Filed under: Home Entertainment

Oh, you're gonna love this one. So, those familiar with Steven Soderbergh's work know that last year he did a triple-release film called Bubble, which hit theaters, cable, and DVD all at once; definitely a novel idea for getting your media to as many people as possible -- but at what price would this become tantalizing for studios to consider it on a mass-consumer release, like Spidey 3? Comcast, which is working on securing movies currently in theaters for VOD, seems to think that it should cost $30-50 per screening. Per. Screening. Ok, considering some Pay-Per-View event prices, that's not unrealistic if you have a crowd over and charge admission (but we're fairly sure they'll also propose installing a webcam in every VOD user's home to count the eyeballs watching, and sue if it's more than a couple). But greater problems than large private showings face the model: the theater industry is positively fuming about the idea of simultaneous release, making all manner of threats against movie studios that are considering joining up. Don't worry though, somehow we have a feeling not too many people are going to go the BYOT (bring your own theater) method and lay down fifty friggin bones for some DRM laden one-shot viewing of a new movie.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Robots

A new system of robotic navigation being developed at Purdue University enhances a bot's ability to get around unfamiliar environments by allowing it to "guess" what unknown areas look like. Unlike the traditional method of "simulataneous localization and mapping" (hilariously nicknamed SLAM), in which bots take detailed measurements of an area to generate maps, the guessbots divide an area into cells and make predictions about "frontier cells," or areas adjacent to cells which have already been mapped. Each frontier cell is then assigned a "confidence score" -- cells with low scores need further investigation, while those with high scores can be added to the map. Initial computer simulations of the system resulted in virtual guessbots needing to map less than 33% of a building to navigate successfully, and while real-life prototyping already underway doesn't seem to have gotten quite as good, it's produced higher-quality maps in shorter amounts of time than SLAM, according to the developers. The guessbots do have limitations, however: they system only works well in highly-structured environments like buildings -- outdoors is probably out -- and like all robotic navigation systems, small measurement errors add up fast. Even still, let's hope this filters down to the consumer level fast -- a navigation system that's able to predict what's coming up next instead of blindly following a map just might keep us from wrecking all those cars.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Laptops

Thanks to the FCC, we've already had a pretty good look at Getac's upcoming ruggedized convertible tablet PC, but it looks like the company isn't stopping there, today announcing the somewhat less-rugged P420 laptop. While it may not take quite as much of a beating, it will give you a bit more in the way of specs, including a 14.1-inch display, a 1.83 Ghz Core Duo T2400 processor (or a T7400 Core 2 Duo if the company's website is to be believed), a max 160GB hard drive, up to 4GB of RAM, and optional ATI Mobilty Radeon X1450 graphics if the standard integrated Intel fare isn't enough for you -- not to mention optional WWAN capabilities for those in need of a little 3G action. Earning the laptop its "rugged" status is its magnesium alloy case, sealed ports and connectors, shock-mounted hard drive, and various dust and water-proofing measures. Unfortunately, there's no word on what it'll cost or when it'll be available, although we're guessing Getac will be spilling those details at the official unveiling at this week's GTC West show.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Samsung believes that by 2010, 30% of all LCD televisions will include LED backlights instead of the conventional flourescent used in most sets now. What's different from the LED units we've seen before is that Samsung wants to use white LEDs, with single diodes custom-coated to produce the same backlight previously requiring combinations of red, green, and blue bulbs. Samsung recently invested in Intematix, which produces custom phosphor coatings for LED bulbs to create uniform color -- required in a television to faithfully reproduce colors. Until recently costs have been higher for LED backlight units, keeping them relegated to higher-end models. Samsung claims the single bulb process reduces costs by 40%, but time will tell whether white-only LEDs are truly better or cheaper than tri-color LEDs, or if they are just the next "Reveal lightbulb" marketing gimmick.

[Via I4U News]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!