zoom

Window Zooming in OS X does not magnify a window's contents, but rather resizes the window to fit its contents. While this is the most common use of this button, the function is application-specific and may do anything from changing the overall window appearance such as switching to the mini player in iTunes to doing absolutely nothing at all.

Invoking the zoom function is done by clicking the green button to the right of the close and minimize buttons, but it can also be accessed from the Window menu that most OS X applications have. Unlike the Close and … Read more

The Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder is exactly what the name claims. Measuring just 8x2x5 inches it's very portable, and this little thing records high-quality WAV files at 44.1- to 96-KHz sampling rates with 16-bit or 24-bit resolution.

If you're more interested in maximum recording time, it can also do MP3 files at 48Kbps to 320Kbps. The H1 records on microSD cards and comes with a 2GB card. Step up to a 32 GB microSD card and you'll get over 50 hours of recording time at 16-bit/44.1KHz.

I first wrote about Zoom products in late 2007, and came away really impressed with the company's H2 recorder's sound quality. The H1 doesn't replace the H2, but it's a more evolved design, and goes for just $99!

Connectivity is pretty basic; there's a 3.5mm mic input, a 3.5mm headphone output, and a USB 2.0 port. You can monitor the H1's sound over headphones, or in a pinch with the recorder's tiny built-in speaker. Zoom claims the single AA battery should last 10 hours, but I only got 5 or 6 hours.… Read more

On Thursday, Motorola's long awaited--and CNET's Best of CES 2011 winner--Xoom tablet will be released. At the time of this writing, only a handful of tablets already released are fit to compete with the Xoom in terms of features, usability, and specs.

Those include the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Apple iPad. I've gathered them here with what I feel are their most important specs, which we'll now take a deeper look at. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--With increasing numbers of laws going on the books in an attempt to curb unsafe texting-while-driving habits, it's no surprise that there are a variety of devices and apps that offer hands-free messaging functionality. ZoomSafer software aims to take things a step further by automatically detecting when you start driving and then disabling e-mailing and texting on your phone. Today, the company announced availability of its app for the Android OS.

Those who install the app on their devices have the option to configure ZoomSafer in a variety of ways. It can be programmed to trigger using in- … Read more

Zoomit from Microsoft Sysinternals is a nifty little screen-zooming and annotating tool for presentations. It's free, portable, and compatible with all versions of Windows from XP up as well as Server 2003 and above. It sits in the System Tray until you activate it with customizable hot keys. You can use it to zoom in on portions of the screen, move the zoomed portion, and even draw on the screen, with or without zooming. Zoomit's drawing mode accepts digital pen input and is compatible with tablet PCs.

When you first run Zoomit, the Options dialog appears; there you … Read more

Today Zoom announced the Q3HD Handy Video Recorder, a 1080p HD, stereo microphone, audio-centric pocket camcorder. Following up on the Q3 Handy Video Recorder, the new Q3HD combines HD video with Zoom's professional audio recorder technology. This is ideal for live performances among other subjects.

The Zoom Q3HD's video capabilities feature a new lens and imaging sensor that captures at either 1080p at 30 frames per second, or 720p video at 60 or 30 frames per second, in MPEG-4 H.264 (MOV) video format. There are three lighting settings: Auto, Concert, and Night. For playback you turn the … Read more

Having tested all the latest GPS-enabled compact megazooms, I can tell you that holding onto a signal isn't easy, particularly in a city. Casio's Hybrid GPS in its Exilim EX-H20G announced today looks like it is up to task, though.

The Hybrid GPS system combines a GPS receiver with a motion sensor that allows for autonomic positioning. Should you lose your signal, a three-way accelerometer and a three-way direction sensor combine to keep track of your movements in relation to the last coordinate received. The camera can then continue to track and geotag your photos even if you'… Read more

If you've ever peered through a microscope, you know how incredibly cool the world can look when it's massively magnified.

Just one problem: it's uncomfortable to squint through that tiny viewfinder. Where are the microscopes with the big, comfy LCD screens?

Try looking in your pocket. Hobbyist Crabfu came up with a slick--and inexpensive--hack that turns your iPhone into a microscope. You can see it in action, and learn how to do it yourself, in this video. (Note: The actual how-to starts at the 2:09 minute mark.)

As you can see, the hack's results can … Read more

Microsoft Live Labs' Seadragon project now doubles as a social image host.

The technology, which allows large images to be loaded and scaled at high speeds while zooming and panning, powers a new media sharing and exploring service called Zoom.it.

Zoom.it can take any hosted image on the Web and place it within the company's Deep Zoom interface, allowing for large and complex images or graphics to fit in small spaces without a loss in quality or need for extra room.

The process of getting an image onto the service is as simple as pasting in a … Read more