Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been following LG’s 240Hz LH90 series of LED-backlit HDTVs since they were launched alongside oodles of internet-connected rivals at CES, and now — at long last — the 1080p trio is shipping to US soil. The sets, which are the first-ever to boast THX certification, also feature an ambient light sensor, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 240Hz dejudder technology and a super glossy bezel. If you’re jonesing to get one in your abode, you can cruise over to your nearest electronics dealer and part ways with $3,199.95 (55-inch), $2,399.95 (47-inch), or $1,899.95 (42-inch).

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

LG’s THX-certified LH90 LCD HDTVs now shipping in US originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re sure that it’s only a matter of moments before a 256GB thumb drive this bulky is something of a joke — hell, it wasn’t so terribly long ago that cramming 256MB into something this size was an accomplishment. That said, if you’re a netbook user looking for a storage bump, it looks like Kingston’s got your back: this guy boasts transfer rates of up to 20 MB/sec. read and 10 MB/sec. write, and for all of you Vista fans, supports Windows ReadyBoost. Now, for the bad news: only available in Europe and the UK, and custom made upon your order (presumably after the check clears) this modern technological marvel will run you £565.67 ($924).

[Via TBreak]

Filed under: Storage

Kingston unveils 256GB thumb drive for well-heeled memory fiends originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of our ultimate dream gadgets has long been a dead-simple wireless HDMI dongle for our laptops — something that would let us just throw a window (say, Hulu) up on our HDTV without a lot of fuss, cables, or configuration. So obviously we were pretty excited to try out the $199 Atlona Technologies HD-AiR, which marries Wireless USB with DisplayLink and promises to send 720p video directly from your laptop to a base station with VGA and HDMI outputs up to 30 feet away — until we received the box and noted the small print saying that it doesn’t support audio. Hopes: dashed.

On top of that, we’re not sure if it’s DisplayLink, Wireless USB, or some combination of the two, but the video link seemed pretty bandwidth-starved — full-screen video was close to unwatchable, PowerPoint transitions were kinda jerky, and even just moving windows around was pretty choppy. For such a promising — and much-needed — device, the HD-AiR just doesn’t get it done. Atlona says the next version will have audio support and 1080p video support using the next generation of DisplayLink chips and drivers, but we’d hope the company’s engineers spend a little more time in the lab polishing up their 720p framerates before they push this thing any farther. Video after the break.

Continue reading Atlona HD-AiR wireless HDMI system hands-on and impressions

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless

Atlona HD-AiR wireless HDMI system hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japanese researchers at KDDI have spliced two technologies that didn’t seem to have much of a future in the wireless realm — USB and Infrared — and come up with a method for achieving transmission speeds of up to 1Gbps. Their innovation is in overcoming a latency problem that until now prevented USB 2.0 transmissions from being converted into Infrared signals and then back into electronic form. While still very early in the development and standardization process, this is a tantalizing premise, especially with ever-increasing storage capacities in portable devices. The new communication medium, which admittedly sounds a lot like irSimple, will be demonstrated for the first time at the Wireless Japan 2009 exhibition later this month, but we wouldn’t hold out hope for an imminent release.

Filed under: Wireless

Wireless USB 2.0 to dawn on the Japanese horizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This isn’t the first time we’ve seen one of IronKey’s encrypted USB thumb drives ’round these parts, but if you’re an enterprise user, government contractor, or some sort of renegade corporate spy you’ll want to take note of this next item. The S200 is being touted as the world’s first and only USB flash drive certified for FIPS 140-2, Security Level 3, and features: hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption in CBC mode, a tamper-resistant and tamper-evident rugged metal case, hardware-based malware protection, trusted network restrictions (which prevent the device from unlocking on untrusted PCs), and all the other goodies you expect from the company. Of course, this level of protection doesn’t come cheap — with their consumer grade products starting at $79.99 and ascending pretty quickly from there, we can only imagine what enterprise customers are shelling out. Then again, if you have to ask what it costs, this one is probably not for you. PR after the break.

Continue reading IronKey boasts ‘world’s most physically and cryptographically secure’ thumb drive

Filed under: Storage

IronKey boasts ‘world’s most physically and cryptographically secure’ thumb drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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