Archive for the ‘Digital News’ Category

Just like a George Orwell flick gone awry, OMDM’s movable E-K50 II LED display is downright frightening. The gargantuan display is basically one with a car, and it comes complete with built-in speakers to really get the message across. We can hear it now: “Please deposit your mobile communication devices here, telepathy is the new unlimited plan.” Yikes. [Source: Aving.net]

Believe it or not, the concept here isn’t revolutionary at all, but Studio 5050 is revising the old huggable shirt idea by infusing an ultra-soft hoodie with a pattern made of “silver conductive fabric.” When two people wearing the embrace-me hoodies, um, embrace one another, energy is transferred and a pattern on the back lights up while a heartbeat sound is emitted. Quite frankly, we can’t imagine this not boosting the hugs-per-day in a typical relationship, but at $480 to $600 per pair, counseling may come out a bit cheaper in the end. [Source: Studio 5050 via OhGizmo]

Digital Camera 101: As manufacturers continue pushing the Megapixel Myth by stuffing more and more pixels onto rapidly shrinking sensors, the outcome is poor performance on top of poorly lit images of increasingly low quality. Now OmniVision, the largest CMOS image sensor manufacturer today, says they’ve solved the pixel size problem though backside illumination (BSI) technology. In essence, BSI helps maximize photon collection by circumventing obstructive metal and dielectric layers on the top-side of the sensor die. The result is improved light absorption, thinner overall camera modules, and increased sensitivity and F stops with reduced crosstalk. However, as EETimes’ crack staff of Electrical Engineering super-nerds point out, BSI is not a new technology. In fact, several manufacturers lay claim to BSI patents. However, OmniVision seems to be the first to take the tech to mass production for consumers. To prove it, they’ll release an 8 megapixel OmniBSI CameraChip sensor brimming with the new tech for sample in June. Couple it with a decent cameraphone lens and image processing circuitry and we might be in for a treat.

[Via EETimes]

Just in case you felt there wasn’t quite enough screen real estate on the ultra-sleek V8, RAmos is giving the display even more attention on the Blue Magic T8. The player features a 4.3-inch display, 10-millimeter thick enclosure, built-in FM radio tuner and the potential to play nice with a not-yet-developed dock that would enable video output. Beyond that, details are freakishly scarce, so it looks like you’ll have to put away your excitement for the time being.

[Via PMPToday]

There you have it, Sonos’ reputed ZP120 zoneplayer mounting its chubby ZP100 Appalachian cuz. The new amplified zoneplayer adds 802.11n to the mix while ditching the analog outs. Also rumored is an un-amplified, 802.11n ZP90 to replace the ZP80. When? We have no idea but you’ll know when we do. Backside front after the break.

While we wait, and wait… and wait for manufactures to perfect long-lasting fuel cells, Apple and others are pursuing at least one other approach: solar augmentation. In a patent application dated April 24, 2008 and titled “Solar cells on portable devices” attributed to a number of Apple employees, Apple reveals possible plans to integrate solar cells into devices such as iPods and MacBooks. The application describes a scenario where, “Solar cells are typically stacked with other layers made of transparent or semi-transparent materials… Some of these layers may be used for display or input purposes, and some layers may be coated with various materials or they may be etched with product logos or other patterns.” In other words, Apple is looking to cover the entire device, including the transparent display, with a layer of solar cells — the latter approach already patented by Motorola. While the efficiency of solar cells and existing manufacturing techniques call into question the immediate viability of such an approach, it’s intriguing nonetheless as a means to offset any lost battery life on the move to say, 3G.

Remember when Samsung was pumping out cameraphones with increasingly ridiculous megapixel counts? At the moment, phones top-out at about 5 megapixels. Until this, the 8 megapixel C280 with 3x optical zoom and claimed 1600 ISO support (right) from the previously unheard of K-Touch. Ironically, it might very well be using a CMOS sensor from Samsung. Perhaps more interesting though is the fact that it’ll be using Canon’s own DIGIC III image processing when it hits the Chinese market.

The weak economy here in the U.S. is having all sorts of strange effects on retail, and, in particular, the consumer electronics market. Predictably, sales of non-essential items are down across the board. Oddly though, the uncertain financial outlook has proven to be a boon for traditional CRT television makers. Old school tube TVs overtook plasma as the second best selling television technology to LCD in the first quarter of this year, despite the fact that many major retailers have stopped carrying tube sets and most big name electronics companies have ceased manufacturing them.

This sudden turn of events has benefited budget-minded outlets like Wal-Mart and lower-end electronics companies such as RCA, which netted 46 percent of the tube television market. Worldwide CRTs continue to outsell both LCDs and plasmas, with LCDs pulling in just behind tubes with 21.1 million units sold in the first quarter of 2008 while tube sets sold 22.1 million. [Source: NY Times]