Hackable home media system features touchscreen controller -Linux Device

Raumfeld System

The Raumfeld System pools digital music from
(Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)  set of networking protocols The goals of UPnP are to allow devices to connect seamlessly and to simplify the implementation of networks in the home (data sharing, communications, and entertainment) derived from plug-and-play, a technology for dynamically attaching devices directly to a computer. UPnP devices are "plug-and-play" in that when connected to a network they automatically announce their network address and supported device and services types, enabling clients that recognize those types to immediately begin using the device.
(Audio and Video) AV/DLNA ( Digital Living Network Alliance)  compatible devices on a home network, including Macs, PCs, NAS (networked-attached storage) devices, or UPnP-based Internet radio appliances. It then streams all this content via Wi-Fi to the system's speakers.
Its algorithms enable the synchronous and lossless transmission of audio files over a standard wireless LAN. This patent-pending technology supports high quality and fully synchronized music playback in many rooms, claims the company. The Raumfeld System can be a free-standing digital music system or work in conjunction with existing stereo equipment via the Connector, the company adds.


The system includes a touchscreen Controller, two types of speakers, and the Connector unit, as well as a Base unit that acts as a Wi-Fi access point and media server. The controller, speakers, and Connectors are all equipped with Marvell's 624MHz PXA310 (Monahans-LV) system-on-chip (SoC), as well as 128MB of RAM and 128MB of flash memory, says Raumfeld. Each of these units is also said to supply 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connections. In addition, the Controller and speakers feature large analog volume controls.

Are you ready for HTML 5?

(HTML5) XX Hyper Text Markup Language 5 

The WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group) started developing HTML5 in June 2004. (Read how HTML5 got to that point at Dive into HTML5 by Mark Pilgrim.) By January 2008, a joint effort between the WHATWG and the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) resulted in the publication of the W3C Working Draft. The W3C Candidate Recommendation is due in 2012, with the W3C Recommendation due in 2022.

This would be the point where most people go: "Huh?"

Yes, 2022 is in the future...12 years in the future, to be exact. However, no one has to wait until the final recommendation to start using HTML5. In fact, Google has been using HTML5 for its search and mail application since mid-2009, and the Google PacMan page (created to celebrate PacMan's 30-year anniversary) was created with HTML5 elements. One thing to note, though, is that Google's pages are not valid HTML5.

So why would you want to start using HTML5 now? And what do you have to watch out for? The answers, as always, are "It depends."

Pros

I think the following features will help with HTML5's adoption rate.

New DOCTYPE - Over the years, I have only met a handful of people who have memorized one of the HTML or XHTML DOCTYPES. That's because they look like:

And:

The new HTML5 DOCTYPE is easy to type and easy to remember:

That's it. And adding it to an HTML file is all that's needed to make an HTML5 page.

Semantic areas - Some folks don't care about semantics in any version of HTML. (In this case, "semantics" means that the name of the area matches its purpose. For example, do you know when you should use the CSS class "BoldRed"? How about "warning"? What about a div called "left" as compared to a div called "content"?)

For those who care about semantics, HTML5 addresses them with areas called header, nav, article, section, aside, and footer--you still need CSS to position them, though. All browsers except IE recognize these new areas, and IE will recognize them if you use a script to define them. (Remy Sharp has defined a script for this purpose; read about it at HTML5 enabling script.)

Read more: Are you ready for HTML 5? - FierceContentManagement http://www.fiercecontentmanagement.com/story/are-you-ready-html-5/2010-05-25#ixzz0tsFoyy7i

Liquid-cooled search results

 Google has a newly-issued patent for dual-sided liquid-cooled motherboards. Are they ramping up density instead of building new data centers?
Patent 20080158818
Here’s the basic idea:

• The mobo has the hot components on 1 side and the less hot on the other.
• The liquid cooling unit is sandwiched between 2 mobos.
• Disks are on the outside of the sandwich, as is the DRAM.
• Fans are mounted on the outside to air cool the external low thermal load components.
• The hot stuff is next to the cold stuff.

Here’s a drawing from the patent:

The round holes in this side view are for the liquid coolant.
The patent was filed in December 2006.

Obama Patent Office approves, then nixes trademarks for marijuana

United States Patent and Trademark Office.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, some creative souls at the USPTO created a new category of trademarkable item: “Processed plant matter for medicinal purposes, namely medical marijuana”.
Now, as it turns out, selling pot is a federal crime. So creating a new category of trademark specifically for marijuana was, well, ill-advised. As it turns out, the USPTO created this new category on April 1, 2010. Yep, April Fool’s Day.

Read More at :  
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/government/obama-patent-office-approves-then-nixes-trademarks-for-marijuana/9210?tag=nl.e620

HyperMac Stand props up iPad; extends battery life by 16 hours

Ready to prop up an iPad in either landscape or portrait positions, there are two rubberized slots that holds the tablet at either 18 or 45-degree angles, depending on what you’re doing. (For example, if you want to type on the touchscreen or just watch a movie.)
The shining feature is really the 40-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which can extend the iPad’s battery life by a whopping 16 hours. (You charge the stand via mini-USB.) Users can monitor how far the battery has charged up by the 5-stage lighted LED indicator.
The HyperMac Stand is available now for $129.95. Pricey for an accessory, but at least it sounds useful.

Digital Audio outs Wi-Fi connected Tuner:

The Tuner

"Grace Digital Audio has released its latest home Internet radio, the Tuner. It streams Pandora, Sirius and users' music collections, along with 30,000 Internet radio stations, podcasts and on-demand Wi-Fi radio content. There is both an Ethernet jack and Wi-Fi built-in."

Dell Streak Tablet Phone Will Fully Support Only ATT's Network

Dell Streak Tablet Phone with Android OS

Dell has confirmed that the only wireless carrier that its Android OS-powered Dell Streak tablet phone is going to fully support will be AT&T.

Users will be able to make voice calls on either T-Mobile or AT&T, and connect to both carrier's EDGE service, but this smartphone will support only AT&T's 3G network because T-Mobile's uses a different range of wireless frequencies.

Still, the Streak is going to offer
Wi-Fi, so T-Mobile subscribers could possibly get by using short-range wireless networking at their home and office and the 2.5G standard EDGE when on the move.

As the Streak is going to be a GSM device, Verizon and Sprint customers are going to be completely out in the cold.

Apple Intros Quad-core i5, i7 iMacs 

Apple released updated iMac models sporting quad-core Intel i5 and i7 processors Tuesday morning. Dual-core i3 and i5 models are also available, and the new iMac is available with 21.5-inch and now 27-inch LED backlit displays, too.
"The updated iMac ships with 4GB RAM, a slot loading double-layer 8x SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort for audio and video out, 802.11n AirPort Extreme wireless networking, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 800 port, a built-in iSight video camera, built-in stereo speakers and microphone, and SDXC SD card slot, and Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse."

Apple Quad-core 27-inch iMac

iMac i7 Quad-core