Paul Miller

Steve Jobs just pulled out the world famous “one more thing” for nothing other than… a new Apple TV. It’s now a streaming-focused device (as we predicted months ago) in a small matte black enclosure we’re calling “the hockey puck.” It has HDMI, Ethernet, optical audio, and USB plugs around back, and of course 802.11n for the cable-averse. Inside there ain’t much — there’s no local storage, which makes this thing an entirely different beast than old Apple TVs. Those new streaming HD TV rentals from ABC and Fox will be a mere 99 cents, while first run HD movies will be a less thrilling $4.99. Other services include Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, and Mobile Me, along with Rotten Tomatoes integration in the movie catalog. You can also stream from your computer, if you miss those old hard drive-sourced days of yore, but iOS 4.2’s AirPlay also enables streaming from an iPad straight to an Apple TV. The best news? Apple will start shipping this sucker four weeks from now for $99. Developing…

Continue reading The new Apple TV for $99

The new Apple TV for $99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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See this computer here? Yeah, well Sony’s going to launch a laptop next year that will most likely look nothing like this. Intrigued? We thought you would be. Sony announced today that it will be launching at least one laptop next year (probably a mini-series of ‘em) with a 3D-capable 240Hz LCD. The laptop will be using a built-in IR blaster to sync with your regular Bravia shutter glasses, but it’s unclear whether the price of a laptop will get you a free pair of the precious specs. The prototype we got to look at here has a 16-inch 16:9 display, housed in a current F series chassis, but all that is of course subject to change when the final model lands. We do have to say, in comparison to some of the other 3D laptops we’ve seen, Sony’s tech comes off looking pretty good, but there’s nothing here to convince us this is anything beyond a niche luxury for now — although an ability to use this screen as a 3D display for our PS3 might help us change our mind (we asked, the answer is no). Expect to hear more about this mysterious beast at next year’s CES.

3D Sony Vaio landing next year, we preview the prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got a chance to mess around with ViewSonic’s upcoming ViewPad 7 (one of possibly four tablets they plan to release this year), and while it is indeed a plastic rebadge me-too Android tablet, we mean that in the best sense. Let’s take these one by one:

• Plastic: Ot looks and feels enough like metal / glass that we won’t fault ViewSonic for the cost savings here.
• Rebadge: ViewSonic has an exclusive on this design for its particular markets (Europe), while the OlivePad is doing its version over in India.
• Me-too: This might be the biggest knock, since ViewSonic is dropping the ViewPad into a world that’s going to be up to its knees in 7-inch Android tablets in a few month’s time.

ViewSonic wins points for an above average build quality, better than crappy LCD (it’s not great, but we’ve seen a lot worse, and the capacitive response is just fine), passable processor (a 600MHz Snapdragon won’t win any bake-offs, but it also makes Android 2.2 completely usable in our opinion), and better-than-Augen Google blessing. Check out our video hands-on after the break.

Continue reading ViewSonic ViewPad 7 video hands-on

ViewSonic ViewPad 7 video hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OLED’s failure to do anything for the mainstream so far outside of phone and camera displays is only bittersweet: sure, we don’t have millimeter thick TVs yet, but LCD has gotten slim enough that it hardly matters. So, in keeping with tradition, LG has stolen its own OLED thunder today. In line with earlier rumors, it will be showing off a 0.11-inch thick 31-inch 3D OLED display prototype at IFA this week, but that poor little OLED-that-would will be sharing a booth with a ready for retail 0.35-inch thick LCD that comes in big people sizes. Despite our undying affection for OLED, we know which one we’ll be (theoretically) taking home in the windowless van we (theoretically) plan on parking out behind the Messe Berlin.

LG’s 31-inch OLED prototype to slice through IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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