A team of US scientists have developed a prototype portable microscope that would allow a cellphone camera to help diagnose potentially fatal diseases in blood and sputum samples. The University of California team strapped a DIY microscope to a 3.2-megapixel Nokia N73, using cheap off-the-shelf parts that can nonetheless make out objects 1.2 micrometers across; a red blood cell is usually 6-8 micrometers in width.
After news yesterday that a Foxconn employee in China had committed suicide after losing a valuable iPhone prototype, Apple have released a comment. Talking to CNET, Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet said “We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death. We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect.”
A regular complaint over at Instructables is that not everybody can afford their own laser cutting rig. If DK Ahn has his way, however, precision cutting – of at least paper, wood and polypropylene under 2mm thick – would be available to the mainstream, thanks to his MOW microfactory.
Video demo after the cut
We’re not entirely sure what’s going on here, but it looks as though a Chinese firm is attempting to sell what are claimed to be prototypes of the Crunchpad internet tablet. Reminiscent of the “Prototype B” design, rather than the newer renders TechCrunch have been displaying, the confusing product page and Windows OS leads us to suspect that this is more about borrowing Crunchpad hype than it is selling off prototype designs.
Haptic feedback was promised as the bridge between the UI flexibility of a touchscreen and the ease of use of buttons, but it’s actually turned out to be of mixed effectiveness. One company hoping to change that is Senseg, who have developed a new type of solid-state haptic feedback system that uses an electrical field to stimulate the receptors in the fingertip that would normally feel vibration. The Senseg technology breaks down the display into an array of “tixels”, each of which can be individually controlled and made to send out a different effect.
Video demo after the cut
Like Sony’s PSP phone rumors, talk of a new Dell smartphone refuses to die. After the leaked image earlier this month, now the Wall Street Journal is tenuously suggesting that Dell have been experimenting with Android-based prototypes. Two people who have seen the prototypes have described them as “slightly larger than Apple’s iPod touch”; however another person has suggested both that Dell may begin shipping the device later in 2009 or “the plan could be delayed or scrapped entirely.”
Paranoiacs and the easily intimidated, look away now; the Eyelight Dot Me may just be a lighting prototype now, but one day it could be following you around your home. Designed by Simon Schiessl and Felix Hardwood Beck, the light uses an array of LEDs to create a moving eye suspended from your ceiling; if it spots movement, it spotlights that person in a cone of bright light.
Video demo of the Eyelight prototype after the cut
Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display may be drawing attention right now, but Mary Lou Jepsen should stay on her toes: Samsung’s LCD arm have been demonstrating a 10.2-inch color e-paper display that’s capable of showing video. The panel, which was shown at the recent SID expo, incorporates both e-ink and LCD technology, switching between “memory mode” and “dynamic mode” pixels.
Nothing like a new niche to get the concept artists salivating, but this time it’s Freescale Semiconductor who are working on possible Smartbook designs. The company has commissioned six prototypes, ranging from the touchscreen-slate-with-QWERTY-ears you see here to a modular mini-notebook and a leather-clad clamshell.
Five more Freescale Smartbook concepts after the cut
New renders of what’s said to be the final design for Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad internet and media tablet have been released, and its taken a big step forward from the last devices we saw. Now crafted from aluminum, not plastic, so as to cut thickness down to 18mm, the CrunchPad still has a 12-inch touchscreen, WiFi internet access and a media player app.
Video CrunchPad demo after the cut
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