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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Toshiba declares victory in pixel density war: 367ppi coming to a phone this year (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/18/toshiba-declares-victory-in-pixel-density-war-367ppi-coming-to/

We got the lowdown on Toshiba's latest four-inch LCD a couple of days ago, and today at SID 2011 we got up close and personal with the pixel-packed display. It's one thing to read about a 367ppi screen that shows native 720p video, and it's quite another to experience it in person. We can report that it is, in fact, as awesome as it sounds -- onscreen images were clear, crisp, and chromatically brilliant. Pixel density enthusiasts will also be happy to hear that Toshiba confirmed the display will make it to market this year. Of course, the rep wouldn't tell us which phone will take the iPhone 4's crown as the ppi champ, though we imagine it'll be something powered by little green bots. See the new king in action in the video after the break.

Gallery: Toshiba's 4-inch 367ppi 720p cellphone display at SID 2011

Continue reading Toshiba declares victory in pixel density war: 367ppi coming to a phone this year (video)

Toshiba declares victory in pixel density war: 367ppi coming to a phone this year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 04:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/18/nanosys-qdef-screen-technology-ships-in-q4-slips-into-ipad-at-s/

We dropped by Nanosys' nook at SID 2011, and not only was it showing off its new Quantum Dot Enhancement Film, but had hacked the tech into an off-the-shelf iPad. A company representative presented the modified slate as an example of how quickly QDEF's high color gamut magic could be integrated into existing devices, offering "OLED color depth without OLED power consumption and OLED price." Sure enough, we were told to expect to see QDEF in a "mobile device," probably an Android tablet, sometime in Q4; when pushed for details, our rep could only tell us that the device would come from a Korean firm. (LG or Samsung, take your pick.)

Integrating QDEF into new devices may be a snap, but company representatives told us the film could add as much as 100 microns to a screen's thickness, suggesting that smartphone manufactures aren't too keen on the idea of a thicker display. Still, Nanosys has high hopes for the new film and told us that it expects high-color QDEF to become an "ecosystem changer," as industry-altering as HDTV. The firm even suggested "wide color gamut" apps could be in our near future -- we love our color depth here at Engadget, but somehow it's hard to see Angry Birds: High Color (its suggestion, not ours) taking off. Check out our hands-on after the break.

Gallery: Nanosys QDEF screen technology hands-on at SID 2011

Continue reading Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video)

Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 05:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba's tablet-ready, glasses-free 3D display debuts at SID 2011 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/18/toshibas-tablet-ready-glasses-free-3d-display-debuts-at-sid-20/

The T-Mobile G-Slate may have a jump on the (red and cyan) 3D tablet market, but we can do better, and while strolling past Toshiba's SID 2011 setup, we may have found the slate of the future's killer component: an 8-inch, glasses-free 3D display. Tablet sized? Yes, indeed. We couldn't get a Toshiba representative to admit the depth perceptive display was destined for any upcoming devices, but we were told that the screen certainly "made sense" for a tablet device. The technology seems to be designed with a smaller form factor in mind, as the firm warned that larger versions of the screen, while possible, would suffer a drop in image quality. At 8-inches however, it looks mighty fine -- although you'll still need to look on from a centered sweet-spot to catch the 3D effect, a plague it shares with its glasses-free brethren. Check out our hands-on video (sans 3D, of course) after the break.

Gallery: Toshiba's 8-inch glasses-free 3D display eyes-on at SID 2011

Continue reading Toshiba's tablet-ready, glasses-free 3D display debuts at SID 2011 (video)

Toshiba's tablet-ready, glasses-free 3D display debuts at SID 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 07:12:00 EDT. Ple! ase see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel VP confirms ARM versions of Windows 8 will offer no compatibility with legacy apps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/18/intel-vp-confirms-arm-versions-of-windows-8-will-offer-no-compat/

We already knew that there would be multiple flavors of the next version of Windows. This is, after all, Microsoft, and if it isn't available in dozens of different SKUs, one for each rung on the ladder from student to corporate executive, then it isn't worth stamping to a disc and throwing in a box. However, thanks to Intel Senior Vice President Renee James, we now know for sure that there will be a decisive split between the various ARM and x86 editions. James confirmed yesterday that x86 versions will work just fine on Intel, AMD, and other compatible chips, running all your legacy applications with aplomb.

However, the ARM versions of the OS (which may number as many as six) won't include any sort of instruction emulation, James saying "Our competitors will not be running legacy applications. Not now. Not ever." That's something that Intel CEO Paul Otellini hinted at back at CES, which means Office running on ARM must have been a re-write -- or at least a re-compile. That's bad news for anyone hoping they'd be able to install Command & Conquer Collector's Edition on the Tegra-powered Windows 8 tablet of their dreams. James additionally indicated there will be four separate Windows 8 ARM SoCs, meaning someone has joined NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and TI since the CES unveil. Intrigue!

Intel VP confirms ARM versions of Windows 8 will offer no compatibility with legacy apps originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung and Nouvoyance show off power-sipping, pixel packed Pentile display (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/18/samsung-and-nouvoyance-show-off-power-sipping-pixel-packed-pent/

Samsung is seriously stepping up its slate screen game with its 10.1-inch 300ppi panel that we told you about last week. We just got to see the display in person at SID 2011, and can confirm that the presence of Pentile pixels should no longer be a cause of concern. Nouvoyance, who designed the display, told us that the panel's RGBW pixel configuration makes your whites whiter and brights brighter (up to 600 nits worth), while consuming 40 percent less power than conventional LCDs. The company also told us the tech's been around for awhile, but that market forces conspired to keep it concealed -- though after seeing it in person, we can't fathom why it didn't make it into Sammy's stellar new slate. Pixel-density people shouldn't pout, however, as devices packing the display will drop by Q4 of this year or Q1 2012. Video explaining why you should join the RBGW revolution's after the break.

Gallery: Nouvoyance 10.1-inch PenTile RGBW prototype tablet display at SID 2011

Continue reading Samsung and Nouvoyance show off power-sipping, pixel packed Pentile display (video)

Samsung and Nouvoyance show off power-sipping, pixel packed Pentile display (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 May 2011 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sony's Thunderbolt implementation hiding in plain (web)site, uses USB connector not Mini DisplayPort?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/sonys-thunderbolt-implementation-hiding-in-plain-site-uses-usb/

Look closely at that picture. See that Type-A USB jack? The one with the blue stripe sandwiched between the round AC jack (with its green light) and VGA and HDMI ports? Yeah, that's Sony's Thunderbolt implementation according to a trusted source. A bit of digging reveals that the "Ultimate Mobile PC" teased by Sony above is actually the same VAIO Hybrid PC leaked by Sony Insider back in March said to feature an external dock with one USB 3.0 jack, HDMI, Ethernet, AMD Whistler discrete graphics, and a Blu-ray Disc writer. Naturally, the dock attaches to the VAIO's Thunderbolt jack.

What we're trying to get our heads around, however, is Sony's choice for a USB connector instead of the Mini DisplayPort used by Apple's dual-channel 10Gbps Thunderbolt implementation. The decision to go USB was first brought to our attention by site Gula Digital. We've long known that Sony would be a Light Peak partner in some capacity. And the decision to go USB certainly echoes those first prototype interconnects demonstrated by Intel that combined a hybrid USB 3.0 connector with an optical interface and electrical connection to carry power. We also like the idea of being able to connect a USB 3.0 hard disk without first attaching an adapter. What troubles us, though, is a statement made by the USB Implementers Forum last summer expressing reservations with Intel's proposed interconnect:

"USB connectors are not general purpose connectors and are not designed to be used in support of other technology applications or standards or as combo connectors."

Perhaps Sony has worked out a licensing arrangement with the USB-IF? We don't know. But we're told that Sony's Thunderbolt implementation is definitely using a USB connector and definitely not using Mini DisplayPort. But we'll wait until this thing ships before complaining about Thunderbolt fragmentation too loudly.

Sony's Thunderbolt implementation hiding in plain (web)site, uses USB connector not Mini DisplayPort? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nanosys unveils Quantum Dot Enhancement Film for LCDs, promises all kinds of colors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/nanosys-unveils-quantum-dot-enhancement-film-for-lcds-promises/

Another day, another step closer to quantum dot reality. Today, Nanosys unveiled its new Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF), marking the first time that the nanotechnology is available for LCD manufacturers. According to the company, its optical film can deliver up to 60 percent of all colors visible to the human eye, compared with the 20 to 25 percent that most displays offer. To create QDEF, Nanosys' engineers suspended a blend of quantum dots within optical film and applied it to a blue LED, which helped get the nanocrystals excited. Once they started hopping around, the dots emitted high-quality white light and a rich, wide color gamut, without consuming as much power as white LED-based materials. No word yet on when we can expect to see QDEF in consumer displays, but Nanosys claims that the film is "process-ready" and easy for manufacturers to integrate. For now, you can amuse yourselves by comparing the two frogs pictured above and guessing which one is covered in quantum dots. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Nanosys unveils Quantum Dot Enhancement Film for LCDs, promises all kinds of colors

Nanosys unveils Quantum Dot Enhancement Film for LCDs, promises all kinds of colors originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/study-finds-netflix-is-the-largest-source-of-internet-traffic-in/

In your daily Netflix news, the latest report on Global Internet Phenomena for spring 2011 from Sandvine has called out the movie service as the largest single consumer of bandwidth on the internet in North America. The last report in October suggested it made up around twenty percent of internet traffic during prime time, but this time around the stats say it accounts for 30% of traffic during prime time, and 22.2% of daily internet traffic. Sandvine gets the data from ISPs using its broadband technology and now foresees "Real-Time Entertainment" (which includes Netflix) shooting up over 55% of peak internet traffic by the end of this year. It also reports on net traffic from other regions, noting social networking outpaces YouTube traffic in Latin America, while European subscribers use twice as much data as North Americans. We'll have to wait and see if these stats are waved in our faces to justify the next round of bandwidth caps or throttling, in the meantime you can click through for more stats or hear about it from Sandvine CEO Dave Caputo discuss them in a video embedded after the break.

Continue reading Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America

Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA's GTX 560 desktop GPU fills an exceedingly narrow pricing niche

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/nvidias-gtx-560-desktop-gpu-fills-an-exceedingly-narrow-pricing/

With Tegra 2 hogging the spotlight, sometimes it's easy to forget that NVIDIA is still primarily in the business of making GPUs for computers. Yet, here it is with the GeForce GTX 560, another graphics chip ready to be inserted into mid-range gaming rigs. This smaller sibling of the GTX 560 Ti is designed to plug right into a small price gap in the company's lineup -- right around the $200 mark. The 336 CUDA cores inside this second-gen Fermi card, predictably, perform slightly better than the GTX 460 and fall just short of the 560 Ti, but it does eke out a victory over similarly priced competition from AMD. The only thing that kept reviewers from wholeheartedly endorsing the various (and often overclocked) flavors of the 560 was the tiny difference in price between it and its relatives -- tacking on the letters Ti and its 48 additional stream processors costs as little as $15 after a mail-in rebate. Check out the reviews below for all the benchmarks your little nerd heart can handle. And don't miss the video of a GTX 560 plowing through Duke Nukem Forever, Alice: Madness Returns, and Dungeon Siege III at the more coverage link.

Read - Tech Report
Read - AnandTech
Read - Tom's Hardware
Read - Guru 3D

NVIDIA's GTX 560 desktop GPU fills an exceedingly narrow pricing niche originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bing adds Facebook 'friend effect' to search, hopes you 'Like' it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/17/bing-adds-facebook-friend-effect-to-search-hopes-you-like-i/

If you'll recall, Google has been pushing social integration into its search algorithm quite aggressively for the past few months; lest we forget the versatile +1 button. Not to be out done by Team Google's spider-crawling and link-snatching ways, Microsoft has announced full-on Facebook integration for Bing. They're referring to it as, the "Friend Effect." So, what's the difference?

While Google's approach aggregates its standard search results with shared content from the social networks you've manually linked to your account, Bing's approach relies upon the ol' Facebook "Like" button. Basically, Microsoft found that most people usually want opinions from friends and family before they make a decision on something. So by including friends' and families' Facebook-based Likes in the search results the company lets you know their input without ever having to ask. At the same time, Microsoft has added a universal like button to the Bing Toolbar that you can use to mark your approval on anything you find on the web, which in turn, can help out your friends' searches in a socially, antisocial kind of way. Bing uses "Collective IQ" of the internet hive-mind to optimize search results should your friends lack opinions about your interests.

Bing's Friend Effect search integration is pretty interesting stuff, and it could definitely offer a compelling alternative to Google's social search approach if your Facebook "friends" can truly be classified as such. Check out the videos after the break if you want more detail, and be sure to let us know what team you're on in the comments below.

Continue reading Bing adds Facebook 'friend effect' to search, hopes you 'Like' it

Bing adds Facebook 'friend effect' to search, hopes you 'Like' it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 19:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Social TV Startup BeeTV Raises $1.5 Million, Releases iPad App

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/17/beetv-funding-ipad-app-social-tv/

It’s been two years almost to the day when Israeli startup BeeTV raised $8 million in funding for a – really impressive – personal TV suggestion engine they’d been building.

Fast forward to today, and the company has shifted its focus squarely on offering social tools for sharing the TV viewing experience with online friends.

The company’s co-founder and former CTO, Yaniv Solnik, is leading the pivot as the startup’s chief executive officer, backed with $1.5 million in additional funding from Italian investment firm Innogest, a previous investor in BeeTV.

BeeTV lets users share ‘TV moments’ with friends and others in real-time, via an iPad app (iTunes link) that hits the App Store today. The app, which leverages the company’s existing recommendation technology, comes free of charge.

The idea is to start with the iPad and the website and then expand to social networking sites and mobile apps for iOS, Android and other smartphone and tablet platforms.

BeeTV lets people interact with each other while watching the same TV show or movie, and get more information straight from the same app (think news, gossip, fan pages and so on). The app also lets users rate and get personalized recommendations for TV shows.

Also cool: there’s a VIP section that shows tweets and messages from celebrities who act in, wrote, produced or are somehow related to the show or movie you’re currently watching.

Some screenshots of the iPad application:

CrunchBase Information

BeeTV

Information provided by CrunchBase

BoxyTunes Turns Dropbox into a Cloud Music Player for iPhone and iPad [App Of The Day]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5802110/boxytunes-turns-dropbox-into-a-cloud-music-player-for-iphone-and-ipad

There seems to be no lack of options for cloud music players on Android these days, but what about your neglected iPhone? If you have a Dropbox account and use it to store music and podcasts, BoxyTunes makes it easy to grab those audio files on the go.

What Does It Do?

BoxyTunes syncs up with your Dropbox account and lets you download music stored inside for playback on your iPhone or iPad. Is that it? Yeah, pretty much. It does play every format iOS supports, works in the background, has AirPlay support, and has a quick rewind button for replaying the song you're listening to if you decide you want to hear it again (I think this button was made for me). What does it not do? Multiple playlists, which solidifies its position as a secondary music player. It's not going to replace the iPod app.

Who's It For?

Yes, it has a small feature set, but what it does do is excellent if you're looking to play music stored in your Dropbox. This app is for people who don't have the music they want right now on their iDevice. Maybe you don't sync everything to your device or maybe you just forgot to sync it, but if it's not there you can use BoxyTunes to easily grab it from the cloud.

Worth It?

BoxyTunes isn't perfect, but it's also only $2. While you can use the free Dropbox app to download and play your music on the go, and BoxyTunes doesn't provide much in the way of features, it works a lot better. If you sync your music with Dropbox and ever want to play it on the go, then it's absolutely worth it.

BoxyTunes ($2) | iTunes App Store

You can follow Adam Dachis, the author of this post, on Twitter and Facebook. If you'd like to contact him, Twitter is the most effective means of doing so.

T-Mobile confirms gratis WiFi calling for the magenta-clad masses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/16/t-mobile-confirms-gratis-wifi-calling-for-magenta-clad-masses/

Last week, the online grapevine foretold that T-Mobile users would have complimentary calling over WiFi. Now, the pink provider's powers that be have made good on the gossip and officially made free WiFi calling official. The service is available to those with Android handsets with the carrier's Smart Wi-Fi app preinstalled and are on T-Mo's Even More or Even More Plus plans. All others wanting a dose of free will have to pony up for a new plan -- you didn't think it was actually free, did you?

T-Mobile confirms gratis WiFi calling for the magenta-clad masses originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 21:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Toshiba declares victory in pixel density war: 367ppi coming to a phone this year (video)

Nanosys QDEF screen technology ships in Q4, slips into iPad at SID 2011 (video)

Toshiba's tablet-ready, glasses-free 3D display debuts at SID 2011 (video)

Intel VP confirms ARM versions of Windows 8 will offer no compatibility with legacy apps

Samsung and Nouvoyance show off power-sipping, pixel packed Pentile display (video)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sony's Thunderbolt implementation hiding in plain (web)site, uses USB connector not Mini DisplayPort?

Nanosys unveils Quantum Dot Enhancement Film for LCDs, promises all kinds of colors

Study finds Netflix is the largest source of internet traffic in North America

NVIDIA's GTX 560 desktop GPU fills an exceedingly narrow pricing niche

Bing adds Facebook 'friend effect' to search, hopes you 'Like' it

Social TV Startup BeeTV Raises $1.5 Million, Releases iPad App