New Screens: Samsung's 40-inch TFT-LCD is Just One Centimeter Thick

from Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale

Samsung is to unveil a bunch of new screens in Japan at the end of this week, including the 40-inch beauty you see here, with a thickness of just 1 cm. The first of the Korean electronics giant's next wave of large-screen TVs, the 40-incher is as thick as a 10- to 20-inch LCD desktop monitor, and has a bezel of just 14.6 mm, reduced from 30 mm. LED backlighting reduces power consumption to around 90 watts. Another pic, and info on what to keep your eyes peeled for in Yokohama this week below.

15.4" LCD with active white-LED backlight. 22" desktop LCD with DisplayPort interface 46" digital information display (1500nits) 7" mobile display with touch screen 2.1" LCD with sensor-based automatic brightness control 14.3" plastic display 8.1"e-paper 14.1"active-matrix OLED. [via Press Release]

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Western Union hopes to enable mobile money transfers, scammers rejoice

from Engadget by Darren Murph

Just when you thought those Nigerian scammers were simply running out of avenues to coerce you into cashing some counterfeit check for $4.98 billion, along comes this. Western Union is apparently buddying up with 35 or so cellphone operators to "develop a system that would allow consumers to transfer money from country to country via their mobile phones." Reportedly, the outfit has successfully tested the service in a number of US cities, and if everything goes as planned, it could launch in Q2 of 2008. Notably, it still sounds like an actual human will be a part of the process, as the system will purportedly "connect the user to a company operator to complete the transaction." Quite frankly, we appreciate the convenience of such a service, but don't you go falling for any sappy stories of long-lost cousins needing your help to funnel in millions as you ride to work, alright?

 

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Virgin Mobile deals the Kyocera Wild Card

from Engadget by Joshua Topolsky

Virgin Mobile is officially dipping its toes into smartphone water with its latest offering, the Kyocera Wild Card. Of course, how deep into that particular pool both companies are going is a question for the ages. The Wild Card isn't exactly the most robust phone you'll ever get your hands on, though the flip-phone does offer a QWERTY keypad, dual screens, a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth integration, and a WAP browser. The hitch is that you'll have to view that browser on a 128 x 160 screen, which is painfully, embarrassingly small -- though they do throw in Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man to keep you distracted. Hey, for a price point of $99, you could do way, way worse. The phone is available now from your friendly neighborhood Virgin Mobile dealer.

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Meizu's MiniOne M8 GUI showcased further, still devoid of originality

from Engadget by Darren Murph

If you had even a sliver of faith left in Meizu that it would change its copycatting ways and turn its heart to creativity, you're probably feeling quite foolish right about now. In a recent posting made to showcase even more interface shots of the MiniOne M8, we got a glimpse at the not at all familiar music interface, more insight on the calling screens and a few more looks (shown after the jump) at how it'll handle messaging. Needless to say, we can just swear we've seen a similar GUI before, but apparently, playing the ignorance card makes it easier to swallow. Oh, and the actual phone now sports a "new edge" with a somewhat grayish motif -- enthralling, we know.

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Eye-Fi's 2GB SD wireless card hits the FCC

from Engadget by Darren Murph

It's taken nearly a full year, but Eye-Fi has finally gotten around to doubling the capacity of its multifaceted SD card. The Eye-Fi-2GB provides the same WiFi-enabling capabilities to any SD-ready digital camera, but this one looks to pack 2GB of capacity to handle even more snaps. From what we can tell by peeking the (apparently scanned in) user's manual, the card will be compatible with both Macs and PCs, but of course, we've no idea how much this thing will cost you when it finally hits shelves. Rest assured, we'll be finding out soon enough.

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