Sony’s ultra-compact concept shooter will come with an APS sensor, UI shows up on video

Yesterday we brought you pictures of the touchscreen-loving user interface on Sony’s genre-straddling camera concept, so what better way to improve on that than with video and a few specs? Beyond the break you shall find one of those excessively stylized promotional vids you know and love to hate, but tolerating the fluff with reward you with some nice hints about how the shooter is operated plus finally some word on what’s inside. An Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor is touted, along with the accompanying capability to shoot 1080p AVCHD video. While we still find the design of these interchangeable lens cameras ridiculously appealing, there is one thing we have to complain about and that’s the clunky naming scheme. Please Sony, give us something sexier to call it than an “ultra-compact camera concept” — how about the Sony Beta, it comes after Alpha and is typically used to denote an unfinished product. You can have that one for free.

Continue reading Sony’s ultra-compact concept shooter will come with an APS sensor, UI shows up on video

Sony’s ultra-compact concept shooter will come with an APS sensor, UI shows up on video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei announces SmaKit S7 Android tablet

When we first spied Huawei’s SmaKit S7 Android tablet, we were at CeBit and it was… well, non-functioning. Well Huawei’s officially announced the tablet now, and we have to say that it looks just like every other Android tablet being hoisted upon the world these days, but it’s got some nice features that make it worth a second gander. The 7-incher boasts an 800 x 480 pixel resolution, 720p playback, 3G connectivity, plus a dock with HDMI out, two USB 2.0 ports, and two microSDHC slots. The tablet, which runs the 1.6 version of the OS, will supposedly be available this summer, though we don’t yet have any information about where it will be available or how much it will cost. We’ll let you know as soon as we do — but in the meantime, there’s a video demo after the break.

Continue reading Huawei announces SmaKit S7 Android tablet

Huawei announces SmaKit S7 Android tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba will have its own family of slates by this time next year

Before the iPad and before the Slate, the most exciting touchy tablety thing in our lives was Toshiba’s JournE multimedia tablet. Now that the Japanese compu-maker has seen what the competition has on offer, it’s proudly proclaimed itself back in the running with an entire family of slate devices it’s planning to introduce near the end of 2010 or in early 2011. “It has proved to be a mistake to underestimate these new categories” is the word from Toshiba’s Jeff Barney, which indicates that not even he sees that much potential in the form factor, but his company is pushing ahead with its plans for fear of being left behind. Also quoted in the Fortune piece is ASUS’ inimitable Jonney Shih, who makes sure to remind us that without multitasking, Flash support, or a webcam for videoconferencing, the iPad leaves plenty of room for devices richer in features to grab market share. All we know for certain is that the major players are falling in line to make 2010 truly the year of tablet — whether or not consumers will place their stamp of approval on this vendor-driven craze, though, remains to be seen.

Toshiba will have its own family of slates by this time next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight

Ready to graduate from DJ Hero? Got a house payment handy? Then Pioneer would like to show you the way to the pros. Say hello to the DJM-2000, a four-channel digital mixer built around a 5.8-inch multitouch screen and sporting enough knobs, buttons and sliders for a NASA launch sequence. Designed to play nice with the matching CDJ-2000 players Pioneer released last year, the unit features an integrated audio effects suite with six dedicated processors and several intriguing modes for multitouch music control. While the mixer has the traditional crossfade slider that allows DJs to assign a certain percentage of the output to channels on the left and right, the DJM-2000 debuts with “frequency mix,” a mode that lets DJs assign within seven narrow frequency bands as well by manipulating virtual sliders on the touchscreen, and a “sidechain remix” mode that uses the screen to apply custom effects in real time. Yeah, it’s not as wild as some other touchscreen DJ rigs we’ve seen, but at least this one’s for sale: Pioneer says the mixer will retail for $3000 this June. Droolworthy video demonstrations after the break.

Continue reading Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight

Pioneer DJM-2000 digital mixer sports multitouch screen, per-frequency mixing delight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video)

Using “super” to describe your new display technology just begs for criticism. Especially when the word is affixed to a handheld display technology as notoriously difficult (if near impossible) to see in direct sunlight as OLED. Fortunately, Samsung’s Super AMOLED appears to have licked the outdoor readability issue while bettering the features that made us fall in love with AMOLEDs in the first place. First off, it’s thinner since the touch sensors are now integrated into the display; colors are more vivid due to the removal of the obfuscating touch sensor layer that sits on top of TFT LCD and traditional AMOLED touchscreen displays; and even the viewing angle has been improved. You won’t find a soundtrack in the video posted after the break because the technology is already booming enough.

Continue reading Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video)

Samsung Super AMOLED explained in pretty moving pictures (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Freescale’s 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video)

Remember the $200 smartbook reference design that we saw at CES this year? Well, it’s back, it’s holding on to that same price and 7-inch enclosure, but this time it’s also showing off an expanded OS compatibility. Adapting the open source Chromium OS and another Linux variant to the ARM architecture of the prototype device was apparently not much of a hurdle for Freescale, who has an Android option in the works as well and claims to be just optimizing and enhancing the user experience at this point. Presumably one of the enhancements will be the installation of a capacitive touchscreen as the present demonstration requires either a mouse and keyboard or a resistive torture test to operate, but we’ll accept the company’s explanation that this is just a proof of concept and not the final product. Slide past the break to see some HTML5 video running on this bargain bin tablet, and hope that your friendly neighborhood OEM picks these designs up for some retail action.

Continue reading Freescale’s 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video)

Freescale’s 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sausage stylus for the iPhone now on sale in the US

So you thought awesome gear never made the transition from Korea to the USA, huh? Not so in the case of the infamous sausage stylus we spotted a month ago. That cold weather peripheral — allowing its ingenious users to operate a capacitive touchscreen with gloves on — has made the big leap over to the Americas and can be yours for the low (seriously low) price of $0.99. Naturally, it’s a sausage, so it will be compatible with not just iPhones but anything receptive to capacitive touch, although you should be cognizant of the “not for consumption” label — compatibility with human stomachs is unlikely.

Sausage stylus for the iPhone now on sale in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer working on frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard?

Would you believe that Acer is working on a frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard? As far-fetched as the idea might be, it’s certainly plausible, expected even. The idea, as rumored by DigiTimes, involves doing away with the display’s frame by printing colors directly onto the back of the display’s reinforced glass substrate from Corning (a la Gorilla Glass presumably). Coupled with a touchscreen keyboard, the rumored device should be impossibly thin by traditional laptop comparisons. Keep in mind that we’ve already seen this Frame Zero concept pictured above from Fujitsu and Acer’s arch-rival ASUS has been showing off its dual-display laptop prototype with touchscreen keyboard for months. Even the OLPC XO-3 plans to eschew the clickity keyboard in favor of a touchscreen version. And anyone who has ever seen a scifi movie knows that tactile keyboards and display bezels have no role to play in our computing future anyway, so we might as well get things started now — or in the second half of 2010 according to DigiTimes‘ sources.

Acer working on frameless laptop with touchscreen keyboard? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic gets official with Lumix DMC-G2 and DMC-G10 Micro Four Thirds cameras

Panasonic has the news day all to itself with its newfangled pair of Micro Four Thirds shooters, and in case you were wondering — yeah, this is the exact same duo that we saw slip out on Friday. Up first is the Lumix DMC-G2, which looks an awful lot like the G1 it replaces and is touted as the first interchangable lens system camera with touch-control shooting. Granted, we haven’t exactly warmed to the idea of using a touchpanel to fire off a shot, but hey, it is what it is. Other specs include a 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor, Venus Engine HD II technology, a 3-inch rear LCD and a 720p (AVCHD Lite) movie mode, though curiously enough a price and release date eludes us. Moving on, there’s the DMC-G10, which is supposedly the “world’s lightest” interchangeable lens camera with a viewfinder; this one packs the same 12.1 megapixel sensor and Venus Engine HD II as on the G2, but the 3-inch LCD lacks tilt / swivel / touch options. We’re still waiting on pricing for this one as well, but now is as good a time as any to mention that both fully support those obnoxiously expensive SDXC cards. Huzzah!

Panasonic gets official with Lumix DMC-G2 and DMC-G10 Micro Four Thirds cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Reader Daily Edition reviewed: unworthy of cost premium or love

For all the fuss made at its launch back in August, Sony’s Reader Daily Edition has all but dropped off the map in terms of interest. Remember, Sony’s response to the Kindle gave us a 7-inch touchscreen device with free AT&T 3G data for a street price of $399. Now we’ve got a proper in-depth review of the thing. On the plus side, the interface is simple and easy to understand right out of the box with nice, oversized icons suitable for your meat digit manipulation. Unfortunately, the Daily Reader was also sluggish. According to Laptop, it was common to suffer a delay of a few seconds after tapping an icon or other interface item. Worse yet, about a third of the time the Daily Reader’s touchscreen display wouldn’t respond to taps or swipes at all. Conversely, page turns responded with a relatively snappy (for E-Ink) one second delay — faster than both the Nook or the Kindle. The EPD display was also a bit “dull” compared to non-touchscreen e-readers like the Kindle and Nook thanks to the additional screen layer that enables touch — a common issue that affects all touch-enabled e-readers, we might add. This resulted in some eye strain in medium to low light. Connectivity also proved a sore spot. AT&T’s network would inexplicably drop out during testing. It was plenty fast, however, when available, capable of delivering new books to the device in just seconds. Performance still lagged both the Kindle and Nook during comparison testing though. Laptop’s verdict isn’t surprising then, finding the $140 premium you’ll pay for the Daily Reader difficult to justify compared to the EPUB supporting Nook or Kindle 2 with its better design and superior content selection.

It’s worth noting that Laptop did not test the Daily Reader’s library finder services that lets you check out e-books from the local branch for free for a period of up to a month. A shame; as library nerds we think that’s one of the killer features compared to the competition.

Sony Reader Daily Edition reviewed: unworthy of cost premium or love originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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