Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, August 04, 2008

Nippon Signal shows off pocket-sized SVGA projector

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/352931451/

Filed under: Displays

It looks like the potential for visual pollution from micro projectors just keeps on increasing by the day, with Nippon Signal now following up Mint's just-announced VGA projector with an even smaller SVGA projector of its own. This one measures a mere 90 x 55 x 20 millimeters, and it makes use of lasers and a pair of MEMS scanners to project an image, unlike some other tiny projectors that rely on a more conventional LED light source. Unfortunately, this particular projector still seems to be in the prototype stage, and it doesn't look like Nippon Signal is planning to bring it to market itself, although it does seem that the technology could be commercialized "soon."

[Via About Projectors]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hitachi jacks perpendicular recording density to 610Gb / square inch

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/353059867/

Filed under: Storage

Hitachi sure does love some perpendicular recording, and in between making trippy videos about the tech, it seems like it's busy improving it -- the company just announced that it's increased the max storage density of magnetic recording to 610Gb per square inch. That's far denser than current techniques, and it could lead to a 2.5x increase in capacity for hard drives -- and what's more, Hitachi says it shows that hard drive capacities have the ability to increase at a rate of 40 percent annually for the foreseeable future. Looks like the Tera Era might actually be here, eh?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Keepin' it real fake, part CXXVII: OQO G900 mimics Palm Centro

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/354047243/

Filed under: Cellphones

Well it seems OQO is ~~lowering~~ raising the bar from the handset it appears to be aping by packing more goodies into its decidedly Centro-inspired set. The G900 features a 624MHz CPU, 128MB memory, quad-band GSM / GPRS / EDGE, a 2 megapixel camera, Windows Mobile 6.1, Bluetooth, and raises the bar with a dash of WiFi. Of course, this set may not find its way to a provider's shelves near you, but it's refreshing to see KIRF done right, and perhaps even done better for a change. Come on, sing it with us, Go OQO Go!

Update: As some readers have pointed out, this handset actually appears to be an OQO clone knocking off a Palm Centro, so yeah, it's just gotten better.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Folding Plica concept phone makes our eyes widen

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/354363985/

Filed under: Cellphones

Mmm, touchscreens. Expansive, gorgeous touchscreens. That pretty much sums up our initial impressions after taking one hard look at James Piatt's Plica concept. As you can tell, this foldable cellie opens up to reveal a pair of touchscreens just begging to be used for web browsing, texting and photo viewing. There's also a mini-USB port and a headphone jack, though we'd certainly be interested to see how he plans on slipping a battery in there that lasts more than a hour or two. Can we get a major handset manufacturer to look in this direction -- pretty please?

[Via gadgetell]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Video: SSD-infused Eee PC 1000 boots in 30 seconds

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/354647351/

Filed under: Laptops

Even with Express Gate installed, it took ASUS' Eee Box a good 35 seconds before an application could be used. On this particular Eee PC 1000, it took around half a minute for the entire system to load. The secret? An ultra-speedy 40GB SSD packed within. Hop on past the break for proof of the feat, but don't blink for an extraordinarily long period of time.

[Thanks, Roman]

Continue reading Video: SSD-infused Eee PC 1000 boots in 30 seconds

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

AMP test drives all-electric Saturn Sky on video

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/355009420/

Filed under: Transportation

Remember that Ohio-based firm that planned on converting 300 or so Saturn Skys into all-electric roadsters? Advanced Mechanical Products ring a bell? At any rate, said outfit has just hosted up a video of its fourth test drive of a prototype, which is shown sporting an "Electric" badge on the front fender and a whole mess of batteries and wires underneath the hood. Oh, and then there's that unmistakable whizzing sound as it cruises on by. Check out the video after the jump.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

Continue reading AMP test drives all-electric Saturn Sky on video

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

iriver Spinn caught on video, kills without words

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/355062587/

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Oh yes it is. iriver's 3.3-inch Spinn media player with AMOLED display has finally been captured on video. That gives us a first look at the new SPINN Wheel controller and how it assists with navigating the touch-screen display with haptic feedback. Gotta say, the navigation looks extremely impressive causing our want factor to burrow a bit deeper down into our wallets. Check the UI in action after the break.

[Via iriverfans.com]

Continue reading iriver Spinn caught on video, kills without words

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Intel discusses ATI and Nvidia killing Larrabee, launching as early as 2009

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/355144727/

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

While Intel's Larrabee might not be a household name for consumers just yet, it's certainly at the table where Nvidia and AMD/ATI eat. The many-core (8 to 48, at least, according to that Intel graphic) x86 chip runs all your existing apps while tossing in support for OpenGL and DirectX thus eliminating the need for a discrete graphics chip. At least that's the plan. While the exact number of cores remains a secret as does the performance of each core compared to current GPUs, given the importance Intel places on Larrabee, it's reasonable to assume that an 8-core chip will launch in 2009 or 2010 with comparable performance to GPUs on the market at that time. Intel does say that Larrabee cores will scale "almost linearly" (read: within 10%) in games; that means that a 16-core chip will offer nearly twice the performance of an 8-core chip, 32-cores twice that of 16, and so on. Apparently this has already been proven in-house with Intel name-dropping Larrabee-coded titles such as Gears of War, FEAR, and Half-Life 2, Episode 2. It's no coincidence then to hear that Intel's first Larrabee product will target PC gamers. Click through if you're just dying to read about Larrabee's 1024 bits-wide bi-directional ring network and other bits of technical wonderment sure to create at least the hint of a silicon malaise.

[Via CNET and Washington Post, Thanks Dan R.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Aigo's Atom-packin' MID gets unboxed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/355188692/

Filed under: Handhelds

Aigo's MID (more formally known as the MID P8860) just arrived in the anxious hands of UMPC Fever, and of course, it uploaded a number of photographs so we could all share in the joyous unboxing experience. Granted, you've already seen so many in the wild shots that you aren't apt to be surprised, but we're rather impressed with just how nicely everything was arranged inside of the subtle black box. We'd totally have to debadge it (is the Atom sticker really necessary... really?), but other than that it's not a half bad item to have residing in your rear pocket. More shots in the read link.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Jenn]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

VIA Nano whoops Intel's Atom (again) on video

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/355203149/

Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops

Do you cheer for the underdog? Would you love to see VIA unseat Intel in the battle for the hearts and minds of netbook market share just because Intel's, well, Intel? Good, then you'll love this highly emotive video produced by VIA showing its meager 1.3GHz Nano processor kicking Intel's 1.6GHz Atom to the curb in a 1080p HD video test. We'd be more suspect of the results had we not already seen VIA clean Intel's house in the head-to-head benchmarks. Now pull up a seat ringside and get ready to sputter along with the Atom-based netbook -- video after the break.

[Via UMPC Portal]

Continue reading VIA Nano whoops Intel's Atom (again) on video

Permalink | Email this | Comments