Archive for February, 2007
« Previous EntriesApple’s next big move: Multitouch displays?
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Media PCs
Speaking of multitouch, Steven Johnson, the guy who wrote Everything Bad is Good For You and Emergence, isn’t normally our go-to guy for Apple rumors, but he has an interesting theory about what the company’s next big move might be. He speculates that all these hints about new, unannounced features for Leopard, combined with a delay in the release of new Apple Cinema Displays, the coming launch of the iPhone, and rumors about a new “ProTools killer” that relies on touch screens, all point toward the introduction of new multitouch-capable displays and the rollout of iPhone-like multitouch interfaces across Apple’s product line. Yeah, that’d be crazy, right? Jobs definitely loves having symmetry in his product lines, so even though this seems pretty unlikely it’s not totally impossible that he’d want to bring multitouch to stuff besides the iPhone. That said, we haven’t heard a single thing about new Apple displays sporting multitouch capabilities, so for now we’ll file this one under “wild speculation.”
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
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Build your own multi-touch table
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Displays
NYU may have been the first to put the mouthful that is frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) to use in a multi-touch display, but it’s not the only one experimenting with the curiously-named technology, with the folks at tinker.it building a setup of their own and explaining how they did it. As the video after the break shows, the end result is slightly less polished than NYU’s device, but it puts on an impressive light show nonetheless, tracking your fingers’ movement in a suitably hypnotic fashion. While tinker.it’s guide doesn’t exactly hold your hand though the process, those with the necessary skills should be able to build their own rig relatively easily, with some coffee table excess seemingly only a few more steps away for those with the carpentry skills to match.
[Via MAKE:Blog]
Continue reading Build your own multi-touch table
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Modeo boosts signal power, shows off DVB-H SD and mini-PCI cards
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
Modeo hosted a little shindig tonight to unveil some of its future DVB-H plans and show off some kit. The big news is that the FCC has approved Modeo’s request to boost signal power by 10 times in urban markets and 20 times in rural areas, giving the company a much easier path to coverage rollout and better signal quality. Modeo also mentioned that while it’s currently testing service in NYC only, it has designs already in place for moving into the top 30 markets in the US. We also got our hands on upcoming DVB-H SD and mini-PCI cards, with the SD cards up and running in a myriad of Pocket PC devices, and the mini-PCI card running smooth — though rather pixelated — video on a Dell laptop. The next move for Modeo is to get channel changing time under 2 seconds, continue to improve video quality, add PVR and mediacasting capabilities, and stick interactivity into the programming. Modeo’s software partner Penthera already had most of those capabilities up and running on demo units, as you can see in the gallery below, so it looks like most of this stuff will be all ready by the time a commercial launch happens. When that might be is anyone’s guess. Modeo is still looking for a retail partner, and they made it pretty clear that Qualcomm’s MediaFLO model of hitching onto mobile providers is exactly what Modeo would like to be doing — unfortunately for Modeo, nobody’s signed up yet.
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
All hail Gupp Technologies’ Linux-powered Phreedom
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Wireless
Malaysian startup Gupp Technologies is prepping its baby (and by baby we mean ugly baby, that only mommy could love) — the Phreedom — for Q2 release this year. This dual-mode VoIP / GSM abomination little fella will be running a la Mobile’s Convergent Linux platform, so fiddlers, start your engines because Linux anything means open source! It’s good news for Gupp that this handset is also partially redeemed with a solid feature set, packing 802.11b/g, push and pull mail, 312MHz CPU, 320MB memory, VoIP with seamless handover to GSM, and a 2200 mAh battery to supply the juice for it all. Billed as a VoIP device first and a GSM handset second, this may be an interesting notion, but until we get our greasy hands on it, the jury is out — and so far the looks are hurting its case.
[Via Linux Devices]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
51GB HD DVD disc gets official
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
In a strange turn of events, Blu-ray discs are outselling HD DVDs, and now the HD DVD format has taken the lead in capacity — who would’ve think it? Toshiba just announced that it has successfully created a triple-layer disc with 17GB per layer, which amounts to 51GB, a full GB more than those dual-layer Blu-ray discs can muster. We heard about the size gains at CES this year, but Toshiba is already in the process of submitting the new extension of the format to regulatory approval, however, the word on the street still amounts to a potential Q4 release, and it’s still unclear at this time what kind of manufacturing costs or complications these new discs will incur. We’ll say it again: the format war is far from over.
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Italy intros sensor-laden foundling wheels to care for abandoned babies
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
While dealing with a widespread problem of abandoned children is an issue we have no interest in tackling, Italy’s Family Affairs Minister Rosy Bindi apparently feels that hooking up hospitals with “modern-day foundling wheels” is the best solution. Based on an idea that dates back hundreds of years, the sensor-laden hatches that are now being installed in Italian hospitals are accessible only from the outside, and feature a specially designed window in which an unwanted child can be deposited into a warm, cushioned bed. In a recent incident, the sensors alerted the staff at Casilino Hospital, which arrived in a mere 40 seconds to care for the infant and find him a proper home. In an effort to get the message out, flyers in six languages have been posted around hospitals that encourage troubled parents to bring their child to one of the newfangled incubators. Still, we’re not experts on foreign policy nor on taking care of rejected youngsters, but going from the cold, ruthless streets to a heated cubicle doesn’t seem like such a raw deal for the kiddos.
[Via MedGadget]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
European PS3 will eschew PS2 hardware for emulation, sez Sony
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Gaming
Bad news for those European fans who’ve still been anticipating the PS3 despite delays, higher costs, limited selection, and weak launch stock: the rumors were true this time around, and your ‘newly designed’ console will be shipping sans PS2 hardware. Of course, you’ll still be able to play certain titles through software emulation — although even that may be dodgy, judging from the US and Japanese experience — and there’s always the possibility of non-compliant games coming out over PlayStation Network, but Sony has already admitted that the backwards compatibility offered by these new rigs won’t be on par with that of PS3 Rev A. Since this move is purportedly being made to lower costs and speed up production (remember Sony is quite sure that there are widespread shortage) it’s possible that the PS2-less PS3 might be sold in regions outside of Europe according to company reps — yet another blow to gamers who’ve had to put up with setback after setback after setback for the privilege of giving Sony their money. We’re sure that this news is going to bring yet another barrage of “passionate discourse” in the comments, so let the flaming discussion begin.
[Thanks, Griking]
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Google Maps Adds Traffic
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Google Maps has added the ability to view real time traffic data for 30 major US cities, highlighting traffic jams and slow moving traffic.
Traffic conditions are displayed over the highway as color coded lines. Each color represents how fast the traffic is moving:
Green: more than 50 miles per hour
Yellow: 25 - 50 miles per hour
Red: […]
Philips introduces wireless medical tablet powered by Intel’s MCA platform
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Filed under: Tablet PCs, Wireless
Philips and Intel will launch a new wireless, handheld medical device later on this year. This news arrives just as Motion Computing has unveiled a competitive product, the $2,200 C5 medical tablet PC. Both Motion’s and Philips’ devices are based on Intel’s mobile clinical assistant platform, a system designed with the intention to improve accuracy, efficiency, and work flow for healthcare professionals. Philips’ new tablet device will sport a 10.4-inch, 1,024 × 768 touchscreen as well as WiFi and a digital camera, aiming to streamline data entry and better monitor wounds and healing. The device will allegedly read both barcodes and RFID tags to prevent medication errors and confirm staff and patient ID; here’s to popping antibiotics, not hormone pills, after surgery!
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Yahoo Search Global Update & NOYDIR Tag Support
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007Yahoo is rolling out a global search index update which will reindex content on the web, result in ranking changes and the “shuffling” of pages according to the Yahoo Search Blog.
Along with the global update comes the new support by Yahoo for the NOYDIR tag, which will stop Yahoo from listing Yahoo Directory titles and […]
