PlayStation Phone sized up with numerous devices in another in-depth Chinese preview
January 9, 2011 No Comment
Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. It’s been literally less than 48 hours since we saw the first in-depth Chinese-language preview of Sony’s still yet-to-be-confirmed PlayStation Phone , and believe it or not, we’ve got another one. (Our resident translator Richard Lai suggests this might be the same PS Phone just being passed around the various websites.) It’s just as long and arguably just as in-depth with an absolute ton of comparison pics with the PSP Go, the Xperia lineup, a DSi, a Droid… the list goes on. Much of what’s written is the same, and the PlayStation Pocket app is still a mystery. The preview does say a third-party emulator was downloaded and tested, with 70 percent success, but that doesn’t actually tell us anything. Anyway, even if you don’t know Chinese, hit up the source and bask in the glory of a ton more pics. [Thanks, Shaun] PlayStation Phone sized up with numerous devices in another in-depth Chinese preview originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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HTC’s ThunderBolt along with Motorola’s Atrix 4G and Droid Bionic might be taking the overwhelming majority of the attention here at CES over the past few days, but remember that both companies have introduced some other models that are expected to be serious midrange breadwinners for their respective carriers. One of the most obvious head-to-head matches would be the HTC EVO Shift 4G taking on the Motorola Cliq 2 , both launching this month on Sprint and T-Mobile, respectively. Physically, both phones are a little on the chubby side, but they rest really nicely in the hand, probably thanks largely to the smaller displays — if they were 4 inches or larger, we think the girth would be far more noticeable. Neither of these devices fall into the realm of “beautiful,” but we’d say it shakes out this way: the Cliq 2 looks better closed, but the weird keyboard’s ugly enough so that the EVO Shift takes the crown when they’re open. Seriously, the Cliq 2′s QWERTY borders on the atrocious — we can’t imagine what prompted Moto and T-Mobile to green-light this freaky organic design that seems at odds with the rest of the phone. What’s more, it’s a membrane type — the keys aren’t individually installed — which gives it a cheap feel with far too much resistance for comfort, especially if you’re a heavy user. The displays are roughly equivalent, and it’s the same situation as the chassis: they’re good, not great. Both screens start to wash out if you go too far outside a straight-on viewing angle and there’s a good deal of gap between the glass and the display itself. But let’s get down to brass tacks — you probably want to know about speed, right? With WiMAX enabled, the Shift topped out around 3Mbps down and 1Mbps up here at the CES grounds (in other words, all these figures could be skewed a bit by the extraordinary user load going on right now). The Cliq 2, meanwhile — which is billed as a 4G device by T-Mobile thanks to HSPA+ support, maxed at 2.6Mbps down and 1.4Mbps up; both had ping times in the low 100ms range. Your mileage may vary, but the fact is both of these suckers are pretty much in the same category… hence T-Mobile’s 4G branding, we suppose. Check out the gallery (and stay tuned for full reviews)! Gallery: HTC EVO Shift 4G vs. Motorola Cliq 2… fight! HTC EVO Shift 4G vs. Motorola Cliq 2… fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We visited Griffin’s CES booth to check out the Beacon universal remote control expecting yet another Redeye clone, but instead wound up walking away impressed. Two notable features of the prototype Bluetooth to IR converter device are that it’s battery powered and includes a 360 degree IR blaster. These are key since they give users the freedom to place the transmitter almost anywhere around an entertainment center. The free iPhone remote app built by Dijit was the real highlight though. The UI and functionality was incredibly intuitive, and we especially liked that the setup process doesn’t require inputting device model numbers. Instead, users just pick the brand and then test a series of code cycles to see if their components respond. The TV guide and Netflix integration are also points of distinction over competitors — since you can select shows or movies to watch directly from the app. Last but not least, your remote settings can be saved and downloaded to as many devices as you like. To give you a feel for the system, we’ve included plenty of shots of the app’s UI in the gallery below along with more photos the device. Gallery: Griffin Beacon universal remote control system hands-on Gallery: Griffin Beacon iPhone application screen shots Continue reading Griffin Beacon universal remote control system hands-on Griffin Beacon universal remote control system hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Geohot releases PS3 jailbreak for firmware 3.55, world ceases to have any meaning
January 9, 2011 No Comment
Remember when George “Geohot” Hotz demoed homebrew on the PlayStation 3? Yeah, we know, it was a whole day of CES ago. Well, it looks like that video wasn’t a random crack, but full custom firmware, and not just for show — he just released it to the world. Believe it or not, we didn’t bring our PS3s with us to CES 2011 , so we can’t actually test it for ourselves, but if you have faith or enjoy living on the edge, you’re two clicks, one USB stick and a manual System Update away from potential freedom. Now, let’s see him keep his original promise . [Thanks, Omar] Geohot releases PS3 jailbreak for firmware 3.55, world ceases to have any meaning originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Do you love 3D ? Do you love pictures? Do you love 3D pictures? The ViewFun 3D Show picture frame from ViewSonic may just be your fix you’ve been dreaming of. The $179 photo viewer jankily converts 2D stills to 3D (and videos, too, apparently, although we didn’t get to see a demo) and eliminates the use for those funky glasses . The images remind us of holograms we used to find in cereal boxes, except bigger. The 8-inch frame sports capacitive buttons on the bezel that light up on contact. Along the left side of device, you’ll find a USB 2.0 port, SD slot and power button. In order to stand this thing up, the company packed a pull-out plastic kickstand that felt pretty flimsy. Oh, and the remote control we demoed had improper button mapping, which made it virtually useless. Peek the gallery below the fold for a bunch of shots of this thing on the CES show floor. Gallery: ViewSonic ViewFun 3D Show hands-on ViewSonic ViewFun 3D Show photo frame hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Pleo RB cuddles up to CES, we go hands-on and talk to Innvo about future Pleos
January 9, 2011 No Comment
The folks behind the Pleo robot dinosaur didn’t have much but promises and a giant, not-for-sale version of the bot at last year’s CES , but Innvo Labs has come through this year. They have a number of their new Pleo RB dinos on hand, and we got a chance to both check them out and talk to Innvo COO Derek Dotson about what the future might hold for the robot dinosaur that refused to die . As for the current Pleo RB, while it may look relatively unchanged from before, it does boast some fairly impressive improvements, including voice recognition (with any language), more touch sensors, the ability to sense temperatures, RFID-based “learning stone technology” for feeding and other advanced commands, and time of day awareness. As you might be able to surmise, the combination of those latter two means that the Pleo will get slow and lethargic if you don’t take care of it, but Innvo assures us that it won’t actually die (just make you incredibly sad). It sounds like we could be seeing some even bigger changes in future generations of Pleo, though. Innvo tells us that they’ve basically pushed the current design to the limit, and they seem to be keeping all options on the table for future models. We asked about different versions, internet-connectedness, and even a Roomba-like ability to recharge itself, and Dotson said that Innvo considering all of those, but that it doesn’t want to rush and do anything that would dilute the Pleo brand. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look at the Pleo RB, and head on past the break for a video. Gallery: Pleo RB hands-on Continue reading Pleo RB cuddles up to CES, we go hands-on and talk to Innvo about future Pleos Pleo RB cuddles up to CES, we go hands-on and talk to Innvo about future Pleos originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’d seen Intel Lab’s Oasis (Object-Aware Situated Interactive System) project a while back, and sure, while what it’s showing off is the same, we love to get up close and personal. Using a Kinect-style camera, the system is able to recognize 3D objects on a surface and then project some nifty graphics to add interactivity. Placing the dragon near the house or train station sees them light on fire, drop a firetruck in and it puts out the fire, add a train then draw a track in front of it by dragging your finger, you get the idea. Intel Labs isn’t bringing any of this to market — at least not yet — but we’re enthused with what we see and look forward to what the folks with the crayons can dream up. Have a peek at the vid and gallery if trains, burning Lego people, fire breathing dragons, and firetrucks are your thing. Gallery: Intel Oasis: firetrucks, dragons, and trains hands-on Myriam Joire contributed to this article. Continue reading Intel Oasis: firetrucks, dragons, and trains hands-on Intel Oasis: firetrucks, dragons, and trains hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …General Motors takes us on a crazy test ride in the EN-V electric prototype vehicle (video)
January 9, 2011 No Comment
Cars are big and stupid. Well, most of the time, anyway. Need to bring home a couple sheets of drywall in the rain? Man it’s nice to have a big truck with a cab. Need to run Jr. to school five miles away on a smoothly paved? Suddenly that full-size, extended cab, 13.5mpg dually monster starts seeming just a little silly. Assuming people continue their flock to the cities, in the future that latter situation will be an awful lot more common than the former and our cities simply won’t be able to manage. The streets won’t be wide enough, parking garages tall enough, nor oil wells deep enough. We need something different, and GM thinks that something is the EN-V . Even though it still isn’t the future we just got a drive in one, so read on for our impressions. Gallery: GM EN-V test drive at CES 2011 Continue reading General Motors takes us on a crazy test ride in the EN-V electric prototype vehicle (video) General Motors takes us on a crazy test ride in the EN-V electric prototype vehicle (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We went out on the CES show floor to find the clickfree Wireless Backup and all of its wireless backing-up power. Coming in two versions — 500GB or optional 1TB capacities — the Wireless Backup seems to be a fully capable backup option, competing with other wireless solutions like the Apple Time Capsule and the LaCie Wireless Space . It includes the company’s patented AutoRUN feature that takes care of the initial setup, which is simple enough that even non-Engadget readers would be able to plug in and start backing up their files through the waves of the WiFis. After the software is configured for one or more computers, all that is required is a standard outlet for some juice and you’re rolling. There’s a number of options for those who want to choose specific files for backup and restore. While the clickfree Wireless is certainly competitive and one of the smallest backup solutions we’ve seen, comparing in size to an Apple TV or a Roku XD , it certainly doesn’t share some of the features of being a NAS and WLAN router like the LaCie Wireless Space, nor does it have USB support. Video after the break. Gallery: clickfree Wireless hands-on Continue reading Clickfree Wireless hands-on (video) Clickfree Wireless hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test (video hands-on)
January 9, 2011 No Comment
MultiTouch Ltd has been at this IR-based multitouch thing since 2007 and it’s hit CES in force this week. Sure, the current 46-inch model requires 12 inches of depth — in order to provide sufficient space for the infrared cameras embedded in its back to capture the whole, ahem , surface — but having unlimited touch inputs is always a wildly impressive sight. We put one of the displays to the test by exploiting a nearby crowd and slapping down a good 40+ fingers on it, all of which were recognized. To be perfectly fair, the IR cameras don’t seem to have a very flat recognition area and many of our inputs were picked up from over an inch from the screen. The 46-incher under hand is already available for a totally affordable $17,000, provides full HD resolution, and hooks up to a PC for processing of input. See our thoroughly intensive test on video after the break. Gallery: MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test Continue reading MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test (video hands-on) MultiTouch Ltd’s 46-inch panel accepts unlimited touch inputs, we put it to the test (video hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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