Thursday, January 02, 2014

Polaroid debuting $1,000 4K TV at CES

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/02/polaroid-tv/

Polaroid's been struggling with a bit of an identity crisis since the halcyon days of instant photography. Did you know, for example, that the company's been putting its name on TVs? Polaroid's celebrating CES with the release of two ambitious (if not particularly memorably named) sets at extremely low price point. The more notable of the two is a 50-inch 4K set with three HDMI inputs, priced at $1,000. Can't quite swing that? Good news, a mere $600 will get you a 50-inch set with a Roku Streaming Stick built-in -- and that one's got HDMI inputs, as well. Both sets will be on-hand in Vegas next week.

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Leak shows LG's radical new interface for its webOS Smart TVs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/02/lg-webos-smart-tv-leak/

LG's rumored webOS Smart TV is tipped to arrive at CES in the coming days, but that hasn't stopped intrepid leaker @evleaks from giving us what could be an early preview of its next connected set. In what appears to be a significant departure from the smartphone-like UI utilized in its current Smart TVs, the leaked render shows off LG's modern interpretation of the Cards interface we first saw in Palm's webOS-powered smartphones and tablets. LG chiefs have already indicated that the company has thrown its weight behind the Enyo open-source JavaScript development framework, which it acquired from HP as part of the webOS project, in the hope it will encourage third parties to create apps and services for its next-gen TVs. If the leaked image is real, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Skype apps will likely be available at launch, but we're set to find out for sure when CES 2014 commences next week.

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Source: Evleaks (Twitter)

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Wednesday, January 01, 2014

This camera stabilizer seems to defy the laws of physics

Source: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-camera-stabilizer-seems-to-defy-the-laws-of-physic-1492416121/@jesusdiaz

This camera stabilizer seems to defy the laws of physics

Though it may look fake and unreal and impossible and not allowed on Earth, the camera stabilizer in the video is completely real. You can't make it shake. It's like magic decided to defy physics and ignore gravity. All I want to do is park myself in front of a mirror and do as many twists and turns and spins as possible to see if I can get the camera off track. Like this guy.

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LG Lifeband Touch leak suggests fitness wearable could be imminent

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/31/lg-lifeband-touch-leak/

We love it when a leak and a rumor come together. LG's Lifeband Touch (as claimed by @evleaks), pictured above, is most likely the wearable that was hinted at just last week. The fitness band is likely an evolution of that which we saw back at CES, and at a guess, we might see again in the next week or so (unless we're made to wait until MWC). The name -- and image -- suggest a touchscreen component making this a swipe-friendly FuelBand competitor. Whether it'll be an LG G2 companion (as rumored) or a standalone device is yet to be known (we're hoping maybe a bit of both). Unless LG has had a change of heart, it's also likely to include an altimeter, some mobile notification features and play nice with the firm's Smart TV fitness/dance apps. What certainly is clear, however, is that there's going to be even more competition for your wrist in 2014.

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Source: @evleaks

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Snapdragon 805's desktop-class mobile graphics chops in action (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/31/qualcomm-snapdragon-805/

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 chip is still pretty dang new, but the company's already churned out a follow-up: the Snapdragon 805, a so-called Ultra HD processor. Like the 800, this version is a Krait-based, quad-core chip, and its biggest selling point is support for 4K video playback on your mobile devices as well as your smart TV. The 805 also includes an Adreno 420 GPU, which Qualcomm says offers 40 percent more graphics power. Of course, this is the sort of tech that you really need to see to believe. Luckily, a recent trip to San Diego gave us a chance to stop by Qualcomm's HQ and check out the latest Snapdragon demos. Head past the break for a look at the chip's graphics and video chops.

All four demos utilized the Snapdragon 805 Development Platform, an Android tablet with a 2,560 x 1,440 display, dual cameras with 3D sensors and surround-sound speakers. While devices packing the 805 chip won't debut until late 2014, these setups tease some of the visual improvements you can expect.

Selective focus and other camera apps

With the 805, Qualcomm is commercializing several software algorithms that allow for advanced photo-editing tools no matter what smartphone you're using (as long as it packs this Snapdragon chip, that is). For example, an app called UbiFocus let us change what parts of an image were in focus à la the Lytro camera. It worked well, and thanks to the 805's processing oomph, there wasn't noticeable delay on-screen. Other programs include Optizoom, which sharpens a particular area (such as text) of a photo, and Chromaflash, which fuses flash and natural-light versions of a photo for an enhanced picture.

Multi-view 3D

One of the coolest demos on hand showed off the 805's Adreno 420 GPU. When hooked up to an external monitor, the Development Platform was capable of streaming eight different feeds of 3D video to the display, allowing for an ideal viewing experience no matter where we stood in front of the setup. Multi-view 3D is one of the Snapdragon 805's most significant advantages -- at least in terms of graphics -- over the 800, which can't pull it off with its Adreno 330 GPU.

Improved graphics efficiency

Qualcomm added hardware tessellation to the Adreno 420 GPU, which makes for a marked improvement over the Adreno 330 in terms of visuals. Essentially, the GPU supports additional geometry (i.e., graphics details) without stressing the CPU's processing power and memory. It's the kind of GPU heavy lifting that's been doable on consoles and high-end PCs previously, but not on a tablet. A comparison between the Adreno 330 and 420's rendering of an insect moving around makes it clear just how much better the latter performs.

High-quality images, small file size

Thanks to hardware 4K HEVC (high efficiency video coding), the Snapdragon 805 can decode and stream high-quality video without using much power. And we really mean high quality; just check out the clip above, which should give you a decent idea about the level of detail you can expect on mobile platforms and TVs alike. The processor also packs improved Dolby Audio, including vertical surround sound, but that experience doesn't transfer as well to a video hands-on.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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