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More EXOdesk details spill: at least two models in the works, ViewSonic wants in
Sadly, we'll still have to wait for CES to leave fingerprints allover the EXOdesk, but at least we've got a few more details to hold us over till then. For one, we now know that ExoPC has two models in the works -- one that's simply an external display and another that integrates a complete Core i7 computer running Windows 7. Apps specifically designed for the EXOdesk, coded in HTML5, will be available from the EXOstore. The company has already announced a number of planned programs, including a news reader, virtual keyboards, board games and musical instruments. It also looks like ViewSonic will be demoing its own 32-inch flavor of EXOdesk at CES, though whether or not the company actually plans to sell such a device remains a mystery. Check out the source link for a few more images.
NEC 52-inch table disguised as boring office furniture
The problem with Microsoft Surface is that it looks too much like fun. NEC has the right idea: affix some trolley wheels, brush some aluminum, give it a sedate name like "X-info Table" and then maybe, just maybe, traditional businesses will start buying into the idea. The specs, however, are easily sufficient to handle a few rounds of office Pinball HD (as in the photo above): a Core i7 CPU running Windows 7 on the 52-inch full HD screen, 6GB of RAM, three USB ports, support for multiple sub-displays, and a scanning function. There's no price yet, but you can probably expect to pay more for the 350-pound frame than for the computer itself.
Addon Spotlight: More information from Visual Combat Table
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Tanking used to be inaccessible because of the numbers game -- mitigation numbers that were hidden away in the great unknown. Players had to rely on the stalwart parsers and number crunchers over at EJ, Tankspot, Maintankadin, and all sorts of websites in order to inform the community about these magic numbers on defensive stats to let a tank do his job. Nowadays, hit and miss numbers are easily displayed for players, and defense as a statistic to worry about is gone forever. That all being said, the tanking game is still a numbers game, but this time it is more nuanced with the introduction of mastery and the ability to mitigate most damage a tank takes. You've seen numbers being thrown around and you may or may not know what they mean. Well, Visual Combat Table (VCT) is here to make sense of those numbers for you. Tanking is soon to become another hot commodity role to fill in the upcoming Raid Finder, so arming new tanks with mitigation knowledge is always a good thing. My introduction to VCT started with an email from its creator letting me know about its existence and the role he felt the addon played in the tanking community as a whole. While reading his email, I thought back to my first few weeks of tanking in Cataclysm and realized that for all of the information the game was showing and telling me there still was a great deal that I was struggling with. I wanted more information, and sifting through forum threads wasn't giving me a quick enough answer.
Plug your iPad into a 150-inch touch display
Earlier this year, Crunchy Logistics unveiled an interactive, multi-touch table to rival Microsoft's surface devices. The LED table had 36 touch-points and supported common gestures like swipe and pinch-to-zoom. It's literally the size of a conference table. Best of all, the Florida company has taken this display technology and adapted it to work with the iPhone and iPad. Appropriately named Padzilla, the display ranges in size from 70-inches up to 150-inches and has an equally large price tag. The 70-inch model, shown in the video below, starts at US$30,000 and includes an iPad. If you don't have an iPad, you can always connect your iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. You can use it on the wall as shown above or in a mount that turns it into a wild and crazy table.
iTableous is a white iPhone 4 fit for a giant (video)
If you like flying unicorns, you probably love giant flying unicorns, right? Well, the white iPhone 4 has officially gone from myth to reality, but it seems some folks are still chasing the dream in a BIG way. Case in point: iTableous, an outsized tabletop bearing a striking resemblance to the long-awaited iOS handset. Unlike previous iPhone tables we've seen, this one doesn't support multi-touch -- a wireless keyboard and mouse hold the keys to navigating this behemoth -- but it does offer 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 500GB of internal storage, a 5.7 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, as well USB, HDMI and a good old 30-pin connector for hooking up the real-deal. What's more, this iPhone's a dual-booter, capable of running Mac OSX 10.6.7 (via Hackintosh) and Windows 7 Professional. If you're living at the tip of a beanstalk and need to shake that tired old 3GS, check out the video of iTableous in action after the break.
LED coffee table busts a multicolored move (video)
It might look like something out of MJ's Billie Jean, but this colorful LED array won't be under moonwalking foot -- that is, unless the party gets crunk. This colorful grid is actually a table top, brought to you by way of TI's MSP430 microcontroller, and it knows how to get down. The table is made up of 128 frosted glass cubes, each apparently capable of emitting 16 million colors. Its creators also produced a special beat-detection software, that could very easily have your furniture outshining the bumpers and grinders at your next party. If you're looking for a little extra something from your coffee table, you can find full build instructions at the source link below.
Ideum's MT-55 'Platform' multitouch table goes ultrathin, demands but $18,000
It's been a hot minute since we've heard from the fine folks at Ideum, but when the image above floated into our inbox... well, it's safe to say our interest was piqued. We last heard from these guys back in the fall of 2009, and while The Platform is certainly a bit smaller than the 100-inch MT-50 that came before it, it's also a heck of a lot more practical for average consumers. Well, save for the price. Looking beyond that for a moment, you'll find a devilishly thin (3-inches) table, complete with 55-inches of 1080p gorgeousness, a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 178-degree viewing angle and support for a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 Professional. The internal computer includes a dual-core Core i5 CPU (2.66GHz), 8GB of memory and a 128GB SSD; you'll also find WiFi, Bluetooth and a slew of "hidden ports." The entire thing is constructed from aircraft-grade aluminum, and it supports a total of 32 touch points. We'll leave it to you to discover what it'll be used for in your future abode, but if you've got the $17,950 to take one home, you've probably got the brains to figure it out.
Pioneer's Discussion Table takes on Surface in Japan this July
Microsoft hasn't exactly set the market ablaze with Surface, but Pioneer still wants its share of the extremely limited action. The company's Surface competitor, the WWS-DT101 Discussion Table, we spotted back in December is finally coming to market this July... in Japan anyway. Up top is a 52-inch, 1920 × 1080, multitouch glass slab powered by a Core i7 processor and 6GB of RAM. On the software side you're looking at Windows 7 and a proprietary interface called SCHEDA that has the ability to wirelessly pull content from laptops, tablets, smartphones and cameras. It also has a built-in scanner for quickly turning dead tree documents into manipulatable "cards," and teleconferencing capabilities. There's no set price, but we expect it fall in the same range as Surface -- somewhere between unaffordable and unreasonable.
Arbonata Light Table classes up LEDs and dining rooms
Here's a solution for adding a little techno-flare to your furniture that's a bit more subtle than cramming computer parts into a coffee table. The Arbonata Light Table, available from nKcharms at the source link, impregnates stylish slabs of wood with over 1,700 LEDs arranged in the shape of a tree. According to designer Dennis Vetu, it's some sort of metaphor for the circle of life -- as he explains on the Arbonata site, "tree becomes wood, becomes light." Artsy prattle aside, we couldn't imagine sitting down to a ramen dinner on a classier surface. If you're not partial to branches and leaves though, nKcharms will work with customers to create unique designs. We might just order one emblazoned with a glowing Engadget logo. Sadly, there's no price listed, but then again, if you have to ask.... Don't miss the gallery below. %Gallery-121968%
Ideum releases MT55 HD multitouch table for hands-on museum-goers (video)
Ideum has taken the wraps off the latest addition to its growing family of multitouch tables, with the release of the MT55. The table, originally announced late last month, boasts a handsome 55-inch LCD display, which beams LED-backlit graphics in 1920×1080 HD resolution. As with its predecessors, the MT55's screen comes coated with a 5-mm layer of sturdy, tempered glass, and sits atop a pedestal made of aluminum and steel. Within that pedestal lurks an Intel Quad Core i7 CPU, with 4GB of RAM, a pair of 250GB SATA hard drives, and an NVIDIA Quadro 600 video card. The system runs Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, and comes packed with GestureWorks multitouch software for both Flash and Flex. The MT55 also features an integrated Bose Audio system, and can support up to 32 simultaneous touchpoints -- not quite as many as the 50 that its 100-inch counterpart can handle, but definitely enough to enthrall any class of 4th-graders on a field trip to the museum. Stroll on past the break to see the full press release and a video of the MT55 in action.
iTable iPhone dock looks like a smartphone, acts like a stereo (video)
We've seen enough iPhone docking stations to last a lifetime -- we've even seen our fair share of tables that take style cues from the smartphone -- but we have to admit, Kyle Buckner's iTable is in a league of its own. This rather involved docking solution combines the aesthetics of the iPhone 4 with a little bachelor-pad-of-the-future flair, allowing its user to summon a set of eight recessed speakers with a simple swipe of the hand. It's also packing a set of four aluminum-trimmed cup holders, complete with LED lights to give your drinks a little mood lighting of their own. The thing's all hand-crafted, and while it was designed with the iPhone 4 in mind, it can be built to fit your smartphone of choice. If you're actually considering purchasing one of these things, may we also suggest a floating bed? Of course, you could always just hop on past the jump and check out a video of the table in action instead.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: magic airplane skin, Japan's nuclear leak, and the circuit board table
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. As the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima power plant continues to devastate the region and one reactor sprung a leak releasing tons of radioactive water, this week Inhabitat reported that green algae could play a critical role in cleaning up the spill. We also brought you Japan's latest radiation-detecting robot, and we took a look at how fallout from the controversial crisis is affecting energy policy around the world -- China is cutting plans for future reactors in favor of solar fields while Germany may trade 17 nuclear plants for wind farms. In other news, green transportation went from the soaring skies to the deep blue sea this week as we looked at NASA's self-healing "magic skin" that will protect planes from lighting, and Sir Richard Branson unveiled a streamlined eco sub that will explore the ocean's depths. We also learned that the European Union is set to kick off an electric F1 racing championship just as Tesla took top place in the 5th Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally. Finally, we looked at two innovative technologies for enabling human movement -- a robotic exoskeleton that gives paraplegics the ability to walk and a prosthetic suit that lets people swim like mermaids. This week we also spotted several awesome example of green gadgetry - a colorful Legotron camera made out of everyone's favorite building bricks and a geek chic binary table constructed entirely from vintage circuit boards. We also spotted a concept for an energy-generating playground that harnesses the literal power of play.
11 The Beautiful Game is to foosball tables as Vertu is to basic Nokias (video)
Foosball, it's the game of champions too afraid to step outside and get their boots muddy. If that's a sentiment you can relate to, you'll have no trouble understanding why a team of Dutch designers has put together this here foosball table deluxe, which they've called 11 The Beautiful Game. In development since way back in 2008, the 11 has just made its way into limited production with a pre-order available via GRO Design's website. We had a little looksie inside the company's portfolio of past works and, as it turns out, it's already responsible for designing the Nokia 6500 and 6500 Slide, meaning it should be well versed in the art of massaging metal into beauty. Each unit ordered takes 12 weeks of meticulous handcrafting to build, but if you haven't got that long to wait, the video's just after the break right now. [Thanks, Martin]
Panasonic shows off solar-powered wireless charging table
Why settle for a simple solar-powered table when you can have a table that's solar-powered and a wireless charger? While you can't get one just yet, Panasonic will apparently be selling this stylish bit of tech-laden furniture by the end of this year or early next year (in Japan, at least), which will let you charge your Qi-compliant devices simply by placing them on the table. It'll also be supplying the requisite battery packs for some of its phones at the same time, though there's few other specifics to be had at the moment. Of course, even if it does actually hit the market it'll still no doubt be out or reach for most -- there is always the DIY route for particularly industrious individuals out there, though.
Visualized: Google's periodic table of APIs
The world of Google APIs and developer tools can be a confusing one, but the company has now at least brought a bit of order to the chaos with its own take on the periodic table of the elements. As you can see above, Android occupies the top spot normally reserved for hydrogen in the actual periodic table, and the remaining APIs and developer products are all grouped into their appropriate categories -- and, of course, linked to their respective websites. Hit up the link below to check out the table in its interactive form.
Sectra virtual autopsy table available now, Stan Brakhage nonplussed
Though not offering the sort of stark, terrible beauty (or the gore) of The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes, Sectra's Visual Imaging Table will let you perform a "virtual autopsy," by using CT and MRI scans to place 3D recreations of a patient's body on a large, multitouch table. What's more, the body can then be examined -- and even cut with a "virtual knife." And it's finally available "to the masses," as one company rep put it in an email this morning (although we sort of figure that if you have an MRI machine you probably aren't one of "the masses"). Check out the PR after the break, or hit up the source link to get one for yourself.
Table Connect for iPhone demonstrated on video, makes us want (update: it's fake)
Sure, showing an image and boasting wildly is one thing, but it's another thing entirely to see something as outlandish as this functioning on video. The gurus behind the Table Connect for iPhone have returned, using a jailbroken iPhone, a dedicated app (for now) and a freshly washed hand to demonstrate what iOS looks like on a 58-inch multitouch table. We've got to say -- for early software, it sure is snappy. Of course, practicality is still in question, but who ever cared about that? Head on past the break and mash play. Update: That's right, what you see here is nothing more than a table. A regular, no-frills table. More than a year after we first reported on this big old fake, LOA design took to the stage at TED to show off how they duped the internet. If you care to see how they did it, feel free to hit up the video after the break. [Thanks, Bodgan and George]
iPhone table connector project gets a demo video
What's better than an iPhone, or even an iPad for that matter? How about a table with full multi-touch capabilities that just requires a simple cable connection from your iPhone? That's exactly what the guys at Table.Connect (their website isn't currently up and running) are demonstrating in the video on the next page. The heck with Microsoft's $12,500 Surface, a similar table with touch capabilities -- this is something that a lot of iOS fans will eat up. There's no word on availability or pricing yet.
58-inch Table Connect for iPhone multitouch surface easily dwarfs your iPad (update: it's fake)
Think Hyundai's 70-inch multitouch table concept is hot stuff? Have a gander at this. The Table Connect for iPhone is dangerously close to completion, with a full-on mockup shown above. Put simply, this 58-inch multitouch surface accepts iPhone 4 connections via a 30-pin Dock Connector, and with a bit of magic, the table becomes your iPhone. The crew is currently wrapping up an alpha software release, and while a jailbroken iPhone is obviously necessary to get things going, the end result is bound to be impressive. Or at least hilarious. Here's hoping these eventually go on sale, but for now, feel free to hit the source link for one more shot and a slew of diagrams. Update: That's right, what you see here is nothing more than a table. A regular, no-frills table. More than a year after we first reported on this big old fake, LOA design took to the stage at TED to show off how they duped the internet. If you care to see how they did it, feel free to hit up the video after the break. [Thanks, George]
Bram Boo's four-seat, iPad-equipped Salsa Table looks to educate
Headed to Belgium in the near future? Frankly, we'd recommend doing two things -- not relying too heavily on the start-and-stop Brussels metro system, and stopping by the upcoming Interieur Biennale. There, you'll find Bram Boo's salsa tablet, a four-seat contraption that's designed to hold a four-pack of eager-to-learn students that can't wait to get their greasy paws on a tablet. The mockup has four of Apple's iPads, but obviously any 'ole touchscreen slate would do. It's hard to say how well this would work for collaborative efforts, but one's thing for certain -- it'd bring back note passing in a big way.
