I.D.E.A.

PrimeSense has partnered with ASUS an entered the market with their own 3D sensor, the Xtion Pro Live (There’s actually the Xtion Pro model which doesn’t have a RGB camera…so if you’re just interested in getting 3D data but not actual image data, this is the version for you).

I can’t get one of these yet…just got the Kinect to play with. But here are the comparisons.

I got a nice surprise on Monday night after I got home from our work holiday party. My neighbor dropped off a package that he signed for me. It felt pretty substantial. It was approximately the size of two pizza boxes stacked on top of each other.

When I opened up the outer box the inner box had an exploded view illustration of a mouse driven contraption. It took me a few seconds and then it clicked…it was the Google laptop that I had applied for as a beta tester!!! I was totally excited.

Its case is designed similar to the black Macbook. The finish is also similar…a bit rubbery. I really like the feel. I powered it up and started to play with it. The trackpad was the first thing that I noticed…because it didn’t work that well. I’m still trying to get use to it. I think the setting is too sensitive and there’s not a lot of configuration that can be adjusted in the settings. As part of the beta testing program you’re suppose to submit comments, bugs, etc. So, I think this was one of the first comment that I submitted.

All in all it’s pretty cool. This is Google’s foray into hardware that ties to their apps in the cloud infrastructure. I’m excited to be one of the first users/testers of this concept. I’ll be posting more…stay tuned.

Specs:
12.1″ screen (1280×800)
16 GB Drive (SSD)
2GB memory
VGA port
1 USB port
1 headphone jack
webcam
SD card slot

Details from here:
Processor: Intel Atom Processor N455 1.66GHz 512K Cache
Chipset: Intel CG82NM10 PCH
Motherboard: Tripod Motherboard MARIO – 6050A240910 – MB – A03
Ram: Hynix 2GB DDR3 1Rx8 PC3 – 10600S Ram

Read Only Memory: ITE IT8500E Flash ROM
SSD Drive: SanDisk sdsa4dh-016G 16GB SATA SSD
Wireless Wan: Qualcomm Gobi2000 PCI Express Mini Card
3g Adapter: AzureWave 802.11 a/b/g/n PCI-E Half MiniCard
Bluetooth: Atheros AR5BBU12 Bluetooth V2.1 EDR

I was down in Soho today and dropped by EMS to see if they had any new gear/gadgets. One of the salespersons, John, showed me these Orikaso fold flat serving vessels! I bought one of each…a cup, a bowl and a multi-configuration dish.

The cool thing about these is that they pack flat! So they’re great for camping. They’re also really cheap. The plate was $6, the bowl was $3 and the cup was $4.