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Jan 04

Samsung, JVC pick RealD tech for their new 3D LCD televisions

A part of 3D’s assault on the home theater this year is a battle over which glasses technology each manufacturer will choose, and after locking up Sony RealD has announced its tech is coming alongside new displays from JVC and Samsung. While JVC’s 3D LCDs will use circular polarized passive glasses (like the ones you’ve probably worn at the movies) Samsung is promising to work on both active shutter LCD and passive eyewear models — no word yet on any Gucci tie-ins, but it’s still early.

Samsung, JVC pick RealD tech for their new 3D LCD televisions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

AirStash expands your iPhone’s storage, wirelessly

Posted in: iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, sd, storage, Today's Chili, Wireless

You may be able to get your iPhones and iPod Touches in 32GB flavors these days, but what’s an unlucky early adopter stuck with an 8GB model to do? Get an AirStash, maybe, a device that pledges to add wireless storage to those devices and, potentially, make internal storage constraints a thing of the past. It looks like an oversized thumb drive, with a USB plug on one end and an SD slot on the other. Charge it up, dump some content on that memory card, throw it in your pocket and, according to the manufacturer, you’ll be able to connect to it wirelessly from your handset — and your friends too, if you like. There are some obvious security concerns here but right now we’re going to completely ignore those because of the potential for greatness here, which we hope to see in the flesh in the next few days.

AirStash expands your iPhone’s storage, wirelessly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e hands-on impressions

Posted in: hands-on, impressions, lenovo, thinkpad, Today's Chili

You won’t find Lenovo calling the $499 ThinkPad X100e a netbook, but at first glance you can’t avoid thinking that’s exactly what it is. From the outside it looks like a shrunken ThinkPad T series, though its matte lid is available in both traditional black and red. Yes, you heard it: a ThinkPad in red. The 11.6 inch screen gives it a wider body than most 10 inchers, yet Lenovo has managed to fit the same gratifying, chiclet keyboard as the ThinkPad Edge 13. And even despite the limited deck real estate there’s a good old red pointing stick and a nice sized touchpad. So, why not just call it a netbook? Well, that’d be because it has stronger performance parts than the typical Intel Atom CPU. Instead it’s one of the first ThinkPads to have AMD processor options, including single and dual core Althon Neo and dual core Turion processors. In our brief hands-on we couldn’t gauge much on performance or battery life (though it does have a protruding six-cell on the back), but in the meantime you will have to feast your eyes on the gallery below and hold tight for our full review.

Gallery: Lenovo ThinkPad X100e hands-on

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e hands-on impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

“Senior-Friendly” TV Ears TV turns itself off at naptime, has Jitterbug-style remote

Posted in: hdtv, LCD, Today's Chili

Sure, you may scoff at a television designed especially for seniors, but we think members of the Greatest Generation deserve a little high definition in their golden years, and thankfully so does TV Ears. The company, which produces those wireless headsets you see advertised during The Price is Right, will soon be introducing the TV Ears TV, a 32-inch LCD with an integrated transmitter, meaning fewer confusing wires, doo-dads, whatsits, and thingamabobs. The set ships with a specially designed remote control (featuring a grand total of six buttons) and will turn itself off after four hours of inactivity, saving power when the user dozes off — or falls and can’t get up. The set will be available in March for $1,199 and, before you cry foul at the 300% markup over comparable youth-friendly sets, know that the price also includes delivery, installation, and a toll-free support number. Not having to be grandma’s personal television tech support? That’s the greatest gift of all.

Continue reading “Senior-Friendly” TV Ears TV turns itself off at naptime, has Jitterbug-style remote

“Senior-Friendly” TV Ears TV turns itself off at naptime, has Jitterbug-style remote originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

Spracht Aura EQ Bluetooth headset boasts dual mics, equalizer and capacitive volume control

Posted in: bluetooth, capacitive, headset, Today's Chili

Spracht. It’s probably not a company name you’re intimately familiar with, but as with Jawbone, we’re fully expecting it to become a mainstay in the Bluetooth earpiece sector after this unveiling. The Aura EQ earset is one of the wildest BT devices we’ve seen to date, boasting a slick, almost futuristic design and a smattering of features that are startlingly unique. For starters, it ships with twin switchable, focusable microphones, and if its ability to pair with up to eight phones doesn’t bowl you over, maybe the built-in six-band equalizer will. Essentially, this headset will amplify and equalize the voice of whoever is speaking, which compensates for volume loss in certain ranges when communicating on a windy day or over a lackluster connection. Finally, exterior touts a capacitive volume control: simply slide your finger up or down the base, and the volume increases or decreases. No knobs or minuscule rocker switches to fuddle with. You’ll be able to check this out worldwide in March for around $79 (estimated street price).

Spracht Aura EQ Bluetooth headset boasts dual mics, equalizer and capacitive volume control originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

Alereon announces wireless USB NoWire laptop to HDTV extender

Posted in: Today's Chili

Looking to keep your computer-to-TV extender setup as basic as possible? Then you might just want to consider Alereon’s new NoWire wireless USB extender, which does away with the need for any software or drivers along with the wires. As you might have suspected, however, that means it simply uses the wireless USB dongle to mirror your laptop display on your TV, which itself must be outfitted with a shark fin receiver that connects via HDMI or VGA (with some help form a 3.5mm audio jack). That obviously limits your options a bit, but the good news is that the extender can also take advantage of some software and drivers for Windows for some more advanced functionality. No word on a price just yet, but it looks like the extender will be available sometime in March. Head on past the break for a quick video overview.

Continue reading Alereon announces wireless USB NoWire laptop to HDTV extender

Alereon announces wireless USB NoWire laptop to HDTV extender originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

BenQ’s Joybook Lite U103 packs an SSD for when you’re feeling frisky, HDD for when you’re not

Posted in: intel atom, IntelAtom, Today's Chili

If money were no issue we’d all be rocking slinky notebooks with terabytes of flash-based storage, but alas this recession means a more budget-conscious approach is warranted. BenQ‘s solution is to offer a bit of both with its latest Joybook Lite, the U103, offering a large (500GB max) HDD paired with an optional 32GB SSD. Install your OS and critical apps on the SSD, dump everything else to platter, and make the most of what the company advertises will be an eight hour battery. That the laptop packs what is advertised as “Intel’s new Atom” processor (surely the N450) is a good sign that battery life will indeed be good, something that should also be helped by a 10-inch, LED-backlit display of indeterminate resolution. Also on the docket is pseudo-3D sound from the two integrated speakers courtesy of SRS TruSound HD, a multitouch trackpad, and a weight of just 2.4lbs. No price yet, but that should change soon enough.

BenQ’s Joybook Lite U103 packs an SSD for when you’re feeling frisky, HDD for when you’re not originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

Skiff Reader is largest yet, will be hitting a Sprint Store near you

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, e ink, e reader, reader, Sprint, Today's Chili

Amazon’s Kindle DX may be big, but it’s not the biggest any more. The Skiff Reader is here to take that crown — despite being a mere quarter inch thick. It packs a 1600 x 1200 11.5-inch touchscreen (finger and stylus) that, as you can see from the above screenshot, should do much better justice to magazine and newspaper layouts than we’ve yet seen from an e-ink-based reader. That’s exactly the sort of advance Hearst was promising when it first mentioned the device last month. Skiff includes 4GB of on-board storage (just over 3GB is available for content) with SD card expansion, and there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack for tunes and, hopefully, text-to-speech. Content can be side-loaded over a mini USB jack or delivered via WiFi but, more importantly, 3G is also on offer thanks to Sprint, who will also dedicate some space in its retail stores to sell the thing when it launches sometime this year. Price? That we don’t know.

Gallery: Skiff Reader press shots

Skiff Reader is largest yet, will be hitting a Sprint Store near you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

CinemaNow 2.0: 3D, 1080p, Android & WinMo get a taste of online movie distribution

Posted in: 1080p, streaming, Today's Chili

Thought digital delivery would get left behind in the jump to 3D? Roxio’s CinemaNow 2.0 platform is ready to build on the success of its predecessor — already embedded in many devices and powering the online stores for Blockbuster, Best Buy and Zip.ca — and flip the switch bringing streamed or downloaded 1080p or 3D, plus the ability to add additional background info on each movie or previously disc-exclusive extras like multiple audio tracks, subtitles and more. Also new for 2.0 are plans for access on Android and Windows Mobile devices. We’re still thinking a combo of lower prices, all you can eat subscriptions or a disc tie-in is the logical next step, but we’ll wait for a CES demo to ask about that, and whether the new features will be backwards compatible on old hardware.

CinemaNow 2.0: 3D, 1080p, Android & WinMo get a taste of online movie distribution originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 04

Toshiba mini NB305 adds Atom N450 to a successful formula (hands-on)

Posted in: Features, hands-on, netbook, Today's Chili, Toshiba

Toshiba hasn’t strayed far from its NB205 series of 10-inch netbooks with the all-new mini NB305, but the few tweaks made are welcome. Obviously the Atom N450 processor is the central attraction, but tweaks like a 250GB hard drive, less protrusive 6-cell battery (which clocks in a purported 11 hours of battery life), and a slightly lighter finished product (2.6 pounds) all add up to a compelling offering. The regular version of the laptop with “true” chiclet keys goes for $400, while a black version with a less impressive keyboard takes the entry spot at $350.

We got a few moments to play with the netbooks, and came away pretty impressed. It might not be quite the bang-for-buck on offer from other manufacturers, and the lack of a higher-end graphics option is a little off-putting, but as for simple build quality and usability (we’re particular fans of the oversized trackpad), the NB305 might be hard to beat. Toshiba’s also pursuing the software angle here with a Media Controller app to expose some of Windows 7’s media streaming abilities, along with a visual search app called RealTime and a fridge-style Bulletin Board.

Gallery: Toshiba mini NB305 press shots