Hasta La Gadget!

One of LG’s more surprising product introductions at CES 2013 was its “HECTO” laser projector, which — when combined with its accompanying 100-inch screen — is capable of tossing a 1080p image from just 22-inches away. While we’d heard it’s coming to the US in March, the projector is out in Korea today branded Cinema Beam TV, available for those ready to drop 9 million won ($8,322) on the package. It has a claimed 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and can accept video via WiDi or Miracast for wireless streaming from a PC or mobile device, while LG also says its laser light source is eco-friendly thanks to a mercury free design and extra long lifetime. The price tag is said to be around $10K when it ships here, apparently the company feels its unique capabilities make it a perfect fit for commercial installations like sports bars, or just high-end home theater customers that value its small footprint.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, LG

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Source: LG Korea

Dennis Tito, an American millionaire, announced plans earlier today at the National Press Club to send a married couple on a flyby trip past Mars. This will be done as part of his newly created Inspiration Mars Foundation organization, which was also announced today. As part of the mission, which is set to take well over a year at 501 days, two individuals will be selected – one man and one woman – who Tito prefers to be a married couple.

By sending a married couple, Tito hopes to help avoid the inherent loneliness that would result from such a long trip. This would be a first for space exploration. Said Tito: “When you’re out that far and the Earth is a tiny, blue pinpoint, you’re going to need to someone you can hug. What better solution to the psychological problems you’re going to encounter with that isolation?”

If all goes as planned, the non-profit organization will send the married couple into space in 2018 during a time when the planets will align in such a way that the trip will be shorter than at other times. Current plans include using a rocket and space capsule that is already available on the market, adjusting them as is necessary to accommodate the two individuals, with such adjustments hopefully including ample forms of entertainment.

Although the trip sounds extremely long, it is short in terms of space travel. Such a duration – 501 days – is a rarity, and so missing this opportunity will be missing a chance to do something that can’t be done often. “If one misses those opportunities, then typical flight times would be two to three years.” Despite many challenges that the mission will present, Tito remains optimistic that it will happen. His optimism isn’t simply hopeful wishing, however, with the millionaire having had consulted engineers and scientists about his plans before ever forming the nonprofit organization.

[via Space]

Dennis Tito announces plans to send married couple on a private Mars flyby mission is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Elon Musk, Tesla‘s CEO, stated at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy’s summit today that the company will repay the loans it received from the Department of Energy ahead of time, giving a time frame of half the time it was given for doing so. This puts the payoff completion date sometime around 2015, with the company being on the hook for $465 million.

The loan proved to be very beneficial to Tesla, which is reaping the rewards of its efforts. The loan was provided as part of the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program, and gave Tesla a means to revamp a California auto plant to makes it popular – and lately, controversial – Model S vehicle. The announcement was given alongside energy secretary Steven Chu.

The program under which Tesla received the loan has been a source of controversy, with many pointing out that one of the companies that received money under the program – Solyndra – was unable to repay it. In light of this, for Tesla to not only repay all of the money, but to do so well ahead of schedule will be a massive boon for the program.

Though the claims by Tesla are a positive thing, the company has not yet churned a profit. Other manufacturers who have received funds under the program are also expected to pay back the loans they received, with Chu specifically citing Ford and Nissan. Thus far, the Department of Energy has shelled out over $8 billion in loans, and only time will tell whether it pays off in the end.

[via MIT Technology Review]

Tesla to repay Department of Energy loan ahead of schedule, says CEO is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here’s the latest desktop PC from PC Koubou, the Amphis BTO GSX300iCi7-SR3. Powered by a 3.50GHz Intel Core i7-3770K processor, the system sports an Intel Z77 Express Chipset, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN 6GB graphics card, a 16GB DDR3 RAM, a 240GB SSD (Intel SSD 520 Series), a 2TB hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, a 700W 80PLUS power supply and runs on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (SP1) OS. The Amphis BTO GSX300iCi7-SR3 is priced at 269,980 Yen (about $2,914). [Product Page]

Micron has announced a new line of enterprise SAS SSDs namely the P410m. Coming in 100GB, 200GB and 400GB sizes, these high endurance 2.5-inch SSDs are equipped with 25nm MLC NAND Flash memory chips, a SAS 6.0 Gbps interface, a Marvell 88SS9187-BLD2 controller, a MTBF of 2 million hours and can deliver read/write speeds of up to 410/235 MB/s (100GB Model) and 410/345 MB/s (200GB & 400GB Models), respectively. Prices unannounced yet. [Micron]