Ideum's MT-55 'Platform' multitouch table goes ultrathin, demands but $18,000

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/ideums-mt-55-platform-multitouch-table-goes-ultrathin-demand/

It's been a hot minute since we've heard from the fine folks at Ideum, but when the image above floated into our inbox... well, it's safe to say our interest was piqued. We last heard from these guys back in the fall of 2009, and while The Platform is certainly a bit smaller than the 100-inch MT-50 that came before it, it's also a heck of a lot more practical for average consumers. Well, save for the price. Looking beyond that for a moment, you'll find a devilishly thin (3-inches) table, complete with 55-inches of 1080p gorgeousness, a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 178-degree viewing angle and support for a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Professional. The internal computer includes a dual-core Core i5 CPU (2.66GHz), 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD; you'll also find WiFi, Bluetooth and a slew of "hidden ports." The entire thing is constructed from aircraft-grade aluminum, and it supports a total of 32 touch points. We'll leave it to you to discover what it'll be used for in your future abode, but if you've got the $17,950 to take one home, you've probably got the brains to figure it out.

Ideum's MT-55 'Platform' multitouch table goes ultrathin, demands but $18,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Asus updates Xtion Pro motion sensor, makes it even more like Kinect

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/asus-updates-xtion-pro-motion-sensor-makes-it-even-more-like-ki/

Remember the Xtion Pro and Wavi Xtion motion sensors that Asus showed off at CES? Well, fast-forward six months and there's already an updated model on the market: the Windows- and Linux-compatible Xtion Pro Live. The new version complements the original's IR and depth sensors with a Kinect-like VGA webcam and a pair of microphones, while also jacking up the bill to a distinctly un-Kinect-like 175 Euros ($300). That price tag won't make us shift our living room furniture around anytime soon, especially since Kinect is already officially heading to the PC. However, that isn't really the point: the Pro Live edition is primarily meant to help developers design better games and apps for the more consumer-focused but as yet unreleased Wavi. Soon as they develop a game that rewards rather than punishes us for dancing like Tina Turner, we'll be right there.

[Thanks, TheLostSwede]

Asus updates Xtion Pro motion sensor, makes it even more like Kinect originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/amazon-rolls-out-textbook-rentals-for-kindle-promises-discounts/

Students can already save a few bucks by opting for a digital version of a textbook over a hardcover, and they can now save even more courtesy of Amazon if they aren't too intent on hanging onto the book after they're done with it. The company has just announced textbook rentals for Kindle, which promises to let students save "up to 80 percent" off the list price of those often pricey textbooks. That discount varies depending on the rental period -- which can be anywhere from 30 to 360 days -- and the option is already available on "tens of thousands" of textbooks from a number of publishers including John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. What's more, you can also rest assured that all of your annotations will be saved even after the rental has expired, and be accessible at any time on the Kindle website (or in the book itself if you ever decide to rent it again for old time's sake). Press release is after the break.

Continue reading Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent

Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Singbox SV-606's MP3 milkshake brings the portable audio love to your yard

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/17/singbox-sv-606s-mp3-milkshake-brings-the-portable-audio-love-to/

See that line up of multi-colored, chromatic doodads above? Those are not, in fact, a host of shiny USB-powered kazoos. Le sigh, we know -- maybe next time. What are they, then? Try the super spiffy-looking Korean line of Singbox SV-606 speaker / MP3 players that pack an FM radio, microSD card reader and headphone jack into an 85mm by 35mm bullet shell-shaped design. While these digital audio players won't be useful in slaying any rainbow-obsessed werewolves, they will probably help get a few heads-a-turning as you strut your Saturday Night Fever stuff down the boulevard. Hit the source for a translated view of these sold-out beauties.

Singbox SV-606's MP3 milkshake brings the portable audio love to your yard originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: The bedeviled bezel

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/17/switched-on-the-bedeviled-bezel/

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

One of the few homages that the Palm Pre paid to the Palm Pilot was the gesture area, a separate part of the display face below the screen used for swipes just as the Pilot had a separate area devoted to entering Graffiti strokes. Unfortunately (like Graffiti before it), the gesture area was one of the least intuitive aspects of the Pre's operation, and HP has been moving away from it as a required navigation element. On the TouchPad, the gesture area has been scrapped in favor of an iPad-like bottom button.

But HP hasn't outright ignored the bezel on the TouchPad. Users can still swipe inbound from the bezel as an alternative way of bringing up its card view. Indeed, in 2011, it seems like nearly everyone has been taking a swipe at the bezel around touchscreen displays. First, RIM introduced inbound bezel swipes as a key navigation element on the PlayBook for activating menus, bringing up applications to launch, and its own webOS-like app switching interface. Microsoft showed how inbound bezel swipes will be part of the navigation for touchscreen devices in Windows 8. And MeeGo also uses the inbound bezel swipe as its keystone user interface element on smartphones...

Continue reading Switched On: The bedeviled bezel

Switched On: The bedeviled bezel originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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