Filed under: Portable Audio
We basically knew the FCC was going to approve the XM / Sirius merger after the DoJ
approved it earlier this year, and it looks like the communications agency is just about ready to sign off -- the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a majority of FCC commissioners are close to approving the deal. Word is that XM and Sirius will have to fork over an additional $20M to make it happen and agree to several enforcement terms, but it's all up in the air until this goes official. Let's hope that's soon -- after a
historically long delay, it looks like there's finally some light at the end of the tunnel.
[Warning: Read link requires subscription]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds
The
Bold is still stealing the overwhelming majority of RIM's spotlight at the moment for a handful of pretty good reasons: one, it's actually been announced; two, it's 3G; and three, it falls in line with the traditional (and loved) BlackBerry form factor. Lurking in the shadows, though, is the
KickStart, RIM's very first flip phone, and a device that could end up making a huge splash if it actually manages to launch at the
sub-$50 price point that's been making the rounds on the rumor circuit. CrackBerry got a way-early peek at the 8220 version of the device, which follows RIM's typical naming convention by packing WiFi while an 8210 will hold up the GPS side of things (seriously, RIM, how hard can it be to do both?), and overall it seems that the R&D team did its homework from the quick impressions. The SureType keyboard is huge and apparently quite easy to use without making the phone excessively large, though the trackball rests deeper in the shell making it a bit trickier to operate -- you win some, you lose some. The QVGA display is said to be just shy of Bold quality (which is a compliment, considering the killer screen on the Bold), and it's
always hard to argue with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Come on, T-Mobile, let's make this happen.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video, Wearables
Say it ain't so! America's
most loyal advocate for Microsoft's Zune is apparently throwing in the towel. Of course, we should warn you that this could very well be a simple ploy for attention, but if the man keeps his word, he will soon be covering
his Zune tattoos with... something else. Curiously, he didn't say whether or not he would be playing the traitor card and picking up some sort of iPod, but considering that more people have seen this guy's body art in the wild than actual Zunes, the general public should know soon enough. You fought a good fight, Zune Guy, but consider yourself expelled from The Social.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Displays
We got a gander at Samsung's fancy new tellervisions and other stuff, and while the basic design language hasn't changed a whole ton in recent years, there's always something new going on. We're particularly enthusiastic about the new
Series 8 LCDs, which manage a standard complement of ports in 2-inch thick form factors -- none of that ports-in-the-base nonsense. The cute little InfoLink RSS widgets (pictured) are also quite the welcome addition to Samsung's lineup, since these days we really can't be bothered to lift our phone up to eye level and check the weather on there. We bet you think we're kidding. Samsung is always droning on about the "Touch of Color" design, which is present in all its new televisions, along with its new computer monitor / TV hybrid displays. The flavor of the month is a new honeycomb pattern worked in with the color, but we really couldn't care less -- we'd rather watch TV. Elsewhere in the event we got to handle Samsung's new cameras and camcorders. The new
TL34HD is a particular stunner, though we do prefer the older black / blue color scheme. Nothing could have prepared us, however, for the
SC-MX20. While in press photos it appears to be just another cheap-ass YouTube camcorder (which it is), in person the build quality and amazing color choices really blew us away -- and trust us, no one is more surprised than we are by this fact. Most everything on display will be available next month.
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Gaming
Sony and Microsoft may have sorted things out with Anascape (otherwise known as the self-proclaimed ruler of all analog sticks) before things got too out of hand, but Nintendo has been busy fighting it out with the company in court, which resulted in them being
ordered to dish out a hefty $21 million earlier this year -- a ruling that Nintendo naturally appealed. The big N is now facing another setback, however, as a US District Judge has rejected Nintendo's request for a new trial, which could potentially result in a ban on sales of Wii Classic Controllers, WaveBirds, and GameCube controllers (not to mention GameCube systems). To avoid that, Nintendo will apparently either have to post a bond or put royalites from the controllers into an escrow account. For its part, Nintendo seems to be remaining defiant, saying that it "was already planning to appeal this case to the Federal Circuit court," and that this new ruling "does not impact that decision."
[Via
Slashdot]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays
Even if you're
not exactly in the
market for a new
flat-panel, Samsung's still hoping to snag a bit (or all) of your latest paycheck with its Touch of Color LCD monitors. Hinted at
during CES and
officially unveiled back in April, these displays boast a 5-millisecond response time, transparent plastic bezel, 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, twin 3-watt speakers, a built-in ATSC / ClearQAM TV tuner (!) and an optical digital audio port for channeling 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. As for resolutions, the 24-inch T240HD and 26-inch T260HD both offer full 1080p, while the 22-inch T220HD gets a 1,680 x 1,050 panel. Snag whichever one suits your fancy right now for $429, $549 or $599 from smallest to largest.
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Wireless
Ever since we got
our hands on Samsung's Media Center Extender at CES last year, we've wondered how the CE giant's rendition
would stack up against the rest. Rather than build the Media Center Extender functionality into a TV
the way HP has, or make a completely separate set-top-box like
Linksys or
D-Link, the $200 MediaLive Media Center Extender is designed to be a companion product for
Samsung HDTVs. It can be mounted to the back of certain Samsung sets, and with the help of
HDMI-CEC, the TV's remote will control the box even while it's out of sight -- of course, this begs the question of whether or not it will work with other TVs, but we'll just have to wait and try it ourselves when it launches next month. Oh, and in case you don't know already,
Media Center Extenders are not just another
media streamer, because it will allow you to have the full (almost)
Vista Media Center experience -- including the ability to watch live HD from
CableCARD tuner -- on any TV (connected wired or wirelessly) in your house.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Might want to slow down there, Samsung -- don't want to pull anything by cranking out
too many new HDTVs
at a time. Yep, Sammy's letting loose a few more sets today alongside the
Series 7 plasmas and Series 9 LCDs: the September-bound Series 8 LCD HDTV line. The Series 8 850 (rose accents) and Series 8 860 (deep blue accents) only differ in color, while they both pack a 1080p Ultra Clear panel, Auto Motion Plus 120Hz technology, a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, InfoLink RSS reader, DLNA certification, 4-millisecond response time and twin down-firing speakers with an integrated subwoofer. You'll also find a built-in NTSC / ATSC / ClearQAM TV tuner, a DNIe Pro video processor, swivel stand and four HDMI-CEC ports (among others). The pain? $2,699.99 for the LN46A850, $3,399.99 for the LN52A850, $2,799.99 for the LN46A860 and $3,499.99 for the LN52A860. Got all that?
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays
The boys and girls at
Microsoft Research are getting set to publish a report detailing a competing (and in their perspective, superior) technology to replace the LCD monitors we've grown to know and
love heart with reservations. By using pixels that boast "a pair of mirrors to block or transmit light," displays could theoretically be created which are "faster, brighter, and more power efficient than liquid crystal displays." Dubbed telescopic pixels, the devices would be able to turn off and on in under 1.5-milliseconds, which is quick enough to put "red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes behind each pixel." Furthermore, these pixels are way brighter than those used in LCDs, which means users would see less power draw and be able to view the screen more easily in direct sunlight. Sounds solid from here, but could you not humor us with a release time frame or something?
[Via
TG Daily]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Laptops
Freshfaced AMD CEO Dirk Meyer hyped the firm's upcoming Atom-challenging processor the other day,
calling it "Bobcat," and promising a November reveal. We'd think he'd be the guy to know, but now we're hearing seemingly conflicting words from AMD's Chief Marketing Officer, Nigel Dessau. Dessau says AMD is "watching... rather than playing" to see what becomes of the netbook segment. As Ars Technica points out, Dirk Meyer was only promising to announce a chip in November, not release one, so perhaps both of these statements are in step with each other, or maybe they're just thinking of different processor applications altogether, but for a company that's lacked a clear focus and a true Intel killer for the past couple of years, this sort of potential doublethink isn't helping anything.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Gaming
We weren't
terribly impressed with Nintendo's recently unveiled MotionPlus add-on, but we're even more disappointed by this. Reportedly, scads of third-party developers revealed at E3 that the Big N's latest Wiimote accessory was just as much a surprise to them as it was to any of us. In other words, Nintendo didn't bother giving its external devs any advance notice in order to get the ball rolling on compatible titles, or so it seems. Unfortunately, this also means that we probably won't see any MotionPlus-ready games hitting shelves from anyone not named Nintendo for months to come, but it's not like Wii Sports Resort can't hold our attention for a solid year, right?
[Via
Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Gaming
PSP hacker "FreePlay" has turned his gaze to the PS3, and come up with a method for the first PS3 homebrew outside of Linux and that little
"hello world" proof of concept a few months back. The minimal devkit doesn't seem built to take advantage of the PS3's wiles, however, and is instead working with the Java prowess built into the Blu-ray playback end of the PS3. Who knows how much power that'll lend to homebrew developers, but it's Java, so we're not expecting great things either way. Wake us when we can play PS2 games, would you?
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Household
Think your
house is green? Think again. Japan's own Nihon Telecommunication System has just revealed a line of windowpanes that actually include integrated photovoltaic cells. The windows are aimed at the (ritzy) residential housing market, and folks that snag a few will reportedly be able to power a PC and recharge their cellphones simply by tapping into the energy generated by these units. Additionally, the glass is designed to shun most of the sunlight from coming into your abode, thereby lowering air conditioning costs and satisfying your needs as an introvert. So, what's the pain for helping out Mother Earth? Around $1,900 per square meter of windowpane -- ouch.
[Via
CrunchGear]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Not a
huge fan of the LCD HDTV? Is plasma more your style? Fantastic, because Samsung just took the (official) lid off of the
already spotted 7 Series plasma lineup. Featuring the outfit's Touch of Color design, a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, daytime / nighttime
calibration options and a DNIe Pro video processor, this trio makes no bones about
which rival it's gunning for. The entire crew also features InfoLink RSS access, a USB 2.0 port (WiseLink Pro), DLNA compatibility, four HDMI-CEC jacks and 1080p panels. Read up on the full rundown of specs in the read link, and prepare to hand over $2,799.99 for the 50-inch PN50A760, $4,499.99 for the 58-inch PN58A760 or $5,499.99 for the 63-inch PN63A760 sometime next month.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
Can't say we're surprised to see 'em, but Sammy has done its due diligence by pumping out the official verbiage for the 9 Series LCD HDTVs that were
leaked late last week. These second-generation LED-backlit sets feature 1080p Ultra Clear panels, Auto Motion Plus 120Hz technology, 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratios, the familiar Touch of Color design and a smattering of networking technologies like InfoLink (RSS access) and WiseLink Pro. Additionally, both the 46-inch LN46A950 (pictured) and 55-inch LN55A950 feature 4-millisecond response times, down-firing speakers with a built-in subbie, an integrated NTSC / ATSC / ClearQAM tuner, four HDMI-CEC ports, a PC input, Ethernet socket and a pair of component jacks. Look for each to land next month for $3,199.99 and $4,199.99, respectively.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: GPS
For those who spend just as much time getting lost in the forest as they do on the highways, Garmin's
nüvi 500 holds quite a bit of promise. Combining four modes covering cycling, boating (optional), driving and walking, this waterproof navigator has nearly every walk of life covered.
GPS Magazine recently got to spend some time with the Q3-bound unit, and not surprisingly, it came away very impressed. On the roads, this device performed just as admirably as any other Garmin unit. When traveling off the beaten path, things were just as great. The only real knocks on this were the added bulk / weight and the omission of text-to-speech, but true adventurers aren't apt to care about that when consolidating four GPS devices into one.
[Thanks, Fletch]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Desktops
Shuttle's SN78SH7 was briefly caught struttin' its stuff at CES this year, but after months on end of waiting, the thing is just about ready to start shipping to eager consumers. Hailed as the first small-form-factor PC to support NVIDIA's
Hybrid SLI technology, this block can be equipped with AMD's Phenom X4 processor, 4GB of RAM and Windows Vista (among other things). No word on a price, but it should be quite apparent come Friday.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Laptops
MSI has been
pretty successful with the
Wind, wouldn't you say? Yeah, so would LG. Reportedly, LG is hoping to solicit MSI's services in order to craft its own X110 netbook. The mini laptop will purportedly boast an 8.9-inch panel, 120GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and Windows XP runnin' the show. Interestingly, the price is expected to hover between $625 and $790 as it focuses on "design and material quality" rather than low cost. Anxious to see how that move plays out, aren't you?
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Cowon just loosed raw PMP sex into the marketplace with its new P5 media player. We're talking 800 x 480 pixels spread across a 5-inch touchscreen display featuring Cowon's Widget+Haptic UI riding a 700MHz RMI Alchemy AU1250 processor. The P5 packs standard USB and USB-host jacks, T-DMB broadcast TV, FM radio, Bluetooth, TV-out (component, S-Video, and composite), stereo speakers, and up to 80GB of storage in a 138.8 x 88.5 x 20.0-mm slab of "Luxury Hairline Metal" (which sounds like brushed aluminum to us). It comes pre-installed with a Win CE Internet browser (a clumsy WiFi dongle can be added via the USB jack), MS Office document viewer, electronic dictionary, and support for AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, OGM, DivX, Xvid, MPEG4, WMV9, MP3, WMA, AC3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and a few more media formats/codecs with a battery capable of about 9-hours of video or 14-hours of straight audio. No price announced but the P5 should hit Korean hands on the 29th of July in choice of black, red, or platinum.
[Via
PMP Today and
I4U]
|
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Storage
We're not too sure how the advertising director that green lit Hitachi's bizarro
perpendicular recording video is still on staff, but sure enough, he / she has been cut loose again as evidenced by the latest spot. We knew the outfit was pushing this whole "Dawn of the Tera Era" slogan with the introduction of its
Deskstar 7K1000.B, but this is just taking things entirely too far. Fair warning: the video hosted after the jump contains cartoon scenes that could easily be used by D.A.R.E. officials looking to keep kids from trying drugs, but somehow we get the impression its just a plug for having lots of (Hitachi-branded) storage space. Hmmph.
[Thanks, Frederick]
Continue reading Hitachi promotional video highlights Tera Era, effects of hallucinogens
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Transportation
Though we're hesitant to believe
something this fantastic could actually be implemented in real life, word on the pavement has it that
Audi is currently running a pilot program that informs motorists "how fast to drive to catch a green light." Over in Ingolstadt, Germany, 50 traffic lights have been equipped with sensors that beam information to specially equipped whips; the network of "smart" signals not only "adapts to traffic patterns to deliver optimum light switching," but gives drivers a heads-up in order to get 'em through lights and cut down on idling / pollution / road rage. We can just hear those
red light camera appeals now: "But judge, my car
told me to do it!"
[Image courtesy of
NOLA]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
SIM2's
DOMINO line -- okay, SIM2's
entire line -- isn't known for being the
cheapest bunch. The new DOMINO D60, however, is actually affordable by said company's standards, checking in at just 4,995 US dollars. This 1080p beamer is based on Texas Instruments' DarkChip3 0.95-inch DMD chipset and includes a single-chip DLP projection system, BrilliantColor, three different preset modes (Cinema, Dynamic, and Standard) and three user-customizable memories. It's shipping now for those with fat wallets.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment
SIM2's
DOMINO line -- okay, SIM2's
entire line -- isn't known for being the
cheapest bunch. The new DOMINO D60, however, is actually affordable by said company's standards, checking in at just 4,995 US dollars. This 1080p beamer is based on Texas Instruments' DarkChip3 0.95-inch DMD chipset and includes a single-chip DLP projection system, BrilliantColor, three different preset modes (Cinema, Dynamic, and Standard) and three user-customizable memories. It's shipping now for those with fat wallets.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless
We know you're not really down with digesting any more catchphrases, but the technology formerly known as Ultra Low Power Bluetooth /
Wibree is now being dubbed Bluetooth low energy. Now that we're clear on nomenclature, you may be thrilled to know that CSR showcased its recently unveiled
BlueCore7 dual mode (Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth v2.1) chip at a Bluetooth SIG Medical Working Group meeting. According to onlookers, the handset was able to transfer data to another nearby mobile using just 3 frequencies rather than 32, resulting in an unquantifiable decrease in power consumption. Sounds like a winner on the surface, but we have this weird that mass adoption of this tech is like, years away.
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless
Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector
fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard.
WHDI creator
AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A
tall order, sure, but one we're
elated to see taken on. Full release after the break.
Continue reading AMIMON, Motorola, Sony, et al. join hands on wireless HD standard
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless
Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector
fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard.
WHDI creator
AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A
tall order, sure, but one we're
elated to see taken on. Full release after the break.
Continue reading AMIMON, Motorola, Sony, et al. join hands on wireless HD standard
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Gaming, GPS
Only John Koller knows how serious John Koller, Sony's senior marketing manager for PSP, was when mentioning that GPS-enabled games could eventually hit the PSP, but he definitely threw it out there. Speaking about the forthcoming
GPS add-on for the PlayStation Portable, Koller stated that said module "changes the dynamics of GPS but also changes the way developers think about games on PSP, because you can start integrating GPS into it." He continued on by mentioning that Sony's own
first-party studios were "already looking at a number of things [involving GPS in games]," and concluded by asserting that a GPS game could land on the system as early as next year. Considering just
how long we've been waiting for the add-on, we're not holding our breath on the titles.
[Via
PSP Fanboy]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Nah, it's no Mag-Lite, but the Tri-Solar LED Flashlight should handle most minor lighting needs. The unit can operate with one LED on, three LEDs on or all three LEDs flashing (you know, in case you realize the car you just hopped in is now making a b-line for the Bates Motel). Because a single solar panel can only catch so much sunlight, this one has a trifecta of cells that fold out and generate juice for the bulbs. Not too bad for $32, particularly when you realize that it doubles as a weapon.
[Thanks, Joe]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Nah, it's no Mag-Lite, but the Tri-Solar LED Flashlight should handle most minor lighting needs. The unit can operate with one LED on, three LEDs on or all three LEDs flashing (you know, in case you realize the car you just hopped in is now making a b-line for the Bates Motel). Because a single solar panel can only catch so much sunlight, this one has a trifecta of cells that fold out and generate juice for the bulbs. Not too bad for $32, particularly when you realize that it doubles as a weapon.
[Thanks, Joe]
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
We're usually pretty jaded when people tell us that we "won't believe" what we're seeing in a videos sent to tips -- right, right, a cellphone demon,
nice one -- but it sure seems like the Golden Shellback waterproof coating is the real deal. Developed at the Northeast Maritime Institute and hopefully headed to production sometime soon, the process involves applying the coating to your precious toys inside a vacuum, after which they're basically impervious to all liquids -- in one test, a coated device spent over 450 hours powered on and functional underwater. There are some downsides: you can't remove the coating, so any repairs will involve "abrasive methods," which sounds like quite a commitment. That said, we'll take a little abrasion in our lives if it means we never have to worry about spilling on our keyboards ever again. Video after the break.
[Via
gCaptain]
Continue reading Golden Shellback waterproofing defies water, reality
Read |
Permalink |
Email this |
Comments
Next Page »
