Hasta La Gadget!

Been holding out hope for a real-life holodeck? Well, looks like Japan’s got wall number one out of four already covered. We kid, we kid. That Trekkie tech future’s still a ways off, but recent prototypes like this 200-inch auto-stereoscopic 3D screen are bringing that illusive reality one step closer to our living rooms. Exhibited during CEATEC 2011, this 1920 x 1080 full HD display plays images at 60fps using an array of 57 projectors, and offers up viewing angles of 13 degrees. What does all of that mean for you? Well, the setup gives viewers a limited ability to peer around projected objects, so long as they stay within a 1.3m (about 4ft) area. It’s yet another fruit of the collaboration between the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and JVC Kenwood, except this one’s headed for the realm of outdoor digital advertising. Home theater aficionados looking for a virtual entertainment solution can always opt for Sony’s HMD, but that kind of defeats the glasses-free allure.

Continue reading NICT, JVC Kenwood team up for wall-sized 3D HD display, lets in your face advertising get literal (video)

NICT, JVC Kenwood team up for wall-sized 3D HD display, lets in your face advertising get literal (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With gaming on tablets, the visual experience is often top-notch, but the controls are unfamiliar at best — even inadequate at times. But adding a traditional joystick is impractical, especially when aesthetics is a key selling point for manufacturers. Chicago-based Knowles Electronics has a fairly practical solution, however, and hopes that some manufacturers will adopt its Mems Joystick. At just 1.6mm tall, the joystick is slim enough for a device to maintain a svelte profile, and the 40 microamps it consumes during normal operation is relatively negligible, according to company reps. Tablets are just the start — Knowles built a series of prototypes to demonstrate a variety of potential applications.

We took the joystick for a spin on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola Atrix, Nintendo 3DS and a pair of laptops. All of the joystick prototypes connected using Bluetooth or USB, and were designed specifically for this CEATEC demonstration — sadly they won’t be available for purchase, though manufacturers could implement the controller into similar products. It took only a few seconds to get accustomed to the pair of joysticks mounted to the back of the Tab. Controlling gameplay felt natural, and we definitely preferred playing with a clear view of the display. We also navigated through Google Maps, and scrolled a web page — both experiences felt superior to moving around the touchscreen. The 3DS joystick functioned similarly to the native controller included with that device, though Knowles reps noted that it’s significantly smaller, and uses less power — and without compromise, it seems.

Jump past the break for a walkthrough of the devices we saw today, but try not to fall in love — you won’t be able to use the Joystick anytime soon, if manufacturers decide to implement them at all.

Continue reading Knowles Electronics Mems Joystick for Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nintendo 3DS hands-on (video)

Knowles Electronics Mems Joystick for Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nintendo 3DS hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.

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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If you’re familiar with Fujitsu’s AH572 and S761/C laptops, then you’ll certainly recognize the similarities on their Japanese cousins. On the left we have the beastly 15.6-inch AH77/E, which sports an Intel Core-i72670QM processor (2.20-3.10GHz), 750GB hard drive, 8GB RAM, Blu-ray drive and a handy circular scrolling pad. We dig the slanted keys and their color-accented sides (combinations include black on red, white on black and black on blue), and likewise with the removable dust trap near the heatsink on the bottom side, though the already-discounted price of ¥175,320 ($2,284) is rather steep for a machine lacking a dedicated graphics card — you get an Intel HD Graphics 3000 instead.

If you’re looking for something lighter than the 2.9kg AH series, then consider the SH76/E: at 1.34kg, it’s one of the lightest 13.3-inch laptops that come with an internal DVD drive. Specs include a Core i5-2520M chip (2.5GHz-3.2GHz), 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, the same circular scrolling pad, the same dust trap and an impressive 13.7-hour battery life. Like its international cousin, the SH76/E can also swap its optical drive for a pico projector or a weight-saver frame. With the exception of the flimsy and duller display compared to the AH model’s, the SH’s overall build quality was satisfactory. However, Fujitsu wants ¥161,820 ($2,110) for its latest portable laptop, so you might want to customize it with cheaper components on the company’s Japanese website (choosing a 500GB HDD would save you about $980, for instance). Both models will be available in a week’s time.

Fujitsu Lifebook AH77/E and SH76/E hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Four hundred and fifty dollars. Made out to Lumiotec, please. Really, that’s all you need to know — this tiny purposeless OLED lamp costs nearly half a grand. But hot damn does it look good. If you have the cash and don’t mind shelling it over, Lumiotec’s OLED Hanger lamp is a mighty cool gadget to own. Until you realize that you’re not really sure what to do with it. Do you hang it in a closet? Do you hang it over the door? Can you hang it anywhere at all? It is a hanger, after all. Even representatives from Rohm, which manufacturers the OLED panel used in the Hanger, were unable to explain the lamp’s purpose at the company’s CEATEC booth. Some variation of “use your imagination” was the final response. Well, our imagination has concluded that we’ll pass on the Hanger, but we’d like a few dozen of those gorgeous OLED panels, please (we’ve already set aside several hundred square feet of wall space).

If you’re still into the Hanger, we can confirm that it’s not only bright, but also very thin and very light. The panel gives off roughly the same amount of light as a 60-watt bulb, yet it consumes just 9.6 watts of power. Sadly, that doesn’t mean it will eventually pay for itself in electricity cost savings, since, again, you’re still paying $450 for what’s essentially a (very slick) light bulb. We’d be far more impressed if the Hanger were more portable. You’ll have many feet of cord to work with, but you’ll still be tethered to an outlet — there’s no flat battery magic implemented here. These are available now in limited quantities, if you’re ready to pull out the checkbook and sign on the dotted line. Or, if you’d rather spend that dough on a truckload of traditional fixtures, you can get your Hanger fix for free in the video after the break.

Continue reading Rohm and Lumiotec create $450 OLED Hanger lamp, we go hands-on (video)

Rohm and Lumiotec create $450 OLED Hanger lamp, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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