HITmagazine

You know what you'll be doing in 2011? Everything that you've ever wanted, that's what, 'cause the world as we know will unquestionably end in 2012. Amazingly enough, one of those bucket list items that you'll be able to achieve is to change the channel on your tele without ever slipping a battery into your remote. A prototype clicker was recently shown over in Japan utilizing technologies from NEC and Soundpower; essentially, the remote turns the small vibrations from button presses into power, which it then uses to beam out signals to the nearby set. If all goes well, the two hope to have battery-less remotes shipping with televisions in just two years -- a proposition that surely exasperate the likes of Duracell and Energizer (and enraptures us to no end).

via

It seems like the future, as it's unveiled in prototypes, always seems much more exciting than the one we end up inheriting. Between Segway-esque unicycles, braille labelmakers, and Bluetooth-enabled gowns, the road ahead looks pretty sweet (if only in concept). Among the various ideas floated by Ericsson as part of its Life in 2020 project, the company has unveiled something called the Spider Computer. Named after the creepy spider-like legs of the initial design, the thing houses a PC, pico proj, a keyboard that's projected onto your desk with a laser, and a memory card reader. According to Pocket-lint the device, shown here at the 2009 Taiwan Broadband show, has a rather poor battery life and lacks network connectivity, but once they figure out how to pack WiFi and some reasonable juice into the thing we might start seeing a few more ultraportables that look more like Maglites than netbooks.
The current prototype has a built-in pico projector, a laser keyboard and a memory card reader. Ericsson is working on a clever way to integrate a long lasting battery and of course internet connectivity.

The Spider Computer mock-up looks like something out of a sci-fi movie as it stands on three legs that are meant to fold into the device itself. It’s all black and it almost looks as if it’ll come alive at any moment and start to attack you.

It’s always interesting to see a company’s vision of the future, but the biggest hurdle in this case seems to be how to power the separate devices rather than how to integrate all the technology Ericsson wants to fit into its futuristic concept.

You can read more about Ericsson’s vision of the year 2020 over at http://www.ericsson.com/ericsson/corpinfo/2020/

[Via Pocket-lint ] [Engadget]

Acer hasn't exactly been slacking when it comes to Windows 7-related hardware, but it looks like its still putting the final touches on its launch line-up, with it now rolling out a new multitouch monitor to complement its range of laptops and desktops. What's more, at a full 23-inches, the company's new T230H monitor best similar offerings from Dell and HP in terms of sheer size, and it packs some respectable specs across the board, including a full 1920 x 1080 resolution, a 2ms response time, a promised 80,000:1 contrast ratio (take that with the usual grain of salt), and an HDMI port in addition to DVI and VGA. Still no official word on US pricing, it seems, but this one will apparently run €349 in Europe (or just over $500).

[Via Engadget Korea]

We got our first glimpse at a computing future filled with low-cost, ARM-based ASUS smartbooks running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor all the way back on June 1st. Since then, however, the pencil-spinning boys in Taiwan have been poo-pooing plans to launch such a device due to what ASUS called an uncertain market opportunity -- or was it pressure from Wintel, we never can tell? Then yesterday, ASUS' Jerry Shen pulled an about-face at an investor meeting in Taipei with talk of launching a $180 smartbook in Q1 of 2010. Bristling with confidence, Shen goes so far as to call it a "secret weapon" in a category offering potential for huge, Eee PC-like growth. Well, with the first big-name smartbooks just starting to ship, even a dozen or so sales could be considered statistically significant.

[Via Shanzai]

That's right Mac lovers -- your mildest dreams have come true. A new update of OS X is now available via your friendly Software Update window... a little something Apple likes to call 10.5.7.

Nokia just announced its 5730 XpressMusic QWERTY, 5330 XpressMusic slider, and lowly 5030 XpressRadio candybar bringing up the tail. The trio of handsets spread across different price-points should make access to the Nokia Music Store (now available in 15 countries) that much easier. The top-end 5730 (available Q3, €280) is Nokia's first QWERTY device optimized for both music and gaming with dedicated audio and N-Gage keys. The 5330 slider (Q3, €260) steps up the design with illumination effects while adding a 3.5-mm jack and 26-hours of audio. The 5030 XpressRadio (Q2, €40) is Nokia's first with an internal FM radio antenna thereby eliminating the need for a headset or external speakers. With that as its major selling point, you've probably already guessed that it's heading to emerging markets.
Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

Nokia 5330 XpressMusic

engadget

Apple updated their popular iPod Shuffle with a new version that’s moved the playback controls from the player itself to a small inline remote on the headphone cord. As a result, the Shuffle has become considerably smaller in size, just 1.8 inches tall and 0.7 inches wide, but at the same time has received a bump in storage up to 4GB.
The other notable update is the addition of VoiceOver which allows the Shuffle to tell you the name of the current track or artist or even when it’s time to recharge the battery. And, the addition of VoiceOver finally allows the iPod Shuffle to take advantage of multiple playlists, since they now can be navigated as the player announces their names. Not too shabby at just $79.99 in your choice of silver or black & your claim to what Apple calls the "world's smallest music player.".

Via ohGizmo!

The brain geniuses at Fraunhofer are back on the scene with a security device that takes the window alarm to the next level. The Vigilant window sees the ol' glass panel coated with a nanoparticle material which converts light into fluorescent radiation. When the system is switched on, a UV lamp is aimed at the window, which is outfitted with sensors along its edges. As long as the lamp is unobstructed, everything is goldie. However, if a cat burglar should come by in his trademark all-black out fit and obstruct the beam, the alarm is activated -- sending your elite security team into action. If you don't have an elite security team, perhaps you can send your T-34 to snare him in its net. Either way, it's clear they messed with the wrong folks this time. A prototype already exists, no word yet on when this will become available.

Via engadget

It's still a little ways away from actually landing in some graphics cards, but Samsung has announced that it has begun mass production of its new 50nm GDDR5 memory, which promises to support a maximum data transfer speed of 7.0 gigabits per second and boast a maximum bandwidth of 28 gigabytes per second. According to Samsung, the shift to a 50nm manufacturing process also increases production efficiency by a full 100 percent, and allows the memory to operate at 1.35 volts, which is a 20 percent reduction compared to current GDDR4 memory. From the looks of it, however, manufacturers will have to make do with a 32Megabit x 32 configuration (also configurable as a 64Mb x 16 device) initially, although Samsung says it plans to expand the 50nm process throughout its graphics memory line-up by the end of the year.

The Samsung Memoir could easily be mistaken for a real camera. On one side is a full touch-screen, and on the other is an 8-megapixel camera, 16x digital zoom, and Xenon flash.
The phone, which we first saw hints of in December, will run on T-Mobile's 3G network. Besides the 8-megapixel camera, it also has a full-touch virtual QWERTY keypad, a music and video player, built in GPS, and Bluetooth.

SAMSUNG MOBILE AND T-MOBILE USA INTRODUCE BEST-IN-CLASS
8-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA PHONE

Samsung Memoir™ Captures and Shares High-Quality Images
With Advanced Features and Touch Screen

DALLAS, and BELLEVUE, WASH. — Feb. 5, 2009 — Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and T-Mobile USA, Inc., today announced the upcoming availability of the Samsung Memoir™, a full touch-screen mobile phone equipped with an 8-megapixel camera and premium multimedia features, placing it among the highest quality imaging phones available in the U.S.

The Memoir, available exclusively from T-Mobile, is designed to look and feel like a customer's current point-and-shoot digital camera. The built-in 8-megapixel camera with Xenon flash, 16x digital zoom and five shooting modes empower customers to capture exceptional photos and videos from their phone — whether they're on the go, on a vacation or just hanging out around the house.

The touch-screen phone, enabled by Samsung's TouchWiz™ user interface and powered by T-Mobile's high-speed 3G network, makes sharing photos easy. Samsung's new photo widget allows customers to post images taken with the Memoir directly to their favorite online photo sharing source, such as flickr®, Kodak® Gallery, Photobucket and Snapfish.

"With the 8-megapixel Samsung Memoir, T-Mobile customers can capture and share little slices of life in all their vibrant brilliance," said Denny Marie Post, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA. "With the ability to share photos at your fingertips, the Memoir helps make those connections more meaningful by their immediacy."

The Memoir's full-touch virtual QWERTY keypad and multiple messaging capabilities, including text, multimedia messaging, instant messaging and e-mail, make staying connected quick and easy while on the go. The Memoir is complete with a music and video player and built-in Assisted GPS navigation, which allows customers to utilize location-based services including turn-by-turn directions. For hands-free use, the Memoir features stereo Bluetooth® technology, speakerphone and voice-activated dialing.

"This is the camera phone that will make people want to leave their digital camera at home," said Bill Ogle, Chief Marketing Officer for Samsung Mobile. "When you combine the Memoir's imaging capabilities, customizable menus and music player, not only is it a great phone, but the entertainment possibilities are unlimited."

T-Mobile's 3G coverage available in select markets. Samsung Memoir also works on T-Mobile's 2G network. See coverage maps at T-Mobile.com

Model number: SGH-t929

Psyko Audio Labs is looking to push doubters over the edge with its incredibly heinous 5.1 Directional Audio Headphones. Supposedly, the company uses a special alignment technology that delivers accurate surround sound to each ear "in a natural 3D sound field." In case you weren't skeptical enough, there's also a "subwoofer" in each ear cup, which sounds like a feat you'd truly have to hear to believe. Yeah, we guess the built-in amplifier -- which lets gamers "customize volume and bass levels" -- is pretty nifty, but for $299.99, they'd have to knock our equilibrium clean out of balance.

HP Pavilion dv3 Specifications

Display: 13.3″ TN (Twisted Nematic) Wide TFT LCD with LED Backlight
Aspect Ratio: 16:10
Pixel Format: 1280 x 800
Webcam: Yes
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3200
CPU: 2GHz Athlon X2 QL-62 to 2.4GHz AMD Turion Ultra X2 ZM-86
RAM: Up to 8GB DDR2
HDD: 160/250/320/400GB 5400RPM HD, Optional SSD
Connectivity: 5-in-1 Media Card Reader, WiFi (ABGN), Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, ExpressCard, USB 2.0, VGA, HDMI, eSATA/USB Combo, Mic-In, Speaker-Out
Optical: Slot-loading SuperMulti DVD player
Other: Magnesium Chassis, Fingerprint Reader (optional)
Battery: 6/9-cell Lithium Ion
Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.1 x 1.3″
Weight: 4.35lbs
Price: Starting MSRP US$799

While you and HP can argue the rest of the night away about the most accurate moniker for its Pavilion dv2, the dv3 is definitely an ultraportable. The AMD-powered machine comes in a plethora of configurations with CPUs ranging from 2GHz (Athlon X2 QL-62) to 2.4GHz (Turion X2 Ultra ZM-86), ATI's Radeon HD 3200 graphics, up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, 160/250/320/400GB hard drive choices, WiFi / Bluetooth, a dual-layer DVD burner, gigabit Ethernet, an ExpressCard slot and a satisfactory array of ports including three USB 2.0 sockets, VGA, HDMI, eSATA combo (with a third USB port) and audio in / out. Users can select from a six or nine-cell battery, and there's even an optional fingerprint reader if you're unashamedly paranoid. Interested? It's available today, junior, for $799 and up.