My reporting kit changed quite a bit for this years CES show in Las Vegas. I’m aiming for a shift in devices, an improvement in video, preservation of my smartphone battery life and, of course, a test of new equipment. Without testing new equipment it is impossible to know if there’s a better solution out there.
As a reminder here’s what I’m trying to achieve.
- All day battery life (no chargers)
- Video with long lens
- Video for close-up
- Video for quick processing and posting to YouTube
- Images with long lens
- Images with low light
- Comfortable image editing, blog writing, storage
- Basic video editing for YouTube (cut, fade, overlay)
- Microblogging (Twitter, quick image posts)
- Social networking
- Phone funtions
- Navigation
- PIM features
- Cellular data (mobile data)
This year I again took my trusty Gigabyte Touchnote netbook (in use since April 2009) and the Canon S2IS (In use since Mid 2007!) that is seriously in need of an upgrade. I added the Galaxy Tab and the Nokia N8 smartphone (thanks to Nokia UK for the loan of the phone) and a Sprint Mifi (thanks to Intel’s Free Press team for the loan.)
You might ask why I still use the Touchnote and S2IS. It’s because the two are perfectly matched for the work I do. MJPEG videos at VGA resolution are crisp, the zoom and optics are great and the videos are super easy and quick to edit on a netbook. The Canon remote capture software also allows me to link the two devices for some really quick live blogging via USB. See the image below. I’m having real trouble finding a device, OS and camera combination that can beat it. My major issue though is low-light performance. It’s more than a few generations old and that means it’s a a number of F-Stops less sensitive than the latest compact cameras out there. In comparison with DSLRs it’s pathetic. Show me a camera with 10x zoom, good sensitivity, remote capture, 720p video, hinged viewfinder and I’ll consider upgrading both the camera and the netbook to support 720p H.264 videos too. If you can find one with Bluetooth too, I’ll be even more happy.
Image Credit. JKKMobile.
Apart from the (not insignificant) issue of low-light sensitivity, the netbook/S2IS works well. I accept now that 500gm is the weight you have to consider for good battery life, connectivity, rotating screen and a long lens on a camera and that its unlikely to ever be possible on a smartphone. If this was a DSLR, it would be 1KG and $1K so using a bridge camera seems like an acceptable trade-off.
I also accept that I need a full keyboard, Windows operating system and 5hrs battery life on a notebook in around 1-1.2KG. I don’t need graphics power, just CPU power. Dual-core Atom at 1.66Ghz with fast SSD could be the answer. The Lenovo Ideapad S100 is high on my list for 2011. Will I finally switch to Windows 7 in 2011? Old processes don’t die easily but if I can find a camera to match, i’m all-in.
Aside from the ‘bum-on-seat’ scenarios talked about above I wanted to test a mobile blogging method that Jenn of Pocketables has successfully used in the past and one that i’m fond of perfecting in these quick-fire exhibitions. The process is more photo-blogging and micro-blogging than anything else but it can be quite effective in getting news out quickly and giving readers a sense of being there. The idea was that the N8 and the Galaxy Tab would work in harmony for this by sending images over to the WordPress application on the Tab, thumbing a paragraph or two and then posting to my website. The reality was slightly different. At 0900 on the 6th of January I lost any semblance of 3G connectivity from the Sprint MiFi unit I was using and due to the spotty and location-specific Wifi, the process crashed. A list of 18 hotspots on my Galaxy Tab is proof that I tried hard to stay connected.
Despite the 3G problem, I think I’ve found a really great combo of devices in the Tab and N8 and I want to persevere. I did take a lot of photos with the N8 (about 300, mainly taken in low-light scenarios, parties etc) The N8 does a reasonable job of 720p recording too but there’s a showstopper for me there fixed focus. The N8 can’t be used to do close-ups. I hear that a firmware upgrade will introduce continuous auto-focus like it does on the Xperia X10 but until then, it’s no good as a video camera for me. Battery life on both the Tab and the N8 was more than 24hrs in this ‘shared’ scenario. I absolutely love the build quality on the N8 too. Add in the USB-OTG support, HDMI out (i used it in the hotel on a 42 inch screen), the FM radio and a few other nice features and you’ve got something that matches-up with the Tab really nicely. Of course, without the Tab I’m missing some Android apps and browser speed but to be honest, it’s not often that I’m without the Tab! As for the Tab, I used it a lot for calendar, Twitter, note-taking, maps, RSS reading, Google chat, Google latitude, ebooks, gallery and a/v entertainment. It was with me most of the time and proved its worth. It also meant that there were occasions, especially in the evening when meeting with other bloggers for chats and drinks, when I didn’t need to take the netbook.
The next step is to ask Nokia if I can continue to test the N8, wait for the promised software update and take the same kit to mobile world congress where I expect to have a much better 3G service. I’ll re-try that micro-blogging scenario then. Between now and then though, I wonder if I can find a solution for the camera. Your feedback is more than welcome! If you have any questions about my set-up, feel free to ask below.
Previous reporting kit reports, all the way back to 2006, are available here.
How Was my CES 2011 Mobile Reporting Kit? http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=23119
How Was my CES 2011 Mobile Reporting Kit? http://bit.ly/f9OSkl
How Was my CES 2011 Mobile Reporting Kit? http://bit.ly/f9OSkl
thanks for the update on the real life usage of the kit.
You are right about the fixed focus on the N8, even if you can hack a macro video mode (magnifying glass) it is still not very practical to carry extra gear around.
But how did it feel to blog with the tab? did you write on it even without the connection?
There’s software mod to enable auto focus in video mode, upto 10centimeters,.
Yes but it requires jumping through hoops to sign the hack. I’d rather deal with stock devices.
Yes I did. I took a lot of notes in press events too. I’m still finding it quick and easy to blog a few paragraphs.
Good follow up report on CES mobile gear from @chippy http://bit.ly/gZrSDm
RT @KevinCTofel: Good follow up report on CES mobile gear from @chippy http://bit.ly/gZrSDm
Hi Chippy,
I was searching for something else yesterday and stumbled upon a something called CHDK that loads onto Canon Cameras when it boots, that allows users to customise the camera’s behavior.
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Supercharge_Your_Camera_with_Open-Source_CHDK_Firmware
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
I only spent a few moments looking at it, and I know nothing about photography, don’t know if it helps. Maybe it’ll allow you to tweak ISO or exposure time, etc.
This is the gear I took to CES2011. My Galaxy Tab, IPhone 4, Panasonic DMC-TZ5, iPad, Sony Viao P, and cables.
1. Galaxy Tab I had installed Blogaway, and tested before going to CES, everything worked great. At CES it was not uploading. I had plenty of connection to internet. I tested web, tweeter and emailed all worked. So I used my Tab for the rest as note taker and email and also logged back to office to check a few things that were not running at office computer. I have not found any inking type app for the Tab to take simple handwriting notes. Very happy with Tab and also used the Tab to take some pictures and video to test out how it would work. This worked good but needs a better camera. Not bad though.
2. iPhone 4: I decided tobtake my iPhone 4 and planned on taking my Captivate as well, but left it at home. The iPhone worked great for me at CES. I wanted to use the iPhone for pictures, small video capture, and to use as my Hotspot using Mywi. Only the first day I had trouble getting connection for data, but the rest worked great to upload and for calls. I didn’t take any chargers with on the floor and using these devices I got through the whole day. Reason iPhone got all day battery is I used exolife battery. http://hggadgets.blogspot.com/2011/01/reviewing-exolife-extend-battery-for.html So iPhone 4 performed very well for me. I Loaded Blogger+ on the iPhone as well. Surprisingly the pictures on the iPhone is very good, and so is the video.
3. Panasonic DMC-TZ5 has been my camera choice for awhile now. The picture quality is great and so Is the video. I would carry in my back pocket and starts up within seconds to capture pictures or video. Comes with 10x optical zoom and up to 15x at 5Mp and 10x zoom with 9Mp. Battery would last me all day and I used a microSD with a adapter in camera. I would then remove and put in my Galaxy Tab to send any pictures I wanted.
The above were my main gear I carried at CES, and below is what I left at room, but brought the iPad once to show floor to use.
1. iPad: I used the iPad once at the show floor worked great as well. I have the card adapter for iPad so I would was able to take memory card from camera and put all pictures in the iPad to email pictures or upload to dropbox. This was very cool as it worked as a backup, in case I lost pictures or if something would happen to card.
2. Sony Viao P: Last but not least, I brought along my Sony P. I brought it, just in case I would need full windows. Lucky I have Logmein and RDP on all my devices, I didn’t need to use the Sony P. That stayed at the room, so never used it.
By the way I typed this on my Galaxy Tab, at restaurant and now going in my back pocket. Using iPhone as hotspot.
Like it. You’ve gone the whole distance and taken out windows. I haven’t been able to do that yet. I still need the keyboard for long form blogging.
Oh forgot to mention that for long emails or documents, I do bring my Bluetooth Stowaway keyboard. Works great. I never realized that I actually had taken Windows out. :) another app I use is the iMovie app.
I would suggest a DSLR from Canon or Nikon for images and video. I think only these companys support tethering mode for remote capture. A larger sensor and a wide range of lenses should give you better quality pictures in low light.
http://www.jibble.org/canon-tethered-shooting/
I’m also a very satisfied TZ5 owner. Panasonic has just announced successors to the TZ10 (AKA ZS7): the TZ20 and TZ18, with 16x Zooms and a touch-screen LCD’s. These cameras produce excellent pictures and videos in just about any conditions. There’s also the new FX77 with essentially the same features but with less capable lens (24-120mm F2.5) and a 12MPix sensor.
Unfortunately, Panasonic models do not offer remote capture capability. That’s where the newly announced Samsung SH100 comes in: this camera can be fully controlled remotely via WIFI “from your Galaxy S”, turning your smartphone into a second lcd screen & – I presume Samsung’s Android App to control the SH100 can also be run on a galaxy tab… I’ve seen shots & videos taken on a Samsung of similar generation – quite good – better colour balance than my TZ5 in some lighting conditions (but I still prefer my TZ5)
The SH100 is said to be available in March. Maybe Samsung can loan you one for MWC…