Monday, January 31, 2011

Absolutely amazing new FLIP phone...Its back again!






Flip phones were ultra hot at the end of the 90′s and early 2000′s. As long as you weren’t a stuffy “business” person who owned a Blackberry or Palm, you probably had a flip phone. Then, Apple’s iPhone came and changed the world of cell phones completely.
Smart phones took over and the flip phone died.
It’s back. Kind of.
Its a kind of flip with triangular interface  may be the best flip phone so on!
With 3 flexible touchscreens, a triangular design, and custom Android interface, this creative and functional design gives us a glimpse of how smart phones might be flipped themselves.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

MixAmp 5.8 turns any wired headset into a wireless surround sound system




Being wired for sound to a games console can be a somewhat restricting experience, especially if you're trying to release your inner rock star with games like Rock Band 3. Astro Gaming has taken its pro-gaming MixAmp audio technology and made it both wireless and home-friendly. Users of the MixAmp 5.8 system can plug in just about any pair of wired headphones to the wireless receiver and benefit from 7.1-channel Dolby Surround Sound and a virtually interference-free wireless connection to the transmitter.

The MixAmp 5.8 has a recommended usable range of 100 feet (30.5 meters), although the system can transmit its wireless signal for quite a bit more.
The transmitter also has a couple of USB ports thrown into the mix, for which Astro plans to develop accessories, and that can currently be used as a power source for the receiver unit when the included batteries run out of juice.
The MixAmp 5.8 system is available now for a special introductory price of US$99.95, with various options also on offer. The product is shipped with a set of AAA-sized batteries and belt clip for the receiver, an AC adapter for the transmitter, an optical audio cable, Xbox Live Chat cable and a USB play/charge cable.
It's worth repeating that the only audio input available on the MixAmp 5.8 is a TOSLink Optical port, so if your games console doesn't have optical input, then this is not the solution for you.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

World's first full HDR video system sees like the human eye

 
Researchers have developed the world's first full High Dynamic Range video system, which allows for videos that are exposed in a fashion similar to that of the human visual perception system (Photo: goHDR) 

 
Warwick's HDR camera being tried out in an operating room (Image: University of Warwick)
 Warwick's HDR camera being tried out in an operating room (Image: University of Warwick) 

Anyone who regularly uses a video camera will know that the devices do not see the world the way we do. The human visual system can perceive a scene that contains both bright highlights and dark shadows, yet is able to process that information in such a way that it can simultaneously expose for both lighting extremes – up to a point, at least. Video cameras, however, have just one f-stop to work with at any one time, and so must make compromises. Now, however, researchers from the UK’s University of Warwick claim to have the solution to such problems, in the form of the world’s first full High Dynamic Range (HDR) video system.
HDR has been in development for some time – Sunnybrook Technologies unveiled a High Dynamic Range display system back in 2004, and just last year BenQ joined a list of several manufacturers to have released HDR still cameras. Even HDR video has been shot before, albeit on a limited, experimental basis. What the researchers at Warwick claim to have developed is the world’s first full-motion HDR video system, that covers everything from image capture through to display.

It could also find use in feature film-making, as the researchers state that it could be used to create 3D images that don’t require viewers to wear special glasses......

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Follow the leader: SARTRE road train technology successfully demonstrated





Reading the morning paper while behind the wheel of your car might sound like surefire recipe for disaster, but in the not-too-distant future it might just become a safer and more economical option than actually doing the driving yourself. That's the theory behind SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project – a synthesis of personal and public transport that will allow cars to be daisy-chained and automatically controlled by a lead vehicle in a process dubbed "platooning." The project has now made the leap from simulator to real roads in the first successful demonstration of the technology at the Volvo Proving Ground near Gothenburg, Sweden.
Vehicles linked in a platoon are guided by a professional driver in a lead vehicle with each car constantly monitoring the distance, speed and direction relative to the car in front and automatically making adjustments to keep the road-train on track – in other words, you sit back and relax while the brakes, accelerator and steering wheel are automatically operated. Vehicles can also leave the platoon at any time.
 This is not for everyone...because if all of us start using this who will be the leader then?

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Researcher demonstrates vulnerabilities of mobile phones




Hackers equipped with inexpensive radio hardware and open source software can compromise your mobile phone, listen to your conversations, intercept your data, or rack up huge bills on premium services, all without you knowing. Ralf-Philipp Weinmann, a cryptologist at the University of Luxembourg Laboratory of Cryptology and Security, has discovered a new type of over-the-air attack on mobile phones, and at the 2010 DeepSec conference in Vienna demonstrated how the exploit could be used against nearly any mobile phone.
Using a US$1,500 base transceiver station, Weinmann, who has previously exposed security weaknesses in the iPhone, demonstrated that common “devastating” programming errors in the Layer 3 communication stack of mobile devices can be exploited to gain control over the devices. He said that a motivated hacker could take advantage of these flaws to make an almost undetectable attack on the vast majority of cell phone models.
A base transceiver station is part of the cellular network that is typically found at the cell antenna site. Weinmann’s scenario calls for a cheap rogue transceiver that could be deployed in any crowded or sensitive area such as an airport, financial district, near embassies, and so on. The exploit would allow hackers to take control of mobile phones anywhere within the range of the rogue transceiver. The rogue transceiver only needs to be online for a few seconds to perform the attack.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Samsung to release PC7 series computer with sliding keyboard






Thankfully, both ASUS and Samsung have now introduced this feature to their new tablets, albeit in slightly different forms. The Samsung PC7 series tablet runs on an Atom processor, benefits from solid state storage and has Windows 7 as its operating system. Its high definition, touchscreen display should also be capable of comfortably handling indoor and outdoor use thanks to its 340-nit brightness.
Launched at CES 2011, the Slider PC7 series tablet computer from Samsung offers the touchscreen delights of tablet computing and the full keyboard tactile usefulness of a notebook in one device. For starters, there's a 10.1-inch touchscreen HD LCD display at 1366 x 768 resolution where users can access an onscreen virtual keyboard. Then there's also a slide-out 80/81-key keyboard underneath, and the display pushes up to an angle for comfortable viewing.
The PC7 is powered by an Intel Atom Z670 (codenamed Oak Trail) processor with integrated graphics running at 1.66GHz. This is ably supported by 2GB DDR2 memory and either a 32GB or 64GB mSATA SSD. It runs on Windows 7 Home Premium with Samsung Touch Launcher and thanks to the company's Fast Start technology, can power up and be ready for use in about 15 seconds. The 6-cell Lithium Polymer battery is said to provide up to 9 hours of continuous use between charges.
Most of us these days are familiar with the idea of a sliding mechanism underneath a display screen revealing a physical keyboard. So why has it taken so long for someone to take this idea and use it for a tablet computer?
Every new concept requires a great observance around,though mostly taken from the nature.
The PC7 series tablet is due for a March 2011 release and will start at US$699.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Oasis at sea: The Ark hotel concept






Russian architectural firm Remistudio has taken the concept of a man-made biosphere and gone to sea with its vision for the floating "Ark Hotel." Designed to withstand floods, tidal waves and rising ocean levels as well as earthquakes and other natural disasters, the hotel concept would float and function independently on the surface of a body of water, providing a green, self-sustaining environment for guests who presumably, would never have to leave.
The shell-inspired Ark design has a load-bearing system of arches and cables which maintain an even weight distribution to withstand earthquakes, whilst the prefabricated frame allows for a fast and easy construction.
The internal garden provides a lush escape for guests by acting as a greenhouse and enough daylight is filtered throughout the internal rooms to reduce the need for lighting.
The Ark was designed by Remistudio with the assistance of the International Union of Architects’ program “Architecture for Disaster Relief.”

Monday, January 10, 2011

Sunswift IVy claims record for world’s fastest solar-powered car





With a speed of 88.738 km/h (55.077 mph), the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) Sunswift IVy has claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest solar-powered vehicle. The record-beating run took place on January 7 at HMAS Albatross navy base airstrip in Nowra, Australia, and outdid the previous record-holder by more than 10 km/h (6.2 mph).
Designed and built by UNSW students, Sunswift IVy is a three-wheeled vehicle with a monocoque carbon fiber body, brushless CSIRO 3 phase DC 1800 W motor, solar array producing about 1200 W (the same it takes to run a toaster) and, usually, a 24.75 kg (55.56 lb) lithium ion polymer battery pack. However, as the milestone is for cars powered exclusively by silicon solar cells, the battery was removed for the record attempt.
This isn’t the first time the UNSW's Sunswift IVy has tasted success. It also competed in the 3,000 km (1,864 mile) Global Green Challenge race from Darwin to Adelaide in 2009, winning its category.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Speed demon: Motorola unveils Droid Bionic 4G smartphone




It's all about speed, speed, speed for Motorola in 2011. The new Droid Bionic, unveiled at CES, will be Motorola's new smartphone flagship, with fast dual-core processing and blistering download speeds over Verizon's LTE 4G network, billed as the fastest in America. And speed aside, the new big Daddy Droid packs quite a spec sheet.
The new Droid Bionic will ship with Android 2.2, and features:
  • A dual core processor (each core running at 1GHz)
  • 512MB RAM
  • 8-megapixel camera
  • Front-facing VGA webcam
  • HTML5 and Flash web browsing
  • 16GB of onboard storage
  • Up to 32GB of microSD storage
  • 4.3-inch, 960x480 screen
  • 1930mAh battery (36% bigger than the iPhone 4)
  • USB charging and connectivity
  • WiFi (802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n)
 Planning to change your hell slow boring old concept phone? SPEED DEMON is the best choice!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Samsung to unveil next-gen flexible and transparent AMOLED displays at CES 2011


There’s bound to be all manner of display technologies vying for eyeballs at CES 2011 when it kicks off in Las Vegas next week and two prototype AMOLED displays from Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) will definitely be high on our list of things to check out. The first is a 4.5-inch 800 x 480 (WVGA) resolution flexible AMOLED display concept prototype for mobile devices, while the second is the world’s largest transparent AMOLED display prototype for use in PC monitors and TVs.

Flexible AMOLED display prototype

SMD’s 4.5-inch flexible AMOLED display is two millimeters (0.08-in) thick and can be rolled down to a radius of one centimeter (0.39-in). The concept prototype’s 800 x 480 resolution, which Samsung claims is four times that of the previous most flexible AMOLED prototype constructed, comes courtesy of a new plastic substrate that can withstand the 450-500 degree Celsius temperatures required in the manufacturing process.
As this overcomes the problem of previous plastic materials melting during the manufacturing process that made commercialization of such devices difficult, Samsung says the concept display on show marks a major step on the road to mass production for the next-gen display, which is aimed at smartphones and tablet PCs.

Transparent AMOLED display prototype

The second prototype display to be unveiled is aimed at larger screen applications such as TVs and PC monitors. The 19-inch transparent AMOLED display prototype sports a qFHD (quad Full High Definition) resolution. This is a non-standard resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels arranged in a 16:9 aspect ratio that gets its name from being four times the resolution of 1080p.
The prototype display is the world’s first large transparent AMOLED display prototype and, while the average amount of transparency previously achieved has been below 10 percent, SMD’s display maintains up to 30 percent transparency whether it is turned on or off. Samsung says this will allow the technology to be used for surfing the internet while watching TV or even watching TV on windows – and by that it means the glass kind, including car windows, not the operating system.
As well as the 19-inch prototype, SMD will also be exhibiting a 14-inch qFHD transparent AMOLED display designed for notebooks.