Hasta La Gadget!

Seeing as Wintel fans will soon join in on the Thunderbolt fun, how about a smorgasbord of devices toting the interconnect, conveniently laid out in a two pane vitrine here at IDF? Alongside the usual suspects — such as LaCie’s Little Big Disk, Promise’s Pegasus and the Sonnet’s Echo — are a few devices we’ve never seen before, namely Belkin’s Express dock, some unnamed Seagate drives and two PCIe expansion chassis from Sonnet and Magma. We’re particularly smitten with the latter two — you know, dreams about extending our future Ultrabooks with some serious external graphics horsepower. Check out the entire spread in our gallery below and the video after the break.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Thunderbolt accessories at IDF 2011: Belkin’s Express dock, Seagate drives and PCIe expansion cards (video)

Thunderbolt accessories at IDF 2011: Belkin’s Express dock, Seagate drives and PCIe expansion cards (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ViewSonic ViewPad 7e isn’t exactly what we’d call a barn burner. The 1GHz Samsung chip inside is enough for some basic web browsing and light app duty, but even the ViewSonic reps we spoke to referred to it as an “e-reader on steroids,” positioning it more as a competitor to the Nook Color than the iPad. In our brief hands-on, the little tablet ran Gingerbread capably enough that we weren’t drumming our fingers on the table, but the 7-inch, 800 x 600 screen was not always particularly responsive — it took three swipes to unlock the first time. Despite it’s noticeable bulk (you can see it resting besides a Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the gallery below) it was surprisingly light in the hand. Of course, it saves precious ounces by going with an all plastic build, but it hardly feels cheap or shoddy (though, the buttons are a bit stiff). On the left-hand edge you’ll find a microSD slot for adding to the 4GB of integrated storage, while along the top is the AC plug, a mini USB port and mini HMDI for pumping out 1080p video. As we’ve mentioned before this budget slate is available to pre-order now for $200. Don’t miss the bevy of photos below as well as the PR after the break.

Continue reading Viewsonic ViewPad 7e hands-on

Viewsonic ViewPad 7e hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Audi isn’t the only one with a tiny little EV with exposed wheels at Frankfurt this year. Parent company Volkswagen has one too, but this is even smaller. It’s called the Nils and it’s designed for commuters in the “world of tomorrow” — commuters who will be very thin and, apparently, short. Big people just don’t fit well into this tiny thing, but if you’re of modest size or below this could be an interesting little ride. It has only 34-horsepower (25kW) available from a rear-mounted electric motor, but since it weighs just 1,000-pounds (460kg) that should make for some peppy commutes — of less than 40 miles (65 kilometers), which is the maximum range here. More details after the break.

Continue reading Volkswagen Nils concept has an HTC Desire HD dashboard, seats one Engadget editor

Volkswagen Nils concept has an HTC Desire HD dashboard, seats one Engadget editor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember the Ooma Telo? It suffered the same fate as most home VoIP adapters: a lifetime chained to the home or office router, bound forever by a freedom-crushing Ethernet cable. But no. No more. The benevolent engineers at Ooma have decided to set the Telo free. Hello, Ooma Telo Air Wireless Adapter — you’re about to put VoIP in our kitchen.

Ooma’s Voice over IP service and the Telo adapter itself are hardly new, but we couldn’t resist giving the outfit’s new VOIP liberating dongle a try. Read on for more.

Continue reading Ooma Telo and Telo Air wireless adapter hands-on

Ooma Telo and Telo Air wireless adapter hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP may not have much going on when it comes to cellphones and tablets at the moment, but the company is hardly resting on its laurels. As if to prove it’s still got a bit of fire in its corporate belly, it unleashed a total of eight new displays today (nine, if you count the updated HP rp5800 Retail System). The trio of digital signage models, including the 47-inch multitouch LD4720tm, probably aren’t of much interest to you, but the four new ZR series Performance Displays and the more budget friendly LE2202x Essential display are worth at least a quick glance. The LE model is an LED backlit, 1,920 x 1,080 monitor with 21.5-inches of real estate and a 5ms response time. The ZR line are all IPS displays, ranging in size from 20 to 27-inches, with a resolution of 1,600 x 900 at the low end and up to 2,560 x 1,440 for the ZR2740w. The 2740 also sports the ability to display over one billion colors, while the three other models make do with just 16.7 million. The ZR2040w, ZR2240w and ZR2440w ZR2740w are available now for $189, $289 and $425 $729 respectively, while the ZR2740w ZR2440w is expected to follow in October for $729 $425. Those with less demanding eyes and occupations will be able to grab the LE2202x on September 19th for $179. Check out the galleries below, as well as the PR after the break.

Update: Our apologies, it’s the ZR2440w that won’t be shipping till october.

Dante Cesa contributed to this report.

Continue reading HP goes display crazy, unveils eight new models, four IPS panels (hands-on)

HP goes display crazy, unveils eight new models, four IPS panels (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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