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Aperture: A Triumph of Science Is A 21 Minute Look Into The Labs Behind The Portal Testing Chambers

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:58 AM PDT

aperture video

Cue Yanni intro music. Enter Aperture Laboratories documentary. Proceed to lose the next 21 minutes of your life. Sorry.

Aperture: A Triumph of Science isn’t your fanboy look at Portal. Hells no. This is mildly entertaining, mildly informative look into the facility best known from the Portal games. There’s a bit of Easter eggs, a few Black Mesa references and a healthy dose of Aperture Science stickers (available from ThinkGeek, btw) But the video is as long and fictional as a History Channel documentary so clear your schedule and mind accordingly. [via Kotaku]

Hitachi Updates Its Amazing Naked-Eye 3D Display Technology

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:43 AM PDT

hitachi

The CEATEC 2011 exhibition in Japan is just one day away, and Hitachi is already showing one of its coolest products: the company has been working on glasses-free 3D projection systems for years and is apparently making progress.

The newest version [JP] uses a set of 24 projectors, lenses, translucent half mirrors to superimpose 3D images on an object in the real-world. In the picture above, for example, the hatchling isn’t real, but the cradle is.

What’s cool is that several people can view the effect at the same time from various angles (see below), as Hitachi’s system has a horizontal view angle of 60° and a vertical view angle of 30°.

The company says that compared to the version shown last year, the system to be shown at CEATEC 2011 will boast depth resolution that’s 1.6 times higher.

Other companies, i.e. Sony are working on similar technologies, too.

The Joby GorillaPod Micro Is The Always-On Tripod You’ve Always Wanted

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:21 AM PDT

joby-micro

The Joby GorillaPod Micro takes the weak link out of using a tripod: You and me. Tripods, even tabletop modes, are infinitely useful but they’re also clumsy and often just something else to carry. Not the Micro 250. This diminutive model is designed to stay on your camera and deploy when needed. Three legs stay neatly together but can be quickly flipped open, providing stability and convenience at the first sign of trouble. There’s even a small ball head built within the Micro models that allows for 36 degrees of rotation.

The Micro 250 and Micro 800 are both available for pre-ordering $19.99 and $29.99, respectively. The only difference between the two is the weight they can support: the Micro 250 is good for small pocket cameras while the 800 can support up to 800g rather than 250g. (get it? Micro 800 can support 800g.)

The two models join the rest of Joby’s innovative (and growing) line of unique tripods. The company started off with just the Gorillapod, but steady added additional models over the years. The Micro line forgoes Joby’s traditional flexible arms, but is no less novel. This is the first tripod I seriously want.

Gadgets Week in Review: Medium Dog

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 01:00 AM PDT

Toshiba Shows 55-Inch Naked-Eye 3D TV With 3,840×2,160 Resolution

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 12:57 AM PDT

55X3

If you thought Sharp’s 4K TV we’ve shown you last week is impressive, think again. Toshiba today unveiled a 55-inch LCD that boasts the same resolution (3,840×2,160 pixels, 4x full HD) but can also display pictures in 3D – no glasses required. The TV will be shown starting tomorrow during the CEATEC Japan 2011 exhibition near Tokyo.

Needless to say, the REGZA 55X3 [JP] is the first TV of its kind. Unfortunately, the resolution stands at “just” 1,280×720 in 3D mode.

The TV features 5,000:1 contrast ratio, LED backlight, a new processor called “REGZA Engine CEVO Duo”, a face-tracking function to enable high-quality 3D pictures for viewers, REGZA LINK, five digital tuners, 10W×2ch+10W speakers, four HDMI ports, and two USB ports.

Toshiba plans to start selling this beast in Japan in December (price: US$11,730).

Via AV Watch [JP]

Head Mounted Displays, DIY Augmented Reality And More At InsideAR

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 03:47 PM PDT

insideAR

I was able to attend Metaio’s InsideAR 2011 conference last week in Munich and check out many new and updated Augmented Reality concepts at the event. Several concepts I saw at the trade show portion resonated with where consumer AR is headed and some were merely for entertainment. But pretty much everything I saw tried, in some way, to push the envelope of technical possibility. I saw some cool new AR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) from Vuzix and Sony (although Sony would not let me photograph their prototype), lots of furniture configurators, augmented textbooks, a DIY content authoring system and more.

If you’ve read some of my posts here you will know that I am an Augmented Reality geek. Smitten the first time I watched The Terminator and his neato heads up display; I have pondered the concept ever since.

I could try to describe the demos and products I saw at InsideAR, but instead I captured as many of the relevant examples as I could, on video, because a picture is worth…well, you know. In any event, the concepts/products I saw that seemed the most compelling and relevant were the Vuzix HMD, Metaio’s Creator software and the augmented textbook by linked-concept.de

Here are links to all the companies in the videos.

Vuzix
Metaio
linked-concept.de
Bosch
Kreativagentur-Thomas.de
Vanija

 

 

Amazon “Punches Apple Hard” With Kindle Fire’s $199 Price

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 09:46 AM PDT

Kindle fire $199

With the Kindle Fire, Amazon is making its first foray into tablet computers, a market where Apple dominates with its iPad and nothing else has even made a dent.  The Android-based Kindle Fire is an impressive media tablet, and Jeff Bezos understands that the device itself is only part of the equation. It is merely the front-end of a set of end-to-end services which will deliver digital media from Amazon’s servers to people’s hands.

But the Kindle Fire is no iPad, and Bezos knows that too. So he is using something else to differentiate the Fire from the iPad: price. The $199 price of the fire surprised almost everyone. It is $300 lower than the cheapest iPad 2. So even if it is not as fully featured, doesn’t work as smoothly and will launch with a laughably small number of apps (less than 1 percent of the number of apps available on the iPad, which is currently over 100,000), all of that may not matter. Because if it is good enough, millions of people will decide to buy it for $199 instead of spending $499 for an iPad.

One of Amazon’s advantages as a retailer with scale has always been price. And it is using it effectively with the Kindle Fire, which is already the second-best selling Kindle on Amazon (the first is the new $79 Kindle). There is a reason the Kindle Fire is not launching with 3G service, and only WiFi. Amazon had to do everything to get it down to that $199 price point.

Bezos knows he can’t take on Apple head on. Instead, he is doing everything he can to carve out a new space in the tablet market for Amazon, and price is a big part of it. In a letter to customers that is currently on the homepage of Amazon, he “punches Apple hard,” in the words of investor John Borthwick. The letter starts:

There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.

Bezos made the same point during the launch announcement of the new Kindle line last week. “We are building premium products at non-premium prices,” he said. Apple, of course, builds premium products at premium prices. Will it have to respond by lowering the price of the iPad even lower, or can it stick to the high road?


John Borthwick
Amazon punches Apple hard in advance of nxt week. There are two kinds of companies … bit.ly/pHel4B

 

Weekly Watch Round Up

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 07:40 AM PDT

Dedgumo-watches-12

Every weekend, we run a quick round-up of the major watch news. Why? Because watches are pretty darn cool.

The Dievas Vortex Professional watch gets reviewed. Durable titanium case and easy to read dial for people who just need a serious timepiece (for serious work and play).

Looking at a modern classic, a very unique classic. The Gerald Genta Gefica Bi-Retro Safari watch get’s remembered and recommended as a collectible.

Love that Japanese deconstructionist steampunk look? Dedegumo watches are custom made by hand and not too expensive.

For a bit more commentary, check out the Hourtime Watch Podcast.

Click to view slideshow.