Hasta La Gadget!

Touchscreens are selfish lovers, taking your gentle caresses and impatient taps without offering a hint of feedback to you. We’ve seen attempts to change that, like prototypes from Toshiba and Senseg that add a bit of texture to a touchable surface, but now Microsoft might be looking to bring such dynamic tactility to the one of the biggest touchable surfaces: Surface. A recent patent application entitled “Light-induced Shape-memory Polymer Display Screen” describes a technique for a display that uses infra-red light to detect touch, but also to “selectively change a topography of the topography-changing layer.” In other words: to make it bumpy or smooth. Certain wavelengths of light projected on the screen can cause areas of that topography layer expand or contract, which could finally mean all our cries for attention might finally be responded to in kind.

MS applies for patent on ‘light-induced shape-memory,’ a touchscreen that could touch back originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink New Scientist, QikGlance  |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments

Well, you can finally throw out that trunk in your grandfather’s garage. Hugh Heffner’s legacy has taken a cue from National Geographic — in an arguably non-horrifying way — and partnered with publisher Bondi Digital to release a (presumably Seagate-branded) 250GB external hard drive packed with every issue of Playboy released since 1953. Its $300 asking price is roughly four times what you’d pay for a fresh G-rated 250GB drive today, but compared to a 57-year subscription, the digital vault is certainly a bargain. In contrast to their trail blazin’ efforts with the iBod though, thanks to the prominent placement of the brand’s iconic bow tie-wearing bunny and name, there’s no chance of using this device for practical tasks such as backing up TPS reports at the office. Like the decision to phase out DVDs in favor of VOD however, the move does prove the magazine isn’t afraid of staying abreast of today’s content consumption trends. Next stop, Nook Color?

Playboy releases not-so-discreet 250GB ‘cover to cover’ hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Geek.com  |  Playboyarchive  | Email this | Comments

Finally, a reason not to be cripplingly depressed on a Monday morning: deals! It’s Cyber Monday, the yet-to-be Hallmark-approved holiday where online retailers help kick off a season of sales. While most aren’t discounting products as low as they did on Black Friday, there are still plenty of savings to be had.

We’ve scoured the Cyber Monday listings from top retailers including Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Staples, Target, Toys “R” Us, and Walmart to bring you a list of some of today’s best online electronics deals. Check out our picks, after the jump.

Staples joins in on the Cyber Monday fun with a slew of discounts on all manner of electronics products. The site is offering deals on laptops, GPS devices, monitors, software, accessories, and more.

Check out some of our favorite deals, after the jump.

What would you pay for a netbook without a screen? How about one that’s rocking a dual-core, 1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 processor, NVIDIA ION graphics, and an 80GB SSD? Mouse Computer is hoping your answer is somewhere around $600, because that’s roughly what its new, 49,980 yen Lm-mini30X will cost along with 4GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, HDMI output, and a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. If that’s a bit too rich for you, there’s the slightly lower-spec Lm-mini30S, which drops you to 2GB of RAM, 320GB on platters, and lowly 32-bit Windows. That’ll set you back 37,800 yen, or about $450 — still a good amount for a little PC, but given neither are likely to see a release on these shores there’s no point in getting too worked up about it.

Mouse Computer’s Lm-mini30X nettop gets D525 processor and SSD, costs a lot of cheese originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbooks Review  |  Mouse Computer  | Email this | Comments