Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Time	Event
4:00a	Dell U2713HM - Unbeatable performance out of the box When you look at the 27” panels on the market today, they virtually all use a panel from LG. Samsung has their own PLS panels, but otherwise almost everyone with a 2560x1440 panel is using one from LG, with either LED or CCFL backlighting. When the main component of any screen is the same as every competitor, it can be harder to differentiate yourself from the pack. We see NEC offer flexibility, uniformity and control beyond the other vendors, though at a price. Nixeus offers us a panel with the features and build taken down to a level that lets it beat everyone on price. Dell seems to almost always focus on trying to find the sweet spot for value and features in their display line. They don’t make panels to compete with NEC, but they generally aren’t trying to compete with comapnies like Nixeus. The Dell U2713HM is their newest 27” panel, though it doesn’t replace the U2711. That model still has a larger AdobeRGB color gamut as well as more inputs and features in comparison to the U2713HM, and it maintains a higher retail price. So what does the Dell U2713HM offer, and where does it fit into the world of 27” displays? (Comment on this)
2:30p	Home Automation and the 'Internet of Things' Home automation (hereafter referred to as HA) refers to the mechanization and automatic control of various residential activities. It typically provides for centralized control of electrical appliances (such as air conditioners, lighting and security systems and even the home theater). In addition to the comfort and convenience factor, energy efficiency also receives a boost. The integration of various electrical devices in the household has been a challenge because of the absence of a cheap, open and standardized communication protocol between them. Due to this reason, HA systems have typically come with a hefty price tag and needed a professional CI (custom installer / integrator) to set up. Image Credit: Home Automation Montreal The 'Internet of Things' has been a buzzword for an increasingly networked world where everything from the refrigerator to the lamp in the household would end up with an IP address. While this hasn't  become a reality yet, we are slowly, but surely, moving towards this vision. Read on for our take on why we believe Wi-Fi is placed well towards becoming the next HA standard (Comment on this)
7:25p	Razer's Project Fiona Gaming Tablet Confirmed for Production Razer garnered a lot of press at CES this year with their Fiona gaming tablet, a 10.1" Windows-based tablet packing a Core i7 processor and two joystick handles featuring dual analog sticks and a typical controller-style button layout. The device carried a pretty impressive speclist and walked out of Las Vegas with awards like "Best of CES" People's Voice and Cnet's Best-in-Show. At the time, Razer claimed that Project Fiona was slated for launch in the second half of 2012, but has remained mostly quiet in the months following.  A day after CEO Min-Liang Tan posted a picture of Project Fiona to his Facebook page asking for 10,000 likes in 7 days, the post crossed the mark. While it looks like the 2012 launch is unlikely, Min has confirmed via Twitter that production plans for the tablet are a go, with community feedback apparently set to play a significant role in the design process going forward. According to Min's Facebook page, there are are multiple design concepts that have been developed, so there is no final design specification as of yet. Hardware details have not yet been set in stone, with ARM and various Intel processors being mentioned as possibilities. Windows 8 is a given, though if ARM ends up being the hardware platform of choice, that would likely shift to Windows RT. The initial concept shown off at CES featured Windows 7, a ULV Core i7 processor, an unspecified dedicated graphics unit, and a 10.1" 1280x800 capacitive multitouch display. Source: Twitter @minliangtan (Comment on this)

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