Hasta La Gadget!

Now that Alienware’s latest gaming notebooks have broken free from their classified captivity, perhaps you’d like to know how their form factors stack up? Well, we just so happen to have gotten our grubby paws on the extraterrestrials, and they’re looking mighty fine. We’ll warn you though, that the chart-topping M18x is a beast in more ways than one — it may not be a literal 600-pound gorilla, but after one heft of its 16-pound frame we started wondering if luggables were back in vogue.

While the M18x’s factory-overclocked 4GHz processor and HDMI-input sorely tempted us, we were rather more taken with the Alienware M14x’s svelte frame, which should prove quite tempting for those who dig its more petite profile. While it doesn’t have the anodized aluminum shell of its big brother the M18x, its red matte plastic exterior has a high-quality feel to it, though we spotted an unsightly seam along the right edge of the prototype unit. It’s also unfortunately got a super-glossy screen, but the Klipsch speakers impressed — much more than a simple gimmick, they’re plenty powerful for a 14-inch notebook and sounded fairly crisp. We briefly played Call of Duty: Black Ops on the M14x, and found the keys to have plenty of travel and provided a satisfying click with each press as we wandered Cuban streets, and the touchpad was quite responsive as well (though we didn’t have a chance to test its multitouch capabilities). It’s heavier than other laptops with similar screen real-estate, but it’s still an totally totable PC — and the heft is a welcome tradeoff in exchange for the added horsepower under the hood as compared to its Jenny Craig competition.

Sean Hollister contributed to this report.

Alienware M18x and M14x first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Yes, this is what happens when you combine Kinect with a recliner on a motorized platform — perfectly normal people doing awesome zombie impersonations! This week at Microsoft’s MIX 11 web developer conference, the enterprising Clint Rutkas of Coding4Fun / Channel 9 fame showed off his Kinect-driven “Jellybean” armchair on stage during the keynote, and later let our very own Sean Hollister take it for a spin. Sadly, we missed our chance to capture this special occasion on video for posterity when the laptop used to control this armchair overlord ran out of juice in the final stages of our practice run. The motorized platform uses eight batteries, four omnidirectional wheels each with its own motor, and a pair of motor controllers connected to a laptop which interprets the input from Kinect (using the new SDK for Windows) and provides visual feedback to the driver. A gesture interface brings the entire contraption to life and even includes a hand signal to recline the armchair. Take a look at some closeup shots in our gallery below and watch our video of the recliner in action after the break.

Continue reading Kinect-driven ‘Jellybean’ armchair hands-on (video)

Kinect-driven ‘Jellybean’ armchair hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The next time you hit the Netflix app on your Xbox 360 the update we heard about at CES will be waiting, bringing Kinect owners the ability to flick through their videos (like ESPN3 and Zune have since the peripheral launched) without digging a controller out of the couch cushions. After the 43Mb update downloads waving ones hand for the camera or saying Xbox will pull up the new menu seen above, which auto sorts selections for browsing by voice or gesture based on what it thinks you may want to watch next. Selecting “browse all” brings you right back to the standard menu and is probably the method most will want to stick with, however being able to pause the movie quickly during playback by simply saying Xbox, Pause (or FF, rewind, skip scene, etc.) is quite convenient. Not near your Xbox? Check out a brief video of it in action after the break.

[Thanks, George]

Continue reading Netflix for Xbox 360 updated with Kinect support, everybody wave!

Netflix for Xbox 360 updated with Kinect support, everybody wave! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Major Nelson  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft delivered a big batch of mobile happiness at its annual MIX developers’ conference this morn, promising a host of major features including multitasking, background audio, push notifications and raw sensor data (not to mention over 1500 new APIs) in the next version of Windows Phone. Of course, it’s one thing to tell you how pumped attending developers might be to bite into a nice juicy mango next month and another to see for yourself, so feast your eyes on the best of Windows Phone Next in the video above. Not bad, eh?

Sean Hollister contributed to this report.

This is Windows Phone Next — developers take notes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

We just so happened to have our review units of HTC’s Incredible S and Desire S on hand during today’s Sensation launch event, so what else to do with them than to throw them in with the new 4.3-incher and shoot some photos? The gallery below should give you a pretty good idea of the physical differences between HTC’s trio of foremost Android devices for the European market. You won’t be able to tell much about the difference a dual-core processor makes, but then what’s life without a little mystery?

HTC Sensation versus Incredible S and Desire S… a family scuffle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments