Hasta La Gadget!

One thing Samsung hasn’t held back on this year at CES is displays. Big, small, curved and bendy… Samsung’s on it. But, it’s not totally forgotten the rest of your digital world, the Korean firm also knows that you sometimes need something to go underneath those screens. Enter the Vacuum Tube Soundbar (HW-F750). The company claims this is a world first — a soundbar-style speaker to feature a built-in vacuum tube, and we hunted it down to soak in its majesty. Okay, so design-wise, it’s pretty simple. One long oblong of speaker-grille, punctuated by a central block that houses the all important valves, as well as a control section underneath. You might also notice that there’s a distinct lack of wires in the picture above. This isn’t clever booth wiring, the HW-F750 has Bluetooth and works with SoundShare, which should keep cable-haters happy. That’s not the only party trick. There’s also a gyroscope sensor that takes the height, rotation and slope into consideration, and optimizes the audio accordingly. Still not convinced? Well perhaps the AirtrackON feature that powers on the soundbar when you turn on the TV will swing the deal?

On closer inspection, the simplistic design might not be a showstopper, but it’s certainly neat, and fitting (or at least with the display TV it was set up with it was). We mentioned already that there are sensors that detect its position, as you might have guess, this means you can place the soundbar in a variety of orientations to suit your home’s particular set up. There is also a display, just you don’t see it until you nudge the volume up, or change the audio source etc, as it’s set behind the casing. This creates a nice visual touch, without breaking up the aesthetic line. We already mentioned the Bluetooth connectivity, but if you do prefer to cable up… no problem as there are also a couple of HDMI ports dotted around. The Samsung rep kindly jacked up the sound for us while we were there, and while it’s tough to give it a full critique from a busy show floor, it certainly seemed loud enough, and gave the full surround system — in a glass room just to the side of it — a run for its money. So, perhaps not the ideal conditions to truly experience the effects of the valves, but a nice looking, loud sounding start for the product.

Billy Steele contributed to this report.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Samsung

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Styku has been around for roughly a year now. The company even just wrapped up a pilot program with Nordstrom that could see the legendary retailer using it’s Kinect-based measurement taking system. While there hasn’t been much change to the Styku Virtual Fitting Room, we figured we’d swing by and actually check out how it works for ourselves. We spoke to Tommy Vo, who walked us through the process, which is pretty simple. He directed us to stand with our heels on a pair of marks on the floor, hold our arms out from our sides and stand still for roughly five seconds while the Kinect cameras mounted all around us snapped away. Then the specialized software spent about 30 seconds turning the raw data in to useable measurements for inseam, waist, chest and just about any other body part that could be of import to a tailor. While the numbers spit out could be used to purchase a custom made suit, the company is focusing more on retail sales, where the information could be used to identify articles of clothing that will fit best. To see a hairy beast of an Engadget editor get turned a collection of dots and paired with some bootcut Diesel jeans, head on after the break.

Terrence O’Brien contributed to this report.

Continue reading Styku virtual fitting room body scan (video)

Filed under: Misc, Software

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This year at CES — as always — there’s been waves and waves of new technology. Not everything of interest is always white hot, though. We’re talking about the above pair of headphones — the Orpheus HE90 from Sennheiser. Those in the know will be somewhat familiar with these headphones, as they made their initial debut in 1991. Yeah, 1991. The limited run of 300 pairs has secured these exclusive cans a special place in audio folklore. The electrostatic headphones combined with a companion all-valve amp are what many consider to be a reference point in hi-fi. As a small example, most consumer headphones offer a frequency response somewhere in the region of 60 – 20,000 kHz. The Orpheus offer from 7 – 100,000 — we’re guessing even some bats could struggle to hear frequencies that high. Of course, audio can’t truly be measured in pure numbers and specifications. There’s some clever custom technology, such as the dual-electrodes the HE90 have between the diaphragm that is the cornerstone of the push-pull principle, that go a long way to helping these cans use to produce their sound.

And what about that sound? Well, we were lucky enough to get some quality time with them, and what can we say. The first thing that hits you is the clarity. Bright, plucky, light audio dances its way from the large and comfortable ear-cups. In fact, these things are so comfortable that you could wear them for long, long periods of time and we’d wager you remain comfortable, without any ear fatigue. The build is wonderful, and the leather cushions on the cups changes to a cloth material on the part that rests on your skin. The size of the ear-cups is also a major factor in the overall luxury of the Orpheus, and the ovular design means your ears sit snuggly inside, while they dish out the delicious audio. We’d normally tell you about price and availability at this point, but in the case of the HE 90s, it’s a bit of a misnomer. These were priced in the double-thousands of dollars at launch, and with only 300 pairs produced, that price will have increased somewhat over time. If you can find some though, even if it’s at a trade show, we recommend you take the opportunity to have a listen.

Billy Steele contributed to this report.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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It’s only the second week of January and it’s already been an eventful year for Lenovo. There’s the newly minted ThinkPad X1 Carbon to talk about — and that whole Lenovo Business Group / ThinkPad Business Group split to talk about. The company’s Executive Director of Worldwide Product Marketing, Jerry Paradise will be on-hand to answer our questions and show off some of the company’s latest laptops.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Lenovo’s Jerry Paradise

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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Wireless home theater cans? A dime a dozen these days — luckily, we’re still suckers for a handsome charging dock. Debuting in the halls of the Las Vegas convention center are Rapoo’s H9080 Home Entertainment Wireless Headphones, a leather-clad pair of audio earmuffs that promise deep, on-demand bass boosting and clean treble tones. Rapoo attributes the sets’ audio fidelity to COM-Ti membrane vibration technology, ensuring a pure and mellow sound. A handsome charging cradle keeps your headphones from getting lost, whilst juicing it up for 10 hours of use for every three hours on the cradle. The company isn’t ready to trot out a price tag just yet, but says the headphones will be available in the first quarter of 2013.

Continue reading Rapoo H9080 wireless headphones promise mellow bass, 10 hour battery life

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Wearables

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