Thursday, October 4, 2007

NuVo unveils Essentia E6G whole home audio system

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NuVo Technologies is sure proud of its new Essentia E6G whole home audio system, but rather than waxing rhapsodic about its lengthy list of features, it chose to boast about its newfound Energy Star rating. Aside from the being an apparent power sipper, the E6G also touts Philips Class D digital audio amplification (40-watts per zone), an RS-232 bidirectional control interface, 1U rack height, a newfangled control pad, OLED display and support for six sources and an equal number of zones. Of course, we sure hope you save a few dollars on that energy bill if you plan on picking this up, 'cause you'll be shelling out $2,299 up front before ever plugging it in.

 

[via] Engadget

Behind-the-ear motion sensor helps monitor patients, athletes

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Researchers at the Imperial College in London have developed a device which can be worn behind the ear and is used to measure a subject's posture, stride length, step frequency, and acceleration. Apparently, such a sensor is in high demand, as it could be put to use helping to optimize athletic performance, and to monitor changes in movement or progress in people recovering from surgeries or those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. According to the project leader, Guang-Zhong Yang, the device is working and could be mass-produced in 12 to 18 months. Of course, the big selling point for the sensor is the fact that it's small enough to be worn on the body -- even during non-contact sports -- and is capable of measuring three dimensions of movement via its accelerometer. Researchers are testing the sensors on individuals recovering from surgery and athletes, with aims to broaden the types of data recorded, and improve the range of the device.

 

[via] Engadget

MIT conjures up algorithm for neural prosthetic device

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A team of MIT researchers have crafted "a new algorithm to help create prosthetic devices that convert brain signals into action in patients who have been paralyzed or had limbs amputated." Essentially, neural prosthetic devices "represent an engineer's approach to treating paralysis and amputation," and this particular process utilizes a method called graphical models which represents the "mathematical relationship" between what a human attempts to do and the "neural manifestation" of that goal. Granted, even the gurus hard at work on this stuff admit that it's quite a ways from being pushed out to the public, but there's already plans in place to convert the algorithm into a usable device in due time.

[Via CNET, image courtesy of MIT]

 

[via] Engadget

InTouch Health's RP-7 enables distance education for doctors

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Thankfully, doctors aren't actually be instructed en masse how to do their work by robotic teachers, but that's not to say robots aren't helping to facilitate the learning process. Recently, surgeons in Argentina were guided through a laparoscopic gastric sleeve procedure by a colleague some 5,400 miles away thanks to the InTouch Health RP-7 Remote Presence Robot. The five-foot, five-inch robot reportedly "displays the doctor's face on a 15-inch screen and is guided by a joystick from a computerized ControlStation, emulating an on-site experience." It's even able to provide high quality, real-time audio / video with "complete mobility around the operating room." Best of all, the patient in question was actually able to return home shortly after the procedure was complete, but heaven forbid one of these things ever turning on us humans and taking on a personality of its own.

[Via Physorg]

 

[via] Engadget

Shinoda Plasma shows off slim, lightweight 43-inch display

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Shinoda Plasma, a venture company spun from Fujitsu, was busy demonstrating a unique 43-inch panel at CEATEC that sports a pixel pitch of three-millimeters and is currently in prototype form. Reportedly, the device is made of "plasma tubes aligned and sandwiched between film-form electrodes," and it is based on the "same light-emitting theory as existing PDP technology." A boon to this, however, is its ability to be made much slimmer and lighter than current alternatives, as the flexible panel on stage was said to be one-millimeter thick and weigh just 1.76-pounds. Check out more pictorial delight after the jump.

Continue reading Shinoda Plasma shows off slim, lightweight 43-inch display

 

[via] Engadget

Uruguay reportedly set to buy 100,000 OLPC XO laptops

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It looks like students in Uruguay could soon have plenty more to get wildly excited about, as it seems that the country's LATU organization is now set to buy 100,000 OLPC XO laptops, with an option to buy 50,000 more to the tune of $199 apiece. That's a bit less than the $200+ price we had heard Uruguay would be paying, but still well over the mythical $100 price the foundation has long been promising. According to Uruguay's El Pais newspaper, the decision (which has apparently yet to be finalized) follows an evaluation process in which the OLPC competed against Intel's Classmate PC. That ultimately ended with the OLPC narrowly beating out Intel's offering by a score of 56.84 to 53.06, with the OLPC's cheaper price apparently the determining factor.

[Via OLPC News]

 

[via] Engadget

Fujifilm's FinePix S8000fd megazoom camera gets reviewed

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We know, some of you out there probably already bit the bullet and picked up one of Fujifilm's FinePix S8000fd cameras, but for those holding out for a little reassurance, here goes. PhotographyBLOG was able to spend some time with this 18x zoomer, and on almost every account, this thing performed admirably. Deemed Fujifilm's "best attempt yet to fuse the advantages of compact and DSLR cameras together," it managed to warm the hearts of reviewers. Granted, they weren't exactly pleased with the noise performance, but the zoom is really what vaulted this piece to a 4.5 out of 5 rating. So, if you're not kosher with carrying around a number of lenses for your DSLR, but would like to snap closeups from the nosebleeds, be sure and hit the read link for the full skinny on what was eventually dubbed "their current ultra-zoom camera of choice."

 

[via] Engadget

ARM, six others join forces on Linux Mobile Computing platform

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Just after Symbian announced that its future operating systems would support ARM SMP multicore technology, ARM has teamed up with six others to collaborate on a Linux Mobile Computing platform. More specifically, the firm has joined with Marvell, MontaVista, Movial, Mozilla, Samsung and Texas Instruments in order to develop a "Linux-based open source platform for next-generation mobile applications." Reportedly, the platform will eventually be released into the open source community, and it hopes to move swiftly in getting the goods into "Connected Mobile Computing (CMC) devices." And if you're wondering when you can get your hands dirty with it, ARM is hoping to release a full platform early next year and have equipped devices on shelves by early 2009.

[Via jkkmobile]

 

[via] Engadget

Toshiba showcases trio of HDD / HD DVD recorders

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Considering that Panasonic was showing off its newest Blu-ray recorders at CEATEC, we're not too shocked to hear that Toshiba was touting a trio of its own for the HD DVD camp. All three units sport the ability to "transcode in real-time an off-the-air MPEG2 high-definition signal into the more efficient MPEG4 AVC compression system," and while we're not sure how capacious they'll be, it was noted that these devices would include an internal hard drive to compliment the HD DVD writer. The flagship RD-X7 features 1080p24 output, while the RD-A101 / RD-A201 "didn't appear to offer this output based on available information from Toshiba." Per usual, we're still playing the wait-and-see game when it comes to pricing and release dates.

 

[via] Engadget