Hasta La Gadget!

The iPad mini has finally arrived—Apple’s much anticipated response to the incredibly successful 7-inch tablets pioneered by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and more recently by Google with its Nexus 7. So far they are the only tablets that have made a dent in Apple’s near monopoly on tablets. At first Apple declared them too small to be useful, but consumers clearly wanted something more portable than a full size 10-inch tablet, and also a lot less costly. Millions were sold—and that got Apple’s attention. Over the past year there have been increasingly credible accounts of a small iPad prototype being developed by Apple, but there was no guarantee that it would turn into an actual product until Apple’s official announcement. More »

Japan Display has developed a paper-like low-power color reflective LCD, which can display video.
“Ordinary liquid crystal displays have a backlight, and produce the picture by using a liquid crystal shutter. But this panel doesn’t have a backlight. It reflects light from above, and the liquid crystal shutter is used to produce a monochrome image. At the same time, color filters are used, to give a color picture.”
“This display has what’s called a Light Control …

There are times when our mobile devices reduce our face-to-face interaction with people. A new mobile interface called ‘Pinch’ could change that. It lets multiple mobile devices link their screens together to form a larger display.

Pinch is being developed by a research group at the Tokyo University of Technology. It gets its name from the fact that users make the pinch gesture on the screen of two mobile devices in order to link them. Currently the devices need to be linked via Wi-Fi. The connection allows them to determine each other’s position and adjust their display and content fairly quickly. Watch the video below for more on Pinch:

Based on the demo, Pinch will only work if all mobile devices are playing or running the same media or app. So I don’t think people will want to use Pinch to make a larger display with their mobile devices – you’ll have to have the same copy of the video on all devices to do that. But I can imagine apps that can take advantage of this, such as board game apps, racing games or file sharing apps. And a Captain Planet app.

[via Diginfo via The Verge]

Most video walls would be just a tad too large for the average living room, but the Tokyo University of Technology might have a clever technique to make them travel-sized. Its new Pinch interface joins mobile devices (currently iOS hardware) into a single display simply by making the namesake gesture between at least two gadgets: WiFi keeps them in sync and recognizes the relative size and orientation. While we probably wouldn’t resort to a wall of iPads in place of a large TV, there’s clear practical uses like extra-large creative apps, communication and very local multiplayer games. The best news may be that the university isn’t keeping the technology to itself. It wants developers to borrow Pinch for their own apps, which could lead to a legion of smartphones and tablets getting extra-cozy.

Continue reading Tokyo University of Technology’s Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Tablets

Tokyo University of Technology’s Pinch interface creates ad hoc video walls from mobile devices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Microsoft’s latest operating system officially official now, we can certainly expect a massive wave of Windows 8-tailored peripherals to be ready to meet most consumer needs. Naturally, Korean electronics giant LG is expected to be one of many manufacturers leading the way, and thus it’s no surprise the outfit has announced its Touch 10 ET83 monitor. According to the Optimus G maker, this 23-inch, touchscreen-enabled IPS panel will be a perfect choice for folks utilizing Windows 8, allowing them to take full advantage of Redmond’s hefty implementation of gesture-based controls within the OS. The Touch 10’s set to be available in Korea in November (mum’s the word on pricing), while availability in other markets around the globe is expected to be sometime shortly thereafter.

Continue reading LG announces 23-inch Touch 10 monitor with Windows 8 optimization

Filed under: Displays, Misc, LG

LG announces 23-inch Touch 10 monitor with Windows 8 optimization originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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