Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re settling down in front of a few of our favorite HDTVs, but you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the series we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!

Students today can catch high-quality video on a variety of screens — computers, phones and tablets are probably always within reach — but nothing can truly replace a TV’s role as the center of entertainment. Whether it’s a quick Madden or Call of Duty session, inviting a friend over to catch a flick or just zoning out after class, having the proper setup makes all the difference, and there are plenty of options at every price point. Of course, walking into any big-box electronics store to peer down aisles of seemingly identical flat screens could drive anyone mad before they ever step on campus, so we’ve narrowed down the list for you, and even suggested a few other items to plug into those HDTVs. Expanding feature sets and universal pricing have raised average prices a bit over last year, but we can find something to fit whether your budget ranges from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.

Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: HDTV

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft already has licensing agreements with the companies accounting for the vast majority of Android devices on the market, but it’s not done just yet. The latest to come on board is Sharp, which has signed a deal that will allow it to use Microsoft’s Extended File Allocation Table file system (otherwise known as exFAT) on its Android-based devices — that’s a slightly more specific agreement than most others, where the contents haven’t been disclosed. While Sharp isn’t exactly a major smartphone player here in North America, it is in Japan, where it had a market share of 17.5 percent in 2011 (second only to Apple). As with other similar deals, this agreement will see Microsoft receive royalties on all Sharp Android devices sold, although neither party has commented on the specific terms. You can find the official word after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft and Sharp strike licensing deal for use of exFAT technology in Android-based devices

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Microsoft and Sharp strike licensing deal for use of exFAT technology in Android-based devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sharp will no longer be marketing their TVs and Blu-Ray players as “WiFi ready” in Australia unless they’re actually ready to connect to a WiFi network. Many products labeled as such often require the additional purchase of a $100-$120 AUD ($80-$100) dongle, and the ACCC, the country’s US FTC doppelgänger, has ordered the makers to stop the practice. It all started when a customer complained to the watchdog after feeling burned when his “WiFi ready” TV… wasn’t. The fact that similar terms were being used on products that actually have built-in adapters was another strike against the practice, according to the regulator from down under. However, if you happen to reside somewhere else in the world, it’s caveat emptor, as usual.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Aussie regulator raps TV makers for touting ‘WiFi ready’ products originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp might be busy prepping up its display panels for the next generation iPhone and the purported iPad mini this month, but it looks like the Japanese electronics manufacturer is also planning to ax a huge chunk of its workforce following a disappointing quarter for the period that ended last June 30. Sharp is saying today that it is planning to cut approximately 5,000 jobs by the end of March next year, reducing its global workforce by roughly 9 percent. The company said that the cuts will be made either through mandatory retirement and voluntary retirement.

The times have been tough for the Osaka-based corporation that was first established in 1912. Sharp previously announced that its revenue has plunged 28 percent to 458.6 billion yen ($5.9 billion) in Q1 of its fiscal year, and total losses increased from 49.2 billion yen in 2011 to 138.4 billion yen in the first quarter of its fiscal year. The company also expects its losses to widen until March next year, from 30 billion yen ($385 million) to 250 billion yen ($3.2 billion).

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sharp to begin shipping display panels for the next iPhone in August, Apple To Shift Half of iPad Display Sourcing to Sharp. Samsung May Be Hit [Rumor],

When it comes to displays for the iPhone, companies such as Samsung, LG Display and Sharp have been listed as the manufacturers. Now we know that based on the rumors and speculation and the iPhone 4S’ release last year that we should be able to expect the next-gen iPhone later this year around the same time. While Apple has yet to officially announce the device, Sharp’s new president, Takashi Okuda announced at a press briefing in Tokyo for its latest quarterly earnings that shipments for display panels for the next-gen iPhone will start in August. More specific dates were not given when prompted further.

At the moment Apple is expected to announce a new product come September 12th which some think will be the new iPhone and the rumored iPad mini, with availability rumored for the 19^th of September. Assuming the rumors are to be believed, it certainly makes sense that Sharp would shipping the display panels to Apple in August to start piecing the entire phone together for a release towards the middle of September. Either way we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled, so be sure to check back with us on the 12^th of September for confirmation!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sharp to cut 5,000 jobs in March next year, Apple To Shift Half of iPad Display Sourcing to Sharp. Samsung May Be Hit [Rumor],