MyPCproblems.info

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Getting power to disaster-affected areas is always a tough task, but Andrew Leinonen's undergrad industrial design thesis (and recent first place entry in the 2008 ACIDO Rocket Show) might be able to solve the problem in an efficient and clever way. Dubbed Solarial, the idea is to use small unmanned airships made out of materials embedded with CIGS solar cells to autonomously deliver clean power to disaster sites by deploying anchored "power boxes" that have 12 total 120V outlets and 2 240V sockets. Obviously this is just a concept, but it's a clever one -- let's hope someone with the cash to make it happens finds out about it.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

We'll make this brief. Orange spokesperson Therese Wenger told the SDA news agency that it has secured rights to release the iPhone (3G version, presumably) in Switzerland and more than 10 other countries -- take that Swisscom! Other countries include Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. And France of course where it's already on sale. See, that was quick and leaves room for a dozen or so other iPhone related announcements today.

Update: Official Orange press release now out.

[Via 20minuten, thanks Pascal M.]

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Filed under: Robots

Continue reading Video: Toyota's robo-quartet makes Kerouac cry

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With its yellow-gold body and webbing camera strap, Sony's limited-edition A350 is available in Japan and will cost you the equivalent of $850. The camera, which came second in Wilson's entry-level DSLR Battlemodo last month, looks pretty spanky in champagne, doncha think? Check it out in the extensive and gorgeous gallery below. [Impress]
galleryPost('limitededitiona350', 3, 'limited edition A350');

Filed under: Displays, Laptops

As much as we would loath typing on that touch-sensitive, rigid keyboard, we're definitely geek-smitten by this ultra-thin, AMOLED laptop concept from Samsung SDI -- Sammy's display division. 12.1-inches and 1,280 x 768 resolution with infinite contrast? We'll take two... just as soon as someone can explain the extra panel around back. With Samsung projecting 14- to 15.4-inch OLED laptops in 2009, this might come sooner than you think.

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Filed under: Displays, Laptops

As much as we would loath typing on that touch-sensitive, rigid keyboard, we're definitely geek-smitten by this ultra-thin, AMOLED laptop concept from Samsung SDI -- Sammy's display division. 12.1-inches and 1,280 x 768 resolution with infinite contrast? We'll take two... just as soon as someone can explain the extra panel around back. With Samsung projecting 14- to 15.4-inch OLED laptops in 2009, this might come sooner than you think.

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Filed under: Robots

We're not certain what's up with the sudden rash of news about EU- and EC-funded robotics research, but we're not going to turn down robotic kitchen assistance either, so say hello to the Cooperative Human Robot Interaction System (CHRIS) project, which aims to build a service robot capable of working safely with humans. According to the researchers, the plan is to "to develop the rules we need to introduce this level of sophistication into service robots who are working closely with people," and to that end they've already built several prototypes and started testing specific scenarios, like how a bot should react to accidentally splashing a human worker with hot soup, or how to read facial expressions and tones of voice. Thats fine by us -- we're pretty certain an army of deathbots can't do too much damage with soup -- but let's make sure we leave the chopping to the people, k?

[Via Primidi]

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Filed under: Gaming

Ha, seems our Japanese gaming overlords aren't the only ones looking down the retail barrel at the limited edition gunmetal gray MGS4 PS3. Sony's official Playstation.Blog is reporting that the MGS4 Limited Edition PS3 Hardware Bundle will be available exclusively from Konami.com for $600. For that you get a 40GB gunmetal PS3, matching DualShock 3 wireless controller, Metal Gear Online, an exclusive Blu-ray disc with 2-hours of additional content (making of documentary and look at Hideo Kojima's production team) and of course the MGS4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition game. Pre-orders from the "very limited supply" begin on Monday the 19th. Best set your alarms.

[Via Playstation.Blog]

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Filed under: Gaming

Ha, seems our Japanese gaming overlords aren't the only ones looking down the retail barrel at the limited edition gunmetal gray MGS4 PS3. Sony's official Playstation.Blog is reporting that the MGS4 Limited Edition PS3 Hardware Bundle will be available exclusively from Konami.com for $600. For that you get a 40GB gunmetal PS3, matching DualShock 3 wireless controller, Metal Gear Online, an exclusive Blu-ray disc with 2-hours of additional content (making of documentary and look at Hideo Kojima's production team) and of course the MGS4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition game. Pre-orders from the "very limited supply" begin on Monday the 19th. Best set your alarms.

[Via Playstation.Blog]

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Filed under: Laptops

Okay, this is pretty much for the crazy keyboard aficionados out there, but the crew over at Laptop says there's a distinct difference between the keyboards on the black and white Eee PC laptops. They compared the 'boards on a white 701, black 4G Surf, and white 900, and while the two white Eees had identical keys, the black unit featured different switches with deeper keypresses and more tactile feedback, smaller spaces between the keys, and rougher plastic. (Of course, if you actually use any keyboard for long enough, the plastic eventually wears smooth, so that's probably not an issue.) We doubt the difference is going to really sway anyone's purchasing decision -- the tiny Eee keyboard isn't exactly ideal for hardcore typists, after all -- but if you're looking for a tiebreaker between the black and white 700s, well, now you have one that will bore the pants off people at parties.

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