy, and its improved ISO sensitivity -- now ranging from 100 to 12,800 in standard mode -- could up the ante on low-light performance.

How do all these upgrades translate in terms of image quality?

Check out our Nikon D5300 First Shots for yourself. And be sure to pit these test images side-by-side with those from the D5200, D7100 -- or any other camera we've ever tested -- via our Comparometer™ image quality comparison tool.

For more information about the DSLR's new features and specs, read our first impressions Nikon D5300 review. In addition to image quality and performance enhancements, the camera also boasts built-in Wi-Fi functionality and GPS -- the first Nikon DSLR to do so -- as well as a more compact and lightweight design, and a 3-2-inch tilt-swivel LCD monitor that features a whopping 1,037K dots of resolution.

* Use our Still Life target images to look for detail (tone-on-tone, fine, highlights, shadows), as well as noise suppression, white balance, color accuracy and color shape retention.

Order your Nikon D5300 with trusted Imaging Resource affiliates Adorama or B&H now. The D5300 body runs about US$700, and kitted with a Nikon 18-140mm lens about $1,400.

Adorama:

B&H:

Source: Imaging-resource

Sigma Issues Product Advisory to Nikon D5300 Owners

<Nikon D5300 Couponsimg src="http://www.photographyblog.com/images/sized/images/uploads_ee2/news_images/nikon_d5300-494x400.jpg">

Sigma has issued a product advisory stating that the current firmware of its Nikon fitting interchangeable lenses may not work properly with the Nikon D5300 digital SLR camera. More precisely, the Optical Stabilisation (OS) and Live View Auto Focus functions do not work properly when it is used with the Nikon D5300. For those customers who own Sigma lenses in Nikon mount, Sigma is going to provide a free firmware update service.

Sigma Press Release Information Regarding the Nikon D5300 Cameras

Thank you very much for purchasing and using Sigma products.

We have found that the current firmware of our Nikon fitting interchangeable lenses may not work properly with the Nikon D5300's OS and Live View Auto Focus functions.

For those customers who own Sigma lenses in Nikon mount, we are going to provide a free firmware update service.

Please note that all the products we dispatch from the factory will have the latest firmware.

[Phenomenon]

Without the latest firmware, the OS and Live View Auto Focus functions do not work properly when it is used with the Nikon D5300.

[Concerned Products]

Nikon fitting interchangeable lenses that incorporate an internal motor

* Firmware upgrade cannot be applied to the lenses that do not have an internal motor.

* For some discontinued products, we may not be able to offer the firmware update due to the discontinuation of related repair parts. Please contact your nearest authorized Sigma distributor for the further details.

For those customers in need of the latest firmware, we are going to provide free firmware update from November 20th. For discontinued products, please contact your nearest authorized Sigma distributor for the further details.

For lenses that are compatible with the SIGMA USB DOCK, it is possible to update them via SIGMA Optimization Pro.

For detailed information on the SIGMA USB DOCK, please find it from the below link; http://www.sigma-global.com/en/lenses/cas/product/usb.html

For the detailed information on the SIGMA Optimization Pro, please find it from the below link; http://www.sigma-global.com/download/en/index.html

[Local Service Center]

For further information or to have a lens updated, please contact Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd on 01707 329 999 or service@sigma-imaging-uk.com.

Source: Photographyblog

New And Exclusive Micro-Site Content

ePHOTOzine's Micro-Site Roundup - Find out what's been happening on our five Micro-Sites.

Posted:

Here's a roundup of the exclusive content we've got for you to have a read of on our five micro-sites this week:

On PENTAXPORTAL this week, you can take a look at some top tips for photographing seals with your Pentax camera, and check out some top Pentax sunset photos. Plus, the brand new K-3 DSLR has been reviewed on site this week, and there's news of new images from Ricoh Imaging brand ambassadors.

Over On EIZO ColorZone, you can learn how to perform a monitor viewing angle check and find out why ColorNavigator software is a great tool for aiding calibration. Plus, there's news of a new 3D CG colour management handbook that's now available.

Meanwhile, on Olympus Image Space this week, there are techniques on how to use blur creatively, and there's news on Olympus workshops taking place over the coming months with Damian McGillicuddy and Steve Gosling. Plus, news on the Olympus Impressions 'Fall' competition, and £100 accessory cashback when you buy an Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera have also gone live.

On Totally Tamron this week, you can learn some top tips for taking better photos of ice with your Tamron lens, plus there are some top Tamron portrait photos for you to take a look at. Don't forget to take a look at David Pritchard's blog the days zoom past, too, as he's been out-and-about with his newly acquired Tamron 24-70mm lens.

Last but not least, on Nikon Nation this week, you can check out some ideas and tips for on location portrait shoots, get creative with colour balance and lots more. Plus, don't miss the Nikon D5300 Offers DSLR review and news of ono-to one training with Nikon School in December.

Make sure you check back to the Micro-Sites regularly, as new and exclusive content is posted weekly!

Source: Ephotozine

Nikon finally adds built-in Wi-Fi to its DSLR line-up with the D5300

<Nikon D5300 Dealsp>

As cameras all around them have gained built-in wireless capabilities, Nikon DSLRs have begun to feel strangely dated with their need for an additional Wi-Fi adapter to keep up with their wireless sharing and remote shooting counterparts. But with the freshly announced D5300, Nikon has finally revealed its first DSLR with built-in Wi-Fi and GPS.

The Nikon D5300 is an update to the mid-range D5200 which was released last year and arguably closes the gap to the enthusiast-targeted D7100. While it still features a 24 megapixel DX format (23.5 x 15.6 mm) APS-C CMOS sensor, and a 39-point autofocus system with nine cross-type sensors, the D5300 has now been designed without an optical low-pass filter to enable it to capture a greater level of detail than equally megapixeled cameras.

It's also been upgraded to use the Nikon EXPEED 4 image processing engine which enables a larger ISO range of 100 to 12,800 (expandable to 25,600 equivalent) though the camera still has a top continuous burst speed of 5 frames per second. Other improvements include the flipping, tilting and turning LCD on the rear which now measures 3.2 inches and has a 1037K dot resolution. Full HD 1080p video can now also be recorded at 60/50 fps and a new pentamirror increases viewfinder magnification to approx. 0.82x.

But it's the built-in Wi-Fi ability which will arguably be seen as the biggest improvement over the D5200, which required the optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter. Wireless functions in the Nikon D5300 include the ability to transfer images without interrupting your shooting, and to manually select the files you want to send to a phone or tablet for instant sharing.

There's also the option to use an iOS or Android device as a remote monitor or controller for things like adjusting focusing and shutter control when not directly with the camera. This can be handy for things like shooting group pictures with yourself in, or just times when awkward camera positioning would make it too difficult to use on-camera controls. Built-in GPS also means images can be geotagged with latitude, longitude, and altitude data, without the use of external adapters.

Measuring 125 x 98 x 76 mm (4.9 x 3.9 x 3 inches) and weighing 530 g (1 lb 2.7 oz) the D5300 is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor. Nikon says this is because it's used a newly developed monocoque-structure with carbon fiber reinforced plastic material for the camera body, allowing it to be both more compact and durable.

The Nikon D5300 will be available in black, red or gray in November. It's due to sell for US$800 body-only, or $1,400 with a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm F3.5-5.6G ED VR kit lens.

Product page: Nikon D5300

Simon is a journalist and photographer who has spent the last ten years working for national UK newspapers - but has never hacked a mobile phone - and specializes in writing about weird products and photography technology. When not writing for Gizmag, Simon is often found playing with LEGO and drinking far too much coffee. All articles by Simon Crisp

Post a Comment Related Articles

Just enter your friends and your email address into the form below

For multiple addresses, separate each with a comma

Privacy is safe with us because we have a strict privacy policy.

Source: Gizmag

Nikon D610 Sample Images

<Nikon D5300 Black Friday Dealimg src="http://www.photographyblog.com/images/sized/images/uploads_ee2/camera_preview_images/nikon_d610_photos-550x400.jpg">

Ahead of our full review, here are 40 JPEG photos and a Full 1080p movie taken with the new Nikon D610 DSLR camera.

The Nikon D610 is a 24.3 megapixel full-frame DSLR with an ISO range of 50-25600, full HD (1080p) movies, a 3.2-inch 921k-dot LCD monitor and 6fps continuous shooting.

A gallery of 40 JPEG photos and a Full 1080p movie taken with the Nikon D610 DSLR camera.

Nikon D610 JPEG Images

1/3 sec
f/3.5 | 24mm

1/1250 sec
f/3.5 | 24mm

Sample Movie

This is a sample movie at the highest quality setting of 1920x1080 at 30 frames per second. Please note that this 20 second movie is 61Mb in size.

View the sample movie.

Entry Tags

1080p, 24 megapixel, 6fps, camera, cmos, d610, digital slr, dslr, full frame, full hd, fx, hd, images, nikon, Nikon D610, photos, preview, samples, slr

Source: Photographyblog

Nikon's D610 Gets a Dust-Free Green Light

<Nikon D5300 Couponsimg src="http://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2013/11/D610_front.high_.jpg">

Way back when, I wrote about the dust problems we were seeing in Nikon D600 cameras. There was enough of a furor about it that when the Nikon D610 was released I assumed that the dust problem would be fixed. But I'm rather the paranoid type, and I never like assumptions, so as soon as the first D610s were delivered I thought it worthwhile to just double-check that assumption.

I set up a fairly simple protocol for the first twenty-five D610 bodies delivered:

The first image taken with each camera was our standard f/16, white-wall shot with contrast enhancement to check for sensor dust.

The cameras then went to a tech for testing and checkout, which involves about 20-30 shots being taken, then back to me for a second sensor dust image.

The cameras then went out on their first rental and when they returned I took yet another sensor dust image.

Just like I did in the first article, I then stacked the images for each stage in Photoshop using the 'darken if' action to make a single image of the dust on all the cameras.

The results are pretty clear, and for those of you who hate to read, they indicate the sensor dust issues have, indeed, cleared up (I love puns) in the D610.

Remember, when you look at the images below, this is not the dust on one sensor; it's the total of all the dust on 25 sensors.

New - Out of the Box

For those of you who think a camera is always going to arrive with a dust-free sensor, let me assure you this is a really good result. One camera had a big chunk, 6 others had a small dust spot, the rest were clean to the limits of the test. That's an excellent result; as good as any camera we inspect.

After In-House Testing

We expect the 20 or 30 shots we do with initial testing to jar loose some more dust that's in the mirror box or around the shutter or sensor edges. That's the case here as you can see, but again, this is a good result. There is more dust now, but most of it is small, as opposed to the large chunks we often saw with the D600. This is about what we see with any other camera and no single camera had more than a couple of specs.

After Rental

So we cleaned all those sensors and sent them out on rental, then took another image when they came back. I've only had 10 cameras come back from rental, so this composite is for 10 sensors, not 25 as above. But things looked so good I thought I'd go ahead and post now. Obviously rental conditions vary - we don't know who was in studio and who went to the beach, but with D600s we definitely would see the pattern of large chunks in the left upper corner no matter where it went on rental.

With the D610 we just see a bit of scattered dust and one fiber. There's nothing of note in the left upper corner. If anything, this is a bit better than most cameras, but certainly no worse.

We'll keep an eye out, of course, for problems in the future, but as best I can tell (and as we all expected) the D610 does not appear to have any sensor dust problems.

I'll also note that when I evaluated the D600s I thought perhaps the shutter design, with its wider slot, was the problem. I was apparently wrong about that, since the D610 has what appears to be exactly the same shutter design. Since we saw the dust problem disappearing after 5,000 shots or so, it may be simply that there was a lot of dust inside the D600s that worked its way out early on. Perhaps the 'cure' was simply keeping dust out in the first place. Or maybe there's something inside the camera (I haven't had a chance to open one up yet) to prevent dust getting out to the sensor.

Of course, figuring out why it's better is just to satisfy my curiosity. It doesn't really matter what's different as long as the problem is fixed, and it certainly does appear to be fixed.

About the author: Roger Cicala is the founder of LensRentals. This article was originally published here.
Source: Petapixel

Nikon D5300 specs, features, and price

<Nikon D5300 Offersimg src="http://www.associatednews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/nik530.jpg">

TOKYO - Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce the release of the D5300, the first Nikon DX-format digital SLR camera to offer built-in Wi-Fi and GPS functions.

The Nikon D5300 will be available November-mid onwards across India in Black, Red and Grey color variants at an MRP of Rs. 54,450 for the body only, Rs. 59,950 with 18-55mm VR lens, and Rs. 75,950 with 18-140mm VR lens.

The Nikon D5300 features an effective pixel count of 24.2-megapixels and a Nikon DX-format CMOS sensor. Measuring 125 x 98 x 76 mm (4.9 x 3.9 x 3 inches) and weighing 530 g (1 lb 2.7 oz) the D5300 is slightly smaller and lighter than its predecessor.

The D5300′s built-in Wi-Fi connectivity feature can be used for transmitting images to a smart device for sharing as well as for remote shooting.

Built-in GPS also means images can be geotagged with latitude, longitude, and altitude data, without the use of external adapters. Full HD 1080p video can now also be recorded at 60/50 fps and a new pentamirror increases viewfinder magnification to approx. 0.82x.

Speaking on the announcement, Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India said that the D5300 features Nikon's latest innovative technologies, allowing users to instantly shoot, store and share images.

Sajjan Kumar, Vice President-Imaging, Nikon India, elaborated explaining that It's also been upgraded to use the Nikon EXPEED 4 image processing engine which enables a larger ISO range of 100 to 12,800 (expandable to 25,600 equivalent) though the camera still has a top continuous burst speed of 5 frames per second.

Source: Associatednews

Nikon D5300 price and specs

<Nikon D5300 Black Friday Dealp> Date : 23 Ekim 2013 Çarşamba - 03:29, Category : TECHNOLOGY

Nikon D5300 price and specs

Nikon D5300 price and specs

Camera maker Nikon's D5300 has made quite a few heads turn with its latest specifications. It's a mid-range model, the D5300, designed for consumers looking for an everyday interchangeable-lens camera with good performance and solid image quality. The camera is also Nikon's first capable of shooting 1080p video at 60p, an important improvement for anyone looking to record quick movements.
This camera replaces the D5200, adding a new 24.2-megapixel sensor without an optical low-pass filter, an EXPEED 4 processor for 1080/60p video and 5 fps stills and boosted battery life, letting you capture about 700 shots per charge, compared to 500 with the previous model.

The D5300 is expected to hit stores later this month in black, red and grey for $1,400 with an 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens or $800 body-only. Nikon is introducing its first DSLR with built-in Wi-Fi and GPS, the D5300. The new camera is an update to the D5200, and will take its place as Nikon's top-of-the-line camera for the beginner DSLR market.

Though Nikon says that the D5300′s overall improvements are iterative, they should add up to something quite meaningful: it also includes a larger, 3.2-inch articulating display; a new image-processing engine; and no low-pass filter on the camera's DX-format sensor, which should result in sharper images. Built-in Wi-Fi and GPS are a first for Nikon DSLRs

The D5300 will be able to pair with Nikon's existing Android and iOS app, allowing them to view and share photos. It's not the most robust tool for remotely controlling a camera, but it's something that's easy to see as a handy option. Aside from connectivity, the D5300′s other big improvement over its predecessor should be in image sharpness.

Comments

Related Posts

Source: Usprocyclingnews

Nikon D5300 DSLR Unveiled, 24.2MP Successor to the D5200

Posted on 18. Oct, 2013 by Steve in Digital Cameras

Nikon D5300 Cheap-with-18-140mm-Nikkor-lens.jpg">Nikon has unveiled the successor to the popular Nikon D5200 digital SLR, which the company launched almost one year ago, the new model is named Nikon D5300. The new Nikon D5300 will start to ship early next month with a retail price that is just under $800 for the camera body. The D5300 and the D5200 both share a similar body design, but there are minor differences or improvements that the D5300 has to offer buyers.

The improvements list is short and consists of features that enhance the photographic abilities of the camera and a feature that brings the camera up-to-date with a new digital camera market trend.

Improvements that will help the overall performance of the new Nikon D5300 over the now-old D5200 include a newly designed and higher resolution CMOS image sensor along with a brand new image processor.

Between the Nikon D5200 and the new Nikon D5300, the 24.2 megapixel D5300 has just 0.1 megapixels more resolution than the 24.1 megapixel D5200, however the D5300′s sensor has no built-in OLPF (optical low pass filter) and Nikon say's that will help with image clarity, both the old D5200 and new D5300 use similarly sized DX-format CMOS image sensors.

Nikon D5300 digital SLR gallery:

The new image processor that you will be getting with the upcoming Nikon D5300 is Nikon's newly developed EXPEED 4 image processor. According to Nikon, the new EXPEED 4 offers fast performance while 'maximizing energy efficiency, reducing image noise and delivering true-to-life colors'. The D5200 digital SLR features the EXPEED 3 image processing engine.

After the new image sensor and processor the only other major new feature included with the new Nikon D5300 digital SLR is Wi-Fi. The camera will be shipped with Wi-Fi capabilities built-in that don't need any external accessories like the Nikon WU-1a. The built-in Wi-Fi will let you pair your D5300 to your mobile devices iOS or Android after you install the Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility free app. Also the Wi-Fi working with the cameras built-in GPS can geo-tag files all without external accessories.

However, with the Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility app you will be able to complete functions like remote shooting where you can use your mobile device as a live view enabled wireless remote for snapping photos, wireless transferring of photo and video files, manual file upload for sending files to your mobile device even when you're not paired to the device (the image just downloads later when you are paired).

After you consider all of those differences the Nikon D5300 isn't really a radically new camera compared to the out-going Nikon D5200. However nobody should have expected a totally different camera given the very short gap between the two cameras launches, the D5200 was launched November of last year.

Some big similarities include Full HD 1080p Video Recording at 60 fps, continuous Shooting up to 5 fps, expandable ISO from 100-25600, 39-Point auto-focusing system, active D-Lighting and built-in HDR, Nikon F mount support, and an at eye-level pentamirror optical viewfinder.

From an exterior design perspective you can really see the lack of a re-design in the D5300 compared to the D5200. The only difference in looks is the vari-angle LCD is now 3.2-inches with the D5300 instead of 3.1-inches. Even with the color options the new Nikon D5300 is much like the D5200, the new camera will be offered in Black, Red or Grey colors.

Camera seller B&H Photo Video is offering pre-orders for the Nikon D5300 body at $796.95 (same price for each color) and they are offering a body+14-140mm telephoto zoom lens kit (pictured first above) for $1,396.95. With this particular retailer you can expect your pre-ordered D5300 camera to ship on November 14, 2013 according to notice put on each listing.

Tags: 1080p, 3.2-inch Vari-Angle LCD, 720p hd, active D-Lighting, auto-focus system, cmos sensor, digital camera, dslr, DX-format DSLR, full hd, FullHD, gps, hd, hdmi, hdr, image stabilization system, interchangeable lens, memory card, Nikon, Nikon D5300, Nikon dslr, Nikon Expeed 4, Nikon F mount, Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility, optical low pass filter, optical viewfinder, pentamirror optical viewfinder, sd memory card, sdhc memory card, sdxc memory card, tilt LCD, Video, wi-fi

Source: Digital-cameras-planet

Nikon announces D5300, its first DSLR camera with built-in Wi-Fi

Nikon has a new camera announcement for this month and this one is the upgrade to its famous D5200 consumer-grade DSLR. The new camera will be known as the Nikon Nikon D5300 Coupons and it is not much of an improvement over the previous model.

The Nikon D5300 does pack some nifty features which would most likely place it against the Canon 70D, which is quite an impressive feat for this camera. However, we feel it is unlikely that it could beat its competitor.

There are a few updates tot he camera, but the key new feature is that the D5300 has built-in Wi-Fi capability. This makes this DSLR camera the first from Nikon to feature built-in Wi-Fi, it is also the first DSLR from Nikon which is packed with built-in GPS.

The D5300 further includes a 24.2 megapixel DX sensor without an anti-aliasing filter (this means sharper images and potential for moire) and the powerful EXPEED 4 processor. The DSLR can achieve the ability to shoot 1080/60p video, 5fps continuous shooting in live view as well as viewfinder, a maximum ISO of 25,600 and improved battery which provides 700 shots after full charge.

The DSLR also includes a 3.2-inch 1.04M-dot articulating display and an impressive 39-point AF system which works with Nikon's Scene Recognition System used for metering.

This new camera is certainly one mean device. The Nikon D5300 will be available sometime later this month and will come in Black, Red and Gray colors. It will be priced at $800 body only and for $1,400 in kit which includes a AF-S 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ED VR lens.

Source: Nikon USA

Source: Gigjets

iPhone 5s Lead-times Stabilize As 51 More Countries Are About To Launch

I have been monitoring iPhone lead-times for the 5c since September 13 and the 5s iphone cases otterbox commuter lumia 920 since September 20. When I checked on Wednesday, October 9, the lead-times for the 5s on Apple's nine countries websites that has it available were showing October except the Gold version in Hong Kong and Singapore which were at "Currently Unavailable". (Note that my family and I own Apple shares).

When I checked Apple's and various wireless carriers websites on Friday, October 11, I found that Apple's lead-times had decreased to 2 to 3 weeks for almost all the 5s models. While this isn't a shrinking of the lead-times since it is essentially still October it does show that the addition of 51 countries over the next three weeks at least shouldn't make lead-times worse.

It makes sense that the lead-times would morph to something like 2-3 weeks since some shipment times will start to be in early November and Apple wouldn't want to make the lead-times say November in mid-October.

At three weeks after the iPhone 5s became available the iPhone 5s lead-times of 2-3 weeks are shorter than the 3-4 weeks that the iPhone 5 had at the same time after it was launched. However, the Gold version is still in very tight supply.

The lead-times for the four wireless carriers I have been tracking (Verizon, AT&T, Spring and Vodafone UK) have essentially stayed the same over the past ten days.

If you have doubts about Apple's ability to ramp production this is another indication that management knows what it is doing. The company had 9 million iPhones available on the first weekend vs. 5 million for the iPhone 5, is launching the 5s in more countries (62 vs. 31) and carriers than the 5 and seems to be getting to shorter lead-times faster for the 5s vs. the 5.

I have updated the Google Doc I created that is keeping track of the 5c and 5s lead-times on Apple, U.S. carrier websites and Vodafone UK. There is also information for the iPhone 5 and 4S via this link.

To see a detailed analysis of how many and which countries have received and are planning to receive the iPhone 5c and 5s vs. the iPhone 5 I wrote a post on Wednesday with the information.

Follow me on Twitter @sandhillinsight. Find my other Forbes posts here.

Source: Forbes

How Microsoft Convinced Me to Buy an iPhone 5s

It wasn't all that long ago that I was a staunch Windows Phone user. After switching from a simple mobile phone, Windows Phone became my life companion, the operating system I turned to when I needed to get anything done - even with a Windows PC right in front of me. So how did Apple convince me to stand in line for an iPhone 5s iphone cases best waterproof camera on launch day? It didn't: Microsoft did.

What have you done for me lately?

Windows Phone isn't that long in the tooth. Having scrapped Windows Mobile, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 to critical acclaim. Here, finally, was a fresh new concept of what a mobile interface could look like. Unfortunately, Windows Phone's design team seems to have sat on their hands for the next three years.

Windows Phone 8 is still flat, and Live Tiles are still the greatest form of notifications I've seen implemented into a smartphone operating system. However, watching a few videos of the way notifications work in iOS 7 convinced me that Live Tiles and one-time pop-ups should never act as a device's sole source of notifications.

These issues, and Microsoft's inability to get large comprehensive updates in the hands of users in timely fashion, left me with a sour taste in my mouth. There Apple was, shipping a new flat attractive interface, questionable icon philosophies aside, with an operating system that is fully featured. Meanwhile, I was still waiting for an update to enable the radio playback functionality that my Lumia 920 and HTC 8X shipped with a year ago. For the record, I've yet to receive that update, and Microsoft finalized it in early June, reportedly.

Microsoft Anywhere

For all the issues I have with Windows Phone at the moment, I both value and cherish many of the Microsoft's other core products like Xbox Music, SkyDrive, Office 2013 and Bing. Until fairly recently, you'd have had to own a Windows Phone to get such a potent mix of Microsoft products.

Luckily, Microsoft has been more than generous about providing iOS applications for nearly all of its services and products. My iPhone 5s has Xbox Music, Office 2013, Bing, Xbox SmartGlass, OneNote and SkyDrive installed, and you can bet I'm using them over Apple's equivalents.

Should I decide to switch back to Windows Phone, or even Android, I can take all of my information with me, and each application already works with the Windows 8.1-equipped Dell XPS 13 and Microsoft Surface I already have.

Microsoft's other businesses have to embrace other mobile platforms, and it's good business to do so. However, that also means that Live Tiles, its unique interface and first-class SkyDrive syncing are the only thing separating Windows Phone from platforms with a lot more apps and accessories.

Great Devices Where?

I'm a staunch Nokia supporter and have been ever since I took my HTC 8X out of the box and realized how much of an also-ran the device was when compared to the Lumia 920. The company's phones are the real deal, the only thing standing in between Window's Phones complete annihilation at the hands of the iPhone 5s and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Nokia's devices are also completely not attractive in any way that I find relevant beyond color. At a time when the world has embraced colored metals and other high-end finishes, Nokia seems hell-bent on shipping heavy, polycarbonate designs. Don't get me wrong. I value, sturdiness. The Lumia 920 can take a beating. But, I don't think it's fair to place a Lumia 1020 or a Lumia 920 next to an iPhone 5s and ask people to choose.

Of course, the company seems to have rectified this issue with the Lumia 925, but that device made it to store shelves in early spring. The Lumia 925 could be replaced in Nokia's line up any day now, and it's not like its specifications placed it in flagship device territory anyway.

So there it is. I purchased an iPhone 5s because Microsoft made the choice easy. I'll likely return to Windows Phone at some point. I adore its interface, and I use more Microsoft products than one person should be allowed to. However, even for Microsoft fans, an iPhone 5s is just a better place for the moment.

Source: Gottabemobile

1 killed in crash on US-31 near Holland

<codep>

(1/4)A car was broadsided by a semi-truck after driving into the intersection against a red light.

(2/4)A crash at US-31 and James Street in Holland Township involving a car and semi-truck. (Oct. 10, 2013)

(3/4)A crash on US-31 at James Street in Holland Township. (Oct. 10, 2013)

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - A Kent County man was killed in a crash involving a car and semi-truck on US-31 near Holland Thursday night.

The crash happened before 9:30 p.m. in the southbound lanes of the highway near James Street in Holland Township.

Police say the driver of the car stopped at the red light at the intersection of US-31 and James Street, and then pulled out into in front of a semi-truck, which had the green light.

A man who said he was the first person on scene said the car was broadsided by the semi.

He said a driver of the car did not have a pulse. He said he tried to pull the victim out, but that he was pinned in the car.

Police said the victim is a Kent County man in his mid-50s. His name has not yet been released.

Southbound US-31 at James Street is closed. Also closed is northbound US-31 at Lakewood Boulevard, including the on-ramp there. The closures were expected to continue at least until 11:30 p.m.

Tweets by @Tomhillen

Source: Woodtv

OtterBox Commuter Series Wallet Case Protects Your iPhone

If you're anything like me, you always have your smartphone with you. I always have a fear of losing something in my pocket, especially my car keys, so it drives me crazy to have a lot of things stuffed inside the pockets of my jeans. If you like to go a bit more minimalist and don't want to have to carry your smartphone and your wallet, OtterBox has a new case that you might appreciate.

The case is called the Commuter Series Wallet and is available for the iPhone 5/5S and the Samsung Galaxy S4. This certainly isn't the first case on the market to offer wallet capability, but it does look like OtterBox's offering will hold more than a lot of other 5s iphone cases otterbox rare pink hippo on the market. OtterBox is also well-known for making cases that actually protects your phone in the event of a drop.

Rather than having slots, this smartphone case has a sliding drawer on the back that appears to be approximately a quarter of an inch deep. You can cram credit cards, driver's license, and cash inside the wallet drawer and have them with you at all times. The only downside I see is that the case is rather thick and might not fit in your pocket if you're the sort who wears skinny jeans.

The Commuter Series Wallet is available now from OtterBox for $44.95(USD).

Source: Technabob

Peugeot pretende lanzar el 6008 Concept en China

<htg157img src="http://img.informador.com.mx/biblioteca/imagen/370x277/967/966838.jpg">

El Peugeot podría tener motor 1.6 litros y turbo de 225 HP. ESPECIAL

GUADALAJARA, JALISCO (05/OCT/2013).- La marca francesa, Peugeot, presentará en el Beijing Motor Show 2014 el concepto 6008, el cual está basado en el Citroën Wild Rubins Concept (foto), para el mercado de ese país. Este Peugeot "agrandado", medirá 4.70 metros de largo, por lo que competiría con rivales del tamaño de una BMW X3 y una Audi Q5, por ejemplo. Se espera que Peugeot lance este producto en el país asiático en el año 2016, con motor 1.6 litros, turbo, de 225 HP, con lo que posiblemente llegue a incursionar a otros países, dependiendo de su aceptación.

Source: Informador

No infectious disease found

The Ministry of Health said Friday that it has not found pilgrims suffering from an infectious disease.
"No cases of infectious diseases or diseases that require quarantine such as the MERS coronavirus have been detected among pilgrims so far the ministry said."
Meanwhile, the ministry's clinics in Makkah and Madinah treated 761,761 outpatients and 271 inpatients from Sept. 7 to Oct. 2, while the health centers treated 704,860 pilgrims.
The ministry's hospitals also provided specialized treatment including cardiac catheterization for 38 pilgrims, kidney dialysis for 189 pilgrims, seven keyhole surgeries and five childbirths.
The 25 hospitals in Makkah have 5,250 beds. There are 141 health centers in areas where pilgrims congregate, and 17 emergency health centers on the Jamarat Bridge. The ministry opened facilities three years ago for cardiac catheterization, open-heart surgery and kidney dialysis. The ministry said its hospitals last year conducted 463 cardiac catheterizations, 35 open-heart surgeries and 2,024 kidney dialysis sessions.

Moon sighting urged
The Supreme Court has called on Muslims to look for the new moon on Saturday evening.
If the moon is sighted today, the first of Dhul Hijjah will be on Oct. 6 and Haj will start Sunday (Oct. 13). The most important Haj rite - Standing at Arafat - will be on Oct. 14 followed by Eid Al-Adha on Oct. 15.
The court said anyone who sights the moon with the naked eye or a telescope should inform the nearest court and register his or her statement.

Cleaners deployed
The Makkah Municipality has deployed 23,000 workers and a great deal of equipment to keep the city and holy sites clean during the coming weeks.
It will also ensure the safety of food supplied or cooked at local markets and supervise conditions at slaughterhouses, where thousands of livestock will be sacrificed.
The municipality has 59 specialists from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs to inspect food being prepared or sold during Haj.
The municipality has been working with provincial departments of public health, veterinary medicine and health inspectors since Sept. 26.

Non-Arab African Hajis
A total of 172,000 non-Arab African pilgrims would be accommodated in 18,000 tents in Arafat, an official said here recently.
Fahd Hariri, chairman of the Holy Sites Committee, a subsidiary of the Non-Arab African Tawafa Establishment, said the space allocation was made on the basis of the number of pilgrims in its various sub groups, at a meeting on tent allocations recently.
Hariri said pilgrims would be allocated 87,244 square 5s iphone meters cases for boys to take to school. The space will include 39 field service groups, extra service tents and medical services.
The Ministry of Haj and various committees will inspect the tents before pilgrims arrive.

Source: Arabnews

Exclusive: Valley Stream Family Seeks To Keep Daughter's Killer Behind Bars

<aluminump>VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A family on Long Island is rallying to keep their daughter's killer in prison as he faces possible parole.

As CBS 2′s Carolyn Gusoff reported exclusively, this is the first time convicted killer Robert Golub has been eligible for parole.

Kelly Ann Tinyes was 13 when she was lured and murdered 25 years ago in Valley Stream in a case that made headlines for months.

Robert Golub was convicted of her murder.

The infamous case was dubbed "Hell On Horton Road," because Golub butchered his Valley Stream neighbor.

In the prison system, he's inmate 90A-8024, but on Long Island his name is infamous.

"He's a horrible monster," Vicki Tinyes, Kelly's mother, told Gusoff.

"They can't let him out," Richard Tinyes said. "It's too hard on the family knowing that this guy might go out and murder somebody else."

They will soon urge the New York State Parole Board to keep Golub behind bars.

Kelly Ann was savagely killed in 1989. Her body was found strangled and sexually mutilated inside the neighbor's Valley Stream house, just doors away.

Golub, then 21 and a body builder, was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

"They should have electrocuted him, whatever you want to do. He should be dead, we shouldn't have to be going through this," Vicki Tinyes said.

For years, tensions simmered on Horton Road. One Golub son was behind bars but suspicions lingered about his younger brother. Only Robert was charged in Nassau's first murder case based on DNA.

"He always professed his innocence," Golub's trial attorney Salvatore Marinello told Gusoff.

He says with a record dotted with only petty prison offenses, Golub could one day go free.

"There will be at some point, whether it's now or in a number of years, where parole will have no choice but to let him out," said Marinello

Kelly would be 38 had she lived. Her family has an online petition for the parole board detailing all she's missed.

"Everything. Her memories, Sweet 16, her first car," Richard Tinyes said.

Kelly's parents still live on Horton Road, while the Golubs recently moved away.

All these years later, the Tinyes' say they have to relive the horror. Golub will be eligible for parole every two years unless his is granted release.

Fourteen members of the Tinyes family will testify before the parole board on Oct. 17 and Golub will have his turn to testify next month before the parole board makes its decision.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
Source: CBS New York

Apple iPhone 5S Review

<5s iphone iphone 5 cases otterbox prefixp>With every major iPhone redesign comes the inevitable S series refresh a year later. Like the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 3GS before it, the new iPhone 5S takes last year's form factor and adds improved camera technology, a faster processor, and new features exclusive to the latest hardware. But while the iPhone 5S may be predictable, it's nonetheless exceptional, maintaining and improving upon Apple's outstanding software experience and the stunning design of the iPhone 5.

Save for the new, slightly larger camera and dual-LED 'TrueTone' flash on the back and TouchID fingerprint sensor in the home button, the iPhone 5S is identical to last year's model. Apple has maintained the same hardened glass front and aluminum chassis, but now it's offering two new colors - space gray and gold. Space gray is more or less last year's black model with a slightly lighter shade of aluminum, but gold is a true first for the iPhone series. Depending on where your preferences lie, the gold version may be regarded as either gaudy or gorgeous, but regardless of personal taste, it's refreshing to see Apple embracing colors outside of its longstanding black and white iPhone variants.

In spite of any drastic design changes, the iPhone 5S remains one of the best looking, most well-constructed smartphones on the market. Although the competition has shown renewed interest in design with devices like the HTC One, Lumia 925, and the Moto X, Apple remains unrivaled in its meticulous consideration for hardware.

Under the hood, the iPhone 5S' advancements are far more significant. Apple has laid claim to producing the world's first 64-bit processor in the world with the new A7 system-on-a-chip (SOC). While the actionable benefits of its 64-bit architecture are limited until more apps and games are developed natively or optimized to take advantage, the A7 has perceivable impact on the speed of iOS 7 and apps. Browsing through iOS 7's animation-heavy interface and launching apps is notably faster than the iPhone 5. In GeekBench 3 and 3D Mark benchmark tests, the iPhone 5S more than doubles the CPU scores of the iPhone 5 and three times the framerates when running intense graphics.

The iPhone 5S also commands a substantial lead in processing power over the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, accounting for a graphics boost of up to 32% and 38% in CPU benchmarks.

But the A7 means more than raw power - it actually enables useful features, like the iPhone 5S' expanded camera functionality.

Though the iPhone 5S' camera retains the 8-megapixel count of the iPhone 5, it's now capable of capturing 120 frames-per-second slow-motion video and 10 frames-per-second burst photography. Driven by the A7, the camera snaps photos and videos faster for cleaner, more detailed, and more vibrant shots. Burst mode's rapid capture speeds eliminate the need to time the perfect shot - just hold the shutter button down and the iPhone %S will snap a string of photos, automatically presenting the best of the bunch. Slow-motion, although viewed as a novelty, is actually one of my favorite features of the iPhone 5S.

Everything - even the most mundane of actions - looks incredible and epic in slow motion with smooth, detailed progressions. While many are certain to embrace the iPhone 5S' slow-motion camera for comedy, an equal share will create stunning montages.

Apple has also made improvements to the lens and sensor. The rear-facing camera now has a ƒ2.2 aperture lens and 1.5µ pixel sensor, which gathers and processes more light for better low-light photography and richer composition. Though the improvements aren't so significant to warrant an upgrade by itself, the iPhone 5S has one of the best smartphone cameras on the market.

The feature most likely to attract attention, however, is the new fingerprint scanner. Apple has built a new sensor into the home button, which is capable of detecting certain distinguishing elements of your fingerprint almost instantaneously. By simply placing your thumb on the sensor - or any finger, for that matter - the iPhone 5S can identify your fingerprint and unlock your phone. When you set up the iPhone 5S for the first time (or access the settings anytime thereafter), you can register a new fingerprint profile via a brief calibration process. The system asks that you repeatedly press your finger to the sensor, including the edges of your print, so that it can capture and store a unique TouchID. The iPhone 5S supports multiple profiles for multiple fingers and users, allowing you to give loved ones streamlined access to your device while maintaining a high level of security. It even allows you to forego the tedium of entering a password every time you want to download a new app - just scan your finger and you're good to go.

Initially, it took awhile for me to shake the learned behavior of waking my display and quickly entering a pin code, but once I became accustomed to TouchID, it became almost like second-nature. Gone are the days where I would mistakenly hit the wrong digit or press one number too many times. Now, I don't have to look at my phone while I unlock it - I just go straight to the primary UI and launch an app.

The only I gripes I've found with the iPhone 5S are minor. Calibrating the TouchID for each finger on either hand that you may choose to use to unlock your device can be time consuming. There were also times - albeit rarely - when the TouchID would fail to recognize my fingerprint, causing me to make repeated attempts before just unlocking the device manually, thus defeating the purpose entirely.

Apple is also becoming increasingly behind the curve in terms of battery life. While the iPhone 5S lasts for a day's worth of casual use, charge levels are substantially undercut by any rigorous app or game usage. The iPhone 5S remains within the acceptable margins, but falls short of larger Android and Windows Phone devices. I also encountered a few odd software bugs, wherein third-party apps would crash randomly and cause the OS to revert to the boot-up logo. It's possible that the issues stem from the absence of patched support for the A7's 64-bit architecture or lingering issues with iOS 7, but in either scenario, should be resolved easily with future updates.

Source: Ign

Bucharest metro commuters get daily poetry read from Julius Meinl

<mcimg src="http://www.romania-insider.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/julius-meinl-poetry-metro.jpg">

Around 260,000 post-its with poems wallpapered the Bucharest metro trains on Wednesday and Thursday (October 2,3) on the Berceni - Pipera route, part of a campaign initiated by Julius Meinl. The scope of the campaign is to support and promote Romanian poetry, as commuters by metro are allowed to take post-its from the walls of the metro trains.

At every end of the metro line, new post-its will be placed on the walls, to replace those taken by travelers. An initial stock of 40,000 post-its were placed on Wednesday morning.

Writing poetry is more popular in Romania than writing novels, but on the consumption front, the trend reverses. Every year, over 20 volumes of poetry and debut volumes are published, and out of all Romanians poets, 20 percent are under 25 years old, according to data from the organizers. There are 800 poets listed at the Poetry Section of the Romanian Writers' Union, out of which 300 are from Bucharest.

editor@romania-insider.com
Source: Romania-insider

Otterbox releases the Defender Series case for iPhone 5s

Protection, protection is one of the greatest needs of human. Not just from the malicious intent of other people that might cause harm to them. Well, dying is the worst result without it and it's really frightening. Other than that, we need protection from natural disaster, you know, something that happen naturally like it can't be helped to be harm if you're not being careful in an accident. To put into a scenario, it's like driving a motorcycle on a rainy day and on the wet road without a helmet or a police diving into a bank robbery scene alone without a bulletproof vest, yes it's suicidal. Well, danger is only right there (please don't ask where. >.<) and all we can do is to be more careful, sharp and use materials for protection and safety assuring devices. Right, protection is something you, me, and everyone needs.

But in this world, we are not the only ones that need protection. Of course, even plants and animals need it. And on the other side, even "Things" need it. Like your beloved PC or laptops, you install an anti-virus into it in able to avoid the incoming information with harmful data in your computer. That is to avoid harming the system or the parts of your CPU, or corruption of files and many other annoying results that a virus can bring to your life.

Now, let me tell you the main story of this article. You probably know it already by now. Yes, I want to tell you guys that even your precious iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c is still in danger. Talking about inevitability, we can't help sometimes to experience that, "whoops!" and then found your iPhone 5s lying on the floor, with a crack on its screen then you give the final roar, "OMG !!!" Yes, that's how it is.

OtterBox

So let me introduce you the Otterbox, a company with the innovation of protective solution for the leading global handheld manufacturers, wireless carriers and distributors, they've got technology covered! Yes, they also produce a tough case to provide protection from any accident that might face by your precious smartphones. OtterBox is also known for its 5s iphone cases otterbox pink black iphone 4 with the capability of handling rugged conditions, protecting iPhone owners from drops with three layers of material. It's a huge case, but many swear to it.

Defender Series

They already release the Defender Series for iPhone 5s days after the Apple released their latest mobile to the public. This three layers in Defender Series can be found on its screen protectors, carbonate inner layer, and a silicone outer layer that handles the protection you need. Other than this Defender series are Commuter series, Reflexive series and Prefix Series for iPhone 5s.

Commuter Series

As the Defender series has three layers. The Commuter Series possess with only two layers, they made it for user who needs protection but they don't like the size of the natural case so OtterBox deduct one layer to make its physical appearance smaller than a three layer.

Reflexive Series

It is the lightest case among the four cases released by OtterBox.

Prefix Series

Prefix series is like what they had done to commuter series. This series offer only one layer for protection.

And this is the OtterBox. It provides protection for your smartphones. I hope you discover a new way to protect your devices. As for others who know it already. Thumbs up for OtterBox.

Source: Thebitbag

iPhone 5C teardown reveals upgrades and design changes

The 5s best iphone cases speck mighty vault 5C has the same processor, rear camera, and Retina display as the iPhone 5. But Apple didn't just slap a series of colorful plastic cases on last year's phone. On the inside, the 5C is a unique device, with hardware upgrades and design elements from both the 5 and new 5S.

On the outside, it's the iPhone 5C's colorful polycarbonate cases that really set the phone apart from the 5 and 5S. And thanks to this case, it's also slightly longer, wider, thicker and a bit heavier than the other two iPhones.

But peel back the case, and the 5C reveals itself to be a unique device, which borrows traits from both the other phones.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic Check out the full teardown gallery, Cracking Open the Apple iPhone 5C.

Cracking Open observations

Opening the phone still requires special tools: One thing that all three phones share is how you crack them open. You'll need a special pentalobe screwdriver to remove the external case screws and a suction cup (and possibly a few thin, prying tools) to remove the front panel.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Home button similar to iPhone 5: Unlike the new 5S, there's no ribbon cable connecting the Home button to the lower connector assembly. This simplifies the task of removing the front panel.

Familiar internal hardware layout: The 5C shares the same general hardware layout as the iPhone 5 and 5S, but there are both differences and similarities--outlined below.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Better battery than iPhone 5, but no removal tab: The 5C has a slightly higher-capacity battery than the 5, but a lower capacity battery than the 5S. And like the 5S, it lacks the battery removal pull tab found on the 5.

Unique camera mount: The 5C's camera is covered with a metal bracket. The 5 has no bracket and the 5S' camera is covered with a rubber flap.

Motherboard similar to iPhone 5S: While the 5C may have the same A6 processor as last year's iPhone 5, the main system board has the same general design and connector placement as the 5S. You can't swap this board out for the one on your old iPhone 5.

Speaker and connector assembly similar to iPhone 5: One bit of 5C hardware that is more like its counterpart on the 5 than the 5S, is the external speaker and lower connector assembly. This isn't surprising given the 5S' new Home button with integrated fingerprint reader.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Same Retina display and new FaceTime camera: All three phones have the same Retina display, but like the 5S, the 5C has an upgraded FaceTime camera and redesigned screen connectors. The Home button (and its pressure contacts) are more like those on the iPhone 5.

Main board shields soldered in place: Unfortunately like the boards in the iPhone 5 and 5S, the EMI/RFI shields are soldered in place.

Case components are held in place with screws/adhesive: Unfortunately, the external speaker, Lightning connector, and headphone jack, vibration motor, flash, and a bevy of connector wires they are held to the case with a mix of screws and adhesive. If any of these components were damaged, removing and replacing them is possible--just not easy.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

More than an iPhone 5 clone, still a pain to repair

I'm glad Apple took the opportunity to not just give the iPhone 5C a new case, but also upgrade the phone's hardware and tweak the phone's internal design. And while it's still no walk in the park the crack open, the 5C is no more difficult to work on than the iPhone 5 or 5S.

For a complete list of iPhone 5C specs, pricing information, and real world performance tests, check out Scott Stein's full CNET review.

Source: Techrepublic

'Glee' Alum Heather Morris Welcomes Baby Boy

<baby boy halloween costumes 3 6 monthsimg src="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2013/04/heather_morris.jpg">

Glee alum Heather Morris is a new mom.

The actress gave birth to a baby boy named Elijah on Saturday, Us Weekly reported. He is the first child for Morris and her longtime boyfriend, Taylor Hubbell, whom she met in high school.

PHOTOS: 'Glee' Season 4 in Pictures

Hubbell's brother, Adam, posted a photo of the baby on Instagram with the message: "The newest Mr. Hubbell #sayuncle."

A user named @oneandonlymich also tweeted a photo of the couple with their son, writing: "Congratulations Taylor Hubbell and Heather Morris!" (See the photos below.)

Morris, 26, was a backup dancer for Beyonce before getting her big break in TV on Fox's Glee.

PHOTOS: 'Glee's' Season 4 Premiere Party

She left the show after last season, with her dingbat character, Brittany, granted early admission to MIT. She was last seen bidding her classmates adieu after one last performance with the glee club.

Morris' other recent credits include Spring Breakers and a voice role in Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Congratulations Taylor Hubbell and Heather Morris! #Elijah pic.twitter.com/2i5VAVRI38

- (@oneandonlymich) September 29, 2013

Source: Hollywoodreporter

TOKYO - Hiroshi Yamauchi, who transformed his great-grandfather's playing-card company, Nintendo, into a global video game powerhouse, died on Thursday in Kyoto, Japan. He was 85.

The cause was complications of pneumonia, the company said.

Mr. Yamauchi, who led Nintendo from 1949 to 2002, was Japan's most unlikely high-tech success story. Named president of the family business at 22, he steered Nintendo into board games, light-emitting toy guns and baseball pitching machines - fruitless forays that he later attributed to a "lack of imagination" - before the company arrived at arcade games.

Its Donkey Kong and the original Mario Bros. became hits and gave rise to Nintendo's wildly successful home video game business.

The Nintendo Entertainment System, a console first released in Japan in 1983 as "Famicom," unseated early leaders in the video game industry, selling more than 60 million units thanks to shrewd marketing, close attention to product quality and a crop of games based on unlikely yet endearing characters that soon became household names.

In 1988, The New York Times wrote: "Many Nintendo best sellers, like Super Mario Bros. 2, are based on wildly preposterous premises, this particular one being two mustachioed Italian janitors who endure various trials, such as dodging hammer-swinging turtles and lava balls and man-eating plants, in order to save a Mushroom Princess. No matter. Kids can't get enough of the games."

Under Mr. Yamauchi, who professed not to understand video games, Nintendo went on to dominate the business. When a successor machine was released in 1990, fans camped outside electronics stores for days in anticipation; it sold almost 50 million units. Next came the Nintendo 64 and Nintendo Game Cube home consoles, as well as Game Boy hand-held machines. Nintendo dominates the list of all-time top-selling games.

In the early 1990s, Mr. Yamauchi found himself in the middle of an international dispute when he offered to buy a majority stake in the Seattle Mariners. The team, established in 1977, had been threatening to leave Seattle if it could not find a new owner willing to keep it there. Nintendo had its United States headquarters in Seattle.

The team's owners approved the deal but the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Fay Vincent, and a four-man M.L.B. owners' committee initially opposed it. They relented and approved the sale in 1992 after Mariners fans and the Seattle news media rallied in favor of it. In 2001, the Mariners signed the star Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, now with the Yankees, helping to open the door for many more Japanese players to join major league teams in the United States.

In a show of his characteristic detachment, however, Mr. Yamauchi confessed at the time that he was not much interested in baseball, either. He said he had never gone to a baseball game and is thought to have never gone since. One of his few hobbies was the Japanese board game Go, which he played at the master's level.

Hiroshi Yamauchi was born in Kyoto on Nov. 7, 1927. He was raised by his grandparents after his father, Shikanojo Yamauchi, deserted the family.

The Yamauchis had been makers of hanafuda cards, a Japanese playing-card game based on flowers, since 1889. Once favored by the elite, it became popular as a gambling game, often played by Japanese gangsters.

Mr. Yamauchi joined the family business in 1949 after his grandfather had a stroke. He moved quickly to take control at the company, forcing out a cousin and later purging officers appointed by his grandfather.

But the playing-card business was in terminal decline, and Mr. Yamauchi shifted the company's focus to one toy after another until he found success with video games in the 1980s. He was helped by the renowned video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who joined the company in 1977 and created Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Wii and other products.

Mr. Yamauchi developed a strategy that set him apart from other consumer electronics manufacturers in Japan. From early on, he farmed out the production of Nintendo's video game machines to smaller suppliers, allowing the company to maintain a relatively small staff and low overhead costs. Nintendo approved only a handful of games each year, whether designed internally or by outside companies, ensuring that prices and profit margins remained high.

There were some misfires under Mr. Yamauchi's watch. The company's cumbersome, headache-inducing Virtual Boy portable console - a red box on legs with rubber visors that players peered into to play games in 3-D - was a flop. And beginning in the late 1990s, first Sony, then Microsoft steamrolled into the gaming market with new consoles - the PlayStation and Xbox, respectively - challenging Nintendo's dominance.

Mr. Yamauchi stepped down in 2002 - "I have no energy left," he told reporters - and is credited with going outside the family to appoint a successor to steer Nintendo through rocky times. Under Satoru Iwata, the current Nintendo president, the company roared back with its Nintendo DS hand-held machine and the Wii home game console, though Mr. Iwata, too, has stumbled with the most recent hardware releases and is increasingly under siege by smartphone games.

Mr. Yamauchi's survivors include a son, Katsuhito.

In one of his last interviews, with the magazine Nikkei Business in 2003, Mr. Yamauchi offered a longer view of the gaming market. At the time, Nintendo was being pummeled by Sony's immensely popular PlayStation 2 console. But he scoffed at suggestions that the battle for supremacy in gaming was over.

"That's absolutely wrong; the gaming wars, they will never end," he said, adding: "That's just not how this business works. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 19, 2013

A previous version of this article misidentified the type of Japanese playing cards that the Yamauchi family made. They had been makers of hanafuda cards, not karuta cards.

Source: Nytimes

GTA V - it wants to have its cake and eat it

Does Grand Theft Auto V deserve a 10/10 and how does its writing compare to shows like The Wire and Breaking Bad? A reader gives his view.

I've always found GTA problematic on a number of levels, the awkwardness of vehicle handling and shooting, the linearity and repetitiveness of some of the missions, the sheer boredom of both. So I waited until GameCentral's review before purchasing the latest version. While I'm writing this before playing GTA V, I can comment at least on the amorality of the characters and some of the acts the player is invited to commit in the series. Context is everything but consider what I think is a reasonable comparison, that between the GTA universe and the HBO series The Wire.

Both aim for social realism in violent, corrupt, and complex urban environments. Both depict graphic acts of ruthless and unjustified violence. Both centre on characters, of which there are many in The Wire, that are easy to dislike. But there is a crucial difference. In The Wire many of the characters are conflicted and the influence of their social environment, the disadvantages and discriminations they suffer and not least the effect their socialisation into the brutal and antagonistic world of laissez-faire late capitalism has had on them, are central to the text. The quality of the writing in The Wire is exemplified by the gang leader Russell 'Stringer' Bell played by Idris Elba who wouldn't be out of place in a novel by Dostoyevsky.

Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen the series, Stringer Bell commits despicable acts of treachery and violence yet by the end of season 3 it's not difficult to sympathise with the position that circumstance had placed him in, not least his efforts to escape that position through self-education and by embracing the 'entrepreneurialism' of the corrupted political and business elites. While painting a similar world of violence and corruption, GTA - at least the ones I've played - by contrast, appears to revel in the ruthless enterprise and violence of the lead characters. Rather than invite the player to question the social environment in which the lead has to make a living as The Wire does, it invites us to embrace it and in this dog eat dog society profit from it as best we can.

There is a real missed opportunity, especially given the immigrant status and 'minority' ethnic backgrounds of the central characters, to add depth by showing them to be conflicted as they commit criminal acts in circumstances not of their choosing. The same game could essentially be played out by confronting the player at given moments with the kind of discrimination people from such backgrounds, particularly in the United States, face, and the difficulty of going against the grain of the criminal world they are embedded in.

As with some of the greatest films of French New Wave and Italian Neo-Realism or the contemporary films of Ken Loach, Michael Haneke, and Lars Von Trier, the player could be taken along an emotionally charged journey of moral ambiguity in which they are forced to negotiate situations that are largely determined by their socio-economic class, ethnic background and/or nationality from which, as with Stringer Bell, they cannot individually escape no matter how talented, hardworking or entrepreneurial they are.

This would be the real breakthrough for video games and it is such a shame that GTA, which does so much to create a realistic depiction of a divided, corrupted, and unjust society fails to make this giant leap (from the point of view of video games) in storytelling. Given how much the game cost to make, there is no excuse for crude storytelling and characterisation. The budget was available after all to employ the kind of talent behind the renaissance of American television. Judged accordingly, GTA is adolescent but more importantly complicit in embracing neoliberal ideology by both rewarding and celebrating ruthless self-interest and violent and thoroughly corrupt enterprise.

We need though to distinguish between the knee-jerk morality police writing for tabloids, their chief interest it seems in selling copy by manufacturing trivia, scandal, moral panics, fear and prejudice and critiques that centre on the discourse and ideology of video game texts and the values, or lack thereof, they either leave unquestioned or at worst promote. These issues are not specific to video games, nor do video games in isolation influence us to the degree that some appear to suggest.

They are a small part of a more general culture industry that is itself a product of the political economy that all of us are socialised into. This is where our concerns should be focused. Popular media can play a role in this regard by focusing on structural factors and drawing attention to the institutionalised violence, injustice, inequality, and oppression that so often goes unnoticed or is masked and distorted.

If video games such as GTA are silent in this regard they are, as suggested, complicit in this more generalised mystification. Only when video games such as GTA operate at the dialogic level of celebrated series such as The Wire, Sopranos, or Breaking Bad can we truly call them mature.

I want to conclude by emphasising the importance of gameplay as the principal criterion by which the quality of video games can be determined. Context and storytelling are crucial aspects of the GTA universe, though. As with Call Of Duty, these aspects cannot be ignored. And while my concerns will not stop me from playing GTA V, it is important that reviews factor these issues into their analysis and critique. Accordingly, until such issues are addressed, I really do not think a perfect 10 is justified.

By reader Luma

The reader's feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.

Source: Metro