BenzCode: 9/1/08

ASUSTek Introduces 'Mid-size' Mobile PC in Bid to Create New Market

ASUSTeK Computer Inc of Taiwan announced the "N10J" compact notebook PC Sept 19, 2008. Its 10.2-inch display is larger than 7- to 8-inch displays on "mini PCs," for which the company cultivated the market with its "Eee PC," and smaller than 12-inch displays on general mobile notebook PCs.

"The Eee PC is targeted at Internet users," said Kevin Du, general manager of ASUS Japan. "But we are targeting the N10J not only at Internet users but also at business users. We feel that the product will open another market, which is different from the one for notebook PCs."

The PC features Intel Corp's low power 1.6GHz "Atom" microprocessor along with NVIDIA Corp's "GeForce 9300M GS" graphics processing LSI (GPU). These processors allow for greater performance when playing video or running a game, for example, ASUS said.

It is also possible to turn off the GeForce 9300M GS to reduce power consumption. The battery pack can run the PC for about seven hours when the GPU is off and about four hours when it is on.

The N10J uses Microsoft Corp's "Windows Vista Home Premium" OS when operating as a standard PC, but it can start up in about eight seconds if the "Express Gate" function is used for limited operations such as the Web browser and "Skype."

The 10.2-inch display's resolution is 1024 x 600 dots. Its main memory is 2 Gbytes, while the built-in HDD is 160 Gbytes. The dimensions are 267 (w) x 195 (d) x 29mm (h). Given that the N10J is wider than a mini PC, it features a key pitch of about 18.5mm, which is close to that of a full-size keyboard. The weight is roughly 1.5kg including a battery pack.

There is no suggested retail price, but street pricing is expected to be ¥99,800 (approx US$938).

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Toshiba Exhibits Ultrasmall Projector as Small as iPod

Toshiba Corp prototyped a projector as small as the iPod and exhibited it at the company's new products exhibition in Japan (See related article 1, 2).

The projector was on display at IFA 2008, a consumer electronics trade show that took place in Germany from Aug 29 to Sept 3, 2008. According to a demonstrator from the company, it is "the first time that Toshiba has exhibited the prototype in Japan."

It is extremely unusual for a leading Japanese manufacturer to exhibit an ultra compact projector of this kind. Recently, development of ultra compact projectors that are small enough to be fit in a breast pocket and can be driven by a battery is intensifying and drawing people's attention.

However, most of the prototypes were made by manufacturers outside Japan or venture companies. This unexpected exhibition caught the eyes of many visitors who came to check out Toshiba's new LCD TVs and DVD recorders.

The prototype has a luminance of about 7lm. In dark places, it is capable of projecting and displaying images of about 50 inches. It is equipped with the digital light processing (DLP) Pico chip set manufactured by Texas Instruments Inc (TI).

The DLP Pico chip set, which was designed exclusively for mobile devices, is composed of small versions of TI's MEMS device called "digital mirror device" (DMD) and its drive LSI, etc. The projector has 480 x 320 HVGA resolution. It is powered by a built-in battery, and the battery run time is less than one hour, Toshiba said.

The company didn't specify the dimensions of the projector. The incorporated optical module reportedly takes up almost half the size of the projector. It uses red, green and blue LEDs for the light source.

Toshiba aims to commercialize the projector in the first to the second quarter of 2009. The company hopes to improve the luminance to 10lm, extend the battery run time to two hours and increase the projection size to 60 inches before the commercialization. According to the company, the target weight of the product is around 100g.

The power consumption and the price are likely to be on par with those of other ultra compact projectors of the same kind, although the company avoided stating the specific figures. Therefore, the power consumption is expected to be 2-4W, and the price is likely to be US$300-400. The company also exhibited a mockup of a commercialized product.

According to Toshiba, those target specifications may be changed before the release. The company has to overcome technical problems such as the reduction of heat generated by the projector and the reduction of the main unit weight in order to put the product on the market. In addition, the company is faced with the problem that it is still uncertain about the main use of the projector, the demonstrator said.

Toshiba also exhibited a mockup of another projector as small as a USB memory at the site. It is expected to be used as a device externally connected to a mobile phone.

"We designed it as an external component because we are not sure whether a system embedded in a mobile device would truly be the best solution for personal use," the demonstrator said.

At the moment, the company is not planning to commercialize the USB memory-sized projector.

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Dream Satellite TV on Agila 2 at 146.0°E

Dream Satellite TV © Lyngemark Satellite, last updated 2008-09-05 - http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dream.html
Freq. Tp	Channel Name	SID	VPID	APID	Beam
12301 H tp 6 SR 25600 FEC 5/6	E-Talk	1	160	80	Ku
	ABS-CBN Channel 2	2	161	84 Tag
	NBN (Philippines)	3	162	88 Tag
	TV 5 (Philippines)	4	163	92 Tag
	GMA 7	5	164	96 Tag
	RPN 9	6	165	100 Tag
	IBC 13	7	166	104 Tag
	Studio 23	8	167	108 Tag
	MTV Philippines	9	168	112
	The Mabuhay Channel	10	169	116
	Radio Crossroads	201		280
	Classic Blend	202		281
	The Edge Radio	203		282
	Catholic Media Network	204		283 E
	Dream FM	205		284 E
	BBC Asian Network	206		285
	IFM 93.9	207		286
	RJ 100	208		287
	DWNU 107.5 FM	209		288
	RMN News AM	210		289
12541 H tp 18 SR 25600 FEC 5/6	ESPN Philippines	25	16.	80 E	Ku
	Discovery Travel & Living SE Asia	26	161	84
	ETC (Philppines)	27	162	88 E
	HBO Asia	28	163	92 E
	Cinemax Asia	29	164	96
	Star Movies International	30	165	100
	TCM Asia	31	166	104 E
	CNBC Asia	32	167	108
	DW-TV	33	168	112 G/E
	Animal Planet SE Asia	34	169	116
	National Geographic Channel Philippines	35	170	120
	2nd Avenue	36	171	124 E
	Solar Sports	37	172	128 E
	MBC (South Korea)	38	173	132 K
12581 H tp 20 SR 25600 FEC 5/6	Living Asia Channel	11	160	80 E	Ku
	TV Maria	12	161	84
	Cartoon Network Philippines	13	162	88
	Nickelodeon Philippines	14	163	92
	Animax Philippines	15	164	96
	Star World Philippines	16	165	100
	AXN Philippines	17	166	104
	Hallmark Channel Asia	18	167	108
	Discovery Channel SE Asia	19	168	112
	CNN International Asia Pacific	20	169	116 E
	BBC World News	21	170	120 E
	Australia Network Asia	22	171	124 E
	Dream Cinema	23	172	128
	Star Sports South East Asia	24	173	132 E
Dream Satellite TV © Lyngemark Satellite, last updated 2008-09-05 - http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dream.html

Google adds video sharing to Apps

Google bolstered its Google Apps suite with new YouTube-like video sharing capabilities called Google Video for Business. Available at no extra cost to Google Apps Premier users, the new feature lets users easily upload, edit and share videos across an enterprise.
Since the new service is available via the browser, including Safari on the iPhone, it should make disseminating videos within enterprises far easier, and thus, more popular. Google envisions several corporate uses for the new functionality, including company communications (instead of static e-mail), as well as training and how-tos. As a security precaution, however, video sharing outside the enterprise is curtailed. Google says the videos can only be shared within an enterprise's own domain and there is no public "post to YouTube" function.
Google Apps Premier users get 3GB of video storage per user account, although each video is limited to a maximum of 300MB. The service is currently available from the Google Apps control panel.

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Privacy feature in IE8 leaks private data

HAARLEM, NETHERLANDS - A privacy feature built into the second beta version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 browser isn't as private as advertised.The InPrivate Browsing feature in Microsoft's latest browser is designed to delete a user's browsing history and other personal data that is gathered and stored during regular browsing sessions. The feature is commonly referred to as 'porn mode' for its ability to hide which websites have been visited from nosy spouses or employers.Forensic experts however found it trivial to retrieve the history, according to a test by Webwereld, an IDG affiliate in the Netherlands, and Fox IT, a Dutch firm specializing in IT security and forensic research."The privacy option in this beta is mainly cosmetic. For a forensic investigator, retrieving the browsing history should be regarded as peanuts," said Christian Prickaerts, forensic IT expert with Fox IT.To prevent login details, online orders and other sensitive information from leaking out, the privacy feature prevents Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 from storing any cookies. The browser furthermore refrains from storing the browsing history in the Windows registry.But researchers were able to retrieve data displaying general information about the browser's behavior. Although URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) aren't stored, Prickaerts was still able to restore the browsing history. "The remaining records in the history file still enable me to deduce which websites have been visited," said Prickaerts.Even more data is stored in the browser's cache, a feature designed to speed up performance of websites by storing a copy of recently accessed information on a user's hard disk. InPrivate Browsing failed to disable this feature. Users seeking a higher level of privacy could manually delete the cache, but it can later easily be retrieved through commonly available forensic tools.The shortcomings in InPrivate Browsing put the level of privacy protection in Internet Explorer 8 on a par with Firefox 2 and 3. The open source browser allows users to delete all private data, but does that by merely deleting files. Those too can easily be retrieved. Developers have crafted plugins for Firefox which mitigate the risk of information leaks.Microsoft's main goal with InPrivate Browsing is to prevent other users of the same computer to gain access to the browsing history, the company said in an e-mail response. The feature isn't designed to protect a user's privacy from security experts and forensic researchers, the company said.

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LG Display, AmTRAN Jointly Develop LCD Modules, EMS-Based LCD TVs

LG Display has set up a joint venture (JV) with AmTRAN Technology, an OEM/ODM LCD TV company in Taiwan, to better position itself in the LCD TV market. The JV will focus on the production of LCD modules and EMS (electronic manufacturing system)-based LCD TVs.

With an investment of US$20 million, the JV company located in Suzhou, China will be named Suzhou Raken Technology Ltd. LG Display and AmTRAN will respectively hold a 51% and 49% equity position in the new company.

Under the agreement, an LCD module line will be constructed in AmTRAN's existing TV plant in Suzhou. The plant is scheduled to produce 3 million LCD modules and 5 million LCD TV sets annually starting early next year.

LG Display said the collaboration with AmTRAN is expected to help the company to expand its customer base by securing a stable, long-term source of demand for its panels. Moreover, the production of LCD modules and LCD TVs in a single location should lead to the use of fewer components through joint R&D and significantly lower packaging and logistics costs.

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RGB LED Backlight Holds Key to Picture Quality of Bravia TVs

Sony Corp announced a new product line of Bravia LCD TVs on Aug 28, 2008, including the XR1 series, which has an RGB LED backlight unit (See related article).
The XR1 series offers "the highest picture quality in the history of Bravia," the company said. Also, It has an extremely wide color gamut of 122% NTSC.
Because the series is scheduled for release on Oct 10, 2008, many of the details have yet to be released. But we made a comparison between the XR1 series and LED backlight models released in the past, based on the backlight unit of the latest series exhibited at the conference hall.
In 2004, Sony unveiled the Qualia 005, which was its first LCD TV incorporating an LED backlight unit. The Qualia 005 adopted a backlight technology dubbed "Triluminous," which used LED devices in RGB colors. The Qualia 005 has a color gamut of 105% NTSC. It uses a set of five LED devices arranged horizontally in the order of green, red, blue, red and green.
The second Triluminous model, the KDL-70X7000, was announced in August 2007. In this model, Sony drastically changed the alignment of LED devices, combining four LED devices, namely one red, one blue and two green, into one set.

They are arranged in the shape of a diamond, with the two green devices vertically located, while the blue and the red were aligned horizontally. A lens-like component was placed on top of each device.
In the third version, Sony changed the alignment and the shape of the LED devices again. The layout, which consists of a set of one red, one blue and two green arranged in a square, is similar to that of the second version, but the alignment was changed. The green and blue LED devices are arranged on the upper row, and the red and green are set out on the lower one.
The package size of each LED is smaller, and the distance between the packages looks narrower. The lens-like external part is not attached to the devices.
It is likely that the RGB colors can be effectively mixed to emit white light with less unevenness, thanks to the LED devices that are densely mounted in each set. Estimating from the small and densely mounted packages, the heat generated by each LED device may be lower than that of the existing models.
The heat value of each LED device presumably decreased because its luminance efficiency was improved. Alternatively, the package size and the distance between the packages may be reduced by slashing the power input to each device. Sony has not disclosed the number of LED devices used in the backlight or the input power per device.

The XR1 LCD TV series with the RGB LED backlight