Hasta La Gadget!

It’s here at last, and we’re frankly thrilled to be holding Samsung’s very first TouchWiz 2.0 device, the Verizon Wireless-bound Samsung Omnia II. The 2.0 software brings with it a Widget Store, and as a general UI manages to skin over a majority of Windows Mobile 6.5, which is puttering along underneath. The handset is a tad on the bulky side, but makes up for it with a wonderful 3.7-inch AMOLED WVGA screen and a very nice 5 megapixel camera. We’ll have a review for you before long, but for now you can check out a quick video rundown (including some playtime with the Samsung-exclusive “Swype” keyboard) after the break. And if that video is enough to convince you, the phone is available now on Verizon Wireless for $200 after rebate.

Continue reading Samsung Omnia II unboxing and hands-on

Samsung Omnia II unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mattel’s Ucreate Games and Artimation ($59.99 list) promises to “put mash-up creativity and game creation into the hands of kids.” I was intrigued; it sounded like a lot more than a passive game-playing experience. Ucreate Games is geared toward kids ages 7 to 13; I figured my smart 6-year-old son would be into it–and he was for a while. After I installed the software for him and attached the USB camera, I worked with him to figure out how to use the Ucreate software.

In the Ucreate Games and Artimation package, you get a drawing tablet, software, a folding digital camera attached to a stand, markers, and a set of templates. The main activities are building and playing your own pinball games and puzzles; creating animations that Mattel calls “mash-ups”; and playing a game called Ball Drop, where you try to get a ball to move from one area of a room to the exit by placing objects in strategic places.

What’s really cool about all of these activities is that you can create your own artwork to incorporate into the games. For example, you can draw different parts of the pinball table on the included templates, capture the drawing, and then import the pieces to be placed on your playing field.

You may have seen commercials for Techno Source USA’s Printies (ages 6 and up)—a combination software-and-materials package that lets you design a stuffed animal, print the design onto a special fabric sheet, and then add stuffing to create a 3-D toy. I took the Printies Jungle Design Studio ($30) for a whirl with my precocious 6-year-old daughter, Shaina.

If you’re in a rush, here’s a very brief upshot: Printies works as advertised, but you should be aware that these stuffed animals are meant to be used as decorations, not toys. Because they’re printed via inkjet, the colors can run when exposed to moisture, and the ink may stain clothing, furniture, and little fingers if mishandled.

Hey, remember that mystery tablet NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was pimping a mere couple of weeks ago? Well, it’s made its way to London, and woe betide the Engadget editor who didn’t get a hands-on with such an exclusive piece of hardware. So what we’re looking at here is a Windows CE-powered, resistive touchscreen display spanning somewhere around 15 to 16 inches, with the same Tegra internals as may be found in the Zune HD or one of them smartbook devices. As we reported earlier, the company behind the machine is ICD, and this particular unit was built to try and entice T-Mobile into placing a few orders.

Being a prototype, the device on hand was quite literally rough around the edges, but what we saw was appetite-whetting. The overall construction is under an inch thin, 720p video playback was excellent, and there’s even a terrific-looking wireless recharge station cum base accessory — think of Palm’s Touchstone, only enlarged and magnetized to the point where it can support the whole tablet in an upright position. If somebody marries all that hardware potential with the Stantum multitouch firmware and a more finger-friendly OS, this thing just might make the whole Apple tablet brouhaha utterly irrelevant. Video after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on

NVIDIA Tegra tablet prototype hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our Black Friday just got significantly more awesome — a new Nikon D3S showed up on our doorstep a moment ago, along with a super-hot NIKKOR AF-S 24-70 f/2.8G ED lens. We’re just about to dive into this thing’s incredible ISO 102,400 performance (well, we will when it get a little darker) and full-manual 720p24 video mode, but for now we thought we’d hit you up with some unboxing shots — check ’em out!

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Nikon D3S unboxing and hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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