GE is planning for a low power, long lasting replacement for the traditional 40 watt bulb, which is quite the workhorse throughout the homes of America. The new LED consumes only 9 watts of energy and is rated for 17 years of use (if used four hours every day). You won’t have to sacrifice anything to help save the planet, either, as the bulb gives out the same amount of light as a 40 watt incandescent at around 450 lumens.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, though: “What’s up with the weird design?” While LED lights tend to look a little crazy besides, the claw-like fingers grasping the light above aren’t just for show. LEDs tend to act a bit like spotlights, focusing the majority of the light they give off in one spot. The fingers are part of a design that GE is still refining, which will ultimately help disperse the light given off by the bulb. LEDs also boast the ability to run cooler than other light bulbs, and contain no harmful mercury.

“This is a bulb that can virtually light your kid’s bedroom desk lamp from birth through high school graduation,” GE general manager John Strainic said in a statement. The only hard thing to swallow here is the price, as each light is expected to cost around $40 or $50 when they land on shelves this fall. Sure, that’s a 17-year investment — around $2.50 a year — but what if you drop one?

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Cravendale, a UK-based dairy, has created a new milk jug that keeps you informed of whether or not your milk is still fresh. The technology used in the jug was discovered by the company’s R&D team while researching the bacteria that actually turns milk sour, and is essentially a unique PH sensor that’s built into its base. When sour milk is detected, a small LCD display on the outside of the jug changes from ‘Fresh’ to ‘Sour’ and if that doesn’t get the message across, it also incorporates an “innovative alarm system” so there’s no question you probably shouldn’t drink it.

There’s no word on whether or not Cravendale plans to actually put the jug into production, but it’s hoped that the technology could one day drastically reduce the amount of milk that is thrown away because people just aren’t sure if it’s safe to drink or not.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/30/is-your-milk-fresh/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/droid-does-only-have-256mb-of-storage-for-apps/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/droid-does-only-have-256mb-of-storage-for-apps/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:23:54 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/droid-does-only-have-256mb-of-storage-for-apps/ Motorola’s Droid is a sweet piece of hardware that’s hyped to give the iPhone a run for its money, especially since it’s running the new Android 2.0 OS, and works on the Verizon network in the US. We care about software here at Download Squad though, and there’s some dismaying news about the Droid on that front: it has only 256MB for app storage. Seriously.

The Droid reportedly only packs a 512MB ROM (that’s the built-in memory), of which only half is allocated for apps. There are some iPhone games that couldn’t even fit in that teeny-weeny storage space! But at least it’s expandable, right? Um, nope. Google doesn’t support installing apps to the SD cards that Motorola relies on, so developers are pretty limited in terms of file sizes for their Android 2.0 software.

The Droid may have a solid CPU and GPU for gaming, but games that take full advantage of that hardware are likely to need 100 megabytes or more of storage space. That’s going to make things pretty tough until Android 2.0 comes to a device with a lot more pre-installed flash memory.

UPDATE: While it’s true that the Droid only has 256MB for apps, various resources for the apps (graphics, etc.) CAN be stored on the device’s SD cards. The situation isn’t as bad as the numbers seem to indicate at first.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/droid-does-only-have-256mb-of-storage-for-apps/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/hp-adds-a-sexy-transforming-video-wall-to-its-hq/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/hp-adds-a-sexy-transforming-video-wall-to-its-hq/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:21:16 +0000 Johnny5 http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/25/hp-adds-a-sexy-transforming-video-wall-to-its-hq/

Visitor’s to HP headquarters in Palo Alto will find quite the sight awaiting them: a motorized art installation titled “Manifold,” which is half video wall and half room divider at the turn of a coin.

The divider-side appears to be a 60-foot, wavy blue wall of fiberglass, but wait until it spins around. All of a sudden you’re confronted with one massive high definition display, which was built for the company by a studio called Tronic. Now the only real question is, who has the coolest video wall?

You can see a video of the Manifold here, and be sure to check it out in our gallery below.

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Good news for Xbox 360 owners: those USB ports on the front of your console won’t just be for show anymore. I mean, sure, you can do stuff such as charging your controllers with them or plugging in a wireless adapter, but you mysteriously can’t do what a universal port is supposed to enable you to do. Namely: use a USB memory stick to save your files. Instead, you had to rely on Microsoft’s small, overpriced memory unit. Not anymore!

From Joystiq:

Documentation obtained by Joystiq - and subsequently confirmed with two separate sources - reveals that “USB Mass Storage Device Support on Xbox 360″ will soon be a reality. The document, authored by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, states that due to “increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices, a 2010 Xbox 360 system update” will allow consumers to save and load game data from USB devices. The update is purportedly coming in Spring 2010.

Of course, there’s a catch. The 360 won’t let you just hook up another hard drive. You’ll only be able to configure around 16 GB to work with your system. For more than that, you’ll still be at the mercy of Microsoft’s proprietary 360 hard drives, which are, frankly, a rip off.

Now if only Microsoft would stop charging an arm and a leg for its hard drives, we’d be set!

Joystiq, via CNET

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/20/finally-usb-storage-coming-to-an-xbox-360-near-you/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/10/onlive-launching-june-17th/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/10/onlive-launching-june-17th/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:53:45 +0000 admin http://www.intowit.com/?p=1193

One year after it was unveiled at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, OnLive finally has a launch date. Company CEO Steve Perlman announced today at his keynote at the GamesBeat mini-conference at GDC 2010 that OnLive will go live on June 17. The service will initially be available as an application for the Windows and Mac operating systems, with a micro-console that can be attached directly to HDTVs to arrive later on in the year.

OnLive goes live in the lower 48 stats on June 17.

OnLive’s launch will be limited to the contiguous lower 48 United States, and will cost $14.95 per month. According to the OnLive Blog, the first 25,000 thousand people to sign up will have the service fee waived for three months. (To apply, sign up on the official OnLive site.) Multi-month pricing and other promotions will be announced prior to the service’s debut.

OnLive’s monthly fee does not include the purchase price of games themselves, which can be rented or bought from publishers directly at a lower-than-retail price. Publishers supporting the service with PC titles include Electronic Arts, Take-Two, THQ, Ubisoft, Epic, Atari, Codemasters, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. At the DICE Summit last month, Perlman demonstrated both Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 running on the service with minimal lag.

The June launch will only be start of the OnLive rollout. The service will offer 1080p high-definition gaming at 60 frames per second starting in 2011. An international launch is also planned for an undetermined date.

For those unfamiliar with OnLive, the service aims to offer lag-free PC gaming via the Web. The company claims that since the heavy lifting of graphics processing will be done on the service’s servers, it will offer high-definition gaming on any PC or Mac, regardless of graphics card or CPU speed.

The addition of the micro-console will also allow the service to be streamed directly onto televisions, without the need for a standard game console. Perlman sees this as a positive, since OnLive games will not be tied to increasingly antiquated consoles. He promised that the OnLive servers would receive graphical upgrades every six months in order to provide the latest PC graphics.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/03/10/onlive-launching-june-17th/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/slaves-of-fashion-rejoice-jason-wu-creates-designer-cameras-for-ge/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/slaves-of-fashion-rejoice-jason-wu-creates-designer-cameras-for-ge/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:45:23 +0000 Johnny5 http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/slaves-of-fashion-rejoice-jason-wu-creates-designer-cameras-for-ge/

When top designer Jason Wu isn’t busy dressing Natalie Portman, Drew Barrymore or Michelle Obama, he’s busy designing cameras. Working with General Imaging and sold under the General Electric (GE) brand, Wu’s products will be called “Created by Jason Wu.” Someone needs to extreme makeover that product name.

The simple point-and-shoot digital cameras will be available with either 4GB ($180) or 8GB ($230) of internal memory. Both models are 12 megapixels with retractable USB connections for transferring data and charging. The Jason Wu touch includes elegant wrist straps and other fashion-forward accesories. The metal cameras are available in white, black, gold, red, yellow, blue and green. The leather colors are white, black or grey.

Both models will be for sale initially on HSN. Two questions, though. Would you buy a camera based on its external appearance, and would you buy that camera from the Home Shopping Network?

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/slaves-of-fashion-rejoice-jason-wu-creates-designer-cameras-for-ge/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/lgs-in-cell-multitouch-laptop-displays-get-unveiled-certified-with-windows-7-touch-logo-video/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/lgs-in-cell-multitouch-laptop-displays-get-unveiled-certified-with-windows-7-touch-logo-video/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:41:37 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/23/lgs-in-cell-multitouch-laptop-displays-get-unveiled-certified-with-windows-7-touch-logo-video/

Want evidence for the old saying that there’s always something next to wait around for with technology? We’ve only just reviewed the most bodacious X200 Tablet from Lenovo, yet already there’s a capacitive multitouch display that promises to be that little bit better. LG’s in-cell multitouch technology places the touchy-feely parts inside — rather than as a film on top of — the LCD panel, which we’re told eliminates the loss of picture quality and brightness that regular multitouch results in. It only works with two fingers so far, but LG is still pretty pleased with itself for being the first to gain the Windows 7 Touch Logo sticker with this technology, which was previously limited to cellphone-sized displays. Mass production is set for the second half of this year, and we’ll go ahead and assume that local nemesis Samsung will be using every moment until then to offer its own competing models.

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Facebook’s mobile-optimized site just keeps getting better with time. The UI gets easier to navigate, the features just keep piling up, and it’s a pretty sweet deal for smartphone users. But what if you’re on a limited data plan, a slow network, or a phone that’s … well, not so smart? That’s where Facebook Zero  comes in.

Zero is a lightweight, (mostly) text-only version of the popular social network. It’s designed to make Facebook more accessible, but also as a kind of gateway drug that mobile carriers can offer their users to tempt them into signing up for unlimited data plans and phones with better browsers. Looks like a smart move for both Facebook and whichever mobile partners get on board with Zero.

You can already check it out by pointing any browser to zero.facebook.com. Although you’ll probably get a message saying your carrier doesn’t support it yet, you can play around with it anyway.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/16/facebook-launches-facebook-zero-a-text-only-mobile-site/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/16/volvos-touchscreen-rear-seat-entertainment-system/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/16/volvos-touchscreen-rear-seat-entertainment-system/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:01:40 +0000 admin http://www.intowit.com/?p=1176

Volvo unfortunately isn’t providing any pictures of it just yet, but the automaker has announced a new rear set entertainment system that might just make those actually driving the vehicle a little envious. Dubbed the RSEi-500, the system is based around a touchscreen of unspecified size, and packs a 500GB hard drive for media storage, a DVD player, USB and A/V inputs, and built-in WiFi to let you pair it with a mobile hotspot (or your home network when you’re parked in the garage, for that matter). You’ll also get Windows XP for an OS, although there’s no word on the specs for the computer at the heart of the system (we’d expect it to be a bit too underpowered for a mobile LAN party though). Volvo also isn’t making any firm commitments about which vehicles the system will land in, but Autoblog apparently has it on good authority that it’ll be available on both the Volvo XC60 and XC70 starting this summer.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/16/volvos-touchscreen-rear-seat-entertainment-system/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/03/ovi-maps-downloaded-14-million-times-in-first-week-since-going-free/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/03/ovi-maps-downloaded-14-million-times-in-first-week-since-going-free/#comments Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:40:42 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/03/ovi-maps-downloaded-14-million-times-in-first-week-since-going-free/

People sure do like getting something for nothing. Since Nokia made the big move to stop charging for its walk and drive navigation last week, 1.4 million of us have downloaded the Ovi Maps software — on average, that’s a download a second since launch. The response has been so good that it’s exceeded Nokia’s expectations according to Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia Executive Vice President, with China, Italy, UK, Germany and Spain representing the top 5 downloaders. Hardly a surprise to see consumers responding so favorably to a free offering that makes a device you already have (your smartphone) that much smarter even if it does make your dedicated satnav somewhat mostly redundant.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/02/03/ovi-maps-downloaded-14-million-times-in-first-week-since-going-free/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/28/researchers-aim-to-give-surgeons-3d-maps-directions-of-human-body/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/28/researchers-aim-to-give-surgeons-3d-maps-directions-of-human-body/#comments Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:13:59 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/28/researchers-aim-to-give-surgeons-3d-maps-directions-of-human-body/

While a GPS-style “navigation system” for surgeons may not seem like the best idea to anyone that’s ever been led astray by their dash-mounted co-pilot, it apparently seemed like a good enough idea for a group of researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. While they do stretch the metaphor a bit, the group’s TLEMsafe system does provide surgeons with a complete 3D map of the lower body, which can actually be personalized for each individual patient, giving surgeons a reference and means to practice before any actual surgery takes place — and, yes, even an “automated navigation system” during surgery. Coincidentally, some researchers from the University of Colorado have also just announced that they’ve developed a similar modeling system that would give surgeons 3D views of arteries and let them see any blockages up close. It’s even already been tested on patients, while the University of Twente says its system will be ready for clinical trials in about four years’ time.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/28/researchers-aim-to-give-surgeons-3d-maps-directions-of-human-body/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad-finally/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad-finally/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:43:15 +0000 admin http://www.intowit.com/?p=1163

Apple’s finally unveiled the iPad. It’s a half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds, with a 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display, and it’s running a custom 1GHz Apple “A4″ chip developed by the P.A. Semi team, with a 10-hour battery life and a month of standby. It’ll come in 16, 32, and 64GB sizes, and it’s got the expected connectivity: very little. There’s a 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G, as well as an accelerometer and a compass. There’s also a keyboard dock, which connects underneath in the portrait orientation, support for up to 1024×768 VGA out and 480p composite out through new dock adapter cables, and a camera attachment kit that lets you import photos from your camera over USB or directly through an SD reader. The device is managed by iTunes, just like the iPhone — you sync everything over to your Mac. As expected, it can run iPhone apps — either pixel-for-pixel in a window, or pixel-doubled fullscreen — but developers can also target the new screen size using the updated iPhone OS SDK, which is available today. The 3G version runs on AT&T and comes with new data plans: 250MB for $14.99 and an unlimited plan for $29.99 a month contract-free. Activations are handled on the iPad, so you can activate and cancel whenever you want. Every iPad is unlocked and comes with a GSM “micro-SIM,” so you can use it abroad, but there aren’t any international deals in place right now — Steve says they’ll be back “this summer” with news on that front.

It starts at $499 for 16GB, 32GB for $599, and $699 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829. The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad-finally/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/oh-microsoft-microsoft-was-aware-of-ie-zero-day-flaw-last-september/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/oh-microsoft-microsoft-was-aware-of-ie-zero-day-flaw-last-september/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:27:56 +0000 admin http://www.intowit.com/?p=1160

Microsoft was aware months ago of a critical security vulnerability well before hackers exploited it to breach Google, Adobe and other large U.S. companies but did not patch the hole until Thursday.

The software giant had intended to release a patch for the flaw in February — more than four months after learning about it — but had to speed up that plan and roll it out this week in the wake of news that Google and others had been hacked through the flaw, the world’s largest software maker acknowledged Thursday.

Meron Sellen, a security researcher at BugSec, an Israeli firm, quietly reported the vulnerability to Microsoft in September, according tosecurity firm Kaspersky.

Microsoft confirmed it learned of the so-called “zero-day” flaw months ago.

According to Microsoft, “An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.”

The flaw, which primarily affected IE6, allowed hackers to download malware to employee computers to gain access to intellectual property at Google, as well as information connected to Gmail users. It’s unknown what the hackers obtained from some 33 other companies — hi-tech, financial and defense — that were also targeted in the attack.

Although Microsoft recognized the severity of the flaw at the time Sellen reported it, the company held off releasing a patch so it could be included in a cumulative update for IE planned next month, the company said.

A zero-day flaw is a vulnerability for which there is currently no patch. It’s also a flaw that is generally unknown to the software vendor, which gives hackers who may be aware of the flaw a jump on developing malware to exploit it.

It’s unknown if other companies were breached through the flaw prior to the high-profile hacks disclosed last week. Most companies are unwilling to acknowledge a breach, let alone provide public details about how they were hacked.

Google disclosed last week it discovered in mid-December that it had been hacked in an attack originating from China, about three months after Microsoft learned of the vulnerability. Adobe followed Google, announcing it, too, was hacked. Security firm iDefense said it had information that at least 34 companies were breached in the coordinated attack.

On Thursday, meanwhile, Microsoft released a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer that fixes the flaw, as well as seven other security vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a victim’s computer.

“Our investigation into this responsibly reported vulnerability began early September,” Jerry Bryant, senior security program manager for Microsoft, said in a statement. “As part of this investigation we began working on an update to help protect customers. We became aware of the recent attacks in mid-January and as part of our investigation determined the vulnerability being used in these attacks was similar to the one investigated in September.”

• By Kim Zetter
• January 21, 2010  |

Photo: FastJack/Flickr

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/oh-microsoft-microsoft-was-aware-of-ie-zero-day-flaw-last-september/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/super-talent-adds-sandforce-controller-to-new-teradrive-ssds/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/super-talent-adds-sandforce-controller-to-new-teradrive-ssds/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:19:58 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/24/super-talent-adds-sandforce-controller-to-new-teradrive-ssds/

All we ever hear of that SandForce SF-1500 controller seems to be about how wickedly fast it is, so we’d be remiss not to inform you that it’s found another home — this time inside Super Talent’s new enterprise-class SSD line. Branded as TeraDrive FT2, these drives will range from 50GB to 400GB on MLC NAND flash, or up to 200GB on the even nicer SLC-based stuff. The only hurdle in all this glory is that the hardware seems destined primarily for non-consumer markets, with OEMs getting samples now and expecting volume deliveries by the end of this quarter. Then again, if you really can’t wait for these to filter through in consumer machines, we’re sure OCZ and RunCore will be more than happy to sell you some of their own silly fast SandForce-infused gear.

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The first of June could see the introduction of the Eee Pad tablet if DigiTimes‘ proven ASUS sources are correct. The device has been rumored since early December and now appears to be heading to Computex Taipei for its big reveal with a price set below $500. The tablet was already rumored to feature a multitouch display, Tegra (Tegra 2, presumably) and an OS other than Windows CE. And with a name that sounds suspiciously like a feminine hygiene product for a robot, well, we’ll let you guess at which Google OS the Eee Pad will run.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/20/asus-tegra-powered-eee-padunder-500/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/yamahas-cinema-lovin-ysp-5100-and-ysp-4100-soundbars-ship-this-month-with-breathtaking-price-tags/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/yamahas-cinema-lovin-ysp-5100-and-ysp-4100-soundbars-ship-this-month-with-breathtaking-price-tags/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:42:31 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/yamahas-cinema-lovin-ysp-5100-and-ysp-4100-soundbars-ship-this-month-with-breathtaking-price-tags/

Yamaha’s YSP-5100 and YSP-4100 soundbars (or Digital Sound Projectors, as the sophisticates would say) emerged early last month over in Japan, but then CES happened. In a stellar effort to jog our memories, the company has just announced that both units will be on sale here in the States prior to January’s end, and while each comes with a laundry list of features, the MSRPs are downright shocking. Both bars offer up 40 beam drivers, two woofers and a dedicated amplifier, while the 5100 adds a pair of tweeters. They’re also equipped with HD Audio decoding (TrueHD DTS-HD Master Audio, etc.), 1080p-compatible HDMI sockets (4 in/ 1 out), internal upscaling, a UniVolume feature to maintain a consistent volume level between different sources and an integrated FM tuner. Sounds nice, but the internal yAired wireless technology must be the icing on the cake, as the $2,199.95 (5100) / $1,899.95 (4100) price tags clearly have some sort of premium baked in.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/yamahas-cinema-lovin-ysp-5100-and-ysp-4100-soundbars-ship-this-month-with-breathtaking-price-tags/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/sonys-vaio-znow-with-4-ssds/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/sonys-vaio-znow-with-4-ssds/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:08:41 +0000 admin http://www.intowit.com/?p=1140

Announced at CES with a “late Spring” availability, this Core i7-620M pumpin’ VAIO Z series from Sony will be hitting Europe in late March. The Z’s biggest claim to fame is its ultra-fast Quad SSD, a rather unique Sony innovation that writes data in parallel to four SSDs (up to 256GB total capacity in RAID 0) at speeds up to 6.2x faster than typical 5400 rpm laptop hard disks. Sony also fits the Z with a hybrid graphics solution that combines 1GB of NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with Intel HD graphics allowing you to automatically (or manually) switch between “speed” and “stamina” modes. The remaining specs are 6GB of DDR3 SDRAM, 802.11n WiFi, integrated optical drive, and optional VAIO Everywair 3G mobile broadband module all stuffed into this 13.1-inch laptop with 1920 x 1080 pixel LED backlit display with 210 x 23.8-32.7 x 314mm and 1.43kg footprint.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/19/sonys-vaio-znow-with-4-ssds/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/17/asus-dr-570-e-reader-to-sport-6-inch-oled-color-screen-122-hours-of-battery-life/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/17/asus-dr-570-e-reader-to-sport-6-inch-oled-color-screen-122-hours-of-battery-life/#comments Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:30:58 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/17/asus-dr-570-e-reader-to-sport-6-inch-oled-color-screen-122-hours-of-battery-life/ Well, isn’t this a doozy. ASUS was a bit of a no-show in the e-reader arena at CES, but has dropped some knowledge on the Times Online’s InGear: it’s building a 6-inch color OLED e-reader, which flies in the face of previous rumors about an ASUS e-reader entry. The device, currently dubbed the DR-570 and pictured to the left, will play back Flash video, includes WiFi and 3G, and supposedly can last for 122 hours on one charge under “real world conditions.” It’s supposed to be released by the end of the year, and while from anybody else we’d assume this would cost an arm and a leg, the ASUS brand gives us some hope that we might actually be able to afford one when it hits.

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That lovable little Windows 7-powered Cowon W2 MID has gotten two steps closer to reality this week with a price tag and release date. In order, 599,000 to 739,000KRW (equivalent to $533 and $658 in US, respectively) and Monday, January 25th. Unfortunately, those only apply to Korea only, but if you are thinking of importing, how about we take a look at the full specs list: 4.8-inc WSVGA screen, 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z520, 1GB RAM, 60GB or 80GB HDD, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g WiFi, two USB one miniUSB ports, and a battery promising 10 hours idle / 7 hours video playback. Yeah, we’re not sure about that netbook-caliber processor either, but surely that MID form factor makes up for something… right?

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/17/cowon-w2-specd-priced-and-dated-for-korean-consumers/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/self-assembling-solar-cells-built-using-ancient-wisdom-modern-technology/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/self-assembling-solar-cells-built-using-ancient-wisdom-modern-technology/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:49 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/self-assembling-solar-cells-built-using-ancient-wisdom-modern-technology/ Alright, so self-assembling electronics are hardly new in and of themselves, and nanoscale tech tends to always come with bombastic promises, but you don’t wanna miss how this latest innovation is built. Two professors from the University of Minnesota have successfully demonstrated a self-assembly technique that arranges microscopic electronic elements in their proper order thanks to the absolute enmity that exists between water and oil. By coating elements with a hydrophilic layer on one side and some hypdrophobic goo on the other, they’ve achieved the proper element orientation, and the final step in their work was the insertion of a pre-drilled, pre-soldered sheet, which picks up each element while being slowly drawn out of the liquid non-mixture. The achievement here is in finding the perfect densities of water and oil to make the magic happen, and a working device of 64,000 elements has been shown off — taking only three minutes to put together. If the method’s future proves successful, we’ll all be using electronics built on flexible, plastic, metal, or otherwise unconventional substrates sometime soon.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/self-assembling-solar-cells-built-using-ancient-wisdom-modern-technology/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/lg-displays-19-inch-e-ink-display-plays-loose-with-the-truth/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/lg-displays-19-inch-e-ink-display-plays-loose-with-the-truth/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:48 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/lg-displays-19-inch-e-ink-display-plays-loose-with-the-truth/

Well doesn’t that look impressive? A big ‘ol 19-inch electronic ink display that appears to emulate your father’s newspaper. No doubt, this massive Metal-Foil e-paper prototype from LG Display is impressive at this size (just 0.3-mm thin and 250×400mm — about the same size as a 297×420-mm sheet of A3) and weight (130 grams). Hell, we were already impressed with the flexible 11.5-inch panel from LG Display found in the Skiff Reader. However, like the rigid Skiff Reader, a flexible panel doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing a flexible e-reader. In fact, chances are we won’t after the manufacturer gets through adding a touchscreen overlay, application processor, and radio chipset. Let’s hope for a surprise though, whenever these panels do make it out for mass production… assuming anyone still cares about monochrome E Ink displays by then.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/lg-displays-19-inch-e-ink-display-plays-loose-with-the-truth/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/intel-profits-recover-to-23-billion-in-q4-2009-company-describes-it-as-875-percent-jump/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/intel-profits-recover-to-23-billion-in-q4-2009-company-describes-it-as-875-percent-jump/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:44 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/intel-profits-recover-to-23-billion-in-q4-2009-company-describes-it-as-875-percent-jump/ Yo Intel, when your 2008 fourth quarter was one of the worst you ever recorded, it’s slightly, just slightly, facetious to go trumpeting an 875 percent improvement in your 2009 fortunes. The self-appointed chipmaking rock star has clocked up $10.6 billion in revenues for the last quarter, which filters down to $2.3 billion in pure, unadulterated, mother-loving profit. That’s good and indeed technically nearly nine times what the company achieved in the same period the previous year — we’d just appreciate this to be represented as the recovery it is, rather than some major leap forward in the face of a global financial meltdown. Either way, the Santa Clara checkbook is now well and truly balanced, even if it would’ve looked fatter still but for the small matter of a $1.25 billion settlement reflected in last quarter’s results.

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Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/digitalrise-x9-tablet-has-atom-multitouch-780-price-tag/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/asus-eeetop-et2010pnt-hints-that-nvidia-ion-2-is-geforce-g310/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/asus-eeetop-et2010pnt-hints-that-nvidia-ion-2-is-geforce-g310/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:42:39 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/asus-eeetop-et2010pnt-hints-that-nvidia-ion-2-is-geforce-g310/

We were a little disheartened last week when we didn’t hear a peep out of NVIDIA about Ion 2, but Pierre of Blogee has dug up some dirt on the next-generation graphics. The ASUS Eee PC ET2010PNT’s got a pretty nice looking 20-inch HD multitouch display, but it’s also powered by the new Intel Pine Trail D510 processor and NVIDIA GeForce G310 graphics — which according to the document is being dubbed as Ion 2. Sure, we already knew that the next version of Ion would be compatible with Intel new Atom platform, but we didn’t know that they’d be tossing aside the GeForce 9400M for its G310 graphics card (which is apparently just a rebranded G210). As we thought, it looks like this will be a discrete solution, and it appears (if the benchmarks are accurate) that the G310 will be considerably faster than the current Ion platform. We’re just hoping the 589MHz 16-core CUDA chip has been tweaked for better power efficiency when it comes to cramming it into netbooks. No word on when the ET2010PNT will be available, but given the initial hold up we saw with Ion 1 we aren’t overly optimistic that it will be any time soon.

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Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/15/via-debuts-mserv-2100-server-with-64-bit-nano-cpu/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/14/samsung-busts-out-three-all-in-one-pcs-for-korean-market/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/14/samsung-busts-out-three-all-in-one-pcs-for-korean-market/#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:35:16 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/14/samsung-busts-out-three-all-in-one-pcs-for-korean-market/

We saw plenty of Samsung’s wild conceptual efforts while at CES, but it looks like they’ve not yet completely given up on actual products. Good news for Korea, today — it looks like they’ll be getting three new all-in-one PCs from the company any day now. The MU100 boasts an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and Intel GMA 3150 graphics, while the 20-inch MU200’s got an Intel Pentium T4400 processor and GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM. Finally, the 23-inch, full HD MU250’s got an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, 3GB of RAM, a 500GB of HDD, GeForce G310 graphics with 512MB of VRAM. Both the M200 and the M250 displays are multitouch, and all three systems run Windows 7 Home Premium. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability outside of Korea.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/14/samsung-busts-out-three-all-in-one-pcs-for-korean-market/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/mobile-minute-diy-cradle-from-cardboard-coffee-sleeve/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/mobile-minute-diy-cradle-from-cardboard-coffee-sleeve/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:57:08 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/mobile-minute-diy-cradle-from-cardboard-coffee-sleeve/ It’s amazing how expensive cradles are for mobile devices. Most users realize that there is a big premium being charged for what amounts to a formed piece of plastic, and it makes them less likely to pony up the big bucks for a device that holds their phone. Luckily, this is an area where a little DIY creativity can help.

A Download Squad tipster pointed us to their YouTube video describing how to take a cardboard coffee cup sleeve and with a few careful cuts, turn it into a perfectly serviceable cradle for holding a mobile device in landscape orientation. The video could have been shorter, but it is very well put together. I’ve embedded the video after the jump at the end of this post.

Alternatively, there is an iPhone dock papercraft project that Lifehacker pointed to that is a little more complicated, but results in a cradle that can hold an iPhone in landscape or portrait orientation, and allows you to plug in your iPhone’s sync cable while in portrait orientation.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/mobile-minute-diy-cradle-from-cardboard-coffee-sleeve/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/zune-hd-getting-xvid-smart-dj-ever-more-appealing/ http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/zune-hd-getting-xvid-smart-dj-ever-more-appealing/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 03:54:27 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/zune-hd-getting-xvid-smart-dj-ever-more-appealing/

We know you were put off by the whole Twitter censorship debacle last month, but Microsoft and the Zune HD have moved past that (honest) and they want you to come along as well. They’re enticing everyone to forget about that bone-headed move by, well, throwing everyone a bone and adding in Xvid support, part of full compatablity with MPEG-4 part 2 Advanced Simple Profile. DivX will not be coming out to play, but Smart DJ will be, a feature that isn’t so much new but is newly portable, providing a counterpoint to the iPod’s Genius and, since you can use it to stream content from the Zune Marketplace (when connected via WiFi) it begins to approach the functionality of apps like Pandora or Slacker Radio. Tasty, indeed, though at this point we’re not sure when Microsoft will be throwing us this juicy firmware update.

Share This   ]]> http://www.intowit.com/2010/01/12/zune-hd-getting-xvid-smart-dj-ever-more-appealing/feed/ http://www.intowit.com/2009/11/15/how-powerful-was-the-apollo-11-computer/ http://www.intowit.com/2009/11/15/how-powerful-was-the-apollo-11-computer/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:39:02 +0000 drjekyll http://www.intowit.com/2009/11/15/how-powerful-was-the-apollo-11-computer/ “With all the buzz about the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing I got to thinking, how powerful were the computers that “took us to the Moon?” It turns out, they were nothing short of amazing. If you’ve never had a nerdy bone in your body, feel free to skip this post. But, if you ever laid on your back under the stars and thought about Mercury, Gemini, Apollo or the Space Shuttle, read on and see if you’re as geek-struck as I was researching this.”

Continue reading How powerful was the Apollo 11 computer?

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