Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Sound Hive

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/270850545/

Hive is a simulated surround sound speaker system. As of now the market only has two options - either spread speakers around the room for the real experience or invest in a sound bar which usually consists of a long bar housing anywhere between 8-30 small speakers pointing in every direction for a simulated experience.

The Hive takes the latter approach but adds in a bit of design since sound bars are pretty boring. The hexagonal honey comb pattern is graphic, bold, and each cell can pivot or turn for a truly customized audible experience. And don’t worry about messy cables or cords. The Hive only has 2 at most - one for power, and one to connect to your home entertainment system.

Designer: Oskar Daniel

Oskar Daniel

Lenovo's Ideapad U110 "coming soon" to the US

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/270924285/

Filed under: Laptops

We got our hands on one of Lenovo's very slim and very shiny Ideapad U110 laptops way back at CES earlier this year, but it looks like the ultraportable is now finally nearing a release in the US, with at least one online retailer listing it as "coming soon." According to JR.com, the laptop will be available in both black and red versions (model numbers U110B and U110R, respectively), with each setting you back a hefty $1,999. That'll buy you a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo L7500 processor, a generous 3GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, and an 11.1-inch WXGA display. Unlike Lenovo's similarly slim X300, however, this one unsurprisingly doesn't come with a built-in optical drive of any sort, but we're guessing the 2.3-pound weight and 0.7-inch thickness will be enough for most to forgive that shortcoming.

[Via Laptoping]

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iPhone gets VoIP and chat options thanks to Fring

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/270940711/

Filed under: Cellphones

Sure, the iPhone is cool looking, works out a lot, and is really good at math... but it can't do VoIP, can it? Well, yes it can -- and you can, thanks to a company called Fring and a piece of ingenious software (for jailbreakers only). Using the native app, it's now possible to place and receive calls via your WiFi connection, thus making AT&T CEOs cry like little babies. Besides doing Skype and the like, the app also lets you connect for chats via MSN Messenger, ICQ, GTalk, SIP, Twitter, AIM, and Yahoo!, which should make this an attractive package even if you don't want to harness the raw power of IP telephony. You can get the application for free by loading up Installer with the company's repo. Check the video after the break to see the magic happen.

[Via Zatz Not Funny!]

Continue reading iPhone gets VoIP and chat options thanks to Fring

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Quad-band watch phone rolls on Windows CE 5.0

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/271029858/

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables

Ready for some honesty? We can think of a good handful of timepieces that we'd buy before we dropped $629.95 on this catastrophe, but for folks with pants too slim and hands too full to carry around a separate cellphone, we suppose it's a so-so alternative. The EGP-WP98 claims to be the first quad-band GSM watch phone to come with Windows CE 5.0 installed, and while it's supposed to tout a SIM card slot, water-resistance, a 266MHz CPU and a 1.45-inch display with handwriting recognition (for real?), that little line informing us that specifications are "subject to change without notice" makes us a touch leery. Nevertheless, you can also expect (though you may not get) a 1.3-megapixel camera, WiFi, a T-Flash expansion slot, multimedia player and built-in Bluetooth. According to one particular e-tailer, it'll be ready to ship on April 25th -- whether or not anyone's fat-fingered enough to push an order through, however, remains to be seen.

[Via UnwiredView]

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First Starbucks switching over to AT&T WiFi

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/271058811/

Filed under: Wireless

Starbucks said it would transition to AT&T-provided WiFi sometime this spring, and it looks like T-Mobile's getting the boot right on schedule. The first Starbucks to switch over is just 4.2 miles away from AT&T corporate headquarters in San Antonio, at 5321 South Broadway Road, and the rest of the country should come on market-by-market. Anyone else seen any activity? T-Mobile customers still getting access, as promised? Let us know in comments!

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