Blu-ray may have started out as a mess, with confusing “profiles” and painfully slow load times, but this year’s standalone players have finally gotten their acts together. The new 2009 Blu-ray players are already hitting retailers and we’re happy to report that all the units we’ve tested …
We had a chance to sit down and play with Verizon’s next iteration of its Hub (already guys?), and while it wasn’t a mind-blowing affair, they do seem to making some moves in the right direction. Firstly, the new version is detached from the handset completely — right now at least — making it much more of a “fourth screen” internet device, and less of what you’d think of as a standard landline… er, VoIPline. The redesigned unit is considerably more contemporary in industrial design as well, making it look something like a big iPhone — which is probably what they’re hoping for. We were told the screen is still resistive touch, though it seemed a little more responsive than the original unit we toyed around with.
Additionally, Verizon is working on further updating the software, adding new functionality like internet radio, a Webkit browser (which is kind of a no-brainer here), and yes — an app store (or as they call it, the App Mart). The idea seems to be about moving the Hub more towards a role as another connected device for a kitchen or living room, and less about trying to sell it as a fancy phone, and that’s definitely a step in the right direction. Verizon is still tweaking the box and adding features, but what we saw is very promising indeed. Now, if they just throw in some Bluetooth support, a speakerphone option, and lose that dated looking handset altogether (all suggestions we made when we met with them), we might be seeing the start of something magical.
Gallery: Verizon’s iPhone-like Hub 2 hands-on
Filed under: Household
Verizon’s iPhone-like Hub 2 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
(Credit: United State Patent and Trademark Office, via MacRumors.com)Apple could be providing a glimpse into some new features for future iPhones in a couple of patent applications the company recently filed.
The blog MacRumors.com reports that Apple has filed two patent applications in the past few weeks that focus on features that incorporate motion and gesture user interfaces. One patent was filed two weeks ago. And the other one was filed Thursday.
The iPhone already has an accelerometer that allows users to shuffle songs on the iPhone by shaking it. And the motion-detecting technology has also been widely used by application developers who have incorporated the functionality into games and other kinds of apps for the iPhone. But Apple appears to be moving a few steps further in making motion an even bigger part of interacting with the iPhone.
Apple notes in the first of the patent filings that interacting with mobile devices while also engaging in another activity, such as jogging or running, can be dangerous as users might be distracted while they’re trying to advance to another song or answer a phone call. The new gesturing technology would try to solve this issue. According to the patent filing:
There is a need for providing a user interface in a personal media device that minimizes either or both a user’s physical and visual interactions with the personal media device, especially while the user is performing other activities that require, for example, the user’s visual senses.
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Originally posted at News – Apple
Alesis, the venerable pro audio company and pioneer of the (now-defunct) ADAT format, has launched its AudioLink series of consumer recording products that apparently redefine the floor for low-cost recording gear.
Get this: the new line includes GuitarLink, a quarter-inch-jack-to-USB cable, MicLink, an XLR3-to-USB cable, and LineLink, a stereo-quarter-inch-jack-to-USB cable. That basically means that with these devices, you don’t even need a USB audio interface for your PC or Mac. Each one acts as a plug-and-play device under Windows or Mac OS X, outputs 16-bit, 44.1 KHz digital audio due to its internal D/A converters, and balances the levels appropriately in each case.
My gut says that these won’t sound the same as an Apogee Ensemble. But for personal recording projects on a budget, they could be just the ticket, particularly if you play just one instrument. (If you’re recording different instruments and vocals over time, it probably still makes sense to buy an inexpensive interface that’s more flexible.) MicLink and LineLink cost $49 each, while GuitarLink costs $39. All three are available in stores now.
[Via TED]
Filed under: Displays, Science
AlloSphere three story virtual environment not available for birthday parties, Bat Mitzvahs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well, the base might be ripped right from the Showbots, but Exmovere Holdings doesn’t seem to be totally kidding about its “Chariot” wearable transportation device. There’s a new video up that demonstrates its use, with a character akin to the Summer Heights High guy at the helm (“I’m a little early,” “He’s stuck in traffic, you know. I just took my own way here, so I had no problems…”). If you can get past his slightly annoying implementation of the Chariot, it’s not hard to see the benefits of a device like this over a wheelchair — if it pans out, that is. Our theory is that Exmovere is using this gaudy Showbots platform as a jumping off point, adding in accessibility features, working on additional functionality (like sitting) and hopefully tweaking the looks before it goes to market. Hit up the read link for the video.
[Thanks, Joshua]
Filed under: Transportation, Wearables
Exmovere’s Chariot returns on video, might actually be real originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Waiting for a big-screen 1080p LCD TV that won’t bust your budget? Vizio’s 55-incher (http://tinyurl.com/cx5wu6) is worth a look.
Things are bad all over, these days–something the technology industry knows all too well. Take, for example, Nokia. The Finnish phone manufacturing giant is reporting huge loses in its latest financial report. The Q1 report details a 90-percent profit drop. Profits were for the quarter ending March 31st were at 122 million euros–that’s down from 1.22 billion euros the year before. And from expected earnings of 306 million euros.
Still, despite such astonishing loses, the company’s shares were up 9 percent. The company is apparently assumed to have hit bottom, meaning that we’ve already seen the worst for both Nokia and the industry at large–all this despite the fact that Nokia says it expects the industry to shrink further.
With Pro Logic IIz some receivers will produce 9.1 channel surround.
(Credit: Dolby)
The Dolby Web site is bubbling with excitement about its new processing trick, “With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie now seems to be actually falling on the listener’s roof, concert videos bring a more intense sense of being at the performance, and orchestral works deliver more palpable depth, power, and connection.” The “z” in Pro Logic IIz signifies the Z axis, otherwise known as height.
Sounds interesting, but when I setup and listened to the first receiver (an Onkyo TX-SR607) with Pro Logic IIz, the height speakers didn’t lift my spirits.
Pro Logic IIz can, depending on the receiver’s capabilities, either augment a 5.1 or 7.1 channel speaker system with two height channels. In other words, in a 5.1 channel system with Pro Logic IIz you’ll have five speakers in the front of the room–left, center, right, left height, and right height–plus a surround speaker to both sides of the main listening position.
The 7.1 system with Pro Logic IIz uses the same speaker array–plus two rear surround speakers.
Once you have a receiver equipped with Pro Logic IIz, and wall mount the height speakers three feet or higher over the main left/right speakers, you’re all set. You won’t have to buy specially encoded movies or music.
According to Dolby, “Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content–stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1 and 7.1 Blu-ray discs, and video games. Dolby Pro Logic IIz processes low-level, uncorrelated information–such as ambience and some amorphous effects like rain or wind–and directs it to the front height speakers.”
Nice idea, did it actually work?
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Originally posted at The Audiophiliac
You never really know what to expect when fishing for a new phone at Best Buy Mobile. Go in one week, and you’ll see a strikingly pink Instinct for a strikingly large amount; go in next week, and you’ll see the miniaturized version of the original Instinct for under 50 bones. If a new flyer is to be believed, the Samsung Instinct S30 will be offered up for just $49.99 on contract at Best Buy, which is a whopping $80 less than what Sprint itself will supposedly ask for it on April 19th. Too good to be true? We’re hoping not.
[Thanks, Kenny]
Filed under: Cellphones
Samsung Instinct S30 coming to Best Buy at $49.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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