Category : Webmasters

Lexi e-book reader probably won’t ever be called sexy (hands-on)

Posted by admin at 10:35 pm

We swung by the Audiovox / RCA booth in search of the new Lexi e-reader but sadly were met with a non-working version that was effectively useless. We’ve heard about the specs but were lacking in the image department, so it was good to at least see what the thing will look like when it hits the increasingly crowded e-reader space. The design is basic, and from the signage in the booth, so is the UI on the handheld itself. There’s not much else to say here, and the PR reps weren’t the most helpful, but we managed to snag a bunch of shots anyway so check them out below. Gallery: Lexi e-reader hands-on Lexi e-book reader probably won’t ever be called sexy (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Solar power’s day in the sun

Posted by admin at 4:26 pm

That’s the ReNu, a portable solar panel designed for the mass market, for powering personal electronics like iPhones, music players, and desk lamps due to hit the shelves in June 2010. Reena Jana interviews Robert Brunner , Chief Designer on his tactics, and he shares 3 tips for innovation. Here’s a snippet, But they didn’t ask them what they wanted in such products. They asked them more broadly about their experiences in conserving power. Friends told them about the situations when they were acutely aware of power supply. For example, “when they used their laptops on planes, they started looking at power differently,” Brunner said. “They paid more attention to the battery symbol on their screens.” An investor had his own moments of not taking energy for granted: “He said he is most aware of power sources is when he is sailing,” Thinking of such moments when people are focused on energy use, ReGen’s designers paid particular attention to their products’ charge-level displays, making them eye-catching and easy-to-interpret. By putting usage on display, the unobtrusive interface influences consumers’ energy consumption habits with everyday home gadgets, and is hailed as one of ReNu’s most innovative features. It was being acutely aware of power shortages after his recent move to Kenya from Florida, that led Erik Hersman to uncover some solar powered alternatives available in the local market. This is the ToughStuff solar panel that comes with accessories to charge mobile phones, radios and even fake D-cell batteries that take direct input from the panel to allow for flexibility of use such as at night. (more…)

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Solar power’s day in the sun

Google launches Google Energy, hoping to bring more green energy to its datacenters

Posted by admin at 2:16 pm

Of all the truly monumental advancements to human civilization that Google has provided for this great world, like enabling cached offline access to Gmail in Android devices, the company has done some nasty stuff too. Its worst offense (that we know about) is surely the massive drain on the nation’s energy resources its data centers pull, but it’s working to put things right, most recently with last month’s formation of Google Energy, a spin-off that, Google hopes, will allow the company to more actively participate in national energy markets, purchasing more from renewables and thus funding greater innovation in that space. Sounds nice, but we think it’s just a cover; the Googs will surely be releasing a contract-free personal power generator called the Deckard One in roughly 18 months, undermining the entrenched utility companies and freeing us all from costly early disconnection fees. Whether or not those generators will support multitouch , however, remains to be seen. [Thanks, Amanda; image courtesy of How To Draw ] Google launches Google Energy, hoping to bring more green energy to its datacenters originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

VIZIO’s new LCDs (& upcoming iPhone remote app) eyes-on

Posted by admin at 6:07 am

Since we can’t drool over sets without release date s forever, our attention at VIZIO’s CES event turned to flat-panels we actually expect to hit shelves in 2010. Still, we couldn’t have expected a sneak peek of the company’s planned iPhone remote control app (video after the break,) and the shock of seeing a 22-inch VIA & WiFi packing 22-inch LCD nearly overshadowed the massive 72-inch 3D set picture above. Also represented were a new soundbar surround package with HDMI 1.4 / Audio Return Channel due in May, a video-prioritizing wireless router and powerline networking setups, and of just to round things out, some iPod dock / touchscreen clock radios. Gallery: VIZIO 2010 LCDs & more Continue reading VIZIO’s new LCDs (& upcoming iPhone remote app) eyes-on VIZIO’s new LCDs (& upcoming iPhone remote app) eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

ASUS / Pegatron Neo with Tegra 2 hands-on

Posted by admin at 4:29 am

ASUS may be in the process of spinning off the Pegatron brand, but for now it’s still the same company behind this here slick white smartbook. Running the inevitable Android OS on a 10-inch display, but offering the never-boring Tegra 2 combo of 1080p playback and up to a “full day” of WiFi-enabled battery juice, the prototype machine was being shown off to give us a hint of what’s to come. We’re told the Neo is definitely coming later in the year, though the particulars of the price tag and distributor badge are not yet revealed. For our money, this was a spectacularly thin and light pseudo-laptop — it’s hard to overstate just how deprived of weight this thing is. Opening it up shows an appealing layout and keyboard, which were rather spoiled by a number of creaky and unstable parts. We found deep flex in the keyboard panel and around the hinges, but our optimistic souls are willing to put those things down to it being a demo unit. If this featherweight design makes it to market without sacrificing any of the good bits while getting rid of the bad ones, we’d recommend it in a hot and sweaty second. Gallery: ASUS / Pegatron Tegra 2 smartbook hands-on ASUS / Pegatron Neo with Tegra 2 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

VIZIO CES concept designs show a future of ultrawidescreen, ultrathin & wireless HDTVs

Posted by admin at 3:58 am

VIZIO’s announced 2010 lineup is alright and we’ll get to them in a minute, but a few slick concepts were more than enough to distract us momentarily from nearer future products. What did we get our eyes on? Check the gallery and continue our shared experience with a 1/4″ thick “Blade” LCD TV, 24-inch portable wireless (WiFi) HDTV, universal touchscreen IR remote, Quad HD display, Bluetooth headphones and of course the 58-inch 21:9 ultrawidescreen beauty shown above. We wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of thse are closer to production than several announced products here in Vegas, so check the video & press release after the break before trawling the shelves of local Wal-marts looking for a leak. Gallery: VIZIO 2010 CES concept designs Continue reading VIZIO CES concept designs show a future of ultrawidescreen, ultrathin & wireless HDTVs VIZIO CES concept designs show a future of ultrawidescreen, ultrathin & wireless HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

iriver Story e-reader hands-on

Posted by admin at 3:02 am

At one point in time it seemed like iriver had a monopoly on insane, imaginative designs. Sure, it was mostly centered around PMPs, but iriver’s stuff in its heyday was fun enough to make even a screenless MP3 player seem interesting. Lately, however, things seem a little more conservative. Take this iriver Story , for instance: it’s a sexy device that seems very on par with other e-readers on the market… and that’s about it. We played around with it a bit on the show floor, and found the keyboard to be pretty great, the design solid and slim, and the software pretty slow. With all the extra function-specific buttons on the keyboard, there’s less of the arbitrary UI navigation limitations posed by some of the more simplistic e-book readers, but there’s nothing so amazing or useful on the device that it would tempt the Kindle faithful. We’re particularly worried about book load times, but it’ll take some more time with the unit to really see how it stacks up across the board. For now you can check out a video walkthrough of the device after the break. Gallery: iriver Story e-reader hands-on Continue reading iriver Story e-reader hands-on iriver Story e-reader hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Shuttle laptops hands-on

Posted by admin at 2:54 am

Shuttle’s press announcement of its new mobile platform was accompanied by a booth’s worth of demonstration units and we went over for a quick peek. What we saw was a selection of rather conventional looking machines — certainly the new internal layout is not going to affect the way machines will look on the outside. There was an Atom N450 netbook in among the chunkier devices, which — though they sported Shuttle branding and model names — seem to be just sample machines to entice OEMs into picking up the Shuttle design. This was demonstrated best by the ridiculously creaky keyboard on one of the laptops and its hapless monitor frame. Closing and opening the lid led to the display casing splitting open (see here ), which was as damaging to our love of Shuttle as it was to the unfortunate plastic. Gallery: Shuttle laptops hands-on Shuttle laptops hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry wrist-on

Posted by admin at 12:15 am

We managed to track down the guys from Canada’s Allerta and got to spend some time with a couple dummy models of the soon-to-be-released inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry . Design-wise, it’s very attractive, with a brushed metal body and a leather band. As a bonus to early orderers, the first 1,000 sold will be custom-milled on a CNC router — ironically, it’ll actually be more cost-effective for them to do it that way while they build up production volume. In terms of functionality, it will launch with support for displaying text messages, caller ID, new e-mails, and BlackBerry Messenger messages (yes, it supports BBM!). It’ll give you information on who the message is from and a preview of the message’s contents. We couldn’t get a hard shipping date, but rest assured we’ll let you know as soon as we do — for now, our hands-on gallery will have to suffice. Gallery: inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry wrist-on inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry wrist-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Hanvon WISEreader e-book lineup hands-on

Posted by admin at 10:26 pm

Another day, another company pimping a slew of e-readers here at CES. Up next is Hanvon , with its WISEreader lineup of 5-inch E-Ink display-based readers on display. They’re pretty basic in both the design and functionality departments, with support for text, images, and audio in the usual array of formats — including DRM’ed EPUBs. The N518 and N526 models both have touchscreens, though you’ll need to use a stylus for handwriting and note-taking. Other than that, there wasn’t really much of note, though we were told that there’s a capacitive version in the works but it wasn’t quite ready to bring out of their labs in Taiwan just yet. There’s always next year. Gallery: Hanvon WISEreader e-book lineup hands-on Hanvon WISEreader e-book lineup hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink