New Windows 8 tablets, Nintendo 3DS successor primed, Canon EOS 650D out in UK & the best iPhone game for football fans

 

Welcome to our weekly Gadget Digest. Now the working week is over, it’s time to sit back and catch up on some of the gadget stories that slipped under the radar. Here’s our roundup of even more story tidbits that hit the headlines this week that we didn’t get the chance to tell you about earlier.

From new cameras to Windows 8 tablet rumours, and this week’s essential app download – read on…

Amazon cancels Nintendo Wii U £199 pre-orders

Canon EOS 650D hits the UK

Arriving in stores today, the new Canon EOS 650D is an entry-level digital SLR with an 18-megapixel sensor, and full 1080p HD video capture. Its LCD offers multitouch, the ability to swipe through menus, playback footage, track faces and more. A HDMI output lets you share any images to a HDTV in an instant. As entry-level digital SLRs go, the EOS 650D sounds like one of the best around.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Solider still the top game, see our review

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Solider is the latest military shooter to top the UK’s gaming charts, mixing tactical warfare with a dose of all out action. It’s pretty good, too. Check out our Ghost Recon: Future Solider review to hear why.

Microsoft ready to unveil new tablets

Microsoft has scheduled a press conference for Monday, where it is believed Microsoft will detail its plans to undercut the iPad by launching cheaper tablets running on Windows 8 and ARM processors. Should Apple be worried? We’ll soon find out. 


Nintendo working on 3DS successor

The Nintendo 3DS is just a year old but already Nintendo’s legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto is looking ahead to the next generation of Nintendo handheld, confirming that Nintendo is already putting together ideas for it. It shows that, as typical of Nintendo, the company is prepared as always to do its own thing in the face of growing competition from smartphones and tablets. And that’s good news for Nintendo fans.

Download of the week: New Star Soccer

Addictive isn’t the word. In new Star Soccer you live the life of an aspiring football superstar in this smartphone simulation for iOS and Android devices, playing games, training to up your skills, and making important life decisions that will shape what sort of footballer you end up being. A cross between Football Manager and Sensible Soccer, New Star Soccer will keep footy fans entertained possibly forever.

www.tell-me-first.com

iPhone 5 camera to pack groundbreaking focus technology

Information about Apple’s next big phone may be thin on the ground, but we can be certain that its camera looks destined for a major upgrade. Each new iPhone has seen improvements to its camera, but the next iPhone could see the biggest change yet. Read on to find out more about the iPhone 5 and its groundbreaking camera tech.

Rather than ramming up the megapixel count, which may also happen, Apple is believed to be working with the makers of the very clever Lytro camera to develop the kind of photo-taking tech unseen in camera phones.

The claims come from Forbes magazine writer Adam Lashinky’s book “Inside Apple” in which it is claimed that the late Steve Jobs met with Ren Ng, the founder of Lytro – makers of a very clever light field camera that manages to squeeze in some amazing photographic focussing technology inside very small cameras.

Put two and two together and Lytro would appear a perfect for Apple’s ambitions. The Lytro camera, earlier nominated as one of CES 2012’s most innovative gadgets delivers a new way to take photos by letting you re-focus on subjects after a shot a shot has been taken.

What does that mean? Well, with no need to focus, or autofocus you could take a photo of anything, even fast-moving objects and have your photos continue to look fantastic regardless of the conditions – a perfect fit for smartphone photography.

Fitting such technology inside the Apple iPhone 5 could be just what Apple has on the cards.

Samsung NX200 i-Function camera goes old school

While some camera-makers are keen to show off the latest in modern-styled tech, Samsung is handing over the reigns of modern design to add a retro twist to some of its own shooter range.
The Samsung NX200 looks like something from a bygone era, but look a little closer and it has some great specs and DSLR quality for a relatively compact size.
To cut to the chase on those specs, the Samsung NX200 has a whopping 20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor – you can be sure of some top quality photography here.

And for video fans and hobbyist, even professional filmmakers, the Samsung NX200 also shoots full high definition footage, which these days is a must-have feature on any top camera.

Around the back is a 3-inch AMOLED VGA display, helpful for previewing photos and video clips. The Samsung NX200 will also feature an i-Function lens. Pushing a button on the lens automatically adjusts the settings you require to shoot certain scenes.

Top 5 high-end camera smartphones for Christmas

    

Still on the lookout for the perfect Christmas tech gift? This week we’ve been honing our gadget senses to bring you some handy gift guides. This time we’re looking at the best smartphones with killer cameras on-board. We’ve picked out five of the best for taking photos. Amazing photos guaranteed. Right this way.
Megapixels aren’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to taking the best shots. Although they do help, we’ve gone for a broad spectrum of here, ranging from 12 to 8-megapixel camera phones from Nokia, Samsung, Apple and HTC. So even if you’re treating yourself, you’re likely to find one that’s right for you.

Samsung Galaxy SII

One of the latest and most advanced smartphones available. The Samsung Galaxy SII is adept at taking photos as it is everything else. An 8-megapixel camera with LED flash doesn’t skimp on the detail, even in low light conditions. A second two-megapixel front-facing camera lets you engage in video calls and take self-portraits. Video recording is also full 1080p high definition.
 


Nokia Lumia 800

The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first of two Nokia camera phones in our list. Nokia simply know how to make a great camera phone. The camera here is eight-megapixels. It comes with dual-LED flash, what Nokia likes to call exposure compensation and auto and manual white balance. Photos look great in almost all conditions, but as usual for Nokia phones, its the Carl Zeiss lens that gives photos a high quality sheen.


HTC Sensation XL
This beast of a phone also has one of the best cameras found on an Android smartphone. Pixel-wise, the HTC Sensation XL has as eight-megapixel sensor with dual LED flash and a sensor for better performance in low-light conditions. Should you feel the need to capture video, the Sensation XL will shoot high definition video at 720p resolution. That’s not quite full high definition, but still near enough to look of a high standard.

Nokia N8
While not the most current phone on our list of snappers, the Nokia N8 still possess one of the finest cameras ever seen on a phone. Its 12-megapixel and Carl Zeiss lens takes photos that will even rival digital SLR cameras. Picture-wise, it really is that good. Other photo specs include autofocus, face recognition, a still image editor and the ability to geo-tag photos with the location they were taken. 



Apple iPhone 4S
One of the big improvements that came in this iPhone upgrade was a new 8-megapixel camera. Apple claims that each megapixel is engineered to collect more light. The result is more detail in shots, while a larger aperture makes photos look brighter, not washed-out like you see on some camera phones. There’s also ability to edit photos on-the-go by cropping, rotating, and removing red-eye. A HDR mode takes three photos at different exposures to create a single perfect shot. Apple’s iCloud service will also let you stream and share photos taken to other Apple devices including Macs and iPads.

Panasonic super-zoom camera offers massive 24x optical zoom

Mobile phone cameras have obviously got a lot better in recent times, but there’s still something nice about using a proper camera when you’re going somewhere special. The Panasonic Lumix FZ47 is a super-zoom camera that promises to get you far nearer to the action, with a massive 24x optical zoom lens.

The Lumix FZ47 looks like being the perfect choice if you want something a bit more special than a compact camera, but don’t want to stretch to a DSLR or carry a bunch of lenses around.
With a 24x zoom – the equivalent of well over 300mm – it’s perfect for shooting the great outdoors or snapping sports events where you can’t normally get close to the action.

There’s a high-end Leica lens, and the FZ47 gets a 12.1-megapixel sensor – enough to take detailed snaps without images being ruined by digital noise. The Panasonic can also shoot full 1080i HD video at 30fps, while offering full manual control – such as changing aperture settings to allow in more light – while you shoot.

Also more compact than DSLRs, it could be the perfect do-it-all camera. Available in the US in August for $400, hopefully the Panasonic Lumix FZ47 be making its way to this side of the pond in the near future.