Hasta La Gadget!

Kaleidescape launched its online offering in beta late last year, and now it’s officially open, becoming what it claims is the first store to provide “internet delivery of Blu-ray quality movies.” The Kaleidescape Store goes beyond other 1080p services (Vudu, iTunes, Xbox and PSN come to mind) by promising the disc-equaling higher bitrates, extras and lossless audio options they don’t have. There’s no streaming to be had here, only downloads, with file sizes we saw ranging from 23GB (Austin Powers) to as much as 55.4GB (Inception) and everywhere in between.

While the store is only built to work with Kaleidescape’s high-end disc-playback systems — these usually start in the thousands of dollars, and you’ll need M-Class hardware for HD — it currently offers movies from Warner Bros. with an Ultraviolet copy attached, so buyers can play them back on mobile devices through apps such as Flixster and Vudu. Ultraviolet support also means $6.99 upgrades of DVD purchases to Blu-ray-quality HD, and potentially disc-to-digital type features later. Naturally, anyone interested will need an internet connection with a generous / non-existent bandwidth cap, but we imagine that’s not out of the price range for these niche owners. Still, it does provide an idea of the difficulty others like Sony and Netflix will face when trying to digitally distribute feature films in 4K to a wider audience. Check out a few screens of the store in the gallery, and the Random Thoughts blog link below for firsthand impressions from a beta tester.

Filed under: HD

Comments

Source: Kaleidescape, Kaleidescape Store

Not tired of seeing different versions of the Optimus G? LG has just revealed another variant for Korean customers: the Optimus GK. Similar to the one-off Optimus G Pro it delivered in Japan on NTT DoCoMo, this handset has features pinched from the 5.5-inch Pro (1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2GB RAM) squeezed into a more-pocketable 5-inch frame. The 1080p screen here (440PPI) is Full HD IPS like the one we’re expecting to see in AT&T’s Optimus G Pro in a few days, matched a 3,100mAh battery, 16GB of storage, microSD slot and 13MP/2MP rear/front camera setup. This particular variant had been rumored to launch at MWC but is only now being announced for Korean carrier KT, we’ll see how many more twists LG can wring out of the Optimus G platform before delivering a true sequel later this year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

Comments

Source: LG Korea

Despite the aborted launch of Acer’s Aliyun-powered phone last September, the cheeky Android-based OS is now back with a handful of new devices courtesy of some local friends, with the most notable device coming from Zopo, a notorious cloner of Samsung, HTC and LG phones. That said, it looks like the company’s making a change with this seemingly good-looking C2, and for the launch price of ¥1,399 or about $230 unsubsidized, the specs will probably make Xiaomi tremble: there’s a 5-inch 1080p gapless LTPS display, a MediaTek MT6589 chip (1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 processor with 1GB RAM and PowerVR SGX544 graphics), 4GB internal storage with microSD expansion, Yamaha audio chip, a removable 2,000mAh battery and WCDMA 850/2100 radio with HSPA+.

Furthermore, not only is there a 13-megapixel f/2.2 main camera, but there’s also a staggering 5-megapixel front-facing camera on the other side — just like the one on Oppo’s Ulike 2. Oh, and these all come in an 8.5mm-thick body, too. Zopo’s now accepting pre-orders for the first 5,000 C2s and will be shipping before the end of the month, so if you have an account on Tmall and don’t mind being a guinea pig then go for it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Source: Engadget Chinese, Zopo

Windows Phone 8 is a pretty slick operating system, but it only supports up to 720p resolutions, as well as lower-quality WVGA and WXGA resolutions. However, it’s said that Microsoft will be adding 1080p support to Windows Phone 8 by the end of this year, as well as planning larger devices with 5-inch-and-higher displays.

According to The Verge, sources familiar with the development of Windows Phone 8 have revealed that Microsoft will issue and update later this year that will add support for 1080p devices, so that they’ll be able to run Windows Phone 8, allowing customers the opportunity to own a phablet-style smartphone running Microsoft’s latest platform.

The update is said to arrive in time for the holiday season, meaning that phones running Windows Phone 8 with larger displays and 1080p resolutions could be available to purchase by November, roughly. The update would also bring support for new Qualcomm quad-core processors, which would allow phone manufacturers to use higher-power quad-core chips in new Windows Phone 8 devices.

While the update is set to bring a lot of improvements to Windows Phone 8, it’s been noted that it’s actually separate from Microsoft’s long-term plan to bring improvements to the platform — codenamed “Blue,” as we’ve mentioned in the past. Instead this update will address different improvements and enhancements to the Windows Phone platform.

[via The Verge]

Windows Phone 8 to support 1080p and quad-core chips by 2014 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We just published our review of the Samsung Series 9 (NP900) last month, and Samsung is already updating it to make it even more awesome than it already is. Samsung is announcing its flagship laptop will be receiving a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 LED display which is combined with the company’s SuperBright technology to provide a 50 percent increase in its brightness compared to competing screens. Touchscreen has been left of the cutting room floor for the new Series 9 laptop, which could certainly be a deal breaker if that’s what you’re looking for in your laptops these days.

The new Series 9 still retains its astounding slim frame, even though it’s now equipped with a 1080p display as it’s a half-inch thick and weighs in at 2.56 pounds. Its internal specs also include an Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD with Windows 8 as the operating system. Samsung says the new Series 9 will provide up to eight hours of battery life, which is a slight improvement over what we saw with the NP900′s 7-hour battery life. Retailing for $1,899.99, hopefully its 1080p-touchless display will entice you enough to spend that kind of cash.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Updated Windows 8 Mail App Ditches Google Calendar Support, Chromebook Samsung Series 3 Review,