Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

NewSight 180-inch 3D Video Wall is first with LEDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/newsight-180-inch-3d-video-wall-is-first-with-leds/

NewSight decided just removing the need for silly glasses wasn't good enough, showing off the first 3D LED-based display. Each LED is arranged at a pitch of 6mm, similar to current LCD 3D technology, so it can display the same content that's been popping up as of late. The 180-inch 3D LED Video Wall is capable of combining with three others to form a 360-inch screen, with a 20,000 hour warranty period on its LEDs and NewSight's digital signage background, we can imagine watching a game or being hounded by eerily-realistic Black Friday ads very soon.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

NewSight 180-inch 3D Video Wall is first with LEDs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung teases with 50-inch OLED TV for CES, scolds us for caring

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/samsung-teases-with-50-inch-oled-tv-for-ces-scolds-us-for-carin/

When SED development hit the brakes a few years ago, OLED technology quickly stepped in to fill the emptiness felt by our fickle hearts' desire for the blackest of blacks. Up until now, prototype OLED panels have been limited to a max size of about 40-inches. But these won't be available for consumers until 2010 or so. For now, we're "stuck with" Sony's little 11-inch XEL-1 if anyone actually wants to purchase an OLED TV for their ~~living room~~ kitchen. Samsung's vice president of flat panel development, HS Kim, says that Sammy "may demonstrate" a 50-inch OLED TV at CES in January but quickly tempers any enthusiasm with a crushing blow of reality,

"I'm sure that if we marketed such a set at ten times the price of current LCD TVs, which is what it would be now, no-one would buy it."

Kim then shifts into sales-mode by pointing out that Samsung's more power-efficient 240Hz LCDs and Plasmas with highly-reflective black panels and LED edge-lighting are quickly cutting into any advantage offered by OLEDs -- including thinness if you factor in the additional electronics you'd have to slap onto the back of those 3-mm thick OLED panels to create a TV. Of course, manufacturers can also dump all that tech into a display-side box much like Sony does with it's XEL-1, but hey, he's on a roll. When the interview with! Wha t Hi-Fi ended, Kim presumably kicked a puppy just to drive his points home.

[Via OLED-Display]

Filed under: Displays

Samsung teases with 50-inch OLED TV for CES, scolds us for caring originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RED's 'big change' announcement is actually kind of big (updated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/reds-big-change-announcement-is-big-for-pros-disappointing-f/

RED's "big change" announcement is out. The good news: no more waiting. Unfortunately, that's about it -- ~~still no DSMC configuration for the general consumer~~. The rest of the news is targeted at professional film makers which, really should be expected if only these lustful hearts could be contained. With Jannard's team recently overcoming some sensor and electronics limitations, the specs and prices for the Scarlet and EPIC systems have been juggled resulting in a new, stretched delivery schedule. Judging by reactions in the RED USER forums, the changes are welcome if only vaguely understood for a system that only exists on paper (outside of RED ONE) for the time being. Now go ahead and hit the read link for the specifics of what changed -- and with 1,048,576 possible configurations to this modular camera system, you'd better bring help.

Update: After reviewing the 1 million configs, we did find something noteworthy: the previously TBD price of the 2/3-inch 8x fixed zoom 3K Scarlet is now priced at $3,750 when it ships as a "complete kit" with brain and lens sometime in the Fall of 2009. It looks like it should also be compatible with lenses from Canon and Nikon via an optional interchangeable lens mount. As previously announced, the "brain" alone costs $2,500. That officially puts RED within fighting distance of the 1080p-capable Canon EOS 5D Mark II for the prosumer's dollar. Relevant components pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Ben]

Continue reading RED's 'big change' announcement is actually kind of big (updated)

Filed under: Digital Cameras

RED's 'big change' announcement is actually kind of big (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 06:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee Box B204 / B206 grows an HDMI port, handles high-def material

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/asus-eee-box-b204-b206-grows-an-hdmi-port-handles-high-def-ma/

Man, talk about maturing early. ASUS' Eee Box just hit the shelves here in America a few months back, and now the company is already pushing out a pair of successors. Both the Eee Box B204 and B206 retain the same overall design and processor (1.6GHz Intel Atom N270), but you will find a 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3400 GPU to complement the 1GB of RAM, 160GB SATA II hard drive, multicard reader, 802.11n WiFi, Windows XP Home, 10GB of online Eee Storage, gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, DVI connector and the freshly added HDMI socket. The B204 trumps the B206 (weird, right?) with the inclusion of Bluetooth and a built-in battery that acts as a UPS in case of power failure. We've already seen just how decently the B202 could handle 1080p playback; it's just that much easier with a dedicated HDMI port. As is par for the course with ASUS, there's nary a mention of price / availability.

Filed under: Desktops, Media PCs

ASUS Eee Box B204 / B206 grows an HDMI port, handles high-def material originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel's Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 overclocked to 5.5GHz

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/intels-core-i7-extreme-edition-965-overclocked-to-5-5ghz/

Right, so Intel's 3.73GHz Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 is fast enough for the vast majority of PC users across the globe, but not for Japanese overclocking enthusiast duck. Oh no -- duck decided to pair the chip up with ASUS' ROG Rampage II Extreme motherboard, which facilitates hardware-based OC'ing, in order to reach a top speed of 5510.09MHz. The point of the exercise? Just to say he could, not to mention set the bar for OC Team Italy to try and demolish.

Filed under: Desktops

Intel's Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 overclocked to 5.5GHz originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Ego GT-S9402 luxury phone shames the word "luxury"

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/03/samsung-ego-gt-s9402-luxury-phone-shames-the-word-luxury/

We've got a bone (or three) to pick with this one, so we'll just get right down to the beating. For starters, anyone who can't recognize the striking similarity between this handset and Vertu's Ferrari Ascent Ti is obviously wearing Samsung-tinted glasses. Aside from the complete lack of originality, the Ego GT-S9402 also lacks a 3G radio -- an omission that's simply inexcusable given the estimated €1,200 ($1,513) price tag. Oh sure, there's a measly 1GB of inbuilt storage, tri-band GSM connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera (with LED flash), an FM radio module, Bluetooth 2.0, dual SIM slots and a microSDHC expansion slot, but for over a G, we expect something more than mid-range specifications in a "liquidmetal" alloy chassis. Color us emphatically unimpressed.

[Via UnwiredView]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Ego GT-S9402 luxury phone shames the word "luxury" originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Renesas aims to bring 1080p playback to your next cellphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/01/renesas-aims-to-bring-1080p-playback-to-your-next-cellphone/

Believe it or not, this is far from the first we've heard of bringing high-def video to cellphones, and it's not even the first application to dabble in mobile 1080p. Still, we'll take all the innovation we can get in this space, and when the real Touch HD ever arrives, we'll be ready and waiting with Full HD capabilities. Announced at ISSCC 2009 in San Francisco, Renesas Technology is showing off an application processor that enables handsets to process 1,920 x 1,080 resolution video at 30 frames-per-second; the processor's core has a maximum operating frequency of 500MHz and supports MPEG-4 AVC / H.264, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video formats. There's no telling when the 6.4- x 6.5-millimeter chip will be available en masse, but we need the HTCs of the world to get us a 1080p phone and a retina implant or two to read 0.2-size fonts before it even matters.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, HDTV

Renesas aims to bring 1080p playback to your next cellphone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Full screen Flash-enabling v2.53 PS3 firmware available now

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/01/full-screen-flash-enabling-v2-53-ps3-firmware-available-now/

We're still not over Sony's trickeration -- which led us to believe the version 2.53 firmware update was hitting prior to the US Thanksgiving holiday -- but we're not ones to turn down a free update under any circumstances. As of now (as in, right now), Sony's PlayStation 3 can support full screen embedded Flash videos courtesy of the latest firmware, so there's really no excuse for you not firing up the System Update and sucking it down. Get to it!

[Via PS3 Fanboy, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Gaming

Full screen Flash-enabling v2.53 PS3 firmware available now originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N97 vs iPhone... Fight!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/nokia-n97-vs-iphone-fight/

Now this is a fight worth waiting for.

[Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble]

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N97 vs iPhone... Fight! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N97 video hands-on!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/nokia-n97-video-hands-on/

Once again Drita from Engadget Spanish has swooped in a caught some fantastic video of Nokia's new N97 in action. There's no point in beating around the bush -- just check out the device doing its thing after the break!

Continue reading Nokia N97 video hands-on!

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N97 video hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia unveils flagship N97 phone [update: video!]

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/nokia-unveils-flagship-n97-phone/

Details are in, Nokia has a new flagship phone. The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an "always open" window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the "world's most advanced mobile computer." To back up the claim they've dropped in HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video. 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass and "DVD quality" video capture at 30fps, too. The specs are certainly impressive, let's see if the S60 5th Edition OS can support it. The N97 will launch with a retail price set at around €550 ($693) excluding subsidies and taxes, phone to ship in H1 2009.

Update: Hah, Nokia just boasted on stage at Nokia World that the N97 was the scoop "Engadget didn't get." O RLY??? Sure looks like the device codenamed Eitri that we broke to the world last month.

Update 2: Video demonstration after the break.

Update 3: Thanks for the widget love, Nokia (pic after the break, and thanks Eric).

Gallery: Nokia unveils flagship N97 phone

Read -- Press Release
Read -- A bit more detail
Read -- Even more detail

Continue reading Nokia unveils flagship N97 phone [update: video!]

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia unveils flagship N97 phone [update: video!] originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display gets unboxed, is sure glossy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/apples-24-inch-led-cinema-display-gets-unboxed-is-sure-glossy/

A fortnight after going on sale, Apple's shiny new 24-inch LED Cinema Display has been acquired, unboxed and photographed for your drooling pleasure. Not much to say here outside of what's told in terrific detail by the pixels above, but just like the new MacBook family, there's lots of gloss to go around. Check the read link for a few more looks.

Filed under: Displays

Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display gets unboxed, is sure glossy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N97 hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/nokia-n97-hands-on/

If you're like us, you haven't seen nearly enough of the N97 yet... right? Well fear not, faithful reader, as our intrepid comrade from Engadget Spanish, Drita, has nabbed a tasty hands-on with the phone in question. As you can tell from the pics, it's not quite as thin as its nearest competitors, but fairly sleek and stylish all the same (metal bezel and all), and that QWERTY keyboard looks practically edible. We're salivating at the thought of getting one to thoroughly put through its paces, but until then, let's all just sit back and soak in the handsome gallery below.

Update: Make sure you check out Drita's video hands-on as well!

Gallery: Nokia N97 hands-on

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Filed under: Cellphones

Nokia N97 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pioneer shows off 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, affirms compatibility with current players

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/pioneer-shows-off-16-layer-400gb-blu-ray-disc-affirms-compatibi/

When Pioneer first introduced its unicorn-like 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, we weren't sure if the thing would make it beyond the drawing board, let alone be compatible with existing BD decks. Over at the IT Month Fair in Taipei, Pioneer showed up to showcase the capacious disc, and better still, a DigiTimes report asserts that these are indeed compatible with Blu-ray readers already on the market. Currently, the 400GB disc is slated to hit mass production sometime between now and 2010, while rewritable versions won't hit until 2010 to 2012. Not like it really matters though -- a 1TB disc is on track for 2013, and you know you'll be waiting for the latest and greatest.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Storage

Pioneer shows off 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, affirms compatibility with current players originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nikon's geotagging GP-1 dongle now available

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/02/nikons-geotagging-gp-1-dongle-now-available/

Nikon's geotagging GP-1 dongle now available

When we asked how you'd change Nikon's 720p-recording D90 DSLR, many of you globe-trotting photogs let out wistful sighs, gazed at the brightest star, and wished with all your might for automatic geotagging of photos. Like some trickster genie, Nikon is granting your wishes, but we're not sure the GP-1 GPS add-on is exactly what you had in mind. It slots into the hot-shoe on most cameras (clipping onto the strap for a few) and uses an unwieldy looking cable to connect to the body of your D200, D3, D700, D90, D300, or D3X. We can't say that we're particularly fond of the device's means of indicating status, either: red blinky light = no satellites; green blinky = three satellites; green solid = four satellites or more. C'mon Nikon, for $240 you couldn't integrate that cable into a hand strap and put more than two LEDs up in there?

[Via Gadget Lab]

Continue reading Nikon's geotagging GP-1 dongle now available

Filed under: Digital Cameras, GPS

Nikon's geotagging GP-1 dongle now available originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of! feeds.

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