Gadgets Blog

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 1:00PM

Around this time last year, we got wind of CCD-based projectors and cameras from Olympus that were outfitted with a curious “axial symmetrical free curved surface lens.” Now, said company is finally providing a few details about its current prototype, which essentially enables 360-degree photographs to be taken. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on perspective), the sensor isn’t quite ready to be pushed out into the world, but as you can certainly imagine, it’ll likely make a B-line for surveillance outfits just as soon as it’s ready.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

I had a great experience last week, I was invited to Dell’s latest product launch which was made cooler than most launches as it was held at the Silverstone racetrack during F1 testing and we had to fly in .

The main product to be announced was the new range of Dell Studio Laptops. The Studio range is designed with the personal touch in mind and comes in a range of colors, but if you think “Flamingo Pink” is a bit too in your face you can still personalise with the less gaudy graphite grey with blue trim (full color selection).

The overall design is pretty sleek and is one of Dell’s thinnest to date (it’s no Airbook mind). Due to the wedge shape and hinge mechanism the screen appears lower than normal which makes it easy to use in confined spaces (planes, trains and automobiles). It also incorporates a cool back-lit keyboard for night browsing.

Feature wise it packs in what you’d expect from a mid range laptop with a few extra innovative features, including

• 15.4″ or 17″ Widescreen Display
• Fingerprint reader for the security conscious
• Optional Blu-ray drive
• HDMI output to connect to your large HD screen
• 5.1 Sound
• Optional built-in mobile broadband (this is going require an additional monthly charge)

Prices for the Dell Studio range start from £379 (~$750), further info and availability over on the Dell site. As well as being able to buy the Studio laptops from the Dell site you’ll also be able to purchase them from more traditional stores such as Tesco, PC World, etc. which will save you from paying Dell’s somewhat legendary delivery charge.

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Owners of the Dash Express will be pleased to know that a software update is made available, throwing in even more functionality while making the navigation experience all the more user-friendly. The update can be obtained automatically by plugging your Dash Express into any available Wi-Fi network. One of the main features found in this update is called MyRoute, a way to record shortcuts that you only know onto the Dash Express itself instead of relying on valid shortcuts provided by Dash themselves. In addition, the Dash Express is smart enough to analyze current traffic data and take traffic info into account when recommending a route automatically. Other tweaks include FasterFind for quicker GPS locks and a plethora of UI tweaks.

Philips holds the distinction for being the first company in the world to light up its office with nothing but LED solutions. This office is owned by Generali and located at 100 Champs-Elysées Avenue, Paris, making it famous by being a milestone in lighting history. The entire LED effect also goes down well with scene and atmosphere effects that are also LED based. The whole idea can be attributed to architect Anthony Béchu who had been commissioned by Generali, in order for the former to come up with ‘an innovative window in the world of LEDs’. Research has shown that LED lighting solutions improve people’s well-being in addition to providing designers a greater amount of flexibility in the layout of open spaces and the ceiling design. This frees designers from the lighting orientation too often given by fluorescents tubular lamps. Thanks to the relatively long lifetime of LEDs, maintenance costs are reduced to a bare minimum - a good thing in today’s ever rising energy cost scenario.

Throughout the office spaces, the functional office lighting is realized through 422 luminaires integrated in a false ceiling with 600 x 600 grids. Each luminaire is powered by 16 or 12 high power LEDs of 2.6 W depending on their location in the office space. This provides an average of 300 lux everywhere and 500 lux on the working planes. Philips has given special care to the development of optics. In addition, recessed SpotLed 3 K2 luminaires each with 3 LUXEON high-power LEDs are applied in the corridors. The solution complies with lighting norms and standards on energy consumption, illumination levels and visual comfort.

The building would definitely be a sight to behold in its entirety, as when the glass façade of the top two floors are lit, anyone looking at it will get the sense that the building is more like a a beacon in the night to the outside world.

Press Release

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Nokia has just put up a flash demo of the latest in its N-series phones, the N96 which is slated for release sometime this quarter. Like we already know, the N96 sports a dual-slide design, a 2.8-inch screen and supports high-quality videos in various formats. In addition the N96 also features a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash, video light, video recording at 30 fps, A-GPS for geotagging of photos and 16MB of internal memory.

As this seemed to be not an official announcement, expect Nokia to delete the flash demo once this news spreads out. If you don’t get to watch it, don’t worry because like what happened with other Nokia mobile phone models, once a flash demo leaks out, and Nokia deletes it, for sure Nokia will issue an official announcement in no time at all. Also, rumor has it that the N96 will retail in the ballpark of $870.

Via [SlashPhone]

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Now this DVD player from Maxx Digital ought to have the legal eagles at Sony up in arms, since the form factor and design closely resembles that of a Sony PSP. It doesn’t play any games though, functioning as purely a portable DVD player with the following features :-

• 8.5″ LCD widescreen display
• Supports DVD, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, CD, CD-R/RW, VCD and SVCD formats
• Supports JPEG, MP3 and MPEG4 files
• Integrated SD/MMS/MS memory card slot

Nokia has just put up a flash demo of the latest in its N-series phones, the N96 which is slated for release sometime this quarter. Like we already know, the N96 sports a dual-slide design, a 2.8-inch screen and supports high-quality videos in various formats. In addition the N96 also features a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash, video light, video recording at 30 fps, A-GPS for geotagging of photos and 16MB of internal memory.

As this seemed to be not an official announcement, expect Nokia to delete the flash demo once this news spreads out. If you don’t get to watch it, don’t worry because like what happened with other Nokia mobile phone models, once a flash demo leaks out, and Nokia deletes it, for sure Nokia will issue an official announcement in no time at all. Also, rumor has it that the N96 will retail in the ballpark of $870.

Via [SlashPhone]

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So asks the headline at website Asylum. So far the poll shows 77% of respondents consider a little robot-love to be guilt free, something I’d agree with – after all, an all-singing, all-dancing (and all-sucking) robot doll is just a better featured vibrator, right?

The Lady, whom I always consult in matters sexual and sartorial, agrees. “Do you think using a vibrator is having sex?” she asked me, “I do. It’s having sex, but it’s not getting laid.”

But what about the partner left at home? Because these dolls are so human, waving goodbye to your man as he heads off to the cyber-brothel might not be so easy. The erotic part of sex, after all, occurs in the mind, and the only reason to use a full sized fake woman is to pretend you are with a real woman.

In the mind of the John, is there a difference between the two? Is it the high-tech equivalent of getting up on the job, closing your eyes and pretending you are actually having sex with a celebrity (or as I have done in the past, drawing the face of Queen Elizabeth on a paper bag)? And if it is done illicitly, without the knowledge of your other half, is that deception is worse than the sex itself?

We suppose that there are advantages. No viruses (unless the girl runs Windows), and no payoff money if you happen to be a high profile, blackmail-able celebrity (a Gadget Lab blogger, for instance). For me, it comes down to price. If it’s cheaper than dinner and a movie, I’m in.

Barroom Debate: Is Having Sex with a Robot Hooker Cheating? [Asylum]

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 8:15AM

Watch out DXG, you’ve got a new rival in town, and it goes by the name Lancerlink. Just when we thought you had the cheap-o HD camcorder market all locked up, in comes this firm with a rather chintzy looking camcorder capable of logging clips at 1,440 x 1,080 (30fps) or 1,280 x 720 (60fps) in H.264 format. The 5-megapixel sensor can also snag stills, but considering that there’s just 90MB of free memory within, you should probably keep an SD / MMC / SDHC card nearby. You’ll also find a 3-inch lcd monitor, HDTV (component) output, USB connectivity and a rechargeable battery good for around four hours of use. The worst part, however, is the ¥49,800 ($474) price tag that’s attached to the July-bound DDV-1080HD, which makes it a few hundies more than most of DXG’s awfully similar collection.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

by Ryan Block, posted Jun 30th 2008 at 1:19AM

Not exactly a huge upgrade, but that MicroU2E from last year has been revved to support 1.5v ExpressCards — and with more volts comes more supported devices. It’s still about fifty bones, should you need one for your MacBook (Air) or whatever other ExpressCardless machine you’ve got kicking around.

[Via Macsimum News]

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Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals