Eyes-on with Toshiba’s 50-inch concept 4K TV

Eyes-on with Toshiba's 50-inch concept 4K TV

If you want an 84-inch 4K TV, you’ve really gotta be a one-percenter, but fortunately for the rest of us that’s not a very big market. That’s why it’s high time that companies started to trim those ultra high-definition panels down to a size and price point that’s suitable for the everyman. It’s Toshiba, therefore, that’s leading the charge to affordability with a concept 50-inch 4K TV. The M9/L9 Series Concept is currently just that, but it combines the usual breathtaking imagery with a more apartment-friendly size. Naturally, there aren’t currently any plans to bring this to market, but hey, the company will happily sell you a 58-inch model for £3,000.%Gallery-slideshow79649%

Dana Wollman contributed to this report.

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Toshiba Camileo X-Sports sportscam hands-on

Toshiba is wading into the increasingly crowded sportscam market, taking on GoPro and Contour with the Toshiba Camileo X-Sports. Fresh to IFA 2013 today, the Camileo X-Sports packs a 12-megapixel camera with Full HD 1080/60p video recording, and an built-in 2.0-inch preview display on the back; it also bears a striking resemblance to GoPro’s Hero […]

Toshiba Encore hands-on: 8-inch Win 8.1 tablet gives Acer competition

8-inch Windows 8 tablets didn’t get off to a particularly auspicious start, with Acer’s Iconia W3 struggling to impress with its lackluster display, but Toshiba is hoping the Encore will turn around the trend. Announced at IFA 2013 today, the Encore puts Windows 8.1 on an 8-inch, 1280 x 800 screen run by an Intel […]

Toshiba Encore is the company’s first 8-inch Windows tablet; coming November for $330 (hands-on)

Toshiba Encore is the company's first 8-inch Windows tablet; coming November for $330 (hands-on)

Acer may have beaten everybody to market with the first 8-inch Windows tablet, but we knew it wouldn’t be long before the other guys started catching up. Toshiba just entered the fray with the Encore, an 8-inch tablet that manages to be even cheaper than Acer’s W3. Like the W3, it runs on an Atom processor, but because Toshiba waited longer it got to use one of Intel’s new quad-core Bay Trail chips. What’s interesting, too, is that Toshiba apparently worked closely with Microsoft on this, not just in optimizing the tablet for Windows 8.1, but in making sure the tablet’s dual mics and 2MP front camera will be Skype-certified by the time it ships. The Encore arrives in early November – i.e., not long after Windows 8.1 ships. As for that price we alluded to, it’ll cost $330 with a category-standard 1,280 x 800 display and 32GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD). Not bad considering the W3 hit the market at $380, and is still going for about $350 in most places. That leaves just one teensy question: what’s it like to use?%Gallery-slideshow79642%%Gallery-slideshow79615%

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Toshiba’s 11-inch Satellite NB15t laptop offers touch and 802.11ac WiFi for $380 (hands-on)

Toshiba's 11inch Satellite NB15t laptop offers touch and 80211ac WiFi for $380 handson

Toshiba probably doesn’t appreciate us calling its new 11-inch laptop a netbook. But it’s the same size as a netbook, and with an MSRP of $380, it’s priced like one too. Heck, the Satellite NB15t, as it’s called, even follows the same naming convention as the netbooks Toshiba sold back in 2010. The nice thing about netbooks in the Windows 8 era, though, is that for the money, you also get a touchscreen. And in this case, 802.11ac WiFi. Yep, that’s right: though we can’t vouch for how fast a machine this will be, it does at least carry a touch panel and the latest wireless standard, two things we wouldn’t normally expect to find on a low-end system.

Rounding out the list, you get a Celeron processor, 500GB of storage and 4GB of RAM — not bad considering other cheapie touchscreen machines like the Pavilion TouchSmart 11 start with 320 gigs and still cost more. The only problem is that you’ll have to wait until the holiday shopping season is half over until you can buy one: Toshiba says the NB15t won’t actually ship until November. Fortunately for you, though, we’ve already had a few minutes of hands-on time.%Gallery-slideshow79646%%Gallery-slideshow79616%

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Harman’s IFA headphone lineup is Soho chic and audiophile focused

DNP Harman's IFA headphone lineup is Soho chic and audiophile focused

Not into Harman’s over-ear CL headphones? The outfit has you covered at IFA: introducing Soho, a scaled down variant with a similarly classy design. These these headphones differ from their bigger sibling thanks to a headband with adjustable sliders and supra-aural eacups. The Squared leather earpads feature memory foam padding and stay in place with magnets for easy access to the replaceable cabling (separate cables for both iOS and Android are included), and each earcup houses a 30mm driver. The cans even fold flat for easy stowing and come with a matching carrying case. The Soho headphones will hit shelves later this year for roughly $200 in your choice of “camel,” black and tan. For now, we’re left to wonder how these ended up looking so much like B&W’s P3 headphones.

In addition to Soho, two new reference-class headphones are being introduced under the AKG brand. The K545 model builds on the design of its K550 with lighter materials and detachable smartphone-ready cabling, while the K845BT adds Bluetooth and NFC into the mix. Both models feature 50mm drivers, studio-style design and over-ear fits — they’ll also fold flat for when you need to travel to your next listening session. Set to hit later this year, the K845BT will be available in four colors for $350, and the K545 will come in silver and black for $250. %Gallery-slideshow79644%

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Source: Harman Kardon

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S View covers hands-on

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 S View Covers handson

The S View cover made its debut as a protective-flip-case-with-a-window for the Samsung Galaxy S 4, and the accessory made enough of an impression that the Korean manufacturer decided to give it an even bigger presence on the Galaxy Note 3, as you’ll be able to grab one in a rather wide variety of different colors designed by . Just like the GS4 version, this cover integrates a removable back as a clever way of trimming down unnecessary thickness and making the whole combo look much more elegant.

So what makes this particular case stand out from the vast ocean of third-party models that will likely start floating around in the not-too-distant future? The “window” on the front takes advantage of a special film capable of recognizing S Pen touches. When the window lights up, you have the option to look at caller ID, time, date and temperature, and the notification bar — it looks a lot like an evolved quick glance screen from previous Galaxy flagships. It doesn’t actually show any of those notifications, but it will allow you to answer phone calls; you can also slide the S Pen to unlock the device (fingers work, though we had a hard time getting the screen to recognize our touch), which then allows you to slide over to an adjacent screen that offers large buttons for camera, music player and action memo access for jotting down notes without opening the cover. There’s no word of how much these will be priced, but if the GS4 version is any indication, we’d wager that functionality is apparently worth a few bucks. Have a look at our gallery showing off some of the different cover colors and functions below.

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Alexis Santos contributed to this post.

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This is the pink Samsung Galaxy Note 3

This is the pink Samsung Galaxy Note 3

We’ve already given full hands-on treatment to the white and black Samsung Galaxy Note 3, but there’s one other color that didn’t get its fair share of attention: pink. Thankfully, we had the chance to see this particular hue after Samsung’s Unpacked event, and while we didn’t feel a need to add thousands of words to simply describe one color, it’s worth at least giving a small bit of attention to it for the interested parties out there. Take a quick peek below at our gallery of images and comparison shots.

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Alexis Santos contributed to this post.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Is Here And Better Than Expected

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The first time I caught wind of the Galaxy Gear, I laughed heartily. Of course Samsung was trying to make a smartwatch — what haven’t they tried to make over the past few years? It didn’t help that some preliminary reports may have done more harm than good for the Gear’s early reputation. Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting much.

But now, after spending a little time with one on my wrist, I’m convinced. I was wrong… but not entirely.

Credit where credit is due, Samsung knows how to put a gadget together. I was initially wary of the size, mostly because those leaked images from this weekend pointed to a totally gargantuan device that didn’t actually seem fit for human consumption. But, between the plastic wristband and a surprisingly light main body, I could easily imagine myself forgetting I was even wearing a Gear. It’s definitely heavier than my Pebble, but not nearly enough for me to complain about the difference. Rest easy, folks, your wrists will be well-tended to.

Still, the Gear is hardly the sleekest thing you’ll see on store shelves — its aesthetics have more in common with those bulky sports watches than something you’d wear to a nice dinner, a sense of style that only gets reinforced by the built-in pedometer and readily available fitness apps (but more on them later). It’s also worth noting that the camera jutting out of the Gear’s band looks ridiculous on certain colored devices, but it’s just a fashion risk you’re going to have to take if you want to be able to boss your phone around from your wrist.

And that 1.63-inch AMOLED screen is no slouch, either. It’s sufficiently readable under harsh event lighting, and that 300×300 panel is perfectly serviceable. Speaking of serviceable, the 1.9-megapixel camera seemed to work just fine — you snap commemorative shots by tapping the screen — but I wouldn’t hold out much hope for quality once you get them off the Gear.

There’s still the whole battery thing to worry about, too, though. Samsung says people can get about a day’s worth of “regular use” out of the thing, but no one I’ve spoken to has been able to give me a firm idea of what “regular use” actually means, and I spotted at least one dead Gear during that post-event scrum. Hopefully Samsung had the forethought to under-promise and over-deliver on that front or else this font of positivity will dry up real quick.

But, as always, hardware is only a part of the equation. Right now, the Galaxy Gear’s software is simultaneously its biggest liability and its greatest advantage.

For one, it’s sort of difficult to use. Navigating the Gear is all based around swipes and taps, and the units I messed around with didn’t always seem capable of keeping up with my commands. Transitions between pages could be sluggish and jerky unless you made it a point to move really slowly. S Voice too was similarly jerky, though in fairness we were in a crowded room full of gadget nerds clamoring for a turn with the thing. And, perhaps most troubling, the Gear didn’t always fire up that screen when I lifted my arm to peer at it.

I was ready to completely dismiss the Galaxy Gear as a fool’s errand

So yes, Samsung still has plenty of fine-tuning to do, and I’m willing to forgive some pre-release hiccups as long as they get sorted out before launch. So why the praise then? Because Samsung managed to coax more than a few developers into creating simplified versions of their apps for the Gear. There are the usual suspects like RunKeeper (which keeps a running tally of your time, among other things), and more curious fare like Path (which lets you create new moments for your feed instantly) and Vivino (I wish I had a wine bottle around to scan).

Samsung says it’ll have about 70 such apps ready in time for the Gear’s launch, but prolonged developer support is what’s ultimately going to make or break the Gear as a platform. But wouldn’t you know it, there’s a caveat there, too. You can only have 10 apps loaded onto the Gear at any one time, which is much more of a hassle than it seems.

I was ready to completely dismiss the Galaxy Gear as a fool’s errand, a knee-jerk reaction to some persistent rumors made by a company that sometimes seems to have more money than sense. And even now, I’m not completely convinced that Samsung is on the right track. Limiting compatibility to a single device (even one that’s probably going to sell in ridiculous quantities) seems awfully problematic given Samsung’s generally slow record for software updates.

But having said all that, I really think Samsung is onto something here. For the briefest of moments while playing with the Gear, I felt a pang of jealousy. My Pebble is pretty damned basic by smartwatch standards, and I thought what limited functionality it brought to the table was plenty for me. But now I can have a package that does much, much, much more for a negligible increase in weight. How is a strident dork like me supposed to pass that up? I probably can’t.

The bigger question is whether regular people latch onto this thing the way Samsung is hoping it does. For a gadget that, in exchange for $299, lets them accomplish a fraction of what they could if they had just pulled their phones out of their pockets? We’ll see.

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Samsung Galaxy Gear vs Google Glass

Samsung doesn’t have a Google Glass rival, but it does have a new wearable, and the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and there’s no shortage of overlap between the two despite the obvious difference in form factors. Both make ample use of voice control, and both make compromises on the amount – and type – of data […]