Fully Charged: Hasselblad’s indestructible HV camera, HP unveils its Chromebox, and the London house with a spectacular tech secret

Hasselblad HV: a Sony A99 dressed in couture

Few camera companies enjoy a reputation as rock solid as Hasselblad (these are the cameras NASA chose to take to the moon, so reliable were they), but its recent partnership with Sony is raising some eyebrows. The Hasselblad HV is basically a Sony A99 in fancier clothes – and at over twice the price.

The HV’s innards and controls are the same the A99’s, but it has a more rugged outer shell made of titanium and high-grade aluminium, plus a removeable “super resin” case which enables it to operate in temperatures between -40 degrees and 80 degrees Celsius. It costs, when bundled with a Sony 24-70mm Carl Zeiss lens, €8,500 (around £7,075), while you could buy the Sony A99 with the same lens for around £3,500.

The A99 is an excellent camera as it is, and arguably better-looking in its utilitarian elegance than the rather flouncy HV. But if you have money to burn and a desire to shoot in conditions that would likely kill you, we guess the HV would make a decent alternative.

[Source: Luxury Launches]

Sony shutters its ebook store

Sony has decided to close its online ebook store in the US and Canada as it strives to return to profitability. The company has been losing money year-on-year and this seems like just one cost-cutting effort it’ll be making in the near future. In the future, North American owners of Sony’s ereader devices will be able to buy new books through the Kobo store. The Kobo app will also come pre-installed on select Xperia phones.

[Source: PR Newswire]

This London house conceals an interstellar secret

The London property market is decidedly strong right now, but this huge Crystal Palace pile has something that most rival houses don’t: a spaceship.

The 11-bedroom Victorian property’s current owners have decorated it in a pretty tame style – except for one room in the attic, which has been done up in the style of a Blake’s 7 1970s sci-fi cockpit, complete with pilot and co-pilot seats and computer monitors. We reckon it’d be the best place to play Elite or Eve Online in the world. And a snip at £3,250,000.

[Source: Rightmove via Time Out]

HP reveals upcoming Chromebox

HP has announced that it will launch a Chromebox computer this spring (in the US, at least). The compact device (think the original Apple TV in terms of size) will turn any TV into a Google Chrome PC, allowing you to browse the web, use Chromecast, and access Google Drive and Play.

HP has not revealed detailed specs or pricing for its Chromebook yet, but it will have an Intel Core i7 processor, four USB ports, HDMI, DisplayPort, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

[Source: HP via SlashGear]

About

Tech journalism's answer to The Littlest Hobo, I've written for a host of titles and lived in three different countries in my 15 years-plus as a freelancer. But I've always come back home to Stuff eventually, where I specialise in writing about cameras, streaming services and being tragically addicted to Destiny.