by Darren Murph, posted Jun 1st 2008 at 11:52PM
A team of astute MIT researchers have developed a sophisticated new material that could help control, contain and lessen the environmental impact of future oil spills. The creation is a mat of nanowires that actually looks a lot like paper, but unlike the material your paycheck gets printed on, this stuff can “selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids (oil-like liquids) from water.” We’re talking about a membrane that can “absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil, and can be recycled many times for future use.” Outside of this, it could also be used in water filtration processes and for designing the next great wetsuit. Okay, so we’re making that last one up, but don’t dare say it’s beyond the realm of possibility.

[Via NewScientist]

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And I thought S3 had given up the fight after its Virge line of video cards peformed miserably against 3DFX in the past, but apparently the company is still alive and kicking, with the Chrome 400 GTX being based on the low-profile PCI Express Gen 2 graphics card specification, targeting PC users who want the advantage of dual-stream Picture-in-Picture (PiP) 1080p Blu-ray Disc playback with the latest DirectX 10.1/OpenGL 2.1 unified shader architecture. It will run on GDDR3 memory and claims to outperform the current market leader (ATI Radeon HD 3470) in its class by more than 15% in 3D benchmarks and rendered frames-per-second in the most popular DX10 and DX9 games. Folks building a HTPC ought to consider this, especially at an attractive price point of just £35.

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Talk about a small projector indeed - Honlai Technology has rolled out its MP100 LED mini projector, and I must say it takes a rather futuristic approach where design is concerned, boasting a rather alien-looking feel. It fits comfortably into any palm, making it a snap to tote around. The LCOS micro projection technology is capable of throwing an image between 5″ to 37″, although I don’t think the resolution is anything to shout about. Looks like the perfect projector to purchase if you make impromptu PowerPoint presentations wherever you go.

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by Darren Murph, posted Jun 1st 2008 at 10:35PM
Finally, a little innovation in the midst of watered-down, me-too digital photo frames. Here we have the UFOTO UF735, which exhibits a 7-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, USB 2.0 connectivity, headphone jack, 128MB of built-in memory, integrated speakers, a multicard reader for handling JPEG / BMP / GIF / MP3 files and your choice of silver, pink or blue frame colors. Beyond those yawn-inducing stats, you’ll find a swank sub-display function, which enables owners to use it as a secondary display (SideShow, anyone?) on their PC. As is customary for ASUS, it’s not doling out pricing / release information just yet, but this one may actually be worth paying attention to when it finally lands.

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Kenko introduced its new DMC-50 Disney digital camera that feature the following :-

• 5.17 megapixel CMOS sensor
• 2.4″ LCD display
• 128MB internal memory
• 4x digital memory
• Video recording (640 x 480 @ 15fps)

Sounds and looks like something for the kids to experiment with. No idea on pricing and availability as at press time.

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Kodak, a popular manufacturing company, which does not require any introduction for its fame and reputation has launched lots of unique model which distinct functionalities. Now it has marketed a new model digital camera and it is named as Kodak Easy share C310 digital camera. It has designed innovatively with sleek design.

Kodak EasyShare C310 Digital Camera has come equipped with distinct useful features namely 4 mega pixels, large LCD display, CCD image sensor, not interchangeable lenses, 5x digital zoom, video resolutions up to 320 x 240 to get impressive images on the photographs. You can have video speed up to 20 fps. There is no limit to shoot your movie. It has the stuff to accept Quick Time Motion JPEG video format.

Exposure control is essential for an ideal digital camera. This Kodak Digital Camera has come with aperture range is f 4.5. Users can use the shutter speed which ranges from 1 / 2 to 1 / 2000 seconds. It is easy to use auto white balance setting. This product has featured with built-in MMC card and Secure Digital card. The embedded memory size of the unit is 16 MB and the unit can support JPEG format. When you use a memory card with 128 MB memory capacity, you can store up to 154 images in high resolutions and 441 images in low resolutions.

It is possible to set various ISO speeds namely auto 100, 200, 400 and 800. This smart camera has come equipped with built-in flash with various flash functions namely:

• Flash Off
• Auto Flash
• Fill-in Flash
• Red-eye Reduction Flash

A Liquid Crystal Display panel is equipped with the unit and it has an optical view finder. The size of the panel is exactly measured as 1.6 inches. LCD screen has the potential to offer resolutions up to 61,380 pixels. Make use of USB 2.0 interface to connect this unit to other external devices. It has also come with video out video interface. It is essential to get power from 2 AA proprietary lithium batteries with the help of which you can store only 400 images.

Users can set two different times by using self timer option. It is uniquely featured with built-in mp3 player and a built-in microphone. Make use built-in speaker to enjoy the audio effects. The unit has featured with tripod mount. You can connect Kodak Easy share C310 Digital Camera with your system which runs by one of the below listed OS namely:

• Apple Mac OS
• X Microsoft
• Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 98SE
• Microsoft Windows ME
• Microsoft Windows XP

The product has featured with smart dimensions as:

• 6.6 cm height
• 10.4 cm width and
• 3.6 cm depth
• Weight is 100 gram

You can read about Latest Digital Camera Reviews on Pentax, Canon, Kodak and Acer digital cameras at digitalcamerareviews.org.uk.

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Recently when browsing the web I came across a new bit of plasma TV related technology, only this time it has nothing to do with the plasma but the way it is displayed. TDK Joinery (A UK Company) has combined both the revolution of flat screen TVs with everyday furniture and has created some uniquely designed TV Stands.

The basic concept of the product is aimed at people who don’t always want their television being the main focal point of the room or they would like a huge TV they just don’t have the space. TV Lifts are fitted towards the back of a cabinet (and most other bits of furniture) and are activated by the press of a button. This signals the lift to slowly and securely lift the TV lift gently through a discreet gap in the furniture; this is then easily reversed and then made to look like a totally normal piece of furniture.

As far as I am aware this is fairly new and there is certainly a huge market they could have created to go along with the plasma TV boom. Of course there will be certain individuals who scoff at the idea and use the phrase “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”. However, for those who appreciate the design of their house and like to easily hide the big black screen which is dominating the room when it is not needed then this is a great design breakthrough and could be the end to the dilemma of where to put the huge TV in the bedroom!

Along with the standard range, TDK also offers custom fitting. So, no need to worry about furniture changes etc and the best part is that all of this seems to be within a reasonable price range.

Here are some YouTube videos for the same -

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by Ryan Block, posted Jun 1st 2008 at 8:32PMNot that anyone really expected Sharper Image to make a comeback after getting put up for sale, but Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners (the same peeps who gutted CompUSA) are putting the lame brand out of its misery, liquidating all 86 remaining stores nation-wide. Apparently the fire sale will offer between 20-40% off retail prices (meaning they’ll still be making a healthy margin on all their overpriced crap), so if you just can’t bear the thought of not having a deeply discounted Shiatsu foot massager / fish de-scaler / clock-radio then get the gettin’ while the gettin’s good.

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Now’s the time to take advantage of Sharper Image’s store closing sales as more than $50 million of inventory is being sold. The store closing won’t be permanent as it is part of a move to transform the Sharper Image brand, and customers will be able to find 20% to 40% discounts across all 86 Sharper Image stores. I personally would have preferred to see a higher level of discount of at least 50%, but well, the ones on offer are better than not having any discount at all. Will you be making a bee-line to any Sharper Image stores?

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Biostar has rolled out its successor to the P35 motherboard with the new P45 series, offering a faster Front Side Bus (FSB), a more convenient setup for both Crossfire as well as SLI configurations and the extra bit of future-proofing for faster memory. Interestingly enough, you get an annoying placement and orientation of half a dozen SATA connectors, so best make sure you’re pretty good at organizing wires and stuff. In addition, there are 10 USB ports for you to go nuts over with various USB gadgets and toys. Dunno how much this will cost though.

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