Hasta La Gadget!

We’ll spare you the obvious cheap jokes, but grabbing hold of NTT DoCoMo’s Touch Wood concepts at CEATEC was a true, honest-to-goodness pleasure. Engineered in cooperation with Sharp and Olympus, the kidney bean-esque touchscreen phone was accompanied by a TV tuning smartphone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Both units were in the early prototype stage, with the bean shaped fellow being a mere mock-up that failed to do anything when pressed. The other guy is based around the SH-04A, and while the wood trim could’ve certainly encompassed more of the chassis than it did, we dig the direction DoCoMo is headed here. Have a look at Ma Earth’s favorite phone (next to the Reclaim, of course) in the gallery below (and video after the break, if you’re feeling extra saucy).

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo’s Touch Wood concepts show their grains at CEATEC

Filed under: Cellphones

NTT DoCoMo’s Touch Wood concepts show their grains at CEATEC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, gScreen is slowly mastering the art of grainy video teasers with its dual-panel portable, but here at its CEATEC booth, Kohjinsha’s got quite a looker of its own, on display in a very clear and well-lit case. We’re looking at two 10.1-inch LCDs each capable of outputting at either 1024 x 600 or 1366 x 768 resolution, and if one is all you need, it’s a sliding mechanism to hide the other monitor. What’s more, the base of it swivels, although we didn’t get to see it twist behind 15 degrees so we’re not sure the extent of its flexibility. Powering the DirectX 10-compatible little guy is an AMD Athlon MV-40, along with a 2.5-inch SATA HDD, up to 4GB DDR2 memory, and Windows 7 Home Premium, all for a hair under four pounds. There is a bit of bulk in its height, about 1.7 inches at its tallest and 0.75 inches at its shortest, but that’s something we’re willing to live with considering the value we’re getting with the screens. The rep we spoke with says it’s still in prototype phase at this point with no price or release date on the books, unfortunately, and the battery life is something of a mystery — we can’t imagine powering two bright displays is doing its energy reserves any favor. Video after the break.

Continue reading Kohjinsha dual-screen swivel netbook prototype hands-on

Filed under: Laptops

Kohjinsha dual-screen swivel netbook prototype hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, sports, not movies or video games is 3D’s killer app, and this prototype camera from Sony is designed specifically to help bring the two closer together. Set to debut at CEATEC next week, the HFR Comfort-3D records at 240 fps through just one lens instead of two thanks to a new half-mirror system that takes left and right eye images at the same time, better for capturing fast motion and providing viewers lacking polarized glasses a 2D picture with minimal blurring. One of our few complaints during last year’s BCS National Championship 3D experience was occasional benefits caused by fast left-right motion which this system could make a non-issue. Check after the break for a detailed (in Japanese) diagram that should help make things clearer — for those that can read the language — the rest of us are waiting for ESPN or someone else to tote a few of these down to the Super Bowl in 2010 and make magic happen.

[Via AV Watch, thanks Derek for English PR]

Continue reading Sony single lens 240 fps camera is great for 3D (& 2D) sports

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Home Entertainment

Sony single lens 240 fps camera is great for 3D (& 2D) sports originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A group of students at MIT have just unveiled a new prototype of a braille labelmaker / printer, the 6dot. Though not the first, the MIT group’s model is apparently more advanced, easier to use, and cheaper than currently available models. Designed with the blind and visually impaired in mind, the labelmaker features an around the neck strap, and six buttons (for each of the dots of a braille character), allowing quick production of accurate labels, including contractions. The internal processor of the device can store up to 16 characters, and “prints” the characters onto adhesive label paper, which the user can then affix for easy identification of household items, such as medications, canned goods, and so on. Though it’s still in prototype phase, it’s possible the device could cost as little as $200 when it does hit the market.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household, Science

MIT students develop new 6dot braille labelmaker prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UMID’s got a couple prototype M2s lying around IDF, and while they don’t seem like the most stable or production-ready things in the world — one of them booted straight to an all-white screen, while another had its logo stuck on by a doting booth attendant — it’s clear that this revision of the M1 will correct a few glaring flaws. The major fix is that there’s now a regular USB port on the side, instead of the M1’s goofy dongle, but we’re also glad to see a 3.5mm headphone jack and a (tiny) trackpad with two mouse buttons flanking the screen. Yeah, it’s still a quirky little MID, but hey, maybe that does it for you. We’re not here to judge what you do with the gallery below.

Filed under: Handhelds

UMID M2 hands-on at IDF originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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