Jan 09

Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Posted in: hands-on, samsung, Today's Chili, video

We spent a few minutes at the show this week ogling the prototype displays that Samsung’s Mobile Display unit has produced over the last few months, headlined by some particularly awesome 4.5-inch flexible and 19-inch transparent AMOLEDs. Let’s start with the flexible unit: Sammy seems to be particularly excited about this one, demonstrating on video that it’s shatter-proof by bashing it repeatedly with a sledgehammer — compare that to the inevitably disastrous consequences of dropping an iPhone onto concrete, and they’ve already won us over. Although the company still has some manufacturing challenges to overcome, commercial interest seems to be strong and they’ll eventually be on the market (though not in 2011, sadly).

The picture for the transparent displays is a little murkier — both physically and from a business perspective. Though they’re not as clear as regular glass or as crisp and bright as a traditional AMOLED display, you’ve got to marvel at what they’re doing here: full see-through color at effectively small television sizes. Interestingly, Samsung tells us that they’re really close to being production-ready with these — possibly even close than the flexible screens — but they’re still looking for business cases that’d make mass-producing them a worthwhile venture. Follow the break for some video of these bad boys, along with a 7-inch Super AMOLED that’s looking Galaxy Tab-ready (and some other goodies)!

Gallery: Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Continue reading Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Make Phone Calls From Your Bicycle Helmet

Posted in: Today's Chili

bicycle helmet.jpg

Does this seem like a terrible idea to anyone else? When riding a bike, it’s generally a good idea to not let anything else distract you. And while wearing a helmet is certainly advised, building a telephone headset into the thing seems to rob the thing of a little bit of its helpfulness.
If you’re so inclined, however, a company called UClear is offering up that. The company apparently traditionally specializes in military technology–its slogan is “Military Technology Solves Your Communication Problems.” The Communication Problem in this case seems to be the fact that you’ve traditionally had to actually get off your bike, if you wanted to call a friend.
Thanks to the HBC201Bicycle Helmet Communicator, however, you never have to dot hat again. The device uses BlueTooth 2.1 to transfer calls from your handset. The device is water resistant and should get about 10 hours of talk time on a single charge. 

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Jan 09

CES: Digital camera wrap-up

Posted in: Today's Chili

A unique design and cool wireless technologies highlight some otherwise humdrum camera announcements at CES 2011.

Originally posted at CES 2011

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Jan 09

Quanta’s 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Posted in: Android, android tablet, AndroidTablet, froyo, hands-on, tablet, Today's Chili

In case you’re not already sick of tablets, here’s another one that we spotted at a small Taiwanese booth at CES. Sure, this Anadem Q07 — a rebadged Quanta device — was just a dummy, but even this could easily beat the lot of cheap Android slates in a beauty contest. Encased within the chrome bezel and silver body will be a 7-inch 800 x 480 display (which is slightly underwhelming), along with a Samsung S5PV210 processor — essentially the Hummingbird chip but in a different package — underclocked to 800MHz, but still capable of handling 1080p video playback. There’s not much else on the spec sheet, but we did see a micro-USB port, HDMI mini connector, microSD slot, SIM card slot, and stereo speakers on the Q07. Naturally, you’ll hear from us when we stumble upon this Froyo tablet again.

Gallery: Quanta’s 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Quanta’s 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

M-Edge: Make Your iPad Look Like a Book

Posted in: amazon, case, ipad, kindle, Today's Chili

fahrenheit 451 ipad.jpg

Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper burns. I’m not sure what temperature it would take to ignite, but I imagine it would be considerably hotter. There’s something about the concept of an iPad wrapped up in the cover of that Ray Bradbury classic that really caught my imagination. I’m not whether it’s a good thing or not.
You see, gadgets like the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad certainly get points for keeping people, but for someone like myself who really does still fetishize paper books, it’s maybe a little troubling.
Of course, that book is just one of several titles you can pick to cover your iPad or Kindle, courtesy of the folks at M-Edge. The Website lets people create their own cover for those devices, either by uploading their own design or picking a number of pre-configured ones, a list that also includes classic covers of Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and several issues of The New Yorker.

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Jan 09

What Would Jesus Play?

Posted in: Games, Today's Chili

gaming jesus.JPG

Having attended the AVN show for the past three year, I’ve become accustom to the concept of religious organizations tabling in strange contexts. This year, there were at least three separate churches present at that event, most with missions revolving specifically around the concept of saving people involved in the adult industry.
CES offered something similar–GameChurch.com. The organization boasts the slogan, “Jesus Was a Gamer,” has a big banner of Jesus wearing a robe and a gaming headset, with a game controller in his holy hands. The church is was apparently founded on the concept that, were Jesus around today, the alleged son of god would really, really into gaming–at least that’s what the tattooed representatives will tell you, when you stop by their booth.
The church was handing out bibles designed to look like gaming manuals–naturally.
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Jan 09

GloMate: Your Weird Ambient Alien Night Light Friend

Posted in: Today's Chili

glomate plus.jpg

This weird little blobby thing is GloMate Plus. He’s a night light for small children from a company called Mobi. Frankly, I could see how such a thing glowing in the dead of night in the room of a small child could be a touch frightening, but then I’ve never really considered myself much of a tastemaker amongst the toddler set.
GloMate Pro can be adjusted to beam three different colors, or can be clicked over into “Rainbow Mode.” He’s got a rechargeable battery built in, which should give you about 10 hours of soft light on a single charge.
He’s available online now and should run you around $20.

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Jan 09

Fuel cell portable charger works, still needs more work

Posted in: Today's Chili

CNET’s Dong Ngo recaps his personal experience with using the Mobion Fuel Cell Generator during CES 2011

Originally posted at CES 2011

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Jan 09

MOG Fusion to bring premium music service to cars, or so MOG hopes

Posted in: Today's Chili

MOG’s on-demand music subscription service could be coming to a vehicle near you. Excited? You should be. At this year’s CES, auto manufacturers had a coming-out party when it comes to in-car infotainment, and MOG’s champing at the bit to jump on the bandwagon. According to the company, its newly launched MOG Fusion program will be accessible to select suppliers and manufacturers in the CE and automotive industries, with the API program being made available to “select partners,” with Visteon Corporation being named in particular. It’s still unclear how exactly tunes will be delivered, but we’re sure all of that will be revealed in due time. Not nearly quick enough to satisfy you, we’re sure, but hey…

Continue reading MOG Fusion to bring premium music service to cars, or so MOG hopes

MOG Fusion to bring premium music service to cars, or so MOG hopes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Clear 4G+ Mobile Series S USB modem delivers

Posted in: Today's Chili

The Clear 4G+ Mobile Series S USB modem played an important role in CNET’s coverage of CES 2011.

Originally posted at CES 2011

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