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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

AOC launches 22-inch 2230Fh LCD monitor

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309735216/

Shortly after bringing the Envision L42H761 to market, AOC has decided to cater to those looking for something a touch smaller. The 22-inch 2230Fh LCD should work just fine as a computer monitor or bedroom HDTV, provided that you bring your own source of programming. The unit packs a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 2-millisecond response time, a "glossy piano-black finish," integrated speakers and VGA / DVI / HDMI inputs. Best of all, this thing won't be putting any huge dent in your wallet with its $299.99 sticker. Full release after the jump.

Gallery: AOC launches 22-inch 2230Fh LCD monitor

Continue reading AOC launches 22-inch 2230Fh LCD monitor

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LED sphere project does still images and video at 1,800 rpm

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309771748/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

If by chance you're looking for yet another LED-heavy DIY project to tackle, you may want to take a gander at this so-called persistence-of-vision LED sphere, which will let you pump out some super-low res still images or video on a spinning 3D screen. That's accomplished using a single ring of tri-color LEDs, which spins at a rate fast enough to display any combination of red, green or blue pixels along the surface of the resulting sphere, giving you an impressive 3-bit color depth (no video of it in action though, sadly). That, of course, is slightly easier said than done, and there unfortunately isn't a step-by-step how-to to guide you through the process, though we're guessing anyone actually pondering such a project will be able to make do well enough on their own.

[Via MAKE:Blog]

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HP says to expect multi-touch laptops "long before" Windows 7

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309823310/

Filed under: Laptops

Fresh from showing off its TouchSmart 2 all-in-one device, HP has now dropped word that we can expect to see some multi-touch laptops from the company as well. That none-too-surprising bit of news comes straight from HP's Kevin Frost, general manager of the consumer notebook division, who says that we can expect the laptops to show up "long before" the launch of multi-touch-friendly Windows 7 OS (supposedly on track for a 2010 release). Somewhat interestingly, HP technical marketing manager Kevin Wentzel adds that the one of the bigger obstacles at the moment is in developing suitable software, not hardware, for laptops.

[Via Electronista]

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Snow Leopard to drop PowerPC support?

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309796522/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

PowerPC users, your days could be numbered. According to an alleged screenshot of Snow Leopard's system requirements, only Intel CPUs will get to take a ride on the 10.6 train as of now. The grab comes from an early version of the OS seeded to developers at WWDC this week, though given that Jobsy said we're a year out from an actual release, these things could change. Still, it's not looking promising for those of you who've stood by your older models -- but Apple shutting out legacy users doesn't come as a real shock, does it?

[Via Mac Rumors; Thanks, Kiwi616]

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OLPC X2

source: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/fullimage.php?image=10509

X300 vs Envy 133 vs MacBook Air... Fight!

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308789770/

Filed under: Laptops

Suddenly the 13.3-inch ultra-portable market is looking a might bit crowded. At the same time, it's never looked better now that we have the choice of Lenovo's X300, Apple's MacBook Air, and Voodoo's just announced Envy 133. Decisions, decisions.

ThinkPad X300	Envy 133	MacBook Air
0.73 to 0.92-inches	0.70-inches	0.16 to 0.76-inches
2.9 to 3.1-pounds*	3.37-pounds	3 pounds
13.3-inch LED	13.3-inch LED	13.3-inch LED
1,440 x 900	1,280 x 800	1,280 x 800
Removable Battery	Removable Battery	Not Removable
Ethernet	External	via USB adapter
3x USB	1x USB, 1x USB/eSATA	1x USB
DVD	External	External
1.2GHz Core 2 Duo	1.8GHz Core 2 Duo	1.8GHz Core 2 Duo
GMA X3100	GMA X3100	GMA X3100
SSD only	SSD only (?)	HDD or SSD
Vista	Vista	Vista or OS X
$2,700 to $3,000*	$2,099 starting	$1,800 to $3,100*
Business minded	Instant on Voodoo IOS	Cuts cake

*Depending upon configuration

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Blackberry OS 4.6 for 9000 / 9500 gets detailed

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308813573/

Filed under: Cellphones

We had heard that the introduction of the BlackBerry Bold (9000) / Thunder (9500) could usher in the long-awaited BlackBerry OS 4.6, and now we're just about ready to believe it. A new listing over at Horizon Wireless Online details the forthcoming operating system, and notes that it will bring along richer browsing (which entails a whole host of improvements), click zooming with the trackball, Music Sync, an option to select Home screen grid size and support for continuous spell checking (among other things). Hey RIM, can we get that "richer browsing experience" on say, the Curve / Pearl?

[Thanks, Peter]

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Digifriends MID coming to US via Sprint / Nextwave

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308825686/

Filed under: Handhelds

Unfortunately, we've yet to hear if the Digifriends MID we toyed with at CES will be updated before launching in the US of A, but either way, you can bank on it coming. Reportedly, Peter Kim, the project supervisor at Digifriends USA, has informed Pocketables that the unit spotted in January will be arriving Stateside with "contracted sales through Sprint and NextWave." Pricing remains a mystery, but we're told to expect said unit to be available "very soon." The edge of our seat can barely take all of this pressure.

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WhiteKnightTwo scheduled to rollout in July, fly in September

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308840459/

Filed under: Transportation

WhiteKnightTwo

While much of the attention surrounding Virgin Galactic's race to space tourism has surrounded its SpaceShipTwo, word has come that carrier ship WhiteKnightTwo will rollout in late July, and after some ground tests, take to the skies by September. With this rollout come some new details about the composite, twin-boom mothership, which Virgin Galactic is selling as an "open architecture" that they are clearly open to pimping for other applications. Says Prez Will Whitehorn, "WhiteKnightTwo is the world's most advanced payload carrier. It has the best fuel efficiency of any aircraft ever built in history. It is the world's first 100% carbon composite aircraft." They are even looking into using WhiteKnightTwo as a forest fire water bomber with its payload capacity. Nonetheless, we care because the giant ship that will carry rich people to space at $200,000 a pop is going to be flying by September. Press passes please?

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Researchers show off flexible, band-aid-sized tactile display

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/308913874/

Filed under: Wearables

We've seen tactile displays of all shapes and sizes, but none quite like this latest creation from a group of researchers at Korea's Sungkyunkwan University and the University of Nevada, which promises to be at your disposal whenever you need it. That's possible thanks to the electroactive polymer material the display is based on, which consists of eight layers of tiny actuator films that have been sprayed with electrodes in a specific pattern, allowing the skin to be stimulated without any additional electromechanical transmission. In addition to making it possible to wrap the display around your finger like a band-aid, that also makes the system extremely power efficient and, apparently, cost effective and easy to manufacture. As with other tactile displays, the researchers say this one could be especially useful as a braille display for the blind, although they don't see any shortage of other potential applications, with them foreseeing it being used in everything from virtual keyboards to tele-surgical gloves.

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Video: Voodoo floats 13.3-inch Envy 133 into the Air

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 10th 2008 at 4:10AM

Oh my. First you're slicing cake with the MacBook Air, then you're looking to steal its market share. Lenovo, you can't afford to be too smug either. Voodoo's $2,099, carbon fiber Envy 133 isn't a gaming rig. It is, however, a 13.3-inch ultra-portable with LED-backlit display, 1,280 x 800 resolution, Intel GMA X3100 graphics, 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SP7700 processor, HDMI, 2x USB (1 doubles as eSATA) and hard disk or SSD option. It also features an instant-on Voodoo IOS mode that lets you surf the web, chat, look at photos, and make Skype calls without booting into Windows. Impressed yet? Well what if we told you that the power brick (and it's definitely a brick!) doubles as a WiFi access point? Check the preview just beyond the read link, or full video explanation after the break.

Super-strong nanopaper is seven times stronger, 1,000 times smaller

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309028360/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

nanopaper

So much for Ballmer's vision of a paperless world -- that is, if the mighty nanofiber paper has anything to do with it. This new paper is made out of the same cellulose your regulation legal pad, but scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden were able to get the fiber so small and defect-free in this version -- about 1,000 times smaller -- that it's more than seven times as strong. By breaking down wood pulp with enzymes and beating it mechanically and then treating the tiny fibers with carboxymethanol, they were able to get the new paper to a tensile strength of 214 megapascals (MPa) compared with the normal 30 MPa. So, why should you care? It's entirely possible that this stuff could replace plastic bags at stores without all the petroleum waste.

[Via OhGizmo]

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AIST unveils flexible display created with microcontact printing

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309048584/

Filed under: Displays

Fresh from its efforts to disguise solar cells as plant leaves, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (or AIST) is now boasting about some advances it's made in flexible displays, which it says will offer a whole host of benefits for e-paper-based devices. The big deal with this one is that all the processes needed to fabricate the organic TFT were done with microcontact printing, which allowed 'em to achieve a pixel pitch of 127μm even in its their initial 6x6-inch prototype, with the display also working effectively over its entire surface. That doesn't mean that it's quite ready for commercial use just yet, however, although the institute is promising to have A4-sized prototype ready by 2010, with actual e-paper products set to follow sometime around 2015.

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Western Digital intros 1TB 7200RPM Caviar Black HDD

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309112244/

Filed under: Storage

Watch out, archive junkies. The 1TB internal HDD game just got one more player. Hailed by Western Digital as the "fastest 3.5-inch 7200RPM drive on the market," the Caviar Black SATA drive is available in both 750GB and 1TB flavors, with the latter obviously being the most appealing. On these beasts you'll find "twice" the processing power, 32MB of cache, StableTrac / NoTouch technologies and a respectable five-year warranty. Both units will be ready to grab next week, with the smaller of the two going for $199 and the kingpin $249.

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Voodoo's Envy 133 using custom MacBook Air CPU?

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/309143523/

Filed under: Laptops

We heard they were coming. Now it looks like we've got a second ultra-thin laptop sporting Intel's custom-built, 65-nm processor first unveiled in Apple's MacBook Air. At about 3:00 minutes into the Envy 133 video, Rahul Sood, Voodoo founder, says that his new Envy 133 uses an "off roadmap chip" of Intel design which consumes 20 watts of power. Looking at the Envy spec sheet reveals a processor running at either 1.6GHz (SP7500) or 1.8GHz (SP7700), with 4MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB. Right, those are the exact specs as the custom CPU found inside of Apple's MacBook Air. Also of note, LaptopMag says that Voodoo's instant-on IOS is none other than DeviceVM's Splashtop which ASUS is currently bunging into all of its motherboards. Make no mistake, this hunky chunk of carbon fiber is still magical, it's just not the mystery it seemed when launched this morning.

Read -- Splashtop
Read -- MacBook Air procesor
Read -- Envy 133 specs

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