Sure, scientists and students at USC may have invented the 360 hologram last year, but now we have hologram video conferencing to enjoy. An Australian company named “Telstra” claims to have created a mobile, three dimensional holographic video of their Chief Technology Officer doing a live business presentation from Melborne to Adelaide.

Dubbed the Musio Eyeliner System (who made that name up?), the hologram was taken using a high definition camera, broadcast in real time over phone lines and using an optical projection system to create the holograph on the other end. “It has the look and feel of being in the same room together,” said Hugh Bradlow.

The presentation also went as far as saying that as broadband internet gets faster and faster, and as the technology matures the commercial viability of holograph video conferencing will become more and more feasible economically.

“You can envisage this in education, in entertainment, in news media as a holographic system, but the whole class of telepresence systems is going to be across all businesses,” Telstra’s group managing director for enterprise and government, David Thodey said.

Course, had Telstra had a flair for the dramatic, they would’ve picked up an R2 video projector and wired it to accept the holograph signal. Then at least they could’ve used Carrie Fisher to give the presentation and not some Aussie computer geek … oh well, maybe episode 7 of Star Wars will.

Hat Tip – ZD Net DownUnder

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* Small Wonder MyLife, EZ200 (black) - 1.5-inch flip-out display, microSDHC with with 1GB microSD that does up to 30 / 60 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $89 and due this summer
* Small Wonder Pocket, EZ205 (white) - 1.5-inch flip-out display, microSDHC slot with 1GB microSD that does up to 30 / 120 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $100 and due this summer.
* Small Wonder Traveler, EZ210 (green) - 2.4-inch QVGA display, SDHC with 2GB SD card that does up to 60 / 240 minutes in high quality and web quality modes, $150 and due this summer

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While iTunes has made the process of legally acquiring MP3s a lot easier than it used to be, there are still plenty of people who have no idea how to even boot up a computer, let alone load music onto an mp3 player. And that’s pretty much the target market for the REDI. It’s a basic 1GB MP3 player that comes preloaded with about 250 tracks, which is equal to about 6 hours of music. Since everyone has different tastes, the REDI comes in a variety of different ‘themes’ depending on what you like. If you intend to use it for running or jogging you can go for the ‘Ultimate Workout Mix’ but if you’d prefer to relax you can choose the ‘Golden Classics’ version instead.

At the moment there appear to be about 8 different versions of the REDI, but it also features a USB mini jack allowing you to upload your own MP3 (or WMA) files at a later time. Other features include an FM radio tuner, a simple LCD display and playback controls and of course a pair of earbud headphones that you’ll probably want to immediately replace. Best Buy currently has 4 versions of the REDI for sale, including the Ultimate Workout Mix, the Ultimate Rock N’ Roll Collection, the R&B Soul Collection and Golden Classics for $39.99 each.
[ Source ]

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Incorporating the latest Wave-Touch Control technology, Electrolux EW23CS65GS Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator is high both on style and performance. Get to enjoy a wide array of features and functions on this new refrigerator brought out by Electrolux.

This Energy Star qualified refrigerator comes fitted with perfect set temperature controls. Energy saving vacation mode, stainless steel wine rack, gallon-plus door bin, tilt-out freezer door racks, signature soft-arc door and handle design and no-clean condenser are some of its innovative features.

Features

• Luxury Glide Crispers.
• Wave-Touch Controls.
• Luxury Design Glass Shelves.
• Luxury Design Lighting.
• PureAdvantage Air Filter.

Electrolux EW23CS65GS Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator lets you experience one of the best refrigeration in the world. Featuring PureAdvantage Water Filter and Chill Zone Drawer, this refrigerator can give an appealing look to your home. Its Fast Ice Option won’t let you worry for ice during the party time. Not only this, the alarm system in Electrolux EW23CS65GS Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator indicated and lets you know where there is a power failure or a door remains open for more than 5 minutes. You get a Platinum Star Warranty with Electrolux EW23CS65GS Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator.

Price and Availability

Electrolux EW23CS65GS Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator is available at a price of $ 2999.00.

Source: Electrolux

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Mozilla has just kicked out a clever marketing strategy for the upcoming release of Firefox 3. Using their power as a very popular free browser application, why not use your clout to get a Guinness record, right? So Mozilla is now asking us to support their campaign to make it in the Guinness Book of World Records with the most number of downloads in 24 hours. A lofty goal, but if anyone can do it, is just might be Mozilla.

For us Firefox fans, all we have to do is pledge our support via a button at Spread Firefox. Mozilla will log your email so that you will be notified when the official roll out of Firefox 3 will be, as well as an update if Firefox breaks the Guinness record. Sounds fun? Why not?

Currently there are around 368,947 Firefox users who have pledged their support. Certainly not that impressive of a number. Can Mozilla beat the Guinness record for the most software download? Do Firefox users even care about setting a new Guinness record? If the current number of pledges is an indication of anything, it looks like Firefox users are not interested at all.

Still, there’s no harm in joining the party if you have a few minutes to spare.

Via [SpreadFirefox]

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by Donald Melanson, posted May 30th 2008 at 10:49PM Audi has already manged to work some LEDs into a few of its cars (concepts and otherwise), but the automaker has gone all out with its latest Audi R8, which employs LEDs for seemingly every lighting function. That includes the 24-LED running lamps the R8 had before, along with some brand LED high and low beam headlights, and LED turn signals, which add up to some 54 LEDs in all. Of course, given the prices that single LED bulbs demand these days, it should come as no surprise that this is quite the pricey option, with it adding a full €3,590 (or about $5,560) to the R8’s already lofty sticker price.

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by Darren Murph, posted May 30th 2008 at 5:46PM
If you’re anything like our boy Ryan, you’ve been wearing that Wii Fit out ever since you took delivery. Unfortunately, you’ve probably been doing a bit of unintentional jogging when logging miles back and forth to the local mini-mart for batteries. If you can’t seem to keep your Wii Balance Board charged, Nyko has introduced a novel solution: the Energy Pack for Wii Fit. Our pals over at Nintendo Wii Fanboy were able to get ahold of this very unit and put it through its paces, and generally speaking, they were quite impressed with the $20 peripheral-for-a-peripheral. Head on over for the full writeup and a smattering of pics.

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In the latest indication that Apple truly is revolutionizing mobile phone technology, Google appears to be borrowing one of the most anticipated features from the forthcoming iPhone 2.0 revision.  While an official announcement has not been made, comments by Android project leader Andy Rubin indicate that an Android App Store is definitely in the works:

“It would be a great benefit to the Android community to provide a place where people can go to safely and securely download content and where a billing system would allow developers to get paid for their effort”.

The weight of these two up-and-coming names in the cell phone industry (Google and Apple) represents a complete sea change.  Previously, application distribution models have been carrier-specific.  Applications are usually available only from a single, carrier-chosen storefront, such as Verizon Wireless’ V Cast service.  Applications bought through such services are usually tied to the phone they are purchased on, and are always tied to the carrier.  With the iphone App and Android App stores, that appears ready to change.

Although the iPhone is exclusive to AT&T in the US, Apple has made clear its lack of devotion to a one-carrier position.  Android phones, at least theoretically, will be able to make use of any network their hardware supports.  And since the applications bought through the respective stores comes from a third party rather than a wireless carrier, the applications are inherently more portable.  iPhone apps, given the limited range of hardware they will be running on, should be portable across however many iPhones a customer uses (though individual developers may restrict this freedom).  If Apple allows the iPhone to come to other GSM networks applications should still work if a user switches out an AT&T SIM card.  This works because the App Store and iTunes are controlled by Apple, the carrier network will not have the ability to impose exclusivity.  Android Apps should be similarly portable, though they may encounter technical issues given the broad range of hardware that Android may be running on in the wild.

The bottom line in all this is the boon for consumers, who have long been forced to use overpriced, under-featured, or even completely unwanted applications.  The wireless industry in America has maintained a stranglehold for so long that customers are eager for change - and it looks like it will be coming from outside the walled garden of Verizon/AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile.  Consumers will benefit, because the iPhone and Android app stores will create an open market, driven by consumers’ needs and wants, rather than a closed system driven by profit decisions made by wireless industry executives. {ed. note: we’ll agree to disagree on the Apple App Store being open rather than closed…)

Via [The Register]

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You can never let your memories fade away with the range of Sandisk’s flash memory products. The Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB pen drive comes with 2GB capacity and connects to any PC with USB port easing up sharing, storing and transferring important documents, music and video clips, pictures and much more.

Physical Aspects

SanDisk Cruzer 2GB flash drive is a compact pen drive measuring 7.9mm x 18.95mm x 52.2mm (H x W x L). It is stylishly designed with a metal casing enclosed with plastic skin and a cap. The flash drive features a brilliant green progress LED indicator that allows monitoring drive activity such as moving or reading data.

Features

Sandisk Cruzer Micro Flash drive is USB2.0 compliant and backwards compatible with all USB 1.1 ports. This is a plug and play device compatible with both PC and Mac platforms. This does not require any extra software to connect the flash drive. The trial versions of Cruzer Sync and Pocket Cache software comes preinstalled with the drive. The other software that comes preinstalled is the Cruzer Lock 2 software that secures the user data. The user has to choose a password and encrypt the file to protect his data. However this software is compatible to Windows only and needs administrator privileges.

Key Specifications

• Dimensions (H x W x L) : 7.9mm x 18.95mm x 52.2mm
• Storage Capacity - 2GB
• USB 2.0 (backward compatible to USB 1.1
• Preinstalled Software - Pocket Cache (trial), Cruzer Sync ( trial), Cruzer Lock 2
• Compatible OS - Windows 2000, XP OS X v10.1.2+, and Mac OS 9.1.x+, Certified Windows XP and Mac OS X

This model offers good file transfer rates. With all essential features in a pen drive, SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB prevail the market.

You can read  more about 1gb, 2gb, 32gb Flash Drives and compare specifications of latest pen drives at usbpendrives.org.uk.

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by Joshua Topolsky, posted May 30th 2008 at 7:52PM
The folks at Konami have been trolling the forums again, kids, and this time they’re fighting back. Reps from the game-maker have issued a statement on the company forum addressing the furor over the inflated cost of the forthcoming, limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. According to Konami, the bumped up price ($600 for a 40GB version of the PS3, plus Dual Shock controller and MGS4 game) is due to the special material used to create the gunmetal gray system and controller casing. The company seems to take issue with the fact that some are calling it simply a “paint job,” and points out that the run of units is only 10,000, and the package also includes a version of the game with an extra disc of additional content. To put it another way: this is the deal of a lifetime!

[Via Wired]

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