Its Electronica

Let’s see you wrap your brain around this thing. On May 15, display manufacturer Shinoda Plasma unveiled a prototype of its 1-millimeter thick, 125-inch plasma tube array. And yes, it’s flexible. The film-type display weighs only 7.9 pounds and offers a 960-by-360 resolution. Stop by the InfoComm 2008 conference in Las Vegas in June and you’ll be able to check one of these out.

True, 960-by-360 pixels isn’t all that great by today’s standards; Shinoda Plasma mainly envisions this display to be used by advertisers. But you can imagine how convenient a super-thin display would be for people in Tokyo, who live in cramped-up apartments: After watching a movie, they could roll one of these babies up and tuck it in the corner — and they might even have room to do jumping jacks.

Photo courtesy of Pink Tentacle

Flexible, lightweight 125-inch plasma display [Pink Tentacle]

by Darren Murph, posted May 20th 2008 at 1:24AM

It’s been a tick since we’ve heard anything noteworthy on the e-passport front (that’s probably a good thing, truth be told), but Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei are out to break the silence. The two have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a “slim and bendable” OLED color display within a “polycarbonate data page.” Predictably, the aforementioned display can be used to “provide a raft of information including a video of the document holder.” It’s also noted that the units will be heat-resistant, enabling officials to laminate the cards and make them less susceptible to manipulation. Information about a potential release date wasn’t divulged, but it sure sounds like this stuff is dangerously close to being ready for use.

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Filed under: Displays

by Donald Melanson, posted May 19th 2008 at 3:48PM

We’ve already seen how quick on his feet Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can be, and it looks like the big man finally had to put those fleet-footed skills to good use, as he was recently forced to duck for cover under a barrage of (three) eggs during a speech he was giving at a Hungarian University. Apparently, the disgruntled egg-tosser was angry with Ballmer for “stealing billions in Hungarian taxpayer money,” which he demanded that Ballmer give back “right now.” Head on past the break for a video of the thoroughly awkward encounter.

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Filed under: Misc. gadgets

The Calmee Space HDD docking station from Fujitsu was recently launched in Korea, and this one connects to your hard drives via SATA. It is big enough to cater for both 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drives simultaneously, boasting Plug-and-Play and Hot Swap functions. You can expect to fork out around $46 for this puppy.

I know that going fast can be quite the adrenaline rush for some, but that is no reason to be reckless. Somebody who seems to have a whole lot of explosive passion and time decided to come up with a jet-powered bicycle that ought to get you from point A to the hospital pretty quick (as crashing into concrete walls are no fun, I can tell you this much). This unique two-wheeler is capable of hitting its maximum stride of 75mph. Time to give your insurance agent a call if you want to take it out for a spin.

NEC engineers must be people who are madly in love with this new range of digital photo frames that comes in the form of a heart-shaped LCD panel. This is definitely different from what we’ve seen in boring, rectangle digital photo frames to date, and is infinitely more attractive to look at. Such a screen design is made possible only by using a more flexible TFT display that places the display driver circuits along the perimeter of the LCD glass. What are some of the other shapes that you would like to see in the future?

With not much longer before the Eee PC 901 is expected to hit the market, the latest reports are claiming that Asus has chosen to drop the option for built-in WiMAX. Up till now we are still awaiting the official specs to come from Asus, however as always rumors have been trickling in, the latest removes the WiMAX support.

What we can confirm is that the Eee PC 901 will feature an 8.9-inch display, Bluetooth and the ‘fancy’ metal trim around the trackpad and hinges. With the constant delays of WiMAX we cannot help to think that Asus has made a smart move, even with the recent the recent WiMAX deal the coverage would be so limited that it still would not be worth it. Asus is however planning to still integrate WiMAX into their future 14.1 and 15.4-inch notebooks.

Via [I4U News]

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Everyone knows Zippos - those are lovely looking lighters that guarantees to give you a light even in the middle of a maelstrom. What happens when you use the same material as a Zippo lighter to create an mp3 player? The result is the Zarva Zippo MP320 MP3 player, conplete with a tiny display that will be used for user interface navigation. This supports audio formats only (MP3 and WMA), so you can forget about video playback in this case. Other features include USB 2.0 connectivity, seven EQ modes, and an integrated microphone. The 1GB model will set you back by a mere $27 for this non-flame-resistant MP3 player.

Canon is currently working on developing fuel cells for DSLRs, where a new patent application will solve the problems of supplying fluctuating current from the cells. Canon decided to ditch the traditional method of using just one fuel cell (or an entire bank) working in tandem, but will instead function somewhat like an inkjet printer with a handful of fuel cells outputting varying degrees of voltages which can later be mixed and matched. This enables high-draw operations like mirror-flipping or flash charging to obtain the necessary power required. Well, it would be nice to see this technology trickle down to everyday point-and-shoot cameras in the end as well.

NYU graduate student Drew Burrows would love to be in a relationship, but he just doesn’t have time for one. (That’s what he tells himself, at least.) Apparently, however, he found the time to engineer a virtual girlfriend as a solution for his loneliness. Burrows and his "girlfriend" made their relationship public at a recent Tisch School of Arts show.

But restrain your excitement, single introverts: Burrows’ virtual girlfriend isn’t someone you can touch or do naughty things with (yet); she’s a two-dimensional projection, and fully clothed. The fun part is she’s an infrared-sensitive light projection — a technology Burrows lovingly calls INBED — meaning she reacts to your moves! Lie down and she’ll snuggle up next to you. Curl up on your side and she’ll spoon. Do you see what this is probably going to lead to? (If you’re thinking futuristic teddy bears, you’re wrong.)

Weird Science! NYU Student Invents Virtual Girlfriend [NY Magazine]

Photo courtesy Drew Burrows