From the category archives:
Via Amazon.com
Students, if you are already comfortable with E-textbooks, then this story is for you. When one of my previous employers (a college) asked me to test out a Kindle for academic use, I thought that it would be great for reading classic literature for English class, but not as useful for traditional texts, that are full of colorful diagrams and graphics. The cost of purchasing one and using it on a Kindle seemed impractical for most students. This changes things.
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Smartfish (makers of the ErgoMotion Mouse) have released a new mouse pad that converts into a zippered pouch to pack your mouse around in. The mouse pad opens up to a 9-inch diameter and uses a padded neoprene material for easy rolling. [click to continue…]
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An Apple patent application shows off a more rugged hard drive enclosure, presumably for external hard drives or maybe a portable Time Capsule.
The ruggedness is achieved by angling a 3.5″ hard drive inside an enclosure and putting dampened wedges on each corner of the drive. Apple says this will increase the hard drive’s ability to take a fall and keep on running.
Check out the full patent application, along with several images of the invention, below. [click to continue…]
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CRU-DataPort’s DriveBoxes make that stack of bare hard drives sitting on your desk a little safer for the drives and more aesthetically pleasing for your eyes. They make it easier to stack multiple drives on a shelf and are generally healthier for your stored drives over long periods of time.
These anti-static drive cases are available for 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drives. Starting at $5.50 a piece, they aren’t too tough on your wallet. You can buy them in bulk packs on Amazon.
More details over at CRU-DataPort’s website.
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Kingston has launched the second generation of the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0, Kingston’s fastest USB Flash drive, which uses a native USB 3.0 controller for better performance and power management.
The new DTU30G2 has a read speed up to 100MB/s, and a write speed up to 70 MB/s; up from the first generations 80MB/s write and 60 MB/s read specs. When plugged into a USB 2.0 port, Kingston claims the drive has read and write speeds of around 30MB/s. The DTU30G2 is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. The DataTraveler Ultimate is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, so if you’ve got a lot of data that you need to transfer quickly such as HD video or high resolution photos a 3.o flash drive may be just the ticket. [click to continue…]
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Adesso has finally unveiled a Compagno for the iPad 2 aptly called the Conpagno 2. The original Compagno is a great little carry case with an attached Bluetooth keyboard that offers protection, acts as as stand and is easy to use. [click to continue…]
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Logitech has partnered with ZAGG for exclusive rights to market the ZAGGmate case for the iPad 2 and is the same great design and quality seen in the ZAGGmate for iPad. [click to continue…]
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While looking for something else, I ran across this wireless keyboard from Logitech. Not very newsworthy, right? But wait! This is no ordinary wireless keyboard. It’s powered by light. That’s right solar powered. [click to continue…]
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Samsung is now mass producing 22 inch black and white and color transparent displays sporting a 1,680 by 1,050-pixel resolution and a 500:1 contrast ratio. The panel utilizes available ambient light, such as sunlight, or indoor lighting allowing 90 percent less power consumption than conventional backlit LCD displays.
For now it seems that Samsung will be targeting the digital signage arena, such as store windows, but look for transparent display technology elsewhere in the future, like maybe the automotive industry. The display supports HDMI and USB.
SEOUL, Korea – March 31, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that it began mass production of the 22-inch transparent LCD panel in March this year.
The panels come in two colors, the black-and-white type and the color type, and they have a contrast ratio of 500:1 with WSXGA+(1680*1050) resolution.
Compared with the conventional LCD panels that use back light unit (BLU) and have 5% transparency, Samsung’s transparent LCD panel boasts the world’s best transparency rate of over 20% for the black-and-white type and over 15% for the color type.
The transparent LCD panel has a high transparency rate, which enables a person to look right through the panel like glass, and it consumes 90% less electricity compared with a conventional LCD panel using back light unit.
It’s because a transparent LCD panel utilizes ambient light such as sun light, which consequently reduces the dependency on electricity for generating power.
Also, Samsung’s transparent LCD panel maximizes convenience for not only manufacturers but also consumers by incorporating the High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.
Transparent display panels have endless possibilities as an advertising tool, which can be applied to show windows and outdoor billboards or used in showcase events.
Corporations and schools can also adopt the panel as an interactive communication device, which enables information to be displayed more effectively.
Younghwan Park, a senior vice president of Samsung Electronics LCD Business, said, “Transparent displays will have a wide range of use in all industry areas as an efficient tool for delivering information and communication. With the world’s first mass production of the transparent LCD panel, Samsung Electronics plans to lead the global transparent LCD market by developing various applications.”
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company consists of eight independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Semiconductor and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
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Today Intel has release their new line of 320 SSD (Solid State Drives), which includes the 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, plus new higher capacity 300GB and 600GB capacities. [click to continue…]
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