Archive for April 21st, 2009

Roku hooked us up with an early preview of Amazon Video on Demand in HD for its Video Player, and while we didn’t have much time to poke around, but what we saw was mostly impressive. Video took a little longer to buffer in than Amazon SD or Netflix’s HD streams on our 10Mbps cable connection, picture quality was noticeably better, although still not at Blu-ray levels. Apart from the HD content, the experience on the Roku box is essentially same as always: there’s still no search in the interface, so be prepared to hunt around for what you want — anything other than popular or blockbuster titles requires a little digging. Selection and pricing seem to be about on par with Apple TV / iTunes, but you’re getting a little less for your money, since audio is stereo-only compared to Apple’s 5.1 encoding. That’s a potential dealbreaker for us, but it might not matter to you, and Roku’s $99 Video Player is now an undeniably appealing way to beef up your HD content options. Short hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Amazon Video on Demand HD on Roku Video Player hands-on

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Amazon Video on Demand HD on Roku Video Player hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After months of leaked testing images and rumors, Amazon’s finally updated its Video on Demand service to HD. 500 shows and movies will be available in high-def to start, and the service is expanding to include Panasonic VIERACast TVs in addition to Series3 TiVos, the Roku Video Player, and the Sony Bravia Internet Link. Head to head with the Apple TV, the only downside we see is that audio is stereo-only and not 5.1, but we’re super-picky like that. Rental pricing will be between $3.99 and $4.99 for HD content, and the service should be live on all devices today — let us know when you get the update. Full release after the break.

Continue reading Amazon Video on Demand goes HD, comes to Panasonic VIERACast TVs

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Amazon Video on Demand goes HD, comes to Panasonic VIERACast TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not exactly for everybody, but we have a sneaking suspicion that Sprint’s new Sierra Wireless AirCard 402 mobile broadband card — first spotted last month — will make at least a few multiple laptop owners out there very, very happy. As you can see above, this one can function happily as an ExpressCard one moment and a PC Card the next, with each providing the same dual-band CDMA connectivity and support for EV-DO 1xRTT, Rev. 0, and Rev. A, along with all the other standard features and software you’d expect from a mobile broadband card. Perhaps the best news, however, is the price, which at $99.99 (after $180 instant savings and a $50 mail-in rebate), is pretty much in line with Sprint’s other plan old ExpressCard options.

Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless

Sprint debuts 2-in-1 AirCard 402 mobile broadband card originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We like where this is headed. Toshiba seems poised to capitalize on its incredibly aggressive TG01 form factor, with the TG02 slated for Q4, and the TG03 for some time after that. We already got the skinny on the new handsets, along with the QWERTY-equipped K01 and K02 counter parts, and now we’ve got a few new shots of the TG series to keep things interesting. It’s all a little low-fi at the moment, but while the TG03 looks like the most basic of renders, the TG02 shot (above) seems somewhat photographic in nature — just think if Mr. Blurrycam had some sort of fixation for dotted lines.

Read – TG02 leaked shots
Read – TG03 leaked shots

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Toshiba TG02 and TG03 shots surface originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, after months of nothing but hacks and proof of concepts, we now have not one but two Android-powered netbooks — neither of which are actually available just yet, of course. This latest one comes from Chinese firm Skytone and, unlike the I-Buddie, boasts a slightly more unique convertible tablet design, which the company was apparently able to make happen by cutting corners in every other area. That includes a slightly underwhelming 533MHz ARM processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, a mere 128MB of RAM, 1GB of storage, an SD card slot for expansion, and even optional 3G (although that could just be a dongle). What’s more, it looks like Skytone is saying that the netbook, dubbed the Alpha-680, could sell for as little as $100 if and when it’s actually released — which, as far as we can tell, could happen next week or never.

[Via The Inquirer]

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

Skytone debuts ARM-based, Android-powered netbook / tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say it with us now: “Phew!” When Nintendo announced that its Wii MotionPlus dongle would be hitting US shelves on June 8th, we all wondered why Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo’s first MotionPlus-enabled title) was set to ship over a month later. Now, EA Sports has relieved worries that early adopters would have no software to use with their new toy by announcing that Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 will hit North America on June 15th. Better still, the Wii version will be available with a MotionPlus add-on bundled in for just $10 more than the standalone title (which will run $49.99). As great as all this is, Europeans still come out better, as they’ll also see Grand Slam Tennis ship in June with a MotionPlus packed in. Ah well — it’s just a peccadillo, we’ll let it slide this time.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 lands in June, comes with MotionPlus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We heard murmurings of a possible app store for GamePark’s Wiz open source handheld back when we first laid our hands on it, but now it’s officially on its way. GamePark Holdings’ awesomely-named Game Contents Open Store is now set to open in August, allowing all users to produce and download homebrewed apps and games for the Wiz. The SDK is currently in development, and there aren’t any further details beyond that, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for you.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

GamePark Wiz app store coming this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perhaps it’s a sobering reminder of the world we live in, but we’ve seen prosthetic technology grow in leaps and bounds over the last couple years. Continuing the upward arc, Ossur has just announced its second generation POWER KNEE device. Developed in partnership with Victhom Human Bionics, the device is billed as “the world’s first and only motor-powered, artificially intelligent prosthesis for above-knee amputees.” Features include: advanced torque and accelerometer sensors that keep an eye on the ground level and compensate accordingly; actuators that actively lift and stimulate the users own muscles for walking up stairs, inclines and ramps; and what the company is calling its “artificial intelligence” features, which allow the device to “observe the whole state of the respective human-system interface.” Currently in use at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a full commercial release is expected by 2010.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Ossur’s new POWER KNEE prosthesis sports A.I., motorized actuators originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While Samsung and LG are busy tooling around with pretty-but-unavailable solar phone concepts, Sharp is actually doing something about it (as is ZTE, now that we think about it) by prepping a retail model in partnership with Japanese carrier KDDI au. Sharp’s taking it one step further, though, by making its unnamed model fully waterproof — a surprisingly common feature among domestic-market Japanese phones — making it the first such handset to be released anywhere in the world. It’ll launch this June as part of KDDI’s seasonal summer collection.

Filed under: Cellphones

KDDI partnering with Sharp on solar phone this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rumors were true, and today’s the day that the Bluetooth SIG gets official with the latest, greatest version of Bluetooth. Bluetooth 3.0 + HS, as it’ll be called, promises to be markedly faster than prior iterations thanks to the reliance on 802.11, which is the same protocol used by WiFi modules, routers, etc. The new standard obviously catapults Bluetooth into a new dimension; rather than being good for nothing more than sending images from one phone to another or syncing a fitness module to a DAP, v3.0 is nimble enough to handle camcorder-to-HDTV, PC-to-PMP and UMPC-to-printer transfers. In fact, the inclusion of the 802.11 Protocol Adaptation Layer (PAL) provides increased throughput of data transfers “at the approximate rate of 24Mbps.” We had sit-downs with Mike Foley (executive director of the Bluetooth SIG) and Atheros CTO Bill McFarland in order to find out a few more details about plans for the protocol — if you’re eager to hear what they had to say, not to mention see a demonstration of BT 3.0 at work, follow us past the break.

Continue reading Bluetooth 3.0 + HS gets official, adds speed with 802.11

Filed under: Wireless

Bluetooth 3.0 + HS gets official, adds speed with 802.11 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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