Monday, May 26, 2008

Tranquil PC announces Intel Atom-based Harmony home servers

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297983584/

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Well, doesn't Tranquil PC seems pretty stoked about their new Atom-based Harmony home servers? Though they're not exactly mind-blowing (to us, anyway), two new fanless models should be shipping in June: the T7-HSAi (left, with a single 3.5-inch drive or two 2.5-inch drives) and T2-WHS-A3i (right, with up to two 3.5-inch drives), both featuring Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, 512MB or 1GB RAM options, and running Windows Home Server. With base configs and 500GB drives, the T7 will start at £278 ($550 US), and the T2 at £299 ($590 US).
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Posted by Augustine at 8:35 AM

Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298054922/

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Uh oh, Samsung's just announced their first 256GB SSD. Not that you needed to know anything more than that to trigger salivation, but the MLC-flash SATA II drive has speeds of 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write. Not like we'll be able to afford it or anything, but they'll be available come September, with a 1.8-inch version due in Q4.

Continue reading Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

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Posted by Augustine at 8:23 AM

NVIDIA might get even deeper into the embedded CPU game

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298212031/

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Okay, they're only embedded ARM chips, but le Inq is reporting that NVIDIA's prepping not just the the Tegra APX 2500 we heard about before, but also a second line of high performance embedded CPUs. Supposedly the forthcoming CSX 600 / 650 will run in the 700-800MHz range, and be capable of 1080p / 24fps video playback. We'll give these guys until, say, 2010 before they're jockeying for AMD's spot at number two in desktop processors.
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Posted by Augustine at 8:23 AM

Physicists develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298267579/

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Not to get all scientific on you or anything, but a team of Imperial physicists have just figured out a way to use plastics in laser diodes. For the uninitiated, scientists have been unable to make plastic semiconductor laser diodes because they had not yet found / developed "any plastics that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam." Now, however, that obstacle has reportedly been overcome by making minor tweaks to a given plastic's chemical structure, and the resulting material will transport charges some 200 times better than before without impeding its ability to emit light. By the sound of things, the crew behind the breakthrough isn't quite ready to offer up the solution to manufacturers, but with a bit more work, we suspect that notion will change.

[Via Slashdot]
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Posted by Augustine at 8:23 AM

Friday, May 23, 2008

LG Develops Largish Double-Sided LCD [SID 2008]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/296027042/lg-develops-largish-double+sided-lcd

We've seen double-sided LCDs before, but they're generally quite small and prototyped for cellphone use. This week, LG is showing off a prototype that's conceivably TV-sized at (an admittedly still small) 15 inches. Running a resolution of 2048 x 1536 and offering a four-color sub-pixel arrangement (red, blue, green and white), we could only imagine the implications of a tablet PC that could otherwise be a normal laptop (without an awkward Exorcist maneuver) or a TV that could accommodate Gears of War 2 and Grey's Anatomy at the same time. Of course, even if the product were released, you know they'd just charge double for the privilege. [Tech-On]


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Posted by Augustine at 8:38 AM

Google Adds Climate-Change-Predicting Layers to Google Earth [Environment]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/296119050/google-adds-climate+change+predicting-layers-to-google-earth

Google has teamed up with the British Government to create a couple of really interesting new environmental layers to Google Earth based on climate change estimates for the next century or so.

The first layer, produced from the data supplied by the Hadley Centre depicts CO2 concentrations spanning from November 1999 forward to October 2099. Along the time line, annotated place markers pop up to provide information on the impact of global climate change for specific regions and links to external resources on the topic.

The second layer, utilizing data provided by The British Antarctic Survey, documents the Antarctic ice shelves retreat since 1940 and constructs a projected regression through June 2099. The layer is covered with dates of specific discoveries and documents the retreats of 10 different ice shelves.

The layers are available now if you're interested in finding out just how screwed we'll all be without sunscreen in a few years. [Google LatLong via PSFK]

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Posted by Augustine at 8:38 AM

LG Display showcases two-sided LCD panels

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/295927033/

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It's nice enough to be able to record two programs at once, but what if you could display The Hills on one side of your LCD while catching a playoff tilt on the other? Never mind the audio issue (there's always headphones!), but LG Display has introduced a prototype at SID 2008 that could potentially make the aforesaid scenario a reality. 2.2-inch (160 x 120) and 15-inch (2,048 x 1,536) versions were reportedly announced, both of which boast reflectivity of 20-percent. Put simply, the panels can display different images on the front and back sides of the glass substrate, and ideally, they're suited for use in mobile devices where the main and secondary displays could actually be the same device. No word on when these things will actually make their way out to handset / TV manufacturers, but we're certainly digging the possibilities here.
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Posted by Augustine at 8:34 AM

NVIDIA gobbles up ray tracing software maker RayScale

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/296090771/

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Details are pretty slim on this one at the moment, but PC Perspective is reporting that NVIDIA has snapped up the Utah-based start-up RayScale, a maker of ray tracing software. As PC Perspective points out, the move is made particularly interesting in light of some recent comments made by NVIDIA CTO David Kirk, who mused about the merging of ray tracing and rasterization into a "hybrid renderer" of sorts, but didn't offer any firm details on the company's plans at the time. No word on a price tag for the acquisition just yet, or any other details for that matter, but it seems like things should be getting a bit more official in the next few days.
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Posted by Augustine at 8:33 AM

Sharp trumpets world's thinnest 5-megapixel CMOS sensor

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/296328675/

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Every so often, we catch Sharp tooting its own horn in regard to sensor size. Needless to say, small is most certainly superior in this discussion, and the aforesaid outfit is patting itself on the back once more for the RJ63SC100. This 5-megapixel CMOS sensor is said to be the industry's thinnest at 9.5- x 9.5- x 6.6-millimeters, and it should fit snugly inside the already cramped innards of tomorrow's cellphones just fine. Samples are slated to ship out at the end of May for ¥10,000 ($96) a pop, while commercial production should get going a month later.

[Via Impress]
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Posted by Augustine at 8:32 AM

3G iPhone to support 42Mbps Evolved HSPA data?

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/296410763/

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Get this. Australian site ChannelNews claims that a "senior executive of Telstra" is the latest 3G iPhone bean spiller. They quote the exec as saying the following:

"We know what is coming we have seen the new device and it will be available on our network as soon as it is launched in the USA. By Christmas this phone will be capable of 42Mbps which will make it faster than a lot of broadband offerings and the fastest iPhone on any network in the world."

Interesting. We know that Telstra's Next G HSDPA network has been capable of 14.4Mbps since 2007. At GSMA Mobile World Congress, they even committed to 21Mbps before the end of the year and 42Mbps using HSPA+ (aka, Evolved HSPA, HSPA Evolution) technology in 2009... not Christmas of 2008. Hard to say if this is just industry blow-harding or actual insider info. June 9th: T-minus 17 days and counting.

[Thanks, Paul S.]

Read -- Telstra 42Mbps HSPA+ in 2009
Read -- Telstra 3G iPhone rumor
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Posted by Augustine at 8:22 AM

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