In one fell swoop, Newman shows the industry how to get its ass back into plastic. The Cool Man MP3 player is anything but, man. Unless you’re still wearing that acid-washed, Blondie pin collector from your 80’s wardrobe. The DAP features an OLED display, MP3/WMA support, built-in mic and bleb poppin’ safety pin. And that juicy orange? We have no fracking idea since the player is about as waterproof as a, as a… well, entry-level MP3 player.
The rumored Tony Hawk edition of the Sidekick LX is said to be making its first public appearance today, looking every bit the part with a “skateboard look and feel” made complete with “grip-tape-texture” and the skateboarding icon’s name plastered across the display’s bezel. This one isn’t just about branding, though — it’s being said that T-Mobile will use the occasion to launch a rather hearty LX firmware update that includes video recording, stereo Bluetooth, additional themes, some sort of video sharing capability, and more; it’ll be available to all LX owners some time this summer via an over-the-air update. Meanwhile, the very special Tony Hawk piece should be made available to buyers in mid-July.
In its battle with Sony for 1080i pistol grips, Sanyo just announced a minor, but notable update to its premium HD1000 Full HD MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 camcorder. The new HD1010 adds improved image processing and stabilization, new “face chaser” technology for stills and video, and amusing new 300fps slow-motion mode. Nothing compared to Casio’s freakish EX-F1 but a nice novelty for shooting the kids’ sporting adventures. Sanyo also tossed in a new 7fps continuous still shot mode which snags images at the sensor’s maximum 4 megapixel resolution. A minor bump for sure but it makes for a compelling offering at the (relatively) low asking price of $800 when it hits the US in July (Japan, June 20th).
Update: Akihabara News went hands-on in the video posted after the break.
The YBox was pretty much destined to become a hit with the DIY crowd just as soon as it was handed 15 spectacular minutes at last summer’s Maker Faire. For those who reckoned the project would fade into the sunset as quickly as it arrived, we’ve got news proving your assumptions wrong… dead wrong. YBox2 has at long last arrived to the party, ready to serve up widgets and all sorts of pertinent information on your television screen. The new kit boasts an 80MHz Parallax Propeller chip and functions with any NTSC / PAL TV and any DHCP-compatible router — and yes, it still all fits within a flashy Altoids tin. Score!
Yes, it’s hard to believe, but we assure you there were no special effects used to create this image. Here’s beloved action movie star Jackie Chan once again doing his own stunts — the most embarrassing one he’s ever done. Believe it or not, he says these are hard to sell in China.
Josh T: “Police Story 5: Loser Cop”
Paul: “In his next film, Jackie Chan will pose exactly zero threat to anyone at all.”
Ryan: “This, Jackie Chan, is your punishment for ‘The Tuxedo.’”
Chris: “Jackie Chan avoids Rush Hour 4 thanks to his trusty Segway.”
Josh F: “Legend of Drunken Decisions”
Thomas: “Enter the Dragon, exit the nerd”
Jackie Chan: “Don’t try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie. Study computers instead.” (Seriously, he said that!)
It looks like AT&T is getting a bit more generous these days, with the company now following up its supposed plans to offer free WiFi to LaptopConnect and smartphone users with a promised 20% boost in 3G data speeds. That translates to “typical” downlink speeds of between 700 Kbps and 1.7 Mbps (up from 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps), and uplink speeds of between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps (formerly 500 to 800 Kbps). To get those slightly improved speeds, however, you’ll have to use one of the company’s aforementioned LaptopConnect cards, and no doubt situate yourself in some prime signal real estate. What’s more, AT&T says those speeds are only a taste of things to come, with it promising that peak data speeds will eventually reach 20 Mbps as it switches over to HSPA+ between 2009 and 2010.
Unless you’ve specifically been lookin’ out, you may have very well forgotten about WowWee’s crazed robotic dog that was uncaged at CES. After lasting through its first few days of training (which we’ll call a review for our purposes), we’re led to believe that this pup is “the silliest robot you’ll ever love.” Reviewers weren’t shy in calling it like it saw it, as Wrex was hailed as “absolutely terrible at being a dog and even worse at being a robot.” Of course, it’s fairly easy to see this bugger was meant to provide comedic relief and not sophisticated companionship, so those pointers aren’t exactly negative. Overall, Wrex is almost guaranteed to make you chuckle on a daily basis, and if you don’t believe that, just check out the video waiting after the break. [Via MAKE]
Klipsch made tiny waves with their original Image headphones, saying they were the world’s smallest. We took their word for it and moved along. Now Klipsch has given up on the size game with its new X5 headphones, boasting that the 2mm-bigger X5 headphones are “light but heavy in sound.” Anyway, the Image X5 use a full-range armature driver, tuned bass-reflex system, and sport a long-enough 50-inch cable. The housing is electroplated aluminum and Klipsch says the black “tail” reduces cable stress and dampens cable noise. The X5 is iPhone compatible and comes in at a more wallet-friendly (but still slightly alarming) $249 later this month. For that price you’ll get the headphones, carrying pouch, airplane adapter, five multi-sized ear gels, and an ear gel cleaning tool.
There are literally thousands of wacky gadget variations floating around Computex, but one that’s caught the eye of our Chinese counterparts is this snazzy DarFon keyboard. As you can tell by the picture above, the keys sport some luminous qualities, and the board is constructed from lacquered metal, said to give it a “burnish.” Apparently the company was also showing off a mouse which would giggle when you touch it and gets upset if someone you “don’t like” emails you (don’t ask us how it knows). Creepy? Yes. Are we ready to pre-order? Definitely. More pics after the break.
It’s not always a question of why — sometimes why not will suffice. The rolling bot above relies upon the Mindstorms NXT light sensor’s ability to read the contrasting colors on the iPhone display. After some simple programming and DIY tomfoolery you can drive the robot from the comforts of your WiFi-enabled web browser. Overkill? Oh hells yeah, but at least now your iPhone will serve a purpose after Monday. See how the kids at Battlebricks did it in the video after the break.
Mio’s got quite the interesting duo set up at Computex: the Windows Mobile 6.1-packin’ G50 and the two-faced LEAP K1. As for the former, you may know it better as the Lovebird, but it seems a more corporately accepted monicker was chosen at the last minute for the quad-band GSM handset. As for the latter, this mysterious creature actually has two faces to fondle — one of which packs a traditional numeric keypad, while the other features an expansive panel perfect for serving up routes. Check the links below for more details on both.
Honlai may not be a household name just yet, but if it can up the resolution on its minuscule projectors just a hair, there stands a decent chance for it to become one. Details are pretty scarce right now, but we do know that the MP100 LED mini-projector utilizes LCoS micro-projection technology and can throw up a 640 x 480 image between 5- and 37-inches. We’re also hearing that it packs a modest 200:1 contrast ratio and a lamp good for some 20,000 hours of use. Not a peep on pricing / availability, but we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more on either.
Japan’s third-largest mobile phone operator now has rights to Apple’s iPhone. As has been the norm recently, the announcement is a one-liner without any details related to exclusivity (NTT DoCoMo and KDDI still can has a chanceburger) or model… though it should be noted that Softbank is a W-CDMA (UMTS 3G), not GSM/EDGE carrier. Softbank only says that they’ll be selling the iPhone “later this year.”
Another day, another means of converting waste heat into something decidedly non-wasteful. This one comes to us from the folks at Cyclone, whose self-starting Waste Heat Engine can apparently be powered by virtually any source of waste heat, including exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine, the “direct burning of biomass,” or even the waste heat from another Waste Heat Engine. The company is also touting the engine’s ability to provide a boost to solar-power generators, with it apparently able to capture heat using inexpensive panels attached to a roof, which Cyclone says could be installed at just 20% of the cost of other systems relying on pricey photovoltaic panels. Of course, there’s no word as to what the Waste Heat Engine itself will cost, or when it’ll be available, but you can check it out in action in the (auto-playing) video after the break.
Live Wires creates some noise in the music market by selling custom headphones for hundreds less than its competitors
Live Wires is a new and unique company, which makes custom-molded in ear headphones for the consumer market. Launched in 2007, the goal was simple — create an affordable professional-grade version of this technology, typically reserved for rock stars, and bring it to end users.
At the time of the company’s product launch in February 2007, custom molded earbuds cost around $800 to $900, putting them out of the reach of most consumers. Live Wire headphones retail for a mere $249.
The design of Live Wires features dual balanced armature drivers, one tweeter and one woofer. This driver pair combines to help give the earphones much higher-end sound quality and better efficiency than single driver moving coil designs, typical in the earbud market. The drivers have a range of 20 Hz to 16 KHz, offer 126 dB/mW sensitivity at 1 KHz, and have a mere 22 ohms of impedance. They also provide 25-28 dB of noise isolation as, well making them well suited for noisy environments like airports or during motorcycle or bus rides.
By comparison, Shure sells what is considered a relatively good in-ear headphone model, which are not custom molded but retail for around $119. The Shure se110 features a higher impedance of 27 ohms (lower is better) and a lower sensitivity of 113 dB/mW. The isolation for these phones is only 90 percent of ambient noise, only around a 19.5 dB noise isolation (25-28 dB is around a 99.9985% noise reduction).
Another interesting feature of the headphones is that the wires are full rotatable, allowing any style of wear. This allows for up and over the ear wear, or a more casual “Y” style of wear, with the cords dangling downwards. The cables also feature a custom adapter, which guarantees in-phase signal.
Live Wires co-developer John Diles tells DailyTech, “The creative process for the product was a result of my close relationship with Earl Neal, Toby Keith’s monitor engineer. Our lengthy conversations abotu ear monitoring and what features we’d like to offer led us to the introduction of Live Wires.”
Diles claims his target audience is everyone “from Jon Herington of Steely Dan — who enthusiastically endorses us — to a 16 year audiophile who wants to extract every minute tone flowing from his portable rig. We feel there is too large a discrepancy between what professional artists demand in their ears and what consumers of music have to tolerate in their ears.”
Diles points out that while the headphones are much lower priced than competitive entries, the parts used are from “the most prestigious manufacturers in the industry,” such as Knowles, which makes the balanced armatures.
Despite the fact that it is targeted to consumers, Diles says 40 percent of the headphones’ sales are to music professionals. Steely Dan’s guitarist, Jon Herington is an avid supporter. All of Jimmie Kimmel’s band wear the product. Mr. Diles points to this acceptance as a sign of the company’s success, stating, “Our dual-driver design is very pleasing sonicaly as well, as is evidenced by our rapid acceptance into the touring world.”
Deaf Dancing With The Stars contestant Marlee Matlin uses the Live Wires earphones when she performans. Matlin, like many legally deaf people, has some hearing in her inner ear. The high level of isolation lets her hear the music to some extent, critical to her performance.
Watching Google tiptoe around its relationship with Apple as it rolls out Android is one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching the industry these days. This is perfectly illustrated in the words of Rich Miner, group manager for Google’s mobile platforms, who said, “there’s a much larger potential market on Android than for the iPhone.” A truthful statement in all likelihood assuming that the OS is robust upon its global release later this year and available on handsets from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, and LG as expected. Miner then took a few shots at the iPhone SDK saying, “There are things I saw people doing with the first version of the Android SDK that it seems like you can’t do with the iPhone at least at the moment.” He then noted that the SDK had been downloaded 750,000 times (compared to Apple’s 100k in 4 days) as of February. Naturally, he then applied a thick, brown coat of public relations salve saying, “[If I were a developer] I’d certainly be looking at the iPhone, and if you believe there will be lots of Android phones out there, as we do, I’d be developing for both platforms.” Kumbaya my BossEricSchmidtSitsOnTheAppleBoard, kumabaya…
It’s just what you’ve been waiting for — a Nokia N95 running Windows Mobile. It looks like the rumors were true after all! What’s that? This is not a real phone? It’s just an FM radio with a sticker on the screen? Oh bother. Yes folks, thanks to eagle-eyed tipster Eric, you’re looking at the next evolution in gadgetry — the Asaki N95 FM radio. We’re not sure what the going price for this is, but we’d imagine slightly less than $779, though the real N95 doesn’t come with those totally pimped-out headphones, does it?
We can’t say we’ve really spent any huge amount of time wondering just how converged kitchen devices can become, but apparently, the designers at Pandigital have. Announced today, the Kitchen HDTV / Digital Cookbook / Digital Photo Frame (really, that’s the name) stays true to itself in three big ways: acting as a 15-inch 720p HDTV (ATSC / NTSC tuner included), a digital cookbook (with pre-loaded recipes and space for more) and a digital photo frame. Packed within, you’ll find half a gigabyte of memory, a built-in alarm clock and an integrated 6-in-1 media card reader. And considering all that sauce you’ll be slinging, you’ll be thrilled to know that it’s sealed with glass and boasts interchangeable faceplates to fit varying moods. Heck, this thing even handles Motion JPEG, MPEG4 and AVI files — not a bad way to spice up your kitchen (and spend $399.99), eh?
This one’s definitely not for the casual iPhone unlocker, but if for some reason you’re looking to toy around with a couple of different firmware versions at a time, you can now apparently set up a dual-boot system of sorts on the phone. As Jonathan “NerveGas” Zdziarski notes in his how-to, the hack in question has actually been in use by the iPhone Dev Team for “several months” now, but he says that “now that several more advanced techniques have been developed,” they’ve decided to let it loose for all to use. Needless to say, there’s some partition-making and a good deal of command line work involved in the feat (all of which could cause you some serious headaches), but once you’ve got everything set up, you’ll apparently be able to switch between different OS versions just by changing your root-device with a simple command. As iPhone Atlas points out, that option will likely become a lot more attractive once the SDK-compliant 2.0 firmware is released, but if you’ve got some ideas of your own in the meantime, you can find all the details you need at the link below.
If you reckoned that Sony’s VPL-EX4 and VPL-ES4 were getting a bit long in the tooth, we suppose Sony agrees. Across the way (in Asia-Pacific, to be precise), Sony has launched four new PJs on us: the VPL-EW5, VPL-EX50, VPL-EX5 and VPL-ES5. According to the company, the whole lot is aimed at boardroom masters, but these 3LCD units and their 2,500 ANSI lumens would certainly hold their own after hours. Additionally, the first three incorporate Sony’s BrightEra imaging technology, and you’ll find resolutions as high as WXGA (1,280 x 800) and contrast ratios up to 900:1. For more specifics on each, check out the nitty-gritty in the read link below.
Solar power admittedly has obstacles to overcome. Photovoltaics require glass and are relatively expensive. Trough and solar tower setups typically need to adopt advanced design features, such as those of the new proposed Arizona 280 MW desert plant. These design features add to the moving parts total, make maintenance more complex, and most importantly raise the cost. Other solar setups such as photosynthetic hydrogen production and solar nanowires hold great promise, but are currently too far away from being a realizable commercial solution.
So what is the answer to providing cheap solar power, power that can rival even the efficiency and cost of nuclear energy? One idea floated around in the past has been to print solar cells using inkjet printers. However such a process remained in the realm of pure research — until now.
Massachusetts-based Konarka Technologies, Inc, a company with a healthy history of commercial experience, developed and demonstrated a commercial-grade process for printing cells on inkjet printers. All quips about inkjet cartridge costs aside, the new process holds tremendous potential to revolutionize the solar photovoltaic industry.
Konarka demonstrated the technology publicly and published its research that backs the process in Advanced Materials, entitled, “High Photovoltaic Performance of Inkjet Printed Polymer:Fullerene Blends†by Konarka researchers Dr. Stelios A. Choulis, Claudia N. Hoth, Dr. Pavel Schilinsky and Dr. Christoph J. Brabec.
Typical photovoltaics require a clean room to maintain the delicate manufacturing conditions necessary in order to carry out silicon spin coating and other steps in the manufacturing process. These clean rooms are extremely expensive to build and maintain. While traditional photovoltaics can be profitable, Konarka’s inkjet phtovoltaics promise to dramatically lower their cost, making solar power suddenly very competitive in terms of energy production per installation cost. Better yet, it will likely reduce the time it takes to produce the cells and allow for easier expansion of capacity.
Rick Hess, president and CEO, states, “Demonstrating the use of inkjet printing technology as a fabrication tool for highly efficient solar cells and sensors with small area requirements is a major milestone. This essential breakthrough in the field of printed solar cells positions Konarka as an emerging leader in printed photovoltaics.”
The new solar cells use an organic bulk heterojunction, as opposed to the non-organic designs of traditional solar cells. The new organic-ink has the advantage of being deposited easily on a number of different substrates, unlike traditional inorganic semiconductor doping which can only be applied easily to a limited number of inorganic semiconductors. Konarka looks to deploy this technology in what it calls Power Plastic® — flexible plastic power producing sheets. One intriguing feature of the plastics is that Konarka can offer flexible plastic solar panels with printed patterns — such as bricks or camouflage, which although taking a slight hit on efficiency, could be an intriguing prospect for non-intrusive installation. The military already has contracted the company to build a series of camouflaged power-generating buildings.
Konarka plans on marketing the new tech to power laptops, cell phones, and more. The solar cells work with the full spectrum of visible light, so they can be charged indoors, not just in sunlight. Konarka advertises that a sheet not much bigger than a couple pieces of notebook paper could charge a laptop, when you’re on the go.
While Konarka still has to prove itself before maintaining a place among the greats of alternative energy, its process sure seems innovative. If the company is a success, perhaps in a couple years the solution to the energy crisis will be as simple a print job away.
Sony, Toshiba and IBM have long touted the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) to be supercomputer material. The designers of the Cell/B.E. said many times that the processor may be used in a variety of applications, ranging from entertainment to industrial.
Now, the U.S. Air Force is planning to put the Cell/B.E. to the test, and oddly enough, it plans to procure its processor samples by purchasing 300 PlayStation 3 consoles.
As written in its presolicitation notice posted late February, “The Air Force Research Laboratory is conducting a technology assessment of certain cell processors.â€
While there are many other ways to obtain a Cell/B.E., some of which more capable than the one offered for videogames, but even the U.S. Air Force has a budget.
“The processors in the Sony PlayStation 3 are the only brand on the market that utilizes the specific cell processor characteristics needed for this program at an acceptable cost,†detailed the notice.
Strangely, the 40GB PlayStation 3 model requested by the U.S. Air Force specifies the inclusion of four USB ports – twice as many on the retail 40GB PS3 – and slots for Memory Stick/SD/Compact Flash, which are only available on the 60GB and 80GB machines.
Acer passes Dell as the number two notebook PC maker in the world
Notebook manufacturers are always fighting it out for global supremacy, measured in the number of computers sold and shipped around the world. Market research firm DisplaySearch routinely ranks the companies according to the number of notebooks shipped.
DisplaySearch released a new report this week that shows some interesting information. While HP maintained its worldwide market dominance of the notebook PC industry holding on to its number one spot for the sixth straight quarter, Acer is making huge gains on the list. Acer overtook Dell as the number two notebook maker in the world.
HP moved more than 6 million notebook computers in Q4 2007 while Acer showed big gains shipping 5.25 million notebooks worldwide leaving it about 1.4 million units behind number one HP. Dell ranked third with shipments of 4.64 million units.
Acer’s acquisitions of rival PC makers Gateway and Packard Bell enabled it to beat Dell out of the second place spot on the DisplaySearch list. However, DisplaySearch points out that Acer was able to dramatically narrow the gap between it and Dell with Acer branded notebooks alone.
Fourth place on the list goes to Toshiba with 2.86 million notebooks shipped in Q4 2007. Fifth place went to Lenovo with 2.73 million and Fujitsu captured sixth place with 1.62 million shipped. Sony, Asus and Apple rounded out the list with 1.59 million, 1.56 million and 1.34 million unit shipped respectively. All other PC makers not listed by name in the report account for 5.55 million units shipped.
Some other interesting facts from the report were that the most popular size notebook was the 15.4-inch with 1280 x 800 resolution. In a distant second place were notebooks with 14.1-inch screens.
Blu-ray duplication systems have been on the block for a good while now, but apparently, Aleratec’s flavor does something that none of the other cool kids can even dream of: it supports LightScribe. The 1:3 Copy Cruiser Blu LS houses a trio of LightScribe-enabled SATA Blu-ray burners that can toast BD-Rs at 6x as well as vanilla DVDs and CDs at much higher speeds. You’ll even find a built-in eSATA connector and a dual channel eSATA host adapter bundled in for those who need one. Here’s the rough part — this critter will set you back a staggering $3,199, so you best be making some serious coin on whatever you’re duplicating for this to be even close to a sound investment.
Innovation First sure looks to be keeping up a steady pace with its VEX robotics system, with the company now following up its recently released ROBOTC programming kit with its new VEX RCR Mini kit and a new WiFi control system. The former, as you’ve no doubt surmised, is a smaller and less expensive version of Innovation’s standard VEX system, which it thinks will be particularly appealing to students from elementary school on up. The VEX WiFi Control System, on the other hand, will apparently work with all VEX robots, and somewhat ominously, allows for “simultaneous operation of hundreds of robots wirelessly.” No word on a price or exact release date for the WiFi system just yet, but you can look for the VEX RCR Mini to be available this August for “less than $100.” [Warning: PDF Link]
Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.
Canon’s eye-based biometric photo watermarking system hits the Patent Office
Image attribution is big business on this tangled web of ours, but embedding digital watermarks into images is a costly and time-consuming procedure for most photographers — which is why this Canon patent application is so intriguing. The filing describes a “Registration” mode for digital cameras that embeds biometric data captured from your iris in the image automatically as a watermark — you simply set yourself as one of up to five users, look into the viewfinder for a moment so the camera can scan your eye, and start taking photos. The system embeds the metadata in batches to avoid slowing the camera down while you’re out in the field, and it sounds like the system can be modified to simply generate a verification code instead of a true watermark, preserving image quality. Of course, this is just a patent application, so there’s no word on when or where we might see this tech pop up, but you know photographers will be all over this when it finally hits.
When we actually stopped to think about it, we realized that we’ve waited an awful long time for Cowon’s A3 to finally make its way into our grubby paws, and while you’ve been teased before with unboxing shots and the like, we figured it prudent to snatch one of our own and decide if it really was worth the wait. On paper, this multimedia powerhouse has just about everything you could ask for given it’s sub-$400 price tag, but if you’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger before someone else gave you the low down, head on past the break for all the deets you crave. (more…)
Sorry Microsoft and Apple, you may have had some fancy smartphone sales this year in your cute little American way, but globally there’s no question who’s the real leader in this segment: the Symbian OS shipped on 77.3 million units in 2007. That’s a 50% growth over 2006 sales, with over 141 different phone models from eight licensees. If the new hotness from Nokia this year at MWC is any indication, those numbers aren’t going to go away very soon, but Sony Ericsson’s adoption of Windows Mobile for its flagship XPERIA X1 certainly spells a modicum of trouble for Symbian land. Of course, there are many more low-end Symbian smartphones than there are cheap Windows Mobile phones, and Apple’s iPhone is still a premium product , but the line is becoming increasingly blurred.
While rumors of a touchscreen BlackBerry are nothing new — and hey, we’ve even got ourselves a patent to go on nowadays — it’s still encouraging to hear promising hints from the likes of RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie. When asked if RIM would release a touchscreen version of the BlackBerry, Balsillie sounded optimistic. “For sure we’re looking at all kinds of different device packaging and presentation,” he said. “I think getting religious on packaging is not the way to go, it’s really user preference-oriented.” Whether that means we’ll be seeing an iPhone look-alike, or something completely different in the near future is yet to be seen, but at least we do have word that HSDPA is showing up in a BlackBerry near you before long: “Certainly going to HSDPA is something that’s very important to us in the near term,” said Balsillie.
We’re not huge fans of overzealous security camera deployment, but if you’re going to spend taxpayer money deploying nannycams, at least make sure they’re capturing more than one frame every two seconds — the rate at which San Francisco’s $900,000 system is running. A study of the city’s 68 cameras found that the system has only led to one arrest in two and a half years of operation, and the main reason for the failure is uselessly slow video — which is grainy, to boot. Compare that to Chicago’s much-hated (but effective) system, which runs at 30fps, and it’s obvious why the president of San Francisco’s Police Commission said the city was “throwing money away.” There’s no word on how or when the issue might be resolved, but the city is due to review the system and issue a determination soon. Check the read link for a video of the system in (in)action.
We’re not exactly sure how this all went down, but we trust Erica Sadun over at TUAW when she says that it appears that the iPhone’s SDK key — which will probably be required by all “official” third-party apps — has been leaked. Two different sites currently have the key posted, but it’s all just for show until next month, when the SDK hits for real — and the code is undoubtedly changed.
We’re short on specifics, but MSI looks to be getting behind Intel’s upcoming 45nm Diamondville processor in a big way — a totally unsurprising turn of events. Diamondville is pretty much built from the ground up for powering low-cost ultraportables of the Eee PC’s ilk, so we’re sure to be seeing it in all sorts of cheap computers in the coming year or so, but MSI is one of the first to announce a budget laptop built around the platform. The chip is due to be formally unveiled in April, and MSI says the “when Diamondville is ready, our project will be ready.” That should be around July or August, and we can’t wait to see those design chops (pictured above) put to good use.
With just days to go until PMA, it looks like security’s starting to slip a little bit — a little creative sonystyle.com URL trickery led Beline at the Dyxum forums to images of those Sony A300 and A350 DSLRs we’d heard about. The A300 is an update to the A200, adding in live preview and a flip-out swivel screen, while the A350 looks like it’ll be a 14.2 megapixel unit and probably includes live preview and the swivel screen as well. We’re hearing that an A900 is also in the works, but that’s a just a whisper — looks like there might be some surprises in store this week after all.
Regular graffiti not doing it for you? Looking for something a little more up-to-date than spraycans and brick walls? Perhaps you should direct your attention to the artist known as DAIM and his recent project creating real-time graffiti in 3D. By utilizing a multi-camera scheme, DAIM is able to smear virtual paint across an empty gallery space using special handheld markers which are tracked by proprietary (we assume) software, calling the project “Tagged in Motion.” A picture says a thousand words, and in this case, a video says about a million — so hit the clip after the break and see the work in action.
Update: The software in use is not proprietary, rather it’s the ARToolKit (or Augmented Reality Toolkit), which is an open source project. Thanks for the info Kenijo!
Sure, there’s always the pukelight for good times around the house, but sometimes you’ve just got to do some damage — which is where The Torch from Wicked Lasers comes in. The 4100-lumen flashlight is being considered for the Guiness Book of World Records, and can ignite paper, light cigarettes, melt plastic, and even fry an egg — but only has a fifteen minute battery life. Check a video of The Torch taking out a pile of plastic bags after the break, and hit the read link for even more high-candlepower destruction.
This one sure hasn’t generated much, if any, fanfare, but it looks like those that take their Rock Band wailing (a little too) seriously can now get their hands on a new and improved (and official) microphone. According to the appropriately-named Rocker74 of the ScoreHero forums, you’ll have to drop a hefty $50 to your hands on it, but for that you’ll apparently get a microphone that is heavier and “definitely” higher quality than the standard issue mic. There still doesn’t seem to be any official word on the microphone, however, so availability might be hit and miss for a while yet.
[Thanks, John P]
Update: As some of you have pointed out, it appears that the microphone’s packaging says its for PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360, which would certainly be an interesting development, given that we still haven’t heard anything official about Rock Band for the Wii. More on that as we get it. [Thanks, garfep]
Well folks, that Nikon D60 DSLR we’d heard whispers about way back in the crazy, carefree days of December 2007 appears to be on the verge of coming to light at this year’s PMAs. Digital Photography Review has gotten a leaked press release from the company concerning the new shooter, and now we’ve got a sheet of specs to backup the rumors. It looks like the 10.2-megapixel camera will be sporting a number of improvements, including a 0.19-second power-up, continuous shooting mode at three frames per second, Nikon’s 3D Color Matrix Metering II, compatibility with AF-S and AF-I Nikkor lenses, RAW image handling, in-camera retouching capabilities, and a slew of other, incredibly technical functions that the true camera-geek will surely salivate over. Our suggestion? Hit the read link, and take your good old time poring over the details.
We’ve already seen nanoparticles put to use to help diagnose cancer (in mice), and it now looks like researchers have found another, potentially bigger use for ‘em — namely, to blast those cancer cells away altogether. That’s apparently possible by mixing two so-called nanothermite composites that act as a fuel and an oxidizer, which in turn generate combustion waves that can hit velocities ranging from 1,500 to 2,300 meters per second (or somewhere in the neighborhood of Mach 3). Being on the nano-scale, however, the researchers say the explosives can be used safely within the human body and, indeed, they say they have 99% success rate in tests on animal tissue. If all goes as planned (a relatively big “if”), the researchers say the technology could be ready for use in two to five years.
NEC is set to begin pushing fuel cell-powered handsets if the pic we see here can be believed. The handset features a touchscreen display and what appears to be valve to potentially recharge the handset once the fuel has all been used. Color choices are a bit too pastel for our liking, but it appears the liquid provides the color, so perhaps we’ll get some cooler tones when it’s released sometime this year — if it’s released. No word on any specs, pricing, networks, or anything, so until we get that bit of detail sorted, enjoy the pretty pic.
iPod surround bars are nothing new, but iLive’s hoping to catch a few eyes that normally gloss over these type things by blessing its iT188B with an oh-so-attractive $99 price tag. This iteration sports “dual built-in subwoofers,” an AM / FM radio, obligatory iPod dock and an on board clock to boot. It also comes bundled with a remote control and an auxiliary input to complement the twin video inputs, video output and subwoofer out for connecting an external thumper. As you’d expect, this one’s built for use underneath a flat-panel HDTV, but it shouldn’t have any problems perched up on a countertop, either. You already know how badly this one’s gonna hurt your wallet, but at least you’ve got until April to save up.
All geared up to start your work week with a trio of hu hum NEC monitors? If so, we won’t delay any longer in doling out the nitty-gritty. Up first is the 17-inch LCD174WXM, which features a 1,440 x 900 resolution panel, DVI / VGA (x2) inputs, twin one-watt speakers, a headphone jack, 250 nits of brightness and an 800:1 contrast ratio. As for the 19-inch LCD194WXM and 22-inch LCD224WXM, they each share a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness and 176-degree viewing angles. Still, the 19-incher gets stuck with a 1,440 x 900 resolution while the 22-inch sibling gets blessed with 1,680 x 1,050. Per usual, there’s no word on prices just yet, but considering the lack of excitement these are bringing, we doubt too many folks will mind.
He’s winking at us, he loves everyone, and he talks out of his crotch. Say hello to Sunny, NOAA’s taxpayer-funded weather bot. Get a load of that Engadget rap!
The HD digital distribution club just got a little bigger, as lossless audio distributor MusicGiants is launching its VideoGiants service with 250 movies from Paramount, and additional content from HDNet. Available in 1080p or 1080i WMV format, users can purchase the movies in 10-packs for $159 delivered via Seagate hard drives or, in a few months, one at a time via direct download to a home media server. After that, it can be viewed via the media PC or Media Extender (including Xbox 360). MusicGiants has been selling HD audio tracks to high end home theater owners via its network of dealers and installers for about two years, with plans to make this type of service available to the mass market soon. Still think the future of HD content is on shiny discs?
Those looking for some added desktop real estate may want to keep an eye on what EVGA has in store, as the company has just taken the wraps off two upcoming products that take considerably different approaches to expand your view of things. The first is a rather standard USB monitor adapter, dubbed the EVGA UV Plus+, which will apparently be available in both standard and widescreen-capable versions (as opposed to one that does both). The former of those will give you a max resolution 1280×1024, while the latter maxes out at a decent 1680×1050, with each boasting a single DVI port and support for full 32-bit color depth. Taking another tact is the company’s so-called InterView display (pictured after the break), which consists of two 17-inch monitors that can be folded together for toting around. Those’ll give you a combined 2880×900 resolution, along with a 500:1 contrast ratio and an 8ms response time. On a somewhat related front, EVGA also took the opportunity to show off its latest motherboard, which may be most notable simply for its name: the EVGA 780i SLI FTW (we kid you not.)
ook, we really want to live in a world where strolling around wearing MyVu’s latest video glasses is acceptable, but we just don’t — which is probably why Mahalo Daily’s Veronica Belmont could just barely bring herself to put ‘em on when she stopped by the booth at CES. Check out the vid after the break!
After getting a look at Belkin’s unique podcast solution, the Podcast Studio, we thought we’d take a look out on the CES show floor for it, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it. Due to the odd design and poor choice of lighting in the Belkin booth, these photos look a little more arty than they should. Hey, we’re not complaining. Check the gallery and be taken on a magical visual journey.
Soyntec is prepped to release their latest Wiffinder WiFi detecttion bag in February. The €43 / $63 nylon Wiffinder 400 Executive Case fits laptops up to 15.4-inches and features an integrated WiFi finder with signal strength indicator to tell you when the 802.11 airwaves are ready to leech. The integrated clock will remind you of the exact time the 5-0 arrived.
P.S. “Wiffinder” is not a typo. We agree, WiFinder would seem a more appropriate name.
Dephi’s press image for its dual-view nav screen was ridiculously janky, so we sent Mahalo Daily’s Veronica Belmont over to investigate — and it’s pretty awesome. Check it out after the break!