Synaptics’ ClearPad 3000 touchscreen does 10-finger capacitive multitouch, other forms of dark magics

After doing a considerable amount of business with its ClearPad 2000 Series capacitive touchscreens, Synaptics is taking on multitouch in a very serious way with its new ClearPad 3000 Series screens. Synaptics’ existing screens can be found on the G1 and other modern smartphones, but while they offer a small amount of multitouch, they can become easily confused by anything beyond a simple pinch or swipe gesture — and are downright dangerous for typing, thanks to a proclivity to average between two simultaneously touched points. The new ClearPad 3000 screens fight that off with new advances in capacitive technology and a new processor which can handle up to 10 simultaneous finger presses — including some info on the shape and size of each touching finger. The entire screen can actually be tracked pixel-by-pixel, and the new technology allows for up to 8-inch screens without completely destroying battery life. Naturally, these screens will only be as good as the software that uses them (and we still haven’t seen anything to top Stantum’s resistive touchscreen tech), but Synaptics is doing the best it can to work with phone manufacturers (and others) who are designing interfaces for these screens, to make sure they can use the tech right. The first devices using ClearPad 3000 should hit this fall, so we suppose we’ll find out soon enough if it pays off in device usability. There’s a video demonstration of the tech after the break.

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Synaptics’ ClearPad 3000 touchscreen does 10-finger capacitive multitouch, other forms of dark magics originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Insignia NS-HD01 portable HD radio hands-on and impressions

HD Radio has been desperately trying for years to become important in a world where most Americans are perfectly fine with tinny, 96kbps MP3s, and by and large, it’s been unsuccessful. More vehicles today arrive with compatibility for a single shining portable media player (Apple’s iPod, if you had to ask) than HD Radio, and up until this month, there was no way to easily strap an HD Radio player on your arm when heading out to the gym. One could argue that getting the technology into this segment is crucial for being ubiquitous, and while we aren’t so sure we’re in that camp just yet, we’re still willing to give Insignia’s NS-HD01 a fighting chance. Head on past the break for our take, and feel free to peruse the gallery for an up close and personal look at the hardware.

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Insignia NS-HD01 portable HD radio hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The HTC Hero has landed… in our hands

Guess what the Gadget Stork delivered on our doorstep today? A robot baby? No. Better. An actual, real, in-the-Teflon HTC Hero. Let’s just say this — it’s pretty much the sexiest Android device ever created. We’re not going to go into too much detail right now, as we’re planning on delivering a full review next week, but we do want to say that this thing has our eyes glazed over like Scrooge McDuck checking out a pile of gold… if you know what we mean. HTC has truly outdone themselves here, not only with build quality (the thing kind of feels like a luxurious rock in your hand — it’s a good thing), but so far the software seems truly outstanding as well. Of course, we haven’t taken the deep dive yet, so for now, feast your eyes on these photos, and get ready for the main event.

Update:
Oh why, HTC? Apparently, this thing ain’t covered in Teflon at all. According to the company’s PR, only the white models are getting the dirt-resistant treatment. We’re guessing the unit we have is just sporting a regular, soft-touch coating. It feels good and all… but now it seems so much less special.

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The HTC Hero has landed… in our hands originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones hands-on and impressions

Ultrasone’s been kickin’ out $1.5k headphones for as long as we can remember, and it only takes a glimpse at the Edition 9s from 2006 to see just how far we’ve come. The newest model, curiously titled the Edition 8, was initially announced a few months back, and we’ve just now been able to stuff our cranium between its Ethiopian sheepskin-covered earcups and hear ’em out. We’ve listened to our fair share of audio products over the years, and we definitely feel as if these are some of the most exquisite we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. Still, with a $1,500 price tag, it’ll take a little more than “yeah, these are pretty wicked” to win us over. Head on past the break for our two pennies.

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Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Toshiba TG01 gets UK launch, we handle it again

It may have already been teased, poked and prodded, but the TG01 from Toshiba still insisted on making a big splash on its arrival to the UK and we were only too happy to oblige and join in on its launch event in London. As you should know by now, this is Toshiba’s most significant attempt to date at penetrating the consumer smartphone market, and it’s coming equipped with a battering ram named Snapdragon. Head over to Engadget Mobile for the juicy details on the UI, construction and general feel, as well as a neat stash of images and videos of the phone in action.

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Video: Toshiba TG01 gets UK launch, we handle it again originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Red Fox Wizbook N1020i netbook gets a hands-on

Red Fox’s recently unveiled netbook — the Wizbook N1020i — has just gotten a hands-on treatment from the folks over at Electronic Pulp. The 10.2-incher is looking like pretty standard netbook fare — a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, built-in webcam and card reader, plus 3 USB ports and a 6-cell battery — all tell the same old tale. Rather interestingly, though, this model supports Bluetooth 3.0 and boasts an ExpressCard/34 slot… which may not be enough to make you run out in search of one, but is at least enough to keep it semi-interesting. We’re really digging the neons, too. There’s no word on pricing or availability yet — but there is another shot after the break, and hit the read link for a full set.

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Red Fox Wizbook N1020i netbook gets a hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Omnia II and the case of the musical guided tour

Samsung’s Omnia II and its gorgeous 3.7-inch AMOLED screen is still without a Verizon release date, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying Italian site HDBlog’s ten-minute guided tour of the device. Hard to tell exactly how crisp is from the footage, and we also couldn’t help but note a good bit of interface lag, especially when using the new cube menu. We’re hopeful that’ll get remedied before launch, and all in all, it’s looking good, and the hardware definitely has some style. Grab some popcorn, video is after the break.

[Via Slashgear]

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Samsung Omnia II and the case of the musical guided tour originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time

Looks like the Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet has made it out of the labs (and controlled show floor settings) and into the hands of Crave UK, where that seemingly-amazing resistive touchscreen continues to impress — so much so that they initially thought it was a capacitive unit. We actually pinged Crave ed Nate Lanxon to find out what was up, and the real story appears to be a mystery — either Archos PR is mistaken in telling everyone that it’s a resistive screen, or the company has somehow improved the tech to the point where it’s virtually indistinguishable from a capacitive display. Given our experience with previous Archos resistive touchscreen devices that felt like mush, we’ve got to say we’re going with Occam’s Razor on this and that it’s really capacitive, but we’re definitely ready to be proven wrong — hey Archos, you feel like sending us a new toy to play with?

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Archos 9 Windows 7 tablet does a little hands-on time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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D-Link’s Xtreme N DIR-685 storage router hands-on and impressions

Somehow or another, D-Link managed to combine a NAS, digital photo frame, secondary display and 802.11n router into a single device, and when the Xtreme N DIR-685 Storage Router was announced way back at CES this year, we were certainly interested to see how such a conglomerate would go over. At long last, the do-it-all wireless router is finally making its way out to the public at large, and with an MSRP of $299.99 (sans any internal HDD space), it’s definitely one of the pricier routers out there. We’ve taken this strikingly unique device into our lairs for a few days of testing, and if you’re interested in seeing if this bad boy is worth the price of admission, you’ll need to follow us past the break.

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D-Link’s Xtreme N DIR-685 storage router hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii MotionPlus impressions: it works, but so far the games aren’t worth the fuss

At first glance it’s a little difficult to understand the necessity of another motion-sensing add-on. What could possibly be inside this particular block of white plastic that’s not inside those other countless slabs of white plastic that Nintendo has already slathered on the Wii? Sure, we know in theory that the gyroscopes that MotionPlus provides allows the controller to truly orient itself in 3D space, instead of just sensing acceleration in various directions, and breaks some of that reliance on the sensor bar, but do those theoretical advances result in a true leap in gameplay? We tested it out with EA’s new MotionPlus-enabled Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and Grand Slam Tennis — the first such titles on the market while we wait for Nintendo to get its own Wii Sports Resort in order — and we’d say the results are pretty inconclusive so far. Check out our full impressions after the break, along with enthralling videos of both games in action.

Major thanks to The Golf Club at Chelsea Piers for letting us test this out at their facilities, and to golf pros Herb and Marj for letting us waste some of their valuable time.

Continue reading Wii MotionPlus impressions: it works, but so far the games aren’t worth the fuss

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Wii MotionPlus impressions: it works, but so far the games aren’t worth the fuss originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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