Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Pressure-sensitive touchscreens show up on the not too distant horizon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/pressure-sensitive-touchscreens-show-up-on-the-not-too-distant-h/

Ever heard of quantum tunneling? It's the basis for the latest approach to gather steam in the never-ending quest to endue touchscreens with force recognition, and its promises are as lofty as you'd expect. Developed by UK researchers Peratech, this new methodology revolves around a 75-micrometer (less than a tenth of a millimeter) quantum tunneling composite, which display makers can add to their screens relatively cheaply and painlessly. The pressure-sensing layer consumes no power when it isn't depressed and requires a miniscule two micrometers of movement to register a touch. Japanese display maker Nissha (who counts LG and Nintendo among its customers) has grabbed a license and we're even hearing devices could be coming out as soon as April. Check the Peratech site for more info.

Pressure-sensitive touchscreens show up on the not too distant horizon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Apple, the iPhone Company [Apple]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9IJFaADoLr0/apple-the-iphone-company

Apple watchers can now see how truly huge the company's iPhone business has become, thanks to a new accounting method the company started using this past quarter.

In less than three years, the iPhone has grown to become Apple's biggest business—up from zero.

Specifically, during Apple's December quarter, the company reported $5.6 billion of iPhone-related revenue, up 90% year-over-year. That edged out the Mac business ($4.5 billion) and iPod business ($3.4 billion) for the second quarter in a row and the third time ever. It was the first time the iPhone has beat the Mac and iPod businesses by more than $1 billion each.

And this despite Apple missing Wall Street's expectations for iPhone sales, thanks to increased competition from Google Android and other smartphones.

Why the new visibility? During the quarter, Apple started taking advantage of new accounting rules that lets it report the vast majority of revenue from iPhones and Apple TV devices immediately. Previously, it had to spread the revenue over 24 months to account for free software updates it would offer those customers.

Active Media Products adds 128GB model to SaberTooth ZX 1.8-inch SSD series

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/active-media-products-adds-128gb-model-to-sabertooth-zx-1-8-inch/

You know, it's rather cute of Active Media Products to have a range of 1.8-inch PATA ZIF SSDs, and today it's added a precious 128GB model to its ferociously named SaberTooth ZX family. Like its 32GB and 64GB siblings, this new addition does sequential reading at up to 80MB/s and writing at up to 38MB/s -- nothing thrilling here, unless you're clinging onto an aging MacBook Air, Dell Latitude XT, Acer Aspire One or any PATA ZIF compatible rig. You can get the 128GB model on Amazon now for $379.95 (ouch), while 32GB and 64GB models are currently at $119.95 and $199.95, respectively.

Continue reading Active Media Products adds 128GB model to SaberTooth ZX 1.8-inch SSD series

Active Media Products adds 128GB model to SaberTooth ZX 1.8-inch SSD series originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Voice comes to iPhone and webOS, as a web app

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/google-voice-comes-to-iphone-and-webos-as-a-web-app/

FCC investigation be damned, Google has finally managed to bypass the App Store and release Google Voice to the iPhone (and webOS, too) the same way it pulled off Latitude, i.e. via a HTML5-based web app. According to Senior Product Manager Vincent Paquet, it should work with any HTML5-compliant device, although the formatting at this point has been tailored to Apple and Palm's platforms. So here's how it works: much like with its mobile Gmail site, the app caches your contacts list in a browser page. All the usual GV functionality is there, writing SMS messages, checking your inbox, and even listening to voicemails (although that latter functionality wasn't working for us yet in our trials). Placing phone calls is an interesting trick: as pictured above, after you choose the recipient, the app prompts you to call one of Google's local numbers via the native dialer -- even for international calls, hence the lower rates by paying through Google. The recipient will see your proper GV digits, and upside with this method is you'll still be able to utilize call waiting and background usage. The catch, of course, is a call history littered with random numbers. It's not a perfect solution by any means -- if anything, take solace in an assortment of home screen icons for each section of the app -- but it's probably the best we're gonna get for the time being. The page should be up and running later today, so if you're anxious, direct your mobile browser to voice.google.com and just keep hittin! g refres h.

Gallery: Google Voice web app on iPhone and webOS

Google Voice comes to iPhone and webOS, as a web app originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia X6 16GB announced, Comes Without Music

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/nokia-x6-16gb-announced-comes-without-music/

Nokia's just announced a 16GB version of its crowd pleasing, capacitive touchscreen X6 to compliment the current 32GB model. As expected, the new handset offers many similarities to its sibling, including a 3.2-inch widescreen capacitive display and 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash. Unfortunately, this device is Comes with Music-deficient, meaning that you'll have to load tunes onto the device the old fashioned way (though it's not like that ever seemed like a big deal to begin with). In addition to EA's Spore, this bad boy includes Asphalt4 and DJ Mix Tour by Gameloft and an all-new Ovi Maps (with free walk and drive navigation, Michelin and Lonely Planet guides). Available in four colors, including black, white, white with yellow highlights, and white with pink highlights. Expect to see this one roll out sometime this quarter for a price to be announced.

Nokia X6 16GB announced, Comes Without Music originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate teams with LSI to enter PCIe-based SSD game

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/seagate-teams-with-lsi-to-enter-pcie-based-ssd-game/

Seagate didn't bother serving up a gaggle of new wares at CES this year, but judging by its release shot out today, it's hoping to make a serious splash in the SSD market a bit later on. Thanks to collaboration from LSI, the outfit is expected to deliver its own line of PCI Express-based solid state storage solutions. We're guessing these devices will be similar in scope to the PCIe SSDs already outed by Fusion-io and OCZ Technology, but at least initially, they'll be aimed squarely at the enterprise market. We're hoping that's just a beta test (of sorts) and that performance-minded desktop users will be able to snap one up at their local Best Buy in short order -- too bad we've no assurance that these will be priced within the realm of feasibility, though.

Seagate teams with LSI to enter PCIe-based SSD game originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSI Wind U135 should be available for as low as $310

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/26/msi-wind-u135-officially-available-for-as-low-as-310/

You better watch it, Acer -- it looks like MSI is getting real close to undercutting your $299 Aspire One 532h netbook with its $309.99 Pine Trail-powered Wind U135. Taiwanese manufacturer disputes aside, not much has changed with the Wind U135 since we brought you our impressions, but we remind you that $305 buys you a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450, 1GB of RAM, an 160GB hard drive and Windows 7 Starter. If you need a bit more storage, you can shell out an extra 20 bucks for the 250GB version. And the cheap netbook race continues... Check the full PR after the break.

Continue reading MSI Wind U135 should be available for as low as $310

MSI Wind U135 should be available for as low as $310 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, January 25, 2010

AMD launches new Phenom II and Athlon II CPUs right onto the test bench

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/amd-launches-new-phenom-ii-and-athlon-ii-cpus-right-onto-the-tes/

Hot on the heels of its first quarterly profit in three years (thanks to Intel, strangely enough), AMD is launching a new pair of desktop processors today that hit for under a buck twenty (amongst a few others). The $99 Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition is the company's quickest dual-core desktop CPU to date at 3.2GHz, while the Athlon II X4 635 is expected to be one of the least expensive quad-core chips around. Both slabs of silicon hit the test bench over the weekend, and as you may expect, no one was particularly blown away. Of course, AMD never set out to shock and awe with this duo, but the performance-per-dollar ratio was downright beautiful. We'll spare you the nitty-gritty details (all the bar charts you can handle are just below), but suffice it to say, these two are certainly worth a look if you're fixing to build a low-end, low-cost tower for... um, your mother. Yeah, her.

Read - Hot Hardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Computer Shopper
Read - Tom's Hardware
Read - Overclocker's Club
Read - ExtremeTech

AMD launches new Phenom II and Athlon II CPUs right onto the test bench originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bang & Olufsen introduces 46-inch BeoVision 10-46 LCD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/bang-and-olufsen-introduces-46-inch-beovision-10-46-lcd/

A 46-inch LCD with some high-end, built-in speakers from Bang & Olufsen? Yeah, this one won't come cheap, but it will definitely make more of a statement in your living room than the average big-screen LCD. Of course, if this one does look a tad familiar, it's because this new BeoVisoin 10-46 is basically just a larger version of Bang & Olufsen's existing 40-inch BeoVision 10, which boasts the same brushed aluminum frame, 200Hz refresh rate, and LED backlight as it's new, larger counterpart. No official word on a price, but the 40-incher came in at just under $10,000, so you can draw your own conclusions. Look for this one to hit "selected markets" (in Europe, most likely) sometime in April -- and if it's still a bit too small for you, you can always consider B&O's 103-inch BeoVision 4.

[Thanks, John]

Bang & Olufsen introduces 46-inch BeoVision 10-46 LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung NC10 hacked to accommodate second mini PCI-e slot

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/samsung-nc10-hacked-to-accommodate-second-mini-pci-e-slot/

Samsung's NC10 may be getting a tad long in the tooth in the world of netbooks, but it still has its share of fans out there, some of whom are intent on stretching the netbook to its limits. One such individual is Graeme of the SammyNetbook forums, who amazingly managed to add a second mini PCI-e slot to the netbook that he's used to add a Broadcom HD decoder card. Of course, that mod is somewhat eased by the fact that the NC10 actually has a space and the necessary wiring for a second slot, but Graeme still did have to put his soldering skills to use, and simply hope that the NC10's BIOS recognized the extra PCI-e device (it did). Feeling a little brave? Then hit up the link below for all the necessary details and some pics of the process.

Samsung NC10 hacked to accommodate second mini PCI-e slot originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kingston's SSDNow V+ series hits 512GB capacity, adds Trim support

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/25/kingstons-ssdnow-v-series-hits-512gb-capacity-adds-trim-suppo/

Kingston's upping the ante on its solid state drive series in pretty much all the ways that count. The SSDNow V+ line boasts a 512GB upper limit, twice the previous generation, with iterative options for 256GB, 128GB, and 64GB. Read / write speeds have more than doubled to 230MB/sec and 180MB/sec, respectively. Best of all, these suckers now support TRIM. Prices range from as low as $268 for standalone 64GB an can go as high as $1968 for 512GB, with an extra $15 or so tacked on if you want the bundle instead -- still alluring, still not for the feint of funding, but the good news is, if you don't need Trim or the extra speed, the original SSDNow V series is available for much smaller dents on your wallet.

Kingston's SSDNow V+ series hits 512GB capacity, adds Trim support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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âTrexa EV Platformâ; Design your Own Electric Vehicle

Source: http://cubeme.com/blog/2010/01/22/trexa-ev-platform-design-your-own-electric-vehicle/

Trexa is aiming to make electric car designing as easy as simply picking up parts and plugging them in your dream machine. The company has unveiled the world's first fully electric vehicle development platform that lets users design the vehicle on their own.
The platform includes everything from a battery to power electronics. For starters, the standard platform has an acceleration of 0-60mph in 8 sec, a top speed of 100mph, a 105 mile range, and a charge time of 4 hours (based upon an efficiency of 200Wh per mile — comparable to a Prius in electric mode).The on-board batteries can be recharged in just four hours.

Via [Inhabitat]

Prezi Improves Freestyle Presentations with Simpler Editing, YouTube Integration [Webapps]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/C0ZPqK__O3w/prezi-improves-freestyle-presentations-with-simpler-editing-youtube-integration

Prezi, the previously featured online editing tool that lets you make zooming, free-flowing presentations, has simplified its editing tool, improved its presentation controls, and made YouTube embedding much more simple in its latest release.

Prezi is the antithesis of the slide-to-slide PowerPoint style. Your presentations are mocked up on a large canvas, with bits of text, images, charts, and now videos embedded where you want them, and connected where it makes sense. You can set up a "path" to run through when giving a presentation, creating a kind of Disney-like rail ride through your points, but the real value comes when your audience has a question—zooming back to a point and expanding on it is easy and intuitive, and connecting two points doesn't require a slide hunt.

You can check out a demonstration Prezi below, embedded from the webapp's site:

As when it launched, Prezi's basic online editor and offline presentations (on Windows and Mac systems) are free, but removing the Prezi watermark, keeping your Prezi presentations private, and upgrading your storage require a paid plan. If you've used Prezi for a presentation, or like a similar non-linear tool, tell us about it in the comments—and feel free to show off your work by linking it.

Feature Release: New Prezi Editor [Prezi.com Blog]

Radio Tuna Combines Music Discovery and Internet Radio [Radio]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/VuyJLB2Z27I/radio-tuna-combines-music-discovery-and-internet-radio

If you're looking for new music you won't find a shortage of music discovery services online. Almost all of them search their own music catalogs and not the vast assortment of online radio. RadioTuna brings music discovery to online radio.

Click on the image above for a closer look.

When you visit RadioTuna you can dive right in by searching by genre, artist, and song to begin listening. Radio stations suggested by RadioTuna are given rankings to show you how much of a certain type of music they play. You can bookmark radio stations you find and then review your listening history, see the play charts from your saved stations, and share the stations you listen to with friends through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

RadioTuna provides a more in-depth method for discovering music online than simply searching a directory of radio stations and hoping to find one that plays songs you'd like. You can check out RadioTuna without signing up but saving stations and your search history requires a free login. If you have a music discovery service you can't live without, let's hear about it in the comments.

RadioTuna [via MakeUseOf]

Visual Sound Is A Phone Concept For The Deaf With Transparent Touchscreen [Concepts]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/O6cZXtObRh0/visual-sound-is-a-phone-concept-for-the-deaf-with-transparent-touchscreen

We don't give much thought to deaf users of phones, but Pratt Institute student Suhyun Kim has worked hard on this stunning Visual Sound concept, which converts voice to text and vice versa.

The scroll-like device has a touchscreen for text to be typed in, which then gets converted to voice for the other person on the line, whose audio then turns into text for the deaf user of the phone to read. If the Visual Sound concept ever got put into production, I'll be one of the first to snag one—not only does it look great, but it might help when phoning from noisy locations, as I'm prone to do. [Yanko Design via Recombu]

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