Friday, March 5, 2010

Apple iPad Release Date: April 3rd.





CNN) -- Apple's eagerly anticipated iPad will be available in the United States on April 3, the company said Friday.
Wi-Fi models of the tablet-style computer will go on sale that Saturday, while ones with Wi-Fi and 3G networks will be released later in the month.
Customers can start pre-ordering the iPad on Apple's online store on March 12.
"iPad is something completely new," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a Friday post on the company's Web site. "We're excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."
Unveiled on January 27, theiPad is designed to act as a sort of "missing link" between the smartphone and the laptop computer.
Video: iPad pros and cons

It has a nearly 10-inch screen, runs existing apps from the Apple apps store and is available in 16-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte versions. It's a half-inch thick and weighs a pound-and-a-half.
Prices start at $499 for the 16-gigabyte version, $599 for the 32-gig version and $699 for the 64, Jobs said at the company's glitzy announcement in San Francisco, California.
The iPad will be released in late April in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, Apple said in the post on its site.
Prices in those countries will be announced in April and iPad will ship in additional countries later this year.

-- CNN.COM

Thursday, March 4, 2010

HTC Shift™







Overview:


Experience a new era in mobile computing with the HTC Shift. Powerful enough to run Windows Vista® Business, the HTC Shift has the optimal blend of portability and functionality, giving you uncompromised performance while on the move.


HTC Shift features SnapVUE™, an always-on mode that provides you instant access to critical information -- including e-mail previews, local weather, calendar, and SMS -- even if the device is not switched on. Push e-mail gives you instant alerts whenever you have new Outlook® e-mails. Through Wi-Fi or 3.5G high-speed connectivity, you enjoy the ultimate productivity and highest fidelity Internet experience around.


HTC Shift also features a 7-inch touch sensitive screen that slides out and tilts to a comfortable angle. It has a full QWERTY keyboard for convenient messaging and text input. A built-in fingerprint sensor is provided for increased security.


Highlights


Always-on access to critical information with HTC SnapVUE™
  Receive instant e-mails with Microsoft® Direct Push technology up to 2 days on battery standby
Powerful enough to give you the full Windows Vista® experience
Revolutionary small form factor gives you portability without compromising mobility
Adjustable 7-inch touch screen
Mouse buttons and microPad
Worldwide UMTS with HSDPA
Bluetooth® 2.0 and Wi-Fi®
USB 2.0 connectivity
Fingerprint sensor





Overview:


Processor and Chipset Intel® Processor A110, 800 MHz

Operating System Windows Vista® Business

Memory RAM: 1GB DDR2 microDIMM RAM for Vista + 64 MB for SnapVUE™

ROM: 128 MB for SnapVUE™

Hard Disk 1.8-inch 40 GB or 60 GB hard disk (manufacturer's option)

Dimensions 207 mm (L) X 129 mm (W) X 25 mm (T)

Weight 800g with battery

Display 7-inch, 800 X 480 TFT-LCD display with adjustable screen angle and touch-sensitive screen

Network HSDPA/UMTS: Tri-band 850, 1900, 2100 MHz

HSDPA: Up to 3.6Mbps for download and 384kbps for upload UMTS: Up to 384kbps for download
               and upload

GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Quad-band 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz (The device will operate on frequencies           available from the cellular network)

Keyboard Slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Mouse Control Left/right mouse buttons and microPad

Wireless Connections Bluetooth® 2.0 Wi-Fi®. IEEE 802.11 b/g

I/O Ports 1 USB 2.0, VGA out, and 3.5mm stereo audio out with microphone

Card Slots 1.8/3V USIM/SIM card slot

SDIO slot with hotswap functionality

Security Fingerprint sensor

Web Camera Color CMOS VGA camera for videoconferencing

Audio Built-in microphone and dual speakers

Battery 2700 mAh rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer battery

Vista® operating time: Up to 2 hours

SnapVUE™ standby time (push e-mail enabled): Up to 53 hours

SnapVUE™ standby time (push e-mail disabled): Up to 10 days

AC Adapter Voltage range/frequency: 90 ~ 265V AC, 47/63Hz

DC output: 12Vdc, 3A max.



-- STRALLENT.COM

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

iPad 3G & WiFi Release Date?




Apple hasn’t stated an official release date for its iPad, but rumors suggest the highly anticipated tablet will go on sale on March 26.

Both MacRumors’ Arnold Kim and the Examiner have heard from tipsters that Apple stores will begin selling the iPad on Friday, March 26 at 6 p.m. The Examiner added that “People who camp out for the iPad will receive a special gift.”

That would be similar to the original iPhone launch, which began selling 6 p.m. on Friday, Jun. 29, 2007. (I don’t remember receiving any gifts when I camped out for the iPhone, but I did receive some coffee.)

Apple has said the iPad without 3G will begin shipping late March. The iPad including 3G should be shipping about 30 days later, according to Apple.

An analyst spread a rumor earlier this week that tight inventories might delay iPad shipments by a month, but an Apple spokeswoman told Wired.com that the iPad was on schedule to ship by late March.

-- WIRED.COM

Monday, March 1, 2010

Latest 3D technology (SOON)

Ready or not, the latest 3D technology is coming home
By Ben Drawbaugh




Feature

Now wait one second before you start on the whole "I'm not wearing any stupid looking glasses," because no matter what you say, there are more people paying extra to go 3D movies than ever and the reason is simple; it's because this isn't like the crappy 3D you saw during the Super Bowl last year -- or that our parents grew up with. No, the 3D that Sony, Panasonic, and others are promising next year is like nothing you've seen. We've come a long way since the old anaglyph red and blue glasses that come in cereal boxes, so before you knock the new technology before it's even out, click through and read about the technologies that might bring us a real 3D revolution.
3D, the basics

We have two eyes for a reason and while we've enjoyed stereo sound since-like-forever, stereoscopic images haven't quite arrived. At its core, 3D is as simple as using two cameras to capture the data that our eyes would, but it's the display part that's proven tricky. Ultimately, the technology has to find a way to present each eye with a different variation of an image, at that point our eyes and brain do the rest.

Circular polarized or active LCD shutter glasses

The one thing that hasn't changed about 3D is the need for glasses -- if you're holding out for 3D on a big screen without glasses, you're going to let this generation of 3D pass you by. The technology in the glasses varies by a lot and the main two types these days are circular polarized and active LCD shutter. Both serve the same purpose, to ensure each eye sees a different image, but in much different ways.


Circular polarized glasses are easily the most common used in 3D cinema today. If you've been to a 3D presentation of a Pixar movie, or maybe to Disney World and used what look like cheap sunglasses, you've probably tried the technology. Without going into too much detail, each lens is set to filter out different light, so for example in a polarized system like RealD's, there can either be two projectors with different polarizing filters in front of each (pictured below) or a special ZScreen which can alternate the clockwise and counterclockwise polarization for each frame. In either case, the right and left frame alternate at about 144 times per second so that each of 24 frames per second of a movie is displayed 3 times per eye.


RealD circular polarized filter in front of a projector

One of the problems with circular polarized 3D is that a special silver screen is required and some argue it can negatively affect the color accuracy. But what's worse is that most of us don't have a projector at home and so far only a few HDTVs like the ridiculously expensive JVC GD-463D10 LCD TV at $9,200 can pull off the same polarization trickery.

LCD shutter glasses

So in comes the LCD shutter glasses -- the technology itself has actually been around for some time, in fact there were eight Sega Master Systems games that worked with shutter glasses dating back to the 80's. But the technology was limited by the display technology of that era which could only show 480i at 30 frames per second, which worked out to about 15 FPS per eye in 3D -- so yeah, the flickering could make you sick.


Sega Master System shutter glasses

Basically the way shutter glasses work is each lens can be blacked out very very quickly to synchronize with a frame displayed on the HDTV. This way a different 1920 x 1080 progressive image can be shown to each eye.


Notice that the LCD shutter on the left is closed.

An IR emitter connected to the TV sends signals to the glasses to keep 'em in sync. In larger demos, multiple emitters are mounted throughout the venue to ensure all the glasses get the signal. This is obviously less than ideal for a large movie theater, but shouldn't be a problem at home.


IR emitter used in Pansonic's 3D demo

The other reason shutter glasses make sense at home is because they don't limit the viewing angles of the display -- not to mention the glasses are more expensive and someone would likely steal them from a theater. But besides these advantages, proponents argue that the colors are more accurate, there's less ghosting and smearing, and it is argued that the contrast is greater between the left and right eyes. So, you add all these reasons together and the technology should provide the most realistic and reliable 3D technology ever unleashed on consumers -- at home or anywhere else.

It's not all good though, besides the cost of the glasses and the added emitter in the TV, some say that there is added flickering, and with the shutters closing in front of your eyes, the image is dimmed a bit. Both Sony and Panasonic claim these are no longer issues in thanks to the super fast refresh rates and brightness available on the latest HDTVs.


Short Panasonic promotional video about how its 3D technology works

Sony, Samsung, Mitsubishi and Panasonic

Yes, you read that right, all four of these tech giants are pushing the same home 3D display technology. While Samsung and Mitsubishi have been demoing its DLP HDTVs with shutter glasses for-like-ever, both Sony and Panasonic have been showing LCD and Plasma (respectively) HDTVs that can display 3D HD at CES, CEDIA and other shows. In fact Sony and Panasonic promise to release the first consumer 3D capable displays next year. That last part is an important one, so listen up: both will offer HDTVs next year that will work just like any other HDTV today, but will also work with 3D. So not only are the HDTVs going to be fully backwards compatible, but supposedly the new sets won't cost much more than a normal HDTV. In fact Panasonic believes that in the next few years most of its HDTVs will be 3D ready.


XpanD LCD shutter glasses and special 3D Blu-ray player used in Panasonic's 3D demo

But why can't my current HDTV do 3D?

We know what you're thinking, you just bought a new HDTV and you want to know why it can't handle 3D. Even if it was possible to add an IR emitter to keep the shutter glasses in sync, the experience at 30 FPS per eye wouldn't be as enjoyable. And just like when the first 1080p HDTVs hit the shelves without the ability to actually accept 1080p input, the current crop of 120hz HDTVs can't actually display 120 frames per second -- only show each frame of a 60 fps signal, twice.

3D sources

Of course, 3D-capable displays don't do much without 3D content, and the good news is that most of the infrastructure needed for 3D in the home is already here thanks to HD. With the new 1.4 spec, HDMI has been updated to accomdate 3D and the first source is almost guaranteed to be Blu-ray. In fact as we speak the BDA is working on standardizing the storage of 3D movies on a Blu-ray Disc. It actually isn't nearly as hard as it sounds, because what is essentially needed is to up the spec from 1080p at 30 FPS to 1080p at 120 FPS. In fact a 50GB Blu-ray Disc has more than ample capacity to handle a 3D HD movie thanks to the wonders of video compression where only the difference of each frame is stored. So 3D movies only require about 50 percent more space, and the one thing about the new 3D Blu-ray standard that has been determined, is that every 3D Blu-ray Disc will include a 2D version of the movie.


3D camera used to broadcast a College Football game on ESPN.

This part might surprise you, but there have already been 3D broadcasts of major sporting events. Using RealD's circular polarized technology, ESPN broadcasts 3D presentations of major sporting events to theaters around the country. The most recent was the USC vs Ohio State game on September 12th, but other events like the National Championship game last year, and the Olympics before it, were beamed to theaters in 3D. And let us tell you, if you haven't seen your favorite sport in 3D, you're really missing something. In fact we wouldn't be surprised if the real killer application for 3D in the home was sports. Sure movies will be the first to be delivered thanks to the slow evolution of broadcast technology, but we still have our hopes that ESPN 3D will be next. But while we wait for CableLabs and the SCTE to hammer out the details of a 3D delivery standard, satellite subscribers in the UK appear to be on track to get a 3D channel next year.


The other 3D content that is coming eventually is 3D gaming. Sony was showing 3D games at IFA this year and there have been a number of rumors that real 3D gaming is coming to the Xbox 360. The only thing we really know for sure at this point is that Avatar will be one of the first 3D games, although no word on what technology will be used.

But not everyone can see 3D

When we say that 3D isn't for everyone, we mean it. In fact it is estimated that 4 percent of us are actually physically incapable of seeing 3D no matter what the display technology. And even worse, according to the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, "Research has shown that up to 56 percent of those 18 to 38 years of age have one or more problems with binocular vision and therefore could have difficulty seeing 3D." So if you are one of these affected, it might be time to see an opthamologist and get screened for amblyopia. And if you happen to be blind in one eye you can still watch 3D, but it'll just look normal to you -- assuming of course you have the glasses on.

Where we go from here

One thing we weren't able to learn in our quest for 3D knowledge was how compatible these different technologies are. Essentially we assume that the functional compatibility between the two main 3D display technologies described above are like the differences between LCD and Plasma -- in other words, they both connect to the same HD set-top-box and Blu-ray player -- but until the BDA announces the final details of the 3D specification there isn't really any way to know for sure. But it seems that if Blu-ray was compatible with both circular polarized and LCD shutter glasses, then certainly whatever broadcast standard or game console announced down the road would also work with both.


Conclusion

Like it or not, 3D is coming and just like HD before it, there will be plenty of technology pundits predicting its demise. The problem right now is very few have had the chance to check out the technology and if you have been lucky enough to see it, it is hard to convey how cool it is to others. On top of this, 3D has a long road ahead because most people think they have seen it because they've tried the anaglyph glasses during a Super Bowl Commercial. The other big hurdle is the whole stupid looking glasses argument -- which doesn't make that much sense since you'll be wearing them in the privacy of your own home. Now we know that the same technology lovers who read Engadget would never hate on any new technology without experiencing it first hand, but tell your friends and family that something new is coming, and no it isn't like anything else they've seen.

By: ENGADGET.COM

Toshiba -- New Netbook.

Toshiba working on a netbook / UMPC that's actually interesting
By Nilay Patel



We're almost totally over the whole netbook craze, but Toshiba's latest prototype shows there's still interesting things possible, even if it isn't a traditional laptop. The 5.6-inch touchscreen handheld runs Vista on Intel's Atom processor with a 64GB SSD and a GPS chip -- which like an awfully expensive setup, but Toshiba says they're aiming for netbook pricing. Of course, that means almost nothing, since netbooks are all over the map -- and that probably explains why Tosh says it's identified "six or seven" segments of the netbook / UMPC market, and that it might not compete directly with Eee-class machines. Sure -- but isn't an expensive handheld touchscreen netbook just a straight UMPC? Nice try, guys.



Friday, February 26, 2010

Viliv S5 POCKET PC




Viliv  S5 Pocket PC



















ARCHOS 9 PCTablet






ARCHOS 9 PCTABLET


Tech Specs

PROCESSORIntel ATOM Z510 1.1 GHz
DISPLAY8.9” LED backlight
1024x600 pixels
Resistive touch screen
Video chipset: Intel Poulsbo US15W
OPERATING SYSTEMMicrosoft® Windows® 7 Starter Edition
SYSTEM MEMORY1GB onboard (DDR2 SDRAM 400)
HARD DRIVEHDD 60GB (1.8”)
COMMUNICATIONWiFi: PCI-E interface, 1 antenna, support IEEE 802.11b/g
Ethernet: 10/100 Mb/s Ethernet Controller (via port replicator)
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR compliant)
AUDIOAudio card : Realtek ALC269
2 built-in stereo speakers
Built-in microphone
PORTSUSB 2.0 port (2 additional ports via port replicator)
DC-IN jack
3.5” audio output (1 additional output via port replicator)
Microphone input (via port replicator)
Ethernet port (via port replicator)
MOUSE NAVIGATIONOptical finger navigation system (trackpoint)
Left and right mouse buttons
POWER SOURCEInternal: removable Lithium Polymer battery
External: Power adapter/charger
BATTERY LIFEApprox. 5h
MISCELLANEOUSIntegrated 1.3MP webcam
Built-in leg stand (2 positions)
DIMENSIONS256 x 134 x 17 mm
WEIGHT800 grams
PACKAGE INCLUDESARCHOS 9, removable battery, stylus, AC adapter with power cord, user guide, legal and safety notice


Included Software

TypeNomDescription
Antivirus/AntispywareMicrosoft Security Essentials5Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Office ProductivityLotus SymphonyEasily create and edit all your documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Web TV and radio playervTunerAccess to over 11,000 radio and TV stations broadcasting over the Internet.
Email manager & ChatWindows LiveManage all your email accounts and chat instantly.
1 Optimized for videos in H264 HP 1080p
2 1GB= 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity is less.
3 Online storage space. Requires a free Windows Live™ account. More information on www.windowslive.com/skydrive
4 Requires compatible wireless access point(s)
5 Installation files to be downloaded