Viliv S10 Blade netvertible hands-on at IDF

Viliv has one of the best-looking convertible tablets we’ve ever seen here at IDF, the new S10 Blade. It’s actually quite striking in person — it’s thin and light, while still offering a convertible touchscreen and a decent keyboard. Sadly the version pictured here has a pretty slow single-touch resistive touchscreen and will be limited to Windows 7 Starter when it launches in November for around $570, but we’re told that a multitouch resistive model will hit early next year with Windows 7 Home Premium for around $700. We’ll see if that one has the functionality to back up these hot looks when it hits — but for now, check the rest of the pics in the gallery.

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Viliv S10 Blade netvertible hands-on at IDF originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Intel’s Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files… on a hackintosh

Intel just did a pretty impressive demo of its new Light Peak optical device interconnect, driving a greater-than-HD display while saturating an SSD RAID all over one cable, but we couldn’t help but notice the monster Frankenstein test rig on stage was running OS X — looks like someone’s violating their EULA! Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Intel’s Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files… on a hackintosh

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Video: Intel’s Light Peak running an HD display while transferring files… on a hackintosh originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show: Hands-on with Times Square

In addition to our full length Engadget Show, we’ll be doing short segments on a wide variety of topics which we’re hoping will delight, inform, or at least entertain for a few, precious moments.

Ever wondered who makes the outrageous displays in Times Square? Now you’ll know. Josh talks to Meric Adriansen from D3 LED, the man who designs and builds those massive structures, and goes behind the scenes to see the rigs from the other side. Want to get deep inside of the art and science behind the light pollution that is — literally — New York’s most visible spot? Watch the video… and subscribe to the RSS / iTunes feed below (we’re still waiting on Zune Marketplace approval).

Also, if you missed the premiere of the show with Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, you can see it here.

Host: Joshua Topolsky
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Bit Shifter

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The Engadget Show: Hands-on with Times Square originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alienware’s redesigned Area-51, Aurora, and updated M15x hands-on

Okay, so it’s not quite the invasion that the company touted, but Alienware definitely gave itself a fairly sizable retail space at this week’s Tokyo Game Show, on hand to show off its Area-51 / Aurora revised desktops and its upgraded m15x laptop. We think you can already grasp the gist of the lineup from the company’s long-standing modus operandi: large, powerful, and covered inside and out with LEDs. Enjoy the sight of six hard drives aligned in a wall by way of the gallery below, and stay tuned after the break to see a very brief demonstration on how those “scales” on top of the desktops work.

Continue reading Alienware’s redesigned Area-51, Aurora, and updated M15x hands-on

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Alienware’s redesigned Area-51, Aurora, and updated M15x hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Intel Tru2way server streams cable all over your house

Look, Moblin and MIDs and USB 3.0 are all well and good, but the real highlight of IDF is hiding in plain sight: it’s Intel’s CE 3100 Media Processor-based Tru2way DVR server, which has three digital cable tuners that can be streamed over a regular gigabit Ethernet or MoCA to any number of clients, ranging from other 3100-based set-top boxes to DLNA devices like laptops and even the PS3. It’s seriously cool — the clients all see the server’s tuners as their own, so the experience is seamless, and since it all runs on the Tru2way stack, it doesn’t matter what kind of client you plug in — the three clients on the show floor were running interfaces from Intel, Comcast (Rovi), and Digeo. Of course, since it’s a DVR, you can actually add more clients than tuners and have them play back recorded content while your other boxes use the tuners — Intel was demoing XBMC on a Sony laptop connecting over DLNA and streaming a recorded program while a PS3 nearby ran a photo slideshow, all while the three cable clients streamed uncompressed HD video from the tuners. Intel says a number of cable companies are interested in deploying this stuff and that we should see things on the market in the next year — we honestly can’t wait. Check a video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Intel Tru2way server streams cable all over your house

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Video: Intel Tru2way server streams cable all over your house originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Moblin 2.1 for MIDs and phones, sort of in action

Although Intel made some waves yesterday with the announcement of the smartphone-capable Moblin 2.1 release, the reality here on the ground at IDF is pretty much status quo: phones and other connected devices based on the next-gen Moorestown mobile platform are nowhere to be found, and the actual products on the floor are the same chunky MIDs we’ve all come to know and ignore. But while the devices remain somewhat uninteresting, Moblin itself has some terrific potential from what we’ve seen — there’s deep location and social networking integration with a unified contacts list that works a lot like Palm’s Synergy, standard Linux apps can be easily ported over and run without any fuss, and manufacturers and developers can even ditch the standard UI and develop whatever they want on top. It’s definitely cool stuff — we just wish Intel had given us this demo on a compelling hardware instead of an older Menlow-based Compal MID, you know? Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Moblin 2.1 for MIDs and phones, sort of in action

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Video: Moblin 2.1 for MIDs and phones, sort of in action originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IREX unveils DR 800SG wireless ebook reader (updated with hands-on!)

IREX is currently, right this very second, taking the wraps off its big new splash in the ebook space, the new DR 800SG. The 8.1-inch unit has wireless connectivity courtesy of Verizon in the US and Qualcomm’s Gobi multi-mode 3G for switching it up in the rest of the world. There’s also 2GB of built-in storage, memory card expansion and stylus input (“true finger touch” is coming in Q2 2010 to a future product, right now you can only use the stylus, and a color reader is in the works as well for 2011), and IREX claims to have the fastest page refreshes in the biz. Perhaps most notable is that the reader is Barnes & Noble’s first big play in the space, with support for the B&N eBookstore — though the whole thing is an “open platform” with support from content from Newspaper Direct and LibreDigital stores as well, and format support of PDF, EPUB, Newspaper Direct, Fictionwise, eReader and TXT. Quite the mouthful, and IREX promises to follow wherever the market leads when it comes to DRM. The $399 device includes a leather cover and stylus in the box, and will be available this October in “select” Best Buy stores and will hit Europe in the first half of 2010. No wireless contract is required.

We got to play with the new reader briefly, and weren’t quite sure how to feel. On one hand, it’s another sexy, slim reader, with a pretty great and fast e-ink screen. On the other hand, the interface is totally minimal and a little nonsensical without the stylus. A bar on the left side gives you a “tactile” method of pushing right or left to turn the page, but it feels pretty janky. Notetaking isn’t enabled currently, so you can’t draw on the screen, making the stylus feel a bit of a burden, not a boon — the closest you get to text input is tapping away at an onscreen keyboard. We’re glad IREX avoided the visibility-hampering pitfalls of Sony’s touchscreen ebook technology, but perhaps some more thought should’ve been put into the alternative. We didn’t do any heavy downloading, but the reader takes a very long time to create a connection — a good 20-30 seconds — which might’ve been due to the concrete bunker we’re hanging out in, or just a sign of a slow processor, we’re not sure which. We love the “openness,” and it’s great to see so many format alternatives right out of the gate, but we’re gonna need more time with the DR 800SG before we’re sure it’s worth the plunge.

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IREX unveils DR 800SG wireless ebook reader (updated with hands-on!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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USB 3.0 has a SuperSpeed coming-out party at IDF

The world better be ready for SuperSpeed USB 3.0, cause it’s coming, baby — and by the looks of things at IDF, it’s coming soon. Intel’s “USB Community” pavilion is filled with SuperSpeed tech from a variety of companies, and while some of the demos are happening on crazy Frankenstein rigs, there’s a bunch of stuff here that’s basically ready to ship, including controller chips from NEC and Fujitsu, which are the heart of the whole shebang. Of course, while lightning-fast SSD transfers are nice, the showiest product on the floor is Point Grey’s prototype HD camera here, which streams uncompressed 1080p video over USB 3.0 — it’s not a final product, but it’s apparently quite close. Yes, we know the gallery below is basically cable porn, but here are the facts: USB 3.0 is 10x faster than 2.0 while using less power, and it’s entirely backwards-compatible, since the five 3.0 pins in the connector have been cleverly engineered to sit above the four legacy 2.0 pins. If that doesn’t get you dreaming of hard drives for the holidays, well, we don’t know what will. Video after the break!

Continue reading USB 3.0 has a SuperSpeed coming-out party at IDF

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USB 3.0 has a SuperSpeed coming-out party at IDF originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Intel’s four-screen laptop prototype hands-on

Well, here’s something you don’t see every day: Intel’s got a concept laptop here at IDF that features three OLED touchscreens below the 15-inch screen. In keeping with the hype of the moment, the primary idea is to run widgets and other passive apps on the little screens, but they’re actually integrated with the main screen, so you can flick content up to view it full-size, and even use the mouse to interact with the widgets instead of your fingers. It’s definitely cool, but it’s also definitely a little odd in practice — although Intel says they’re talking to OEMs, things will have to be significantly refined before this can hit production. More pics in the gallery, video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Intel’s four-screen laptop prototype hands-on

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Video: Intel’s four-screen laptop prototype hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: A tale of two tablets

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

It was the best of ideas. It was the worst of ideas. It was the age of innovation. It was the age of stagnation. It was the epoch of developing a bold new computing platform. It was the epoch of churning out another piece of converged electronics nobody needs.

Rumors have been swirling that PC operating system heavyweights Apple and Microsoft are developing forays into the world of tablet computing. Such devices will face strong competition from netbooks featuring low prices and a large library of applications remains to be seen. Two new entrants to the hardware world, the CrunchPad and Always Innovating’s Touch Book, have already begun panning for gold with their Linux-based tablets. However, the waters are now attracting larger rivals designing tablets powered by Microsoft operating systems, albeit different ones.

Entering one of the few new categories at IFA earlier this month, Toshiba announced the JournE Touch, a 7″ touch-enabled tablet running Windows CE designed for addressing the usual range of converged device chores, including accessing social networks and content playback, but there are a few tricks up its slender sleeve.

Continue reading Switched On: A tale of two tablets

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Switched On: A tale of two tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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