Saturday, August 30, 2008

LG's DVS450H Makes DVD Players Attractive Again, Plays DivX HD [DVD]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378000988/lgs-dvs450h-makes-dvd-players-attractive-again-plays-divx-hd

It's becoming all about Blu-ray nowadays, but LG hasn't forgotten the DVD player: its DVS450H is doubly interesting for its design and DivX playing. Check out those sleek lines—pretty sci-fi, especially with that concealed display and sliding-door disc tray lid. LG call its shape "floating", and it can be desk or wall mounted. And its the first "DivX Certified(R) DVD player from a major manufacturer capable of playing HD video" according to LG, with playback capabilities from DVD or hard drives attached to its USB port. It's due in October for around $240. Press release below.

Aug 28, 2008 19:00

LG to Launch First DivX Certified(R) DVD Player from a Major Manufacturer Capable of Playing HD Video

Innovative "Floating" Player Lets Consumers Enjoy HD Content on Standard DVD Device
SAN DIEGO & SEOUL, Korea —(Business Wire)— Aug. 28, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX), a digital media company, and LG Electronics, Inc. today announced the DivX Certification(TM) of a new DVD player from LG capable of playing high-definition DivX(R) video.

Incorporating a stylish and sleek design capable of being mounted on a wall, LG's new DivX Certified(R) DVD player, the DVS450H, allows consumers to play their personal libraries of high-definition digital content. With this device, consumers can enjoy high-definition DivX videos burned to DVD's or stored on USB flash drives. Typical HD video requires a considerable amount of digital storage space, but DivX HD video provides a superior media experience by maintaining the highest visual quality while significantly reducing the digital file size of the video. Using DivX technology, a full-length high-definition movie is able to fit onto a standard DVD.

"The demand for products that play DivX video ! has cont inually driven us to produce solutions that maximize this high-quality experience across a range of product categories," said Dan D.H. Koh, Head of Marketing Strategy Team in LG Electronics' Digital Media Company. "Incorporating support for high-definition DivX video on this DVD player illustrates this in a significant way. We are committed to bringing our customers the very best entertainment solutions and are pleased that working with DivX fulfills this vision."

"Bringing high-definition video to LG's newest DVD player illustrates our mission of enabling a high-quality media experience across any device," said Kevin Hell, Chief Executive Officer, DivX, Inc. "This new player from LG simplifies the consumer transition to HD entertainment by providing a high-definition experience on a familiar DVD platform. We are delighted to work with LG in bringing consumers a premium solution for their digital content."

Products that bear the DivX Certified(R) logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience, including reliable video playback, interoperability with other DivX Certified devices and the visual quality that users expect from DivX.

LG is a major manufacturer across consumer electronics product categories who has embraced DivX Certification within a variety of different platforms, including mobile phones, digital televisions, and in-car media players.


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Wireless Roaming Wi-Fi 802.11r Standard Beats 11n to Completion [Wi-Fi]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378019483/wireless-roaming-wi+fi-80211r-standard-beats-11n-to-completion

The 802.11n standard for Wi-Fi may still be technically a draft specification, but the IEEE has now completed the 802.11r specs, making a new standard for Wi-Fi roaming. Why should you care about this? It's designed for those moments when a Wi-Fi-connected device moves between hotspots, something the original 802.11 specs didn't have in mind. Typically a transition between spots involves a drop and re-associate delay of around 0.1 seconds, which is enough to drop a VoIP call: 802.11r allows re-association with the new Wi-Fi source in less than 0.05 seconds, which should keep your call connected. The specs and also cover security associations and reservation of QoS resources for roaming Wi-Fi connections and have been under development for four years. [DailyWireless]


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Video Hands-on: Samsung X360 is an Air Killer [Ifa 2008]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378661347/video-hands+on-samsung-x360-is-an-air-killer

I got my dirty paws all over the 2.79-pound Samsung X360 and I've got to say I'm impressed with everything except for the piano black finish. Its size and weight—very light and thin—is comparable to the MacBook Air, the 13.3-inch,1,200 x 800 pixel screen looks very good, and it comes with more ports and features than Apple's notebook: direct HDMI out, three USB ports, Express Card slot, 7-in-1 flash card reader, external optical unit included, and fingerprint reader for security. Definitely, the Samsung X360 bests the MacBook Air in features hands down... although yes, you guessed it, there's a big hairy but lurking around the corner.

It can't run Mac OS X. And to me, that's the killer. For Windows users, however, the Samsung X360 looks like the best machine of both. Granted, Apple fanboys will argue that a revision of the MacBook Air is just around the corner, but at this point and on the surface—and without knowing the final US price, which we guess will be comparable to the MacBook Air as well—, the winner is the Samsung X360.

The Good: Ultra-thin, ultra-light, great quality, and good number of features, including expandability via Express Card and direct access to HDMI and flash cards (I can kill for this one). No compromises except the optical unit, which I can live without, like many other people, I suspect. The keyboard was comfortable, chiclet-style.

The Bad: The damn piano black finish. As a personal note, the fact that it can't run Mac OS X (without modification) is the main drawback for me, as I think it's what makes the MacBook the best notebooks in the market. However, this last "bad" won't be bad at all for the largest part of the market, though.

Bottom line: If Samsung can nail the price of this unit at the $1,800 mark, they definitely have a best seller in their hands. However, we will have to wait and see Apple's new MacBook Air! , who ob viously has a long lead in this category at this point. [More IFA 2008 Coverage]


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Why I Love Netbooks [Mini-notebooks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378150760/why-i-love-netbooks

Just because I'm a fat American doesn't mean I've always wanted a fat American computer. Over the years I have grown to hate so-called performance laptops from Dell and HP. They were big, ugly and heavy enough to rip your shoulder out of your socket, and getting bigger, uglier and heavier all the time. Why didn't we get those little laptops, you know, the ones made for Japan and available only on Dynamism? Like the lady who buys shoes a few sizes too small, I sought a computer that could be used for emails and surfing and not require steroid supplements to transport. Oh, and could it be cheap, too? I spend all my money on fast food.

Netbooks are wonderful.

When the Asus Eee PC arrived, it subverted every laptop tradition that had come before it. It was the first cheap drool-worthy laptop (not counting the judgmental hippie Kumbaya circles of the OLPC), and its mentality was different, too. Not there to replace your PC, but not there for the business traveler either, the Eee was simply a fun machine, a computer just made for dudes who like computers. Seriously, how many laptop ads have you seen that feature a model relaxing on the beach? There's a reason for that.

And maybe the most innovative paradigm shift—oh, I went there—was that this amazing laptop wasn't even built out of laptop parts! There was a freaking digital camera memory stick in the thing in place of a real hard drive. Had we been lied to? Could digital cameras double as computers for all this time??

You see, my MacBook Pro, that's for work. My phone, that's for outside. My m! ini note ? Perfect, it won't even distract me from the television.

Take the iPhone. It's great, but it's streamlined for productivity. It's so good at what it does, filtering news headlines from air and emails from inboxes, playing music on command and calling web numbers with just a tap, that I'm trapped in productivity.

Sometimes I don't know where I want to go online, just that I want to go online. And it's this digital improvisation that begs for a mouse, a keyboard and speakers to play any stupid songs off any stupid web advertisements. I want the full effect, only smaller.

Just as an HDTV can bring a movie theater home, so too can one of these put a full computer back in your actual lap. Have you ever Skyped on a mini-notebook? Yeah, it's like one of those telephone conversations from the future as told by an '80s sci-fi movie. It's fantastic.

For those who crave more power, don't worry, as processors shrink this platform will become synonymous with the laptop. And for those who crave more comfort, get over it. You'll learn to type on a new keyboard or stay away from the second helpings.

I'm just saying, there's a reason James Bond carries a Walther PPK.


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Why I Hate Netbooks [Mini-notebooks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378150755/why-i-hate-netbooks

The other day I walked into a coffee shop where I witnessed a man—a grown man—hunched over a tiny laptop. He wiggled with cautious, uncertain movements like a fat guy squeezing his way into an old pair of pants. His hands, too wide for the keyboard, made him look klutzy and a bit stupid. His face, in almost erotic proximity to the tiny screen, squinted to either see more clearly or repress the eyestrain. And to top off this scene of sleek convenience, a long, mismatching wire complete with power brick connected the computer to a nearby outlet. After all, such a small machine could never be expected to run off battery power alone!

Netbooks are torture.

The poor fool. Like the midlife crisis guy sold a car too small for his rump and too young for his hairline, Asus or MSI or someone had convinced this slovenly coffee drinker that hunchbacks were in this year.

And this scene—one I've witnessed on more than one occasion—confirmed my suspicions. The small laptop was a failure, a marketing ploy manufacturers were not incapable of implementing before, but simply too kind to do so.

For one, these computers aren't cheap. Sure, the price may start at $350 or $400, but you'll need to upgrade to 2GB of RAM if you'd like to run XP in the fashion you've become accustomed to. And you may want to buy the larger battery too (every manufacturer lies about their mini laptop's battery life to conspiracy levels worthy of their own Oliver Stone tribute).

Now, with that snazzy $500 to $600 machine, let's do some browsing! Surely, this will be way better than on my phone! Unfortunately, such is not the case. While mini-notebooks have bigger screens than smartphones do, smartphone browsers and news applications are often designed around their limitations. Yet archit! ects of XP and Firefox simply never took 5" to 8.9" tiny screens into account. If one's choice is tiny text on a premium OLED phone screen or a bottom-dollar LCD, there's no comparison. I'd rather read the headlines through the New York Times app on my iPhone than the browser on my Eee any day.

Oh, and then there's the typing situation. Don't even get me started.

The end result of using any mini-notebook is a complete loss of comfort coupled with the guilt of not enjoying the experience more. Plus, while you might not be bringing your full-sized laptop to the coffee shop, you'll still need your briefcase to lug a mini-notebook, no matter how small.

Netbooks are like feral cats. They look cute at first, but put one in your lap for a bit and you'll learn real quickly why you stayed away in the first place.


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