Jan 10

First Else hands-on at CES: ‘still alive and kicking’

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

We caught up with Else at CES to check on how they’re doing with the First Else since we last saw them back in November. According to CTO Eldad Eilam, the basic functions of the ALP-based phone are finally done and dusted, so now Else will mainly focus on fine-tuning its snazzy visual effects until beta around the end of March. There’s no doubt that it’s also finalizing plans — pricing, content distribution, and remote sync service, etc.– with various partners in the US and Europe. If you happen to be in Asia, then sorry — apparently Else has no intention to visit you guys just yet, but you might get lucky if you sneak into Sharp’s factories in Japan or China. For the rest of us, we shall continuously gaze at our hands-on videos until First Else’s expected end-of-Q2 launch — we’ve got a new one for you after the break.

Gallery: First Else hands-on at CES 2010

Continue reading First Else hands-on at CES: ‘still alive and kicking’

First Else hands-on at CES: ‘still alive and kicking’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 10

HSTi Wireless Media Stick hands-on

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

Now that HSTi’s Wireless Media Stick is official, we decided to drop by its CES booth to see what the deal was. Essentially, these Canadian sticks are WiFi dongles covering 802.11a/b/g/n, but the magic lies in their ability to let your computers appear as one USB mass storage device for devices like gaming consoles, digital frames and hi-fi stereos. You start off by plugging a stick into a PC, install the software (installer pre-loaded on the stick), and once connected to the wireless router you choose which folders to share (which is pretty easy, as we saw). You can do the same with more computers but each will require its own stick. From there onwards, plug in another stick into a device that accepts USB mass storage devices, and you’ll be able to wirelessly access all the shared files on the network as if they are on one thumb drive. Pretty sweet, huh? And yes, this thing does in fact do exactly what Infinitec’s IUM claims to do. For now, HSTi only promises smooth 720p video streaming and Windows-only compatibility, but a future firmware upgrade should make things even more groovy. You can grab one starting January 15th for $119.99 each — sooner and cheaper than the IUM, but double that figure as you’ll need at least two to get things going. Still, it doesn’t hurt as much if you think of it as a thumb drive of up to one terabyte (and two in the near future).

Update: Whoops! We’ve just been told that only one stick is necessary — use the stick to run the configuration wizard on the PCs, then plug it into a media device for use.

Gallery: HSTi Wireless Media Stick hands-on

HSTi Wireless Media Stick hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Razer hits the Xbox 360 with Onza controller and Chimaera headset, we go hands-on (video)

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, razer, Today's Chili
Razer hits the Xbox 360 with Onza controller and Chimaera headset, we go hands-on (video)
Razer’s come from nowhere over the past few years to establish itself as a serious player in the PC gaming peripheral market. Now it’s hitting the consoles, starting with the Xbox 360, and the first iteration of offerings are already looking solid. They were announced yesterday and we got some time with both, starting with the Onza contoller, described in detail in the video after the break. Each stick’s resistance can be individually tweaked, there are additional shoulder buttons that can be assigned to replicate any other button on the controller (no more stick-clicking), and what’s pledged to be a d-pad that’s far superior to the generally junk one on the stock controller. Unfortunately they were still working on perfecting that, but everything else feels great already. The other thing on display is the Chimaera wireless headset, which uses a base-station to connect to the Xbox 360 (or other audio device) which doubles as a recharging station. Turn it on and it’ll intercept the audio, silencing your entertainment center, and with a built-in microphone you won’t have to stop the trash-talk. The Onza is set to cost $50 when it ships sometime by Q3, and the Chimaera for about $130 in the same period. We can’t wait.

Gallery: Razer Onza controller for Xbox 360

Continue reading Razer hits the Xbox 360 with Onza controller and Chimaera headset, we go hands-on (video)

Razer hits the Xbox 360 with Onza controller and Chimaera headset, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 22:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video)

Posted in: Features, hands-on, HandsOn, korea, speaker, speakers, Today's Chili, video

Korean gadgets these days are either gunning for next-to-nothing thinness or mind-boggling transparency, which is marvelous. Today we came across another Korean company (and an old friend), Fils, which does transparent “sound film” speakers in many forms: photo frame, umbrella, curtains, cap, hoodie and even model yacht (yeah, seriously), all thanks to the highly-flexible piezoelectric film. Sure, the sound quality was hardly top-notch, but apparently Fils is hooking up with a few big-name Korean electronic companies (TVs?), so we’re all going to suffer soon whether you like it or not. Cheer yourself up with the video after the break.

Gallery: Fils Sound Film hands-on

Continue reading Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video)

Fils Sound Film transparent speaker hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Cyber Clean smears our keyboards, fills our nostrils as we go hands-on (video)

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, Today's Chili, video

You know that snotty, slimy stuff that you can get in vending machines for a quarter? The stuff that comes in the little, clear plastic bubbles and stains wallpaper and carpet instantly? Ever wonder what would happen if you gave it a refreshing lemony scent and then smeared it into your keyboard? We certainly never did, but Cyber Clean gave us the opportunity to find out anyway, handing us (and nearly everyone else at the show) a sample of the stuff. How does it work? How does it feel? How does it sound when it’s thrown at a camera and slimes the microphone? We’ve got the answers after the break.

Gallery: Cyber Clean

Continue reading Cyber Clean smears our keyboards, fills our nostrils as we go hands-on (video)

Cyber Clean smears our keyboards, fills our nostrils as we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Cannondale’s mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, Today's Chili
Cannondale's mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on

If you’re a bicyclist or just a tech-minded person with a hankerin’ for cool suspension technology, you’ve got to check out the videos after the break. One is a short demonstration to whet your appetite, the other a rather longer explanation from Cannondale engineer Stanley Song of just how the thing works. What is this thing? It’s Simon, a fully electronic and nearly-instantly adjustable suspension system that does away with all the complex mechanical internals of a traditional high-end suspension system (shims, springs, valves, needles, knobs…) and replaces it with an electro-mechanical device that can near infinitely vary not only suspension strength but also ride height instantly based on road conditions. It even has an LCD on the bars. Interest piqued? Click through to see it in action.

Gallery: Cannondale’s Simon hands-on

Continue reading Cannondale’s mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on

Cannondale’s mind-blowing Simon electronic suspension system hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

Touch Revolution puts Android in a microwave and makes an updated Nimble tablet, we go hands-on

Posted in: Android, feature, Features, hands-on, Today's Chili
Touch Revolution puts Android in a microwave and makes an updated Nimble tablet, we go hands-on
Last year’s Nimble tablet was approved by none other than MC Hammer. So this year’s version… well, you just have to expect great things, right? Awash in a sea of keyboard-free devices we weren’t really expecting anything shocking and we didn’t get anything shocking. It’s still a seven-inch capacitive-screened tablet intended for use at home, replacing a landline phone and connecting exclusively over WiFi, providing VOIP calling and of course all the goodness that Android provides — Android 1.5. That’s a few versions behind where we’d like it to be, but given the stock OS install here that shouldn’t be too hard to rectify if/when this device comes to retail. More interesting? A microwave with Android. Intrigued? Close the door, press start, and click on through.

Gallery: Touch Revolution Nimble Tablet hands-on

Continue reading Touch Revolution puts Android in a microwave and makes an updated Nimble tablet, we go hands-on

Touch Revolution puts Android in a microwave and makes an updated Nimble tablet, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 09

USB 3.0 SuperSpeed gone wild at CES 2010, trumps even your new SSD

Posted in: feature, Features, hands-on, impressions, Today's Chili, usb, usb 3.0, Usb3.0
USB 3.0 gone wild at CES 2010, trumps even your new SSD

Just in case you didn’t notice the arrow, that’s a USB 3.0 cable up there, plugged into a USB 3.0 port, running in a Fujitsu laptop that is the first to pack integrated support for USB 3.0. How fast was it? On the other end of this one was a Buffalo external enclosure stuffed with an old-fashioned, platter-based hard disk, which still delivered perfectly absurd transfer rates of about 135MB/sec. When another, similar setup ran with an Intel SSD what happened the results were even more impressive: a few ticks over 200MB/sec. Yes, we’re about to enter another dimension. A time when external drives are as fast as internal ones. Where the speed at which you can fill up your MP3 player is limited only by the speed of the storage on that device itself. You are about to enter… the SuperSpeed zone.

Gallery: USB 3.0 displays at CES 2010

Continue reading USB 3.0 SuperSpeed gone wild at CES 2010, trumps even your new SSD

USB 3.0 SuperSpeed gone wild at CES 2010, trumps even your new SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 08

Samsung’s camcorders and one big dummy camera at CES

Posted in: camera, Features, hands-on, samsung, SSD, Today's Chili
Right after seeing the ultra-slim TVs we went to the other end of Samsung‘s CES booth for its camcorder lineup. As expected, we saw the previously-announced S series SSD models, the F series with 52x optical zoom and the stylish C series, but we also spotted what appears to be a refresh of the HMX-U10 camcorder brick. Admittedly, we were more interested in this dummy gigantic TL225 camera, and it wasn’t even new.

Gallery: Samsung camcorder lineup at CES 2010

Samsung’s camcorders and one big dummy camera at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 08

iLuv App Station taped down with a cardboard iPhone at CES

Posted in: Features, hands-on, ipod dock, IpodDock, speaker, Today's Chili

We managed to get up close and personal with the iLuv App Station at CES. Sadly, we didn’t get to try it out with a real iPhone, but even then it would’ve been difficult to see if the sound quality’s any good. How about a review unit, iLuv? *wink*

Gallery: iLuv App Station eyes-on at CES 2010

iLuv App Station taped down with a cardboard iPhone at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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