Sharp announced a line of LCDs geared for digital signage applications that are silent: 42-inch PN-E421, 47-inch PN-E471, 52-inch PN-E521, 60-inch PN-E601. The PN-E601 and PN-E521 make use of Sharp’s UV2A LCD technology allowing for solid picture quality while consuming less power than comparably-sized LCDs. Unlike most other digital signage LCDs, all four from Sharp incorporate fanless designs making them completely silent. Sharp has figured a way to dissipate all that heat without the use of noisy fans that ultimately fail. As with proper digital signage displays, these silent LCDs from Sharp are 24/7 capable. Source: Akihabara News
NVIDIA showed off its Tegra Tablet prototyped by ICD. Tegra-enabled kitchen tablet? You sure you want to watch a 720p video clip while cooking? I’ve said this before: when you design a display to be placed near a kitchen said display better be quite durable: water-proof, oil-proof, drop-proof, shock-proof, be able withstand accidental stabs by sharp objects like knives, etc. The NVIDIA Tegra Tablet is clearly not any of these. I would think it would be better used in the office in a safe environment by a techno-geek that takes good care of his/her gadgets.
As a tablet it is too big. Engadget’s guess is around 15 to 16 inches: my guess is 15.6 inches with a 1366 x 768 pixel format. Resistive touch technology is employed. The chassis is quite thin at under an inch thick. Finger-based navigation on a keyboard-mouse-centric OS (Windows CE) looks quite clumsy ,but one interesting design was the dock/charging station: you dock the Tegra Tablet upright on what looks like a stand, similar to Palm’s Touchstone. Quite nice. Source: Engadget
Engadget’s Paul Miller takes the ultra-thin Adamo XPS notebook PC for a spin. Some highlights of the video:
Paul admits he isn’t sure who the Adamo XPS is for but shows that Dell has some design and engineering ‘chops’ when it comes to notebooks. I’m afraid you shouldn’t be spending too much time on the Adamo XPS’ keyboard: with an upward slant you will certainly feel more pressure on your wrists. I would rather have design focused on usability while maintaining a sense of aesthetics. Source: Engadget
Direct2Dell: Chrome OS has been hacked thanks to Doug A. and now runs on Dell’s Mini 10v including WiFi. Not perfect, but working: The ChromiumOS network connection may take up to 5-10 minutes to see your WiFi connections. A USB image as well as instructions are available for download at Direct2Dell. I expect Chrome OS to be ported over to pretty much everything, and soon.
Geek Stuff 4u via Akihabara News, Engadget: Kohjinsha’s DZ series notebook PCs sport two 10.1-inch TFT LCDs each with a 1024×600 resolution. The two LCDs slide out to make for an expansive display with a 2048×600 pixel format. The separate displays also make for much simpler window management as it requires just maximizing the window within the LCD. Another good move by Kohjinsha is the pixel format of 1024×600 as it makes it convenient to browse through most website without having to scroll sideways; you will need to scroll up and down quite a bit. And if you’re a blogger or someone that likes to work on a document with multiple sources open, this dual display solution can definitely boost productivity.
The overall package isn’t too bulky with a max thickness of 1.65 inches and a weight of 4.09 pounds. Other specs include: 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo, RS780MN chipset, ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU, WiFi BGN, USB (3), 1.3 megapixel webcam, 1GB RAM (4GB max), 160GB 5400 RPM hard drive, 5200mAh battery good for up to 4.5 hours. You have a choice of Linux (don’t know which distro) or Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit for an extra ¥5,000 (about US$58). The dual 10-inch LCD wielding notebook PC from Kohjinsha is priced at ¥95,800 (about $1107) and currently shipping worldwide: it will cost around $60 to the US and €50 to Europe and take around three weeks.
PRAD is reporting that Gene Munster from Piper Jaffray thinks Apple may enter the TV market with its own set in 2011. Munster further postulates that the TV from Apple will not be merely a display device but also function as a DVR, game console and a connection hub for Macs and iPhones/iPods via a wireless connection. The iPhone and iPod would, of course, be used as remote controls and game controllers. A new Apple TV with digital recording capabilities (requiring a video input port) is also soon to appear in the next few months. Munster also forecasts a TV subscription model from Apple called an “iTunes TV Pass” for US$30-40/mo. He also thinks 6.6 million Apple TVs will sell in 2009, more the 3x in 2008. What Munster is mustering up seems to be a pipe dream and goes against design principles based on delivering a focused experience for different products.
If Apple decides to build a TV it will merely be a display, an awesome display with plenty of sex appeal, but merely. I’m not sure if you could even call it a TV since it won’t have TV tuners. The extremely simple TV will be a display for the Mac, the iPhone, the iPod, the Apple TV and any other video source like a Blu-ray player, satellite, cable, etc. Unlike other TVs the resolution will be considerable: I’m thinking 4K2K considerable. Since Apple uses IPS technology for its high-end offerings, the TV set will most likely continue with that trend if it is a LCD TV at all. Wireless connectivity? Most likely. Wired connectivity? Of course. The TV from Apple will be designed to offer an amazing “lean back” experience so I agree with Munster: the iPhone or iPod touch will be used as a remote control.
Nokia: The X6 Comes With Music edition just started shipping. The S60-based smartphone from Nokia makes use of a 3.2-inch capacitive touch LCD featuring a 640 x 360 resolution and 16.7 million colors. The accelerometer auto rotates the display.
The X6 sports 32GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel dual-LED flash auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Video recording is up to 640 x 480 at 30fps. The front camera can record video as well: 176 x 144 at 15fps. Connectivity options include micro-USB, 3.5-mm Nokia AV connector for audio and TV out, and WiFi BG. The list price for the sleek-looking smartphone is steep €450 (about US$680) and includes Nokia’s “Comes with Music” service.
The T9 HD from Ramos is a 4.3-inch PMP with a 800 x 480 resolution. Supported video formats are: AVI (Xvid, DivX), RMVB, MKV (H.264), VOB, MPG, FLV. Via the TV-out port the T9 HD can playbck 720p video. Source: Akihabara News
Samsung‘s N510 is a 11.6-inch netbook powered by NVIDIA’s ION LE graphics. The 11.6-inch LCD sports a 1366 x 768 resolution. Additional features include: 1.66GHz Atom N280, 250GB 5400RPM hard drive, a motion-activated 1.3MP webcam, and a 7-hour 6-cell 5900mAh battery. The N510 weighs just 3.1 pounds. Connectivity options include: Fast Ethernet, WiFi BGN, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, VGA, HDMI, Headphone, Mic, USB 2.0 (3), SD/SDHC/MMC. With NVIDIA’s ION LE graphics the N510 should provide significantly more performance than typical netbooks. Source: Samsung [Image Source: Laptop Reviews UK]
Corning expects fourth quarter revenues to be around US$1.41 billion and Street consensus of $1.36 billion in the first quarter of 2010 according to The Wall Street Journal. Peter Volanakis, CEO of Corning, stated that the company has about $3 billion in cash and looking to for acquisition targets. Corning purchased Axygen BioScience, a laboratory equipment manufacturer, in September for US$400 million from American Capital. Axygen was integrated into Corning’s life sciences segment. He also mentioned that LCD glass remains very tight in the fourth quarter. Source: The Wall Street Journal via Briefing.com, StreetInsider.com
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