Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Mid-range HTC 606w spotted with front stereo speakers and dual soft key design

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/htc-606w-leak/

HTC 606w

While the HTC One is facing much anticipation ahead of its launch in more regions, its price tags may not be everyone's cup of tea; but judging by the above leak, it looks like Peter Chou's willing to spare a couple of notable features for a more affordable model. According to last week's filing on China's TENAA database, the back of this 606w takes design cues from the China-only One SU (especially around the camera), but flip it around and you'll notice what appears to be a pair of front-facing stereo speakers (aka BoomSound as it's marketed as for the One), as well as the same dual soft key implementation on the company's latest flagship.

The rest of this Android 4.1.2 phone is a bit of a mix: there's a 4.5-inch 960 x 540 display, a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel main camera (so not UltraPixel), a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera, WCDMA radio and microSD expansion. It's easy to see how these specs are carefully crafted to avoid directly clashing with the recently launched E1 (603e) as well: lesser front-facing camera but better processor and display here (presumably). And no, this is clearly not the rumored M4. As always, we'll keep an eye out for the 606w's official announcement.

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Via: PhoneArena

Source: TENAA

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BlackBerry Q10 hits the FCC en route to a spring launch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/blackberry-q10-fcc/

Image

We're fairly certain that the BlackBerry Q10 will make its hometown debut on April 30th, but Thorsten and Co. haven't been very precise about when the handset will land in the US. Thanks to the FCC, however, we know that it can't be too far out, as the first BB10 device with a physical QWERTY keyboard has been passed fit for human consumption by the federal agency. We'd have guessed that professional keyboardist Alicia Keys would be first in the queue, but she probably got a freebie ahead of time.

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Source: FCC, Bluetooth SIG

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Seiki 50-Inch 4K TV Eyes-On: How the Hell Is a TV This Beautiful So Cheap?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5994765/seiki-50+inch-4k-tv-eyes+on-how-the-hell-is-a-tv-this-beautiful-so-cheap

Seiki 50-Inch 4K TV Eyes-On: How the Hell Is a TV This Beautiful So Cheap?Yesterday, Chinese OEM Seiki officially priced its 50-inch Ultra HD TV at $1500, making it the cheapest 4K television in the history of absurd resolution. It's cheaper even than the last round of super-cheap Chinese 4Ks we saw. The price is so low, in fact, and the brand name is so unfamiliar, that you had to wonder if this television was a joke—or worse—a piece of garbage. I'm one of the first people in America to see this mythical creature, and I'll tell you right now: I can't believe my eyes.

We got a chance to watch 4K content on Seiki's 3840 x 2160, 120Hz LED beast for about 30 minutes today, and it was totally breathtaking. Much of the footage was stock 4K so, you know, it was amazing and perfectly shot and calibrated. But even with that knowledge in mind my brain was bombed by the clarity and detail of the picture. It's hard to get over the thrill of squinting at a TV up close and not seeing a pixel or a blur.

While watching footage of a tokyo cityscape, I could see the tiniest details like, for example, a tiny train navigating its way through skyscraper canyons. I also watched a 10-minute clip of animated video designed to be representative of 4K video content, and it was totally enrapturing. The TV was only 50-inches, but the picture was so immersive that you could've told me I was in movie theater.

Now, this wasn't a full, formal test of the TV so we can't argue for sure that it's a keeper, but for a 4K, it is unbelievably cheap. Please remember, too, that there isn't a whole lot of 4K content out there, but a lot of big companies like Sony are planning to start delivering large amounts of it within the next year. 4K is a fairly safe bet for the future. Investing in a 4K panel doesn't seem as crazy today as it did a few years ago. The power of the television's 4K-scaling engine will also be a very important measure of its worthiness and we haven't seen any 1080p content on it yet.

Seiki also told us that there would be a one-year, no-questions warranty. The company is hoping to have a 65-inch 4K TV ready by mid-summer.

Now, the TV is cheap in part, because it doesn't come with any bells and whistles. It's just a straight up beautiful panel with three HDMI inputs. The simplicity is a clear rebuttal to Sony, Samsung, LG, et al, and we're willing to bet that Seike is is right about one thing: People don't really care about connected TV crap and 3D or even a brand name enough to spend $25,000 on a TV. People just want simple, beautiful televisions they can afford. What good is a television the price of a sports car? Sure, at $1500, Seiki isn't gonna going to make any R&D money—but the company might actually sell some TVs. We're intrigued.

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Panasonic Lumix GF6 announced for the US, shipping in June for $600

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/16/panasonic-lumix-gf6-ships-in-june/

Panasonic Lumix GF6 announced for the US, shipping in June for $600

Panasonic's latest entry-level Micro Four Thirds cam appears to follow the design language (and perhaps usability) of its GF predecessors, but at least it's got WiFi, right? We'll hold out on passing further judgement until we have the camera in hand, but if past models are any indication, you'll definitely want to try the Lumix GF6 on for size in a retail store before handing over a cool 600 bucks. That said, there are some major improvements here -- there's NFC and WiFi functionality, as we mentioned, and the 1,040k-dot LCD is certainly a step up from the GF5, as is the top sensitivity of ISO 25,600. There's also a dedicated mode dial (always a plus), a pop-up flash and a bundled manual-zoom 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. The new MFT camera, which was announced for Japan just last week, will be hitting US retailers in June.

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KidDIY: 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge aims to shape future of innovation

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/15/stem-initiative-2013/

KidDIY A look inside Sesame Workshop's game development lab for kids

The New York Hall of Science is hidden away in the Corona corner of Queens, N.Y., a primarily Hispanic neighborhood below the city's 7 subway line. Pupuserias and bodegas line pedestrian-filled 111th Street as it leads to the open swath of land occupied by the hall, making the sudden appearance of Cold War-era space rockets all the more jarring -- they jut into the sky, taking advantage of Queens' lack of skyscrapers. Not that 50-year-old rockets are at home anywhere in New York City, but they serve as a fitting backdrop for the day's event: the culmination of the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge.

The challenge aims to enable America's youth of today to become tomorrow's innovation leaders. In so many words, the US government is hoping these kids won't just go on to create the next big shooter franchise, but, say, the next iPod. Or the next SpaceX, perhaps.

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