Hasta La Gadget!

LG made tentative inroads into the Google TV space last year with only two available sets, but here at CES 2013, the company’s announced plans to expand the line to seven additional models. The sets, which range in size from 42 to 60 inches, feature LG’s Cinema Screen display at full 1080p resolution with 240Hz refresh rate and are also 3D capable. For input options, consumers will have ports for HDMI (4x) and USB 2.0 (2x) along with wired ethernet (WiFi is also supported). The company’s custom Magic Remote has also seen some improvements as the buttons for navigation have all been moved further up, allowing users a more comfortable one-thumb experience. And from the time we spent holding it, it seems that slight change does help enhance overall in-hand comfort. As for new additions to the remote’s layout, LG’s added in dedicated buttons for voice control and its Prime Time Quick Smart Guide which brings up an overlay of currently airing programs and remaining air time. There’s no pricing available at this time, but we do know these sets will hit the market in Q1 of this year.

Continue reading LG’s 55-inch 3D Google TV eyes-on

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, Google, LG

Comments

Samsung’s massive booth here on the CES 2013 show floor has barely opened and already we’re getting a look at one of its latest TV innovations. Sitting pretty in a far roped-off corner and hailed as a “world’s first,” is the company’s Curved OLED TV. Not much has been divulged about the uniquely shaped set at this time, but official details should be forthcoming quite soon. In the meanwhile, check out our gallery below.

Brad Molen contributed to this post.

Filed under: Displays, Samsung

Comments

Atmel’s XSense technology made its debut way back in April of 2012, but today ASUS became the first big name gadget maker to commit to using the tech — pledging to put it in an unnamed next-gen tablet set to debut in Q1 of this year. For those unfamiliar, XSense is a capacitive touch sensor that can be bent and bonded to surfaces of any shape. We got to see XSense for ourselves at CES today and chat with its makers to learn a little more about it.

While there are no technical limitations to the size of its touch sensors, Atmel’s technology is currently limited to a max size of 32 inches due to manufacturing constraints. However, the company has plans to increase that fabrication size at its Colorado manufacturing facilities. We got to test out the technology on a piece of Corning Gorilla Glass bonded imbued with XSense (alas, no ASUS tablet sneak peeks to be had), and can confirm that the technology does work quite well. The company sees its touch sensor as a way for device makers to utilize currently unused edge real estate on phones and tablets, in addition to providing designers with more flexibility when creating gadgets. Of course, we’ll have to see what kind of creative ways ASUS and other OEMs implement XSense, but you can see some shots of the sensor film and Atmel’s demo unit in our gallery below.

Continue reading Atmel’s XSense technology’s will make curved touchscreens possible (hands-on)

Filed under: Displays, Mobile

Comments

If you’ve ever seen an OLED TV, you’d you’d remember it. Same can be said about 4k. Combine the two together and you truly have a sight to see — which is exactly what Sony has done. Of course it is very difficult to judge picture quality when a TV is on a stage vs in your living room. That doesn’t mean we aren’t impressed and it doesn’t mean we won’t be looking forward to the day we can see our favorite content on it in the comfort of our own home — assuming of course, that one is affordable in our lifetime.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

Comments

In the past, we may have considered a projector-equipped camcorder if the price was right, but with dim output (typically less than 20 lumens) and content options limited to footage you’ve shot, the available functionality often didn’t justify a premium of several hundred dollars. Sony, for its part, is working to make that secondary display massively more appealing — the company’s latest generation of high-end camcorders adds an HDMI input, with an option to display content from any compatible source (a full-size adapter ships in the box). Two such models, the Handycam PJ650V and PJ790V, will retail for $1,100 and $1,600, respectively. As their price tags imply, these are Sony’s top-of-the-line consumer offerings for 2013, and they’ve got the features to match.

Both include Balanced Optical SteadyShot, which moves the entire lens module (not just specific elements) for much more effective stabilization, especially when zoomed in. There are Exmor R sensors on board, with a 20.4-megapixel chip on the 650 and a 24.1-megapixel imager on the 790. The lower-end model includes a 26.8mm wide-angle 20/12x G lens, 32GB of flash storage and a 20-lumen projector. The 790 ships with a 26mm wide-angle 17/10x Carl Zeiss lens, a whopping 96 gigs of memory and a 30-lumen projector on the side. Both also include 921k-dot 3-inch LCDs and electronic viewfinders, along with 5.1-channel mics (the 790’s is raised to accommodate wind screens and isolate mechanical noises), an option for AVCHD or MP4 recording and a new Multi Interface Shoe that can be used with accessories like an external mic or the $75 ADP-WL1M WiFi module.

We had an opportunity to check out both camcorders, and were quite impressed, especially when it came to the Balanced Optical SteadyShot and (relatively) powerful built-in projectors. The HDMI input worked as advertised, accepting content from a laptop and an Android smartphone without issue. The 790’s projector was bright enough to see detail even in a sun-lit room, but we could even see using it to watch a movie (with an external speaker), assuming that we’re able to set up shop in a pitch-black environment with a suitable surface. Both Handycams felt like premium devices, and while they were significantly heavier than Sony’s entry-level offerings, they’re light enough to be comfortably used to capture handheld footage. This premium duo is set to hit stores in February, but you can take a look right now in the hands-on gallery below.

Filed under: Cameras, Displays, Sony

Comments