New Panasonic SDR-S7 camcorder weighs 182g, costs €270

Like Sony today, Panasonic goes for light weight. But in this case we have VGA resolution at 640×480 -16:9 also available- something that makes the SDR-S7 a budget model for the price of a mobile telephone.

Size is ultra small at 41×102x59mm and weight is 183g including battery and SD card storage. The €270 price makes it a perfectly justifiable choice for YouTube videos or for children that want to get started with video. Who said that there is no room for non-HD models?

Link: Akihabara

Sony HDR-TG1 is world’s smallest 1080i camcorder you can buy

As if the Sony HDR-SR11 and HDR-SR12 camcorders were not enough, Sony now releases the HDR-TG1, a compact machine that is at the lower end of the HD segment and is targeted towards casual videographers with a priority for portability. The main characteristics are as follows:

• Very compact dimensions of 32×119x63 mm and corresponding low weight of 300 gramms. Do not complain if you easily lose or cannot keep your camcorder steady!
• AVCHD codec. Hopefully here quality problems will be resolved as with the HDR-SR12.
• Full HD 1080i recording. With flash based storage it is better to keep things nice and compact don’t you think? Not much place for 1080p here.
• Memory Stick storage with 8 GB included with the camera. With all the Memory Stick flavours out there, be prepared for a headache when you decide to buy more cards.
• 10x Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical zoom lens.
• Almost 1 hour of full quality recording at 1980×1080i and 16 Mbps.
• 2.7 inch touch LCD screen, quite convenient for a camcorder of such small dimensions.
• 4 megapixel picture capability.

Road energy system collects solar energy to heat buildings

Source: Ooms Avenhorn

Think of this system as a massive heat exchanger. Pipes underneath the asphalt carry water that is heated during the day from solar energy and then stored underground for later use. When the weather turns cold, this very same heated water forms the basis for the heating of buildings.

You think it’s a joke? Think better because a Dutch company called Ooms Avenhorn has already succesfully tested the system in a village and a military airport to heat buildings and a hangar respectively. And not only that, the hot water is also used in winter to keep the road ice free, while cold water stored for summer can be used equally effectively for cooling! According to Ooms, emissions are cut by half, while salt for the road becomes unecessary.