News Archive for 09/09/10
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A variety of web reports suggest Canon Sweden has begun sending out press invitations regarding a secret product launch. In the short and secretive message, Canon promises that it will announce "one of the biggest and most important releases in the history of the company." The two-hour lunchtime event is scheduled for September 29th, and it's widely expected that the product in question is Canon's upcoming 1D Mark IV digital SLR.
Images have surfaced of an unannounced Samsung handset running on the LiMo platform and headed for Vodafone. The images, posted on the Boy Genius Report, show a brushed steel housing and an OLED screen with haptic feedback. The device is said to get an 8-megapixel camera, although further hardware specs remain unknown.
Microsoft tonight reversed course on its ad strategy with the launch of its first Windows 7 ad. The 30-second TV spot (seen below) draws on the same little girl, Kylie, that starred in a Windows Live Photo Gallery ad in February and avoids the pseudo-realistic but targeted anti-Apple attacks that have characterized the "Laptop Hunters" ads. Instead, the commercial is uniformly positive and has Kylie say she's discovered "happy" words about Windows 7 from reviews, which she then puts into a slideshow using Windows Movie Maker.
AMD at a press conference today demonstrated one of the core features of its upcoming Radeon HD 5800 series graphics chipset. Nicknamed Eyefinity, the ATI-branded technology gives a single video card up to six DisplayPort outputs running at their full resolution. It can also merge these into a single picture and create a live image as large as 8192x8192 once technology allows this; current technology would still allow six 2560x1600 displays that could produce a typical resolution of 7680x3200.
Matrox this evening launched a new portable breakout box aimed specifically at Mac users editing at a pro level with Final Cut Studio. The MXO2 LE takes SDI, component, RCA and 10-bit HDMI video input from cameras or other sources and puts them in formats immediately usable by Color, Final Cut Pro and other apps in the suite, such as Apple's in-house ProRes 4:2:2 HQ format. It can also work with non-Apple software like After Effects and uses an XLR power input, making it friendly to a MacBook Pro at a video shoot where XLR may be more common than AC outlets.
Samsung's Freeform handset has been added to the Alltel Wireless lineup. The entry level device has a 2.2-inch color display and a QWERTY keyboard, as well as customizable navigation keys that can take users to their favorite applications. Music playback capability is built-in, and users can send data wirelessly or hook up compatible wireless headsets or headphones through stereo Bluetooth.
At the currently ongoing CEDIA home theater show in Atlanta, JVC has introduced its DLA-RS4000 Reference Series 4K home cinema projector along with a pair of 4.1-channel sound bar home theater systems. The projector can reproduce a 10-megapixel image and offers 4K resolution, or 4,096x2,400 pixels, which is more than four times that of 1080p. The projector is both ISF and THX certified, and can produce 3,500 lumens of brightness from its Xenon lamp, with 8 settings for lamp power.
Pioneer at the CEDIA expo today provided demonstrations of its first networked media hub. The concept device shown on the floor, so far known only as the Entertainment Tap, still has a Blu-ray player but is intended for online media playback first and foremost: it can recognize media from DLNA-ready devices over Ethernet or Wi-Fi and has access to Netflix movies, Picasa photos and YouTube videos. Mobile control is also a high priority as the Tap can not only stream its content to a handheld over the Internet but could use an iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control for all of its functions.
NAVIGON has launched a second, free update for the North American version of MobileNavigator for the iPhone. The app turns an iPhone into a GPS unit, with maps for the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. It works in both portrait and landscape modes, and has features such as intelligent address entry, signpost display and lane assist. It also displays warnings when exceeding speed limits.
Apple is continuing work on an iPod touch with a camera, in spite of having just released a third-generation player without one, several sources claim. Yesterday's product debut surprised some onlookers, who had fully expected the addition in keeping with long-standing rumors and evidence. A camera has nevertheless been added to the iPod nano, a smaller and cheaper device.
A Chinese leak today has slipped many core details of AMD's next ATI notebook graphics platform. The Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series is expected to be a direct translation of the desktop models and should have similar lines. At the top, the 5870, 5850 and 5830 will all have a very large 1,600 shader units (effects processors) and should support CrossFire on gaming-oriented desktop replacements. The top two will support fast GDDR5 memory while the 5830 will need GDDR3.
Harman Kardon is currently showing off its latest flaghship home theater receiver, the 7.2-channel AVR 7550HD, at the CEDIA Expo. Like some of the other receivers in its range, it supports Dolby Volume technology that keeps its volume consistent no matter what source is playing, and is the very first to use Texas Instruments' Aureus DA710 dual audio digital signal processor for improved sound quality. Faroudja DCDi Cinema digital video processing uses a Torino chipset to upscale videos to near 1080p quality.
OWC on Thursday introduced its first SSDs as part of its Mercury On-The-Go Pro portable lineup, touting them as the lowest cost portable FireWire 800/400 or USB 2.0 powered devices of their kind. Starting off with the 64GB version, a 128GB unit and the largest 256GB SSD, each can transfer data at up to 100MBps. Each 2.5-inch drive offers a 64MB data cache. As with most SSDs, the lack of moving parts makes them more shock resistant, power efficient and quieter than rotating hard drives, as well as being more tolerant to temperature extremes.
Motorola this afternoon entered into modern smartphones with its first Android device, the Cliq. The touchscreen slider centers on a new interface known as MOTOBLUR that has customized home screen widgets that let users check and update their social status, handle messages and check information like weather without loading a separate app. It even integrates status updates in other apps, such as for incoming calls or GPS mapping.
iFixit has dissected the new fifth generation iPod nano, showing the internal components. Apple introduced the Nano at its iPod press event held on Wednesday. The overall design appears to closely match the fourth-generation iPod nano, but with the new camera and a click-wheel that is not permanently affixed to the case as it was in the previous generation. The new video camera is video-only, as the size of the Nano reportedly limits the ability to integrate still-photo capable circuitry. The video camera captures H.264 640x480 video at 30 frames-per-second and captures AAC audio.
JVC on Thursday introduced a 46-inch 3D LCD HDTV, the GD-463D10, along with a 32-inch LED-backlit HDTV, the LT-32WX50. Both are ultra-thin, with the former just 1.5 inches (39mm) thick, while the latter is 0.25 inches (6.4mm) thick. The GD-463D10 is technically a monitor as it lacks a tuner, but can be used to reproduce 3D images thanks to the Xpol polarizing filter on the screen itself paired with the included battery-free eyeglasses.
At the CEDIA show on Thursday, Sharp announced it will soon launch a new Blu-ray player, the BD-HP52U. The reader will have the ability to connect to the web, and Sharp will partner with an unnamed service provider to bring premium streaming video content. This partner is expected to be named later in September. Other known features of the BD-HP52U include Blu-ray Profile 2.0 support and the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound formats.
A 250GB bundled edition of the PS3 Slim could be available as soon as October, says a Spanish gaming publication. The bundle will allegedly cost €350, and include the EA soccer game FIFA 10. Distribution is expected to be handled exclusively through Game, a major European retailer.
iPhone owners are much more likely to download apps and get involved with social networking than their BlackBerry-owning counterparts, Compete revealed today in a new study. About 72 percent of Apple smartphone users are likely to have downloaded at least 10 third-party apps, but 73 percent of BlackBerry users have picked up five apps or less. The researchers add that iPhone owners are more willing to buy their apps than BlackBerry owners.
LG today opted to launch its own network-attached drive in the N2R1. The box is tailored to media sharing and, besides acting as general storage, can automatically share up to two SATA hard drives to any DLNA-aware devices (like the PS3) or to iTunes clients. A rare addition is a DVD burner that can be used to play or write optical discs for ultraportable notebooks or others that don't have a free drive.
Pioneer used the CEDIA expo today to dip into bookshelf-sized iPhone and iPod speakers for the first time in the US. Having just entered Europe a week ago, the XW-NAS3 and XW-NAS5 are both single-piece units but are designed for better sound than usual in the class with 2.1-channel, digitally amped 60W output. They both also have stealth displays behind the grill and optionally support Bluetooth for streaming stereo music, including from an iPhone or iPod touch.
Hard drive maker Western Digital has launched five new external hard drives, all incorporating automatic backup software, password protection and 256-bit hardware encryption along with a physical redesign. The additions include three portable My Passport drives, including the My Passport Essential, My Passport Essential SE, and My Passport for Mac, along with two new desktop My Book models, the My Book Essential and My Book for Mac. All will include WD's new backup software, SmartWare, which is compatible with both Macs and PCs and is meant to be simpler, thanks to an easily understood visual interface. There is also a search function and real-time backup status information.
Nokia today launched one of its most unusual phone designs to date through Verizon. The often-rumored 7705 Twist has a short, squat shape that has a swivel-out QWERTY keyboard instead of the usual slider. It also has a new contact light ring that can be programmed to flash when text or voice from a recognized contact comes in. Nokia lets owners customize the back shell with replacable covers, black and purple versions of which come with the Twist in the box.
Samsung today held a rare single-model introduction and added a new model to its 650 series TVs at the CEDIA expo. At 65 inches across, the LN65B650 is one of the largest ever conventionally-lit LCDs from the company and sits in the middle of the lineup in features, with Internet support for Flickr, Yahoo and YouTube as well as a 120Hz panel, a 4ms pixel response time and a 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.
Verizon this morning became the third US carrier to get a version of the HTC Touch Pro2. Unlike some of the provider's past conversions of HTC's Windows Mobile smartphones, the handset is virtually the same in design and performance as the reference CDMA version, with 288MB of RAM and a 528MHz processor. It mirrors the Sprint edition in becoming a world phone with quad-band GSM and EDGE as well as single-band HSPA to give it voice and 2G roaming nearly everywhere and 3G roaming in Europe.
Sprint acted on its rumored plans and launched Any Mobile, Anytime, a major addition that promises to change its calling plans. Anyone with an Everything Data individual or family plan ($70 or more) now gets unlimited voice time when calling a cellphone on any other US network, regardless of distance. The service only stipulates that customers have to be on the Sprint network and not roaming on another's during the call, though the 450 or more minutes from existing plans remain intact.
RealNetworks today confirmed the approval of its first iPhone app with the launch of Rhapsody on the App Store. The free software is the first on-demand competing music app to reach the iPhone and iPod touch in the US and gives subscribers to the $15 monthly service streaming access to the entire Rhapsody catalog over 3G or Wi-Fi. Listeners can't currently download tracks permanently but can search and add them to their libraries, create playlists and have access to Rhapsody Radio.
AMD this morning kicked off the launch of an updated notebook offering and headlined it with Congo, the nickname for its next-generation Ultrathin Platform. The new architecture includes AMD's faster 1.6GHz Turion Neo X2, found in the HP dv2z, but focuses on graphics performance and battery life. It uses a Radeon HD 3200 much like AMD's fuller-size notebooks and as a result can decode 1080p video smoothly in hardware; at the same time, AMD estimates about an hour more of battery life than its earlier platform.
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