As you might already know, the National Football League (NFL) allows coaches and players access to only laminated playbooks and Polaroid images, and strictly no device that records or plays video is allowed. But that’s going to change with this new deal between the NFL and Microsoft, which will bring the company’s Surface tablet on to the sidelines.

The deal is apparently worth $400 million over five years, and if everything goes as planned you will be seeing teams playing with the Surface to check out replays and plan their next move this season.

Currently many teams might prefer using the Apple iPad as a playbook, about which Darren Rovell says, “Under the Microsoft/NFL deal, players and teams can still use iPads for playbooks, but Apple branding has to be covered up”. There will be Microsoft branding on the replay booth.

Just in case you are wondering, one reason for NFL’s technophobia is that they want to ensure competitive balance. They do not want a team with good techies to have an advantage over other teams. If you are a Formula 1 fan, you should know what we are talking about.

The big question is whether or not the deal will help further popularize the Surface line or not? What do you think of the NFL agreement with Microsoft?

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As the tablet market continues to grow, we continue to see more “kid tablet” efforts arise. None of these have ever taken off all that well, but that doesn’t stop companies from trying.

Now Polaroid is getting into the game with a new 7-inch tablet of its own. The Android 4.0-powered tablet includes a customized suite of apps that has titles like Kids Cam, Music Studio, Draw and more.

The Polaroid tablet also features Kids Vids, which allows them to stream safe, filtered video content from various web sites. There is also Free Play, a unique free game/apps archive that allows them to download appropriate apps that don’t cost a thing.

From the overall design you can tell this is aimed at kids, with its side and rear bumpers. The bad news is it sounds like Polaroid’s tablet is somewhat locked down in the manner that it doesn’t support official Google apps like the Play Store.

So how much will this kid’s tablet set you back? $149.99, which isn’t too bad of a price if you are looking for a reasonably capable tablet for your younger children.

What do you think of the Polaroid kid’s tablet? Worth it for younger ones or better to get a mainstream tablet and buy a 3rd party protective case?

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It seems that all the camera manufacturers are considering the implementation of smartphone operating systems in their pocket shooters, and Polaroid is no exception. The latest rumor has a new 18MP camera coming down the pipes that will be powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. And it’s doing the interchangeable lens thing.

This isn’t Polaroid’s first foray into this arena. You might remember the Polaroid SC1630 from earlier this year, but the leaked Polaroid IM1836 is supposed to take it to a new level. Rather than simply competing against point-and-shoots, it’ll tackle the likes of the Sony NEX series, the micro four-thirds format from Panasonic and Olympus, and other compact interchangeable lens systems.

The rumored specs include an 18.1-megapixel sensor, 3.5-inch touchscreen, Android 4.0, pop-up flash, Wi-Fi, HDMI, and a microSD slot. Some people say that it bears a striking resemblance to the Nikon 1 J2, so we might assume that it uses the same CX image sensor (13.2 x 8.8mm). That’s been one of the knocks against the Nikon 1 series in that its image sensor is far smaller than micro four-thirds (17.3 x 13mm) and even smaller than the APS-C sensor used on the Sony NEX series.

Even so, simply going with a mirrorless interchangeable lens format will give the Polaroid Android camera a leg up against other Android cameras like the Samsung Galaxy Camera and the Nikon S800c. Soon, in-camera editing, cellular connectivity, and social sharing will become the norm rather than unique selling points.

[Source]

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Polaroids have long had a very historic place in the world of photography, though many will agree that their golden age has long since passed and they’ve become just another brand. Polaroid might not be the king of the hill anymore, but it is far from gone, thanks to the need for social sharing of photos and the popularity of programs such as Instagram.

With this in mind, the new Polaroid Z2300 Instant has a lot of the appeal of the old-school Instant Polaroids of the analog age with its built-in printer, but unlike its ancestors, this little guy isn’t nearly as bulky and is fully digital. The Z2300 includes a built-in ZINK printer and offers a 10-MP sensor, 3-inch LCD, SD storage, built-in editing tools and a reasonable starting price at just $160. The new Polaroid hits stores on August 15^th. While it might not bring back the full-comeback of Polaroid, I admit that such a camera is very intriguing, especially at a sub-$200 price point. On the other hand, you can get many decent digital P&S with 10MP sensors for the $100-$120 range, so the bottom line is that the Polaroid is really only worth it if you think you’ll truly make regular use out of its ZINK printer.

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We are well aware that high end smartphones are now capable of producing very good snapshots and decent videos.  This time, Polaroid’s SC1630 camera is blurring the line.  It runs Google Android phone OS . Hence, it’s a camera that can make phone calls. In this respect, Polaroid prefers to call this device a “phone camera” (stress on “camera”), and not your regular “camera phone”.

Let’s see what is known about the “camera” part first. It’s a 16 Mpix shooter for stills that is also capable of shooting HD videos. The lens has an optical 3x zoom (6.5–18.5 mm which translates into 36–108 mm when compared to full-frame format). It also has 5x digital zoom, but as usual, we don’t go there.

The camera face of the device looks like your ordinary digital shooter, with a regular flash strip. Zoom level can be chosen by convenient “hardware” slider, and the shutter also has a dedicated “hardware” button. Camera view can be adjusted with the help of 3.2 inch multi-touch widescreen display. There are 18 shooting modes to choose from, plus face and smile detection for portrait mode. Transferring photos to Polaroid printers can be made via WiFi, or Bluetooth, or saved on camera with up to 32 GB microSD card.  All in all, it’s your regular 16 Mpix shooter.

The Android face of the Polaroid SC1630 leaves many things to be desired though. First of all, there’s this delay of no less than 5 sec between stand-by and readiness to shoot that precludes many on-the-go and paparazzi-style shots. Demoed on-board is a customized Android version (must be built around Android 2.3 Gingerbread, or even Froyo.) Polaroid hopes to put Ice Cream Sandwich on the camera at the point when the SC1630 will be released at $299.

The “phone” part of the camera has also a 3G radio but apparently no carrier commitment just yet. At CES 2012, this “phone camera” has got a lukewarm reception at best, but who knows, maybe you will like the idea much better? Here’s a clip from our friends at Phandroid that may help you decide:

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OK, it’s a neat idea: Shades with a cellphone-style camera in the bridge for taking photos and video. But give that neat idea to Lady Gaga for design, and the Polaroid GL20 sunglasses are the inevitable end result as seen at the CES.

Vaguely resembling a protective face shield or welder’s helmet, the first thing you’ll notice about Polaroid’s new Grey Label camera glasses is definitely not the face of the person under them.

You will, however, notice that the built-in LCD screens, made to display photos and video to those looking at your face, shift your face’s focal point (the eyes, when not obscured by a gray plastic cookie sheet) down to your cheekbones, subconsciously giving the illusion that the face beneath is slightly deformed.

And, if you’re still looking at these things, you’ll realize that since the LCD screens are about the middle of the shades, but are meant to sit below the eyes, the shades have to sit a bit low on the face. That won’t work very well for keeping the afternoon sun from shining straight in through the massive gap between the lenses and your eyebrows.

Other notable downsides of these sunny monstrosities? You probably won’t be able to see your feet or what you’re about to step on. It’s probably safe to assume The light from the screens will reflect off the insides of the lenses if you’re wearing them at night. And they’re actually set to release by spring this year.

It’s probably best to just stick with the camera on your cell phone. Polaroid’s marketing team probably asked, “how can we get Lady Gaga in on CES?”

[Mashable Gizmodo via Polaroid]

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