Hasta La Gadget!

We know the following to be true: microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology can foster some very inventive gadgetry, and it’s a wonderful four-turn, 45-point Scrabble word (barring special tiles and presuming an abnormally-large board). That said, the MEMS display sector is still quite small and still a ways from reaching the market (hello, Mirasol), which makes every appearance a bit more interesting than the last. Hitachi’s little showing caused quite the crowds at its CEATEC booth, with a pair of 2.5-inch QVGA prototypes built using Pixtronix’s PerfectLight MEMS display tech within a LCD infrastructure. The color came through on the first screen, and animations was fairly fluid (with the exception of one or two brief moments of lag). The other display on hand was monochrome with a backlight that flickered on and off as a generic desk lamp shone directly onto it. It was still legible enough without the backlight, but it definitely took some straining.

Pixtronix is promising 24-bit color depth, 170-degree viewing angles, and a 75 percent power reduction over equivalent LCD displays. As for Hitachi, the company reportedly plans to release displays in the 10-inch and under market by early 2012 — so yes, in case you were wondering, these’ll be back for next CEATEC, too. Enjoy the pictures below, so you have something to look back on.

Hitachi’s MEMS display: big aspirations in a little prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So we tracked down one of those crazy new touchscreen- and camera-enabled vending machines being deployed across Japan’s mass transit stations at CEATEC today; one of their claims to fame is that they’re WiMAX-enabled in order to receive ads and other high-bandwidth content, so local WiMAX provider UQ installed one of the units in its booth as a showcase of the kinds of wild and crazy things you can do with ludicrous speed. As much as we hate to admit it, we’re pretty sure we’d be consuming more overpriced juice, soda, tea, coffee, and water if we had one of these near our homes — seriously, how can you resist those cute rectangular eyes staring at you, slowly stealing your soul while asking you to “come by?”

Of course, the scary part about that is that the machine really can see you — it’s got a camera right above the display that detects your presence, makes some snap judgments about you based on largely accurate stereotypes, and recommends certain beverages (though you’re still free to choose whatever you like). The machine supports Suica payments — a popular NFC system in these parts — using either a Suica card or your appropriately-enabled phone, which makes blowing hundreds of yen on cans of Georgia Vintage coffee frighteningly simple. Follow the break for some video of the machine in action… or if you’re planning a trip to Japan in the next couple years, expect to see these around town in some of the high-traffic train stations.

Continue reading Giant touchscreen vending machine at CEATEC stares us down, offers us a frosty beverage

Giant touchscreen vending machine at CEATEC stares us down, offers us a frosty beverage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps our eyes are just too untrained for such tasks, but we didn’t much miss the 24ppi or so difference between the iPhone 4’s retina display (326 ppi) and Hitachi’s 6.6-inch IPS panel (302 ppi). The CEATEC prototype panel is just gorgeous and crystal clear (as much as Shakespeare and Kanji-laden articles can be, at least). Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anyone to answer our questions as to when it might hit mass production, so for now, just enjoy the view.

Hitachi’s 6.6-inch / 302ppi IPS panel gets eyes-on treatment, locks eyes with iPhone 4’s retina display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bless its heart. Regardless of how loudly consumers yell, Sony can’t seem to understand that creating proprietary formats that no other company has any interest in adopting isn’t the brightest of ideas. The eventual fates of UMD, ATRAC, MiniDisc and countless others are proof of the outfit’s ignorance, but somehow or another, it seem as if TransferJet has a modicum of a chance to gain some traction. Nearly a year after outing its first generation TransferJet chip, Sony is using CEATEC to spring its second generation one into action. From what we can tell, the primary addition to this chip is its native compatibility with USB 2.0 and PCI Express, with hardware and software improvements credited with an effective data transmission boost to somewhere north of 300Mbps. Potentially more interesting, however, is the lower power draw, which could lead to TransferJet embeds within smartphones, tablets, netbooks and other low-cost mobile computers. Across the pond(s) in Tokyo, Toshiba has been caught showing off a TransferJet SD card that could allow a potentially wider swath of devices to support Sony’s wireless protocol, although the hardware typically has to be designed specifically to not interfere with the chip’s ultra short-range transmissions, and software drivers have to be built as well — not even all of Sony’s new Cyber-shots support its existing TransferJet Memory Stick. We’ll be digging for more details (ship date, price, etc.) just as soon as we can.

Sony slips out second generation TransferJet chip, partners begin to take notice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp’s NTT DoCoMo-living / Android-loving Lynx SH-10B isn’t brand new by any stretch — it hit local markets in late July, and earlier this year was released on KDDI as the ISO1 — but this week’s CEATEC would be the first time we’ve had a chance to play around with, and given the dearth of comparable US form factors, we couldn’t resist. The 5-inch 960 x 480 resolution MID / smartphone sports a pretty snappy and easy-to-use keyboard and a responsive touchscreen. Unless you’ve already prepared for the likes of Dell’s Streak, the Lynx isn’t exactly pocketable, and by our estimates, it’s about twice the thickness o the iPhone 4 when closed up. The customized UI (running over what we presume is Android 1.6) is pretty unique in design, although functionally there was some minor lag in change panels and opening panes. You know the drill: pics below. Enjoy!

Sharp Lynx SH-10B is a MIDdling Android smartphone we could get behind (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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