Oct 13

Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset

Posted in: availability, bluetooth, camera, headset, mobilepostmini, nfc, nokia, os, price, processor, smartphone, Today's Chili
The leaves in your yard may be transitioning to the more subdued hues of autumn, but Nokia’s new 603 smartphone certainly isn’t. Available in six different back cover colors, this new Symbian Belle handset is powered by a 1GHz processor and boasts a 3.5-inch, capacitive touchscreen with 640 x 360 resolution. It also comes with 2GB of internal memory, a 32GB microSD slot and five megapixel camera, along with full NFC and Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities. Speaking of which, the folks in Espoo have also taken this opportunity to unveil their new Luna Bluetooth headset — an NFC-enabled, in-ear accessory that delivers up to eight hours of extended talk time, as well as a rainbow of colors (see an image after the break). As far as pricing goes, the 603 will set you back €200 (about $275), with the Luna headset sitting at €70 (around $96). Neither will hit the market until Q4 of this year, but you can find more information in the full PR, looming after the break.

Continue reading Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset

Nokia outs colorful 603 handset, coupled with NFC-equipped Luna Bluetooth headset originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

German video effects company builds camera drone for the Red Epic

Posted in: camera, Today's Chili, video
Red Epic + Flying drone = The sort of geek math you can’t help but wish you’d come up with yourself. German VFX company OMStudios decided to mount Red’s super-camera into a custom Octocopter to record footage in resolutions up to 5K. As cool as the setup is, there’s a practical purpose: not only is it far cheaper than renting a crane, it can also climb up to 150 meters — making it just high enough to fly over Hollywood’s tallest man, Tom Cruise. Since it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever get to play with one of these, we’ll just have to point you to the video after the break and hope that no catastrophic power failures take place halfway through any real-world shoots.

[Thanks, Jeremias]

Continue reading German video effects company builds camera drone for the Red Epic

German video effects company builds camera drone for the Red Epic originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 10

Motorola unveils rugged ET1 Android tablet for enterprise types (video)

Posted in: 720p, Android, business, camera, dual-core, enterprise, motorola, retail, rugged, Today's Chili, video, wifi
Well, here it is. After months of beta tests, Motorola’s ET1 tablet was finally unveiled today, bringing a taste of Android 2.3 to the enterprise market. Powered by a 1GHz dual-core CPU, this rugged slate packs 8GB of internal storage, along with a 32GB microSD card slot, and features a seven-inch, Gorilla Glass capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 resolution. Weighing in at 1.4 pounds, the ET1 also boasts an eight megapixel rear camera, a front-facing shooter designed for videoconferencing and 720p video capabilities. Plus, retailers can choose to outfit the tablet with a host of accessories, including a barcode reader, magnetic stripe reader, handstrap and holster. At this point, the ET1 boasts only WiFi connectivity, though Motorola Solutions’ Sheldon Safir says a Wide Area Network version is in the works. The manufacturer didn’t offer a specific price, but Safir tells Computer World that bulk purchases should cost less than $1,000 by the time the slab hits the market, later this year. Head past the break for a full platter of PR, along with a demo video.

Continue reading Motorola unveils rugged ET1 Android tablet for enterprise types (video)

Motorola unveils rugged ET1 Android tablet for enterprise types (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 09

Fujifilm’s X10 offers up vintage-style snapping for $599.99 in early November

Posted in: camera, digital camera, DigitalCamera, minipost, Today's Chili

We’ve already sorted through the specs, and laid our hands on its rather sexy frame, now Fujifilm’s offering up a more palatable price tag than we expected for its throwback X10 shooter. Starting sometime in early October, the X100’s more affordable little brother will set nostalgic point-and-shooters back $599.99 — about $100 bones less than the estimated $715 to $860 ballpark we threw out back in September. If you’ll recall, the X10 packs a 12 megapixel EXR CMOS sensor, f/2-2.8, 28-112mm manual zoom lens, up to 12,800 ISO sensitivity, 1080p video, an optical viewfinder, and pop-up flash. No word yet on a final release date. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Fujifilm’s X10 offers up vintage-style snapping for $599.99 in early November

Fujifilm’s X10 offers up vintage-style snapping for $599.99 in early November originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 09

Insert Coin: Romo, the smartphone robot (video)

Posted in: camera, mobilepostcross, remote control, RemoteControl, robot, sdk, smartphone, Today's Chili, video, wifi

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Romotive co-founder Peter Seid’s tweet read “I build robots powered by smartphone” — that was just the incentive we needed to go check out his and business partner Phu Nguyen’s creation while on a recent trip to Seattle. Romo is a simple and affordable tank-like robot platform that uses basic analog electronics to trigger two motors via any device’s headphone jack. The circuit is tuned to specific frequencies for each motor — playback the right tones, and you control the hardware.

With a smartphone as its brain, all of Romo’s logic and behavior live in the software. Three apps will be available at launch for both iOS and Android. RomoRemote lets you control the robot from another phone over WiFi, complete with remote live view and public address. Romo Kart is a mixed-reality version of Mario Kart, including digital attacks designed to slow down your adversaries. The Drag and Drop Programming Module makes it easy to program Romo directly from your handset with instant results.

Gallery: Romotive hands-on

During our visit with the folks at Romotive, we got a chance to try the RomoRemote app in person using a couple iPhones — not only is Romo adorable, but it works like a charm. The best part? Peter and Phu plan to make a complete SDK and libraries available to iOS and Android developers. While there are several amounts you can pledge, $78 lets you have Romo and the three aforementioned apps sometime in February 2012. The project is already halfway to its $32,000 goal with 42 days to go.

Take a look at our gallery above, then hit the break for our hands-on video and the all important Kickstarter link.

Continue reading Insert Coin: Romo, the smartphone robot (video)

Insert Coin: Romo, the smartphone robot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 07

Amazon adds Kindle Fire-specific details to Developer Portal, A’s your FAQ

Posted in: amazon, Android, app, application, AppStore, bluetooth, camera, developer, Google, gps, kindle, tablet, Today's Chili, ui
The Kindle Fire may not be hitting the market until November, but Amazon has already updated its Developer Portal FAQ page with an entire section devoted to its forthcoming Android tablet. On the new page, you’ll find largely standard information on things like the application process and how to set up an Android SDK emulator, though there are a few more salient tidbits, as well. For instance, Amazon says it will review every app in its Appstore for Fire compatibility, as part of an automated process. Rejected apps, Amazon informs us, will include those that rely on a gyroscope, camera, WAN module, Bluetooth, microphone, GPS, or micro SD. Apps are also forbidden from using Google’s Mobile Services (and in-app billing), which, if included, will have to be “gracefully” removed. In terms of actual content, Amazon has outlawed all apps that change the tablet’s UI in any way (including theme- or wallpaper-based tools), as well as any that demand root access (it remains to be seen how the company will treat the root-dependent apps already in its store). Interested devs can find more information at the source link, below.

Amazon adds Kindle Fire-specific details to Developer Portal, A’s your FAQ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 06

Sony DEV-5 Digital Recording Binoculars sample photos and video

Posted in: camera, ceatec, digital camera, DigitalCamera, hands-on, Japan, photography, sony, Today's Chili, video

We can’t say that we were too keen on Sony’s DEV-5 Digital Recording Binoculars at first look — it really is hard to get past that $2,000 price tag. But after Sony finally allowed us to shoot photos and video (albeit for a mere three minutes) at the company’s CEATEC booth, we were pleasantly surprised at the image quality, at least some of the time. The images we shot were in 16:9 format, and were roughly 5.3 megapixels in size (the camera’s maximum resolution is 7.1 megapixels). With only a few minutes to play around, we didn’t have time to switch the menu from Japanese to English (CEATEC is held just outside Tokyo), so we had no choice but to use the default settings.

Still, images shot at f/1.8 appeared crisp, even with moderate shake (it’s difficult to keep a heavy pair of binoculars steady when holding them at eye level), with accurate exposure and white balance. When zooming to 10x, however, still photos appeared very noisy, as you’ll see in the gallery below. So are they worth the sky-high price tag? Well, it’s safe to say that we’re not ready to whip out the credit card, though they did perform better than we expected, based only on what we had initially seen through those dual high-res viewfinders. Jump past the break for an HD sample clip, or click the more coverage link below for the untouched samples.

Gallery: Sony DEV-5 Digital Recording Binoculars Sample Photos

Continue reading Sony DEV-5 Digital Recording Binoculars sample photos and video

Sony DEV-5 Digital Recording Binoculars sample photos and video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

Panasonic Cockpit digital dash prototype hands-on (video)

Posted in: camera, car, Cars, ceatec, hands-on, Japan, Panasonic, safety, Today's Chili, video

Sure, we may not see flying cars in our lifetime, but a mainstream digital dash is a definite possibility. The all-glass vehicle dashboard has been conceptualized by other manufacturers in the past, but this year it’s Panasonic’s turn to try its hand at building a multi-display system. The electronics maker brought its Cockpit prototype to the CEATEC floor, causing quite a stir among passersby. The dash itself was little more than a semi-functional mockup, presenting recorded rendered video on the main 20-inch LCD and dual 10.4-inch secondary displays. The main display’s current objective appears to be improving safety, using a series of cameras to eliminate blind spots and alert drivers to other road hazards. Real-time driving stats are displayed atop a video feed, either from the rear camera (when in reverse), or one up front.

We spent a few minutes behind the wheel of Panasonic’s mockup, which consisted only of a pair of (rather comfortable) leather seats, along with a trio of LCDs, which the company claims are currently based on panels used in other Panasonic products, but may eventually utilize custom displays. This wasn’t an actual vehicle prototype — only the “cockpit” was on hand. The main display will (hopefully) focus the driver’s attention away from distractions on those two smaller screens — the one in the center can be used to control standard vehicle settings like climate and entertainment, while a second display positioned directly in front of the passenger seat can play movies and other content.

Are we there yet? No, so you better get comfortable for the long drive ahead. Overall the setup looked like it could have potential, though Panasonic warned us not to expect anything final until the end of the decade (2018 at the earliest). Jump past the break for a Cockpit drive-by.

Gallery: Panasonic Cockpit LCD Dash hands-on

Continue reading Panasonic Cockpit digital dash prototype hands-on (video)

Panasonic Cockpit digital dash prototype hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

Camera or camcorder? JVC’s hybrid GC-PX10 wants to be both

Posted in: 1080p, camcorder, camera, digital camera, DigitalCamera, Today's Chili

This curiously shaped fellow, with its long-barreled lens attached to a svelte body, might look familiar. It’s JVC‘s GC-PX10, the camcorder that’s also a camera. Or the camera that’s also a camcorder. We’re not quite sure, but here’s what we do know: it’ll shoot 1080p video at 60 fps, writing to SDXC or 32GB of internal memory. And it can also capture 8.3-megapixel stills at 60 fps without dropping out of video mode. If you’ve got the time and the inclination, you can switch into still-shooting mode, giving you full 12-megapixel pictures at 30 fps for two seconds. Exhausted by the possibilities yet? But wait, there’s more. If slow motion’s your game, you can fire away in 640 x 360 resolution — at 300 fps — for up to 2 hours. Now how much would you pay for such a plethora of pictorial options? Well, JVC’s asking $900 when this ships later in October, so you’ve got some time to think about it.

Camera or camcorder? JVC’s hybrid GC-PX10 wants to be both originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceJVC  | Email this | Comments

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Oct 03

PS3 will support 4K stills after a future update, moving pictures remain out of reach

Posted in: camera, ceatec, hdpostmini, hdtv, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, update

Once you’ve cleared the $25k or so in your budget that it will take to snag one of Sony’s 4K VPL-VW1000ES your next problem will be finding some 4096×2160 res content to view on it. While showing off the new beamer for its Japanese audience at CEATEC today, Sony announced the PS3 will get a firmware update around the beginning of 2012 that will allow it to natively output 4K stills. There’s a PlayView “visual magazine” already available on the PlayStation store in Japan that supports 4K and 3D, but this update will bring super high res viewing of your vacation pics, or any other high res image files you can snag, to the living room. While your friends will no doubt be impressed by the museum-quality art gala you’re now capable of hosting, we’re starting the timer for 4K video sources — if we don’t hear anything concrete at CES then we’ll be incredibly disappointed.

Gallery: Sony VPL-VW1000ES 4K projector

PS3 will support 4K stills after a future update, moving pictures remain out of reach originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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