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MPEG LA, an organization that licenses digital video technology patents on behalf of their owners, has announced terms for using a 3D video encoding technology called MVC.

MVC (Multiview Video Coding) is used in Blu-ray disc players, personal computers, video cameras, software, and other situations calling for 3D video. It's what's known as a codec, a specification for encoding and decoding video so it can be stored more compactly or streamed more efficiently across networks.

MPEG LA debuted the MVC license agreement terms at the Asia-Pacific 3D Standards & IP (Intellectual Property) Forum in Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. … Read more

I admit it: I like big speakers, the bigger the better as far as I'm concerned.

Big speakers sound more realistic, they play louder with lower distortion, and they have better and deeper bass than small speakers. Then again, I'm an audiophile, so I prioritize sound quality over almost everything else. I also know big speakers are out of the question for most folks, but what if there were a reasonably sized speaker that produced big-speaker sound? The Atlantic Technology AT-2 is such a speaker.

It was just last year when Atlantic's AT-1 tower speaker ($3,000 a pair) rocked the audiophile world and garnered a slew of rave reviews, so when I heard the smaller AT-2 ($1,800 a pair) was about to be released I just had to get it for review. It did not disappoint. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Buffalo is the second networking vendor at CES 2012, in addition to TrendNet, with something to show with the brand-new 802.11ac standard.

The company showcased the AirStation WZR-1750H wireless router, its first that supports the three-stream (3 by 3) standard of the 802.11ac specification, offering up to 1.3Gbps wireless throughput speed on the 5Ghz band.

The WZR-1750H is a true dual-band router and on the 2.4Ghz band, it offers the current 802.11n standard with a top speed of 450Mbps. Top performance, while at the same time remaining fully backward compatible with existing wireless clients, … Read more

LAS VEGAS - While most networking vendors intend to introduce the latest and greatest at CES, EnGenius this year focuses on something that as old as wireless networking itself: range.

Yet that might be the most important aspect of a wireless router. The company announced today at CES 2012 a new family, called Engenius XtraRange, of routers designed to offer significantly longer range and better coverage than competing products.

EnGenius says that on top of the extra range, its new routers will also provide top performance for the existing 802.11n standard, making them a good fit for "bandwidth-intensive … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Along with the new IdeaCentre all-in-ones and its new gaming desktop, Lenovo also has a new standard slim-tower PC on deck for later this year.

The H520 is a pure commodity PC, albeit in an attractive case. I've asked Lenovo for some better pictures, which I'll post as soon as I have them.

From the spec sheet, at least, this system actually offers one surprise. Again pre-empting Nvidia's own announcements, for this system Lenovo provides details of a heretofore unannounced 2GB GeForce GTX 630 graphics card option.

Otherwise the configuration options look standard. Intel Core CPU options go up to the i7 family, although exactly what generation of the Core i7 Lenovo has in mind is unclear. Given the June release schedule, I'd bet Ivy Bridge. The starting price for the base model will be $499 when the H520 makes its debut.… Read more

Patches of tiny needles have already been shown to effectively deliver medications painlessly, and without a bloody mess. Now the tiny needles could also be used to monitor body chemistry in real time.

The new tech, developed by a team of biomedical engineers out of North Carolina State University, the University of California at San Diego, and Sandia National Laboratories, employs electrochemical sensors in the hollow channels of microneedles to detect certain molecules. The researchers reported their findings in the chemistry journal Talanta.

Current body chemistry monitoring involves taking samples, often before or after an event. Wearable micro-sensors, on the … Read more

With this hydrogen-fueled remote-controlled vehicle, batteries aren't included--or required.

The H2GO hybrid is a environmentally friendly R/C car that uses hydrogen to power the battery that turns the motor and moves the toy car. That's right, this R/C is a tiny electric car fueled by hydrogen. And where do you get this hydrogen fuel? From a pint-size solar-powered hydrogen generation and refueling station, of course.

Toy owners will use a solar panel and water to create the hydrogen fuel supply. The solar panel is also used to recharge the R/C's remote control and super … Read more

I've previously confessed to being a fan of Fanatec's series of racing wheels, I even use its original Porsche 911 Turbo styled wheel, pedal, and shifter combo as my daily digital driver when piloting the virtual cars 'round the tracks of my racing sim du jour.

But my now-discontinued Fanatec kit sits at the bottom of manufacturer's line of racing peripherals and leaves much to be desired.The plasticy buttons on the wheel's face feel cheap with vague tactile feedback; the pedals, while accurate throughout their travel, are too light and mushy for furious racing; and the H-pattern shifter's poorly defined gates have cost me more races than I can count. Most of these issues have been addressed with subsequent versions of Fanatec's Porsche wheels and at the core of this kit is a fantastically accurate 900-degree racing wheel with strong force feedback, great sensitivity, and the ability to be customized on-the-fly to the user's needs. I always wondered, what would happen if you took that awesome core steering wheel hardware and upgraded the components and build materials?

This is the point in our story where the Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and shifter kit and CSR Elite pedal set landed at my desk. These components aim to address each of the issues that I have with my current setup.… Read more

With about 2,000 parts to choose from, four designers created high-fashion clothing and accessories from a disassembled Lexus CT 200h.

The Lexus Fashion Workshop highlights not only the talents of fashion designers Moss Lipow, Eddie Borgo, John Patrick, and Alejandro Ingelmo, but also the Lexus CT hybrid as a 90 percent recyclable vehicle.

The fashions created from the car parts push the idea of recycling and are part of an upcoming advertising campaign for Vogue.

The collection will be on display at Art Basel Miami Beach, on Dec. 1 and 2, 2011. The pieces will also be available through … Read more