Panasonic launches Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH

Panasonic has formally announced the Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH fast portrait prime for Micro Four Thirds. It offers an 85mm equivalent field of view and the brightest aperture of any autofocus lens on the system.

The company says the Power O.I.S stabilization built into the lens is designed to compensate for the low-frequency, high-amplitude movements that can plague low-light photography, as well as the high-frequency, low-amplitude movements that make up regular camera shake.

The lens has gained even more distinctive Leica styling and will be available during the first quarter of 2014 at suggested prices of $1,599/€1,499/£1,299.

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Fujifilm unveils XF 56mm F1.2 R portrait lens for X system

Fujifilm has announced the XF 56mm F1.2 R, a fast short telephoto 'portrait' lens for its X system mirrorless cameras. With an angle of view equivalent to an 85mm lens on full frame, it uses an internal focus design for fast, silent autofocus.

The lens has an aperture ring which Fujifilm says has been engineered to give positive click stops, something that hasn't really been the case with previous XF lenses. Like the older XF primes (but unlike the more recent wide angle primes), the focus ring is of the continuously-rotating type with no distance or depth of field scales - although Fujifilm claims it should have improved 'feel'.

The XF 56mm F1.2 R will be available in February, with a suggested retail price of $999.99 / £999.99.

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Sony announces miniature flagship Xperia Z1 Compact

Sony has just announced the Xperia Z1 Compact at CES 2014. Unlike most mini flagship variants, it features a specs sheet that doesn't compromise, and has almost identical specs to the Xperia Z1 flagship.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact Key Specification :

• 4.3" Triluminous IPS display of 720p resolution
• 2.2GHz quad-core Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
• Adreno 330 GPU
• 20.7 MP back facing camera (1/2.3" sensor, G Lens, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash)
• 2MP front-facing
• 16 GB internal memory with microSD slot
• 2,300 mAh
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (planned upgrade to 4.4 KitKat shortly after launch)
• 127 x 64.9 x 9.5 mm
• 137g

On the glance, it has everything that Xperia Z1 has except in smaller size and lower battery power. Pricing and availability still unknown.

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Samsung unveils Pro lines of Galaxy Note and Tab tablets

Hold your house, Samsung is not ready to announce Galaxy S5 yet. Today in CES 2014, Samsung unveiled a total of four new tablets from two new lines, the Pro versions of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab tablets. Their sizes range from 8.4" to 12.2", breaking past the current barrier of 10.1" tablets. All four tablets feature flagship specs that are very similar between themselves and the high-end Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) tablet. Note that these tablets have Wi-Fi only versions along with a 3G/4G version (depending on the chipset). Also, all of them feature Samsung's new faux leather backs.

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Key Specification :

• 12.2" Super Clear LCD with WQXGA resolution (2,560 x 1,600 pixels)
• 2.3 GHz Quad-core Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (LTE)
• Adreno 330

or

• 1.9 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A15 & 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (3G)
• Mali-T628 MP6

• 3GB RAM
• 32/64 GB internal memory wity microSD slot
• 8MP back facing camera with 1080p @ 60fps video capture (30fps for Exynos)
• 9,500mAh
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• 295.6 x 204 x 8 mm
• 753 g

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 12.2 Key Specification :

• 12.2" Super Clear LCD with WQXGA resolution (2,560 x 1,600 pixels)
• 2.3 GHz Quad-core Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (LTE)
• Adreno 330

or

• 1.9 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A15 & 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (3G)
• Mali-T628 MP6

• 3GB RAM
• 32/64 GB internal memory wity microSD slot
• 8MP back facing camera with 1080p @ 60fps video capture (30fps for Exynos)
• 9,500mAh
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• 295.6 x 204 x 8 mm
• 740 g

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 Key Specification :

• 10.1" Super Clear LCD with 2,560 x 1,600 resolution
• 2.3 GHz Quad-core Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (LTE)
• Adreno 330

or

• 1.9 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A15 & 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 Exynos 5 Octa 5420 (3G)
• Mali-T628 MP6

• 2GB RAM
• 16/32 GB internal memory wity microSD slot
• 8MP back facing camera with 1080p @ 60fps video capture (30fps for Exynos)
• 8,220mAh
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• 243.1 x 171.4 x 7.3 mm
• 477 g

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Key Specification :

• 8.4" Super Clear LCD with 2,560 x 1,600 resolution
• 2.3 GHz Quad-core Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
• Adreno 330
• 2GB RAM
• 16/32 GB internal memory wity microSD slot
• 8MP back facing camera with 1080p @ 60fps video capture (30fps for Exynos)
• 4,800mAh
• Android 4.4 (KitKat)
• 219 x 128.5 x 7.2 mm
• 336 g

The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro and Galaxy Tab Pro tablets will be available globally in the first three months of this year, but the company wasn’t any more specific. There's no mention of price either.

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Asus Zenphones unveiled, come in 4, 5 and 6 inches

You got it right! The number 4, 5 and 6 has manifested into a trio of Intel Atom-powered devices with screens of exactly those sizes. They belong to the new Asus Zenfone line and all run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (updateable to 4.4) with a new interface customization called ZenUI. Also, all three Zefones offer dual-SIM functionality.

Asus Zenfone 4 Key Specification :

• 4" TFT LED Backlight with 800 x 480 WVGA TN resolution
• 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2520
• 1GB RAM
• 5MP Back facing camera
• 1,170mAh
• Android 4.3 ( will update to 4.4 KitKat ) with ASUS ZenUI
• 124.4 x 61.4 x 11.2mm
• 115g

Asus Zenfone 5 Key Specification :

• 5" TFT LED Backlight with 1280 x 720 HD IPS resolution (Supports glove & pencil touch input)
• 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2580
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB internal memory with microSD slot
• 8MP (PixelMaster,f/2.0) Back facing camera
• 2MP front facing camera
• 2050mAh
• Android 4.3 ( will update to 4.4 KitKat ) with ASUS ZenUI
• 148.2 x 72.8 x 10.3mm
• 140g

Asus Zenfone 6 Key Specification :

• 6" TFT LED Backlight with 1280 x 720 HD IPS resolution (Supports glove & pencil touch input)
• 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2580
• 2GB RAM
• 8/16 GB internal memory with microSD slot
• 13MP (PixelMaster,f/2.0) Back facing camera
• 2MP front facing camera
• 3230mAh
• Android 4.3 ( will update to 4.4 KitKat ) with ASUS ZenUI
• 166.9 x 84.3 x 9.9mm
• 200g

Pricing and availability still unknown.

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Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G goes official

Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G just goes official at CES 2014. The phablet keeps the 6.1" 720p screen, but updates the chipset with more processing power and faster connectivity.

Huawei Ascend Mate 2 4G Key Specification :

• 6.1" with 720p resolution
• 1.6GHz Quad Core Snapdragon processor
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB internal memory with microSD cslot
• 13MP back facing camera (f/2.0, 28mm lens, Sony sensor) with 1080p video recording
• 5MP front facing camera (f/2.4, 1.4µm pixels - that's UltraPixel size)
• 4,050mAh
• Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Emotion UI 2.0
• 161 x 84.9 x 9.5 mm
• 202 g

Pricing and availability still unknown.

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Samsung NX30 adds tilting EVF, improved display, more Wi-Fi features and added two 16-50mm lens

Samsung's just announced the flagship mirrorless camera, in the name of the NX30. It has the same 20 megapixel sensor and Hybrid AF system from the NX300, but has a more traditional SLR-style design. What stands out the most is the camera's XGA electronic viewfinder, which can be pulled away from the camera and tilted upward by 80 degrees. The 3-inch, 1.04 million dot AMOLED display is 70% brighter than the one on the NX20, and is fully articulated.

Samsung NX30 Key Specification :

• 20 megapixels
• APS-C (23.5 x 15.7 mm) Sensor
• DRIMeIV Image processing
• ISO 100 - 25600
• 247 focus points
• 3″ Fully articulated 1,036,000 resolution screen
• Electronic Viewfinder
• 1920 x 1080 (60p), 1280 x 720, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 video recording
• Built-In wireless
• NFC
• BP1410 lithium-ion battery
• 127 x 96 x 58 mm
• 375 g

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

Samsung added two new lenses to its NX mirrorless camera line, one for pros, and another designed to serve as a smaller alternative to the kit lens. Both lenses range from 16-50mm, but the first is a premium design with the 'S' designation, whose bulkier design accommodates an F2.0-F2.8 aperture and optical image stabilization. The second lens is a retractable F3.5-5.6 power zoom with OIS, which the company says offers improved performance over the 18-55mm kit lens.

Samsung says the 16-50mm F2.0-2.8 S ED OIS lens offers greater 'precision, high quality materials and value control'. It has a metal body, includes weather and dust sealing, and uses what Samsung calls an 'ultra precise stepper motor'.

The 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS lens, on the other hand, is designed as a portable option whose motorized zoom allows for smoother zooming while shooting video.

Samsung did not announce pricing and availability, only noting that the lenses will be on display at CES 2014.

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