Posts with tag feature
Toshiba's Cell processor-based SpursEngine B.E. was on full display at CES, with a variety of tech demos to show off its power. From HD video transcoding, facial recognition, or the always popular gesture-control Toshiba's baby went through a series of workouts, trying to be the third teammate, with your CPU & GPU, to speed heavy-duty processing. Featuring only four cores -- half the number found in the PS3 -- it handled all tasks thrown its way, check out the gallery to find out how the power of the Cell could help your PC in the future.
Hands flailing wildly with JVC's Snap and Gesture HDTV

Hands-on with Pioneer's extreme contrast concept plasma

That's when another image appeared literally out of the blackness, with a second plasma display turned on and showing a pitch-black background for the duration of the demo. Pioneer demoed their concept set directly next to the current 8th-generation PDP-5010FD 1080p plasma Kuro plasma, and utterly destroyed even its vaunted performance. The Kuro line dropped idle luminance by over 80% compared to the 7th gen plasmas, and this demo was intended to show just how far the technology can continue to go under Pioneer's guidance. Color us very impressed, and saddened by the realization that this concept could go a generation or more before it becomes fully integrated into the Pioneer plasma lineup.
Hands-on with the Pioneer 9mm-thick Kuro plasma

Live from Toshiba's CES press conference

10:00 - a.m. - We're here, the HD DVD players and TVs under covers are on stage.
10:07 - Ladies and gentlemen please take your seats
Live from LG's CES press conference

We're here at LG's press conference at the Venetian, plenty of HDTVs on stage as we wait for things to start.
7:55 a.m. (pst): "We will begin in 5 minutes"
Hands-on with Sony's VAIO TZ superultraportable notebook

Obviously unaware that we're not exactly the classiest folks around (we were the only ones there wearing shorts and a T-shirt), Sony invited us to a decidedly swanky "product unveiling" at Rockefeller Plaza's 66th floor Top of the Rock observation deck, replete with such pricey fare as caviar, salmon canapes, crab salad, tuna tartare, and grilled shrimp, along with four varieties of champagne (from a 2000 Veuve Clicquot Reserve Rose to a 1996 Bollinger R.D., if you must know) to wash it all down with -- and as if that weren't enough booze, several bottles of well-aged scotch sat prominently atop a fully stocked bar. This whole luxury theme was meant to sway our coverage about reflect the high-end status of the company's 11.1-inch VAIO TZ, whose $2,200 minimum price tag gets you a waif of a Santa Rosa-based ultraportable featuring a carbon fiber exterior, 32GB SSD, WWAN in the form of EV-DO Rev. A, and a MacBook-style keyboard, among other goodies. Sorry to cut this short, but we're off to shower and shave with the pleasant smelling men's products that Sony stuffed in our gift bag (we gave everything else -- cigars, lip balm, four dollar bottled water, book on wine -- away to elevator operators and people on the subway), so this would probably be a good time to check out the gallery below. And, as a special, one-time only bonus, we've also included photos of the recently announced VAIO-branded LF-V30 LocationFree streamer, whose component jacks enable HD place-shifting, and with which the entire VAIO lineup will soon be compatible thanks to pre-loaded software...
Engadget at Digital Experience New York

iTunes Plus and EMI's DRM-free music hands-on

What tech would the Presidents rock in 2007?

| Washington (rebel) | Lincoln (uniter) | Jefferson (hipster) | Roosevelt (fearless) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OS | Linux (last night's build) |
Mac OS X (with Vista in Parallels and Linux via Boot Camp) | Mac OS X | Vista (x64) |
| Computer | OQO (has an OLPC XO at home) |
MBP |
MacBook |
Toughbook |
| Media player | Make Daisy | Sansa | iPod | Zune |
| HD format | HD DVD |
LG BH100 hybrid player | Blu-ray | DivX + BitTorrent, dude |
| Carrier |
T-Mobile |
AT&T | T-Mobile | VoIP over neighborFi |
| Console | Gamepark GP2X, SNES |
Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 | Wii |
PS3 |
| Vehicle |
Homebrew biodiesel |
Prius | Tesla Roadster | Segway |
| Phone | OpenMoko | 8525 |
Sidekick 3 |
Greenphone |
Mega hands-on: Virgin America's Airbus A320 with Red in-flight entertainment
Not-yet-airborne Virgin America invited us to check out the way-decked Airbus A320 with Red prototype in-flight entertainment system that's parked at SFO right now. (Naw, we didn't get to take it up, the US Dept. of Transportation hasn't yet cleared VA for commercial flights yet, boo.) They definitely weren't kidding when they said it's got it all: movies on demand, pervasive music playlists, in-seat messaging with a QWERTY controller, touchscreen Linux consoles with games, the works. We've got a massive, massive gallery for you to check out (it's really not to be missed); we toured the aft cargo area where the each plane's servers live, the Red in-seat consoles (of course), the cockpit, even WiFi-enabled flight attendant handhelds. We've also got a full rundown of everything you need to know about Virgin America, Red, and the kitted-out Airbus, so check out the gallery below, and click on for more details about the only airline we officially sanction as being geeked enough to transport Engadget.
Hands on with SanDisk's new Zune-bestin' Sansa Connect

Hands on with the Sansa View

UPDATE: Alright, birthday plans are back on. We finally got a hold of the View for some actual "hands on" pics, and it really is a looker -- though with all the slim going on here, we're still not sure we could squeeze this thing into a jeans pocket. Also, the software is way early on this thing, so don't figure these funky screen shots will have much to do with how the final interface will look like. With that said, check out our new pics after the break.
Hands-on with Microvision's itty bitty projector
They said it was coming and sho'nuff, we spotted Microvision's tiny projector for mobile devices here on the CES floor. Verdict? There's some potential, future hotness here. Their setup projected a roughly 10-inch image onto the wall just a few feet away. Naturally, we're not talking about a high-res image and color reproduction is definitely lacking, but it's certainly watchable especially if you're only sharing a few minutes of video with friends or colleagues. However, the circuity (at least at this stage) will add some serious bulk to todays ultra-thin handsets. But when you consider the interest expressed in watching digital mobile TV on tiny handsets, well, there's certainly a developing market here ready to be tapped. Especially by 2008, Microvision's target for bringing this technology to market. Hear that venture capitalists, Microvision needs your love.
Caption Contest: HMD of the future?
Toshiba thinks that people will happily sport this device to become totally immersed in their games. What do you think?
Evan: "Janie was unprepared for the relentless mocking her new head-mounted display received, especially from her fellow guild members."
Paul: "Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to bring you the ultimate gaming experience. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cause I don't."
Ryan: "Yes, we're gonna have to go right to...ludicrous speed!"
Cyrus: "I though I could stop wearing headgear when I turned 16."
Richard: "Correction, I need the superior information in your inferior brain to fly this... thing."
Zatz: "Can you hear me now?"
[Thanks, Brian]
Evan: "Janie was unprepared for the relentless mocking her new head-mounted display received, especially from her fellow guild members."
Paul: "Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to bring you the ultimate gaming experience. Call that job satisfaction? 'Cause I don't."
Ryan: "Yes, we're gonna have to go right to...ludicrous speed!"
Cyrus: "I though I could stop wearing headgear when I turned 16."
Richard: "Correction, I need the superior information in your inferior brain to fly this... thing."
Zatz: "Can you hear me now?"
[Thanks, Brian]






















