Hasta La Gadget!

We told you it’s a busy time for laptops! Following up on its recently announced SF and NF series, Samsung’s unleashing two more families of lappies and we’re here to tell you all about ’em. First up is the QX series, which finally brings NVIDIA’s Optimus to the manufacturer’s rigs. We’re assuming overseas the QX will come in a variety of sizes, but here in the US the 14-inch QX410 (pictured above) will be a Best Buy exclusive and will pack a Core i5-460M CPU and a NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU. Externally, we have to say it’s one of the nicest systems we’ve seen lately — the brushed metal lid adds some polish and the chiclet keys remind us a lot of those on the VAIO Z. The QX410 should be priced around $849 when it hits the double B this fall.

Packing a bit more muscle are the 15.6-inch RF510 and 17.3-inch RF710, which have both Core i5 and i7 options. The RF510 boasts a NVIDIA GeForce 330M GPU and Core i5-460M processor and is slated to hit for around $899, while the RF710 with an i7-720M CPU, the same graphics, 640GB of storage and a Blu-ray drive will be priced at $1,029. Those sound mighty tempting to us. Hit the break for the full release and the galleries below for some shots.

Continue reading Samsung QX and RF Series laptops roll out with Intel and NVIDIA organs

Samsung QX and RF Series laptops roll out with Intel and NVIDIA organs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arc Touch Mouse Promotional Photo from Microsoft.com

Microsoft has made two new controllers — one for your computer, one for your XBox 360 — that can switch into different shapes depending on your needs or preferences. The well-leaked, much-anticipated Arc Touch Mouse is shipping now; the new wireless XBox Play and Charge kit will be out stateside in November.

Exactly a month ago, Microsoft Hardware teased their new mouse on Twitter with a partial image and a riddle/tagline: “Don’t be so touchy… flat is where it’s at.” Most people guessed it was a new mouse or trackpad, but as John Paczkowski noted, “the composite image also looks like the back of a smartphone or media player…or a remote control…or an electric razor…or a pancake griddle.” What was this new mystery device?

Well, it’s a highly mobile, lightweight, touch-sensitive mouse that arcs to fit in the palm of your hand while you’re using it and packs flat so you can stuff it in a pocket on the go. It’s targeted for laptop users who don’t like their always-flat trackpads.

In a press release titled “Think the Mouse is Dead?“, Microsoft Hardware’s Brett Ostrum wrote that even as trackpads and other input devices have evolved, the market for mice has only grown: “The reasons people need external mice will not change: comfort and precision.”

There are some nice concessions to the trackpad model here, though: the Arc Touch has a touch strip instead of a scroll wheel. Instead of a perfectly smooth drag, the strip vibrates to simulate to simulate a wheel’s click-click bumps. I hope you can toggle this feature on and off — I imagine some people enjoy, or at least have gotten accustomed to, the finger-on-glass feel of a trackpad or touchscreen.

(Here’s a promotional video of the Arc Touch in action. If only Microsoft could invent a Silverlight video that could flat-pack into HTML 5 for easy embedding!)

The XBox 360 has a new wireless controller, too, but its flat-packing profile tweak is more subtle. Its directional pad can pop up into a “plus” for raised directional controls, or snap flush into a “disc” for easy Street Fighter II-style thumb-drag joystick moves. (Sorry for the outdated game reference. I’m old.)

There are plenty of other nice things in this model, including wireless (of course) and a new silver-gray look. But I think the versatility of the d-pad is the real item of interest here. As we start using remotes for game consoles to do more and more things, whether as media players or web browsers, we’re going to want controllers that can morph to match.

See Also:

• Hands On: Xbox Kinect Games Give You a Serious Workout
• Why Xbox Might Be Microsoft's Future — and Computing's, Too …
• Apple Redefines Remote Control — Now, It's Your Cellphone
• Poof! After Wireless, the Computer Mouse Turns Invisible
• Toe-Mouse for Foot-Controlled Computing
• Wired 13.06: The Xbox Reloaded

Lest all the paper-based leaks weren’t sufficient evidence for you, we’ve now got ourselves an insider at one of Verizon’s brick-and-mortar outlets informing us that Fascinate launch kits are being distributed. VZW is said to be training up its staff (presumably that involves more than just pointing out where the above puzzle piece should go) and the whole thing’s looking “right on track” for the mooted early September launch. So that basically gives us about a week’s time to kill with 21:9 HDTVs, 3D prototypes, slinky tablets, and whatever else we can find at IFA. We might just be able to manage it.

Samsung Fascinate arriving in Verizon stores, early September launch seems a given originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are some things that you just long for irrationally in a sort of trade-your-next-10-years-of-Christmas-presents sort of way, and this new 3D Cinema 21:9 Platinum HDTV from Philips is one of those things. We just got a few too-brief minutes alone with the 58-inch set, where it proved itself quite an excellent 3D display — it’s hard to differentiate exact 3D quality without another display nearby for reference, but we didn’t see any issues or worry points with the image quality offhand. With shutter glasses on the image remained bright and saturated with little ghosting, and while opinions may vary on Ambilight, we absolutely love it in action, particularly with this letterbox-destroying aspect ratio.

So, how many Christmases do we have to fork over to get Philips to ship this dang thing to the US?

Philips Cinema 21:9 Platinum 3D megadisplay eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Korean electronics giant says the features of its Android-based tablet match and sometimes outshine Apple’s iPad. Samsung has its work cut out to convince the masses. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20015400-264.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Deep Tech/a/p