Apple to announce new iPads on March 2nd

Apple's teaser image for the March 2nd event.

After much speculation and rumor, it looks like Apple is finally ready to tell public what the iPad 2 will be all about. Will we get that rumored iPad Retina display upgrade? We'll find out, come March 2nd.

(Source: Engadget.com)

Infinite waterfall - a possible solution

I recently posted an interesting video of a seemingly infinite waterfall, but I'd like to bring it up again. Why? Because an endeavoring BoingBoing user has taken the time to present a possible solution to the problem.

The solution he presents is actually quite close to what I speculated in my earlier post. The only real difference between his solution and mine, is, I believe it could be done in one take, while he says it took two. However, until the author of the original video says otherwise, it will still remain a mystery.

Proper firework usage 101

In retrospect, lighting it off in the intersection, might have been a bad idea. At least they can look on the bright side (no pun intended), the burn marks on their vehicle will make for an interesting story to tell at parties.

Also of interest, is this crazy fireworks display, that was lit off of a swing set, and shockingly did not end in an ambulance ride. At least people take the time to film their dangerous stunts, so that we can see it all from the comfort of our homes. Kudos to you, YouTubers, for making our time online that much less boring!

New 4.5 inch LCD is more "Retina" than Apple's

And ad for Apple's Retina display

Move over Retina display, Hitachi has one-upped you with an amazing new display, capable of up to 1280 x 720 resolution on a mere 4.5 inch screen. This makes for a PPI of 329, giving it a slight edge over the 326 PPI of Apple's Retina display. Add to that the fact that Hitachi's display is larger, and I think we have a winner. Look forward to the first batch of phones using it sometime in 2012.

(source: Slashgear.com)

Mind blowing-waterfall illusion, seemingly defies gravity

This video is amazing. I've watched it a half-dozen times, yet I still can't quite fathom how this works. The water does "appear" to be moving up the slope, but upon closer inspection, especially given the perspective you see it from, it also looks like the water is running across the floor at a parallel or slightly downward slope.

The part I can't figure out, is where the water goes once it reaches the end of the "track". It's possible that the "top" of the waterfall is a separate piece, placed in the foreground in such a way, as to appear to be connected to the slope on the floor, and that the water that flows off the "top" is pumped in from another source that's obscured from view. That's all speculation of course, but one thing's for sure, this is amazingly well done illusion.

Next iPhone may have hardware keyboard

A recent post on Macrumors.com may offer us a hint at what's to come in the next generation of iPhone hardware. If their source is to be trusted, Apple is allegedly testing 3 prototypes of the iPhone 5, one with a hardware keyboard, and the other two with upgraded hardware.

This is a tantalizing rumor, however it seems unlikely that Apple would release such a device, especially given their stance in regards to hardware keyboards versus touchscreen ones. But one can always dream...

(source: MacRumors.com)

More Xperia Play details revealed

It's been several weeks since the Xperia Play's unveiling, and Sony Ericsson has finally decided to spill the beans on the device, offering final specs, and further details. The phone will be released sometime this spring, running Android 2.3 (as previously rumored). It will also contain a 5.1 megapixel camera, and the usual mix of connection options, including 3G, Bluetooth 2.1, and WiFi 802.11n. For a full chart of the specs, which seem to be quite impressive on paper at least, click on past the break.

Amazing slow-motion video demonstration

The video above was shot using a Phantom Flex camera, at a mind-boggling 2,564 frames-per-second, all in 1080p. According to the camera manufacturer's website, the camera is even capable of shooting faster speeds of up to 10,750 fps, but at a more limited resolution of 640 x 480.

The only real question now is, how long until we we see these cameras used for moviemaking?

(Vimeo.com)

HP announces iPad competitor, the "TouchPad"

It looks like it HP wants to take a bite out of Apple's tablet market share, with their newly announced tablet, the oddly named "TouchPad". The TouchPad seems to be sporting specs very similar to the iPad, or rather, closer to what the iPad 2 may contain. It's also expected to use the WebOS 3.0 operating system, a side-effect of HP's purchase of Palm last year.

After watch HP's promotional video for it, I also noticed that its interface in places, is eerily similar to the iPad's. Here's some pictures for comparison:

On the left we have HP's Touchpad, and on the right we have the iPad. It seems like a blatant attempt at copying the iPad's interface if you ask me. One can only hope it handles as smoothly as the iPad's. All in all, it's a welcome change to see a tablet that has the same level of polish as the iPad, however the jury is out on whether or not TouchPad will succeed where many a tablet has failed.

If you'd like to see the TouchPad promotion video, click here, and for more details, and the full list of specs, click past the break.

A poor man's Porsche

Now this is an interesting project, I'm sure a lot of people would like to own a Porsche, but out of those that want one, and can't actually afford one, how many of them went out and built themselves a 1:1 peddle-powered scale model of it? Not many I'm sure. This must have been quite the engineering feat, it's just too bad that there's no video of it in action.

IBM building world's fastest supercomputer in Minnesota

Mike Good and Kevin Collins from IBM, posed in front of what will be the housing for Mira.

According to a recent post on StarTribune.com, IBM has drawn up plans to build what will be, the world's fastest supercomputer, with a processing capacity 4 times that of the closest competitor, the Tianhe-1A in China.

The "Mira", as it will be called, will be built in Rochester Minnesota, at an expected cost of 50 million dollars, with well over 750,000 individual processors. When Mira is finally operational, IBM plans to use it to develop things such as, new batteries for electric cars, new drugs, or even nuclear weapons.

(StarTribune.com)

(Picture credit goes to Star Tribune.com)

Xperia Play announced... finally.

Above, the somewhat disturbing reveal video.

After dozen of leaks, rumors, and pictures of the Xperia Play, Sony has finally given it an official "unveiling". it's in unveiling in name only though, as everyone and their dog has gotten their hands on one at this point.

Prior to it's official naming, most referred to it as the "Playstation/PSP Phone", though that's a bit of a misnomer, as it is unlikely that  it will be compatible with any recent PSP games. It is however "Playstation Certified", meaning that it will be compatible with Sony's upcoming Android application, Playstation Suite.

When the Xperia Play does drop later this year, it will be sporting a 4-inch multitouch LCD, and running the latest build of Android, 2.3 aka. Gingerbread. For a full list of specs, and more pictures, I've put a few links at the bottom of the page.

(Engadget)
(Gizmodo)
(HuffingtonPost)

Cash, Credit card... or cell phone?

According to a recent post on Bloomberg.com, Apple is planning to incorporate NFC technology into the next generation of the iPhone and iPad. NFC stands for "Near-Field Communication", and would allow the devices to send and receive information at a distance of up to 4 inches, with the goal being to allow consumers to purchase products at retailers, using only their iPhone or iPad.

This could be quite a game-changer in the way that we purchase things. Imagine yourself walking into a store, grabbing a few items, and running your phone over a reader to purchase it. If it catches on, I'm sure other cell phone manufactures will quickly follow suit. My only concern with  the technology however, is, is it secure? What happens if criminals crack the security of the protocol, and then use that to build "skimming devices", similar to what has been done to ATM machines? A bit unlikely, but worth a mention.

I do hope though, that Apple chooses to include NFC in their devices, as it would be neat to be able to purchase things using your phone, or even use your phone as an ID sometime in the future.

(Bloomberg.com)

Facebook explained...

At last, someone has managed to create an easy way to sum-up Facebook! This picture was created by an anonymous member of the Internet, and while I know this hardly qualifies as news, it seemed like a fitting way to kick off the weekend.

Also, if you're looking to kill some time over the weekend, I'd highly recommend checking out Freddy Wong's YouTube channel. I've featured one of his videos on here before, and I have to say he's one of the funniest filmmakers on YouTube, so, once again, check his page out if you get the chance.

[UPDATE] Intel recalls new motherboards and processors

Due to a bug in their latest P67 chipsets, Intel has issued a recall on many of it's "Cougar Point" motherboards, and also some of it's "Sandy Bridge" CPUs. The bug apparently relates to SATA speed degradation over time, a bug they say exists at a hardware level, so any kind of patch is out of the question. For more details about the recall, see the link below.

[UPDATE] Apparently the recall only affects the "Cougar Point" motherboards, and the CPUs shouldn't be affected by the recall. Here's a quote from AnandTech:

"Intel maintains that Sandy Bridge CPUs are not affected, and current users are highly unlikely to encounter the issue even under heavy loads."

(engadget.com)

Minor site addition

I've decided to add a small section to the website, a "tech article of the week" section. Sometimes when you're reading someone's blog, you come across an article, and you think to yourself, "Wow! This is great!", and then decide that you'd like share it with someone. Or maybe its a subject you find interesting, but someone else covers it much better than you could. I'll be using this section to highlight any such interesting articles I find during the week that I'd like to share, and I'll be updating it every Wednesday. Enjoy!

Kinect hacking - part deux

Earlier, I posted links to several interesting Kinect hacks, but no them so far, have had any artistic merit. This latest hack however, is a music video filmed entirely on using Kinect hardware, and then heavily post-processed, most likely to combine various shots. The resulting video is quite ethereal, even if I don't quite agree with their choice of music.

(vimeo.com)

New "air laser" could be used to find explosives

Scientists at Princeton University have just made a breakthrough in laser technology, that they say, might be able to be used to find explosives. It works by the laser beam "exciting" the molecules in the air, which causes the air itself to create a return laser beam, and then by recording the changes in the return pulse, they can identify the chemical makeup of the target. Apparently this method works quite differently than previous laser tracking methods, which normally work by measuring the amount of light reflected back off the target, a method that can't be used for identifying objects, but only for tracking air density or distance.

Currently however, the technology works only at close range (1.5 feet in their most recent test), but they hope develop it to the point where it could be mounted on a moving vehicle, and then used to search for landmines or other explosives.

(EurekAlert.org)