Hasta La Gadget!

How do you solve a problem like lighting a Mirasol display? Sure, the technology provides something of a comprise between traditional E Ink displays and tablet LCDs, with full video and color, low power consumption, and the ability to be viewed in bright sunlight, but it still has some decided drawbacks: like a lack of backlighting. Qualcomm showed off a simple and elegant solution at this week’s CES on the Hill, essentially embedding a book light into the device, lighting it from the front — it’s not the first time we’ve seen an e-reader arrive at this answer, but still, sometimes the easiest solutions are the best. The prototype shown off in DC this week had buttons on the rear for adjusting brightness, though according to The Digital Reader, Qualcomm will also be showing off a device with an ambient light sensor in the near future. The technology should be on store shelves this fall — no word whether the device is capable of yelling at you for “ruining your eyes” by reading in the dark.

Mirasol display gets lighting solution for reading alone at parties, bars originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen plenty of glasses-free 3D HDTVs and portable devices, but a promising new technology called HR3D (High-Rank 3D) has hit the prototype phase. Engineers from MIT’s Media Lab, who developed the new solution, say that it avoids compromising on screen brightness, resolution, viewing angle, and battery life, and doesn’t require those pesky (and pricey) 3D glasses. HR3D uses a pair of layered LCDs to give the illusion of depth, with the top layer (or mask) displaying a variable pattern based on the image below it, so each eye sees a slightly different picture. Nintendo’s 3DS uses a similar technique, but with a parallax barrier instead of a second display. The designers constructed the prototype from two Viewsonic VX2265wm displays, removing the LCDs from their housings and pulling off polarizing filters and films. We’ve yet to go eyes-on with HR3D, so we’re a mite skeptical, but tech this promising is worth watching closely, and from every angle.

Continue reading MIT Media Lab develops glasses-free HR3D, supports broad viewing angles (video)

MIT Media Lab develops glasses-free HR3D, supports broad viewing angles (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we saw Samsung’s Central Station in person it wasn’t so much of a hands-on moment as a drive-by peep show. Nearly four months later, it’s about to go on sale, and Samsung finally let us play with a final unit. For those of you who missed it in Vegas, the Central Station is a 1080p monitor that doubles as a docking station, replete with HDMI and VGA output, a speaker port, four USB ports (two of ’em USB 3.0), plus an additional USB port just for wired connections (more on that in a bit). The best part, of course, is that all of this docking happens wirelessly with the help of a small dongle that plugs into your laptop’s USB port — even if it’s of the 2.0 variety. The promise is that all you need to do is walk within range of the monitor to be able to mirror (or extend) your desktop, stream 1080p video, and access USB peripherals, such as external hard drives. So is this display as simple to use as advertised? Mosey on past the break and check out our hands-on video to see for yourself.

Continue reading Samsung Central Station hands-on (video)

Samsung Central Station hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember all that happy fuss over Samsung’s Super AMOLED display, and its more recent Super AMOLED Plus? Well now Toshiba Mobile Display has jealously stepped into the ring with its own answer to the world’s demand for thinner, lighter and less reflective LCDs. Its as-yet-unnamed technology seeks improvement in a roughly similar way to Super AMOLED, by fusing the capacitive touch layer and LCD. In so doing, Toshiba claims it can produce an integrated panel just 1mm thick, which it says is less than half the thickness of a conventional LCD touchscreen. Weight is also halved and surface reflection is reduced by 10 percent. Alas, Toshiba’s press release does not provide the stats we really want — a head-to-head comparison with Samsung’s best efforts or, say, the Synaptics ClearPad 3250 which also melds touch layer and LCD. And perhaps to avoid confrontation in the mobile arena, Toshiba emphasizes the use of its technology in “vehicle-mounted” and “industrial” applications. Seems we will have to wait until the screen is exhibited in LA next month before we know whether it is really up for a fight.

Continue reading Toshiba reveals 7-inch LCD with integrated touch, just 1mm thick

Toshiba reveals 7-inch LCD with integrated touch, just 1mm thick originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The zany guys and gals at DigiTimes have a saucy new rumor to start our week off with a bang. A newfangled LG display, dubbed Shuriken, is apparently being recruited in Acer’s fight against irrelevance. The Taiwanese company will reputedly use it in an upcoming 14.1-inch laptop, but here’s the kicker: the physical size of the laptop will be no bigger than that of a 13.3-inch model. That’s because the Shuriken’s panel will require less bezel (8mm instead of 12mm) and less thickness, slimming itself down to just 4mm. LG already has the 12.5-inch Xnote P210, which would seem to be employing similar technology, so it’s not a stretch to believe the company’s war on bezels has stepped up to the 14-inch size class. Acer is expected to launch this new laptop as early as next month, though the cost of the Shuriken displays is cited as the reason they haven’t been taken up more widely yet, meaning the price of the eventual product will be almost as intriguing as its looks.

Acer said to be using LG Shuriken display in upcoming laptop — less bezel, less thickness, more awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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