Dec 3
Grammys ready to nominate music’s best
Dec 3
Stone Age site yields ‘extraordinary’ artworks
Dec 3
180-inch 3D LED TV Announced But Resolution Quality is in Question
It's not quite the high-definition stereoscopic display that blew our minds two months ago, but NewSight Corp's entry into the burgeoning 3D TV market has something really big going for it: 180 inches of LEDs.
This makes it the biggest 3D-based display in the world, and just like the Philips Quad-full 3D TV, you won't need to use silly glasses to check out the content. The 3D effect is caused by an array of parallax LEDs turned at a pitch of 6mm, thereby working in the same way as pixels on LCD displays.
NewSight Corp's business also includes a software package called PPTK 2.0 that is used to build 3D content for the displays. The software allows post-production engineers to reconfigure regular video to 'pop' in 3D. According to the company, the reprocessed 3D video can be used in their other smaller 3D displays (see pic at right), which range from the size of a small cell phone display to this ginourmous beast.
As part of the announcement, the company mentioned that it's possible to combine four displays to create a 360-inch 3D display. Being able to do this, however, doesn't mean someone should.
Part of the appeal of the recent announcements regarding 3D technology is that images displayed are actually starting to look real. Philips' 3D quad-full displays are interesting because their powerful data speed pushes out a screen resolution at 3840 x 2160 (or 8.29 million pixels), or four times the number of pixels of the current highest HDTV standard. This creates a large viewing angle at 160 degrees and a high image contrast.
On the other hand, NewSight's giant screen doesn't have the same power and the highest resolution is only 1920 x 1080. That's not terrible, but when you place that resolution on a giant screen and start pushing out 3D content, the images will probably look transparent and faded.
Granted, we've yet to see the screen up close, but the manufacturer noted that the best place to see this TV is from five feet away. This is a telling sign that it will most likely be used in super specialized arenas where its effects can be maximized.
Expect to see it cordoned off at first, to avoid potential customers from seeing the choppiness up close.
Check out a video comparison between Philips' 3D displays from last year (it's not the quad full display) and a recent NewSight display after the jump.
See also:
- Philips' 3D HDTV Might Destroy Space-Time Continuum, Wallets
- Fujifilm's Real 3-D Camera Is Just the Beginning
Laser TV Wins Early Color Showdown Against Pioneer Kuro in Early Tests
Gadget Lab 2.0: Jose Fermoso's Twitter feed; Gadget Lab on Facebook.
Dec 3
How to cut your business travel costs
Dec 3
Travel Q&A: 5 questions with Best Western CEO David Kong
Dec 3
Netflix Movie Streaming Suffers Serious Loss in Quality, Say Roku Owners
The fairy tale marriage between the movie rental darling Netflix and Roku, the hardware maker that enables the streaming of its videos, has suffered an unfortunate setback.
According to a customer forum on the Roku website, the box has suddenly suffered from a significant loss of quality for its video streams, for the last three weeks. The streaming decline is so prevalent that Roku engineers had to acknowledge the problem yesterday, but declared the loss of quality as 'inexplicable' and most likely the fault of Netflix.
Recent changes to the content distribution network (CDN) used by Netflix may have contributed to the problem, according to a company spokesman following the situation.
But if that's the case, the problem should be affecting many of their other new boxes, such as the Xbox 360 and the LG BD300 Blu-ray player. So far, customers of those services have filed almost zero complaints.
Netflix currently offers more than 10,000 movies for their streaming service. Earlier this year, we gave the Roku box a good recommendation with a 7/10 score, mostly based on the quality of the video feed and ease of use.
Unfortunately for owners of the Roku box, the video feed variation appears to be more than just a tiny glitch. One customer says the quality is at least half of what it was a month ago, with the speed of his connection barely coming at 'one bar out of four.' Another was told the streaming service was routed through slow servers owned by AT&T and Qwest, and that some of these have been down for the last few days.
The Roku engineers are saying that while they believe the root of the problem is still coming from Netflix, they’re going to look at their software code 'to see if there is anything on our end that can help.' They’ve collected ISPs and problem locations from many of the customers to use as data points to help them find a solution.
Dec 3
Gizmodo Readies Awesome Gadgets for Four-Day Event
Tech publication Gizmodo this week is kicking off its first gadget showcase ever, dubbed Gizmodo Gallery.
Held in New York City, the event begins Thursday and ends Sunday. Gizmodo staff will show off about 40 gadgets, including the RED ONE camera, ancient Apple prototypes, and the first Walkman.
Guess what else will be on display? My very own MSI Wind netbook hacked to run Mac OS X. Lam stopped by yesterday and took away my netbook after knocking me out with chloroform, so keep an eye out for a white mini Hackintosh.
Gizmodo Gallery takes place at Reed Annex at 151 Orchard Street, New York NY. Admission is free.
Gizmodo Gallery: Our Wonderful World of Gadgets On Display in NYC [Gizmodo]
Photo: Gizmodo
Dec 3
Outrageous hotel perks for pets
Massages, happy hours, and monogrammed towels—for pets. It’s just another dog day at these fine hotels.
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Dec 3
Traveling with Fido? Good manners is a must
As more shops, restaurants and hotels put out a welcome mat for Fido, it’s important for all traveling pets to have good manners.
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Dec 3
‘Sound of Music’ hotel hits sour note
The Austrian city of Salzburg has blocked plans to open a hotel in a former home of the von Trapp family immortalized in “The Sound of Music” after protests by neighbors.
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Dec 3
Want to sail without danger? Go surfing … online
Always wanted to sail around the globe but never had the nerve? Just sign up online and now you can compete in one of France's most beloved yachting events without ever having to leave your desk.
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Dec 3
Legroom, lounges and legalese: A guide to the best travel gift certificates
Dec 3
Ancient Roman hall reopens to public after 30 years
Dec 3
India siege raises concerns at U.S. hotels
Dec 3
A year later, Amazon’s e-reader finds a niche
Dec 3
A year later, Amazon’s Kindle finds a niche
Dec 3
Amazon launches music downloads
Dec 3
Amazon’s iPhone App Remembers So You Don’t Have to
At first look, Amazon's new home-grown iPhone application, called Amazon Mobile, is almost pointless. To work, it needs an internet connection, and Amazon's own iPhone-optimized website works so well that you wonder why anyone bothered with an actual app.
Amazon Mobile lets you browse and buy from your phone, but there's a twist which might make this worthwhile. You can use the iPhone's camera to snap a picture of anything you may want to buy. This feature is called "Amazon Remembers", and that's just what it does. The photo is saved on your iPhone, but also on Amazon's servers so you can access it from any browser. Surely, though, you could do this with any camera?
Well, here comes the twist: Once your picture is on its servers, Amazon will attempt to match your picture up to a product. If it's successful, Amazon will fire you an email to let you know.
The product blurb doesn't say how this is done. It could be a fancy image recognition algorithm. Amazon could be farming the work out to humans using its own Mechanical Turk service (the most likely, we reckon) or it could be something as simple as a million monkeys with a million keyboards.
But even this could be done via the web. What the app really needs, and what would really annoy store-owners, is a bar code reader for instant price comparison shopping. Sadly, the iPhone's hopeless, fixed-focus camera means that won't be happening anytime soon. Free, US only right now.
Amazon App for iPhone and iPod Touch [Amazon]
Product page [iTunes]
Dec 3
Insider tips to make the most of Miami
Dec 3
The world’s worst taxi rides
Dec 3
Azores air/hotel, 6 nights, from $709
Dec 3
U.S. boutique hotels, from only $69
Dec 3
World’s best tented camps
Tents have always meant escape—if only to the backyard. But the latest experiences under cover are giving the concept a designer makeover.
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Dec 3
Muji Announces Literal-Minded Contest Winners
Muji, the "No-brand brand", has announced the winners of its third design award, and they're rather odd.
The Gold prize went to Yuki Lida of Japan for the Straw Straw. It's a drinking straw, made out of, yes, straw. Real, cut-from-the-fields straw, trimmed to length and stuffed into a minimalist Muji plastic bag.
Even more literal is the Granpa's Nail Hook. Designed by Masashi Watanabe, also from Japan, this hook was inspired by the nails Watanabe's grandfather pounded into the wall to provide a place to hang coats. What will you find inside the box? You're ahead of me here -- it's a box of nails.
There is one tweak: a sleeve for each nail means acts as a guide to make sure each tack is hammered in at the same angle and to the same depth. Still, it strikes us that a visit to the hardware store would take care of both these gadgets.
MUJI Award 03 Results [Muji via Book of Joe]
Dec 3
Call hitmaker cheesy, but he’s ‘very rich’
Dec 3
Croatia web arrests spark furore
Dec 3
