Hasta La Gadget!

Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate Technologies separates the best smartphone, tablet, HDTV, and multimedia displays from the worst with his Display Technology Shoot-Out series. And his newly crowned 3DTV champion might just give you some major 3D buyer’s remorse: More »

Berlin’s Internationalen Funkausstellung is by no means an unexciting consumer electronics show. Sure, there aren’t nearly as many new gadgets to play with as you’ll find at even the tamest year of CES, but there’s still plenty else around to leave almost any tech buff feeling full. Still, this year’s most exciting gadget — to me, at least — wasn’t a new tablet, or cell phone, or even that Android-controlled robotic vacuum. No, the highlight of my week was these clip-on 3D glasses, which LG reps handed out to every interested spectator as they entered the company’s booth. These dead-simple, yet completely life-changing specs were almost certainly overlooked by the 20/20 vision-abled, but for folks like me who can’t stand sliding one pair of glasses over another just to watch Kung Fu Panda in three dimensions, those clip-ons you see above are the absolute best swag I could ever hope to find.

There’s really not much to them. The 3D experience was identical to what you’ll get with traditional passive glasses — these simply clip on top of your eyeglasses, rather than resting on their own. They also offer UV protection, and “communicate seamlessly with the TV.” Well alright then. While attendees could get their own pair for free at IFA, you can also find these online for about 20 bucks — sold as the LG AG-F220. I’d like to see them become much more widely available, and more affordable as well. So listen up, Hollywood: if you ever again want me to hand over five extra bucks at the box office to watch an animated bear kick his furry paw directly toward my temple, these better be waiting on the other side of the ticket scan.

The coolest thing I saw at IFA: LG’s passive clip-on 3D glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you one of those old-school types who still watches TV programs on an actual television? Then you probably also own one or fifteen of those cordless channel changer contraptions — you know, the kind that use AA batteries and magic beams of light to command station and volume adjustments. Well, set down the remote, lean back in that oversized plastic-covered velvet sofa, and get ready to toss out your last pair of alkalines. Zero1’s new VooMote Zapper remote module has been making the rounds at IFA, letting you use any iOS device as a universal remote. Sure, the concept itself isn’t new — there have been other iOS-integrated remotes — but the Zapper is small, relatively inexpensive, and interfaces quite nicely with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Your programmed selections are stored on the Zapper itself, so you can easily use it with multiple iOS devices.

The $70 device can be matched with identically colored cases ($20 and up), and also includes rather comprehensive TV Guide functionality, enabling you to see local programming, watch previews of unfamiliar content, and send an infrared signal to your TV to launch a program — during its scheduled airing time, of course. We took a look at the app / itsy bitsy hardware combo, and it seemed to work well, with an easy setup process (codes for nearly every device come preloaded) and fast response time. VooMote reps said the device has a range of 25 feet, which is more than plenty for our tiny apartment configs, but may not suffice in some stadium-style media rooms. At the end of the day, it’s really just a (very) elegant touchscreen universal remote solution, so we’ll leave it at that. Jump past the break to see the Zapper in action.

Continue reading Zero1 VooMote Zapper remote control for iOS hands-on (video)

Zero1 VooMote Zapper remote control for iOS hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 13:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to having the world’s slimmest display, competition is fierce, and technicalities abound. One manufacturer in particular makes that class-leading claim more often than others, however, so it was no surprise when LG decided to show off a “world slimmest monitor” at its enormous IFA hall this year. The E2391VR is, as expected, incredibly thin. At 7.2mm, it’s noticeably skinnier than the 9.3mm iPhone 4, so if you actually spend time looking at the side of your display, you’ll probably really like this one. But — and this, as with other models, can be a very big but for some users — all of the ports, and most of the critical components, are in the TV’s base. The 23-inch model we saw is rather small to wall-mount, so that base shouldn’t be an issue for most. It offers 1080p video, a 2ms response time, HDMI, D-sub, headphone out, and a “10,000,000:1 contrast ratio” — and, well, it looks great too, though reflections were a glaring issue in the bright exhibit hall. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but jump past the break for some PR magic.

Continue reading LG E2391VR LED LCD Monitor hands-on

LG E2391VR LED LCD Monitor hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s new 720p OLED 3DTV with 5.1 virtual surround has a 150-inch screen-equivalent and costs $800. But it weighs less than a pound. That’s because it’s worn on your face. It looks crazynerdo; you’re going to want one. More »