Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Westinghouse teases 110-inch 4K LED TV, promises more details at CES

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/04/westinghouse-110-inch-4k-tv/

With CES just around the corner, there's plenty of promo mail to dig through each and every day. One of this afternoon's tidbits came from the good folks at Westinghouse, hinting at a hot product that'll be unveiled at the show. The 4K LED TV will ring in at a massive 110 inches -- a significantly larger offering than the bevy of 84-inch sets we caught this past summer at IFA. The manufacturer hesitated to share any further details, but did suggest that there were a few more "surprises" in store, including plenty of connected HDTVs. If you've been pondering a 4K set, but just can't come to grips with a measly 84-inch footprint, it's certainly looking like Westinghouse will have something to catch your eye next year in Vegas.

Filed under: Displays, HD

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Marvell brings a gig to WiFi with new 802.11ac 4x4 system-on-chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/04/marvel-brings-the-gig-to-wifi-with-new-802-11ac-4x4-SoC/

If you need data to flow more copiously than your current wireless connection will permit, Marvell has just announced a new WiFi product that might let you finally cut the cord. The Avastar 88W8864 802.11ac "4x4" SoC will permit WLAN products to stream data at up to 1.3Gbps using four antennas, over three times faster than the 802.11n standard used now. The system also sports a specialized transmission method called "beamforming," that "greatly improves link robustness and wireless performance," according to Marvell, enabling seamless HD streaming in traditionally difficult spots, for instance. The new tech will also let you stretch out your wireless range by at least six times, while increasing the battery life of any connected device, to boot. The company expects the new technology to start arriving to products like set-top boxes, access points and "carrier-grade" HD by mid next year -- so you may want to put that messy wire-routing project on permanent hold.

Continue reading Marvell brings a gig to WiFi with new 802.11ac 4x4 system-on-chip

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

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Toshiba intros Excite 10 SE tablet with Android 4.1, available December 6th for $350

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/04/toshiba-excite-10-se-android-tablet/

Toshiba's been relatively quiet on the tablet front since announcing its Excite lineup back in April, but today the company's making a mild comeback with a hot-off-the-press, Jelly Bean-loaded slate. Aside from packing Android 4.1, though, the newly announced (although not exactly unknown) Excite 10 SE also boasts a 10.1-inch, AutoBrite HD (1280 x 800) display and NVIDIA'S Tegra 3 CPU -- all while weighing just shy of 23 ounces (22.6, to be exact) and measuring in at only 0.4 inches thick. Toshiba's making the Excite 10 SE available a couple of days from now, on December 6th, starting at a decent price of $350 with 16GB of internal storage -- at which point you'll be able to snag one from the source link below or at 'select' brick-and-mortar retailers.

Continue reading Toshiba intros Excite 10 SE tablet with Android 4.1, available December 6th for $350

Filed under: Tablets

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Source: Toshiba

CyPhy Works reveals tethered flying bots that can spy on you indefinitely (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/04/cyphy-works-reveals-tethered-flying-bots-that-stay-aloft-forever/

A new venture from an iRobot co-founder called CyPhy Works has borne fruit in the form of two flying drones dedicated to surveillance duty. The first, called Ease, is a mere foot in diameter by 16-inches tall and can fly safely in tight spaces or through open windows or doors, thanks to its petite size and ducted rotors. It packs a pair of HD cameras along with a thermal imager and can stay aloft permanently, in theory, thanks to a microfilament tether attached to a ground station -- which also makes it impervious to weather, tracking and interception at the same time, according to CyPhy. The second drone, an insect-like quadrotor called Parc, is designed for higher flying missions thanks to its larger size and maximum 1,000-foot altitude. It also uses a tether and can stay aloft for 12-hours on a single ground-station battery, letting it spy from afar with on-board HD, night-vision and thermal cameras. The company's yet to take any orders, but thanks to investors and government grants, the snoopy little bots could be getting up into your business one day soon -- as creepily shown in the video after the break.

Continue reading CyPhy Works reveals tethered flying bots that can spy on you indefinitely (video)

Filed und! er: Robots

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Via: Wired

Source: Cy Phi Works

Monday, December 03, 2012

Samsung's Curvy Projector Is More Pocketable Than the Galaxy SIII

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5965103/samsungs-curvy-projector-is-more-pocketable-than-the-galaxy-siii

Samsung's Curvy Projector Is More Pocketable Than the Galaxy SIII Designed to complement Samsung's Galaxy line of tablets and smartphones, the company's new EAD-R10 Mobile Beam Projector is curved like a handset, instead of the standard projector brick, so it more easily slips into your pocket. It's just too bad its specs harken back to pocket projectors from a few years ago.

With just 20 lumens of brightness and a resolution of 640 x 360 it's far from being on the bleeding edge of pico projector technology. But by using slightly older components the Beam ends up with a smaller form factor than the Galaxy SIII and a price tag of just $221. At launch the EAD-R10 appears to be a South Korean exclusive, but since it appears to be a nice alternative to a hefty projector-imbued phone, here's to hoping Samsung releases it elsewhere soon after.

Samsung's Curvy Projector Is More Pocketable Than the Galaxy SIII

[SAMMobile via SammyHub]

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II now open to pleasures of the rooted kind

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/verizon-galaxy-note-ii-rooted/

Shame you can't do anything about that obnoxious home button branding, but thanks to the folks over at XDA you can now squeeze some root juice onto your VZW Samsung Galaxy Note II. As per usual with Sammy's Android devices, the process involves the use of Odin to flash an image before you can enjoy the perks. Do note however, the hackery only gives you superuser access -- there's no way to cram in a custom ROM just yet. Early users have reported a few issues, including busted mics, broken signal strength indicators and general slow-coach behavior, but it sounds like updates have now plugged most of those holes. You'll find the payload and instructions waiting at the source link -- just be careful not to orphan that S Pen.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Verizon

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Via: Pocketnow

Source: XDA Developers

Sharp reveals the LL-S201A: a 20-inch multi-touch and stylus-friendly display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/sharp-ll-s201a-big-pad/

Sharp's continuing to push out new displays despite its well-documented financial troubles, and today it's got the LL-S201A model to show us. The 20-inch LED screen supports 10-point multi-touch input, and comes with a stylus which measures 2mm at the tip -- offering greater precision than finger-mimicking nibs of 6mm or more that Sharp says are normally used with capacitive panels. You can stick it on your desk in the standard monitor orientation, but design pros will want to lay it down, although they'll have to be working on a Windows machine (XP and up) as it's not compatible with Cupertino's OS. The 1,920 x 1,080 panel has a 3000:1 contrast ratio and 5ms gray-to-gray response time, and is fed from HDMI- and DisplayPort-ins -- complete with support for MHL on the former. It's due to launch in Japan on January 30th 2013 and, if it comes at a good price, could offer some strong competition to its stylus-friendly peers.

Filed under: Displays, Peripherals

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Source: Sharp (1), (2)

Gmail 4.2.1 for Android adds easier resizing, swipe features and more

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/gmail-4-2-1-android/

That leaked Gmail APK we peeked at a month or so ago turned out to be right on the money. Google has just released version 4.2.1 of the Gmail app for Android, which does indeed add pinch-to-zoom on individual messages and swipe (left or right) to delete or archive. There are a couple of features we didn't see in the initial leak though, which are the ability to "auto-fit" a message to your phone's screen and a new thumbnail view of attached images -- you can then tap a thumbnail for a swipeable gallery. If still pictures aren't your bag, it's finally possible to attach phone-captured videos to an email as well. This version of Gmail is only available for phones with Android 4.0 or higher however, so older devices might be out of luck. If your device qualifies, you can download the new version of Gmail right now from the Google Play store.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Gmail (G+), Gmail (Google Play)

Stratasys and Objet combine 3D printing / rapid prototyping powers, working on printing money

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/stratasys-and-objet/

Minnesota-based rapid manufacturing / rapid prototyping company Stratasys today announced that its has completed its merger with Iron Man / concert flute 3D printer, Objet. Combined, the new $3 billion company is home to the FDM, PolyJet and Solidscape Drop-on-Demand prototyping technologies. The companies have promised to "grow awareness of 3D printing for rapid prototyping and production." Hopefully that means we be getting a lot more of these things, as well.

Continue reading Stratasys and Objet combine 3D printing / rapid prototyping powers, working on printing money

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DIY Shrimp Microcontroller Replicates an Arduino Uno at One-Fifth the Price

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5965010/diy-shrimp-microcontroller-replicates-an-arduino-uno-at-one+fifth-the-price

DIY Shrimp Microcontroller Replicates an Arduino Uno at One-Fifth the Price If you enjoy working with microprocessors such as the Arduino or Raspberry Pi and would like to host classes for 10 or more people, the $25-50 boards become expensive quickly. A UK-based electronics developer created a design for a board called the Shrimp that can replicate any of the functions of an Arduino Uno but rolling your own Shrimp can be done for less than five dollars each.

Full instructions with a parts and supplier list can be found at the source link below. That link also contains listings of workshops using the Shrimp microcontroller. Since it appears just like an Arduino Uno you can do any of the hundreds of projects for that board.

Seems like just the thing for a local makerspace.

The Shrimp | Shrimping.it via Hack-A-Day

Macronix plans to heat up flash memory to keep it from burning out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/macronix-plans-to-heat-up-flash-memory-to-keep-it-from-burning-o/

Despite the looming threat of being replaced by phase-change memory, contemporary memory modules aren't quite ready to be shown the door -- engineers at Macronix have found a way to revive spent NAND flash cells. Most flash modules fail after being written to and erased about 10,000 times, but Macronix found that the tired memory could be restored by baking it for extended periods of time. The team funneled the time consuming and cumbersome solution into a more practical package: a redesigned memory chip that packs onboard heaters. The new modules are designed to periodically heat focused groups of memory cells to 800 °C (1,472 °F) for a few milliseconds, effectively "healing" worn cells.

Researchers found that heated chips could tolerate more than 100 million write/erase cycles and erased faster at higher temperatures. The team said the power drain of the heaters shouldn't effect battery life, either -- chips don't have to be heated often, and when they do, it can be done while prospective devices are recharging. Macronix will be presenting the technology at the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting next week, but project deputy director Hans-Ting Lue wouldn't say when the company plans on taking the technology to market. Lue was willing to speculate on what might become of it, however. "T! his may evolve into a 'thermally assisted' mode of operation that gives both better performance -- such as the faster erasing -- and better endurance flash memory." Faster, more reliable, super-heated memory. Sounds fine by us.

[Image credit: Emily Cooper, IEEE]

Filed under: Misc

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Via: PhysOrg

Source: IEEE

Mitsubishi is ending rear-projection TVs, ceases production of DLP and laser models

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/02/mitsubishi-rptv-rip/

It's time for someone over at IDC to pop the champagne, as its 2007 projection about the end of rear-projection TVs turned out to be only a year off, now that the last company still making them has announced it's getting out of the game. As first reported by CE Pro, Mitsubishi is finally ceding to competition from flat-panels which have grown to equally ridiculous size, and cut prices so sharply that it "can no longer sustain our business in its current form." The company's official statement is after the break, confirming that its DLP and LaserVue models are no more however "existing customer relations and parts and services departments will remain in place along with existing authorized service centers" which should be good news for current owners. There's an in-depth retrospective of the technology at the source link, looking back to Samsung's exit that left Mitsubishi alone in the segment three years ago, long after others like Sony and Hitachi fled for thinner-framed climates.

Mitsubishi also made a go of it in flat-panels, but ditched those efforts last year and will now focus on the professional market and home-theater projectors here in the US. In recent years the tech has improved with thinner models, integrated soundbars and even larger screens available. The slowing economy may have extended RPTV's lease on life wi! th a siz e bang for buck that's tough to beat, but ultimately customers opted for bright flashy flat-panel HDTVs that offer easier wall-mounting options while seeming to get bigger, lighter and cheaper every year. We're sure there are more than a few super-sized rear-projection TVs that will continue to bring the big game to basements and dens everywhere, feel free to celebrate an old friend in the comments below.

Continue reading Mitsubishi is ending rear-projection TVs, ceases production of DLP and laser models

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: CE Pro

Acer unveils TravelMate B113 ultraportable with student-friendly $399 price

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/acer-unveils-travelmate-b113-399-price/

Acer's TravelMate line of notebooks usually skews toward the business set, but its latest model is made for that other breed of on-the-go types: students. The new TravelMate B113 is an 11.6-incher weighing in at three pounds and measuring one inch thick. Processor options top out a Core i3 Ivy Bridge CPU with 4GB of RAM, and the hard drive offers a max capacity of 500GB. The 11.6-inch display sports a ho-hum resolution of 1,366 x 768 -- and isn't touch-enabled for Windows 8 -- but then again we're looking at a price of $399 and up. The B113 is available now at authorized resellers -- head past the break for the full presser.

Gallery: Acer TravelMate B113 press images

Continue reading Acer unveils TravelMate B113 ultraportable with student-friendly $399 price

Filed under: Laptops, Acer

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Sunday, December 02, 2012

Hardkernel reveals pair of quad-core Exynos ODROID-U developer boards, starting at $69

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/02/hardkernal-reveals-pair-of-quad-core-exynos-odroid-u-boards/

One area where Moore's law can be seen alive and well seems to be the developer and small project computer world. Whether it's the ubiquitous Raspberry Pi, Intel's NUC, or any number of similar products. There's one more name to add to this list, and that's the ODROID-U from Hardkernel. The boards are a little more expensive than Raspberry Pi's impressively cheap Model A and Model B, but you are getting some bang for that buck. The $69 ODROID-U comes with a 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos 4412 processor (as found in the Galaxy S III and Note II, 1GB of RAM, quad-core Mali 400 graphics, micro-HDMI, a brace of USB ports, a headphone jack and Ethernet. If you want a little more oomph, for an extra $20 you can have the RAM doubled, and a 1.7GHz core with the ODROID-U2 model. There's one stat you might notice missing which is flash memory. There's no onboard storage, so you'll have to bring your own memory for the built-in microSD slot. As the ODROID name suggests, the boards can run Android, as well as a variety of Linux flavours. Sound good? In a reverse of what you might expect, the ODROID-U2 will be available first, starting December 21st, with the cheaper board pencilled in to arrive on January 16th.

Filed under: Desktops

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Via: Android Community

Source: Hardkernel

Benchmarks hint at budget ASUS ME172V Jelly Bean tablet, 1GHz processor Mali 400 GPU

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/02/asus-me172v-jelly-bean-tablet/

ASUS has been a strong force in the tablet game even before it set a new price-to-quality standard with Google's Nexus 7. It looks like the firm could be tightening the budget screw even further, if some recent GLBenchmarks are to be believed. The details are sparse, but outline a product with model number ME172V (which follows from its pre-Nexus smaller tablet line), that runs Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, sports a 1,024 x 552 (likely 1,024 x 600) resolution powered by a Mali 400 GPU and 1GHz chip. There's no indication on the number of cores, or, well, much else for that matter. Various rumors are keen to suggest there'd be support for microSD, which if true, would make it unlikely to be a Nexus. But a budget tablet by the same manufacturer, is likely enough for many people all the same.

Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Westinghouse teases 110-inch 4K LED TV, promises more details at CES

Marvell brings a gig to WiFi with new 802.11ac 4x4 system-on-chip

Toshiba intros Excite 10 SE tablet with Android 4.1, available December 6th for $350

CyPhy Works reveals tethered flying bots that can spy on you indefinitely (video)

Monday, December 03, 2012

Samsung's Curvy Projector Is More Pocketable Than the Galaxy SIII

Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II now open to pleasures of the rooted kind

Sharp reveals the LL-S201A: a 20-inch multi-touch and stylus-friendly display

Gmail 4.2.1 for Android adds easier resizing, swipe features and more

Stratasys and Objet combine 3D printing / rapid prototyping powers, working on printing money

DIY Shrimp Microcontroller Replicates an Arduino Uno at One-Fifth the Price

Macronix plans to heat up flash memory to keep it from burning out

Mitsubishi is ending rear-projection TVs, ceases production of DLP and laser models

Acer unveils TravelMate B113 ultraportable with student-friendly $399 price

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Hardkernel reveals pair of quad-core Exynos ODROID-U developer boards, starting at $69

Benchmarks hint at budget ASUS ME172V Jelly Bean tablet, 1GHz processor Mali 400 GPU

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