Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, January 10, 2011

Bigfoot Networks intros Killer E2100-powered motherboards from ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/bigfoot-networks-intros-killer-e2100-powered-motherboards-from-a/

Looks like that tease was more than just a tease. It's a truism. Back at Computex, Bigfoot Networks' CEO told us that his next major target was motherboards. The company already infused its Killer E2100 gaming network card into a GPU, and here at CES, it's formally announcing three partnerships with major mainboard makers. MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte are all onboard, with the latter to offer a new line of G1-Killer mobos later in the year. ASUS will be dishing out a ROG Rampage III Black Edition (shown above) which will feature the E2100 on a combined LAN / audio called dubbed ThunderBolt, but your guess is as good as ours when it comes to specifications and CPU compatibility. Pricing and release information remain a mystery across the range, but it's practically a guarantee that we'll see more of these tie-ups in the coming months.

Gallery: ASUS and Gigabyte motherboards, infused with Killer E2100

Bigfoot Networks intros Killer E2100-powered motherboards from ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 04:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

Gigabyte, Bigfoot Networks (1), (2) | Email this | Comments

NextComputing's Radius 'portable' workstation infused with Sandy Bridge

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/nextcomputings-radius-portable-workstation-infused-with-sandy/

Not news: NextComputing's Radius portable workstation is still ~~stretching~~ destroying the bounds of what's actually considered mobile. News: But now, the Radius is a lot more powerful than the prior iterations. The newfangled Radius is now available with Intel's Sandy Bridge processors, with the latest model of the all-in-one workstation offering multiple full-length / full-height PCI Express slots, multiple terabytes of storage and an integrated display. As for applications? It's still aimed at those who need serious oomph in the field, and frankly, editing political commercials or crunching SETI data in the Amazon sounds far more enjoyable than doing so in [insert your city here]. No offense of anything.

Continue reading NextComputing's Radius 'portable' workstation infused with Sandy Bridge

NextComputing's Radius 'portable' workstation infused with Sandy Bridge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Porsche unveils 918 RSR, the 767hp hybrid

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/10/porsche-unveils-918-rsr-the-767hp-hybrid/

Prius this ain't. Take a gander at Porsche's 918 RSR, which just rolled onto the company's stage at the 2011 North American International Auto Show. It has a 563hp traditional gasoline engine mounted amidships, with a pair of electric motors powering the front wheels that bring the total power up to a whopping 767. The electric motors are not powered by a set of batteries, as in a traditional hybrid, rather they take their power from an inertial flywheel mounted where the passenger seat would be on a road car and spinning at up to 36,000rpm. That's spun up by momentum when the car brakes and, when the driver hits a button, that momentum is converted to give an acceleratory boost.

That's the same setup as the 911 GT3 RSR Hybrid, which ran reasonably successfully last year. Its styling is obviously an extension of the 918 Spyder, with a number of cues taken from the incredibly successful Porsche 917 racer of the early '70s (dig the endplates that look like the 917's iconic fins). At this point Porsche hasn't indicated when this car will make its debut on the track, nor in which classes it will run, but one thing's for clear: this isn't for the road. So, we're a bit disappointed we still haven't any firm details on a production, street 918 -- not that we could have afforded it anyway.

Gallery: Porsche 918 RSR Hybrid

Gallery: Porsche 918 RSR Hybrid official pictures

Porsche unveils 918 RSR, the 767hp hybrid originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Sunday, January 09, 2011

"Outrageous Trick" Results In Largest Synthetic Molecule Created by Man [Molecules]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5728894/outrageous-trick-results-in-largest-synthetic-molecule-created-by-man

Some day in the future, the PG5 molecule could save your life.

PG5, you see, is a synthetic molecule created by Dieter Schlüter and other scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. With a amass of 200 million hydrogen atoms, it's also the world's largest synthetic molecule, and represents an important next step in the creation of tailor-made molecules that could (and will) deliver targeted medicines into the human body.

Previously, these large synthetic molecules would collapse in on themselves at a certain point in their construction, thereby limiting their size and capabilities. But not PG5.

Using what Klaus Mullen of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, Germany calls an "outrageous trick," the PG5 creators did a number of things that make my plebeian brain hurt:

To synthesise PG5, Schlüter combined standard polymerisation reactions, which assemble small molecules into a long chain or backbone, with reactions from other areas of organic chemistry which attached groups of atoms to the backbone in a radial fashion. Schlüter says that because both techniques are standard, his team's work should encourage other researchers to create synthetic macromolecules that they were previously "not brave enough" to attempt.

Indeed, this tree of life could have an incredible impact in the drug world. Specialized drugs, cancer-fighters perhaps, could be "docked" to PG5, or even "folded" within its behemoth network of bonded parts, and delivered to specific locations or tumors within the body. [New Scientist]

Lazy Sunday DIY: Build a Do Nothing Machine [DIY]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5728955/lazy-sunday-diy-build-a-do-nothing-machine

Lazy Sunday DIY: Build a Do Nothing Machine Also called the Trammel of Archimedes, the "do nothing machine" excels at nothing in particular, but looks damn cool doing it. Now you can build your own!

Instructables member "perry112358" provides the DIY instructions today, using a bit of wood, metal and various workshop tools. Enjoy!

And, yes, the "do nothing" part is actually a misnomer. If you wish, the device serves as a drawing tool called an ellipsograph, should that kind of behavior strike your fancy. [Instructables via MAKE]

Obama Administration Sets Ambiguous National Internet ID Program In Motion [Id]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5729144/obama-administration-sets-ambiguous-national-internet-id-program-in-motion

Obama Administration Sets Ambiguous National Internet ID Program In Motion Prepare yourselves, my fellow Americans, for the coming age of the National Internet ID.

What's that oppressive-sounding thing, you ask? Why, ask the President Obama, who has moved forward with plans to give each American an online ID as part of an ambitious—and currently ambiguous—cybersecurity initiative that will be headed up by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Now, before you panic about national ID cards or huge, expanding governments, Commerce Sec. Gary Locke wants to assure everyone that this program won't encompass any of those slippery slope ideas whatsoever.

What it will do, he said, is more akin to providing each U.S. citizen with a single online ID with which to sign into multiple sites, pages and platforms. Confused? Great, because this is governing we're talking about here, and that's the idea.

Officially called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, the program is expected to solidify over the next few months so hopefully there will be more to report in the spring.

Again, ambiguity is currently the word surrounding this simplified online ID program, which isn't ironic at all and shouldn't be feared by anyone. [CBS News via Engadget]

Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/samsungs-ultrathin-9-series-laptop-coming-in-february/

We didn't have a date for Samsung's 9 Series when it became official a couple of days ago, but now we do: it's coming next month. Sammy's press release makes sure to run us through all the bodacious specs of this 13.3-inch machine, including the LED-backlit display with 400 nits of brightness, 128GB SSD, 1.4GHz Core i5-2537M CPU, and MacBook Air-like proportions, before disclosing its arrival month as February 2011. The starting price is still a high and mighty $1,599, but then you do get a pretty stellar laptop for your cash money. Check out the full announcement after the break.

[Thanks, Mario]

Continue reading Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February

Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/could-this-be-the-year-we-get-to-ditch-the-cable-box/

We've been coming to CES for years looking at demos of technologies that will let us watch HDTV without a set-top box, and yet here we are years later with little choice but to find a place to put that box. The big failures have been CableCARD and then tru2way, both of which have had little impact to mainstream America. But despite all of our disappointment over the years, we came away from CES this year with the feeling that this might actually be the year. Of course, the allure of Vegas has yet to wear off, but when Time Warner Cable, Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon FiOS TV are at the same show sending almost the same message and showing demos, we have a hard time not taking our skeptical shield down a little. Sadly it wasn't exactly the same message, and if you click on through you might discover the true future of how TV will be delivered.

Gallery: Samsung demos cable TV without a box

Continue reading Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box?

Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/quantas-7-inch-android-tablet-dummy-spotted-at-ces/

In case you're not already sick of tablets, here's another one that we spotted at a small Taiwanese booth at CES. Sure, this Anadem Q07 -- a rebadged Quanta device -- was just a dummy, but even this could easily beat the lot of cheap Android slates in a beauty contest. Encased within the chrome bezel and silver body will be a 7-inch 800 x 480 display (which is slightly underwhelming), along with a Samsung S5PV210 processor -- essentially the Hummingbird chip but in a different package -- underclocked to 800MHz, but still capable of handling 1080p video playback. There's not much else on the spec sheet, but we did see a micro-USB port, HDMI mini connector, microSD slot, SIM card slot, and stereo speakers on the Q07. Naturally, you'll hear from us when we stumble upon this Froyo tablet again.

Gallery: Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/samsung-shows-flexible-and-transparent-displays-at-ces-2011-vid/

We spent a few minutes at the show this week ogling the prototype displays that Samsung's Mobile Display unit has produced over the last few months, headlined by some particularly awesome 4.5-inch flexible and 19-inch transparent AMOLEDs. Let's start with the flexible unit: Sammy seems to be particularly excited about this one, demonstrating on video that it's shatter-proof by bashing it repeatedly with a sledgehammer -- compare that to the inevitably disastrous consequences of dropping an iPhone onto concrete, and they've already won us over. Although the company still has some manufacturing challenges to overcome, commercial interest seems to be strong and they'll eventually be on the market (though not in 2011, sadly).

The picture for the transparent displays is a little murkier -- both physically and from a business perspective. Though they're not as clear as regular glass or as crisp and bright as a traditional AMOLED display, you've got to marvel at what they're doing here: full see-through color at effectively small television sizes. Interestingly, Samsung tells us that they're really close to being production-ready with these -- possibly even close than the flexible screens -- but they're still looking for business cases that'd make mass-producing them a worthwhile venture. Follow the break for some video of these bad boys, along with a 7-inch Super AMOLED that's looking Galaxy Tab-ready (and some other goodies)!

Gallery: Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Continue reading Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Hanvon brings E920, world's first color E Ink reader, to CES, we go hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/hanvon-brings-e920-worlds-first-color-e-ink-reader-to-ces-we/

The chasm between monochromatic e-readers and color LCD-based tablets is being filled by Hanvon with this here Wisereader E920 device. It features the famed 9.7-inch color E Ink panel, the first of its kind, and offers the rather spectacular resolution of 1200 x 1600. That amounts to a pixel density of 200dpi, we're told, and other good news include a MicroSD card slot, standby time of 15 days, and the ability to churn through 10,000 pages before needing a recharge. Sadly, there's plenty of bad news here too: the E920's colors are muted and not really on par with what you'd expect from even a mediocre LCD, refresh rates are pretty glacial, and the touchscreen functionality is of the resistive kind, meaning you'll have to resort to using the integrated stylus for navigation. The biggest downer, though, is that China won't be getting this e-reader until May while US availability is promised "by June." That's a long time to wait for a $500-ish slate. Video after the break.

Gallery: Hanvon E920 color e-reader hands-on

Continue reading Hanvon brings E920, world's first color E Ink reader, to CES, we go hands-on (video)

Hanvon brings E920, world's first color E Ink reader, to CES, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Bang & Olufsen announce chip co-op deal with Intel

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/bang-and-olufsen-announce-chip-co-op-deal-with-intel/

Well, along with all the other things that happened this year at CES, Bang & Olufsen announced a new cooperation agreement with Intel. What does that mean to you, the consumer? Not terribly much, on the outside -- B&O products have carried Intel chips in the past, but this marks the first time the two companies have had an official relationship, and should mean we'll be seeing refreshes of B&O products every time Intel brings forth new chips. And that's always great news, isn't it? Hit up the source link for full, flowery quotes from reps at both Intel and Bang & Olfusen. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Bang & Olufsen announce chip co-op deal with Intel

Bang & Olufsen announce chip co-op deal with Intel originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 19:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

CNET | Email this | Comments

LG's Thinq automated oven, refrigerator, and washer / dryer are the future now (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/lgs-thinq-automated-oven-refrigerator-and-washer-dryer-are/

Ah, the connected home... the ultimate Jetsonian fantasy that refuses to come true. LG's doing its best to change that with its Thinq lineup of connected appliances announced and demonstrated for the first time here in Las Vegas. The details of connectivity and interoperability are scarce but we do know that the appliances support both WiFi and ZigBee connectivity in order to communicate with each other, your in-home smart meter, and with smartphones when outside of the home. So far, LG has announced four Thinq devices including a vacuum, fridge, oven, and washer and dryer pair. That's a pretty strong foundation to build from especially if your home is already equipped with ZigBee devices like automated light switches, window controllers, and locks. Each LG appliance brings a rather lengthy list of features many of which are accessible remotely on a smartphone app (Android was demonstrated). It's just hard to fathom how useful they are without a humanoid robot capable of moving the finished wash into the dryer or putting the porkroast in the oven. And while being able to look up the contents of your fridge as you enter the supermarket sounds compelling, knowing that the owner has to manage the list manually (there's no UPC code scanner and RFID is still just a dream) tarnishes our enthusiasm quite a bit. Still, Thinq is definitely a step in the right direction. Watch LG make its pitch after the break.

Gallery: LG's Thinq automated oven, refridgerator, and washer / dryer are the future now (hands-on)