Right on schedule, Panasonic’s 13.2 megapixel Lumix Phone made its physical debut buried within NTT DoCoMo’s CEATEC booth. And by buried, we mean locked behind plexiglass and out of reach of our own hands. That didn’t stop the light-capturing mechanics of our cameras, however. We’re not sure where the “folding mechanism” mentioned in the press release comes from, but it looks to be a slider phone that keeps a numpad / text entry box out of view. Color options include black, pink, blue, and gold (though frankly, it looked more silver to us). Alas, that also means no chance to provide sample shots from the devices itself, but we do have a smattering of product photos from which you might derive glee — and that aforementioned video after the break. Gallery: Panasonic Lumix Phone eyes-on Continue reading Panasonic Lumix Phone eyes-on (video) Panasonic Lumix Phone eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Back at Mobile World Congress in February, the mobile UI gurus at TAT showed off their interpretation of a dual-screen phone interface using TI’s powerhouse OMAP4 testbed. Seemed a little pie-in-the-sky at the time, but frankly, the concept device being shown off by Fujtisu at CEATEC this week — created with TAT’s involvement, it turns out — seems virtually ready for production. Or the hardware did, anyway; the software was spartan by comparison, obviously designed to call out a few key use cases where having two giant, glorious 960 x 480 displays right next to each other might come in handy. We were shown browser and email list scrolling across both displays — boring, if not obvious — but what really piqued our interest was a cool photo sharing feature whereby you fling photos you want to share from a gallery on the bottom display to a list of contacts on the top one — very TAT, if we do say so ourselves. Both displays can be rotated between portrait and landscape, creating either a nicely-sized clamshell or a gigantic flip, not an uncommon shape among Japanese phones. Indeed, given the form factor, the entirely-Japanese interface, and Fujitsu’s history, we’re sure this was designed entirely with the Japanese domestic market in mind — and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it show up in a retail capacity there within a year or so. Follow the break for video. Gallery: Fujitsu dual touchscreen concept phone hands-on Continue reading Fujitsu dual-touchscreen concept phone hands-on Fujitsu dual-touchscreen concept phone hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Sharp’s 5.5-inch and 10.8-inch Galapagos are something to covet. Sharp’s got the Android-powered e-reading tablets heavily on display here at CEATEC, meaning of course we jumped at the chance to try it ourselves. The interface is a bit sluggish, as is pinch-to-zoom on the browser. That said, pages (like our darling Engadget) displayed in full and were crisp, as were the supplied magazine examples (Newsweek, GQ — all in Japanese, naturally). Flash 10 is supported, although we didn’t get a chance to try it. The missing trackball on the 10.8-inch model wasn’t much of a concern, as it was all but redundant on the 5.5-incher. Looks promising now, but with its US launch not expected until sometime in 2011, no telling what the competition might look like by then. More pictures in the gallery below! Sharp Galapagos e-reading tablets hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sixty million ThinkPads sold to date, Lenovo updates the T Series with NVIDIA Optimus in celebration
October 5, 2010 No Comment
Boy, have we covered scores of ThinkPad laptops in the last few years — everything from the introduction of the X300 to the first dualscreen W700 workstation to the older R50e that left unforgettable burn marks in a mattress have graced our internet pages. We apologize for getting all nostalgic, but hearing that sales of ThinkPad laptops will surpass 60 million this month just gets us all sappy. Actually, Lenovo’s estimating that 14 ThinkPad laptops are sold every 60 seconds — it’s certainly impressive, but obviously the history of the company’s business laptops must go onward and upward. And the updated T Series is a step in that direction. Starting today, the T410 , T410s and T510 will have an NVIDIA NVS 3100M GPU option and rely on Optimus to take care of the dynamically switching between the integrated and discrete graphics. While we’re a bit bummed they’re not using the newest 400M Series , the rigs are the first with Optimus to be able to dock and then drive four simultaneous displays. All T Series models are available with Core i5 CPU options and a selection of hard drives / SSD options — the T410 / T510 will start at $1,299 and the thinner T410s at $1,849. We guess this is where we raise our coffee mugs and say, “Here’s to the next 60 mil, Lenovo!” Gallery: Lenovo ThinkPad T Series Update : Hot Hardware is reporting that Lenovo’s tinkered with the Optimus implementation a bit so that both the integrated and discrete GPUs can run at the same time. Hit the more coverage link for some more information. Continue reading Sixty million ThinkPads sold to date, Lenovo updates the T Series with NVIDIA Optimus in celebration Sixty million ThinkPads sold to date, Lenovo updates the T Series with NVIDIA Optimus in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AMIMON crams 1080p streaming into its WHDI Stick, your laptop might have a new BFF
October 5, 2010 No Comment
We can’t say there’s been a shortage of WHDI-enabled laptop-to-TV streaming solutions in the last few months — ASUS has its WiCast , HP its Wireless TV and BriteView its HDelight — but we’ve got one major complaint about them all: the large size of the transmitter. As you’ve probably heard us whine about before, each of those products requires a fairly chunky box be attached to the laptop itself via both HDMI and USB. But it’s looking like it won’t be that way for too long — AMIMON, the company behind that WHDI technology, has engineered the WHDI Stick. The picture above is a clear sign of its prototype status, but the company’s created the 3.2 x 1.2 x .61-inch device to really let the world, or at least manufacturers, know that it’s shrunk down the package, but hasn’t messed with the features — it can still stream uncompressed 1080p/60Hz HD from a laptop to an HDTV with minimal (less than one millisecond) latency. We’re planning to check it out in action at CEATEC this week, but AMIMON doesn’t expect products based on the prototype to hit the market until the end of Q1 2011. Hit the break for the press release and the gallery below for some more pictures of the Stick. Gallery: WHDI Stick Continue reading AMIMON crams 1080p streaming into its WHDI Stick, your laptop might have a new BFF AMIMON crams 1080p streaming into its WHDI Stick, your laptop might have a new BFF originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Both KDDI and Sharp had a billion IS03s on display at CEATEC in Japan today (okay, not literally a billion, but quite a few), so naturally, we swung by to see what all the commotion was about. We’ll be honest — the phone didn’t feel particularly high-end, coated top to bottom in cheap-feeling plastic and weighing a little less than you’d expect a phone of these specs to weigh. Furthermore, it was pretty sluggish and Sharp’s UI skin atop Android 2.1 felt very “version 1.0,” so we think we might want to wait for these guys to hone their game a bit before jumping in. That said, the vaunted 960 x 640 ASV display definitely seems up to the task, delivering bright, crisp images in the face of the notoriously harsh trade show lighting — and the always-on LCD strip below the main display is a neat trick for glancing at the date and time without going to the hassle of powering on your phone. You might be worried that stacking it below the already-large primary display would make the handset too long, but we really didn’t feel like that was the case. Follow the break for video! Gallery: Sharp IS03 hands-on Continue reading Sharp IS03 Android phone hands-on Sharp IS03 Android phone hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It’s that time of the year again. Time to roam the halls of Japan’s Makuhari Messe and find treasures among the numerous parts and minerals suppliers, including robots, smartphones, 3D TVs and prototypes galore. We’re already on the ground running at 2010 Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies trade show, better known by its acronym CEATEC. Stay tuned, we’ve got lots to report. Kampai! (P.S. – Use this link for all our CEATEC 2010 coverage this week!) We’re live from CEATEC 2010! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Like your computers to be all-business and only available available in Japan? Then you might want to take a gander at NEC’s latest duo, which includes the thin-and-light VersaPro UltraLite VB laptop, and the Mate MG all-in-one desktop (pictured after the break). Both of those are fairly mid-range when it comes to specs, with the laptop (a 12-incher) boasting either a Celeron, Core i3 or Core i5 processor and a range of basic configuration options, while the 19-inch desktop packs your choice of a Celeron or Core i5 processor and a somewhat unique power saving mode that uses a motion sensor to shut of the display when you leave the room. While they may not exactly be high-end, it doesn’t look like these will come cheap — look for the base model of the laptop to run
Continue reading …Barnes & Noble opens ‘PubIt!’ self-publishing portal, details compensation model
October 5, 2010 No Comment
It ain’t exactly summer, but we’ll take it. Launching just a few days after we’d been told to expect it, Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! self-publishing portal is finally open for business. As you’d heard before, this platform is essentially designed to give independent writers a venue for hawking their masterpieces, with PubIt! converting files to ePUB for use on a wide range of e-readers (read: not only the Nook ). Published titles will be available for sale within 24 to 72 hours after upload on the B&N eBookstore, and the company’s pretty proud of its “no hidden fees” policy. Unfortunately, the compensation model — which is being detailed today for the first time — has its quirks. For PubIt! eBooks priced at or between $2.99 and $9.99, publishers will receive 65 percent of the list price for sold content; for those priced at $2.98 or less, or $10.00 or more, publishers will only receive 40 percent of the list price. In other words, there’s a no man’s land in that $10 to $15 range, so you’ll probably be settling for a $9.99 price point or reaching for the skies at $19.99. But hey, at least all PubIt! ebooks will also be lendable for a fortnight — surely that counts for something. Right? Continue reading Barnes & Noble opens ‘PubIt!’ self-publishing portal, details compensation model Barnes & Noble opens ‘PubIt!’ self-publishing portal, details compensation model originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It was back in March that we last heard about / saw ASUS’s O!Play HD2, so it’s totally understandable that you’ve completely forgotten about the sleek-looking multimedia server. Oh, but don’t you worry, ASUS is back now and ready to make sure you never forget the “w orld’s first USB 3.0 multimedia center.” Launching this week in the UK for
Continue reading …