LookingGlass
Latest
'System Shock' remake will land this summer after five torturous years
After the better part of five years in development, System Shock has a release date.
Vimeo launches channel just for holographic video
Vimeo has a reputation for pushing the boundaries of video technology in a bid to stand out, but it's taking things a step further. The service recently launched a channel dedicated solely to holographic video. You'll need one of Looking Glass Factory's holographic displays, but the result is what you'd hope for: it's streaming, glasses-free video with a genuine sense of depth. While the clips you'll see are currently demos, it beats having to launch apps one at a time just to see holographic clips.
ICYMI: Holograms for the home and a drone to plant trees
Today on In Case You Missed It: A company has developed a 'personal volumetric display" which is apparently science-sounding for a Princess Leia machine in your very own home. Looking Glass is marketing its Volume machine for $1,000, though so far, they're only available for pre-order.
Volume is a $1,000 holographic display for your home
Just when we were running out of things to throw our money at, along comes another product nobody asked for. Startup Looking Glass made a "personal volumetric display" called Volume that it says will let you see VR (really, 3D content) without a headset, so you can share such content with people around you. The display is also interactive so you can move things around either by swiping on the touch-sensitive screen, waving your hands in front of it or pairing up a gaming controller. The company claims it's the world's first affordable personal volumetric display. What's more, such an outlandish device has an equally far-out price, should you want to buy it: Volume is now available for preorder for $999.
Kickstarter project lets you print eerie 3D x-rays for $99
If your average 3D-printed paperweight isn't morbidly realistic enough, then here's an interesting alternative. It's an object that consists of thin layers of plexiglass, each of which has been printed with regular ink before being stacked in a vacuum chamber and drenched in machine oil. It's a relatively simple process, with no actual 3D manufacture or etching involved, but it offers an unusual degree of control over color and transparency. This makes the technique perfect for biological specimens, and especially ones that benefit from some x-ray detail. A Kickstarter project is currently offering its own choice of "Looking Glass" curiosity for sale (an elephant inside a boa constrictor's belly, inspired by The Little Prince) starting at $39, or you can get your own 3D object file turned into a personalized trinket for $99, with delivery expected in November if the funding target is met. And yes, you can opt for a 3D x-ray of one of your body parts -- in fact, somebody already has -- but it probably helps if you choose a part with bones in it.
Daily iPad App: Looking Glass
Created by Project Comet, Looking Glass is an iPad app for children that's full of short videos about how things work or how they are made. The app ships with handful of videos for you to preview and over 100 are available via a monthly subscription. The subscription costs US$3.99 a month and provides you with 5 new videos every two weeks. Rather than releasing them all at once, the five clips are rolled out on a regular basis so kids can look forward to fresh new content. The videos are short, about three to five minutes, and they cover a variety of topics that are cool to kids. One demo video shows how an ice cream sandwich is made and another video gives kids a glimpse into the world of RC model airplanes. The videos are well-done for what they are. They are highlight videos meant for young children. They are colorful and lively, but are not a crash course in that particular subject. The ice cream sandwich video, for example, shows the process of making a commercial ice cream sandwich from the kitchen to an ice cream shop counter. There's no narration; it's straight video with music in the background. It reminds me of the TV series "How It's Made," but shorter and without commentary. One drawback to the app is its lack of interactivity. It's educational TV for kids delivered via the iPad. The only tapping a child does is when they start and stop a video. The videos are probably best used as a springboard for discussion about a topic. I could see myself watching the ice cream video with my 4-year old and then taking her in the kitchen and making one ourselves. The concept is interesting, though, and for $3.99 per month is very reasonably priced. You can grab the Looking Glass app from the App Store for free and check it out. An in-app purchase will let you sign-up for a subscription and you cancel it at any time.
Dell 'means business,' schedules San Francisco event for February 8th
Sandwiched rather tightly between Sprint on the 7th and HP / Palm on the 9th, Dell just sent out an email blast that it's planning an event out in the City by the Bay for the 8th of next month. Hard to say whether this'll be tablets or just buttoned-up laptops and PCs, though, because the graphics starts out with "Dell Means Business" and goes on to say that they'll be showing off "a new generation of business computing solutions." Needless to say, we'll be there to find out.
Dell's Looking Glass tablet passes through FCC, shows off SD and SIM card slots
Dell's still calling this a Mobile Internet Device, but you can call it by any of its codenames: Looking Glass, M02M, iPad eviscerator, they're all in here. Yes, the FCC has spent a month of quality time with Dell's still unofficial, but very much upcoming, tablet and has given the go-ahead for its integrated 3G (the listed UMTS bands II, IV and V indicate compatibility with both AT&T and T-Mobile), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and 802.11n WiFi radios. Labeling for the attached (and apparently not removable) door on the back of the device indicates an SD card slot, which will sit right alongside a SIM card port. The latter will presumably be used mostly to funnel data into the Dell tablet, but voice calls aren't completely out of the question either -- there's a (inactive) proximity sensor thrown in as well. Either way, Dell's almost sure to launch this device, expected to feature a 7-inch screen and Tegra 2 internals, at CES next week.
Dell's 7-inch (or 10-inch) Android tablet gets WiFi certification?
Remember how Dell's supposed to be introducing a 7-inch Tegra 2-powered Android tablet, like, right now, possibly followed by a 10-inch model in a few months? Well, we're not saying that's what's going on here, but consider the facts: the original 5-inch Streak has a model code of M01M, and a new device with code M02M just popped up in the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification database identified as a "Mobile Internet Device" in the Smartphone category. Yes, 7 inches is a bit large for a "smartphone," but the Alliance doesn't have a great category for these tweeners that support cellular data (and like the European Galaxy Tab, some of them really are smartphones anyway). PocketNow suggests that we could also be looking at the Streak 2, which is possible -- but considering the groundswell of rumors we've been hearing about a slightly larger tablet in the pipeline, that's where our money lies. That holds especially true considering how close we are to CES, which promises to be a veritable tablet-fest this year -- but regardless, we bet the truth comes out within the next couple weeks.
Michael Dell: Developing Windows smartphones 'easier' than Android
Not much detail here, just some vagaries uttered by Michael Dell at an event in Hong Kong. According to Reuters, Mr. Dell said that it's easier to develop smartphones using Microsoft's Windows operating system than Google's Android. Something that he, or at least his developers, should know something about having dabbled a bit on both platforms. Unfortunately, that's all we've got -- hopefully more details will be revealed later to give this some context. Switching gears, he also said that Dell would be launching a "significant number" of tablet PC models next year. Next year huh? What happened to Dell's 7-inch Looking Glass tablet that was coming in "a few weeks" now more than one month ago?
ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC getting Tegra 2 treatment ahead of March launch?
More from DigiTimes this morning and its chatty sources within NVIDIA and Taiwanese supply chains. First up is talk that ASUS' 10-inch Eee Pad -- presumably, the Android loving EP101TC said to cost less than $399 -- will launch in March of 2011 with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 taking care of the processing duties. DigiTimes' sources also remind us that Tegra 2 tablets are on the way from Dell, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba in addition to smartphones from ASUS, Motorola, and LG. Good to know, but for as long as Tegra 2 has been discussed, we've yet to see the SoC ship inside anything worth getting too excited over. And don't even mention the Boxee Box, they switched to Intel at the last minute, remember? Maybe Dell's Looking Glass tablet will change all that when it launches any day now.
Dell launching 7-inch Android tablet in 'next few weeks,' 10-incher to follow a few months later
Good news, folks. It's looking like the tablet pool will be enriched with another 7-inch contender, running Android, within only a few weeks. The Wall Street Journal cites Dell's Greater China President Amit Midha as saying that the 7-inch slate we witnessed Michael teasing a few short days ago will be with us "very, very soon." Reiterating earlier promises of a family of tablets, Midha claims there'll be "a whole slew" of new devices emerging from Dell's labs over the next 6 to 12 months, which will include 10-inch, 4-inch and 3-inch form factors. Android is confirmed as the OS on the 7-incher, but Windows will be making an appearance somewhere along the line as well. Plenty to look forward to, then.
Dell's Looking Glass tablet gets another chance to shine (video)
The elusive Looking Glass might have dodged the zoom lenses yesterday, but luckily, the good folks at Oracle managed to tape Michael Dell's lightning demo (pun totally intended) with a close-up shot. From what we can see, the volume rocker is located at the top side of the tablet, right next to what could potentially be a switch for screen rotation lock or silent mode; the headphone jack appears to be on the left-hand side of the device, which makes sense -- we can't imagine this beastly device fitting into a pocket of any sorts, otherwise. Sadly, we can't confirm whether this 7-inch Android tablet uses the same PDMI port as featured on the Streak, nor can we see what's on the back -- we caught a glimpse of something shiny, but the leaked spec sheet we came across some time ago doesn't mention a back camera. Anyhow, you can catch this big daddy in action right after the break -- about 1:27 into the clip.%Gallery-103167%
Michael Dell teases new 7-inch Android tablet, says Streak to land in Best Buy next month (update: pic)
Oh Michael, such a teaser you are. Word has it that the head honcho of Dell Inc. has just pulled out yet another Android tablet from his pocket, only this time it's a 7-inch whopper. Sadly, Mr. Dell left us high and dry with dates and specs (and the lack of photos from the event doesn't help, either), but we'll bet you that this is the long-rumored Looking Glass. On a more solid note, Dell also announced that the smaller Streak is heading to Best Buy next month. That's great, except some of us would rather see the tabletphone getting its share of Froyo sooner -- here's hoping that this bigger tablet won't disappoint us with an outdated OS. Update: As it just so happens, Reuters snapped a pic of Mr. Dell himself holding the tablet on stage, and sure enough, it resembles that leaked Looking Glass even from quite a distance away.
Dell Sparta and Athens netbooks, Looking Glass Pro and Streak variants teased on Android roadmap
Good morning to you too, Dell! Android Central's just gotten hold of yet another leak from the Texan computer giant, only this time we have two new Android or Linux (as suggested by the Tux icon) Moblin devices. First, we have the Sparta "netbook tablet" featuring an 11-inch 1024 x 768 TFT display, ARM processor, optional connectivity modules (3G, WiFi, Bluetooth) and a unique swivel mechanism -- the screen appears to be rotatable within its frame. The second device is the Athens sub-0.9kg (1.98 pounds) netbook sporting the same screen size, ARM processor and optional connectivity modules. If all goes well, the Sparta and Athens should be launched in early and late Autumn respectively, but there's a lot more so keep reading after the break. Update: thanks for pointing out the Moblin logo, thoughtmonster!
Dell's Lightning, Thunder, Flash, Smoke and more: rounding up a storm of mobile leaks
You might have missed it if you were sleeping, but we broke open a huge treasure trove of leaked Dell mobile devices last night, including the high-end Lightning Windows Phone 7 slider and Thunder Android set. We also got wind of the mid-range Flash and Smoke Android phones, as well as the Looking Glass seven-inch Android tablet, and to round things out we scored more details on the Aero and Streak. Yeah, it was a hell of a night, but we've got it all rounded up for you right here, so click on through if you missed anything! Lightning: the ultimate Windows Phone 7 Thunder: 4.1-inch OLED, Android, Hulu app Flash: Android Froyo in 'dramatic' package Smoke: 'Like a Pixi but awesome' Looking Glass: 7-inch tablet with Tegra 2 Streak: Android 2.1 in September Aero: Spec'd Dell's mobile outlook
Dell Looking Glass tablet leaks: Tegra 2 coming your way in November
We'd already heard that Dell was working on larger tablets, and tonight's huge leak brought us tons of info on the Looking Glass, a seven-inch big brother to the Streak 5 that's due out in November. For starters, it's running Android 2.1 on a Tegra 2 processor, with an optional TV tuner module so you can watch ATSC or DVB-T programming on the seven-inch 800x480 display -- the same resolution as the Streak, which is sort of weak. In addition, the render on the slide shows an AT&T U-verse browser, though, which is interesting -- too bad there's no more info about it. RAM is pegged at 4GB, with another 4GB of flash for storage and an SDHC slot for up to 32GB of expansion, and there's a 1.3 megapixel camera. Yep, it's pretty much just a bigger Streak with a different, potentially awesomer processor -- imagine how slick you'll look with this bad boy held to your face on a call. %Gallery-91366%
Leopard dock resembles Sun's Project Looking Glass?
While yesterday's WWDC may have been relatively uneventful for those keeping an eye out for hardware refreshes, Steve made sure he showed off the desktop of Leopard in as much detail as possible. Interestingly, the newfangled dock he managed to brag about may have looked a tad familiar, and as a clever user over at Maxasia points out, it is. According to him, the dock revealed yesterday sports a "troubling resemblance" to Sun's Project Looking Glass. Of course, Apple's icons do look a bit less grainy, but especially when you consider the silver platter that the shortcuts seem to hover over in both iterations, you can certainly start to to see the similarity. But hey, it's not like Apple hasn't been down this road before, right?
Found: Nintendo's lost N64 racer, Mini Racers
A dev cart of Nintendo's cancelled N64 racer Mini Racers recently surfaced in Marlborough, MA via a Craigslist post. That post has since been removed, but Joystiq has been in touch with the author, who writes:"There seems to be some speculation as to the legitimacy of [the dev cart in my possession]. As you can see [pictured], it is an official Nintendo dev cart. Some folks commented [see original post] that the contents will last forever, which is more or less true on a standard mass produced cart. As this game was never mass produced this may very well be the only cart with Mini Racers on it. Dev carts are known to be very unstable and only meant to hold roms in flash memory for testing purposes. Frankly, I am surprised that the game lasted as long as it did. Also, you will see a picture drawn on the cart, it is rumored that it was drawn by the Lead Designer of the game.I still haven't found anyone local to do the deed. I would be willing to bring the cart to wherever within MA by that person's terms, so no one needs to worry about a kidnapping. I just don't want to send it off to some stranger who may never return it. Unless I find someone local, the rom may never find its way off the cart."You may contact the owner here.
