Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, June 05, 2009

A search engine with an answer to "the meaning of life" and a personality too -- http://ping.fm/ZjeWT -- too awesome/funny

Inside the $485-Million Airbus A380 Flying Palace [Airplanes]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/71amvzI4BhA/inside-the-485+million-airbus-a380-flying-palace

What's 239 feet long, flies at 647mph, and has three floors that include a grand staircase, four giant full suites, boardroom with hologram projector, a full spa, concert hall, car garage, and a space-age lift that drops onto the runway?

Apparently, it may be Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud's new specially retro-fitted A380. As you may remember, the arabian Prince shone his genie lamp and bought an Airbus A380—the biggest passenger plane in the world—for his personal use.

British company Design Q is now making the plans for its interior, three floors with every luxurious detail you can imagine, including a lift that goes all the way down to the runway's tarmac and extends a red carpet so guests can get into the flying palace. I can already imagine a stunning hostess saying "Welcome, Mr Bond."

In addition to all of the above, the full marble Turkish bath in the spa, and twenty first class seats/beds for the extra guests, the plane will be full of high tech gadgets. The boardroom, for example, will have a hologram projector and a giant touchscreen perspex table, while each suite will include a virtual prayer mat proyector, always pointing in Mecca's direction.

Whoever bought it, I hope he invites us for a trip. And with "us" I mean "me." I can sleep on the couch, Mr Prince Sir you. [Daily Mail]

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Five new Moorestown-based MIDs announced at Computex

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/five-new-moorestown-based-mids-announced-at-computex/

Pardon us while we take this opportunity to snag a nap, but seriously, we just cannot muster any excitement whatsoever about Mobile Internet Devices. Stuck somewhere between capable smartphones and these newfangled smartbooks, MIDs seem to be carving out a niche that precisely no one cares about. Though, we can say we're stoked about the forthcoming introduction of Moorestown -- the Atom needs a successor in the worst way. At any rate, those still hanging on in hopes of a turnaround have introduced new MIDs today at Computex, with EB, Quanta, Inventec, Aava Mobile and Compal (despite its recent skepticism) showcasing their wares. If you honestly think you could see yourself purchasing one of these unwanted devices in the next year or so, we've got plenty of images down there in the read link.

[Via MIDMoves]

Filed under: Handhelds

Five new Moorestown-based MIDs announced at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Compal shows off Android-running, Snapdragon-powered smartbook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/compal-shows-off-android-running-snapdragon-powered-smartbook/

As if it wasn't clear already, smartbooks are one of the big trends (if not the biggest) to emerge out of this year's Computex, be they Snapdragon or Tegra-powered. Just as interesting as the devices themselves, however, is the fact that a number of manufacturers are looking at using Android as an OS for 'em, including big players like ASUS, and now Compal. While's ASUS' Snapdragon-based offering was impressive enough, Compal looks to have slightly outdone it by adding a customized interface at start-up, which is apparently just a taste of further "optimizations" to come. Details are otherwise a bit hard to come by, but you can head on past the break for a hands-on video courtesy of techvideoblog.com.

Continue reading Compal shows off Android-running, Snapdragon-powered smartbook

Filed under: Laptops

Compal shows off Android-running, Snapdragon-powered smartbook originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: hands-on with ASUS' Eee Keyboard at Computex

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/video-hands-on-with-asus-eee-keyboard-at-computex/

We first caught sight of ASUS' totally weird Eee Keyboard -- a full PC with an Intel Atom N270 CPU built in -- way back at CES in January. Well, our friends at Engadget Chinese have laid hands on it at Computex, and it's looking a bit different than what we expected... and a whole lot more awesome. The 5-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen display/trackpad on the right side of the keyboard, is, as it turns out, running a standalone version of XP, and serves as the main display for the PC, with the external monitor functioning in a secondary capacity. The LCD boasts shortcuts to most of the included software -- including Skype, MSN, and music playback controls. Our friends found the touchscreen to work extremely well, and though we don't know anything rock solid about pricing or availability yet (we hear it will launch by the end of June, we do know that it will come in two flavors -- wired and and UWB wireless -- with the wireless version housing a battery which gets about two hours of use before needing a charge. There's a video (in Chinese) showing this badboy off after the break. Hit the read link for a full gallery of photos.

Continue reading Video: hands-on with ASUS' Eee Keyboard at Computex

Filed under: Desktops, Peripherals