Okay, I’ve talked to you about the thin pioneer plasma, but this is insane.  Among the various other thin flat panels I have mentioned, this Sony OLED is pretty sexy despite its anorexia.  Introducing a prototype by Sony, a .2mm thick… OLED panel, with a screen size of 3.5 inches.

This new prototype beats another thin panel OLED by Samsung with a thickness of .25mm with a 4 inch screen.

To obtain the thinness, glass substrates had to be grounded to produce the thinness:

To achieve the slimness, the company ground the glass substrates on both sides after producing the OLED panel so that each side measures only 0.1mm in thickness.

Although the screen size is small, you could have all the bragging rights with this anorexic piece of screen real estate.

Source: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080417/150598/

For those of you who do not use Mozilla Firefox, you are greatly missing out in all the features that are available with this great piece of programming.

Features:
Tabbed Browsing
This features allows you to view many different websites in one window of Firefox. You can easily change and shift to different websites by clicking on a tab, or easily open new websites on to a new tab. Tabbed browsing is an effective way to be productive.

Spell Checking
Firefox also has a spell checker implemented when you type things in text forms. Useful for posting comments, or writing in your blog.

Integrated Search
Next to the address bar, there is a search tool that has many different search engines, one of them is Google, which is defaulted already. There is also Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, etc.

Search Suggestions
When you type something in the Search next to the Address bar, Firefox can give you a list of similar terms.

Session Restore
When you accidentally close your browser, you can always find your place back with the session restore setting. This allows you to return back to the websites you were browsing in almost the same way you left them.

RSS Feeds
With RSS feeds taking over how people read blogs, you can easily view your favorite news posts and blog posts (like ours!) on Firefox.

Pop-up Blocker
The pop up blocker blocks different pop ups automatically. Though it doesnt catch all of the pop ups, it does a great deal of good with the majority of them that I don’t even bothering getting an ad blocker.

Security
There is a great deal of phishing going around the internet. For an example of phishing, I have one right here: http://myspace-video.cjb.net. Firefox can warn you and take you to the real web site.

Protection from spyware is also given, as well as the right for you to chose what to download and what not to download.

Add-ons
I have a list of add-ons and screen shots on how to install them onto Firefox.

If you haven’t been convinced yet, click here for more details about Firefox.

All else, click here to download the latest copy of Firefox.

Alright, the Super Bowl is fast approaching. I procrastinated about my post on the best entertainment system under $3000. I originally planned it to be only $1000 but I figured that it was best to go all out with everything. In this system, I have included a “standard” HDTV 50″ plasma, PS3, HDMI cables, surround sound receiver, speaker system, and a DirectTV HD DVR Satellite receiver. More on this after the jump.

The Big Screen

I searched and searched for a good priced, high contrast, good technology, high definition TV to fit the purpose of viewing sports. I went with a plasma as they are cheaper when it comes to larger screens, and they are automatically High Definition with their 16:9 viewing ratio. As it is the age for the end of CRTs, everyone should be moving to plasmas or LCDs.

When it comes to purchasing a plasma or LCD, what you pay for, is typically what you get. Always consider these things when purchasing your TV: size, contrast ratio, resolution, viewing angle, and your perception. Size factors in with viewing and is related to resolution as higher resolutions factor in how viewable your TV is from afar with larger or smaller screens. Contrast ratio affects details and blacks. In one of my earlier posts, I reviewed Pioneer’s Kuro Technology, which has the highest contrast ratio to date. And last but not least, your perception. Typically higher contrast ratios from 500:1 to 2000:1 are not always noticeable to the human eye due to light and dark conditions of the room.

When you see 1080p on specs of different TVs, 1080p refers to the resolution at its 1920×1080 horizontal and vertical lines. Multiply those numbers together 2076300, over the 1000000 mark to be considered HDTV.

The only TV technologies that you should consider are LCDs and plasmas. Both of them have their ups and downs.
LCD

• Expensive at larger sizes
• Typically lower response times (though if you apply WYPIWYG, you won’t have to worry about it.
• Won’t get burn-ins
• Narrow effective viewing angle (brightness changes at different angles of viewing)
• Runs on lower temperatures (less noisy)

Plasma

• Uses phosphors (susceptible to burn-ins)
• Larger size models are cheaper than LCDs at same size
• Typically 16:9 viewing ratio (HDTV)

For this setup we will be using a Vizio 50″ Plasma with a 720p resolution. Though it doesn’t have 1080p, 720p is most desirable for fast-paced content such as sports due to the faster ability to produce images on the screen. This is why news companies like ABC prefer 720p rather than 1080p in which the Discovery Channel uses for their slow moving HDTV film. The plasma also uses DCDI which eliminates jagged edges caused by interpolation. Another great attribute is its 10000:1 contrast ratio. Price: $1399.00

The Console (DVDS, Blu Ray, PS Games!)

Yes, thats right, playstation games. Though it may seem like a child’s toy (more like teen), the PS3 is a powerful component in this entertainment system. With the ability to play games, this piece of magnificent hardware can play blu ray, dvds, etc. It is HDMI capable, has internet browsing, features the cell processor, and even has a hard drive. A better review on this later. Price: $399.00

Surround Sound Receiver

For surround sound, I chose the JVC RX-D401S Surround Sound Receiver. It can deliver 110 watts per channel and also includes HDMI inputs. In case you were wondering, HDMI provides high quality uncompressed audio signals and digital video to your system. With 7.1 channel surround sound, it is a good bang for the buck at $399.00.

Speakers

To have the best all around experience, one must need good quality speakers. I have chosen a good budget speaker system that has a powered subwoofer, one center channel, and 4 surround speakers. Polk Home Theatre System, price: $341.00

Digital Video Receiver

And last but not least, the most important required component to any HDTV experience, is the actual receiver that receives the high quality content from your High Def provider, DirectTV! Now with your DirectTV service, you can watch eye poppin’, mouth waterin’, jaw breakin’ pig skin in yo face! Price: $199.00 (Service per month not included)

Final Cost: $2899.94 (Internet Price)

On a final note, installation should be a breeze with the HDMI cables. Simply hook up HDMI cables from the PS3 to the surround sound receiver, another HDMI cable from the DirectTV DVR to the surround sound receiver, and finally another cable from the surround sound receiver to the plasma. With the speakers, simply hook up connections to the back of the surround sound receiver and sit back and relax with a remote and snacks and enjoy the view.

So, for the past few months I had the pleasure of using Sony Ericsson’s W580. I came across this phone by accident of breaking my other phone, and I must say, I am impressed with my decision in such short notice.

As a slider phone, its only 14 mm thick and weighs only 3.3 oz.
The screen resolution features a 240×320 visual display with 262,144 Color TFT LCD. The design is absolutely.. sexy. Sporting a thin look with a display of lights when use the phone, the W580 is really one of a kind.

The features of this phone include bluetooth, a 2.0 mega pixel camera, quad band, EDGE, and the basic necessities such as an Alarm clock, calculator, calendar, phone book, stopwatch, etc.

The main features that are sported by this phone are used for fitness. It has a pedometer as well as a wide range of fitness programs.

As a Sony branded product, I expected high quality stereo output. And that is exactly what I got. The speaker phone outputs on the media player navigation keys. Although its small, the output is pretty loud compared to other cellphones or even basic laptop speakers (referring to my crappy laptop speakers).

Messaging features for this phone are great. One can easily access their voice mail, inbox, email, and there is also a place where you can get RSS feeds. Text messaging on this phone is very tactile with its keypad. The buttons are soft, yet when you push down on a key, it keeps a solid feel to it. Media messaging is also available and another feature called voice messaging, where I assume one can record their voice and send it over as a message (I don’t see the point in that really..).

Bluetooth on this phone is one of a kind, it features A2DP bluetooth which enables one to stream music to any bluetooth controlled speakers. At home I have a USB bluetooth dongle, and I set up my bluetooth connection with the phone and voila, my phone’s music starts blasting in my 6 speaker system on my PC.

Another possible bluetooth option is using the phone as a modem for your laptop or PC. Of course if you have deep pockets you could probably use this feature, considering the expensive data plans for cell phones these days.

Games, are always great to have on a phone, and I must say that the Java 2 Platform is wonderful. I downloaded some games and installed them on my phone and I was able to play Pokemon Crystal and an all time classic, Worms 2. Here are links for those games, assuming your phone has support for the J2 Platform.

Download Worms 2 Now!

Download Pokemon Crystal Now!

Picture quality is superb, and perfect for basic point and shooting. The night mode works great as the photos come out brilliantly colorful. Here are some photos of downtown Atlanta.

One downside, depending on technology today, is that there is no flash on the phone. In this day and age, most phones that are generally available and affordable to the public do not carry a flash for their camera phones, thus there is no downside if you think about it that way.

All in all, this one of a kind phone will serve you will for ages. Perfect functionality comes right out of the box with the media player, bluetooth functionality, overall great looks, and compact design. Impress your friends today and buy one!

OK so for all of you who regularly frequent this blog (although I doubt there is anyone), you’ll know that Noelbert recently wrote this article: http://roastlechon.com/2008/01/08/thinnest-plasma-or-tv-ever/ about the thinnest tv ever. Well the Pioneer Kuro concept might actually be the thinnest ever at only 9 mm, but it’s still a concept and that means none of you can buy it. Well that’s where this one comes in. The Sharp Aquos X may be about 4 times thicker at 34 mm (1.35 inches), but it’s a TV all of you can actually buy, and thus it’s infinitely more siginificant than the Kuro. The beauty’s not all in the aesthetics though, as this LCD TV offers 120hz refresh rates, 15,000:1 contrast ratios, 3 way 8 speaker system, 3 HDMI 1.3A ports, and a DVI out for PC, along with ethernet and firewire. These will officially be out in March in 37, 42, and 46 inch sizes. There’s no price yet, but does it really matter? You know you want one. I’ll admit I do.

Well, since the entire world seemingly shuts down when Apple decides to hold a conference of any sort, all of you out there probably already know all about this. We here at roastlechon, however, don’t really care too much one way or the other so this news is coming to you all a little late. Anyway, to the story; Apple corp. King Steve, ruler of the fanboys, yesterday unveiled the thinnest notebook laptop ever (as far as I know), the MacBook Air. While it is seemingly a normal 13.3″ notebook computer from the front, when seen at any other angle the sheer thinness of it is perfectly clear. From 0.16″ at its thinnest and stretching to 0.76″ at its widest; it’s utterly stunning that they managed to fit it into such a small space. The specs and more pics after the jump.

So it comes standard with an LED backlit display, multi-touch trackpad, 1.6 gigahertz Core 2 Duo processor, 80 gig hard drive and 2 gigs of ram for $1800. There is an option for a 64 gig SSD drive, but that’ll add a whopping $1300 for a grand total of $3100, USD of course. It also features the full-size keyboard from the regular MacBook for optimal useability.

All this thinness comes with a price of course; and that price is practicality. To make it so thin Apple had to get rid of the optical drive, so no CDs or DVDs for this one unless you buy the optional external superdrive for $100. Also, much like the iPod and iPhone, this computer is completely sealed off. So you can’t change the battery, or upgrade the ram, or do anything to it yourself without the skills to hack it. A battery replacement will cost you $129, which actually isn’t too bad, but I’d like the option of doing it myself. Lastly, there’s no ethernet port, no firewire, and also no audio input port. So while I understand that this laptop is mainly going to be desired for its design aesthetics, there’s much to give up for it, so you’ll have to justify the purchase to yourself. As for me, however, I’d rather go with a regular MacBook if I wanted a computer from Apple, or the Sony Vaio SZ is an attractive choice for me as well. Speaking of which, to all you rich readers out there, my birthday is tomorrow and I will gladly accept gifts that are late as well.

Exploiting the Advantages of Self-Emitting Plasma Displays
TOKYO–(Business Wire)–Pioneer Corporation (TOKYO:6773)(ISIN:JP3780200006) (President and Representative Director: Tamihiko Sudo) today unveils concepts for future plasma display technologies under the code name “Project KURO” at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. After a year where it was proved that its award-winning plasma technologies are leagues above the rest of the HDTV industry in picture quality, Pioneer engineers preview future Project KURO concepts for extreme contrast and advanced design. The extreme contrast concept realizes the reproduction of absolute black, and the advanced design concept becomes the world’s thinnest 50-inch display(1) at only nine millimeters (mm) thick.

Pioneer leaps ahead of the game when it unveils its KURO concept. With a high contrast ratio compared to previous plasmas and its thinnest design, ever, the KURO concept is one of a kind.

Contrast ratio is defined as the ratio of the luminosity of the brightest white pixel and darkest black pixel that a display can produce. Given a high contrast ratio, the greater the ability for a projector or any other system to show subtle color details and tolerate extraneous room light.

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The KURO concept is the first to achieve true absolute black, emitting no light when it reproduces a black color on its display. Pioneer has successfully delivered a truly emotional entertainment experience through their new concept. Weighing at about 41 lbs, the thin canvas, sleek design, and absolute black display dishes out the best picture not available in stores, atleast not for a few years.