by Donald Melanson, posted Jun 5th 2008 at 11:56AM It looks like HP is milking its future plans for its Voodoo division for all their worth, with it now following up its tantalizing hints from a few days ago with a not-so-subtle revision of the VoodooPC website. (Read the full post about ‘VoodooPC website goes up in smoke… and mystery’…)
It seems that MSI is already euphoric with the success of its Wind mini notebook and will be conjuring a smaller (nooo…how are we suppose to type if it gets any smaller) and thinner model targeting the business community. It is circulated that MSI will be using similar components as found in the original, retaining Intel’s Atom processor in the process. The updated MSI Wind is looking at a Q1 2009 release date, with no word on pricing as at press time. I say if you’re in the business community, then it would be better to invest in a solid Vaio that is extremely portable as well without sacrificing performance - no doubt you’ll have to fork out more, but hey, at least it shows your company isn’t too cheap to fork out the dough for a good notebook where their strategic employees are concerned. (Read the full post about ‘MSI Wind Business in the Works’…)
Philips is also into the glasses-free 3D display market, except that they offer a much more generous LCD screen size of 52″. You get a true blue full high definition display that has a contrast ratio of 2,000 to 1 and a response time of 8ms, bringing together Philips 3D Solutions’ WOWvx technology into the mix that offers the optical illusion of being able to “look around” what’s on-screen. How does WOWvx work?
WOWvx relies on footage being coded with depth information that indicates the position of each 2D image pixel. That information is translated into nine different views and rendered in real-time by the display hardware.
We haven’t been hearing too much about Mini-ITX lately as it’s smaller cousin, Pico-ITX, has taken the spotlight thanks to it’s ridiculously small size. Even so, Mini-ITX has never left the hearts of small form-factors builders because it allows for a system that is quite small, but also usable. The versatility and power that has been crammed into these 17×17 cm boards means Mini-ITX has become a sweet spot in the fight between power and size. Today VIA announced what they are calling Mini-ITX 2.0, an upgrade to their line of undersized motherboards. The 2.0 spec, which they are calling an “open industry standard” marks a major improvement over VIA’s older C7-based offerings. (Read the full post about ‘Mini-ITX goes 2.0 with Nano CPUs and PCI-E’…)
Our mobile phones say a lot about us, apparently. They say that we are all boring, boring creatures of habit. A team of scientists used data from over 100,000 phones to track their users’ movements every time they placed a phone call or sent a text message. The technology found what I could have told you already; people go to the same places all the time and they rarely even leave the 10 kilometers around their house. Even people that do go large distances on a regular basis still go to the same places, just further away.
What was interesting is that our movement can actually be translated mathematically, with what is known as a power law.
(Read the full post about ‘Mobile phones used to track human movement’…)
Asus not only makes tiny notebooks, they also do play a role where audio is concerned. The Taiwanese company will be rolling out its Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI-ready sound card pretty soon, helping you offload audio processing from high-definition video. It is capable of decoding lossless audio formats from Blu-ray films (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio at 24-bit, 96-192 Khz included), delivering 7.1 surround sound (assuming you have the necessary audio system in place) when running on a PCI Express x1 slot.
Check out the Albatron Rocker tablet pc that is powered by Windows Embedded CE 5.0 while packing a diminutive 7″ motherboard inside that is pretty potent. Specifications of this tiny wonder include :- ARM 9 400Mhz processor 128MB RAM 7″ LCD touch screen display @ 800 x 480 resolution 128MB NAND flash memory SD/MMC memory card slot Wi-Fi connectivityNo idea on how much this will cost, but it measures a pocket-friendly 188.3mm x 113.2mm x 12.9mm. Would’ve been nice to see more storage space inside though. Tags: gizmos, video, ipod, sat-nav (Read the full post about ‘Albatron Rocker Tablet PC’…)
The Nereus water craft is definitely something a Stormtrooper would look at home in, thanks to the ambitious design by Mathias Koehler. It relies on wave power to get around, so you won’t have to worry about ever increasing fuel prices while having your fun out in the sun. Steering is achieved through foot pedals, while the diving function is handled via the hand grips which in turn control pivoting fins located at the base. Makes me wonder how this thing is going to stop though - it sure as heck doesn’t come with any anchor, that’s for sure. (Read the full post about ‘Nereus Water Craft’…)
LG will be concentrating plenty of effort in taking great looking images with its new KC550 handset that features the following :- 5 megapixel camera Built-in LED flash ISO 800 Sliding lens cover Video recording @ 30fps in 720 × 480 resolution Motion sensorNo idea on how much this will cost, but does getting one mean you’ll be ditching your point-and-shoot digital camera? Tags: robots, amps, cool gear, DAB (Read the full post about ‘LG KC550 Cell Phone’…)
There’s no doubt that an iPhone update is imminent. But while nearly everyone has agreed on that, nobody knows anything definite about the specifics… except that the new iPhone will be compatible with the Microsoft Exchange email services. There’s a link on the main Apple.com iPhone page where you can apply to be a beta tester. In regards to the iPhone, here’s what we know today: Apple.com lists the iPhone as “Currently Unavailable.” Stock is so low that you can’t buy it. Usually a good sign that a new model is coming out soon. Apple continues to make iPhone sales deals across the globe. Netherlands, Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Australia were all announced with the last few months. (Read the full post about ‘iPhone 3G and WWDC Announcement Predictions’…)
