Archive for April 13th, 2006
Like the high-performance, luxury sports car that inspired it, the TAG Heuer SLR for Mercedes-Benz is an audacious creation, blending Classicism and Avant-Garde, with an overall design that reflects the values of the “dream car”: power, performance, motor-racing spirit, innovation and elegance. Launched in a limited edition of 3,500 pcs, its pushbuttons are boldly positioned on the top of the case, ergonomically inclined at 45 degrees; a timekeeping scale is audaciously placed inside the case on a rotating, mechanic, unidirectional ring driven by a second crown at 9 o’clock. The exterior bezel, elegantly polished in black finish and engraved “SLR,” is thus able to feature a tachymeter, like those used by professional racers to calculate speed.
To accentuate these innovations even further, the dial features superbly high-end finishings: ten double index diamond facets have been applied by hand one-by-one; two rhodium-plated rings elegantly circle the counters at 3 and 9 o’clock; and the hands have been diamond-tipped by hand.
April 13th, 2006
Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wireless and wired networking, storage and memory solutions announced today it is the first WLAN vendor to make available via retail the highly anticipated IEEE 802.11n draft specification Wi-Fi solutions.
The latest additions to Buffalo’s high-performance line of wireless networking solutions are designed to far surpass the speed and performance of current Wi-Fi solutions, including those with speed and range enhancing technology. With the ability to produce data rates near 300Mbps, the new 802.11n draft specification products are ideally suited for applications that demand greater bandwidth such as VoIP or high definition video. Buffalo’s new products also boast improved stability for wireless streaming, increased security and enhanced wireless range.
Buffalo’s TeraStation Pro Series of Terabyte Network Attached Storage offers powerful storage and server solutions for the SMB market. Combining advanced fault tolerant data solutions, robust file security and Gigabit Ethernet networking, TeraStation Pro allows users to deploy a simple, cost-effective data server to their office in literally minutes without cutting corners on features or expandability.
Available for sale on
April 13th, 2006
Slim, sleek and shinning through with features, the Samsung Q1 is designed to match the all the demands for high performance mobile computing with multimedia and the desire for a bold personal statement.
Samsung’s new concept Q1 places emphasis on perfectly balancing connectivity, entertainment and computing performance with ultra mobility.
The essence of this product lies in its groundbreaking multimedia functionality. The instant on AVS Multimedia features allows you to experience movies, photos and music the touch of a button, without starting windows. The 3 button pad combined with 8 way stick is ideal for PC gaming, while the SRS true sound provides a real alternative to traditional MP3 players.
The Q1 utilises the full functionality of a conventional notebook PC for those who demand ultra mobile computing with Intel Celeron M or Pentium M Processors and Microsoft Windows XP Tablet OS, displayed on a stunning 7” touch screen.
Design Inspired by the latest technology, Q1’s sleek, elegant pearl black casing protects your information with pure sophistication. With additional carry case options, it’s the perfect mobile companion.
April 13th, 2006
The 8707v is based on a 312MHz Intel PXA901 processor backed with 16MB of SRAM and 64MB of Flash memory. In addition to 3G connectivity, the handset provides quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS operation, though it’s not clear whether EDGE support is included as it is with regular 8700-series Blackberries. However, it seems the 3G modem is used exclusively for data.
Research in Motion (RIM) confirmed on Wednesday that it intends to roll out its BlackBerry wireless email service in China with China Mobile Ltd by the middle of this year.
The Chinese market offers vast potential for RIM as the worlds largest telecommunications market, and China Mobile is the world’s top cellular carrier by subscribers with over two thirds of this market.
RIM also plans to launch the BlackBerry wireless solution with another 100 telecoms providers globally in 2006, with more than 10 of them in the Asia Pacific region. This builds on an already impressive level of international coverage, as RIM already works with over 160 other carriers in over 60 countries worldwide. In Asia alone, RIM already has existing arrangements with 21 telecoms providers in 11 markets. Lo also said that BlackBerry planned to launch its highly anticipated 3G enabled device in the second half of 2006, possibly in the July to September quarter, but failed to confirm any details of the device or its rumoured specification.
April 13th, 2006
Aston Martin and Nokia have announced the Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition. This exclusive iteration of the Nokia 8800 will be manufactured in strictly limited numbers, and features a discrete laser-etched ‘Aston Martin’ logo on the stainless steel casing. This is complemented by the words, now synonymous with Aston Martin, ‘Power, Beauty & Soul’, etched into the Nokia 8800’s unique stand-alone charging station, plus elegantly-designed packaging bearing the Aston Martin wings.
The Nokia 8800 is Nokia’s flagship phone, an elegant combination of the best quality materials and high technology. Beautifully proportioned, the Nokia 8800 feels right in the hand, whether open or closed. The slender stainless steel slider case has a weighty, machined feel, with the polished and brushed metal casing, juxtaposed with surgical-quality resin and finished with processes usually used in watch-making, offers a uniquely tactile experience. The bistable spring mechanism used in the sliding feature, which opens to reveal a concealed camera, uses ball-bearings more commonly found in high-performance cars, appropriately enough. Sliding open the phone is a precise and smooth movement takes just a fraction of a second. The colour display is protected by a specially toughened glass screen, adding to the premium feel.
The Nokia 8800 is a tri-band mobile telephone, offering a full colour 208 x 208 pixel display, complete with SVGA camera that offers both image and movie functions. In addition, the Nokia 8800 provides a digital music player with 64MB of internal memory. The Nokia 8800’s Bluetooth connectivity will synchronise with all Aston Martin models, allowing for easy operation through the car’s centre console and safe and convenient hands-free calling.
In addition to the Nokia 8800’s standard ring tones, which were created for the phone by award-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition comes loaded with a selection of exclusive Aston Martin content, including a short documentary film, striking wallpapers featuring the company’s current range, a screensaver based on the famous crystal starter button found in all Aston Martin models, and ring tones that sample the evocative roar of the Vantage’s V8 engine
April 13th, 2006
Olympus Corporation (Olympus) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic) have been engaged in joint development of cameras that comply with the Four Thirds System standard for interchangeable-lens-type digital SLR cameras, and will display the fruit of their labors at the PMA 2006 International Convention and Trade Show that starts in February 26, in Orlando, Florida. Olympus will exhibit the E-330, a recently introduced product that incorporates jointly developed technologies, and Panasonic will announce development of the DMC-L1, its first digital SLR camera. A prototype of the DMC-L1 will also be exhibited.
The two cameras are the result of an agreement announced on January 13, 2005, under which Olympus and Panasonic agreed to jointly develop underlying technologies and key components, and promote the introduction of digital SLR camera products that take full advantage of the significant user benefits offered by the Four Thirds System standard.
As its first digital SLR camera, Panasonic has developed the DMC-L1, which combines the operating feel of an analog camera with Live View shooting and other ease-of-use features that are unique to digital cameras. By using the Live MOS sensor and proprietary Venus Engine III image-processing LSI, Panasonic has maximized the performance potential of both devices and successfully achieved the high image quality and high processing speeds that are critical to SLR camera performance. Following additional development efforts, Panasonic plans to introduce the DMC-L1 later this year. By teaming Olympus’s industry-leading SLR camera technology with Panasonic’s advanced digital AV technology to offer Four Thirds System digital SLR cameras and a wide lens lineup, the two companies plan to offer camera enthusiasts a level of creativity and satisfaction have never experienced before.
April 13th, 2006
Automoblox allows children to experience beneficial play with activities that provide limitless joy, imagination, and creativity. We do this by offering a high-quality building system that will delight and inspire children while fostering the development of important skills and learning foundations.
There are few things as appealing as a pick-up truck. They are what you take over back wood trails or what you throw your stuff into before zooming off to your latest adventure. The T9 pick-up will have your children imagining daring adventures over rock strewn trails and long trips to places only a beloved pick-up can take them.
The T9 pick-up will have your children imagining daring adventures over tock strewn trails and long tips to places only a beloved pick-up can take them. They will enjoy taking the T9 apart as well rebuilding it and dreaming up their own creations. Pop off the roof, quickly snap together the front and rear blocks or exchange them with parts from other models for countless hours of fun and learning.
April 13th, 2006
David Smith was foremost among the welder-sculptors who came to prominence in the U.S. after World War II. Following the example set by Julio González and Pablo Picasso, who created welded-steel sculptures as early as 1928, the Americans constructed their work directly out of iron and steel sheets and wires rather than employing the traditional method of casting. In the 1930s and 1940s, influenced by Surrealism and Constructivism , Smith created hybrid figural sculptures and dramatic mise-en-scènes. During the 1950s he began to work in stylistic series ranging from the complicated abstract drawings-in-space of the Agricolas to the anthropomorphic and totemic sculptures incorporating machine parts such as the Sentinels and Tank Totems. In the later part of the decade and into the 1960s his work became more volumetric and monolithic.
Smith completed 28 works in his last series of monumental abstract structures, the Cubis, before his death in May 1965. These celebrated sculptures were composed from a repertoire of geometric cubes and cylinders of varying proportions. All of the Cubis are made of stainless steel, which Smith burnished to a highly reflective surface. He told critic Thomas Hess, “I made them and I polished them in such a way that on a dull day they take on a dull blue, or the color of the sky in the late afternoon sun, the glow, golden like the rays, the colors of nature.”
Some of the Cubis are vaguely figural, while others, such as Cubi XXVII, suggest architecture. This example is one of three Cubis usually referred to as “Gates”, which rise like giant rudimentary doorways framing a central void. By counterbalancing a cylinder that appears to rest precariously on edge with two small tilted blocks that look equally unstable, Smith emphasized the potential energy captured through the welding technique. The artist activated the surface of the structure through the curling traces left by the polishing process, creating, in his words, “a structure that can face the sun and hold its own against the blaze and the power.”
Price: $23.8 million, Nov. 9, 2005 , Sotheby’s New York
April 13th, 2006
