Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sharp's new 70-inch LCD HDTV is definitely bigger than the one your friend just bought

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/sharps-new-70-inch-lcd-hdtv-is-definitely-bigger-than-the-one-y/

At its "Spectacularge" press conference today Sharp announced its new 70-inch LC-70LE732U is the largest LCD HDTV on the market . It sports Quattron four color pixels, full LED backlighting, Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu Apps and DLNA access among its list of features, but no 3D. That will be remedied by one of the three additional models of 70-inch LCDs Sharp says it will ship this summer but in the meantime we're just enjoying a throwback to the heady days of 2006 when consumer LCDs were last found in this size range. Interested parties with enough green to cover the $3,799 MSRP should be able to order these at their local retailers, while the rest can gawk at the specs in the press release and hands-on shots. Oh, and as for those adjectives you'll see just past the break -- a preview of Sharp's marketing campaign, whose target customer has an "emotional" connection to the word big -- well, somewhere Freud is having a field day.

Gallery: Sharp LC-70LE732U

Gallery: Sharp LC-70LE732U hands-on!

Continue reading Sharp's new 70-inch LCD HDTV is definitely bigger than the one your friend just bought

Sharp's new 70-inch LCD HDTV is definitely bigger than the one your friend just bought originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS apologizes for Eee Pad Transformer delay it won't detail, US launch pegged for end of April

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/asus-apologizes-for-eee-pad-transformer-delay-it-wont-detail-u/

Well, as far as delays go, this is looking like one that ASUS is willing to accept. As the company explains on its Facebook page, demand for the Eee Pad Transformer has apparently been so high that the first few batches have sold out "much quicker' than it had planned. That's left the global launch for the Honeycomb tablet a bit up in the air, with the company only directing folks to its Facebook pages for individual countries for more information, although they unfortunately aren't providing much in the way of details at the moment.

That delay apparently won't affect the US launch, though -- at least not to any significant degree. According to the upstart website JoannaStern.com, the Transformer will be hitting the US by the end of this month with a price tag of $399, while the keyboard dock will run you $149. Could we possibly be seeing the beginnings of a tablet price war? Here's hoping.

[Thanks, James A]

ASUS apologizes for Eee Pad Transformer delay it won't detail, US launch pegged for end of April originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS (Facebook), Joanna Stern | Email this | Comments

Galaxy S II benchmarked, makes other phones cry in shame

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/galaxy-s-ii-benchmarked-makes-other-phones-cry-in-shame/

The first benchmarks of Samsung's 1.2GHz Galaxy S II -- we saw the 1GHz variant tested previously -- are rolling in, and it's fast. Almost suspiciously so. Its speedy dual-core Exynos CPU pulled off a 3,053 in Quadrant and scored double what the similarly specced HTC Sensation did in Smartbench2011. Those scores also represent a more than threefold improvement over the original Galaxy S. Of course, these are purely synthetic benchmarks and may not translate into an equally improved experience in day to day use. We'll know for sure when we get our hands on one for a proper review in the coming weeks. Full benchmarks are after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Galaxy S II benchmarked, makes other phones cry in shame

Galaxy S II benchmarked, makes other phones cry in shame originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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@eldarmurtazin (Twitter), Android-HK | Email this | Comments

Gigabyte's pricey S1080 tablet goes on sale in Taiwan

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/gigabytes-pricey-s1080-tablet-goes-on-sale-in-taiwan/

As far as tablets go, Gigabyte's S1080 is about as far as you can get from the iPad, with its dual-core Atom N550 processor, 320GB hard drive, and Ethernet port. (And, you know, the fact that it runs Windows 7.) Still, the company is going head to head with Apple's magical slate -- it just priced the 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet at NT$22,900 ($787), a shade higher than the NT$22,800 price of a first-generation iPad with 3G and 64GB of storage. (Taiwan hasn't gotten the iPad 2 yet.) If having a Windows tablet with mouse buttons, of all things, floats your boat, it can't be beat, though finding a cheaper Windows slate should be a cinch.

Gigabyte's pricey S1080 tablet goes on sale in Taiwan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry PlayBook review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/13/blackberry-playbook-review/

The words "play" and "book" are a bit of an odd choice for RIM's latest attempt at consumer relevance, a tablet that, at its core, runs one of the most hardcore and industry-friendly operating systems known to man. The OS is QNX and the hardware is, of course, the BlackBerry PlayBook. It's an enterprise-friendly offering that's also out to conquer the consumer tablet ecosphere, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the BlackBerry handsets that have filled the pockets of corporate executives and BBM addicts around the globe.

It's something of a serious tablet when compared to the competition running software from Apple and Google and, while it certainly has games, its biggest strengths are rather more boring. It does a really great job at displaying PowerPoint presentations, for example, and has the security chops to keep last quarter's dismal sales figures from falling into the wrong hands. Exciting stuff? No, but useful features for sure, and regardless of whether you find those intriguing or boring this is RIM's seven-inch, Flash-having but 3G-lacking tablet clad in an unassuming but extremely sophisticated exterior. It's what's running behind the glass that disappoints.

Gallery: RIM BlackBerry PlayBook