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Thursday, September 05, 2013

Eyes-on with LG's 55-inch Gallery OLED TV (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/eyes-on-lg-55-inch-gallery-oled/

LG's showing off its new 55-inch OLED set here at IFA, and (get this) it's not a curved one. Though it's bucking the trend made so popular by LG itself (along with Samsung), the product is hardly boring; the so-called Gallery comes complete with a sound bar disguised as an art mat. LG's included its canvas speakers all around the panel to pump out 2.2-channel sound, along with a subwoofer.

In theory, the Gallery (model 55EA8800, if you must know) sounds a bit gaudy, but the execution is anything but. For one, it looks sleek despite the soundbar backing -- it won't distract your eye from the 55-inch panel. Colors looked extremely vibrant, and images extremely clear, when we viewed the OLED in LG's booth at IFA. Sound quality is strong as well. This is a straightforward (premium) TV, of course, but if you want to leverage the product's artsy pedigree, you can enable Gallery Mode, which displays a selection of works of art from Van Gogh and others. The set ships with a simple, thin black frame, but other, more elaborate options could become available later on.

The Gallery and the sound bar "art mat" will be sold as a bundle for €8,999. An LG booth attendant told us the TV will launch at the end of the year, though the company has made no official comment. Check out the eyes-on video for a closer look.%Gallery-slideshow79668%

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, LG

Haier's new OLED TV is harder to push over than most

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/haier-tv-stand/

Eye control is all well and good, but what Haier was really pumped about at this year's IFA was its new 55-inch OLED set. And, granted, the set is nice and thin at four millimeters, with a 1.5 millimeter bezel. What the company was really excited about, however, was the built-in stand. Yep, it's a four millimeter thick TV that can stand on its own, making it really difficult to push over in one direction, at least. We appreciate the sentiment, but we'll be more excited when we can start controlling the thing with our brains.

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

drag2share: 'WAKE UP, YOU LITTLE...' Dad Wakes To Hear A Man Talking To His Little Girl Through Her Internet-Connected Baby Monitor

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/Xv3iqhg-oNU/the-dark-side-of-the-internet-of-things-2013-9

baby monitor

There is a new trend in technology called "the Internet of things."

All your household electronics and appliances are getting connected to the Internet – everything from your lights to your thermostats.

In the long run, connecting these things to the Internet will provide all sorts of conveniences and efficiencies.

But there is a dark side to the Internet of Things.

Forbes, for example, just published a story by Kashmir Hill about a man named Marc Gilbert who woke up on the night of his 34th birthday to hear a sound coming from his 2-year-old daughter's bed room.

Gilbert says he heard a man saying to his daughter: "Wake up, you little slut."

Awful.

The voice was coming through her Internet-connected baby monitor.

Hill says the hacker probably found the baby monitor through a search engine called Shodan, which indexes the "Internet of Things" the way Google indexes the regular Internet.

Shodan can find all kinds of stuff: webcams, traffic lights, glucose meters.

Scary.

Hill says the key to protecting yourself against invasions like the one Gilbert went through is to never buy an Internet-connected gadget that is not password protected. Also, if you buy one that comes with a default password and user name, change it immediately.

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drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email c! ontacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Enable Google's Hidden Themes for the Stock Android Keyboard

Source: http://lifehacker.com/enable-googles-hidden-themes-for-the-stock-android-key-1253487329

Enable Google's Hidden Themes for the Stock Android Keyboard

If you don't love the look of Android's stock keyboard, Google actually has a few other themes built-in. You just need to uncover them with this trick.

You'll need a custom launcher that can access Android Activities for this to work, like Apex or Nova—which we highly recommend downloading anyway, since they're awesome. Once you've got one installed, just follow these steps:

Long-press on the home screen and head to Shortcuts > Activities from the menu that pops up.
Choose "Google Keyboard" (or "Android Keyboard (AOSP)" depending on your device and Android version), and head to "Android Keyboard Debug Settings." This will create a shortcut on your home screen.
Tap that new shortcut and you'll get some advanced settings for your stock keyboard. Choose "Keyboard Theme" to pick a new theme for your keybaord.

Enable Google's Hidden Themes for the Stock Android Keyboard

You can choose from Basic (which is the pre-Gingerbread theme), Stone, Gingerbread, and IceCreamSandwich (the default on ICS and higher), with a few variations. Pick which one you like, and enjoy!

Google Keyboard Themes | Google Operating System

Nikon's Tiny LED Light Keeps Darkness Out of Your Camera's Way

Source: http://gizmodo.com/nikons-tiny-led-light-keeps-darkness-out-of-your-camer-1255317688

Nikon's Tiny LED Light Keeps Darkness Out of Your Camera's Way

Nikon's LD-1000 LED movie light is an inexpensive, portable lighting solution that could make shooting video with company's Nikon 1 mirrorless cameras a lot easier. The always-on light mounts to your camera and keeps the scene in front of you continuously illuminated with what Nikon promises is a natural-looking, diffuse white glow.

Harman Kardon's Esquire Bluetooth speaker doubles as a conference system, fits in a briefcase

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/harman-kardon-esquire-bluetooth-speaker-and-conference-system/

Business professionals who've dreamt of having a portable conference system and Bluetooth speaker combo have just had their wish granted. Harman Kardon's aluminum and leather-clad Esquire portable speaker features two drivers, a bass port and noise-cancelling conference microphones. Placing the unit upright adjusts its mics for one person, while laying it flat works best for multiple people. The design is relatively clean, but you'll find physical buttons at its side for power, playback, mute, volume and Bluetooth pairing (NFC-pairing is also an option). An internal battery keeps it juiced for up to ten hours and its wall charger has three USB ports to handle your smartphone and extra gizmos. The Esquire will be available for your business travels later this year in white, black and "camel."

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

Source: Harman Kardon

Sony's next 4K projector will be merely expensive, not outrageous

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/sonys-vpl-vw500es-projector/

Sony has just announced the VPL-VW500ES 4K projector at IFA 2013 in Berlin, and though it didn't name a price, said it'll be much cheaper than its first 4K projector. Before you start re-arranging your theater room, though, the original VPL-VW1000ES cost a cool $25,000, so "cheaper" might be a relative term. If you're undeterred, though, you'll get full 4,096 x 2,160 4K resolution thanks to native 4K SXRD panels -- technology that Sony lifted from its commercial cinema projectors. Other perks include 1,700 ANSI-lumen brightness (compared to 2,000 for the VW1000ES), a 200,000:1 contrast ratio, "Super Resolution" Blu-ray to 4K upscaling, Motionflow tech for less blur, and support for HDMI 2.0 -- which permits 60fps 4K. Again, Sony hasn't mentioned a price yet, but we did see it at a French retailer for 10,000 euros, meaning a $10,000 price seems feasible.

Sony also dropped a Full HD 3D model, the VPL-HW55ES projector, which replaces the VPL-HW50ES as its top 1080p dog while using the same SXRD tech. It boasts 1,700 ANSI-lumens, a 120,000:1 contrast ratio, a 5,000 hour lamp, an optical engine upgrade and Reality Creation technology. Both projectors offer wireless HDMI compatibility, and will arrive at some point next month. For more minutiae, check the PR after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

Toshiba's Satellite Click detachable PC promises better graphics than your typical budget system

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/toshiba-satellite-click-detachable-pc/

We get it: speeds and feeds aren't everything. But this might be a rare case where a chip could actually make the whole story. Toshiba announced the Satellite Click today, and until you get to the spec sheet, it reads like a totally forgettable product. What we have here is a 13-inch detachable tablet with a 500GB hard drive inside the tablet and an extra battery inside the keyboard dock. Sounds like lots of other things you've read about, right? Well, lo and behold, the Click is actually one of the first products to ship with AMD's Temash chip, whose graphics prowess we showed you back at CES. To be fair, this is a dual-core 1GHz A4-1200 processor with AMD Radeon HD 8180 graphics, not the quad-core one we demoed earlier. Even so, the general concept is the same: this is a system-on-a-chip tailored for tablets that makes use of AMD's 28nm Graphics Core Next architecture, which you'll also find inside some of AMD's discrete GPUs. Depending on the exact chip, Temash promises to compete with Intel's Atom processors as well as its Core i3 series. Unlike a Core i3 tablet, though, Temash allows for a fanless design, more akin to what you'd expect from an Atom or ARM-powered device.

Also, it drives down the cost. The Click will go for about $599, making it $150 cheaper than the Core i3-powered HP Split x2, which also has a 13-inch screen, dual batteries and a 500-gig hard drive in the dock. Granted, there are likely to be tradeoffs, and we suspect battery life could be one of them, if not speed. A Toshiba rep estimated runtime at three to four hours for the tablet only, and six to seven hours with the dock. That wouldn't match up well against a new Haswell hybrid but then again, some of its competitors (like the Split x2) are based on Ivy Bridge, which isn't so hot in the longevity department either. The Click will be available later this month exclusively at Best Buy and on Toshiba's site.

Update: We've just seen the Click on display here at IFA... sort of. Toshiba is showing off the European version, the Satellite W30t, which for whatever reason ships with an Intel Core processor, not an AMD Temash chip. So, similar design (save for the fans), but very different performance, we'd imagine.%Gallery-slideshow79645%%Gallery-slideshow77126%

Filed under: Tablets, AMD

Toshiba's 11-inch Satellite NB15t laptop offers touch and 802.11ac WiFi for $380 (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/toshiba-satellite-nb15t/

Toshiba's 11inch Satellite NB15t laptop offers touch and 80211ac WiFi for $380 handson

Toshiba probably doesn't appreciate us calling its new 11-inch laptop a netbook. But it's the same size as a netbook, and with an MSRP of $380, it's priced like one too. Heck, the Satellite NB15t, as it's called, even follows the same naming convention as the netbooks Toshiba sold back in 2010. The nice thing about netbooks in the Windows 8 era, though, is that for the money, you also get a touchscreen. And in this case, 802.11ac WiFi. Yep, that's right: though we can't vouch for how fast a machine this will be, it does at least carry a touch panel and the latest wireless standard, two things we wouldn't normally expect to find on a low-end system.

Rounding out the list, you get a Celeron processor, 500GB of storage and 4GB of RAM -- not bad considering other cheapie touchscreen machines like the Pavilion TouchSmart 11 start with 320 gigs and still cost more. The only problem is that you'll have to wait until the holiday shopping season is half over until you can buy one: Toshiba says the NB15t won't actually ship until November. Fortunately for you, though, we've already had a few minutes of hands-on time.%Gallery-slideshow79646%%Gallery-slideshow79616%

Filed under: Laptops

Panasonic's 20-inch 4K Toughpad tablet ships in November for about €4,500

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/panasonics-20-inch-4k-tablet/

Panasonic's 4K Toughpad tablet initially debuted at CES in January, but here at IFA in Berlin, the company is finally ready to shed some light on availability. Speaking at a press conference focused on the device, GM Jan Kampfer detailed the giant slate, which includes a fiberglass housing and sports a 3,840 x 2,560 (230 ppi) power-efficient IPS display with 176-degree viewing angles. The UT-MB5 supports 10-finger touch and includes a Bluetooth-enabled optical Anoto Live Pen with a six-hour battery life and palm rejection. The Toughpad was designed with creative types in mind, such as artists and architects -- though we wouldn't mind having one around as a fantastic (albeit pricey) portable 4K movie viewer.

There will be two models: a Standard flavor that weighs in 2.3kg and includes 4GB (expandable to 8GB) of RAM and a 128GB SSD, and a 2.7kg Performance model with 8GB RAM (expandable to 16GB) and a 256GB SSD. The company is targeting design pros with that latter version, such as those working with 3D modeling tools, while the lower-powered spec would be a better fit for healthcare users, retail or sales professionals. Panasonic aimed for workstation performance here, so both devices include Intel Core i5 processors and run on Windows 8.1. There are three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI out, an SD card slot and an optional desktop cradle and mounting point adapter. They're also quite durable, and are reinforced to survive 76 cm (2.5 ft) drops. The Standard model will ship in November, while the Performance slate is expected in early 2014.

Update: Microsoft is reporting that the device will ship in the US and Europe beginning this Saturday, September 7th, but Panasonic executives at the IFA event are confirming a November timeframe. The Toughpad on stage is being described as a "prototype," further reinforcing that the slate is not ready to ship.

Update 2: Panasonic reps quoted pricing for the standard version at €4,508 (about $6,000), with the Performance version MSRP to be announced. The optional pen will retail for €280 (about $370).

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Tablets

Eyes-on with Toshiba's 50-inch concept 4K TV

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/toshiba-50-inch-4k-tv-eyes-on/

If you want an 84-inch 4K TV, you've really gotta be a one-percenter, but fortunately for the rest of us that's not a very big market. That's why it's high time that companies started to trim those ultra high-definition panels down to a size and price point that's suitable for the everyman. It's Toshiba, therefore, that's leading the charge to affordability with a concept 50-inch 4K TV. The M9/L9 Series Concept is currently just that, but it combines the usual breathtaking imagery with a more apartment-friendly size. Naturally, there aren't currently any plans to bring this to market, but hey, the company will happily sell you a 58-inch model for £3,000.%Gallery-slideshow79649%

Dana Wollman contributed to this report.

Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Samsung shows off 98-, 110-inch Ultra HDTVs at IFA 2013, teases 4K OLED

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/samsung-98-110-4k-oled/

At Samsung's press conference it's bringing some of those extra large Ultra HD TVs it promised at CES, and mentioned something even more tantalizing: a 4K OLED. Unfortunately that last one did not make an appearance on stage, however the company has promised it will be present in its booth for demos tomorrow. We expect that, like the ones shown by Sony and Panasonic at CES, this is just a prototype, but if it's anywhere near as beautiful as those we can't wait to see it. As far as products that are actually shipping, Samsung also showed off its 55-inch curved OLED again, as well as the 65-inch F9000 UHD TV. As far as the supersized 4K sets, Samsung is showing off 98-inch and 110-inch models that outsize the 85-inch behemoth it kicked this crazy trend off with back in January. Finally, it's trying to address the issue of high-res content, with representatives from Eutelsat and TF1 present to talk about the projects they have in the works.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung

Source: Samsung Tomorrow Liveblog, Samsung

Philips intros 65- and 84-inch 4K TVs priced at â¬4,999 and â¬14,999

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/philips-intros-65-and-84-inch-4k-tvs-priced-at-4-999-and-14-9/

New 4K TVs from Philips? We can't say we didn't see 'em coming. Heck, Philips even won an award for one of them. The company was waiting for the main event here at IFA to make the thing officially official, however. Philips took to the stage today to show off two entries in its 9000 series -- 65- and 84-inch models. The company's promising an "attractive price point here" -- that means €4,999 ($6,588) for the smaller 65PFL9708 and €14,999 ($19,768) for the 84PFL9708. Both sets feature Ultra Pixel HD Engine technology for upscaling, given the still somewhat limited selection of 4K content. The 65 and 84 are both available now in the UK and Russia.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Dash Robotics's DIY robots controlled by smartphones, look like insects (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/dash-robotics-diy-smartphone/

DNP Dash Robotics

What could kids find more fun (and parents find more affordable) than fancy toy robots? Toy robots they build themselves that scurry around like horrifyingly gigantic insects. That's what a startup called Dash Robotics hopes to offer if it reaches its $64,000 goal on new crowdfunding site, Dragon Innovation. Each Dash kit contains a flat panel made out of a plastic-and-cardboard material with precut parts you'll have to piece together like Legos. Those parts will enclose an electronic component that lets you control the six-legged robot with either an iOS or an Android app, although the company can't guarantee the latter. Prototypes will be available to the first 1,000 backers who pledge at least $65, but everyone else might be able to get their own later -- Dash Robotics hopes to release its kits commercially and to keep them priced below $70.

Source: Dash Robotics, Dragon Innovation

Lenovo announces Yoga 2 Pro with 3,200 x 1,800 screen, slimmer design (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/05/lenovo-yoga-2-pro-hands-on/

We think we can all agree the Lenovo Yoga has been long due for an upgrade: while every other flagship Ultrabook got refreshed with Haswell, the Yoga 13 stuck around with Ivy Bridge and a relatively low-res 1,600 x 900 display. It was getting so long in the tooth, in fact, that we almost didn't recommend it in our most recent laptop buyer's guide. Well, Lenovo's finally giving us the upgrade we've been asking for, and if specs are any indication, it might have actually been worth the wait.

The new Yoga 2 takes a big step up to a 13-inch, 350-nit, 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen, putting it well ahead of its peers, most of which max out at 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. As you'd expect, this new model runs on fourth-gen Intel Core processors (all the way up to i7), with the battery life now rated at up to nine hours. The Yoga also adds Intel Wireless Display, in accordance with the current Ultrabook spec. Equally important: the new model measures 15.5mm thick (versus 17.1mm on the original) and sheds about half a pound so that it now weighs a little over 3 pounds (3.06, to be exact, or 1.39kg). And believe us when we say that half-pound makes a difference: chalk it up to muscle memory, but we could instantly feel the difference when we picked it up for the first time. We don't remember the original ever being this thin or light. %Gallery-slideshow73818%%Gallery-slideshow76615%

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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