Hasta La Gadget!

Couldn’t make it out to Berlin for Samsung’s Unpacked event? No worries — Sammy has re-packed its deluge of tablets, phones and Android-powered cameras for your viewing pleasure. Go ahead and relive Sammy’s self-proclaimed magic at the outfit’s Facebook page or with the embedded video after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Unpacked at IFA 2012: watch it online now

Samsung Unpacked at IFA 2012: watch it online now originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well folks, today marks the first major day of IFA 2012 over in Berlin, Germany, and we had tons of exciting and worthwhile news from Sony, Samsung and multiple others. For those that missed the bulk of the news in the early hours this morning we have a full breakdown of Sony’s IFA aspirations. From 84″ TV’s to Android tablets and more. Check it out below.

Now obviously Sony has tons of products on display for IFA 2012, so we’re just going to round up and mention a few of the important product launches that stood out the most this morning. That all starts with their new 84″ 4K Bavia HDTV. Yup they just launched their first 4K TV and it comes in at a massively impressive 84″ with a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. It upscales everything into 4K and even has some passive 3D features for that crowd too. It’ll be expensive and hit stores sometime early September. Who’s buying?

Next up we wanted to talk mobile considering Sony’s been slowly but surely getting more popular in the smartphone market. Today Sony rebranded their tablet line into the XPERIA name and launched a new and improved Sony Xperia Tablet S. It rocks a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich all for $399. Next up was smartphone and Sony had a new range of three smartphones. The top-tier Xperia T, then they also launched an Xperia V and a budget friendly J.

That was then followed by a brand new Microsoft Surface competitor with their new Windows 8 convertible PC called the Sony VAIO Duo 11 tablet. The picture above should explain plenty otherwise hit the link for Sony’s take on a Surface-like Windows 8 tablet PC. It rocks a Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and up to 256GB SSD options. Not bad right?

Then to round off a few more interesting aspects of Sony’s day we have a personalized 3D headset called the Sony HMZ-T2 Personal 3D viewer. This unit is designed to give users a personal, private, and unique perspective of 3D content and looks rather interesting. We’ll be hearing more on that soon I’m sure. Lastly they showed off a few NFC-capable Bluetooth wireless speaker systems that will work with the above Xperia tablet and smartphones. Simply tap the device to the speaker and NFC will enable music playback and start right off from your last played favorite track. This is music enjoyment in its simplest form. Last but not least they announced a micro action cam to take on the GoPro called the Sony Action Cam.

We will have plenty more coverage from Sony, and everything else at this years IFA 2012 event so stay tuned and don’t forget to stop by our IFA 2012 Hub.

Sony IFA 2012 Wrap-Up is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung has revealed its Galaxy Camera, an Android 4.1 powered 3G/4G toting camera with onboard editing, social sharing and a huge 21x optical zoom. Revealed at IFA 2012, the Samsung Galaxy Camera brings a 16-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS paired with a 23mm wide-angle lens and a Smart Pro system that helps entry-level users get the sort of photos usually reserved for those with years of experience and DSLRs. Then, they can be edited and uploaded to social networking sites like Facebook and Google+, all from the camera itself.

Control is via a 4.8-inch 1280 x 720 touchscreen running at 308ppi, along with the voice control that’s part of Android. There’s also the same sort of in-device intelligence that we’ve seen on the Galaxy S III – in fact it runs on a 1.4GHz quadcore processor too – with the Galaxy Camera able to create folders automatically, identify faces, and tag with location. It will also sift through your shots and make suggestions as to which might not be up to scratch and which you might want to delete.

Reviewing photos can be done in the usual Android gallery manner, but there’s also support for multi-tag searches, allowing users to pull out images from a certain holiday featuring a certain individual. 35 photo editing options are available, including brightness, contrast and filters, though if you have a third-party camera app, like Instagram, you can use that instead. Finally, all of Android’s usual sharing options are on offer, so it’s possible to fire off photos and videos to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or other social networks, along with WiFi Direct for device-to-device sharing. Images are automatically backed up to cloud storage for safe-keeping.

In fact, most of what you’d find on an Android phone or tablet is present, bar voice calling – even though there’s that HSPA+ modem, it’s only for data. Still, that means there’s support for browsing on the vast display, managing all your email accounts and contacts, calendar and gaming, as well as support for third-party apps downloaded to the camera. Storage is courtesy of a microSD card, and there’s an HDMI output for directly hooking up a TV.

While Samsung is among the smartphone manufacturers pushing the envelope with phone-cameras, the Galaxy Camera is definitely a camera first. There’s an Expert mode with support for manually adjusting aperture, shutter speed, ISO and other settings, and of course the dimensions are more akin to a point-and-shoot camera than they are a phone. You also get a pop-up Xenon flash.

Samsung is in talks with carriers regarding potential subsidies, and isn’t talking about specific pricing as yet. Still, it says we should expect the Galaxy Camera to be priced akin to a premium model, so we’re guessing in the region of $500+. It will go on sale in Q4 2012.

Samsung Galaxy Camera official: Android-powered 16MP point-and-shoot is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung’s Galaxy Camera might run Android, but in your hand it’s most definitely a point-and-shoot. Still, Samsung has taken advantage of that heft well: you get a huge 21x optical zoom, 16-megapixel camera and a vast 4.8-inch HD screen. We caught up with Samsung ahead of its IFA 2012 “Unpacked” launch event to see how the Galaxy Camera holds up. Read on for our hands-on first impressions.

If you’ve used a recent Samsung Android phone, then the Galaxy Camera’s interface should be familiar. It’s primarily intended for landscape orientation use, though an accelerometer will flip it into portrait mode if you rotate it. Three homescreens with the usual app and widget support, along with support for third-party software, email, browsing and more, are pulled directly from phones; the 35 tool editing suite is a new addition, but is equally straightforward thanks to the expansive touchscreen.

The face-combining tool we’ve seen on BlackBerry 10 – allowing you to pick out faces from multiple frames, and add them into one image to get the best shot of each person – works well, just as we’ve seen before. It’s not clear whether it’s powered by Scalado, as per RIM’s implementation, but we wouldn’t be surprised.

We were able to quickly snap off photos – and indeed you can shoot video and stills simultaneously, though the optical zoom proved more ponderous when clips were filming – and then have the Galaxy Camera automatically identify faces in the frames. Match each person to a contact, and the camera tags each frame with that person for easier recall later. You can search using multiple tags, and so can pull out images that were taken at the same time, with the same people showing, in the same location if you choose.

Sharing uses the normal Android share-to menu, though sized up to make the best use of the display, and so any app you have which supports sharing can be used with the camera. That should help longevity, such as if you find yourself addicted to a social network Samsung didn’t guess to include out of the box. Uploading can be either via WiFi or 3G/HSPA+, though you can’t use the latter connection to make calls. Given Android’s popularity with modded ROMs, though, we wouldn’t be surprised to see that change shortly after the Galaxy Camera’s Q4 2012 launch.

Cameras running Android are still rare, with Polaroid announcing one model at the top of the year but still yet to release it, and Nikon joining the rarified club in recent weeks with the Coolpix S800c. They’ll both need to be good to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Camera, however; its photographic abilities have Samsung’s lineage, and its camera tech significantly improves the usability experience overall. Pricing may end up being the deciding factor, however, so hopefully carriers won’t pull the rug from under the Galaxy Camera before it ever has a chance to shine.

Samsung Galaxy Camera hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week at IFA 2012 we’ve gotten a glimpse at a brand new Sony-made camera made for high-energy recording – the Action Cam. This device works with a 16 megapixel sensor (Exmor R), wi-fi connectivity, and is popping up for an amazing $199. See if you can match that, competing action camera warriors!

This device brings on a regular version shipping in September or October for $199, then a $270 USD version comes with wi-fi capabilities. This device brings on wi-fi remote configuration as well as viewfinder – which you’ll want if you want to see what’s going on, as this device has no display otherwise. The camera also works – in both cases – with a 16-megapixel Exmor R sensor so you can grab low-light shots galore.

The camera also works with a fixed-zoom Carl Zeiss lens and some lovely 1080p video at 30 frames per second as well as a 720p option at 120 fps – that’s slow motion for sure! You can work with removable storage with this device’s microSD card slot, you’ve got a removable battery so you’ll never be low, and you’ve got the option to work with a display if you’re willing to shell out a few extra bucks. There’s a “Handycam Adapter” in the works that has a 2-7 inch display that works with a standard camcorder interface as well.

This device also has a set of accessories in the works including an adhesive mount pack, a bike mount, angle mount, head straps, suction cup, replacement housing for waterproof action, and more! Stay tuned as the Action Cam takes hold of our action-loving hearts in the very near future – and stick to our IFA 2012 portal as well to stay up to date on all things released in Berlin!

Sony Action Cam revealed to take on GoPro is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.