Tag: LCD

 

The Earth’s atmosphere has water in it – this is why we measure weather with a percentage of humidity. But in some places on the Earth that you will find humid air, you won’t find water otherwise available. So what if you could extract the water directly from the air and use it to grow crops and sustain human life?

Well, that is exactly what the AirDrop does. Invented by Edward Linacre of Melbourne, Australia, the idea is such a good one that it was awarded the 2011 James Dyson Award. The requirement for the award is direct enough – Design something that solves a problem. And the AirDrop does exactly this.

The device functions by a top turbine that pulls air down into coils buried below the ground, The temperature difference causes condensation, and the drops of water are collected in a central reservoir. From there the water can be distributed as needed to thirsty crops. For example, water can be fed to plants at the root level through low pressure drip irrigation, avoiding the heat and evaporation of the surface.

While there are other atmospheric water harvesting devices on the market, the simplicity of the AirDrop buy comparison makes it easy to manufacture and distribute. The units even have LCD readouts that indicate the current water level, making it convenient to set up and monitor.

The top turbine can be ran by wind power alone if there is enough of it blowing. If the wind is to going to cooperate, solar power can be used to make everything work. The use of wind and solar energy makes it a sustainable solution in places that might not have access to power. With luck, Linacre’s AirDrop may help not only his native Australians, but it might be an important tool in fighting starvation all over the world, especially in areas of encroaching deserts.

Have you heard the promise of 3D going main stream all too many times, only to have it evaporate?  Well, that could change if some industry mainstays have their way. At the 2009 CES Panasonic revealed plans to push for technical standards that could firmly place practical 3D in home theater setups as soon as a couple years.

The plan includes support for TVs and Blu-ray discs (Panasonic has the Blu-ray clout to make it happen ).  Even James Cameron, whose  own potential 3D blockbuster is planned for a December 2009 release, is on board lending support.

But Panasonic did not show up at the party with just a plan.  Instead they brought some interesting goodies along to prove the theory, including a modified 3D Blu-ray player and (very nice) 8.5 foot plasma screen.  The technology incorporates LCD shutter glasses which expose the left and right eye in sync with the on screen images, but unlike slower LCD technology of the past this setup runs 60 to 120 frames per second.  In order to make the high speed work, Panasonic boosted the plasma flash rate to 600 times per second.   

PopSci reports that the live action clips worked best on the rig, where subtle played more believable than high depth situations, which looked more like cardboard cutouts in front of  a painted background.  The fact that they can report this effect seems to me to be a great confirmation that the 3D effect must work quite well. 

As mentioned earlier, Titanic's Jim Cameron is bringing a state of the art 3D movie, Avatar, to the big screen in 2009, and the producer, Jon Landau, was on hand to tout the advantages of 3D in movie making.  He said,

"The visual medium of the great 20th century art form, cinema, hasn’t been improved in the last 50 years.  This is now that transformation. And we want to take that transformation not just into the theaters, but we want to bring it into the home, bring it to the consumer and make it available everywhere."

Well, it sounds good. If the promise of mainstream home 3D sticks this time, it will be no coincidence that one of the first commercial 3D Blu-ray titles could just be Avatar.  And if the subtle but crafted movie lives up to expectations, that would be fine with us.

 

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IF you were the manufacturer of laptops, and you wanted to distinguish yourself from the crowd, how would you go about that?  We could probably list a lot of features to cram into a machine, but it might take a while before anyone came up with, "A Fresh Scent".  Yet that is exactly what Asus is doing with their ASUS F6V laptops, with scents that include Floral, Cologne, Ocean, and Grass.  (When they say "Grass", I am fairly certain they mean like a lawn, not Cannabis.  Although if there proves to be a market, who knows? Maybe even a dock to store munchies? But I digress. )

The lids are uniquely colorful as well, and this all points to Asus wanting to make a computer that has "personal branding" for the intended buyer.  While it seems wacky, PCs have become more personalized all the time.

Beyond the personal touch, the laptops seem to be capable enough machines, with standard 13.3 inch displays, Core 2 DUO processors, 320GB hard drives, and a street price of $1,299.  But before you accuse us of making this story up (a justifiable act in my opinion), here is the official press release:

Fremont, California (September 3, 2008) – ASUS unveiled a unique
feature for laptops during Project 2008 this past week in Las Vegas,
Nevada — a laptop with a scent. The laptops were featured at the
Microsoft "Spotlight on PC Fashion" Internet café and media lounge and
generated a lot of attention from numerous curious, trend-setting show
attendees.

The ASUS F6V is available in various high glossy LCD covers in pink,
blue, green and black and four different scents that include: floral,
grass, ocean and cologne. In addition, the 13.3" ASUS F6V includes an
exclusive ergonomic palm rest composed of white carbon fiber;
providing much more durability as compared to a conventional laptop
palm rest.

The ASUS F6V Series laptops are a revolutionary breakthrough in
technology and design. The ATI HD 3470 graphics card provides supreme
detail for photos and animation. It also includes the latest model of
fingerprint authentication reader, which provides a brand new level of
security for personal data. With HDMI port and a 1.3 M pixel web cam,
ASUS F6V owners can enjoy entertainment, portability and style
on-the-go.

The ASUS F6V Series is now available for pre-order exclusively at
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=asus+f6v-c1&x=0&y=0

For more information please visit:
http://promos.asus.com/campaign/t.aspx?n=223&l=1505
Specifications

LCD: 13.3"
Processor: Intel(R) Core™2 Duo
Memory: 4GB
HDD: 320 G
ODD: Super Multi
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
WLAN: 802.11 N
Web Cam: 1.3 M
LAN: 10/1000/1000
Card Reader: 8-in-one/Express Card

*Package includes: carrying bag, mouse, 6 cell battery.
MSRP: $1,299

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