Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, July 11, 2011

European Space Agency creates one billion pixel camera, calls her GAIA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/10/european-space-agency-creates-one-billion-pixel-camera-calls-he/

When we hear the name GAIA, our memory automatically zooms back to the Whoopi Goldberg-voiced Mother Earth from Captain Planet. This isn't that GAIA, but it does have to do with planets. Back at the turn of the millennium, the European Space Agency devised an ambitious mission to map one billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy -- in 3D (insert Joey Lawrence 'whoa!'). To do this, it enlisted UK-based e2v Technologies and built an immense digital camera comprised of 106 snugly-fit charge coupled devices -- the largest ever for a space program. These credit card-shaped, human hair-thick slabs of silicon carbide act like tiny galactic eyes, each storing incoming light as a single pixel. Not sufficiently impressed? Then consider this: the stellar cam is so all-seeing, "it could measure the thumbnails of a person on the Moon" -- from Earth. Yeah. Set to launch on the Soyuz-Fregat sometime this year, the celestial surveyor will make its five-year home in the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, beaming its outerspace discoveries to radio dishes in Spain and Australia -- and occasionally peeping in your neighbor's window.

European Space Agency creates one billion pixel camera, calls her GAIA originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer's C110 and C112 pico projectors aim to please, travel well

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/acers-c110-and-c112-pico-projectors-aim-to-please-travel-well/

Ah, the pico projector. An idea that flourished if but for a moment, but never really hit that critical mass that CE companies yearn for. Evidently that matters not to Acer, who has decided to kick out two more for good measure. The downright diminutive C110 (seen above) is a DLP-powered beamer that gets all the juice it needs via USB, measures just 110- x 85- 25mm and offers up a WVGA (854 x 480) native resolution. The LED bulb is said to last up to 20,000 hours, and it'll go from dead to dazzling in five seconds flat. Moving up a couple notches, there's the C112 (pictured after the break), complete with an optional external battery (good for two hours, we're told), a 1,000:1 contrast ratio and an identical WVGA resolution. Both of these guys are slated to hit UK shops at the end of the month, with prices set at £199 and £220, respectively.

Continue reading Acer's C110 and C112 pico projectors aim to please, travel well

Acer's C110 and C112 pico projectors aim to please, travel well originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 01:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Calling for tech support? IBM's Watson might be on the other end

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/calling-for-tech-support-ibms-watson-might-be-on-the-other-end/

Watson may have Jeopardy! and the medical realm under lock, but retail / service industries? Not yet, but soon. Very soon. According to a new piece in Hemispheres Magazine, IBM's now looking to shop the supercomputer's world-class vocal recognition technologies to outfits in retail and customer service, with those enterprises in particular drooling at the thought of having a sophisticated machine recognizing human speech. In theory, at least, basic questions could potentially be answered entirely by Watson, but that's honestly not a future we're too fond of. There's also the possibility of using analytical data that Watson collects in order to better position deals, service and other tech support centers based on what kinds of requests come in the most. So, eager to speak with a kindhearted, potentially confused robot? Or will that flustered, potentially sympathetic Earthling still suffice?

Calling for tech support? IBM's Watson might be on the other end originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S II gets torn down, found to be just as beautiful on the inside

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-gets-torn-down-found-to-be-just-as-beautifu/

Here's a tidbit of interest: it took the moving of three million Galaxy S IIs before we saw a bona fide teardown. But hey -- maybe this thing's just too darn delightful to crack open for the sake of cracking it open. iFixit and ABI Research have both sliced into Sammy's best smartphone yet, discovering an Exynos dual-core apps processor, newfangled CMOS-based antenna switch, a low-power XMM6260 cellular chipset from Infineon and a single-packaged multi-band, multi-mode PA from RFMD. 'Course, knowing the surrounding technobabble is only half the fun; for the other half, dig into those source links below.

Samsung Galaxy S II gets torn down, found to be just as beautiful on the inside originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iFixit, ABI Research (1), (2) | Email this | Comments

Apple files second ITC patent infringement complaint against HTC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/11/apple-files-second-itc-patent-infringement-complaint-against-htc/

Nothing like a little legalese to take the edge off on a Monday, eh? Just months after Apple smacked HTC with an ITC complaint, it looks as if the company's doing the same thing again. As if one ongoing ITC complaint against Samsung wasn't enough, the US International Trade Commission is reporting that HTC is being accused again. As predicted, the patent infringement complaint is asking for the entity to block the import of "personal electronic devices" by HTC, but until it becomes available for public viewing, it's hard to know exactly which device(s) ticked the lawyers in Cupertino off. As for the prior tiff? A judge is expected to rule on that August 5th, and those findings are then subject to review by the full commission. HTC's not commenting yet given that even it hasn't seen the details, so we'll be sure to keep you posted as the drama unfolds.

Apple files second ITC patent infringement complaint against HTC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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San Francisco Chronicle, FOSS Patents | Email this | Comments