Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Android's everywhere! Xtreamer PVR to serve up a heaping helping of Froyo in your home theater

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/androids-everywhere-xtreamer-pvr-to-serve-up-a-heaping-helping/

We got to check out Xtreamer's Prodigy media player and go hands-on with its Ultra HTPC at CeBIT last week, but it turns out that the company has another nifty device set to debut this year. After taking a peek at its 2011 product catalog, we discovered that the Xtreamer PVR is "comming soon" with a similarly sexy exterior and much of the same specs as the Prodigy, but packing a Sigma Designs SMP8656 chip for high-end 3D graphics, optional dual tuners, and Android 2.2. We sincerely hope that Xtreamer's prowess with Froyo far exceeds its aptitude for spelling -- we kid because we care.

Android's everywhere! Xtreamer PVR to serve up a heaping helping of Froyo in your home theater originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tweakers | source

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ViewSonic's dual-booting Android / Windows 7 ViewPad 10 tablet now shipping

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/08/viewsonics-dual-booting-android-windows-7-viewpad-10-tablet-n/

It sure took 'em long enough, but ViewSonic's dual-booting ViewPad 10 has finally, really, actually made it to America. A few days after the iPad 2 most likely sucked any remaining wind out of its sails, mind you, but it's quite possible that the target market for an Android 1.6 + Windows 7 tablet couldn't care less about a similar one from Apple. If you'll recall, this one's rocking a 10.1-inch touchpanel (1024 x 600), 1.66GHz Atom CPU, 2GB of RAM, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and a version of Android we forgot about in 1994. You'll also find a microSD slot and a copy of Windows Home 7 Premium (with a 16GB SSD) or Windows 7 Professional (with a 32GB SSD). Still interested? Just wait until we tell you all about the $599 and $679 price tags, respectively.

Continue reading ViewSonic's dual-booting Android / Windows 7 ViewPad 10 tablet now shipping

ViewSonic's dual-booting Android / Windows 7 ViewPad 10 tablet now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, March 07, 2011

Samsung prices 950 Series 3DTVs in Korea, rest of the world soon to follow

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/samsung-prices-950-series-3dtvs-in-korea-rest-of-the-world-soon/

We've been keenly tracking the progress of these 3D displays from Samsung, from their pre-CES tease -- where we were first told they were TVs, then monitors, then it turned out they were monitors with optional TV tuners -- through their official launch and now to their first pricing and availability. South Korea is the unsurprising debut market for the 950 and 750 Series, both 27-inchers, discernible by their design, which in the 950's case is asymmetric and in the 750's is all about the thin bezel. A 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 2ms response time, 1080p resolution, and a litany of input ports await the buyer of either one, but he'd better bring a well-fed wallet to this party -- the 27TA950 reportedly costs 890,000 KRW (nearly $800) whereas the 27TA750 is an 840,000 KRW outlay (just over $750). Not exactly value models, but those prices will likely change when the pair go international at some point later this month.

Continue reading Samsung prices 950 Series 3DTVs in Korea, rest of the world soon to follow

Samsung prices 950 Series 3DTVs in Korea, rest of the world soon to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung demos ambient light-powered transparent LCD

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/samsung-demos-ambient-light-powered-transparent-lcd/

Wirelessly-powered TVs are nice, and transparent displays are cool and all, but what about an ambient light-powered transparent LCD? Well, that's nothing short of awesome. Samsung showed off just such a device at CeBIT 2011 last week -- a prototype 46-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and ten-finger touchscreen capability. We aren't sure what kind of black magic Sammy put in this thing, but it's an incredible feat of engineering to make such a large display -- and its accompanying solar cells -- efficient enough to run exclusively off the juice it pulls from surrounding light sources. No word on how the photon-powered LCD compares to existing HD monitors in terms of brightness, refresh rates, or color reproduction, but a muted picture is a small price to pay for cutting the electrical cord forever.

Samsung demos ambient light-powered transparent LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PhysOrg | source

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ExoPC set to release two all-in-ones in June, bringing its UI to MeeGo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/exopc-set-to-release-two-all-in-ones-in-june-bringing-its-ui-to/

Last we left off in the ExoPC story, the company had just brought its tablet to Microsoft retail stores, and while the startup's CEO Jean-Baptiste Martinoli says the sales have been strong (in the 10,000 range), it's getting ready to branch into new areas. The first keeps it in Microsoft's camp, as the company plans to release two Windows 7 all-in-ones with its Connect Four-like software later in June. Both will be made by Malata, however, the 18.5-inch version -- which is pictured above and is demoed in the video after the break -- will be powered by a dual-core Atom processor, while the 23-inch version will get some higher-end silicon. It also turns out that some other top tier manufacturers plan to bring Win 7 all-in-ones to market this year running ExoPC's software on top.

The second area of development? MeeGo. The company's been hard at work bringing its HTML-based layer over to Intel's MeeGo OS, and 70 percent of the software is already complete. Additionally, 98 percent of the Flash and HTML apps are compatible, however, it's working on syncing the Exostore with Intel's AppUp selection. As you can see in the screenshot after the break, it looks almost identical to the Windows 7 skin, but we're definitely feeling the UI over Intel's own MeeGo tablet interface. Hit the break for that AIO video and stay tuned for hands-on with the MeeGo tablet version.

Gallery: ExoPC all-in-one