Hasta La Gadget!

This most definitely isn’t the first 4K camcorder to leak out of JVC’s stable, but it sure feels like the company is getting further from fantasy and closer to reality. At CES last week, the outfit’s latest prototype was as small as we’ve ever seen, with that object shown here being capable of logging clips at 3840 x 2160 pixels. It’s just barely bigger than the 1080p models already on store shelves, and it’s equipped with new internal processors that are over twice as fast as the silicon used in the firm’s current lineup. Sadly, we’re no closer to learning a release date or price, but the results shown down in the source link have us all kinds of hopeful for something within the next dozen months. Right, JVC?

JVC’s 4K camcorder inches closer to reality, getting smaller all the time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn’t manage to check out Vivitek’s booth and its bevy of low power QR-LPD-screened devices at this year’s CES, but it doesn’t look like we missed much. The e-book fanatics over at The Digital Reader dropped by, and found Bridgestone’s QR-LPD screen technology extremely disappointing. Apparently the screens are just as dim and washed out as they were when we first glimpsed them, over two years ago. In addition, the screen refresh time is painfully slow. Unless these screens turn out to be vastly better in production and incredibly cheap, we think Mirasol and Pixel Qi don’t have anything to worry about in the next-gen screen space. There’s a video of QR-LPD after the break if you’re still interested.

Continue reading Bridgestone shows off QR-LPD display, the future looks dim

Bridgestone shows off QR-LPD display, the future looks dim originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung WiFi-enabled RF4289 fridge cools, eats and tweets; we go hands-on

Samsung WiFi-enabled RF4289 fridge cools, eats and tweets; we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AC Ryan already took a few precious moments to introduce its FLUXX media player, but given that one new streamer in a month isn’t nearly “enough,” the outfit’s dishing out two more this week. The Playon! HD2 and Playon! HD Mini2 are both based around Realtek’s 1185 media processor, tout gigabit Ethernet and will soon have access to the WePlayon! content portal. For all intents and purposes, both of these boxes are identical save for a couple of major differences: the HD2 ships with space for a 3.5-inch HDD (whereas the Mini2 goes drive-less), and there’s also support for 802.11n WiFi on the big daddy if you spring for an optional adapter. Oh, and the HD2 has a larger chassis — go figure, right? You’ll also get a USB 3.0 port on the HD2 if you’d like to connect up any other media, and you’ll be able to find either in stores starting next month. As for prices? The empty units will sell for $169 (HD2) / $109 (Mini2), while the former can be ordered up with a 500GB ($205), 1TB ($229), 1.5TB ($259) or 2TB ($289) hard drive within.

Continue reading AC Ryan unveils Realtek-based Playon!HD2 and Playon!HD Mini2 media streamers

AC Ryan unveils Realtek-based Playon!HD2 and Playon!HD Mini2 media streamers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SwiftKey for Android was one of the breakout stars in the virtual keyboard business last year, thanks to a unique predictive phrase system that learns how you talk (or write, as it were) and recommends entire words based on your personal style. It sounds weird, but it’s surprisingly helpful — and even if you don’t use the phrase prediction aspect at all, it’s simply a well laid-out, easy-to-use keyboard. The company has big plans for 2011 with talks of OEM deals in the pipeline, UI and functionality tweaks, new utilities for learning your writing habits by ingesting RSS feeds, Facebook posts, Gmail, and other sources… oh, and this: a new app customized for use on Android tablets.

Text entry on tablets is a challenge that manufacturers and software vendors have been trying to solve for a long, long time, and one look in a busy airport with dozens of people trying to type on iPads carefully-balanced on their laps will tell you that we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re not sure how SwiftKey’s new version will work on 10-inch tablets (take the Xoom, for instance), but we had a chance to check it out on a Galaxy Tab — and we have to say that it’s probably the best landscape virtual keyboard we’ve used on a 7-inch tablet so far. Swype and other tracing keyboards seem out of place on a screen this big, but SwiftKey takes advantage of the fact that your thumbs are so far apart by splitting your QWERTY into two parts and placing the lesser-used numbers in the center.

The keyboard isn’t ready for prime time just yet — SwiftKey still bills it as a prototype — but we imagine it’ll be available before too long. Follow the break for a hands-on video!

Continue reading Exclusive: SwiftKey tweaks its Android keyboard for tablets (hands-on with video)

Exclusive: SwiftKey tweaks its Android keyboard for tablets (hands-on with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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