by Darren Murph, posted May 7th 2008 at 9:12PM Interestingly enough, the last time we heard the phrase “High Bright,” Runco was showcasing a prototype set meant to work and play in the great outdoors. Now, however, Samsung’s looking to one-up that endeavor by actually shipping a High Bright DID panel later this month. The 46-inch unit is said to posses 1,500 nits of brightness, a contrast ratio of 3,000:1, 16.7 million colors, 178-degree viewing angles and a screen resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels. Sammy claims that it’s around three times brighter than a typical LCD TV, and aside from remaining visible outside (you know, for pool parties and digital signage applications), it was designed to be tiled together to create “video walls.” No word on what sets these panels will find their way into, but we wouldn’t count on ‘em coming cheap. (Read the full post about ‘Samsung gears up to ship 46-inch “High Bright” panel’…)
Top 10 of the renewable tech devices May 08, 2008 There is top 10 of interesting great and, what is the most important, - useful gadgets. Batteries are not necessary for them, because they use renewable energy. Number 10. This is a solar-powered LightShip light that you can stick almost anywhere. It’s perfect for using it outside. It is waterproof, but its weight is just 8oz. It provides 8 hours of light on a full charge of sunshine. The device has both bright white and red LEDs. It is very handy for boats, campers, cabins, cars, trips and emergency use. Number 9. A portable solar water heater is a nice solution to resolve the problem with hot water. (Read the full post about ‘Top 10 of the renewable tech devices’…)
The Japanese government is considering imposing a digital media player copyright fee for all gadgets that are capable of storing and playing digital audio and video files.
The fee has been suggested by the Japanese Culture Agency as a way of compensating copyright holders and artists over and above what they already get from sales. The reason for the additional payment is to act as compensation for the amount of illegal copying that takes place.
This is not the first time such a fee has been considered; with a similar charge being suggested back in 2005 by the same Culture Agency.
(Read the full post about ‘Japan considering digital media player copyright fee’…)
So what exactly is cloud computing? We all have an idea what the cloud does and how we use it, but trying to define the larger concept of cloud computing can get tricky. It is a term that has come to mean many different things, from how webmail operates, to online storage tools, to Amazon’s elastic computing service, EC2.
In this video the Joyent hosting crew asked a few well-known people how they defined cloud computing.
(Read the full post about ‘How do you define cloud computing’…)
Walk up to any right-minded business owner and you’re sure to be told one thing - it’s supposed to be about the green stuff. And I don’t mean the Benjamins. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, ask yourself what it would take to give your mobile device enough juice without doing Mother Nature any harm. The answer to that question might not yet be known for sure, but that question is what Devotec Industries is trying to address with its new Solar Charger. While it doesn’t have the best thought of name in the business, this little number should be able to “keep your phone juiced up twice over before needing a recharge.” It contains a built-in 1800mAh battery under a charging solar panel, and aside from that it also charges via USB cable or AC adaptor. (Read the full post about ‘Devotec’s Solar Charger offers cheap alternative to extra battery packs’…)
Back in January a new ad-based P2P music service launched with a lot of fanfare. That service was called Qtrax, which claimed to have already signed up with all the major record labels. It turned out they hadn’t, leaving them with a service lacking in the key asset it needed – music.
Over 3 months later and Qtrax finally seem to be making some progress. Universal Music Group (UMG) has entered into a digital distribution licensing agreement with the company. The deal sees Qtrax get access to UMG’s back catalog while UMG gets another revenue stream from the music it controls.
Qtrax allows you to listen to music completely free just by installing their application.
(Read the full post about ‘Qtrax sings up Universal Music Group’…)
Internet access on flights will be a reality again next year with a new system called ExConnect from Panasonic’s Avionics division. ExConnect is expected to offer Internet access at speeds similar to those found at other hotspots on the ground. On top of that it will also allow the airlines to show live TV on flights through the same setup. The price for passengers is expected to be US$12 per hour or US$22 for a whole day. The ExConnect service utilises the existing GlobalConnex satellite system and is expected to appear on multiple airlines in 2009. Panasonic has not revealed which airlines they will be, but initial coverage will be in specific areas of the world. (Read the full post about ‘Panasonic’s ExConnect bringing broadband back to flights’…)
While we already have the launch date confirmed as May 12, we are now beginning to see pre-orders opening up. The first to be found is coming courtesy of ExcaliberPC and the notebook is listed for $549 with an estimated availability of “Mid of May 2008,” which is just in line with the already confirmed launch date from Asus. They currently have the white model with either Linux or Windows XP available for pre-order. The Eee PC 900, as we have already learned will feature an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 1.3-megapixel webcam, FingerGlide capable trackpad and built-in card reader. The Linux based version will offer 20GB total storage, and the Windows based version will have 12GB total storage. (Read the full post about ‘First Asus Eee PC 900 pre-orders now available’…)
While the iphone gets a lot of attention in the unlocking department, there are more phones out there locked into a certain carrier. What is a Nokia lover to do? The answer is make a hole in your SIM card. No, really. SIMable is an interesting concept that unlocks your phone via the SIM card. By making a hole in the SIM card (a free cutter tool is included), a small chip is attached that does the heavy lifting for you. The result? A full manufacturers warranty on the phone and a hopped-up SIM card. The operation is said to take as little as 10 seconds. (Read the full post about ‘SIMable unlocks your 3G phone in seconds’…)
3G reviews the blackberry Pearl 8110 and writes, “The two-megapixel camera can even cope with video. Again, it lacks the sophistication found on other smartphones, but it does the job well enough for simple photography…But the manufacturer is going to have to go a lot further if it wants to challenge the likes of Nokia at the higher end. Wi-Fi, 3G, and a camera with auto-focus all need to be considered for the next-generation Pearl to make it with the big boys.” Read more about the BlackBerry Pearl 8110. Tags: gps, wireless, cellphone, digital (Read the full post about ‘BlackBerry Pearl 8110 Review - 3G’…)
