Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, May 02, 2011

Compulab's Trim Slice on sale, for power users only

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/compulabs-trim-slice-on-sale-for-power-users-only/

Remember the Trim Slice, that Tegra 2-powered nettop that surfaced back in January? Well, it's finally on sale, but the company would prefer that casual consumers hold off on buying. To recap, the chassis, just six tenths of an inch thick, is home to a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU, GeForce ULP chip, SATA SSD, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFI, Bluetooth, and a cornucopia of I/O ports. It starts at $199 for a model that lacks internal WiFi and storage (you can add these via dongles), and graduates to models with 4GB of microSD storage and a WiFi dongle ($219) and a "Pro" version with a 32GB SSD and wireless and Bluetooth dongles ($319). Whichever iteration you choose, though, you'll be greeted by a warning that the software remains a work in progress, so you'll probably want to stay away for now. Unless, of course, you're a developer -- or you really know how to have a good time.

Continue reading Compulab's Trim Slice on sale, for power users only

Compulab's Trim Slice on sale, for power users only originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series now available for $649 Amazon pre-order

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/samsung-sliding-pc-7-series-now-available-for-649-amazon-pre-or/

Samsung has yet to announce a revised release date for its Sliding PC 7 Series tablet / laptop hybrid, but the 2.2-pound netvertible slider is already available for pre-order on Amazon. According to Amazon's listing, the 7 Series should ship with many of the same specs we noticed at this year's CES: a 10-inch touchscreen with 1366 x 768-resolution, dual front and rear cameras (1.3 and 3.0 megapixels, respectively), a 32GB SSD, 2GB of RAM and, of course, Intel's 1.5GHz Atom Oak Trail Z670 processor, which was originally scheduled to launch in March, before being pushed back to May. The slider will also run on Windows 7 Home Premium, and come equipped with 802.11b/g/n WiFi. When it debuted earlier this year, the Series 7 boasted optional 3G and WiMax features, as well as a six-cell battery that claimed to last up to nine hours on a single charge. Amazon doesn't mention either of these specs in its listing, but everything else checks out with what we've already heard. And, at $649, it's even a little cheaper than we expected.

Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series now available for $649 Amazon pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 08:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qualcomm shows off MSM8660's slick video performance on development kit (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/02/qualcomm-shows-off-msm8660s-slick-video-performance-on-developm/

If you've been closely tracking the development of Qualcomm's 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8660, you would've already seen AnandTech's impressive set of benchmark results back in early April. But of course, it'd be more convincing to actually see this chipset in action, so Qualcomm's latest videos of its Mobile Development Platform should satisfy your curiosity. As demoed after the break, this Snapdragon's Adreno 220 is seen effortlessly handling in-page HTML5 video streaming, Flash video streaming, and 1080p playback. And as a sideshow, Qualcomm even put its current-gen single-core QSD8255 head-to-head with a rival dual-core chipset -- no doubt a Tegra 2 in an LG Optimus 2x -- and easily won the Flash video contest. All of this might lure you into getting the MDP as your next everyday phone, but here's the bad news: this professional kit will cost you a dear $1,350. So unless you're feeling very generous, you'd probably want to wait for the consumer devices to arrive in the summer -- think EVO 3D, Sensation (with GSM-flavored MSM8260, naturally), Flyer, and TouchPad.

Continue reading Qualcomm shows off MSM8660's slick video performance on development kit (video)

Qualcomm shows off MSM8660's slick video performance on development kit (video) ori! ginally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 04:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday, May 01, 2011

Five Engineering Students. Significant Budget. One Year. The Perfect Bicycle? [Bicycles]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5797442/five-engineering-students-significant-budget-one-year-the-perfect-bicycle

Voila! UPenn's super-sophisticated uber-bike. Five kids. Substantial funding and sponsorship dollars. Free reign to eliminate clunks gears and cables. It's called Alpha.

But what makes it so special, exactly?

For one thing, the drive train is completely enclosed within the bike's frame. There's a three-speed electric gearbox contained within the central hub, which is controlled by a handlebar-mounted LED screen. Also on that screen is a readout that displays current gear, distance traveled, speed and data from the SD card that you're completely free to insert into the bike's SD reader.

Powering all these onboard electronics is a dynamo in the front wheel housing. Safety lights (LED, naturally) are located in the rear for night riding.

And you probably already guessed this, but the frame is lightweight carbon fiber, which has been coupled with aluminum lugs and a titanium clutch. Sadly, weight was not given, but we'll assume it's "incredibly light."

Lastly, you will never ride this bike—it's one-of-a-kind and not slated for production. [Alpha via Core77 via DVICE]

Nanocones make solar cells more efficient, sinister looking

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/01/nanocones-make-solar-cells-more-efficient-sinister-looking/

Going green is de rigeur, so the sun is becoming a much-preferred source of power. However, solar cells' inefficient harvesting of helical energies is a major reason they haven't usurped the power of petroleum. Good thing the big brains at Oak Ridge National Labratory are looking to change that with nanocone-based solar technology. The teeny-tiny cones are made of zinc oxide and create "an intrinsic electric field distribution" to improve electrical charge transport within solar cells. We aren't sure what that means, but we do know the prickly-looking design provides a 3.2 percent light-to-power conversion efficiency that's a substantial improvement over the meager 1.8 percent offered by today's flat photovoltaics made of similar materials. That's 80 percent more efficient, and 100 percent more awesome.

Nanocones make solar cells more efficient, sinister looking originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 05:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Intel's Cedar Trail gets some specs, combines CPU and GPU on a single chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/intels-cedar-trail-gets-some-specs-combines-cpu-and-gpu-on-a-s/

Intel Atom Lineup

That new processor smell has barely started to fade from Oak Trail and we're already getting some tantalizing details about the next generation of Atom chips -- Cedar Trail. As expected, Intel has moved to 32nm, which allows it to cram the GPU and the CPU onto the same sliver of silicon. The first two models, the D2500 and D2700, will be dual-core, sport 1MB of L2 cache, and have a miserly TDP of 10w -- 3w lower than current dual-core Atoms. The former will be clocked at 1.86GHz with Hyper-Threading turned off, while the D2700 flips the switch on those two extra threads and kicks it up a notch to 2.13GHz. The new integrated graphics will boast better HD decoding and support for Blu-ray playback which, when combined with the taunts of fanless designs and WiDi, make Cedar Trail a natural fit for the living room.

Intel's Cedar Trail gets some specs, combines CPU and GPU on a single chip originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square to add encryption to mobile card reader, skimmers put on notice

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/square-to-add-encryption-to-mobile-card-reader-skimmers-put-on/

It's only been a couple days since we first heard about Visa's involvement with Square, but the credit card giant is already making its mark on the mobile payment startup. At the Visa Global Security Summit on Wednesday, Square Security Lead Sam Quigley revealed that the company will distribute an encrypted card reader this summer, which will work exclusively with its mobile payment app. The current reader theoretically scans credit card data to any app, but the encrypted version will only work with Square, which should alleviate VeriFone's concern that the company was essentially distributing "card skimmers" to anyone with a social security number. Luckily, the new encrypted reader will remain free, giving Square a colossal advantage over VeriFone's Payware Mobile product, which carries a $49 activation fee, in addition to standard merchant fees. Not to mention, it isn't available in white.

Square to add encryption to mobile card reader, skimmers put on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday, April 29, 2011

One of the Most Portable High Speed Pro Cameras I've Seen [Cameras]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5796867/one-of-the-most-portable-high-speed-pro-cameras-ive-seen

There are already portable hi-speed cameras from the likes of Casio that can have you shooting 1000FPS at low res, as well as giant pro cameras that go full HD at ridiculous faster-than-a-speeding bullet rigs. But not many that can get you 20,000FPS like the TS3Cine Compact Hi-Speed camera in a relatively portable frame. You're also going to get a monstrous 7-inch LCD screen.

At its maximum resolution of 1280x1024 you can get 500FPS and 720FPS at 720P if you don't want to sacrifice resolution for the 20 KFPS. You're only going to get 3 hours of life from its rechargeable battery pack though, which may be less if you're not careful with its LCD screen. It'll be available in the summer for heart-breaking $30,000 for the 128 GB SSD version, and 32,000 for the 256 GB—though you can also save to SD cards if you don't want to save 2 grand. [TS3Cine via OhGizmo]

Get a Better Grip of Your Point and Shoot with Stick-On Camera Grips [Cameras]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/#!5796880/get-a-better-grip-of-your-point-and-shoot-with-stick-on-camera-grips

Every point and shoots I've ever owned has been dropped, dropped and dropped to its death. Just look at their shape! They're asking for it. Sleek, metal, rectangle and slippery, come on, it's impossible to get a perfect grip on. These attachable camera grips, made by Flipbac, try to give you some more girth to grip. Stick them to your point and shoot with through its 3M adhesive and there's your handle. They come in a 3-pack for $9.99. [Flipbac via The Gadgeteer]

NVIDIA brings SLI support to AMD 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/nvidia-brings-sli-support-to-amd-990fx-990x-and-970-chipsets/

It's not going so far as to expand support as far as AMD has with its CrossFireX multi-GPU technology, but NVIDIA has now at least taken one step in that direction. The company announced today that it's finally bringing SLI support to AMD platforms -- specifically, upcoming motherboards based on AMD's 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets. Those will be offered by ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock, and MSI initially, with additional manufacturers said to be coming on board "shortly." Hit up the source link below for NVIDIA's complete statement on the matter -- in which it also just so happens to point out that 93 percent of all multi-GPU systems in use today use SLI, according to Steam statistics.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

NVIDIA brings SLI support to AMD 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 3.1 gets namechecked by Adobe Flash Player 10.2, will be required to enjoy accelerated 720p video

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/android-3-1-gets-namechecked-by-adobe-flash-player-10-2-will-be/

Remember how Adobe said Flash 10.2 wasn't living up to its full hardware-accelerated potential on Honeycomb thus far? Well, it seems the company's found a solution by the name of Android 3.1. We've been inundated with tips (and have confirmed with Adobe) that there's a sticky-sweet new build of Android on the way for the recent crop of slates that OEMs and carriers are rolling out, and that -- just like last time -- you'll need that software to take advantage of all the hardware rendering and compositing that your Tegra 2 silicon can afford. With any luck, 720p playback won't burn our eyeballs this time around. By the way, the Android Market item above was updated this morning to read "requires an upcoming release of Android 3" rather than "Android 3.1," but it's unclear whether the original number was inaccurate or whether Adobe got in trouble.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Android 3.1 gets namechecked by Adobe Flash Player 10.2, will be required to enjoy accelerated 720p video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Details of Samsung's 'Alex' Chrome OS netbook leaked, Atom N550 in tow

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/details-of-samsungs-alex-chrome-os-netbook-leaked-atom-n550/

As we approach the expected mid-2011 launch for a few Chrome OS devices, it seems inevitable that some details are bound to slip out ahead of time -- here's looking at you, Acer ZGB and Seaboard. The latest victim outed by a Chromium bug report is the Samsung "Alex," which sports a 1280 x 800 display (probably at 10 inches as previously rumored; like the mockup above), 1.5GHz dual-core Atom N550, SanDisk SSD P4 of unknown capacity, and 2GB RAM. Also listed are a Qualcomm Gobi 2000 3G card, Bluetooth, WiFi, webcam, and a Synaptics touchpad. Well, not long to go now -- perhaps the Alex might even make a cheeky appearance at Google I/O in two weeks' time? Screenshot of the bug report after the break.

[Thanks, Marco]

Continue reading Details of Samsung's 'Alex' Chrome OS netbook leaked, Atom N550 in tow

Details of Samsung's 'Alex' Chrome OS netbook leaked, Atom N550 in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NPD credits Verizon iPhone with stemming the Android tide in Q1 smartphone sales

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/npd-credits-verizon-iphone-with-stemming-the-android-tide-in-q1/

As much as we were hoping to get some definitive statements from AT&T and Verizon's Q1 2011 financials about the Verizon iPhone's impact on the smartphone market, none were really forthcoming. It's left to analyst outfits like the NPD, therefore, to try and parse the data for us and read between the official lines. The latest numbers from the NPD Group's Mobile Phone Tracker indicate that Apple's share of US smartphones sales jumped from 19 percent in Q4 2010 to 28 percent in the first quarter of this year, which helped stymie Android's prodigious expansion. The Google OS went from being on 53 percent of all smartphones sold to a flat 50 percent in the quarter. Also intriguing about the period is that, for the first time, smartphones accounted for more than half of all mobile phones sold in the US, at 54 percent. The top five best-selling cellphones also happened to be smartphones, with Apple and HTC providing two each; the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, Droid X, EVO 4G, and the Droid Incredible took home the NPD commendations.

[Thanks, Matt]

Disclaimer: NPD's Ross Rubin is a contributor to Engadget.

NPD credits Verizon iPhone with stemming the Android tide in Q1 smartphone sales originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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