Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, October 24, 2008

Access debuts ALP 3.0 and ALP mini, a scant 20 years too late

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429632684/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Leave it to Access to completely underplay the debut of one of the most anticipated mobile operating systems of the decade -- anticipation that's certainly waned, but we're sure somebody's at least a little excited. ALP 3.0 and ALP mini are about ready for mass consumption, with ALP mini available to licensees immediately, though no word yet on when ALP 3.0 will hit. From the sound of it, ALP 3.0 concentrates on a fancy, transition-filled smartphone OS, while ALP mini is more stripped-down and ready for featurephone use. Both operating systems are Linux-based, with some strange amalgam of Palm OS-ness, though ALP mini drops Garnet compatibility and can't run native Linux apps like big brother 3.0, which is LiMo compatible. NTT DoCoMo is planning ALP phones in the second half of 2009, that Edelweiss ALP phone for Russia has been outed, and we're still struggling to care.

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Belkin delays FlyWire Wireless HD box yet again

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429632683/

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless

You've got to be kidding us. No, seriously -- this has to be a joke. Just last month, we witnessed in person a FlyWire unit beaming a 1080p Blu-ray signal wirelessly to an HDTV, and the results were nothing short of astonishing. For whatever reason, the box -- which was officially unveiled back at CES 2008 -- won't even be ready for next year's Vegas extravaganza. While we were told at CEDIA that the unit would begin shipping out in October (like, right now), Melody Chalaban, a marketing executive and spokeswoman for Belkin has informed Electronic House that it "won't be able to make [its] anticipated deadline of the winter CES show." Unfortunately, she gave no indication of when it actually would ship, leaving us to wonder if the dawn of the wireless HD era is being pushed back altogether. Again.

Update: Melody herself contacted us to clarify a bit and provide some guidance for release. According to her, the FlyWire is being delayed due to "compliance issues, and it will be available late January 2009."

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BenQ's M2400HD 24-inch LCD hits Japan next month

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429655860/

Filed under: Displays

BenQ's M2400HD 24-inch LCD hits Japan next month

24-inch LCDs are the new black this season, with new ebony choices appearing seemingly every week. Funny, then, that BenQ should choose to distance its latest two-footer from the crowd by coloring it white -- plus giving it a few interesting features, like a 2 megapixel webcam peeking over the top of a 16:9, 1920 x 1080 resolution panel. That's a bit down from the typical 1920 x 1200 we'd expect on this size display, but it's perfectly suited for all that 1080p content you have lying around. (16:9 is a little rare on a desktop display, but we know how much you hate letterboxing.) An HDMI input will help to keep that HD video flowing, plus there's VGA and DVI-D too. The rest of the specs are fairly tame: 300cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio (capable of being dynamically boosted to 10,000:1), a 5ms response rate, and a 3-port USB hub. If you can do without the missing 230,400 pixels this sounds like a solid display, coming to Japan next month for 420€ (about $535).

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Panasonic's new 3D range sensor functions in direct sunlight

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429712518/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Perhaps you're looking for a way to track potential cat burglers, give your robot some spacial sense, make your UIs a little more interactive, or you simply want to keep an eye on your "compound." Panasonic has just released detailed specs for its 3D range sensor -- the first, it says, to work in direct sunlight. Exhibited at CEATEC 2008, the device emits light from several dozen LEDs to track the movements of any object in its view. The company's previous 3D range sensor didn't function well (if at all) in bright light, but the equipment now compensates for "extremely bright ambient light" by measuring it and eliminating it from the equation. Can't wait to track your loved ones' every movement? The 24 volt, USB 2.0 sensor is slated for an April 1, 2009 release.

[Via Tech-On!]

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Interactive Mirror dazzles onlookers, never lies

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429742126/

Filed under: Peripherals

IInteractive Mirror dazzles onlookers, never lies

It was just a month ago that Alpay Kasal of Lit Studios was impressing us with LaserGames, beaming all sorts of fun, interactive visuals on the wall. Now, with a few tweaks, he's turned that projector around and made a two-way mirror into a sort of digital portal. "Interactive Mirror" uses the same basic mouse emulation as LaserGames -- it seems to lack multi-touch but offers some interesting ideas, like showing how a custom T-shirt would look if you were wearing it. That's potentially useful, but its primary function seems to be inducing childish wonderment in your friends. If the wide-eyed participants in the video below are any indication, it seems to do that quite well.

Continue reading Interactive Mirror dazzles onlookers, never lies

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Intel-based MID to make a splash on France's SFR

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429772085/

Filed under: Handhelds

It looks like France's SFR will be getting some tweaked variant of Aigo's familiar P8860 Intel-based MID... with 3G on-board. The device features an 800 x 480 touchscreen display, an 800MHz Atom CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash memory, Bluetooth, WiFi, a VGA webcam, 3 megapixel camera, and a full slide-out AZERTY keyboard (as well as some odd, circular navigation wheel). Obviously the big bonus here is the 3G connectivity, which sounds like it will be offered at €19.90 (about $26) or €24.90 ($32) per month, depending on plan. By appearances, those plans include unlimited data -- though the machine translated article seems to suggest there could be some capping. The Linux-powered device will sell for €249 / $310 (€349 with a €100 rebate) -- no word on release date.

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AMD rolls out budget-minded ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429839779/

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

It's not quite a $39 graphics card but, at "less than $150," AMD's new ATI Radeon HD 4830 is still quite the bargain compared to ATI's higher-end offerings, and you'll get a good deal more oomph for those extra bucks. That includes a 256-bit GDDR3 memory interface (the actual amount of memory will vary from card to card), an impressive 640 stream processing units, AMD's second generation Unified Video Decoder for improved HD video playback, DirectX 10.1 support, two dual-link DVI ports, and, of course, support for ATI's CrossFireX technology. What's more, while AMD isn't willing to mention any specific prices below $150, The Tech Report has already turned up one card from MSI that's selling for just $120 after a $10 rebate and, if you're looking for a bit more information to inform your purchase, you can check out their review and benchmarks by hitting up the link below.

[Via Computer Monger]

Read - AMD Press Release
Read - The Tech Report, "AMD's Radeon HD 4830 graphics processor"

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3G-enabled Archos 5 and Eee PC 901 announced by French wireless carrier SFR

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429920580/

Filed under: Laptops, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wireless

You don't see a lot of PMPs or netbooks out there with carrier branding, but both the Archos 5 and the Eee PC have gotten themselves 3G-enabled recently, and French wireless company SFR isn't wasting any time with the silkscreen machine -- it's just announced subsidized versions of both. The Archos 5 3G+ comes dressed in sharp new black suit and features a smaller 30GB drive to go with its integrated 3G modem and custom SFR menu items -- you're looking at €249 ($320) with a monthly data fee of €19 ($24) for existing SFR customers or €24 ($30) for new subs. More or less the same deal with the Eee 901: you're getting the familiar 1.6GHz Atom with 1GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, and an integrated 3G modem for €279 ($358) with €29 ($37) / €34 ($43) monthly contract fees. Hopefully we'll see some Stateside carriers pick up on this trend soon, eh?

Read - Archos 5 3G+
Read - Eee PC 901

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Leaked Intel roadmap shows Centrino 2 bump just before Calpella hits

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/429990847/

Filed under: Laptops

Intel's Montevina mobile processors will get a significant bump in the 2nd quarter of 2009 with the 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo T9900, and the 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo P8800. A completely separate, slightly more suspect Digitimes rumor tells of a possible Core 2 Quad Q9600 CPU of unknown speed and power. Regardless, we won't get to bask in their awesomeness for very long, as the switchover to the Calpella platform (and Clarksfield) will follow quickly in the 3rd quarter of 2009. Will the rumor-mill never cease to torture us?

[Via Electronista]

Read - Intel Clarksfield & Ibex Peak-M Chipsets In Q3 '09
Read - Intel planning Montevina Refresh

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ARM Cortex-based netbooks said to be coming soon

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430006344/

Filed under: Laptops

ARM's Cortex processor was apparently good enough for the folks behind the Pandora project and it looks like we could soon be seeing some netbooks based on the CPU as well. That word comes straight from ARM's UK director of mobile solutions Rob Coombs, who said that both the Cortex-A8 (used in the Pandora) and the forthcoming Cortex-A9 would find their way into netbooks in addition to the expected smartphones, and that we should "expect announcements in the next few months." Of course, he didn't go so far as to name any specific companies we should expect announcements from, but he did helpfully run off a list of A8 and A9 licensees, which includes Samsung, Panasonic, NEC, and Toshiba, to name a few. As Crave points out, one potential drawback to netbook's using the processor is that there's no ARM-compatible version of Windows XP, but the architecture is supported by Windows CE and a number of Linux distributions, and there is the small matter of that other little device that's based on an ARM processor...

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T-Mobile G1 up and running with no activation

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430022772/

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like getting up and running on an unactivated G1 is going to be a little easier than Apple made it for iPhone users. No jailbreak required. All you really need to do is beg, steal or borrow an active T-Mobile SIM card and slip it in the phone for the duration of the setup process (it should only take a few minutes). Once you've enabled WiFi you can go back to your old SIM: you're ready to browse the web, run your apps and do everything you expect your Android-powered phone to do (except talk on the phone). If you'd like to get in on this action, check out the read link for the step-by-step instructions.

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Scotch tape surprises everyone by producing X-rays

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430058916/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

As far as we're concerned, sticky tape is mostly just for out-there modding projects, but scientists have confirmed another use for it: X-rays. After hearing word of research in that direction by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, researchers at UCLA peeled scotch tape at 1.18 inches per second in a vacuum chamber and found that X-ray pulses were emitted by the process. A human thumb has already been successfully X-rayed by this technique, and if future investigation proceeds swimmingly, paramedics and aid workers operating off the grid might be able to do X-rays without bulky and dangerous nuclear technologies. We'll admit it -- we never saw scotch tape X-rays coming, but then, neither did you, right?

[Via Switched]

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Parrot intros Specchio WiFi photo frame with NFC

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430086481/

Filed under: Household

We were hoping WiFi photo frames would be a bit more ubiquitous by now, but Parrot's not waiting around on one lonely wireless standard -- it's introducing the Specchio frame with WiFi and Bluetooth NFC for getting photos to the screen. We've seen NFC in a few mass-transit trials here and there, but only Parrot seems to be really pushing the data aspects of the tech, so it'll be interesting to see how it holds up -- the idea is that you'll take pictures on your phone and simply hold it against the frame to transfer them. Nifty -- just like the frame display itself, which looks like a metallic mirror when switched off. Hm, this might be the first digital photo frame we're actually interested in -- too bad it'll cost $500 when it goes on sale next month.

P.S.- Parrot, have some dignity with these press images, will you? The iPhone has an ass-useless Bluetooth stack and you know it.

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review]

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PlayStation Home hacked, the search for backup exploits begins

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430113644/

Filed under: Gaming

Hackers, like life, will find a way. Sony knows that all too well thanks to the PSP, but so far the PlayStation 3 has stood strong in the face of legions of nerds trying to find a way to exploit it. A potentially major breakthrough may have been made, though, as well-known PS3 hacker StreetskaterFU (we've no idea what he's going for with that name -- really) has managed to decrypt the beta client for Sony's PlayStation Home service. Curious devs can now poke around in the files looking for a way to exploit the newish in-game XMB functionality, potentially allowing homebrew apps and game backups without hard drive swapping. There's no guarantee it will lead anywhere in the end, but you don't care either way, right? Our upstanding readership would never participate in such heinously illegal activities.

[Thanks, James]

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Toshiba's NB100 netbook photographed in the wild

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430327675/

Filed under: Laptops

Oh sure, you've seen a brief glimpse of Toshiba's NB100 (a pre-production unit, at least) at the company's own Mobility Conference, but things just feel a little different when the spotting goes down in the wild. The LXF Team was lucky enough to get their camera on Tosh's UK-bound rig, and while nothing was tremendously shocking, it was called out for boasting a "boxy, but sturdy construction that looks like a shrunk-down 'serious' laptop." Check out a finalized unit beside an equally cute Aspire One in the read link below.

[Thanks, Mike]

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