Hasta La Gadget!

Philips’ groundbreaking Cinema 21:9 HDTV looked so curious when it launched a fortnight ago that we actually questioned its authenticity. Clearly, this beauty is for real. Pocket-lint was lucky enough to be on-hand for its unveiling in London, and it hosted up a nice video showing off the 56-inch beast in action. The black bars you’ve grown used to detesting were indeed gone, and while Philips wouldn’t dole out any hard specifications, we are told that it boasts five HDMI sockets, a Spring release date and an estimated £3,000 ($4,276) price tag. Vid’s after the break, per usual.

Continue reading Philips’ 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV gets showcased on video

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Philips’ 56-inch Cinema 21:9 HDTV gets showcased on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It wasn’t that long ago that Monday mornings in the office were a depressing time — another cheerful weekend gone; another long week of work ahead. But, these days, being in the office on a Monday is a good thing, because if your login still works you’ve survived another scary layoff Friday. Spare a thought, then, for those whose system access has been cut off, including 1,300 from Sun (the first wave of a total of 6,000 planned job cuts), 8,000 workers at Sprint who are due to receive pink slips, 6,000 from Philips, and an unannounced number of IBM workers (rumored to be 16,000) who have also found themselves to be on the wrong side of the cost-cutting ax. In one final bit of cheery news, AMD has reported a $1.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 and, after shedding its handheld graphics unit, is now selling its manufacturing operations to Advanced Technology Investment. Oh, sorry, you were hoping for some genuinely good news? How about this: that loss is smaller than AMD’s $1.8 billion loss from the same time last year. Now have a great day!

Read – Sun confirms 1,300 layoffs
Read – Sprint Nextel Plans to Cut 8,000 Jobs in Quarter
Read – Philips to Release 6000 Employees into Wild
Read – Several IBM employees report being laid off on Alliance@IBM
Read – IBM Confirms Layoffs
Read – AMD Reports $1.4 Billion Loss

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Recession roundup: Monday morning edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If your New Year’s resolution is to spend less money, let us help. Check out Gearlog’s deals for Wednesday:

1. Quicken is taking $20 off of its line of personal finance CDs and downloads. Choose from the Deluxe package to help maximize your savings, Quicken Premiere to optimize your investments, Home and Business for personal and business in one, or Rental Property Manager for personal and rental property in one package. The discs range from $39.99 to $129.99.

2. Whoops, almost missed this one! Circuit City’s New Year’s Resolutions Event ends today, so hurry over to the site for a variety of deals. Save 15 percent off of select HDTVs, 25 percent off select games, 25 percent off digital cameras, and up to 50 percent off of computer accessories. Also, Netbooks, MP3s, fitness DVDs, and Wii Fit games and accessories are also on sale.

3. Good ‘ol Woot. Today’s deal brings us the Philips HTS6600/37B DVD Home Theater System (above) for $199.99. The system has a list price of $499.99, meaning you won’t find a better deal anywhere else.

The Gadget: Philips’ goLITE BLU, a blue light dispensing clock that helps reduce the effects of seasonal affective disorder, a.k.a. the winter blues. It’s best used in 15-30 minute daily intervals when it’s dark out.

The Price: $250

The Verdict: I’m pretty sure it works. Unlike normal things we review, which can (for the most part) be expressed quantitatively, a device that raises your mood is by nature, subjective. But this little blue clock has noticeably eliminated my seasonally-created low energy, low mood and a general sluggishness in the past few weeks.

The goLITE is supposed to be placed about 15 degrees off center to where your attention is—the monitor, in our case. You use one of the four brightness settings for somewhere between 15-30 minutes (or more if you like) every day in order to simulate the missing sun. The light works through your eyes, which explains why it needs to be in your field of view. Even at the lowest setting, this thing is bright as hell, so avoid looking directly at it.

Whether or not I’m actually feeling better because the blue light’s rays are working or it’s just me and the placebo effect wanting myself to feel better, I don’t know. But there are other reviews out there that say that it works. And I believe this does. My energy is up, I don’t feel as depressed, and as a result, I don’t feel like I’m trudging through the day.

The $250 price tag may seem like quite a bit to pay for something you only use 30 minutes a day, but think of it like this. We buy electronics all the time in order to give ourselves and emotional boost; the goLite is one that’s actually designed for that purpose. [Light Therapy and Amazon]