This week, Marvell unveiled a $99 tablet e-reader reference design that the company promises will do for the e-reader market what ARM-based notebooks have done to compete with netbooks.
The "Moby" contains a Marvell Armada 600-series microprocessor running at up to a gigahertz. the system-on-a-chip is powerful enough to be able to perform 1080p high-definition video encoding and decoding, some 3D graphics, and either the Google Android or Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system. It reportedly uses a 10-inch display, according to Technologizer. According to Marvell, the Moby's Armada 600 processor can decode Adobe Flash-encoded video.
Marvell is pitching the Moby at students and other consumers who want the flexibility of a tablet, but don't want to pay for something like a JooJoo or an iPad. Marvell will soon announce a pilot program in partnership with the
District of Columbia Public School system (DCPS) where the Company will
donate a Moby tablet to every child in an at-risk school as part of a
multi-year program in new media and learning, the company said.
Marvell did not announce the specs of the Moby, but said that the tablet should "weigh less than half of one typical textbook," but have enough internal storage to be able to hold a "year's supply of textbooks".
It doesn't take a genius to cook up this marketing plan for Das
Keyboard. You make high-end keyboards, you hold the Ultimate Typing
Championship. This year at SXSW, Das
Keyboard brought the two finalists--Nate Bowen of NYC and Sean Wrona of
Ithaca, NY--to Austin Texas, and crowned a winner. Both typists have
been clocked at 150 words per minute, but this contest wasn't even
close.
The championship had two rounds, and Sean Wrona won the
first round easily, hitting an unbelievable163 words per minute. The
current world record is for typing 158 words per minute, according to
the Guinness Book of
World Records.
The second test included a mix of
unintelligible phrases and code that required multiple keyboard
commands. Despite the complex material, Wrona beat his opponent 125 to
72 words per minute. That is the round I captured on video below.
After
Wrona collected his $2,000 prize, I asked him if his fingers hurt. He
shrugged and said: "My fingers are fine, although it is kind of
uncomfortable on the wrists."
You can test your typing skills at ultimatetypingchampionship.com,
but don't expect to see my name on the finalist list. I still look at
the keys when I type.
Check it out, netbook owners: Scosche has announced a new line of products just in time for CTIA, and they've all been created with netbooks in mind.
The SkyCaster (above) is a wireless RF computer headphone set with a USB transmitter. With them, you can roam up to 100 feet from your netbook and still enjoy 2.4Hz clear digital audio--even through walls, floors, and ceilings.
You can choose from three different charging devices: the InVert, NetVolt, and NetVolt Home. The InVert works with a vehicle's power socket, while the NetVolt includes a USB port for charging two devices at once in the car. The NetVolt Home is a universal netbook wall charger.
Keep your netbook scratch-free with the new NetBook Protect line of cases, including the NetSuit Pro and the NetSuit reversible sleeve. Look for the entire lineup to reach stores in April and May.
Here's a surprising use of 3D technology (sort of). Imperial Toy has released Optrix 3-D Bubbles and says that sales are already brisk. Designed to be used outdoors on a sunny day, the toys lets kids see "magical images" inside their bubbles. They're available in four styles: stars, hearts, lightening bolts, and butterflies.
Each package includes viewing glasses, a bubble wand, bubble tray, and an 8 ounce bottle of Super Miracle Bubble Solution. While this may not be high-quality 3D, you've got to admire the company's perfect timing. 3D films are crushing the box office and they've got an unusual 3D toy. I hope they're working on an Avatar tie-in. Or at least Alice in Wonderland.
This is getting depressing. As expected, Palm warned again that revenue for the current quarter will fall far below Wall Street's expectations, Reuters reports.
The Palm Pre and Pixi aren't selling as well as Palm had hoped, even after introducing (slightly) upgradedversions for Verizon Wireless, to sell alongside the original models on Sprint.
The main problem appears to be inventory: Palm shipped 960,000 smartphones last quarter, but only sold about 408,000 units instead of the 600,000+ many analysts expected. That leaves Palm with tons of aging inventory sitting in stores, which means greater discounts, more sales, and less profit just to move the remaining units.
This casts a pall over Palm's future prospects once again, after the struggling company delighted tech enthusiasts by introducing the long-awaited, excellent webOS in January 2009.
Will Palm ever get it together? For more, read PCMag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff's latest column.
For the first time, scientists have rendered an object invisible in three dimensions, BBC News reports.
We're talking about an extremely small object here, about the size of a thousandth of a millimeter. Scaling this technology to work on something the size of a Volkswagen Jetta--never mind a Romulan Bird-of-Prey--will take time.
But here's how it works: before, researchers could hide an object from light traveling in one direction, but not any other, so the object would still be visible when you shifted your viewpoint ever so slightly. This time, researchers "transformed space," essentially, by designing a photonic metamaterial that influenced the behavior of light rays, according to the report.
For now, the professor who led the project said that fabrication techniques limit the size of the rods used in the experiment. But the result could still have implications for lens development, plus advances in light storage and optical circuitry, according to the report. There's way more than we can possibly go into here, so check out the link for more details. (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
MobileHelp has launched a portable device that integrates cellular and GPS radios, with the goal of providing medical monitoring and location tracking for emergency assistance.
The system comes in several pieces: a four-ounce mobile unit with a single button, a battery-backed base station with an illuminated emergency button and a two-way voice communicator that connects to a live operator, and a wearable, waterproof pendant that weighs less than an ounce.
The system offers e-mail notifications and online tracking for both caregivers and family members, and works inside and outside the home thanks to an AT&T cellular hookup. MobileHelp systems start at $34.95 per month and come with a 30-day free trial.
Microsoft appears to be prepared to support third-party USB storage for saving and loading game data, according to a post by Joystiq on Thursday. The source, an alleged Microsoft engineering document, also states that the capability would be added to the Xbox 360 platform sometime this spring.
Instead of providing flash-based storage cards, the new update would allow USB hard drives to be used as storage options. There's a catch, though: although many USB hard drives ship with capacity points higher than 16 GB, Microsoft will only allow a partition of 16 Gbytes on size, with 512 Mbytes of that used for system data. Up to two USB devices may be used, for a total of 32 Gbytes.
Here, users have two options, according to Joystiq. Let's assume the USB hard drive is 250 Gbytes in size. Choosing a "Configure Now" option will format the drive as an Xbox partition, but transform that 250-Gbyte drive into 16 Gbytes of usable storage. But choosing the "customize" option will partition out that 16 Gbytes, leaving the remainder as storage that can not be accessed by the Xbox 360, but can be used by another machine to store music or videos.
Joystiq provides a gallery of associated images, so click on over there if you want to dive in.
Police in Austin, Texas have arrested 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez on the belief he remotely disabled over 100 vehicles sold through his former car dealership, according to Tom's Guide.
Texas Auto Center apparently uses a Web-based vehicle immobilization system to remind customers late on their car payments that they're delinquent. The dealership installs a small black box under the dashboard that communicates with a central Web site, the report said.
Ramos-Lopez is believed to have broken into the system via another employee's account and disabled over 100 cars after being laid off. He also set many of the cars to honk their horns repeatedly. Many owners became stranded, or woken up late at night by the car horn and being forced to disconnect the battery.
Police tracked Ramos-Lopez to his home via his AT&T internet service IP address, according to the report. And here we thought car dealers were a shady bunch to begin with. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)
It's not quite Earth-like. But scientists have discovered a "normal" exoplanet, dubbed CoRoT-9b, that resembles other planets in our Solar System.
The planet appears to be orbiting its star about as close as our own Mercury, and yet is the approximate size of Jupiter, Space.com reports. Still, it's a lot further away than other "hot Jupiter" exoplanets, and likely has a much more temperate climate, the report said.
CoRoT-9b is likely made of hydrogen and helium, just like Jupiter and Saturn. The planet is named after the French space agency CNES's CoRoT satellite, which first picked up the light signature of the planet passing in front of its star.
To date, astronomers have discovered over 430 exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, orbiting other stars--with the expectation that there are many, many more out there. (Image credit: ESO/L. Calcada)
Attention, movie buffs and audio enthusiasts: Harman International introduced its new spring line this morning.
Action movie fans will want the Harman Kardon HKTS 20 and HKTS 30 (left), two new 5.1 home entertainment solutions. Both offer a 200W powered, 200mm subwoofer and two-way loudspeakers. The package also includes a dual-driver center channel speaker for distinct movie dialogue. Look for them this month for $699 $799 and $899 $999.
The JBL MS-8 is a clever system integration digital processor that can optimize a car's audio performance in only 10 minutes, Harman Kardon says. Use it to maximize frequency response, bass performance, dynamics, clarity, and more. You'll find it in April for $799.
Old favorites are back, as well, with new versions of the Harman Kardon Go + Play Micro ($399), the JBL On Time 200P ($249), the JBL On Time Micro ($249), and the JBL On Stage Micro II ($129). Improvements include iPod and/or iPhone compatibility.
Premiere gaming-peripheral maker Razer is really handing out the charity lately. Last week it announced that all future gaming mice would include Mac support (thrilling the country's two or three Mac gamers) and now it's announcing a gaming grade mouse just for lefties.
Called the DeathAdder Left Hand Edition, it offers a level of comfort and gameplay that southpaws could previously only dream about. It has five programmable Hyperesponse buttons, a 3500dpi infrared sensor, and an ergonomic left-hand design. Players can change how the mouse responds in-game with on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments.
"Not many gamers know this, but I am a southpaw myself and feel truly excited to have a mouse that fits perfectly in my left hand. There is really no substitute for gaming with your naturally dominant hand," says Razer USA's president, Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff.
HTC yesterday issued a strongly worded--if vague--response to Apple's numerous patent suits. The company asserted that it "disagrees with Apple's actions and will fully defend itself." What specifically the company means by "defend" has yet to be seen, but whatever it is, after a couple of weeks of remaining relatively silent on the matter, HTC seems reader for a fight.
The company used an official press release on the subject to highlight some of the more innovative moments in its 13-year history. The release quotes CEO Peter Chou:
From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.
Apple filed the suit with the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware, alleging that HTC had infringed on 20 Apple-owned patents.
Don't toss the cardboard box your Lowepro Magnum 650 AW camera bag came in. In some parts of the world it would be called "housing." The box is that big and so is the bag. This square-cornered, $250 photo and laptop bag holds every camera and lens you own or are likely to buy: two digital SLRs; up to 10 lenses and/or flashes; and a 15-inch laptop in a sleeve that opens to form a protective sunshade. The Magnum 650 even makes sense for people with a lot less gear.
If you're used to carrying a backpack or messenger bag that's bursting at the seams with your laptop, peripherals, gadgets, and other items, the new Booq Mamba Shift backpack may be perfect for you.
Booq designed the backpack for gamers, but its spacious interior and dozens of pockets are perfect for anyone who just needs to carry a lot of stuff at the same time. It doesn't matter if you're taking your gaming laptop to a LAN party or you're just planning an all-night study session at the library, the Mamba Shift has enough space to carry all of your gear with you and fit easily on your back.
The Mamba Shift features a slick, water-repellent ballistic nylon exterior to keep your gear dry when it's raining, and a soft, water-repellent interior lining that will protect your laptop, iPod, headphones, and other accessories from scratches and dings while you carry them around. All of that protection and packing space won't come cheap though, you can purchase the Mamba Shift now from Booq's online store for $149.95 US.
More...
Here's a surprising use of 3D technology (sort of). Imperial Toy has released 
Attention, movie buffs and audio enthusiasts: 
If you're used to carrying a backpack or messenger bag that's bursting at the seams with your laptop, peripherals, gadgets, and other items, the new 
