Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, September 03, 2010

Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/sharp-releases-slew-of-new-quattron-tvs-at-ifa-2010/

Just in case those George Takei commercials didn't clue you in that Sharp was serious about Quattron, the company has announced four new TV lines at IFA sporting yellow as a fourth subpixel color. At the top of the list, the Quattron 3D-enabled LE925 line will be available in 60-inch or 46-inch sizes and feature Sharp's proprietary high-speed FRED LCD signal processing technology along with side-mounted scanning LED backlighting -- which like the LV Series -- is touted to produce 1.8x better brightness than competing sets and reduce 3D crosstalk. Aquos Net+ connectivity is thrown in too, along with 2D-to-3D conversion, a digital triple tuner and 8GB of built-in flash memory for timeshift recording. Playing second fiddle to this overachiever are the 2D-only LE924E, LE824E and LE814E series, which will also feature Aquos Net+. Pricing details for all of the new lines are still unknown, but they're slated to be available in Germany and Austria later this month. Here's hoping Sulu gets his jaw checked out before then.

Continue reading Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010

Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype 5.0 beta brings 10-way video calling to the world

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/skype-5-0-beta-brings-10-way-video-calling-to-the-world/

Skype's Windows client is showing a bit of ambition today as its latest beta version now boasts a mighty 10-way video calling implementation. The earlier v5.0 beta threw up five-way vidchat, but it'd seem Skype kept its software engineers working through the summer and now we've got double the visual fun. Which would be awesome if we actually had nine other people we cared to see while talking to them. This update also brings a UI makeover, your typical stability and call quality improvements, and a neat automated call recovery feature. Download away, if you must.

Skype 5.0 beta brings 10-way video calling to the world originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Fujifilm ships second-gen Real 3D camera, calls it W3

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/01/fujifilm-ships-second-gen-real-3d-camera-calls-it-w3/

Fujifilm ships second-gen Real 3D series, calls it W3

W2? We don't need no stinkin' W2. Fujifilm skipped right over that for W3 when deciding what to call its second-gen Real 3D camera. The W1 model didn't exactly fare well in the hands of reviewers, but hopefully the rather more sleek looking W3 can do the deed, offering a larger, 3.5-inch glasses-free 3D LCD display along with HDMI 1.4 output and dual 10 megapixel sensors. Yes, the same number of pixels as before, but this version can make better use of them, stepping up to 720p video recording from the former's VGA. You'll get all that for the same price as the old one: $499.

Fujifilm ships second-gen Real 3D camera, calls it W3 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony announces Bloggie Touch pocket video camera

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/01/sony-announces-bloggie-touch-pocket-video-camera/

Remember Sony's Bloggie line of pocket camcorders announced back at CES? While those may have been a bit forgettable, the company's just-announced Bloggie Touch video camera makes a considerably stronger first impression (if you can get past the name). Boasting a 3-inch capacitive touchscreen wrapped in what appears to be a brushed aluminum body, this one packs 4GB or 8GB of internal memory, and will capture full 1080p video as well as 12.8-megapixel still images courtesy of the F2.8 wide angle lens and Exmor CMOS sensor. You'll also get a built-in USB connector, HDMI output, and of course plenty of options to easily share your photos and videos on various social networking sites. Look for this one to hit shelves in October in your choice of black or silver for $180 or $200 depending on the capacity. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and head on past the break for the full press release.

Gallery: Sony Bloggie Touch

Continue reading Sony announces Bloggie Touch pocket video camera

Sony announces Bloggie Touch pocket video camera originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The new Apple TV for $99

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/01/apple-announcing-new-apple-tv/

Steve Jobs just pulled out the world famous "one more thing" for nothing other than... a new Apple TV. It's now a streaming-focused device (as we predicted months ago) in a small matte black enclosure we're calling "the hockey puck." It has HDMI, Ethernet, optical audio, and USB plugs around back, and of course 802.11n for the cable-averse. Inside there ain't much -- there's no local storage, which makes this thing an entirely different beast than old Apple TVs, relying entirely on the "cloud" for content. Those new streaming HD TV rentals from ABC and Fox will be a mere 99 cents, while first run HD movies will be a less thrilling $4.99. Other services include Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, and Mobile Me, along with Rotten Tomatoes integration in the movie catalog. You can also stream from your computer, if you miss those old hard drive-sourced days of yore, but iOS 4.2's AirPlay also enables streaming from an iPad straight to an Apple TV for something much more surreal. The best news? Apple will start shipping this sucker four weeks from now for $99.

Update: We just got confirmation from Apple that the new Apple TV will be streaming 720p video only (no big surprise there), and that existing Apple TVs won't be getting an upgrade to the new cloud-based software (again, not a shocker).

Gallery: Apple TV (2010) press images