LG’s new 5 Megapixel phone was on display at a seminar in China today. According to TelecomsKorea, the C960 camera phone, which was to have debuted this month, will be available in May instead. 
Features include :
TelecomsKorea article. PCOnLine article.
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Toshiba has developed a flatbed display system that allows viewers to see three dimensional images without any aids such as those colored glasses. The new system is based on about 10 or more still images of an object. The display then combines those images via small lenses that control the direction of light emission. The lenses are managed by Toshiba proprietary hardware and software, and the whole thing works with a standard graphics card. According to Toshiba, the system currently works at a resolution of 480×300 pixels, and allows viewers to see “high quality stereoscopic images”. It will be on display at Display 2005 – International FPD Expo, to be held in Tokyo on April 20-22, 2005.
Toshiba Achieves Breakthrough in Flatbed 3-D Display. April 15, 2005. Display 2005 Expo.
Happy birthday Adam!
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One of the items on display at IDF Japan 2005 (April 7-8) was a prototype tablet PC in PDA clothing, called the ‘Ruby’. The device is based on Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and utilizes the ultralow voltage Pentium M 600MHz. It has a 5″ liquid-crystal display and a full keyboard. Battery life is estimated at a very good 8 hours. Ruby is undergoing refinement/improvement and is 1-2 years away. IDF Japan 2005.
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SK’s new model IMB-1000 mobile phone also receives TV programming via satellite, but only if you’re in Korea. Its another one of those DMB (digital mobile broadcasting) satellite-TV phones. 
The phone has a 2.4-inch QVGA screen and a two Mega-pixel camera, and has an interesting sliding screen. The main feature of course is TV reception via satellite, thanks to the somewhat large-ish satellite antenna. SK Teletech IMB-1000 press release. (한국어 언어)
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Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had a small article marking the 50th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine. As a result of the vaccine, polio has been eliminated as a threat in most parts of the world, and is nearly gone from the rest. The article goes on to note the little-known part played by Rotary International in their on-going effort to eradicate the disease. Rotary launched its efforts to eliminate Polio in 1985. Since then, more than 1 million Rotary members have volunteered their time or donated money to immunize an estimated 2 billion children in 122 countries. Estimates are that by the year 2008, Rotary will have given an incredible $600,000,000 towards this effort. 
Jonas Salk. Rotary International.
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The annual TED conference took place February 23-26, 2005 in Monterey, California. Despite the fact that the word “Technology” figures prominently in the TED acronym (i.e. ‘Technology-Entertainment-Design’), there was not much to report on with respect to technology and/or gadgets. The closest that the conference came to anything gadget-y was speaker Robert E. Fischell. Although he did not unveil anything new at TED 2005, he is well known for past work on things like pacemakers, insulin pumps and satellite attitude detection systems … some of which could qualify as gadgets. Eminent speakers included James D. Watson, he of DNA fame, as well as string theorist Brian Greene, who is also the author of “The Elegant Universe”. 
Ray Kurzweil unveiled his new book, entitled “The Singularity Is Near : When Humans Transcend Biology”. The book predicts a point in the near future when virtual reality becomes more important than actual reality, and articial intelligence surpasses the human brain. Kurzweil is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, a winner of the Lemelson-MIT Prize and recipient of the National Medal of Technology. Also speaking was Elon Musk, a co-founder of PayPal, and now of SpaceX. SpaceX is working on a number of cheap rockets, but has higher ambitions, such as development of :
All-in-all, an impressive assemblage of intellectual overcapacity. The San Francisco Chronicle provides a good summary of the 50 speakers and the timbre of the enclave at the following link: Meeting of minds in Monterey. A modest Gadgetmaniac proposal : as noted above, this event is the called the TED conference … even though there was very little Technology or Design in evidence this year. Out of consideration for truth-in-advertising, perhaps TED should re-acronymize themselves to MAE – “Mostly Art & Entertainment” … to reflect the preponderance of artsy types, both as speakers and in the audience . TED home page. Robert E. Fischell. James D. Watson. Brian Greene. SpaceX.
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The annual Milia/MipTV event opens in Cannes tomorow and runs for 5 days at the Palais des Festivals. The conference is mostly about content providers, such as film studios, and content consumers, such as network TV companies, and the phone companies, mixed together with various DRM tech firms. Some hardware does manage to find its way into the fray, such as the Samsung SCH-B200. 
The B200 is an improved version of the B100 noted here previously. As before, the main feature of this phone is the ability to receive broadcasts of commercial TV services for mobile phones via satellite. The camera and screen are the about the same, but the form factor has changed to slider with a rotating screen. Milia website. SAMSUNG Unveils its New Satellite DMB phone.
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LG just introduced their 410 series of mobile phone, intended to be evocative of sports cars. The styling somewhat fits, what with the windshield and the mock headlights and all, but the lack of wheels kind of throws bit of a damper on it. 
The design of the 410 is courtesy of LG’s Design Center in Milan … here are some of LG’s 50 Italian design engineers hard at play work : 
The 410’s features include : 1.3 Megapixel camera, 260K color screen, Video recording, MMS service, and an MP3 player LG Electronics home page. LG Electronics is rapidly expanding its world-wide research and devlopment efforts in an effort to become one of the top 3 mobile phone makers in terms of market share. This article in JoongAng Daily indicates that LG will double its R&D staff to 8,000 in the next 2 years. LG maintains staff in a number of countries including North America, China, India, Russia and Brazil. European ops are centered in Paris, with satellite staff in London, Dusseldorf and Rome, as well as the afore-mentioned design center in Milan.
Samsung has announced a new mobile phone, the model SPH-V6900. Well, its sort-of new : They started with their very-popular SGH-D500, converted it to operate on CDMA/PCS and added A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). This means that the V6900 is the first mobile phone able to deliver stereo streaming audio over a Bluetooth link. 
Other SGH-D500 features remain, such as the QVGA screen and the 1.3 Megapixel camera, however, they seem to have upped the memory to 90MB from 80MB. No official announcement yet, but the product should show up here.
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Today’s New York Times has a small review of the soon-to-be-available Oxyride AA and AAA disposable batteries from Panasonic. The company states that these batteries will “last up to two times longer than traditional batteries in most digital cameras, and 1.5 times longer in other electronics ” . The Times put that claim to the test, and found the following :
The article concludes by decrying the fact that Oxyrides are meant to be disposable, and extolling the virtue of rechargeable batteries in general and nickel-metal hydrides in particular … they fete NiMH with the words “most economical, environmentally friendly, powerful batteries you can buy “. Can a New Disposable Battery Change Your Life? Parts of It, Maybe. Panasonic Oxyride Batteries home page.
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