Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition

Now that Apple’s officially announced an event to show off its “latest creation” on the 27th, the rumors and gossip are about to get even more out of hand — eventually we expect them to take flight and start raiding small towns for soda water and appetizers. In the meantime, however, we’ve got the latest batch of somewhat-sober whispers to tide us over, so let’s run through ’em, shall we?

The rumor: The iPhone Blog points us to a China Times piece setting the tablet’s screen size at 9.7 inches. (We covered the 22-inch touchscreen iMac rumor separately.)
Our take: At this point we’ve heard pretty much every screen size from eight inches to 11, so we’re not making a call either way on this one. We will say that the only other product with a 9.7-inch screen we can think of off-hand is the Kindle DX — a relatively simple device that’s still so large and heavy we generally hold it with two hands. Just something to think about.

The rumor: Ars Technica talks to the director of the OLED Association, who rules out a 10.1-inch AMOLED screen by saying “there’s no real production of 10.1-inch panels.” Oh, and the only place to buy those would be Samsung, really, and Sammy doesn’t have the capacity.
Our take: We never thought a 10.1 OLED screen was likely: not only are prices insane, but OLED still has terrible daylight viewing issues. The Ars piece is well worth a read, though — it’s a nice look at the state of OLED.

Continue reading Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition

Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s WiFi-enabled CL80 adds touch of AMOLED to 14MP sensor

Samsung’s AMOLED obsession continues unabated as it has just taken the official wraps off the 3.7-inch touchscreen-equipped CL80. Already well detailed in an earlier leak, this shooter crams a 7x optical zoom lens plus WiFi and Bluetooth antennae inside one of those unreasonably thin enclosures that are all the rage these days. It’s the twenty-teens now, so naturally you get a jumbo 14.2 megapixel sensor with optical image stabilization as well as a 720p movie mode. Coming out this spring, the CL80 has already garnered a 2010 CES Innovation Award, but if you can settle for a 3.5-inch conventional LCD and do without the wireless options, Samsung will sell you the otherwise identical TL240 at a presumably more affordable price point this February. Dive past the break for the full PR and specs.

Gallery: Samsung CL80

Continue reading Samsung’s WiFi-enabled CL80 adds touch of AMOLED to 14MP sensor

Samsung’s WiFi-enabled CL80 adds touch of AMOLED to 14MP sensor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung flirts coyly with 7-inch AMOLED Digital Photo Frame

We know exactly what you were thinking when you first heard the news that Kodak was selling its OLED business to LG: 1) wait, Kodak had an OLED business, and b) who the hell will I buy my $1,000 OLED digital photo frame from now? The latter part of this conundrum has just been answered by Samsung who will unveil its 700Z Digital Photo Frame here at CES. Sammy’s offering boasts a 7-inch AMOLED display, 4GB of internal memory, Bluetooth with video support. Unfortunately, the frame’s million-to-1 contrast ratio isn’t enough to distract this product model from her dreams of beauty pageant stardom.

Samsung flirts coyly with 7-inch AMOLED Digital Photo Frame originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung announces two PMPs, one for fitness gurus, one made of glass

Samsung announces two PMPs, one for fitness gurus, one made of glass
We expect there to be no shortage of hot new PMPs announced this week, so manufacturers are looking for something — anything — to differentiate theirs from the rest. Samsung has two interesting angles for its latest players, the first being the MyFit, an 8GB model with integrated sensors to detect fat and stress, plus the typical accelerometer to measure your activities, and apps that can help you keep hydrated and even stop smoking — assuming you ever started. Oh, and it plays music, too. Then there’s the Ice Touch, a 16GB model with a two-inch AMOLED screen that’s transparent, much like the Xperia Pureness, but with more colors and fewer stunned looking models. The device itself is said to have a case made of tempered glass, which should make those accidental drops onto concrete a little more exciting, and it packs support for a wide variety of audio and video formats, lossless and high-definition, respectively. No pricing on either, but we’d expect the glass one to cost more than the healthy one.

Continue reading Samsung announces two PMPs, one for fitness gurus, one made of glass

Samsung announces two PMPs, one for fitness gurus, one made of glass originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung NX10 made official — APS-C sensor and AMOLED screen crammed into hybrid DSLR body

Samsung has just announced its NX10 “hybrid DSLR,” which aims to give you all the uncompromising image quality of a full digital SLR within a somewhat more pocketable body. A 14.6 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor is a good start on that road, while “fast and decisive” contrast AF and a snazzy 3-inch AMOLED display keep the momentum going. There’s 720p H.264-encoded video recording as well, but naturally you do have to make some tradeoffs for the reduced size. The mirror box is gone — leaving you with only an electronic viewfinder — and the brand new NX lens mounting system means you’ll have to purchase your favorite lenses all over again. We’ll wait and see whether the NX10 shows any appreciable advantages (such as price!) over the slightly smaller Micro Four Thirds shooters out there, but with a spring 2010 release date and a CES appearance on the cards, that wait shouldn’t be too long. Go past the break for the full PR and spec sheet.

Update: DPReview has an in-depth breakdown and a hands-on preview of the new shooter with a few sample shots posted from a pre-production unit.

Gallery: Samsung NX10

Continue reading Samsung NX10 made official — APS-C sensor and AMOLED screen crammed into hybrid DSLR body

Samsung NX10 made official — APS-C sensor and AMOLED screen crammed into hybrid DSLR body originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Bravo pictured more lucidly (Update: coming to US in January as HTC Passion)

We realize we might have overfed you a little with that plentiful leak of HTC’s 2010 plans, so here’s a chance to better ogle and digest HTC’s “Performance” flagship to be: the Bravo. Pairing Android with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon and presenting a 3.7-inch AMOLED facade, this certainly ticks the headline boxes, and the addition of a five megapixel AF cam capable of 720p video capture gives it an extra sheen of 2010 newness. The picture above is accompanied by less solid info indicating a 1,400mAh battery, which will be joined by the mandatory WiFi, Bluetooth and MicroUSB connectivity, plus MicroSD expansion, FM radio tuner, digital compass, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Then again, the source is the same bunch of heroes responsible for our extra early — and accurate — info on the HD2, so those specs may be considered pretty reliable. Oh, if you’re wondering about the touchscreen, it’s capacitive, like it should be.

Update: If you were wondering about the difference between the Bravo and the recently leaked Passion, there is none other than the branding apparently. We’re also hearing that the above handset will be available in the US in January, a cool three months ahead of the expected European release.

HTC Bravo pictured more lucidly (Update: coming to US in January as HTC Passion) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP lets iPAQ Glisten out of the box

The AT&T-bound iPAQ Glisten from HP has been unboxed for our viewing pleasure, video of which can be found immediately after the break. If you’re not in such a hurry though, you’ll want to know it’s an AMOLED-fronted, Qualcomm-powered (533MHz) WinMo 6.5 device, which brings the BlackBerry form factor sans the RIM user experience, but plus a touchscreen. Another thing to note is that AT&T’s online store will be the only place to get it, at the already announced $179.99 after rebates on a two-year deal. The video does a good job of comparing HP’s return to the mobile space with a pair of similar devices, and we’re left with the impression that it’s a pretty chunky machine, but as usual we recommend seeing it for yourself — and you already know where to find it.

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HP lets iPAQ Glisten out of the box originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP’s Obsidian becomes iPAQ Glisten, officially comes to AT&T

Wow, talk about digging deep in the memory bank. The same phone that we spotted way back in July (known then as the iPAQ K3 Obsidian) has finally emerged in official fashion on AT&T. Dubbed the iPAQ Glisten, this all-business smartphone boasts a vanilla coat of Windows Mobile 6.5, a 2.5-inch AMOLED display, 3.1 megapixel camera, 256MB of SDRAM, a microSD expansion slot, A-GPS, 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, a QWERTY keyboard, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. ‘Course, you’ll still be dealing with a resistive screen and a dated OS, but if you’re turned on in some weird way, it’ll be “available in the coming weeks” for $179.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and 2-year agreement.

HP’s Obsidian becomes iPAQ Glisten, officially comes to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG’s 15-inch OLED TV now blowing minds in South Korea

Call Daegu home? Just over in South Korea to visit and / or infiltrate the DMZ? Regardless of why you’re there, you’re probably interested in picking up LG’s latest, which has been tempting our retinas since IFA. Just as we’d heard back in late August, the aforesaid firm’s 15-inch OLED TV is reportedly now on sale in South Korea, and it’s packing a price tag of around ₩3 million ($2,598). By our count, this is just the second major, mass-produced OLED TV to hit store shelves anywhere in the world, but we’re hoping to see a lot more action in this space come CES. You TV makers are listening to our requests demands, right?

[Via OLED-Display]

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LG’s 15-inch OLED TV now blowing minds in South Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint launches Samsung Moment, Android empire expands by one

And here comes more trouble for your wallet. Mixing up that unholy trifecta of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, AMOLED screen and Android inside, Samsung’s Moment — in spite of its quirks and niggles — is likely to lighten the load for quite a few Sprint customers today. Pricing is as expected, with a $279.99 initial outlay that gets reduced to $179.99 after rebates, but you’ll also have to agree to a two-year contractual commitment. Unless you’re locked in to Sprint for whatever reason, we might advise holding out for a couple of days and seeing if the DROID takes your fancy, but don’t take our word for it — check out what your fellow readers think right here.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Sprint launches Samsung Moment, Android empire expands by one originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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