$99 concept NoteSlate tablet does electronic ink in color, but only one at a time
January 18, 2011 No Comment
E-readers could use a little color in their lives — and getting a little cheaper wouldn’t hurt either. The NoteSlate has color, but not certainly not all colors. It’s a touchable slate with a 13-inch diagonal, 750 x 1080 display that’s said to be “eInk” — which may or may not mean ” E Ink ,” the company behind the displays used in the Kindle , Sony Reader , and others. When it’s produced, supposedly by June, you’ll be able to select from the traditional white background and black foreground or go with a black background with white. Other colors, including green, blue, or red text, or a “4 colour edition” that does all of them at once, are due sometime down the road. The tablet works with touch or pen input, will offer 180 hours of battery life, and is to be fully open-source, with the initial software release supporting simple drawing, storing of notes, and MP3 playback. Version 1.5 will add PDF and text viewing, while version 2.0 will be rocking OCR handwriting recognition. The best news? It’s said to be just $99, though surely the multi-color edition will cost more. Right now it exists only as renders but with, a release mere months away and a decidedly attractive price point, we’re intrigued. Skeptical, but intrigued. Gallery: NoteSlate $99 concept NoteSlate tablet does electronic ink in color, but only one at a time originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sonos recounts its successes, dishes on future plans but not Android support
January 18, 2011 No Comment
Amid the doom and gloom of the economic… whatever it is we’re stuck in at the moment, it’s nice to look at a success story. Sonos is such a tale and GigaOm has taken the time to profile the upstart, which started in 2002 and has gone on to produce a series of high-end docks , networked audio players, and an iOS controller app that ties it all together. Sadly, users of non-Apple devices have been left out in the cold and, while Sonos VP of Sales Tom Cullen wouldn’t say when other versions are coming, he did at least say “We can see a handful of other potential platforms, and we want to see which one has the biggest concentration of music lovers.” We say why choose one? Plenty of music lovers exist on them all. Moving back to hardware, Cullen indicated that a person’s music largely moves with them these days, and so the company is looking to moving into the car and personal audio areas, meaning we could see some Sonos-branded headphones and head units in the not too distant future. This could be in addition to what looked to be a potential move into proper home theater. These are crowded spaces compared to the world of wireless audio that the company currently plays, but another quality option is certainly not a bad thing. Sonos recounts its successes, dishes on future plans but not Android support originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video)
January 18, 2011 No Comment
Researchers at Harvard University’s Center For Brain Science have successful manipulated nematode C. elegans worms by genetically modifying a select few of their 302 neurons. Not to be confused with magnetically controlled invertebrate , these creepy-crawlies are controlled by the CoLBeRT system (a nod to the comedian but no other relation), controlling locomotion and behavior in real time. The scientists can manipulate movement of the worms, induce paralysis, and even cause them to lay eggs all by shining a laser that turns on and off the modified cells at will. The laser hits the worm and causes it to react as if it were being touched. According to the researchers, the reaction is similar to when light is shined in a human eye — the protein found in the worm and eyes are sensitive to different variations of rays and will respond based on the color shined. Peep past the break for some squiggly mind- er, light-controlled action. Continue reading Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video) Harvard University controls worm with laser, we wait for choreographed dance moves (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 09:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …JVC KW-NT30HD / 50HDT navigation systems offer iPhone-controlled HD radio
January 18, 2011 No Comment
JVC’s new in-dash GPS navigation systems won’t whisper soothing reassurances in your ear when traffic gets bad, but they can offer some easy listening (if you’re into that sort of thing) for your daily commute. The KW-NT50HDT and KW-NT30HD, which JVC debuted at CES 2011, sport 6.1-inch displays and come equipped with HD radio and iPhone connectivity via USB. Using ClearChannel’s iheartradio app, you can view song and artist information and scan channels from either the navigation device or the iPhone. The NT50HDT also comes with a free lifetime subscription to the Total Traffic HD+ Network, which provides data like traffic reports, news, and weather information. Both devices come equipped with WAAS navigation, map coverage of all 50 US states, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico, and voice guidance in English, French, and Spanish. The musically inclined navigators hit the market in March, with the NT30HD running $1,000 and the NT50HDT coming in at $1,200. JVC KW-NT30HD / 50HDT navigation systems offer iPhone-controlled HD radio originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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How far we’ve come. It was only a couple of years ago that Lenovo was closing a deal to sell its mobile phone business, but a quick re-acquisition in late 2009 and some recent heavy flirtation with the tablet form factor have led to the creation of a whole new unit in the company’s hierarchy, one dedicated to the development of smartphones, tablets, TVs, and other internet-connected devices. Headed up by Liu Jun and working out of Beijing, this squad of designers and engineers will focus on harnessing the “tremendous growth potential of the mobile internet.” Cloud computing will be a major feature of Lenovo’s plans moving forward, which places its goals for the future right in line with just about everyone else’s . Still, it’s good to see one of the big desktop computing players diversifying its portfolio with gusto. Lenovo setting up a specialist unit for tablets and smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AIRPrint performs ranged fingerprint scanning, won’t let the terrorists win
January 18, 2011 No Comment
While ears may be the new biometric du jour , Advanced Optical Systems (AOS) is doing its best to keep fingerprints as the preferred method for identifying enemies of the state. The company has built a fingerprint scanner with the ability to accurately read a print up to two meters away, and our military views the system as a means to reduce the risk to soldiers at security checkpoints all over the world. The AIRPrint system is a significant upgrade over previous biometric security systems because it allows a person’s identity to be confirmed by military personnel from behind the safety of a blast wall or armored vehicle, which keeps our serviceman out of harm’s way. AIRPrint uses a source of polarized light and two 1.3 megapixel cameras (one to receive vertically polarized light and another to receive horizontally polarized light) in order to produce an accurate fingerprint. The prototype is able to scan and verify a print in under five seconds, but the device can presently only process one finger at a time, and that finger must stay a fixed distance from the cameras to get a precise reading. Despite these current limitations, AOS claims that soon the equipment will be capable of reading five prints simultaneously while a person is moving toward or away from the device. The system will be ready for market in the third quarter of this year, which is bad news for terrorists and soccer hooligans , but a windfall for Big Brother . AIRPrint performs ranged fingerprint scanning, won’t let the terrorists win originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Acer building Sandy Bridge tablets for Android, will use them to ‘phase out’ netbooks
January 18, 2011 No Comment
You’d be forgiven for expecting that the dual-core Tegra 2 that swept all before it at CES would be the king of tablet processors for a good while, but Acer is already plotting ways to overthrow it. Admittedly, Acer is kind of cheating by jumping into x86 land and snatching some unspecified Intel Sandy Bridge silicon, but are you really going to complain about getting multi-core grunt under the hood of your well-lubricated Android machine? An official from the company has promised two to three new tablets, sized at either 7 or 10 inches diagonally, for the first half of this year — a tasty morsel of information, which he garnishes with the forecast that netbooks will eventually be phased out in favor of such touchy-feely slate devices. If you can fit a full second-gen Core CPU inside a tablet, why the heck not? Acer building Sandy Bridge tablets for Android, will use them to ‘phase out’ netbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Moneual DSPC puts a monitor on your computer case, welcomes your widgets
January 18, 2011 No Comment
CES is a big place, way bigger than your first apartment, so hopefully you’ll forgive us for missing the Moneual Lab DSPC on the show floor. That stands for Dual Screen PC, a case sporting a decidedly tall display that could make for a useful desktop extension despite subscribing to no aspect ratios heretofore known by man. Unfortunately no specs were provided for resolution or size, but we could see throwing your image editor’s toolbox over there, maybe a chat window, or just loading it up with widgets as in this picture. However, with an anticipated cost of $1,500, we’re thinking you could instead buy a properly large second monitor — and a new desk to put it on. Moneual DSPC puts a monitor on your computer case, welcomes your widgets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Let’s get this out of the way right up front: Sandisk’s new UHS-I SDHC cards are fast but not that fast. So for all the talk of “extreme” and “pro” just remember that the claimed 45MB/s read and write performance pales in comparison to Toshiba’s own UHS-I cards announced back in September with staggering 95MB/s read and 80MB/s write speeds. Still, they’re fast enough to capture HD video from the latest DSLRs and certainly faster than anything touting a Class 10 SDXC rating. Now for the best part gadget masochists, they’ll range in 8GB to 32GB capacities with retail pricing set somewhere between $109.99 to $349.99. Just be sure your camera supports UHS-I before making the plunge, ok? Continue reading SanDisk SDHC UHS-I cards are so Extreme they went Pro SanDisk SDHC UHS-I cards are so Extreme they went Pro originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 05:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Who can forget the Plastic Logic Que proReader — a textbook study on the vaporous gadget. Start with an incredible (but truthful) claim to have developed plastic semiconductors that could be used to fabricate flexible e-reader displays . Then follow up the breakthrough with the all-important consumer tease : an amazing (for the time) 8.5 x 11-inch e-reader with a gesture-based UI that would launch in the first half of 2009. Unfortunately, the Que never shipped and was ultimately canceled , partly because of reliability issues associated with manufacturing those early Que displays and partly because of the launch of a rather disruptive Apple tablet you might have read about. Fast forward to today and we’ve got the state-owned Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies ( Rusnano ) announcing a $700 million investment in the US-based Plastic Logic Inc. Why? Are you listening? Plastics. Here’s how this “unprecedented” investment was described by Georgy Kolpachev, Rusnano’s managing director: “Flexible plastic electronic displays will provide another major milestone in how people process information. Entering this new disruptive segment at the stage of its inception gives Russia a chance to win a leading position in global market of future electronics.” The investment will be used to pay off Plastic Logic’s debt including a $50 million loan the company took out after approaching financial collapse. The rest will be used for a second plastic electronics factory in Russia (a sister to the Dresden Germany plant) which is expected to start production in 2013 or 2014. Plastic Logic receives massive $700 million Russian investment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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