Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

12-inch not-Eee PC S101 followup expected this year

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Rmwluzh-SN4/

Filed under: Laptops

If you think ASUS has a lot of Eee PCs in its product portfolio then you should check out its laptop lineup sometime. Last we counted, ASUS was offering over 50 different models of laptops. Here's another: a rumored 12-inch, 16:9 aspect followup to the svelte 10.2-inch Eee PC S101. However, since this edges above Jerry Shen's maximum Eee PC size-threshold of 10-inches, the new slimster will be launched under ASUS' ZX-series and hopefully come packing something a bit heartier than say, an Atom processor. Only, with an expected NT$30,000 (about US$912) launch by year's end, we're forced to stubbornly let go of our hope to find a refreshed Core 2 Duo on the inside.

12-inch not-Eee PC S101 followup expected this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carbon nanotubes could be used in film-like flat speakers

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/7OZ7wvDtkos/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Portable Audio

Seriously, is there anything carbon nanotubes can't do? We've got shock absorbers, flexible displays, atypically small eating utensils and now, film-like speakers. For times when NXT flat drivers simply aren't thin enough, a team of Chinese researchers have reportedly found a way to create sound from a thin sheet of carbon nanotubes. The film, which could be stretched and placed on PMPs, HDTVs or even clothing, can generate sound when "zapped with a varying electric current." Great, the perfect recipe for a new wave of Milli Vanilli copycats. A video of the tech can be seen after the jump.

[Via Physorg]

Continue reading Carbon nanotubes could be used in film-like flat speakers

Carbon nanotubes could be used in film-like flat speakers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu's LifeBook U820 mini tablet now on sale, starts at $999

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/-ACHbyw6kI8/

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

We're still scratching our noggins in a futile attempt to figure out the LifeBook U820's real purpose on this Earth, but for those who've got it all figured out, you'll likely be thrilled to know that this puppy is now on sale. $999 buys you a mini convertible tablet with an Intel Atom Z530 CPU, a 5.6-inch WXGA touchscreen, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB 4,200RPM hard drive, built-in GPS / Garmin Mobile PC, Ethernet, a webcam / fingerprint sensor, Bluetooth / WiFi and a 4-cell battery. There's also a $1,299 version if that other variant just isn't up to your standards, but at any rate, feel free to punch the read link and have a think before pulling the trigger on either.

[Via jkkmobile]

Gallery: Fujitsu's LifeBook U820 mini tablet now on sale

Fujitsu's LifeBook U820 mini tablet now on sale, starts at $999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fujitsu unveils LifeBook N7010 with secondary 4-inch touchscreen

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FVCf4OPyPro/

Filed under: Laptops

We were expecting to see Fujitsu's U820 break cover this morning, but the company managed to keep another trick up its sleeve: the 16-inch LifeBook N7010, which features a second four-inch touch screen above the keyboard. Interestingly, the touchscreen isn't a SideShow display, but rather appears as a second monitor -- meaning you can replace the default launcher app with any window of your choosing, including full-screen video. Nifty trick -- we'd have been more into it if it had somehow been combined with the gesture-enabled trackpad, but we'll see if this design takes off. Other specs are nicely on the higher-end of things, if familiar: 2.26GHz P8400 Core 2 Duo, 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3470 graphics, 4GB RAM, 320GB drive, Blu-ray, 1.3 megapixel webcam, and WiFi / Bluetooth. Not bad at all for $1,499 -- too bad we don't have any availability details.

[Via Slashgear]

Read - Fujitsu N7010 announcement
Read - Laptop hands-on

Fujitsu unveils LifeBook N7010 with secondary 4-inch touchscreen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WD TV HD Media Player smacked up, flipped, rubbed down

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/pdawudbaiu0/

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Western Digital's WD TV HD Media Player kept a low profile before hitting shelves this month, but with only $99 separating MaddHat.com from a thorough teardown, the inevitable next step was taken. Besides snapshots inside and out -- and the ubiquitous iPhone size comparison photo -- a quick runthrough with a variety of MKV-packed videos revealed delightfully nerdy results. The 1080p h.264 decoding was smooth, although some odd sharpening on 720p files while in 1080p output mode, and less than optimal results with 1080i-encoded files were noted. 1080p24 support didn't make it into the box, same for .ISO direct support -- no worries though, as it wasn't enough to stop the .m2ts files in the Blu-ray backups from playing directly. Good for the price, but with stiff competition -- Popcorn Hour anyone? -- being "good enough" in this sector is getting harder, pics and details are beyond the read link.

WD TV HD Media Player smacked up, flipped, rubbed down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hanvon taps E Ink for Vizplex tech in N510 e-book reader

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JAgGF3s-H0w/

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

If you've been disinterested in the current wave of e-book readers due to their size, have a gander at Hanvon's N510. Yeah, you'll have to look a little harder than usual given its diminutive size, but it's there (we promise). Hailed as the world's first five-inch e-book to use electrophoretic technology, this power-sipping device relies on an E Ink Vizplex display and offers up 180-degrees viewing, an 11-millimeter thick frame and support for TXT, HTML, PNG, JPG, PDF, XEB, CEB, MP3 and MTXT formats. The daylight-viewable screen boasts an SVGA (800 x 600) resolution, and it comes loaded with a 1GB SD card and a mini USB port. There's no direct mention of availability, but it should start floating around soon (somewhere in the world, at least) for $295.

[Via Slashgear]

Hanvon taps E Ink for Vizplex tech in N510 e-book reader originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First T-Mobile G1 tethering "solution" comes to light

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/wuyktJ77NtU/

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Are you excited? Giddy? You should be. The inevitable has occurred, and even though it's far from elegant (and far from guaranteed-to-work), tethering on the T-Mobile G1 is a go. According to a few users over at TmoNews, this particular solution enables owners to share the G1's data connection via USB, which -- for all intents and purposes -- is tethering. You're going to have to put in some serious ~~days~~ minutes to get everything up and running properly, but trust us, it'll be worth it. Navigate down to the links below for all the instructions you could ever need... hopefully.

[Via AndroidGuys]

Read - G1 tethering instructions
Read - TmoNews discussion

First T-Mobile G1 tethering "solution" comes to light originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic's H1 Mobile Clinical Assistant gets release date, price, music video

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_ZR7qzTVQJA/

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Remember that medical tablet Panasonic revealed at IDF earlier this year? No? Well, it happened. Details were pretty hard to come by then, but the company's officially announced the product as the H1 tablet. The fully ruggedized slate is built on familiar netbook internals with a 1.86 GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, an 80GB SSD, a 10.4-inch 1024 x 768 resolution LCD display with an InPlay Technologies digitizer, and 802.11a/b/g/n. It's going to be available in January of 2009 for a somewhat staggering $2,799, though the figure is less painful when you consider that awesome custom handle on the back. If you can't get enough tedious details about devices such as this, you're in luck: hit the read link for a serious plethora of information in the press releases, and check out the awesome educational video they've released after the break. We think you'll find it has a lot to offer in terms of production values and soundtrack.

[Via Gotta Be Mobile]

Continue reading Panasonic's H1 Mobile Clinical Assistant gets release date, price, music video

Panasonic's H1 Mobile Clinical Assistant gets release date, price, music video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA and NVIDIA axe netbook platform, questions abound

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/M9qNBnq1oHM/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Something is definitely going awry with VIA's Nano platform: the company just lost HP's Mini 1000 to Intel, and now Digitimes says that VIA and NVIDIA are backing out of their plan to develop a netbook platform. Remember, Nano was announced back in May, so it's a little odd that we haven't seen a single shipping machine with the chip, even as VIA has hyped its performance advantages over the ubiquitous Atom 230 -- the closest we've come is the imini S1 in June, which has since disappeared. Now, we're always a little suspicious of Digitimes' anonymous reports, so nothing's written in stone, but things just seem pretty bleak 'round VIA way right now -- especially since it just dropped out of the mobo biz entirely to focus on processors. Hopefully we'll see some good news in the form of shipping products soon.

[Via Electronista]

VIA and NVIDIA axe netbook platform, questions abound originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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