Hasta La Gadget!

It’s an Orochi, but with 100 percent more gloss. Typically, a new hue on an old critter wouldn’t do much for us, but given that Razer’s oh-so-diminutive Orochi still remains our favorite travel mouse to date (for gaming, at least), we couldn’t help but notice the striking young fellow above. The Orochi Black Chrome Edition is the exact same mouse that shipped last fall, but with a much more vivacious set of duds. Aside from being fully capable of sneaking into either of your front pockets, this Bluetooth-enabled unit also touts an ambidextrous design, a 4000DPI laser sensor (with tracking at up to 100 inches per second), on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments and a gold-plated USB connector for those who’d prefer to roll wired. If you’ve been looking to treat yourself, she’s in stock now for $79.99.

Razer ships $80 Orochi Black Chrome Edition mobile gaming mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Nintendo bringing ‘Red Flare’ 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer

Nintendo bringing ‘Red Flare’ 3DS, new Wii package to Japan this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SpyderGallery will color-correct your iPad, but only within one app

Thanks to the fact that you can’t dicker with the iPad at system level, there are lots of handy things developers can’t do. A multiple-item clipboard is one. System-wide, TextExpander-style text replacement is another. And a third is color calibration.

But there are always workarounds, and DataColor, the company behind the Spyder colorimeter, will now let photographers and designers color-manage their iPads. But first, what is color management.

Your camera, computer and printer all use color, but they may not all display it in the same way. To get consistency, whether viewing on the web or in a fancy, glossy book, you need to calibrate your gear. This involves using a tool which measures the light coming from these various sources, and then tweaking those outputs so they match.

The device is a colorimeter, and usually you just plug them into a computer, hang them on your screen or over a print, and let them do their thing. A profile is generated which will alter the way your monitor shows images, making it more accurate.

Obviously, there is no way to change color profiles on the iPad, but you can change how a single app shows color. That’s what SpyderGallery does. You hook your Spyder up to your computer, launch the (free) iOS app and lay the Spyder on top. The computer then runs its usual calibration tests, connecting to your iPad over your Wi-Fi network, and spits out a profile for the iPad.

Once that’s done, you can view all the photos in your Photos app through the SpyderGallery app, and they’ll be fully color-corrected.

I don’t have a Spyder to test, but from what I have read many photographers say that the iPad is already pretty accurate. Then again, if you own a Spyder already, then this is free, and probably a fun way to spend a few minutes. SpyderGallery is available now, and the Spyder machines start at $90.

SpyderGallery [iTunes]

SpyderGallery product page [DataColor]

See Also:

• Hands-On with the XRite ColorMunki: Great Hardware, Terrible …

We saw some fancy panels and flashy lights on the show floor at SID this week, but Sony decided to keep its latest display offerings tucked away in an academic meeting. We’re getting word today from Tech-On! that the outfit unveiled a 13.3-inch sheet of flexible color e-paper as well as two new glasses-free 3D panels in a separate session at the conference. New e-paper solutions loomed large at SID, but we were surprised by the lack of flexible screens. Sony’s managed to deliver both on a display that weighs only 20 grams and measures a mere 150-microns thick, a feat made possible by the use of a plastic substrate. The sheet boasts a 13-percent color gamut, 10:1 contrast ratio, and 150dpi resolution.

As for the 3D LCD displays, Sony joined a slew of other manufacturers in showing off its special brand of the panels. These new displays, ranging from 10-inches to 23-inches, apparently employ a new method for delivering 3D to the naked eye. This particular method uses a backlight positioned between an LCD panel and another backlight for 2D images, and can be easily be switched off for 2D viewing. Of course we would have liked to see these screens in the flesh, but alas, Sony decided to play coy. Hop on past the break for a shot of the new 3D panel.

Continue reading Sony unveils flexible color e-paper, new glasses-free 3D LCD displays at SID 2011

Sony unveils flexible color e-paper, new glasses-free 3D LCD displays at SID 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 17:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We dropped by Nanosys’ nook at SID 2011, and not only was it showing off its new Quantum Dot Enhancement Film, but had hacked the tech into an off-the-shelf iPad. A company representative presented the modified slate as an example of how quickly QDEF‘s high color gamut magic could be integrated into existing devices, offering “OLED color depth without OLED power consumption and OLED price.” Sure enough, we were told to expect to see QDEF in a “mobile device,” probably an Android tablet, sometime in Q4; when pushed for details, our rep could only tell us that the device would come from a Korean firm. (LG or Samsung, take your pick.)

Integrating QDEF into new devices may be a snap, but company representatives told us the film could add as much as 100 microns to a screen’s thickness, suggesting that smartphone manufactures aren’t too keen on the idea of a thicker display. Still, Nanosys has high hopes for the new film and told us that it expects high-color QDEF to become an “ecosystem changer,” as industry-altering as HDTV. The firm even suggested “wide color gamut” apps could be in our near future — we love our color depth here at Engadget, but somehow it’s hard to see Angry Birds: High Color (its suggestion, not ours) taking off. Check out our hands-on after the break.

Continue reading Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video)

Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 05:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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