Wednesday, March 19, 2014

drag2share: 150 Megapixel Image Sensor Won't Power Your Nikon, Might Save Your Life

Source: http://gizmodo.com/150-megapixel-image-sensor-wont-power-your-nikon-migh-1547113979

150 Megapixel Image Sensor Won't Power Your Nikon, Might Save Your Life

Two Chinese companies, TowerJazz and Gpixel, have teamed up to develop the GMAX3005, a new massively high-resolution 150 megapixel CMOS image sensor. The goal is to use it for medical and industrial applications, so don't expect it to see it in your next DSLR.

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drag2share: The One Thing Apple TV Needs to Take Over Your Living Room

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/if-apple-makes-this-apple-tv-they-will-win-the-living-1546416165/1547314110/+barrett

The One Thing Apple TV Needs to Take Over Your Living Room

Apple has already stopped calling Apple TV a "hobby." It's too important now to the company's future, and too successful in its own right. But the thing that pushes Apple TV into your living room won't be any one box redesign or killer app. It'll be the remote.

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drag2share: Toshiba details 4K laptop arriving before summer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/19/toshiba-details-4k-laptop-arriving-before-summer/

Toshiba has just dished most of the important details about its intriguing 4K Satellite P50t that we saw at CES 2014, along with some other new models. Unfortunately, it's left some info hanging -- namely the all-important prices. For the most part, the Satellite 50t model sounds pretty fine, considering the sleek 2.2kg (4.8 pound) weight. There's that exotic 282 pixel per inch 3,840 x 2,160, 15.6-inch touchscreen, driven by 2GB AMD Radeon R9 M265 graphics, for starters (1080p is optional). It's also packing an Intel Core-i7 CPU, 16GB DDR3L RAM, 4 USB 3.0 ports, an SD/SDHC slot, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac WiFi and Windows 8.1. Oddly, the otherwise well-spec'd device only features a 1TB mechanical disk option, when it's clearly screaming for SSD speed -- hopefully Toshiba will rectify that prior to release. Availability is listed as sometime in Q2, but again, there's no clue about pricing. Meanwhile, Toshiba's also detailed a few other models after the break.

Slipping down the scale are Toshiba's S50 (15.6-inch, 4.5 pounds) and S70 (17-inch, 5.9 pounds) laptops. Those eschew 4K for 720p, 900p or 1080p displays with optional touch, and use either Intel HD or AMD's Radeon R9 discreet graphics. Except for fewer USB 3.0 ports (two instead of four), the CPU and other features are the same as the P50t. The Satellite C50/C70 and L50/L70 models round out the new range. Each is available in 15.6-inch and 17-inch models, but the L50/L70 maxes out at 1,920 x 1,080, while the 15.6-inch C50 packs a 1,366 x 768 screen and the 17-inch C70 can do 1,600 x 900 (touch is optional for most models). As for the rest of the specs, there's a dizzying array of options. Depending on the size and model, you can get Intel Core-i7 or AMD chips, 8-16GB RAM max, up to a 1TB hybrid SSD and Blue-ray drives. There are too many configurations to detail here, but if you're still intrigued, check the galleries or sources below.

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Source: Toshiba (1), (2), (3), (4)

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drag2share: Headset combines virtual and augmented reality with holodeck-like results

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/19/holodeck-headset-sulon-technologies/

Two months ago, Sulon Technologies broke cover with a video showcasing a bulky augmented reality and virtual reality system. Fast-forward to today. The chunky backpack and headset combo has been replaced by a much, much smaller second prototype -- it's just a headset with a power cord coming out the back. Oh, and it's got a name: The Cortex. If you're a tinkerer, you can pre-order the dev kit version to follow this new prototype -- the company claims this more polished hardware will be shipping out in Q4 of 2014. It'll cost you $500 to get this particular peek into the future, though, so read on to find out what it's like wandering around with the dev kit's hacked-together portable predecessor on your melon.

When I first laid eyes on Sulon's new headset, it was immediately apparent that I'd be demoing a very rough prototype. The eye cups (but not the optics) are ripped straight from an Oculus Rift, and much of the electronics attached to the headset's straps are wrapped in black gaffer tape. A custom-made spatial scanner sits up top and is stuffed with LIDAR, ultrasonic scanners and cameras. That combo's what maps its surroundings, thereby ensuring proper graphics placement both during augmented reality and virtual reality sessions.

The brain of the spatial scanner is a bit of silicon called a spatial processing unit -- it's dedicated solely to tracking everything the system needs to work, and that info gets beamed to the phone on your face through Bluetooth. And, while the spatial scanner maps the room the Cortex is in, it locates your hands by working with Razer's Hydra wireless nunchuck controller.

Once Sulon's software has interpreted all that info, it can overlay graphics onto your surroundings. Rather than using see-through displays like Meta, Epson or Google Glass, however, the Cortex augments reality in the same way that your smartphone does -- by using a camera and overlaying graphics atop the video feed it captures. In fact, the system actually uses an Android smartphone as its display.

The face of the prototype is actually a housing where you slide in a jumbo phone -- with a 6-inch, 1080p screen and a Snapdragon 800 -- that serves as both the display and the graphical brains of the thing. It's also got a camera stuck to the front of it. To counterbalance those bits, a power pack is situated around the rear of your skull. The prototype's version is tethered to an outlet, but company CEO Dhan Balachand assured us that the dev kit would pack a rechargeable battery that'll provide at least four hours of use.

The weight of the Cortex prototype is noticeable, but it didn't become uncomfortable during the five minutes we wore it -- we expect the dev model to be lighter.

As with the hardware itself, the software still has a ways to go, too. When you first slide the Cortex onto your head, it takes a few seconds to get adjusted as the headset calibrates its optics to suit your eyeballs. After some initial disorientation, we were looking at our empty hotel room and a few digital objects, and then noticed that the video feed was magnifying our view as compared to actual reality. Aside from taking some getting used to, it served to generally keep us aware that we were staring at a phone's screen instead of the real world.

That said, the shift from augmented to virtual reality is relatively seamless -- we stepped into a digital portal and suddenly the hotel room was a covered terrace overlooking a lake and some mountains. Graphical quality is what you'd expect when a mobile chip's providing the grunt: about as good as a PS2. And during our demo, there was significant flicker and chop to the animation. We were told that the system also works with PCs, in which case the graphics are much smoother. We didn't get to see such a setup.

Walking around a physical and digital space simultaneously was definitely an interesting experience while being tethered to a power outlet. But, we had helpful Sulon employees keeping the cord out of our way, and the headset itself has a warning system that beeps when you are reaching a physical boundary in the real world.

I played a zombie-shooting game, using the Razer Hydra to blast the undead as I ported from digital room to digital room (all the same size, of course), and found myself sitting still and turning in one place instead of traipsing around blasting walkers. While the digital world was mapped very closely to the real one, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was blindfolded, and so moved around with trepidation. Perhaps with more practice, I'd feel more comfortable. But, I feel safe saying that for the tech to catch on with the public, it'll have to be much more immersive. More accurately placed, smoother graphics might have provided me more confidence.

Bottom line? The hardware we wore was a hacked-together prototype, but warts and all, still managed to deliver a cool and somewhat immersive VR experience. It's still not wireless... yet, and we'd really like to see it with the new, faster spatial scanner that the company tells us will be in the dev kit -- as Balachand tells us it'll solve many of our graphical gripes. Still, what we saw is far from the holodeck enjoyed by the crew of the starship Enterprise, but there's potential in the Cortex. We'll be looking forward to finding out if it can fulfill it.

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drag2share: This DIY Device Turns Your Table Into a Psychedelic Music Maker

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-diy-device-turns-your-table-into-an-psychedelic-mu-1546599462

This DIY Device Turns Your Table Into a Psychedelic Music Maker

It's not so simple to become an electronic musician. The equipment is expensive. There's not a good how-to book. It's sometimes a little unclear what exactly electronic music is. That's why the Contact musical interface is so intriguing.

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