by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Feb 11th 2006 at 3:19PM
So you've got a rad high-def set with
1080p resolution and HDCP-compliant HDMI inputs. But we're betting what
you
don't have is a wireless HDMI chipset from Radiospire to help you send uncompressed 720p or 1080i
programming at up to 3 Gbps. Radiospire created the chipset for OEMs so we're waiting to see who will be the first to
pick it up, but the technology wisely uses the 3.1 to 4.8 GHz bands so the signal doesn't get crossed with those anemic
802.11a, b, and g transmissions. We'll be watching for a 1080p flavor in the second half of the year, and hope they up
the output range beyond the current 15 feet.
[Via
HDBeat]
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 8th 2006 at 3:08PM
In our "it's about time" category, the Blu-Ray Disc Association finally completed the
the Blu-Ray spec. The press release wasn't all that informative on the spec, so we're awaiting further deets on any
last minute changes. Both the 25 and 50GB discs specs were approved which is kind of bummer for the quad-layer (100GB)
Blu-Ray TDK discs we caught a glimpse of at Digital Experience. The good news is that with HD-DVD out of the gate
within the next month
or two, Blu-Ray can start catching up; the BDA expects Blu-Ray discs in our hot little hands in the next few
months.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 8th 2006 at 1:50PM
Filled with anticipation, we waited in line with the entire Las Vegas population to see Toshiba's SED display
technology in action. Props to Engadget reader, Maurice from Beantown, for helping sneak us in a little quicker. That
solved one prob, but the "no photo" rule became a bigger one. Undaunted, we quickly hit up the Canon booth
since they co-developed SED displays with Tosh. The Tosh presentation was longer, but Canon let us take a snap in the
dark. What's up with the scan line? We kinda figured that with a gazillion little electron emitters we wouldn't see any
more of those, but hey, live and learn, right? No more pics but we have high-def emotions that SED elicited galore.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 8th 2006 at 1:15AM
We got some hands-on time with Thompson's GYROTRANSPORT air-mouse presenter here at the RCA booth. It's not
like we give that many boardroom presentations mind you, but with a few tweaks, we're thinking we might get this work
with a Xbox 360. Hey, it could happen since the li'l GYROTRANSPORT communicates with a PC via the 2.4GHz frequency to a
USB receiver. That's where Thompson got jiggy with it because the USB receiver doubles as a 1GB jump drive and holds the
software that provides up to 80 funktions for the $199 GYROTRANSPORT.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 11:44PM
Clear Channel must have decided that iTunes has
infringed enough on the radio industry, so on Tuesday, they're testing free music video downloads. If the service goes
live, the plan is for ad-supported VOD through various radio websites and would complement a strategy to offer
podcasts. Clear Channel owns about 1,200 radio stations across the country and is looking to expand presence on the web
through video and podcast offerings. Clearly,that sounds like a good idea, since we haven't listened to the radio all
that much lately.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 7:30PM
The
Cowon iAudio6 is so
small, we almost overlooked it as we walked around the Cowon booth. We've seen plenty of small portables, but the
1.3-inch OLED screen coupled with the 4GB hard drive really packs a punch. Not that we did a hands on for 20 hours, but
according to Cowon, we could have because that's how long the batts will last. It's clear that the iAudio6 won't feel as
thin in the pocket as an iPod nano, but we actually liked the thicker feel to the unit. What can we say: we like a
little meat on our MP3 players? We wouldn't watch videos on the pretty screen for any length of time, but for the few
minutes that we did, the OLED really shined while the audio rocked the house.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 7:01PM
Seems like the HD-DVD focus is on the bigger names, but we got a gander at RCA's
HD-DVD player here at CES. It's only natural that RCA rides the high-def DVD train since they have HDTV sets like the
Scenium line. Watch for the HDV-5000 in April for around $500, which is quite a few pesos less than the Blu-Ray players
we've seen. Will price be a major factor in this format war or have the final shots already been fired?
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 5:04PM
We'd be seriously concerned if the new Creative web
cam was called "Almost Live! Wireless", so they props on the name. The Live! Wireless cam has the same
real-time 640 x 480 resolution as most of the 'cams out there (like the Creative Live! Motion pictured), but includes
built-in 802.11g so you can cut the cord with the included wireless server. The $199 package makes for an inexpensive
security cam; why not get a bunch of 'em and monitor your precious gadget horde? Maybe we can enlist the
Hack-A-Day posse to put
R2-D2 or a
Scooba on the
operating table so we can mobilize the Live! Wireless for total home security.
[via
Pocket-lint]
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 4:32PM
These won't come cheap, but Samsung
announced that their new SP-H710AE and SP-H800BE DLP projectors can reproduce black levels comparable to CRTs. When we
realized these were 1280 x 720 res, we had to wonder about the $4,000 and $12,000 price tags so dug a bit. Turns out
that the lower priced H710 uses TI's HD2 DMD chip, while the five-figured H800 nabbed the newest HD2 Dark Chip 3 DMD
panel. Factor in a 250 watt bulb, an 8-segment color wheel (6-segs on the H710), a fan running at a 28 db noise level,
DVI-D with HDCP, two component jacks, S-Vid, VGA and composite in, and it gets you closer to a high price tag. The real
kicker is the user-selectable broadcast color formatting for SMPTE-C, HDTV, and EBU. We're not sure that completely
justifies going in hock for these, but it makes the big bill a little easier to swallow.
[via
HD Beat]
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 12:25PM
We caught news of this VoIP phone
back in November via our
friendly FCC, but we actually cornered the Linksys WIP330 today. The WIP330 is still listed as coming soon and the
Linksys reps repeated that phrase before we even finished the availability question. The FCC filing indicated an
802.11b/g radio, but we eye-spied the "Wireless-G IP Phone" tag next to the Linksys logo; probably just
semantics since this should definitely work with slower 802.11b routers. Now that we've seen the quality of the color
screen, we're wondering why Linksys didn't pop in small camera; this
might have worked well for video-chatting
too.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 12:05PM
We'd be happy for more 2D high-def, but 3D is on the radar
for Philips according to top brass, Rudy Provoost. While Philips overhauls their product line they've decided to give
the whole 3D thing a try. We can't fault 'em for that, since
it's been tried before, right? No need for the
content to be in 3D from Hollywood since Provoost is thinking a 2D high-def disc might be upconverted. Uh, Rudy, we're
not even through the current high-def DVD format war, so let's not make things worse with upconversion, 'k? Philips is
geekin' out the 3D in their labs, so there's nothing to see here just yet, but you have to wonder if they'll push for
some silly 3D spec in the Blu-Ray format they back. Where's the sense and simplicity in that?
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 7th 2006 at 7:00AM
We'd put this in the "yet another Skype-certified" category except the Jawbone PC Edition is
the only one that adjusts the sound quality 868 times per second. We caught up with Aliph, the company that makes this
yapper, over at Showstoppers here in Vegas. The award-winning design was updated
since we last saw it as evidenced by our pic above of the
Jawbone on one of the Aliph peeps. We got a chance to give it a listen as well and the clarity was indescribable. $80
later this month gets you the Jawbone PC Edition with USB 1.1 and 2.0 support.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 11:57PM
Samsung must realize those DLP bulbs don't last long enough and cost too much
because the new 56-inch HL-S5679W DLP set uses LED lighting. Hey, Samsung, while you're under the hood, why not kill
that color wheel too? Oh wait, they did that too with red, green and blue LEDs, which is killer because there's no gold
at the end of that rainbow effect. The new tweaks give the HL-S5679W a sweet seven-second startup time and 20,000 hours
of little lamp lives. There's no
wobulation in this 1080p set,
it's full 1920 x 1080 in a progressive format with dual 1080p inputs. Samsung states these will handle 1080p signals,
so if it's the real deal, these should be paired up PlayStation 3's, no? Watch for it in April around $4,200.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 9:29PM
Let's drop in on the HANNSpree team for their press-only event, shall we? Even though HANNSpree is a
young company, you know 'em; they're the folks that make those LCDs that focus mainly on design. Let's see what the up
and up is with HANNSpree.
4:20 p.m.: We get in a little early, not even realizing there would be some
scrumptious food. Looks to be about 50 seats in the booth.
4:28 p.m.: We're still waiting and even though we
just snacked, we're getting hungry again. It must be the wall of televisions shaped like apples. By the way, we just had
to touch the leaves on one and it was very leaf-like. Clever.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 6:02PM
LG's booth grabbed immediate attention with their 71-inch 1080p plasma. One noticable aspect of just about
every product was a very clean and refined look. We weren't thrilled that LG-folks kept shutting us down from taking
pics, especially in the smaller devices and cellphones, but most of those devices were either already available or
minor upgrades to current products. There was a large focus on large HDTVs and home theater in general, so come join us
for a virtual tour.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 4:31PM
Did Philips follow their "sense and simplicity" theme? We didn't take their word for it; we gave
ourselves a self-guided booth tour. Check the pics and you be the judge.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 3:11PM
We got the high-level from Samsung
at the press event, but now we've got the
skinny on those DirecTV set-top boxes that were briefly mentioned. Turns out that the devil's in the details as Samsung
announced a DirecTV receiver with an integrated 10.2-inch screen. Surprise! These little guys are dubbed the
"DIRECTV Fliptops" and they're exclusive to Sammy. Integrated 10-watt speaker pop out the audio for any of
250-odd channels you can see on the three-day Electronic Programming Guide. Watch for the little flippers in March for
$499 list.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 2:53PM
Hitachi just got a bunch of inspiration for their PC line, which is quite good since "Inspire the
next" is their slogan. So let's welcome the next nine desktops and notebooks in the Prius line; and before you
ask: no, these aren't hybrid computers running on electric and gas. The Prius Deck DH75P2 and DH73P2 run a 2.8GHz CPU,
are 720p capable for high-def on the 20-inch display and appears to have a funky optical drive just under the monitor
(can't be sure just yet, but it sorta make sense, no?). The 'Deck runs WMCE so the choice of 230 or 500GB of storage
should be easy for you since recorded HD just eats hard drive capacity for lunch. The WMCE remote matches the brushed
steel industrial tower look, so you'll be stylin' while watching your vids from either the digital or analog tuner.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 2:34PM
With all of the
CES pre-announcements, LG doesn't have much thunder left to wield in the HD component area. Of course, LG is talkin' up
their BD199 Blue-Ray player for later this year, just in time for some actual Blu-Ray movies, of course. The timely news
is really in LG's home theater area with a flat speaker home-theater system and a wireless- and XM-ready upconverting
DVD player. The LH-T755 has flat speakers combined with 700 watts of output plus a 1080i upconverting DVD player. Watch
for it in Q1, followed by the LH-T9654 in April. This unit offers 1080i upconversion (via HDMI) on the five-disc DVD
player that cuts the audio cord with available 2.4GHz wireless speakers.
by Kevin C. Tofel, posted Jan 6th 2006 at 11:01AM
Ok, we all get the fact that
without the network we can't reach out and touch someone like Google or Microsoft. Heck, we're paying hard-earned
dollars to use that network every day, but Verizon appears to want more. Not from us (well maybe they do since we can't
use our existing EV-DO plan for the new Treo 700w), but from the big boys providing web service. Top dog of Verizon,
Ivan Seidenberg, wants those service providers we love so much to buck up and "share the cost" of broadband
networks. Yo, Ivan: we'd be less worried about Microsoft, Google and the like. Not that we want to see this, but
perhaps focusing on a better anti-Skype strategy would be more appropriate. Besides, if you start double-dipping for
web services on your network, they're likely to go away along with the consumers that wanna use 'em.
