Our Planet Today » Technology

LG on the 3D Laptop Bandwagon

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:09:20 +0000

3D is now obviously what every major tech gadget producer is aiming at with everything now coming in 3D. As a user I’m still not totally convinced but I’ve only watched the odd football match in 3D and not got my eyes on a decent 3D movie or game yet. LG recently launched the LG R590 3D laptop in Korea and it’s expected to hit our shores soon.

Powered with Intel’s Core i7 processor and 1GB of NVIDIA graphics goodness this 15.6” laptop ops for the polarising 3D effect and comes bundled with a fetching pair of the cheaper polarised frames. The 3D effect comes from the TriDef software we saw on Lenovo’s recently released IdeaPad Y560d 3D laptop, it converts the 2D images on the go into a 3D image, that when fired through a polarised screen into your Joe 90s the image “comes to life”. The laptop is also capable of HD quality sound and has the option for a Blu-Ray drive.

We have no details on the exact date of release or price but LG have also gone on to say they’re planning a plethora of 3D gadgets, including monitors for PC gaming and even 200” projectors with 3D capabilities.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

LG on the 3D Laptop Bandwagon

Tags: 3D, 3D Laptop, Core i7, LG, LG R590, NVIDIA

LG LD950 : Passive 3DTV launching sooner (2)
LG and Samsung 3DTVs coming in March (0)
Lenovo 3D Laptop (0)
Zune HD with Nvidia Tegra and OLED (1)
Zune HD powered by Tegra (0)

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Teaching kids electronics using wooden blocks

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:14:33 +0000

My friend Paul Marlier has a pretty fun gig at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. His job as a workshop specialist is to come up with new ways to teach science to children (and their parents!). Recently, he took a few minutes to explain his latest prototype, which is a set of wooden blocks with electronics on them that museum visitors can connect up in any way they like. The idea is that they can learn by trying out different things to see what happens. The blocks themselves are nothing more than squares of plywood with different components stuck to them, and finishing nails for binding posts that can be connected to using alligator clips. To run the activity, he sets them out on the table without instructions, and participants are invited to hook things up and see what happens.

Paul explained that he chose this simple design over commercial products because he wanted to emphasize that these are just parts that anyone could find and put together. So far, the blocks have met with great success, with some interesting results. His favorite moment of discovery was when an inquisitive child hooked a motor up to a battery, through a speaker- the result was an amplified version of the noise that the motor makes when running!

He’s certainly not the first person to construct a setup like this, however I like the homebrew way in which it is made. I’m also a huge fan of the radically different switches that all do basically the same thing.

Have you ever built something similar? Have any tips for how to improve the design, or suggestions for cool components to include? There are more photos of the setup in my Flickr stream.

Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » |

LG on the 3D Laptop Bandwagon

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:56:29 +0000

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

LG on the 3D Laptop Bandwagon

Tags: 3D, 3D Laptop, Core i7, LG, LG R590, NVIDIA

LG LD950 : Passive 3DTV launching sooner (2)
LG and Samsung 3DTVs coming in March (0)
Lenovo 3D Laptop (0)
Zune HD with Nvidia Tegra and OLED (1)
Zune HD powered by Tegra (0)

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Canon LEGRIA HF M32 : New Camcorder

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:56:28 +0000

We’ve talked about a few cameras and camcorders recently hoping to get some of our readers more interested in the visual technology beyond what a mobile phone can do, but with so many models and bands out there like anything it’s hard to pick the right one. The new Canon M32 camcorder has just been announced by the camera giants and to be honest it’s just an upgrade of its older M31, on the other hand the M31 was a popular well reviewed, recently released, camcorder so a better version can only be a good thing.

Specs wise it’s not much different. Powered with a DIGIC DV III processor and a HD CMOS sensor this camcorder is capable of 15x optical zoom with image stabilization and the same “Touch and Track” capabilities of it’s little brother. With a 2.7” touchscreen for your viewing pleasure it’s also capable of capturing 3.3MP stills

So what’s the difference????? Storage my friends. Now with double the storage capabilities of the M31 (a total of 64GB to be exact) it also has SDXC memory card support to to further expand. Plenty of room for your home movies and snaps. Out in September there’s no official price but as the M31 retails at around £600 we’d expect the M32 to retail at around that and maybe a slight drop in price for the M31.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

Canon LEGRIA HF M32 : New Camcorder

Tags: Camcorder, Canon, LEGRIA, M32

Sony NEX-VG10E : Camcorder with Lens change (0)

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Sony Cyber-Shot WX5 and TX9

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:51:16 +0000

3D is the rage, clearly. We touched a month or so back about the fantastic NEX-3 and NEX-5 micro four thirds(the mini SLR type) cameras from Sony that had the ability to take 3D panoramic shots which you can view provided you have the necessary TV capability and a pair of “Joe 90” looking glasses. Well now Sony have announced these two compact cameras capable of the same thing.

Firstly the WX5. The step up from the Cyber-shot WX1 this a 12.2MP camera with a wide-angle 24mm lens capable of 5x optical zoom. On the flipside it has a standard 2.8” LCD screen to view. The TX9 on the other hand is the step up from the Cyber-Shot TX7 camera. Again sporting a 24mm lens this has the ability of 4x optical zoom however this camera sports a 3.5” touchscreen on the rear.

What makes these compacts better than their older counterparts is the ability to capture Full 1080p HD video at 60fps and also have the feature what Sony are calling Superior Auto Mode. Basically it’s like Intelligent Auto and will detect all the correct settings for your photo depending on lighting etc. What this does though is on the press of the button, the camera takes multiple pictures(2-6) instantly and puts them all together to reveal a sharper, better quality image. Another feature is the Sweep Multi-Angle mode. You take 15 pictures at different angles and the camera works it’s magic and puts them all into one image. From this the user can tilt the camera into different positions and the image will move to those angles, creating a 3D effect.

Available in September we’re still waiting on Sony pricing them up. Viva la 3D.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

Sony Cyber-Shot WX5 and TX9

Tags: Digital Cameras, Sony, Sony Cyber-Shot, TX9, WX5

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Mamiya RZ33 – 33MP Camera yes 33MP!

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:26:02 +0000

Digital Cameras have come a long way in recent years and their popularity has only got bigger too, probably due to the love of social networking and the fact you’ll struggle to find people who don’t own a computer to save all your images too. Also SLRs seem to be used more by amateur photographers rather than just the pros. Sadly this gargantuan beast of a camera will solely be for the pros or the super rich amateur.

With a massive 33 megapixel CCD sensor and a mind boggling ISO range of 50 – 800, the RZ33 is a photographers dream in getting top drawer images of the highest quality. One cool little feature it has is the ability to take landscape or portrait photos without having to actually turn the camera . It also has a shutter speed of 8 to 1/400 second.

Available in the US now it will set you back $17,990 or around £12,000 to you and me. However there’s no date for a true UK release.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

Mamiya RZ33 – 33MP Camera yes 33MP!

Tags: Digital Cameras, Digital SLR, ISO, Mamiya, RZ33

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Lenovo 3D Laptop

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:57:28 +0000

It wasn’t long ago that Chinese Computer firm Lenovo announced its IdeaPad Y560d, it’s first 3D laptop. Well it’s on sale in the States now. 3D technology is a bit of a blur to me sometimes with active, passive technology etc and now it appears there’s another way that this laptop achieves it. Read on for more.

To start with the basic specs which compared to most laptops aren’t that “basic”. Windows 7 Home Premium, powered with that fantastic Core i7-720QM processor and 4GB of RAM should be able to keep the laptop running smoothly, surely running any 3D content types on it’s 15.6” Full HD will be more strain than your average images. It also packs a 500GB HDD.

Now the 3D bit. It uses what’s known as TriDef 3D. A mixture of polarised glasses like your normal 3D stuff. A layer of special coating on the screen and then a 3D software generator that renders standard content into a 3D affair. This means rather than it being true 3D the combination of the three give it what Lenovo say a “life-like 3D experience.” So basically your standard 2D photo snaps could be made to look 3D by the laptop. Sadly 3D inputs, such as 3D Blu-Ray will not be compatible, but the software will give a good go at your movies to make them look 3D too. How good this looks I don’t know.

Available in the States now at $1499 or £990 in English monies, we don’t have an official UK date or price yet.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

Lenovo 3D Laptop

Tags: 3D, 3D Blu-Ray, Core i7, Ideapad, lenovo, Windows 7, Y560d

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Samsung Q Laptops

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:57:27 +0000

A lot of laptops we’ve seen recently are trying to be as “portable” as possible whether that being the thinnest, the smallest or the less weighty but usually when you steer down that path the goods that are produced are very limited. Samsung has recently issued the Q series laptop. Its not looking for the worlds thinnest laptop title nor are we looking at a gaming powerhouse with a half hour battery life. It’s just a standard sized laptop with a good spec and above all a nice price range.

Coming in a fabulous 3 sizes, 13.3”(Q330), 14”(Q430) and the 15.6”(Q530) are certainly aesthetically pleasing with a brushed metal look. Running Windows 7 you’ll get a choice of Core i3 or Core i5 chipsets to power the lappy. One can also get an HDD up to the size of 640GB. The 13.3” laptop has the option of GeForce 310M GPU whereas the larger two laptops an get GeForce 330M although what is slightly disappointing is the screen resolutions on all will only get to 1366×768. Also with 3 HDMI ports, N-standard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0 it attends to the rest of your needs.

Available this month Samsung say the prices will start at £599.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

Samsung Q Laptops

Tags: Core i3, Core i5, GeForce, Laptops and Notebooks, Samsung, Samsung Q

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

iRiver T8 Music Dongle

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:13:45 +0000

iRiver has been a leader in the mp3 player market since they first began and always stood out from Apple and Creative by having a slightly better imagination department when it came to looks. The new T8 seems to buck the trend however and iRiver are obviously looking at a simplistic player to offer the market with a basic USB dongle shaped player.

Although not quite as small and thin as its market leader the iPod shuffle at least this one has a screen but still keeps it more than small enough for your pocket without being too noticeable. It’ll playback most of your favourite file formats MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, OGG and FLAC, comes in two sizes 2GB and 4GB and its obviously connected by the USB sticking out of it, no need for extra wires etc. Now our info didn’t state what colours it might come in but knowing the way the market is and what iRiver usually produce, expect an array of assorted colours to choose from.

No exact date or price to report however it should be available sooner rather than later.

Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog

iRiver T8 Music Dongle

Tags: Dongle, iriver, MP3/MP4, T8, USB

This article was originally posted on Mighty Gadget

Applied Kinetic Arts: Benjamin Cowden interview

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:49:53 +0000

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Applied Kinetic Arts (A.K.A.) is an artist collective made up of kinetic artists who each bring their own unique aesthetic and skill set to the crew. From their site, “Works incorporating motion, light, sound, and interactivity are represented by the group’s ever expanding member base.” A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed co-founder Nemo Gould as well as Jeremy Mayer . This week we catch up with Benjamin Cowden, who has contributed to the pages of MAKE magazine with his Geared Candleholder project in Volume 21. Through the project, Benjamin teaches us how to make our own gears out of metal plate, a skill he has beautifully mastered, as witnessed through his thought-provoking art.

1. Tell us about yourself. How did you get started making things and who are your inspirations?
In high school I was carving wooden figurines and sewing moccasins out of deer hide. I was committed to utility as well as a high standard of craftsmanship. In college I went abroad and studied traditional crafts in Cameroon, including basketry and knife-making, then I learned jewelry-making in San Jose, Costa Rica. I was always so impressed with people who take raw materials and, with minimal tooling, create simple, elegant items.

Read the Full Story » | More on MAKE » | Comments » |

Our Planet Today » Technology

LG on the 3D Laptop Bandwagon

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