Hasta La Gadget!

Yes, it’s just a hard drive that plays 1080p content, but this one can connect to your PS3; according to some machine translated Japanese, Marshal’s new “Media Joker” can also act as an external hard drive for your Sony game console or a Toshiba REGZA TV. While you won’t be able to install games on the up-to-2TB hard drive that you’ll provide yourself, the black box can notably play Blu-ray ISOs — though that, the company carefully cautions, will surely void your warranty. The case admirably provides most all ports you could want, including component, composite, both flavors of S/PDIF, HDMI 1.3, LAN, an SD card slot and a pair of USB sockets, and supports a host of audiovisual formats, the full list available at the more coverage link. Find it retailing for ¥16,800 (about $184) this Saturday in some neon-lit corner of Japan.

Marshal’s new media drive is no laughing matter, plays Blu-ray and DVD ISOs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We told you Intel’s 32nm Clarkdales were power efficient, right? Well, Tranquil PC’s slapped one of those chips, a 2.93GHz Core i3-530 to be precise, into its all-new iXL Power PC and now boasts a total system juice consumption of a measly 30W at idle. That means this HTPC can get away with living the quiet, fanless life, while HDMI, a trio of eSATA ports, a multicard reader, and a Blu-ray option flesh out a comprehensive package. Naively, we thought we’d throw the Blu-ray drive in with a 500GB hard disk to see what this might cost us, and were stricken with grief at the sight of a £742 ($1,100) price tag. Should four-digit entry fees not scare you off, you’ll want to know that the iXL is shipping now. For everyone else, hit the source link for a bunch of glamor photos.

Tranquil PC iXL takes you up to 2.93GHz sans fans, has equally lofty price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh Samsung, always setting world records. At an intimate (though slightly awkward) press conference yesterday, Samsung pulled the wraps off its newest SE-S084 external DVD as well as its 12x SH-B123 Blu-ray drives. The former is pretty much your standard external 24x CD-ROM / 8x DVD-ROM peripheral, except it’s only 17mm thick. Samsung is claiming it’s the world’s thinnest, but in all honesty, we weren’t all that blown away by its slimness. We have an HP drive sitting right here that looks to have very comparable dimensions, but at .5 pounds it was incredibly light in hand — we actually thought the model on display was a dummy at first. Available in seven colors that apparently match Samsung’s netbook line up, the drive should be available just about now for $69.99.

On the total opposite end is Sammy’s new 12x SH-B123, which it’s claiming to be the world’s fastest BD-ROM/DVD writer. The player packs DVD up-scaling technology and uses an aerodynamic design for lowering acoustic spinning noise. There’s no pricing details on the SH-B123 yet though it should hit stores in July. Until then, there’s a bunch of shots of both the new drives below and full PR after the break.

Continue reading Samsung SE-S084D claims to be world’s thinnest external DVD drive, SH-B123 the fastest Blu-ray drive

Samsung SE-S084D claims to be world’s thinnest external DVD drive, SH-B123 the fastest Blu-ray drive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Sharp’s keeping its word — next month, the fourth-largest LCD TV maker will launch a slate of new 3D TVs in Japan, just as planned. Based on the same Sharp Quattron quad-pixel technology that made George Takei’s jaw drop, the new LV-series of AQUOS panels will come in 40-, 46-, 52- and 60-inch sizes when they debut July 30th, and feature 1080p resolution, UV²A panels and a high-speed signaling technology named FRED that Sharp says increases brightness and reduces crosstalk. More interesting are the AN-3DG10 glasses that come with them, which reportedly allow each individual viewer decide whether to view content in 2D or 3D — we’re guessing by tweaking the glasses to show either the left or right image to both eyes simultaneously, instead of flipping back and forth. Of course, you’ll also need something to watch, and thus Sharp will also release a pair of Blu-ray DVR units, the BD-HDW700 and BD-HDW70, which record two simultaneous Japanese television programs onto terabyte-sized hard drives when they’re not sending Blu-ray 3D content to the aforementioned displays.

While mum’s the word on pricing, Impress Watch believes the TVs will start around ¥280,000 (around $3,067) and top out at a cool ¥600,000 ($6,581) for that 60-incher, and says that US and European variants are expected later this year. While you wait, why not take a deep dive into the details — you’ll find an entire brochure’s worth at our source links.

Sharp plunges headfirst into 3D market with LV-series Quattron TVs, Blu-ray DVRs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Golly. We never thought to invest in a 20-inch all-in-one PC just to watch converted versions of Free Willy in 3D, but darn if we’re not reconsidering now. NEC has today revealed its Valuestar N range, with the VN790/BS being the standout in the range. The machine offers up a native 1,600 x 900 resolution panel, integrated Blu-ray drive, 4GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, WiFi, six USB 2.0 sockets, an undisclosed Intel Core 2010 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), and of course, native 3D support. You’ll need to spring for an optional (but not really) pair of glasses to fully enjoy the third dimension sans intense headache-inducing blur, but given that they aren’t of the active variety, any ole set will probably get you through. Pricing looks locked at ¥220,000 ($2,422) for a June debut in Japan, with approximately none of that actually going to save the whales. A crying shame, we say.

NEC’s 3D Valuestar N all-in-one PC: orcas all up in your retinas originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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