Sony Internet TV powered by GoogIe

Heavyweights team up to create Sony Internet TV, powered by Google TV

Sony NSX-24GT with remote

In May, Sony and Google announced a strategic alliance to develop new Android-based hardware products. The partnership is bearing fruit in the form of Sony Internet TV, powered by Google TV. It seems that most premium new release HDTVs come with Internet connectivity these days but one of the big differences offered by Sony’s Internet TV devices is a Dual View feature that lets viewers watch TV and surf the web at the same time.

Sony Internet TV is available in integrated LCD HDTV models as well as a Blu-ray Disc player that brings Sony Internet TV functionality to an existing HDTV. Built on the Android platform, it runs the Google Chrome browser and is powered by an Intel Atom processor. All the TVs include 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, USB ports, DLNA, UPnP and 8 GB of built-in storage. As well as Sony’s Video On Demand powered by Qriocity streaming service and a variety of pre-installed apps including CNBC, Napster, NBA, Netflix, Pandora, Twitter and YouTube, from early 2011 the devices will also let users access and add applications from the Android Market.

The ability to surf the web to find the name of some actor, tweet about what they’re watching or check their gmail without losing a minute of their favorite show will no doubt appeal to many people and that’s just what Dual View does. However, the Dual View function doesn’t split the screen 50/50 or let the user decide whether the TV picture or Internet content will dominate. Instead the TV picture is relegated to a small Picture-in-Picture (PIP) in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Making sure the on screen text was large enough to read and the aspect ratio of the widescreen format probably didn’t make things easy in this regard but it would be nice to see an update that at least lets users easily switch which content is relegated to the PIP.

The ability to browse the Internet also means a chunky remote in the form of an RF QWERTY keypad that incorporates an optical mouse. The remote’s layout and size means that, although it might be convenient for surfing the web, it’s probably going to be too big for one-handed surfing of the channel variety. Users of select Android phones will also be able to control the TV with an app that will be available from the Android Market in a few months.

The Sony Internet TV line includes the 24-inch NSX-24GT1 (US$599.99), the 32-inch NSX-32GT1 ($799.99), the 40-inch NSX-40GT1 ($999.99), and the 46-inch NSX-46GT1 ($1,399.99). Those looking to get onboard with Sony Internet TV but don’t want to buy a new TV can opt for the NSZ-GT1 Blu-ray Disc Player ($399.99). All the TVs feature distinctive white backs with black gloss bezels, while the Blu-ray player features white front and sides and gloss black top. All come with the QWERTY keypad and all will be available from Sony Style from October 16 and at Best Buy shortly after.

Hybrid Electric Yacht

Hybrid-electric Tag 60 yacht hits the water

Tang in St Francis Bay, South Africa

Vehicles of the wheeled variety aren’t the only ones going green. U.S. companies International Battery and Electric Marine Propulsion (EMP) are partnering up to build a hybrid power train for the world’s largest plug-in, hybrid electric boats and yachts. The partnership has resulted in one of the world’s largest plug-in hybrid sailboats, a Tag 60 catamaran christened Tang, hitting the water on September 21. It is a 60 ft (18m) carbon-fiber speedster that can be powered by the wind, even when the wind isn’t blowing.

Tang is powered by twin EMP E motion 18 kW permanent-magnet electric motors and International Battery lithium battery cells configured into a 144-volt battery pack providing a total energy capacity of 46 kWh. The boat’s main renewable energy input to the large-format battery pack is electricity regenerated by wind power as the boat’s propellers spin in the boat's wake when it is under sail. The propellers turn the 18-kW motors, which automatically become generators and send electricity back to the batteries. The companies say solar panels can also be set up to feed into the battery pack, but Tang is not equipped with them.

Tang is the first boat to have the new motors installed but assuming the system performs as expected, they’ll also be installed on the next Tag 60, which is already more than half built.

When there’s not enough wind, twin 22-kW diesel generators kick in, either together or individually as needed, to recharge the batteries. The generators are 144-volt dc units that recharge the batteries directly without the normal energy loss incurred through a charger.

The batteries can also be charged with a 144-volt charger that plugs into shore power and is designed to handle a wide range of voltages and frequencies – handy for those out-of-the-way ports with erratic electricity supplies.

“The initial thrust and response when engaging forward is vastly better than anything experienced with standard diesel propulsion,” said Tim van der Steene, managing director of Tag Yachts. “It’s quiet, and the power is there instantly. It goes hand-in-hand with sailing, which is about moving in harmony with nature, quietly, without polluting the environment.”

While the main power output from the battery pack goes to power the twin propulsion motors, it also sends power to a DC-AC inverter that makes 110/220-volt, 50/60 Hz alternating current for powering AC appliances, a DC-DC converter that steps down the voltage for 24-volt and 12-volt house power and a pair of 144 vdc hydraulic pumps. These pumps power a hydraulic system that operates the rotating wing mast, centerboards, sheet winches, anchor windlass, dinghy platform, controllable-pitch feathering propellers and other moving parts on the boat.

The battery pack’s 46 kWh capacity is more than twice the usable capacity of an 8D battery pack – the largest conventional size carried with the E motion system – yet weighs roughly 40 percent less.

International Battery CEO, Ake Almgren, says, “Using our large-format lithium prismatic cells as the building blocks, we can provide battery systems with high energy density, which means smaller footprints and lower weight. In addition, because we use a unique, environmentally friendly, water-based manufacturing process, our batteries will feel right at home storing clean, renewable energy for this hybrid vessel and others to follow.”

The extra energy capacity allows the yacht to include a variety of creature comforts, including a 37-inch TV, Bose entertainment system, LED lighting, café-size espresso machine, two refrigerator-freezers, microwave, conventional oven, gas or electrical burner top, washer-dryer, air-conditioning and a water maker.

The Tag 60 line was designed by New Zealand naval architect Greg Young and Tang is currently undergoing tests at Tag facilities in St. Francis Bay, South Africa. She’s due to set sail across the Atlantic to her owner in Florida later this year and will appear at the Miami Sailboat Show in February.

Source: Daren Quick

Next Generation Calculator

Casio unveils next gen graphing calculator

Casio has unveiled its next generation graphing calculator - the PRIZM, designed to deliver graphs and statistical data as they appear in color textbooks

A quarter of a century after introducing the world's first graphing calculator, Casio has announced its next generation model that's been designed to deliver graphs and statistical data as they appear in color textbooks. The PRIZM gets a new, modern body design, offers high resolution color graphics and gives students the opportunity to plot graphs over background image curves and then discover the math functions used to create them.

Casio's new PRIZM (fx-CG10) graphing calculator's outer shell now benefits from a more modern, mobile phone-like appearance. Above the rows of input buttons is a high resolution 82,944 dot, 3.7-inch color LCD screen that's said to offer a textbook-like display. There's 61,440 byte program and 16MB storage capacity and the power consumption of 0.6W is claimed to translate to 140 hours of use on four AAA-sized alkaline batteries.

Casio has included something called the Picture Plot function which enables "students to experiment by creating their own graphs over pictures of real-life scenes, and then understand the functions from the graphs that they created on their own." Once the graph has been plotted over any one of 55 types of color images of real-life curved shapes such as the parabola of jets from a water fountain, the student can then perform regression calculations to help them understand what math functions were used to generate the graph overlay.

The PRIZM comes pre-loaded with 40 images which can be used in eight of the calculator's 15 applications and also features a Color Link function that matches spreadsheet values to colors used in graphs to help students better understand changes in trends and values.

The 0.81 x 3.52 x 7.42-inch (20.57 x 89.4 x 188.46mm) graphing calculator has a USB 2.0 port for hooking up to Casio's GREEN SLIM data projectors for display to the whole class or direct connection to a computer to allow students to share calculations using Casio's manager software.

Casio says that the PRIZM will be available from January 2011 for a suggested retail price of US$129.

Source: Paul Ridden