Flexible E-Paper Display

A new display technology designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper.

Electronic Paper Display is due to shape the future of how we display text and graphics. The new display technology is designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper and possess a high contrast appearance, ultra-low power consumption, and a thin, light form.

The EPD reflects light like ordinary paper and is capable of holding text and images indefinitely without drawing electricity, while allowing the image to be changed later. The images are displayed in black on a whitish-gray background with a resolution similar to that of a typical laptop computer screen.

Check out this video of a new prototype PDA from Phillips that incorporates the new E-paper.

The display is based on a reflective technology which requires no front or backlight and is viewable under a wide range of lighting conditions, including sunlight. The ink inside the flexible screen, less than three human hairs thick, carries a charge enabling it to be updated through electronics.When a negative voltage is run through circuits behind these capsules, the positive white particles move to the capsule’s top. A positive current has the same effect on the negative black particles.

E Ink of Cambridge, Massachusetts is one of several companies working to develop electronic “paper” for e-newspapers and e-books, and other possible applications. They hope to further develop the technology so that it can display color as well as boosting the speed at which the screen switches to a new “page”, from the current quarter of a second to at least 10 times as fast, so it can display video.

Faster New USB 3.0

New USB 3.0 will deliver up to ten times the speed of the existing USB 2.0 standard.

San Francisco Intel and other companies including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors, have formed a group to help produce, test and promote the new USB 3.0.

The third-generation Universal Serial Bus interconnect will transfer data at speeds up to 4.8Gbit/s, ten times faster than the previous USB 2.0’s which transfers at just 480MBit/s.

Jeff Ravencraft, Intel’s technology strategist, said

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The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining (USB 2.0’s) ease-of-use experience.”

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USB 3.0 will be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. It will also be backwards-compatible with USB 2.0, which is backwards-compatible with the first USB 1.1.

The USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed with both copper and optical cable capabilities; this means even higher speeds will be possible in the future.

Intel also revealed a Wireless USB (WUSB) transfer format that operates at 480Mbits/s, the same speed as USB 2.0. In addition they also said they are working on the 1.1 version of the WUSB which operates at a speed of up to 1Gbits/s.

A working prototype of the USB 3.0 has already been presented, however there is typically a one- to two-year lag between the release of the specification and the availability of the technology, so USB 3.0 might not be available in stores until 2009 or 2010 .

Ion-Mask Protects Electrical Devices from Water

With the rapid growth in small electronic devices such as mobile phones that are required to work both indoors and outdoors, the risk of water ingress and damage to these high value items has grown enormously. Now a new military technology may be able to protect these valuable electronics from the risk of water damage.

Ion-mask, as the product is known is being developed by a company called Hi Tec and is able to modify the surface of virtually any material, applying a protective layer, just nanometers thick, over the surface of the object by means of an ionized gas or “plasma”.Ion-Mask works at a molecular level, binding invisibly to the surfaces of products, giving them an extraordinary ability to repel most liquids. Ion-Mask is transparent and invisible to the naked eye and the treatment not only coats the external surfaces but also the inside without damaging precision circuitry.

High-Def Players for the Holidays

In the ongoing struggle for supremacy between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, every week seems to bring news from one camp or the other. (One week, HD DVD sells 90,000 players. Another week, Blu-ray tops the disc sales charts, again.) But that doesn't mean you need to put off your high-def player purchase. Regardless of the format you choose, you have more player options than ever before, with a slew of models new to store shelves since the summer. Players have plummeted in price this holiday season, too, dropping by as much as two-thirds over last year's prices (and one holdover from last year, Sony's Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3now comes in a low-end version that's just $400).
A "next-generation" DVD player handles high-definition Blu-ray or HD DVD discs. Both formats can deliver stunning pictures filled with detail, but you should check to see which format your film favorites are on: HD DVD currently touts Paramount and Universal titles exclusively, Blu-ray has the backing of Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, and Sony, and both formats offer Warner content.

Microsoft Surface: Behind-the-Scenes First Look (with Video)

The software giant has built a new touchscreen computer—a coffee table that will change the world. Go inside its top-secret development with PopularMechanics.com, then forget the keyboard and mouse: The next generation of computer interfaces will be hands-on.

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Google Earth Pro

With Google Earth Pro, it’s easy to research locations and present your discoveries. In just a few clicks, you can import site plans, property lists or client sites and share the view with your client or colleague. You can even export high-quality images to documents or the web. Want to see it in action?

GeForce 8800 GTX

Redefine your gaming reality with the GeForce® 8800 GTX OC™ 768MB PCI Express graphics card from BFG Tech® featuring the world’s first DirectX® 10 GPU and a powerful unified architecture that delivers an incredibly true-to-life gaming experience. Power through games at record speeds and charge through game maps with vividly realistic, sun-up to sun-down HDR lighting effects while steering clear of mind-blowing physics effects such as explosions, fire, and smoke. Crank up 16x full-screen anti-aliasing without missing a beat – no jaggies, no worries. And when you’re not destroying the enemy, relax, watching your favorite movies with NVIDIA PureVideo™ technology.
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World’s first unified architecture supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 10Built for Microsoft® Windows® Vista™Overclocked Core and Shader Clocks24/7 Free Tech Support & True Lifetime WarrantyConnectors: 2 Dual-Link DVI-I, HDTV + TV Out