Hasta La Gadget!

ASUS is back at it again with the crazy concept designs, and this time around it’s brought the lustworthy Waveface collection to look pretty behind glass. There are three different concepts in the lineup that aim to redefine computing in almost every way imaginable. First up is the Ultra, which is a wearable computer / mobile phone based around a flexible OLED display and can be controlled through hand gestures in mid air or by touching the display. Next is the Light, which is also based around a folding OLED, but will have some sort of physical keyboard that pops up when folded up into the laptop form factor. Lastly, the Waveface Casa, a television-esque home computer that will also be controlled through gestures in the air. We wish we could show you how said gestures would work — or how any of this would work, really — but these were really nothing more than empty shells filled with displays. Clearly this tech is a far ways off, but it’s good to know that ASUS still has quite the imagination — and hopefully the knowhow to maybe make it real someday.

Continue reading ASUS Waveface concept line shown off during our lifetime, might be available after it (video)

ASUS Waveface concept line shown off during our lifetime, might be available after it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got out of Dell‘s mobile roundtable, and despite an extended tangent on China’s phone market, we did manage to get some details on its AT&T-bound Mini 3 and yet-to-be-officially titled “Streak” tablet. Let’s get down to brass tacks here: the Mini 3’s been customized with ActiveSync for our own (corporate) email systems. There is Android market, but for future reference, that’s always going to be up to the carrier. As for naming the 5-inch tablet that’s so far been rumored / codenamed the Streak, the company “might as well call it a Mini” said Dell, perhaps jokingly — Mini 5, anyone? During a quick hands-on we got to check out the keyboard, which was very nice and included a numpad on the right in landscape mode (pictured). We also witnessed someone checking out the system details, and sure enough, this custom skin is running Android 1.6 — no telling if that’s what it’ll ship with, though. There’s also a front-facing camera on the Streak, and much to our delight, capacitive multitouch is alive and well on both devices mentioned here.

As for method of distribution, the company will sell phones via Dell’s online store (in addition to the carrier stores), but whether or not they’ll be unlocked is something the company will “most certainly experiment with that at some point, but that’s not [its] first priority today.”

Update: We’ve got some quick-and-dirty video of the customized Android UI and awesome keyboard — it’s after the break.

Continue reading Dell divulges Mini 3 details, tablet (Mini 5?) caught running Android 1.6 (update: video!)

Dell divulges Mini 3 details, tablet (Mini 5?) caught running Android 1.6 (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Case-Mate is set up within the new iLounge Pavilion in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and among the displays chockfull of silicon skins there was some new gear we wouldn’t mind bringing home. On hand were a ton of their Fuel models (you know, the cases that charge your device while they’re on) for a boatload of phones — including multiple BlackBerry models as well as for the iPhone. Also new were the very artsy iPhone cases featuring various designs on the back. Finally, Case-Mate was showing off its first foray into the increasingly crowded induction charging space with a matching iPhone jacket that was a bit bulky for our tastes. Case-Mate has always been one of our favorite case companies, and we’re definitely excited to see where they’re headed into the future.

Case-Mate at CES 2010: it’s (mostly) about power originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2010 might go down in history as the show of silly glasses, and Vuzix isn’t going to cede any ground to 3D: it’s launching a new augmented reality headset called the Wrap 920AR, which features a built-in stereoscopic camera that allows reality and computer-generated imagery to blend in front of your eyes. To be clear, that means you’ll actually be looking at reality on a 1,504 x 480 screen while you wear these glasses, but what’s one layer of virtualized abstraction between friends who don’t mock each other for wearing ridiculous $800 video glasses?

Vuzix Wrap 920AR augmented reality video eyewear: can you afford to look like this? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Z-Wave. Zigbee. If you’re a home automation nerd, these words mean something to you. You are an extreme form of pure nerd, and we envy your ability to invest in things like replacement light switches while the rest of us scrimp and save because now we have to watch TV in an extra dimension we never asked for. Anyway, that Z-Wave network you might have? Well, the Bulogics Smart Grid Controller bridges a Zigbee power meter into it using a new Sigma Designs chip, so you can track all your power usage easily and do something called “end-to-end load shedding,” which either helps you save power or requires a painful medical procedure. You’re welcome.

Home automation shocker: Bulogic bridges Z-Wave to Zigbee smart power meters originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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