Peddle YoGen MaxT to keep your laptop alive

Earlier on we noticed that alternative energy source battery chargers are steadily gaining their popularity. Under alternative energy source battery chargers I mean of course those which use any energy source except for the one coming from the plug. Hence the most popular sources are wind power and solar power. Mechanical (kinetic) power is a bit less popular in portable gadgets but is used widely in modern-day hybrid vehicles. However wind and solar power sound odd in winter so Easy Energy decided to step in with a kinetic power charger. They call it YoGen MaxT and it is up to charge your notebook for a period limited only by your personal physical abilities.

Well actually even when the foot needs some rest, YoGen MaxT can help it with some rest. The paddle it has charges AA batteries, and they in turn power the notebook so it doesn't shut down as soon as the paddle stops. Easy Energy has its proprietary chargers which are very thin. On the picture their cover is seen as two jutting out parts at the both sides of the foot. Underneath the foot there is a tunable high ratio micro-transmission device. The tuning range of power output it provides is a really good thing to have if you are using different electronic gadgets and each requires its specific power input.

The YoGen MaxT folds in a handy box and will not be abusive in a trip even in a short one. In a folded form its dimensions are 170 x 184 x 49 mm. The width and height increase little bit when YoGen MaxT is set to work. Also the number of AA batteries is optional - up 12 of them and in standard it has a number of adapters for the plug and a battery indicator.

It really seems to me that YoGen MaxT is a quality product and as a portable charger will be great at least until it is worm enough for solar chargers. But also it might look hilarious to peddle the box on public and in a video Easy Energy has presented, YoGen MaxT is clattering loud which sure is not good. Such a way then its future will be defined by its price.

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 fuels four displays simultaneously

As is turns up, graphic cards have to do a lot more than just support latest DirectX 10 games and playback HD quality content. For instance, it would be great for a modern GPU to meet needs of a businessman who has to do presentations at work on big screens or plausibly uses more than one screen at the same time every day. All these via a laptop, or why not, a small form factor PC. Such a way GPU developers have a little bit different target group to satisfy, and here is what NVIDIA got for them. This is an upcoming NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 graphic card. It will come out in February for 499 USD as manufacturer suggests.

NVIDIA Quadro NVS 420 GPU may be aimed for multi-display functions and to fit some small dimensions, but of course it has enough guts to for almost any PC game out there. In fact, it has 512 MB in it and 11.2 GBps bandwidth speed, so, should be enough for a couple of years. However the main thing still is how it handles a number of widescreen displays. Thanks to NVIDIA nView display software, Quadro NVS 420 can support up to four 30 inch displays at 2560 x 1600 resolution. More specs are: 4 x DisplayPort, 4 x Dual Link DVI and CUDA Parallel Computing Processor with 16 cores. This is how NVS 420 comes up to 499 USD, but I can easily find a whole new small form factor computer for that kind of money. I think Quadro NVS 420 is utterly expensive even though it can be a good value for money with all that gear stuffed into SFF GPU. And here is one more issue. How it is going to be cooled down by a small-sized fan and yet be quiet enough not to be annoying?

Very efficient Sharp Aquos D Series - is that what you want?

TV is a sort of gadget that will not loose a piece of its popularity until something better is invented. It is mostly entertaining and hardly ever particularly useful, but we can't just say "no" to it. This is how an ordinary TV becomes a great thing for environmentalists to worry about. But usually they don’t manage to do it faster then developers do because saying about a TV: "This one is environmentally friendly", they guarantee themselves good sales. The latest "green" LCDs now are Sharp Aquos D series models, but as we think, they are not cutting edge, they are too late I'm afraid.

Sharp will let Aquos D models flow in the Japanese market on February 20th. There will be three of them differing mostly by their size: 32" for 1556 USD, 26" for 1230 USD and 20" for 1007 USD. The 32 inch model has better contrast ratio - 3000 : 1, and the other two models both have 1500 : 1. The part of Sharp's work on new Aquos D models that viewer will actually see is also 1366 x 768 resolution, 450 cd/m2 luminance, HD quality, and so on, and so, on. But the main part of Aquos D, the side that developers are showing off, is hidden behind the screen and shall never be seen until you look at how much you have to pay for electricity this month. Aquos D will save you more that 50 percents of average expanses on the same-sized LCD. This is not only economical, but green because it doesn't use that much electricity born in difficult labor. And the plastic is also less damaging when recycled.

However, even though no one can deny a huge work made by Sharp, they didn't beat OLED technology because they didn't have a chance. They got close to it with efficiency measures, but are far away with performance. It is clear now that OLED is the future by any standards, why then to go much further with LCD?

Cellular broadband "Vizit" photo frame from Isabella Products

Cellular broadband is a great thing especially with its 3G capabilities. It has very nice speed for both downloading and uploading content, wide coverage, even better than WiFi usually. However, having these advantages mobile networks have been serving very few digital photo frames. A brief while ago, in November '08, T-Mobile has introduced one, and there are no any other successful examples of cellular network digital photo frames coming to my mind. But we are getting one more this spring probably. Isabella Products has announced its "Vizit" photo frame with Internet connection based on cellular network and what's more, it is a 10.4 inch touchscreen with some interesting features in it.

Isabella Products may have done a questionable design work. Vizit looks a bit coarse with a large holder behind, but anyway developers though of different kinds of materials and colors. Silver or gunmetal body with rosewood or teak insertions will be available. But design is moved aside by 10.4 inch touchscreen and gadget's capabilities. The screen is LCD with not yet affirmed resolution, nor are its other features. Manufacturer promises of course high resolution and vivid colors. Isabella Products notices that the main advantage if Vizit photo frame is two-way communication, fast and easy photo exchange all via mobile network, which is priced higher than WiFi. However it is Vizit's main advantage. First of all it can easily be used by grandparents or even kids, because grandparents may not have WiFi at their home but can still keep in touch with recent photos of their relatives. Second advantage – user friendly menu. Visibly, Isabelle Product made touching areas quite big and there are not much confusing buttons.

Vizit photo frame will be in stores in short time. Not earlier than spring and most probably in March. MSRP for Vizit is 299 USD.

5 extra minutes under water thanks to Phantom