Hasta La Gadget!

Viliv has been showing some potential lately with its touchable upcoming products, the clean looking S7 netbook tablet and S5 MID. We received some further information on the latter of those two this morning, most notable being the inclusion of haptic feedback that should make its 4.8-inch, 800 x 480 1024 x 600 screen feel a little more tactile. We also got confirmation that the device will be running Windows XP hidden behind a custom UI overlay that, we presume, will be similar to the one we saw running at CES on the S7. Still no price, but the company is aiming for a March release domestically. Our fingers are tingling with anticipation.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Viliv’s S5 MID goes haptic, will move you in March originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While DigiTimes tends to nail rumors focused on Taiwanese companies like Acer and ASUS, its component supplying sources can be hit or miss across other geographies. So take it with the usual lump of NaCl when talkative sources say that Nokia is increasing orders in March as it prepares to “launch several 3G and 3.5G products with multi-touch and multimedia functions in 2009” — Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Synaptics being the chief beneficiaries. Of course, Nokia has been perfectly clear that its 5800 was the just the initial salvo in an onslaught of touchscreen devices to come and led by its flagship N97. Nevertheless, with profits down and the economy mired in the suck, it’s nice to have confirmation (as tenuous as it is) that things are on track in Espoo.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Nokia ramping orders in preparation for “several” multi-touch phones? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, our interest was certainly piqued by that OLPC XO-2 mockup that surfaced yesterday, and now the Guardian is saying that the hardware development will take place open source. This is certainly fitting with the company’s idealistic ethos, and it’ll be interesting to see what other companies bring to the table as the reportedly $75 dual-screen device gets closer to real reality. “The XO-1 was really designed as if we were Apple,” Nicholas Negroponte says in the interview. “The XO-2 will be designed as if we were Google – we’ll want people to copy it. We’ll make the constituent parts available. We’ll try and get it out there using the exact opposite approach that we did with the XO-1.” He let a few details slip too, saying that it will be dual touchscreen, with one of the displays featuring a touch-sensitive, force-feedback, haptic keyboard. When asked how he feels about the possibility that other companies might profit from all this hard work developing the laptop of tomorrow? “I wouldn’t complain.” Class act, that one. Bravo.

[Via Make]

Filed under: Laptops

Negroponte raps about OLPC 2: ‘designed as if we were Google’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, the sweet smell of PMA. While the camera-filled trade show is still over a month away, Panasonic‘s not wasting any time in outing its new LUMIX lineup — which we already saw with Euro model names earlier today. Up first is the ZS-series, which contains the 10.1 megapixel DMC-ZS3 ($399.95) and DMC-ZS1 ($299.95), both of which boast a 25mm ultra-wide angle lens and a 12x optical zoom. The ZS3 is marked as the planet’s first digicam to feature HD video recording in AVCHD Lite (a subset of AVCHD restricted to 720p, yuck), and the twin CPU Venus Engine HD provides the power to handle it. Next is the DMC-FX580 ($399.95), a compact 12.1 megapixel shooter with a 5x optical zoom and a swank touchscreen on the rear. For the argonauts in attendance, there’s the DMC-TS1 ($399.95), a rough and rugged 12.1 megapixeler with AVCHD Lite capturing abilities (guess it’s numero dos?), a 4.6x optical zoom and a waterproof / shockproof chassis. Every last one will be available in April, and you can fill your mind with more knowledge on each in the read links below.

Read – ZS-Series (DMC-ZS3 and DMC-ZS1)
Read – DMC-FX580
Read – DMC-TS1

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Panasonic reveals new LUMIX bounty prior to PMA originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here they are: Alleged spy photos of the second generation Android cellphone, the thinner, shinier, and totally lickable T-Mobile G2 made by HTC. It has no keyboard and its back looks oh-so-soap-bar-smooth:

As you can see, it has a 3.2 megapixel camera. According to our source, it will come in mid-May. Currently it has an interface “very similar” to the G1. We will see what happens this spring, but if true, this thing looks like a winner.