Month: February 2008

Posted on

Sony Unveils S-Frame Digital Photo Displays

Sony

Sony has introduced its new line of S-Frame digital photo frames.

The DPF-V900, DPF-V700 and DPF-D70 will be available in March for US$250, $190 and $140 respectively.

Each of the new frames features 800 by 480 pixel resolution and 15:9 aspect ratio screens. The digital photo frames can scale and display images up to 48 megapixels, and incorporate the ability to rotate through 10 slide show variations, clock and calendar views and two index modes.

The DPF-V700 and DPF-D70 are both 7-inch frames; the DPF-V900 is a 9-inch frame. Both the V700 and V900 have 512MB of internal storage capacity, while the D70 has 256MB storage. Digital images can be transferred from various flash memory cards including Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Pro Duo, SD Memory Card, MMC, Compact Flash, MicroDrive and xD-Picture card. You can also use a computer connected through the USB port, or directly from a digital camera using USB.

The V900 and V700 models are also compatible with a separately sold Bluetooth adapter, to enable you to transfer images wirelessly from your cell phone or from a computer equipped with Bluetooth. They can also connect to HDTV sets using an HDMI cable.

All three frames support JPEG and RAW (SRF, SR2, ARW) image file formats. The V900 and V700 also support TIFF and BMP images.

source:pcworld 

Posted on

Googles ‘New’ Mobile Search Engine

 Gmob serch

Shortly before releasing their latest results showing a slowdown in advertising sales in the fourth quarter of 2007, Google announced the launch of their ‘new’ mobile search engine (or, should we say, the improved version of the previous one).

Google says that with the new search service, mobile phone users will get results that best fit what they’re looking for, with search results combined from different bodies of information, so users don’t need to sift through both mobile and regular web results, or specify their search type. Instead, Google will search through the whole web, mobile web, news articles, local business listings, and image index to get the information needed and then provide the most relevant results. A search for cats, for example, provides links to photos of cats as well as web pages.

Google’s new mobile search also improves the local search experience. By remembering a user’s recent search locations, the new service is said to provide relevant local results in subsequent searches-no need to retype the location every time. Once a user has entered a location, searches for weather or restaurants, for example, provide information tailored specifically to that user’s location. The service is now available in the UK, France, Germany and Canada. It has been available in the US since March last year.

It is claimed that fewer clicks will now be necessary to access meaningful search results on mobile devices, which is a welcome improvement. The jury is still out as to how effective the new search engine is, but while we may not be there in terms of ultimate functionality, it is clearly a step in the right direction. Bizarrely, we still have to type in “http://mobile.google.com” instead of just “http://google.mobi” or “http://m.google.com”, but that’s a different story…

 

source:reuters 

Posted on

Lab on a single Chip Medical Breakthrough

Medi-chip

It’s common knowledge that to carry out genetic tests, one would need expensive, state-of-the-art laboratory. But that might soon change thanks to a group of Canadian scientists who’ve developed a “lab-on-a-chip” device to conduct these tests. What is interesting about the device is that it’s supposed to be portable, inexpensive, and efficient.

Hailing from the University of Alberta; Professor Christopher Backhouse and Professor Linda Pilarski (Department of Oncology), along with research student, Govind Kaigala, have developed a $1,000 device the size of a shoebox that can conduct genetic tests and deliver results in less than half an hour.

Elaborating on the innovation, the researchers said that miniaturization is the key factor that has drastically brought down the cost of this gadget.

The Canadian Press quoted Professor Backhouse as saying that like computers, which in their early days, were inaccessible; somewhat like million-dollar beasts who formed a roomful, yet one needed a Ph.D. to to be able to operate one of them.

Similarly, the Professor said Life Science technologies do exist but aren’t being utilized optimally because they’re very expensive. Hence, the key to this mini-laboratory was to integrate, shrink, and automate. The ability of the device to implement a very wide range of tests on a standard platform quickly and inexpensively would make it indispensable for the future.

The research team believes that their miniature lab-on-a-chip will provide Cancer patients with quick genetic tests, in turn speeding up treatment processes. The team also believes the device may be useful in finding genetic signatures for particular viruses or bacteria or for testing the quality of water, and so on.

source:techtree 

Posted on

Portable Hard Drive Requires Password

hdd-key

A Japanese company has taken a leaf from bank ATM security by launching a portable hard drive that comes with its own built-in PIN keypad.

The USB-based EZSecu EZ850 is an enclosure based around a normal 2.5 inch SATA drive of the type familiar to any laptop user, but up close it looks more like portable safe than a hard disk. One side of the unit is dominated by a touchscreen, on which users have to enter a PIN code of up to six characters from a keypad of nine digits plus zero.

Connect the drive to a PC without entering the PIN code, and it won’t be recognized.

It is not known if its Japanese distributors — the company has the rather offputting name Digital Cowboy — will make the EZ850 available outside Japan, though the westernized branding name suggests that they might. The drive is reported to cost £70 (US$140), and is nearly to a nearly identical drive from Korean company IOTEK that appeared last November without apparently going on sale.

It is also unclear whether the drive security could be bypassed by removing the drive from the enclosure and simply reading it through a system with no PIN interface. It is likely that it uses some form of encryption to make the drive unreadable when removed from the enclosure.

Storage vendors have started coming up with a variety of ways to secure portable storage, ranging from built-in data encryption to PIN entry on USB flash drives. Fingerprint readers have also been used.

The advantages of PINs are their simplicity, and the fact that the drive carries everything around needed to secure it with no need for additional software. Others will argue that full-drive encryption with software access is probably just as practical for business users.

source:pcworld 

Posted on

JVC Unveils HD Camcorders

Jvc-cam

JVC has announced two new High Definition (HD) Everio-brand hard disk-based camcorders for consumer use.

The new GZ-HD6 and GZ-HD5 are expected to go on same in March priced at US$1,399.99 and $1,199.99 respectively.

Both cameras ship with a complement of Windows video editing and download software, but they also include plug-in software “to facilitate data import into various Mac applications.” What’s more, the camcorders work with JVC’s VD40 Everio Share Station, which lets users burn video to DVD without having to use a computer first.

The cameras both utilize Fujinon HD lenses, and employ progressive-scan 3CCD imaging systems. The cameras record video to a built-in hard disk at 1920 x 1080 — full HD video quality, and they provide 1080p 60 frame per second output using HDMI 1.3. They also sport optical image stabilization to reduce camera shake.

Also common to both models is a microphone jack input and manual controls; the cameras both have manual focus rings, manual white balance, exposure control, shutter priority mode, aperture priority mode and sharpness control. There’s a Focus Assist function and a “zebra” function that displays a striped pattern across highlight areas on the image in the LCD monitor to help you adjust exposure.

The main difference between the two units, besides a black chassis on the HD6 and a silver chassis for the HD5, is hard disk space — the HD6 has a 120GB hard disk drive, while the HD5 has a 60GB hard disk. This is suitable for up to 24 or 12 hours of recorded video in the 1440 LP mode, according to JVC.

JVC’s Web site had not been updated with information about the new models as Macworld posted this article.

source:pcworld 

Posted on

Kingston SD Card Now Hits 16GB

Kingstone

Kingston Technology has introduced a new 16GB SDHC Flash memory card for digital cameras and other devices.

The new entry is the largest-capacity SDHC card Kingston makes. It costs US$231.

Kingston rates the 16GB card as a Class 4 memory card, which means it has a minimum sustained data transfer rate of 4MB per second. It’s compatible with SDHC-compatible host devices and writes data in FAT 32 file format.

Kingston said the new card can store up to 7,500 full-resolution images from a 6 megapixel digital camera, or about 5,000 images from an 8MP camera.

source:pcworld 

Posted on

New 8x DVD-R Fits to MacBook Air

macbook

MCE Technologies on Friday announced the release of a new slot-loading DVD-R “SuperDrive” designed to work as a replacement for the optical drives found in 15-inch MacBook Pros and MacBook laptops.

The new drive supports DVD+R DL (Double Layer) and DVD-R (Dual Layer) media, so it can burn up to 8.5GB per disc (on supported media). It replaces the 4x and 6x drives found in these machines, matching the same form factor. It costs US$199.

The drive is 9.5mm high, compared to 12.5mm tall for some other mechanisms. It writes standard DVD-R and DVD+R media at up to 8x speed, and DVD-RW and DVD+RW at up to 4x speed (dual-layer and double-layer disks are written to at up to 4x speed). It can also write to CD-R media at up to 2x speed.

The drive is natively compatible with Mac OS X v10.4 and 10.5, and works with iTunes, iDVD, Finder burning, iPhoto and DVD player. It’s bootable, as well.

source:pcworld 

Posted on

Easy Music Solutions for Your Car

car-play1 Dock Stations

Portability is in, especially in music. Almost anyone can afford an MP3 player of some sort today. But we’re not here to talk about portable MP3 players… well, not quite. What we’d like to talk about are alternative solutions for music on the go. In your vehicle, that is.

Most people who have cars may not necessarily be able to afford expensive music players, so what we’ve outlined here are four items you can pick up from any car accessories store. These are cheaper alternatives to an expensive CD player. All you need are a decent set of speakers and perhaps a lighter for charging. You can invest in any cheap cassette player that has a radio.

MP3 players have become very affordable, but we are NOT suggesting that you use earphones while driving, under any circumstances. A good alternative would be to buy a dock station, which can also be used as a portable speaker that runs either on batteries or current supplied by your car’s cigarette lighter socket. If you have an iPod, there are plenty of choices from big names like Creative, Logitech, and even Bose.

Most come equipped with 3.5 mm pins that fit into your MP3 player’s earphone socket (you can get a converter if you player has a 2.5mm socket). Just make sure you choose one that isn’t too big or you may have a problem with space in a small car. You could also connect your mobile phone to most of these docks, provided you have the required cable. You won’t even need in-car speakers.

play-car2 Intex EUP-802

Simply put, this is a modulator targeted at people who own an old cassette stereo system in their car, and don’t have plans to upgrade in the near future. It’s as simple as it can get: just plug it in and you are ready to go.
play-car3
The device works using radio frequencies. You need to choose the frequency on the modulator and it will transmit the music on that particular frequency, which will be picked up by the FM radio on your car stereo system. The modulator comes with a USB slot, a 2.5mm jack, and an SD card slot. It works using the cigarette charging socket in your car, and costs only Rs 2,000.

source:tech2 

Posted on

B&O unveils new TV complete with innovative robotic arm colour management device!

B&O

Bang & Olufsen has unveiled a new TV proposition: the BeoVision 4 plasma screen combined with the dedicated BeoLab 10 loudspeaker, delivering what B&O is calling ‘a new experience in home cinema, featuring the latest Bang & Olufsen Automatic Colour Management technology’.

Available in both 50-inch and 65-inch plasma, the Beovision 4 provides Full HD resolution pictures with the natural effects of aging on a plasma screen apparently countered with Bang and Olufsen’s new Automatic Colour Management technology, which claims to maintain long lasting colour quality.

What happens is that after every 100 hours of viewing, or as often as you choose, a short robotic arm with a camera eye at the end swings down from behind the aluminium frame and measures a test picture that appears on the screen. In a matter of seconds, the colour temperature is analysed and adjusted to ensure consistent colour reproduction even after thousands of hours of use.

Other features of the TV include:
* Automatic Picture Control sensors which constantly measure light conditions and adjust brightness and contrast accordingly.
* the new BeoLab 10 speaker, which works with the BeoVision 4 as a dedicated centre loudspeaker. The flat triangular BeoLab 10 is wall mounted below the screen and apparently performs to the same high standards as Bang & Olufsen’s most powerful loudspeakers.
* Bang & Olufsen’s Acoustic Lens Technology, which spreads sound from the BeoLab 10’s centre channel 180 degrees in the horizontal plane while simultaneously controlling vertical dispersion
* A curved brushed aluminium frame which contrasts with the dynamic triangular BeoLab 10.

The 50in is available now in silver and black, with colour options due in the summer, while the 65in will be available in silver and black from March, with colour options again coming on line in the summer.

source:home 

Posted on

Google and Dell to announce gPhone hardware?

gphone

Marketing Week reports that “speculation is mounting that Google is plotting the launch of a mobile phone in partnership with computer giant Dell”.

Citing “senior industry sources” the site says that the two companies are due to reveal their plans to the world at next month’s 3GSM event in Spain.

The first handsets are expected this year running Google’s “Android” mobile phone operating system, but Dell has not previously been hotly tipped to be one of the first manufacturers to market.

Pocket-lint will be attending 3GSM and will bring you all the news from the event as it happens.

source:sky