Audiovox in-car MediaFLO hands-on

Qualcomm’s MediaFLO tech was originally intended for screens so small that resolution, artifacting, and wholesale crappiness don’t really matter, but when you’re building out a whole new wireless network for this thing, monetization is a high priority wherever you can find it. To that end, Audiovox is lending a helping hand with a new receiver launching later this year that’ll plug into most in-car video systems and deliver MediaFLO programming straight to your back seat, your front seat, or whatever bizarre place (engine compartment, maybe?) you’ve mounted a display. We weren’t terribly impressed with the video quality; generally speaking, DVD is probably the better entertainment option here, but if live shows are a must-have for you, this is just about the only cheap, easy way to roll. We’re told 10 to 15 channels will be available at launch — but unfortunately, Audiovox says that neither AT&T’s nor Verizon’s exclusive channels will be part of the lineup. Pricing hasn’t been announced; if we had to guess, we’d figure on something like $20 per month, so you’d better really desperately need blurry TV when the drive gets boring.

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Audiovox in-car MediaFLO hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Microsoft’s new Sync hands, eyes, and ears on

Microsoft's new Sync hands, eyes, and ears on

Microsoft’s Sync hasn’t exactly taken the automotive world by storm, but the updates coming to 2010 Fords seem like they could earn the service a little respect. Microsoft has added a suite of new services including voice-driven news, traffic info, and directions. We got a quick demonstration inside a shiny new Ford Escape, which kindly provided us with directions to the world’s 35th-largest hydroelectric dam (you can find your way to the video below). We also got some further details on how the service uses Bluetooth to tether to any handset, downloading content using a voice call so that you can use this completely fee-free — even if you don’t have a data plan. Yes the display is simplistic to say the least, but having access to this kind of functionality without recurring monthly charges (for three years, at least) sounds fantastic to us.

Gallery: Ford Sync

Ford SyncFord SyncFord SyncFord SyncFord Sync

Continue reading Video: Microsoft’s new Sync hands, eyes, and ears on

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Video: Microsoft’s new Sync hands, eyes, and ears on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved

Kinesis’ K2 solar / wind charger will power any USB device and is guaranteed to disappoint people mistaking it for a handheld fan. Of course, if you’re feeling less environmental, feel free plug it into an AC outlet to reenergize the thing. Anticipating popular demand, we’ve put video after the break.

[Via OhGizmo!]

Continue reading Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved

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Kinesis K2 solar / wind charger hands-on: Captain Planet approved originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Jan 2009 06:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jimmy Fallon and Engadget: raw and uncut

We had a chance to get on the show floor at CES and chat with Jimmy Fallon (the new face of late night television as he’s taking over for Conan O’Brien in March) on his gadget tastes, stock purchases, and jacket size. We hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Special thanks to Trent Wolbe for shooting the video

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Jimmy Fallon and Engadget: raw and uncut originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Studio XPS 13 and 16 hands-on

We hit up Dell for a few more minutes with the sleek new Studio XPS 13 and 16, and our positive early impressions just got better with time. We’re really digging the leather panel on the lid, and while the machines are total fingerprint magnets, when they’re cleaned up they’re pretty eye-catching — particularly the light-up circles on the hinges and the backlit keyboard and mouse buttons. Even the bottom is slick — it’s nicely detailed and the whole things lifts off (Dell calls it a “garage door”) for easy access to the RAM and hard drive. We nabbed a ton of shots, check it out in the gallery!

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Dell Studio XPS 13 and 16 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Panasonic SC-HC3 iPod stereo system hands-on

Panasonic had its slim SC-HC3 iPod / CD dock on display in its booth at CES so we made the long trek to LVCC’s central hall from our sweet double-wide HQ. For some reason, they didn’t have a single iPod available for us to test it with (go figure), but the thing wasn’t lacking in the looks department. If you’re interested, Panasonic’s estimating availability for March at around $200. Still images of the system in action are available below, or peep some video of the sliding mechanism after the break.

Continue reading Video: Panasonic SC-HC3 iPod stereo system hands-on

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Video: Panasonic SC-HC3 iPod stereo system hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Palm Pre / webOS launch roundup

The dust has begun to settle around Palm’s event yesterday, and we’re still sorting through all the news. Palm certainly packed a lot of “New-ness” (yet weirdly, no actual “New-ness”) into its announcements yesterday, and it’s pretty easy to get lost among all the Palm Pre / webOS related news. Lucky for you, we’ve consolidated the goods below, so feel free to experience all the Palm-related bliss you can handle.

The liveblog

Live from Palm’s CES press conference

Impressions / hands-on coverage

Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates!
Palm Pre in-depth impressions, video, and huge hands-on gallery
Palm Pre interface tour

Product announcements

The Palm Pre
Palm announces webOS platform
Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone

In depth / details

There will be a GSM-friendly 3G Palm Pre
Palm stock on a rocket to recovery
Palm’s Pre gets its own spot on Sprint’s website
Palm Pre website now live with official images, video
Palm’s the master of its own domain, the king of its own Castle
Palm’s Pre boxed
Palm Pre’s “New-ness” event video now viewable
Palm Pre ads appear on Engadget

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Palm Pre / webOS launch roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pegatron and Freescale team for low-power, ultra-cheap netbooks and nettops

Pegatron has been pretty quiet ever since it split off from ASUS to do ODM stuff all by its lonesome — which is sort of the idea, since Pegatron’s mainly doing the behind-the-scenes manufacturing. We’re glad, however, that the company peeked out of its shell to show off these new Freescale-based netbooks. The Linux-running laptops boast 8.9-inch screens, 8 hour battery life, 8GB of storage and projected retail prices around $199, while the nettop holds similar power in a pico-style form factor. Under the hood is Freescale’s brand new ARM i.MX515 processor, which is a 1GHz chip that’s described as basically being three times faster than the iPhone. The win here is that the chip draws very little power and generates very little heat, allowing Pegatron to squeeze impressive battery life out of a very thin form factor. Freescale is working with Ubuntu to prep an ARM-Linux distro, which will hit in May, and Adobe will have an ARM happy version of Flash 10 sometime this year. Supplementing the processor are chips for DSP, 2D, 3D and 720p acceleration, which switch on and off as needed — we saw the computer in action playing 720p video smoothly while drawing a mere 0.5 watts and not even feeling warm to the touch. The limitation here is obviously straight-up processing power — it’s not very impressive, and certainly slower than Intel’s Atom — but for running an optimized Linux build and surfing the web or watching a vid, Pegatron and Freescale might’ve just found a new portability sweetspot. They’re hoping to have an OEM pick these up around May or June sometime.

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Pegatron and Freescale team for low-power, ultra-cheap netbooks and nettops originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Samsung P3 PMP hands-on

We tried to get hands-on with the P3 PMP right after the Samsung event, but poor lighting and mass crowding prevented us from getting anything really usable. But fret not because we headed back to the company’s booth to seek out the 3-inch WQVGA player with haptic feedback among the nauseating amount of HDTVs. The walk-through we were given paid specific attention to the P3’s stereo Bluetooth capabilites as well as the touch-based interface. We came away pretty impressed with the polished UI and the smoothness of the user experience. Check out the the device in action after the break and our gallery of hands-on shots as well.

Continue reading Video: Samsung P3 PMP hands-on

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Video: Samsung P3 PMP hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung / Chumby prototype digiframe hands-on

The Samsung / Chumby digiframe was on hand at CES in a very, very early prototype form. In fact, the demo units didn’t even have a back plate covering up the innards. We were told that Samsung’s contribution is the processor within, and plans are to release it to market before the end of ’09. Our early impressions? The widgets were liquid smooth and lookin’ good; the video playback, however, was less than acceptable. Have a glance below for an early look.

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Samsung / Chumby prototype digiframe hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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