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LG's $599 Velvet 5G phone arrives in the US tomorrow
The Velvet, LG’s mid-range 5G smartphone, arrives in the US tomorrow.
LG confirms specs of its flagship Velvet phone ahead of launch
LG has released official Velvet specs ahead of the phone's launch next week.
LG teases curved edges and 'Raindrop' camera for its next phone
LG is starting to release details of its next mainstream smartphone, starting with what it looks like.
Rain may soon be an effective source of renewable energy
There have been numerous attempt to generate electricity using rain, but this may be one of the more effective solutions yet. Researchers have developed a generator that uses a field-effect transistor-style structure to instantly produce a surprisingly high voltage from water drops -- a single drop can muster 140V, or enough power to briefly light up 100 small LED bulbs. Earlier generators without the structure produced "thousands" of times less instant power density, the scientists said.
Music Drop MP3 projector doesn't actually project MP3s
Maverick industrial designer Gowoon Jeong understands intuitively that people don't want fancy PMPs with displays -- they want tiny, oddly shaped devices that force the user to project track information onto a wall or body part, in a hard to read spiral shape. As the man points out, this gives users "unexpected pleasure." And who are we to argue? The Music Drop player is still just a concept, but if -- and we're hoping when -- the thing gets real, you'll know as soon as we do. Promise. Close-up after the break.[Via About Projectors]
Researchers dream up rain-powered devices
There have certainly been gizmos to surface throughout the years that react in some form or fashion to rain, but Jean-Jacques Chaillout and colleagues at the Atomic Energy Commission in France are fantasizing about using those diminutive droplets of water to actually power useful creations. After using computer models to find out just how much energy could be created by rainfall landing on piezoelectric materials, they determined that between 1 nanojoule and 25 microjoules of energy could be generated per drop. Granted, that won't keep a WoW gamer crankin' through the eve, but it could be used in everyday sensors that just need a smidgen of power in order to beam back results or data to ground control (or Major Tom). So yeah, these may not work so well in Death Valley, but we hear Amazonia could really benefit.[Via NewScientist, image courtesy of ABC]
Gratis RFID umbrellas track movements, excite marketers
Dutch Umbrella -- a startup focusing its efforts in and around the city of brotherly love -- is looking to take the idea of courtesy umbrella rentals to a new level by incorporating RFID tags and marketers. Currently, the firm has landed eight partners that will toss logos on the stark white umbrellas and utilize the tantalizing tracking information that gets recorded each time a rainy day encourages patrons to grab some cover. Merchants are required to pony up $100 per month in order to receive the marketing intelligence, and can then use it to determine where umbrella carriers go once the downpour begins in order to better position future ads. Unfortunately, we tend to hear that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but there's probably not much truth to that.[Via DailyWireless]
