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Monday, February 22, 2010

Habey intros fanless, noiseless Atom Z510-based BIS-6620 mini PC: shh!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/habey-intros-fanless-noiseless-atom-z510-based-bis-6620-mini-pc/

Habey's no stranger to the diminutive PC arena, but the latest from the company just might be the one you've been scouting. If you've been scouting a mini PC that's dead-silent, that is. The BIS-6620 is described as "an ultra-compact fanless and noiseless PC platform based on the Intel Atom Z510 processor," measuring just 4.5- x 4.5- x 1.5-inches and offering up GMA 500 graphics, 1080p hardware decoding, a single DDR2 SODIMM memory slot, room for a 1.8-inch (iPod classic-sized), a few USB 2.0 sockets, integrated SD / CF card readers, gigabit Ethernet port, an optional WiFi module and your choice of OS (Windows XP Embedded, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Linux). There's a fair chance this could double as a simplistic media player in your cramped studio apartment, and at just $299.99 at NewEgg, you won't be shattering the bank in the process. Video's after the break.

Continue reading Habey intros fanless, noiseless Atom Z510-based BIS-6620 mini PC: shh!

Habey intros fanless, noiseless Atom Z510-based BIS-6620 mini PC: shh! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pentax trots out gorgeous K-7 Limited Silver DSLR

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/pentax-trots-out-gorgeous-k-7-limited-silver-dslr/

Do Japanese gadget makers think we're not superficial enough to appreciate specially repainted editions of their gear? Because we are, we totally are. Pentax is producing a mere 1,000 units of the above slice of DSLR beauty and predictably they all seem to be headed to the Japanese market. The Limited Silver variant of the K-7 adds a few enhancements, too, with a specially reinforced glass plate protecting the LCD and adding to the original's robust weatherproofing, as well as updated firmware and photo processing software. The most intriguing addition is the inclusion of a "golden section ratio" focusing screen with curved guiding lines that are supposed to make image composition even easier. We'd say that's just the sort of cosmetic enhancement you'd expect on a prettied up limited edition shooter, but that'd make our bitterness at not being able to buy one too obvious.

Pentax trots out gorgeous K-7 Limited Silver DSLR originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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APIDIS Automated Film Crew Could Produce the Perfect Sports Coverage [Sports]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/02SXQM8joS4/apidis-automated-film-crew-could-produce-the-perfect-sports-coverage

At the end of many sport games, the commentators inevitably give shouts outs to the camera crew, who wave back with toothy smiles. It's a touching, simple "thank you" for covering the game. Sadly, these poor saps are all doomed.

Now, I don't know when the end will come for these unfortunate souls, but I do know what the beginning of the end is called: APIDIS. That's Autonomous Production of Images based on Distributed and Intelligent Sensing to people who enjoy spelling things out, and what it boils down to is a system that combines video streams from several cameras into a kind of "smart" coverage that has little room or tolerance for the inevitable mistakes of carbon-based meat sacks.

Unlike single-minded humans, APIDIS tracks the ball and players simultaneously, using a network of connected cameras. With this network, the system calculates which angle captures the most detail, and displays it to the viewer accordingly.

Even crazier (and the reason why it will truly take off), is a feature that allows coverage to be customized to a user's viewing preferences. Perhaps you're Chelsea captain John Terry's wife, for example, and you want to keep an eye on him for the entire Premiership match against Everton, just in case he tries to have an affair with one of the other player's girlfriends. You can totally do that! Someone already has!

Well, not with John Terry. The match that APIDIS was given custom instructions to cover was a basketball game, so chosen because of that sport's faster pace. It worked, and ESPN is reportedly looking into APIDIS with more than just a passing interest. [New Scientist]

Artificial nose becomes coffee analyzer, sniffs out KIRF Starbucks venues

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/21/artificial-nose-becomes-coffee-analyzer-sniffs-out-kirf-starbuc/

Artificial schnozzes have been sniffing foreign objects for years now, but rarely are they engineered to sniff out specific things. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign have done just that, though, with a new snout that acts as a coffee analyzer. Reportedly, the device can "distinguish between ten well-known commercial brands of coffee and can also make a distinction between coffee beans that have been roasted at different temperatures or lengths of time." The significance here is that this distinction is incredibly difficult to make, and it could one day help coffee growers determine whether batches are as good as prior batches on the cheap. More importantly, however, it could help the modern java hunter determine whether or not they're walking in a corporate Starbucks or one of those "branded" kiosks with two-fifths the menu. Brilliant, right?

Artificial nose becomes coffee analyzer, sniffs out KIRF Starbucks venues originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Physorg, ScienceNOW | Email this | Comments

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/22/the-bloom-box-a-power-plant-for-the-home-video/

Those two blocks can power the average high-consumption American home -- one block can power the average European home. At least that's the claim being made by K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, on 60 Minutes last night. The original technology comes from an oxygen generator meant for a scrapped NASA Mars program that's been converted, with the help of an estimated $400 million in private funding, into a fuel cell. Bloom's design feeds oxygen into one side of a cell while fuel (natural gas, bio gas from landfill waste, solar, etc) is supplied to the other side to provide the chemical reaction required for power. The cells themselves are inexpensive ceramic disks painted with a secret green "ink" on one side and a black "ink" on the other. The disks are separated by a cheap metal alloy, instead of more precious metals like platinum, and stacked into a cube of varying capabilities -- a stack of 64 can power a small business like Starbucks.

Now get this, skeptics: there are already several corporate customers using refrigerator-sized Bloom Boxes. The corporate-sized cells cost $700,000 to $800,000 and are installed at 20 customers you've already heard of including FedEx and Wal-mart -- Google was first to this green energy party, using its Bloom Boxes to power a data center for the last 18 months. Ebay has installed its boxes on the front lawn of its San Jose location. It estimates to receive almost 15% of its energy needs from Bloom, saving about $100,000 since installing its five boxes 9 months ago -- an estimate we assume doesn't factor in the millions Ebay paid for the boxes themselves. Bloom makes about one box a day at the moment and believes that within 5 to 10 years it can drive down the cost to about $3,000 to make it suitable for home use. Sounds awfully aggressive to us. Nevertheless, Bloom Energy will go public with details on Wednesday -- until then, check the 60 Minutes sneak peek after the break.

[Thanks, Abe P.]

Continue reading The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video)

The Bloom Box: a power plant for the home (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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