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Friday, December 19, 2008

OLEDs to be Used to Treat Skin Cancer, Acne [Light Therapy]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vdBEN3oMido/oleds-to-be-used-to-treat-skin-cancer-acne

OLEDs boast great resolutions and energy efficiency, but they could also be used to treat skin cancer and acne. A U.K. team is developing wearable OLED stickers that'll cure your skin ailments on the go.

Many skin cancers are currently treated by a combo of light and drugs (called photodynamic therapy), but current light sources are large and the therapy requires lengthy hospital visits. Lumicure Ltd. Is looking to use OLEDs in the treatment instead.

The OLEDs would be attached to sticking plaster that can be placed on the diseased skin. Not only will it be more comfortable, the patient could possibly do the therapy from home. Lumicure says it'll have the device out by Q4 of 2009, and that they're working on something similar to treat acne as well. [Printed Electronics via OLED info]

Supermaterial Graphene Could Become Fireproof Megastorage Solution [Graphene]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/HmZg9orv_Hw/supermaterial-graphene-could-become-fireproof-megastorage-solution

Already known as the world's strongest material and a great solution for shrinking transistors, now researchers say it can also be used to make super-tough, super-small storage.

Researchers at Rice University demonstrated a graphite data storage medium that was only 10 atoms thick. They said it could provide many times the capacity of current flash memory and withstand temperatures (up to 200 C) that would make SSD memory disintegrate.

On the minus side, the researchers have only gotten an access time of 100 nanoseconds, about 10 times slower than SRAM. But they're confident that as they experiment more with the material, they'll be able to get that number down. [ComputerWorld]

Samsung to Release a Full-Touch Android Handset by the Middle of Next Year [Android]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JKobiMSigjo/samsung-to-release-a-full+touch-android-handset-by-the-middle-of-next-year

According to the Korean news outlet ETNews, Samsung is working on a touchscreen Android phone, which will be sold in the US through Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile.

The phone is said to be similar to similar to the Instinct and Omnia non-QWERTY handsets, which I'm pretty sure is ETNews' overspecific way of saying that it'll probably look like every other Samsung touchscreen phone because, well, it's a Samsung touchscreen phone. Details are slim, but this quote provides all the meat we need for now:

"We are accelerating the development process for Google phone in order to meet the specific need of local carriers.

We will be able to release Google phone in the second quarter of the next year in the US market."

It's not longer news when a company is 'considering' Android—they all are. But release targets for a new phone, even vague ones, are like sweet gadget manna. [ETNews via ModMyGphone—Thanks, Neerhaj!]

Dell Adamo ultrathin laptop rumors surface

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/18/dell-adamo-ultrathin-laptop-rumors-surface/

According to the New York Times, Dell may have a little surprise on the way. Based on some wild trademark searches, a tiny bit of digging on the "internet" using a "search engine," and the lack of eye contact from the company's VP in charge of consumer sales (Michael Tatelman), there's a MacBook Air rival beneath all this subterfuge. It seems that the brand name "Adamo" is registered to the computer-maker with a site to match, and somehow the fashion blog (!?) Uptownlife.net came up with this gem: "Rumor has it that Dell is coming out with a computer called Adamo that will rival the MacBook Air." How they came up with that is anyone's guess, but apparently the look on Tatelman's face when asked about it was enough to convince at least one journalist that this is a done deal. Us? Well we're going to wait and see, but we're happy to work with Commander Adamo as soon as we see him.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Adamo ultrathin laptop rumors surface originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alioscopy's 40-inch 3DHD autostereoscopic LCD headed for CES: no glasses required

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/18/alioscopys-40-inch-3dhd-autostereoscopic-lcd-headed-for-ces-no/

Mention 3D, and you'll get an enthusiastic shrug from most. Mention three little words in conjunction, and everything changes. In case you haven't guessed that magic trio, it's "no glasses required." We've seen the technology bandied about, but we're sensing that companies are about to get serious with it at CES 2009. Case in point: Alioscopy and TCL have tag-teamed in order to showcase the former's 3DHD autostereoscopic 3D LCD display (40-inch) and content creation technology in just under a month. There are no real details on the underlying juju, but you can bet we're stoked to see what it delivers in Vegas. Maybe those plans for a 3D Olympics in 2012 aren't all that loony after all?

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Alioscopy's 40-inch 3DHD autostereoscopic LCD headed for CES: no glasses required originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Studio XPS 13 leather-wrapped laptop revealed, Adamo info leaked!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/18/dell-studio-xps-13-leather-wrapped-laptop-revealed-adamo-info-l/

Thanks to a totally amazing Engadget source, we've gotten our hands on photos of the absolutely sick Dell Studio XPS 13, and some new info about the company's forthcoming Adamo. First off, the photos in the gallery are of that Studio XPS we caught wind of way back in August. The pics we saw back then don't really do the laptop justice, as you can tell by these snaps. Meanwhile, that rumored Adamo is very much real, and very much like what we've been hearing. Apparently the device -- which the company plans to market as the "world's thinnest laptop" -- was slated to be released this month, but has been pushed back till at least February. The Adamo will sport a black and silver color scheme similar to the system you see here, but is "different," and we're told that it's most definitely Dell's play to nab some of that MacBook Air marketshare. We're working on some photos of that, but until those come through, enjoy the gallery below!

Gallery: Dell Studio XPS 13 leather-wrapped laptop revealed, Adamo info leaked!

Dell Studio XPS 13 leather-wrapped laptop revealed, Adamo info leaked! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's Android phone hitting Sprint and T-Mobile by June

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/samsungs-android-phone-hitting-sprint-and-t-mobile-by-june/

Without a doubt, 2009 is destined to be the year of The Android. Samsung just announced its ticket to the party with a Q2 launch of its Android phones on both Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in the US. Apparently, the touch-screen device will be an adaptation of the Omnia (Korea's 800 x 480 pixel version please) and Instinct. In other words, a rectangle with a full-screen display and minimal set of buttons just like every other touchscreen device out there. In case you missed it, this game is no longer about the hardware.

[Via ModMyGphone, thanks Neerhaj]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung's Android phone hitting Sprint and T-Mobile by June originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor finally hits the B&M scene

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/19/iz3ds-22-inch-3d-lcd-monitor-finally-hits-the-bandm-scene/

It's mildly amusing that up until now, your only option when buying IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor was to buy it on a decidedly 2D website. At long last, the recently cheapened (now $399) display has hit the brick and mortar realm, with both Fry's Electronics and Micro Center agreeing to carry it. The move is just one more in the inevitable push to get 3D in the home, and we have all ideas that it'll be joined by a number of others after CES '09 is all wrapped up. Feel free to drop by one of the aforesaid retailers to check this thing out in person, but we'll warn you, those frightened by 3D glasses need not apply. Full release (including specs) is after the break.

Continue reading IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor finally hits the B&M scene

Filed under: Displays

IZ3D's 22-inch 3D LCD monitor finally hits the B&M scene originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 07:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Web Based Screencasting Apps - Create Screencast Videos sans Software

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/web-screencasting-apps-create-screencasts-online/6038/

web screencasts After office suites and image editors, the next wave of applications that are moving to the "cloud" are screencasting tools or programs that create video recordings of your desktop screen sans software.

Web based screencasting apps aren’t always more powerful than their free desktop cousins (like Jing, Wink or CamStudio) but offer some distinct advantages:

1. You don’t have install any software for recording the screen - just an active internet connection would do.

2. Web based screen recorders are generally written in Java and hence support all major platforms and browsers.

3. The recorded video (aka screencast) gets uploaded to the web automatically so you don’t have to worry about web hosting or what format to choose when saving the video.

Currently, there are three online screencasting apps available on the web - Screencast-o-Matic, ScreenToaster and Skoffer. Let’s see how they compare with each other:

Screencast-o-Matic - YouTube for Screencasts

screencastomatic This is the original screencasting app built for the browser. Just pick a standard video size from the available presets (640×480, 800×600, etc.) and hit record. You can also add overlay text notes to recorded screencasts similar to annotations in YouTube.

The downside is that Screencast-o-Matic doesn’t allow you to record video of custom dimensions and second, it doesn’t render video in Flash so viewers will require Java to watch the recordings. On the plus side, Screencast-o-Matic is the only application that lets you export screencasts out the system as QuickTime movies that you may upload to other video sites.

Screen Toaster - Almost Perfect

screentoaster This is an almost perfect screencasting tool that lets you record either the full desktop screen or a custom area. You hit the shortcut key (Alt+S) to start recording, drag a rectangle on the screen to select an area and then hit the same shortcut key to stop recording.

You can later add subtitles to the video before publishing on the web. Unlike Screencast-o-Matic that records both audio and video simultaneously, you can record voice narration in Screen Toaster only after the screen recording is complete. It uses Flash video so you can embed screencasts easily just like YouTube clips. The downside - ScreenToaster requires an invite and there are no export options. (See: Screen Toaster Review)

Skoffer - Build Your Own Screencasting Service

skoffer Skoffer is more than just an online screencasting app - it lets you add screen recording capabilities to any website / blog via an API. They even provide a plugin for WordPress so you may directly record and embed screencasts while writing a blog post.

The website require no registration and the quality (resolution) of recorded video is pretty good. Unlike the previous two services, Skoffer doesn’t offer a YouTube like portal for sharing screencasts nor there’s an option to export videos.

Web Based Screencasting Apps - Create Screencast Videos sans Software - Digital Inspiration

Crowdsourcing 1 Image to 10000 Artists for 100 Dollars

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/10000-artists-100-dollars-1-image/6103/

american dollar Ten Thousand Cents is a collaborative digital artwork of a $100 currency note created by 10,000 anonymous artists working in isolation from one another.

They were all asked to paint a tiny part of the note without knowledge of the overall task and were paid a cent each for their work via the Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service. Thus the total labor cost to create the $100 bill also turned out to be $100.

You can click anywhere on the $100 bill, defined by the red rectangle, to see how the "artist" went about painting that particular part.

The work is presented as a video piece with all 10,000 parts being drawn simultaneously. Interestingly, all proceeds from the sale of these $100 reprints will be donated to the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project (formerly known as the $100 laptop).

Crowdsourcing 1 Image to 10000 Artists for 100 Dollars - Digital Inspiration

YouTube Enables Deep Linking Within Videos

Source: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/25/youtube-enables-deep-linking-within-videos/

by Jason Kincaid on October 25, 2008

It's not a big new feature but it's certainly one that will come in handy: YouTube will now allow you to send users to a specific point in a video by appending a short tag to the end of a video's URL. It's pretty surprising that this functionality wasn't available earlier, as Google Video introduced the same feature over two years ago. YouTube users have been forced to rely on third party services like Splicd to do the same thing.

To specify a point, append a tag to the end of your video link with the following syntax: "#t=1m45s" (you can change the numbers before the 'm' and 's' to edit the minutes and seconds, respectively.

Here's an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bibCui3lFM#t=1m45s

As another nice touch, YouTube will also automatically detect when someone mentions a time in a video comment and add a hyperlink to that point in the video.

Spyware Terminator Kills Malware [Featured Windows Download]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/z2-vgxOXM2E/spyware-terminator-kills-malware

Windows only: While old faithful Ad-Aware and Spybot are good to have, you can add Spyware Terminator to your arsenal of malware scanner and scrubber tools while you're home for the holidays.

Spyware Terminator does just what you'd expect: scan your system for everything from cookies to shady processes, instate "real-time" malware protection, quarantine items, and, ya know, upsell you on the pay-for commercial edition. When I ran Spyware Terminator on my presumably clean system, it turned up a bunch of web site cookies (not life-threatening, but ok) and an invalid entry in my PC's startup. Not bad. Spyware Terminator is free for personal and commercial use, and it's for Windows only. Thanks, jamiemartin01!

Spyware Terminator

Toshiba 512GB Solid State Laptop Drive: Come to Papa [Storage]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/tmyFLkTnTW8/toshiba-512gb-solid-state-laptop-drive-come-to-papa

256GB SSDs were a possibility in my mind as storage in a fantasy rig. But a 512GB 2.5-inch laptop drive is big enough to dream about from the depths of my storage fanboy heart-of-hearts.

TOSHIBA LAUNCHES INDUSTRY'S FIRST 512GB SOLID STATE DRIVE and NEXT- GENERATION SSD FAMILY USING 43nm MLC NAND
New SSD Family Achieves High Levels of Performance, Endurance, Capacity and Reliability to Meet Market Requirements for Notebook Computers, Gaming and Home Entertainment Systems
512GB SOLID STATE DRIVE
Download Hi Res Image (JPG 828KB)
IRVINE, Calif., and TOKYO December 18, 2008 — Toshiba Corp. (Toshiba) and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)*, its subsidiary in the Americas, today announced the expansion of their line up of NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) with the industry's first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte (GB)1 SSD and a broad family of fast read/write SSDs based on 43 nanometer (nm) Multi-Level Cell NAND. The new drives provide a high level of performance and endurance for use in notebook computers, gaming and home entertainment systems, and will be showcased at International CES 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8 – 11, 2009.

In addition to the 2.5-inch, 512GB drive, the 43nm NAND SSD family also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules. Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter (January to March) of 2009, with mass production in the second (April to June) quarter.

Toshiba's second-generation SSDs bring increased capacity and performance for notebook computers. They utilize an advanced MLC controller, which is also compatible with further advanced processes, that achieves higher read/write speeds, parallel data transfers and wear leveling to optimize performance, reliability and en! durance. The drives enable improved system responsiveness with a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps)2 and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps enabling an improvement in overall computing experience, and faster boot and application loading times. The drives also offer AES data encryption to prevent unauthorized data access.

"The solid state drive market is evolving rapidly, with higher performance drives to meet market requirements, and differentiated product families targeted for appropriate applications," said Mr. Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Vice President of Toshiba Corporation's Semiconductor Company. "This new 43nm SSD family balances value/performance characteristics for its targeted consumer applications, through use of MLC NAND and an advanced controller architecture."

Toshiba and many market analysts expect SSDs to begin to gain significant traction in the market in 2009, growing to approximately 10% of the notebook market by 2010, and 25% of the notebook market by 2012. Toshiba expects the value/performance of its MLC NAND-based SSD line-up to help speed the acceptance of solid state storage.

Toshiba will continue to promote innovations that widen the horizons of the NAND Flash market and support its continued leadership in that market. The company will spur demand for SSDs in notebook PCs, netbooks, laptops and digital consumer products by enhancing its lineup, offering products with different densities and interfaces in a range of packages, while advancing device performance. For more information on Toshiba SSDs, please visit ssd.toshiba.com.
Outline of the new products:
Form Factor Capacity Product Number Samples Start of Mass Production
2.5-inch
Serial ATA-2 512GB THNS512GG8BB 1Q, 2009 2 Q, 2009
256GB THNS256GG8BB
128GB THNS128GG4BB
64GB THNS064GG2BB
1.8-inch
Serial ATA-2 256GB THNS256GG8BA
128GB THNS128GG4BA
64GB THNS064GG2BA
1.8-inch Flash Module
Serial ATA-2 256GB THNS256GG8BM
128GB THNS128GG4BM
64G! B THNS06 4GG2BM
Product Specifications:
2.5-inch Serial ATA-2 1.8-inch Serial ATA-2 1.8-inch Flash Module Serial ATA-2
Size 69.9 (W) x 9.5(H) x100(D) mm 54.0(W) x 5.0(H) x78.5(D) mm 53.6(W) x 3.0(H) x 70.6(D) mm
Mass 66g (Typ.) 44g (Typ.) 15g (Typ.)
Interface Serial ATA-2 (3Gbps3)
Voltage 3.3V (Module, 1,8-inch type), 5V (2.5-inch type)
Reading speed Maximum speed 240MBps (sequential mode)
Writing speed Maximum speed at 200MBps (sequential mode)
Temperature 0 to 70 degrees Celsius
MTTF4 1 million hours