Hasta La Gadget!

Wrap your head around this one, you have your Google TV connected to your TV and your DVR, and now you’ll soon be able to connect to a Sling Box in other room, house, city, country, and watch that content too. This Flash app optimized for Google TV was on display at CES and reminds us more of the Sling Player app on a portable than a Google TV app. No word on when it might be available or how much it’ll cost — you didn’t think it’d be free did you? — but it did seem to work pretty well in our short time with it.

The SlingPlayer coming to the Google TV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Samsung made a lot of noise about its first-party Smart TV initiative yesterday, so we had to stop by and check things out — especially that new WiFi-based RMC30D Smart Touch Remote, which comes bundled with all new 8000-series TVs and above. (It also works with the 7000 series, but you have to buy it separately.) Unfortunately, things weren’t working so well — tons of WiFi interference in the area made control hard to do, and the system itself was a confusing UI nightmare made worse by the remote’s slow resistive touchscreen. Oh, and did we mention that the remote itself is a straight-up iPhone 3G KIRF? Because yeah — it is. Things were slightly improved when we loaded up the soon-to-be-released Android control app on a nearby Fascinate, but that didn’t fix the essential issues with the UI — it’s very much just a picture of a regular remote drawn on the screen, which rarely works well on a touchscreen device. Don’t just take our word for it — check the video after the break.

Continue reading Samung Smart Touch Remote and Smart TV hands-on

Samung Smart Touch Remote and Smart TV hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We said we’d bring you an Verizon LTE speed test on the Acer Iconia Tab A500, but we can give you better than that — here’s a test of latency in cross-platform online multiplayer gaming and a FiOS app that streams live television. Hosting a game of Dungeon Defenders on an Alienware M11x laptop (also connected to LTE), Verizon joined the party with an Acer Iconia Tab, and a pair of the slates were able to go head-to-head in a peer-to-peer Asphalt 5 race over LTE as well. What’s more, the carrier showed us an experimental version of its FiOS DVR Manager app, which streamed live television to the Iconia over LTE — similar to what we saw on the iPad. Unlike the games, it was choppy and took some time to cache, but we’ll have to see what it’s like when (or if) it’s finalized. Of course, if you had just clicked the play button on the above video instead of reading these words, you’d already know all that.

Eyes-on: Verizon LTE gaming and live TV on the Acer Iconia Tab (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Tick, the CPU and GPU get integrated into the same 32nm die, tock, they both go down to 22nm with the latter gaining DirectX 11 support. Intel’s only just unveiled its Sandy Bridge processors, but the next update to the company’s desktop and laptop hardware has already gained an important detail. Mooly Eden, general manager for the PC Client Group, has disclosed the news that Ivy Bridge — the die shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture — will include DX 11 graphical capabilities when it arrives late in 2011. We’re inclined to agree with Intel that DirectX 11 really wasn’t a necessary implementation for Sandy Bridge given its humble gaming credentials, but Mooly expects a lot more applications will have harnessed the available APIs by the time we come to cross the Ivy Bridge. Let’s hope it is so.

Intel’s next CPU refresh will include DirectX 11 graphics support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  IDG News (PC World)  | Email this | Comments

The Polarez GL20: image capture device, display, loud fashion statement. It’s weird. It’s wonderful. It may or may not be the camera of the future. One thing is for sure: You want to see it! It’s OK to stare. More »