TV’S FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE NOW IN TINY SIZE
OLED TVs are the promise of the future, offering a startlingly vivid picture while consuming little energy (but at the moment a lot of money). You can, however, have the same kind of technology (organic light-emitting diodes) in a pocket-size picture viewer right now without taking out a second mortgage. Digital Foci has produced a 2.8-inch OLED-screen photo viewer. The player uses modest power, playing for up to five hours from its built-in lithium-polymer battery, the company says.
The player holds about 4,000 pictures on its 128-megabyte memory. Pictures are resized by the included software. That software isn’t the smoothest — downloading required a few tries — but the device eventually displayed bright, colorful photos that can be set to play in a customized slide show. The OLED screen is viewable from oblique angles, so a few friends can see the show at the same time. The company says the player will be available online from Digital Foci, B&H, Amazon and Wal-Mart by the end of this month Affordable OLED TVs will take a little longer.
A REALLY BIG NOTEBOOK TO REPLACE THE DESKTOP (IT’S ALMOST TOO BIG FOR YOUR LAP)
A number of notebooks on the market style themselves as desktop replacements, but the Sony Vaio AW series is being positioned to replace the home theater — sort of.
The new Vaio starts with a mammoth 18.4-inch widescreen display, pumped up with display technology to rival many flat-panel TVs. Its resolution is 1080 dots per inch (dpi) — one of the higher high-definition standards. It is also the resolution of Sony’s Blu-ray DVD technology, and a Blu-ray drive is included. (One could ask how much resolution one really needs at 18.4 inches, but why spoil the display arms race?)
Though the emphasis is on the display, the Vaio AW is also a high-end computer aimed at those who want to edit photos and videos in HD. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to a terabyte of storage and 4 gigabytes of RAM memory.
The AW comes in three models. The Vaio AW can also be connected to your TV via an HDMI connection, which supports not only HD, but also 5.1 surround sound.
And at nearly 4kg, it may spend more time tethered to something at home than out on the road.
A SPARE, MORE RUGGED DESIGN FOR THE LATEST VERSION OF THE ORBIT-MP3 SPEAKER
Altec Lansing’s new Orbit-MP3 is different from many external speaker systems for portable music players: It looks as if there’s just one speaker in there, not two. But sitting next to one, you get the full stereo experience.
For a product that costs about US$40, the Orbit’s sound quality is quite good. And it runs on three AAA batteries, which the company claims will last for 24 hours of continuous play). This is important because that means the Orbit has no AC adapter, a device that adds weight when you toss the unit in a briefcase or backpack.
This second version of the Orbit comes with two big improvements: an on/off switch and a battery life indicator.
The earlier version had a clever power switch — you rotated the top of the unit to turn it on and off. While it was an interesting idea, it was easy to forget that the unit was on, meaning that the old Orbit went through batteries the way gas goes through a Hummer. Sacrificing a little form for function’s sake is a marked improvement.
A STAND-ALONE VIDEOPHONE FOR COMPUTER-FREE HOUSEHOLDS
Computer users are familiar with Web cams, but for those who are more tech-averse but still want some basic two-way video capabilities, there’s the Asus AiGuru SV1.
A stand-alone Web cam and display, the SV1 connects to an existing Wi-Fi or Ethernet network in your home, no PC required. It is also a Skype-certified videophone (it uses the free service to provide video connections) and comes equipped with a 7-inch LCD monitor that uses a large, easy-to-read icon-based interface.
The videophone has a built-in 640 by 480 pixel Web cam, an integrated speakerphone and 20 minutes of talk time and 30 standby minutes. Alternatively, the SV1 can be plugged into an outlet. Also included are a USB port and 3.5mm headphone and microphone jack.
The US$300 AiGuru is to be available next month — just in time to let grandparents check out the grandchildren’s costumes before trick-or-treating.
LASER PRECISION IN A MOUSE FOR GAMERS
A regular mouse is good for navigating Web pages and handling other document-based work. But when it comes to meeting gamers’ needs, regular specifications can fall short, especially where sensitivity is concerned (you want to make sure you hit the two-headed monster in just the right spot, after all).
Hewlett-Packard’s Laser Gaming Mouse with VooDoo DNA technology offers up to five levels of on-the-fly sensitivity, which means a gamer can adjust its settings up to a hypersensitive 3,200dpi (compared with a standard 400dpi or 800dpi mouse).
The Laser Gaming Mouse also includes a four-way scroll wheel, Teflon gaming feet for smoother movement and a laser-based sensor. The 153g right-handed model will be available in mid-next month. Somewhere, a Razer is trembling.
There is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plot to put millions at the mercy of the CCP using just released AI technology. This isn’t being overly dramatic. The speed at which AI is improving is exponential as AI improves itself, and we are unprepared for this because we have never experienced anything like this before. For example, a few months ago music videos made on home computers began appearing with AI-generated people and scenes in them that were pretty impressive, but the people would sprout extra arms and fingers, food would inexplicably fly off plates into mouths and text on
On the final approach to Lanshan Workstation (嵐山工作站), logging trains crossed one last gully over a dramatic double bridge, taking the left line to enter the locomotive shed or the right line to continue straight through, heading deeper into the Central Mountains. Today, hikers have to scramble down a steep slope into this gully and pass underneath the rails, still hanging eerily in the air even after the bridge’s supports collapsed long ago. It is the final — but not the most dangerous — challenge of a tough two-day hike in. Back when logging was still underway, it was a quick,
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In the run-up to World War II, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of Abwehr, Nazi Germany’s military intelligence service, began to fear that Hitler would launch a war Germany could not win. Deeply disappointed by the sell-out of the Munich Agreement in 1938, Canaris conducted several clandestine operations that were aimed at getting the UK to wake up, invest in defense and actively support the nations Hitler planned to invade. For example, the “Dutch war scare” of January 1939 saw fake intelligence leaked to the British that suggested that Germany was planning to invade the Netherlands in February and acquire airfields
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