3D home movies: A new dimension in camcorders

New dimension: Panasonic has launched the world's first 3D camcorder

So far, the 3D revolution has been all about Hollywood blockbusters and major sporting events. Now the cutting-edge technology is coming a little closer to home.

Treasured moments such as a child’s first steps or a university graduation can be captured in 3D with the arrival of the first camcorder capable of filming in more than two dimensions.

Unveiled by Panasonic today, the HDC-SDT750 3D model works using a sophisticated double lens.

Company spokesman Barnaby Sykes said: ‘Just as we have two eyes, so the 3D camcorder has two lenses side by side.

‘The camcorder itself acts like the human brain in converging the two images together to create one picture in 3D.’

The images can be played back on 3D television sets. They are watched through so-called active shutter glasses, which open and close over each eye in an alternating pattern 60 times a second.

This means that each eye sees a slightly different view of the same scene, so the brain is tricked into thinking it is seeing a single image in 3D.

Mr Sykes said: ‘One of the prob-lems with 3D technology so far has been the relative lack of content – the films and TV programmes that ‘Our research indicates that people will want 3D to record important family moments. That offers a huge emotional pull.'

Many of the world’s technology giants have launched 3D TV sets in recent months. Sony also offers a camera to create 3D still images.

A model shows off the world's first 3-D home video camera system at a press preview in Tokyo. The removable 3-D lens system fits on the new full HD TM750 and TM650 video camera models and goes on sale in early August

The camcorder has a slot for memory cards to store the footage and create a 3D library of a family’s most important moments.This can be slotted into a 3D television set for viewing.

Customers can also buy a 3D burner to copy the film footage on to DVDs to be stored and viewed later through a Blu-ray DVD player.

In the future, the lens system could be used to allow people to make 3D video calls over the internet, making this sort of communication much more like real life.

Other functions on the 3D camcorder include face recognition, where the camera seeks out a particular person in a group shot and ensures it is focused on them.

A ‘smile shot’ function means it automatically captures a still image during recording when it detects a smiling face on the subject.

There is also a stabilisation function to smooth out camera shake. And the camcorder can operate as a traditional 2D model if the 3D lens is removed. - www.dailymail.co.uk

New 'iPhone killer' 4G mobile phone is unveiled in the U.S.

25th March 2010 - The first ever 4G mobile phone billed as a major rival for the iPhone and Google Nexus One has been unveiled at a trade show in the U.S.

The HTC Evo 4G features a 4.3-inch LCD screen, 30 per cent bigger than the iPhone, an eight megapixel camera with flash and up to 33 gigabytes of memory.

One of the new phones features means it can act as an internet 'hub' for up to eight devices at the same time.

Rival: The HTC Evo 4G, produced by Sprint Nextel, is the first 4G phone and is expected to be strong competition for the iPhone and Google Nexus

No release date has been set, but the phone is expected to hit the U.S. market over the summer.

It has been designed by Sprint Nextel, the same company behind the Google Nexus One, and is its first 4G phone but the firm has not given it a guide price.

The Evo 4G uses Android 2.1 software and features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It supports 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and also contains a front-facing 1.3 mega pixel video camera capable of HD video recording.

The download speed of a 4G phone is far superior to the current leading models.

It is unlikely to be sold in the UK in its current form, but could be released in Europe after further testing is carried out on download speeds and system performance.

The news comes as rival Apple announced it will include iPhones with bigger and brighter screens for services like mobile video.

Ultra fast: The Evo 4G features an 8 mega pixel camera, 4.3-inch LCD screen and the capability to link eight devices simultaneously to the internet

Jeff Bradley, senior vice president overseeing devices at the company, said: 'We'll have those kind of devices with those kinds of capabilities in the portfolio.

'There's a definite trend towards big, vivid displays.'

On Tuesday, Samsung Electronics also launched its new phone called Galaxy S which also features brighter display technology.

The announcements, which took place at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas, U.S., are likely to increase the intense competition for touch-screen mobile phone technology.

AT&T, which exclusively provides the iPhone in the U.S., said some customers would also be able to watch TV shows on their phones by streaming them from their digital video recorders at home. - http://www.dailymail.co.uk

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Competition: The Evo 4G will increase the fierce competition in the mobile phone market already dominated by Apple's iPhone, left, and Google's Nexus One

New paper battery may change the energy landscape

Ordinary paper could one day be used as ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries, according to scientists from Stanford University.

Simply coating a sheet of paper with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials makes an efficient storage device that is 10 times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries used to power laptops.

The light-weight battery is created by painting nanotube ink onto paper

Paper is a porous material that helps carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire films stick to it, much like ink does.

After it is coated and heated heated the paper becomes super-conductive and works as a battery even if the material is crumpled.

'Taking advantage of the mature paper technology, low cost, light and high-performance energy-storage are realized by using conductive paper as current collectors and electrodes,' the scientists said in research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This type of battery could be especially useful for applications like electric or hybrid cars, which depend on the quick transfer of electricity.

Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.

'Society really needs a low-cost, high-performance energy storage device, such as batteries and simple supercapacitors,' Stanford assistant professor Yi Cui said.

'Our paper supercapacitors can be used for all kinds of applications that require instant high power.

'Since our paper batteries and supercapacitors can be very low cost, they are also good for grid-connected energy storage.'

Peidong Yang, professor of chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley, said the technology could be commercialized within a short time.- www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech

The iPhone app that lets you use your mobile to drive a car

Do you remember when James Bond escaped a sticky situation in Tomorrow Never Dies using his remote-controlled car? Well now technology has jumped from the world of fiction to reality.

Computer scientists in Germany have developed an iPhone application that turns the smartphone into a remote control for their self-constructed car.

The driver can operate the steering, brakes, and accelerator pedal with just a few strokes of the mobile's touchscreen.

The iPhone application has a steering wheel, brake and acceleration pedal, which connects to the car

The Autonomous Car is wired to the hilt with GPS, Wi-Fi and laser 3D sensors

A video camera placed on the dashboard transmits a signal to the iPhone, which allows the 'remote driver' to see everything in front of the car and adjust the car's movements accordingly.

The commands are transmitted from the iPhone via radio to the power transmission in the car. The user can park a car on the ground level as far away as the fourth floor of a building.

Both the remote control and car dubbed 'Spirit of Berlin' were constructed by the Artificial Intelligence Group at Freie Universität in Berlin.

The group is investigating how autonomous vehicles could change our lives in the future.

Professor Raúl Rojas, who directed the project, said we could one day all be dropped off and picked up by driverless taxis, which would remove the need for everyone to have their own car.- www.dailymail.co.uk

Watch the remote-controlled car in action...

Computer beep codes: What those beeps mean

Since I'm the "computer expert" among my friends and family, I often get those late night phone calls and e-mails asking me what's wrong with their computer. I'll be honest. It does get quite frustrating and annoying at times when people start off with "What did I do?" I understand that they're only asking me because they trust I can do a good job, and they really don't have anyone else to turn to.

When I start fixing a computer, 99% of the problems I see are software related. Most of the time it is you, the user that wrecks, breaks, crashes, or kills your computer. Sorry, I have to be blunt about it, but it's true. New processors, hard drives, video cards, memory and motherboards are just inanimate objects we can lay blame to.

Most of the time the main problem with these broken computers I tend to are due to too many programs loading up at start up. All those little programs add up, and sometimes eat up all the system resources.

Every now and then though, I do see a hardware problem and the first thing I do when I turn the computer on is listen to how it beeps.

When the computer makes those funny sound via the system speaker, it's not doing it because it wants to be heard. The computer is trying to talk to the operator/technician and tell them what's wrong. In testing computer components on and off for the last three to four years, I find that almost all motherboards adhere to the IBM BIOS standard beep codes... I think a few OEM's have developed their own or use Phoenix or AMI beep codes, but for the most part motherboard manufacturers uses the IBM based ones because they are grandfathered in.

Beep Code:	Description of Problem:
No Beeps	Short, No power, Bad CPU/MB, Loose Peripherals
One Beep	Everything is normal and Computer POSTed fine
Two Beeps	POST/CMOS Error
One Long Beep, One Short Beep	Motherboard Problem
One Long Beep, Two Short Beeps	Video Problem
One Long Beep, Three Short Beeps	Video Problem
Three Long Beeps	Keyboard Error
Repeated Long Beeps	Memory Error
Continuous Hi-Lo Beeps	CPU Overheating

So as you can see, if your computer doesn't start up and starts beeping away like a mime you can start the process of figuring out what is wrong by stopping for a second and listening. From a single beep which tells you everything is okay, to three long beeps which indicate a keyboard error to the siren like Hi-Lo beeps that tell you the CPU is overheating - listening to your computer is good!

As you become more and more experienced with computers, friends and family will naturally start to bring sick computers to your door to fix. When that happens, or when your own machine suddenly stops working, try listening to it first and see if it tells you what's wrong. If you are able to diagnose the problem just by listening to it, you will surely impress all your computer friends! - http://www.pcstats.com

Happy birthday to … the seatbelt

Safety invention: An original 1959 poster shows people how to use their seatbelt safely

Invention thought to have saved a million lives is 50 today

It's an invention that is thought to have saved a million lives since its inception half a century ago today. You may very well have belted up today without a second thought to the seatbelt's inventor, Nils Bohlin.

It took a few attempts to get the standard V-type three-point safety belt right. Former aircraft engineer Bohlin, who was used to working on catapult seats, was drafted in by Volvo to help out with its designs for a safety harness in cars.

Photographs: Volvo

Patented in 1958, the first seatbelt — as we know it — was fitted to some vehicles in Volvo's Nordic market. Within five years, front seats across the US and Europe carried the belts, and a further four years later passengers in the rear joined in.

In the promotional shot above, Bohlin demonstrates his belt while a passenger relaxes smoking a pipe in the rear. Clearly it was a few years before the dangers of smoking were emphasised.

In equally typical early sixties advertising, it seems nothing could be sold to the public without being demonstrated by a long-legged, mini-skirted blonde. - www.guardian.co.uk

Free iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update

The free iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update includes some great new features, as well as all the features from previous updates. iPhone OS 3.0 also lets you run the next generation of iPhone apps, like peer-to-peer games¹ and more. If you’ve never updated before, now is the perfect time.

Download the 3.0 Software Update.

Available June 17.

Cut, Copy & Paste

Quickly and easily cut, copy, and paste text from application to application. Select entire blocks of web text with a tap. Copy and paste images from the web, too.

Landscape Keyboard
Want more room to type? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.

MMS
Send MMS messages and include video, photos, audio, and contact info.² Even tap to snap a picture or shoot a video right inside Messages.

Spotlight Search
Find what you’re looking for across your iPhone, all from one place. Spotlight searches all of your contacts, email, calendars, and notes, as well as everything in your iPod.

Voice Memos
Capture a memo, a meeting, or any audio recording on the go. Voice Memos works with the built-in iPhone microphone or with the mic on your headset.

Improved Calendar
Create meetings via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and subscribe to calendars with new CalDAV support.

Buy Movies, TV Shows, and Audiobooks
Download movies, TV shows, music videos, and audiobooks from the iTunes Store on your iPhone.3

PDA and Smart Phone: What is the difference ?

Many people may wonder, what indeed the difference between Personal Digital Asistant (PDA) with mobile phone or smart phone? Indeed, perhaps, the differences lie only in the history when they both appear. Later, the gadget complete itself with the ability to send e-mail, music, camera, video, GPS, to run the program office.

PDA phone started from creation of a gadget with the main function of the work as the assistant to keep notes and run office applications (office). Then, the PDA equipped its functions with telecommunications.

Smartphones are relatively simple rather PDA phone,” said Iqbal Willis, a gadgets observer.

Other difference lies in the performance. Appear since the beginning, with the presence of sticky PDA touch screen or touch screen. While the smartphone does not generally rely on touch screen but the existence of sticky Qwerty keyboard.

But now, good smartphone and PDA phone market shoot the same market. Both using the same weapons. For example: a camera, music, GPS and so on. Lalu, apa pertimbangan untuk memilihnya? Then what the consideration we need to select?

Here are some tips you need to know:
First, identify your needs first. Apakah kebutuhan untuk memiliki perangkat sepintar itu dan semahal itu memang cukup mendesak? Does your need to have a device that smart and expensive is urgent enough?

Some smartphone or PDA phone may offers the ability to play music or camera but if you do not need the office, it is better to buy a multimedia mobile phone.

Take a note at the operating system, either the Symbian, Linux or Windows Mobile. Then see the external memory. If internal memory is big enough you may not need the external. But if internal memory small in capacity, it’s good that you can select the phone with external memory.

Third, the ability of the data connection, be it GPRS, HSDPA or WiFi. Also check does it have channel connection, bluetooth, USB, or infrared. No less important feature of completeness, from the standard function for messaging, phone, e-mail, and especially for the office.

Fourth, body. Clear wide screen and plus body slim and lightweight is more curvaceous rather than absorbed.

Fifth, of course, Find the price which is commensurate with the feature, plus match with our budget.

Source: http://berita-hari-ini.onlinebisnisku.com

New Samsung B5702 Dual SIM Phone

Samsung has launched the B5702, its newest dual-SIM mobile phone, allowing users to manage multiple mobile accounts on one device. This quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) device also supports EDGE data connectivity. It is a dual sim, dual-standby mobile phone that allows users to operate two SIM cards in one mobile phone simultaneously.

This GSM Quad-band phone uses two LED lights two indicate which SIM is being used by an incoming call. The phone comes with an audio and video player, 3.0-megapixel camera and an FM radio with Radio Data System (RDS) function. The Samsung B5702 will be launched in several markets including Russia, in May 2009.
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Revolusi teknologi Windows Mobile 6.1

Oleh YEO LI SHIAN
ls.yeo@kosmo.com.my

Menerusi platform ini, pengguna mampu memperoleh lebih banyak maklumat terkini mengenai topik-topik tertentu hanya melalui telefon bimbit mereka.

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SEIRING dengan keperluan peribadi dan bagi memenuhi kesibukan kerja, anda kini tidak perlu lagi berada di depan komputer peribadi (PC) untuk menikmati kemudahan berkomputer.

Hanya berbekalkan sebuah telefon bimbit yang dilengkapi platform Windows Mobile, anda boleh melakukan beberapa perkara penting tanpa banyak masalah. Sama ada mengirim khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS), e-mel atau sekadar melayari Internet, semuanya boleh dengan Windows Mobile 6.1.

Berdasarkan maklum balas pengguna, Windows Mobile 6.1 menawarkan beberapa ciri terkini termasuk membolehkan data-data penting dipersembahkan dalam cara paling pantas dan set up telefon yang lebih cepat.

WINDOWS Mobile 6.1 menawarkan lebih daripada sekadar sebuah platform.

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"Kebanyakan kita mengharapkan sebuah telefon bimbit tunggal yang cukup fleksibel untuk memenuhi keperluan mereka setiap hari, baik untuk aspek peribadi mahupun bagi tujuan kerja.

"Inovasi yang ditambah ke dalam perisian Windows Mobile ini membantu memudahkan pengguna dalam pengurusan kehidupan mereka," kata Presiden Bahagian Hiburan dan Peralatan Microsoft, Robbie Bach.

PENAMBAHBAIKAN pada fungsi kiriman SMS membolehkan pengguna membaca beberapa SMS dalam satu paparan.

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Seorang penganalisis dari Creative Strategies, Ben Bajarin pula menyifatkan keupayaan Internet Explorer Mobile dan Windows Mobile 6.1 sebagai satu inovasi yang memanfaatkan pengguna.

Jadi, apakah yang boleh dikecapi pengguna Windows Mobile 6.1 itu? Menerusi platform ini, pengguna mampu memperoleh lebih banyak maklumat terkini mengenai topik-topik tertentu hanya daripada telefon bimbit mereka. Mereka boleh sama ada memeriksa panggilan tidak berjawab, jadual temu janji akan datang, berkongsi gambar, memainkan muzik mahupun membaca mesej-mesej baru. Semua itu boleh dilakukan daripada home screen.

Antara ciri-ciri yang telah dikemas kini dan baru diperkenalkan dalam platform Windows Mobile 6.1 itu termasuklah dari aspek Getting Started Center, Personalization, khidmat menghantar mesej dan produktiviti.

PELANCARAN Windows Mobile 6.1 dalam telefon bimbit berlangsung di Plaza Low Yat, Kuala Lumpur baru-baru ini.

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Getting Started Center yang baru akan memberi panduan kepada pengguna tentang cara-cara melaksanakan tugasan-tugasan utama dalam tempoh 10 hari pertama telefon itu digunakan. Tugasan-tugasan yang dimaksudkan itu ialah menetapkan tarikh dan masa, e-mel peribadi dan kerja, kata laluan keselamatan, set kepada bluetooth, nada dering dan keupayaan memindahkan muzik dari komputer peribadi.

Salah satu perubahan terawal yang pengguna boleh lihat ketika menggunakan Windows Mobile 6.1 termasuklah muka home screen yang baru. Platform itu mempermudahkan kaedah perolehan maklumat pengguna.

Home screen dengan Panel Gelongsor plug-in menawarkan maklumat masa dan notifikasi (mel suara, panggilan tidak berjawab dan mesej-mesej teks) secara pantas, e-mel, temu janji, muzik serta pilihan Windows Live untuk Windows Mobile.

Tambahan pula, dengan sekali tekan pada butang menu Start, pengguna dapat melihat aturan semula yang kini memaparkan program dan aplikasi yang baru digunakan pada kedudukan teratas. Ini memudahkan akses yang lebih pantas.

Paparan aplikasi The Most Recently Used bagaimanapun boleh dimatikan daripada tetapan panel pada home screen.

Selain itu, penambahbaikan fungsi menghantar mesej pula membolehkan pengguna membaca beberapa khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) dalam satu paparan. Setiap SMS turut menunjukkan maklumat secara terperinci bagi memudahkan pengguna membalas segera baik menerusi teks, telefon mahupun e-mel.

Dalam aspek Messaging, pengguna kini berupaya memilih pelbagai e-mel atau khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) daripada paparan List dan melaksanakan pelbagai tindakan seperti memadam, memindah serta membuat tanda (baca atau belum dibaca). Dalam paparan Contacts pula pengguna dibenarkan memilih atau memilih semua untuk memadamkan pelbagai kenalan pada satu-satu masa.

Dari aspek produktiviti pula, platform Windows Mobile terbaru ini turut memiliki ciri Cut, Copy and Paste. Ciri-ciri ini boleh didapati sewaktu menulis e-mel dalam Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile, menghantar SMS mahupun menguruskan bahagian yang boleh diedit dalam Internet Explorer Mobile.

Aplikasi Task Manager yang ditambah dalam platform itu membantu pengguna menguruskan memori telefon bimbit dan jangka hayat bateri secara lebih berkesan. Pengguna dibenarkan mematikan dan menukar aplikasi dan program, selain mampu melihat prestasi data berkaitan penggunaan CPU dan memori secara am.

Ciri-ciri ini amat dinanti-nantikan kerana ia membantu mengurangkan kos sokongan operator telefon bimbit memandangkan gajet itu menjadi lebih mudah untuk mengalami troubleshoot.

Sumber: Kosmo.com.my

A gun, disguised as a mobile phone

An Italian Carabinieri paramilitary police officer shows a gun, disguised as a mobile phone, which was seized along with other weapons and drugs in a Camorra bunker in Torre Annunziata, near Naples, southern Italy, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. According to investigators the gun disguised as mobile phone can fire up to four bullets. (FRANCO CASTANO/AP)

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 spec officially released : It's fast

It's been nearly a year since we first saw the USB 3.0 connector make an appearance at CES, and after months of corporate infighting, spec-polishing, and technical navel-gazing, the future of consumer peripheral connectivity is here -- in the form of complete specifications and a demo. Symwave's giving attendees of this week's SuperSpeed conference a taste of tomorrow with a demo of the Quasar USB 3.0 chipset, which is targeted at "sync-and-go" devices like phones and media players. Sounds lovely -- now if you'll excuse us, we have to go back to mourning the death of FireWire 400.

The one bad bit of news is that your old USB cables won't deliver SuperSpeeds—you'll have to have USB 3.0 gear from end-to-end to get the ridiculous transfer rates because the cables have extra pins for data, though it is all backward compatible. On the cable front you've got three plugs: Standard A (which looks like the one you know and love), standard B (the square one), mini B (which looks like a bizarre double-headed monster) and micro. We should start seeing the first USB 3.0-equipped gadgets sometime in 2010, though maybe by the end of 2009 if we're lucky.

WARNING
High Speed USB product plugged into non-high speed port. Your device may not work properly...