Besides that pesky little required DRM update, there’s a neat trick hiding underneath CyberLink’s just-announced new version of its PowerDVD Ultra playback software: it can now unlock the power of NVIDIA’s next-gen PureVideo HD VP2 architecture, which gooses Blu-ray and HD DVD playback to the extreme. This means that for the first time, NVIDIA’s GeForce 8500/8600 series graphics cards can handle most of the processing for decoding and playing back HD DVD and Blu-ray’s 1080p videos. All that number crunching is offloaded to NVIDIA’s GPU processor instead of bogging down the PC’s CPU.
We saw a demo comparing the difference between the last generation of NVIDIA’s PureVideo HD tech used in its 7600 series and this newest PureVideo HD VP2 (video processor 2) inside its 8500 and 8600 series graphics cards rolled out in April. When they unleashed this VP2 beast, were we impressed?
Better 3D city views and more detailed road warnings are just some of the things we can expect from the next crop of GPS systems. Tele Atlas is working on giving GPS units more info its users can use. Don’t own a car? Pedestrians will also be able to take advantage of the new units which will reveal bus/subway info in addition to highlighting pedestrian shortcuts. No word on how soon we’ll see these new features, but personally they increase my temptation to buy a unit (even if I don’t drive that often). – Louis Ramirez
I’m really bad at Halo. But I can see all the Halo-themed videos, photos, and songs on the Special Edition Zune going a long way towards making this Zune pantsworthy for the fanboys.
Here’s a 135 shot gallery of all the artwork (photographed, not ripped, out of respect for the Zune team’s hard work.) Click to the thumbnail view to see them all at bird’s eye perspective.
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And here’s a detailed listing of the exclusive media in the Halo 3 Zune:
This is the new LG.Philips 4-inch active matrix OLED. According to LG.Philips, it’s the first OLED that is flexible and can show 16.7-million colors all over its 320 x 240 pixels. And is “at 150μm, it’s barely thicker than a human hair.”
The technology is nothing like their recently announced color electronic paper. This one uses organic light emitting diodes on amorphous silicon. And you know what that means? Yes, it means that we won’t see it in products for a long, long time. – Jesus Diaz
LG.Philips LCD develops first full-color flexible AM OLED using a-Si technology [Digitime Displays]
At last, here’s the new MacBook Mini, complete with LED-backlit screen, optional 32GB Solid Storage Drive 8-hour battery life and Core 2 Duo processor in a slim 2.68-pound 0.88-inch glorious black design. It looks like at the end it wasn’t announced last tuesday, like the rumorlosersmongers predicted.
Oh, and it comes from Sony. With Windows Vista. And unfortunately, is Japan only.
It’s the new Sony VAIO Type T 10th Anniversary which comes with everything that you wish in a modern sub-notebook: 1,366 x 768 11.1-inch panoramic screen, 1GB memory, 80GB hard drive and DVD dual layer recording. The HD and the DVD-R can be changed for a 32GB flash SSD and a 160GB hard drive respectively. In two words: I WANT. More specs and the price after the jump.
The fact that the Grohe Ondus faucet-ware is digitally controlled and has a clock is secondary to the fact it comes in a Batman black finish, and that it has a pause button for the shower, which can bring the water flow back at the same temperature you left it at. Useful for answering the phone mid shower?
Oh, one thought on that black finish — it could pick up soap and calcium deposits pretty easily. Then again, people who have shower systems like this also have French maids to clean it all up. – Brian Lam
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This is something that will have the Footballers’ Wives set squealing with glee – if they’re planning a trip to the Far East, that is. LG’s new Z1Pro laptop has been designed with Vista’s Sideshow in mind. The shiny black portable boasts a 2.5-inch display on the top cover, complete with touch-sensitive buttons à la, rather like the Korean company’s Chocolate cell phone from last year. This means you can get music playback, photo slideshows, e-mail, calendars, world clocks, stock quotes, RSS feeds, etc without draining the battery. Price in Singapore dollars is $2,999 ($1,970 US)
Full specs after the jump.
Mac addicts: have you been itching to get your mobile Mac Mini going with EV-DO, but despise the look of an external USB modem? Well, with a little bit of tinkering you can swap out your Airport card with an Expidite PCI Express Mini EV-DO Card.
Dum-da-duuuuuuum! I wish I had some fabulously portentious-sounding music to play you, complete with booming Timpani, to announce some mano a mano between a bunch of Robotos and their crazy machines. This is a recent Robot Fight which took place in Osaka between a bunch of machines from the Two-Footed category. They’re quite a bunch of Wacky Racers, IMHO.
There were 92 entries for the two categories (Super Regulation Class and Over Regulation Class) and we’ve got our hands on clips from both the finals. Super Digger took on Guardian – and won – in the SRC, and Dr GIY vs Ivre (which means “drunk” in French, useless fact fans) got up close and personal in the ORC. Check out the crazy referee who looks like he is talking to the ‘Bots as they grapple away like a pair of rutting Meccano sets. galleryPost('robotfight', 8, 'robotfight');
Tons of clips, after the boink.
Tom Ballhatchet, of Hamster Paper Shredder fame has gone on to develop a better model. The cage’s top and bottom are now matching in lipstick red, and there are slots for depositing food and water next to the paper slot. Gearing is internal, which makes us wonder about Hammy’s safety, but if you look carefully, and think about it, the lil guy won’t get chewed up in the gears if he’s running in the wheel. – Brian Lam
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Tom Ballhatchet [via Core77]
