2008-03-31

Asus Eee PC family -- Low-cost Linux based computers and gadgets

After the success of the Eee PC Asus is extending the idea of low-cost Linux based computers and gadgets to desktop PCs, TVs, and Monitors:

On January 30th, 2008 in eeeuser.com we read:

ASUS is planning on expanding the Eee PC family.

Today, three new devices were announced: the E-DT, E-Monitor, and the E-TV.

  • E-DT: Desktop PC, No Monitor, Launching April or May. Will use Celeron and will cost between $200-300.
  • E-Monitor: 19-21″ screen all in one desktop computer. Based on Intel Shelton, Launching in September. $499.
  • E-TV: 42″ Plasma, will feature Linux based functionality. Will launch in September.
And now the first pictures of the E-DT Desktop PC appear:


The upcoming ASUS E-DT will be based on Intel platform. Initial reports suggest that first E-DTs will be powered by Celeron processors whereas the later shipments will ultimately feature Intel's Diamondville CPUs and 945GC chipset.
News: Desktop Eee PC Spotted in the Wild? - LaptopLogic.com

via: Asus E-DT images published
Related:
Asus E-DT / E-Monitor / E-TV - Linux Based Low Cost Devices
EeeUser.com » ASUS E-DT, E-Monitor and E-TV
Asustek announces Eee family product lines

Travel Websites

A list of travel sites and sites with useful traveling information including ATM locator, Taxi fare estimator, public-transport maps and more, clipped from reviews in MakeUseOf.com.
clipped from www.makeuseof.com

3 Must-check Traveller Websites before your Next Trip

Insufficient information for your trip?

Try WikiTravel

WikiTravel -Community Travel Guides

Lonely on your trip?

Try Dopplr

Delays on your trip?

Try FlightStats

Flight Stats
clipped from www.makeuseof.com

10 Travel Websites that should be Bookmarked

TripIt - Travel Itinerary planner

TripIt - Tavel Planner

ATMLocator - Global ATM locator

ATM Locator

Yapta - Flight-ticket price tracker

AirlineMeals - Huge directory of airline meals from around the world

SleepingInAirports - Guide for camping overnight or a few hours in an airport

Sleeping in Airports

SeatGuru - Extensive guide on airplane seating, in-flight amenities etc.

SeatGuru

TheBathroomDiaries- “Search the globe for a clean bathroom”


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2008-03-30

MEDIVista -- Entertainment, Information and Education in the Hospital

Enjoy yourself in the hospital with the MEDIVista device providing: IPTV, VoIP, internet, email, games, radio, music and more.

clipped from www.gizmowatch.com
medivista
clipped from www.lincor.com

Lincor has developed and patented MEDIVistaTM
– a solution for the provision of bedside entertainment services and to enable secure, point of care access to clinical applications for medical professionals.

MEDIVistaTM Brochure: http://www.lincor.com/uploads/MEDIVistaBrochure.pdf

Entertainment, Information and Education Services:


  • TV over IP

  • Radio over IP

  • Telephone over IP

  • Internet and e-mail

  • Video-on-Demand

  • Information Services

  • Patient Education through video and surveys

  • Dietary Management

  • Interactive online surveys

  • Web-based and network games

  • Audio Books


A typical hospital installation would look like this.

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2008-03-29

Firefox 4 Features

With the release of Firefox 3 imminent, the Firefox team is developing already some innovative ideas for Firefox 4, including a new feature called "Prism," that would allow users to run Web-based content offline and "Weave.", an option that would create a set of online preferences and settings for each user instead of each computer.
clipped from www.tfot.info
Firefox 4 Features Details

Although Firefox 3 is still in research and development, Mozilla is already working on new features for the fourth version of its increasingly popular Web browser.

One of the new features is called "Prism" a next-gen software technology that would allow users to run Web-based content offline. For example, users would be able to visit websites and still access non-dynamic content even when they don't have an active Internet connection.

clipped from labs.mozilla.com

Major Update to Prism, First Prototype of Browser Integration

Prismlogo400
Prism is an open source cross-platform prototype of functionality that lets users split web applications out of the browser and run them directly on the desktop.

Refracting550
prism-menu.png

The other big feature already unveiled for Firefox 4 is called "Weave" This is an option that would basically create a set of online preferences and settings that is stored for each user instead of each computer.

clipped from labs.mozilla.com
Overview of the Idea

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Related:
Firefox 4 Features Surface | Tom's Hardware
Firefox 4 will push out the edges of the browser | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone
Mozilla Labs » Blog Archive » Major Update to Prism, First Prototype of Browser Integration
Mozilla Labs » Blog Archive » Introducing Weave
DailyTech - Mozilla Developer Reveals What Firefox 4 Holds in Store
TG Daily - Firefox 4 features surface

Intel develops Long-Range Wi-Fi with RCP Platform




Technology Review - Published By MIT

Long-Distance Wi-Fi

Intel has found a way to stretch a Wi-Fi signal from one antenna to another located more than 60 miles away.

Intel has announced plans to sell a specialized Wi-Fi platform later this year that can send data from a city to outlying rural areas tens of miles away, connecting sparsely populated villages to the Internet. The wireless technology, called the rural connectivity platform (RCP), will be helpful to computer-equipped students in poor countries, says Jeff Galinovsky, a senior platform manager at Intel. And the data rates are high enough--up to about 6.5 megabits per second--that the connection could be used for video conferencing and telemedicine, he says.



Intel’s Rural Connectivity Platform

Cooper says Intel’s Rural Connectivity Platform is a low-cost way of providing roughly 10 megabits-per-second connectivity to remote areas. Without obstructions, Intel says the wireless long-distance nodes can connect every 60 miles.


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Related:
Intel promises Wi-Fi over 60 miles
Technology Review: Long-Distance Wi-Fi
Intel hopes to unwire the world with long-range WiFi
dailywireless.org » Intel’s Rural Connectivity Platform
The Wireless Weblog: Intel's Rural Connectivity Platform: 60-Mile Wi-Fi
DailyTech - Intel Announces RCP Platform for Rural Internet Access
New Intel Technology Sends Wireless Signal Up to 60 Miles
Intel stretches rural Wi-Fi links to 100km | News | TechRadar.com
Research@Intel · Intel (r) Rural Connectivity Platform becomes a reality
Intel Research Berkeley Lab

Foldable and stretchable circuits

About a new type of ultra-thin integrated circuits that can operate during deformations without a reduction in electrical performance.
clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

Circuit boards that bend and stretch created

Scientists have created ultra-thin electronic circuit boards that can be bent, stretched and folded.

The new component boards could prove useful in wearable health monitors, surgical gloves and other applications in which they can be wrapped into unusual shapes such as body parts, aircraft wings or fuselages.
clipped from www.physorg.com

Foldable and stretchable, silicon circuits conform to many shapes

Circuit diagram (top frame) and optical images of a stretchable wavy silicon ring oscillator circuit on a rubber substrate in the as fabricated flat state (top micrograph) and in moderate and high states of biaxial compression (middle and bottom micr ...
Circuit diagram (top frame) and optical images of a stretchable, "wavy" silicon ring oscillator circuit on a rubber substrate, in the "as fabricated" flat state (top micrograph) and in moderate and high states of biaxial compression (middle and bottom micrographs, respectively). Photo courtesy John Rogers
clipped from www.youtube.com
clipped from www.news.uiuc.edu
chip
Mechanically stretchable, "wavy" silicon integrated circuit on a rubber substrate.
Photo
courtesy John Rogers
clipped from www.mse.uiuc.edu
department of materials science and engineering at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign

John Rogers

faculty portrait

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Related:
Foldable and stretchable, silicon circuits conform to many shapes
Rogers Research | Materials Science and Engineering | University of Illinois
BBC NEWS | Technology | Silicon chips stretch into shape
Stretchy circuits promise elastic gadgets - tech - 27 March 2008 - New Scientist Tech
Foldable And Stretchable, Silicon Circuits Conform To Many Shapes
Bendy chips to change tech forever? | News | TechRadar.com
Stretchable and Foldable Silicon Integrated Circuits -- Kim et al., 10.1126/science.1154367 -- Science

2008-03-28

Printable OLED Breakthrough


GE Global Research demonstrated the possibility of printing a light-emitting organic film in a newspaper-printing like roll-to-roll process.
GE Demonstrates World's First ''Roll-to-Roll'' Manufactured Organic
Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)

NISKAYUNA, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric (NYSE: GE), and GE Consumer & Industrial, today announced the successful demonstration of the worlds first roll-to-roll manufactured organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting devices. This demonstration is a key step toward making OLEDs and other high performance organic electronics products at dramatically lower costs than what is possible today.

clipped from www.ecogeek.org
why is this important?
  • Because the OLED (organic light emitting diode) film is extremely efficient.

  • Because printing roll to roll makes OLEDs far easier to mass produce, and thus cheaper.

  • Because OLEDs can be used in a huge variety of lighting applications, moving the world beyond lightbulbs and into a whole new paradigm of lighting.

  • blog it

    Related:
    GE Demonstrates World's First ''Roll-to-Roll'' Manufactured Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)
    GE Announces Printable OLED Breakthrough | EcoGeek
    GE Global Research Home
    Energy Conversion Devices (ECD Ovonics) is a leader in the fields of alternative energy generation and storage, and advanced information technologies — Welcome to ECD Ovonics