Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, June 15, 2009

First Hybrid Solar Power Plant is a Jack Of All Trades [Solar]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/gNmUQFLTXiQ/first-hybrid-solar-power-plant-is-a-jack-of-all-trades

A new solar power plant is set to open its doors on June 24th in Kibbutz Samar, Israel—but this is a one of a kind complex thanks to a hybrid-microturbine.

The plant can generate 100 kW of on-demand power and 170 kW of thermal power and consists of 30 mirrors that concentrate the sun's rays to the 30-foot Aora Tower. The rays are used to heat concentrated air to drive an electric turbine and the microturbine kicks in at night to fill in the gaps. It is capable of running on biodiesel or natural gas, which means power 24-hours a day—rain or shine. Because it is so versatile, this technology could help power up off the grid communities without having to expand existing grids. Aora is already looking to expand into other countries—and I say bring it on. That tower reminds me of the Eye of Sauron—only more flower-y. [Aora Solar and Treehugger via Inhabitat]

DosPara's Prime Note Cresion NA "netbook" pairs Ion with Atom 330

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/dosparas-prime-note-cresion-na-netbook-pairs-ion-with-atom-33/

Apparently not one to be confined to the usual "netbook" considerations, Japan's DosPara has now gone out and broken a few rules with its new Prime Note Cresion NA model, which not only packs a larger than usual 12-inch display, but a nettop-specific dual-core Atom 330 processor as well. That gets paired with NVIDIA's Ion chipset, along with 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, your choice of built-in optical drive, a memory card reader, and an HDMI port, to name but a few less than standard netbook features. Of course, all of that comes with a fairly significant increase to the size and weight of the laptop, but at least the ¥59,980 price tag (or just about $600) isn't too unreasonable.

[Via Netbooknews.com]

Filed under: Laptops

DosPara's Prime Note Cresion NA "netbook" pairs Ion with Atom 330 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DataViz brings Documents To Go to the App Store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/dataviz-brings-documents-to-go-to-the-app-store/

Editing documents? On a phone? We're sure most iPhone users are a little taken aback by this prospect, but we assure you it's completely safe and devoid of artificial preservatives. DataViz just launched its Documents To Go suite for the iPhone, which lets you edit and create Word documents, sync work files with a desktop over WiFi, and view other Office documents with the iPhone's existing viewer -- it's not the first app to offer some of these functions for the device, but it's the first with this level of street cred. An optional version of the app also includes a Exchange mail client with ActiveSync for accessing and editing Word documents from email, which seemingly flies in the face of Apple's vague "don't mess with Mail or any of our other built-in apps" policy. The basic Documents To Go app retails for a limited time at $4.99, while the Exchange version goes for $9.99 -- and anyone who picks up the 1.0 version will get a free update to include Excel editing once it becomes available.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

DataViz brings Documents To Go to the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Viewsonic announces three new 3D projectors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/viewsonic-announces-three-new-3d-projectors/

Good news, 3D fanboys and girls, looks like Viewsonic's back on the scene with a clutch of 120Hz 3D-enabled projectors. The first new model, the PJD6381, looks to be aimed at schools and businesses, with an extremely short throw ratios (around .68) for reducing shadowing effects, and a number of interactive whiteboard options. Available in August, this guy has 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, 2,500 ANSI lumens, a 2,500:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, and is compatible with the both Texas Instruments' DLP Link and NVIDIA's 3D-Vision 3D technology -- expect it to have an MSRP of $1,249. The PJD6211 and PJD6221 ($849 and $899, respectively) also sport 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, as well as up to 2,700 lumens, a 2,800:1 contrast ratio and both DLP Link and 3D-Vision compatibility. These two should hit the stores some time in July.

Filed under: Displays

Viewsonic announces three new 3D projectors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Curve 8520 with T-Mobile branding walks in front of a camera

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/blackberry-curve-8520-with-t-mobile-branding-walks-in-front-of-a/

A BlackBerry 8520 bound for T-Mobile? Really, we're not surprised, having heard whispers not too long ago, and while not yet official, some gung ho Crackberry forum members have posted some shots of the branded phone in the wild, with just a dash of Mr. Blurrycam stylings for good effect. No indication of a release date here, but if you're really jonesing for a new 2.5G BlackBerry, last we heard it was coming fourth quarter of this year.

Update: That white trackpad isn't quite what it seems. According to the original poster, it's just a plastic covering. We hate to disappoint anyone who actually dug the new shade.

Filed under: Cellphones

BlackBerry Curve 8520 with T-Mobile branding walks in front of a camera originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Throw Some Light On Your Speaker

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/P9PMpW2ewTo/

Not to be confused with the conceptual SoundBulb that we so admired, The Sound Bulb Speaker seen here is a speaker shaped like your typical light bulb. Basically we are talking about a LED light bulb that hosts a transformer, a speaker, and a wireless receiver to stream music from your iPod, PC, mobile phone, etc. Featuring a standard Edison thread you can screw this on to almost any holder. It also consists of a protective wire mesh or hood and a translucent frosted plastic shell to support the work-dynamics. Neat idea, but I don't this I'd be using them in my expensive cut-glass chandelier.

Designer: Armada

Altec Lansing, Armada, LED, light, Sound Bulb, Speaker

NVIDIA pops out five new mobile GPUs to fill invisible gaps in its 200M series lineup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/nvidia-pops-out-five-new-mobile-gpus-to-fill-invisible-gaps-in-i/

NVIDIA is filling in what it presumes to be holes in its next-generation GPU lineup, adding the 40nm G210M, GT 230M, GT 240M and GTS 250M, with GDDR3 memory ranging from 512MB to 1GB, to its existing GTX 280M, GTX 260M and GTS 160M laptop graphics cards. Apparently the new cards sport "double the performance" and "half the power consumption" over the last generation of discrete GPUs they're replacing. The cards are SLI, HybridPower, CUDA, Windows 7 and DirectX 10.1 compatible, and all support PhysX other than the low-end G210M. Of course, with integrated graphics like the 9400M starting to obviate discrete graphics in the mid range -- even including Apple's latest low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro -- we're not sure what we'll do with eight different GPU options, but we suppose NVIDIA's yet-to-be-announced price sheet for these cards will make it all clear in time.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

NVIDIA pops out five new mobile GPUs to fill invisible gaps in its 200M series lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nvidia GeForce 200M Graphics Cards Just Made Your Notebook Old and Busted [Notebooks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Yuc-Cibe6gw/nvidia-geforce-200m-graphics-cards-just-made-your-notebook-old-and-busted

A year after Nvidia's monstrous GeForce 200 series graphics cards first stomped onto the scene (literally the biggest GPUs ever), Nvidia's finished making them mobile, delivering double the performance of current 9M series using half the power.

The first GeForce 200M notebook cards—the GTX 280M and 260M—were for crazy gaming rigs, and were actually based on the previous-gen G92 architecture. (Nvidia did pulled some confusing re-branding jujitsu a few months back.) The new 200M cards are based on the "current high-end desktop architecture" (so, actually the G200 architecture) and round out the 200M series, replacing the current 9M series across the board: GTS 260M, GTS 250M, GT 240M, GT 230M, G 210M. Here's how the specs break down:

So to recap in English, all the Nvidia notebook graphics cards that are like "GT 9600" are going to be replaced by ones that are like "GT 240" which are faster but use less power. I don't know why Nvidia went from 9000 to 200, so don't ask me. It's actually kind of a bummer they didn't make it into the new MacBook Pros, though, since they now have officially old and busted graphics chips inside. [Nvidia]

CrunchPad unboxed, handled on video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/14/crunchpad-unboxed-handled-on-video/

We heard earlier this month that the first official CrunchPad units would arrive soon, and it seems like Mike Arrington and company are making progress -- here's what looks to be semi-final hardware and packaging on video for the first time. Interestingly, the device is still plastic and somewhat chubby, not the 18mm-thick aluminum we'd heard earlier -- and whoever's in charge here won't boot it, so we've yet to see the custom Linux / WebKit OS in action. It's all due to drop in July, so we'll know what's what soon enough -- for now, check out the vid after the break.

Update: Looks like there is a short video of it in action, so we've stuck it after the break as well. It's certainly an interesting idea, but we noticed some glitches here and there -- we'll see how cleaned up things are at launch.

Update 2: Oh, Mike Arrington. The king of all whispered rumors isn't too happy that this video went out -- he says it's not "sanctioned or official," and that "it's certainly not the launch prototype... which doesn't actually exist yet." Of course it doesn't, Mike.

[Thanks G]

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Continue reading CrunchPad unboxed, handled on video

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

CrunchPad unboxed, handled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14! Jun 200 9 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's E72 and 5530 XpressMusic in the S60-powered flesh

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/nokias-e72-and-5530-xpressmusic-in-the-s60-powered-flesh/

Seeing how these announcements are going down live in Singapore as we speak, we've got a few sources of live pictures of Nokia's latest announcements coming in off the interwebs already; it's all raw, unfiltered footage, but that's exactly the way we like it around here. We won't know for certain until we touch it, but at a glance, the E72 certainly looks like a worthy successor to one of the greatest phones Nokia has ever made, and the 5530 looks like the 5800 should've looked. What's everyone thinking on these?

[Via The Nokia Blog]

Read - davidlian's twitpic stream
Read - budip's twitpic stream

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia's E72 and 5530 XpressMusic in the S60-powered flesh originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia E72, 5530 XpressMusic get official

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/14/nokia-e72-5530-xpressmusic-get-official/

You'd think that Nokia would want to do a better job of building up such important product announcements with a long, drawn-out series of frustratingly unhelpful teasers, viral videos, and global PR campaigns, but instead, it turns out that the rumored E72 and 5530 XpressMusic have been officially unveiled at the company's Connection 09 event in Singapore. The E72 is arguably the bigger announcement of the two, succeeding the E71 by adding a whopping 5 megapixel camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack (thank goodness), integrated compass, 10.2Mbps HSDPA, and an optical navigation pad; it'll hit in the third quarter for €350 (about $489). Follow the break for video of the E72 in slick, polished, high-orchestrated marketing action. Next up, as we'd heard, the 5530 ends up being a small step down from the 5800 in the S60 5th Edition totem pole, offering just EDGE data without any form of 3G (though you've still got WiFi). It's got a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, 3.5mm jack, and a 640 x 360 touchscreen display. Like the E72 it'll be available in the third quarter; it'll retail for €199 (about $278) unlocked.

[Thanks, nabs]

Read - Nokia E72
Read - Nokia 5530 XpressMusic

Continue reading Nokia E72, 5530 XpressMusic get official

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia E72, 5530 XpressMusic get official originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds compact has us hot, bothered

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/leaked-olympus-ep-1-micro-four-thirds-compact-has-us-hot-bother/

It's not scheduled to be announced until tomorrow, but it looks like Olympus' Micro Four Thirds tribute to the classic rangefinder has leaked out onto these here Internets looking every bit as handsome as the top-side leak seen earlier. Remember, we're talking about a DSLR-sized sensor stuffed inside that retro compact body. Judging by the pics of E-P1, we're looking at a stock, 17mm lens with an interchangeable 14-42mm (3x) zoom lens available at launch. One more day and we'll have prices, ship dates, and full spec-sheet to share -- can you wait? 3x lens and few more color variations in the gallery below.

Gallery: Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds leak has us hot, bothered

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Leaked Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds compact has us hot, bothered originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 slider gets official reveal

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/samsung-omnia-pro-b7610-slider-gets-official-reveal/

Samsung's being tight-lipped with the details, but at least it did us the solid of making its Omnia Pro B7610 (aka, B7610 Louvre) QWERTY slider official today at CommunicAsia. The phone on the right is the Omnia Pro B7320, which, if we're not mistaken, is just the Jack candybar already available to AT&T customers. Unfortuantely, Samsung isn't giving out any detail on the B7610 so we'll have to go on believing in the rumored 3.5-inch AMOLED display with 800x480 pixel resolution, 5.1 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA data, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB built-in with microSDHC expansion, and 800MHz processor driving Windows Mobile until they tell us something different.

[Via Akihabara News]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 slider gets official reveal originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel Celeron, Core i7, and Atom lineup leaked?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/intel-celeron-core-i7s-and-atom-lineup-leaked/

Intel Celeron, Core i7s, and Atom lineup leaked?

The sun rises, seasons change, CPUs get faster, and Intel's plans get leaked. That's the way it works, so while this report from Digitimes listing out Intel's chip releases through the beginning of next year should be taken with a grain of salt, feel free to make it a small one. Apparently there's a new line of celery-packing Celeron processors coming in Q3 called E3000, starting with the 2.4GHz E3200 and the 2.5GHz E3300. Both feature 1MB of L2 cache, 800MHz FSB, 65W power consumption, and hardware virtualization, meaning either can take you to XP-on-Win7 nerdvana. There will also be a new Core i7 960 chip with a core frequency of 3.2GHz in the fourth quarter, which is also when the nettop-intended dual-core Atom D510 will drop, while the more portable-friendly dual-core Atom D410 won't release until Q1 next year -- bad news for those who'd been hoping for a speedier netbook under the Christmas tree.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Intel Celeron, Core i7, and Atom lineup leaked? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday, June 14, 2009

VAIO P gets whole new lease on life with Atom Z550 processor, SSD and WiMAX

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/13/vaio-p-gets-whole-new-lease-on-life-with-atom-z550-processor-ss/

A whole new day is dawning for the never-ever-a-netbook Sony VAIO P -- those new processor and drive upgrades apparently have the little PC churning through benchmarks at twice the pace of the original. Most of the benchmark help comes from the SSD drive, but the Atom Z550 doesn't hurt. Meanwhile, Japan is getting a WiMAX version to churn through stereotypically Japanese websites in record time. We'd be jealous if only we lived under 1,000 miles from the nearest WiMAX signal.

Read - VAIO P gets WiMAX
Read - VAIO P benchmarks

Filed under: Laptops

VAIO P gets whole new lease on life with Atom Z550 processor, SSD and WiMAX originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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