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Samsung's 'unbreakable' display survives UL scrutiny
Phone makers have promised unbreakable phone screens for years, but they tend to involve awkward compromises like soft, scratchable surfaces. Samsung Display might just fulfill that promise, though. Underwriters Laboratories certified an "unbreakable" Samsung panel (not yet pictured) as capable of surviving military-grade durability tests without damage. This included dropping it 26 times from a height of four feet and subjecting it to extreme temperatures. It even survived a drop test at 6 feet without any battle scars. Update: Samsung Display posted a video of its new screen, showing how its lightweight plastic cover compares to traditional glass. In the video it survives several strikes from a hammer with no damage to show for it.
Samsung details safety measures for the Note 8 battery
Samsung is well aware that it's facing an uphill battle with the Note 8 -- specifically, with its battery following last year's fiery Note 7 debacle. As a way of rebuilding public trust, the company has been extremely stringent and rigorous in its safety tests. Watchdog group Underwriters Labs announced that it's been working with the Korean tech giant to ensure reliability for the Note 8's power supply.
Japan-bound Sony Xperia UL leaks out with 5-inch screen, reportedly packs Snapdragon 600
It was only a couple of weeks ago that we got an early peek of T-Mobile's Xperia Z thanks to the FCC, but we've now already gotten word of another unannounced Sony handset. While the published FCC report doesn't offer much more than a label, Blog of Mobile has turned up some images of what's purported to be the Xperia UL (codenamed "Gaga"), giving us an early look at the 5-inch device clearly inspired by other members of the family design-wise. What's more, the UL is allegedly sporting Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 chip, along with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, a 2,300mAh battery and waterproof / dustproof attributes (these being common Japanese standards). Word on the internet is the Xperia UL will be launching as a KDDI exclusive, though we'll have to wait for something more concrete to see if that's indeed the case. Until then, you can peruse the gallery after the break to get a slight idea of what to expect.%Gallery-188598%
Insert Coin: Luminode dimmer switch runs on a mesh network, learns to light up our lives (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Just a simple light switch, you say? Look closer. Think Automatic's Luminode dimmer switch hides both a processor and a mesh network connection that lets every switch in the home coordinate with each other. A multi-tap system makes it possible to link multiple lights together without extra wiring or complex programming, but that's just the start: it's possible to create "scenes" of predefined lighting levels and, with a USB adapter, hook up to home automation systems (including Think Automatic's own) that can learn usage habits, track energy consumption or simply let us control the array with our smartphones. The platform uses raw XML to communicate and already talks to GE, Insteon and Stargate hardware -- all without requiring a huge grid of buttons or displays. Development of the Luminode is very nearly done after six-plus years of work in Seattle. The hardware is fundamentally ready and just needs the Kickstarter project to finish its FCC and UL testing along with the obligatory mass production. The hope is to start delivering switches in January as well as integrate more closely with non-lighting elements in the future. Pledge levels are dictated almost exclusively by volume: $130 is what it takes to get a basic two-switch kit, $260 will add the USB adapter along with an extra switch, and successive levels scale all the way up to a 50-switch, $3,000 kit for large homes. Think Automatic has a relatively low $35,000 threshold to meet its Kickstarter funding, but it only has 13 days left to go. If you like the idea of advanced lighting that doesn't require an advanced appreciation of the user manual to understand, now's a good time to click the source link and make it happen.
AT&T officially acknowledges Samsung Exhilarate's existence, will be available on June 10th for $50
It's alive! The budget-friendly Samsung Exhilarate was announced alongside several other LTE phones at the AT&T Developer Summit in January, and we never heard about it since. Pricing, availability and most other major details were left out of the conversation, but it turns out this isn't another case of the Skyrocket HD (a phone that was announced at the same time but was eventually cancelled). The Exhilarate will finally arrive on June 10th and can be yours for $50. So what about the missing details AT&T's kept tight-lipped about for the last five months? The Exhilarate sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED panel, Android 2.3 (as far as we can tell from the press images), 1.2GHz dual-core Scorpion CPU, LTE connectivity, 5MP rear camera capable of taking 720p video, a 1.3MP front-facing cam and UL Platinum certification. Essentially, this particular status from Underwriters Laboratories means the phone passed a set of minimum requirements and can now be considered "environmentally preferable." The rear casing is made from 80 percent recycled material, and the device itself is slated to undergo AT&T's new eco-rating system which will launch later this summer. We can't imagine that too many people will exemplify the feeling portrayed in the device's name, but we're glad this one didn't mysteriously disappear.
ASUS gets classy with sleek UL series laptop range
If ASUS' N61 / N71 laptops were just too -- shall we say, glamorous -- for you, how's about the ultra-classy UL lineup? Short for UnLimited possibilities (groan), the UL series offers up a variety of models, all of which rely on Intel's CULV platform for juice and can squeeze up to 12 hours of claimed battery life thanks to having both discrete and integrated graphics onboard. The 1-inch thin machines arrive in either black or brushed aluminum, with room for up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, a dual-layer DVD burner, a Core 2 Duo CPU and hard drives as large as 500GB. Both 14- and 15.6-inch models are available, though your guess is as good as ours when it comes to pricing and availability.[Via HotHardware]
Anti-Aliased: I wear funny hats and I'm proud of it
Since when did role-playing become a dirty word? Apparently even mentioning the initials of the dreaded "RP" is enough to make people want to prove John Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory as loudly as possible. Players go out of their way to make others feel uncomfortable and to ruin any sort of fun some people may have. Is it because it's the internet? Or have we forgotten the history of the role-playing game?Because I can't exactly spend a whole column talking about the horrors of the internet (NSFW) I'm going to be focusing on the place of role-playing and how it got interjected into these online games of ours.
