Tech & Gadget Stream

How many years has it been since you last handled a film camera, juggling with rolls and rolls of 35mm film whenever you go on a vacation? Well, talk about turning the tables by merging both the old and the new - this digital camera comes in the form factor of a 35mm film, making it the perfect disguise if you want to capture secrety trysts between the maid and her lover whenever you're not at home. No idea whether people in the room will wonder just what's up with such an oversized roll of 35mm film, but chances are they've last seen one a decade ago or so, letting this thought slide by without further ado. You can pick up this 35mm Film digital camera for $20 a pop in South Korea.

Minox of Germany is noted for their line of Leica cameras, and this time round the company decides to go covert with its DSC model, also known as the Digital Spy Camera in length. This isn't a looker and neither will it offer highly detailed images from afar, as you get a mere 3.2 megapixel camera with 128MB of internal memory. There is no word on whether the Minox DSC comes with some sort of memory card slot, although we think that would be a great feature to have considering the rather limited internal memory and the possibility of recording videos with this. Pricing details are unavailable, but we do know the Minox DSC tips the scales at 90 grams and measures a diminutive 86mm x 21mm x 30mm.

We knew that Kenya was already home to the Obama beer , but now the Obama brand will also be used by to sell phones. The device itself is quite simple, but the back has the "Yes We Can" slogan with Obama at the top. Note that the 'O' letter is also where the camera is. The phone retails for $30 - in Kenya. The phone is, of course, built from the hordes of faithful followers of Obama's cause, and his famous "Change We Can Believe In" campaign. Does Obama himself own one of these? Who needs a Blackberry, eh?

Samsung kicks off the year with yet another 8 megapixel phone which was spotted in South Korea, adding to the exclusive stable of 8 megapixel club. There is no word on its availability and pricing, while details are as scarce as hair on Kojak's head. What we do know is, it will feature a 800 x 480 resolution touchscreen display that features the TouchWiz user interface, a Xenon flash and an autofocus ability. Hopefully this won't end up as a Korea-only handset, but be prepared to fork out a handsome amount for it.

Have you been hankering for a really tiny DVR with a wired, hidden camera attachment? Have you had trouble finding one for less than three large? Well fret no more, because Mini Gadgets Inc. has got you covered -- and by covered, we mean they make what you're looking for, buddy. The Black Box DVR is a personal video recorder which features a tethered camera, and can utilize a miniSD card up to 4GB. The company's website claims it's the world's smallest DVR under $3000, and we're inclined to agree -- at 2.28 square inches, it doesn't get much smaller. The device can record 640 x 480 video at 30fps, and includes a "long lasting" Li-Ion battery, for when you're on the go... shooting secret videos. Available right now for the shockingly low price of $499.95.

Every now and then, R&D departments spew out prototypes that look promising enough that we can imagine them making their way into finished products one day. Recently, Olympus has announced the development of an “Axial symmetrical free curved surface lens”. This lens is capable of gathering light from 360 degrees horizontally and 45 degrees vertically, and focusing it on a CCD without the use of other lenses. While only a prototype at the moment, possible uses for the lens include security cameras… and extreme sports. Yeah, there are other 360 cameras on the market. But if our understanding is right, the innovation in this case is that the one lens does all the focusing, negating the need for extra lenses, and allowing the manufacturing of more compact devices. Of course, we’re gleaming this from a Spanish article, and a translated Japanese page. So if any Japanese native speakers can help us out, you’d enlighten a whole bunch in the process.