Mar 31

Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally!

Posted in: Android, prototype, smartphone, Today's Chili
The Ramos W7 Android-powered MID has come to pass, but for the last year one question’s remained: where is that RK2808-based handset we were promised? Finally Rockchip has provided us with some pictures of its prototype called, of all things, Smart Phone. There is a dearth of specs at the present time, but from what we do know it will have a predictable emphasis on multimedia playback (including H.264, RMVB, MPEG-4, AVS, WMV9, and 720p video). If you’re a manufacturer (or would like to be), drop ’em a line — presumably, you’ll be able to get more complete specifications. And then be sure to drop us an email with the info. We’d appreciate it!

Continue reading Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally!

Rockchip’s prototype RK2808-powered Android smartphone spotted… finally! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 24

GM’s two-seater EN-V concept makes ‘urban mobility’ hip again

Posted in: automobile, car, chinese, concept, electric car, ElectricCar, ev, green, prototype, Today's Chili, Transportation, Travel

We’ll confess — the Segway did a lot of damage to urban mobility as a whole, but General Motors (of all companies) might have just mended a wound we thought un-mendable. Unveiling today in Shanghai, the two-seater EN-V concept is a play on last year’s altogether riveting (albeit forgotten) P.U.M.A., and yes, it seems as if some of those design cues have worked their way into this one as well. The Electric Networked-Vehicle was engineered to “alleviate concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow’s cities,” and they’re also fully capable of transforming this place we call Earth into a next-generation Epcot. A trio of designs made their debut — Jiao (Pride), Miao (Magic) and Xiao (Laugh) — and we’re told that twin electric motors and “dynamic stabilization technology” allow ’em to turn on a dime and operate autonomously (!) using integrated GPS. The Li-ion batteries can be juiced from a conventional wall outlet, and the expected range is around 40 kilometers on a single charge. Best of all? There’s built in wireless of some sort, enabling your fellow EN-V owner-friends to keep track of your late-night escapades if you so allow. We know — you’d buy one of each if these were available today, but mum’s the word on when (or if) they’ll ever hit the production line; meanwhile, expect something called a “Malibu” to remain in the product pipeline for the better part of next decade.

Gallery: GM EN-V urban mobility concept vehicle

GM’s two-seater EN-V concept makes ‘urban mobility’ hip again originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 19

PVI’s color E-Ink displays are a perfect match for Kindles

Posted in: e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, kindle, prototype, speculation, Today's Chili

You know who makes the E-Ink displays on the Kindle? PVI. The Taiwanese company is also the EPD provider for several other tier-1 eReader device makers including Sony. So take a good look at that color E-Ink prototype display currently sitting in a PVI booth at a Shenzhen tradeshow ’cause that’s what you’ll see packed in color eReaders near the end of the year and into 2011. PVI is showing off both 6- and 9.7-inch color prototypes set to hit the manufacturing lines in Q4 (and sampling now), just right for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX should Amazon choose to keep things simple and just swap out the display (and a minimum of componentry) within its existing device lineup. It’s worth noting that the extra layer of color filtering glass will impact battery life a bit, but certainly not enough to lose its edge on LCDs. And while PVI was demonstrating a color animation running on its new displays, they can’t do video worth a damn due to the slow frame refresh. And don’t expect to see the color EPDs sporting a contrast or color vibrancy anywhere close to what you’ll get from a traditional LCD either. Regardless, people seem smitten by the USA Today’s use of color so we’re sure these color E-Ink displays will find their niche as well.

PVI’s color E-Ink displays are a perfect match for Kindles originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

HDI headquarters walkthrough: details galore on the new face of in-home 3D

Posted in: exclusive, Features, prototype, Today's Chili, video
Call it an inexplicable fascination, or call it all-out geek lust over a screen with three digits in the “diagonal screen size” specification field — either way, we had little choice but to shuttle over to HDI‘s nondescript Los Gatos, California headquarters in order to check out what even Steve Wozniak has been quoted as saying is the best 3D solution out there. While stationed on the west coast this week for GDC, we grabbed a camera and bolted down the 280 in order to get a sneak peek at the aforesaid firm, a tight-knit startup that currently has prototype displays in production and plans for far more. We’ve heard plenty through the grapevine, but we set out to get our questions answered directly, and possibly even provide some insight that has yet to be made available to the public thus far.

For those unaware, HDI’s flagship product is a planned 103-inch 3D HDTV that uses a proprietary technology in order to showcase content in the third dimension (or 2D, if you’d like). We sat down with Chris Stuart (Director of Technology) and Edmund Sandberg (Chief Technology Officer) in order to get an overview of the tech, set the story straight in regard to pricing and availability, and dig in a little deeper on its plans for distribution and expansion. We also plopped down in front of the company’s prototype 97-inch set and a 46-inch 3D LCD that has remained mostly a myth up until now, and we’ve certainly got plenty to share in terms of impressions. If you’re eager to learn more (and take a behind-the-scenes look at a television R&D lab), give that ‘Read More’ link a gentle press.

Gallery: HDI 3D prototype HDTVs

Continue reading HDI headquarters walkthrough: details galore on the new face of in-home 3D

HDI headquarters walkthrough: details galore on the new face of in-home 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 08

Acer working on frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard?

Posted in: concept, keyboard, prototype, rumor, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Would you believe that Acer is working on a frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard? As far-fetched as the idea might be, it’s certainly plausible, expected even. The idea, as rumored by DigiTimes, involves doing away with the display’s frame by printing colors directly onto the back of the display’s reinforced glass substrate from Corning (a la Gorilla Glass presumably). Coupled with a touchscreen keyboard, the rumored device should be impossibly thin by traditional laptop comparisons. Keep in mind that we’ve already seen this Frame Zero concept pictured above from Fujitsu and Acer’s arch-rival ASUS has been showing off its dual-display laptop prototype with touchscreen keyboard for months. Even the OLPC XO-3 plans to eschew the clickity keyboard in favor of a touchscreen version. And anyone who has ever seen a scifi movie knows that tactile keyboards and display bezels have no role to play in our computing future anyway, so we might as well get things started now — or in the second half of 2010 according to DigiTimes‘ sources.

Acer working on frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 25

AIST shows off see-through display prototype on video

Posted in: Japan, LCD, LED, prototype, Today's Chili, video

Face it, folks — the days of windows being just windows are behind us. Before long, our panes will double as widget displays or makeshift televisions, and AIST has the prototype to prove it. The demonstration seems to utilize technology that’s far different than that seen in Samsung’s iceTouch PMP, but it’s certainly no less exciting. According to DigInfo, AIST is developing florescent glass suitable for excitation by near-UV LEDs, and by combining this [borosilicate] glass with LEDs, it’s possible to obtain transparent, flat light sources.” Better still, we’re told that the prevailing thought is that this here technology could be used to develop see-through displays as well as “light sources and displays that use solar cells without modification.” Anxious to see what a transparent LCD could do for you? Hop on past the break, mash play and let your imagination run absolutely wild.

Continue reading AIST shows off see-through display prototype on video

AIST shows off see-through display prototype on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 23

Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless

Posted in: bluetooth, concept, maemo, nfc, nokia, prototype, Today's Chili, Wireless

The Nokia Research Center has another tech tease that gives us a glimpse into one of our many possible mobile computing futures. The so-called, Explore and Share concept starts by placing an N900 onto a “writer” that’s tethered to a PC at a retail store. At that point, the PC recognizes the handset and serves up a number of options to the purchaser. For the purposes of the demo, an unnamed Finn selects an album that downloads to the handset in less than 10 seconds. Less than 10 seconds, wirelessly! If we assume that the 18 track Bruce Springsteen album is somewhere between 100MB and 200MB then we’re looking at a 10MBps to 20MBps transfer rate. Nokia doesn’t admit to what tech it’s using, referring to it only as “a new radio technology.” It’s certainly not NFC which tops out at 424kbps, or Bluetooth 3.0 + HS which tops out at 3MBps. It also negotiates much faster than WiFi (though that could just be editing trickery). It’s closer to Wireless USB’s real-world data rates of around 15MBps or TransferJet‘s 375Mbps effective throughput. Or as a long shot, maybe Bluetooth 4.0 which targets 60Mbps (theoretical) transfer rates. Regardless, it’s fast so we have to agree with Nokia when it deadpans: “Sounds great. Doesn’t. It.” Check out the action after the break.

Continue reading Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless

Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 22

Energy-recycling foot makes it easier for amputees to walk

Posted in: medical, power, prototype, research, Today's Chili, university

What’s better than an artificial nose? Why, an artificial foot, of course! University of Michigan researchers have developed a new prosthetic foot that could one day make it much easier for amputees to walk. Put simply, this new prototype drastically cuts the energy spent per step, as it harnesses the energy exerted when taking a step and enhances the power of ankle push-off. The device is able to capture dissipated energy, and an inbuilt microcontroller tells the foot to return the energy to the system at precisely the right time. Tests have shown that those using this here foot spent just 14 percent more energy to walk than one would spend when walking naturally, which is a rather significant decrease from the 23 percent uptick experienced with conventional prostheses. If you’re still baffled, there’s a pretty wicked video demonstration waiting for you after the break.

Gallery: Energy-recycling foot makes it easier for amputees to walk

Continue reading Energy-recycling foot makes it easier for amputees to walk

Energy-recycling foot makes it easier for amputees to walk originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 18

Chumby prototype with Marvell innards spotted at MWC 2010

Posted in: hands-on, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, prototype, Today's Chili

Even though they don’t make retail devices, the booths of component makers like Qualcomm, Broadcom, TI, and Marvell at trade shows are often great venues for actually seeing retail devices — these guys have to help showgoers make the connection between a boring chunk of silicon and an end product if they’re hoping to score orders, after all. Indeed, Marvell’s tent at MWC this year is a veritable cornucopia of Good Things, and we couldn’t help but notice that they’re showing what appears to be one of Chumby’s not-for-sale reference designs sporting an 800 x 600 display with an 800MHz Marvell Armada core (hence the appearance here in the booth). For the record, we’re told this is a successor to last year’s reference platform known as “Silvermoon” that had been running on a 1GHz PXA168 and that there’s a chance it’ll be available in retail form later this year. The UI’s attractive, but not really as multi-functional as Sony’s Dash — you can think of this as more of a giant Chumby One, really, with some extra screen elements designed to take advantage of the significantly higher resolution. There’s no guarantee this’ll ever be produced — or if so, when — so for the time being, our video UI tour after the break is about as close as you’re going to get.

Continue reading Chumby prototype with Marvell innards spotted at MWC 2010

Chumby prototype with Marvell innards spotted at MWC 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 12

Wacom Cintiq 21UX multitouch tablet caught in the wilderness of a live presentation

Posted in: in the wild, InTheWild, multitouch, prototype, tablet, Today's Chili, touchscreen

Oh you’re tired of tablets, are you? Pray tell, how many multitouch 21.3-inch tablets have you seen so far then? A prototype of Wacom’s update to the ultra-high end 21UX has been shown off at a recent CAD presentation, so we figured we might as well take a look at the thing — given its predecessor’s $2,999 starting price, we’re unlikely to be buying one any time soon. So dive past the break for a glimpse — just a glimpse — of the new multitouch goodness taking place. After you’re done with that, you can check out the source link for more pictures of what’s sure to be the new state of the art in graphics tablets.

Continue reading Wacom Cintiq 21UX multitouch tablet caught in the wilderness of a live presentation

Wacom Cintiq 21UX multitouch tablet caught in the wilderness of a live presentation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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