Samsung’s Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, Galaxy Tab sales are ‘smooth’ not ‘small’
February 1, 2011 No Comment
The word “whoops” is probably a good place to start with this one. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal ran a story quoting Samsung’s Lee Young-hee as stating that initial sales of the Galaxy Tablet were ” quite small .” Turns out that wasn’t exactly the right adjective. As you can hear in the audio clip below, she actually said sales of the thing are “quite smooth,” just like the chins on most of our interns. This mix-up is being blamed on a transcript provided by Samsung, but rather than point fingers we’ll just smile ruefully, shake our heads, and go back to writing posts about robots and things . And the Galaxy Tab? Well, sales may be moving right along, but it looks like returns are progressing quite smoothly as well. Continue reading Samsung’s Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, Galaxy Tab sales are ‘smooth’ not ‘small’ Samsung’s Lee Young-hee was misunderstood, Galaxy Tab sales are ‘smooth’ not ‘small’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Audi CEO Ruper Stadler taking time with EVs, refuses to feel "euphoria for electric vehicles"
February 1, 2011 No Comment
How do electric cars make you feel? We won’t give you explicit details of just what sort of sensations standing next to the Audi e-tron Spyder at CES inspired in us, but let’s just say they were very good ones . However, the CEO who stepped out of that very car, Rupert Stadler, is refusing to be swept in by all the EV excitement. The company is working on a battery-powered R8 supercar that will come toward the end of next year and plenty of other electric and hybrid models are in development, but Stadler is taking the slow road to adoption, saying: We are still in the early phase with the electric vehicle, in terms of commercialization and whether the cars will be sold or leased, or will just be a collector’s car… We should not overplay euphoria for electric vehicles. Overplaying euphoria is something that consumer electronics companies have evolved to an art form, whipping up a frenzy among fans, inspiring pre-release camp-outs on a regular basis. We haven’t seen anyone camping at a car dealership since… ever. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there. Audi CEO Ruper Stadler taking time with EVs, refuses to feel “euphoria for electric vehicles” originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small
February 1, 2011 No Comment
Panny dumped a truckload of camcorders on us at CES this year, and now that we’ve finally dug ourselves out the company just piled on the MSRP and release information for the lot. It’s okay, we can deal, and here are the highlights: The new 1MOS full HD models, the HDC-HS80, HDC-TM90, HDC-SD90, HDC-TM80, HDC-SD80, HDC-TM40, and HDC-SD40 (phew) are priced between $350 and $600, all offering 1920 x 1080 recording, but only the HDC-TM90 and HDC-SD90 will do 1080p60. All write to SDXC and the HDC-TM40 and HDC-SD40 are the lightest full HD models the company offers, weighing just .39lbs. The company’s new 3MOS models, the HDC-SD800, HDC-TM900, and HDC-HS900 are priced at $850, $1,100, and $1,400, all managing 1080p60 and, if you add the $350 VW-CLT1 conversion lens, will shoot in 3D as well. All write to SDXC, while the TM900 has 32GB of storage internally, and only the top two models offer a 20x zoom lens with manual focus for “increased creativity.” There are a few SD shooters as well, the $250 SDR-S70, $270 SDR-T70, and $350 SDR-H100, all also sporting SDXC support. Full pricing in the PR after the break, and lots more details in the earlier announce post from CES . Continue reading Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small Panasonic prices its 2011 HD and 3D camcorders, options for budgets great and small originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video)
February 1, 2011 No Comment
First they came for our telepresence, and we did not speak because we couldn’t afford them. Then they came for our physical presence, and there was no one left to speak out for us. Yes, Anybots are coming, the self-balancing QB robot available for purchase and shipping now, but at $15,000 we’re thinking not too many of you will be jumping on this bandwagon to start. As we saw in our hands-on in December the self-balancing bots enable you to be somewhere that you aren’t, controlled through a simple web interface and enabling executives to remotely monitor and run over the toes of their peons toiling in the office while said execs sit comfortably at home. There’s some footage of one of the bots in action below, which you’d better watch before one of them captures footage of you maintaining a state of inaction. Continue reading Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video) Self-balancing Anybots QB now shipping, the future of telepresence is now (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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AT&T subscribers, it’s time to finally get a taste of Android on HSPA+ . Well, almost. On February 13th the HTC Inspire 4G will release, bringing not-quite-4G speeds and Android 2.2 for a quite affordable $99.99. It’ll feature AT&T’s Mobile Hotspot service, so you can share that bandwidth, while offering a generous 4.3-inch WVGA display up front and an eight megapixel camera on the back, all packaged in a “premium” unibody aluminum design. We know, it’s all very exciting, but don’t get so enamored that you forget to make reservations for you and your special someone on the following day. Continue reading HTC Inspire 4G hits AT&T on February 13th, does HSPA+ for $99.99 HTC Inspire 4G hits AT&T on February 13th, does HSPA+ for $99.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Just a few days back, Samsung announced it had moved around 2 million Galaxy Tabs in the latter part of 2010. According to new data released by ITG Investment Research using tracked point-of-sale info, however, the story is a little more complicated. The company tracked about 6,000 retail stores in the United States from the November date of release of the tab through January 15th, and the return rate hovered around 13 percent, rising even further — to about 16 percent — with holiday sales returns. Now, rates of return estimates are just that — estimates — but 6,000 locations is nothing to shrug off. We’ll have to wait and see longer term what this means for the Tab’s legacy, but let us know your thoughts in the comments: have you returned a Galaxy Tab , or are you still in love? Samsung experiencing a 16 percent return rate on the Galaxy Tab? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung offering refunds for PCs affected by Sandy Bridge glitch, NEC looking at delays
February 1, 2011 No Comment
We finally received full details on the issue affecting Intel’s Sandy Bridge chipsets this morning, and now we’re hearing of what looks to be the first confirmed recall. Samsung is indicating it will offer refunds for affected computers and, while it isn’t saying exactly which models will be affected, it did give a number: six models sold in South Korea and one available in the US will be eligible for return or refund, about 3,000 total machines. NEC , meanwhile, who just went all-in with Lenovo , is indicating that it may push back the release of four separate models. Naturally we’ll keep the updates coming as we get more details. [Thanks, Peter] Samsung offering refunds for PCs affected by Sandy Bridge glitch, NEC looking at delays originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 10:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Back in 2009, we squealed like giddy schoolgirls when the hotshots over at Ericsson crushed standard HSPA+ speeds with 56Mbps downloads, but even then we wondered if the standard would last much longer. Two years later, HSPA+ is still around and Ericsson is still crushing records — three records, to be exact. At a recent demonstration in Stockholm, the company showed off multi-carrier HSPA with 168Mbps downlinks and 24Mbps uplinks, dual-carrier HSPA with peak speeds of 84Mbps, and single-carrier HSPA sporting 42Mbps. We’ll admit, we’re impressed, but considering Korean researchers have hit speeds of 600Mbps on LTE, we’re afraid we won’t be busting out the Cristal for this one. Ericsson expects to roll out single-carrier HSPA with 42Mbps and dual-carrier HSPA with 84Mbps sometime later this year. Ericsson does HSPA+ plus some, achieves 168Mbps downloads originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Visa brings contactless payments to Euro iPhones, dongle required for now
February 1, 2011 No Comment
We’re still some time away from iPhoners being able to tap cellies onto payment pads and walk off with purchases, though rumors and analysts and job postings all say that won’t be for long. The lack of an NFC-equipped iPhone isn’t stopping Visa from launching its Visa Mobile application for trials in Europe, which for now requires an external attachment, the (somewhat aged) iCarte accessory from Wireless Dynamics. With the app and the dongle users can start trying out phoney payments at various NFC-enabled terminals in Europe, presumably ahead of the release of a proper NFC-supporting iPhone sometime in the coming months. For now, though, is adding an extra inch to your handset more convenient than fumbling for a credit card? We’ll let our European readers make that call. Continue reading Visa brings contactless payments to Euro iPhones, dongle required for now Visa brings contactless payments to Euro iPhones, dongle required for now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It may not be the first time than an actual weapon has been equipped with an FPS-style ammo counter (or Aliens pulse rifle-style, if you prefer), but this add-on device built by the DIY-minded Michael Ciuffo is certainly still plenty impressive enough to garner some attention on its own. It simply uses an accelerometer to detect the recoil from the gun, and it can apparently be adjusted for use on a variety of different weapons. What’s more, Michael says that he’s already gotten so many requests for one that he’s planning on putting it into production. Head on past the break to check it out in action. Continue reading Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon Modder adds FPS-style ammo counter to automatic weapon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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