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Samsung subsidiary Nouvoyance is set to reveal an impressive 10.1-inch LCD next week that could be used in future tablet computers.

The 10.1-inch stunner features a 2,560x1,600 (WQXGA) resolution screen at 300dpi driven by PenTile RGBW technology (found in the Google/HTC Nexus One, Samsung i9000, Motorola Atrix, and others). RGBW's claim to fame is that, among many other improvements, it adds a white subpixel to the traditional RGB mix, resulting in higher brightness and sharpness.

Other notable elements of the prototype display include a wider color gamut and a 300cd/m2 luminance rating with 40 percent less power usage compared with legacy RBG-stripe LCD screens. There's also an option to scale up to 600cd/m2 luminance when the outdoor mode is enabled. Outdoor visibility has been a sore spot for tablet computers, enough that Amazon focused on it in a Kindle commercial bashing the competition.

Samsung is a supplier of LCD screens for a variety of tablet computers, including Apple's iPad. Tech bloggers are speculating that this high-resolution display could be the visage of the iPad 3 when that slate likely goes on sale next year. (Despite Apple and Samsung currently being embroiled in litigation over patents and other intellectual property, Apple has, according to DigiTimes, turned to Samsung for screen production following light leak problems with LG's products.)

High-resolution displays have eluded the first several generations of tablet computers, mostly because of cost and power inefficiency. Apple's iPad 2 has a 1,024x768 display running at 132dpi, while the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 both feature resolutions of 1,280x800 at 160dpi. … Read more

Cogentrix Energy has been granted a $90.6 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to build a 30-megawatt concentrated photovoltaic solar plant in Alamosa, Colo., the company announced yesterday

The company also said it plans to source a minimum of 80 percent of the solar farm components from within the U.S. That promise is significant given the size and scope of the solar farm, and its technology.

The Alamosa Solar Generating Project will be the largest solar project in the world using high concentrated photovoltaics (HCPVs) with a dual-axis tracking system. That means that each concentrated … Read more

Speed matters. It's why faster 4G data networks are gaining in popularity; it's why we buy new computers with better processors. This is the appeal of Thunderbolt, the Intel-developed high-speed data port that's popping up on new Macs in 2011. So far, it's in 2011 MacBook Pros and iMacs.

Thunderbolt is lightning-quick, as the name suggests. Transfer speeds are 10Gbps--twice as fast as USB 3.0--and it works both ways, into and out of your computer. HD video and data can be carried back and forth over the same tiny cable, with a connection port that'… Read more

While microscopes might be affixed to cell phones, they don't usually look like them. But it seems the researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in Germany got the designer bug when they developed this one.

In this case, though, form is actually following function. The microscope is flat because it has been entirely rethought, with several tiny lenses to simultaneously scan one image instead of one that scans and then groups together many images.

"Our ultrathin microscope consists of not just one but a multitude of tiny imaging channels, with lots of tiny lenses arrayed alongside one another" Dr. Frank Wipperman, who managed the team, said in a news release. "Each channel records a tiny segment of the object at the same size for a 1:1 image."… Read more

You have your high-tech smartphone paired to your high-tech ride. Now you want to make them work together and keep them working as safely and efficiently as they can. Sometimes there are high-tech solutions to enable that level of functionality, for example Bluetooth wireless connectivity, iPhone integration, or OBD-II interfacing technologies. However, in many cases, you may find yourself relying on good, old-fashioned low-tech solutions.

Jumper cables, cassette adapters, and tire pressure gauges--these are just some of the unsung heroes of the car tech world. These low-tech wonders have been around for much longer than the USB ports and touch-screen … Read more

A few months ago I had the pleasure of reviewing GoldenEar Technology's least expensive home theater system. The SuperCinema 3 ($1,750) comes with five small satellite speakers and a smallish subwoofer, but the sound was big and beautiful. More than that, the sound was distinctly high-end in its flavor. It was easy to tell it was designed primarily for home theater, but for those buyers who also have a hankering for audiophile-quality sound.

Home Theater magazine's Darryl Wilkinson recently reviewed a large GoldenEar system, the TritonCinema Two, which retails for $3,495. The five-piece system consists of … Read more

Luxman was making high-end amplifiers long before the term "high-end" was coined. Take the original Luxman SQ-38 integrated amplifier; it debuted in 1963, the upgraded SQ-38D came in 1965, and the design was revised and refined again and again over the years. I recently reviewed the SQ-38u, which is the 11th incarnation of the amp! The new one still looks like 1970's hi-fi, but its insides reflect modern thinking. Or should I say modern tube amplifier thinking? The complete SQ-38u review appears in the latest issue of Tone Audio magazine.

There's a weird thing happening in … Read more

Oppo Digital's Blu-ray and DVD players have found favor with the most demanding high-end customers. I knew that Oppo has collaborated with a number of high-end audio companies (Ayre Acoustics, MSB Technology, NuForce, and others) on a number of products, but I didn't know Oppo made improvements on its own products based on feedback from those high-end companies.

The Oppo BDP-95 ($999) may have a lot in common with the company's BDP-93 ($499) 3D universal Blu-ray, SACD, DVD-Audio player, but the BDP-95 really is a very different, potentially better sounding Blu-ray player. I say potentially because the $… Read more

The analog vs. digital debate has been raging for nearly three decades, and there's still no clear winner, because it's really just a matter of personal preference. I'm fine with that, but there's a lot of sniping in the analog/digital wars, and each side never misses an opportunity to put down the other side as misguided, deaf, just plain stupid, or worse. Each side claims its chosen format is superior and the opposite's is garbage.

I'm an analog guy, but I'd admit that analog's distortions, speed variations, and noise/hiss make … Read more