Destined to Reign

Parajet SkyCar flying vehicle evolves, now ready for pre-orders

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:50:00 +0000

The historians once pontificated that we'd all be cruising about in flying cars right around the year 2000, and while that whole Y2K fiasco threw us a tad behind schedule, it looks like the future may actually still be upon us. Parajet, the same company responsible for that downright unnerving personal flying machine we peeked back in '05, has now placed its long-awaited SkyCar up for pre-order. Said vehicle has evolved quite dramatically over the years, but now that dollars (er, pounds) are being dropped on it, we have to assume that the design is near final. The vehicle is completely street legal and can accelerate to 62mph in just 4.2 seconds, thus making it the world's first "usable, road-legal flying car." If you're champing at the bit to be the first on your block with one, you can drop £10,000 ($16,381) now and pay the remaining £50,000 ($81,905) just before it ships in "late 2010." Of course, we're not making any promises about it actually shipping, but that's a risk you'll have to take.

Integrated circuits with no standby power could be in use by year's end

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:48:00 +0000

There's certainly no shortage of company's working to make electronics of all sorts more energy efficient, but NEC and Rohm Co now say that they're on the verge of a breakthrough that could change things in a big way, and we could possibly see it in "practical use" by the end of this year. As Tech-On! reports, both companies are hard at work on integrated circuits that consume no power at all when they're in standby mode, and turn themselves on only when power is needed. That's apparently possible by making the entire chip nonvolatile, as opposed to many current chips that only use nonvolatile merged memory. According to NEC, that'll let them "cut dissipation for digital consumer electronics in the standby mode to just a few percent of what it is now," and at no expense of convenience. While NEC isn't making any promises for the near future just yet, Rohm says that it'll begin shipping its first custom ICs in the second half of this year, and that the first products using them could start showing up by the end of 2009.

Gateway gives Intel a go with Atom N270-equipped LT2000 netbook

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:48:00 +0000

After giving AMD the first crack, Gateway is issuing its second bona fide netbook with an Intel Inside® sticker instead. The LT2000 is a 10.1-inch machine with a list of specifications that any avid netbook follower could spout off in their sleep. For everyone else, here goes: a 1.6GHz Atom N270 CPU, LED-backlit 1,024 x 600 resolution display, 1GB of DDR2 memory, 160GB 5400RPM hard drive, GMA950 graphics set, a card reader, built-in webcam, twin stereo speakers, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets, three-cell battery and a chassis that tips the scales at 2.62 pounds. Gateway's making these available as we speak for $299.99, with the LT2001u receiving a NightSky Black coating and the LT2021u arriving with a Cherry Red outfit. The full release is after the break.

Light Blue Optics' touch-based laser projector hitting manufacturers in Q4 -- will look nothing like this image

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:47:00 +0000

While the global economic crisis has swept aside a number of early innovators in mobile technology, Light Blue Optics finds itself flush with cash this morning. Having secured $15 million in funding, the UK outfit now plans to have its laser-based pico projection engine to OEMs by the end of the year; a move that should result in a tiny retail projector sometime in the first half of 2010. Why should you care? Well, unlike all those LED-based pico projectors now saturating the market, laser-based projectors offer more vivid colors and the ability to auto-focus that mobile image as it's moved about. Even better, LBO has touch-enabled the system allowing users to interact with the projected display. A second generation engine about the size of a sugar cube will ultimately allow the technology to be embedded in mobile devices like cellphones as we're already seeing with LED-based engines. Since the supplied image above totally misrepresents the first generation device, we've embedded a video of the tech, first published in March, after the break. Skip to the 3-minute mark if you want to avoid the pitch.

Toshiba coating NB200 netbook in silky pink and blue

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:47:00 +0000

The Dynabook UX / NB200 netbook has only been out for a few months now, but already Toshiba's looking to score a few more buyers with two new hues. Originally launched in white, brown and black, Tosh has decided to queue up a pair of fresher, brighter colors for those looking for something a bit different. Now, you can expect the lappie to start making the rounds in "silky pink" and "blue," though we get the feeling these will hit the UK first. Head on down to the read link for a hands-on gallery, but don't expect any exciting new hardware -- it's still the same ole 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive that we're so painfully used to seeing.

webOS SDK bemoaned by iPhone developer as Palm seeks game API engineers

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:46:00 +0000

Palm's webOS has never been a platform to stir the interest of the casual gamer. While there are many advantages to being built around HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, those tools don't excite game developers who need direct access to advanced graphics hardware to render animations smoothly. Unfortunately, as described by Craig A. Hunter, a self proclaimed "pretty dedicated iPhone developer" who's been poking around the WebOS SDK, Palm does not provide the environment to develop serious games or the kind of sophisticated apps users now expect from their handhelds. Chief among his concerns is lack of OpenGL access despite the hardware supporting it. Palm also limits devs to a 4Hz sampling of raw accelerometer data, far short of the 20Hz minimum required for games utilizing tilt control. In his summation:
With such amazing software capabilities flourishing on the iPhone, Palm can't afford to wait a year while they make the transition from web apps to native apps in their SDK. Palm might have had a chance against the 2007 Apple SDK, but not the 2009 version. Not even close. With this limitation, webOS will not be taken seriously by consumers who place importance on games or sophisticated third party apps.
Of course Palm, now with its deep Apple roots isn't blind to the issue. In fact, the kids at PreCentral have uncovered a Palm job listing from June 29th seeking Game Frameworks Engineers who will "design, implement, debug, and optimize frameworks for game development." So while the beta release of the webOS SDK might be limited, we'll key on the word beta for now. Remember, Super Monkey Ball wasn't built in a day -- it took a bit more than 365 of them before being offered after the launch of the original iPhone.

Last Photo of Michael Jackson Before Officially Pronounced Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:18:00 +0000

Michael Jackson died without his nose on! These are the last ever photos of the late Michael Jackson before he was declare dead as he was brought to the hospital. Jackson was officially pronounced dead at the emergency room at the UCLA Medical Center, and there were no signs of foul play or external trauma to his body. Jackson's body was then flown in a Sheriff's Department helicopter from UCLA Medical Center to downtown Los Angeles for examination by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital on Thursday, June 25, implying the pop star was perhaps still alive at that point, EMT workrs are claiming he was not. The medics wanted to pronounce him dead on the scene but Michael's personal doctor refused to let them. Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums are among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sales of over 750 million albums worldwide. Cited as one of the world's most famous men, Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades.

Prototype Nokia phone recharges without wires

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Pardon the cliche, but it's one of the holiest of Holy Grails of technology: Wireless power. And while early lab experiments have been able to "beam" electricity a few feet to power a light bulb, the day when our laptops and cell phones can charge without having to plug them in to a wall socket still seems decades in the future.
Nokia, however, has taken another baby step in that direction with the invention of a cell phone that recharges itself using a unique system: It harvests ambient radio waves from the air, and turns that energy into usable power. Enough, at least, to keep a cell phone from running out of juice.
While "traditional" (if there is such a thing) wireless power systems are specifically designed with a transmitter and receiver in mind, Nokia's system isn't finicky about where it gets its wireless waves. TV, radio, other mobile phone systems -- all of this stuff just bounces around the air and most of it is wasted, absorbed into the environment or scattered into the ether. Nokia picks up all the bits and pieces of these waves and uses the collected electromagnetic energy to create electrical current, then uses that to recharge the phone's battery. A huge range of frequencies can be utilized by the system (there's no other way, really, as the energy in any given wave is infinitesimal). It's the same idea that Tesla was exploring 100 years ago, just on a tiny scale.
Mind you, harvesting ambient electromagnetic energy is never going to offer enough electricity to power your whole house or office, but it just might be enough to keep a cell phone alive and kicking. Currently Nokia is able to harvest all of 5 milliwatts from the air; the goal is to increase that to 20 milliwatts in the short term and 50 milliwatts down the line. That wouldn't be enough to keep the phone alive during an active call, but would be enough to slowly recharge the cell phone battery while it's in standby mode, theoretically offering infinite power -- provided you're not stuck deep underground where radio waves can't penetrate.
Nokia says it hopes to commercialize the technology in three to five years.

P1-W1MAX

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:05:00 +0000

Loud and exciting aren't exactly two words that you'd associate with product launches this year, but then again, neither is news on P1 here at Lowyat.NET. Thankfully though, hell didn't freeze over, nor did the market go crashing down when those buzzwords met at the launching of P1's latest foray into mobile broadband yesterday. Oh, and since we're on the topic of buzzwords, here's one that you'll definitely be seeing it a lot from now on - WiGGY.

Do File Extention

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:58:00 +0000

There are many File Extention DO, and because there are many, and some will say over a million of such association and not all may be listed. Mostly are Web-based Java program run by a Web server, typically mapped to the Struts controller, which the file processes used for generating dynamic Web pages.

I have come across few website, and i personally like this website that my friend introduced it to me recently on File extention DO. Some webinar programs may generate DO files that are formmated as .VCS files, changing the file extention to .VCS may allow these files to be imported into various sheduling programs.

Do check it File Extension DO, as i find it really helpful to me.

Sony scouting a tester for unreleased new product?

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:36:00 +0000

While the rumors of a PSP2 and PSP Phone have calmed down of late, they're never truly dead. According to a fluent Japanese speaker translating a Sony Japan job listing for GameSpot, the company is on the hunt for an "evaluator / assessor for a new game machine." More specifically, that elusive machine is said to be a "part of the PlayStation or PSP series and their peripherals." The listing goes on to state that the lucky winner will "be part of an advisory staff that will play PlayStation series software on this new machine and check its functionality," and they'll also be able to "test game machines not yet released or new functionality of PS3 peripherals before they are released." From there, it's up to your imagination to determine what exactly this could be alluding to, but we're setting our expectations remarkably low as to not be disappointed.

Creative quietly intros MovieWorks HD iPod dock

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:36:00 +0000

Not that Creative hasn't dabbled in the HD iPod dock arena before, but it's been awhile since the company has introduced a new one. Quietly, secretly, the outfit has pushed a fresh one out in the Cambridge Soundworks line, and it's satisfactorily titled MovieWorks HD. The device does about what you'd expect by outputting iPod video and audio (via HDMI) onto one's TV and / or sound system, though Creative points out that this one is the only one with its own Xtreme Fidelity, X-Fi Crystallize and X-Fi CMSS-3D technology -- so yeah, take that for whatever it's worth. Those who detest cables can also snag the optional wireless receiver, but first you'll need to pony up $249.99 for the dock itself.

iriver SPINN gets knocked off as... a digital camera

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:34:00 +0000

We were pretty impressed by the unique design of the iriver SPINN media player when we got our hands on it last year, but that doesn't mean it's a design that'll instantly improve any device, as fully exemplified by this little wonder now making the rounds in China. Apparently dubbed the SWIVEL-CAM, this one's a 5-megapixel shooter that packs an 8x digital zoom (and digital zoom only), along with a 3-inch LCD, 16MB of internal memory, an SD card slot for expansion, and video recording in either 4:3 or 16:9 modes, not to mention the usual e-book reader, voice recorder, and "game player." Intrigued? Then you can get your order in right now for $120.

Trimble rolls out rugged Yuma UMPC

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:33:00 +0000

It's been quite a while since Trimble last popped up on our radar, but the company looks to be making a respectable showing for itself with its new Yuma UMPC, which packs all the ruggedness you'd expect from the company (MIL-STD-810F and IP67 ratings) plus some decent enough specs. That includes a sunlight-readable 7-inch WVGA touchscreen, the requisite 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, a 32GB SSD drive, built-in WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, ExpressCard and SDIO slots for expansion, and not one but two geotag-enabled cameras. No word on a price just yet, but Trimble says it should be shipping by April.

LG shows off solar phone, battery cover at MWC

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:29:00 +0000

Proving (as usual) that it's not too big for a little tit-for-tat with its crosstown rival, LG showed its own concept solar phone at MWC this week to match up with Samsung's Blue Earth. The prototype LG handset doesn't have a name -- takes a whole team of high-priced consultants to christen a product like that, we'd wager -- but we do know that the slider can eke 3 minutes' worth of life out of a 10-minute charge in natural light. The thing looks like it was thrown together in a week, but hey, as long as it works, we know LG can take care of the design side of things by the time production rolls around.

Shopping at ShopWiki

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:59:00 +0000

There are always so many sites that sells online, whether it is some accessories, toys , clothing, food and etc..... but you will never quite exactly find the things you are looking for. But let me share with you what i found about a site called ShopWiki.

I was looking for some baby accessories, and i bumb into this site which has all the things i want. The stroller, bags and car seats that i was looking for were all there in this site. It's not a shopping site, where you can crawl from to search products from there on.

Do look at it, i am sure this site will amaze you. I was searching for a Canon SLR lens, was having problem searching for the right lens that i wanted, for sure you know it's hard to find the correct lens you want, from my search in ShopWiki i was able to find the right lens that i wanted. I seriously encourage you all to have a look at ShopWiki, for me it's better than other web crawlers available.

JVC 5kg 32-inch LCD to be the lightest, greenest at CES

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:09:00 +0000

While Samsung's latest may be slightly narrower, JVC swears its CES prototype will be the lightest 32-inch LCD out, weighing a mere 5kg its perfect for ceiling mounted installations. At 7mm thick they've managed to squeeze 1080p resolution and LED backlighting out of 50% of the materials and less mercury used to produce current designs. A hands on should settle the battle of the thin, expect iPhone comparison pics and contentious weigh ins usually reserved for heavyweight bouts this week in Las Vegas.

Exper Style's colorful 8.9-inch netbook rolls out in Turkey

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:09:00 +0000

We don't have a heck of a lot to go on here, but the above is apparently a new, 8.9-inch widescreen netbook from Exper called the Exper Style. It seems to boast standard netbook internals -- a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and an 8GB SSD-- and apparently runs Windows XP. It also costs about $470, and comes in a nearly endless range of super duper-looking colors. We're not sure about when this one will be available, but hit the read link for a video of this darling in all its glory.

Intel, Adobe plan a chicken in every pot, Flash on every HDTV

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:08:00 +0000

Intel's been talking up the CE 3100 (née Canmore) processor for quite some time now, and with Adobe as its newest partner -- late again Yahoo? -- pushing HD Flash streams to Internet connected TV's and set-top boxes. Frankly, we've already gotten quite used to YouTube and other online video access in the living room, but with the first Flash Lite-enabled system-on-a-chip due by mid-2009 and everyone and their mom watching TV on Hulu this could be the push that takes online video to the TV mainstream. Still, Intel must know that only Flash support so 2008, we'll be expecting more widgets to come.

LG previews two new UK-bound LCDs

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Stuff.tv has the heads up on two more members of LG's 2009 lineup, the LH5000 and LF7700. The LF7700 LCD should fit the bill for anyone needing an alternative to Panasonic's TX-37LZD81, with integrated FreeSat support, while a plasma version will follow later in the year. If 100Hz isn't enough and 480Hz is too much, the LH5000 drops 200Hz TruMotion tech on European heads later this year. No price or size info for either, but hopefully all this new kit will slightly make up for a Netflix-less existence suffered by our people across the Atlantic.

Nextar launching M3 navigator into South America

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:06:00 +0000

Hey, they don't call this thing the International Consumer Electronics Show for nothing, so it shouldn't come as any big surprise to see Nextar unveiling a trio of new navigators that are destined for routes in South America. PNDs for Argentina (M3-AR), Brazil (M3-BR), and Mexico (updated to the M3-MX1) are all scheduled to go on sale in early 2009, with each model packing its respective country maps as well as a multimedia player, 3.5-inch touchscreen, text-to-speech support, oodles of POIs, an integrated antenna, rechargeable Li-ion and a stylus for no good reason good measure. All three will sell for $249.99, and the full release is after the break.

Clickfree Transformer Cable gives any USB hard drive auto backup functionality

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:01:00 +0000

If you're not about to sell off your current stable of external USB hard drives just to experience the wonders of Clickfree backups, you're staring your solution right in the face. Clickfree has just introduced its new Transformer Cable, which is "the first and only USB cable that turns ordinary external hard drives into truly automatic Clickfree backup solutions." Put simply, users just connect their USB HDD to their PC via this here cable, and without any software installations or black magic, the external drive automatically begins to search through, organize and backup your data. The painfully simple cord should be available right now for the mildly reasonable price of $59.99; full release is after the break.

LG unveils new XPION R20, S20 Core 2 Quad desktops

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:06:00 +0000

The details have emerged today on a couple new LG "high performance" desktops in Asia, so if you've been lying awake at night wondering when a new XPION would be hitting the scene, perhaps this evening you'll rest a little easier. The R20 is a slim form factor desktop PC featuring a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 3GB memory, a GeForce 9500GS GPU, and a cooling system "based on Multi Direction Platform Cooling, which also makes it run fairly quietly." Even less is known about the S20, aside from the fact that it's a standard-sized desktop, sports an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66GHz CPU and a GeForce 9600GT GPU. That's all we have at the moment, little dude. So just try and relax -- you'll know more as soon as we do.

LaCie's LaCinema Rugged multimedia HDD now available in US

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:05:00 +0000

LaCie's LaCinema Rugged was initially announced across the pond late last month, yet we rough Americans were left wondering if it would ever see the light of day on US soil. Just in time for the holiday rush, LaCie has indeed announced US pricing and availability for the bulked up multimedia drive, and it's not like you even have to wait around to get your mitts on one. Try right now starting at $199.99, with sizes including 250GB, 320GB and 500GB.

Incase Power Slider for iPhone 3G doubles the juice, lets you sync

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Tam) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:02:00 +0000

Been cursing your iPhone 3G's disappointing battery life? Don't have the heart to saddle the thing with that big ol' Juice Pack? The Power Slider by Incase promises to double your phone's power for up to 5 hours talk time on the 3G network (10 hours on 2G), increase your audio playback time to 26 hours, and increase your video playback time to 7 hours. If that wasn't enough, the iPhone can be left in the case while you sync it -- saving wear and tear on the case and on your phone. While the Slider isn't as svelte as your raw, naked iPhone, at the very least it manages to keep roughly the same shape (even if it does fatten it up quite a bit). No pricing yet, should be available starting November 28.