Hasta La Gadget!

Panasonic wasn’t about to let Sony one-up it in the 4K OLED arena, and announced its own 56-inch UltraHD prototype the day after its competitor outed a very similar panel here at CES 2013. We’d never tire of the luscious combination of 4k and OLED, so we couldn’t wait to high-tail it to the Panasonic booth to gaze at new screen in its full glory. As with the Sony model, it sucks you into the screen with the level of detail, brightness, ultra-dark blacks and vivid colors — which looked accurate to our eyes, an area in which OLED can fall down. Other than that impression, there were no other technical details or specs for the prototype display, and none of the Panasonic types we spoke to had any idea either. We’re not likely to see such a model on sale anytime before 2014, and when it does arrive, you’ll probably need all the digits on one hand for the number of figures in the price. Check the gallery below for images, or head after the break for a short video — which doesn’t remotely do the panel justice, natch.

Continue reading Panasonic 4K OLED TV eyes-on (video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Comments

Last year at CES, smartwatches seemed like they might become the next big thing (they didn’t). This year, the trendy wearables are all fitness trackers, which have already become something of a meme among gadget makers. Toshiba thinks it has a way to bridge both trends. Here at CES 2013 the company is showing off a concept smartwatch that measures the pulse in your wrist. Of course, it also does all the other things you’d expect a smartwatch to do, like pull in email and calendar appointments from your smartphone. We’re told that if this came to market (and we don’t know that it will), it would pair with an Android / iOS app, which would allow the watch to not just sync email, but also pull in maps and turn-by-turn directions.

The hardware itself is styled more like an analog watch than other smartwatches we’ve seen. Toshiba demoed it with different bands, some of them made of leather in serious tones like black and dark brown. As you can see, the 1.7-inch, 200×320-pixel OLED screen can display different clock faces, some of them even designed to mimic an analog watch. As far as runtime is concerned, a Toshiba rep indicated that the company is aiming for at least two days of battery life, though that figure is hardly final. In our hands-on, we noticed some charging points on the reverse side of the face, which you’d use with a proprietary charging cradle. At the same time, the Toshiba spokesperson indicated USB charging was also a possibility. Again, no word on when or if this will come to market. Even if it never surfaces, though, we can get behind the idea of smartwatches that track vitals — or perhaps fitness trackers that do a little more.

Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.

Filed under: Wearables

Comments

We all love adventure-proof cams, and this week Fujifilm has a new model to toss into the market. The company’s updated ruggedized point-and-shoot sports a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor and a 5x, 28-140mm optical zoom lens. There’s a 10 fps continuous shooting mode at full resolution (10 frames max) that you can activate with a dedicated Burst Mode button on the top of the camera. The XP60 can capture 60 fps HD video at 1080i, or 240 fps clips at a lower resolution. It’s waterproof to 20 feet, shockproof to 5 feet and freeze-proof to 14-degrees Fahrenheit (thanks to its secure housing, the camera is dust-proof as well). Speaking of that protective shell, Fujifilm has updated the door lock with a new even more secure push-and-turn mechanism, to help keep out water for those pool and ocean shots.

We won’t be taking this thing to the “beach” during our current trip to Vegas, but we did have a chance to add our fingerprints to that colorful glossy finish. As you might expect, the cameras were a bit heftier than your average point-and-shoot — a ruggedized design requires some tougher materials, which do add to the weight. The new battery door was easy to pop open, but it still felt secure — you’ll obviously need to keep that tightly sealed when using the XP60 below the surface. We found the design to be attractive, and while the colors may be a bit flashy, the blue and red models should be subtle enough for many casual shooters. You should be able to make your pick come March for $200, but we’re ready to hook you up with some close-up shots right now, all of which you’ll find in the gallery just below.

Filed under: Cameras

Comments

The pixels on Panasonic’s new 20-inch 4K tablet so itty bitty that I couldn’t even see them when I pressed my eye almost to the tablet’s touch screen. The viewing angles for the tablet were excellent. But they’re going to have to up the power of this baby’s guts if you really want to take advantage of its potential. More »

When Sony announced the touch-enabled VAIO T14 and the new VAIO T15 Ultrabooks yesterday, we lamented the lack of specs and, well, any concrete info apart from the fact that these machines exist and will make it to market. The silence on the processor front makes sense, but we were hungry for more details all the same. Lucky for us, we spotted both models on the show floor this morning at CES.

The new 15-inch T15 is the largest VAIO Ultrabook to date, and it doesn’t depart from the silver, brushed-metal aesthetic we’ve seen on Sony’s ultraportables dating back to the T13. It’s considerably heftier than the 13- and 14-inch models, but it does squeeze in an optical drive. Overall, its port selection is quite generous: USB 3.0, an Ethernet jack, VGA, HDMI and a headphone connection line the left side, while the right edge is home to that disc drive along with two USB 2.0 ports. The 10-point capacitive touchscreen seems quite responsive, and the 1080p resolution is a nice step up from the more standard 1,366 x 768 configuration on the T14. As mentioned previously, additional specs and pricing / availability info are TBA, but it’s safe to bet that the VAIO T15 will be available with both SSD and standard hard drive options when it hits the market.

As it happens, the 14-inch T14 was also on hand. The main difference here is the added touch display. Otherwise, it’s the 3.77-pounder we’ve known about since October. As with the T15, we’re waiting on more concrete info. For now, you can get a taste of the two machines in our hands-on video and galleries.

Continue reading Hands-on with Sony’s touch-enabled VAIO T14 and T15 (video)

Filed under: Laptops, Sony

Comments