Displays

Sony Reader follows Kindle to the Great White North, conquers entire high school (video)

amitg — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:43:56 +0000

Why, it was just yesterday that Amazon finally acknowledged the existence of our friendly neighbors to the north, saying “Why not?” before shipping a few Kindles northward. Now Sony is announcing its Reader is also set to take off, but in a very different way. The Reader has always been available in Canada (no pesky wireless contracts to negotiate), but ownership will now be compulsory for students at Toronto’s Blyth Academy, who will each be provided with a Touch Edition and who must surely be a little nervous after what happened at Princeton. All textbooks will be replaced by digital equivalents, meaning smaller book bags, fewer strained backs, and no more quality time with parents making covers out of brown paper bags. Slightly uncomfortable promotional video is included below.

[Via SonyInsider]

Sony’s 3G-enabled Reader Daily Edition up for pre-order, content deals coming next month

offegoalofido — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:43:55 +0000

Amazon and Barnes & Noble may be swiping the limelight, but Sony’s clearly playing for keeps with its $399 Reader Daily Edition. The 7-inch e-book reader has just been listed for pre-order over at SonyStyle, and with it will come wireless access (via AT&T) to the company’s own eBookstore. We’re told that the company will “announce newspaper and magazine content providers within the next month,” and of course, no monthly fees will be tacked on from browsing and buying books. If plans stay on track, we should see the first shipments leave next month — so, is Santa treating you with one, or what?

Qualcomm Mirasol-equipped color e-book reader said to be on track for late 2010

kartridzhej — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:43:55 +0000

Qualcomm’s Mirasol displays have already found their way into quite a few products, but the company looks to really be branching out into some new territory with its latest prototype: an e-book reader with a full-color, 5.7-inch display. Of course, Qualcomm isn’t planning to sell this one itself, and it isn’t revealing any OEM partners just yet, but it has set the somewhat ambitious target of getting it on the market in the “latter part of 2010.” From the looks of it, however, it doesn’t seem like it’ll have too much trouble attracting interest, considering that the XGA (220ppi) Mirasol display is not only full-color, but allows for video playback, is supposedly readable in direct sunlight, and reportedly has a “minimal impact” on battery life. Other details on the e-reader itself are expectedly light (and subject to change), but you can get a closer look at it courtesy of SlashGear at the link below.

MSI’s 21.5-inch multitouch Wind Top AE2220 all-in-one now shipping

paolinalucydd — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:43:51 +0000

MSI is on a roll with its Wind Top line of all-in-one machines, the AE2220 being the latest and, for the moment at least, the greatest. Its 21.5-inch screen (curiously .1” smaller than when originally announced) supports multitouch, backed by Windows 7 Home Premium to ensure you’ll never have a completely smudge-free image coming from the ION chipset. 4GB of DDR2 memory is included along with either a 2.2GHz T6600 or 2.1GHz T4300 Intel processor, while storage is now provided by a 500GB drive. Dual PCIe expansion slots gives it some hope of being upgradeable in the future, and VESA wall mount compatibility means you won’t even have to clean up your desk. It hasn’t shown up at retailers just yet, but Amazon is still listing a pre-order page at $699, $50 under MSRP and what we’d consider to be a very fair price indeed.

Canada gets International Kindle support, no longer feels inferior to Trinidad and Tobago

assevedut — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:36 +0000

Good news for our Canadian brethren! While the realization that you’d been excluded from the International Kindle may have angered you, or frightened you, or engendered feelings of shame or lust, all hope is not lost! We have just got word that Amazon has added your fine nation to the list of countries it will now ship the beloved e-reader to. And if that ain’t enough, a smattering of your native content is being offered, included a couple of publications that sound exotic and fanciful to American ears: The Globe and Mail and The National Post. Sound like something you’d like to get into? Yours for $250 USD (roughly $265 CDN). Hit the read link to get started.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Vizit touchscreen photo frame demonstrated for your edification (video)

kartridzhej — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:36 +0000

What can we tell you about the Vizit 10.4-inch touchscreen photo frame that you didn’t know before? It’s not half terrible looking, sure — but it’s still unavailable, still a little pricey at $280 (plus whatever AT&T will end up charging you for data), and still sports 800 x 600 screen resolution. But we do have a pretty sweet (if poorly lit) hands-on demonstration for you. And wait — is that The Edge we see in the first few seconds of the video? We sure hope he’s OK with the commercial endorsement. Peep for yourself after the break.

See more video at our hub!

Nook for sale at Barnes & Noble stores on November 30th?

trialsoft — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:30 +0000

If you’re looking to pre-order a Nook today you’ll be greeted with a December 18th ship date from Barnes & Noble’s on-line store. However, if you stop by your Barnes & Noble on November 30th, you might find the Android-based dual-screen ereader in stock and ready to take home for $259 plus the usual government tithe. This according to a B&N spokeswoman who told Computerworld that units will be for sale in stores on the 30th. Whether than means all 774 retail outlets or just the majors is still unclear but hey, at least you’ve got options.

[Via I4U News]

Evoluce ONE gives you 47 inches of multitouch surface to play with (video)

solovekaaqw — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:30 +0000

We’re kind of late to this party, but better late than never, right? At the end of last month, German company Evoluce announced its 47-inch multitouch display, touting Full HD (or 1920 x 1080) resolution and “Integrated-Through-Screen-Optics,” which allow it to recognize an unlimited number of simultaneous inputs. The ONE also features haptic feedback and is compatible with Windows 7’s multitouch features right out of the box, with support for some “other OS” also planned. If you’re thinking this looks like a legit competitor to Microsoft’s Surface, well, you’d be right. We’ve got the full PR for you after the break, as well as hands-on video of the (relatively) new device.
Show full PR text
True Multi-Touch and Multi-Pen on large-format LCD

Multi-touch grows up: Evoluce announces innovative 47 inch multi-touch Full HD LCD for launch of Windows 7

Hallbergmoos, 30. October 2009. Large-format interactive LCD-screens enable collaborative work directly on the screen surface. Evoluce developed sensing technology for the first time reveals the full potential of multi-touch applications.

“Windows 7 launched at the end of October 2009. Our Evoluce ONE is launched too. The 47 inch multi-touch LCD supports not only Windows 7, but also a variety of other innovative multi-touch applications coded in Flash, C++, WPF or Silverlight. Our developed “Integrated-Through-Screen-Optics” (ITSO) technology enables true multi-touch and multi-pen applications, that can be controlled simultaneously by pen, finger, gesture and object recognition,” said Wolfgang Herfurtner, CEO of Evoluce AG.

The comfortable multi-touch operating on the surface is achieved by a scratch-resistant coating. The screen has been designed for easy horizontal and vertical integration or can be a stand-alone device.

MIM, the in-house developed multi-touch input management tracking software, recognizes an unlimited number of simultaneous inputs (“true multi-touch”). The tracking data can be accessed via universal interfaces by the multi-touch application.

Evoluce ONE is available from Evoluce specialist dealers.

Evoluce ONE promotional video

Evoluce ONE hands-on

WowWee Cinemin Swivel pico projector shocker: available now!

kartridzhej — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:30:05 +0000

If you’re like us, you’ve been marking the days off until you could get WowWee’s Cinemin Swivel — or, the pico with attitude, as we like to call it. We’ve been keeping our eyes on it since CES 2009, so we can sympathize. Well, looks like the wait is over — it’s popped up on Amazon and we hear you can grab one up at Brookstone, too. The DLP pico, which boasts a 480 x 360 resolution, an adjustable 90-degree hinge (for projecting your Richard Marx video collection onto the ceiling) will run you around $299.

Toshiba ‘Space Chair’ ad redefines armchair viewing (video)

metrocashcarryry — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:47:22 +0000

There’s something wrong when an advertisement is more memorable than the product. Nevertheless, here we have Toshiba’s Space Chair ad campaign promoting its new 2010 REGZA SV LCD TV series, Toshiba’s first with LED backlight and local dimming. The campaign will later expand to include a second take featuring the Satellite T Series of 11-hour CULV laptops set for introduction in 2010. The ad follows the journey of “an ordinary living room chair” to the edge of space before falling back to Earth where the ground crew relied upon a GPS beacon to locate the craft. A few facts about the shoot:

A helium balloon lifted the chair and Toshiba’s own IK-HR1S ultra-compact 1080i camera to a height of 98,268 feet above terra firma
FAA regulations required that the weight of the rig had to be less than four pounds
The chair is made of biodegradable balsa wood at a cost of of about £2,500
The rig was launched in Nevada’s ~~Burning Man~~ Black Rock desert
The temperature dropped to minus 90 degrees at 52,037 feet
The chair took 83 minutes to reach an altitude of 98,268 feet and just 24 minutes to fall back to earth

Truly amazing stuff. Now buckle up and click through for the show.