Motorola Droid and Dell Adamo latest to get Gorilla glass

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/motorola-droid-and-dell-adamo-latest-to-get-gorilla-glass/

Corning's darn-near-impenetrable Gorilla glass certainly isn't new -- in fact, we spied it in a few of Motion Computing's tablets just a few months ago -- but it's still not commonplace on mainstream gizmos. Yet. SmartPlanet sat down with Dr. Donnell Walton, senior applications engineer at Corning, in order to discuss the merits of the display technology as well as its importance in the gadget space. The discussion also mentioned that both Motorola's Droid and Dell's Adamo (not to mention Cowon's S9 PMP) are sporting the glass, which acts to make displays "damage-resistant." Not surprisingly, the company is seeing huge demand in the smartphone arena, where touchscreen-centric phones are being shoved into pockets at random and then costing manufacturers big bucks as return rates creep up. It's a pretty interesting read if you're into that type of thing, and yes, we did just give you permission to try and split your Droid display wide open in a moment of frustration. Just don't count on Motorola to accept that as a valid excuse for your RMA.

[Thanks, Jeff]

Motorola Droid and Dell Adamo latest to get Gorilla glass originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/acers-aspire-1820ptz-convertible-tablet-hits-the-wilds-of-singa/

Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet may not be making its London debut until next month, but evidently said machine is alive and well (and shipping, to boot) over in Singapore. One particular enthusiast managed to procure one of the twistable rigs, and as a favor to anyone who appreciates freedom, Kris Kringle and In-N-Out double-doubles, he decided to unbox it, snap a few shots, throw up a video and even toss out a respectable list of impressions. We're told that Acer crammed just about every piece of bloatware known to mankind onto this thing, and the owner didn't seem particularly thrilled with the keyboard nor the overall multitouch experience. That said, performance was found to be "snappy enough for general use," and the casing itself was satisfactorily solid. Hit that read link for the full rundown, and hop on past the break for a look at the boot sequence.

Continue reading Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore

Acer's Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet hits the wilds of Singapore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 07:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Averatec's HS-105 netbook looks good, should've waited for Pine Trail

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/23/averatecs-hs-105-netbook-looks-good-shouldve-waited-for-pine/

Details are exceedingly light on Averatec's HS-105 netbook, but all you really need to know is in the processor: there's a 1.6GHz Atom N270 running the show. Unfortunately, that's the same CPU that has been powering the bulk of netbooks for the past year or so, and with Intel's Atom N450 already being used in a few choice rigs, there's hardly a reason to cast a glance at this one. If you insist, other specifications include 2GB of RAM, a 945GSE graphics set, 10.1-inch LCD (1,024 x 600), 160GB / 250GB HDD, WiFi and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. There's nary a word on price or release, but we fully anticipate the sticker to fall somewhere between "ultra cheap" and "let's get two."

Averatec's HS-105 netbook looks good, should've waited for Pine Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I Must Get the Stunning Chiaroscuro PC and a Light Cycle to Match [DIY]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/UQcDqBvpcEU/i-must-get-the-stunning-chiaroscuro-pc-and-a-light-cycle-to-match

Nick Falzone at Bit-tech has created the Chiaroscuro PC. Made of wood and inspired by the Beijing Digital building, this computer is a true thing of beauty. Absolutely amazing, in fact. The best thing: You can do one yourself.

Seriously, I wish all computers came like this from the factory. Or at least mine. Check Nick's photographies and how-to documentation at [Bit-Tech]

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What Is This? [Image Cache]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DnrvIKgAKSs/what-is-this

When I first saw this picture, I thought that the guy had gotten frustrated with some kind of weird do-it-yourself exercise equipment and was about to toss it into the woods. I was only right about the DIY part.

This strange contraption is a DIY plenoptic camera.

Still don't know what that is? I didn't either, but Make explained that "instead of capturing a flat, 2D array of pixels, a plenoptic camera uses an array of microlenses to capture 4D lightfield data. This data can then be processed to create a final image that is focused on any part of the scene." Basically, this means that it takes a lot of little images from different viewpoints and those can then be transformed into your ideal picture. If you want to get dreamy about describing this process, you could say that it lets you travel back in time and fix bad focusing mistakes of the past.

It looks crazy in action, too:

You can follow the links to Futurepicture and actually read all about how to make one of these camera rigs yourself. And if you do that: Please send along some images. I have a fascination with these trippy, crazy things. [Futurepicture via Team Droid via Make]

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