Monitors

Let's talk a bit about the effect an incredibly high-resolution screen can have on a video game's presentation. And by video game, I mean PC game.

Thanks to powerful video cards, many PC games are capable of running at resolutions that dwarf what console-only owners are accustomed to.

Most PC gamers however don't get to experience the face-melting experience of a 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution and higher screen however, because of the usual high prices of extreme definition (XD-2560x1440) and extreme high-definition (XHD-2560x1600) monitors.

By offering an XD monitor for about $700, HP changes all that with … Read more

As implantable medical devices become smaller and less power hungry, they are taking on a variety of new roles. What began as largely stationary objects, such as pacemakers and cochlear implants, are becoming small enough to actually pass through our bodies (i.e. in the form of pills) to deliver drugs and perform diagnostics.

Now, a new class of medical devices is emerging that adds a twist to the traditional implant: the devices are so small that they can travel through our bloodstream, not to mention are powered wirelessly via electromagnetic radio waves, according to Stanford electrical engineer Ada Poon.

By moving through the bloodstream, these tiny implants will be able to perform minor surgeries such as removing blood clots, Poon told an audience at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco this week.… Read more

If you're wondering whether you're too many cups or too many hours into the day for yet another jolt of caffeine, a free app developed by researchers at Pennsylvania State University aims to help.

In building the Caffeine Zone app, professors representing several disciplines relied on peer-reviewed studies to devise a simple formula: those with between 200 and 400 milligrams of caffeine in their bloodstream are in the optimal mental alertness zone, while anyone above 100 milligrams has entered the good-luck-sleeping-anytime-soon zone.

"Many people don't understand how caffeine levels in their bloodstream go up and how … Read more

You know I can't resist a good monitor deal.

While supplies last, Mwave has the refurbished Hannspree Hanns-G HF225DPB 22-inch LCD monitor for $89.99, plus $4.99 for shipping. [Note: At 9:18 a.m. PT, this deal is marked "temporarily unavailable."] That is without question one of the best deals I've seen on a monitor of this size.

Okay, technically it's a 21.5-inch monitor, but apparently manufacturers are allowed to designate that as "22-inch class." In any case, this would work nicely alongside your laptop or existing desktop monitor. (I'… Read more

Sleep-monitoring and wake-up wristwatch SleepTracker Elite, known for its alarm system that triggers a vibrating and/or beeping alarm only when you're nearly awake anyway, has another trick up its sleeve: a free analytics tool that tracks a user's sleep data over time.

The idea is that SleepTracker Analytics, which the company unveiled today for Mac and PC, will encourage users to cut out sleep destroyers--caffeine, alcohol, a generally gloomy outlook on life--by visually charting the effect these bad habits have on a good night's sleep.

Once downloaded, you connect your watch to upload sleep data to your personal Analytics account and check out details such as when you went to bed, when you woke up, how many minutes throughout the night your sleep was interrupted, and your resulting sleep score on a scale of 1 to 100.

A company rep says that previously SleepTracker users only had access to software that evaluated one night's sleep, with users being able to manually input notes such as whether they drank caffeine late at night. Being able to track sleep patterns over time seems like an obvious tool for those trying to make actual lifestyle changes.… Read more

Engineers at Cornell are building a handheld pathogen detector that will help health care workers around the world test for pathogens such as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and HIV and get results in as little as 30 minutes, instead of waiting days.

Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, has been using synthetic DNA to amplify tiny samples of pathogen DNA, RNA, or proteins. Because of $25 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenge to 12 teams developing point-of-care diagnostics, Luo will be combining forces with Edwin Kan, a Cornell professor of electrical and computer engineering, who has built a computer chip that can respond quickly to those amplified samples.

The engineers describe their novel device as something akin to a molecular-level Lego builder.… Read more

For some, a monitor is a monitor, and the lower the price, the better. As long as it pumps images from their PCs into their eyes at a reasonable quality, they're good. Thing is, there are cheap monitors and then there are cheap monitors.

And by cheap I mean "the last time I saw my power button was when it went flying past my face immediately after pressing it for the first time." Yes, this actually happened to me some years ago. I pressed the power button on an older monitor, only to have it pop off and nearly take out an eye on its way to some now forgotten crevice in CNET Labs.

Luckily, I've not had that experience with any monitor on this list. At least not yet. The list features the best monitors priced under $200.

The only criterion for the list is that each monitor has to be available from a major retailer for $199 or less. From there, the four best monitors I've reviewed were chosen.

Dig in.… Read more

Scientists and engineers have built a monitor that tracks heart rate, respiration, and movement--without requiring direct contact with skin.

The "life and activity" monitor, developed at Oregon State University, is wearable and non-invasive. The team worked with researchers at the University of California at San Diego to develop a noncontact sensor that is essentially an electric field sensor for tracking the heart rate through materials such as clothing.

The sensor also includes a 5-axis inertial measurement unit that allows for ongoing and simultaneous monitoring of movement, heart rate, and respiration. Imagine adhering such a device to your pants … Read more

After taking second place in the 2011 Imagine Cup finals, Team Lifelens of the U.S. is one of four teams from around the world to win a $75,000 Imagine Cup grant, Microsoft announced today at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The Lifelens project is run by students at universities across the country who have been working since November 2010 on an app that can image malaria cells for fast diagnosis right there on the phone, sans Internet.

The premise is straightforward. Apply a blood sample to a slide with a dye that only malaria … Read more