Hasta La Gadget!

Wondering what kind of apps are enabled by the “world’s first HDTV-based application store“? Check out this CES show floor demo of a cross platform game tying together a Samsung flat-screen TV and cellphone to experience the magic of virtual fishing. We’ll probably keep our dedicated systems for gaming, but for a slight hint of what a crossplatform app store has to offer, by all means take a look.

Continue reading Samsung Apps demo ties phone & TV together in Wiimote-like bliss

Samsung Apps demo ties phone & TV together in Wiimote-like bliss originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DLNA is one of the most widely adopted digital content sharing protocols around, and at CES this year you’d have a hard time finding a new HDTV on the floor that doesn’t use it to stream videos, pictures and music around the home — not to mention all the other multimedia devices. The new guidelines released earlier this year are finally making their way into new devices and these new guidelines are apparently what cable TV providers have been waiting for. Unlike most current DLNA implementations, the new clients can now display the DLNA server’s user interface, and although you might not be in love with it, your cable company is. So what this could mean to us is that if we buy one of these new HDTVs with DLNA baked in, we would be able to use the cable company’s DVR via the network even if the DVR is in another room — not to mention PlayOn and a number of other DLNA servers. Now of course no one wants to mount a set-top under your newly wall mounted HDTV, so this could really end up being what many have been waiting for — not to mention the fact that all your content should be available to any room of the house. Of course a press release is one thing and implementing is another, but this is one that we’ll be following closely.

Comcast, Time Warner and Cox are excited about the latest in DLNA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Getting on the treadmill usually means it’s time to plug in those headphones for some Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

Now a digital music player from Philips, called Activa, promises to sort through your music library and sync it to your heart rate, playing music whose rhythms match those of your own body. It’s a pedometer combined with a music player.

The watch-like Activa can be worn on the wrist or strapped on an arm band. The device can store up to 4GB of music, or about 500 songs, and costs $130.

At the heart of Activa is TempoMusic, a proprietary software developed by Philips. It starts by analyzing the user’s music library and stores characteristics for each song, including several related to tempo. The software also asks users to identify a song that inspires them to work harder and one that reflects the type of music they like.

So by the time you near the peak of your workout, Activa can detect that you’re getting close to your limit — and then blare out Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” if that’s what you want.

Through the workout, the device also offers audio feedback such as the number of calories burnt, time and distance. But that cuts through the music and it can quickly get annoying. There’s also a website you can load that data and track your workouts.

But doesn’t everyone have an iPod by now? So are the Activa’s features compelling enough to make you swap your iPod for the Activa at the gym?

Photo: Activa/Priya Ganapati

We’re so hard at work here at CES that we almost forgot that we just got brand new t-shirts! To celebrate our time in Las Vegas, we thought we’d share a little love and give away five of these precious bits of thread. You probably know the drill already, but the full rules (and another shot of our kind friend Roger modeling the shirt) are after the break so read on and get commenting!

Continue reading Engadget’s CES giveaway: win an Engadget t-shirt!

Engadget’s CES giveaway: win an Engadget t-shirt! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You have to have a pretty special product to get two Engadget posts discussing your wares during the maelstrom of CES, but this Adam thing just won’t leave us alone with its Pixel Qi display, Tegra 2 innards and bona fide potential to blow the bloody doors off the homogeneous tablet market. We’ve gone back and grabbed video of the device in direct sunlight and it just kept on impressing us. The screen resolutely refused to be overpowered by the light, whether its backlight was on or off, but that was merely the tip of the iceberg as far as the happy impressions. Come past the break to find out more about buttery smooth 1080p playback (with a handy HDMI out), Notion Ink’s plans for modifying the Android OS, and more on the likely pricing of the device which is set to land in quarter two of 2010. Oh, and yea — we totally ripped it open and photographed the insides. Check that out below.

Continue reading Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on

Notion Ink Adam stripped bare and our in-depth video hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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