For one, I know Philips was working on color-changing LEDs and lightbulbs that are easy to install while providing high power.

On top of that, they introduced Ambilight TVs where the background lights would match with what you see on TV.

Lastly but not least, I did hear of CitizenM hotels in Amsterdam, supposed to be all design and damn great.

It seems that Philips is partnering up with bunch of design hotels to showcase their new products.

I think this is a great way for the company to get exposure and also great for the design hotels to get the latest technology straight from Philips.  (Yes, sometimes we are not bitter. )

Great stuff, ain’t it? (or great marketing?)

In a partnership that could take hotel guests’ experience to a whole new holistic level, Philips and luxury hotel brand Fairmont have teamed up for the Asia Pacific region’s first Ambient Experience Concept Suite at Fairmont Singapore. As part of Philips’ “Hotel of the Future” initiative, regional media on Friday were given a glimpse of what the concept could look like when finalized.

via crave

First of all, if you are into rings, you should really check out our Ring Blog where we featured all types of interesting rings, diamond rings, casual rings, and more.

Back to the story, this Encoder Ring can basically store up to 64 characters using binary numbers.

It’s still a concept but I think it can go well if a company decides to go into production with it. (Similar to Tokyo Flash binary watches)

Encoder Rings began as an investigation in how to store precious or personal digital information. The result is

a series of rings that are decorated with tiny blobs and holes, that actually represent letters in binary code; the

code used as the basis for digital information. The user would choose a secret message 64 characters long,

have the message translated into binary code and finally have a ring produced using rapid-prototyping.

via coolest-gadgets, make, Product Page

While this might not seem like big news, gamers will love the fact that Dell’s new laptop will feature a Quad-core Processor with 16GB of memory.

This new Dell Precision laptop will be available later this fall, keep saving up that piggy bank money until then gamers.

We heard you. Welcome to our slick new concept for the ultimate Dell Precision mobile workstation, destined to be one of the first of its kind and the envy of all those who thought they had a powerful and cool notebook.

Fully configurable, streamlined and gorgeous. Just think of the options:

Dual-core? No, YOU WANT quad-core processing power. 8GB memory limitation? Forget that, YOU WANT more. Storage. A few hundred Gig? YOU WANT a Terabyte and RAID. 17″ screen? Yes, but YOU WANT 100% Adobe color gamut RGBLED. 512MB of dedicated graphics memory? No, YOU WANT more.

via engadget, dell

(Image of DVI Output on the back of your PC)

This weekend, I had the pleasure of hooking up my friend’s new 52″ Samsung LCD HDTV to his new gaming PC.

If you are like most people, you probably already know how to connect your PC to HDTV via an S-Video Cable.

Now, S-Video is perfectly fine for viewing your PC/laptop on your TV but it won’t give you “HD” resolution of 1080p, 1080i, or 720p.

Most S-Video outputs are only capable of producing upto about 1024×768 pixel resolution and that’s analog signals, meaning your signal will get somewhat affected by noise and not the best way to surf the web on your HDTV.

Now let’s say your TV is capable of HD AND you have DVI Outputs on the back of your PC as shown in the image above.

Then, provided you have a Video graphics card capable of 1080p (which means it can pretty much do 1920×1080 pixels on your HDTV), you will be able to get a perfectly crisp 1920×1080 pixels on your HDTV.

Now, to do this, you need a cable depending on how far your PC is from the HDTV.

The simplest way is to get a HDMI-M to DVI-M cable to connect the DVI side to the PC and HDMI to your HDTV.   Here’s a site I found that has really low prices on it. ($32 for 50 feet, I found a 5 foot cable at BestBuy for $60, don’t go there)

(HDMI-M to DVI-M cable)

Once you are connected, you should be able to surf the web pretty easily on your HDTV depending on how far you sit from it.

Here’s a re-cap of what I just told you in simpler terms:

• S-Video - 1024×768 Maximum resolution, Analog signals (suck)
• DVI (PC) to HDMI (HDTV) - 1920×1080 Maximum resolution, Digital signals (clean)

Required Hardware:

• DVI-capable Graphic Card
• HD-capable TV (HDTV)
• DVI(male) to HDMI(male) cable

Most people who have bought PC in the last couple years will probably have all the required hardware except the DVI to HDMI cable.   If that’s the case, I highly suggest you to buy one online.  Don’t buy retail, you will pay 3-5 times more for it.

There you have it, now you  know how to take full advantage of your HDTV and watch YouTube and other online videos crisp and clear.  Perhaps you are a genius already at this but for those of you who don’t know, I hope this helps you surf on your HDTV. (and take advantage over the crisp, clear 1920×1080 pixel screen)

Check out this awesome prototype Robotic Wheelchair that the MIT researchers have been working on and it might just change the way physically-challenged people get around town.

The Robotic Wheelchair uses voice commands to navigate the wheelchair itself (which is nothing new) but what is interesting is the fact that the Robotic Wheelchair will remember the places you go such as your living room, the bathroom, etc…etc…

In other words, it has enough intellect to “remember” the places  you go.

Unlike other attempts to program wheelchairs or other mobile devices, which rely on an intensive process of manually capturing a detailed map of a building, the MIT system can learn about its environment in much the same way as a person would: By being taken around once on a guided tour, with important places identified along the way. For example, as the wheelchair is pushed around a nursing home for the first time, the patient or a caregiver would say: “this is my room” or “here we are in the foyer” or “nurse’s station.”

via mit

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Check out this cool Magic Message MIrror that will hook up to your existing home security system to provide you with automated messages from the Magic Man in the mirror.

During idle mode, the Magic Mirror is just a regular mirror as shown above.

During message mode, a funny man will appear in the mirror to let you know about what kind of security breaches have been going on with option to play security videos/cameras.

The patented “Magic Message Mirror” looks and functions like a decorative wall mirror, but when your home automation/security system senses a change in your environment, “Basil of the Mirror” (a somewhat pompous English Butler personality) magically appears and verbally provides real-time information. The M30P will also theatrically reveal an integrated live camera feed to show the area of interest, if you have cameras incorporated into your home security system, or decide to add them when you install the M30P.

via coolest-gadgets, ohgizmo, popgadget, Product Page

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Here’s an innovative Auto-Fold Baby Stroller, which will fold/unfold itself using a remote control plus the on-board battery charges itself by the wheels turning on the stroller.  This will be great for dads/moms who constantly have to fold it everytime they go out with the baby.

The stroller itself has safety features that will disable the folding mechanism but I think that’s my only worry, what if the sensor breaks and your child gets folded along with the mechanism?  That’d mean some serious lawsuits and dead babies we don’t want.  Perhaps they can install a “manual” lock, not a breakable sensor.

A small generator powers the stroller and recharges itself with every 300 feet of use. The Origami has safety features that include built in intelligence that can detect when a child is in its seat, disabling the automated folding mechanism. With tremendous storage features, the Origami touts an easily removable backpack, cup holders for kids and adults and washable fabrics in a variety of colors.

via bornrich, growingyourbaby

I am sure most of you are familiar with automated car wash in your local city/town but here’s a new innovative automated Motorcycle wash for your bikers.  I wish they had one in San Francisco so I can take my bike for a wash.

With revolutionary techniques specifically designed to accommodate the growing numbers of motorcycles on the road today, the Moto Express Wash has transformed the 2 hour hand cleaning we have all accepted as normal: into a 5 minute automated process.

via autoblog, nextautos, Product Page

Intel Atom 1.6Ghz Dual-core Processor is officially available now.  Intel has seem to set a priority for mini-notebooks and netbooks, which is what this processor will do best at.

Intel has officially begun shipping a 45nm dual-core Intel® Atom™ Processor known as the Intel Atom Processor 330. The newest member of the Atom family is designed specifically for nettops, which are affordable desktops purpose-built primarily for web surfing, email, and basic Internet usage. The dual-core Intel® Atom™ Processor 330 features a 1.6GHz processing core, 1MB of level 2 cache, an 8W TDP and support for DDR2 667. The new processor is available as an integrated package and has been validated with the Intel® 945GC Express Chipset, featuring built-in Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 and Intel® High Definition Audio.

via engadget, Press Release