Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, February 08, 2008

Motorola rolls out Wave 2-ready WiMAX PC Card and desktop unit

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/231180840/

Motorola's already made some moves in advance of the big Mobile World Congress going down in Barcelona next week, but it looks like the company still has plenty more up its sleeve, with it now announcing a new Wave 2-ready WiMAX PC Card, along with a desktop unit for those less concerned with mobility. Likely of primary interest to most, the PCCw 200 PC card supports both 2.5GHz and 3.5GHz to keep you connected 'round the globe, and is of course fully compliant with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 standard. The desktop-bound CPEi 750 (pictured after the break), on the other hand, is available in your choice of 2.5GHz or 3.5GHz configurations, and includes two VoIP/ATA ports to accommodate your various devices. No word on a price for either one just yet, but you can expect the PC card to hit sometime in the second quarter of this year, with the desktop unit slated for "mid-2008."

Continue reading Motorola rolls out Wave 2-ready WiMAX PC Card and desktop unit

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Samsung's Soul slider is coming through

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/231511437/

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung just announced their new flagship "Soul" cellphone in the spirit of its Ultra Editions. Get it? Spirit Of ULtra, soul? Yeah. Anyway, as Sammy's go-to phone for 2008, we're looking at a quad-band GSM phone with 7.2Mbps HSDPA; 2.2-inch QVGA display; 5 megapixel, image stabilized camera with Power LED flash and face detection; FM radio; microSD; Bluetooth, and more in a 12.9-mm thin slider. Sweetening the deal is a Magical Touch interface which adapts to your usage (music, camera, etc) a la LG's Venus. They've even added a jumbled-up Google icon for search and gMail access. Look for it to hit European retail in April. On display next week at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress where you can bet your last money, it's gonna be stone gas, honey.

Gallery: Samsung's Soul slider is coming through

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Pentax k20d & k200d HDR

HDR can normally only be done using software on a computer. This brings us to the new Pentax k20d & k200d

Pentax k200d and k20d These two new DSLR's from Pentax have HDR capabilities built in. This allows everyday photographers to enhance their photos with HDR. All they have to do is select HDR through the menu dial, set the camera up for the shot, press the shutter button and away it goes. First it takes the correctly exposed photo, it then takes an over-exposed and under-exposed shot and then merges all three together to create the HDR image.

With HDR being included in mid-range DSLR's it means that more people can easily create stunning images without having to fully understand the technology. At the moment it can only produce HDR images from things that are still. If your subject is moving, it wont work, also Pentax hasn't released a launch date for Australia yet apart from 'within the next few months'.

APC Magazine reports that 'The 14.6 megapixel Pentax K20D will cost $1999 in Australia with 18-55mm lens, and its little brother, the 10.6 megapixel K200D, will cost $1199 with the same lens.' Roughly the same as the Canon 40D & 400D, depending on where you shop.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

The PS3 Processor Has Been Successfully Shrunk [Ibm]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/231046012/the-ps3-processor-has-been-successfully-shrunk

IBM has successfully miniaturized the Cell processor that you know from Sony's PlayStation 3. Formerly built upon the 65nm scale, the new version will be based on the 45nm high-k process. What's this mean? Money, power and heat savings for Sony. And maybe a smaller or cheaper PS3 for you.

Along with the higher processor yields, what's most attractive is the power/heat savings. These 45nm Cells use 40 percent less power than the current, 65nm Cell. Sure that's a power savings for customers, but it's also a major heat savings for designers. The PS3 may not have the red ring of death problem like we've seen in the Xbox 360, but a cooler, smaller Cell could fit in a cooler, smaller PS3 (requiring less fans, etc.).

And while Sony has already managed to nearly break even on their console production cost vs. retail prices, the impending redesign could help Sony cut a legit profit from hardware (or allow Sony to cut prices again, instead). We'll keep an eye out for the new chips, but unless they come bundled in a smaller or cheaper PS3, none of this will really matter to you anyway.

Note: that photo is of the old, fat, ugly, 65nm Cell. [arstechnica]

Explay announces new oio companion LED nanoprojector

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/231058527/

Filed under: Displays

We've already seen plenty of oio iterations from Explay, but apparently this here "oio companion" is the real deal, and it'll be shown off at Mobile World Congress next week. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we're getting any solid price or release details just yet, pretty much this new render is all. The mobile nanoprojector uses hybrid laser and LED light sources, and features an "always in focus" capability, low power consumption and an "affordable price." According to Explay, customers and carriers are currently being polled for input on the commercial rollout, so be sure to let Explay know in the comments how excellent of a pricepoint $5 would be. You can thank us later, Explay.

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