LED backlit LCD monitors or TV (borderless?)

Well well.... as usual, Apple launched a bunch of new products just before Microsoft's Windows 7 launch... heh... I must say Apple's new offerings sounds interesting... they're the first to actively push LED backlit LCD displays for all their products from laptops to the iMac - and even a 2650x1440 resolution one for the high-end iMac.

Very nice indeed. The PC arena hasn't even began to push LED technology for LCD displays. Some newer models were supposed to come out from Samsung and Viewsonic are all smaller sized versions (like 22") and certainly no where near 2650x1440 resolutions. Most are HD (1920x1024) at best.

And since Windows 7 is launching tomorrow, we'll see a whole range of touch-enabled screens coming our way too... so... will there be one LED-backlit touch-enabled 27" monitor capable of 2650x1440 resolution? One can hope!


Meanwhile I've come across LG launching the LG SL9000 LED backlit TV.... it's the world's first borderless TV.. looks very nice indeed. It's at least 40" though, so I dont think we can use it as a regular monitor any time soon. The specs of the TV is such :


Specifications SL9000 LED TV

• BORDERLESS™ Design
• Slim 2.9cm
• 3,000,000:1 Mega Contrast Ratio
• TruMotion 100Hz
• Full HD (1920 x 1080)
• Picture Wizard
• AV Mode
• 24p Real Cinema (24p 5:5 pull down)
• Expert Mode (ISF Ready)
• Bluetooth
• HD DivX
• USB 2.0
• Intelligent Sensor II
• Smart Energy Saving Plus
• Clear Voice II
• Invisible Speaker

Windows 7 woos

Windows 7 is going to be launched soon. I wonder if the HDMI-audio problem will be resolved by then. I've tested beta build 7000 and it worked with older drivers but when moved to beta build 7100 and later, the audio failed to function..

It's certainly a show-stopper for folks having ATI HDMI motherboards and intend to use Win7 for a media-center.

New stuff coming this-and-next month (Sept/Oct) 2009

The highly anticipated Google Wave is supposedly going to take the world by storm this month - perhaps the next Killer App we've been waiting for. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Wave for more information.




Microsoft's Windows 7 will hit the streets in October while Intel's new Centrino chipset (Calpella platform - sixth-generation Centrino platform) will supposedly launch on the same date as Windows 7.

HTC's new Hero wif Android ;)

This is sweet... how will it compete with iPhone which already has tons of apps.

WDTV firmware

*Update* New version 1.02.07 now available

The Western Digital TV media player is a small and interesting addition to your living room's arsenal of audio/video equipment. I find it to be an adequate performer to play HD content. No need media center PC in the living room any more.

Not only does Western Digital constantly add new stuff to their firmware which is currently found at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/wdtv/, you can also find ENHANCED third party firmware for the device at http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv. The 3rd party firmware add network capability to the device (assuming you have the necessary hardware to enable it)....

3 thumbs up! ;)

Sony's OLED TV

Most efficient HD TV yet... XEL-1 by Sony. Uses Organic LED to deliver greatest color depth and efficient power usage ;)

Place to post and share photos...

I just created a website using Coppermine - folks can use it to manage their own photo albums (private, viewable by registered members or public). Reason why I did it was I ran into the restrictions of number of photos in Flickr, and thought I just put it in my own hosted space.

So for anyone who wants to post and share their photos, give my gallery a try. The URL is http://gallery.aptusventures.com

USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0

This year it seems there will be technology refresh for major I/O interfaces. Namely the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and also the SATA ver 3.0 specifications.

USB 3.0 brings speed performance as well as more power to USB devices. SATA 3 will enable 6Gb/s devices, most notably for high capacity hardisks.

We should see USB 3.0 consumer devices some time in 2010 and I certainly think SATA 3.0 will probably hit the market sooner in 2009! ;)

Get ready for high speed IO ;) zoooommmm

Panasonic launches worlds first Class 10 SDHC cards

Panasonic has launched the worlds first 'Class 10' series of SDHC cards. Class 10 is a new speed specification developed by the SD Card Association, it inherits the attributes of the current 'Class 6' line with further enhanced speed performance of up to 22MB/s. In addition to its Gold series Class 10 cards, it has announced a Silver series of Class 4 cards with a maximum speed of up to 20MB/s. The Gold series will start shipping by the end of this month in 4, 8, 16 and 32 GB capacities.

What is Class 4, 6 ? here is a table :

The following table lists some common ratings and their respective minimum transfer rates.

Rating	Speed (MB/s)	SD Class
6x	0.9	n/a
10x	1.5	n/a
13x	2.0	2
26x	4.0	4
32x	4.8	4
40x	6.0	6
66x	10.0	6
100x	15.0	6
133x	20.0	6
150x	22.5	6
200x	30.0	6
266x	40.0	6
300x	45.0	6

Adamo laptop by Dell

http://www.AdamoByDell.com

Certainly look stylish and thin... Anyone has one to make a review on?

Asus eee PC prototype running Android on Qualcomm's processor

Are you in the market for a wireless Router?

Need to get wireless in your home? Not sure which wireless router to get?

Most people know about wireless a/b/g and even the newer draft-n. Also known as 802.11a/b/g/n

However, not so many people know that Wireless-N can come in 2 varieties.. the 2.4GHz or 5GHz to be exact. Most wireless N routers out there belong to the 2.4GHz version, as it can be downward compatible with the older and slower wireless-G.

Some other routers supports both bands, but can operate only one band at a time (meaning you can choose in firmware, which band 2.4GHz or 5GHz). But if you pick the 5GHz, you no longer have download compatibility to your a/b/g devices.

Now enter a new breed of routers, which can operate with both bands simultaneously. a/b/g devices obviously will go to the 2.4GHz radio, while wireless-N have a choice of two bands to choose from. For low-bandwidth applications you can route it to the 2.4GHz radio while for HD video streaming, go with the 5GHz radio.

Such Dual-band devices are available from most vendors now, like Apple's range of wireless devices Airport Extreme or Timecapsule. Dlink's offering is DIR-855 while Linksys coined up the model WRT600N or WRT610N.

Note that to operate at 5GHz, your devices must also be transmitting in 5Ghz. So in the case of notebook computers with wireless-N (maybe you're out of luck), they will likely be in the 2.4GHz versions. If you are looking for USB wireless-N, be sure to look out for those with dual bands support too!

Windows 7 experience

Today I'm going to talk about my experience in installation of the Windows 7 platform... Microsoft's next flagship Operating System

Before I dive into the Windows 7 thingy, here is the background of my PC :

I wanted a media center machine, that sits next to a HDTV to play videos so I bought parts and assembled a PC based on the Gigabyte motherboard GA-MA69GM-S2H (cant remember exactly), but it's a AMD platform using X2. It also comes with integrated HDMI port due to it's 690G chipset. I furnished the motherboard with only 1 GB of memory at that time and simply installed XP on it.

However, since then, maybe Hardisk-based mediaplayers has emerged, and they are cheap and noise free. So I wanted to replace the mediacenter with a smaller standalone device. But what do I use the PC for then? I decided to toy with Windows 7.

I decided on Windows 7 beta 7077 x64, and so I went ahead. The installation was pretty straight forward, and the system rebooted a few times during the whole install. After it finally booted up, most things worked except for my DLink USB wireless device, and the audio. Both drivers were easily found on Dlink's and Gigabyte's websites. After installation, the devices worked and I could also get audio from my HDTV.

Then came Windows 7 RC1 x64... so I upgraded the system to the newer RC1... the upgrading process is a little daunting and long... almost like the full install - except you do not have to reinstall all the software. Sadly, after the system finally booted up, I found that the audio no longer worked. Looking at the Device manager, the audio drivers and devices seem to be working, but there is simply no sound output from the TV.

And this stage, I tried re-installing all the various drivers from ATi/AMD and Realtek... all not helping to resolve the issue. I scout the internet, googled to death the words "Windows 7 x64 HDMI audio"... but I do not see any fix or people with my exact issues...

So at last, Windows 7 RC1 x64 has audio problems which kinda surprised me since the Beta version worked flawlessly.

I will post most if I can get the problem fixed!

until then.. adios!

List of useful / must have applications/websites

The list can be found at the forum .

Sony HDR-TG5 - Smallest full HD camcorder

Sony will make available the HDR-TG5 full HD (1920x1080) 10x optical zoom camcorder in May 2009 starting from the hefty price tag of around US$1000. The device comes with built-in 16GB of memory and also spot GPS for geo-tagging - neat!

The unit although pricey may steer high-end customers away from Flip devices (now owned by Cisco) or Creative's VadoHD offerings. This is true for Sony die-hards who wants true HD resolution and optical zoom to boot. 16gb will certainly add more recording time to the device as well.

Brand New iPhone Forum

There is a brand new iPhone ideas forum at Aptus Ventures.

The forum serves as a scratch pad to get ideas for new Apps that iPhone users may want.

Projection on mid-air