Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, July 18, 2011

Archos G9 tablets priced: $300 and up, ship in September

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/archos-g9-tablets-priced-300-and-up-ship-in-september/

If you're still waiting to pull the trigger on an Android 3.1 tab, decision day may be coming soon. Back in June, Archos revealed two G9 models: the 8-inch 80 and the 10-inch 101. Well... in case you needed time to save up a little extra dough from your paper route, pricing has been revealed ahead of the September release. The smaller of the two tablets will start out at $299.99 and the more stout of the pair at $369.99 (both 8GB base models), a cool Jackson more than originally reported. Just as a quick refresher, keep in mind that beastly 250GB options are available for both, boasting Seagate's 7mm Momentus Thin HDD technology. You know, if you're wanting to carry around your entire Metallica bootleg discography on one of these bad boys.

[Thanks, Elliott]

Archos G9 tablets priced: $300 and up, ship in September originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/lego-folding-farm-fights-cancer-looks-good-doing-it/

Sure, this Lego monstrosity isn't as cute or agile as some other plastic brick creations we've seen, but can those works of snap-together art cure cancer? OK, this folding farm might not actually put an end to tumors, but it can churn out 135,000 points of crunching power per-day in IBMs World Community Grid. Inside are actually three separate PCs powered by a trio of Core i7 2600ks and a single, massive 1,200-watt power supply. But who cares about that -- just look at all those bricks! About 2,000 of them, along with a few aluminum bars, make up this DIY case. And, thanks to the over-sized supply and modular design, creator Mike Schropp can easily stack another system or two on top, should it tickle his fancy. We'll leave you with some advice from Mr. Schropp -- should you ever be working on a project and unable to find exactly what you're looking for, just stop and ask yourself, "can I use Legos?"

Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ideum's MT-55 'Platform' multitouch table goes ultrathin, demands but $18,000

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/ideums-mt-55-platform-multitouch-table-goes-ultrathin-demand/

It's been a hot minute since we've heard from the fine folks at Ideum, but when the image above floated into our inbox... well, it's safe to say our interest was piqued. We last heard from these guys back in the fall of 2009, and while The Platform is certainly a bit smaller than the 100-inch MT-50 that came before it, it's also a heck of a lot more practical for average consumers. Well, save for the price. Looking beyond that for a moment, you'll find a devilishly thin (3-inches) table, complete with 55-inches of 1080p gorgeousness, a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 178-degree viewing angle and support for a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Professional. The internal computer includes a dual-core Core i5 CPU (2.66GHz), 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD; you'll also find WiFi, Bluetooth and a slew of "hidden ports." The entire thing is constructed from aircraft-grade aluminum, and it supports a total of 32 touch points. We'll leave it to you to discover what it'll be used for in your future abode, but if you've got the $17,950 to take one home, you've probably got the brains to figure it out.

Ideum's MT-55 'Platform' multitouch table goes ultrathin, demands but $18,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Asus updates Xtion Pro motion sensor, makes it even more like Kinect

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/asus-updates-xtion-pro-motion-sensor-makes-it-even-more-like-ki/

Remember the Xtion Pro and Wavi Xtion motion sensors that Asus showed off at CES? Well, fast-forward six months and there's already an updated model on the market: the Windows- and Linux-compatible Xtion Pro Live. The new version complements the original's IR and depth sensors with a Kinect-like VGA webcam and a pair of microphones, while also jacking up the bill to a distinctly un-Kinect-like 175 Euros ($300). That price tag won't make us shift our living room furniture around anytime soon, especially since Kinect is already officially heading to the PC. However, that isn't really the point: the Pro Live edition is primarily meant to help developers design better games and apps for the more consumer-focused but as yet unreleased Wavi. Soon as they develop a game that rewards rather than punishes us for dancing like Tina Turner, we'll be right there.

[Thanks, TheLostSwede]

Asus updates Xtion Pro motion sensor, makes it even more like Kinect originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/amazon-rolls-out-textbook-rentals-for-kindle-promises-discounts/

Students can already save a few bucks by opting for a digital version of a textbook over a hardcover, and they can now save even more courtesy of Amazon if they aren't too intent on hanging onto the book after they're done with it. The company has just announced textbook rentals for Kindle, which promises to let students save "up to 80 percent" off the list price of those often pricey textbooks. That discount varies depending on the rental period -- which can be anywhere from 30 to 360 days -- and the option is already available on "tens of thousands" of textbooks from a number of publishers including John Wiley & Sons, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. What's more, you can also rest assured that all of your annotations will be saved even after the rental has expired, and be accessible at any time on the Kindle website (or in the book itself if you ever decide to rent it again for old time's sake). Press release is after the break.

Continue reading Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent

Amazon rolls out textbook rentals for Kindle, promises discounts up to 80 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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