Lincoln debuts 2007 Zeph... MKZ
Flexible OLED display prototype demonstrated
 According to the Universal Display Corp., its 4-inch prototype display is based on flexible metal foil and is just 0.1mm thick; a comparable glass display would be at least 1 mm. The display is capable of displaying full motion video at a resolution of 100 dpi. Universal Display's research has been funded in part by the US Department of Defense, and prototype displays have been provided to military research labs. Read more..!
 Secret Maryo! Yes, the action of Mario's universe is recaptured in this 2D run and jump clone, which uses Simple Directmedia Layer under the hood to run. It's cool enough to play the maps provided, but Secret Maryo allows you to build your own wacky unlicensed fun as well. I'm not saying Secret Maryo is perfect, as it's at version .97, but it is progressing. As with all OSS, feel free to contribute bug fixes yourself, and join the developers in making this cool toy better. Even if you aren't a programmer, they're also looking for some level designers, so if you're looking to get in the game business, it's a great way to practice your craft. Read more..!
10 steps to a pixel art masterpiece
 Derek Yu, one of the members of the soon-to-be award winning Thompsonsoft, has made a "10-step tutorial, that teaches you how to create a "sprite", which is a stand-alone two-dimensional character or object." Covering everything from lines to anti-aliasing, watch Derek create "the Lucha Lawyer, the butt-kickin'est wrestling attorney around, as [his] model! He could be in a fighting game, or something, with moves like the 'Habeus Corpse Blaster.'" The amount of labor necessary is amazing, for only one frame! Read more..!
Organic Roses For Valentine's Day
 Organic Bouquet is a company that sells organic flowers online and through natural food stores such as Whole Foods Markets. For Valentine's Day they are offering the classic dozen of long-stemmed red roses but these are certified organic and guaranteed to last at least seven days from delivery. Organic Bouquet has a list of reasons as to why buy organic flowers, these include contributing to the health of farm workers and florists, reducing toxic chemical usage in the world and supporting local organic farming communities. One dozen sells for $39.95. Read more..!
Sony's Cell: "programming nightmare" or "far less complicated"?
 In a 2641-word article that is two parts hype, one part balance, Forbes Asia author Daniel Lyons writes of the promise of the cell chip that will power the PlayStation 3 console to be launched by Sony later this year. Here's a quick summary of the article. Believe the hype? The Cell is called a "supercomputer for the living room," a "mind-boggling" performer of "2 trillion calculations per second," the kind of power that enables programmers to "create videogames that look as realistic as film." Cell will run "at least" 10 times faster than the very fastest Intel Pentium chip and will usher in "the next microchip revolution" including "mind-blowing," "fast and seductively immersive games, virtual-reality romps, wireless downloads, real-time video chat, interactive TV shows with multiple endings and a panoply of new services yet to be dreamed up."
It's hard not to get excited about the possibilities of this chip given such a stirring cavalcade of next-gen imagery, and the excitement builds as Lyons trots out James Kahle, the IBM chip engineer who oversaw the design of the processor, who tells Forbes that Cell will "spawn the next generation of growth in the industry."
To insert just a smidge of credulity into the article, the author does manage to mention a few drawbacks. Chief among the drawbacks is the danger that Cell will be difficult to program for. Lyons quotes Marc Tremblay, chief architect of IBM rival Sun Microsystems, who says that "The programming model is a nightmare."
Finally, of course, there are the obligatory quotes from developers, including Jeremy Gordon, head honcho at San Francisco-based Secret Level, who told Forbes: "Anyone who worked on the PlayStation 2 is jumping for joy" because the PS3 is much easier to develop for.
Whether the PS3 is a joy or nightmare to develop for won't be clear until developers have had a chance to play with it for a couple years. It's not fair to expect the first raft of PS3 titles to take advantage of a paradigm-shift in processor architecture. It may also be unrealistic to expect developers to spend oodles more time and money retooling multi-platform titles to take advantage of the PS3's unique architecture. Chances are that third-party developers will be content to develop once and port thrice when it comes to next-gen development. First-party developers and exclusive content is another story, however, and this is where the PS3 may shine.
Read more..!
Primera's Bravo XR-Blu 50-disc Blu-ray burner/labeler
 This version is a single-layer burner (Pioneer's new BDR-101A Blu-ray Disc/DVD Recorder), able to burn half of the 50GB per disc possible with the upcoming dual-layer, but that's still over a terabyte that one can painlessly archive/distribute/sell out of the trunk. Primera will have this model on display at CeBIT, but won't begin shipments until April, which might actually benefit those folks who need some time to raise the $6k that this will retail for. Read more..!
MooBella, the robotic ice cream dispenser
 A robotic ice cream vending machine that does up some mix-ins all automatic-like really can't go wrong. MooBella is showing off just such a contraption at DEMO, which makes every scoop of ice cream "right on the spot" with 12 flavors to choose from and 3 mix-ins to toss in as well. Read more..!
 The Process Modeler is free and itself looks like a pretty good product. If you're a one-man show having to manage some project assets, or if you manage a smaller project, I can definitely see this as being useful. Process mapping is drag and drop, linking elements is a right-click away, and publishing to a website (the HTML anyway) is a simple menu button affair. Becase this is more a document and process management, and isn't really designed for timelines. It's pretty robust for a freeware app, but the catch is, for the true ISO9000 or Sarbanes-Oxley features, you'll wind up paying for a server edition. Read more..!
Octavia's HDS5 HDMI switchbox with Smart Scan
 For $229, you might want to consider Octavia's HDS5 HDMI switcher with Smart Scan. The HDS5 has five HDMI inputs, supports a blazing 4.95 GB video data rate and appears HDCP-compliant. The switcher is semi-intelligent, meaning that the switchbox could determine which port the signal is coming from and adjust the output accordingly. Cables are extra. Read more..!
A4 Tech's Talky VoIP keyboard
 For those of you out there down the the idea of a handset nearby at all times and willing to give those trapezoidal keys a try, A4 Tech will be announcing their new Talky keyboard at CeBIT this year. It works with Skype, MSN, Yahoo, QQ, and Net2phon. Read more..!
 Danger from the Deep is a sub simulator, it's open source, and it's free. Right now it's only for Linux and Windows, but it uses SDL and OpenGL, so in theory could be ported to nearly any *NIX-based OS. The graphics are really beautiful. If you've never been in a sub, they convey the cramped, rough life that used to be a WWII sub. You'll have to have some moldy sock soup and rusty bolts nearby to simulate the smell, but the overall ambience is fantastic. DD isn't ready for primetime as a game however, as damage isn't realistic (one shot and a ship sinks immediately). Read more..!
Graham Chronofighter Pearl Harbor Watch
 The latest World-War-II-inspired chronograph from Graham Watches is the Chronofighter Pearl Harbor. The London-based company has now created a limited edition of 100 pieces of their newest watch. The stainless steel case is a large 44mm and the movement is the automatic Graham caliber G1722 (base ETA 7750) with 25 jewels and COSC-certification as a chronometer. It has a sapphire crystal and the dial has a map of Pearl Harbor with two counters one for sweep seconds, and another for 30 minutes. The Chronofighter also has the distinctive left lever that left you stop and start it with your thumb. Read more..!
Blueye merges Bluetooth phones with audio players
 UK company Mavizen has come up with a better solution, from frantically swaping earbuds to your cellphone headset, to the form of the Blueye, a Bluetooth device that you connect to the earphone jack of an audio player and then pair with any Bluetooth phone. You then connect a headset to the Blueye, and listen to your music. When a call comes in, Blueye mutes the music and routes the call directly to the headset. Read more..!
 LG has decided the world, or at least Germans, need a cellphone that looks and acts (a little) like a car. Everytime you flip open the LG F3000 it plays the sound of an enginegin, and an incoming text message to the phone will prompt it to honk at you. Read more..!
Panasonic TH-P1SD and TH-LB60NT LCD projectors
 Panasonic recently announced two compact LCD projectors: the low-end TH-P1SD and higher-end TH-LB60NT (pictured). The TH-P1SD offers a meager 800x600 resolution and 1500 lumens making it suitable for the low-lit office but not for your burgeoning home-theater system. What's sweet though, is the built-in SD card slot which gives those stealthy little cards the ability to zombify you by PowerPoint. The TH-LB60NT on the other hand, offers up a 1024 x 768 resolution, 3200 lumens, a 400:1 contrast ratio, and can display image/audio over 802.11b/g WiFi. Nice, but given its apparent lack of DVI or HDMI inputs this space heater is still destined for suit-use only. And just to amuse the lonely AV guy, it's capable of displaying 16 presentations from up to 16 different PCs at a time. Read more..!
 Chuck Norris, Master Chief reference. Oh the horror. Read more..!
 TG Daily is reporting that Intel’s Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) platform is set to launch before April, or about 6-months (at least!) ahead of schedule. TG Daily says Samsung, Asus and Founder will deliver the first UMPCs throwing down high-speed wireless (think EV-DO or HSDPA, not WiMax), GPS, and up to one week of standby time. Windows Vista-based UMPCs from LGE, Acer and Averatec will arrive sometime in the “second half” of 2006. However, instead of sporting new ultra-low power Intel chips like originally announced, “sources” claim at least the first generation of products will run on the Pentium M. Read more..!
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-Lytir1
