monitors

How do you know if your solar systems are paying off? You watch them.

Fat Spaniel Technologies unfurled Insight Manager at the Solar Power 2007 conference. The software console is essentially a grander and more ornate version of the tools the company currently sells that let users see and understand how well their solar systems on individual buildings are working. The software has been sold to consumers but also has been installed in a few Wal-Marts.

Insight Manager can monitor several sites at once and provide information on electrical capacity and other issues. It can also be programmed to send … Read more

TVs and PCs may be taking their own sweet time to morph into one appliance, but some designs are starting to betray the romance. Case in point: ViewSonic's new "Diamani DUO" series (dynamic duo?) are meant to be used both as a desktop monitor and an LCD TV, in 19- and 22-inch models with 1,440x900 and 1,680x1050 respective resolutions.

Unlike other PC-TV screens, which are often indistinguishable from desktop monitors, this one actually takes on some of the design characteristics of a plasma or LCD set, such as today's popular piano-black gloss finish, contoured … Read more

It is an under-reported fact, but the majority of desktop systems sold today come with only a single display port--usually VGA or DVI. If your system falls into this camp and you want your system to use multiple, simultaneous displays, you might think you are out of luck. If the folks at DisplayLink have their way, however, connecting a second display might suddenly become ridiculously easy.

DisplayLink is proselytizing a technology that allows displays to connect to computers via a regular USB 2.0 connection. While not every computer has a second video port, most have multiple USB ports (although, … Read more

Japanese car makers continue to keep us in work here at CNET car tech. Just when you thought that today's models had as much gadgetry onboard as possible, along comes Infiniti with its 2008 EX35, a model that introduces two brand new car technology features. The EX35 is the first production car to come with Around View Monitor, a camera-based parking aid that gives drivers a top-down surround view of the car and any obstacles in its vicinity. It is also the first car in the United States to come with a nonemergency active safety feature in the form … Read more

MarkMonitor, a San Francisco-based enterprise brand protection company, on Monday released its latest survey. During June, MarkMonitor tracked more than 100,000 drug-related spam landing sites and found a majority of these practice poor Internet security and may not be selling legitimate brand-name drugs, which could endanger users tempted by the low prices offered.

While that's not earth-shattering news, the report gives concrete statistics surrounding the practice known as "brandjacking," which can encompass a variety of online threats to brand names. In the report, MarkMonitor said sample drugs purchased from these sites tested as either stolen, expired, … Read more

Well, that should teach us. Just minutes after making sport of Swarovski, we came across yet another another category of products that the infectious crystals are attacking: computer screens.

ViewSonic, a respectable manufacturer, has apparently succumbed to market madness by allowing customers to "beautify and customize" their LCDs with "original Swarovski crystals," according to PCLaunches. (As opposed to unoriginal ones?) And you can scream bad taste in grand fashion with a full 22-inch widescreen with 1680x1050 resolution. But you might have to wear sunglasses to cut down on the crystal reflection.

A key to preventing tragedies like the Minnesota bridge collapse earlier this week is surveillance, according to Aging Infrastructures.

The small company, a division of Sensible Security, sets up cameras and monitoring systems like GPS to gauge the health of things like bridges, road and other structures. It could become a growing market.

Fiber Optic Systems Technology already markets sensors that can monitor the progress of corrosion and strain in structures and allow engineers to calculate the future point of failure. The systems are far more sophisticated than what Aging Infrastructures offers, but the systems also cost thousands of dollars. … Read more

It takes German engineering to figure out how to make a heart rate monitor without one of those chest belts that can get pretty irritating during a workout.

From German company Beurer GmbH, this heart rate monitor is based on a technique called Plethysmography. It uses a sensor to measure light that is reflected by the bloodstream from an artery in your finger. Not only can this be used to measure your pulse but it can also be used to keep track of your blood pressure.

The LCD screen provides constant feedback that makes it ideal for athletes on the … Read more

There are scads of devices designed to monitor performance while running on the track or treadmill, ranging from MP3 players to running shoes. But digital health equipment pioneer Polar has made it a mission to come up with an electronic fitness aid for cyclists as well.

The CS600 is like an on-board computer with its own software, which Gadgetell says was developed with the help of six teams from last year's Tour de France, "evaluating your heart's performance, bike speed, altitude and cadence." But be warned: Good health often comes at a price, and in this … Read more