NEC’s ArmKeypad lets you play charades to control your media player (video)

Okay, two words, sounds like… wait, it’s one word? Okay, two words in one. First word, three letters, sounds like “arm.” Oh, it is “arm.” Okay, second word. You’re typing. Typing on keys. It’s keyboard. It’s not a keyboard? No, it is a keyboard. The word isn’t “keyboard?” Really? Maybe “keypad?” It’s “keypad!” What the heck is an ArmKeypad? Turns out it’s NEC‘s attempt at letting us control our portable devices using charades-like gestures, which we first heard about last week. You can tap your arms in different places to control volume or skip tracks, even clap your hands if you’re happy and your want your PMP to know it. The system relies on a wrist-borne accelerometer that detects the impacts and, while the video below looks a bit goofy, that’s far better than fumbling with your smartphone while sucking wind on your thrice-weekly runs. And, it’s certainly far simpler than the projected Skinput. NEC expects to have this tech built into a watch-like device sometime within the next two years. That watch had better have a calculator.

Continue reading NEC’s ArmKeypad lets you play charades to control your media player (video)

NEC’s ArmKeypad lets you play charades to control your media player (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zune Insider reminds that Zune isn’t dead, announces Zune HD launch in Canada

Zune Insider reminds that Zune isn't dead, announces Zune HD launch in Canada

We still have only an official non-denial from Microsoft about the continued livelihood of the name “Zune” as a brand, but now we have Zune Insider saying “Zune is not dead.” Indeed we already knew that, but the question is what’s coming in the future with Windows Phone seemingly getting all the company’s attention of late. The future we still don’t know about, but we do have some news about the present for Canadians: the Zune HD! Yes, our friendly neighbors to the north need no longer look south to purchase Microsoft’s latest entry to the Zune series — though “latest” is a somewhat sad designation for hardware that was released in 2009. However, there’s still no Marketplace available: it’ll strictly be a BYO tunage affair for now.

Zune Insider reminds that Zune isn’t dead, announces Zune HD launch in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-On With Samsung’s Five-Inch iPod Touch Rival

BARCELONA — Amid the fuss about Samsung’s new ten-inch Galaxy Tab and the Galaxy S 2 cellphone, an even more interesting product has gotten somewhat lost: A five-inch Wi-Fi-only mini-tablet, called the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 5.0.

The thin little media-player is somewhere between the already wrong-sized 7-inch Galaxy Tab and the regular Galaxy S cellphone, only without the phone or 3G parts of either. For such an odd product –- kind of like the too-tall, gawky girl from school –- it’s actually pretty great. The screen is way better for watching movies than the smaller display of, say, the iPod Touch, but despite the extra roominess it still slides easily into the back pocket of your jeans. And the screen isn’t far from the size of a dedicated e-reader like the Kindle, either.

I played with the Android-based mini-tablet and immediately liked it. It is very thin and light but suffers from none of the plasticky feel of the new tat-tastic Tab 10.1. Multi-touch response is fast, and as far as I could see under the bright show lights, the LCD display gives a very nice rendering of movies.

The Wi-Fi 5.0 also comes with a camera for Skype, and a phone-like speaker and mic setup for VoIP calling. And I have the feeling it would make an awesome Angry Birds machine.

One note. The picture up top shows the Tab Wi-Fi alongside a regular (Galaxy S) sized handset, for scale. What isn’t to scale is the hands that hold them: The kind girl on the Samsung booth that held the two for the photo has teeny hands.

Photo: Charlie Sorrel


Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 looks like a new Android PMP

What happened when Samsung’s phone division gobbled up the media player team? We’re pretty sure you’re looking at it right now — the YP-MB2 / Galaxy Player 50 is now formally known as the Galaxy S WiFi 4.0, and it’s big bad brother the Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 is pictured immediately above. While we can’t actually tell you much about the SIM-less smartphone other than hazard guesses at front-facing camera, HDMI port, microSD card slot and (given naming conventions) a 5-inch screen, we can tell you that the 4.0-inch version of the device is now sporting Samsung’s Super Clear LCD. We’re expecting the company to unveil these any hour now in Barcelona, so keep your eyes peeled for further coverage at MWC.

[Thanks, Kin-Yip]

Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 looks like a new Android PMP originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cowon D3 Plenue priced at $370, or $100 per inch of AMOLED

Want yourself a “Prestige” portable media player to make even legit smartphones blush in envy? Then the D3 Plenue from Cowon might just be for you, what with its 1080p video playback, 32GB of storage, Android 2.1 OS, and 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 AMOLED display. It’s just that today we’re finding the Prestige label also extends to its price, which Amazon has set at a mighty $370. That’s not terrible when contrasted against unsubsidized pricing for comparable smartphones, but then this isn’t a smartphone. Availability of the D3 Plenue is limited to an undated pre-order for the moment, giving you at least a little more time to deliberate on the value this souped-up PMP represents.

Cowon D3 Plenue priced at $370, or $100 per inch of AMOLED originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iriver U100 PMP gets official reveal, P100 and D2000 leave something to the imagination

The teases over at iriver are ready to show you what they’ve got: the neon-colored U100. We reported on the PMP, along with the P100 and the D2000 last month, but it looks like iriver is going to leave us guessing on the last two. The U100 sports a 3.1-inch (320 x 480) touchscreen, up to 16GB of internal memory, WiFi, microSDHC, and an FM tuner for those who still listens to the radio. It plays 720p video and touts 50 hours of battery life for audio playback and 11 hours for video. iriver isn’t ready to give us all the details quite yet — an official release date and pricing are still under wraps — but they have provided another video to keep us interested. Hit up the source link to see for yourself.

iriver U100 PMP gets official reveal, P100 and D2000 leave something to the imagination originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceAkihabara News  | Email this | Comments

Samsung Galaxy Player hands-on

Hello there, Galaxy S without a SIM card slot, how are you today? Samsung’s showing off its Korea-bound Galaxy Player at CES today and we’ve got to say, it’s almost indistinguishable from the European Galaxy S handset. The small differences include the addition of a second speaker on the back of this device, offering a stereo sound experience when you’re away from your headphones and, of course, a retractable TV antenna (it’s for the Korean market, after all). Availability is set for this month in Samsung’s home nation, but our queries about US plans were unfortunately met with uncertainty. Samsung says nothing’s yet been announced for bringing this creation to retail shelves in North America, but the gallery is right here and right now.

Photography by Myriam Joire.

Samsung Galaxy Player hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips crams ATSC M/H tuner into PD725 portable DVD player, intros PB9013 mobile Blu-ray player

In recent years, Philips has strayed somewhat from introducing products catering to the North American marketplace. We’re thrilled to say that this year’s spate of CES announcements signifies a stark turn from that approach. The most interesting release from the company during this year’s blowout is probably the PS725 (shown above), a 7-inch portable DVD player that doubles as a mobile TV viewer. Before you bust out the yawn collector, you should know that Philips managed to stuff both an ATSC and an ATSC M/H tuner within, the latter of which just announced a major push into 20 major metropolitan markets back in November. The unit has an 800 x 480 resolution display, three hours of nonstop playback via a rechargeable Li-Polymer battery pack, a screen that swivels 180 degrees and a $299 price point. It’ll ship in March, just as your FLO TV service keels over. In related news, the outfit is also outing a PB9013 portable Blu-ray player, which touts a 9-inch display, a battery good for three hours of enjoyment, a bundled mounting kit and an HDMI output. You’ll also see this one ship in March, but with a $399 retail sticker.

Outside of those two, we’re told that the GeGear Muse MP4 player is now on track to ship in March, with the 8GB model going for $149, the 16GB edition for $179 and the high-end 32GB model for $229. For those out of the loop, it’ll deliver a 3.2-inch HVGA touchpanel, an FM radio tuner, 720p movie support and compatibility with FLAC and APE lossless files. Closing things up, we’ve got the Fidelio DS8550 and DS9010 speaker docks. The former handles your iPod, iPhone and / or iPad, streams tunes over Bluetooth and touts a built-in, rechargeable battery; this guy’s on sale now for $299. As for the latter? That one’s expected to ship at the tail-end of March for $599, with the price premium netting you an aircraft quality aluminum enclosure, improved audio drivers and a proximity sensor to activate a backlit control panel. Bullet points after the break, per usual.

Continue reading Philips crams ATSC M/H tuner into PD725 portable DVD player, intros PB9013 mobile Blu-ray player

Philips crams ATSC M/H tuner into PD725 portable DVD player, intros PB9013 mobile Blu-ray player originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Player up for pre-order at Amazon UK, £150 buys 8GB worth of Android Market apps

We Americans may not see it until summer, but Samsung’s 3.2-inch Galaxy Player is about to call Europe home, as following French presales the PMP has now appeared at Amazon UK. There, it’s sporting a tentative January 7th release date and a pair of capacities and prices, with a modest £150 (about $234) nabbing you 8GB of storage and £180 (roughly $280) fully doubling that capacity to 16GB. Apple’s iPod touch is the obvious comparison here, and it’s shaping up to be a valid one — while there’s no Retina Display to be had here, it’s hard to sneeze at the real Android Market and some decent codec (OGG / FLAC / XviD / DivX) support. Unless you’ve got a cold or something.

[Thanks, Paul]

Samsung Galaxy Player up for pre-order at Amazon UK, £150 buys 8GB worth of Android Market apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world

Oh Android, is there any device you won’t grace for the cheap thrill of adding to your army of followers? Creative’s Zen Touch 2 served up most of its specs a couple of months back, including a resistive touchscreen and the use of Android 2.1 as its OS, but today it’s formalized its US intentions with a bit of FCC certification action. The 3.2-inch PMP’s 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 wireless transceivers all checked out okay, though the exhaustive teardown also revealed a “vibrator” module and an 1150mAh battery contained within its plasticky walls. Another note of import was that two variants, one equipped with GPS and one without, were offered to the FCC, in line with the company segmenting the Zen Touch 2 into “standard” and “enhanced” editions. If you’re in the UK, you can have one of these music players shipped to you tomorrow, but the US online store only lists it by name and doesn’t yet have a full page for it. Shouldn’t be long now.

Continue reading Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world

Creative Zen Touch 2 passes FCC, adds yet another new button arrangement to Android world originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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