Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Armani Hotels and Resorts

from CubeMe by Chantal

Giorgio Armani S.p.A. and EMAAR Hotels & Resorts LLC are pleased to announce that their respective Chairmen, Mr. They have today executed the formal contractual agreement between the two companies for the development of a unique international collection of 'Armani Hotels and Resorts'.

Giorgio Armani has been one of the world's most influential designers who is now set to extend his design sensibilities into the arena of hospitality. Armani Hotels & Resorts will be places that offer the same kind of welcome to guests as the designer would privately extend to his friends and family. The website will continuously update the new Armani Hotel & Resort developments which now includes the Armani Hotel Milano and the Armani Hotel Dubai.

Link Via [AME info]

Live Cooking Table by pmg

From http://cubeme.com/blog/2007/12/13/live-cooking-table-by-pmg/#more-3901

December 13th, 2007 by Hans

It has a surface made of SCHOTT Ceran glass-ceramic panels which can be decorated individually with your choice of metallic prints. The control elements are hidden within the table: This is how the “Live Cooking Table” is able to keep its sleek aesthetic without cables or buttons and dials.

Due to its modular property the “Live-Cooking-Table” can be extended to a length of up to 6 metres and accommodate about 16 dinner guests.

Via [Dexinger] Via [Designtaxi]

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Creative's InPerson WiFi video phone outed by FCC

voice over WiFi (data channel)

from Engadget by Thomas Ricker

Tough luck Creative, good news Type A consumers. The FCC just outed Creative's unannounced, inPerson wireless video conferencing solution. Not only that, but they've loosed the user manual, external photos, and even splayed the device wide to reveal a VGA camera, built-in dual microphones, and TI DaVinci graphics chip. Here's what they've got coming: 802.11b/g WiFi and Ethernet, 76-degree wide-angle lens with "excellent low light performance," H.264 video with SIP support, rechargeable/removable Li-ion battery, remote control, headphone jack for privacy, and TV-out to view callers on a larger display. The battery can be charged in 5-hours for a 2-hour run when using the built-in, 7-inch, 16.7 million color LCD at 50% brightness. That lifespan increases to about 5 hours when sending the display to the TV. It's also fully integrated with SightSpeed accounts. As such, it features automatic SightSpeed account login, speed dials, call history and contact list management as you'd expect. So is this the device / service mashup that will finally bring ubiquitous distribution of the dedicated video phone promised since the '50s? No. Of course, even the first generation brown Zune can garner buyer hysteria when the price is right. So go ahead Creative, tell us, how much and when?

Gallery: Creative's InPerson WiFi video phone: unannounced, just for you

Stanford's nanowire battery leapfrogs Li-ion

from Engadget by Paul Miller

Stanford claims its latest advances in silicon nanowires have it building batteries with 10 times the capacity of existing Li-ion cells. Apparently people have been trying to stuff silicon -- which has a much higher capacity than existing materials -- into a battery for decades, but since it swells when charged with positively charged lithium and shrinks during use, the silicon has a tendency to "pulverize." Who knew batteries could be so dramatic? Oh, right. The advancement at Stanford, led by Yi Cui, builds the battery in the form of silicon nanowires, giving the silicon room to grow and shrink without damage. A patent is being filed, and Yi Cui is already considering forming a company or licensing the tech to a manufacturer.

DisplayLink's new VGC 4.3 supports Vista Aero 3D

from Engadget by Paul Miller

Since simply having a USB-fed monitor would not be bleeding edge enough for you, DisplayLink has updated its Virtual Graphics Card software to support the Windows Vista Aero 3D interface. The update, version 4.3, is available to all DisplayLink-based systems, including USB graphics adapters, docking stations and monitors. DisplayLink claims it's the first implementation of Aero in a network display technology, and since you can plug in up to six displays with VGC, certain maths would say that adds up to a whole bunch of Aero.

Intel foresees less controllers, more flailing arms in video games

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

It looks like Intel has some fairly big ideas of its own about the future of video games, at least if some comments Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner recently made to BusinessWeek are any indication. As the magazine reports, he said that Intel imagines that "some future generation of [Nintendo's] Wii won't have hand controllers," adding that, in their place, you'd "just set up the cameras around the room and wave your hand like you're playing tennis." Naturally, that mythical system would also be based on Intel processors (specifically, ones that can perform more than 1 trillion calculations per second), which Intel has apparently already talked to some unspecified video game console makers about using. No word if they've had any takers, of course, though we suspect at least some of them may be a little hesitant about the prospect of folks flailing their entire body around the room instead of just a controller. [Via Joystiq]

Sony unveils new optical multi-touch LCD display tech

from Engadget by Nilay Patel

Multi-touch LCD displays are suddenly all the rage, and it looks like Sony's planning on joining the party soon -- the company is touting a new 3.5-inch multi-touch LCD that uses optical sensing technology today. The 640 x 480 screen is made of what Sony's calling "low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistor" tech, and it supports recognition of up to five fingers at a time, as well as pen input. Of course, there's no word on when we might see these screens pop up in actual devices, but let's hope Sony's product designers find a better use for them than chicken-scratching holiday greetings like the press photos. [Via Engadget Japanese]

Apple prepping devices based on Intel's Silverthorne chip

from Engadget by Paul Miller

We suppose it was always inevitable, but things are about to get quite interesting at the intersection of cellphone and laptop processors. According to Intel, Apple has apparently committed to using the company's 45nm Silverthorne chip in multiple products slated for 2008. The chip offers the processing power of second-generation Pentium M processors, with the power consumption of a cellphone chip. Of course, it's not just the processor. Apple is expected to emerge as a major supporter of Intel's whole "Menlow" Mobile Internet Device platform, which packages processor, graphics and connectivity into a small enough bundle to give iPhone-powering Samsung a run for its money in ultra mobile products -- and Intel has made it clear that it has its sights set on that very member of Apple's lineup wit. The best news for dreamers that've been holding out for a true Newton successor all this time is that the chips provide plenty of juice for a UMPC-type device should Apple choose to go down that path.

[Thanks, Mark]

Unofficial Wii Opera SDK let loose

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

It looks like web browsing on the Wii is about to get a whole lot more interesting, as an entirely unofficial Wii Opera SDK has now been released to the general public, opening up the possibility for all sorts of browser-based games, among other things. What's more, the SDK allows developers with the necessary know-how to take full advantage of the Wiimote, including the ability to detect the remote's distance from the sensor bar, along with any button presses, and movement along the Z-axis. That makes things like the familiar-looking "2 Play Ship Demo" pictured above fully playable using the Wiimote, as well as more basic things like drawing and 3D rotation. Those looking to get started on a homebrew game of their own can hit up the read link below for the necessary files, while the rest of us can try out a handful of ready made demos at the same link. [Via Joystiq]

NYC taxis simply running mapping app over unsecured Windows

from Engadget by Nilay Patel

It's always interesting when electronic billboards, kiosks, and other installations go haywire and show you the dark heart of Windows lurking underneath, but it's even more fun when you can actually start poking around -- and it looks like there's a fair bit of poking to do in all those NYC taxis with backseat screens . According to Billy Chasen, dismissing the error message will allow you to get to the Start menu, from which it's trivial to run the Windows Connection Wizard, set up the Sprint broadband card, and start surfing away. Billy could also browse the filesystem -- which may or may not contain credit card data -- and it looks like he even had enough access to install any software he could find online. Hmmm, looks like there's 1000 experience points waiting here for the first person to send in a photo of Engadget on one of these screens -- with a 5000 point bonus if it's in Firefox.

Asus announces U2 hotness

from Engadget by Ryan Block

We're not sure why Asus damned its hot new laptop by announcing it prior to CES (unlike its predecessor, the U1) -- and on a Saturday, no less -- but you can't question the quality: Core Duo ULV or Centrino, 802.11a/b/g, Vista (from Basic to Ultimate), 11.1-inch 1366 x 768 LED-backlit display, 32GB SSD option, up to 4GB RAM in a 2.75 pound 1.1-inch thick footprint. We'll spare you the Bono ref or jokes about the lack of Edge data.

Homegrown speaker created with foam plate

from Engadget by Darren Murph

We know what you're thinking, and trust us, we're right there with you. We've no idea how a speaker constructed from a foam plate could sound anything close to decent, but judging by the comments from folks that have made their own, it may actually be worth your while to do the same over your holiday break. Reportedly, all you'll need is a standard foam plate, a couple of paper strips, two business cards, some wire, a bit of glue / tape, a neodymium magnet and an audio plug; once you've gathered your materials, you can hit the read link for the how-to guide of putting together the relatively simple device. Of course, we aren't responsible for any strange looks you get should you choose to pimp your new sound system to members of your extended family.

ATP's GPS Photo Finder geotags your pix OTG

from Engadget by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

If you're heavy into geotagging -- and we think you are -- you may want to look into an interesting new product from ATP (no relation to the multifunctional nucleotide of the same name) called the GPS Photo Finder, a unique device which automatically tags your digital pictures with latitude and longitude, without the need for a PC nearby. The little rectangular box works by reading SD, MMC or Memory Stick data and then tagging pictures on the media with location coordinates (as long as your camera is synced to the clock of the Photo Finder). The internal 128MB of memory allows for roughly 550 hours of tracking, and the pictures / GPS data can be read by any application capable of handling geotagged images (such as Picasa). The device is scheduled for mass release in the first quarter of 2008, no word on price right now.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple, Fox join hands in iTunes movie rental deal

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Right on cue, it's being reported that Apple and Fox have indeed (finally) agreed on an iTunes movie deal, and while details are admittedly scant at the moment, chances are Stevie J. will get to the nitty gritty come Macworld. What we do know, however, is that the alleged partnership will enable iTunes users to rent new Fox DVD releases and keep them around "for a limited time," though pricing figures weren't speculated upon. Additionally, it sounds like Fox will be spreading its digital file inclusion from select titles to all flicks, giving DVD purchasers a FairPlay protected file that can easily be transferred (read: without third-party transcoding software) to a computer and / or iPod for later viewing. As expected, both firms declined to comment on the reports, but all the minutiae you can stand will likely start flowing in just a few weeks.

[Via paidContent]

Eee PC hacked for internal 3G HSDPA

from Engadget by Donald Melanson

This one's definitely not for anyone concerned with warranties and whatnot, but those looking to expand their Eee PC's wireless capabilities without resorting any unsightly adapters may want to check out the latest how-to from jkmobile, which gives you the rundown on adding internal 3G HSDPA to the diminutive laptop. That, as you might have guessed, involves a fair bit of slicing and soldering, not to mention disassembling a standard 3G HSDPA modem (a ZadaCOM 3G+ HSDPA, in this case). The process is apparently further eased if you have just the right Eee PC model, as the 8G's 8GB SSD drive takes up too much room, and the earlier 4G models require some additional cutting to squeeze the modem in. Hit up the read link below for pics of the whole process and a video of the hack in action. [Thanks, C.K. Sample]

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)