Hasta La Gadget!

It wasn’t a part of Samsung’s IFA 2012 press conference, but Samsung is showing off Google TV hardware for the first time since CES 2011 (pictured above), and will release a Smart TV with Google TV later this year. According to its press release and a blog post by the Google TV team, it will “enhance the Smart TV experience” with premium content from its Samsung Apps services. How exactly it will be merged we should see soon, but now that ARM chips are powering a cheaper, more conventionally built experience we figure whatever hung up the deal has been squashed. We should get an eye on it if it’s anywhere on the show floor soon, as well as the Google TV box from Hisense, and Sony’s NSZ-GS7 which already launched in the US and UK, but is coming to Germany, France and the Netherlands soon.

Update: We caught up with working hardware at Samsung’s booth, but the device was disconnected from the internet, so we weren’t able to take it for a proper spin. You can take a somewhat superficial look in our hands-on gallery below, along with the video after the break.

Continue reading Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships ‘later this year’ (update: hands-on)

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Samsung Smart TV with Google TV on display at IFA 2012, ships ‘later this year’ (update: hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Designed for more realistic living quarters, LG’s unleashed its Personal Smart TV to the IFA crowds. With a 27-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 IPS display, you’ll also find the typical stable of connectivity options, including two HDMI, three USB, component, LAN and SCART connections. The screen seemed well-lit with the IPS panel offering suitably reliable views from most angles. It’s a pretty stylish-looking TV too, with a rough metallic finish to the bezel, which while not jaw-dropping, is still suitably narrow. The Smart TV functions were also navigable through LG’s Smart Remote, offering a WiiMote-ish approach to media browsing. Our demo model was already packed with German media content — in both 2D and 3D — ready for when it launches here next month. It’ll be appearing in shops across Europe around the same time, although there’s no word on the set landing on US shores. Check out our quick hands-on video after the break.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video)

Filed under: Displays, HD

LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG has just announced Game World, a new Smart TV portal that’s only available to Cinema 3D Smart TV owners. The service will let users snap up downloadable games in categories such as action, RPG or arcade, then play them in 2D or 3D with the company’s Magic Remote or other third-party controller. The service is not to be confused with LG’s Gaikai cloud gaming service, and the company said most of the titles will be family-friendly. Mind you, that looks like Shadowgun on the main page above, so there’s clearly some grown-up only entertainment, too.

Continue reading LG’s Game World landing on its own Smart TVs

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

LG’s Game World landing on its own Smart TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No room in your apartment for LG’s upcoming 84-inch monster? Don’t worry, the Korean outfit has something in your size, as well. The company’s TM2792 promises the same Cinema 3D passive glasses technology as its big brother in a more compact 27-inch frame. The tube also promises to play nice with your other devices, featuring a MHL and WiDi for screen and content sharing. No word on pricing yet, but LG says the Personal Smart TV should land in European markets this September. Hit the break for the official press release, or sit tight: LG is bound to reveal more at the TV’s official IFA debut.

Continue reading LG announces 27-inch Personal Smart TV ahead of IFA

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

LG announces 27-inch Personal Smart TV ahead of IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chinese web titan Tencent and TCL Multimedia have torn the wraps off the Ice Screen, a jointly developed 26-inch smart TV with a 1,366 x 768 display that allows users to browse the web, access videos, music and games through QQ services. Under the hood, the Android-powered television houses a dual-core Cortex A9 1GHz processor, a Mali 400 GPU, 4GB of RAM and support for a memory card of up to 32GB in size. An IR remote and an app for devices sporting version 2.2 or higher of Google’s OS can be used to control the tube, which can sit horizontally or vertically in its stand. On the connectivity front, the panel packs Wi-Fi, a pair of USB ports, HDMI and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can plunk down ¥1,999 (roughly $315) for an online pre-order before its September 3rd launch. More details await in the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Tencent and TCL unveil Ice Screen: a 26-inch Android-based smart TV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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