Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

This Electric Car (Concept) Is Controlled by an iPhone [Cars]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MVXuTHsnPio/this-electric-car-concept-is-controlled-by-an-iphone

The Rinspeed iChange is an electric car concept promising 0-60 in four seconds along with a transforming rear end that can create two extra seats. And an iPhone controls everything but the driving parts.

The dash features an iPhone dock, and as you can see, there really aren't many other buttons—heck, there's not even a slot for the key. So the iPhone is used to turn on the car, control the Harman/Kardon infotainment system with GPS navigation, and, we believe, even handle the air conditioning complete with vents.

And as ridiculous as the idea seems, I can't help but appreciate the idea of owning one wondrous device that manages every aspect of my life/identity...I'd just rather not hit up the App Store every time I need an oil change. [Jalopnik]

Android G2 Hands On: Close to Perfection [Htc Magic]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CXZfT6JtiGY/android-g2-hands-on-close-to-perfection

HTC and Google are getting closer to perfection with the new Android G2, the HTC Magic. Nice finish, great form factor. Check out our video, including the obligatory comparison with Apple's iPhone, and hands-on impressions:

The bad news first: Apart from my gripes about the user interface—which are still there—there is one but. A big BUT, bigger than Ramona's, the planetary lady with accidental moustache who serves the bocadillos down at one of the fair's restaurants: The software keyboard. On this first touch, the keyboard felt cramped, probably a result of the screen size, which is smaller than the iPhone's—which is the obvious soft keyboard reference, since it was the first one to implement a finger-touch software keyboard.

In addition to that, there's an additional user interface problem, this time having to do with perception: Instead of popping up above your finger—like in the iPhone so you can clearly see what you pressed—the keys appear on the sides. They flash quickly as you press them, and I found it extremely distracting. They said that they put them on the sides not to obstruct the view, but knowing the over-the-key implementation in the iPhone's software keyboard, it doesn't make much sense. Furthermore, when you are typing with one finger only—like I often do—you will be obstructing the view of the flashing key with your finger. The reason: When you type on the right side of the keyboard, the flashing keys appear on the left. When you click on the right, they pop out on the left.

Other than this, the rest is great. There's a new Google Mail feature to delete or classify mail in bulk, as well as a faster camera, which now can take video—which obviously means you can play back video as well. The rest of the interface and features is what you already have in the Android G1. However, what really steals the show here is the hardware i! tself.

HTC has got a very smooth phone, which feels great on your hands and in your pants' pockets. While it's sightly thicker than the iPhone, the narrower, rounded body, and weight makes it feel the same size. For sure, a lot less bulky than the G1, which looks like a brick next to this. And as you have seen in the shots, the final HTC Magic is quite pretty. Have no doubt: This thing alone will make many consumers put up with the less-than-ideal software keyboard.

Overall, the first feeling is that we got a potential winner here. If they can manage to make the software keyboard better, Apple will definitely have a formidable enemy in the Android G2.

OCZ Summit Series SSDs get boost from new Samsung MLC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/ocz-summit-series-ssds-get-boost-from-new-samsung-mlc/

Intel's X-25M SSD may be the current go-to drive for those primarily concerned with speed, but it looks like it could soon have some competition from OCZ's latest Summit Series drives, which get a significant boost from some new Samsung MLC memory, not to mention 64MB of on-board cache. According to PC Perspective, those additions show themselves the most in write speeds, which manage to top even the X-25M, although the Summit drive fell slightly behind when it came to read speed tests, prompting the site to still give the overall edge to the X-25M. PC Perspective does speculate, however, that, given OCZ's past track record, the drives (available in sizes up to 250GB) could come in significantly cheaper than Intel's offerings, which would make the X-25M a much harder sell even with its slight performance edge. Hit up the link below for the complete benchmarks and a peek inside the drive.

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Storage

OCZ Summit Series SSDs get boost from new Samsung MLC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Texas Instruments out-picos itself with newer, tinier projector chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/texas-instruments-out-picos-itself-with-newer-tinier-projector/

We love pico projectors, we love phones -- so the combo pack known as the Samsung Show stopped us in our tracks when we first spied it at CES. Well, Texas Instruments, makers of the DLP projector chip that runs the Show, if you will, have just announced the second generation DLP chip which is -- you guessed it -- smaller! The second-gen chip is about 20 percent smaller and thinner in fact, and it boasts the ability to display WVGA resolution (the previous model has HVGA resolution), all while delivering a brighter display! TI's press specifically mentions mobile phones, so don't be surprised if the Show doesn't have a host of comptitors to deal with any day now. Texas Instruments is on hand at MWC, and their press conference is tonight, so we'll be watching, magnifying glass in hand, to see what else they have in store for us.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays

Texas Instruments out-picos itself with newer, tinier projector chip originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nokia's N86 makes its 8 megapixel debut

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/nokias-n86-makes-its-8-megapixel-debut/

Sure, things looked pretty legit yesterday, but we were awaiting official confirmation from Nokia. That's here, and now we can take a gander at the N86 purely on the up-and-up. The dual-slider (keypad on one end, camera and playback controls on the other) naturally centers on its 8 megapixel camera, which includes a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, AutoFocus, a mechanical shutter and a dual-LED flash, but there's plenty of other N-series goodies like 8GB of storage, a 2.6-inch OLED screen, TV-out and a microSD slot. Nokia Maps, Ovi integration and all those other goodies are onboard -- though the new email capabilities of its E-series brethren seem absent. The phone is due in Europe in Q2 2009 for around 375 Euro before taxes and subsidies.

Gallery: Nokia's N86 makes its 8 megapixel debut