Friday, September 27, 2013

Impossible Instant Lab mobile photo booth ships August 29th for $299

Impossible Instant Lab mobile photo booth ships August 29th for $299 data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20630617' !== '') ? 'bsd:20630617' : ''; var postID = '20630617'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"cellphones",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"jon-fingas", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Impossible Instant Lab mobile photo booth ships August 29th for $299BypostedJun 21st, 2013 at 12:26 PM 0

Impossible Instant Lab reaches iPhone photographers on August 29th for $299

There's a certain irony to the Impossible Instant Lab taking a long time to develop, but we won't mind (much) now that it has a solid release date. The instant photo kit ships to stores on August 29th, when it will cost the same $299 that The Impossible Project promised during its crowdfunding campaign. Compatibility hasn't changed much since then -- you'll need to use at least an iPhone 4 or fourth-generation iPod touch, and there's no immediate support for devices using Android or other platforms. If that's no barrier, however, you can bring your digital photos to the analog world in a matter of weeks.

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June 20th 2013

The Impossible Instant Lab: Forging A Bridge Between Analog and Digital

The first in Impossible's new line of instant photography hardware turns your digital smart phone pictures into real instant photos.

In October 2008, Impossible bought the very last factory in the world manufacturing Polaroid film and saved analog instant photography from extinction. Now the Austrian company is turning their attention to the future of instant photography with the release of their first hardware: the Impossible Instant Lab.

The Impossible Instant Lab was designed to build a bridge between digital and analog instant photography and via your iPhone, transform any digital image into a one-of-a-kind instant photograph that, no longer confined to a screen, can be shared, exhibited or simply treasured.

As with an instant camera, the image is exposed 'naturally'. Simply select an image on your phone, place the iPhone in the cradle and slide open the shutter on the base. A signal tells you when the exposure is finished. Close the shutter, push the button and the Instant Lab ejects the instant film, ready to develop in the palm of your hand. The Instant Lab is the first device to convert digital images into real analog instant photographs.

At the heart of the Instant Lab is Impossible's brand-new high-precision platform, the Impossible FPU (Film Processing Unit) that processes and develops the new generation of Impossible Color and B&W film. Unlike classic Polaroid hardware, the Impossible FPU features a modern and ecological rechargeable battery allowing the use of the new Impossible film that doesn't contain a battery.

As Impossible Founder, Dr. Florian Kaps, put it: "Our new FPU is the basis of a future range of more exciting and exacting analog instant instruments." The Impossible FPU was developed by the Impossible R&D team in partnership with DHW, based in the former Rollei Factory in Braunschweig, Germany.

The launch of the Instant Lab coincides with the release of an official Impossible Project App for iOS. As well as enabling users to transform their digital photos into real analog photographs with the Instant Lab, the App also provides a platform for scanning, uploading and sharing those analog instant photos. Supporting a variety of social media, the Impossible Project App encourages photographers to share their instant photographs and at the same time get inspiration from the photographs of others; an international community for analog instant photography lovers.

The Impossible Project App also features an online store – a quick and easy way to stock up on instant film.

It will be available in stores August 29.

For updates stay tuned to www.the-impossible-project.com

Impossible Instant Lab Specifications:

• Cradle compatible with iPhone 4/4s, iPhone 5 and iPod Touch Generations 4 and 5
• Free iOS app for photo exposure (download from the App Store or impossibleapp.com)
• Optical System: 4 element coated glass lens, wide-angle
• Micro-processor-controlled film processing unit
• Rechargeable Li-Ion battery 7,4V / 2,33VAh(Wh)
• USB Power Adapter
• Compatible with IMPOSSIBLE Color and IMPOSSIBLE Black and White Film
• International Patent Pending
• Dimensions (metric): collapsed 148mm long × 111mm wide × 62mm tall; expanded
176mm tall
• Dimensions (imperial): collapsed 5.8" long × 4.3" wide × 2.4" tall; expanded 6.9" tall
• Weight (metric): 460g (including cover plate)
• Weight (US): 16oz (including cover plate)

Price: EUR 249, US$ 299

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Q&A: How the Founder of Farfetch Brought Luxury to the Web

If you haven't browsed through Farfetch before, at first glance it just seems like a super-luxury e-commerce site full of things you can't find anywhere else. Then you click around and realize you can search by locations like Latvia, Andorra, New York, or Milan — in short, it's a one-stop shopping site that takes the merchandise from the world's most discerning fashion boutiques (who may or may not have sites of their own) and makes it available to anyone, regardless of geographic location.

Founder José Neves, who previously ran the international brand B Store, dreamed up Farfetch in October 2007. "I was in Paris for one of the market weeks, and it was a very depressing rainy day and everyone was complaining about their sales," he told us over the phone. "I noticed that the only people who were happy were the ones with very strong online operations. So I got the idea to create a platform for the best specialty stores worldwide so that they could do that. One year later, we launched."

Now, the London-based business has offices in L.A., New York, Portugal, and São Paolo, with full-time employees all over the globe constantly looking for new boutiques to partner with. "I get jealous of their jobs sometimes," he said of his scouts. "They just get to fly around and find cool things!" Next week, Farfetch will officially launch their partnership with Kirna Zabête, one of New York's most renowned independent boutiques. We talked to Neves about his company's next steps.

Is it ever difficult to get boutiques to sign on with you?
We are very selective, and we say no to dozens of boutiques every month. But some boutiques still don’t believe that high-end fashion can be bought online — they don’t get it. So many people say, "But do you guys really sell anything?" Or, "Are people really buying Stella McCartney online?" They’re worried that people can’t touch it, they don’t know if it fits, or that they’re afraid of putting in their credit card details. Stuff like that. Many of the stores we want, because they are the best stores, are very old businesses. They’ve been around 20, 40, or even 100 years, and they’re traditional brick and mortar, so when the Web guys come knocking at their door, they’re like, "What’s this scary new world?" Normally it takes a few meetings for them to get to know us and understand that we come from the fashion world. We have to show them that we speak their language and understand their concerns. Once that psychological barrier is tackled, then it’s actually quite straightforward.

Exactly how much of the logistics do you take care of?
We take care of everything for the boutique. Payment, fraud, customer service, photography, styling, and Photoshop. The only thing the boutique needs to do is pack the merchandise and wait for our DHL guy — and we even have the contract with DHL! They may eventually need to hire an extra person to pack the boxes, but that’s a great problem to have, with dozens of boxes going out.

How do you convince a boutique that already has e-commerce, like Kirna Zabête, to integrate with Farfetch?
It opens up their business to new markets. For example, we now have an office in São Paolo, Brazil, and we have a local PR agency, a local marketing department, and local customer service. It’s a completely impenetrable market otherwise. So we bring that global reach to these small boutiques who wouldn’t otherwise be able to sell there. We’re giving them additional exposure with customers that wouldn’t find them normally.

How are specialty boutiques different from brands or department stores with e-commerce? 
Specialty stores buy differently from department stores. Kirna Zabête is in the middle of New York, so in order to succeed they must have a different viewpoint on the major labels, and scout out smaller labels that the big boys don’t touch. Specialty stores, they take risks that department stores don’t. I always say, they buy with their heart and not with their spreadsheet. That’s the way they have survived for decades. Their curation is their biggest asset.


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Street Style: Swagger and Blues at Pitti Uomo

One of the greatest double standards in fashion is that women get judged for wearing stilettos and short skirts in the snowy environs of February fashion week, but stylish and international men still descend on the Pitti Uomo tradeshow – in Florence, Italy, where temps are in the 70s and 80s – wearing three-piece dandy suits and jeans thicker the Marlboro Man’s, yet no one accuses them of ignoring the weather. Perhaps because all that hypothetical sweat can be hidden beneath the layers of workman’s chambray, linen tailoring, embroidered floral shirts, and Neapolitan-style jackets preferred by Nick Wooster, Luca Rubinacci, and Angelo Flaccavento (whom the Cut’s resident man may or may not be patterning his current look from).

While some of these men and women shot by the Cut’s photographer Youngjun Koo look like time-hopping train conductors or Mast Brothers chocolatiers, it’s the rich shades of blue in denim, suiting, neckerchiefs, and oxford shirts that tie it all together, especially when paired with big and burly beards that, once again, seem to be on the trend ascent. All the better to catch the humidity, we say. Click ahead to experience the insanity yourself, and take notes from the women who are out-dressing men in their billowy pleated trousers, vests, thick silk ties, and boater hats.


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Watch Peggy Olson Break Through the Glass Ceiling

Of all the characters we've enjoyed these past six seasons of Mad Men, we've really rooted for Peggy Olson. In early episodes, it was hard not to find her mousy voice irritating, but she's now one of the show's most fearless, vocal personalities. In last week's episode, she barged into Don's office, rightly calling him out for being a "monster." That's a long way from barely making eye contact and apologizing for her every move.

It's been thrilling to watch her transform from a virginal secretary into a junior copywriter, and eventually an indispensable leader with a few notches in her belt. By Thanksgiving of 1968, she's 29, a homeowner, and copy chief at one of the better firms on Madison Avenue. To paraphrase her office crush Ted Chaough, "Hell, we're jealous." And regardless of any trials that doubtlessly lie in store for Peggy in this weekend's season finale and beyond, it's safe to say she's going to land on her feet when it comes to her career.

In order to bid adieu to a season full of leaning in, we've compiled her trajectory from season one through season six into one handy video. Watch it now, and the next time you need to summon up the balls to ask for equal pay (cc: Sheryl Sandberg). Because, yeah, even though the Peggys of the world laid the groundwork, that's still not worked out all these decades later.


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Ladies Looking Glamorous Posing With Tennis Racquets

On Monday, the best tennis players from around the world will converge to compete in Wimbledon. Top seeds like Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will bring their best to the courts in the 136th year of the tournament. Tennis fashion has evolved since women first started competing in the games in 1884: Gone are the tea-time-appropriate ankle-skimming skirts, long-sleeve blouses, and wide-brimmed sun hats, replaced by butt-skimming custom tennis skirts, bathing-suit-like tops, and sleek visors that optimize a player's game and keep her looking photo-ready. To get in the tennis spirit, take a look back at some vintage shots of ladies looking a bit more demure with their tennis racquets, from Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win Wimbledon, to actress Joan Crawford, who surely never broke a sweat on a tennis court.


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Fujifilm's X-M1 interchangeable camera leaks out, doesn't mess with retro success

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Fujifilm's XM1 interchangeable camera leaks out, doesn't mess with vintage success

Fujifilm's about to extend its line of mirrorless shooters packing manual dials and vintage looks, if a leak from Digicame Info is to be believed. The Japanese rumor site has flaunted pictures of a purported X-M1 model, which bears a strong resemblance to X-E1 we saw last year, minus the electronic viewfinder and shutter-speed selector dial. In place of the latter is a general mode selector, along with a tiltable LCD screen and WiFi, judging by the pictures above and after the break. While all that points to a cheaper model aimed at more casual shooters, there's no word from the company about specs, pricing or a release date, obviously. As soon as we hear, of course, you'll be the first to know.

Fujifilm's XM1 interchangeable camera leaks out, doesn't mess with retro successFujifilm's XM1 interchangeable camera leaks out, doesn't mess with retro success

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