Sony 56-Inch 4K OLED TV Hands-On: So Bright, So Beautiful, So Far From Existing (Updated)

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5973993/sony-56+inch-4k-oled-tv-hands+on-so-bright-so-beautiful-so-far-from-existing-updated

Sony is showing off an organic light-emitting wet dream in 8 million pixels. Why can't a 4K OLED TV exist today? Now that I've seen the future as a 56-inch prototype, I'm sad I have to wait until tomorrow to see it again. All televisions should be this incredible.

The display in Sony's CES booth is a prototype screen with a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels. That's four times the number of dots on a 1080 HD display. Yup, this is ultra high definition. The screen is a TFT LCD illuminated by an OLED layer, which burns bright with out burning up energy. Sony figured out how to build a high-resolution structure of these diodes larger, and thus, a super screen.

But on to what matters.

4K OLED TV seems like a ridiculous concept because both 4K and OLED sets are both just now coming to market after years of experiments. And even now that these dream screens are supposedly consumer products, nobody can afford them.

But the 4K OLED makes you forget reality the way a great TV should. You start thinking lofty shit. This has to exist one day soon because we are human and we deserve it.

I watched the TV while it was playing Sony's optimized content, but even considering the setup, the screen was mesmerizing.

Or at least that's what I think. Maybe the alternating shock value of both technologies is just scrambling my brain. Maybe the bright color of the OLEDs contrasted with the visceral 4K texture just overloaded my senses. It's possible. But I'm suddenly convinced that that this 56-inch screen can make my living room better—if not my life. Godspeed Sony. [Sony]

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The Only Thing Bigger than Westinghouse's 110-Inch 4K Television Is Its Pricetag

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5973999/the-only-thing-bigger-than-westinghouses-110+inch-4k-television-is-its-pricetag

Home theater aficionados with both an excess of wall space and disposable income, rejoice! Westinghouse has just unveiled a super-premium, outsized 4K television. 110 Inches. $300,000. Great googly moogly.

That's right, a flat panel television with a display that rivals most HT projectors in size, capable of up-scaling standard HD signal into a gorgeous full screen display. And running native 4K content, it's mistakable for reality. But you will pay dearly for this performance.

If you are having trouble finding that sort of scratch in your couch cracks, fear not. Westinghouse is also rolling out 50, 55, and 65 inch versions for $2500, $3000, and $4000 rspectively. These sets will be shipping in Q1. Their gigantor cousin is made to order (like a Ferarri!) and comes with installation assistance.

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Meet the New Crazy-Fast Snapdragon 800 and 600 Processors

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5974003/meet-the-new-crazy+fast-snapdragon-800-and-600-processors-updating

Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro processor has been blowing us away with its speed in phones like the Nexus 4 and HTC's Droid DNA, and that's why we can't wait to meet its big brothers. The Snapdragon 800 boasts a quad-core Krait 400 CPU, that can go up to 2.3GHz per core.

To put that in perspective, the base-level Retina MacBook Pros come with a 2.3GHz processor (though, obviously, there's a lot more to performance than clock-speed). In other words, things are about to get very fast.

The 800 also features and Adreno 330 GPU, which claims to offer a 2x graphics performance boost from the previous generation (the Adreno 320). It supports 2x32bit LPDDR3 RAM at 800MHz – with memory bandwidth of 12.8GBps. It will support UltraHD (a.k.a. 4K) playback and recording plus 7.1 Surround sound. Dual image signal processors support up to four cameras and allows for 3D captures, photo merging into a master 55 megapixel image. They claim all this, plus 4G LTE and 802.11ac Wi-Fi for faster downloads, and a boost in battery life. We can't wait to see how this stacks up to Nvidia's Tegra 4, with its nutty 72 GPU cores. We can expect to see the 800 start showing up in mobile devices in mid-2013.

There's also the Snapdragon 600. It uses a quad-core Krait 300 CPU running at up to 1.9 GHz, the Adreno 320 GPU, and LPDDR3 RAM. It may not be as burly as the 800, but it still sounds like an improvement over the current generation S4, and it also promises better battery life. We'll start seeing it appear in Q2 of 2013.

Not to gush, but seriously, phones are so awesome right now. [Qualcomm]

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Pentax MX-1: This Camera's "Retro" Style Might Be Past Its Prime

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5974026/pentax-mx+1--this-cameras-retro-style-might-be-past-its-prime

Pentax is a classic imaging company and so you've got to let them have their own crack at building a camera that looks old school, right? In theory! But MX-1 feel just a smidgen late to the party.

Now we've got nothing against the brass-body design necessarily, and this $500 point-and-shoot has some undeniably slick features. We love that it's got a super fast f/1.8 lens and some manual controls familiar to the mode dials of DSLRs:like program and aperture or shutter priority modes.

And the classic top-panel design with the exposure compensation dial—nice touch! But the closer you look at the camera's specs, like 12.1-megapixel BSI CMOS, you start to realize, that's a lot less than other companies have been offering manually-controllable point-and-shoots for years and years at this price point.

You see with the retro-styled cameras from Fujifilm, something still feels fresh. In fact, just today, Fujifilm pumped out a refresh of two black and silver X-series cameras in the same exact camera bodies as the previous models. And it didn't feel like it was played out because they were packed with some awesome new imaging technology.

What's so new about the MX-1 that we should pick it up? If the answer to that question is its the design Pentax is selling use—we're not buying. We'll be sure to check out the camer this week and update when we know more.

[<a href="Pentax]

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Canon Powershot N Hands On: What a Cute Little Thing

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5974032/canon-powershot-n-hands-on-what-a-cute-little-thing

We spent a short time with the new Canon Powershot N and found that though it's a little awkward to use because of the square body, it's pretty fun at the same time. As a full time camera, the cute gimmicky form factor is limiting but as a little secondary camera? Definitely a good time.

The camera feels chintzy (the flip up screen and its hinge adds to that) but it's light and easily pocketable. Taking a pushing by pushing the lens ring down is kind of fun though trying to zoom by twisting the dial accidentally fired away one too many times. I'm sure with a few more tries, you can easily get it down.

Running through the touchscreen isn't exactly Speedy Gonzalez fast but didn't exactly ruin the experience either. We didn't get a chance to test the N's Wi-Fi connectivity with a smartphone or see the automatic filters it can place on a picture, as the battery died halfway through our hands on.

The Canon N is most definitely an intriguing camera but even for as cute as it looks, we'd still need a bit more convincing that the square camera accessory is worth the 300 bucks.

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