Seems like all these CES vendors have wised up to the fact that announcing their new products amidst a maelstrom of new product announcements tends to be slightly counterproductive. So, naturally, they’re spending their December carefully teasing out little pre-release details. It’s ASUS’ turn today, who clearly isn’t content just telling us about its Eee Pad / Slate / Tablet / Chopping Board and has decided to dish out some candid hardware shots. What we see above is a USB 3.0 port embedded within a very slinky keyboard panel, which itself seems attached to a touchscreen display (with Android buttons!) up top. It’s looking more like a tablet PC (presumably with a pivoting screen) than a tablet, which is corroborated by other images at the source link. Two devices are included in this teaser picture set, with the other looking like it has a slider keyboard (see it after the break) — none of it is definitive just yet, but it makes for a good guessing game to fill the time until the big show kicks off in Vegas next week.
If there’s one thing we appreciate more than pixel density, it’s slim bezels. LG, a traditional enemy of unsightly frames, is today staking its claim for having the world’s thinnest bezel on a laptop with the new Xnote P210. This 12.5-inch machine is said to fit within the footprint of an 11.6-incher, but before you start throwing insults like “netbook” around the place, do take note it has a dual-core Core i5-470UM processor inside — capable of running between 1.33GHz and 1.86GHz — 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB HDD. The LED-backlit display’s resolution isn’t specified beyond a note saying it’s “HD,” while Windows 7 Home Premium is the predictable OS of choice. Look for the P210 to hit Korea in February for around 1.3 million won (about $1,135), but don’t hold your breath on it coming Stateside for anything other than a flying trade show visit.
Technically speaking, it’s not actually the 28th of December in the Bay Area yet, but Sprint’s already out in front with its announcement that WiMAX connectivity has been activated in and around the city of San Francisco. We were promised this development exactly three weeks ago, back when Los Angeles and Washington DC were first familiarizing themselves with the glorious new speed, and today the Bay Area, which also includes San Jose, Palo Alto and Oakland, adds to a total of 71 metropolitan markets that have been lit up with Sprint’s finest wireless offering. Guess Verizon had better start fast and keep running if it wants to keep up, eh?
This article was written on April 29, 2006 by CyberNet.
Microsoft has finally launched Windows Live Shopping (screenshot below) but they have failed to support Firefox with this release. Are they going to try and force people away from Firefox and force them to use Internet Explorer? Nope, I believe that Firefox users just won’t use their services. They might want to rethink this move since Firefox is taking over some of Internet Explorer’s market share.
On more of a side note, I noticed at the bottom of the page that there is a link to “Sell your stuff”. If you select the link it takes you to Windows Live Expo (screenshot above) and allows you to browse or search for items that other people are selling. It looks like they are going to try and compete with Google Base. I remember reading just a few days ago that eBay was looking to partner with MSN or Yahoo in attempt to bring down Google’s selling services. Maybe PayPal will end up being the source of payment for Windows Live Expo?
Of all the Arduino projects we’ve seen ’round here, this is certainly one of them! Using nothing but a Graphics LCD, an Arduino, and a WebSocket server he wrote using Python / Tornado, this young engineer created a system that allows him to connect to the server with his iPod touch (or any browser, we suppose — although he’s apparently only tested this with Chrome on his desktop PC) and draw a design on the web browser. In turn, his movements are recreated on the LCD. Pretty mean feat, if you ask us. If you’d like to marvel at his code — or even try it out for yourself — hit up the source link. If not, be sure to at least check out the thing in action. Video after the break.
Like son, like father? Evidently that’s exactly how things are playing out, with papa BMW following the footsteps of MINI in the run-up to 2011. Just days after the MINI Connected app found itself situated in the App Store, a BMW Connected app has done likewise. The software itself is free to download, but you’ll need a 6NR-equipped Bimmer to take advantage. From what we can gather, you’ll have to fork out €150 or so for the Apps option, but sadly, there are two costly prerequisites to that: a €3,800 navigation option and a €400 USB interface. In other words, we get the impression that existing BMW owners are out of luck. If you’ve got the magic concoction (available from March 2011), you’ll be able to access web radio stations, hear your Twitter and Facebook updates aloud and control your music via the iDrive setup. That is, until iOS 4.3 goes and breaks compatibility with everything, forever. Joy, joy.
We’re still a ways off from living our dream iPod nano watch scenarios, but here’s a small step in the right direction. As the story goes, on a flight home James Whelton booted up an iPod nano with a modified SpringBoard plist file that “removed” an app from the screens and replaced it with a blank space. What does this mean? Not much at this point, but it could provide a pathway to further hacking, jailbreaking, and yes, writing and installing those dream apps that make this a great wrist accessory. Video proof after the break.
Cameras and wands may be the game controllers du jour, but it seems there’s still room in the world for virtual reality experiences a bit more concrete — like these buckets, filled with water, that let their user physically paddle through a digital dreamscape. “Channels” uses a pair of flex sensors attached to plastic spoons to monitor the flow in each bucket as a projector throws the minimalist 3D environment up on a nearby wall. Meanwhile, “Cadence Chair” uses an antique rocking chair outfitted with an accelerometer to align ribbons of light, and if you do it in the right rhythm it plays a hidden video. Both are student projects from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Project, and as you’ll see in videos after the break, both look pretty darn cool. We’re having this sudden urge to go back to school.
Last year Nokia made something of a telematics coup, partnering with just about every major European manufacturer and doing everything it could to get its Terminal Mode in-car smartphone integration into more autos. Mercedes was one of those partners and now we’re getting a glimpse of the result in the new C-Class. Merc has made some minor exterior updates to the car (not necessarily for the better, in our opinion), but on the inside comes an updated Mercedes COMAND infotainment system that, for the first time, offers full internet access. Using Terminal Mode the car interacts with a smartphone to provide the data, allowing dashboard surfing (while stationary) and the transmission of Google Maps points and directions right to the vehicle. There’s also Bluetooth for streaming your tunes through the car’s sound system and a USB port in the armrest to keep things charged while you decimate that slab. PR is below if you’re looking for more details, or you can just wait for our impressions when we get to Detroit in a few weeks.
This article was written on June 18, 2007 by CyberNet.
Microsoft Monday
I’m one that tends to turn off most of the system sounds on my computer. I’ve never really found them useful, and in fact, most of the time they annoy me. Last August when it was reported that Microsoft was not going to allow you to disable the startup sound in Vista, many people including myself were a little upset. Luckily they changed their minds, and I can now disable it.
If you enjoy all of the sounds in your operating system and you’re using Windows Vista, you’ll notice that many of them sound much different than those in XP. One major difference besides the actual sounds is the difference that they were encoded. XP Sounds were encoded at 352 kpbs while Vista sounds were encoded at 1,411 kbps. Vista sounds are clearly better quality, but they also tend to be shorter than any of the sounds in XP as well.
A nice comparison of Vista Sounds versus XP sounds can be found here.
Customize System Sounds
I don’t know how many of you go explore the Sound menu found in the Control Panel, but there are different sounds that you can choose from to customize what you hear and when. There’s an entire drop-down list of sounds so that you can select a particular sound for a certain event. By clicking the “Test” button, you can hear what a sound sounds like before you select it. You can also click “browse” to select your own WAV file.
Convert Your Own Sounds to WAV
As mentioned above, you can browse to select your own sounds. That means you can search around the Internet looking for sounds clips to then be used for your system sounds. The only requirement is that the sounds must be converted to WAV before you’re able to use them.
If you find sounds that you like that are in any other format like MP3 or WMA, you can use a tool like dBpoweramp to convert it to WAV. It’s free, and simple to use.
Instead of going around looking for sounds around the web, why not create your own? Vista already comes with a Sound Recorder, so all you’ll need is a microphone. Please note: It will record in WMA format, so once again you can use dBpoweramp Music Converter to convert the file to WAV.
Once you’re done recording your sounds and have selected which ones you’d like for different events, you can save it as a Sound Scheme by clicking “Save as.”
SoundPackager
If you’re familiar with IconPackager, SoundPackager will do something similar. It’s a project in the works over at Stardock, and it looks like a beta will be available in July. On their website, they say: “It applies sets of sound effects to a host of common Windows actions. Stardock has teamed up with famed composer Mason Fischer to create a series of elegant replacement sounds on Windows.” This will probably end up being one of the easiest ways to modify your system’s sounds, but there hasn’t been any word on the cost.
The screenshot below gives us an idea of what it will look like when it becomes available:
Vista Startup Sound Facts
Just in case you’re interested in more than just how the startup sound sounds, here are a few interesting facts that the Windows Vista Blog posted a few months before Vista debuted regarding it:
The startup sounds is made of dual ascending “glassy” melodies played on top of a gentle fading Fripp ‘AERO’ Soundscape
Has two parallel melodies played in an international “Win-dows Vis-ta” rhythm
Consists of 4 chords, one for each color in the Windows flag
Is about 4 seconds long from start to finish
Is a collaboration between Robert Fripp, Tucker Martine and Steve Ball
The video below shows Robert Fripp recording some of the sounds. He was one of the individuals involved.
There you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about Vista sounds!
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