Archive for September 6th, 2009

Can’t seem to keep an unused stack of sticky notes near your dear mouse? Fret not, as the geniuses over at Quirky have popped out yet another ‘well duh / must-have’ product in the Scratch-n-Scroll. Rather than promising that its newest surface can help you frag more intently, smell better or just appear more heroic, this ‘noteable mousepad’ is apt to be one of the poorer mousing mats on the market. But frankly, that’s not the point. The point is that you can jot down vital notes with just a fingertip right on the pad, and once you’ve transferred ‘em over to something a touch more permanent, you simply lift up the semi-transparent top sheet, let it fall flat and marvel at the vanishing act. It’s all yours for just $9.49, so really, why aren’t you giving that read link some love?

Scratch-n-Scroll noteable mousepad puts the “do” back in “To Do” list originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s not really much to say about MSI’s X600 that can’t be said about the X340: both laptops slightly improve upon the (rather shoddy) build quality of the X320, but the X600 is just bigger, and packs a numeric keypad. The keyboard is really the definition of mushy, though it’s at least got a bit of a backbone underneath now, and the machine overall feels like it could snap in half at the slightest bit of misapplied pressure. We’re sure that’s an overstatement, and it’s hard to find this much computer in this thin of a form factor at this low of price, but you might want to save a few dollars for a new pair of kid gloves if you’re thinking of making the plunge.

Filed under: Laptops

MSI X600 hands-on: 15.6-inches on a slim plastic platter originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When not concerned with the futility of existence we know what has your mind preoccupied: just how manly is Samsung’s WB5000? With a 24x optical zoom, full manual control option, ISO 6400 sensitivity, and RAW format support it’s just gotta be a heaving mass of elongating gadget hedonism, right? Well, no… at least not physically. Granted, our nerdceps are tuned to negate the shutter recoil of Nikon’s beastly D300 DSLR. But the WB5000 feels surprisingly light, hollow even. Now the weight of a super-zoom camera, in general, has nothing to do with image quality. But the size to weight ratio was surprising nonetheless, and a stark reminder that the WB5000 is nothing more than a massive 26mm Schneider-KREUZNACH lens with compact-camera quality components inside its chunky posterior. We’ll reserve judgment until we, or someone else, can grab a unit for a full review. ‘Till then, you know where to find more pics.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Samsung WB5000: hands-on with a 24x zoom featherweight originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 15:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Small, bright, and wireless: a potent trifecta of win for an ultra-portable projector. LG’s new HS200 DLP projector is here at IFA sourcing DivX video off local USB media and throwing the audio over its embedded FM transmitter. And because it’s LED-based, it racks up numbers like 200 ANSI-Lumens and 30,000 hours of operation before burn-out — that’s 4 hours of operation per day for oh, say, 20 years. The 80-inch, 800×600 pixel moving image that we saw was reasonably bright in a demo-room where ambient lighting was on par with a daytime living room, curtains closed. The viewing and listening experience was more than passable, enjoyable even, and far superior to what you’ll get from a pico projector. Jacks include HDMI, RGB / component, and composite with an expected price of €499 when it lands in Europe this month (coming to the US a few months later). See it for yourselves in the video after the break.

Continue reading LG HS200 ‘pocket projector’ hands-on reveals an FM transmitter and embedded DivX surprise

Filed under: Displays

LG HS200 ‘pocket projector’ hands-on reveals an FM transmitter and embedded DivX surprise originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen plenty of odd Android permutations, but UMEC seems to be striving to do something all its own. It’s showing two devices it currently has in the works, one is a videophone / hub / DECT phone / etc. unit (pictured), which might be at home on a countertop, while the other is a brightly hued MID, with similar internal specs but more portable aims. Both are running ARM Cortex A8 processors (like the iPhone 3GS), though there’s some significant OS optimization to be done: everything was incredibly sluggish on the videophone, and the MID was locked up at the time we dropped by. UMEC also doesn’t have the touchscreen drivers working for either device, though the good news is that they’re looking at both capacitive and resistive touchscreens, based on what the reseller that picks these up desires. Luckily, the videophone has USB plugs galore (along with plenty of Ethernet jacks) so we were able to get a quick demo of the device using a mouse and keyboard. The MID also has a full-size USB plug, and both devices sport HDMI out, so the end usage for both of these is really up in the air. Check ‘em out on video after the break.

Continue reading UMEC’s Android videophone and MID prototypes stray from the beaten path

Filed under: Handhelds, Household, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Tablet PCs, Networking

UMEC’s Android videophone and MID prototypes stray from the beaten path originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s the moment where you pretend that a breakthrough in a given industry would just revolutionize the way you do work, yet you know — deep down in your heart — that you’d never take advantage. Okay, so maybe you would, but your friend wouldn’t. At any rate, a gaggle of boffins at Stanford have set out to “reinvent digital photography” with the advent of the open-source digital camera. The idea here is to give programmers the power to conjure up new software to teach old cameras new tricks, with the hope being to eliminate software limits that currently exist. In fact, a prototype shooter has already been developed, with the Frankencamera hinting at a future where owners can download apps to their devices and continuously improve its performance and add to its abilities. The actual science behind the concept is stupendously in-depth, so if you’re thinking of holding off on that new Nikon or Canon in 2034, you might want to give the read link a look for a little more encouragement.

[Via HotHardware]

Continue reading Stanford’s open-source camera could revolutionize photography, you’ll still use ‘Auto’ mode

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Stanford’s open-source camera could revolutionize photography, you’ll still use ‘Auto’ mode originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Fujitsu was going for sexy, it certainly missed the mark with the LIFEBOOK T4310, one of the least attractive machines of its kind, but where the T4310 tablet falls short on style, it certainly makes up for with its excellent multitouch-friendly capacitive touchscreen. Playing with Windows 7′s new touch features, it almost seems feasible to use the OS with a finger (gasp!), and the screen can also accept pen input (based on pressure-sensitive Wacom technology) when your blunt jabs aren’t getting the job done. The multitouch prowess is most evident using Microsoft’s Surface-inspired Touch Pack applications, which come pre-installed, but it’s also a nice way to get around in Internet Explorer. Other perks of the machine include a 360-degree rotating hinge, a hot-swappable drive bay, and all the internal accouterments (SSD, 3G) one could ask for. Video demo is after the break.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Continue reading Fujitsu’s multitouch LIFEBOOK T4310 tablet makes quick work of Microsoft’s Touch Pack

Fujitsu’s multitouch LIFEBOOK T4310 tablet makes quick work of Microsoft’s Touch Pack originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Samsung_tablet_streams_video_from_TV_makes_dreams_come_true’; Without much fanfare, Samsung has released a TV / tablet combo in Korea that seems to deliver on all the untapped promise in Toshiba’s JournE touch tablet. Dubbed the LED TV Couple, Samsung has paired a 55-inch LED baclkit LCD TV with a brand new 7-inch touchscreen tablet, which communicates with and controls a full home theater over 802.11n WiFi. The tablet offers a visual program guide, including video previews of TV shows, along with access to media stored on a PC — which can in turn be “tossed” up to the full TV — and even a few widgets. But the real money is in the pair’s ability to stream live TV and Blu-ray content from the home theater to the tablet, making that next trip to the kitchen for munchies so much less painful. No word on a US or Europe release, but we hope to see a lot more of this pair in the near future. Peep them in action after the break.

Continue reading Samsung’s LED TV Couple packs a 7-inch tablet remote for streaming TV and so much more

Samsung’s LED TV Couple packs a 7-inch tablet remote for streaming TV and so much more originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve paid any attention whatsoever to the goings-on in the American cellphone market, you’d know that ponying up the dough to start an MVNO here is probably not your best shot at striking it rich. One after another has fallen flat, even ones that had millions (and millions) in marketing dollars behind ‘em. That said, Japan’s own NTT DoCoMo is mulling the possibility of fully entering the US cell market next year, offering up smartphones and “other high-performance handsets with its i-mode mobile internet service.” We’re told that the operator may start as an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), leasing capacity from T-Mobile USA or AT&T until it decides on its next move. Call us crazy, but we’re guessing it just might have a shot here on US soil if it snags the iPhone, enables all those 3G services that have been running for years on other platforms and only charges one (as opposed to three or four) human limbs for a monthly plan.

[Thanks, shinbunboi]

Filed under: Cellphones

NTT DoCoMo might just enter the US cellphone market, MVNO graveyard wishes it luck originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung has teased us like this before, stuffing the NX body under glass at tradeshows, letting it sit there being all DSLR-ey, but more details are beginning to trickle out about the camera here at IFA. As reported by PhotographyBLOG and confirmed to us on the show floor by Samsung, the camera is due to be launched by the end of the year or early next year. Like has been said before, the camera has an interchangeable lens systems, but Samsung also informed us specifically that the lenses will not be interoperable with other camera systems. In a way it makes sense, because the camera is much larger than a micro four thirds camera, but different in build than a regular DSLR — though it houses a regular APS-C sensor. Still, it’s a hassle, and we’ll have to see if the blend of electronic viewfinder and regular-sized sensor offer a compelling enough alternative to embark upon a whole new lens system adventure.

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Samsung’s NX camera due for late 2009 or early 2010, uses proprietary lens system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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