Surf The Net With Sony Ericsson's K660i

Sony Ericsson launches the K660i – designed for an easier web experience

-Enjoy surfing the Web with landscape Web browsing and dedicated shortcut keys on the new Sony Ericsson K660i available in two colours

Sony Ericsson today launched the K660i, a HSDPA (‘mobile broadband’) enabled phone with clever features like illuminated shortcut keys that becomes active only when surfing the Net, and landscape browsing of Web sites to maximise your screen’s real estate. It is all designed to give you an easier mobile Web experience; just like surfing the Web on your computers.

“Sony Ericsson’s vision is to offer ‘Generation Web’ a mobile internet experience that’s rich, user-friendly and satisfying,” says Chris Lee, Vice President of Marketing, Asia Pacific at Sony Ericsson. “This Web-optimised phone is a clear step along that journey and will appeal to individuals who are managing their busy lives and social networks online, whether it’s arranging to meet up for a football match or booking movie tickets. Now with the K660i, they can surf the Web anywhere easily from their phone as if they were sitting in front of their computers.”

Sony Ericsson K660i – for an easier web experience

• Web Short-cut Keys illuminate when Web mode is activated
• Landscape Browsing gives consumers a more natural orientation and larger screen space
• Magnetic Mouse Pointer is an accurate way to move around the screen similar to the mouse experience of computers
• Pan and Zoom allows you to zoom in on a section of the screen
• HSDPA for four times faster than 3G surfing, email and download

The internet as you expect it to be!

The K660i makes browsing the mobile Web straightforward with its unique illuminated Web short-cut keys. It sports a Bookmark function, a single click button that takes you back to your Home Page and an ‘Enter Address’ shortcut; all intended to give you an easier mobile Web experience. Maximise your screen’s real estate using landscape browsing. Easily switch from portrait to landscape mode for a wider display, allowing you to easily scroll and view your Web pages.

The phone’s navigation key also serves as a “magnetic mouse pointer” when in Web mode, letting you find your way around the page just as you would on a PC. It indicates when a part of the page is clickable and where text input is possible. You can even zoom in for a closer look at text or images.

Pan-and-zoom is just one of the Web shortcut keys that sit under your thumb when viewing Web pages in landscape mode. It lets you choose a section on screen and zoom in to read or see more detail.

The information you need – on your terms

The K660i is engineered to ensure that you’re not kept waiting for the news or content that matters to you. Music, video or email – HSDPA technology lets you download it all at speeds that are up to four times faster than regular 3G.

Get there with Google Maps for Mobile

Thanks to Google Maps for Mobile, the K660i keeps you grounded wherever you are, even in a strange city. Find your way instantly with interactive maps that let you zoom in or out, or pan in any direction to orient yourself, like a comprehensive street directory – just without the weight. Enter your current location and destination and receive point-to-point directions. No fuss, no diversions.

Shoot and share…instantly

The K660i squeezes a 2.0 megapixel camera into its compact frame, making it easy to capture the moment. And since the Web is at your fingertips, it’s just a few clicks to upload your picture to your blogsite and share it instantly with friends and family.

Although packing a whole host of Web applications, this phone is not just for suits. Available in two stand-out colours, a funky ‘lime-on-white’ and a stylish ‘wine-on-black’ colour, the K660i will earn you admiring glances no matter where you are.

The K660i is a UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in Singapore from 20 March 2008.

http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/news/view.php?id=10238&cid=9

Sony Ericsson K660i Offers Landscape Web Browsing

Sony Ericsson today announced the launch of the K660i, an HSDPA mobile broadband enabled phone with features designed to make Web browsing simple and convenient such as illuminated shortcut keys that only become active when surfing the Net and desktop tickers that provide regular updates from favorite websites.

Pan-and-zoom is just one of the Web shortcut keys that sit under the thumb when viewing Web pages in landscape mode. The K660i also sports a Bookmark function, a single click button that takes users back to their Home Page and an 'Enter Address' shortcut; all intended to guide them through the Webs faster.

The K660i is engineered to ensure that readers not kept waiting for the news or content. HSDPA technology lets them download it all at speeds that are up to four times faster than regular 3G.

Enter the current location and destination and receive point-to-point directions. Thanks to GoogleMaps for Mobile, K660i users can find their way instantly with interactive maps that let them zoom in or out, or pan in any direction to orient themselves.

The K660i squeezes a 2.0-megapixel camera into its compact frame. And it takes just a few clicks to upload picture to a blogsite and share it with friends and family.

Available in two colours, lime-on-white and wine-on-black, the K660i is a UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets from Q1 2008.

http://www.mobiledia.com/news/63446.html

SONY K660i

Access the latest news directly from the K660i screen. The RSS desktop widgets are always on display, bringing the news straight to your phone.

Horizontal Web browsing

Browse the Web in landscape mode, and enjoy the convenience of the keypad Web shortcuts. Zoom, home, favourites and text input are right under your thumb.

Find your way

Write where you are and where you’re going, and the K660i will take you there. To complete the K660i Web experience, your phone has maps and navigation services.

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones/overview/k660i

MWg Atom V

MWg previously known as O2 Asia has two new devices in the offering the Atom V and the Zinc II. We start off with the Atom V which is powered by an Intel PXA270 520MHz CPU and comes with 256MB ROM and 64MB RAM. The Atom V offers quite a few connectivity options like Quad Band GSM for world roaming, Wi-Fi, UMTS, HSDPA and of course Wi-Fi. The phone comes with a 2.8 inch QVGA touchscreen, 3 Megapixel camera, GPS, FM Radio, Micro SD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0. The phone runs on the latest Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional edition

Upcoming: MWg Atom V

Words are out that MWg will be releasing 2 new handhelds. One of them will be the O2 Atom/Exec replacement model named MWg Atom V. Pricing is currently not confirmed.





Specification:

Dimensions: 116 x 59 x 14.95 mmPrimary display resolution: 240 x 320 pixels

Networks: Quadband GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900

Connectivity options: 3G, HSDPA, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/GSM, USB, EDGE

Messaging features: SMS, MMS, Predictive text input, Email, Instant message

Built-in digital camera: Yes

Maximum camera resolution: 3 megapixels

Additional multimedia features: FM Radio

Operating system: Windows Mobile 6

Main processor type: Marvell PXA270 (520MHz)

RAM/ROM: 64 MB/256MB

Expansion option(s): TransFlash/microSD

General specification looks interesting with GPS and 3G. It’s only 1mm thicker than the HTC Touch with so much function thrown in. However, the low 64MB RAM really is a damper!

http://freshgear.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/upcoming-mwg-atom-v/

MWg Atom V

Description

The MWg Atom V is the first Windows Mobile device exclusively designed and launched by MWg (founded by the team responsible for O2’s ground-breaking products in Asia).

Features:

Operating System	Windows Mobile 6 Professional
Processor	Intel XScale PXA 270 520MHz
Memory	256MB Flash ROM; 64MB RAM
Cellular Data	Tri-band UMTS (2100/1900/850 MHz), Quad-Band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), HSDPA 3.6Mbps
Wireless Connectivity	Bluetooth v2.0, 802.11b/g WLAN
Display	2.8” TFT QVGA (Touch Screen)
Radio	FM Radio with RDS
GPS	SiFR Star III GPS
Camera	2MP camera
Dimensions	116 x 59 x 14.95mm

With a brand new design and exclusive to MWg, the Atom V is a guaranteed head-turner. Its 2.8” TFT LCD screen boasts QVGA resolution, and extends throughout the front face of the handset, giving it a sleek & sophisticated look, while the tactile skin on the back of the device makes it comfortable to handle.

The Atom V features a full range of connectivity options from HSDPA 3.5G (3.6Mbps) to WiFi and Bluetooth so you can stay connected anywhere you go. The integrated SiRFstarIII GPS will help you find your way with great reliability, even if urban areas with high buildings or densely covered outdoor environments.

Box Contents:
- Atom V
- AC multi-head adapter for multiple countries
- MiniUSB sync cable
- Battery
- Stylus
- Stereo headphones
- Manual
- Companion CD

Technical Details

•	Operating System: Microsoft® Windows Mobile® 6 Professional, World Wide English
•	Memory: - 256MB Flash ROM - 64MB RAM - MicroSD expandable memory
•	Display: - 2.8” TFT QVGA LCD touch screen - 240 x 320 pixel resolution - 65K effective resolution - Video support: MPEG4, 3GP, WMV - Image support: BMP, WBMP, GIF, PNG
•	Network Frequency: - Quad-band GSM: 850/ 900/1800/1900 Mhz - WCDMA: 2100 Mhz - HSDPA 7.2 Mbps* - EDGE
•	Connectivity: - SiRF III GPS - Built-in Wireless LAN 802.11b+g - Bluetooth® version 2.0 + EDR - Mini-USB port - Audio jack (2.5mm)
•	Audio: - Speakerphone Stereo speaker - Playback support: MIDI, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC - FM Radio with RDS function
•	GPS: Integrated highly sensitive SiFRstarIII GPS chip, reliable in urban and densely covered outdoor environments.
•	Camera: - 2.0 Megapixels CMOS Auto-focus White LED strobe flash - Support still image and video capture - GPS image tagging - Macro Mode
•	Operating Time: - Standby up to 150 hours (GSM) - Talktime up to 3.5 hours
•	Dimensions: 116 x 59 x 14.95mm; 140g
•	Warranty : - 12 months for main unit - 6 months for supplied accessories

http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=161299

MWg Atom V

Till now, the O2 Xda Atom Life remains a popular handheld among those looking for a compact keypad-less Windows Mobile (WM) device. It helped that the company relaunched it in a new color, but still, the fact that people are still buying it a whole year after its initial availability is testament to its staying power. It makes sense then for MWg (what O2 Asia is called now) to carry on the Atom line of products with the Atom V.

Design

Design is an important reason the Atom Life was successful, and from the images and specs, the Atom V looks to emulate that. Though not razor-thin like so many consumer mobile phones these days, the Atom V is pretty slim, measuring in at just under 15mm, down from the Atom Life's 18mm. There is a bit of sacrifice in the length and width though. The Atom V has a noticeably larger footprint and does not look as compact as the older Atoms.

The Atom V has a circular directional pad which, unfortunately, doesn't rotate.
(click for larger image)

Like HTC's Touch series, the entire front surface of the device is flush. This means there is no raised bezel, which makes it better for fingertip actions like scrolling and swiping. We did find that the LCD is really quite far under the clear plastic cover, which makes it difficult to aim at small icons, especially if the screen is placed at an angle from your view.

Below the display is a round directional pad. At first glance, you expect it to be a scroll wheel because of the shape, but unfortunately, it's not. The lack of circular motion doesn't take away from the fact that it's a pretty effective five-way navigator. We especially liked it that the selector is very large so you can't possibly miss it.

Around this navigator are the shortcut buttons. These are thinly shaped but well spaced out so we had no problems with them. On the left side of the Atom V is the camera shutter, a volume rocker which doubles as another shortcut key and the microSD card slot. Connections-wise, there's a standard mini-USB port on the base and a 2.5mm audio jack for headsets on the right side.

Features

The size of the Atom V doesn't limit what it's able to do and it remains as fully featured as the Atom Life. This includes HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless connection options as well as quad-band GSM, a feature frequent travelers to the US will appreciate. For those who still like to listen to the radio, a tuner is also built into this handheld.

The Atom V Quick Menu interface.

Another feature that globetrotters will like is the inclusion of GPS. This was one thing that gave the HTC P3600i (or Dopod D810) the upper hand when comparing features. The GPS in the Atom V will utilize the tried-and-tested SiRFStar III chipset. Of course, that isn't a guarantee for success as the quality of the internal antenna will have to support it. More on that when we are able to test this feature out in a future review.

One of the most glaring omissions is the lack of a secondary camera for video calls. Though it is equipped with 3G, there is only one rear-facing camera for still snapshots and video capture.

Though still fast at 520MHz, the Atom V's processor is slower than the Atom Life's 624MHz one. It may not mean a lot to most users, but those switching over from an Atom Life may feel the difference.

Though many handhelds now come with 128MB RAM, the Atom V sticks with 64MB. RAM is temporary memory for running applications, so more of it will make multitasking more efficient. This is one feature we really regret not seeing in the Atom V.

One of the things that we liked about O2 products was the effort taken to customize the software. On the Today screen, this is usually done by adding new rows and shortcuts to make getting to commonly used items more convenient. MWg has taken another step by providing an attractive alternative to the default Today screen in an app named Atom V Quick Menu. This interface features large icons on the bottom of the screen which are meant to be tapped with the fingers. Icons can be removed or added from a comprehensive list and moving between them is intuitively done by swiping your thumb against the row. A big clock is found in the middle of the display while the top of the screen shows system information and fixed shortcuts to messaging, the phone application and keylock. This is definitely much easier to use than the regular Today screen. But if asked to make a choice, we'd still have to say that HTC's implementation is still more comprehensive and useful.

Another useful feature is the Easy-Touch Menu. This can be called up by pressing and holding the Windows key. What it does is to help you easily terminate the application you are in, because as we know, pressing X on the top right corner only minimizes them. This will help with RAM management. It also has a shortcut to the brightness setting, making it convenient to adjust the backlight to save power.

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/handhelds/0,39001708,42514760p,00.htm

MWg's Atom V - A Quick Peek

Reacquainted with the Atom

When O2 announced its imminent withdrawal from the Asia Pacific market, it was smartphone enthusiasts who were left with a reality of losing a prominent Windows Mobile device in its wake. Fortunately, the O2 Asia team has taken on the mandate with a new initiative under the Mobile and Wireless Group (MWg), with an impressive lineup for the upcoming months.

For starters, we were presented with their first introduction for the year, the Atom V. Exclusively designed by MWg and being their first of many more releases to come, the Atom V takes on a form much unlike its previous O2 XDA predecessors.

You'll notice the biggest difference on its navigational pad, with softkey buttons seemingly too narrow for comfort.

Adding some bells and whistles to the Atom V is a propriety user interface known as the Atom V Quick Menu. The flushed screen made sense to us when we discovered the ability to scroll through your various applications with the flick of your finger. With the option to mix and match various applications into the Atom V, MWg has a clear direction in providing a unique user interface for consumers.

You have the camera button, scroll wheel and microSD slot situated at the left side of the Atom V, but what's of interest here is ...

... the location of its 2.5mm audio jack, oddly found on the top right, just slightly above the battery casing.

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=18&id=2497

The alternative to using embryonic stem cells

Until recently it was taught in all medical schools that cells in the embryo were multipotent - able to give rise to every tissue - but by birth, this capacity was permanently lost. That has been the reason why almost all research effort focused on embryonic stem cells until just a few years ago.

However a moment's thought tells us how illogical such a view was, and indeed we are now finding that many cells in children and adults have extraordinary capacity to generate or stimulate growth of a wide variety of tissues, if encouraged in the right way.

Take for example the work of Professor Jonathan Slack at Bath University who has shown how adult human liver cells can be transformed relatively easily into insulin producing cells such as those found in the pancreas, or the work of others using bone marrow cells to repair brain and spinal cord injuries in mice and rats, and now doing the same to repair heart muscle in humans.

Why should this surprise us? We know that almost all cells in your body contain your entire genome or book of life: enough information to make an entire copy of you, which is the basis of cloning technology. So in theory just about every cell can make any tissue you need. However the reality is that in most cells almost every gene you have is turned off - but as it turns out, not as permanently as we thought.

If we take one of your skin cells and fuse it with an unfertilized human egg, the chemical bath inside a human egg activates all the silenced genes, and the combined cell becomes so totipotent that it starts to make a new human being.

What then if we could find a way to reactivate just a few silenced genes, and perhaps at the same time silence some of the others? Could we find a chemical that would mimic what happens in the embryo, with the power to transform cells from one type into another? Yes we can. Jonathan Slack and others have done just that. What was considered impossible five years ago is already history.

Could we take adult cells and force them back into a more general, undetermined embryonic state? Yes we can. It is now possible to create cells with a wide range of plasticity, all from adult tissue. The secret is to get the right gene activators into the nucleus, not so hard as we thought.

http://www.globalchange.com/stemcells2.htm

Stem Cells for the Future Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a very common neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 2% of the population over 65 years of age. PD is caused by a progressive degeneration and loss of dopamine (DA)-producing neurons, which leads to tremor, rigidity, and hypokinesia (abnormally decreased mobility). It is thought that PD may be the first disease to be amenable to treatment using stem cell transplantation. Factors that support this notion include the knowledge of the specific cell type (DA neurons) needed to relieve the symptoms of the disease. In addition, several laboratories have been successful in developing methods to induce embryonic stem cells to differentiate into cells with many of the functions of DA neurons.

In a recent study, scientists directed mouse embryonic stem cells to differentiate into DA neurons by introducing the gene Nurr1. When transplanted into the brains of a rat model of PD, these stem cell-derived DA neurons reinnervated the brains of the rat Parkinson model, released dopamine and improved motor function.

Regarding human stem cell therapy, scientists are developing a number of strategies for producing dopamine neurons from human stem cells in the laboratory for transplantation into humans with Parkinson's disease. The successful generation of an unlimited supply of dopamine neurons could make neurotransplantation widely available for Parkinson's patients at some point in the future.

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp

What are stem cells - embryonic and adult stem cells

Stem cells are relatively primitive cells that have the ability to divide rapidly to produce more specialized cells. Stem cells in the embryo are capable of huge variation in the kinds of tissues they make, reproduce rapidly and have attracted interest of researchers for decades. However embryonic stem cells are hard to get hold of in humans - you need a supply of human embryos, which requires either breaking the law in some countries or applying for complex licenses in others.

Embryonic stem cells are also hard to control, and hard to grow in a reliable way. They have "minds" of their own, and embryonic stem cells are often unstable, producing unexpected results as they divide, or even cancerous growths. Human embryonic stem cells usually cause an immune reaction when transplanted into people, which means cells used in treatment may be rapidly destroyed unless they are protected, perhaps by giving medication to suppress the immune system (which carries risks).

One reason for intense interest in human cloning technology is so-called therapeutic cloning. This involves combining an adult human cell with a human egg from which the nucleus has been removed. The result is a human embryo which is dividing rapidly to try and become an identical twin of the cloned adult. If implanted in the womb, such cloned embryos have the potential to be born normally as cloned babies, although there are many problems to overcome, including catastrophic malformations and premature ageing as seen in animals such as Dolly the sheep.

In theory, therapeutic cloning could allow scientists to take embryonic stem cells from the cloned embryo, throw the rest of the embryo away and use the stem cells to generate new tissue which is genetically identical to the person cloned. In practice this is a very expensive approach fraught with technical challenges as well as ethical questions and legal challenges.

An alternative is to try to create a vast tissue bank of tens of thousands of embryonic cells lines, by extracting stem cells from so many different human embryos that whoever needs treatment can be closely matched with the tissue type of an existing cell line. But even if this is achieved, problems of control and cancer remain. And again there are many ethical considerations with any science that uses human embryos, each of which is an early developing but complete potential human being, which is why so many countries have banned this work.

http://www.globalchange.com/stemcells2.htm

What are stem cells and why are they important?

Stem cells have two important characteristics that distinguish them from other types of cells. First, they are unspecialized cells that renew themselves for long periods through cell division. The second is that under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become cells with special functions such as the beating cells of the heart muscle or the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

Scientists primarily work with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, which have different functions and characteristics that will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to obtain or derive stem cells from early mouse embryos more than 20 years ago. Many years of detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of how to isolate stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for infertility purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures and when they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor.

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, stem cells in developing tissues give rise to the multiple specialized cell types that make up the heart, lung, skin, and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease.

It has been hypothesized by scientists that stem cells may, at some point in the future, become the basis for treating diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and heart disease.

Scientists want to study stem cells in the laboratory so they can learn about their essential properties and what makes them different from specialized cell types. As scientists learn more about stem cells, it may become possible to use the cells not just in cell-based therapies, but also for screening new drugs and toxins and understanding birth defects. However, as mentioned above, human embryonic stem cells have only been studied since 1998. Therefore, in order to develop such treatments scientists are intensively studying the fundamental properties of stem cells, which include:

1. determining precisely how stem cells remain unspecialized and self renewing for many years; and
2. identifying the signals that cause stem cells to become specialized cells.

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp

Future of Stem Cell Research: Rapid Progress

Stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells - biotech company progress, stem cell investment, stem cell research results, should you invest in stem cell technology, stem cell organ repair and organ regeneration? Treatment using adult stem cells for people like the late Christopher Reeves, with recent spinal cord injuries - or stroke, or heart damage.

Every week there are new claims being made about embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, what is the truth? President George Bush and John Kerry have fought an election with high-profile campaigns about embryonic stem cell research, and the scientific facts have often been lost in the media debate. The death of Superman hero Christopher Reeves has also focussed attention on stem cell research, and the urgent needs of those with spinal cord injury.

Here is a brief summary of important stem cell trends. You will also find on this site keynote presentations on stem cell research, speeches and powerpoint slides on the future of health care, the future of medicine, the future of the pharmaceutical industry, and the future of ageing - all of which are profoundly impacted by stem cell research.

There is no doubt that we are on the edge of a major stem cell breakthrough. Stem cells will one day provide effective low-cost treatment for diabetes, some forms of blindness, heart attack, stroke, spinal cord damage and many other health problems. Animal stem cell studies are already very promising and some clinical trials using stem cells have started (article written in September 2004).

As a physician and a futurist I have been monitoring the future of stem cells for over two decades, and advise corporations on these issues. Stem cell investment, research effort, and treatment focus is moving rapidly away from embryonic stem cells (ethical and technical challenges) to adult stem cells which are turning out to be far easier to convert into different tissues than we thought in 2000-2003.

I have met a number of leading researchers, and their progress in stem cell research is now astonishing, while over 2,000 new research papers on embryonic or adult stem cells are published in reputable scientific journals every year.

Stem cell technology is developing so fast that many stem cell scientists are unaware of important progress by others in their own or closely related fields. They are unable to keep up. The most interesting work is often unpublished, or waiting to be published. There is also of course commercial and reputational rivalry, which can on occaisions tempt scientists to downplay the significance of other people's results (or their claims)..

What exactly are stem cells? Will stem cells deliver? Should you invest in biotech companies that are developing stem cell technology? What should physicians, health care professionals, planners and health departments expect? What will be the impact of stem cell treatments on the pharmaceutical industry? How expensive will stem cell treatments be? What about the ban on embryonic stem cell research in many nations? Do embryonic stem cell treatments have a future or will they be overtaken by adult stem cell technology?

http://www.globalchange.com/stemcells2.htm

Stem Cell Research: Science and the Future

Since 1998, when scientists isolated embryonic stem cells in a lab, questions over how -- and whether -- to use them have abounded. In Stem Cell Now, bioethics expert Christopher Thomas Scott explores the possibilities of what some consider the greatest discovery since nuclear fusion.

The book details what Scott calls a revolution in research, as the potential for freely available cells that can help repair or rebuild the human body is still being explored.

But while his main concern is the science behind stem-cell research, Scott also takes pains to describe the ethical and moral debate over how the advances are used. For many, embryonic stem cells are at the nexus of a political, religious and medical controversy.

If Scott's examination of stem-cell science helps to inform the ongoing debate, his look at possible treatments helps explain what is at stake. From reversing cancer to replacing damaged organs, much has been made of the generative aspect of stem cells. Stem Cell Now offers a sense of what is possible now, and what may come in the next decade.

Scott heads Stanford University's Program on Stem Cells and Society. He was also a founder and executive editor of the award-winning biotech journal Acumen. His writing has appeared in journals, including Science, Nature Biotechnology, and The Scientist.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5204335

Amazon Kindle

The online giant hopes it's created the ipod of digital books.

Credit: Amazon

Multimedia • See the Kindle in action.

Amazon's portable, handheld reader, which allows users to download digital versions of books, newspapers, and magazines, represents one of the first consumer uses of a low-power, easy-to-read electrophoretic display. The $399 device is a breeze to use, and though the company has not disclosed sales numbers, demand quickly outstripped supply. However, the success of the Kindle may depend on consumers' willingness to bear the price of using it: though e-books, at $9.99, cost less than most physical books, newspapers, blogs, and other content available free on the Internet will cost money (for instance, $1.99 per month for Slashdot and $13.99 per month for the New York Times).

1. Electronic paper
The Kindle's 600-by-800-pixel, 167-pixels-per-inch screen uses a display technology made by E Ink of Cambridge, MA. At the front of the screen is a layer of transparent electrodes. Below it are millions of microcapsules containing positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles, and below them is a layer of nearly a million more electrodes. A negative charge on one of these bottom electrodes pushes black particles to the top, and a positive charge does the same with the white ones. Each microcapsule acts as a pixel that can thus be made to appear black, white, or gray.

E-paper consumes far less power than LCD displays do. Because the microcapsules retain their configurations until a new charge is applied, the display doesn't have to draw current until it's time to switch pages.

2. CPU
Powering the Kindle is an Intel PXA255 processor, says John Knuth, lead technician at Rapid Repair and one of the first to take apart the Kindle. This processor is part of Intel's XScale line, designed for use in mobile phones and smart phones.

3. Wireless downloads
Most electronic readers require physical connection to a computer to retrieve data, but the Kindle allows users to browse and download texts wirelessly via what Amazon is calling Whispernet: an AnyData EVDO wireless modem enables the device to connect to Sprint's wireless data network in the United States. In addition to buying books, users can subscribe to newspapers and blogs, which are downloaded automatically--each morning, in the case of daily papers. Though Amazon charges for this content (even when it's available free on the Internet), a browser bundled with the Kindle allows users to read other Web content at no cost.

4. Operating system
Amazon decided that the Kindle would run a modified version of the Linux 2.6.10 kernel. One of the modifications added support for execute in place (XIP), which allows faster and more efficient memory usage. In compliance with Linux licensing, Amazon has made the modified source code freely available.

5. Memory
The Kindle comes with 256 megabytes of internal flash memory, 180 megabytes of which is available for storing content. (On average, that's enough for about 200 books.) Users can also use SD cards for more storage. Though it's more expensive than hard-drive-based storage, flash memory offers quicker access, lighter weight, and more resistance to bumps and shocks.

6. Battery
The Kindle uses a replaceable lithium-­polymer battery. Amazon claims that when the device's wireless connectivity is switched off, users can read for a week on one battery charge.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20218/?a=f

Slicing Up Silicon for Cheaper Solar

A California startup is cutting by half the amount of costly silicon used in solar panels.

Stripped-down solar: By cutting silicon solar cells into strips (left) and using molded plastic (right) to funnel light to them, Solaria is able to cut the cost of its solar panels. Credit: Solaria

Solaria, a startup based in Fremont, CA, intends to cut the cost of solar panels by decreasing the amount of expensive material required. It has recently started shipping its first panels to select customers. This spring the company will begin production of solar panels at a factory built to produce 25 megawatts of solar panels per year.

Current high costs for the type of silicon used in photovoltaics have significantly driven up the price of conventional solar panels. Solaria's cells generate about 90% of a conventional solar panel's power, while using half as much silicon, says Kevin Gibson, Solaria's CTO.

Ordinarily, the silicon in a solar panel spans its surface, collecting light from as much area as possible. But Solaria slices the silicon into thin strips and spaces them apart so that they only account for about half the panel's area. A clear molded plastic cover collects light from the entire panel and funnels it to the strips of silicon.

This approach saves money because the total costs of the molded plastic, other extra materials, and added manufacturing steps still are lower than the cost of the additional silicon used in conventional solar panels. Solaria also reduces costs by using manufacturing equipment already developed for the semiconductor industry, thus avoiding expensive customized equipment. Gibson says Solaria's first products will be economical enough to compete with panels produced by much larger companies, and that successive product generations will cost between 10 and 30 percent less than their competitors.

Silicon prices are high now. But the element is abundant, and already new facilities are coming on-line to produce more refined silicon. For Solaria is to be competitive in the long run, it will need to implement other cost-saving measures, especially improving the overall efficiency of its solar panels, says Tonio Buonassisi, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.

Such improvements are possible, Gibson says. For example, in conventional solar cells, wires for collecting current are placed on top of the cell, where they block some of the incoming sunlight. Solaria could place its wires between the strips of silicon, where they block no light. Because the wires wouldn't need to be made thin to avoid blocking light, they could be sized to collect electricity more efficiently

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/20412/

Will a YouTube Platform Matter?

The video site will let people do more with their clips, like watch them on TiVo.

New tube: TiVo is building a service using YouTube’s new open platform, which will let people watch clips from the online video service on their TVs. Credit: Technology Review

Bloggers and other website managers have long been able to embed videos hosted by the online video site YouTube in their own pages. But on Wednesday, YouTube announced that it would give computer programmers access to some of the technology that underlies its site. The company's goal was to involve itself in other methods of distributing Web video--not just YouTube.com, but websites and services that include TiVo, video games, and Webcam software.

"For users, the exciting news is that they will be able to actively participate in the YouTube community from just about anywhere," says Jim Patterson, YouTube product manager, "including the online destinations and Web communities they already love and visit regularly."

In other words, YouTube--which Google bought last year for $1.6 billion--won't be just a website that lets people view, rate, and comment on videos. It will be a platform upon which software developers can build their own video-player interfaces, customized video, and search tools. Ultimately, users will be able to upload video from sites built on the YouTube platform, instead of having to go to YouTube.com. Later this year, the company will offer another service that will let viewers log into YouTube and watch videos via their TiVo set-top boxes. The service will be available to people who have broadband connections and a Tivo Series 3 system or an high-definition set-top box. (This isn't the first time YouTube has found its way to the television: Apple TV started offering built-in YouTube access last year.)

But there are key differences between YouTube video and the content typically viewed on a television. "What YouTube has shown is that online video represents a new medium that's much more about bite-sized morsels and things that are conducive to the small screen and short attention spans," says Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst of Leichtman Research Group. Because YouTube's low-resolution clips might not look good when expanded to fill a TV screen, says Tara Maitra, vice president and general manager for content services at TiVo, the TiVo service might restrict them to just a small part of the screen.

Certainly, some people will be excited to learn that they will no longer need to gather their friends around their computer monitors to watch their favorite YouTube clips. But Leichtman says YouTube on TiVo will really affect only a small number of people. "We have to keep this in perspective," says Leichtman. The YouTube-ready TiVo boxes are "representative of less than 1 percent of all households. It really adds no breadth."

YouTube applications developed by other companies, such as game developer Electronic Arts (EA) or online-slide-show maker Animoto, might have more traction. EA plans to release a YouTube feature in its game Spore, in which players build their own creatures. "When a ... user finishes creating their creature, they have the option to record a short video of their creature in action," says Brandon Barber, director of entertainment development and programming at EA. "This can be uploaded to that user's YouTube account in a few clicks." Since sharing parts of games is something that gamers already do, the combination of EA and YouTube is natural. Animoto has integrated a single-click option that lets a user quickly share a photo slide show on YouTube, also a natural combination of services.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/20413/

Better Graphene Transistors

IBM researchers have improved transistors made from single-atom-thick sheets of carbon.

Double-decker: IBM researchers have found that they can significantly reduce noise in graphene devices by stacking two layers together. Here, the noise produced from a single layer of graphene (left) is compared with that from two layers (right). Credit: IBM

IBM researchers have discovered a way to massively improve the performance of transistors made out of sheets of the two-dimensional carbon material graphene: they stack them up. By placing two layers of graphene on top of each other, they found that they can reduce the electrical noise of the device by a factor of 10.

The findings could help realize graphene-based chips that run faster, are more compact, and consume less power than today's silicon chips, says Yu-Ming Lin, a scientist at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, in Yorktown Heights, NY. IBM researchers are also investigating other promising successors to silicon, such as graphene-like carbon nanotubes. Graphene, which is made entirely out of carbon atoms arranged in a one-atom-thick honeycomb structure, has a number of properties that make it attractive for electronics, particularly for transistors that produce radio-frequency signals. But transistors created from the material have been plagued by noise, making the signals they produce less than ideal for communications. The researchers' discovery could help make graphene transistors practical.

"The semiconductor industry is looking very extensively for new materials that can outperform silicon," says Lin. Graphene is one prime candidate, he says, as "for a given voltage, graphene can carry a much higher current, because the electrons simply move faster in the graphene than in silicon."

This enhanced electron mobility, typically anywhere from 50 to 500 times faster than silicon, makes it possible to process more information with less power, enabling extremely fast switching speeds. Graphene can also potentially be cut to sizes far smaller than silicon can, making possible more-compact transistors and chips.

But there is a serious challenge to making tiny, practical devices out of graphene, says Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, a graphene researcher at MIT. "One of the major problems as devices become smaller and smaller is that the noise becomes larger and larger," he says. This is because the tiny currents trickling through the devices become increasingly susceptible to environmental influences. For example, charged particles in the substrate near the device can exert an influence on the current flowing through the graphene. This can act like a barrier to current flow, causing it to deflect and garbling the signal produced.

But Lin, working with his colleague Phaedon Avouris, discovered that placing two layers of graphene, one on top of the other, has the unexpected property of significantly reducing this problem. The results are published in the latest issue of the journal Nano Letters.

Lin makes the graphene layers using a common and surprisingly low-tech approach, known as mechanical exfoliation. "We take a piece of Scotch tape and peel off a layer from a chunk of graphite," says Lin. The structure of graphite is essentially the same as that of a large stack of graphene, and the carbon atoms have a natural tendency to want to stay in these layers. "So we then normally just repeat the process until eventually, we have a single layer," he says.

When placed between two electrodes on an oxide substrate, this arrangement forms a field-effect transistor, the basic building block of chips. The same approach is used with the two-layer transistor, only the exfoliation process is cut slightly short, with the final number of layers of graphene being determined using atomic force microscopy. Both layers retain their desirable high electron-mobility properties. But now currents running through both layers couple together so that each electron is paired with a positive charge, effectively keeping it on course, says Lin. The pair resists being deflected by random positive and negative charges in the materials.

While decreasing the noise in graphene transistors is an important step, other obstacles, such as finding ways to make high-performance graphene transistors in large numbers, need to be overcome before such devices are ready for commercialization.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20424/

Identifying Manipulated Images

New tools that analyze the lighting in images help spot tampering.

True or false? The tool used above spots whether an image has been manipulated by modeling the lighting in the image based on an analysis of visible surfaces. To analyze an image, a user indicates the surfaces to consider using contour lines (shown above in white). The system checks for inconsistencies in the way that those surfaces are lit. Credit: Micah Kimo Johnson, Hany Farid

Photo-editing software gets more sophisticated all the time, allowing users to alter pictures in ways both fun and fraudulent. Last month, for example, a photo of Tibetan antelope roaming alongside a high-speed train was revealed to be a fake, according to the Wall Street Journal, after having been published by China's state-run news agency. Researchers are working on a variety of digital forensics tools, including those that analyze the lighting in an image, in hopes of making it easier to catch such manipulations.

Tools that analyze lighting are particularly useful because "lighting is hard to fake" without leaving a trace, says Micah Kimo Johnson, a researcher in the brain- and cognitive-sciences department at MIT, whose work includes designing tools for digital forensics. As a result, even frauds that look good to the naked eye are likely to contain inconsistencies that can be picked up by software.

Many fraudulent images are created by combining parts of two or more photographs into a single image. When the parts are combined, the combination can sometimes be spotted by variations in the lighting conditions within the image. An observant person might notice such variations, Johnson says; however, "people are pretty insensitive to lighting." Software tools are useful, he says, because they can help quantify lighting irregularities--they can give solid information during evaluations of images submitted as evidence in court, for example--and because they can analyze more complicated lighting conditions than the human eye can. Johnson notes that in many indoor environments, there are dozens of light sources, including lightbulbs and windows. Each light source contributes to the complexity of the overall lighting in the image.

Johnson's tool, which requires an expert user, works by modeling the lighting in the image based on clues garnered from various surfaces within the image. (It works best for images that contain surfaces of a fairly uniform color.) The user indicates the surface he wants to consider, and the program returns a set of coefficients to a complex equation that represents the surrounding lighting environment as a whole. That set of numbers can then be compared with results from other surfaces in the image. If the results fall outside a certain variance, the user can flag the image as possibly manipulated.

Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College, who collaborated with Johnson in designing the tool and is a leader in the field of digital forensics, says that "for tampering, there's no silver button." Different manipulations will be spotted by different tools, he points out. As a result, Farid says, there's a need for a variety of tools that can help experts detect manipulated images and can give a solid rationale for why those images have been flagged.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20423/

Long-Distance Wi-Fi

Intel has found a way to stretch a Wi-Fi signal from one antenna to another located more than 60 miles away.

Message received: This Wi-Fi router from Intel uses specialized software to send data to a receiving radio more than 60 miles away. The goal is to connect sparsely populated rural areas with urban cores. Credit: Intel

Intel has announced plans to sell a specialized Wi-Fi platform later this year that can send data from a city to outlying rural areas tens of miles away, connecting sparsely populated villages to the Internet. The wireless technology, called the rural connectivity platform (RCP), will be helpful to computer-equipped students in poor countries, says Jeff Galinovsky, a senior platform manager at Intel. And the data rates are high enough--up to about 6.5 megabits per second--that the connection could be used for video conferencing and telemedicine, he says.

The RCP, which essentially consists of a processor, radios, specialized software, and an antenna, is an appealing way to connect remote areas that otherwise would go without the Internet, says Galinovsky. Wireless satellite connections are expensive, he points out. And it's impractical to wire up some villages in Asian and African countries. "You can't lay cable," he says. "It's difficult, expensive, and someone is going to pull it up out of the ground to sell it."

Already, Intel has installed and tested the hardware in India, Panama, Vietnam, and South Africa. Later this year, the company will sell the device in India, with a target price below $500. The point-to-point technology will require two nodes, which could provide "full back-end infrastructure" for less than $1,000, Galinovsky says.

One node is usually installed at the edge of an urban area, wired to a local-area network cable, he explains. Using a directional antenna, the device shoots data to a receiving antenna as far as 60 miles away. Any farther away, and the system encounters problems due to the curvature of the earth. Practically, most links will be set up less than 30 miles away from one another. Once a node is installed in a village, the connection can be dispersed using standard cables and wireless routers, Galinovsky says.

There is nothing particularly innovative in the antenna technology and the router hardware, he says. The trick, he explains, comes in the software that the radios use to communicate with each other. "If you take standard Wi-Fi and focus it," Galinovsky says, "you can't get past a few kilometers." The reason is that one radio will send out data and wait for an acknowledgment from the other radio that the data was received. If the transmitting radio doesn't receive the acknowledgment in a certain amount of time, it will assume that the data was lost, and it will resend it.

Intel's RCP platform rewrites the communication rules of Wi-Fi radios. Galinvosky explains that the software creates specific time slots in which each of the two radios listens and talks, so there's no extra data being sent confirming transmissions. "We're not taking up all the bandwidth waiting for acknowledgments," he says. Since there is an inherent trade-off between the amount of available bandwidth and the distance that a signal can travel, the more bandwidth is available, the farther a signal can travel. (See a video with a technical explanation of the RCP here.)

Importantly, the devices require relatively little power. Running two or three radios in a link, Galinvosky says, requires about five to six watts. This makes it possible to power the radios using solar energy.

The Intel project and forthcoming product "sound like a huge step forward" in terms of usable bandwidth over long-range lengths, says Deborah Estrin, professor of computer science at the University of California, Los Angeles. Estrin develops technology for sensor networks in remote areas that monitor seismic activity, among other things. She says that these sensors are spread out over large areas and need to transmit large amounts of data. Previous low-power, inexpensive wireless communication technologies could only stretch a few kilometers, she says. "What's important is that Intel is getting much longer distances."

Galinvosky says that the RCP is alluring to markets beyond India. "We're seeing a lot of interest in the industry," he says. "Every time we talk about this, they say, 'We need this yesterday.'"

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20432/?a=f

A Robotic Helping Hand

Georgia Tech's prototype robot responds to instructions given with an ordinary laser pointer.

Ready to fetch: Georgia Tech's new home-assistance robot stands at about human height, with two camera eyes that can home in on the spot projected by a laser pointer. Its roughly two-foot-long sensor-equipped arm can extend down to the ground or up to tables to pick up lightweight items. Credit: Rob Felt/Copyright Georgia Institute of Technology 2008

Multimedia • See Georgia Tech’s new El-E assistant robot in action.

A new robot from Georgia Tech understands commands given using a simple tool: an off-the-shelf laser pointer. In a demonstration video, a person reclining in a chair flicks on a green laser and trains it on a cordless phone on the floor a few feet away. A thin, five-foot-seven-inch robot called Elevated Engagement, or El-E for short, fixes on the phone, wheels over, grips it, and brings it back to the user in a robotic version of fetch.

While companion robots have been making their way into our homes for a while, from Furbys and Tamagotchi digital pets to the therapeutic Paro baby seal, El-E is a step closer to an automated robot that can, say, clean up an entire house or do the dishes. Many obstacles still remain, however--in areas like navigation, grasping, and communication.

El-E, built by the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, is the first robot to be guided by laser pointing, a method more exact than human gesture or speech, which robotics researchers have tried in the past. According to the project's principal investigator, Charles Kemp, the approach was partially inspired by quadriplegics who communicate with helper monkeys via lasers. "It's a point-and-click interface," says Kemp. Users point the laser at what they want and then at where they want it to go: to themselves, to another person, or onto another surface.

What's more, El-E is also the first robot to autonomously retrieve objects from surfaces of varying heights in an unmapped environment. While robots have reached for objects on tables and shelves before, they always needed to know the layout of a static setting. El-E, by contrast, can work in a new room with no map and interact with new or moved tables by using its own, built-in laser to detect surfaces.

Kemp's lab is developing the robot in collaboration with Julie Jacko, director of the Institute for Health Informatics and a professor at the University of Minnesota, and Jonathan Glass, who directs a center at Emory that researches amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The team used several off-the-shelf components to build most of the bot and added the novel laser-pointer interface at its "head." The first part of the interface is a camera coupled to a hyperbolic mirror that makes it omnidirectional so that it can see any object illuminated by the pointer. The robot swivels its two "eyes"--high-resolution cameras--until they are facing the spot made by the laser pointer. The robot then triangulates information from the cameras to estimate the object's position in three-dimensional space. Once El-E locates an object, it declares its success by saying the word "ding" and wheeling over to it.

"The use of a laser pointer on El-E opens up a brand new way for people to interact with robots," says Andrew Ng, a professor of computer science at Stanford University, who has followed Kemp's work closely. "I think this is a way of interacting with robots that will prove useful on many more applications."

To begin the process of picking up an object, El-E uses its laser range finder to figure out if the object is on the floor or on an elevated surface. If it's on the floor, El-E moves toward the object and lowers its laser range finder to scan across the floor. If the object is elevated, El-E uses the range finder to identify the edge of the surface of the table or desk where the object is resting. Once it docks with the table, El-E scans the surface and utilizes a camera on its hand to look down and visually segment the object, assuming the table has a uniform visual texture. So far, El-E can correctly pick out an object among others, as long as they're spaced out. The team hasn't yet tested objects that are clustered or overlapping.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20453/?a=f

Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD Review: Near-Perfect Plasma

An HDTV that produces deeper, darker blacks offers better contrast and a more colorful picture than those that cannot—and the 60-inch Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivers black levels like no other set I’ve seen. In addition, the PRO-150FD’s new video processor is the best I’ve come across for all HD sources. If you’re looking for the most pleasing plasma you can buy, this pricey set fills the bill.

aAn antireflective screen provides native 1080p resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixels progressively scanned) and accepts 1080p video input only through its HDMI ports. Widescreen VGA resolution support topped out at 1,360 by 768 pixels. Fortunately, image over scan with 1080i/p video signals could be disabled, revealing every pixel, but 720p video sources were cropped 3 percent, sacrificing a slight amount of detail and clarity. The Elite’s 1080p video support includes 24-Hz and 60-Hz formats, and the TV’s Advanced PureCinema feature enables a 72-Hz refresh rate that eliminates a shaking artifact known as “judder” when displaying video sourced from 24-frame-per-second material (most films and digital cinema).

As I said before, this set’s contrast and ability to deliver luscious hues of black is unsurpassed. Using the PRO-150FD’s pure-picture preset, I measured its average black level at 0.03 cd/m2, which yielded a high contrast ratio (CR) of 2,612:1. No other HDTV I’ve seen even comes close to this level of performance. That black-level measurement also approaches the limit of my Konica Minolta CS-200 meter’s rated sensitivity, and in the pitch-black test lab, only the slightest screen glow could be seen after my eyes were fully accustomed to the dark.

Color measurements revealed that the PRO-150FD’s movie picture preset produced a color gamut that exceeded the HD spec—that is, oversaturated colors, albeit uniformly so. Switching to the PRO-150FD’s “pure” picture preset resulted in the best out-of-box HD color gamut response I’ve ever drawn from a TV.

The set’s new video processor aced all of my HD video-processing tests, including the HD HQV benchmark test. That’s the first time I’ve seen a perfect score on this test. On more subjective viewing tests, the PRO-150FD’s performance was equally impressive: It exhibited superb video noise management and detail preservation. Standard-definition video tests also showed the PRO-150FD to be an above-average performer.

The Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivered the most outstanding image contrast, color quality, HD video processing, and viewing angles I’ve seen from any HDTV display technology that is currently available to consumers. Of course, the PRO-150FD isn’t the least expensive 1080p plasma in its size range, but it delivers a level of picture performance that is simply unmatched.

http://ngadgeti.blogspot.com/2008/02/pioneer-elite-kuro-pro-150fd-review.html

Pioneer Elite PRO-150FD 60" Plasma TV

When I went to CEDIA last September one of my favorite demonstrations was the Pioneer Elite Kuro plasma TV. Today we take a look at this TV and help you decide if you want to convince Santa to load this monster in his sleigh. The first thing you notice about the TV is how large and black it is. It measures 57-15/16 x 34-23/32 x 4-13/16 inches (WxHxD) without the stand and it weighs in 122 pounds without speakers. The speakers are optional and can be added onto the sides of the panel. It looks beautiful and the fit and finish are very nice. Its so black when its off. Actually, loosely translated Kuro, means deep blacks in Japanese and the TV delivers on its name. More about that later.

Main Features (from Pioneer website):

• High-Definition 1080p Resolution (1920 x 1080p)
• 60” Diagonal / 16:9 Wide-Screen Aspect Ratio
• Deep, Intense Blacks for Unmatched Contrast
• Ability to accept 480i/480p/720p/1080i and TRUE 1080p 24fps signals
• Four Independent HDMI 1.3 Inputs
• and a ton more

This is one of the best Plasmas we have seen! The color saturation and accuracy were excellent, blacks were inky, and the picture was sharp. Everyone who watched the TV noticed amazing detail in anything they watched, especially programming on Discovery Home Theater. For calibration settings we went to the official settings thread on AVS Forums and found a great starting point for our DirecTV and HD DVD inputs. This is a good place to start if you are new to dialing in your TV. We then tweaked the TV in from there. Remember that settings will differ from room to room depending on your environment. What's nice about this TV is that you can tweak the inputs individually so you find optimal settings for your various video sources.

We watched movies, sports, and SD from OTA, DirecTV, and HD DVD. We found that 1080i sports did not look as good as 720p sports over satellite. Over the air was better but we used to see a much bigger difference in quality. Perhaps its because CBS is televising more games in HD so the have less HD cameras per game. Regardless, we found FOX football looked better. Movies in 1080i looked great whether it was from HBO, Showtime or HD Net movies. Even SD that was upconverted by the satellite box looked watchable.

The TV did a good job with the compressed HD signal from satellite so we expected some impressive pictures with the HD DVD player. The newly purchased HD-A3 was pressed into action with the four HD DVD movies that we had on hand. We were happy to see that the picture was even better with HD DVDs. Ara's favorite movie is now Transformers and the scorpion scene is now his new HD reference scene. The only regret we had during the test was that we could not watch a HD DVD movie at 24 frames a second since out HD-A3 does not support it. The TV does, so if you have a next gen player with 24 frames a second support you will be able to watch movies at the same rate as in the cinema which will give you smoother playback.

Odds and Ends:
The optional speakers sound quite good. They provided a rich stereo sound. While no substitute for a home theater receiver, we felt the speakers did a better job than most TVs than we have heard in the past. The only negative about them is that they add about six inches to each side of the TV. The only other thing we didn't like about the TV was the menu structure. It is a bit deep and hard to navigate to what you are looking for.

Conclusion:
The Pioneer Elite Kuro is a fantastic TV with some of the best picture we have seen. At $7000 it does come at a steep price but it will give you an HDTV picture that is second to none.

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/reviews/2007/11/pioneer_elite_pro-150fd_60_plasma_tv.php

Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD 60-Inch 1,080p Plasma HDTV

With its Elite KURO PRO-150FD, Pioneer proves that quality can't be measured by size alone. Many companies have attempted to raise the bar with the introduction of higher-end flat-panel HDTVs, and while there are sets with ridiculous 103-inch screens, quality depends on more than mere dimensions. Simply put, the 60-inch PRO-150FD plasma HDTV delivers one of the best pictures we've seen in the plasma category to date.

The PRO-150FD is expensive, but as the cliche goes, you get what you pay for. This set offers an outstanding picture with very rich colors and incredibly deep black levels. The black levels had better be good, as "kuro" means black in Japanese. A member of Pioneer's exclusive Elite line, the PRO-150FD with its 1,920x1,080 native resolution is capable of true 1,080p display.

The 720p KURO models are impressive in their own right, producing pictures to rival many 1,080p competitors, so imagine the image quality of a 1,080p KURO. The result is really as good as it gets. While the PRO-150FD doesn't have a gargantuan 103-inch screen, the 60-inch screen is still relatively huge and may be too big for average family and living rooms. For large viewing rooms, however, this plasma HDTV provides as good a picture as any 1,080p front projector.

The PRO-150FD has enough advanced video processing features to handle just about anything you'd care to throw at it. This set can display 480i, 480p, 720p, 1,080i and true 1,080p signals. The picture looks fantastic with HD content, and the set can also display standard-definition content with no problems. There are special modes for video and film, as well as a total of nine viewing modes for everything from daytime to nighttime to even video games.

A room sensor automatically adjusts the PRO-150FD's picture to meet the ambient light conditions and fine-tunes the picture accordingly. There are six aspect ratio settings and four PIP modes. In other words, this plasma has plenty of one-touch settings if you just want to turn on the TV and get watching. If you're looking to make individual adjustments, Pioneer offers plenty of manual controls as well.

The KURO moniker also aptly describes the sleek, almost Ninja-like design of the PRO-150FD. This set features a thin, piano-black bezel that is unobtrusive and stylish. Our only complaint involves the side-mounted stereo speakers, which project enough to ruin the otherwise fine lines. Fortunately these are detachable, and a television this size requires the full-on surround sound experience from a home theater system anyway.

If you choose to keep the speakers attached, the PRO-150FD's 17-watt-per-channel digital amplifier with TruBass does an adequate job for movies and TV. Advanced audio effects include SRS WOW, FOCUS and TruBass Surround Sound, but we'd just as soon keep the speakers in the original box and rely on external speakers.

Another impressive aspect of the PRO-150FD is the connectivity. Pioneer has gone above and beyond by loading this set with four HDMI 1.3 inputs, which include support for the new x.v.Color technology. While there is still very little in the way of media for this technology, or even devices that support it (right now, at least), for the price we'd expect no less.

Other connections include two component video inputs, three composite video inputs, a single S-video input and a PC input. There is even an Ethernet port, so you can link with your home network for viewing other digital content. In addition, the PRO-150FD has a USB port for viewing digital photos and playing back MP3 files, including Microsoft PlaysForSure-protected content.

Many brands throw around words like Elite, but Pioneer delivers a plasma HDTV that produces an incredibly picture and is loaded with extras. While there are larger sets out there, the Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD really is the last word in plasma HDTV for this year.


Pros: Full 1,080p display, four HDMI 1.3 inputs with x.v.Color support, deep black levels and great colors

Cons: Expensive, side-mounted speakers mar otherwise attractive design

http://products.howstuffworks.com/pioneer-elite-kuro-pro-150fd-60-inch-1080p-plasma-hdtv-review.htm

Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD

It's been about a year since Pioneer Electronics announced a mandate to reengineer its plasma technology "from the ground up." The result is a new series of plasma display panels that the company has dubbed "Kuro," which is the Japanese word for "black." An HDTV that produces deeper, darker blacks offers better contrast and a more colorful picture than those that cannot, and the 60-inch Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-150FD delivers black levels like no other set I've seen. In addition, the PRO-150FD's new video processor is the best I've seen for all HD sources; it minimizes distracting artifacts without sacrificing detail. If you're looking for the most pleasing plasma you can buy, and you can afford the steep $7,500 price, the PRO-150FD fills the bill and thus it earns our Editors' Choice award.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2233687,00.asp