LG announced at CES that it was breaking from other TV manufacturers to push its own FPR technology for 3DTVs and now they’ve started shipping in Korea including the LW5700 pictured above. LG’s new approach means placing a special film over the LCD screen (no plasmas, although OLED versions are planned in the future) letting users use cheap “flicker free” passive 3D glasses instead of keeping a conventional display and using more expensive active shutter 3D glasses. LG’s new TVs with the screens should start arriving in the US in March, although Vizio is already selling one Cinema 3D TV over here with the technology and plans to deliver a slew of new models soon. Of course, the main downside to this approach is that it halves the resolution delivered to each eye when wearing the glasses, but — if you hadn’t already guessed from its tablets and phones — LG is betting big on 3D this year, we’ll see if it pays off. Continue reading LG starts shipping new ‘flicker free’ 3D TVs with passive glasses LG starts shipping new ‘flicker free’ 3D TVs with passive glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There have been a lot of phone and tablet announcements here at MWC 2011 , but laptops? Not so much. Toshiba’s not following the crowd here, though. Instead, it’s touched down in Barcelona with three fresh Satellites — the 13.3-inch R830, 14-inch R840, and 15.6-inch R850. Aesthetically, they should look very familiar as Toshiba’s basically refreshed its Portege R700 series with Intel’s latest Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors and enhanced its cooling system. The company was a bit vague on specific configuration details (though, we took some shots of the system properties in the gallery below), but its press release does list that the rigs will be available with up to 8GB of RAM and 640GB of hard disk storage, SSDs, and USB 3.0. The R830 (pictured above) is still one of our favorites, and like the R705 , it is made of magnesium, only weighs 3.2 pounds, and still has a optical drive. The R840 and R850 have been slightly retooled with subtlety striped lids, which we are told of made of a high stiffness resin. Both models have chiclet keyboards and regular touchpads with two mouse buttons, though the 14- and 15-inchers have pointing sticks. All three models will be hitting in April, but Tosh is keeping quiet on pricing. Hit the first gallery for a few shots of the rigs and the second for a look at the special copper airflow cooling system Toshiba’s cooked up. Gallery: Toshiba Satellite R830, R840, and R850 hands-on Gallery: Toshiba Airflow Cooling Technology Continue reading Toshiba Satellite R830, R840, and R850 laptops unveiled at MWC Toshiba Satellite R830, R840, and R850 laptops unveiled at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The Engadget Interview: Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman talks Windows Phone 7 and Nokia
February 16, 2011 No Comment
We sat down for a few minutes with Aaron Woodman — director of Microsoft’s mobile communication business — here at Mobile World Congress this week to talk about the past, present, and future of the Windows Phone platform. Of course, it was at this very event a year ago when Redmond first unveiled its next-gen smartphone play, so this marks a great opportunity to circle back and see where the company has been — and naturally, the Nokia news casts a bright new light on the platform. Read on for the full interview! Continue reading The Engadget Interview: Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman talks Windows Phone 7 and Nokia The Engadget Interview: Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman talks Windows Phone 7 and Nokia originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Think for a second, what major consumer electronics company doesn’t have a tablet to show? Right, Sony. In fact, the rumor womb has been conspicuously barren of salacious Sony tablet tattle ever since Apple’s iPad was announced back in 2010. Oh sure, Sony’s owned-up to the development of prototypes that fill a ” very important position ” somewhere in between its own Vaio PC lineup and the Xperia Play byproduct of its Ericsson commingling. But beyond that: zilch, nada… until today. We have a couple of tablets we’d like to tell you about, starting with a 9.4-inch honeypot of an Android 3.0 tablet. Details of which have been confirmed by two highly trusted and independent sources. Known by its “S1″ codename internally, Sony is busy customizing Matias Duarte’s Honeycomb interface to its own specification. Although, we’re skeptical of Sony’s software capabilities, we’ve been assured that Sony’s work is cutting edge stuff created by a talented engineering team spanning Sony’s VAIO, Reader , PlayStation, and Sony Ericsson product groups. The team is lead by the VAIO organization but will probably launch as a Sony product without VAIO branding, according to one source. Sony’s custom-built transitions and UI elements have created a user experience that rivals and at times improves upon the iPad’s renowned experience. The tablet itself, we’re told, is 100 percent focused on Qriocity , Sony’s music, games, ebooks, and videos on demand service that’s just been launched in Europe. It comes preloaded with Sony PS One games, a Bravia Media Remote , and yes, PlayStation integration — though it’s unclear if that’ll be limited to Remote Play or if the Android tablet will be PlayStation Suite certified . One source speculates that it could very well get the PlayStation gaming seal of approval by the time it ships — but that’s just an educated guess. So what about that curvaceous mockup above? A design described to us as “beautiful, the best thing” one source has ever seen from Sony. Click through the break and we’ll explain. Continue reading Exclusive: Sony ‘S1′ brings Qriocity to 9.4-inch Honeycomb tablet Exclusive: Sony ‘S1′ brings Qriocity to 9.4-inch Honeycomb tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The stylus isn’t dead: more pen-based tablets and apps coming this year
February 16, 2011 No Comment
HTC may have unleashed a completely unique Android tablet with an active digitizer and stylus yesterday, but more are on the way. At least that’s the word from N-Trig , the company responsible for the screen and pen technology in HTC’s Flyer as well as other convertible tablet PCs. According to the company’s VP of Business Development Lenny Englehardt, 7-, 9.7-, and 10-inch pen-equipped Android slates are coming in the next year from major manufacturers (sadly, he couldn’t share which ones). We went over a bit of the hardware technology yesterday and dug a bit into HTC’s pen-optimized Scribe software , but the big question on our mind has been third party Android applications that take advantage of the stylus. Well, it turns out there are quite a few of them in the works from the likes of Adobe and others. And yes, one of them includes handwriting conversion! We got a look at three of those forthcoming apps on N-Trig’s Tegra 2 development kit, which has the same screen / pen hardware as the Flyer — hit the break for our impressions and a video demo. Gallery: Android pen-based apps Continue reading The stylus isn’t dead: more pen-based tablets and apps coming this year The stylus isn’t dead: more pen-based tablets and apps coming this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NEC uses active noise cancellation for quieter zooming into your future memories
February 16, 2011 No Comment
NEC just injected a little Bose up in some digital cameras, adding what it calls “noise suppression technologies” to Casio’s new EX-ZR10 and promising that it will be deployed “throughout the digital camera and video camera markets” soon. The tech is designed to combat the evil intrusion of noise from optical zoom motors, working with a recording of what the zoom motor sounds like inside the camera. The shooter’s internal circuitry then subtracts that noise from what’s being recorded and, hey presto, silent zoomin’! NEC indicates a camera’s microphone still captures other, desirable ambient noise without issue and that this tech allows the use of faster, more powerful motors for faster, more powerful zooming. Continue reading NEC uses active noise cancellation for quieter zooming into your future memories NEC uses active noise cancellation for quieter zooming into your future memories originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’re seeing some rather unattainable prices for many of the sexiest Android tablets to be unveiled at MWC and CES this year, but thankfully HTC’s Flyer looks to be coming in a little lower than most. It’s just popped up on Amazon.de at €669. Subtract the VAT and run that figure through a currency converter and you’re looking at a price of around $730. A bargain? Hardly, but better than some others we’ve seen . Sadly it’s still nicht verf
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The Game Gripper is one of the smartest accessories we’ve seen in a long time, a cheap and squishy little controller that clips on over your phone’s keyboard and enables proper gaming glory. But what if your phone doesn’t have a keyboard? The iControlpad is finally shipping, but soon there’ll be another option: a Bluetooth Game Gripper approaches. It acts just like a Bluetooth keyboard so should offer easy compatibility and, with its spring-loaded clamp, should hang on to just about any slab you stick in there. The only problem? You can’t buy one yet. The device is going the Kickstarter route and is looking for a whopping $30,000 in funding before things get going. But, it is at least only a $47 pledge to get yourself one of the first Bluetooth Game Grippers that roll off the presses — or stamps or molds or whatever it is these things roll from. Continue reading Game Gripper going Bluetooth, just needs a little funding (video) Game Gripper going Bluetooth, just needs a little funding (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s been available since October in beta form, but Microsoft has just turned its Windows Phone 7 Connector product to a shiny shade of gold, giving Mac owners a solid (if not Zune -free) option for hooking up their Windows Phones without firing up Boot Camp. We’re told there aren’t any new features in the latest build worth noting, so you’ll get the same options as before: media synchronization, iTunes compatibility, and support for Windows Phone firmware updates. A full Zune client would be choice, of course — but we’ll take it. And you can take it, too: it’s now in the Mac App Store . [Thanks, Hayden ] Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac OS goes gold, hits the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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In a world of 10-inch dual-core Androids , HTC has opted to tread its own path by cranking up processor speeds, sticking to a 7-inch form factor and eschewing the latest Honeycomb build for a Gingerbread version it could customize more comprehensively with Sense. All that’s well and good, but sometimes all it comes down to is how these gadgets look and feel. So to help you wrap your mind around the Flyer’s new aluminum body, we present a couple of comparison galleries with it set against two devices that need no introduction. Get clicking! Gallery: Flyer vs. Galaxy Tab… fight! Gallery: Flyer vs. iPad… fight! HTC Flyer vs. Galaxy Tab vs. iPad… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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