Bobby, the foldable scooter

With a lot of sleek Yamaha concepts on display at the 2007 Tokyo auto show, Bobby stood out for its awkward look. This electric scooter is designed for commuters. It's not much smaller when folded up, but Yamaha points out that it can be more easily stowed in the trunk of a car or kept on a balcony. Okay, we'll buy that. Bobby incorporates an RFID reader, so you can use a cell phone equipped with a Sony FeliCa chip as a key. The future is sounding weirder and weirder.



Via CNET Car Tech blog

How thin will cameras get?

Maybe as much as its LCD. While the world has been fixated on the LCD panel size race, Sharp reversed its direction with a 0.68mm-thin LCD. It's almost certainly the world's smallest and will probably play a part in redefining the size of future portable gadgetry.

But despite its size, this LCD is not skinny on the specs. Flip it face up and it's a 2.2-inch LCD with a contrast ratio of 2,000:1 and a decent viewing angle of 176 degrees (comparable to typical LCD monitors). And besides cameras, MP3 players and mobile phones would undoubtedly benefit from it as well.

Via DCviews

Kohjinsha SH spotted outside Japan

When the Kohjinsha SA1 was released outside Japan, it made waves as the first UMPC to hover at the S$1,000 (US$678.89) mark. Though the coming of the cheaper ASUS Eee PC has stolen the former's thunder, we were still excited to see the SA1's successor as it could well be the cheapest Vista UMPC in the market (ASUS is based on Linux).

We played around with the new Kohjinsha SH6 display unit and were impressed that the Japanese company actually listened to its users' feedback. The keyboard is now head and shoulders above the SA1. The screen can be rotated with a touch of a button, while a Webcam sits above the display. The memory card slot is now SDHC as well as Memory Stick compatible.

However, the fact that the screen has been bumped up to 1,240 x 600-pixel resolution is a mixed bag. On the one hand, Web sites can now be fully viewed without any side scrolling. On the other, reading the 7-inch screen is now a lot more eye-straining. Priced at S$1,399 (US$949.76), it is currently being distributed in Singapore by PA Mart and also cheaper than the S$1,999 (US$1,357.09) Fujitsu LifeBook U1010 which runs on Windows Vista Home Basic Edition as well.

We will be getting our hands on a test unit soon so watch out for our full review.

Official E-Ten M800 specs--a few downers

The QWERTY-enabled E-Ten M800 slider now has an official image and specifications. Everything said about it previously was true. This includes a VGA display, HSDPA connectivity, a SiRFstar III GPS chip and a 500MHz Samsung processor.

What wasn't confirmed then was the amount of RAM. We do know now that it's 64MB, just like the X800. Given its otherwise performance-focused features, it would have been great if there was more RAM for running applications. Another interesting point we can see from the image is that it has touch-sensitive buttons under the display. Though this may be aesthetically pleasant, we've always been suspicious of the usefulness of such buttons. Without tactile feedback, pressing them is sometimes like stroking a cat--you can touch it all you want, but it doesn't give you any love back.

Those are not death sentences, of course, and we'll wait to see how well it works after we handle one in the flesh. Go to the M800's product page to see its full list of specifications.

LG refines plasma's contrast via "G" platform

Getting tired of reading news on LCD TVs? Here's an interesting piece from LG for you plasma advocates. The Korean company has a new "G" platform plasma TV now on display at FPD International 2007, Japan. What is interesting here is the set's over-the-top 30,000:1 contrast ratio. It's unclear whether this is tied to its dynamic or native performance, though it is definitely ahead of the 20,000:1 rating promised by the latest Pioneer Kuros. If that's not enough, there is also 100Hz frame rate-doubling technology which should further reinforce plasma's already strong motion reproduction.

Available in various sizes from 32- to 60-inches and resolutions up to full-HD, these new-gen plasma TVs are slated for release from Q4 2007.

Via Fareastgizmos.com

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