Friday, June 26, 2009

Orange's Solar Concept Tent has lots of revolutionary, imaginary features

Orange's Solar Concept Tent has lots of revolutionary, imaginary features


If the promise of Birkenstock-powered phone chargin' wasn't enough to get your ass to Glasto this year (never mind catching Björn Again perform ABBA's greatest hits on the Pyramid Stage), how about an up-close-and-personal peek at Orange's Solar Concept Tent? Designed with help from an American firm called Kaleidoscope, this guy is a refresh of the original Orange Solar Tent you might remember from 2003. Featuring photovoltaic fabric panels up top, an LCD display for keeping an eye on battery levels, a wireless charging pouch (like Palm's Touchstone but, you know, a pouch), a heating element embedded in the tent's groundsheet, the ability to light up if you should get lost while freaky dancing, and WiFi connectivity, this bad boy could conceivably get even the most nature-phobic Engadget editor out into the wild. That is, if it wasn't just a concept.



[Via Textually]

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Orange's Solar Concept Tent has lots of revolutionary, imaginary features originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's 12 megapixel M8910 Pixion12 cellphone tries to make your camera obsolete

Samsung's 12 megapixel M8910 Pixion12 cellphone tries to make your camera obsolete

Samsung's 12 megapixel M8910 Pixion12 cellphone tries to make your camera obsolete
Yes, folks, that day you've been so eagerly awaiting is nearly here. Soon you won't have to suffer the agony of pixel envy on your cellphones thanks to Samsung's M8910 Pixion12 and its whopping 12 megapixel sensor, capturing light through a 28mm wide-angle lens like that in the Nokia N86 (which has a miserly eight megapixels on tap). Sammy's handset has been put through its paces ahead of release, stacked up against the likes of a Canon A620 and a 350D SLR. The phone does quite well, producing images as good or better than its compact competition, but we're not quite sure we agree with the assessment that it "can reach the detail resolved by a true DSLR" -- at least, not in this batch of images. We want to believe, though, we really do; those SLRs are heavy, and we're not a particularly strong bunch.

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Samsung's 12 megapixel M8910 Pixion12 cellphone tries to make your camera obsolete originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

The perfect babe: Megan Fox? (pic)

http://ping.fm/BUuD9

No, this post is not about Megan Fox. Well, yeah it is. But it’s about the MARKETING of Megan Fox.

Megan Fox has been around in films and TV since 2001 (see filmography below). But it wasn’t until 2007 when she starred in the first Transformers movie that she burst on the scene and became an overnight mega celebrity, especially online (see Google Search Volume chart). If you look at Ford’s search volume during the same period, there was NO lift in search that was detectable — there probably was some lift, but it is simply not detectable.

So Megan Fox went from very very little awareness to not only massive awareness, but also massive demand — people remembered her name and even took action (performed searches on her name). If some product placements would have had only 10% of the success of the “megan fox” product placement, they might actually justify the immense cost a bit better (millions of dollars paid by the advertiser to the movie makers to place products into the storyline of the movie).

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The Meatball Grill Basket Changes Everything [Grilling]

The Meatball Grill Basket Changes Everything [Grilling]

When was the last time you visited Willams-Sonoma? Yeah, they're expensive, but no one else is offering a product to grill your meatballs. Besides, sometimes they have food samples in there.

Indeed, meatball subs and spaghetti can now enjoy that smokey grilled flavor we all know and love with this innovative basket. It keeps your balls safe and secure while being cooked over the flames. If you think about it, there is probably a bunch of other stuff you could grill in one of these things as well. [Williams-Sonoma via Unclutterer]




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Nokia E72 Hands On: Like E71, But More Better [Cellphones]

Nokia E72 Hands On: Like E71, But More Better [Cellphones]

Nokia's E72 is just like the E71, but improved in lots of little ways: Same solid feel, but with tweaks like a less crowded d-pad that's an optical trackpad too. Now if Nokia can just sell it for $99 too.










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Photofast CR-7200 CompactFlash Adapter Runs Four microSDs In RAID [Storage]

Photofast CR-7200 CompactFlash Adapter Runs Four microSDs In RAID [Storage]

The new CompactFlash adapter from Photofast can hold four 16GB microSD cards running in RAID. This makes the slower microSD format as fast as CompactFlash by striping data across all four microSD cards at once.

For those that don't need 64GB of storage, the CR-7100 will hold one 16GB microSD, while the
CR-7000 holds one 32GB SD. The 7200 will be available for $30 and the 7100 and 7000 for $25, all in July. [Photofast via Akihabara]




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Vizio's VBR100 Blu-ray player is a $188 Wal-mart exclusive next month

Vizio's VBR100 Blu-ray player is a $188 Wal-mart exclusive next month

We still don't know what it looks like, but during its line show, Vizio let slip that the sub-$200 VBR100 Blu-ray player announced at CES is now scheduled to come to Wal-mart only in July. For $188 (just not that cheap anymore) Wal-mart shoppers can expect a BD-Live ready (with optional 1GB+ USB thumbdrive attached) player, though no details on codec or output support. Don't shop at Wal-mart for philosophical reasons, quality concerns or fear of being trampled during an early Black Friday rush? A similar VBR110 model should follow, coming to other retailers around November/December, just in time to match with that brand new WiFi connected Netflix / Amazon / Twitter etc. widget packing LCD.

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Vizio's VBR100 Blu-ray player is a $188 Wal-mart exclusive next month originally ap! peared o n Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T's 3G MicroCell still on track for release sometime before the end of the year

AT&T's 3G MicroCell still on track for release sometime before the end of the year

AT&T's 3G MicroCell still on track for release sometime before the end of the year
We've known the tech behind AT&T's spin on the home-based femtocell repeater since January, and in February a little iPhone update revealed that we were getting closer to prime time. Finally, news of limited trials and then... silence. AT&T has apparently been keeping its head down, diligently testing its MicroCell service, with 200 lucky subscribers having Cisco boxes beam full bars to the darkest corners of their living rooms for months, testing that has been successful enough for AT&T's Gordon Mansfield to say that it's still "on track for a full national launch." That's the good news. The bad news is that he continued by saying it'll release sometime "by the end of 2009." So, you might be in for up to six more months of dangling your iPhone out the window to get your voicemail, but hold tough -- you can make it.

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AT&T's 3G MicroCell still on track for release sometime before the end of the year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG slides out 55LH95 and 55LH93 wireless LCD HDTVs

LG slides out 55LH95 and 55LH93 wireless LCD HDTVs

Maybe it's just the disco-inspired wallpaper that has our motors all revved up, but whatever the case, we're pretty jazzed about LG's newest 55-inch duo. The 55LH95 and 55LH93 are the company's latest ultrathin LED-backlit sets, both of which slim down to 24.8 millimeters and pack a grand total of 3,360 LEDs -- a number that LG claims is around seven times that used in most edge-lit LED TVs. There's also a 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, a 240Hz refresh rate and -- potentially most intriguing -- a mysterious wireless feature that enables DVD and game consoles to transmit information sans an HDMI cable. There's no mention of what technology is baked in (AMIMON's WHDI, perhaps?), but either way, we're hoping the same stuff remains once these get announced for North America. Estimated pricing on the July-bound (in South Korea) sets is pegged for $5,500 and $5,900, respectively, and LG is apparently planning to issue 42- and 47-inchers with the same amenities here soon.

Update: SiBEAM pinged us to confirm that it's WirelessHD included here.

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LG slides out 55LH95 and 55LH93 wireless LCD HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Ozone comes to Verizon June 29 for under $50

HTC Ozone comes to Verizon June 29 for under $50


Is it cooler than Sprint's Snap? That's for you to judge, but whatever the case, Verizon has now announced its own version of HTC's latest WinMo Standard handset. The so-called Ozone features WiFi, global roaming capability, VZ Navigator and visual voicemail support, a QWERTY keyboard (which feels great if it's anything like its cousin's), and a beefy 1500mAh battery that we're betting will keep this thing going all day and then some. The best part, though, might be the price: it'll be just $49.99 on contract after rebate when it launches online on June 29 and in stores on July 13.

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HTC Ozone comes to Verizon June 29 for under $50 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mvix Ultio "It Plays All" HD media streamer debuts in the U.S. July 6 for $179

Mvix Ultio "It Plays All" HD media streamer debuts in the U.S. July 6 for $179


We'd heard rumors Mvix USA would be rolling out an upgraded 1080p capable media box to rival the earlier MvixPVR and here it is. Dubbed the Ultio, it has a list of supported codecs and containers that rivals the new Popcorn Hour C-200 in its thoroughness -- DivX(R) (3/4/5/6), Xvid, AVC-HD, MPEG 1/2/4, WMV-9, ASF(WMV9), MKV, DVD(IFO, VOB), ISO, MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, FLAC, AC3 -- it's all here, with a slightly awkward Swiss Army knife-themed tagline to boot. The $169 price tag is sans-3.5-inch SATA HDD, though you can add one for $79 (500GB) $90 (1TB) or $139 (1.5TB). Of course network streaming is a part of the package, with Mvix's usual suite of Samba / UPnP / BitTorrent (mentioning compatibility with PlayOn and Tversity specifically to get all your Netflix, YouTube and other streaming sources to TV) via Ethernet or optional Wireless-N dongle. It's up for pre-orders now, take a close look at the specs and pics then get in line before they start shipping July 6.

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Mvix Ultio "It Plays All" HD media streamer debuts in the U.S. July 6 for $179 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry Tour hands-on, wild sibling confrontation with Curve and Bold

BlackBerry Tour hands-on, wild sibling confrontation with Curve and Bold


While some interesting things may or may not be happening under the hood, the freshly announced BlackBerry Tour for Verizon and Sprint (pictured in Verizon garb on the left) is hardly a departure on the surface. It mostly appears to be a minor modification to the Curve (right), though it does seem inexplicably thicker. The Bold seems positively overwrought in comparison. We didn't get much time to play with the OS, but the screen and the keyboard are pure new-generation BlackBerry charm.

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BlackBerry Tour hands-on, wild sibling confrontation with Curve and Bold originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Web 3.0 in 4 words or less - http://ping.fm/G6nvN - everywhere, immediate, individualized, efficient

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

JVC shows off LED-backlit, 7mm-thin 1080p LT-32WX50 LCD HDTV

JVC shows off LED-backlit, 7mm-thin 1080p LT-32WX50 LCD HDTV


CEDIA's UK show is going on right now across the pond, and while things are rather quiet overall, JVC has definitely garnered a fair bit of attention with its 32-inch LT-32WX50. The 1080p set features 100Hz dejudder technology, a 4,000:1 contrast ratio, 90 percent of Adobe's RGB color space and -- here's the real kicker -- a thickness of just seven millimeters. The whole panel weighs just 11 pounds, meaning that even the weaklings should be able to transport, move and install this one sans any overpriced help from Geek Squad. Around back, there's a pair of HDMI inputs, a PC port, an SD card slot and a USB connector. If all goes well, it should start hitting retailers this fall, but there's no mention of when it'll ship stateside.

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JVC shows off LED-backlit, 7mm-thin 1080p LT-32WX50 LCD HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cello Electronics intros HDTV that records to SD cards

Cello Electronics intros HDTV that records to SD cards


We'll go ahead and hurt the feelings of those in Asia, North America and the Cook Islands: this here set is bound for the European market only (for now, anyway), but hey, at least we know the technology is here. Over in the UK, one Cello Electronics has issued the first HDTV that records OTA (Freeview) content directly to an SD card, giving users an easy option for shuffling recorded content to portable players. The set itself boasts twin TV tuners, a built-in EPG, split-screen functionality and an integrated DVD player; as for sizes, you'll find it in 22-, 26- and 32-inch flavors. Sadly, you'll be stuck with "just" 1,440 x 900 pixels and no HDMI socket, but those who couldn't care less can take ownership starting next month for TBD, £399.99 ($661) or £469.99 ($777) in order of mention.

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Cello Electronics intros HDTV that records to SD cards originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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