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DigitalOptics enlists Lite-On for MEMS camera production
Five months after DigitalOptics' memscam module showed off its Lytro-like multi-focus feature at MWC, it has a production contract. Lite-On, the company known for budget Blu-ray drives and moldable mice, plans to start production of the speedy camera part later this year and hit "high volume capacity" sometime in 2014. We left MWC impressed by the MEMS' (microelectromechanical system) 10ms settling time and are curious where this clever contraption could wind up. Speaking of which, Lite-On assures us that its "Chinese Smartphone customers" are interested.
Lite-On's Mobile Lamp LED bulb works even when the power is out
We hate to break it to you, but those LED light bulbs that are shaped like traditional light bulbs? It's all a lie. LEDs are naturally pretty small things, and while there might be dozens scattered about inside a bulb there's still plenty of empty space in there meant only to make the things about the same size as a good ol' incandescent. Lite-On, however, has found something to make use of that space: batteries. The company's Mobile Lamp bulb can stay on for up to two hours even after the power is turned off, effectively turning it into a flashlight. To switch the bulb on or off you simply touch the copper part while something conductive makes contact with the metal part on the bottom, which could be a lamp socket or just a finger, as shown in the brief video after the break. The bulbs are due to be out sometime next year and should be hugely popular in areas with unreliable power -- or with an abnormally high rate of magicians per-capita.
Kohjinsha DZ gets unboxed and stretched out
It's been a good while since we've seen an unboxing as thorough as this, even if the quality of the recording could be better. The chaps over at Wow Pow have sourced one of them dual-screen Kohjinsha DZ netbooks, which have had us intrigued since we saw them at CEATEC earlier this year. What we find from their cardboard adventuring is that the DZ comes with a LiteOn charger, a 6-cell 5,200mAh battery with endurance rated at four hours (though they've suggested that might be for only one screen), a 1Seg tuner that works only in Japan, and a multitouch trackpad. Powered by a 1.6GHz AMD Neo and 4 gigs of RAM, this machine definitely wants to escape the netbook tag, and its neat inclusion of an internal USB port intended for wireless connectivity dongles gives it another unorthodox selling point. Go beyond the break to see its de-boxing.
Recession-busting $150 Blu-ray players coming this year
If digital distribution is going to be held off for another year, Blu-ray players are going to need to achieve some serious market penetration at a rather difficult time. VIZIO's $200 VBR100 should help when it releases in a few months, but could be quickly undercut by a predicted flood of $150 drives said to be inbound from a number of other industry players, including Lite-On. These "white-box" drives will probably be short on features, but so too were the cheap DVD players that killed off the VCR, and nobody thought twice about that. If all goes according to plan look for stacks of inexpensive drives to start appearing at whatever retailers are still in business later this year.
Skyla Memoir scanning digiframe caught on video
Remember Skyla's scanning digiframe? This company has managed to market a $219 piece of technology that does something that people have been doing for a hundred years without scanners, screen resolution, RAM or any of that good stuff. And you know what? It's pretty sweet. Pretty, pretty, pretty sweet. Don't believe us? Check out the video and decide for your own self.
Skyla's Memoir scanning digiframe scans and frames your precious memories
So, you've been collecting Monkees memorabilia for so long that you have a two foot tall stack of photos clipped from Tiger Beat and no way to display them all? Well, you're in luck! The Memoir Scanning Digital Photo Frame is the first product from Skyla, Lite-On's brand new consumer electronics division. It looks like almost all of the other digiframes out there, for better or for worse (actually, for worse) but for one key difference -- this beauty features a 4 x 6-inch, 600 dpi photo scanner. Hits the streets in late December with an expected retail price of $219.99.[Via OhGizmo!]
Lite-On's Moldable Mouse takes whatever shape you want
Finally, a mouse just for you. Thanks to the folks at Lite-On, you'll never have to suffer the debilitating discomfort of an unshapely mouse ever again. The Moldable Mouse will make all your bad memories of ill-fitting input devices float away, using a lightweight modeling clay combined with a nylon and polyurethane fabric to make up its surface. Once you're palming your new best friend, you can shape its contours to whatever form you desire, though we're pretty sure making a perfect cube will present a challenge. The "stick-on" buttons and scroll-wheel can be added to any location you like, and communicate via RFID. The thing won a Red Dot design award and everything... but coming soon? Probably not.[Via Wired]
Philips and Lite-on announce a $199 Blu-ray drive
All the action in the next-gen format war might be at the front lines of cut-rate players, but the battle rages on across the entire spectrum of devices -- which is why we've seen the poor $199 DH-401S BD-ROM drive from Philips and Lite-on touted as the answer to those $200 HD-A2s in a couple places. That's quite a stretch, obviously, but it's still much cheaper than any other BD-ROM drives we've seen. The read-only SATA drive pulls data off BD media at 4X, single layer DVDs at 12X, DVD-DL and DVD±RW at 8x, and CDs at 32X. Giving up write capabilites is obviously limiting, but for those of you building out HTPCs, this bad boy might be just the ticket.[Thanks, AG23]
Lite-On finally releases 20x Super AllWrite LH-20A1P DVD burner
Ok, so we knew these bad boys were coming, and now they're finally here -- well, almost. Lite-On is setting the burning world on fire with its newly released 20X Super AllWrite LH-20A1P DVD burner. Touting a lighting-fast 20x write speed for single-sided DVD+/-R discs and 8x for DVDs of the dual-layer variety, the new burner can toast 4.7GB of data in "around five minutes." Of course, it can handle those CD-R / RWs as well, and even DVD-RAM, but we all know you DVD archivers are after the coveted 20x mark when eying this one. To prevent pumping out coasters at an alarming rate, Lite-On included its SMART-BURN technology, which provides buffer underrun protection to keep those burns error free. Unfortunately, the drive hasn't quite hit shelves yet, but it should be ready to grab sometime next month for a currently undisclosed price.[Via Far East Gizmos]
LiteOn HD-A070GX HD PVR with HDD and DVD
It's all been done before, and we're sure it'll all be done again, but LiteOn's new HD-A970GX hybrid PVR boasts of HD resolutions, and works with a hard drive and DVD drive for storage and playback. The 320GB drive isn't the largest around, but it should do the trick, and the included HDMI cable is a nice touch. The A970GX records video to DivX so you can ship your recordings over to you PC or portable player without much hassle. The unit also does the 1080p upscale thing, which is still one of your best bets for getting passable "HD" content for your fancy HDTV. No word on price or availability.[Via PVR Wire]
