Gizmodo Australia » prototype

20 iPods Cluster Into One, Big, Interactive Display

Mark Wilson — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:53:48 +0000

The neatest thing about this demo isn’t that 20 iPod touches have combined to make a giant touch display; the neatest thing is that the technology can scale.

Both the proof-of-concept video and the above illustration are by Japanese design house PROTOTYPE. Their giant hive display can begin a chain reaction when someone touches one iPod, or it’s even possible to “drop” some items between iPods (I don’t read that as full drag-and-drop capability).

Unfortunately, I have many more posts to write today, so I can’t calculate the size of a 16×9 display made up of the 50 million or so iPhone/iPod touch handsets out there. But I’m sure that someone in the comments simultaneously loves maths and hates their job enough to make this numeric factoid enter our existence. [Mongoose via technabob]

Fresh Shots Of The Nokia RX-5 Tablet Prototype

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:00:00 +0000

From the wilds of the Indonesian jungle message boards come these new shots of a mysterious Nokia tablet (or MID, or large phone) with a sliding QWERTY, labelled RX-5.

The RX-5 is packing a 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, a full QWERTY in the style of the N97 or Sony’s XPERIA series, and a bunch of other interesting features:

* Screen resolution of 800 by 480 pixels.

* Support for both Chambers. The most advanced auto could count, flash, and a resolution of 2608 by 1966 pixels, about 5 megapixels The most advanced auto could count, flash, and a resolution of 2608 by 1966 pixels, about 5 megapixels

* FM transmitter and receiver

* Accelerometer

* WiFi b and g standards under

* Internal Memory 128 megabytes DDR manufactured by Samsung

* Keyboard is similar to the N810, with a few extra keys * Keyboard is similar to the N810, with a few extra keys

* Chipset OMAP3 ARM Texas Instruments, with support for frequency scaling

* Linux Operating System based on Maema 5

Looks interesting, but we’re not sure it’ll help drag Nokia out of their design rut. Frankly, we’d be a lot more excited about a revamped Symbian than another new slider, but we’ll take what we can get. [Kaskus Forums via Engadget]

Recycling Meets DIY With IPhone 3GS “Water Resistant Prototype”

Jack Loftus — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

After you drain that cool, refreshing soda and prepare to go out on that 80km bike ride you had planned today, don’t forget to retain the bottle and protect that iPhone. [Flickr - Thanks, Chris]

Sony Ericsson Kiki Concept

Brian Lam — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:30:54 +0000

Mobil delivered this rendering of Kiki, a Sony Ericsson phone with a projected display and um, presumably, somewhere, a keypad. I like green. People need to make more green handsets. [Mobil via Engadget]

CrunchPad Prototype Caught Taking Off Box And Baring All

Jack Loftus — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:30:00 +0000

This is a rumoured “extremely recent” look at a CrunchPad prototype. What do we learn? First, the demo man says the tablet will be out by this year, “for sure.” The other is that the video guy is a klepto.

The sharp, colorful packaging isn’t quite what people will see on launch day, but it’s close. Enter the demo guy again, who says it’s “almost launch day packaging.” Presumably this means Michael Arrington still has to bless each unit or anoint them with oils before they’re shipped out the door.

And lastly, while it is billed as such, this video is not a true unboxing, as the CrunchPad in this video is covered from head to toe in filthy fingerprints. This one’s been sleeping around already. Harlot. [YouTube via CrunchPad Fans - Thanks, Trooper]

Photos: Red OLPC Limited Edition

Benny Goldman — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:33:23 +0000

Wilson caught this limited edition Red OLPC at the company’s headquarters near MIT’s campus in Cambridge today. The limited edition run of 100 is made for developers working on the dual boot Sugar Linux and Windows XP system, and has specs identical to the regular OLPC, except ~~2GB of RAM~~ 2GB flash memory—the minimum required for Windows. As you can see, the colour scheme is the inverse of the all-red prototype you may have seen before. There are no plans for a public release, so the closest you’ll get to seeing this may be in the gallery below.

gCubik is Palm-Sized 3D Display Everyone Can See at Once

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology has created this prototype physical 3D display that works a little differently than the other 3D tech out there. Those bright spots aren’t LEDs, but a complex array of lenses arranged on top of LCDs, forming the sides of a cube. By a kind of optical parallax trick, and something called “integral photography,” it makes it look like there’s an object in the box. Best of all, gCubik is a naked-eye tech and can be viewed simultaneously by a group of people. The team’s working on making it wireless and higher-res, and even hopes to commercialise it within three years for use in design, education or games devices. You can see it in person at the SIGGRAPH show in August. [Fareastgizmos]

Robot Hand Can Sense Objects Before Touching Them

Adrian Covert — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:26:40 +0000

Over at Intel’s R&D fair, Wired got to play with a robot hand that is able to sense an object it’s about to come in contact with before actually touching it. Using electrolocation, the fingertips of the robot hand send out a weak electrical impulse, and approaching objects interfere with that impulse, which allows the hand to form to the object before touching it.

The ultimate goal for Intel researchers is to give robots the sense of pre-touch, which they describe as having a range longer than touch, but shorter than vision (kinda vague, no?). Anyways, the video is worth watching, just to see the claw adjust to objects placed within its proximity. [Wired Science]

Panasonic Prototype TVs Show It’s Cool To Be Thin And Cheap

Nick Broughall — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:50:09 +0000

Alongside the Blu-ray recorder and new TV range that Panasonic unveiled the other day were a couple of prototype TVs that showcase the upcoming technologies in their future plasma screens.

The first example was their “World’s Thinnest” plasma, a 50-inch monster which measured in at 24.7mm thick and weighed just 22kg. Although we’re pretty sure the title of world’s thinnest actually goes to Pioneer, having a TV measure in at less than half the thickness of the current range – and at a fraction of the weight – will give consumers a whole new range of mounting options.

World’s First Solar Speedboat Does 30 Knots Gas-Free

Gizmodo US Edition — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Looking to zoom through the oceans in a stylish, but also somewhat environmentally friendly, manner? Check out the Czeers MK1 prototype solar speedboat, a 10-metre long rig that manages to pack in 14 square meters of solar panels to power an 80KW electric motor. The MK1 plows through the water at a breakneck 30 knots, using no oil and producing no fumes or engine noise. Hit the jump for a video of the boat in action.

The boat is made from 100 percent carbon fibre and has an LCD touch-screen control system, leather trimmings and, most importantly, photovoltaic cells on almost all its horizontal services. Czeers is hoping to produce between 4 and 8 boats per year. Pricing is not yet available, but considering that the last version of the MK1 was last shown at the Millionaire Fair, you can probably bet it’s super expensive. [Gizmag]