LG launches Mac-friendly CD/DVD rewriter With 8x read speeds

LG Electronics has launched its "ultra sleek" Mac-compatible portable Super Multi Drive, the GP08-NU10, in the UK.

Designed for use on the go, this CD/DVD re-writer plugs in via a USB so will work with new MacBooks and PC laptops alike.

Available in glossy white, LG says it's small and light, measuring 21.4mm in height, 165.2mm in length and 156mm in width and weighing 380 grams.

The GP08-NU10 has the ability to read data at 8x and gets "SecurDisc" content protection as standard, which allows users to secure and prevent the loss of data.

Other specs, pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed.

LG W2284F monitor launches iF award-winning 22-incher

LG has announced the UK launch of its iF award-winning 22-inch widescreen monitor, the W2284F.

Winner of the iF Product Design Award 2008, LG says the monitor is "an outstanding example of design perfection."

On the design side, the W2284F has a glossy black finish and a "soft" blue power button inspired, apparently, by a drop of morning dew.

Equipped with a 30,000:1 Digital Fine Contrast ratio in movie mode, it has a 2ms response time (grey-to-grey), brightness of 300 nits, 160 degree viewing angle and 16.7cd/m.

Powered by LG's picture enhancing chipset, F-Engine, the W2284F has a resolution of 1680 x 1050.

UK pricing and exact availability to be confirmed.

Victor-JVC UX-Z2 Mini Audio System

I’m currently looking for a compact, yet cheap audio system for my office so that my staff won’t get bored during office hours. This one from Victor-JVC, UX-Z2 Mini Audio System, might not be on my consideration list since it’s expensive (€300, $404), but it looks really cool and has quite a great features, so I probably get one if I ever need a new audio system for my own. Features include an output power of 20W x 2, support for MP3/WAV/WMA/AAC audio files, USB port, CD/MD reproduction, and the ability to record audio tracks directly from CD to your USB flash disk.

Canon WUX10 LCD Projector

Canon officially announced the release date of its upcoming WUX10 LCD Projector. Coming to store in December, WUX10 adopted LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon) technology that allows the projector to provide high-resolution images on the screen. It supports a resolution of 1920 x 1200, as well as 1080p video content. Furthermore, the projector also has an aspect ratio of 16:10, a contrast ratio of 1000:1. a brightness of 3,200 lumens, and AISYS (Aspectual Illumination System).

Priced at €11,300, Canon WUX10 projector is equipped with HDMI, two DVI-I ports, and an Analog RGB input.

Casio Exilim EX-Z20 - Doraemon Digicam!

Unlike other Doraemon’s gadgets, this one does not come from his pocket and can do anything “futuristic”, but at least, if you’re one of Doraemon’s fans outthere, this Doraemon-pimped Casio Exilim EX-Z20 digital camera is worth buying. In addition to the cute Doraemon design, the camera boasts an 8.1 megapixel CCD sensor, a 38 ~ 114mm lens with 3x optical zoom, a 12.4MB of onboard storage, a 2.6-Inch display, a MMC/SD/SDHC media card slot, and a face detection function. Moreover, it is also able to record video in H.264/AVC (848×480 resolution). Too bad it doesn’t have those see-through-anything or see-what-happen-in-the-future shots…

Casio Exilim EX-Z20 digicam will hit the store in December.

Pomera DM10 - Portable Notes Storage

Korean manufacturer King Jim presented an interesting gadget named Pomera DM10. It comes with a compact 4-inch display and a mini QWERTY keyboard, but it’s not a UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC), Netbook, or even a MID (Mobile Internet Device). Yes, Pomera is a simple, yet very handy portable notes storage. With this device, you can easily write important notes (or anything you have in mind). Everything you wrote will be kept inside its built-in memory (128Kb) as a txt file. I know, that 128kb limit is too small. Thankfully, the company also understand that and include a microSD media card slot on the device.

Later, you can import or move your notes onto your PC via USB port. But note that only Windows Vista and Windows XP-powered computers are compatible with Pomera DM10 at the moment. Hopefully, the device will support both Linux and Mac-based computer in the future.

Measures 250 x 158 x 45mm, Pomera DM10 Portable Notes Storage is retailed for 27,300 yen or about €200 ($256).

Panasonic Develops 3D Range Sensor Operable in Sunlight

Panasonic Electric Works Co Ltd developed a 3D range sensor that uses a CCD image sensor and can be used at 100,000lx, a luminance equivalent to sunlight on a bright day.

The sensor is slated for release in spring 2009. It is expected to be used for FA, distance measurement, robots, user interfaces (motion capture), security systems (to count the number of people or to detect flow lines) and other applications.

The company released a "distance image sensor" in February 2005, but it can only be used at a luminance of 3,000lx or lower, which is equivalent to a fluorescent lamp. The new sensor is free from this limitation and takes a shorter time to measure the distance.

The range sensor irradiates a signal light on the measurement target and observes the reflected light. However, when the measurement is conducted in extremely bright ambient light such as direct sunlight, the CCD sensor is saturated with only the ambient light, making it almost impossible to detect the signal light.

In the new sensor, the amount of the electric charge corresponding to that generated by the ambient light is removed from the charge generated in the photosensitive unit so that only the charge generated by the reflected light remains.

Specifically, the sensor performs the following processing. (1) It forms a separation area for the charge component with a capacity variable depending on the intensity of ambient light. (2) The charge generated by the ambient and signal light components is accumulated in a photosensitive area. (3) The accumulated charge is transferred to the separation area to separate the signal light component corresponding to a supernatant portion. (4) The ambient light component is discarded (removed).

The sensor has a resolution of 16 (horizontal) x 120 (vertical) pixels and the view angles of 50° (horizontal) and 36° (vertical). The sensor comes in two models, the standard type with a measuring range of 1.0-1.5m and a response speed of 20fps, and the high speed type with a measuring range of 0.4-1.2m and a response speed of 56fps.

The sensor outputs 11 bits of distance data and 8 bits of grayscale data. It operates on a 24V power source, and the output data is transmitted through a USB 2.0 interface. The sensor measures 150 (W) x 60 (D) x 80mm (H) and weighs 740