Nexus 4 Wireless Charger hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/17/nexus-4-wireless-charger-hands-on/

Palm's Touchstone dock immediately came to mind when we first saw LG's Nexus 4 Wireless Charger last fall (now available for $60 in the Play Store). Both devices are circular, with a micro-USB port in back and a slanted front surface on which to rest the phone. That's where the similarities end -- while the Touchstone is cylindrical and uses a proprietary wireless charging system, the Nexus 4 Wireless Charger is larger, spherical and Qi-compatible. Another major difference is that Palm's dock uses permanent magnets to line up and secure the handset, and LG's accessory relies primarily on the friction / suction between a rubber ring and the glass back of Google's flagship phone. Design-wise the Nexus 4 Wireless Charger looks similar to a smaller Nexus Q cut in half, down to the matching recessed square connector cutout.

Gallery: Nexus 4 Wireless Charger hands-on

In the box you'll find a 5V 1.8A AC adapter (vs. 1.2A for the one supplied with the Nexus 4) along with a micro-USB cable (longer than the one provided with the handset). The manual warns to "use only the power adapter and micro-USB cable that come with your Nexus 4 Wireless Charger", but we didn't have any trouble with other USB power sources beyond longer charging times. We tested the dock with the Nexus 4, Droid DNA, Lumia 920 and Lumia 822 (with the optional Wireless Charging Cover) -- basically, LG's accessory provides the same experience as Nokia's Wireless Charging Plate ($50), which is also Qi-compatible. The $10 difference buys you a matching design and a spare USB power adapter and micro-USB cable (Nokia's plate comes with a proprietary AC adapter). It takes about 4 hours to fully charge Google's flagship phone using wireless power -- check out the gallery above for some action shots.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Google, LG

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LG Display invests $655 million to expand OLED HDTV mass production next year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/18/lg-display-invests-655-million-in-oled-hdtv/

Sure, LG's current 55-inch OLED HDTV is pretty pricey with a US MSRP of $12K, but that may start to change next year when panel supplier LG Display kicks its new 8G production line into full gear. LG Electronics holds a 38 percent stake in the company and although it supplies screens to many others as well, the next generation of 55EM9700s will likely be a large segment of the displays produced. Although LCD manufacturers ramped up 8G facilities capable of producing six 55-inch displays from one piece of glass in the late 2000s, oversupply caused prices to drop and manufacturing to slow down, including at LG Display.

Now, new display technology is ramping up investment again, which will see this new line installed at its P9 plant in Paju, South Korea at a cost of 706 billion won ($655 million). Based on LG's WRGB OLED evaporation process, it should be capable of working with as many as 26,000 input sheets per month once it's up to full speed in the first half of 2014. Chief competitor Samsung showed off "production" OLED HDTVs last year and plenty of demo units at CES with a mid-year release planned, we'll see if it manages to keep up before / if the tech goes mainstream.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD, LG

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Moo's NFC tagging app hits Google Play, NFC business card not required

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/moo--nfc-management-app-google-play/

Remember those NFC-equipped business cards Moo promised? Yeah, well, they're still not ready for mass consumption. But, that's not stopping the company from making its own NFC tagging app available today on Google Play. Obviously, the intended draw here is to pair the companion app with Moo's fancy programmable cards. In lieu of that, however, you can always use the company's software with other NFC tags in your possession to transfer social networking data, phone numbers, contact info and even redirect to specified URLs. The only barrier to entry? You'll need a handset running Android ICS and up (and, ideally, an actual NFC business card). Head to the source below to demo the free application now.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google

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Via: Android Central

Source: Google Play

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NVIDIA Nsight Tegra 1.1 Visual Studio Edition gives developers a path to Android

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/nvidia-nsight-tegra-1-1-visual-studio-edition/

One of the biggest roadblocks to Android app development is just coming to grips with the tool set: asking developers weaned on Visual Studio to drop it for the likes of Eclipse is tossing them in the deep end of the pool. NVIDIA is offering a slightly gentler swimming lesson through the launch of Nsight Tegra 1.1 Visual Studio Edition. The kit brings the needed framework for native Android apps into Visual Studio 2010 so that programmers can work with the debugging and other features they've come to know. Although Nsight Tegra isn't the same as building in Google's preferred environment, it's also free for registered Tegra developers -- no doubt in the hopes that there will be more apps built around NVIDIA's chips.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, NVIDIA

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Via: NVIDIA

Source: NVIDIA Developer Zone

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Opera buys Skyfire, wants its video and smartphone optimization expertise

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/opera-buys-skyfire/

In a sudden joining of former leaders in the mobile browser arena that have seen their fortunes turn, Opera announced tonight that it has acquired Skyfire for about $155 million in cash and stock. According to the press release, Opera believes one of the things the two can help each other with is its WebPass program that provides short-term mobile data, by further optimizing user's data requirements. Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck will become an executive vice president at Opera and oversee joint offerings for the two, as well as remain CEO of Skyfire as an independent but wholly-owned subsidiary of Opera.

If you're still using Skyfire don't expect it to go away anytime soon, as the two indicate its browser will continue to be developed and supported. The company says three large US mobile operators are already customers for its Rocket Optimizer tech, meant to speed up all manner of data even as mobile connections have gone from dial-up to broadband speeds. Opera claims its advertising chops can help the Skyfire Horizon mobile browser and toolbar applications as well. The deal is expected to close before mid-March, and the two will be taking meetings at MWC 2013 later this month to show mobile operators how much better they are together.

Filed under: Mobile

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Source: Opera, Skyfire Blog

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HTC One leaks in press shot (again), this time in black

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/htc-one-leaks-in-press-shot-again-this-time-in-black/

When HTC CEO Peter Chou showed off his company's next flagship phone, the M7 / HTC One a few weeks ago, he had both black and silver versions in hand. Shortly after, known press pic source evleaks snagged a promo image in silver and now has posted another to Unwired View, this time of the black one. Still sporting a unique two button design seen previously and what we assume is a Sense 5.0 homescreen widget, this pic also flashes New York localized info, as compared to the earlier leak's London home. For now, we're left counting down until its expected unveiling on the 19th in... New York and London -- see you there.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Source: Unwired View

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan leaks, could cost a grand

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-rumor/

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 currently wears the world's-fastest-graphics crown, unless you count the limited edition Ares II, by cramming two Kepler GPUs onto one mainstream board. When it comes to improving on that, some leaked European retailer listings suggest NVIDIA might not wait on a completely next-gen architecture, but may instead try to deliver similar performance through a less power-hungry single GPU design. The listings, gathered together by TechPowerUp and VideoCardz, point towards a pricey new flagship, the GeForce GTX Titan, that would be a graphics-focused adaptation of the beefy Tesla K20 computing card. It'd pack 2,688 shader units, a 384-bit memory bus and 6GB of RAM, all with one chip -- for reference, the GTX 690 needs two GPUs to offer 3,072 shader units and has 4GB of RAM. There's no confirmed unveiling date, and the primary leak on a Danish site has actually been pulled, but ASUS and EVGA are rumored to be launching their own GTX Titan variants as soon as next week, possibly in the $1,000 to $1,200 ball park. That's a short wait for what could deliver a serious boost to game performance, not to mention bragging rights.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals, ASUS! , NVIDIA

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Via: Bright Side of News, Bit-Tech

Source: TechPowerUp, VideoCardz.com, EuroSys

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Archos 116 Platinum tablet joins CES lineup with 11.6-inch IPS screen for $349

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/archos-116-platinum-tablet/

How do you build a powerful, attractive 11.6-inch tablet that retails for $349? Well, you cut some corners when it comes to build quality, as we discovered when handling Archos' 8 and 9.7-inch Platinum models last month at CES. The company's latest slab features an identical quad-core 1.2GHz processor, eight-core GPU, 2 gigs of RAM, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), front and rear cameras, along with microSD and HDMI connectivity. The 116 Platinum, however, packs a larger 11.6-inch, 1920x1080-pixel widescreen IPS display, boosting the price tag to $349, compared to $299 for the 9.7-inch model and $199 for the 8 incher. Archos has promised some hands-on time at CeBIT next month in Germany, but you can get a fairly solid idea of how it'll look and feel by checking out the smaller Platinums in our CES vid after the break.

Filed under: Tablets

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Source: Archos (PDF)

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How-to: Setting up a Plex Environment

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/setting-up-a-plex-environment/

Since the storage sizes on smartphones haven't quite caught up with that Drobo NAS in your home office, packing all of your media onto a 32GB iPhone is an impossible task. Worry not; we're going to show you how to set up a streaming environment so you can have all your jams at your fingertips on the go. The good news is there are tons of solutions out there to choose from: XBMC, MythTV and Windows Media Center just to name a few. We decided on Plex Media Server due to the broad range of devices and services it supports. On top of that, Plex allows you to share your server with friends and access your media from anywhere via the myPLEX platform. Catch us after the break to learn how to get started.

Filed under: Misc, Software

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Android 4.2.2 spreads to Nexus 4 with new battery sounds (update: no LTE)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/13/android-4-2-2-spreads-to-nexus-4-with-new-battery-sounds/

No, Nexus 4 users, Google hasn't forgotten about you. About a day after Google started pushing Android 4.2.2 to most Nexus devices, the company's latest and greatest smartphone is also getting the patch over the air. When it shows, there will be a pair of small additional rewards for running the latest hardware -- the Nexus 4 now plays a unique sound when wireless charging kicks in, as well as an updated low-battery sound. We wouldn't upgrade just to get the new tones, but they cap what's proving to be a more significant update than the version number would suggest.

Update: As Brian Klug over at AnandTech notes, Google both giveth and taketh away -- that very, very unofficial LTE access disappears with the update. When 4G only worked in limited areas, and was never going to get official support, we won't cry too much.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google, LG

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Source: Android Central, Google Git

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LG's 55-inch OLED HDTV ships in Korea next week, has 100 pre-orders so far

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/lg-55em9700-oled-hdtv-100-preorders/

We saw all the 2013 HDTVs debut last month at CES and the first few new models are starting to reach shelves. One of the more interesting sets arriving is LG's 55-inch OLED HDTV, the first of its kind at this large size. Shipments are starting Monday for the 11 million won ($10k~) television, and according to a press release, LG has notched about 100 pre-orders so far in its home country. For comparison, LG announced it sold 300 of its 84-inch, $20k Ultra HDTV in Korea as of last month. LG also mentioned it plans to sell as many as 15 percent more HDTVs in 2013 than it did in 2012, as it continues to push its Smart and 3D features. We're still waiting for Samsung to release its own OLED HDTVs, while this one is still slated to ship in the US in March for $11,999.

Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Reuters, LG Korea, Yonhap News

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Pebble watch pulls all notifications from the iPhone, but only if you jailbreak

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/14/pebble-watch-jailbreak-hack/

The Pebble already does a good job of pulling notifications from stock iOS apps to your wrist, including SMS, email previews and calendar appointments. But if you want a broader range of alerts from third-party apps -- say, Google+ -- then you're basically stuck. Unless, it seems, you're prepared to jailbreak your iPhone. Developer Conrad Kramer recently tweeted to say that his "BTNotificationEnabler" tool is available on Cydia, and that it allows every single arrival in your Notification Center to be sent to a Pebble or other compatible Bluetooth device. It's unlikely to induce many smartwatch owners to liberate their phones, even with the relatively easy and untethered evasi0n hack now available, but at least we have one more bullet point the next time someone asks "why jailbreak?".

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Apple

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Via: PhoneArena, CultofMac

Source: Conrad Kramer (Twitter)

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Under Armour launches Armour39 performance tracking system, we go hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/12/armour39-hands-on/

Under Armour has always touted the scientific underpinnings of its sports apparel. From moisture wicking to heat trapping and everything in between, the company is quick to assert that it isn't just another athletic clothing company. But, performance enhancing shirts and pants have their limitations and, arguably, performance monitoring is a far more interesting and burgeoning field. In 2011 it dabbled with E39, a compression shirt with a space to insert a "bug" that included and accelerometer and heart rate monitor. Today, at an event in beautiful, chilly New York City, it officially unveiled the next evolution of that toe-dipping, Armour39. While there may be a shirt in the future, for now the system consists of a traditional chest strap, an iPhone app and an optional watch for those that don't like to carry their expensive smartphone with them on runs.

Gallery: Armour39 hands-on

Filed under: Wearables, Software

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LG reveals 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro design with curved glass

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/12/lg-reveals-5-5-inch-optimus-g-pro-design-with-curved-glass/

Clearly, a lot of us wanted LG to reveal the design of the 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro as quickly as possible: just a day after a teaser, we're looking at the complete picture. And it's quite a looker, by all counts. While it has the familiar digital cube pattern on the back, it's also using curved glass in black or white, which LG says produces a "2.5D" effect. Those other details that LG is willing to divulge are largely what we expected based on the Japanese edition, including a full HD (1080p) display and a quad-core processor that's likely the Snapdragon S4 Pro. LG expects the larger G Pro to launch in late February, although it didn't say whether or not this is limited to South Korea; based on the timing, though, we might get a peek at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Gallery: LG Optimus G Pro 5.5-inch

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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Source: LG Electronics (Facebook), Korea Newswire (translated)

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with LTE gets gussied up in Garnet Red

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/12/samsungs-galaxy-note-10-1-lte-garnet-red/

Samsung's just pulled back the curtains on yet another device clad in a shade of Garnet Red: the Galaxy Note 10.1 with LTE. According to the electronics giant, it's positioning the dark cardinal-colored tablet as perfect material for Valentine's Day, and thinks the device will particularly strike the fancy of the fairer sex. Come February 14th, the freshly minted tablets will be available for three carriers in South Korea, while a rolling release is penciled in for other markets across the globe.

Filed under: Samsung

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Source: Samsung (Translated), Samsung (Flickr)

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