Tao Ma´s LED cell phone in call mode (left) and game mode (right).

Designer Tao Ma has recently unveiled an LED cell phone concept, where hundreds of LEDs replace the conventional screen. Besides boasting a stylish modern appearance, the LED phone will likely have reduced power consumption, and be quite affordable.

The LEDs, located below the translucent surface of the phone, light up to create all the phone´s functions and displays. For example, a keypad is displayed when in phone mode, and a sensor network is located behind the “keys” to pick up touch input.

Other LED arrangements are illuminated for basic functions such as accessing contacts, gaming, SMS (short message service) and other modes. The phone will probably not be capable of more complex functions like sending MMS messages.

Two AAA batteries are used to power the LED phone, which could be recharged with a USB dock (included). Due to its simplicity, the phone is expected to be inexpensive, although pricing and other details are have not been revealed.

via: Gizmo Watch

Take a virtual ride in an RC toy car

The Vision Tracking System Camera Car has an onboard camera that beams back streaming video of the road to a pair of LCD goggles. Credit: Red5.co.uk.

Have you ever wished that you could hop into the cockpit of your remote-controlled car and experience what the ride would really be like?

A new RC car available at Red5.co.uk offers a completely immersive and interactive driving experience, virtually putting you in the driver´s seat. The Vision Tracking System (VTS) Camera Car is equipped with an onboard camera that wirelessly broadcasts VGA video to a pair of LCD goggles, giving you a first-person view of the road.

Plus, when you turn your head sideways or up and down, the goggles can track your head motion and send it to the onboard camera, which follows your gaze in real time. So, you can check for obstacles before turning, or just make yourself really dizzy. The device also includes stereo sound to complete the experience.

While there are a few other RC cars that have onboard cameras, they generally just beam back images to the handheld controller, rather than a headset. With its virtual-reality-like goggles, the VTS Camera Car seems a lot like playing a video game in the real world. Multiple players could make the experience even more game-like.

The car and control system itself is equipped with precision gyro control, and the controller enables fine-tuning by controlling the trims.

The VTS Camera Car is a step up from your average RC car, with the car, goggles, and 27-MHz radio controller priced at £599.95 (about $1,172).

More information, including a video, is available at Red5.co.uk.

via: OhGizmo!

The 42-inch curved seamless display is planned to go on sale in late 2008.

One of the more intriguing technologies at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held this week is a 42-inch-long, curved monitor. Made by Alienware, the monitor is supposed to simulate peripheral vision. The sci-fi-like screen is aimed at gamers for a more immersive experience, although it might not be as suitable for design or text work.

The Alienware monitor consists of a curved DLP (digital light processing) rear-projection display and is lit by OLEDs. Its resolution, at 2880×900, is considered fairly modest for a display of this size. But its 0.2 millisecond response time is definitely geared toward the quick reaction time desired by gamers. The company claims that this refresh rate is over a magnitude better than the competition.

If 42 inches is still not big enough for you, Alienware notes that the display only takes one DVI input for its signal input. That means it’s possible to put two of these monitors side-by-side for a dual monitor configuration.

CES visitors have noticed one small flaw: three small vertical seams are slightly visible, revealing where separate screens meet. However, Alienware says the seams will be gone by the time the monitor hits the consumer market, sometime in the second half of 2008. The company doesn’t yet have a name for the display, calling it simply a “curved seamless displlay.” The price is yet to be determined.

via: Gizmodo

The ANITA probe visited SLAC in June 2006 for calibration tests using the accelerator beam and a block of ice.

The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Array (ANITA)—that plucky probe that visited SLAC last year before taking to the skies of Antarctica—is back in action.

Last month, a schematic of ANITA and the ice target used to calibrate its antennae made the cover of the October 26 edition of Physical Review Letters, and next year NASA plans to send her back for round two over the south pole.

According to SLAC physicist Pisin Chen, one of the investigators working with the ANITA team, the success of the original calibration experiments at SLAC in June of 2006 is proving how valuable particle accelerators can be in the field of astrophysics.

“This is something SLAC should be proud of,” Chen said. “Using a particle accelerator to study astrophysics is unique. The high-energy beam from SLAC’s linac has such wonderful quality—it can be of great use to the astrophysics community.”

ANITA was designed to circle Antarctica tethered to a high-altitude balloon at more than 100,000 feet searching for evidence of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos, which generate radio waves when they strike the ice. ANITA researchers brought the detector array to SLAC for calibration tests involving the linac and 10 tons of ice to simulate the Antarctic signals.

Source: by Brad Plummer, SLAC Today