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Archive for the ‘Gizmos & Gadgets’ Category

A new technology developed on thin-film by 3M enables mobile devices like cell phones to view 3-D images without the special glasses. The technology named Vikuiti 3-D, guides slightly-different images to viewer’s right and left eyes. The device is to be held still relatively. The viewer will experience an “auto-stereoscopic effect” (sense of depth of the image).

The optical trick is the same as in Philips’s WOWvx 3-D TV. However, to make it work on mobile devices is a new challenge.In Vikuiti 3-D technology, reflective structures (prism-shaped) are embedded on back of polymer film. Tiny micro lenses are on front patterned.

This component guides lights through the liquid-crystal display in the front of film. Light passes the film from the 2 LEDs, one placed to right and one to left. Light from the LEDs bounces off waveguide & strikes the film at different angle, which causes the embedded optics in the film to bend the light in 2 different directions.

Both the LCD and the LEDs panels are switched very fast (120 times per second) to trick the brain of the viewer to see 2 images at one time.

PS3 Motion Controller

As Sony announced the release of its new motion-sensitive controller for its PlayStation3 (video game console) by spring 2010 during the Tokyo Game Show, their rival Nintendo just hours earlier reduced the price of its Wii console to $200 from $250.

Announced earlier, Sony, at E3 last June that it was working on a new controller. Nintendo Wii’s new intuitive Wii-mote giving tough competition to Sony. Microsoft is also unveiling the latest controller system, Natal.

The new controller is of high-precision & high accurate motion sensors to give gamers full experience of thrill and enjoy playing. To use the Motion Controller you must have the PlayStation Eye camera. So it’s mix of bad news and good news.

A user’s face is recognized by the camera of PlayStation Eye. Body motion and voice are tracked and player’s image is displayed on the TV. Sony will push this enhancement to the market to generate more buzz. The new Motion Controller, with motion sensors, 3 axes accelerometer and 3 axes gyroscope tells the controller’s current movement and angle. The controller’s position is tracked to its absolute position by the PlayStation Eye, while the sphere located above the controller provides visual feedback by changing its illuminating the sphere or colors with different patterns. Rumble feature will be implemented and guess button mashing will be a  past.

For the die hard James Bond fans, LG has just released the GD910 watch phone and which has hit the shelfs. Ofcourse, it doesn’t come with a Lazer cutter but it sure is packed with a lot of features for a watch.

The GD910 is a 3G enabled HSDPA quad-band watchphone with video calling capability through its VGA camera, where the video and  image can be viewed on the 1.4-inch capacitive touch screen. MP3 playback is good enough and it better using  the LG Watch Phone’s speaker. The small screen is very responsive to sliding across with your fingers, the T9 keypad is surprisingly easy to type on (though you can only see one line of text at a time) and the Bluetooth syncing is nigh on instant when you flick on the headset.

The voice command though was not as responsive as one would like . You’ll need to shell out around £500 for one of this.

It’s a 3G HSDPA quad-band watchphone capable of video calling from its VGA camera, where the image is viewable on the 1.4-inch capacitive touch screen.  The small screen is very responsive to sliding across with your fingers, the T9 keypad is surprisingly easy to type on (though you can only see one line of text at a time) and the Bluetooth syncing is nigh on instant when you flick on the headset. MP3 playback is easy enough and it even sounds okay via the LG Watch Phone’s speaker, but we doubt anyone else on the train will think so if you try.The voice command though was not as responsive as one would like . You’ll need to shell out around £500 for one of this.

Microsoft Zune HD

When Microsoft launched Zune in 2006, there was no applause because then Apple’s i-pod was just too good for it. But now its back and is seriously challenging Apple for the top-spot. With its touch screen, smooth user interface and dynamic looks, the new Zune HD is back with a bang.

It is slicker but feels comfortably heavy and is well-built. The touch sensitive OLED screen is 3.3-inch and looks great with its 480 x 272 pixel resolution, and true 16:9 aspect ratio, which is perfect for watching videos. As in iPhone and iPod Touch the user interface responds beautifully to multi-touch motion.

Apart from playing music and videos, Zune HD has an inbuilt FM-radio with support for HD Radio. The best thing is one can tag music while listening to a HD Radio station and when you get back to your PC or get near a Wi-Fi hotspot, download the tracks from Zune Marketplace.

Zune HD can run applications but currently it seems Microsoft is not too concern about this aspect, which is rather disappointing as there was only few mini games available at launch. Microsoft has not released any developer kit for it and seems there is only a few developers who will be getting to develop for it now. It’s a shame because with its Nvidia Tegra Platform, it is more than capable of supporting 3D games.

Overall, the Zune HD is perfect for music and video lovers and it’s a great buy.