Filed under: Storage

How do 200MBps reads and 100MBps writes in a storage device sound to you? Pretty sweet if you ask us. That’s the upper spec for Micron’s new highspeed 8Gb (Gigabit not Gigabyte, kids) SLC NAND co-developed with Intel on a 50-nm processes node. Once slapped together in an SSD, you can expect performance to easily outshine any existing SSD or mechanical drive on the market while easily kicking the SSD bugbear — random read/writes — to the curb. The rub, of course, is that SLC NAND is more expensive than MLC so you can expect to pay dearly for that performance. Watch for the speedy Micron flash to pop in cellphones, camcorders, SSDs (and pretty much every portable consumer electronics device out there) sometime in the second half of 2008 — sampling now to manufacturers.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Sony’s booth has to be pretty big to hold all the imaging goodies, so here’s a whirlwind tour of it. You know Sony’s making a play for the big boys in the DSLR arena, so the alpha-series had a good amount of serious-looking real estate. The fleet of Sony point-and-shoots were also on display; with all the colors, shapes and sizes the display looked like a candy counter. Tech development also got some floor space, and the live demo of face detection used by Sony’s Handycams was particularly fun.

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Filed under: Digital Cameras

Over a year after Leica rolled out its action plan to address those buggy M8s fresh off the factory floor, the digicam company is announcing yet another upgrade path, but this time it’s not on the house. Apparently, M8 owners that fall deeply in love with their shooter can get their name on a “waiting list,” and once their number is called, they get the privilege of shipping their device to Germany where a number of tweaks can be made. Reportedly, each M8 is suitable for upgrading, and aside from getting sent back with a fresh two-year warranty, it can also be fitted with a scratch-resistant LCD monitor cover (um, riveting?) and a new “electronically-controlled metal-blade slotted shutter that offers less noise and vibration.” Unfortunately, these changes will supposedly set one back €1,200 ($1,775), but alas, Leica suggests that said payment will make the M8 a “lifetime investment.” Right, just like that $9,000 desktop you procured in 1996.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

What better way to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Mooninites’ invasion of Boston than to drop $80 on Evil Mad Scientist Labs’ new Peggy? It’s easy to fall in love with this 12 x 15-inch hackable pin grid for pluggable LEDs, which also features a programmable microcontroller capable of animating its 625 positions. Just be cautious when using it to spread your propaganda outdoors, some big city populaces apparently don’t like being toyed with by way of LED signage.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

See, this is how you bust out a hologram — unlike the mind-numbingly boring virtual Prince Charles we heard about the other day, Sony’s invaded Tokyo Bay with a water-and-laser sea monster. The apparition is part of the promotion for a movie called “Water Horse: Legend of the Deep,” but even with a title like that, we’ll definitely check it out on import DVD when it arrives Stateside just to provide more incentive for stunts like this. Check out a video after the break.

Continue reading Sony unleashes a holographic monster on Tokyo Bay

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