You might remember the iWatch concept that we brought to your attention a while back, and it was joked when the new iPod nano was introduced that it could possibly double up as a watch too. Now a picture has surfaced of what it would look like if you tried to do that, clipping it onto your standard watch strap. It actually looks quite similar to the iWatch concept, and looks quite fashionable to boot.

We've seen concept solar-powered traffic lights before, and here is another variant, conceptualized by a Chilean designer. This traffic light aims to take over the traffic control duties and uses an LED display that is capable of displaying additional information such as the maximum speed limit and the notification of incoming emergency vehicles, aside from the usual red, yellow and green indicator lights. The system is designed to connect with the pedestrian crossing in order to ensure that pedestrians are able to get across the roads safely too.

Motorola must be enjoying the fact that its Droid 2 supports Flash, and the company doesn't seem to have hesitated to take a dig at Apple, posting a full-page newspaper ad that parodies Apple's "there's an app for that" campaign, with the tagline "there's a phone for that". Is Flash support an important factor that affects your choice of phone?

Rumors were recently going around that Samsung's Galaxy Tab might cost significantly more than Apple's iPad, and now reports are in that Samsung claims that the Galaxy Tab will be priced below Apple's iPad when attached to a carrier. If the reports are accurate, the Galaxy Tab will set you back less than $300, but it'll be going for $200, when you agree to a contract. While there are obvious benefits to the Galaxy Tab, such as the use front and back cameras, and possible increased portability due to its smaller display, it remains to be seen whether consumers will decide to go for the Galaxy Tab over its rivals, especially the iPad.

With many manufacturers jumping on the tablet bandwagon, the folks over at Fujitsu probably think that convertible tablets are still attractive, despite all the brouhaha about tablets. The company has unveiled its latest 10-inch mini notebook, the Lifebook T580, that features a swivel display, allowing the device to be converted into a tablet, complete with multi-touch display. Pricing wasn't mentioned, but we do know the specifications of it include:

Continue Reading "Fujitsu Introduces Its Lifebook T580 Convertible Tablet PC"

No details were mentioned, but a leaked image has surfaced, apparently showing an iPad testing the next-generation firmware that will include video calling. It's long been rumored that the next-generation iPad will include a camera for video calling so it really shouldn't be too much of a surprise to dig up such reports, though we must admit, the idea of making video calls on the iPad is a interesting one, especially since the iPad has a much larger display than the iPhone 4 or new iPod touch.

The folks over at the FCC have revealed some information on an upcoming HTC phone again, this time it's a rather interesting 4-inch device that is labeled the “PD42100". Details are still scarce, but we do know that it'll support CDMA 2000, GSM 850 and EV-DO Rev. A. Other features should include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and possibly a 1.2GHz processor, which would make it one of the more powerful phones around, assuming that it doesn't take too long to arrive on the market. From the pictures, it's obvious that this phone will sport a sideways sliding keyboard, along with a removable battery. We'll be keeping an eye for more information on this phone, so stay tuned!

Google Wave tried to be the next big thing and didn't quite make it, but that doesn't mean that all that effort is going down the drain when Google decided to shut it down. Google has promised to keep Wave alive at least until the end of the year, and now the search engine giant has confirmed that it will release most of the Wave code, dubbed "Wave in a Box". The code will allow developers to continue the job where Wave left off, and we're really looking forward to seeing what developers will be able to come up with. Who knows, maybe some developer will come up with a cool social networking application that will seriously challenge Facebook?

There's something about lasers that seems to appeal to everybody, and now LaserMotive has managed to use a few watts of laser power to keep a 22-gram model helicopter hovering for about an hour. While we can easily think of all sorts of mischief that can be done if we had a more powerful laser, LaserMotive's goal is to power space elevators to lift objects into orbit. Such a move would be useful as traditional UAVs require a lot of power from batteries or fuel, while solar-powered vehicles have limitations for staying in the air for long periods of time. With that in mind, ground-based laser propulsion could be a viable solution to enhance airtime. Check out a video of the laser in action after the jump.

Continue Reading "Laser Powered Helicopter Paves The Way For Space Elevators"

Apple's iOS mobile platform, which includes the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad, now is the third most popular browsing platform for users to consume content on and surf the Internet, trailing behind Mac OS X and Windows. The research conducted by Net Applications shows that iOS has captured 1.06 percent of the browsing web traffic in July and 1.13 percent in August, beating out Linux's 0.85 percent.

Compared to OS X, which has about 4.32 percent between versions 10.5 and 10.6, iOS still has a ways to go, but the platform is leading against Google's Android operating system, which had accounted for 0.2 percent of web traffic in August, a minor increase from 0.18 percent in July. In face, the iPad alone has passed all of Android devices in mobile usage market share according to Net Applications.

Following New York's WiFi plans for Internet access to train commuters, New Jersey is now asking companies to submit bids to provide Internet hotspots on trains and rail stations so passengers can browse the web, access email, and stream audio and video. The proposal would cover 12 rail lines and 165 train stations in New Jersey's transit system and an award for the winning bid should be awarded by the end of the year. The system is expected to begin in 2011.

Since the plans are still in its early phases without a formalized or winning bidder yet, NJ Transit does not know what the cost of WiFi access would be to riders. The spokesperson doesn't expect the transit authority to bear any burden of the costs. According to transit executive director, "The provision of wireless Internet service would be a welcome amenity for our customers, enabling those who wish to remain connected and productive during their commute to do so continuously." A meeting with interested firms in the WiFi proposal will be held on September 9th.

Samsung's 50-inch 3D plasma screen television set will be sold at Best Buy for under $1,000, making it the first time that a 3D plasma has dipped below $1K in the U.S. The TV, model PN50C490B3D, will go for $990 at the electronics retailer and will offer 720p HD resolution, 600 Hz refresh rate, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 3 HDMI inputs, 2 component inputs, one USB port, one VGA input, and one optical audio input.

The model's asking price does not include 3D glasses, which can retail for up to $150 each. With the glasses and 3D movies, users can watch content in 3D, though the television is also capable of displaying and viewing 2D content. There also isn't any wireless built in.

Nikon chief Makoto Kimura told Reuters that the company is readying a miniaturized professional camera for launch by the end of the company's fiscal year ending in March. Speculation has it that Nikon would be launching Micro Four Thirds camera, but there hasn't been any leaked photos of prototype devices thus far leading many to believe that such a model won't be ready until early 2011 calendar year and not at this year's Photokina event.

"We want to propose another type of photography," Kimura said in an interview on Thursday. "I don't think there is any need to limit it to two categories. We want to create a new market."

Although Nikon's camera business in the U.S., Europe, and Asia are profitable and growing, the company is seeing threats in the mirrorless, Micro Four Thirds format from companies like Olympus and Panasonic. These cameras offer the benefits of a consumer digital camera in that they are compact and smaller, making them attractive as travel companions, but also merges in the positives of swappable lenses of the SLRs, or single lens reflex cameras.

It looks like Toshiba is joining the pico projector race by offering a pocketable, portable projector that can images up to 65-inches in a darkened room. Toshiba's offering is called the Lumileo P100 and is a compact device, measuring in at 116 x 50 x 18mm and weighing 96g with the battery in place. The projector, which fits comfortably in the palm of your hands, can display contents in VGA resolution with 14 lumens of brightness and a contrast ratio of 200:1. The P100 has RCA and VGA connectors and 0.5W stereo speakers.

Pico Projectors like those from 3M and AAXA Technologies have not caught on in the U.S. in part because early devices had high price tags and mediocre performances requiring a completely dark room for the displayed images to be viewable. Newer devices are becoming more affordable and are offering better performances with higher contrast and brightness, but the costs are still too high to take the technology mainstream as an impulsive consumer purchase.