Hasta La Gadget!

Clearwire’s talking more about some of the glorious numbers it’s seeing as it drives around the greater Phoenix area testing its trial LTE network, and we think one specific quote pretty much sums it up: “this isn’t your grandfather’s LTE.” That statement was made in comparing Clearwire’s results — bumping up against 90Mbps in some configurations — to the 5 to 12Mbps that Verizon is quoting for its first-gen commercial LTE network, though they’re quick to note in the same breath that Clear’s test is on an unloaded network without a deluge of users all trying to stream professional sports games in HD at the same time. What does that all mean for Clear’s existing WiMAX deployment? The company’s as noncommittal on the subject as ever, saying only that WiMAX continues to be “best for the customer” today but that “potentially in the future that could be WiMAX and LTE.” Needless to say, though, they’re taking the LTE option pretty seriously if they’re dumping serious cash into testing it out and publishing the results. Follow the break for Clear’s teaser footage — wouldn’t you like access to this action?

Continue reading Clear bullish on LTE trial results, says WiMAX is ‘best for the customer’ right now

Clear bullish on LTE trial results, says WiMAX is ‘best for the customer’ right now originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s always a shame we don’t have more time to play with every gadget at monstrous trade shows, and that goes double for cameras. So while we can’t give you more in-depth discussion on the image and video quality, we will say that Samsung’s NX11’s inclusion of the i-Function lens is a decided victory. For those who don’t know, it’s a special lens with a ring and i-Fn button you can use to manually adjust various settings (exposure, ISO, shutter speed, etc.), and it works like a charm. Looking at pictures of a picture-taking device is some form of awesome, right? Right.

Samsung NX11 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Smartphones seem to get more powerful each day with apps and zippy processors. But why stop there?

Nvidia this week showcased some fancy cars featuring the new Nvidia Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip — the same dual-core brains that  are showing up in some of the fastest smartphones here at CES 2011.

Nvidia recently partnered with luxury carmakers Tesla and BMW to install Nvidia systems inside some of their cars. At the show, the Tegra 2 was powering in-vehicle computers that could potentially offer some interesting apps: high-quality 3-D maps for GPS navigation, car diagnostic services and street sign detection.

See the video above for a glimpse of what an app-powered car would look like. (Note these were demos, as the software is not yet complete).

Currently the only way to feed your 3DTV full HD 3D (1080p per eye) is to watch a Blu-ray disc, which is great and all unless you’re a sports fan, than not so much. Motorola and others have been working on ways to deliver Full HD 3D via typical broadcast delivery avenues — yes, we also want to know what happened to 1080p60 2D — but at the CES Bloggers Lounge Verizon and Panasonic were demoing said 3D format over a Verizon FiOS TV lab setup. The press release and embedded video (after the break) were short on details, but Verizon did tell us that it takes twice the throughput of 1080p 2D — which isn’t actually the case, but what do you expect when you don’t get to talk to the engineers? We assume the demo is using H.264 Multiview Video Coding like Blu-ray uses — especially since the demo was on a Panasonic Blu-ray player — but many in the industry question this codec’s application in the broadcast world since ESPN claims that its backwards compatibility with 2D isn’t as valuable as Dolby and Sensio’s way of encoding full HD 3D, which are more efficient. We’re very skeptical that this demo will actually amount to any foreseeable measurable benefits to consumers, but are reassured that both companies like 3D enough to spend the time to get together and make a demo happen.

Update: Verizon PR responded and confirmed that the demo is using the same format as 3D Blu-ray; H.264 Multiview Video Coding.

Continue reading Verizon and Panasonic demo broadcast Full HD 3D at CES

Verizon and Panasonic demo broadcast Full HD 3D at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — Tired of playing endless sessions of Spider Solitaire on your laptop? Fear not, weary game enthusiasts. MIT Media Lab alums Jeevan Kalanithi and David Merrill have a solution that blends real-world objects with computer circuits and LCDs.

Sifteo is a very different kind of game cube. Using 1.5-inch blocks that communicate through a Wi-Fi connection, Sifteo brings puzzle games that might otherwise be played on a computer screen to the tactile, tabletop environment.

Instead of loading Text Twist on your PC desktop, you can play a game of Word Play on your literal desktop, physically rearranging the letters that appear on the blocks’ full-color 128-pixel display screens to form words.

Inside each cube is a 32-bit ARM microprocessor, powered by a lithium-ion polymer battery. And just like the iPhone and other smartphones, there’s an accelerometer that can determine the cube’s position, which enables some pretty cool ways to play games.

In Shaper, seen below, players must arrange the cubes into the configurations that appear on each block’s screen.

Sifteo co-founders Jeevan Kalanithi and David Merrill were talking about the idea of Sifteo a year ago at TED, back when the blocks were still called “Siftables.” The two met as undergrads at Stanford University, and both went to the east coast to earn MS degrees at the MIT Media Lab , where they built the Sifteo hardware.

“When we were still in the early stages of development, we took the blocks to an elementary school for testing,” Kalanithi told Wired.com in an interview. “It was amazing to see a bunch of 8-year-old girls moving the blocks around intuitively.”

Right now, Sifteo only has in-house developers working on games for the hardware, but the company wants to eventually open the API up to any and all 3rd-party developers that want to create games for it. “We’re looking for feedback,” Kalanithi said. “Opening this up to different people brings the best possibilities for interesting games.”

Sifteo is currently in an early access testing period, but the company plans to release the product in the Fall. Priced at $150, starter kits will come with three Sifteo blocks, a charging dock and AC adaptor, and a USB wireless link for your Mac or PC. If all goes as planned, by next Christmas you won’t have to play yet another round of Settlers of Catan with the ‘rents again.

Photo: Mike Isaac/Wired.com