Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve all had or seen that terrible moment where someones shiny new smartphone falls into the toilet, pool, lake, or sink. While there’s many different technologies available today to protect and water-resist our favorite devices Liquipel is among the best. We first saw them last year at CES to great fanfare, but at CES 2013 they’ve announced Liquipel 2.0 — and it’s coming to a mall near you.

What makes this type of water protection for smartphones and tablet unlike anything else available is the fact that it coats the entire device, electronics inside and all. The entire device is protected on a molecule level with an invisible to the eye Liquipel coating. This certainly isn’t cheap, and requires users to send off their device for treatment. Today they’ve announced that will soon be changing.

Liquipel 2.0 is a brand new treatment for smartphones like the iPhone 5 that adds a nano-coating though a propriety process. This process starts by tossing your device into the chambers of a Liquipel Machine. The process removes the air inside the chamber to create a vacuum. Then the special Liquipel formula is introduced in vapor form.

“The Liquipel coating permeates the entire device and bonds to it on a molecular level leaving it watersafe for years to come.”

Liquipel states their new 2.0 is 100x more effective, although their first and original product was pretty impressive to begin with. In the end the result is a product that will be watersafe nearly for the entire lifetime of the device. The awesome news today however isn’t 2.0, it’s that this awesome process is coming to a mall nearest you later this year and throughout 2014. The first retail location West Edmonton Mall, will start treating devices like the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III for $60 and will be located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Stay tuned for more details.

Liquipel 2.0 smartphone water protection coming to a mall near you is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The fine folks from Oculus VR are here at CES 2013, and though they don’t have a ton of new details to announce, they are showing off their newest prototype of the much loved virtual reality headset. Keep in mind that the headset you’re seeing isn’t a final version, but with each new revision, we’re getting closer and closer to a final product. Those who backed the Kickstarter will also like to know that the gang is still on track to ship developer models out in just a couple of months.

What’s more, we learned tonight that the team has completed Unreal and Unity integration, two features that were previously announced. The team also stressed that they’ve developed a new motion sensor which they claim is the fastest on the market. That motion sensor was recently announced on their Kickstarter page, so while it’s not necessarily new, it’s something you can tell they’re excited about.

Oculus Rift launched on Kickstarter last year and quickly became a smashing success. With major gaming icons like John Carmack and Gabe Newell singing the praised of Rift from on high, the VR headset blew up extremely quickly within the gaming community. More and more big name developers have signed on in the time since, so Oculus Rift has won a lot of major fans within the industry.

We shall see what the general consensus of developers is soon enough, as developer kits will begin shipping out in just a couple of months. Oculus told us that they aren’t ready to begin talking about when the consumer version will ship, so it seems like they want just the developer launch to go smoothly. That definitely sounds reasonable, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll stop pressing them for that consumer release date. Stay tuned.

Oculus Rift completes Unreal, Unity integration, reveals new prototype is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Wearables like Google Glass may be eye-catching, but it’s tiny fitness monitors like Jawbone UP, Nike Fuelband, and others that are actually showing up clipped or strapped to people, and that’s the market Fitbit is chasing with the new Flex. We grabbed some hands-on time with the new Bluetooth 4.0 equipped activity dongle – and its companion smartphone app – at CES to see if it could oust UP from our wrist.

It’s certainly small. While Fitbit has been focusing on Flex as used with a wristband, the dongle itself can be removed and used with another type of clip; when out, it’s a small, sturdy lozenge of plastic. On the outer edge there’s a discrete row of LEDs which show your progress toward your daily goal in 20-percent increments; it’s a nice balance between the fuller (but battery-consuming) display of the Fuelband, and the UP which gives no feedback whatsoever until you plug it into your phone.

The strap itself fixes on snugly, and Fitbit will supply two sizes to suit different wrists; it’ll also be available in a range of colors, depending on whether you want a more discrete black, or prefer something eye-catching like bright red.

Fitbit Flex hands-on:

It’s the app and the Bluetooth that really make Flex special, however. The low-power Bluetooth – when used with the right phone – sends over performance data in real-time to your device, allowing you to monitor how you’re going through the day. It also records sleep patterns, showing different light or deep phases, and telling you if you’ve had a rough night.

All in all, we’re left with warm, fuzzy feelings about the Flex, and even though Fitbit is later to the market with it than Nike or Jawbone, the company appears to have learned from its forebears with elements like the battery-sipping LEDs and the water-resistance. It’s up for preorder now, priced at $99.99, and will ship in the spring.

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

Xi3 has taken some time at this year’s Pepcom to reveal the new 7 series modular computer. The Xi3 7 series is comprised of the 5A and the 7A, with both pulling only 20 watts and each computer as a whole coming in at only 4-inches per side. This could mean big things for computing, and indeed, it seems that Xi3′s goal is to make computing more accessible to a wider range of people.

The company, according to one of the representatives here at Pepcom, would like to miniaturize the computing space. Indeed, with a 6-10 year lifespan and x86-based OSes and apps, the Xi3 7 series could mean a lot for computing in general, with both quad and dual-core processors on offer. We’ve also got “graphics integrated within AMD’s Trinity Series 32nm APU chipset.”

One interesting thing to point out is that the codename for this computer is “Piston,” and we’ve learned that Xi3 and Valve have been working together with the 7 series. Even though Xi3 wouldn’t explain to us the level of Valve’s involvement in the project, it’s easy to see why valve would be interested in this, given that this new modular computer is meant to make computing more accessible to a wider range of people. Another thing worth drawing attention to: this new modular computer is codenamed Piston, and a company named Valve (which runs a gaming platform named Steam) is interested in it in some capacity.

Xi3 also wouldn’t give away what Valve was planning to do with the 7 series computers, but it doesn’t seem too far of a stretch to think that Valve would want to use it for stackable cloud computing. Perhaps the company is looking to enter the cloud gaming space? Keep in mind that this is purely speculation, especially considering that Valve hasn’t said anything. We’ll try to find out more in the coming days here at CES. We’ll also hope to have more information on the 7 series in general soon, but for now, just know that the 5A will cost $499 and the 7A will cost $999. Check out our CES portal for all the news you can use from the show!

Xi3 introduces 7 series modular computer, hints at partnership with Valve is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung may have focused on Smart TV in its CES 2013 press conference, but the company also had a pair of new lightweight notebooks – the Series 7 Chronos and Series 7 Ultra – to announce. Packing a 15.6-inch and 13.3-inch display respectively, the two new laptops offer up to 11hrs runtime and Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution displays, while throwing in a touch layer for 10-finger action, too.

The Chronos – shown below – runs Windows 8 on a Core i7-3635QM processor with up to 16GB of RAM and AMD Radeon HD 8870M 2GB graphics. There’s up to 1TB of internal storage, a 720p webcam, backlit keyboard, and 4Wx2 JBL speakers.

The whole thing is surprisingly lightweight, given it’s a 15-inch notebook, and the keyboard feels crisp and responsive. The brushed metal finish is suitably premium, but the display is incredibly glossy; true, we were playing with the Chronos in a well-lit hall, but even sunlight from a nearby window could prove more than distracting. It only gets worse when you start to add in greasy fingerprints, too.

As for the Series 7 Ultra, shown below, that runs a choice of Core i5 or i7 processors with AMD HD8570M 1GB graphics and up to 16GB of RAM. It opts for a 256GB SSD rather than an old-school hard-drive, though the smaller form-factor means it makes do with half the speaker power. Samsung will offer both touch and non-touch variants; both will have a backlit keyboard, which is usable despite the smaller size.

It’s a lightweight machine, with easily accessible ports – including USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 – and both HDMI and mini VGA. Samsung reckons up to eight hours can be squeezed from the battery, and there’ll be optional 4G LTE. The portability box is ticked straight off, then, and Samsung’s quoted 178-degree viewing angles work out to a screen you can see clearly, without inversions or blurring even if you’re sat off to one side of the notebook.

Unfortunately, Samsung isn’t talking pricing or availability for either the Series 7 Chronos or the Series 7 Ultra.

Samsung Series 7 Chronos and Series 7 Ultra hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.