Latest Gadgets, Tablets and Smartphones
Samsung have launched their first 3D TV over in the US called the Samsung UN55C7000. The 3D TV measures 55 inches and can play full HD content at 1080p that runs at 240 Hz and is backlit by LED.
The 55 inch 3D TV had four HDMI inputs (version 1.3) along with Component and PC inputs. The TV is ready to work with new 3D content that gives an extra dimension and depth in video. Samsung do say that more 3D content is scheduled for launch from regular TV. [Read more…]
Recently Apple were heard to say that Adobe Flash on a mobile device would kill battery life and give up to an 85% decrease in how long the battery would last. The Apple iPad was specifically mentioned as dropping from 10 hours to just 1.5 hours if Apple allowed Flash on their device.
To try prove these numbers wrong an Adobe evangelist called Mark Doherty has created some evidence along with a video of Flash 10.1 running on a mobile device and the exact effect it has on the battery of a mobile device. By playing a 17 minute embedded video that ran flash, the consumption of flash was just 6% (mixed in with the browser processor usage). The numbers also indicate that H.264 playback over a WiFi connection could allow for about three hours on a single charge. [Read more…]
Back in 2009 Android and Me posted a competition to see who could port Quake 2 and 3 over to an Android based device. After being forgotten about for a while a winner suddenly appeared. The winner managed to get Quake working on the Motorola DROID and says it should also quite easily port on to the Nexus One.
Two developers have actually managed to get things working well. The first guy is called Julien who managed to create Quake2Android and has managed to get network games and touch based and accelerometer based controls to function. Although it works on the Motorola DROID at a frame-rate of 30 – 40 frames per second, we do hear it also will work on other Android based hardware such as the G1. [Read more…]
Finally we are hearing some news about when Windows Phone 7 Series handsets will be shipping. From what we have heard it seems like LG are to be one of the first, if not the first, to have some hardware ship later on this year sometime between September and November. At this point there are no official dates and most of it will probably be related to when Microsoft [MSFT] can get the final build ready and waiting to ship.
The information came from a sitdown meeting with LG Mobile in Hong Kong where the dates were revealed. [Read more…]
The Olympus PEN E-PL1 Micro Four Thirds digital camera is now available over at Amazon in the US. The camera has a 12.3 megapixel sensor and is in the micro four thirds format allowing it to be compact as well as powerful.
A lens is included in the package which is a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko digital zoom lens. On the back of the camera is a 2.7 inch HyperCrystal LCD display that also has Live View. The PEN E-PL1 is capable of capturing HD video and storage of images and video is to SD or SDHC memory cards (supplied separately). A built in flash can also be found in this particular model which was not found in previous versions. [Read more…]
A Business Card Scanner comes in handy if you have a habit of collecting business cards. The small scanning devices can allow you to quickly digitise the information on the cards allowing you to throw away the mass collection of cards.
The CardScan Personal is one such device that allows you to quickly attach it to your computer via a USB port, install a bit of software and then insert a business card for scanning.
The CardScan Personal software uses a drag-and-drop system allowing digitised business cards to be moved from email, websites and to devices such as flash drives. The software also automatically creates an address book for you to store business cards. [Read more…]
Hornby, the train set makers, have created Hornby Digital Sound that brings locomotive noises to each individual train. The old system made it’s sounds from a single box located near the model railway tracks, but now each train that has the Hornby Digital Sound system built in has it’s own speaker that can emulate sound far better.
The trains also have a system built in that can change the sound effects as they travel around the track. If the train goes through a tunnel then the noise will be more echoed just like it would should a full sized train go through a tunnel.
Several new trains have the new Hornby Digital Sound system already installed which includes the LNER Herring Gull class A4 that costs £234.99. Others include the Diesel Electric Class 50 Illustrious that costs £209.99 and finally the Diesel Electric Class 60 The Hundred of Hoo that costs £209.99. Various models are available at Amazon that also are a little cheaper in price. [Read more…]
Confirmation has arrived from Apple [AAPL] that says the iPad uses the same family of graphics chips found in the iPad and iPhone.
Confirmation didn’t arrive in an official document, but instead it was tracked down in the iPad SDK Beta 3 documentation. At the moment it doesn’t specify which chip out of the family that it is, but just indicates that a particular chip is there.
Using OpenGL ES on iPad is identical to using OpenGL ES on other iPhone OS devices. An iPad is a PowerVR SGX device and supports the same basic capabilities as other SGX devices. However, because the processor, memory architecture, and screen dimensions are different for iPad, you should always test your code on an iPad device before shipping to ensure performance meets your requirements.
Thinklabs Medical have created a new iPhone app that integrates with the electrostatic ds32a stethoscope to provide detailed visual readings of sounds heard by the stethoscope.
By attaching the ds32a to your iPhone you get to use basic editing and see a number of visualisation options that can be emailed or sent by MMS to other users to monitor what is happening.
As well as being able to record sounds from the stethoscope, a pre-recorded library is also available that can be used to teach students as well as being used for comparisons of live sounds. [Read more…]
Tim Cook of Apple [AAPL] has been heard to have said recently that the Apple iPad will not only go on sale in Apple stores, but also it is to be found at various locations such as Best Buy as well as other partner stores.
From what we hear, the exclusive first sales will be at Apple Stores for a period of time after which the iPad will go on sale at other stores.
At the moment the details on this are not set in stone or even official. Although it came from an Apple person, it hasn’t been published as an official announcement just yet. [Read more…]
The Apple [AAPL] iPad was first announced about a month ago and at that time it was revealed that it doesn’t have a camera at all on the device. A few weeks later it was spotted that the iPad’s bezel actually had a cut out for a camera but it still seems like the final iPad won’t actually arrive with a camera. This could mean a second generation iPad is already being built.
A new iPad SDK was recently released that was also found to support a front facing camera, camera flash, zoom and video conferencing.
This information was found in the SDK thanks to a couple of buttons that show large Decline and Accept video call buttons which appear to be too big for the iPhone screen. [Read more…]
Typeface is an application that captures a picture of your face and uses that picture to capture facial expressions to create a font from.
The system was designed by Mary Huang and uses a geometric type system to calculate data from various features on your face. The system is dynamic working almost in real time allowing users to change their face to see how the font changes on-screen. [Read more…]
