Hasta La Gadget!

Is it an e-reader? A two-faced tablet? Something else entirely. Hard to say for sure, but just as it promised, NEC has furnished a boatload of details surrounding its heretofore mysterious LT-W Cloud Communicator. This dual-screen Android 2.1 device shares a pair of 7-inch resistive touchpanels, both of which have a non-glare (huzzah!) panel and an SVGA (800 x 600) resolution. Under the hood, we’re looking at an ARM Cortex A8 processor, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a three megapixel camera, optional 3G, SDHC card slot, a single USB 2.0 connector, an ear-ratting monaural speaker and a bundled stylus pen. There’s also an internal accelerometer, GPS sensor and a battery that’s good for up to five hours in ideal conditions. It seems as if NEC is aiming this at folks looking for a more sophisticated e-reading device rather than those looking for a quirky alternative to the cadre of slates already on the market, but there’s no word yet on a US price and release date. Needless to say, we’ll be digging for both here on the show floor. One more look is after the break.

Continue reading NEC gets official with dual-screen 7-inch LT-W Cloud Communicator

NEC gets official with dual-screen 7-inch LT-W Cloud Communicator originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news, Hulu Plus is finally coming to Xbox 360 this spring. Better news, both Hulu Plus and Netflix will be compatible with Kinect. We imagine it’ll be just like Zune Video’s interface, but there really wasn’t much of a demo during Ballmer’s keynote tonight. Excited? We are.

Netflix and Hulu Plus with Kinect coming this spring to Xbox 360 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — After months of sneak peeks and speculation, Motorola has finally unveiled its iPad competitor. Accompanying the tablet, the company introduced the latest version of its popular Droid smartphone.

Dubbed the Xoom, the tablet will indeed be running Honeycomb, the OS described by Motorola as the first version of Android designed entirely for use on a tablet.

Unfortunately, a fully-functional Xoom wasn’t made available for playing around with, but the short demo played onstage at Wednesday’s press conference gave audience members something to think about. From what we’ve seen, Honeycomb’s user interface is very sexy, and very different from the Gingerbread UI we’re used to.

Although price points weren’t disclosed, the details that were shared made the Xoom a tablet worth watching. It boasts a dual-core 1-GHz processor, 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, a 2-megapixel front facing camera for video chat capability and a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera, which captures 720p HD video.

The Xoom will launch with 3-G and WiFi connectivity in the first quarter of 2011. In the second quarter, it will be available for the next-generation 4G LTE network  Fret not, early adopters – those that buy early can upgrade the tablet to 4G later.

Motorola did not announce an official release date or price.

Also noteworthy was the latest addition in Motorola’s Droid series, the Droid Bionic. The Bionic has a 4.3-inch screen, a dual-core processor under the hood (like the Xoom), and  512 MB of RAM. It will be compatible with Verizon’s new 4G network.

The Droid Bionic joins the earlier announced Motorola Atrix and LG Optimus 2x, two other smartphones with dual-core CPUs.

Brian Chen contributed to this report.

The 2011 lineup of Sony Bravia HDTVs is quite extensive with a total fo 27 models spanning nine lines. All but the five most inexpensive models feature internet streaming services while 16 of the higher end models being 3D capable. Most of the great streaming services we’ve come to expect are there, but in addition you can now watch Time Warner Cable VOD without a set-top-box as well. A few of the lines are compatible with a special Sony 720p camera (CMU-BR100) for use with Skype, while others feature Gorilla Glass. The XBR-HX929 Series sits at the top with a new local dimming technology called Intelligent Peak LED Backlight, and is also one of the lines that supports the new Media Remote application for iPhone, iPod Touch or Android, which includes full remote capabilities as well as a keyboard. The 929s will be available in April in 46, 55 and 65-inches, with the others hitting the street sometime between February and May.

Continue reading Sony’s 2011 Bravia lineup includes 27 new HDTVs

Sony’s 2011 Bravia lineup includes 27 new HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At its CES press conference, Panasonic announced that it had renamed its Viera Cast IPTV service Viera Connect and unveiled new 3D TVs, as wells as digital imaging and home theater products.

Originally posted at CES 2011