Hasta La Gadget!

Sure VIZIO only just showed off new updates in its high end XVT series, but it’s already planning the next generation of LCDs with VIZIO Internet Apps included. Packing widget functionality, 802.11n wireless networking and slider QWERTY Bluetooth remote, the SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT Connected HDTVs are coming home in November, October and December, respectively. Already on deck to serve up content for your widgets are Vudu, Revision3, Facebook, Twitter, Rhapsody, Blockbuster OnDemand, Showtime, Flickr and more. The biggest surprise? There’s apparently no price premium planned for these features, with the 55-inch clocking in at the same $2,199 price as the model it’s replacing, though the 47-inch jumps $200 over the previous edition to $1,699, while adding the local dimming LED backlit technology previously reserved for the 55-inch. The 42-inch will be the first and cheapest available at $1,199 (sans LED) — we’ll see if that bar is low enough to get viewers to jump into the internet-connected display future.

Read – VIZIO Announces High Performance XVT HDTV Line Up with 240Hz SPS(TM), TruLED(TM) and Smart Dimming(TM) Technology, VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA), and Slim Line(TM) 120Hz LCD HDTV Models
Read – VIZIO Unveils Rhapsody Digital Music Service for VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM)) Connected HDTVs
Read – VIZIO Reveals Dynamic New Content Partners for VIZIO Internet Apps Connected HDTV Feature

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

VIZIO Internet App HDTVs launch later this year, for less than you might expect originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony Ericsson’s official spokesperson, Maria Sharapova, was on hand recently to unveil a student-designed prototype of a Bluetooth-enabled dress. The iridescent scales that run up one side of the dress move and light up when the phone rings, enabling its owner to know about calls even in noisy places (so says the dress’s maker, Georgie Davies). Yes, it’s just a prototype for now, but it’s a pretty cute dress, so hopefully we’ll see these hit the streets at some point in the (nearish) future.

[Via Switched]

Filed under: Cellphones

Maria Sharapova models Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson prototype dress originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Motorola isn’t shying away from a fight here with its Endeavor HX1 Bluetooth headset — and if there’s anything the Bluetooth headset industry needs, it’s some manner of controversy. The company is calling its new HX1 the “only Bluetooth headset to use true bone conduction technology,” with a user activated “Stealth Mode” that switches the set from regular mic to an in-ear sensor which picks vibrations right off the bone for talking in particularly noisy environments. Jawbone, on the other hand, picks up vibrations from the outside of the face, but primarily as an “Activity Sensor,” though the latest version nabs some audio from those vibrations — both manufacturers naturally claim a military heritage to their technology. It’ll take some actual testing to see who wins out, but it sounds like some good tech from Moto all the same. We do know one thing, however: no amount of in-ear stylings can ever ease your transition into general society. No word on price of a US release date for the HX1, it hits Asia in July.

Filed under: Peripherals

Motorola’s Endeavor HX1 Bluetooth headset packs ‘true’ bone conduction technology, modicum of style originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Update 3 p.m. PDT: According to Wired.com’s Dave Kravets, the iPhone 3.0 update tool in iTunes is now working properly. Download away!

Update 12 p.m. PDT: Some users, including a Wired.com staff member, are reporting problems downloading the iPhone 3.0 software. (See screenshot.) This is likely due to server overload; keep checking throughout the day to see if the update is available.

Apple on Wednesday released iPhone 3.0, a major upgrade for its iPhone operating system, delivering capabilities customers have demanded, such as multimedia messaging, copy and paste and universal landscape mode.

The operating system, which Apple previewed in March, became available for download at 10:10 a.m. in the iTunes Store.

The update is free for owners of the original iPhone as well as the current iPhone 3G; iPod Touch users must pay $10. Users wishing to upgrade must plug their device into their computer with the USB dock connector and then load iTunes 8.2 (80MB), where they can download and install iPhone 3.0 (230MB).

iPhone 3.0 (which some have confused with the third-generation iPhone, iPhone 3GS), addresses many complaints about the current and previous iPhone operating systems. Despite iPhone 2.0’s introduction of the iPhone’s phenomenally successful App Store for distributing third-party applications, many Apple critics have blasted the iPhone for its lack of a basic copy-and-paste function, among other shortcomings. iPhone 3.0 adds copy-and-paste functionality and many new features that will give immediate benefits to end users, regardless of which applications they use.

Here are some other noteworthy end-user features:

• MMS support. (One major caveat: AT&T customers may be in for disappointment, because Apple said at last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference that AT&T would not support MMS until late summer. AT&T declined to comment on the reason behind the delay, but the company said it’s not network-related.
• Apps communicate with accessories via dock connector or Bluetooth. (We call these app-accessory combos dongleware. See our wishlist for dongleware we’d like to see, as well as a list of great dongleware suggestions from readers.)
• Support for peer-to-peer Bluetooth. That will enable the iPhone to connect with other Bluetooth devices, including stereo Bluetooth headsets. Previously, the iPhone only supported Bluetooth for connecting to monaural phone headsets.
• Global search feature. Enables users to search content in various applications on the iPhone from a single interface. Like the search feature in Mac OS X, this is called “Spotlight.”
• Compose in landscape mode. The ability to compose e-mail messages, text messages and notes in landscape mode gives the user a larger, easier-to-use keyboard.

Gadget Lab will be testing iPhone 3.0 and posting our discoveries throughout the day. Keep up with our posts and follow @GadgetLab on Twitter for the latest scoops!

See Also:

• Why Apple Can Afford to Phone It In With the Next iPhone
• iPhone 3.0 Wish List: Accessory-Powered Apps We Want
• iPhone 3.0: Will the Gold Rush Continue?
• Apple Bestows Cut-and-Paste, MMS on iPhone Users
• Apple to Preview iPhone 3.0 Next Week
• iPhone 3.0 Takes the Sheen off Palm Pre
• Gadget Lab Video: Masked Developer Demos iPhone 3.0 Beta
• Pictures: iPhone 3.0 USB Tethering Already Activated

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

We can’t say for sure, but we’ve all ideas that Broadcom has spent the majority of the past month just rolling in dough that’s being begrudgingly transferred in from Qualcomm. During the downtime from that, however, it apparently whipped up three new Bluetooth 3.0 + WiFi modules designed to bring both connectivity options to netbooks and UMPCs that would otherwise go without. Said cards arrive in half mini-card form, which ought to slide into places where only one or the other used to fit. We’re told that the company is now sampling these very chips, with volume production expected to begin in Q3 2009.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Wireless

Broadcom InConcert module brings Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi to smaller devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments