Panasonic is saying that they’re going to start mass-manufacturing their 150-inch 2,106 x 4,096 display, which obviously is not directed at consumers unless a) they’ve their own Quad-HD video material to play and b) they’ve their own nuclear power plant, since this beast eats 1,500 watts, which in the Michael Phelps scale is 243 pizzas, two roasted pigs stuffed with chicken breasts, five chili burritos and two dozen plates of pasta with veal meatballs. Hmmm. Meatballs. [Engadget]
Ah, William Lawson of Brooklyn, New York, you’re a smart guy. I can only hope that your balloon trick shows up in future iterations of the Splinter Cell series. I’m getting fatigued of shooting the cameras out with a pistol. It wastes bullets, it’s hazardous, and it’s impractical for Sam Fisher to have to […]
Ah, William Lawson of Brooklyn, New York, you are a smart guy. I have the ability to only hope that your balloon trick shows up in future iterations of the Splinter Cell series. I’m getting tired of shooting the cameras out with a pistol. It wastes bullets, it’s dangerous, and it’s impractical for Sam Fisher to have to poke his head out just to aim at a target he could very easily disable with a little bit of static electricity. Perhaps he can begin to carry a bag of balloons, string, and a huge helium tank with him wherever he goes.
Always a microcosm of the greater world, the App Store this week focused on two things us Americans have been thinking about a lot recently—the upcoming election, and tossing back a few this Labor Day weekend. And with this week’s apps, there’s no reason for your iPhone to be left out.
The political applications, sadly, tend to swing pretty far to the side of app absurdity:
Obama/McCain Inauguration Countdown: Tick down the days to January 20 for the candidate of your choice, complete with rotating quotations and pics. Also useful for reminding yourself that the one and a half years of inane campaign coverage on Television will soon be over. Sadly, they’re a buck.
BAC Calc: Ahh, but here’s some utility for the weekend. A blood-alcohol-level calculator to quantify exactly how hammered you’ve gotten while getting riled up by McCain and Obama quotes with your buddies. Just enter your consumption, alochol volume of your booze, your weight and your gender. But remember children, the law won’t care if your iPhone states you’re under the limit once you find yourself in the drunk tank. Free
Beer Bounce: And once all your friends go home on Monday night, there’s no sense in stopping the party when you’ve got Beer Bounce, the first virtual quarters game for the iPhone. As you progress through the rounds, difficulty is increased by adding blurriness and staggering to the game. Nice touch! $3
Blofeld: While it has nothing to do with anything, really, Bond fans will have to love the concept behind Blofeld. It places an image of a feline pelt on your phone, and purrs when you stroke it, evil genius style. I can’t believe this costs a dollar, but again, hats off to the concept, especially the icon.
Apple’s Security Update 2008-005 repairs that DNS glitch that has been freaking people out for the past few weeks. As such, it’s advised that you stop whatever you’re doing and apply the patch right now. Some had accused Apple of dragging its feet in applying the patch, but now that it’s here, expert plenty of […]
Apple’s Security Update 2008-005 fixes that DNS glitch that has been freaking people out for the past few weeks. As such, it’s advised that you stop whatever you’re doing and apply the patch right now.
Some had accused Apple of dragging its feet in applying the patch, but now that it’s here, expert plenty of “what took Apple so long?” stories.
Bottom line, the hole has been shut. Apply the patch, or feel the Internet’s wrath. Maybe.
Or use OpenDNS. That’s fine way to avoid the DNS glitch, too.
From the guys who created the Han Solo Carbonite Desk, here comes the Galactic Emperor Throne. It’s a limited edition of five units, which means it’s almost expensive as the Carbonite Desk itself.
The chair will set you back a whopping $5,000, but that’s the price you pay to rule the Galaxy and say classic, unforgettable phrases like “Now witness the power of this fully armed and operational PowerPoint presentation!”, “Everything is proceeding as I’ve foreseen,” or “Anakin, could you bring my slippers and today’s paper, please?”
Carbonite Desk leads to a Galactic Throne
Tom Spina Designs follows up their incredibly popular “Carbonite Desk” with the “Galactic Throne”, a very special themed chair, originally privately commissioned and now available as an extremely limited edition piece of furniture art. In early 2008, the company’s very special “Carbonite Desk” reached cult status through media coverage on television, in magazines and world wide web blogs, generating millions of views on the Tom Spina Designs website. After a desk like that, no ordinary task chair would do!
Based on the client’s requests and interests, artists Tom Spina and Richard Riley drew inspiration from elements of Captain Kirk’s bridge chair from Star Trek and the Emperor’s throne from the Star Wars films and created a sleek new design. The result is an impressive functional art piece that’s well over four feet tall and crafted in custom welded steel. It features an adjustable pedestal and is made to appear to “float” on 8 hidden wheels. The custom upholstery is real leather and the finish is powder-coated gloss black for a classy and durable surface.
Tom Spina Designs is a NY-based company which accepts commissions to create highly unique sculpture, furniture and artistic elements for home theaters, offices, trade shows and more. They also create custom displays and meticulously restore unique and often fragile original movie props. Their past clients include businesses, themed attractions and a wide range of private collectors.
Those interested in seeing pics and learning more about the artists and their latest projects can visit the company site, www.TomSpinaDesigns.com
The Galactic Throne is now available in a limited edition of 5 furniture art pieces and potential clients can anticipate to pay approximately $5000 to commission one. Each will be made to order and can be personalized to the client’s preference of color, upholstery and add-on options.
For More Information contact: Tom Spina TomSpina@mac.com
Apple’s Security Update 2008-005 fixes that DNS glitch that has been freaking people out for the past few weeks. As such, it’s advised that you stop whatever you’re doing and apply the patch right now. Some had accused Apple of dragging its feet in applying the patch, but now that it’s here, expert plenty of […]
Apple’s Security Update 2008-005 repairs that DNS glitch that has been freaking people out for the past few weeks. As such, it’s advised that you stop whatever you’re doing and apply the patch right now.
Some had accused Apple of dragging its feet in applying the patch, but now that it’s here, expert plenty of “what took Apple so long?” stories.
Bottom line, the hole has been shut. Apply the patch, or feel the Internet’s wrath. Maybe.
Or use OpenDNS. That’s fine way to avoid the DNS glitch, too.
Garmin’sdropping four new models to the higher-end 75 lineup with the nüvi 755T, 765T, 775T and the 785T. All models will include lifetime traffic alerts via NAVTEQ Traffic and Bluetooth connectivity, but the updated 75 series will include the most exciting new features: a 4.3″ touchscreen, a 3-D transparent view of buildings, and lane assist. Garmin is also dropping their budget friendly 25 series with three new models: the nüvi 265T, 265WT and 275T. I’d probably opt for the high end line with lane recommendations, but take the 765T with Bluetooth and skip the fancier models. Parsing Garmin’s massive lineup is always challenging, but the differences are detailed here:
The nuvi 765T adds Bluetooth(R) wireless technology for hands-free calling and supports a powerful advanced audio amplifier for a stereo Bluetooth connection. For transatlantic travel, nuvi 775T adds mapping of North America and Europe. The nuvi 785T features an MSN Direct receiver with trial subscription that includes updated information about traffic conditions, fuel prices, weather reports, movie listings, headline news, stock quotes and local events.
The nuvi 265T and 265WT will be available with preloaded comprehensive coverage of North America. For transatlantic travel, the nuvi 275T comes standard with mapping for North America and Europe. These nuvis are available in vibrant 4.3″ or 3.5″ screens that display shaded digital elevation mapping. All models will announce street names in their voice prompts, advising drivers to “Turn right on Elm Street,” rather than “Turn right in 500 feet.”
All seven units are expected to be released in October at prices ranging between $300 and $700 for specific models.
Aug 27, 2008 07:00
Garmin(R) Expands Inexpensive nuvi(R) 25 Series, Offering Hands-Free Calling and Lifetime Traffic Alerts OLATHE, Kan. —(Business Wire)— Aug. 27, 2008 Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the next evolution of the popular nuvi 25 series, adding top-of-the-line features to this family of affordable navigators. The nuvi 265T, 265WT and 275T enhance upon their 25-series predecessors with Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling and provide free traffic alerts.
“Many customers want a simple-to-use, low-cost personal navigator, but find themselves in need of premium add-ons along the way,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “These devices add two of the most popular premium features - traffic alerts and hands-free calling - to an inexpensive, yet powerful navigator.”
In addition to features offered by other members of the nuvi 25 family, these new navigators boast lifetime traffic alerts from NAVTEQ Traffic that allow drivers to steer clear of traffic accidents, road closures and construction. These devices come standard with a traffic receiver that’ll provide alerts in the coverage areas, and no subscription fee is required. Thanks to Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, these nuvis make it possible for drivers to make and receive calls using the unit’s built-in microphone and speaker. For says which prohibit the use of handheld cell phones while driving, the Bluetooth hands-free option is ideal. With the patented auto time zone feature, these nuvis will automatically adjust your time zone while navigating. All nuvis in the 25 series include Garmin’s new HotFix(TM) feature which automatically calculates and stores critical satellite information for fast satellite reception. For the ultimate in awareness, these compact nuvis will also display the speed limit for major roadways.
The nuvi 265T and 265WT will be available with preloaded comprehensive coverage of North America. For transatlantic travel, the nuvi 275T comes standard with mapping for North America and Europe. These nuvis are available in vibrant 4.3″ or 3.5″ screens that display shaded digital elevation mapping. All models will announce street names in their voice prompts, advising drivers to “Turn right on Elm Street,” rather than “Turn right in 500 feet.”
Using Garmin’s unique Web site - Garmin Connect Photos - users can choose from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio pic sharing community and download them to the nuvi, for a photo-rich navigation guide. With Garmin’s “Where Am I?” feature, nuvi is always aware of a driver’s surroundings. At any time, drivers can look up their exact location including nearest hospitals, police stations, fuel stations, nearest address and intersection.
Aug 27, 2008 07:00
Garmin(R) Introduces nuvi(R) 75 Series with Lane Assist, Giving Drivers a Clear Picture of the Road Ahead OLATHE, Kan. —(Business Wire)— Aug. 27, 2008 Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, this day announced the next evolution of the nuvi 700 series, adding state-of-the-art technology to this popular line of advanced navigators. With lane assist, the nuvi 75 series provides drivers with a clear illustration of what lies ahead on their route.
“Garmin’s nuvi 75 series uses lane assist to make navigation clearer and easier than ever before,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “The lane assist view takes the guesswork out of driving through a busy intersection or an unfamiliar city. Drivers will no longer have to speculate which turn lane to be in, or what lane leads to which exit - that’s nuvi’s job.”
This new and improved series gives clear guidance on a 4.3″ touchscreen that details upcoming maneuvers and specific driving directions, including road sign detail and arrows indicating the proper lane for navigation. In some areas, a 3-D transparent view of buildings appears, giving drivers a more realistic depiction of their location. The nuvi 75 series also features accelerated map-drawing and routing abilities, and makes screen zooming even smoother than before. For faster satellite prediction, nuvi 75 has Garmin’s HotFix(TM) feature which automatically calculates and stores critical satellite information.
The nuvi 755T, 765T and 775T will come standard with a traffic receiver that provides lifetime traffic alerts in coverage areas from NAVTEQ Traffic. The cost of the traffic receiver is included with the purchase of these devices - no subscription fee is required. The nuvi 765T adds Bluetooth(R) wireless technology for hands-free calling and supports a powerful advanced audio amplifier for a stereo Bluetooth connection. For transatlantic travel, nuvi 775T adds mapping of North America and Europe. The nuvi 785T features an MSN Direct receiver with trial subscription that includes updated information about traffic conditions, fuel prices, weather reports, movie listings, headline news, stock quotes and local events. For more information on MSN Direct services and coverage areas, visit http://garmin.msndirect.com. To give motorists the highest degree of awareness, this series of advanced navigators also displays speed limits for major roadways.
In addition, each nuvi 75 also comes standard with the popular “Where Am I?” feature, enabling drivers to look up their exact location including nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations at any time. Drivers can also associate their favorite images with saved locations using Garmin’s own unique Web site - Garmin Connect Photos - where users can select from millions of geo-located photos provided by Google’s Panoramio pic sharing community.
From the moment Nicholas Negroponte showed off his $100 laptop concept at the Davos world economic summit in January 2005, it was as if the tech world’s supermoguls were glowering down on him in judgment. Over the course of the year, Craig Barrett, Michael Dell, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs weighed in, privately declining support and in some cases publicly disparaging the idea.
The naysayers had a point. The mockup Negroponte was toting around that winter was one ugly baby. It aimed to reach the $100 price tag by having a slower processor, a skinnier internal drive, a smaller body and let’s not forget that tent-like rear-projection screen that made it look like the conceptual heir to the pop-top VW Vanagon camper. But after three and a half years, Negroponte’s crazy idea hasn’t only produced the XO, a real laptop co-developed and manufactured by the world’s largest notebook maker, it’s also become a product most of Negroponte’s opponents are now replicating.
After interviewing Negroponte himself, along with his original CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, designer Yves Behar, advanced technologies VP Michail Bletsas and others, we have the ability to explain how this proposed global humanitarian effort might in fact be more successful as a revolution in hardware design, and how OLPC will continue to influence the hardware you purchase, even if you never score an actual XO.
Negroponte—generally Nicholas, occasionally Nick—is a man who is used to coming up with ideas that people laugh at, only to prove them wrong later. He established the not-for-profit One Laptop Per Child organization after years of exploring the more general subject of providing computers for the youth in the world’s poorest countries, and he’s at the center of any attention that OLPC receives. He has billionaires and heads-of-state on speed dial, and likes to make uncommon requests of them. (He might have lacked support from tech’s most powerful, but Negroponte’s venture had backing from Rupert Murdoch, AMD’s Hector Ruiz and others from its inception.)
Sometime in the early spring of 2004, the Negropontes invited Nicholas’ MIT colleague Michail Bletsas and his wife over for a dinner of wild turkey—the infrequently eaten northeastern bird, that is, and not the whisky. Shortly after burning Bletsas with the molten sugary part of a freshly baked apple pie during the dessert course, Negroponte announced a secret that had been burning inside him for months: He had dreamed up an ultra-cheap laptop for children, and he planned to spend the rest of his life working on it.
To say Negroponte is arrogant is to state the Pope has a pointy hat: He founded MIT’s Media Lab, for God’s sake. He’s one of the only people on earth who could have made the XO. But the bigger mission of the XO, to become a stimulant of learning and creativity for the world’s poorest children before they necessarily have access to electricity and internet connectivity—let alone clean drinking water—that idea has yet to prove itself, and possibly never will.
White Box Syndrome Negroponte was convinced that you couldn’t just go out and purchase the kind of laptop he had in mind. Prices are always trending downward, but manufacturers are always countering that by upping specs and adding features. Profit margins remain super-tight, achieved only by reducing costs at the rate of 20% each year.
“There are two ways to make an affordable laptop. One way is to take cheap components, cheap labor, cheap design and make a cheap laptop,” states Negroponte. “We decided to do the opposite: Cool design and very advanced manufacturing techniques where you pour raw materials in one end, and out come iPods out the other end. That approach is normally not the one taken in the developing world.” Typically in poor rural areas, he says, “you see very affordable ‘white boxes’ that are near garbage, both in terms of design and manufacturing.”
Negroponte says sending our used PCs to poor countries is the computing equivalent of sending old polluting, gas-hungry cars. Needless to say, personal companies and automakers alike don’t generally spend money to design an intentionally cheap product geared for third-world deployment that makes use of the latest engineering breakthroughs and consists of green, easily recycled materials.
The Display’s the Thing The display is the costliest element in a laptop, especially one targeted at $100, so Negroponte knew it needed to be the priority. One of his earliest confidantes (and OLPC board members) was Joseph Jacobson, the man behind E-Ink, so it’s no surprise that the highly efficient display tech was an early contender. It failed on three orders, however: Its price never came down—one early target was apparently $12 per screen, eventually revised up to $35—its refresh rate was, and is, too slow for a graphic user interface and color, a user stipulation for this dare-to-be-creative contraption, just didn’t look right.Another substitute display option quickly failed as well. In 2004, microdisplay chips like TI’s DLP were heralded as the Next Large Thing in rear-projection TV technology, a low-cost, lightweight competitor to plasma and LCD. Intel had just invested a lot of money in a DLP competitor called liquid crystal on silicon, and Negroponte wanted to use that for a cheap pop-up rear-projection screen (shown above). Nearly as soon as it was announced, however, the LCOS initiative crashed and burned in a spectacular failure, though not before the LCOS-based $100-laptop prototype was mocked up. (CE companies have discontinued most microdisplay Television lines, though they still use LCOS in many high-performance home-theater projectors.)
Team Up The best thing to come out of the failed Intel mindmeld was Mary Lou Jepsen. She had spent a lot of time working on screens, but had never before designed a laptop. In 2005, Negroponte named her CTO and charged her with developing the screen—a new kind of LCD—around which the processor, keyboard, memory and network would wrap.
At that same time, Negroponte hunted for other ninjas of computer engineering to finish his dream team.
Walter Bender, one of Negroponte’s closest MIT collaborators, signed on as president of OLPC, concentrating on the software side and its innovative Sugar user interface. (Owing mainly to its own all-too-dramatic arc, we do not delve into the software history at length in this story.) Mark Foster, a former VP of Apple’s notebook division, co-captained the hardware initiative; Bletsas managed the innovative wireless network; and others—Mitch Bradley, John Watlington, Richard Smith and Ivan Krstic to name just a few more—all joined in to work countless hours on this radical, ambitious project.
As the technical plan was being hashed out, Negroponte hired industrial designers—first, a firm called Design Continuum, and then, a bit later, Yves Behar—in order to shape both the brand and the aesthetic of the XO itself.
The US team was set; now all Negroponte had to do was find a company willing to manufacture the sucker. It seems it’s one thing to persuade a bunch of wild-eyed technologists that it’s time for them to try to change the world, but another thing altogether to get corporations, especially ones with stockholders, to drop everything for a charity.
Though the number of advanced degrees gathered together could fill a phonebook, the amount of ego pressure building up in OLPC HQ proved, eventually, enough to blow the roof off.
One Factory, Many Brands “Early on,” Jepsen recalls, “I tried to get one of the largest laptop brands to sponsor the program. They said no. They looked at my design and stated, ‘This design would require at least 15 miracles and we’ve this rule around here, one miracle per product. We’re going to pass, but keep in touch!’ It was a very nice sort of rejection.” She adds, “They were dead right, one miracle per product was a pretty good rule for a product. But this wasn’t a product, it was a global humanitarian effort.”
This day, a handful of companies in China and Taiwan make pretty much everything. One of the names that frequently pops is Quanta, attributed (often unofficially) with building flagship products for Apple, Dell and others. It makes around 40 million laptops per year, at profits of around $20 per machine.
On one hand, this promotes a sort of malaise. Cookie-cutter manufacturing makes sense to Quanta, since less retooling and larger manufacturing lines spell more profit. But these contract manufacturers increasingly design the products they make for others, at least as far as the engineering goes. As one of the world’s hottest melting pots for new ideas, Quanta’s design center was the perfect place to take a radical new idea for a laptop. Negroponte knew they might be a little booked, but he’d a plan.
Made in Taiwan Barry Lam is as successful a soothsayer as you can be in modern times. In the late 1980s, he parlayed a small fortune he made from the personal-calculator boom for a venture in the burgeoning industry of laptop computers. This day, he is easily among the 500 richest people in the world, and Quanta, his baby, is the largest laptop manufacturer in the world.
When Quanta announced in fall 2005 that it had won the contract to build Negroponte’s $100 laptop, the phrasing seemed a tiny strange. Quanta had, according to some reports, turned down the project twice before concurring. Yet the Taipei Times reported that it was OLPC who said “yes” to Quanta: “The decision was made yesterday after the OLPC’s board of directors reviewed bids from several possible manufacturing companies,” naming contract manufacturers Compal, Inventec and Wistron. How could a total charity case have been at the center of a corporate bidding war?
The company went on to reassure stockholders that this wasn’t a money-losing endeavor. The company stated it would benefit by “reinventing cost-saving production” through R&D collaboration with AMD and other companies—a clear indicator of losses in the immediate future.
Back at OLPC headquarters, the story makes a tiny more sense. Though Lam has yet to turn 60—a mere child by Asian business-mogul standards—he was apparently seeking something more spiritually rewarding than just being ideal laptop maker ten years running, and something about the proposal finally sunk in. “Lam was concerned with his legacy,” states Bletsas. “He liked the product, and he didn’t care about the financial aspects as much as he cared about the humanitarian cause.”
Negroponte visited him in Taipei; they probably met up in the art gallery Lam set up on the top floor of his corporate headquarters, surrounded by magnificent works of Asian art. After a polite discussion, the billionaire-to-visionary tete-a-tete apparently concluded as follows: “He said, ‘I don’t care if I’m gonna get my money’s worth out of it.’ It took a strong founder”—that is, someone who could make an unpopular decision and not catch flak for it—”but he purchased on the idea, and said, ‘Let’s work out the details.’”
It turned out to be a shrewd business decision by Lam. The question—one that may never get a straight answer—is whether or not he knew it at the time.
So you’ve found a way to make VoIP calls on American Airlines flights with Gogo by using some Flash-based service? Good for you, really, but anyone saying that they’ve hacked the system needs to reassess the meaning of the term. Stumbling upon an app that works isn’t hacking anything. It’s called being lucky. I […]
So you’ve found a way to make VoIP calls on American Airlines flights with Gogo by using some Flash-based service? Good for you, really, but anyone saying that they’ve hacked the system needs to reassess the meaning of the term. Stumbling upon an app that works is not hacking anything. It’s called being lucky. I honestly didn’t care enough to try out all the possible VoIP apps that are out there because I didn’t feel the urgency to chat with anyone. Nor did I want to bother other passengers. I despise loud talkers wherever I’m and if I have to be stuck on a plane for any length of time with some jackass yapping away, I sure as hell will let them know I don’t enjoy it.
Aircell released this statement regarding the situation because everyone and their mom is all aflutter about it in the tech space of the Interwebs.
It is against American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service to use VoIP. Aircell has multiple protocols and practices in place to prevent the use of VoIP. Obviously, it is extremely difficult to cease each instance of VoIP but Aircell is monitoring and working constantly to enforce American’s policy and Gogo’s terms of service.
This is American Airline’s policy not to allow VoIP and Aircell does their best to abide by those rules, which is why it’s stated in the agreement you check off on when purchasing the service. If you violate those terms then you should have your service cut off, but Aircell doesn’t plan on doing that. They want you to enjoy the service with one caveat. It might be something they should seriously consider for those striving to be the asshole on the plane, though. Get drunk. Snore. Just don’t babytalk with your signif, tell your frat bro how hot the chick you banged last night was (this goes both ways, ladies), yell at your intern/co-workers or read your kid a bedtime story. Need to converse with someone that bad, do you? Then try emailing or IM. Emoticons can go a long way. You’re making an otherwise great service a real stinker in the minds of everyone else, jerk.
Oh, and what’s this about airlines trying to protect revenue streams from those Airphones? Yeah, those Airphones have been useless for years. Aircell swooped the spectrum that Verizon used for the service in 2006 in an FCC auction. They’re relics of the past and indicators that the plane you’re currently occupying is very old.
So, VoIP on Aircell’s Gogo service. Yeah, you can do it, but you should really get over it and just watch your damned reruns on Hulu or fancast and STFU.
Let me count the ways. Oh, there’s like a million. Admittedly, the only ones I really remember are Football, Bowling, and possibly Road Race, even though I think that one belonged to my friend Reid. OhGizmo remembers Hang-On, also a classic. Back in the day, games were easy enough that it these handhelds actually provided valuable gameplay, […]
Back in the day, games were simple enough that it these handhelds actually provided valuable gameplay, even though as Gameboys and Playstations saturated the market, dedicated LCD handhelds became less feasible. One questions, for instance, the suitability of the platform for Symphony of the Night and Duke Nukem 3D, even though that last one does look awesome. Now readers, I know you’ve a few of these sitting around in a box of your stuff in your parents’ basement (or is it just me?), and I think now is as good a time as any to go dust ‘em off, find a couple AAs, and lay into some beepy goodness.
Panasonic is saying that they’re going to start mass-manufacturing their 150-inch 2,106 x 4,096 display, which obviously is not directed at consumers unless a) they’ve their own Quad-HD video material to play and b) they’ve their own nuclear power plant, since this beast eats 1,500 watts, which in the Michael Phelps scale is 243 pizzas, two roasted pigs stuffed with chicken breasts, five chili burritos and two dozen plates of pasta with veal meatballs. Hmmm. Meatballs. [Engadget]
Always a microcosm of the greater world, the App Store this week focused on two things us Americans have been thinking about a lot recently—the upcoming election, and tossing back a few this Labor Day weekend. And with this week’s apps, there’s no reason for your iPhone to be left out.
From the guys who created the 
Garmin’sdropping four new models to the higher-end 75 lineup with the nüvi 755T, 765T, 775T and the 785T. All models will include lifetime traffic alerts via NAVTEQ Traffic and Bluetooth connectivity, but the updated 75 series will include the most exciting new features: a 4.3″ touchscreen, a 3-D transparent view of buildings, and lane assist. Garmin is also dropping their budget friendly 25 series with three new models: the nüvi 265T, 265WT and 275T. I’d probably opt for the high end line with lane recommendations, but take the 765T with Bluetooth and skip the fancier models. Parsing Garmin’s massive lineup is always challenging, but the differences are detailed here:
Negroponte—generally Nicholas, occasionally Nick—is a man who is used to coming up with ideas that people laugh at, only to prove them wrong later. He established the not-for-profit One Laptop Per Child organization after years of exploring the more general subject of providing computers for the youth in the world’s poorest countries, and he’s at the center of any attention that OLPC receives. He has billionaires and heads-of-state on speed dial, and likes to make uncommon requests of them. (He might have lacked support from tech’s most powerful, but Negroponte’s venture had backing from Rupert Murdoch, AMD’s Hector Ruiz and others from its inception.)
Another substitute display option quickly failed as well. In 2004, microdisplay chips like TI’s DLP were heralded as the Next Large Thing in rear-projection TV technology, a low-cost, lightweight competitor to plasma and LCD. Intel had just invested a lot of money in a DLP competitor called liquid crystal on silicon, and Negroponte wanted to use that for a cheap pop-up rear-projection screen (shown above). Nearly as soon as it was announced, however, the LCOS initiative crashed and burned in a spectacular failure, though not before the LCOS-based $100-laptop prototype was mocked up. (CE companies have discontinued most microdisplay Television lines, though they still use LCOS in many high-performance home-theater projectors.)
Made in Taiwan
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