skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The main appeal of laptops tends not to be their upgradability: that's what desktops are for, right? Well, if the recent trend for "deskbooks" is anything to go by, then that assessment isn't true anymore. Entering the same league as commercial 19- and 20-inch desktop replacements, and tipping the performance vs. portability scale heavily towards the "need two people to carry it" category is Torquil Harkness' "ITX-Laptop," a computer designed around Mini-ITX components so that it simultaneously maintains a modicum of portability alongside full upgradability. Torquil admits that the end result could have been far smaller had he used Nano-ITX -- or Pico-ITX -- components, but in order to make it "as powerful as a regular desktop" he decided to go for larger parts. Despite Torquil's statement that performance was the aim, we'd have to say on first glance at the specs -- 2GHz, 1GB RAM, and a PCI-based ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card -- that some degree of compromise took place. Still, we believe him when he claims that he "could slot in a motherboard with PCI Express in the future" because this thing's wide open for future upgrades, and that's the point. Never mind the limited specs or the questionable chrome paint job: just lean forward, take a closer look at those computer guts and think "I can do that too." That's the way to stick it to the man.
Read More
Any of us blessed (or cursed) to spend the majority of our waking hours theoretically locked in a corporate boardroom know very well the form and function of a desktop speakerphone, but Panasonic and Willcom and teaming up to deliver a rendition that relies on cellular technology rather than landlines. Oddly enough, it appears the forthcoming Conference Speakerphone will actually pack a SIM card, speaker, several built-in microphones, a mobile microphone, and even an SD slot for users to easily record conversations. Actually, if someone utilized a third-party battery pack, this entire unit could be taken on the go and used as what would quite possibly be the world's largest cellphone of the decade. The appeal is that Willcom will reportedly be offering a "flat-rate talk plan" that allows companies to equip their employees with these machines and then communicate gratis, similar to many mobile networks with free in-network calling. Although the Conference Speakerphone is slated to ship this Spring, the value here is definitely questionable, as picking up a numerous ¥100,000 ($828) devices can seriously squash that meager IT budget.
Read More
Alienware's Area-51 7500 desktop has certainly been on the chopping block before, but the inquisitive folks over at Bit-Tech were able to land a refreshed unit that not only featured dual NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card and a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor, but a built-in (unbranded Matshita) Blu-ray drive to boot. Instantly, reviewers expected the snazzy looking machine to spin right on through every benchmark laid in front of it, and for the coin you'd be paying, we can't say that's such an unrealistic request. During 2D / 3D testing, the SLI-equipped system simply dominated in terms of FPS, image quality, and smoothness, as reviewers actually stated that current games couldn't even take full advantage of all that horsepower just yet. Also of note was the Blu-ray playback, which ended up being practically flawless after the review crew had their (understandable) doubts about how well the unit itself and HDCP films would operate within a PC environment. After trying out both analog and digital monitor connections, the player streamed out films in crisp 1,920 x 1,080 resolution without a hitch after PowerDVD 6.5 was loaded up, officially allowing for a collective sigh of relief. With a system this pricey, however, criticisms come easier, and they were quick to note that the included Patriot RAM was likely hindering performance somewhat due to "faulty memory timings," and also stated that the lackluster audio card should have been spruced up given the lofty cost. Overall, Bit-Tech was quite pleased with Alienware's latest, but while the machine itself landed an 8 out of 10 rating, the £3,434 ($6,780) pricetag resulted in a paltry 5 out of 10 in the "Value" department, which is about par for the course for these guys.
Read More
Although having the boys in blue tracking you down based on your unique aroma fingerprints might seem frightening, just envision the terror that would ensue if an ultra-keen robot was onto your trail from miles away. Massimo Vergassola and and colleagues at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, have created an algorithm that can actually instruct a robot "how to move in order to gather as much olfactory information as possible." The mathematical formula allows a machine to home in on "even the faintest of scents" by analyzing which direction the smell is getting weaker or stronger in, the frequency of the whiffs, and eventually, it could even take into account disturbances such as wind gusts. After trialing the algorithm on computer-based robotic models searching for a scent, he found that the theoretical guinea pigs moved in "S-like patterns" to sniff things out, which is quite similar to the method used by moths (renowned for their sense of smell) when trying to discover the source of an odor.
Read More
