Netflix iPhone App Now Supports Video Out [IPhone Apps]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5655593/netflix-iphone-app-now-supports-video-out
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Scratched Glasses Give Perfect Vision For Any Eyesight [Glasses]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5655541/scratched-glasses-give-perfect-vision-for-any-eyesight
With age, the lenses in our eyes often lose the ability to change shape enough to focus light from near objects onto the retina - a condition called presbyopia. This leaves people who were already short-sighted unable to focus on either near or distant objects. Bifocals offer a solution by having two lenses in the same frame, but users must get used to tilting their head up or down to switch focus.
Zeev Zalevsky at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, has developed a technique to turn a standard lens into one that perfectly focuses light from anything between 33 centimetres away and the horizon.
It involves engraving the surface of a standard lens with a grid of 25 near-circular structures each 2 millimetres across and containing two concentric rings. The engraved rings are just a few hundred micrometres wide and a micrometre deep. "The exact number and size of the sets will change from one lens to another," depending on its size and shape, says Zalevsky.
The rings shift the phase of the light waves passing through the lens, leading to patterns of both constructive and destructive interference. Using a computer model to calculate how changes in the diameter and position of the rings alter the pattern, Zalevsky came up with a design that creates a channel of constructive interference perpendicular to the lens through each of the 25 structures. Within these channels, light from both near and distant objects is in perfect focus.
"It results in an axial channel of focused light, not a single focal spot," Zalevsky says. "If the retina is positioned anywhere along this channel, it will always see objects in focus."
Zalevsky has fitted one of his lenses to a cellphone camera to confirm the extended focus effect, and he has also tested the lenses on 12 volunteers (Optics Letters, vol 35, p 3066). He has now co-founded a company, Xceed Imaging, to develop the technology.
The approach is not without its problems, though: the interference pattern tends to cancel out some of the light passing through the lens, which reduces the contrast of images viewed through it. ,a href="http://lo.um.es/~pablo/">Pablo Artal of the University of Murcia, Spain, warns that if the contrast reduction becomes too large, the brain will struggle to interpret the information.
Zalevsky counters that people wearing the lenses do not notice a loss in contrast because the eye is very sensitive to light at low intensity. "Unlike a camera, the brain has a logarithmic and not linear [response to light]." He says that the brain adapts to and minimises the reduced contrast within a few seconds.
This is not the only way in which the brain must adapt to the new lenses. Fixed in a pair of glasses, the lenses would not move as the eye looked in different directions, so the focusing effect would be lost in the regions between the circles. But Zalevsky says that the eye learns to fill in the gaps as it moves from one engraved structure to another, generating a continuous effect.
The 3D Sound System With 62 Channels is the Death Star of Audio [Audio]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5655812/the-3d-sound-system-with-62-channels-is-the-death-star-of-audio
It's from the Japanese National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), a research firm which is responsible for looking after Japan's frequencies and time standards, and also tests marine radar and maritime safety systems. Amongst doing all those important deeds, they've obviously found the time to jump upon the 3D wagon, with this sound system that is the first of its kind in the world today.
With 62 channels, the sound is meant to be a full replica of the original audio, so you genuinely feel that the singer is right there in the room with you. In 3D. It's being shown off at CEATEC this week, and while it's unlikely to go on sale (especially outside of Japan) it's fascinating to see what technology is capable of. Don't stop at 62 next time, NICT. [NICT via Akihabara News]
Virgin Mobile rolls out Android-based Samsung Intercept: $249 prepaid
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/04/virgin-mobile-rolls-out-android-based-samsung-intercept-249-pr/
Not much of a surprise here, but Virgin Mobile has just officially announced that it's now offering the Samsung Intercept -- the carrier's first Android handset. Running a reasonable $249 prepaid -- and exclusive to Target for the next few weeks -- the phone boasts a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, a sliding QWERTY keypad, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and all the basic Android amenities you'd expect (it's shipping with Android 2.1). Of course, that $249 is quite a bit higher than the $99 it demands on-contract on Sprint, but Virgin promises you'll save 25 percent or more in the long-run if you pair the phone with one of its prepaid plans, which run between $25 and $60 per month. Hit up the gallery below for a couple of bigger images, and head on past the break for the full press release.
Continue reading Virgin Mob! ile roll s out Android-based Samsung Intercept: $249 prepaid
Virgin Mobile rolls out Android-based Samsung Intercept: $249 prepaid originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsMarvell shows OLPC some serious love with a $5.6 million grant for XO-3 tablet
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/04/marvell-shows-olpc-serious-love-with-a-5-6-million-grant-to-dev/
Marvell and One Laptop Per Child's close partnership has been no secret, but according to Xconomy, Marvell's about to put a whole lot more green into the XO. The semiconductor company is forking over $5.6 million to fund the creation of the next gen XO-3 tablet, and according to OLPC founder and former Engadget Show guest Nicholas Negroponte, it's still slated for a 2012 release. Obviously, the tablet will be based on Marvell's SoC -- though, there's no telling which version of Armada will be up for grabs by then. Additionally, Marvell and OLPC will be showing another tablet at CES, but this one is apparently for children of the developed world and won't carry OLPC's brand. Our guess is that it'll be something closer to the Android-running Moby than to the plastic, bendable, Pixel Qi-equipped XO-3. It's all sounding rather confusing to us, but hey, at least the kids won't have a shortage of tablets to choose from.Marvell shows OLPC some serious love with a $5.6 million grant for XO-3 tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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