LG’s 5.1 HB954SP Blu-ray HTIB system makes room for your iPod or iPhone

If you’ve somehow managed to hold out from joining into the HTIB revolution, the time for caving is upon you. LG has just tapped Sir Mark Levinson to engineer the acoustics behind its latest bundle, the HB954SP. Packing a 5.1-channel sound system that includes 1,000 total watts of power, a quintet of oval drivers and a ported subwoofer, the system gets direction from a BD-Live-enabled Blu-ray player that’s actually a fair bit more stylish than the tried-and-true black rectangle. You’ll also find a pair of HDMI inputs, an iDock function for charging and controlling your iPod / iPhone right from the BD deck, 1080p upscaling of traditional DVDs, touch sensitive controls, a USB port for loading up external media and an optical audio input. There’s nary a mention of price, but it should splash down this November for a hefty premium.

LG’s 5.1 HB954SP Blu-ray HTIB system makes room for your iPod or iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week in Crave: The all-the-ooze-you-can-use edition

Between the two giant gadget extravaganzas we covered–Ceatec and CTIA–we wouldn’t blame you if you found this week’s gadget news a bit dizzying. But in case …

Elecom’s USB numeric touch keypad does touch gestures on the side

Elecom‘s USB-powered numeric touch keypad is pretty simple. You plug it into your machine, tap your digits on the board and watch the numbers appear in your calculator app. Once that gets boring, you can also use this as a secondary trackpad. And given that it supports a variety of multi gesture functions (zoom in / out, shift up / down, etc.), we’d say the secondary features here may just be more enticing than the primary. Suddenly overcome with a feeling of want? Get yours later this month for ¥6,500 ($72).

[Via Akihabara News]

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Elecom’s USB numeric touch keypad does touch gestures on the side originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trade Clothes with ThredUP

thredup.jpg

Springwise: Currently focusing just on shirts, thredUP is free to join. Users begin by setting up a virtual closet to keep track of the clothes they’d like to exchange, using descriptions of the brands, sizes, colours and patterns—no photos are required. Users also tell thredUP what they’d like to get in exchange, including the brands, sizes and styles they prefer. Next, members purchase prepaid envelopes—a special offer currently has a package of three half-priced at USD 12.50. thredUP then looks for good matches in the virtual closets of other members to find items that might be suitable. It sends them one such item for each envelope they’ve purchased, along with an address to send one of their own items to.

Clothes swapping meets Netflix [Springwise]

Samsung’s WinMo 6.5-powered Armani smartphone gets previewed

Got a cool grand to drop on a Windows Phone? Oh, yeah? Then have a gander at Samsung’s latest fashion piece, the Armani-branded M7500. The cool cats over at PhoneArena managed to get their paws around a unit, and as predicted, they didn’t hesitate to bust out the camera and give us all a good look. They also took the chance to give us a brief overview of how the handset handled, calling it “bulky even for a WinMo smartphone,” though praising the high-res display and well-spaced keyboard. Feel free to hit the read link if you’re interested in more, but don’t be shocked to hear more than a little criticism.

[Via MobileTechWorld, thanks Arnaud]

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Samsung’s WinMo 6.5-powered Armani smartphone gets previewed originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eye-Fi bringing trio of WiFi-enabled SD cards to UK

If you’re an US-based company, you’d be kidding yourself if you said you didn’t want to take advantage of the pound-to-dollar exchange rate. We can’t say for certain that the current Forex ratings on currency is why Eye-Fi is suddenly barging into the British market place, but whatever the case, UKers can look forward to slapping a WiFi-enabled SD card into their digicam starting on October 19th. The Eye-Fi Home Video, Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Pro will all be splashing down in 4GB flavors, with prices set for £49.99, £69.99 and £199.99 in order of mention. Got it, chum?

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Eye-Fi bringing trio of WiFi-enabled SD cards to UK originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hitachi’s face-recognizing display turns off, saves power when you look away (video)

CEATEC is a breeding ground for new innovations, and Hitachi made sure to get its name on the A-list with a simple face-recognizing television that seeks to save power whenever you glance away. Essentially, the prototype plasma on display packs an inbuilt camera that notices when your face is peering at it, and whenever you glance away, a power-saving mode goes into action. Unfortunately, that means that the panel goes black, and while we understand the point here, we can envision such a feature causing all sorts of rage around the house, particularly if you’ve got a handful of viewers trying to keep watch from a few feet further away than yourself. Hit the read link to have a look at how things work in practice — here’s hoping you can opt for the sound to stay on throughout the blackout, at least.

Continue reading Hitachi’s face-recognizing display turns off, saves power when you look away (video)

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Hitachi’s face-recognizing display turns off, saves power when you look away (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How would you change Microsoft’s Zune HD?

For the anti-iPod crowd out there (you know who you are), Microsoft’s Zune HD has been a long time comin’. As of September 17th, your excuses for not owning one vanished completely, and for those diehards willing to splurge on Redmond’s swankest PMP yet, we know you’ve been toying with it ever since. Still, the Zune HD hasn’t thrived without its fair share of hangups, and we get the impression that at least a smattering of users are still frustrated by this or that. If we just rang your bell, you’re in the right place. We’re curious to hear what actual, honest-to-goodness Zune HD users have to say about their new toy, and better still, how you would’ve done things differently if you had any power whatsoever over Sir Ballmer. Drop your rant off in comments below, would you?

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How would you change Microsoft’s Zune HD? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mitsubishi’s modular, scalable OLED display goes 155-inches at CEATEC, could go way bigger (video)

Something tells us that whenever we do round two of our Time Square signage Engadget Show, Mitsubishi’s modular OLED display will be amongst the highlights. Aimed at outdoor applications (but obviously ready for your living room), the scalable prototype shown here at CEATEC was 155-inches in size. The wild part, however, is that it could grow infinitely larger — at least in theory. The whole panel that you notice from afar is crafted from smaller OLED blocks that snap together like a puzzle; the more you add, the larger your screen can be. Unfortunately, resolution is still relatively low and longevity is a definite concern, but if you can manage to stand a few feet back, the result is simply stunning. Hop on past the break for a new take on “immersive.”

Continue reading Mitsubishi’s modular, scalable OLED display goes 155-inches at CEATEC, could go way bigger (video)

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Mitsubishi’s modular, scalable OLED display goes 155-inches at CEATEC, could go way bigger (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elektrobit and Wistron MIDs pop up under lock and key at CEATEC: hands-on

Remember that new and improved reference MID that Elektrobit (better known as EB) announced back at IDF? Yeah, that very device was on hand at Intel’s booth at CEATEC, though not a soul was allowed to touch it. The unit was neatly planted beneath freshly Windexed glass alongside three others, two of which certainly put an impressive label on Wistron. We did learn that the EB slate would boast a 3.97-inch capacitive touchscreen with an 800 x 480 resolution, though further details on the lot were scant. Have a peek below to see if EB’s take on the niche MID might actually cause you to take notice.

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Elektrobit and Wistron MIDs pop up under lock and key at CEATEC: hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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