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Product placement: De Canon EOS 60D in de kinderfilm ‘Joris & Boris en het geheim van de tempel’.

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Apple on Tuesday rolled out an update that adds RAW compatibility for three Canon models and one Sony camera to Aperture 3 and iPhoto ’11 users.

De Nokia 808 PureView is een monster camphone. GSM Arena heeft de kiekjes die dat toestel kan produceren vergeleken met, onder andere, de Canon 5D Mark III, een camera die ongeveer vijf keer zo duur is, en de iPhone 4S.
Daarbij hebben ze,……

We’ve seen numerous ways to add personalized messages to products ranging from chocolate bars to cookies to cans of soup, but recently we came across one that has an interesting new twist. Created by Seattle cloud texting company Zipwhip, Textspresso is an espresso machine that can not only send and receive text messages, but can also print those messages on coffee foam using edible ink.

To create the Textspresso device, Zipwhip installed a Jura Impressa Xs90 espresso machine with SMS and printing capabilities using an Android app, servo motors, an Arduino microcontroller and a retrofitted Canon printer. Users can text their order to the device, which will then brew their coffee and keep it hot on a warming plate until they pick it up. Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is that the machine can use edible ink to print text on the coffee’s foam, opening the door to a world of personalization possibilities. For example, the machine can be used to text the last digits of a customer’s phone number, enabling them to easily identify their coffee when they go to pick it up. The video below explains the premise in more detail:

Zipwhip actually created its Textspresso machine as a way to showcase its cloud texting service, and it has no plans to produce more of them, it says. The code and plans for making the device are open source, however, and available to anyone seeking to make their own. Tech-minded entrepreneurs and coffee shop owners worldwide: time to build one for yourself?

Website: blog.zipwhip.com/2012/04/30/textspresso-machine-celebrates-cloud-texting-technology
Contact: info@zipwhip.com

Spotted by: Denise Kuperman

The latest in what I like to call pro-point-and-shoots (I’d put the Canon G12 and the S95 in this category), the TG-1 from Olympus promises high-speed, f2.0 snapshots in a body that can take a lick and, potentially, keep on ticking.

When we last saw Olympus, they were killing it with their micro 4/3s models. This one, at 12-megapixel shooter, is a little bit different but it still is compelling enough to carry as a second camera. It has a backlit CMOS sensor and TruePic VI image processor as well as high-speed autofocus and a 10x zoom.

Best of all it comes in a package that fits in your pocket without issue.

From the press release:

The camera will costs $400 and is available in July.

A new startup launching today called eVr1 has a slightly kooky, kind of awesome idea at the intersection of the digital and physical worlds.

In the words of co-founder Brandon Peele, eVr1 has tried to answer the question, “What does it mean to be human being in the context of 16 gigs?” So the team selected what it saw as the most important aspects of human knowledge and literature — the entirety of Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook, and a literary canon that includes authors like Plato, William Shakespeare, and James Joyce (to name just a few — you can see the full list here). That’s supplemented with instruction manuals and documents from personal development website Trans4mind. Everything gets copied onto a 16 gigabyte Micro SDHC card, which is then wrapped in several layers of protective covering (Peele says the material has been tested to survive 500F, 8,000V, and 950 psi), then packaged in a leather container with a key ring. The leather also comes with a hand-stitched image of your choice — you can choose from things like the double helix and the infinity symbol.

To be clear, this probably isn’t something you’re going to be whipping out for casual reading. In fact, the design of the eVr1 codex discourages that, because you actually have to cut the leather open in order to extract the SDHC card. Nor does reading a giant, unorganized text document of Wikipedia articles sound like fun. Instead, it’s more about the symbolic value. Peele says you can look at the Codex and ask yourself how you want to contribute to the larger human story.

It sounds like there are a several possible audiences here. There’s the human potential movement, something that Peele himself identifies with. There are also survivalist types who might want to keep a blueprint of human civilization handy in case the apocalypse comes. More broadly, this should appeal to some hippies, some techies, and some hippie-techies (we have at least one of those in the TechCrunch office). Personally, I do think there’s something powerful and compelling about holding an object in your hand that symbolically represents the scope of human accomplishment and ideals.

But is it powerful and compelling enough to be worth $140? That’s what eVr1 is charging for the initial batch of 300. Peele says the price will likely go down, especially as the company moves away from hand-stitching. eVr1 could also make partnership deals with outdoor equipment companies or consumer electronics manufacturers to create or embed their own version of the Codex — it’s tricky, though, since most of the content is in the public domain, so it’s not like anyone really needs eVr1′s approval. The key, Peele argues, is to make a splash with the product, so that any competing products feel like insincere imitations.

Peele says that on the big criticisms so far has been the fact that the Codex includes a very Europe-centric canon (with a few notable exceptions, like The Mahabarata and the writings of Confucius). He says that’s largely a reflection of the material that’s in the public domain and available online, but he wants to expand that canon over time. eVr1 is also building a password-protected web experience, so that someone who buys the Codex can also browse it online.

Recently at a parenting blogger conference here Melbourne, I was listening to a panel discussion on business models when Aussie blogger—Laney from Crash Test Mummy—made a statement that connected strongly with my own recent experience.

I’m paraphrasing here, but Laney talked about how as bloggers we’re often on the receiving end of bad PR pitches from companies, and that we should learn from those bad pitches to make good ones ourselves.

This struck a chord with me because over the last year, I’ve decided to do just that.

It struck me that I was on the receiving end of a lot of bad pitches from companies and agencies. The pitches were often bad for a number of reasons:

• The company was pitching a product that was irrelevant to the topic of my blog.
• The company was pitching for the wrong geographic location (I get a lot of pitches from Aussie companies who don’t realize most of my audience is international).
• The pitch was impersonal and non-relational.
• The pitch wasn’t a win/win/win pitch. By this I mean that many times the pitch is only really of benefit to the company—there’s no win for me as a blogger or for my readers.

The list could go on. Not a day goes by when I don’t get at least two or three bad pitches (sometimes it’s closer to ten).

It is a frustrating process. I’ve worked hard to build my audience and I know there are companies out there that I could serve well as partners, but they never seemed to come knocking.

I decided to take matters into my own hands

As I wrote earlier in the week, a couple of years back I wrote a list of companies, organisations, and products that it was my dream to work with. They were things I not only used and loved—they were companies that I believed I could serve well, based upon my knowledge of my own audience.

Some examples:

• Apple: I use Apple products 24/7. My audience (of bloggers and photographers) also are computer users. It’s a match made in heaven (in my humble opinion).
• Qantas/Virgin Australia: I’ve flown with both companies regularly and appreciate the services of both. Both are looking to expand their reach and the audience on my blogs is very international.
• Canon/Nikon etc.: My biggest audience is around photography. I’ve used Canon gear for many years and have a real admiration for Nikon (as well as other companies like Leica, Sony, etc.). As a result, all of these manufacturers made my dream list.
• Aussie Tourism Organisations: This one has been on my mind a lot. I obviously live in Australia, I love living here (and travelling around the country), and my audience always asks me questions about Australia—many have expressed a desire to visit. It seems to me like a no-brainer of a partnership and I added numerous Aussie tourism operators to my list.

The list was longer, but you get the picture. I identified 20 or so companies that I thought were a match in terms of my genuine love or admiration for them, but also in terms of my audience needs and what I saw as each company’s needs.

With that list in hand, I began to pitch

At this point, I’ve pitched most of the companies listed above—and numerous others. The experience has been fascinating and so far there have been a few expressions of interest (nibbles), a couple of “no” responses, a few more silences, and one bite.

The bite was from Tourism Queensland, and the result is the current competition we’re running with them to fly 10 bloggers in from around the world to experience the Great Barrier Reef first hand.

The idea gathered steam as a tweet I sent out in an airport last year, but I had Aussie tourism organizations on my list long before that tweet. So when I got responses from such organisations inviting me to talk to them, I was ready to move with an idea that I’d been pondering.

WIth the invitation to pitch them I put together a short PDF document titled, ProBlogger: Tour Down Under. Here’s the front cover.

The following page briefly outlined the idea.

I followed it up with some details of my own audience at the time (although this information is now quite dated):

The last page was an invitation to continue the discussion, along with my contact details. I sent the PDF out with a cover email that had a little more information, including a few variations on the idea.

The PDF was just three pages long: short, sharp and to the point. It outlined how the I thought the organizations I was pitching would benefit from the project, and made it clear I was open to evolving the idea to further meet their needs.

I actually ended up sending a variation of this PDF to a few organizations that had expressed interest. In the end, two of them came back to me to continue the conversation. The conversation with Tourism Queensland continued (they’ve been amazing to deal with) and the idea gathered steam until it became a reality last week.

Become a pitching blogger

This whole experience has been an eye-opening one for me. Rather than waiting for the perfect company to come along to work with, I decided to put myself in a position to identify and pursue that relationship myself. In doing so I was able to devise a pitch that was a win for that organization, a win for me as a blogger, and a win for my readers.

I was able to pitch something relevant to all parties, and that idea has a much better chance of working for my audience than most of what companies come to me with. While my hit rate is low from the companies I’ve pitched (so far), this experience has given me enough hope that I will no doubt be continuing the approach.

Take-home lessons

• Identify who you’d love to work with. Make a list of companies that you use and recommend, and that are relevant to your readers and topic.
• Identify those companies’ needs and how you can help them in those areas.
• Reach out—you might not start with a “pitch” at first. Be relational, and learn from all those bad pitches you receive yourself.
• Don’t be timid. You know your audience best. Be creative and bold.

I’d love to hear your own stories about reaching out for dream collaborations. Please let us know your stories and ideas in the comments below.

P.S.: Don’t forget to enter our Great Barrier Reef Competition—there’s not long now till the cutoff for submissions!

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Pitch Your Dream Company for a Win/Win/Win Blogging Collaboration [Case Study]

Wondering if the 93 year old Contessa-Nettel Piccolette folding camera he had could still produce pictures, director Jason Bognacki set out to find away to use the device. Though type 127 film required for the Piccolette is still available, Bagnacki decided to add a more modern touch to the camera by hacking it on to a Canon 5D Mark II camera body. The combination of old and new yielded results that will make even the best Instagramers eat their hearts out.

Via.

Lantronix was on hand at CES 2012 to demonstrate its upcoming xPrintServer Network Edition device, which automatically makes every printer on your network AirPrint-compatible. The small device connects via Ethernet to any router and automatically configures itself to send print jobs to connected printers on a local network.

AirPrint, based on HP’s ePrint technology, allows any iOS device to print Web pages, PDFs, photos, and more to compatible printers via WiFi. Naturally, HP offers a number of printer models that are compatible with AirPrint, but other vendors have been slow to embrace the standard. That’s beginning to change, though—we spoke with representatives from Epson and Canon on Monday who confirmed that their latest models going forward are AirPrint-compatible as well. Still, not everyone needs or wants to buy a new printer just for printing from an iPhone or iPad.

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