Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

AT&T Fuze dummies popping up in stores

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/4Ta1cmkuizQ/

Sprint beat 'em with the Touch Pro, but that doesn't mean a throng of AT&T customers aren't going to be delighted to hear that the Fuze is now shipping to stores -- sort of. Retail locations are receiving dummy Fuzes now, which don't do much good if you're trying to store contacts, make appointments, or place calls, but at least give us a solid indication that retail availability ain't too far off. Sorry, Tilt -- you had a good run, but our lust definitely lies elsewhere at this point.

AT&T Fuze dummies popping up in stores originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG debuts 13.3-inch XNOTE P310 premium laptop

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/TLXeIs4ivCM/

Filed under: Laptops

LG may not have strayed to far from the outward appearance of the XNOTE P300 with its new P310 model, but it looks to have given the "premium" laptop a decent enough upgrade under the hood, with it now finally getting bumped up to the Centrino 2 platform. That upgrade also includes a speedier 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 processor, 3GB of DDR3 memory, 2GB of Intel Turbo Memory a 320GB hard drive, and some decent enough NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics, not to mention the same LED-backlit 13.3-inch display as before. No word on a price just yet, but we're guessing it won't be too far off the €1,599 (or just over $2,000) its predecessor demanded.

[Via Hallyu Tech]

LG debuts 13.3-inch XNOTE P310 premium laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vodafone's BlackBerry Storm gets unboxed, looks smashing

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Fw6LpxgflBU/

Filed under: Cellphones

Vodafone's BlackBerry Storm is way ahead of Verizon's in terms of availability, so you North Americans are going to have to suffer through the agony that is knowing Voda subscribers are delighting in this handset well before you. And now, we've even got pictures to make the wait that much more excruciating. T3 has managed to get a RIM-issued BlackBerry Storm underneath the lens for a quick unboxing, and while nothing is out of the ordinary, we definitely got that warm, tingly feeling in our chest when watching a shiny new handset meet its owner for the first time. Flip through the gallery in the read link and see if you don't feel it, too.

[Via CrackBerry]

Vodafone's BlackBerry Storm gets unboxed, looks smashing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon EOS 5D Mark II sample video is very HD and very unofficial

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/M3Jc7U4kwMM/

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Canon has already provided a few carefully prepared sample videos taken with its new EOS 5D Mark II DSLR, but those that prefer things a bit more unofficial may want to head on over to Akihabara News, which has new demo video of its own. Not surprisingly, the camera definitely impresses even when taken out of Canon's capable and controlling hands, but there's not much use in us simply describing it -- hit up the read link below to check it out for yourself (assuming your computer and internet connection is up to the task).

Canon EOS 5D Mark II sample video is very HD and very unofficial originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How the CNN Holographic Interview System Works [Cnn Hologram]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/-z82M_HEMUg/how-the-cnn-holographic-interview-system-works

CNN's holographic election coverage is fancy pantsy, but how did they manage to send 3D 360 degree footage of virtual correspondent Jessica Yellin from Chicago all the way to the station's election center in NY? As Arthur C. Clarke says, Magic. A magic made possible from technology Vizrt and SportVu with the help of forty-four HD cameras and twenty computers. Here are the details.

On the subject's side:
• 35 HD cameras pointed at the subject in a ring
• Different cameras shoot at different angles (like the matrix), to transmit the entire body image
• The cameras are hooked up to the cameras in home base in NY, synchronizing the angles so perspective is right
• The system is set up in trailers outside Obama and McCain HQ
• Not only is it mechanical tracking via camera communication, there's infrared as well
• Correspondents see a 37-inch plasma where the return feed of the combined images are fed back to them. Useful for a misplaced hair or an unseemly boogar
• Twenty "computers" are crunching this data in order to make it usable

On the HQ side:
• Only used on two out of 40-something total camera feeds that CNN has
• Wolf Blitzer really loves it (or loves Jessica Yellin):

It's still Jessica Yellin and you look like Jessica Yellin and we know you are Jessica Yellin. I think a lot of people are nervous out there. All right, Jessica. You were a terrific hologram.

• The delay is either minimal, or we've gotten used to satellite delay that we don't even notice now
• An array of compu! ters tak es the crunched info feed from the subject's side in order to mesh it with the video from Wolf's side.
• Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the images are actually "projected" onto the floor of the CNN studio so that Wolf can actually talk to the person, you know, in a face to face. So it's not quite Star Wars just yet. Only after computers merge the video feeds together do you get a coherent hologram + person scenario