Archives for July 2010

Hitachi Gesture Based Interface Unveiled

Hitachi is showing off it’s gesture-based interface. We have seen similar devices before, but it’s always good to see steps bringing technology closer to the screens seen on Minority Report.

Hitachi will be using the technology on digital signage that will allow users to integrate more with what it on display without having to touch the screen. As well as signage, the product could be used in the medical field to enable doctors to interact with screens without touching them. [Read more…]

Panasonic 3D Camera Lens Announced

Panasonic earlier today announced a 3D camcorder. As well as announcing a 3D camcorder, the company has also announced a new 3D lens for still cameras that brings 3D picture taking abilities to Panasonic cameras.

Panasonic said in today’s press release that this is the worlds first digital interchangeable twin-lens that allows 3D capture on a regular camera. The lens is compatible with the LUMIX G Micro System and allows for high-quality images to be captured in 3D.

‘This year will be remembered as the ˜First Year of 3D Era’ and Panasonic has already taken the lead by launching 3D-capable VIERA¢ televisions and Blu-ray¢ 3D Disc Players, said Darin Pepple, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. ‘With Panasonic’s development of a twin-lens capable of 3D shooting, the company is providing consumers with a way to capture their own 3D content, which they can then enjoy watching in the comforts of their own home. Panasonic is dedicated to evolving the 3D ecosystem, letting consumers create and display lifelike 3D images in their homes.

[Read more…]

HP EliteBook 8740W Updated with NVIDIA GPU

HP is updating the HP EliteBook 8740W notebook computer. A new GPU is being offered in the form of the NVIDIA Quadro FX5000M card.

The NVIDIA Quadro FX5000M is a powerful GPU that has 320 cores and 2GB of memory all assigned to the GPU. The notebook is also powerful in other areas in that it has the option of up to 16GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7 CPU. Other features of the notebook include a 17 inch screen making it far from small, but still a very powerful and portable device.

As well as being powerful, HP has made it rugged by creating an aluminium chassis. [Read more…]

Sharp PW-AC10 Electronic Dictionary

It’s not often, if at all, that we have a need to carry a portable dictionary around with us considering we live in an age where computers with spell checkers and phones that also spell check are fully available. However, there must be some requirement for a dedicated dictionary because Sharp has created the PW-AC10 electronic dictionary.

UberGizmo point out that it looks like a Blackberry although it lacks many features of a blackberry due to it being just a dictionary.

The device is claimed to be the most compact dictionary. It has a colour screen and measures 118.6 x 68.6 x 18.8 mm in size. The screen on the front measures 2.4 inches and is capable of showing 320 x 240 pixels in QVGA. [Read more…]

iPhone 4 CAD Drawings Get Spruced up

If you plan on making a case for an Apple [AAPL] product such as an iPhone 4 or iPad for example, Apple has a page on it’s site that allows you to grab all the technical details you need to create the case. The CAD style drawings are available, but to be honest look a little bland as they are just line drawings with measurements and a few hints and tips added on such as “do not block the camera”.

Core77 decided to spruce the images a little by merging actual pictures of the iPhone 4 with the CAD details and came up with the image just above. A section of the original drawing can be found below with all the drawings for many Apple products available over here. [Read more…]

Modu Android Prototype Appears

A new Android smartphone from Modu has been spotted in the wild. Phandroid have dubbed it ModuPhone for now and managed to get some pictures of it uploaded to their site.

The phone has a block-ish style design and has a pure plastic bezel around the edges. The device it’s self lacks 3G for some reason which leaves you getting data at speed via WiFi only. This however, could be because of it being a prototype at the moment, so we’ll keep an eye on that missing point.

The device has an FM radio, stylus, resistive touchscreen (not confirmed but likely because of the addition of a stylus), a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot. [Read more…]

Apple Magic Trackpad and Multi-Touch Pads get Update

Apple [AAPL] introduced the Apple Magic Trackpad yesterday that brings multi-touch gesture support to Macs. An update for the software has been provided that brings the version to 1.0.

The new $69 trackpad is a bluetooth device that connects up to a Mac and allows to use multi-touch gestures on the desktop allowing for far easier input in some cases.

As well as updating the software for the Magic Trackpad, the update also is available for the trackpad on the latest MacBook and MacBook Pro computers. [Read more…]

Acer Stream Android Smartphone Price and Release Date

The Acer Stream Android Smartphone will be made available in the UK exclusively from eXpansys when it launches in a couple of weeks time.

The phone it’s self has a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen along with a 5 megapixel camera that can capture video in 720p. Other features include a HDMI output.

The Acer Stream when launched will run Android 2.1 and unfortunately no news of an Android 2.2 update have been provided although we suspect it will be made available OTA later on this year. [Read more…]

Panasonic 3D Camcorder – HDC-SDT750 Now Official

Yesterday we found some leaked pictures of a new Panasonic 3D camcorder named the HDC-SDT750. Panasonic has now officially released the details of the 3D camcorder.

Panasonic has announced the HDC-SDT750 as the worlds first consumer 3D camcorder. it comes with a 3D conversion lens that lets users capture video in 3D for playback on a 3D TV.

The 3D camcorder can capture video in full 1080p HD video in the AVCHD format when capturing in 2D with a standard lens.

“As a result of research conducted through Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory, Panasonic developed a professional 3D system camera and successfully brought high-quality Full HD 3D images to the home for viewing on Panasonic VIERA Full HD 3D televisions. But now, Panasonic has taken it one step further and developed the world’s first consumer 3D camcorder, the HDC-SDT750 creating a 3D ecosystem available for consumers in the home,” said Chris Rice, Senior Product Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. “Incorporating Panasonic’s professional broadcast technology and bringing it to an easy-to-use consumer model, the SDT750 makes high-quality 3D video content a reality in the home.”

[Read more…]

Amazon Kindle 6 Inch Model Out of Stock

Amazon has sold out of the Amazon Kindle 6 inch model. Normally this wouldn’t be such a big deal (although it has only happened once before in 2008), but recently Amazon launched a new Kindle DX that was cheaper and had a better screen. With this in mind, a number of people are speculating that Amazon could be getting ready to introduce a new Amazon Kindle with the same enhancements that the Kindle DX recently received.

When visiting the Amazon home page users now see the larger Kindle DX greeting them rather than the smaller model that has been on the home page for around a year now.

Bloomberg has commented that a new Amazon Kindle could be launching in August and with Amazon selling the last of the Kindle 6 inch model, it appears that they could be about to launch a new model in the next few weeks. [Read more…]

Droid X Android 2.2 Update Could Arrive Next Week

We are hearing some rumours today that Droid X will get an Android 2.2 update next week. As well as Droid X getting the update, we hear that the HTC Droid Incredible and the Motorola DROID will also get the update at the same time.

Although we say it’s a rumour, the tipster who sent a message to Android Spin, says that this is not a rumour, but confirmed.

The “rumour” also says that Android 2.2 FroYo will be pushed out simultaneously to both the HTC and Motorola devices beginning August 6 which is a week on Friday. The update will finish rolling out by August 15 a couple of weeks later. [Read more…]

Apple iOS 4.1 Beta 2 Released for Developers

Apple [AAPL] has released the next Beta version of iOS 4.1 numbered Beta 2. The new beta brings a few changes to the original Beta of 4.1 that was released recently.

The iOS 4.1 build is available only for developers at the moment and can be installed on all compatible iPhones and iPod touches which includes the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 as well as later generation touches.

Items changed in the new beta 2 includes a new baseband for the iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G which means you should hold off unlocking. Apple mentioned in the antenna conference the other week that they continually tweak the baseband to get better results, so we assume there will be some slight differences to antenna performance, but no where near a full fix as Steve Jobs confirmed it couldn’t be sorted with software. [Read more…]