Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee has resigned today after the US$113 million tax evasion scandal investigated in a special prosecution probe, which has finally led to formal charges, but no arrests. Kun-hee apologised deeply, taking full responsibility. Other members of the board are resigning too. We can only hope that the Samsung product shot ninja bombshells are staying. [AP]
Window’s XP Service Pack 3 has gone to manufacture, according to its release manager, who posted the news on Microsoft’s forums. And April 29 is the date that we’ll be able to get our unwashed paws on it, via the web. Full text is after the jump.
Samsung SDI has just made a bold assertion about OLED technology: TVs and monitors will be using the tech just next year, and it will be in flexible displays by 2010. And Samsung’s putting its money where its mouth is by doubling Active Matrix OLED production capacity from 1.5 to 3 million panels per year by 2009. At that point economies of scale kick in, so the plan is production doubling again by 2010. There’re a couple of hurdles to overcome, though: high power consumption is a big challenge. And with giants like Sony and Sharp getting into bed with each other for LCD production, the competition is going to be interesting. [Digitimes]
PlayStation Home, the long-awaited PlayStation 3 social networking app, is finally going to see open beta starting Autumn 2008. Before that, if you’re one of the few lucky users chosen by Sony, you’ll be able to participate in the closed beta expanding some time in Summer 2008. No other real features have been announced lately, but if it’s still kept all the details announced back at GDC 2007, there’s going to be customisable avatars, modifiable living and common spaces, accomplishment galleries and lots of branding/third-party products. It’s basically a Second Life that doesn’t suck, and isn’t full of (as many) weirdos.
I was browsing around the interwebs today looking for a street price for Pioneer’s PDP-LX508A when I came across this gem of a wiki site that I had to share with you guys.
It lists some of the best prices for a whole range of LCD and plasma TVs from all the major manufacturers. The deals aren’t limited to NSW and Victoria either – meaning that people in the market for a new TV anywhere in the country can get a great deal.
Considering the LX plasma I was looking at has an RRP of $7,999, the $5,000 price on this site, if legitimate, is almost like printing your own money. It’s well worth a look if you’re planning on getting yourself a flat panel.
Honda’s new GPS warns drivers when they’re about to leave their car in places where it is likely to be stolen, broken into or otherwise vandalised. The new technology, available from today if you live in Japan, links to local police stations and provides crime ratings by location, and if area is particularly dangerous it issues an alert. No indication of when or if this’ll come to the US. [Left Lane News via Inventor Spot ]
I have a confession to make: I’ve never owned a digital camera. I’ve played around plenty with friend’s point-and-shoots, and I have picked up a DSLR on occasion too. But I never saw the point of paying US$300 for something my iPhone could pretty much do well enough. Now that summer’s coming up and the price of high-megapixel cameras is going down, though, I figure it might be time to pick one out for myself—on the cheap. Let someone else waste money, I want to know what’s good at US$150 and not a penny more. I’m gonna be picky: I only want a camera that can take shots that make me look like a photography genius while in truth I’m a photography dumbass, but still, the key is to keep the price down. I tried out five US$150-and-under cameras, and here’s what I found:
The LA Times and “studio executives familiar with the plan” are predicting a summer 2008 launch for the PlayStation 3′s video download service. Whether this service is a rental scheme—like iTunes or Xbox Live Marketplace—or a download scheme where you get to keep your videos and transfer them to the PSP, is uncertain.
NPR has this fascinating piece on the custom microphone building threaded with history of Neumann Microphones. Neumann made the smooth-sounding U47 that the Beatles recorded on almost exclusively on from 1962 to 1970, as did Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others. When I say others, I mean Hitler.
It could be a line in that Alanis Morrisette song about ironic things that aren’t actually ironic: the German Government is going to hire out about 500 GPS-enabled PDA-like gadgets for tourists who want to see the Berlin Wall but are disappointed that so little of it is left.
The devices, known as the “Mauerguide” (Wall guide), will be available to tourists from May 1 for between 6 and 15 Euros ($10-$25). The device will show pictures, video and audio at five major points along the Wall’s route, including the Bernauer Strasse, the Brandenburg Gate, the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery, with more locations to come in the future. It will relay information in both German and English at first, although more languages will be added.
Hopefully we’ll see other international governments incorporate gadget-based tours into their tourism plans – who knows, it might actually make some places interesting.
[Yahoo News and Net Tribune]
