Monday, March 24, 2008

Sun aims to speed up data by swapping wires for frickin' laser beams

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/257096037/

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It's far from the first time we've seen lasers touted as a means of boosting data speeds exponentially, but Sun seems to think it has a better chance than most of making it a reality, thanks in no small part to $44 million in funding from DARPA. As The New York Times reports, that cash haul will be put to use to "explore the high-risk idea of replacing the wires between computer chips with laser beams," which would not only allow for computers to be smaller, but as much as a thousand times faster as well. Needless to say, however, there's quite a few significant hurdles to overcome before that happens, and even Sun itself admits that there's a "50 percent chance of failure." They also say, of course, that the potential benefits are worth the risks, with them even going so far as to boast that the technology would be a way of "breaking Moore's Law."

 

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Ultra-Basic Flip Video Camera Steals 13 Percent of Camcorder Market With Its Amazing Low-Light Performance? [Whoa]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/256635832/ultra+basic-flip-video-camera-steals-13-percent-of-camcorder-market-with-its-amazing-low+light-performance

flip%20ultra.jpgThe Flip camcorder is about as far from a pro camera as Mario is from an actual plumber. In his (mostly fawning) review of the latest version, David Pogue says that the camera's major "shocker" is that its low-light capabilities "trump even $1,000 camcorders." But there's another one buried in there: It has snagged a whopping 13 percent of the camcorder market. Are there untold armies of soccer moms running around with the Flip? Or is its super simple operation (and functionality) a quiet gadget revolution? [NYT]


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ASUS releases Splendid HD1 video card, sure does have a way with names

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/256589384/

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We're still a little hazy as to exactly what ASUS's new Splendid HD1 "video enhance card" actually does differently than most other 2D-enhanced devices, but the company claims it ratchets up 1080p video quality on both digital and analog outputs, and it'll fit in right along side those Splendid-based Xondar cards. Of course, it's also got HDCP (which is a start), but it's starting to smell a little gimmicky around here, splendid or not.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

 

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LG adopts in-plane switching tech for new LCD HDTVs

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/256781638/

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Hitachi's in-plane switching technology's been making the rounds of late, and LG Taiwan's the latest to pick it up for use in future LCD HDTVs. Doubling frame-rate, providing a wider field of view, and supposedly upping durability (among other things), apparently we can start to see some IPS-enabled TVs from Korea's #2 in the not too distant future.

[Via Far East Gizmos]

 

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Fujitsu announces world's first 320GB laptop disk to spin at 7200rpm

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/256890080/

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Take that WD, Toshiba, and Hitachi. Fujitsu just returned from exile with a claim to the biggest fastest laptop-disk throne. The 3Gbps SATA-equipped MHZ2 BJ series measures in at a standard 9.5-mm and spins at 7,200rpm with a 16MB cache and 25dB idle noise level. Average seek times are listed at 10.5-ms for data reads and 12.5-ms for writes while drawing 2.3 watts of power. Oh sure, a couple of 2.5-inch 500GB disk drives have already been announced. But most of those measure in at a non-standard 12.5-mm making them unsuitable for the majority of laptops on the market today. Sales of the new MHZ2 BJ-series begins in June.

Update: Oops, almost forgot about Samsung's Spinpoint M6 which does hit the 500GB mark in a standard 9.5mm-height package.

[Via Impress]

 

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