Monday, August 31, 2009

Researchers developing OLEDs as cheap as newspapers?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/31/researchers-developing-oleds-as-cheap-as-newspapers/

Sure, it'll probably be a good while before you get your hands on an OLED TV, but don't lose heart, young gadget-head! Techno-wizards at the RIKEN center in Japan have concocted a new way to fashion OLEDs that eschews the standard spin-coated films for something called electrospray-deposited polymer films, incorporating "a novel dual-solvent concept" that makes the 'em "smoother than before, thereby enabling [...] superior devices." We'll skip a few details that don't mean anything to those of us who aren't Advanced Materials subscribers (hit the read link for more info) and get to the good stuff: Yutaka Yamagata, the guy who developed this technique, says it will lead to displays "manufactured as inexpensively as printing newspapers." Is that a promise, Yutaka? If so, we're holding you to it.

[Via OLED-Info]

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Researchers developing OLEDs as cheap as newspapers? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint follows T-Mobile's lead, wants $350 for HTC Touch Pro2

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/31/sprint-follows-t-mobiles-lead-wants-350-for-htc-touch-pro2/


We figured the suits over at T-Mobile USA were on some of that good stuff when they slapped an almost comical $350 (on contract) price tag on HTC's Touch Pro2, but evidently said "stuff" has made its way into the halls of Overland Park as well. After months of watching evidence mount, Sprint has finally come clean and admitted that HTC's EV-DO Rev. A-equipped superphone is coming to its network, and with it will come access to Sprint TV as well as NFL Mobile Live and NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile apps. The smartphone will go on sale September 8th, though you'll have to pony up $349.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) in order to secure one on a two-year contract. We're all about that 3.6-inch WVGA tilting screen, but with Palm's Pre selling on this very network for a full $150 less, we're thinking this one won't appeal to many outside of the WinMo faithful.

Continue reading Sprint follows T-Mobile's lead, wants $350 for HTC Touch Pro2

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Sprint follows T-Mobile's lead, wants $350 for HTC Touch Pro2 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netbook sales growth doubles laptops in Q2 '09

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/31/netbook-sales-growth-doubles-laptops-in-q2-09/

While it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given the fairly steady growth netbooks have seen since their inception as a product category, it's still pretty notable that they've apparently now managed to nearly double traditional laptops in sales growth during the second quarter of this year. That word comes from market research firm DisplaySearch, which found that netbook shipments grew an impressive 40% compared to the same quarter last year, as opposed to 22% for plain old laptops. As excitingly illustrated in the chart above, however, that still leaves netbooks (or "mini-notes") well behind laptops in terms of total shipments, although that seems almost certain to narrow considerably in the months and years ahead -- at least until the line between netbooks and laptops becomes so blurred that we just start calling everything "laptops" again.

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Netbook sales growth doubles laptops in Q2 '09 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's 32GB Alvin RM-559 hits FCC, Simon 561 and Theodore 563 nowhere to be found

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/31/nokias-32gb-alvin-rm-559-hits-fcc-simon-561-and-theodore-563-n/

Nokia's latest mystery device to hit the FCC, the RM-550 "Alvin," holds itself in some good company given the known specs. Its 32GB internal memory is matched only by Espoo's other flagship devices N97 and N900, and it's also got the same BL-5J battery as the aforementioned pseudo-MID. Throw in quad-band GSM, tri-band WCDMA, Bluetooth, and WiFi, and you've got our interests piqued. The confidentiality agreement of the filing gives no indication of when we might hear more details, but we're gonna go ahead and start preparing ourselves mentally for yet another resistive touchscreen.

[Via Unwired View; thanks, Me]

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Nokia's 32GB Alvin RM-559 hits FCC, Simon 561 and Theodore 563 nowhere to be found originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Inspiron 11z reviewed with high hopes, disappointing realities

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/31/video-dell-inspiron-11z-reviewed-with-high-hopes-disappointing/

Dell's 11.6-inch Inspiron 11z sure looks promising, with a sub-$500 price tag and an Intel Celeron 723 / non-Atom processor, but if you ask the gang at Notebook Review to describe it, it's unfortunately a pretty big letdown. Some minor issues with the body from the get-go, it's apparently got one of the worst touch pads the site's ever seen, and the 1.2GHz processor ended up underperforming compared to its Atom-based competition (although we gotta wonder how using Windows 7 instead of Vista might help here). There is some good here, with the GS45 chipset and X4500 graphics allowing for decent 3D performance and smooth 720p playback. Still, we can't help but have some hopes dashed here -- better luck next time, right? Hit up the read link for the full review, with video.

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Dell Inspiron 11z reviewed with high hopes, disappointing realities originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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