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Thursday, January 12, 2012

drag2share: Acer Iconia Tab A510 hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/acer-iconia-tab-a510/

The follow-up to last year's Acer Iconia Tab A500 -- aptly named the A510 -- is hanging out in the NVIDIA booth at CES. The 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display (the same one on the A500) comes with Android 4.0 on board, alongside a 5MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing cam. The tablet feels lighter than its predecessor (as it should, since it loses the USB 2.0 port), and we prefer the soft-touch plastic backing to aluminum finish on the last-gen model.

What's most interesting about the A510, though, is not the fact that it has Ice Cream Sandwich pre-loaded, but that it has a custom UI, similar to what you'll find on the Honeycomb-packing A200. Thankfully, Acer's choice of skinning is low-key, and makes for an enjoyable, unobtrusive experience. First off, the UI is very ring-centric: tapping a virtual button in the middle of the task bar launches a ring with four customizable shortcuts, as well as a carousel on the right. Additionally, the lock screen offers a similar circular batch of four direct-access points, rather than the stock two. We appreciate that Acer isn't looking to add a full fifteen pieces of flare to its proprietary user interface. To see some more of the Tab, we've got a gallery of photos below, along with a short walk-through video after the break.

Gallery: Acer Iconia Tab A510 hands-on

Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A510 hands-on (video)

Acer Iconia Tab A510 hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Panasonic Skype tablet eyes-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/panasonic-skype-tablet-eyes-on/

At Panasonic's press event here at CES 2012, the company announced and briefly showed off a device it called a Skype tablet, then promptly whisked it away before we could get our hands on it. Well, we swung by the Panny booth to see it up close and some more info on the thing. As you can see in the gallery below, it's got what appears to be a webcam and a 7-inch LCD on the front, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack and an SD slot round back. Unfortunately, our attempts to gather more info about the device were rebuffed, but feel free to peek at our pictures and pontificate on what lies beneath its silver facade.

Gallery: Panasonic Skype tablet eyes-on

Panasonic Skype tablet eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/12/live-from-the-engadget-ces-stage-an-interview-with-red/

If you've been to the movies lately, you've seen through Red eyes. This is some of the tastiest cinematic tech around -- some people like them so much, they've even been known to name them. Ted Schilowitz from Red swings by our stage at 5:30PM ET, and we can't wait.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Production begins for Raspberry Pi's $35 Model B Linux computer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/11/raspberry-pi-begins-production/

Good news for everyone who's hoping to lay down petty (or exorbitant) change for a relatively well-equipped Linux computer: the Raspberry Pi Model B has officially begun production. Unlike the Model A, this $35 computer board features both an Ethernet adapter and 256MB of RAM (rather than 128MB). Although the company had initially hoped to produce these devices in England, it has since decided to move production to China and Taiwan to satisfy both cost restraints and demand. Designed with the budding programmer in mind, the $25 Model A will enter production at a later time. Unfortunately, there's no firm ship date as the company hasn't yet decided whether to receive its order of 10,000 units in one push or incremental amounts. They tell us to stay tuned, and we're more than happy to oblige.

Production begins for Raspberry Pi's $35 Model B Linux computer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adafruit | source

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drag2share: Hands-off with the Golden-i head-mounted computer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/11/hands-off-with-the-golden-i-head-mounted-computer/

Until now we've only seen the Golden-i shown off as a concept, but now it's actually shipping. The wearable computer (manufactured by Motorola, using technology licensed from Kopin, running software created by Ikanos) has 512MB of RAM and a TI OMAP under the hood. Currently it's a series 3 with a maximum clock speed of 1GHz, but the next iteration should move to a 1.2GHz 4 series CPU. Instead of relying on a touch screen, keyboard or mouse you control the Windows CE machine using voice commands and by moving your head, thanks to the six axis accelerometer and dual mics which provide rather impressive noise cancellation. (Neither of the two demo units had any trouble understanding us on the crowded show floor.) It also packs WiFi N and Bluetooth radios, and there's talk of a forthcoming 4G dongle from Verizon.

Gallery: Golden-i hands-off

The display is on an arm which not only pivots and tilts, but can also easily be popped off and moved from one side to the other. It's meant to just sit just out of your line of site, but you do have to keep it somewhat in your peripheral vision to clearly focus on the interface. We found that the units were a little overly sensitive to our head motions, but we were able to quickly adjust and (as an Ikanos and Kopin rep were quick to point out) the units weren't calibrated for our use -- they were simply pulled out of the box and popped on our domes. That's particularly impressive considering that, in the roughly 20 minutes or so we spent barking commands at the Golden-i, the Nuance-based voice-control system only balked once (and, of course, it wound up in the video after the break). The system is available now, but the $2,500 asking price is sure to make even some of it's industrial and security targets pause.

Dana Wollman contributed to this report.

Continue reading Hands-off with the Golden-i head-mounted computer

Hands-off with the Golden-i head-mounted computer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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