Canon has today announced firmware update and issued another AF patch for the much-controversial EOS 1D Mark III and 1Ds Mark III. The latter is additional to the sub mirror fix released couple years ago, which requires camera to be returned to company’s service location; while the new firmware addresses liveview hiccup, USB communication bug and corrects error codes.

In addition to implement better AF, Canon also published a service notice to the dared “Err 99” occurrence that’s related to mirror operation. A common operation error code that’s designated for all Canon’s DSLR.

The fixes mean the much confused and many “dot” series of current Mark III production would get even more complex. The upside is issues are being addressed but would definitely hurt resell value.

Relevant Entries on SlashGear

• Canon Update on Mark III AutoFocus’s Snafu – Houston, we don’t have a problem
• Canon 5D Mark II black dots firmware hands-on : problem fixed
• Rob’s Update on the Blue-Dot EOS-1D Mark III autofocus issue
• Sony releases 2.41 update for the PS3
• Canon 5D Mark II early bug reports : Black-Spot Artifacts

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Canon’s 1D and 1Ds Mark III get AF, Err 99 service notices and firmware update

Pining for a numeric keypad, which Apple has so unceremoniously discarded , but can’t bring yourself to pick the numeric version off a list? Do you have other personality problems, but appreciate good design? Do you live in Japan

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Elecom’s new TK-FCP004 ultra-slim keyboard is minimalism at its finest

Amazon wasn’t just teasing you whiners who blabbed on about how you’d rather just read ebooks on your iPhone: The iPhone and iPod Touch app has arrived. The free program brings several of the Kindle’s functions to the iPod and iPhone’s much smaller, non-E-Ink screen, including the same electronic books, magazines and newspapers that Kindle owners can buy, and the ability to change text size, add bookmarks, note and highlight stuff. From what we can see at first glance of the app itself, there’s no dictionary or search. If you already have both a Kindle and an iPhone, Amazon’s program syncs the two so that you can keep your bookmarks on both devices

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Amazon Kindle Now Also an iPhone App [Kindle]

Super-modder Ben Heck has used his powers for good. Again! This time, he’s helping the wheelchair-bound enjoy Guitar Hero 4 ’s drums by using a blow-tube to operate the kick pedal. Heck took apart the kick pedal that came with GH4’s drum set and used the piezoelectric switch in it, McGuyvered it into a little chamber with a diaphragm and added a tube that uses air to hit the switch. Voila, instant breath-controlled pedal! Want to help a friend in need? Heck’s posted the way to do this mod on his [ website

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Comments (0)  | Posted in IT, Technology News    

Sure, Amazon could pit the Kindle squarely against phone- and PDA-based e-book apps, but why not play both sides? The company had previously mentioned its desire to embrace non-Kindle devices in its digital delivery ecosystem, and the first fruits of that labor have now hit the iPhone App Store

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Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone hits the App Store

Ben Heck ’s at it again, and this time, he’s cobbled together a breath-controlled kick pedal for use with Guitar Hero (or Rock Band, if that’s your flavor) meant for people in wheelchairs, or who don’t have use of their legs, but still want to get in on the rocking action.

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Ben Heck fashions breath-controlled kick pedal for Guitar Hero

Something I never really even considered about the various form factors of PCs I’ve set up in my time are that most of the inputs and outputs are clustered on one side. Of course, that’s because it makes a lot of sense, for a desktop situation where most of your stuff should be plugged in the back, but what about embedded/small form-factor systems where you don’t have space to be running cables around, or the density of I/O ports in one tiny area becomes hazardous? Why, you just shift a bunch of them to the other side, like VIA’s done.

There aren’t going to be any cases meant to use this setup for a while (and likely they’ll be first-party to begin with, like VIA’s Artigo), but it’s a cool idea and one of which you can immediately see the benefits. We have a form of this in our consumer mobos in the form of unused USB pinouts and such for expansion boards, front panels and so on, but having it hardwired would be a lot nicer (my front ports aren’t high-speed USB because of the way I had to set it up).

Of course, these Em-ITX boards will be in embedded and proprietary devices first (it’s quite small), but let’s hope some of the design decisions make their way into some more consumer-oriented gear.

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VIA’s Em-ITX form factor has I/O on two sides

We’re not gonna get excited just yet, but Olympus has shown one of its cards at PMA , and it happens to indicate at least one of its Micro Four Thirds cameras will be hitting retail channels this summer. That jibes with a rumor we heard back in late January. From what we can tell, there’s still a dearth of detail / specs on this hunk of retro hotness — a shame, too, since it’d have pretty much every camera aficionado’s attention right now. With several months to go, we get the feeling the company’s gonna play this one close to the chest for a little while longer. Filed under: Digital Cameras Olympus’ Micro Four Thirds camera launching this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:12:00 EST.

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Olympus’ Micro Four Thirds camera launching this summer

Never have I ever seen a Transformer this cool : a custom Master Chief Transformer on eBay that goes from being a Spartan soldier to—not just any old car —an actual Warthog LRV. ZOMG. Up for auction is a custom built Transformer of Master Chief from the Halo series of games.  A quick transformation turns him from the iconic Spartan soldier into a battle ready Warthog LRV .  Stands 5 1/4″ tall when transformed and comes with a variety of weapons including a Sniper Rifle, Spike Grenade, and Warthog turret.  Built from a McFarlane Master Chief figure, an Actionclix Wartog and an Autobot Hound transformer, many hours of work have been put into this to make it a faithfull representation of both the vehicle and the character.

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Halo Transformer on eBay: From Warthog to Master Chief [Transformers]

Maybe it’s the beer talking, but this video is frackin rad. What a guy won’t do for the girl he loves. Makes we want to barf. This video was shot in a day, but went through two years of post production. Kudos to Bruce Branit.

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Video: World Builder