Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with T-Mobile webConnect launches tomorrow, $199.99 on contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/dell-insprion-mini-10-with-t-mobile-webconnect-launches-tomorrow/

T-Mobile's selected CTIA 2010 this week as the venue to launch its customized version of Dell's Mini 10 netbook that's been infused with -- you guessed it -- T-Mobile-compatible 3G service. It's got a 10.1-inch WSVGA display, 1.3 megapixel webcam, three USB ports, VGA port, Windows 7 Starter Edition, and an Atom N450 core humming along at 1.66GHz with a claimed battery life of "up to" eight hours using a six-cell 56WHr pack. In terms of frequencies, you've got quadband EDGE alongside quadband (yes, quadband) 3G with support for Bands I, II, IV, and V, which means you'll be able to roam in 850 / 1900MHz markets and internationally. It's available starting tomorrow in "select T-Mobile retail locations" in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Los Angeles as well as through the carrier's site and sales hotline for $199.99 on a two-year deal.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 with T-Mobile webConnect launches tomorrow, $199.99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile USA reiterates that 'breadth' of 3G footprint will get HSPA+ this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/t-mobile-usa-reiterates-that-breadth-of-3g-footprint-will-get/

It's easy for something as grandiose as a national wireless network upgrade to get delayed ad nauseam, so we're happy to hear here in March of 2010 that T-Mobile is still looking to blanket the "breadth" of its existing 3G footprint with 21Mbps HSPA+ service by the end of this year, covering over 100 market areas and about 185 million peeps. That's an extraordinarily aggressive timeline for a carrier that was way, way late to the 3G game, and realistically, it's exactly what they needed to stay competitive in the face of 4G deployments coming down the pike from all of its national competitors -- in fact, they're specifically calling out the deployment as being "4G-like" and touting the fact that they'll be hitting way more pops this year than Sprint's WiMAX network will. Them's fightin' words to be sure, but hey -- competition is extremely healthy when it comes to fast, widely-deployed wireless, isn't it?

T-Mobile USA reiterates that 'breadth' of 3G footprint will get HSPA+ this year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA's Optimus uncovered in Sony VAIO Z, along with TRIM support?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/nvidias-optimus-uncovered-in-sony-vaio-z-along-with-trim-suppo/

Sony's illustrious VAIO Z may have a so-called "Dynamic Hybrid Graphics System," but NVIDIA's Optimus it is not. Or is it. Notebook Review's own igorstef started digging deeper within the laptop's switchable GPU setup, and lo and behold, it sure looks as if Optimus is underneath. He went through the painstaking process of installing a slew of new drivers and tweaking some code within select .inf files, and in the end he seemingly found a way to get Optimus drivers working on the new rig. Of course, the debate has been raging on for five pages now, and it still seems inconclusive as to what's really going on behind the scenes. In related news, ZoinksS2k seems to have discovered a way to get Windows 7's TRIM feature working on his SSD-equipped VAIO Z, and if you're interested in doing some tinkering of your own in either case, you know where to dive in.

[Thanks, Bill]

NVIDIA's Optimus uncovered in Sony VAIO Z, along with TRIM support? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kyocera Zio M6000 joins burgeoning Android ranks with high-res affordability

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/kyocera-zio-m6000-joins-burgeoning-android-ranks-with-high-res-a/

You know your mobile OS is going places when people start resurrecting their smartphone divisions just to throw out their own spin on it. Kyocera's approach with the new Zio M6000 has been to marry an 800 x 480 display to some rather middle of the road components and to sell that package at a significantly lower price point (between $169 and $216 unsubsidized) than most Android-infused communicators on the market. You know, for the people that like to have a handsome high-res phone, but don't need it to have the firepower to run Quake. It's still not a terrible slouch, coming with a 600MHz MSM7227 CPU from Qualcomm, 512MB of onboard app memory, and 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Look out for its US arrival in the second quarter of this year.

Gallery: Kyocera Zio M6000

Kyocera Zio M6000 joins burgeoning Android ranks with high-res affordability originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'The Panel' rechargeable LED monitor sentences you to a more productive life

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/the-panel-rechargeable-led-monitor-sentences-you-to-a-more-pro/

"It would let me set up shop at that posh cafe down the street." That's how you justified your laptop purchase -- but as you sat, gently sipping your macchiato, you realized it would never work without your decidedly non-portable 24-inch Cinema Display's extra real estate. We've been there many a time, and apparently so has a startup named MEDL Technology, which has just finished prototyping the answer to our telecommuting (and portable gaming) woes. Going above and beyond the average, tiny secondary display, "The Panel" is an honest-to-goodness 13.3-inch LED-backlit monitor that's less than an inch thick, but packs incredible connectivity (DVI, VGA, Component, S-Video, mini-HDMI and USB) in addition to a sweet folding stand and up to five hours of rechargeable battery life. MEDL told us that should they secure funding, the firm's looking to launch The Panel in Q4 2010, and is hoping to first sway business users with a sub-$350 price point. To work surrounded by coffee -- without being employed by Starbucks -- that's a small price to pay.

Gallery: METL Technology's 'The Panel' portable monitor

METL Technology's 'The Panel' portable monitor

'The Panel' rechargeable LED monitor sentences you to a more productive life originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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InVisage envisions a world where cell phone cameras don't suck, embraces quantum dots

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/invisage-envisions-a-world-where-cell-phone-cameras-dont/

The invention of nanocrystal semiconductors -- more commonly called quantum dots -- has spurred scientists to create everything from precisely-colored LED lamps to higher-density flash memory. There's also been some talk of applying a solution of the tiny crystals to create higher sensitivity cameras, and according to a company named InVisage, that latter utility is almost ready for commercial production. By smearing light-amplifying quantum dots onto the existing CMOS sensors used in cell phone cameras like so much strawberry jam, InVisage claims it will offer smartphone sensors that have four times the performance and twice the dynamic range of existing chips by the end of the year, and roll out the conveyor belts in late 2011, just in time for the contract to end on your terrible new cameraphone.

[Thanks, Matt]

InVisage envisions a world where cell phone cameras don't suck, embraces quantum dots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA introduces VX900 media processor, sets sights on Broadcom's Crystal HD (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/23/via-introduces-vx900-media-processor-sets-sights-on-broadcoms/

Via introduces VX900 media processor, sets sights on Broadcom's Crystal HD (video)

We like little computers, but we also like big-bitrate video content, and thanks to media accelerators like Broadcom's Crystal HD we can have our proverbial cake and proverbially eat it, too -- at least up to 720p. We've had issues with 1080p on that chip and, while that may be due to troublesome Flash betas, VIA is saying its upcoming VX900 media system processor suffers from no such limitation. A back-to-back video captured by Netbooknews seems to back that up, embedded below and showing a VX900 running the 1080p Avatar trailer at a higher frame rate with lower CPU utilization than Broadcom's option could manage the 720p version. It then goes on to play a massive 80Mb/s bitrate 1080p file with nary a stutter. This wasn't on perfectly equivalent hardware so it's a bit early to draw too many conclusions, but we're eager to see what this chip has to offer when it starts hitting VIA-powered laptops and nettops, supposedly at Computex later this summer.

Continue reading VIA introduces VX900 media processor, sets sights on Broadcom's Crystal HD (video)

VIA introduces VX900 media processor, sets sights on Broadcom's Crystal HD (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Occasions and Holidays Drive Movie Box Office Sales, Not Advertising - http://bit.ly/1tWlvj

Monday, March 22, 2010

What can search volume tell you? If winter is a good time to sell your house? If people believe the economy has turned? http://bit.ly/aRs6IM

LightForm LED Strips Are Bendy, Cuttable, and Perfect For DIY Decorations [LEDs]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5499459/lightform-led-strips-are-bendy-cuttable-and-perfect-for-diy-decorations

LightForm LED Strips Are Bendy, Cuttable, and Perfect For DIY Decorations Ever struggle to find an LED strip that's just the right fit for your odd decorating project? Me either. But it's good to know that there's such a thing as these flexible light strips which can be cut to size.

The strips are less than a millimeter thick and available in red, green, blue, and white. Pricing varies based on quantity. [LightForm via Dornob]

SanDisk ships 32GB microSDHC card for $200

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/22/sandisk-ships-32gb-microsdhc-card-for-200/

Our 16GB microSDHC card has been treating us well since shipping early last year, but obviously no capacity is capacious enough. SanDisk has just announced that a Class 2, 32GB version of its microSDHC card is now shipping (remember that "something big" thing?), bringing gobs and gobs (and gobs) of storage space to whatever phones still support it. SanDisk claims that this is the first of its kind, but you can bet that other memory outfits won't be far behind in matching it. It should be hitting e-tailers momentarily for $199.99 (and around £200 if you're in the UK, we're told), which is almost certainly more than the (subsidized) price of the phone you'll be sliding it into.

Continue reading SanDisk ships 32GB microSDHC card for $200

SanDisk ships 32GB microSDHC card for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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George Takei can't show you Sharp's fourth pixel, can still blow your mind

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/22/george-takei-cant-show-you-sharps-fourth-pixel-can-still-blow/

We've seen our fair share of thin HDTVs -- and pressed iPhones against them for comparison -- so it's no big deal when Sharp swivels its latest edge lit LED creation and shows off its 1.6-inch depth, but George Takei's "Oh My" reaction is priceless. We were in the house for Sharp's unveiling of its quad-pixel technology (now called Quattron) and weren't sure we got the difference, so there's no doubt they needed an extra something to show viewers why they should care (embedded after the break in case you didn't spot it during the NCAA Tournament) since your display just isn't ready for constant loops of sunflowers, saxophones and repeat playback of Oh Yeah via the USB media port.

Continue reading George Takei can't show you Sharp's fourth pixel, can still blow your mind

George Takei can't show you Sharp's fourth pixel, can still blow your mind originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD six-core CPU prices and clock speeds unearthed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/22/amd-six-core-cpu-prices-and-clock-speeds-unearthed/

The gang at DigiTimes have always struck us as processor obsessives -- constantly out on the streets, roughing up mobo manufacturers, getting them to spill their secrets (they probably look like Gene Hackman in Night Moves). And they've sure been busy, this time digging up some dirt on AMD's six-core Phenom II line. Hitting shelves as soon as the second quarter this year, the X6 1035T will clock in at 2.6GHz, the 1005T at 2.8GHz, and the 1075T at 3GHz. There is also a Phenom II X6 1095T possibly coming to fruition in the fourth quarter of the year, but we don't have any data on that one yet. According to Alien Babel Tech (where we did our undergrad, by the way) the 1055T is will retail for $199, while the as-of-yet unknown 1090T black edition will retail $295. As always, we recommend that in lieu of an official announcement you take all this with a grain of salt.

[Thanks, Blurib]

AMD six-core CPU prices and clock speeds unearthed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Early reports show IE not faring well in the post-ballot screen days

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/22/early-reports-show-ie-not-faring-well-in-the-post-ballot-screen/

Early reports show IE not faring well in the post-ballot screen days

Most PC users hit the web using Internet Explorer by default, simply because that's what came along with Windows. Now, after antitrust investigations, European users get a choice of browser to install via ballot screen, and initial reports are not good for 'ol IE. According to Statcounter, IE use in France has dropped 2.5 percent since last month's implementation of the ballot, 1.3 percent in Italy, and 1 percent in Britain. It's still early days, and it'll take more than this to chip away from IE's 62 percent lead in the browser war, but it's certainly not a good trend for Microsoft. With that in mind, we're going to have to ask you to place your bets now.

Early reports show IE not faring well in the post-ballot screen days originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MIT Student Invention Deployed in Haiti to Save Lives

Source: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-03/mit-student-invents-life-altering-medical-pump

Hand-powered negative-pressure pump is designed to speed wound healing

While many MIT students busily build break-dancing robots or websites that let your pets network better at doggie daycare, PhD candidate Danielle Zurovcik has designed a $3 pump to drastically speed up the healing of countless patients in the aftermath of Haiti's recent earthquake.

The device simplifies and lightens a common piece of medical equipment called a negative-pressure pump. Used to accelerate wound healing and reduce the frequency that bandages need to be changed, even the most portable of these pumps costs $100 a day to rent, and weighs 10 pounds with batteries. The pump Zurovcik invented costs $3 total, weighs less than half a pound, uses only 14 microwatts of power, and can be charged with a hand pump.

The pump works by sucking bacteria and rancid fluids out of a wound, and by encouraging healing blood flow. Inspired by a toilet plunger, Zurovcik's device consists of nothing more than a bellows pump, a plastic tube, and a fitting that covers the wound or amputation site.

Zurovcik originally intended to test the device in Rwanda, but when the Haitian earthquake hit, she joined up with a wound-care team, and deployed her new invention. It may not be the most mysterious quantum doodad or augmented-reality monocle, but Zurovcik's pump proves that sometimes the most useful futuristic technology is actually just simpler, cheaper, easier, and fills a proven need.

[Technology Review]

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