<![CDATA[[MobileRatty] tag: glass]]> http://mobileratty.com/tag/glass Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:26:40 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Sony Sountina Glass Speakers at IFA 2008]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/c6e240fb3b01737703115efe600ae590 http://mobileratty.com/article/c6e240fb3b01737703115efe600ae590 Sony Sountina Glass Speakers at IFA 2008

Sony has showcased their super expensive Sony Sontina speaker at the IFA 2008. It is a 6 foot tall speaker that produces a 360 degree pool of sound by vibrating every corner of the organic cylinder. The speaker delivers a high quality sound with a room enhancing illumination. The Sountina Glass Speakers will be released in the future for ¥1,000,000 (about €6,500 / $10,000). However, the release date is still unknown. [AVING]

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]]> Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:33:19 +0000 sountina glass speakers foot tall speaker quality sound sound speaker delivers ifa organic cylinder degree pool sony Sony Sountina Glass Speakers at IFA 2008 <![CDATA[DIY 3D Home Theater]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/e18aeee7053fd284a469af9564515037 http://mobileratty.com/article/e18aeee7053fd284a469af9564515037 diyht_a1.jpg

With the decreasing prices of projectors these days more people in the DIY community are abandoning their hand made projectors for something a little more professional. Those few who have stayed the path have decided to not just build their own projectors but also build their own 3D theaters. One person decided to base their construction off of the rig that is used to record 3D images. First you build a box. Then you mount an LCD display in the back and on the ceiling of the box. You also install a glass pain that is angled at a 45 degree angle. This pain of glass will be the screen. To make it run all you need to do is connect the monitors to one or two computers and have them play the same movie at the same time. The only draw back is that you have to use polarized glasses in order to get the 3D effect but I’m sure there is a DIY guide for that as well.

[via Wired]

]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:35:48 +0000 glass pain glass pain projectors lcd display diy guide degree angle box diy community DIY 3D Home Theater <![CDATA[Intel CTO Says Gap between Humans, Machines will Close by 2050]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/812e7ffd0c5d4c08e1614c85edc2f25e http://mobileratty.com/article/812e7ffd0c5d4c08e1614c85edc2f25e
Justin Rattner, during his keynote at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, predicted big changes are ahead in social interactions, robotics and improvements in computer's ability to sense the real world. He said Intel's research labs are already looking at human-machine interfaces and examining future implications to computing with some promising changes coming much sooner than expected.

"The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago," Rattner said. "There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason, in the not so distant future."

Cutting the Last Cord, Wireless Power

Imagine being able to walk into an airport or room with your laptop and instead of consuming battery, it is recharged. Based on principles proposed by MIT physicists, Intel researchers have been working on a Wireless Resonant Energy Link (WREL). Rattner demonstrated powering a 60-watt light bulb without the use of a plug or wire of any kind, which is more than is needed for a typical laptop.

The magic of WREL is that it promises to deliver wireless power safely and efficiently. The technology relies on strongly coupled resonators, a principle similar to the way a trained singer can shatter a glass using her voice. At the receiving resonator's natural frequency, energy is absorbed efficiently, just as a glass absorbs acoustic energy at its natural frequency. With this technology enabled in a laptop, for example, batteries could be recharged when the laptop gets within several feet of the transmit resonator. Many engineering challenges remain, but the company's researchers hope to find a way to cut the last cord in mobile devices and someday enable wireless power in Intel-based platforms.

Programmable Matter: Computers that Change Shape

Intel researchers are also investigating how millions of tiny micro-robots, called catoms, could build shape-shifting materials. If used to replace the case, display and keyboard of a computing device, this technology could make it possible for a device to change physical form in order to suit the specific way you are using it. A mobile computer, for example, could be tiny when in a pocket, change to the shape of an earpiece when used as a mobile phone, and be large and flat with a keyboard for browsing the Internet or watching a movie.

Rattner described this as a difficult exploratory research agenda, but steady progress is being made. He demonstrated for the first time the results of a novel technique for fabricating tiny silicon hemispheres using photolithography, a process used today to make silicon chips. This capability is one of the basic structural building blocks needed to realize functional catoms, and will make it easier to bring the necessary computational and mechanical components together in one tiny package less than a millimeter across. The technique is compatible with existing high-volume manufacturing and enables the possibility to produce such catoms in quantity at some point in the future.

Dr. Michael Garner, program manager of Emerging Materials Roadmap, joined Rattner onstage to discuss the importance of research of novel silicon technology, keeping Moore's Law alive and well through the next decade and beyond. Among other things, Intel is researching how to go beyond planar transistors to 3D transistors and is looking at using compound semiconductors to replace silicon in the transistor channel. Looking further out, Intel is exploring into a variety of non-charge-based technologies that could one day replace CMOS altogether.

Robots: From the Factory Floor to Your Kitchen

Robots today are primarily used in the factory environment, designed to perform a single task repeatedly and bolted down. To make robotics personal, robots need to move and manipulate objects in cluttered and dynamic human environments, according to Rattner. They need to be cognizant of their surroundings by sensing and recognizing movement in a dynamic physical world, and learn to adapt to new scenarios. Rattner demonstrated two working personal robot prototypes developed at Intel's research labs. One of the demonstrations showed electric field pre-touch that has been built into a robot hand. The technique is a novel sensing modality used by fish but not humans, so they can "feel" objects before they even touch them. The other demonstration was a complete autonomous mobile manipulation robot that can recognize faces and interpret and execute commands as generic as "please clean this mess" using state-of-the-art motion planning, manipulation, perception and artificial intelligence.

In addition to robots becoming more human-like, Rattner said he believes more innovation will emerge to make human and machine interaction more robust. Randy Breen, chief product officer of Emotiv Systems, joined Rattner onstage to demonstrate the company's EPOC* headset. The Emotiv EPOC identifies brainwave patterns, processes them in real time and tells a game what conscious or non-conscious thoughts the user has had, like facial expressions, conscious actions or emotions. A user with the headset could think about smiling or lifting an object, and an avatar in a game would execute it. EPOC can currently identify more than 30 different "detections" through the 16 sensors on the headset.

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.

]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:27:13 +0000 intel intel corporation intel developer forum intel researchers technology rattner tiny justin rattner tiny package Intel CTO Says Gap between Humans, Machines will Close by 2050 <![CDATA[Sun and Moon Jars]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/7bd0cc756aa52e4019c56be53ffbc4db http://mobileratty.com/article/7bd0cc756aa52e4019c56be53ffbc4db Would you like a jar full of sunshine or moon light?

Sun and Moon Jars, expected to be released in early September, are a great way to light up the yard, patio or they can even be used as a child's nightlight.

The jars are powered by a solar cell on the lid, rechargable batteries and LED lamps. LED use very low energy yet are very bright. Made out of mason jars which are already waterproof, the lights look decrative while still being very useful. The glass of the jars is diffused and it looks like there is a ball of sunshine or moonlight eminating from the jars. There are no controls on the outside of the jars, the switch on the inside of the jar allows you to turn off the light.

These lights can be left outside with no fear of rust or rain damage. Because they are not connected with wires, the lights are completely portable and can be configured around the yard in anyway the imagination leads.

Scheduled to be priced at $34.99 when it is released the Sun and Moon Jars might seem expensive at first. However the years of free light that these jars provide could pay for itself in very little time. Go to Thinkgeek from left Banner to Buy it.

]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:25:14 +0000 jars moon jars jars provide light mason jars free light moon light sun led Sun and Moon Jars <![CDATA[Camouflage Art by Liu Bolin!]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/70ccd72bb1e1ac8d9c1429049f856e3f http://mobileratty.com/article/70ccd72bb1e1ac8d9c1429049f856e3f Camouflage Art by Liu Bolin!

Camouflage Art by Liu Bolin!

For the ultimate camouflage art, you need to check out some of these works by Liu Bolin.
The pictures are real and not photoshopped.  Since it’s China, the designer decided to hire some people and paint them all over.  Probably not too bad considering the low wages in China.  (I heard it’s cheaper to hire 10,000 to dig holes with shovels than rent a John Deere.)
via neatorama,Designer Page

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Camouflage Art by Liu Bolin!

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]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 10:49:29 +0000 art camouflage art liu bolin liu bolin china hits korea china john deere spider tractor machine Camouflage Art by Liu Bolin! <![CDATA[Panasonic's 150-inch Life Wall TV going production in 2009]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/406eb499a7707c608e0bb5114f7957f5 http://mobileratty.com/article/406eb499a7707c608e0bb5114f7957f5 Filed under:


Although it's impossible to tell without another object in the display box, that's Panasonic's 150-inch TV up there -- here at IFA, intimidating its neighbors. Now get this: this massive plasma sporting a 2,160 X 4,096-pixel (4 times 1080p) Advanced HD display will hit the assembly lines just as soon as Panny's newest factory comes on-line in the May 2009 timeframe. At the moment, the single 150-inch sheet of glass is hand-made and fitted into four of these behemoths currently touring the world. That means 150-inches of goodness could be yours before the year is up. College shmollege, this is quad HD!
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]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:07:00 +0000 single 150-inch sheet display display box assembly lines college shmollege massive plasma panasonic 150-inch tv times 1080p Panasonic's 150-inch Life Wall TV going production in 2009 <![CDATA[Time Lapse Video of Mushrooms and other Fungi!]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/688c4704bdd661bef2a8e2fc23a98598 http://mobileratty.com/article/688c4704bdd661bef2a8e2fc23a98598

Download latest version of Flash to view video!.

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Here’s a really cool time lapse video of mushrooms and other fungi.  The mushroom uprising are very interesting indeed.

I wish I could just sit by one and see it live but then I don’t think sitting down for hours is a good idea for having fun.

via boingboing

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Time Lapse Video of Mushrooms and other Fungi!

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]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:46:49 +0000 time lapse video fungi mushrooms spider tractor machine view view video sparkfuns touch tetris robot re-assembles fun Time Lapse Video of Mushrooms and other Fungi! <![CDATA[HiTech Stadium becomes NFL Flagship]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/24c189eeaf265ef41cd654928d5117d5 http://mobileratty.com/article/24c189eeaf265ef41cd654928d5117d5

The old saying goes that “everything is bigger in Texas.” Well, that couldn’t be more true for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium which promises to be the largest stadium ever built, with the largest support arches ever constructed, and doors that open on each end that could fit a DC-10 lengthwise and still have room for a forward pass over the middle.

At a glance, the specs of this new stadium shows that team owner Jerry Jones is “sparing no expense.” The arch foundations will have 25-foot-high abutments and be anchored up to 70 feet underground. The Empire State Building could fit underneath them with plenty of room to spare. In addition, there will be an amazing 86-foot-high glass exterior where the clear glass paneling will be pelted with ceramic dots that will create a blue and gray translucence as the sun moves through the sky. The Stadium will sport the largest high definition LED displays in the world which will span from in between the 20 yard lines – that’s 60 yards, folks. There will also be over 3,000 smaller HD LED screens all around the stadium, including personal televisions in every locker for the athletes. There will also be independent power outlets, broadband data ports, and ceiling recessed projectors for team meetings during half time.

But the big ticket items will be the field level suite boxes and VIP areas right on the 50 yard line. The major selling point being that players will pass through the club VIP area as they make their way both on and off the playing field. Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts. In addition, there will be over 300 private luxury suites - 50 of which that will circle the field at ground level (which is baffling considering ground level is the second worse seat in the house). Guests will be able to walk right onto the field during the game and stand right behind the teams.

There will also be a retractable roof which will open and shut within 12 minutes, nearly 1,000 concession stands, and end zone party sections that will seat up to 10,000 for concerts and other special events. Cost to build? $1.1 BILLION DOLLARS making it the most expensive stadium in history. It’ll open in time for the 2009 NFL season and will seat over 80,000.

Hat Tip – WIRED

[ HiTech Stadium becomes NFL Flagship copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Pressy idea: Educational Toys

]]> Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:17:32 +0000 stadium hitech stadium expensive stadium dallas cowboys stadium worse seat glass seat ground level 86-foot-high glass exterior HiTech Stadium becomes NFL Flagship <![CDATA[ Volkswagen Caddy Van Features a Wooden Boat Deck For Sunbathing [Cars] ]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/478cf360ea8978b01302ad7bae65a890 http://mobileratty.com/article/478cf360ea8978b01302ad7bae65a890 The designers at Volkswagen brought out the big guns for an upcoming recreational vehicle show in Düsseldorf, Germany by crossing one of their small commercial Caddy vans with a sailboat. While the Caddy Topos Sail design is not capable of traveling on water, it does feature a sailboat style deck on the roof that can be modified for relaxation and sunbathing. It even features a wooden ladder built into the glass to grant easy access to the roof. I suppose that it is clever in a stupid sort of way, but no matter how you feel about the quirky design, it is only a concept.


[Jalopnik]


]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000 sailboat style deck sailboat commercial caddy vans grant easy access roof quirky design features stupid sort recreational vehicle Volkswagen Caddy Van Features a Wooden Boat Deck For Sunbathing [Cars] <![CDATA[Top Kindle 2 feature request: by gum make it less ugly]]> http://mobileratty.com/article/c01443eb99d45a1bac6d3654269b1c82 http://mobileratty.com/article/c01443eb99d45a1bac6d3654269b1c82 0.jpgWired demands that the forthcoming Kindle 2 be sexier than the original. They're right, too: it looked like a squashed origami hat. From Gadget Lab:
The current Kindle is ugly. Almost nobody will argue with that. In fact, the only way to make it uglier would be to make it in false-limb-pink. This one is easy: just copy somebody else. A sleek, black slab made from aluminum and glass would do the trick just nicely. Add a couple of buttons to turn the pages and you're done. And the keyboard? That's next:

The likelihood of Amazon making the Kindle beautiful is about equal to the likelihood of Sony innovating its way back into touch after losing the reader mindshare to Amazon.

Five Things Amazon Should Put in the Kindle 2.0 [Wired: Gadget Lab]


]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:26:40 +0000 kindle kindle beautiful current kindle gadget lab wired amazon wired demands black slab reader mindshare Top Kindle 2 feature request: by gum make it less ugly