Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, May 07, 2010

Google Goggles starts to get useful, adds text translation

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/google-goggles-starts-to-get-useful-adds-text-translation/

In our experience, about the only thing Google Goggles is good for is telling you that your can of Coke looks like someone's face, but the company's just-released version 1.1 sounds like it might be on a whole new level of awesomeness. Basically, Goggles can now recognize text within the "region of interest" that you specify on the screen then give you the option to translate it to any language of your choosing. Between this and Google's already quite good Translate app, Android devices are getting dangerously close to letting monoglots (thanks for the great word, Google) travel safely and effectively in foreign lands. Other improvements in Goggles 1.1 include better barcode and image recognition (thank goodness), an improved UI, and the ability to initiate identification from your gallery, so it sounds like a must-download if you've got a phone running Android 1.6 or better. It's available now.

Google Goggles starts to get useful, adds text translation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Organic Light Emitting Transistors might make us forget all about OLED

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/organic-light-emitting-transistors-might-make-us-forget-all-abou/

Still waiting on that big-screen OLED TV? Yeah, so are we, but here's some news that could mean they're coming soon: OLED tech has just been obsoleted. Seriously. We still can't even afford an 11-inch model and now we have to start pining for something new: OLET. That's Organic Light Emitting Transistor, tech that researcher Michele Muccini at the Institute of Nanustructured Materials has just proven can be between two and 100 times as efficient as OLED. OLETs rely on three layers of material, with the bottom layers carrying a charge, the middle layer (the meat in this high-tech sandwich) emitting photons when excited by the bottom, and the top layer selectively letting those photos through. All three combined are just 62nm thick. It's this separation of layers and horizontal flow of current that gives OLET its efficiency and it's believed that it could not only be used for (next) next-generation displays but also for on-chip optical interconnects. When will an OLET HDTV will hit the market? Don't even go there.

Organic Light Emitting Transistors might make us forget all about OLED originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visa and DeviceFidelity working to bring mobile payment functionality to iPhone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/visa-and-devicefidelity-working-to-bring-mobile-payment-function/

This ain't the first rodeo for Visa and DeviceFidelity, and if we had to guess, we suspect it won't be the last. Just a few short months after teaming up to bring contactless payments to any mobile with a microSD slot, the two are at it again -- this time aiming for the oh-so-tantalizing iPhone market. Reportedly, the tandem is toiling away in an effort to concoct a protective iPhone shell with a secure memory card that hosts Vista's contactless payment app, payWave. As it stands, the product would only function on the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, leaving upcoming iPhone 4G / HD / Barhopper buyers out in the cold. As with any other payWave-enabled handset, this would allow users to simply tap and go when checking out, a process that our pals over in Japan have had down for centuries now. If all goes well, market trials of the payment-enabled iPhone are set to begin this summer, or approximately six months too late for anyone to seriously care.

Continue reading Visa and DeviceFidelity working to bring mobile payment functionality to iPhone

Visa and DeviceFidelity working to bring mobile payment functionality to iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 14:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Distributor roadmap shows super speedy 900GB, 2.5-inch HDD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/distributor-roadmap-shows-super-speedy-900gb-2-5-inch-hdd/

Got a hankering for smaller, faster, more capacious magnetic storage? Compellent says you'll get it soon, at long as you're buying for the IT market. According to The Register, the enterprise storage provider listed 900GB, 10,000RPM 2.5-inch hard drives on its product roadmap, as well as 300GB models that spin at 15,000RPM. Sure, we've seen smallish drives with those speeds or that capacity before, and you can get a 600GB, 10,000RPM Velociraptor even in the consumer marketplace, but it seems like the puzzle pieces are all coming together. Quick disclaimer: Compellent doesn't actually make hard drives, but it most certainly sells them, so we'd expect a company in their position to know what's what. That, or they could be making stuff up. Perhaps platter density makes those sizes and capacities inevitable, but we can't pretend that we're not jazzed about the possibilities.

Distributor roadmap shows super speedy 900GB, 2.5-inch HDD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ExoPC Windows 7-based slate not coming until September, will play 1080p vids

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/06/exopc-windows-7-based-slate-not-coming-until-september-will-pla/

There's still no official word on whether HP's Slate has been canned, but the more we hear about ExoPC's slate, the more we think it could be a pretty stellar Win 7 tablet option. The company's founder just told us that the tablet is slated (pun intended, good sirs) for a September 7 launch date in the US, Canada and France, and that the 32GB version will retail for $599. As for the specs, the capacitive 11.6-inch tablet will still be using an Atom N450 processor, but will be paired with Broadcom's Crystal HD card to enable 1080p playback. And that's not all, they also sent us some more shots of the ExoPC UI Layer, and the interface appears to be incredibly sleek -- it looks like you can even save web shortcuts to a Connect Four type layout. There will also be an app store, and the dev kit will be available at the end of June. That's all beautiful, but hear us out, ExoPC: we're counting on you to put an end to the Win 7 tablet vaporware trend, okay?

Gallery: ExoPC UI Layer