Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, September 01, 2008

LG's 42- / 50-inch PG6900 plasma packs built-in 160GB hard drive

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/380260742/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

While we new LG had a pair of DVR-packin' plasmas lined up, nothing was officially official until now. The 42- and 50-inch PG6900 plasmas were designed to hold up to 86-hours of programming (SD, we assume) on its 160GB of internal hard drive space, and the 8-day EPG should give you a pretty decent view of what's coming on in the near future. Additionally, you'll find a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, Energy Star compliance, a DVB-T tuner (plus an analog tuner), three HDMI 1.3 ports, 100Hz refresh rate and integrated speakers which are said to be "invisible." Look for these to pop up soon (at least in Europe) for $1,799 and up.

[Via Gizmag]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Raon Digital Everun Note gets a price, brochure

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/380789549/

Filed under: Laptops

Raon Digital hasn't exactly been keeping many secrets about its Everun Note "UMPC notebook," but it's now finally dropped the veil of mystery around one of the biggest still remaing: the price, and it's also now detailed everything else in convenient brochure form. As UMPC Portal reports, the Everun Note will boast a suggested retail price of $879, which puts it well below the likes of the VAIO UX but considerably more than your average netbook, which it also kinda, sorta competes with. Oh, the perils of bucking the usual product categories. Hit up the read link below for the full brochure.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Stanford's autonomous helicopters learn new tricks by watching

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/380878802/

Filed under: Robots

While a great many scientists are attempting to create autonomous bots for uses in surgery, a team of Stanford whiz-kids are having a bit more fun with it all. The crew in question has concocted an artificial intelligence system that "enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers." Dubbed a demonstration in "apprenticeship learning," the robots can actually learn by observing rather than having to be programmed, meaning that entire airshows could be reeled off by planes that simply keep an open mind when warm-ups are underway. Of course, they could also be used for more serious applications -- mapping out hot spots of California wildfires, finding land mines in war zones, etc. -- but even if none of that pans out, we're cool with inventions being used purely for entertainment.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sunday, August 31, 2008

HTC wars: Touch Pro, Touch Diamond and S740 go head to head

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/378794855/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Now that the cat's out of the bag it was no trouble tracking down HTC's S740 this morning, and just for kicks we rammed the phone up against the Touch Pro, which we subsequently rammed against the Touch Diamond and an iPhone for a generally violent display of smartphone force. It is worth noting that while the S740's keys are similar to the Touch Pro's, they're not quite as deep or clicky, which leads to a rather sub-par typing experience by HTC's standards. That glossy mirror finish on the phone screens isn't doing them any favors either -- even when wiped smudge free it seems to impede viewing -- and we must say the Touch Pro's matte finish makes the Diamond and iPhone 3G look cheap in comparison. Oh, and when asked about the Dream, the HTC rep quickly replied "we don't know anything." It was worth a shot, right?

Gallery: HTC wars: Touch Pro, Touch Diamond and S740 go head to head

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Texas Instruments' new LED-based DLP projection shines in person, due Q4

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/378862103/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Delta Electronics might've jumped the gun a bit with its claim of firsties on Texas Instruments' new "PhlatLight" HD LED DLP projector tech. Delta hasn't brought even a prototype to IFA, but over at Texas Instruments there's a Vivitek version of the lamp-free projector tech, which TI claims will be the first to market sometime in Q4 of 2008. The specs they rattled off are undoubtedly impressive: 50% better color range, 500,000:1 contrast ratio, 30% less power draw, and of course 1080p to put a feather in the cap. In TI's darkened viewing room the image was certainly impressive, but we're guessing specs like these could carry over nicely into our less-than-ideal bedsheet setup back home.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Gallery: Texas Instruments' new LED-based DLP projection shines in person, due Q4