Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Earth Trek touts "world's smallest" projector

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298575864/

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While it likely won't hold onto the (slightly dubious) title for long at the rate mini-projectors are cropping up these days, Hong Kong-based Earth Trek has nonetheless gone out and proclaimed its new 90-805R projector to be the "world's smallest" and, indeed, it is small. Measuring about 4 by 2 inches, the projector can apparently pump out a 22-inch diagonal image (no word from what distance), with an SD card slot and an A/V input provided via a 3.5 mm jack, not to mention a built-in speaker. No word on a price or release date just yet, but we'd assume they'd want to get it out relatively soon in order to beat the inevitable cellphone projector rush.
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OmniVision claims 8 megapixel OmniBSI sensor turns cellphone imaging world "upside down"

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298907132/

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Digital Camera 101: As manufacturers continue pushing the Megapixel Myth by stuffing more and more pixels onto rapidly shrinking sensors, the outcome is poor performance on top of poorly lit images of increasingly low quality. Now OmniVision, the largest CMOS image sensor manufacturer today, says they've solved the pixel size problem though backside illumination (BSI) technology. In essence, BSI helps maximize photon collection by circumventing obstructive metal and dielectric layers on the top-side of the sensor die. The result is improved light absorption, thinner overall camera modules, and increased sensitivity and F stops with reduced crosstalk. However, as EETimes' crack staff of Electrical Engineering super-nerds point out, BSI is not a new technology. In fact, several manufacturers lay claim to BSI patents. However, OmniVision seems to be the first to take the tech to mass production for consumers. To prove it, they'll release an 8 megapixel OmniBSI CameraChip sensor brimming with the new tech for sample in June. Couple it with a decent cameraphone lens and image processing circuitry and we might be in for a treat.

[Via EETimes]
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RAmos reveals Blue Magic T8 PMP

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298969104/

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Just in case you felt there wasn't quite enough screen real estate on the ultra-sleek V8, RAmos is giving the display even more attention on the Blue Magic T8. The player features a 4.3-inch display, 10-millimeter thick enclosure, built-in FM radio tuner and the potential to play nice with a not-yet-developed dock that would enable video output. Beyond that, details are freakishly scarce, so it looks like you'll have to put away your excitement for the time being.

[Via PMPToday]
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Monday, May 26, 2008

Sans Digital's CS1T and CR2T turn CF cards into 2.5-inch enclosures

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297405445/

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Sans CR2T
We've seen CF-SATA converters before, but what if you were to create a SATA shaped, sized, and interfaced enclosure and allow users to throw Compact Flash cards in there to make their own SSDs for more standard installs? Sans Digital's CS1T is a single-card Compact Flash CF to 2.5" SATA enclosure and the CR2T is a dual-card enclosure that uses RAID to support up to 64GB. Both utilize IDE and, when closed, look and act just like 2.5-inch HDDs for your various installation needs.
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PC Microworks intros Montevina-powered Edge uber-laptop

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297493693/

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PC Microworks Edge
Heads up, spec hounds. PC Microworks' Edge with Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) is a powerhouse that cannot be denied. This speedster sports a 15.4-inch WUXGA screen, packs a Montevina Quad Core Centrino 2 CPU, 2gb of DDR3 at 1333MHz, nVIDIA Gefore 9800M GTX, HSPDA, and up to 4TB of 7200RPM drives. Don't go running to the credit card gods just yet, though, as the Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz/1066MHz/12MB) version won't be available until the end of July. What's more, this baby all decked-out will run you a cool $8,265.

[Thanks, Matthew]
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Tranquil PC announces Intel Atom-based Harmony home servers

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297983584/

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Well, doesn't Tranquil PC seems pretty stoked about their new Atom-based Harmony home servers? Though they're not exactly mind-blowing (to us, anyway), two new fanless models should be shipping in June: the T7-HSAi (left, with a single 3.5-inch drive or two 2.5-inch drives) and T2-WHS-A3i (right, with up to two 3.5-inch drives), both featuring Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, 512MB or 1GB RAM options, and running Windows Home Server. With base configs and 500GB drives, the T7 will start at £278 ($550 US), and the T2 at £299 ($590 US).
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Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298054922/

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Uh oh, Samsung's just announced their first 256GB SSD. Not that you needed to know anything more than that to trigger salivation, but the MLC-flash SATA II drive has speeds of 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write. Not like we'll be able to afford it or anything, but they'll be available come September, with a 1.8-inch version due in Q4.

Continue reading Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

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NVIDIA might get even deeper into the embedded CPU game

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298212031/

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Okay, they're only embedded ARM chips, but le Inq is reporting that NVIDIA's prepping not just the the Tegra APX 2500 we heard about before, but also a second line of high performance embedded CPUs. Supposedly the forthcoming CSX 600 / 650 will run in the 700-800MHz range, and be capable of 1080p / 24fps video playback. We'll give these guys until, say, 2010 before they're jockeying for AMD's spot at number two in desktop processors.
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Physicists develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298267579/

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Not to get all scientific on you or anything, but a team of Imperial physicists have just figured out a way to use plastics in laser diodes. For the uninitiated, scientists have been unable to make plastic semiconductor laser diodes because they had not yet found / developed "any plastics that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam." Now, however, that obstacle has reportedly been overcome by making minor tweaks to a given plastic's chemical structure, and the resulting material will transport charges some 200 times better than before without impeding its ability to emit light. By the sound of things, the crew behind the breakthrough isn't quite ready to offer up the solution to manufacturers, but with a bit more work, we suspect that notion will change.

[Via Slashdot]
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Friday, May 23, 2008

LG Develops Largish Double-Sided LCD [SID 2008]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/296027042/lg-develops-largish-double+sided-lcd

We've seen double-sided LCDs before, but they're generally quite small and prototyped for cellphone use. This week, LG is showing off a prototype that's conceivably TV-sized at (an admittedly still small) 15 inches. Running a resolution of 2048 x 1536 and offering a four-color sub-pixel arrangement (red, blue, green and white), we could only imagine the implications of a tablet PC that could otherwise be a normal laptop (without an awkward Exorcist maneuver) or a TV that could accommodate Gears of War 2 and Grey's Anatomy at the same time. Of course, even if the product were released, you know they'd just charge double for the privilege. [Tech-On]


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