CentralStation
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Samsung Central Station hands-on (video)
The last time we saw Samsung's Central Station in person it wasn't so much of a hands-on moment as a drive-by peep show. Nearly four months later, it's about to go on sale, and Samsung finally let us play with a final unit. For those of you who missed it in Vegas, the Central Station is a 1080p monitor that doubles as a docking station, replete with HDMI and VGA output, a speaker port, four USB ports (two of 'em USB 3.0), plus an additional USB port just for wired connections (more on that in a bit). The best part, of course, is that all of this docking happens wirelessly with the help of a small dongle that plugs into your laptop's USB port -- even if it's of the 2.0 variety. The promise is that all you need to do is walk within range of the monitor to be able to mirror (or extend) your desktop, stream 1080p video, and access USB peripherals, such as external hard drives. So is this display as simple to use as advertised? Mosey on past the break and check out our hands-on video to see for yourself. %Gallery-122402%
Samsung's Central Station wireless monitor appears in Europe as SyncMaster C27A750
Back when we first laid eyes on Samsung's Central Station, we were excited by its wireless docking capabilities, and now it looks like the company's ready to let the monitor loose on European soil, albeit with a decidedly less American moniker. The SyncMaster C27A750, a 27-inch affair, uses Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology via a USB dongle to connect to your laptop. It touts a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and sports HDMI, VGA, and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. The new SyncMaster will hit Europe by the end of April for about €600, but we've yet to hear anything about Central Station's ETA -- very sneaky, Samsung... very sneaky.
Samsung CA750 wireless Central Station eyes-on
We heard a brief mention of Samsung's Central Station during its first press event, but it wasn't until we had a chance to check it out for ourselves on the floor did we really understand how the monitor / wireless docking station worked. Turns out it's thanks to a USB dongle that connects the laptop in question to the rest of the setup. A clever idea, for sure, but we'd definitely need to put it through the ringer before we'd suggest. The 23-inch and 27-inch models are coming in March with prices as-yet unspoken. Enjoy the pictures below! %Gallery-113761%
Sharp fires up 43 LCD tree for the ho-ho-HOPE Program
New Yorkers passing through Grand Central Terminal will be treated to a 26-foot high holiday bush ensconced in, you guessed it, 43 Sharp LCD panels -- 52-inch behemoths at the base and 19-inch models way at the tip-top. Oohs, ahs and festive lighting aside, the display is meant to raise donations for the HOPE program's "Green Collar Project" that will help students find a green-collar job related to environmental work. Snicker all you want about the heat pumped out by those 52-inch LCDs, but it the tree as a whole beats its plasma counterpart and it's a good cause to boot. Enter to win one of the 43 deciduous panels and $1 will be donated to the program, up to $100,000 (and with a minimum of $50,000). Good on you, Sharp!
