Saturday, October 11, 2008

Portwell ships Atom-based nano-ITX motherboard

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/417403876/

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With all these nettops, netbooks and plain ole motherboards flying every which-away, it's hard to say if Portwell's Atom-based nano-ITX board really is the first, but it's close enough to count in our book. Utilizing all sorts of legerdemain and black magic, the engineers at Portwell were able to craft a Linux-friendly mobo that measures just 4.72- x 4.72- x 0.65-inches and supports Intel's Silverthorne Atom while including six USB 2.0 ports, embedded audio and a gigabit Ethernet jack. The Nano-8044 can be ordered in two flavors -- the Z530, which packs a 1.6GHz CPU, or the Z510, which clocks in at 1.1GHz. As you could likely guess, this one's aimed primarily at point-of-sale machines, digital signage devices and other commercial applications, and the sub-10-watt power draw should keep energy costs to a minimum. Oh, and it should totally play Doom in a pinch.

[Via LinuxDevices]
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Posted by Augustine at 5:34 AM

GE builds an OLED printer, hopes to challenge light bulbs in 2010

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/417548512/

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Maybe the incandescent light bulb has been sitting in its socket-shaped throne for too many years -- GE thinks so, anyway. GE R&D guys have produced a machine that prints OLED materials newspaper-style onto 8-inch sheets of metal foil in hopes that the sheets -- which can be pinned to just about any surface -- will start the process of home lighting biz regime change in 2010. Picture, if you will, wallpaper or window blinds that provide soft, diffused lighting for the living room after dark -- no need for special fixtures, just a wall plug. OLED lighting isn't yet cost-efficient for the average consumer, but GE hopes that will change soon. In the meantime, expect to see these sheets in a trip-out Flaming Lips concert in the somewhat-near future.
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Posted by Augustine at 5:34 AM

Friday, October 10, 2008

homebrew all-in-one PC

BenQ 20 inch LCD - $169.99
eee Box with Atom N270 - $299.99
Logitech USB-powered speakers - $11.99
TOTAL: $481.97
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824014146&Tpk=fp202w

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Posted by Augustine at 3:25 PM

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Geode Plug-In Makes Firefox Location-Aware [Firefox]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/415032908/geode-plug+in-makes-firefox-location+aware

Mozilla Labs has unveiled Geode—a plugin that will take advantage of the W3C Geolocation Spec in Firefox 3.1. The plan is to make the browser location-aware so that somewhere down the line, you could visit a site like Yelp on your laptop in a strange town and it will automatically find your location and offer nearby restaurant suggestions and directions. Mozilla also offered other possible examples like: RSS readers that adjust based on whether or not your are at work or at home, location-restricted logins and websites that deliver news based on your physical location.

Obviously, most of the sites on the web are not currently compatible with Geode, but it is easy to see how something like this could really change the way you surf the web on your laptop—much like the iPhone has with handsets. In the meantime, a preview version is available to Firefox 3 users starting today—so you can kick the tires on it a bit before it is fully integrated into 3.1. [Mozilla Labs via Lifehacker]



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Posted by Augustine at 8:27 AM

Mazda Kiyora Recycles Rain Water for Drinking [Cars]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/415126159/mazda-kiyora-recycles-rain-water-for-drinking

This is the new Mazda Kiyora, a concept car that is not only designed to consume less gas and produce less emissions, but to collect and purify the most important liquid on Earth: Water. You know, for drinking. If you are into that kind of liquid, anyway. When you drive the Mazda Kiyora through rain, its roof channels the falling water into a specially-designed Lifesaver purification bottle. The bottle, called Lifesaver Bottle Citi, is placed in the middle of the car's interior, between the front seats, for easy access by all passengers.

Designed for Mazda by LIFESAVER® systems, the LIFESAVER® bottle citi™ is the world's first ultra filtration water bottle to be installed in a car. It removes all waterborne pathogens and other pollutants creating safe sterile drinking water for the driver and passengers.

Taking advantage of rain as a natural resource, the roof of the Mazda Kiyora channels rainwater firstly through an activated carbon filter and then into a specially commissioned drinks bottle designed for Mazda by LIFESAVER® systems.

The LIFESAVER® bottle citi™ is located between the front seats for easy access, and uses state of the art ultra filtration hollow fibre membranes. With a pore size of 15 nano-meters these membranes remove all microbiological contamination including bacteria and viruses without using chemicals, delivering safe fresh drinking water to the driver and passengers any time. The bottle is removable so can be taken out of the car and used to gather water from other natural sources such as rivers, lakes and streams.

I wonder if car manufacturers couldn't do the same with hydrogen cars, minus the special purification system, condensing the vapor coming out of the car exhaust into a bottle. Or if they want to really make it fancy, inc! lude a e spresso machine.

For a more detailed look at the Mazda Kiyora, check Jalopnik's coverage from the Paris Motor Show. [Lifesaver via Inhabitat]



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Posted by Augustine at 8:25 AM

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