3m

LAS VEGAS--Before leaving for CES, we were about to post a review of 3M's second-generation MPro120 Pico projector. Now, lo and behold, the company announced its successor, the MPro150, that includes 1GB internal memory, a microSD card slot, and a USB input for transferring files from a laptop or Netbook letting you run entire presentations from the projector itself.

According to 3M, the 5.6-ounce MPro150, which measure just over 5 inches long and fits in a pocket, supports Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), as well as Adobe PDF, photos, and video. The company has also made … Read more

Power Audio Cutter is a simple program that allows users to cut audio tracks and convert them to other file formats. It's not the most intuitive program we've ever used, but once we figured it out, we found it to be pretty straightforward.

The program's interface is plain, with all its features organized on a single screen. Although each component makes sense alone--we could select a file to work with, choose a destination location for the output, and so-on--it was not entirely clear how we were to go about cutting the file. A visit to the built-in … Read more

Now that second-generation pico (i.e. really tiny) projectors are hitting the streets, you can pick up first-gen models for a song.

Witness the 3M MPro110, on sale at Newegg for $149.99 shipped. It's a refurb, but given that it sold new for $359 just 10 months ago, you gotta take a look-see.

The impossibly small MPro110 weighs 5.6 ounces and measures 0.9 inch high by 2 inches wide by 4.5 inches deep, meaning you can literally stuff it in a pocket.

The projector works with a wide variety of video sources: laptops, digital cameras, … Read more

3M has come up with a new optical film that lets you ditch the glasses when viewing stereoscopic 3D images on mobile devices.

The 3D optical film goes into the gadget's backlight unit and uses two alternate rows of LED lights to project left and right images sequentially into the viewer's eyes. As the sequential images are focused on the individual eye, the technology eliminates the need for 3D glasses to block the picture for the other eye. And, according to Erik Jostes, LCD business director of 3M's Optical Systems Division, it does so without sacrificing screen … Read more

That ubiquitous symbol of the medical profession, the stethoscope, is finally undergoing a 21st century tech makeover. The next time you drop by the doctor's, his acoustic listening implement may well sport Bluetooth connectivity and an LCD panel.

3M Health Care has announced the Littmann Electronic Stethoscope, which packs features most headphone users would be familiar with, such as noise cancellation and greater sound clarity.

With the souped-up hearing, the Littman then transmits lung, heart, and body sounds wirelessly to the bundled Zargis StethAssist program for further analysis, as well as to keep a record on file. Which is … Read more

It looks like 3M is trying to bring back the good old-fashioned vacation slideshow.

The company is reportedly close to rolling out a miniature, portable digital video projector, the likes of which could be used to project digital photos, PowerPoint presentations, or cat-on-a-treadmill videos wherever you see fit.

The lucky ducks over at Popular Science got an early look at the MPro110 and report that after plugging it into a DVD player, they were able to project a movie up to 11 inches wide on various pieces of furniture, walls, and co-workers' body parts. The picture fared much better (and … Read more

In the time of triplicates, shredders and burn cans were SOP for destroying records at embassies and military installations. Today, information stored on hard disk drives far forward on the battlefield demand other methods.

Fujitsu has come up with a way to dispose of your brigade's database of informers and cash payoffs in a hurry. The Fujitsu ME-P3M emergency degausser combines state of the art with a good ole' hand crank, allowing a drive to be wiped clean in 10 to 20 seconds--even absent electrical power, according to Jim Preasmyer, business development manager, Fujitsu Computer Products of America (click here for PDF).… Read more

The Visteon/3M demonstration vehicle, a BMW X5 fitted with numerous modifications for instrumentation, interior materials, switch gear, and lighting, was unveiled in the Visteon tent at 2008 CES. One of the more interesting features of this car is its virtual instrument cluster, using LCD displays for the speedo and tach, and a 3D center display showing route guidance. 3M provided materials to create a 3D effect, which makes graphical arrows indicating upcoming turns seem to float over the map background. The 3D effect only shows up when you are looking straight on at the display, such as in the … Read more

Management's focus on innovation comes and goes in cycles. Right now, it is all the rage again (although it remains to be seen if that's still the case as innovation budgets may be cut when the looming recession hits the US), and the business press is covering it all across the board. Managing innovation is one of the most critical tasks companies face, and yet it remains one of the biggest challenges. Not only do companies need to come up with new ideas, but they also need to nurture a culture that consistently encourages and rewards innovation. If … Read more