Zero ink printing cometh soon

Polaroid of the instamatic cameras is finally making one of our most fervent wishes come true, that is ink-less printing. Not less ink, mind you, but no ink. All of which is excellent news to consumers like us who've oft lamented over the highway robbery cost of ink cartridges. Fuel prices aren't the only things hurting our pockets. So how does all this ink-free printing work?

According to the literature, Polaroid's pocket-sized Zink (zero ink?) printers use advanced heat-reactive crystals impregnated into the paper that remain colorless, until they are heated. This is where the magic happens. Precisely targeted heat pulses of specific duration and temperature from the Zink printer stimulate the crystals into corresponding hues for a full color print.

The best part? These printouts are water-, heat-resistant and durable to boot. Can't wait, particularly if this turns out to be pocket-friendly in more ways than one!

E-Ink gives phone its own version of tats

With the impossible competition in the mobile phone business, it's not surprising that some manufacturers would try something a little crazy to distance themselves from pack. But we didn't think they'd be this crazy.

First we saw a weird design from NEC for a "Flask" handset that's apparently powered by some kind of liquid fuel. Now, just a day later, we find that Hitachi is introducing a phone that sports a 2.7-inch E-Ink display on the back that's destined for the Japanese market. Gizmodo says the Silhouette Screen, which comes with 95 graphics, appears only ornamental because it doesn't display any handset data. It does, however, have a regular 2.8-inch display on the front, a 2-megapixel camera, and 2GB of built-in memory. All of which makes us wonder why no one has stepped up to market a shoe phone to mark the release of the upcoming Get Smart.

Via Crave CNET

New Toshiba phones will come to Asia

Not too long back, Toshiba Europe announced two new handhelds which run Windows Mobile 6 (WM6), the Portege G710 and G910. The G710 is a smart phone on the WM6 Standard OS. It doesn't have 3G connectivity or Wi-Fi, but comes with built-in GPS for navigation. The G910, on the other hand, has it all. Along with all the connectivity options you can think of in a PDA-phone including HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS, it also has a WVGA (800 x 480) display, similar to the Portege G900.

Though we did manage to review the earlier G900, it was not for sale in many countries in our region. Likewise, the G710 and G910 won't be found everywhere in Asia. According to a spokesperson from Toshiba Asia Pacific, the G710 will be shipped in Q2 though the countries haven't been confirmed. The G910 will be available in just three countries in the region. Read our Windows Mobile devices in Asia update to find out if your local mobile phone shop will be stocking this new PDA-phone soon.

Logitech launches AudioHub notebook speakers

Unless you are putting out for full-fledged entertainment desktop replacements, chances are your notebook speakers can barely squeak out enough quality sound for your movies, much less good music for the discerning ear.

The latest S$189 (US$124.34) laptop speaker from Logitech, the AudioHub, is a unique solution combining a 2.1-channel audio system with a three-port USB hub for your portable. The speaker width is adjustable to fit almost any laptop size, while an integrated subwoofer gives a bigger bang to the bass. A cable management system keeps the USB wires tidy when hooked up to these speakers.

It will be available in Singapore from next month, with availability in other Asia-Pacific countries pending updates.

Nvidia doubles the GeForce 8800M GTX

Nvidia announced that its GeForce 8800M GTX graphics could be combined in an SLI configuration. The scalable link interface lets two graphics cards work in tandem, essentially doubling your graphics capability for added performance on the most hardware-demanding games. The concept is nothing new, of course, and we've tested several laptops, such as the Dell XPS M1730 and Alienware Area 51 m9750, running earlier Nvidia cards in SLI configurations. This announcement just marks the SLI compatibility of Nvidia's latest high-end laptop GPUs.

At this point dual GeForce 8800M GTX configurations haven't shown up on manufacturers' Web sites, but Nvidia tells us we can expect gaming laptops from Dell, Alienware, and others to incorporate the technology "soon".

Via CNET Crave

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