Flexible 6-inch E-Paper by AUO for A Paperless Environment

E-paper sounds like the ideal paperless alternative – it can be used again and again, is stronger and more durable than normal paper, can save more trees, and can cut costs in the long term. AUO demonstrates the flexibility of its 6-inch electronic paper recently and announces the future release of a 20-inch non-bend version. Both e-papers are expected to go into mass production and hit the market soon.


The 6-inch e-paper has a contrast ratio of 9:1, a reflectance of 33% and 16 gray levels. It consists of a plastic substrate which makes it highly flexible and can be bended again and again, much like real paper. Power supply is only needed when the image is updated; none is required for reading. It is durable and portable, making it highly ideal for almost everyone. The paper size can be tailor-made to users’ needs. The 6-inch paper is revealed following the successful launch of its 6-inch touch function e-book reader in Taiwan a few months ago. Similarly, the 20-inch EPD (electrophoretic display) has 16 gray levels and consumes less than 2W of power. The ability to eliminate backlight makes it suitable for public information display.

High flexibility, low power consumption, and perhaps low costs will make e-paper the choice of users in the 21st century as natural resources are increasingly depleted and exhausted. The most compatible and relevant EPD displays and applications will likely get the biggest chunk of the pie.

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Livescribe Upgrades Pulse Smartpen to 4GB for Notes Taking and Audio Recording Electronically

Previously we mentioned about Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen which appears to be your good companion when trying to jot down lecturer’s notes electronically, now seems that the company has continued to upgrade its product line to include a much higher memory capacity up to 4GB.


Similar to its predecessor, the new model is equipped with an ARM9 processor which can help users to recognize handwriting and able to record audio intelligently. Further enhanced with a titanium stylish outlook, the 4GB model allows a much longer audio recording time up to 400 hours, doubling what can be achieved by its previous version. To make it more powerful, it even takes into consideration so that there are plenty of leftover space for apps installed through Livescribe Application Store that will be available soon.

The new 4GB package will be retailed at $200 which is about the same price when it was launched since early last year for 2GB model and good news is, the 2GB model’s pricing has been slashed to $170 to give way to this newly released 4GB model. In conjunction with the release, Livescribe is offering its customers with a Pro-Pack package that includes a 4GB new pulse smartpen, an A5 sized notepad, leather carrying case, a charging cradle as well as the proprietary handwriting to text conversion software at an affordable price of $250.

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TI Demonstrates Coin Cell based Low Energy Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth is one of the most common wireless technologies being deployed in mobile devices for short distance communication. While it stands a great advantage in terms of relatively low power consumption as compared to other longer distance communication protocols, but some manufacturers still see the needs to develop an even lower energy Bluetooth technology to make the technology even more popular in consumer electronics products. Just recently, TI (Texas Instruments) has planned to demonstrate its world’s first low energy Bluetooth technology that can be based on coin battery cell during a conference held in Munich, Germany.


The coin battery cell Bluetooth technology will be leveraged on TI next generation thermally efficient CC2540 SOC (System-on-chip) that can operate in both single and dual-mode, making it fully compatible with next generation low energy Bluetooth devices while still backward compatible with existing legacy Bluetooth enabled devices at the same time. Being designed in 6mm X 6mm package, it integrates all the necessary host controllers with an on-package flash memory for firmware and data storage so that the whole system design can be even shrunk down to compact foot print. Impressingly, all these can be powered purely by coin battery cells for years without the need of recharging which is particularly useful for tiny lightweight Bluetooth enabled devices in concealed casing. Besides existing mobile phones market, there are some new usage models including fitness, sports, medical that should be able to benefit from the low energy Bluetooth technology from now onwards.

No pricing information yet, CC2540 will be available by early 2010 and in order to simplify board’s design, TI has manufactured it so that the silicon will be pin-compatible with existing CC2530 ZigBee controller as a direct drop in replacement for faster TTM (Time-to-Market).


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Get Free Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition with Party Pack By Hosting Win7 Launch Party

In a new campaign to promote Windows 7, Microsoft is giving chances to Windows 7 enthusiasts around the world to be part of Windows history by hosting a house party to mark the official launch of Windows 7. The host will not only get the rare opportunity to invite friends, buddies, relatives and other guests to his or her home for a reason (Windows 7 launch), but will also get a special “Signature Edition” of Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows 7 Party Pack for free.

The Windows 7 Launch House Parties to the tune of thousands will be available globally, as Microsoft intends to select participants to host personal Windows 7 Launch Party in the following countries:

* Australia
* Canada
* France
* Germany
* Hong Kong
* India
* Italy
* Japan
* Mexico
* Spain
* UK
* USA



Other requirements is that the applicants should have a computer system that is currently running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Linux, which can be upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate. Besides, the host should invite at least five or more guests (the minimum threshold vary depending on target country) to the party venue, which can be hosted at home or other community areas such as cafe and mall.

Apparently Microsoft is sending out invites to Microsoft employees, House Party’s user base and Windows 7 testers or enthusiasts to join the house party program, and general public ca apply to be hosts for Windows 7 Launch event http://www.houseparty.com/windows7, but do note that host spaces are very limited, and only one application per household (party) is permitted. And applicants will be required to sign up for House Party account, manually or by connecting Facebook or Windows Live account. A short screener survey has to be filled out afterward. A confirmation email will then be sent to registered email address, where applicants have to click on the confirmation link found in the email to finalize the application, otherwise the application may not be considered.

As a plus for US-based successful hosts who are not Microsoft employees, they will also be eligible for a sweepstakes to win a mini-notebook laptop personal computer worth $750, of which a total of sixty four (64) prizes will be awarded.

Microsoft employees in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, Italy and India are expected to host parties between Oct. 8 and 12, prior to Windows 7’s official debut. Microsoft employees in other markets and countries may also host the parties, although they won’t have the benefit of the House Party support or the special party packs. The lucky winners selected to host Windows 7 launch party on behalf of Microsoft in the House Party program would hold the sanctioned Windows 7 launch parties anytime between the Oct. 22 launch and Oct. 29.

Those who are selected to host the Windows 7 Launch Party will be made known on or around September 17, 2009. If you’re not kind of people who are warm to receive guests at home, it’s possible to get free Windows 7 Professional by attending Microsoft organized Windows 7 Launch Events.

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Apple Recognized Solar Surge Charger For iPhone and iPod Touch

In case you have had a hard time looking for a socket to charge your iPhone and iPods, Novothink’s Solar Surge Charger, the first solar charger officially licensed by Apple, is the answer for you. This interesting device integrates a full-fledged solar panel on the back for iPhone and iPod energy recharge via solar energy. The custom designed solar panel is able to output 55V at 100mAh in full sunlight. The tiny LED status indicators will let you know the progress of your charge. If you worry about the bad and cloudy weather or the onslaught of night affecting you from getting your phones charged, you can still connect the phone via a USB cable for normal charging.


The Novothink’s Solar Surge Chargeris is compatible with the second generation iPhone and iPod Touch. The Apple recognized green energy solar surge charger costs $69.95.

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OWC On-The-Go Pro 750GB Hard Disk With FireWire 800/400 and USB Ports

With the current technology shift, it is always good idea to integrate few different interface standards so that you don’t have to worry about the incompatibility of one device when connected to other host system in short future. Similar to the new portable hard disk drive announced by OWC, dubbed as On-The-Go Pro series, it is equipped with three connectivity options that offer FireWire 800, FireWire 400 as well as commonly available USB 2.0 host port for easy data backup regardless of what computer system you are having.


The new OWC On-The-Go Pro series will come with 750GB memory capacity which can be easily larger than any of the internal memory in most of the PC systems for storage expansion. Some of the basic specifications include maximum of 5200-RPM that can boost up the read/write performance to 100MBps for faster data transfer and backup. Not to limit by the system interface either in terms of hardware compatibility and available bandwidth for data transmission, users can optionally choose to connect to different protocols such as FireWire 800/400 or USB 2.0 interfaces. Internally, the FireWire uses Oxford controller whereas the USB 2.0 model is based on JMicron controller.

The hard disk drive will be bundled with carrying case, cables and necessary software utility such as ProSoft Engineering Data Backup 3, Intech SpeedTools Utilities, Carbon Copy Cloner and etc to ease up the synchronization and backup tasks while on the move. With a standard of three year warranty provided, the triple interface FireWire 800/400/USB2.0 model will be priced at $270,followed by FireWire 400/USB 2.0 model at $250 and the cheapest USB 2.0-only model at $230.

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Garmin Next Generation nuvi 1690 GPS Enhanced with Social Networking Capability

As the GPS (Global Positioning System) usage continues to increase, some of the manufacturers are trying to integrate as many features as possible in order to differentiate themselves from the rest. Garmin, the leading GPS technology manufacturer is not exclusive from this. Just recently, the manufacturer has announced its newest portable GPS system, named as nuvi 1690 with enhanced features, specifically designed for those that are looking more than just navigation feature while driving on the road.


The new GPS is embedded with wireless capability that can link to Garmin’s proprietary nuLink service to retrieve useful information such as weather forecast, traffic information, flight status and many more through Google local search engine. On top of this, users that can’t live without social networking would definitely appreciate the great feature being added as it can now be used to connect to Ciao!, a social networking service that enables them to search for their closed friends and relatives and navigate to their directions accordingly. Other features include a complete POI (Point of Interest) NAVTEQ database, Bluetooth handsfree mode and even the environmental friendly ecoRoute feature for fuel estimation and saving.

Priced at $500, Nuvi 1690 will be released by this year and consumers will be able to get two year of free subscription to nuLInk service and subsequently at an affordable of $5 per month to continue enjoy these features.

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