Walyou

SJCAM SJ4000 Plus Records 2K Action in Wide Angle

Posted: 22 Jun 2015 01:30 PM PDT

GoPro may be the leader of the action video industry, but as of late, it’s facing some fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi or SJCAM.

One of the latest products to come from SJCAM, the SJ4000 Plus action camera, is quite similar in design to the GoPro Hero series, but manages to provide relatively the same functionality at a fraction of the price. The Plus in this product’s name denotes some additional features when compared to the basic SJ4000. More precisely, this action camera is capable to record in 2K at 30fps. While inferior to GoPro Hero’s 4K resolution, this still is a major step up from Xiaomi Yi Camera‘s 1080p shot at 60fps.

Besides 2K at 30fps, the SJ4000+ can also record at 1080p at 60 or 30fps, and at 720 at 120fps. The latter framerate indicates that it’s possible to shoot slow motion videos with this device. Photo shooting modes include single shot, burst, timer, and continuous, while the photo resolution is 12, 8, or 5MP. All of these are stored on a microSD card Class 6 or above with a capacity of up to 32GB.

The 170-degree wide lens ensures that none of the action taking place in front of you escapes the camera. That includes audio, which is recorded in AAC with the built-in microphone.

In terms of connectivity, this action cam packs Wi-Fi, which enables you to connect a smartphone or a tablet to the SJ4000+ and stream the recorded feed directly to it. Of course, you can check that on the camera’s LCD display, but at 1.5″, that’s kinda small.

As seen in the following image, the SJ4000+ comes with quite a lot of accessories. An IP68 waterproof case is provided, for capturing video at up to 30m, along with all sorts of helmet and bike mounts and stands. Not at last, you’ll find in the package a 3.7V 900mAh li-ion rechargeable battery that can keep the camera up and running for up to 80 minutes, when shooting in 1080p. It’s also possible to record while charging, so it might not be a bad idea to carry a power bank with you.

GearBest offers the SJCAM SJ4000 Plus for $149. The action camera is available in a wide variety of colors, including black, white, silver, blue, red, pink, yellow and golden.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Blackview Hero 1 & 2 action cams, or Kodak’s sports and action camera.

Roost Flexible Laptop Stand Does Away with Neck and Back Pain

Posted: 22 Jun 2015 12:59 PM PDT

Some people spend the whole work day in front of their laptop, and thus expose themselves to serious health problems, including Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), back and neck pain. Roost is a laptop stand that means to prevent all those problems.

The latest tendency, which seems to have been adopted by most, if not all, modern laptop stands, is to keep the keyboard inclined, and the display at eye-level. Roost does that and more, since it proves to be very flexible while deployed, and compact while on the go.

Somewhat similar in design to a beach chair, the Roost laptop stand can be easily adjusted in terms of height, since people, much like notebooks, come in different shapes and sizes. Speaking of sizes, thanks to its patent-pending “Pivoting Grips,” Roost can fit laptops of any size and shape (as long as it’s not a thick IBM ThinkPad from the mid-90s). Besides compatibility, another aspect Roost excels at is stability. Once secured into place, the laptop cannot slide, even if the spill-proofed stand gets bumped.

The only inconvenience is that despite the eye-level screen, the keyboard and trackpad are in a position that’s very uncomfortable, when using Roost. That’s exactly why the manufacturer strongly suggests using an external keyboard and mouse.

One aspect I cannot exactly wrap my mind around is the reason behind making a stand for laptops, and not for tablets, if the notebook’s keyboard and trackpad aren’t used in this scenario, anyway.

As seen in the above picture, the Roost laptop stand is incredibly compact when tucked away. In its compact form, the stand measures 1″ x 1″ x 13″ and weighs 5.8 ounces. That makes it barely noticeable, both size- and weight-wise, when carrying it in a notebook backpack. Setting it up is extremely easy, as all you have to do is pull the legs apart.

James Olander designed this stand, and collaborated with Alfred Manufacturing to make it possible, before bringing it to Kickstarter. The crowdfunding campaign’s $475,000 funding goal has almost been reached, as at writing time there were 13 more days to go and approximately $50K to be raised. There were no early bird spots for this project, but anyone who pledged at least $49 should expect to receive their Roost in October 2015.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Basepro laptop dock, or the portable laptop case that turns into a desk while in the go.