Hasta La Gadget!

That “leaked” low-end LG Android device from a few days back? Turns out it was nothing more than the Optimus Chic, one of two Google-powered phones that the company announced back in early July. They’re still not ready to let us touch the damned things here at IFA — apparently on account of the fact that they’re not commercially available yet — but we got close enough to conclude that you definitely won’t be fooling anyone into thinking that you’ve dropped many hundreds of euros on your phone. You could argue that Huawei set the tone for IFA’s small-but-notable mobile presence this year with its introduction of the Ideos — in other words, cheap Android gear — and both of these LGs look primed to go head-to-head with the Ideos in that arena. Nokia had long been hoping to totally own the smartphone industry in emerging markets by driving S60 into the bargain basement — but with this latest round of Android releases coming dangerously close to the same price points, we could have an interesting battle on our hands.

LG Optimus One and Optimus Chic eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been awhile since we sashayed through Klipsch‘s world headquarters back in December of last year, but the company certainly hasn’t let off of the pedal. Today at IFA, it managed to introduce no fewer than three new headphones, including the outfit’s very first on-ear set. The Image One was built to bring Klipsch’s signature sound to folks who’d prefer cans over ‘buds, and it’s also amongst the first to have an Apple-centric mic and three-button remote for controlling music playback on iPods, iPads and iPhones. Travelers will be pleased to hear that the ear cups fold flat for portability, but you’ll need $149.99 to call ’em yours when they ship this November. Moving on, there’s the Image S5i Rugged (shown above) — essentially, you’re looking at the same sound quality we lauded last year, but with a rugged slant. These feature the aforesaid three-button remote / mic as well as a “safety case” that touts a built-in flashlight. We’re expecting a demonstration of their toughness at IFA tomorrow, but in the meanwhile you can start sacking away $129.99 for their November debut. Finally, the October-bound Image S3 is the company’s new low-end set, priced at just $49.99 but still shipping with a trio of oval ear tips, a carrying case and a choice of gray, red, pink or green hues. The full presser is after the break, if you’re into that type of thing.

Continue reading Klipsch issues first on-ear headphones, Image S5i Rugged and bargain Image S3 earbuds

Klipsch issues first on-ear headphones, Image S5i Rugged and bargain Image S3 earbuds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we first caught wind of LG’s “180-inch plasma” we were understandably enthused (and just a little skeptical), but our excitement was quickly ruined with word that LG was merely sticking nine 600Hz 60-inch plasmas next to each other and calling it a day. We got a glimpse at the “multi-vision display” (LG shorthand for “a bunch of screens next to each other”) today, and it’s still decently impressive in its own right. LG’s managed to get the seams between the screens down to a mere 1.5mm, and while the lines are still noticeable, they could be a lot worse. While they lines certainly get in the way of entertainment, it actually provides an interesting effect when donning the 3D glasses — almost highlighting the effect of depth. LG has some pretty boring plans for the screens, like digital signage and education, and we’ll be sticking to projectors for our big screen needs, but we’re still saying a 180-inch straight-up, no funny business plasma would be pretty stellar.

LG’s 180-inch plasma that wasn’t originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The problem with the future is that it’s always 3 to 5 years away. Nevertheless, what you’re looking at is what Philips and Dimenco, a small company of ex-Philips engineers, say will be coming to the consumer television market as early as 2013 — earlier if you’re in the professional advertising business or just want to view your family photos on a small 3D photo frame. Just remember that Philips has been showing off variations of the glasses-free technology behind this prototype lenticular lens television for years, so we’re not getting our hopes up. Nevertheless, Dimenco assured us that the path to the consumer market for its 3D display is clear.

So how did it look? Well, it was ok, we guess. It doesn’t have that in-your-face pop of the current generation of 3D televisions that require 3D glasses. The effect is more subtle (or maybe the content was). Our biggest problem was with the sharpness of the display. Although the 56-inch prototype CCFL LCD was 4k (that’s 4 times the resolution of your Full HD TV) the image we saw was coarse in appearance due to the lenticular lens required to refract the left and right images for each eye. Having said that, the lenticular lens technology used is certainly better suited for non-stationary viewing. While the border around objects on the screen tended to shift quickly and blur (see the video after the break) when looking at the panel frombetween any of its 15 viewing angles (spread across a 120-degree arc), at least it didn’t exhibit those horrible dark vertical bands seen when changing your angle even slightly while viewing 3D panels based on the parallax barrier method of glasses-less 3D. Still, it was hard to find the viewing sweet spot and honestly, given the option to sit in front of this display and a 4k panel “limited” to 2D, we’d have to opt for the latter. Get back to us in 3 to 5 and see if we feel the same.

Continue reading Philips Dimenco glasses-less 3D TV of the future, hopefully our future

Philips Dimenco glasses-less 3D TV of the future, hopefully our future originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember how Samsung downsized the Wave to make the Wave 723 and killed off the pricey, fancy Super AMOLED display in the process? Yeah, well, the same rule applies to the Android-powered Galaxy line — so if you were hoping to see some mind-blowing contrast ratios on Sammy’s new PMP… well, you can just keep on hoping (and besides, even the mighty Tab has gone the TFT route for now). The Galaxy Player 50 is pretty cute in the flesh, featuring a 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD with multitouch capability, Android 2.1, and your choice of 8GB or 16GB worth of internal storage with microSD expansion up to 32GB. It’s also packing a 2 megapixel cam on back and support for 802.11n — and heck, like the Philips GoGear Connect it’s even got a mic, basically putting it just one spec sheet line item shy of being an actual smartphone.

For all intents and purposes, the PMP feels like a midrange Android smartphone when you’re holding and using it; it’s reasonably responsive, and we were happy to see that it has Google Maps Navigation on board (along with the Android Market and all the other standard “Google Experience” Android apps). We found the keyboard a bit cramped, but there’s only so much you can do with a portrait virtual QWERTY keyboard on a 3.2-inch display, and we imagine we could get used to it with time. Needless to say, the total package feels more put-together than the GoGear, and if we were rocking a dumbphone, wanted to keep our music compartmentalized, and couldn’t stand the thought of adding an iPod touch into our lives, we imagine the 50 would be on our short list. Follow the break for Samsung’s press release — and don’t forget to have a gander at the gallery!

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Player 50 hands-on

Samsung Galaxy Player 50 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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