Hasta La Gadget!

Pico projectors are swell, but they’re not wildly popular. Very few smartphone manufacturers can find a way to embed them into devices without making them incredibly thick and expensive, and without sucking the battery dry in no time at all — the Samsung Galaxy Beam comes to mind regarding all of the above concerns — and carrying around a separate accessory is just plain impractical and expensive. (Plus, most devices can wirelessly mirror content onto TVs and monitors anyway, making the actual market even more limited.) But what if you could find a clever way of incorporating it into another useful accessory while keeping it small, simple and inexpensive? Well, we’re not sure about the latter qualification, but Alcatel OneTouch is at least keeping an eye on this niche with a new docking station that doubles as an aforementioned pico projector. It’s a prototype accessory that’s compatible with the OneTouch Hero, thanks to its set of magnetic docking contacts on the back — all you have to do is clip it on and the phone recognizes that it’s been attached. The projector is 12Lm, which is a little dimmer than we’d prefer (we were told that the final product may actually be brighter than this, but they can’t confirm for now), and the company claims it can show a screen larger than 70 inches.

Company reps tell us that this nameless accessory isn’t officially coming onto the market just yet, and they’re trying to determine how best to proceed (the Hero’s press release suggests that this for sure will be available later, however, so we’ll take it with a grain of salt at the moment). It’s a clever idea that could come in handy for a number of business travelers who need to carry on impromptu presentations, but price (of both the projector and the phone itself) will be a key factor in its success. Check out a few images below that show off the prototype in all its miniature glory.

%Gallery-slideshow79658%

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

Comments

Think the Microsoft Surface’s Touch Cover was thin? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. CSR, a company that delights in coming up with clever ideas and putting a significant amount of engineering personnel behind them, has a working prototype of a 0.5mm-thin keyboard. The board — if you can call it that — is made of flexible material and printed circuitry, combined with an Atmel touchscreen sensor and a few other life-bringing chips near the top (because of this, the top of the keyboard is a little thicker). Since it uses Bluetooth Smart to transmit your strokes and taps to a phone, tablet or computer, the only possible concern is the issue of incompatibility with devices that don’t support the standard yet; iOS 7 and Windows 8 will be good to go (a rep told us that while Android 4.3 supports Bluetooth Smart, it doesn’t utilize the HID profile that CSR relies heavily on).

The model we played with was a little cramped, which means we had to consciously try not to hit the wrong keys; other than this, we actually had the same kind of typing experience tonight that we’ve had with the Touch Cover. Of course, these kinds of things can easily be worked out as CSR works out the kinks. As you might expect from a prototype, don’t expect to see the white membrane pictured above in a big box store. CSR doesn’t plan to sell it directly to users, but rather it’s busy pitching it to developers and OEMs in case they want to embed it into devices of their own. Because of this, the company isn’t ready to disclose details about when or where we’ll see its tech show up first — when it makes an appearance, however, we’ll let you know. Head below for a gallery and video.

%Gallery-slideshow81819%

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Peripherals, Mobile

Comments

We’ve seen most of Logitech’s latest products by way of press shots, but the company was clearly waiting for IFA to trot out the real deals. We caught the peripheral maker as it was in the process of setting of its booth for the show and got a quick tour of what it’s working on. First up, the company’s giving a little folio love to Android tablet owners, releasing a keyboard case for the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and protective cases for the 10.1, 8.0 and 7.0. We also got a chance to check out that beefy G602 wireless gaming mouse, which’ll give you around 250 hours of gaming on a charge. Speaking of mice, the Ultrathin Touch Mouse is a pretty nice looking peripheral — one that pairs pretty nicely with its TK820 keyboard. Images below and press info for all of the above after the break. %Gallery-slideshow79677%

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Peripherals

Comments

Yup, it’s just a light. But the LD-1000 is made by Nikon, and designed to attach to the company’s 1-Series mirrorless cameras, such as the J3 or V2, which makes it at least mildly interesting. The AAA-powered bracket-mounted lamp includes four white LEDs and a diffuser, and while its primary focus is to illuminate a subject during a video shoot, you can also use it to provide fill light for still photos, or whenever a constant low-power stream of illumination is more appropriate than a flash. Pick it up in black or white in October for a somewhat ambitious $99.95.

Filed under: Cameras, Peripherals, Nikon

Comments

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! Today, we’re taking a look at printers. Head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as we add them throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back; in early September, we’ll be giving away a ton of gear, including some of the picks in our guides.

While you’ll spend most of your time staring at a screen as you hastily pull together assignments at the last minute, you’ll still need something to put your work to paper when the time comes to turn it in. Luckily, we’re on hand to show there’s much more to the wonderful world of inkjet printers than just pumping out projects, whether that be producing high-quality photos straight from your camera’s SD card, or making memories tangible by printing straight from Facebook — no computer required. There are scores of printers available at virtually every price point, so if you’d rather spend your last days of freedom not researching printers, then head past the break for our back to school suggestions.

Filed under: Peripherals, HP

Comments