Hasta La Gadget!

At Fujifilm’s press conference today, the company announced that both the X100s and X20 will hit stores at the end of March, with the X100s running you $1,300 and the X20 shipping for less than half, at roughly 600 bucks. A new 55-200mm lens will ship in April, with more options planned for later this year. We had a chance to check out both models, and while the X20 appears to be a perfectly capable shooter, the X100s is definitely the premium variant here. The camera has a very solid feel and quite an elegant retro design, as you might expect based on its predecessor. The digital split image display is mighty nifty as well, as we first saw just this afternoon. Flip through our gallery below for a closer look at both cameras, then jump past the break for a hands-on demo of the X100s from Fujifilm.

Continue reading Fujfilm announces pricing and availability for X100s and X20 (update: hands-on!)

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If you loved Vizio’s 2012 lineup of PCs, you’re going to just love what it has in store for 2013. The company is refreshing nearly its entire line, and while these new models usher in upgraded components, they have the same industrial design as the original lot. Perhaps the biggest change is that all of Vizio’s new PCs going forward will come with touchscreens, so that the Thin + Light is now the Thin + Light Touch, and the All-in-One is now the All-in-One Touch. (Fair enough!) As you can imagine, that makes the laptops in particular slightly thicker and heavier than they had been, but only slightly. Truly, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference. We were, anyway.

Additionally, Vizio has updated the trackpad drivers, though the touchpad we tested still felt a bit finicky. Just as important, the company’s also re-tooled the keyboard so that the buttons offer a springier feel. They keys have the same flat, close-together design they always had, so don’t be put off if you see these on the shelf at Best Buy. Even in our quick-hands-on, we immediately noticed our typing felt more accurate, more controlled than it had been with the last-gen models. Finally, Vizio says it’s doubled the battery capacity, which is great news because the first-gen laptop we tested couldn’t even crack four hours. This seems like a lofty ,claim given that touchscreens are known to hamper battery life anyway, but we’re vowing to keep our expectations low and hope for the best. All told, these tweaks address most user complaints, though the SD slot is sadly still MIA.

Under the hood, these machines will all have quad-core processors, with most models giving you a choice between an Intel Core i7 CPU and AMD’s high-end A10 chip. Most of them (read: the 15-inch Thin + Light and the 24- and 27-inch all-in-ones) will have 1080p screens, though the smaller 14-inch Thin + Light will rock a lower-res 1,600 x 900 panel. No word just yet on pricing, but we’re told these will go on sale in mid-February. Until then, the performance, sharp touchscreens, bigger battery and re-engineered keyboard look very promising indeed. Only when we test a final unit, though, can we tell whether Vizio finally figured out how to make a quality computer.

Continue reading Spotted: Vizio’s new touchscreen laptops and all-in-ones (hands-on)

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

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Today we’ve got our hands on the brand new AT&T Pantech Discover, a 4.8-inch 720p TFT display wielding Android smartphone with a 13 megapixel camera being prepped for hot sales under its surprisingly inexpensive $50 price tag. This machine was introduced to the world just this morning and was met with a collection of surprised eyes at the combination of a sub-$100 cost and specifications that would warrant much more cash up-front. In our hand here and now, the truth becomes clear.

Under the hood of this machine you’ve got dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 processor, that being the same processor you’ll find in a surprisingly large number of phones (and some tablets!) over the past several months. You’ve got the ability to use NFC to beam URLs and contacts (and other fun stuff) from the Pantech Discover to any other Android device working with the technology as well.

This machine’s main point is to bring you a rather powerful presentation at an extremely low price point. Whether or not you want a smartphone now, with a $50 phone you’ll have a bit more difficult time saying no – or that’s AT&T and Pantech’s intent, anyway. This device does not work with the most recent version of Android, nor does it stagger the masses with highest-level specs in all areas, but the target audience isn’t those that need the best of the best, it’s those that want a fabulous Android phone for $50 USD.

Have a peek at our hands-on video above as well as our hands-on photos above and below to get a hang of this machine before it hits stores rather rapidly. Also be sure to stick around our CES portal all week long for more fun from all angles!

Pantech Discover hands-on: AT&T budget powerhouse is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We heard about it some time ago and managed to get some fingers on time with LG’s new 23-inch Windows 8 optimized monitor at today’s CES press conference. It’s a nice looking peripheral, for sure. The IPS panel is cocooned by a black bezel, which meets a white shiny plastic rear at its tips. Along the bottom bezel are a number of touchscreen controls, including things like Menu, for adjusting picture quality and the like. The screen sits on a leg with a large hinge for adjusting your viewing angle. Unfortunately, the single leg support shake a bit when you tap the screen, so you’re going to want go a bit easy when tapping on those Metro tiles.

All in all, its quite responsive. We were able to tap and slide through the Microsoft UI in a breeze. As long as you’re not too aggressive with you’re touchscreening, it looks to be a pretty nice compliment to Microsoft’s latest desktop operating system.

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, LG

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Talk about distracting. While LG was discussing washing machines and other smart appliances, we couldn’t take our eyes off the 55-inch OLED display sitting on the side of the stage. It’s one of two new sizes being added to the family, alongside the enormous 84-inch model. The first thing you’ll notice, if you’ve seen its bigger brother is that, all things considered, this is a fairly modest set. Well, relatively, of course. The next thing you’ll pick up on is just how sharp the thing is. While playing some slow-motion video of liquid flying through the air throughout the event, it was impossible to take our eyes off the thing.

We managed to get a little closer after the end of the event, and caught a glimpse of some really great viewing angles on the set — though those were hampered a bit by the glossy finish. If you’re not watching the screen on stage at a CES press event, however, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. Also apparent once you approach is just how thin the set it — the bezel, too. The TV will run $12,000 when it starts shipping in March, so start saving those pennies now.

Myriam Joire contributed to this post.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, LG

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