Tiny LEDs power Olympics' supersized screens

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. is supplying China with 25 LED Astrovision screens for the Beijing Olympics. Each of these giant screens comprises hundreds of LED units and offers three times higher luminance than the brightest plasma panels. This, when combined with its wide horizontal viewing angle, makes the Astrovision ideal for stadiums and open venues under normal ambient lighting with minimum color degradation.

According to EE Times, these 10 x 10m-sized mega screens have a 200m effective range, capable of delivering clear moving pictures, including fine print such as game results and athletes' names. Other examples of similar Astrovision deployments include New York's Madison Square Garden, Vatican City's St. Peter's Square and Orlando's Universal Studios Citywalk.

Via EE Times | Photo credit: EE Times

Wave the torch to see a message at the Olympics

Spectators at the Games will get a chance to touch the flame-bearing torch, but only a replica of it, that is. Instead of fire, the torches have a microelectromechanical system (MEMS), accelerometer and lines of LEDS embedded within.

By waving the torch, an internal sensor will determine the left and right points while the MEMS measures the degree of movement and transmits the information to a microchip which activates the LEDS to display pre-programmed words or images relevant to the Olympics "in the air".

This idea is not novel, and you've probably seen similar products in gift shops. But what's impressive is that each visitor to the Games will probably get one in their goodie bag. This roughly translates to hundreds of thousands of torches being manufactured, and that doesn't include those for sale in the souvenir shops.

So what kept the production cost low? It's reported that a former MEMS engineer came up with technology that enabled the devices to be produced along any CMOS chip manufacturing line, thus driving the cost down and giving spectators a little something to bring home and remember the Olympics by.

Via EETimes

LED drumsticks illuminate your 'Rock Band' studliness

If you think you felt cool playing Rush on Rock Band before, try pounding out "Tom Sawyer" with The Ant Commandos' new illuminated drumsticks.

The body lights up in red or blue when you strike the sticks on any surface, providing a dramatic light show for the throngs attending the display in your bedroom or basement.

The LED-illuminated drumsticks have a comfortable and secure grip so you won't cause accidental harm when your drumming reaches a frenzy (you wouldn't want to take someone's eye out, now, would you?). A silicon-coated tip helps reduce the thumping noise, a feature your family/friends/roommates are sure to appreciate.

The drumsticks come with two standard AAA batteries, and The Ant Commandos says each battery set will last months under normal playing conditions (we're not sure how normal is being defined here, though). The sticks, which come two per package, are available at a suggested retail price of US$19.99, not including heavy-metal T-shirt.

Via CNET Crave

Asus Eee Stick looks very familiar

Asus has announced its first-ever motion control wireless joystick that the company is calling the Eee Stick. Now where have we seen this before? Ah that's right; it's almost an exact copy of the Remote/Nunchuk combination that you use with your Nintendo Wii. The Eee Stick uses a 2.4GHz RF USB dongle and requires two AA batteries for each controller.

The Eee Stick will allow you to "get into the swing of gaming" as it will be bundled with certain Eee PC and Eee Box products. While the Eee Stick will work with any PC, Asus recommends using it only with games designed for the device (which come packaged along with it). Unfortunately, there is no information about what any of these games are or what they actually look like.

The Eee Stick can operate in three modes: 3D Motion mode will emulate any movement along any axis on screen, Pointing mode will be used as a "light gun," and Tilt mode, which will sense movement forward, backward, and to the sides.

Via CNET Crave

Epson's pricey photo viewers present prettier pictures?

To accommodate all those high-resolution photos you've shot with your new (or old) dSLR, Epson has doubled the hard disk size of its Multimedia Photo Viewers. This year's models, the P-6000 and P-7000, offer 80GB and 160GB, respectively over the P-3000 and P-5000's 40GB and 80GB.


Though screen size and resolution hasn't changed from the previous models--4 inches at 640x480--they incorporate Epson's latest display technology, dubbed Photo Fine Premia. Though the technology remains basically the same--it combines red, blue and two green filters in a single pixel rather than spreading them across pixels--the company claims claims the new gamut covers 94 percent of the Adobe RGB color space compared to 88 percent for its Photo Fine Ultra predecessors. That would certainly make it attractive for dSLR shooters. (Like some other photo viewers, these support raw files in addition to JPEG, but not all raw formats. You should always double-check on support before buying.) The new display also offers a wider viewing angle.

In addition, Epson has addressed some performance issues, and says that these models are up to 35 percent faster at downloading than before and supports USB 2.0 and UDMA CF cards. Battery life hasn't increased, though; the internal rechargeable is still rated to last about 3 hours. The company has also updated the design with a new jog dial for navigation instead of the four-way switch that's so last century. As with the previous models, these support video and audio as well.

When it ships in September, expect to pay a premium for that slightly larger but higher-tech display: The 80GB P-6000 lists at US$599.99 and the 160GB P-7000 for US$799.99 compared to, say, Digital Foci's 160GB, US$499 3.6-inch Picture Porter Elite. The 160GB model does come with a Travel Pack, which includes a dual battery charger, car adapter, viewing stand, carrying case and some other stuff.

Via CNET Crave

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