Hasta La Gadget!

Remember Pioneer’s Kuro brand of HDTVs? The high-end plasma line became the benchmark for the home theater market, leaving a rather large void in the hearts of the HD obsessive after it kicked the bucket two years ago. Now, Sharp and Pioneer are bringing back some of the technology used in that line, while leaving the Kuro name to rest in peace. The Elite branding will remain, however, with the new line of LED LCD TVs. Available in 60-inch and 70-inch flavors, the new Elites will only be available through high-end retailers, and will be priced at $6,000 and $8,500, respectively. The Pro-60X5FD will ship in the US next week, and the Pro-70X5FD will hit stores later this month.

Among the sets’ features, Sharp promises excellent contrast ratios, high color fidelity, and very low black levels, thanks to zone-based local dimming. The company claims a frame rate of “about 720hz,” thanks to 240Hz quadrupling and scanning backlight technology. The TVs also include Sharp’s quad-pixel technology, complementing the typical RGB pixel arrangement with a fourth, yellow sub-pixel. This sounds similar to the company’s Quattron technology, though Sharp doesn’t appear to be using that name with its new Elite line. There’s also 3D functionality, and Internet connectivity, with pre-loaded Netflix, Vudu, and social media apps. The TVs also include Elite Advantage Live, for real-time remote technical support. We’re at the Elite event in New York City, so stay tuned for more details and a full hands-on later this morning.

Continue reading Sharp and Pioneer resurrect Elite with line of LED LCD TVs, pricing starts at $6,000

Sharp and Pioneer resurrect Elite with line of LED LCD TVs, pricing starts at $6,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That label up there may not look like much, but the WiFi test report shown after the break makes one thing exceptionally clear: Sony’s PlayStation Vita just cleared FCC testing. For those unfamiliar with the process, this is widely regarded as the final step before a consumer electronics device is shipped to retailers here in the States, and given that “fall” date we’ve been hearing about, it sure looks as if Sony’s on pace to keep its promise. So, you did save room on this year’s wish list for yet another console… right?

Continue reading Sony PlayStation Vita clears the FCC hurdle, gets tantalizingly close to US release

Sony PlayStation Vita clears the FCC hurdle, gets tantalizingly close to US release originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re headed over as we speak to get an early look at what TouchWiz has in store for Tab 10.1-totin’ New Yorkers, but in the meantime, Samsung’s served up a laundry list of details (after the break) to clue everyone in on what it’ll bring. Aside from pushing the TouchWiz UX overlay atop Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), the new digs will also enable Samsung Kies 2.0 support for PC and Mac, solving an issue we spotted a few weeks back. For those unfamiliar with Sammy’s Android dressings, this one promises to bring a Live Panel (described as a magazine-like widget view for immediate access to weather, social updates, email, and news on the home pane), a Mini Mode Tray (providing one-touch access to commonly used apps), Clipboard (it’s copy and paste, advanced), Photo Editor (it edits JPEGs, y’all) and the token Indicator Quick Panel (which enables users to quickly toggle on / off WiFi, notifications, sound, brightness and settings in lower right hand corner of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 display).

Of course, proceeding with the update means that you’ll get Amazon’s Music Cloud Player, the Kindle app and ‘Words with Friends’ preloaded, but enterprise folk can at least look forward to full support for Exchange ActiveSync version 14, on-device encryption and compatibility with Cisco’s VPN / Sybase MDM / WebEx. Still hungry for more? How’s about wireless printing to any “compatible” printer, as well as a bolstered Swype app that enables resizing of the keyboard and movement of the keys to any position on the panel. You’ll also find Adobe’s Flash Player 10.3, a redesigned Samsung Media Hub service and a promise that all Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners will start to see it beginning August 5th. If you’re eager to get prepped for Friday’s release, hit the source link to setup a required Samsung account; once registered, you’ll be notified when your device is ready for the upgrade and given drop-dead simple steps to complete it. Naturally, we’ll be bringing you an early look of the changes as soon as humanly possible.

Continue reading Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th

Samsung details TouchWiz UX update for Galaxy Tab 10.1, OTA rollout goes public on August 5th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here they are folks. Months after we first got our hands on pre-release Torch and Bold Touch handsets, RIM is finally ready to show off its latest hardware. They’re all powered by a 1.2GHz processor, have 768MB of onboard RAM and — most importantly — run the latest operating system BB OS7.

RIM claims its new OS is 40 percent faster at browsing compared to OS6-based smartphones, and 100 percent faster than OS5 handsets. It also supports RIM’s Liquid Graphics technology, which uses a dedicated graphics processor for smoother scrolling, zooming and panning.

Hands-on impressions and video follow after the break.

Continue reading RIM launches three new handsets, Torch 9810, Torch 9860 and Bold 9900, we go hands-on!

RIM launches three new handsets, Torch 9810, Torch 9860 and Bold 9900, we go hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A native Skype app for the iPad has finally appeared, opening up your Apple slate for voice and video chatting with others on Macs, PCs or even TVs. It’s not listed as an update to the existing iOS app, but as a separate Skype for iPad download that’s only shown up in certain countries so far — at first we couldn’t find it on the US iTunes but it finally appeared after some searching. Just like Skype for iPhone, everything works over both WiFi and 3G, but one key difference is the ability to instant message during video calls. Check after the break for the full release notes and the demo video that leaked in June.

Update: So, we’ve just taken the app for a quick spin via a 3G to WiFi call and it’s laid out very nicely — maintaining the familiarity of its desktop client. Getting a video chat started was quick with acceptably clean audio and mostly consistent video streaming (aside from an occasional freeze-frame). Whether you’re in landscape or portrait mode there’s access to recent conversations, and you can even start conversations within your current chat; we’d say that the former works out better for getting around, although it does make it hard to stay in frame. Overall it feels like a souped-up version of the iPhone release, and impressions aside, the gallery down below should give you a better look at what to expect.

Update 2: Just as suddenly as it appeared, it has now been yanked from iTunes stores everywhere. A Tweet from the official account says it went live “prematurely” — your guess is as good as ours as to when it will return.

Update 3: Aaaaand… she’s back! Or, at least it sure looks like it. Hopefully for good this time!

Continue reading Skype for iPad is finally out (hands-on!)

Skype for iPad is finally out (hands-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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