Pandora's box has been opened: The PSP2 lives!

Pandora s box has been opened: The PSP2 lives!

One of Sony s worst kept secret, the PSP2 also called the NGP or Next Generation Portable was unveiled earlier today. The new hand-held gaming device is all set to hit the market towards the end of 2011. Sony has however, left out the most critical bit of information, the price. Hopefully, we will know the price at E3, 2011.

So, has Sony introduced a new disc medium for the device? Well, no! The new medium is a flash-based storage device that will not only store your games but will also be able to store add-on content for the games.

On the face of it, the device looks quite similar to a PSP. It looks a little more rounder and finally boasts of 2 analogue sticks, which promise to deliver an experience similar to that of the Dual Shock 3 controller. The screen is a 5-inch OLED touch screen with a resolution of 960 x 544. The device has a multi-touch pad at the rear. The device also possesses a six-axis motion sensing system.

Under the hood, this bad boy runs an ARM Cortex A9 core (4 core) processor and a SGX543MP4+ GPU. By the looks of the demos showcased at the event, the device can really pull of some amazing graphics!

A new interface has been designed for the NGP, which will take full advantage of its hardware. Called Live Arena, the interface makes it easy for users to switch between games and other apps on the device with absolute ease. The Live Arena also makes use of the NGP s 3G capabilities and allows live message boards.

Although the NGP has a games lineup which includes the likes of Hot Shots Golf Next, Killzone, Little Big Planet, Wipeout, Resistance, Hustle Kings, and Uncharted Portable, the true test of the device is to see how it will face-off against the recently announced Nintendo 3DS.Nintendo has a first movers advantage as the device is expected to hit the streets by the end of March 2011 for a price point of $250. It boasts of a stellar lineup of games along with the ability to play games in 3D without the use of glasses.

German researchers prototype 6mm thick pico projector

Pico projectors just keep shrinking, and a new prototype developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Engineering is helping said shrinking along pretty strikingly. The team has developed a prototype pico which is just 6mm thick, making it the world's slimmest ever. Better yet, the projected image is 10 times brighter than a pico projector of its size would have previously been -- had it existed. The new lens on the projector is so small that it could potentially be integrated into smart phones without boosting size or weight. The new prototype is made of 45 red, green or blue microlenses, each with a 200 x 200 pixel LCD, inspired by a microlens array called a fly's eye condenser. The resulting resolution is nearly, but not quite, WVGA with 11 lumens of brightness. The prototype will be shown off at Nano Tech 2011 in Tokyo.

Motorola Atrix to get full HD 1080p video capture after launch

The already eagerly awaited Motorola Atrix is making headlines again this time making a hint of 1080p video capture. Having a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU roaring inside, it should come as no surprise that this monster droid would offer Full HD recording much like the Optimus 2X, for instance.

The device is set to initially come with 720p video recording and 1080p playback via it's HDMI port but a vigilant read spotted a remark in the manufacturer's specs that promises 1080p video recording via a post-launch software update.

So far information on the update concerns only the AT&T version, the Atrix 4G, so we can't be certain if it will be available for the European version as well.

It's some great news for the fans waitig eagerly for the official launch of the Atrix, especially now that the Tegra-loving LG Optimus 2X is already flaunting it's fullHD capturing capabilities.

Since the 1080p video capture will probably be a major selling point of the Atrix 4G, we really hope Motorola doesn't take long with the update as it did with the updates of most of its other GSM Android smartphones.

Intel earnings soar with rise of 'cloud' computing

US computer chip giant Intel posted its best earnings ever in 2010 as businesses beefed up data centers to handle services increasingly shifting to the Internet "cloud."

Intel said it took in a net profit of $11.7 billion for the year on revenue of $43.6 billion, a 167 percent jump from the profit it posted in 2009.

"2010 was the best year in Intel's history," the California-based company's chief executive Paul Otellini said in comments released with the earnings report. "We believe that 2011 will be even better."

Intel's net profit for the final quarter was $3.4 billion, a 48 percent increase from the same quarter a year earlier.

Intel's stock price climbed more than two percent to $21.75 a share shortly after the release of the earnings results.

Executives said that Intel's business was being driven by emerging markets such as China, the consumer side of the market, and "the build out of the cloud" to add muscle to data centers to handle online services and software.

"The stand-out was the data center group," Otellini said of the company's performance. "Intel is positioned to benefit from the growth of the data center and cloud computing."

Intel projected revenue of $11.5 billion for the current quarter and said that it expected to spend nearly $14 billion this year on researching and developing products and acquisitions or mergers.

Intel on Monday announced it would pay graphics card developer NVIDIA $1.5 billion over the next five years to settle a patent dispute.

The companies have been arguing for nearly two years about whether a deal they inked allows NVIDIA to produce chipsets that work with Intel microprocessors.

Intel filed a complaint in court in February 2009, asking a judge to decide which side is right.

NVIDIA counter-sued a month later.

"This agreement ends the legal dispute between the companies, preserves patent peace and provides protections that allow for continued freedom in product design," Doug Melamed, Intel general counsel, said in a statement.

Intel will be allowed to use some of NVIDIA's patents under the deal.

Otellini promised that Intel's Atom chips would be seen in an array of tablets and smartphones hitting the market, which is rich in gadgets built with rival ARM processor technology.

Last week, Intel wowed a major Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas with a speedy new generation of chips that thwart film piracy and enable quick handling of data-rich video and games.

The second-generation Intel Core processors, referred to as "Sandy Bridge," have been built into computers big and small, many of which were displayed at CES.

Otellini called the chip with processor-based graphics "the best product we've ever built."

Building graphics computing into chips enables slick handling of games, images and video at a time when lifestyles are increasingly shifting to online entertainment loaded with data sent online.

Intel worked with major US and Indian film studios, including Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Yash Raj Films and 20th Century Fox to craft copyright-guarding technology into the chips.

Sandy Bridge chips will be featured in 500 devices from mobile handsets to notebook and desktop computers, according to Intel.

Sandy Bridge will represent more than a third of Intel's revenue this year, and generate 125 billion dollars in revenue for the PC industry, Otellini predicted.

VW confirms it will build hyper-efficient XL1, Autocar gets to drive one

Think the Volkswagen XL1 concept is too far out there to ever get built? Tell that to the blokes in Wolfsburg. German source Automobilewoche is reporting that executives Ferdinand Piech and Martin Winterkorn both confirmed that the car will be produced in small numbers, first for Germany and later coming to the US and China. It's powered by a diesel engine with less than one liter of displacement, managing 313mpg combined (that's Imperial, 260mpg using American units) putting out just 48hp and thankfully assisted by a 27hp electric motor. Not much, but enough for the 1,750lb car, which Autocarcorrespondent Milton Holloway got to drive and said feels "fully sorted" despite an engine that's a bit rattly. It is a diesel, after all.

Smart USA won't be stopped by snow, delivers first Fortwo Electric Drive to a customer

Hertz may have been the first to get the suckers on the road, but Mindy Kimball of Silver Spring, MD is the first American customer to have a Smart Fortwo Electric Drive of her very own. She's a US Army Major and now has a funky little green (but not olive drab) and white coupe at home -- probably buried under a foot or two of white stuff at this point. She's member numero uno of Smart USA's so-called "Team 250," which will make up the first 250 owners of the cars, each of which offer a maximum of 72 miles of range and a top speed of 70mph. All while looking super cute.

New adapter from Mitsubishi brings Samsung's old 3D-capable TVs up to spec

Although 3D as a feature didn't become commonplace on HDTVs until 2010, Mitsubishi and Samsung have both been shipping a number of 3D-ready models for several years. However, they rely on a different input format than the one used by 3D Blu-ray movies, 3DTV broadcasts and most 3D videogames so an adapter is required to make it work, which Mitsubishi released for its own DLP TVs last year. While enthusiasts on AVSForum quickly developed workarounds to get them working with some of Samsung's DLPs as well, those won't be necessary now that Mitsubishi is releasing the 3DC-100S, which will work with Samsung's TVs (only projection sets, not plasmas) right out of the box. right now it's available as a part of a $449 MSRP starter pack bundle but word is it should be available on its own shortly, in case you want to check out some ESPN 3D action without shelling out for a brand new TV set, press release is after the break.

Panasonic J10

Panasonic has launched Letsnote J10 netbook with 10.1-inch display in the Japanese market. There will be two models. The high end model, J10Q sports the new Core i5-480M 2.66GHz processor, 128GB solid state drive, 2GB RAM (up to 6GB supported) and runs Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. Coming to the ports, it has 3x USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, HDMI, WiMax, HDMI, mini D-SUB and an SDXC slot.

You get the enhanced 1366 x 768 pixel display which will give you a bit more pixels to work with, compared to the typical WSVGA (1366 x 768) displays being used in the majority of 10-inch netbooks. Panasonic claims around 12 hours of runtime which is a pretty bold claim considering the netbook (with battery installed) weighs just 1.2kg! Now, that is what I call magical. It will retail at 2200 dollars (180,000 Yen).

The low end model (which is still pretty pricey), J10Q comes with a Core i3-380M 2.53GHz processor, 160GB hard disk (instead of SSD) and a smaller battery (~7.5 hours runtime). Rest of the specs are same as the high end model. The J10Q will retail for around 1770 dollars (145,000 yen). (official, Japanese)

Energy: Smart Power Management

Smart power strip can accurately identify when and where electricity is being wasted and switch off the energy-guzzling plug points remotely.

There is a causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. Higher economic growth implies greater consumption of energy which in turn implies higher carbon emission. However, developing countries cannot stop their growth for minimiz­ing carbon emission, the primary reason why the 2010 Copenhagen discussions fell through. There is a need for new solu­tions that can enable growth without compromising environmental concerns.

We can save energy in three ways: By using the devices that consume less energy (for example, LED light); avoid energy wastage; and by enforcing policy that puts a cap on the energy usage by an individual or by an enterprise. The main issues which need to be resolved to achieve the last two techniques are to detect when and where energy is wasted and how to enforce a policy to limit con­sumption. The current electricity infra­structure does not have any provision for tracking energy wastage on individual scale. Moreover, the present infrastruc­ture is not integrated with information technology through which government could monitor and remotely control such wastage by using a device, such as a mobile phone, desktop computer, or any other handheld device connected to the Internet.

The smart power strip (SPS) solu­tion from Infosys is capable of accurately identifying when and where electricity is being wasted. It is even equipped to take action to eliminate such wastage. The SPS monitors a variety of ambiance parame­ters, such as movement, light, sound, and temperature to identify whether energy consumption can be avoided, and if so, it can turn off the relevant devices. Simi­larly, based on the temperature and the presence of natural light in an enclosed area, it can decide whether air condition­ing needs to be switched on or off.

A large area can be covered with mul­tiple such SPS units which can com­municate amongst one another using wireless sensor network technology and use multi-hop wireless routing to send data to a gateway that consolidates the information and forwards it to a portal on the Internet. The portal, which can be accessed from anywhere using any device, provides the interface to both monitor and control energy consumption. In addition, the devices can be scheduled to switch on or switch off at specific times.

Although researchers have developed the technology in a power strip, they say the same technology can be incorpo­rated inside the legacy switchboards as well. Thus, even legacy appliances can be connected to the consumption points, transforming them into smart appliances with monitoring and control capability just as their smart counterparts. Smart power strip can be used as a normal power strip in which various appliances can be connected.

A SPS comprises an electronic circuit to calculate the voltage and current consumed at each plug point. Algorithms are executed in a microcontroller to calcu­late the power factor of devices plugged into the sockets, enabling the calculation of electricity consumption in every plug point. Moreover, electricity consumption can be controlled by switching on or off the devices connected to the plug points using relays. The system has USB, Eth­ernet, and Zigbee interfaces to commu­nicate with the outside world.

The SPS can transform the existing electricity infrastructure into a software-controlled smart infrastructure. Various kinds of software applications can be built on it. For example, one can com­municate with the appliances connected to the smart power strip using instant messaging (IM) just as one would com­municate with an individual. One of the biggest advantages of SPS is its applica­tion in smart grid for supporting demand response mechanism. Currently, in a city environment when the demand of elec­tricity is more than the supply, the energy/utility service provider forces consum­ers in a neighborhood to shut down all of their electrical appliances, a phenom­enon commonly known as load shedding. Smart power strip enables selective load shedding, which means that only select appliances are turned off at the peak load times as chosen by consumers par­ticipating in the demand response (DR) program. This brings down the overall demand below the available supply as well as avoids complete blackout of a particu­lar area.

SMART SOLUTION Infosys has developed an iPhone application through which users can access and control smart power strip from anywhere, anytime.

Smart power strips can also be used in an enterprise’s smart space management program, whereby the enterprise can monitor the occupancy of cubicles and turn off the computer monitors, VOIP phones, and lights connected to their sockets when cubicles are not occupied. An enterprise level energy consumption policy can be imposed to ensure that every employee has a particular daily, weekly, and monthly energy budget. This can change the behavior of employees of an enterprise and avoid wastage of electricity.

INSIDE OUT

There are three components of a SPS: hardware, middleware, and the appli­cation. Each SPS has a potential trans­former (PT) to cut down the voltage consumption, a current transformer (CT) to bring down the current consump­tion, and a microcontroller to compute the power factor. Output signals from PT and CT are processed through signal conditioning circuit and are passed to the microcontroller which samples these sig­nals at 1 kilohertz and computes the root mean square voltage and current as well as real and apparent power factor. In addition, there are temperature, move­ment (PIR), sound (MIC), and light sen­sors. The data received from smart power strips is processed and analyzed at the central server which stores the history of each smart power strip.

The middleware component of SPS connects the device to the outside world. The middleware stack (named MoJo) converts a real wireless sensor-based net­work to a virtual network of Java objects. The MoJo platform exposes a Java-based application programming interface to developers so that they can write appli­cations without being aware of the func­tioning of the underlying wireless sensors. MoJo also ensures that power strips are networked together and enterprise level energy consumption policies can be applied. There are many APIs exposed for various functions on a power strip. For example, there are APIs for getting a list of power strips, renaming a power strip or an individual socket (or plug point), getting the current consumed by a power strip or an individual socket, getting various sensor values on the power strip, switching on and off individual socket, and more. Any software application can be built using such API.

Researchers at Infosys have devel­oped a Web-based application that can be accessed through Internet and an iPhone application to access SPS. Like an email or a Facebook account, the user will have power management account on the Internet where he or she can monitor and control the power being consumed in his or her house or office. If someone is present at home, the application allows SPS to use discretion whether or not to turn off appliances at home. The applica­tion also throws an alert when a critical appliance like a geyser is on for some time. One can then go to the control panel and turn off the geyser remotely.

CHALLENGES

Some of the technology challenges related to SPS are measurement of power, that is, computation of power factor by sampling current and voltage and measurement of voltage over a wide range of inputs rang­ing from 110-220 volts. Controlling the plug points is another challenge. Recep­tion of messages, interpreting them, and activating the relays; protection of appli­ances connected to plug points against surge in power supply; software fuse to cut off power even before the actual threshold is hit are key issues to deal with. Other challenges include dynamic cre­ation of wireless mesh network; multi-hop energy-aware routing; converting physical wireless motes to Java objects; collating, calibrating, filtering and aggre­gating data from multiple sensors; auto­matic detection of smart power strips as they are plugged on the wall socket and devices are plugged into the power strip; creating a visually appealing and easy-to-use intuitive Web-based interface; and developing a simple to use applica­tion for mobile handsets to monitor and control devices connected to the smart power strips.

ACCESSIBILITY iPhone app for smart power strip.

There are several economic challenges for the SPS depending on its application domain and market segment. If the smart power strips are targeted to residential users, then they must be inexpensive enough for consumers to get the return on investment in less than a year. For example, a five-socket power strip should be priced between $25 and $40 for mass market adoption. However, providing all the monitoring and control capabilities within that price point is tough. For the commercial segment, the economic ben­efit is more than the savings in electricity bill. Huge benefit entails from the fact that the smart power strips will enable enterprises to meet their target carbon footprint thereby helping them brand their corporation as “green” and “sustain­able”. Thus, corporations will be willing to pay higher premium than the residen­tial market.

When positioned for the energy or util­ities market, the economic challenge will be to incorporate smart demand response resulting in the energy or utility service providers giving better than existing rate to those customers that participate in DR program. We already see that there are intermediaries between the energy/util­ity service provider and the residential/commercial customers who are provid­ing this service by requesting consumers to turn off their non-essential appliances at the peak load time and compensating them for their support of the DR program.

The SPS solution has been piloted in Infosys campus. When a cubicle is not occupied for a duration of more than 10 minutes at a stretch, the light, phone and monitor connected to the smart power strip are switched off. This is done by running business logic in each power strip. The project helped Infosys gain significant savings in energy bill (approximately 10 percent) and reduc­tion of carbon footprint.

Making Old Computers Feel Brand New

A startup lets customers run the latest software on a remote server.

Each time a new version of Windows is released, many computer users find that their hardware is suddenly outdated. For cash-strapped schools, upgrading to the latest hardware with each major software release is simply impossible. A New York startup called NeverWareis offering a possible solution—a server that lets even decade-old PCs upgrade to the latest Windows 7 operating system.

Once NeverWare's server, called the JuiceBox a100, is added to a school's existing computer network , it does the hard work of running the latest operating systems for numerous aging computers on the same network. To users of those old computers, it will feel as if the PCs are running the latest version of Windows, when in fact they are accessing it over the network. Their typing and mouse commands are sent to the software on the server, and the imagery for their display is sent back.

Once connected to a JuiceBox, a PC doesn't even need a hard drive, or any local software at all. NeverWare's founder, Jonathan Hefter, says a 10-year-old desktop computer running Windows 98 would work just fine. He's targeting the U.S. education market and institutions in the developing world with the technology. "Schools can't afford to upgrade PCs, and developing countries can't afford PCs, so if we can use the power of the cloud, we can move to a more efficient model of computing," Hefter says. His company's JuiceBox servers are being used to power networks of desktops in two New Jersey schools.

Another company, NComputing, also uses servers to offer "virtual desktops" to multiple users, and supplies its technology to some schools around the world. However, NComputing's approach requires a new device that links a user's keyboard, mouse, and monitor to a distant server over the Web. One NeverWare JuiceBox is larger than an NComputing device, but then it only takes one JuiceBox to "upgrade" a network of tens of computers, says Hefter.

joyojeet Pal, professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, thinks NeverWare's approach has potential. "What this project seems to offer is an alternative to an online operating system like Google's Chrome OS," Pal says. Google's approach requires users to use Web versions of software packages, rather than providing access to traditional software. However, Pal says, the cost of maintaining an outdated machine could still be considerable due to the need for repairs and labor, for example.

NeverWare is not unlike the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, says Mark Foster, a former VP of engineering with OLPC. "Working there was like doing a year in the Peace Corps, from a computer perspective," he says. "You see what a difference it makes when kids get the tools that enable them to learn, and you never forget it. In the same way, NeverWare is a terrific idea."

Nike teams up with TomTom for the Nike+ SportWatch GPS

Nike+ SportWatch GPS (Credit: Nike)

LAS VEGAS--Nike and GPS manufacturer TomTom have teamed up to launch a new sport watch to keep track of your runs.

Expected to be available in the US and the UK in April 2011, the sleek-looking Nike+ SportWatch GPS includes a shoe sensor that works in conjunction with GPS to collect data while you run. Afterward, you can connect the watch to your computer via the USB connector built into the watch's strap to upload data. In addition, you can log your run data to Nikeplus.com to see the GPS route of your run, set goals, and more.

Swap Rebel, a multitasking wrist watch for the spy in you

(Credit: Dvice)

If you have dreams of at least looking like a super spy, then the Swap Rebel wrist watch might be a good place to start.

Incredibly, the Rebel hosts a GSM SIM card, Bluetooth connectivity, an MP3/MP4 player, a stop watch and a 2GB microSD card (expandable to 8GB). That SIM card isn't tied down by any network and can be used with a pay-as-you-go plan. There's also a speakerphone, but it's going to be awhile before you stop getting stares from people as you talk into your watch.

All of this can be managed on the 1.46-inch TFT color touchscreen and there is a built-in USB port for connecting to computers for plug-and-play transfers.

WheeMe is the new Roomba for your sore back

(Credit: DreamBots)

No massage could ever come close to those given by Eleanor, the miracle worker who is CNET's in-house masseuse (we do have to pay for her time, but rates are good). Sometimes, however, even she needs a day off, and for those sad occasions, we're thinking CNET might want to invest in a few WheeMe massage robots.

Yes, there are robots that wash our hair and give us sponge baths, and now ones that are climbing atop our backs to massage our aching muscles, too.

Employing tilt sensor technology, the palm-size bot from Israel's DreamBots automatically steers itself around at 4.5cm per second, gently caressing your muscles with "patented fingerettes" that make it look like the love child of a toy car and a rubber caterpillar.

Universal wireless charger ElectroHub to debut at CES 2011

The ElectroHub wireless charging station comes with compliant batteries to replace your electronics' originals. (Credit: ElectroHub)

Wireless charging stations for electronics have been a hot topic ever since the introduction of the Powermat and the universal wireless charger standard was established. These methods, however, require the battery-operated devices to be compliant with the wireless charging standard they use. This means other products, namely the majority of all electronics, won't be able to take advantage of them.