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Sunday, January 09, 2011

Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/samsungs-ultrathin-9-series-laptop-coming-in-february/

We didn't have a date for Samsung's 9 Series when it became official a couple of days ago, but now we do: it's coming next month. Sammy's press release makes sure to run us through all the bodacious specs of this 13.3-inch machine, including the LED-backlit display with 400 nits of brightness, 128GB SSD, 1.4GHz Core i5-2537M CPU, and MacBook Air-like proportions, before disclosing its arrival month as February 2011. The starting price is still a high and mighty $1,599, but then you do get a pretty stellar laptop for your cash money. Check out the full announcement after the break.

[Thanks, Mario]

Continue reading Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February

Samsung's ultrathin 9 Series laptop coming in February originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/could-this-be-the-year-we-get-to-ditch-the-cable-box/

We've been coming to CES for years looking at demos of technologies that will let us watch HDTV without a set-top box, and yet here we are years later with little choice but to find a place to put that box. The big failures have been CableCARD and then tru2way, both of which have had little impact to mainstream America. But despite all of our disappointment over the years, we came away from CES this year with the feeling that this might actually be the year. Of course, the allure of Vegas has yet to wear off, but when Time Warner Cable, Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon FiOS TV are at the same show sending almost the same message and showing demos, we have a hard time not taking our skeptical shield down a little. Sadly it wasn't exactly the same message, and if you click on through you might discover the true future of how TV will be delivered.

Gallery: Samsung demos cable TV without a box

Continue reading Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box?

Could this be the year we get to ditch the cable box? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/quantas-7-inch-android-tablet-dummy-spotted-at-ces/

In case you're not already sick of tablets, here's another one that we spotted at a small Taiwanese booth at CES. Sure, this Anadem Q07 -- a rebadged Quanta device -- was just a dummy, but even this could easily beat the lot of cheap Android slates in a beauty contest. Encased within the chrome bezel and silver body will be a 7-inch 800 x 480 display (which is slightly underwhelming), along with a Samsung S5PV210 processor -- essentially the Hummingbird chip but in a different package -- underclocked to 800MHz, but still capable of handling 1080p video playback. There's not much else on the spec sheet, but we did see a micro-USB port, HDMI mini connector, microSD slot, SIM card slot, and stereo speakers on the Q07. Naturally, you'll hear from us when we stumble upon this Froyo tablet again.

Gallery: Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES

Quanta's 7-inch Android tablet dummy spotted at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/samsung-shows-flexible-and-transparent-displays-at-ces-2011-vid/

We spent a few minutes at the show this week ogling the prototype displays that Samsung's Mobile Display unit has produced over the last few months, headlined by some particularly awesome 4.5-inch flexible and 19-inch transparent AMOLEDs. Let's start with the flexible unit: Sammy seems to be particularly excited about this one, demonstrating on video that it's shatter-proof by bashing it repeatedly with a sledgehammer -- compare that to the inevitably disastrous consequences of dropping an iPhone onto concrete, and they've already won us over. Although the company still has some manufacturing challenges to overcome, commercial interest seems to be strong and they'll eventually be on the market (though not in 2011, sadly).

The picture for the transparent displays is a little murkier -- both physically and from a business perspective. Though they're not as clear as regular glass or as crisp and bright as a traditional AMOLED display, you've got to marvel at what they're doing here: full see-through color at effectively small television sizes. Interestingly, Samsung tells us that they're really close to being production-ready with these -- possibly even close than the flexible screens -- but they're still looking for business cases that'd make mass-producing them a worthwhile venture. Follow the break for some video of these bad boys, along with a 7-inch Super AMOLED that's looking Galaxy Tab-ready (and some other goodies)!

Gallery: Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Continue reading Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video)

Samsung shows flexible and transparent displays at CES 2011 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hanvon brings E920, world's first color E Ink reader, to CES, we go hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/09/hanvon-brings-e920-worlds-first-color-e-ink-reader-to-ces-we/

The chasm between monochromatic e-readers and color LCD-based tablets is being filled by Hanvon with this here Wisereader E920 device. It features the famed 9.7-inch color E Ink panel, the first of its kind, and offers the rather spectacular resolution of 1200 x 1600. That amounts to a pixel density of 200dpi, we're told, and other good news include a MicroSD card slot, standby time of 15 days, and the ability to churn through 10,000 pages before needing a recharge. Sadly, there's plenty of bad news here too: the E920's colors are muted and not really on par with what you'd expect from even a mediocre LCD, refresh rates are pretty glacial, and the touchscreen functionality is of the resistive kind, meaning you'll have to resort to using the integrated stylus for navigation. The biggest downer, though, is that China won't be getting this e-reader until May while US availability is promised "by June." That's a long time to wait for a $500-ish slate. Video after the break.

Gallery: Hanvon E920 color e-reader hands-on