Hands-On With the New Apple iMac (Unboxing, Benchmarking)
by Joshua Topolsky, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 4:41PM
Posts with tag New Products
Sony Intros New Blu-ray Players and Wireless Home Theater
Sony doesn't give consumer electronics aficionados a chance to catch their breath.
Coming on the heels of a whole host of big announcements made at the annual Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas, the consumer electronics powerhouse returned to Sin City for its line show, where it introduced a boatload of new products, including no fewer than 18 audio products and accessories, from Bluetooth-capable Walkman portable audio/video devices to a turntable (yes, a turntable!) for those music aficionados who still have vinyl records (and want to turn them into MP3s).
Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention the big ticket items you've come to expect from Sony, such as new Blu-ray disc players. The BDP-S350 (coming this summer with a $400 price tag) and the BDP-S550 (arriving this fall with a $500 tag) -- both feature picture-in-picture capability, which is a new feature showing up on many BD movie releases. Plus they both have Ethernet ports, which Sony calls "BD Live," so you can plug them in to an Internet connection and receive firmware updates and interactive content.
We are particularly interested in the four BRAVIA products that Sony introduced with the new S-AIR technology, which is all about wireless audio transmission. We're big fans of systems that eliminate wires around the house. The top of the line unit is the DAV-HDX576WF model, which includes one S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker (AIR-SA10) and a wireless rear speaker kit (WAHT-SA10). That's coming next month for $500. The DAV-HDX277WC is basically the same system without the rear speaker kit, for $400, and the DAV-HDX275 is again the same without the Air Station or the rear speaker kit. That kit alone will run you $149.
The Walkman players consist of a whole slate of audio and video capable units with Bluetooth capability. They'll run you from $150 to $370 depending on memory size and feature sets.
Kind of an odd addition to all these product intros were two new Cyber-shot digital still cameras. First, the new 9.1-megapixel DSC-H50, with a 15x optical zoom lens, will be shipping this May for $400. Then the slim DSC-W300, which has a 13.6-megapixel CCD, a 3x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD and an eye-level viewfinder. All that plus a titanium body is coming out this May for $350.
Oh, we didn't forget. That turntable, the PS-LX300USB, has USB output and can deliver MP3s of your records to your computer. Look for it next month for about $150.
Finally, one interesting announcement was for a limited edition Vaio notebook computer series, the FZ Series, which can be ordered up with one of three highly stylized covers. The so-called Graphic Splash Expression Collection PCs will have cover options called Victorian lace, flora, and leaf, and with four variations on keyboard fonts, including three new ones called Bradley Hand, Copperplate, and Synchro. These laptops are available now starting at about $1,300.
Gallery: Sony February 2008 Line Show
Related Links:
- Sony Mylo 2 Personal Communicator Out Next Week
- Sony Now Selling DRM-Free Music on Amazon
- Sony's Almost-Paper-Thin OLED-TV Coming to U.S.
New Fujitsu Lifebook Is Smaller, Lighter, and Cheaper Than MacBook Air
By "Air" we mean MacBook Air, of course, and we're always a fan of a little Mac vs. PC competition here. The Fujitsu P1620 Lifebook has just been announced, an update to its earlier P1610 ultra-portable. The new Lifebook P1620 offers the same processor as its predecessor, a 1.2 gigaherz dual-core processor, two-gigabytes of memory, and 100-gigabytes of disk space. All in a package just a little over 9-inches wide, making it a reasonable alternative to Apple's latest.
It stacks up reasonably well against the Air, though it's at a disadvantage at the start compared to the Air's 1.6-gigaherz processor. The Lifebook's 2.2-pound-heft makes it almost one-third lighter than the Air and it's dimensions are smaller overall, though at 1.4-inches, it's nearly twice as thick as Apple's wunder-portable.
The screen is considerably smaller too, 8.9-inches vs. 13.3 on the Air, but the Lifebook's screen swivels around, turning the device into a tablet PC.
Then there's the battery, which is both user-replaceable (unlike the Air's) and comes in two flavors. The standard three-cell pack will deliver an estimated 3.5 hours of life while an optional six-cell pack ($45 extra) will give twice that, quite a bit more than the five hours promised by Apple for the Air. Finally the price: $1,599 to start, compared to $1,799 for the Air.
So, an Air alternative? Possibly -- but only if you don't have a preference of Apple vs. Microsoft. Clearly Mac fans will still choose the Air, but for PC fans who are on the go and looking for something similarly lithe and (arguably) more functional, the updated P1620 looks to be a good option.
From Engadget
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This Player Piano Gets Songs Off the Internet
Yamaha just announced the release of its new Disklavier player piano, which now comes with an 80-gigabyte (GB) hard drive and Internet capability for streaming downloads of 'live' songs to literally play in your living room (these "songs" contain the data needed to make the instruments ivories move). Ever since radio took over the limelight some 65 years ago, real instruments such as the piano have struggled to remain as mainstays in the home. But now that the Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV can play itself in your home -- much like an old-school player piano -- it may be back in the living room to stay.
Built on a Linux operating system for easy upgrades, the Disklavier also features a Wi-Fi touchscreen remote to allow you to control your piano through walls so that while you're on the veranda eating canapes you can change up the mood for your guests in the living room. Or, for those interested in having a bit more fun with their new player piano, the Disklavier also incorporates karaoke file compatibility with microphone inputs and text displayed on the Tablet Remote Control.
Subscription service to the DisklavierRadio streaming service, which features classical as well as songs from the likes of Elton John and the Beatles, is $19.95 per months, or $199.95 per year. Songs can be downloaded to the hard drive from the DisklavierMusicStore. Or you can just play your CDs in the embedded tray or merely hook up your iPod for added convenience.
The Disklavier Mark IV starts at $35,000 and is available now at Yamaha dealerships.
From Yamaha.
Nokia's Sexy New Crystal 'Prism' Phone
Nokia is really pushing the whole "phone as fashion statement" concept, which is actually fine by us so long as the phone itself doesn't suck muffins. Its newest piece of tech art, the Nokia 7900, comes with a fairly standard feature set: 2-megapixel camera, built-in MP3 player, EGPRS/GPRS Web browsing, and 1-gigabyte (GB) of internal memory.
More interesting is the phone's case: the "Crystal Prism" (Nokia's words, not ours) is unique, with its customizable back-lighting in 49 different colors. Graphic artist Frederique Dubal (whose resume includes graphic and textile designs for Nike in the Netherlands, Sony PlayStation in France, and Paul Smith in the UK), now has Nokia to add to the impressive client list, with laser-etched graphic designs and exclusive wallpapers available for the handset.
It's a 3G quad-band GSM jam, which means it'll work fast on all five continents, and is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2008 -- in Europe, for roughly the Euro equivalent of 554 dollars, or 6,028 pesos.
From BetaNews
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T-Mobile Debuts New Samsung SGH-t819 Cellular Phone
Today, the Tech Wizard of Oz lifted the curtain to unveil the new T-Mobile Samsung t819 cellular phone. Equipped with wireless, stereo Bluetooth technology, the t819 sings its own praises with features like a 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture capability, an MP3 player and a micro SD slot for a maximum of 2-gigabytes (GB) of removable memory.
A slider phone that weighs in just shy of 3.5 ounces, the latest T-Mobile device has numerous messaging options, including AOL, SMS, MMS, ICQ, Windows Live and Yahoo. Furthermore, it is compatible with T-Mobile Address Book and offers the T-Mobile myFaves calling plan.
The cellular phone's full moniker is the Samsung SGH-t819. It is available in a two-toned brown hue, with a frame that measures approximately 4"x 2" x .5", which makes it one of the smaller slider-phones out there. The phone should be available over the next few days and weeks at T-Mobile retail stores, as well as online at t-mobile.com. Check out the gallery below for images.
Gallery: The New T-Mobile Samsung SGH-t819
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Wireless Portable PlanOn Printer Holds Paper, Too
Yesterday, PlanOn, the company that brought you the DocuPen scanner writing utensil, released for retail a one-of-a-kind portable printer, called the PrintStik. The tiny, mobile device, oblong and light, is a Bluetooth-enabled development that allows users to print e-mails and images from a smart phone, laptop or PDA. The technology is particularly useful for those of you who get annoyed with wires running wild when you're on the go, or for the professional who hates having to suffer in line behind Larry the Molasses Executive at those business centers just to print out a couple of pages.
The PrintStik is a self-contained unit, meaning you don't have to lug the 20 sheets of paper that fit inside. It prints at a leisurely three pages per minute, with the only other drawback being that you are not going to get a sheet of paper that might have come out of the printer at home. Instead, you will get thin, ticker-type sheets set with ink that looks like it came out of a random cash register.
Obviously, this product is not meant to turn out the annual report while you're driving to work. Instead, it is best suited for printing out things like directions or an E-mail from your handheld device.
We know, we know -- where and when, right? Expect to pay $299 for the PrintStik when you visit planon.com.
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Apple's New, Super-Fast Mac Pro Costs Up to $20,000
Need a heavyweight Mac to do some serious computing in a stylish form factor? The Mac Pro has always been the go-to box for just that purpose, and now it's even faster, offering two 3.2-gigaherz quad-core CPUs from Intel. And, with four slots for hard disks, you can configure up to a whopping four terabytes of storage, as well as up to 32 gigabytes of RAM.
When using the right applications, users of the new Mac Pro could find upwards of twice the performance of the last generation, thanks to the quad-core CPUs, which in some cases can do many times the work of a traditional CPU or even multi-core CPUs. Graphics and 3-D rendering applications in particular should see a serious improvement with this new beast.
The new Pro is available today starting at $2,799 if you want two CPUs, or $2,299 if you can get by with one. But you should know this: If you configure it to the max and with the fastest chips and the most memory, you'll be looking at a figure closer just shy of $20,000. Yes, that's the right number of zeros.
So, maybe you can get by with that iMac for awhile longer after all, but if you have the bank, check out the Apple Store to configure your own.
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Mini Bluetooth Keyboard Lets You Type Away On Your PC or PlayStation 3
Sure, it might look like a portable electronic translator or text-messaging device, but Logitech's Di Novo Mini, shown yesterday at the CES Unveiled preview in Las Vegas, is a much simpler affair. Designed as a miniature portable keyboard to type text into Web browsers, text message boxes, and video game chat bubbles, the Di Novo Mini connects wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled computers, smart phones, and even gaming consoles like the PlayStation 3. The D-Pad lets you maneuver around the Tivo-like interface of Windows Media Center, too.
Why would you want this small keyboard when plenty of perfectly user-friendly big wireless keyboards exist instead? Well, for one thing, this one's small enough to take with you, and it's sexy looking with a transparent cover to keep dust out to boot. Only problem is, the thing uses Bluetooth, and we all know how erratic Bluetooth keyboards can be (very!).
Still, given its cool, distinctive design and diminutive size, the Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard is getting saved in our neat-o files.
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Pioneer Unveils Super-Thin, High-Contrast Plasma TVs
Today, Pioneer showed off two significant concept models for its flat-panel plasma TV product line. Under the banner of Project KURO, a sci-fi-sounding internal anthem for change, Pioneer unveiled both the thinnest flat panel TV and a flat panel that boasts an unparalleled contrast ratio.
To give you a better perspective, one TV has a screen frame 9mm thick (thinner than the iPhone!), as opposed to contemporaries that are 3.5 inches thick. The other, in techno babble, eliminates all idling luminance – or, if you prefer an example in English, the screen would not be visible in a dark room when displaying a black screen.
The latter, dubbed the Extreme Contrast Concept Model, adheres to the golden rule of the plasma TV viewing experience: Black is the most important color on a display, controlling where an image starts and the shadows it projects. By developing a screen that gives off no ambient light, the black is the blackest, to put it simply.
The 9mm flat panel, on the other hand, creates a new form factor for 50-inch screens, getting rid of the bulky frames that characterize current models. While the concept models exhibited at CES do not combine the two innovations, Pioneer plans to integrate them when this next generation of flat panels becomes available to the public at some indeterminate point in the future.
In case you hadn't noticed, we're pretty psyched about this announcement. Not only will we get to that holy grail of picture clarity, but the TV will seem to blend into the wall upon which it is attached. And, hey, we're not excitable folk – unless it comes to technology that really matters to you.
From Pioneer
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World's First Remote-Control Beer Cooler
The soft-sided, collapsible cooler sits atop four wheels and a radio receiver powered by eight "C" batteries (which will survive only three hours of constant use). The round gray plastic remote takes a single 9-volt battery that shouldn't need to be swapped out nearly as often.
After beating back the CES-show-floor-gawkers who were trying to get a good shot of this thing, we were able to get a good look have to admit we were smitten. Yes, it's silly, but it seems to handle well, which makes it really useful for lounge-chair potatoes who like to party!
Now, when you're lounging poolside at your barbecues, you won't have to get up and fetch a beer or hand one over to a friend. Just send out the RC Cooler with a full load of 12 beverages, while you sit back and relax with the remote. The RC Cooler will be available in the Spring, for $49.99, just in time for the lazy host in all of you to pick one up for the first pool party of the season.
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Stream Music Wirelessly To Multiple Listeners -- For a Price
If one of your New Year's resolutions is to cut down on the number of wires cluttering your home, then the i2i Stream Digital Music Broadcaster may be for you. The purpose of this product, available in March, is to turn any of your traditional music players at home (such as CD players, DVD players, iPods, and even computers) into wireless music sources. Multiple listeners can enjoy the music on their own sets of earphones or you can have the music stream through regular speakers so everyone can listen together.
Hiding or eliminating wires in the home has been the goal of many companies, whether by streaming content through existing powerlines or broadcasting the music using Wi-Fi. Now i2i maker Aerielle Inc. has thrown its hat into the mix -- with CEO Art Cohen touting the "one-to-many" quality of his product.
"We've created a way for friends to listen to music content without the hassle of sharing ear buds or swapping MP3 devices," Cohen said in today's pre-CES press release announcing the device (hey, we tried to call him, but we never heard back). The device can stream to "hundreds of other i2i Stream users from a single channel."
The i2i comes in a two pack. One of the units works as a broadcast device while the other receives. The system works by plugging one i2i device into the audio source to create the "audio stream," which broadcasts up to 30 feet. You then plug your listening device -- a pair of earbuds, for example -- into the second i2i device. The internal battery charge lasts up to seven hours.
Besides using i2i at home you can also take it with you on the road. So, for example, two people can listen to music from one MP3 player. One of the listeners carries the player and one of the i2i devices. The other listener carries just the other i2i device and plugs his or her earphones in to the appropriate jack.
The initial price for the two-pack is $129.95 and additional transceivers will cost $69.95 -- perhaps a tad pricey considering the limited range. An extra charger will go for $14.95.
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PlayStation 3's DualShock 3 Unboxing
In case you hadn't heard, Sony has gotten its chips (and lawyers) in order, and has finally brought rumble back to its PlayStation 3 controllers. Engadget's Tokyo office was able to get its sweaty (and soon to be rumbling, we'd imagine) hands on an early retail release of the Dual Shock 3.
She looks hot, with her Ceramic White (or Black, as pictured above) case and familiar, comforting shape -- if only the Internet had rumble, maybe we could get an idea of how she moves? Word on the street is that this latest PS3 controller doesn't handle too differently from the Dual Shock 2.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you'll be able to pick one of these up Stateside before Spring 2008, but if you or anyone you know is going to Japan....
Unboxing porn after the jump.
From Engadget
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MacBooks Get Upgrades -- Should You Have Waited?
Not content to sit back and bask in the praise for Leopard, Apple has given its MacBook line a bit of a freshening. None of the specs are a huge boost, but they will bring some welcome performance increases to the slick portables, and, like so many of Apple's surprise updates, will be enough to make anyone who purchased last week wish they'd waited.
All the MacBooks have moved to the Santa Rosa architecture. This is a new(er) offering from Intel that offers a better blend of performance and power efficiency for mobile computers.
More important, though, is the shift to a new graphics processor, the GMA X3100, which should offer much better performance in games and other graphics-intensive applications than the GMA 950 processor found in older MacBooks.
Finally, the MacBook Pro series top speed has been upped to 2.6-gigaherz from the previous 2.4-gigaherz, though that upgrade comes at a $250 premium. The base MacBook still starts at a quite economical $1,099. The MacBook Pro starts at $1,999, though if you want that 2.6-gigaherz chip, you'll have to spend at least $2,749.
So, if you were thinking of moving on to a new MacBook, now would probably be a good time -- before Apple upgrades again and you're one of the poor suckers who bought a week too early.
From Engadget
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The Coolest New Gadgets from Japan
Recently, we went to Tokyo helping pick out the coolest and most innovative new technologies at CEATEC, the annual Japanese consumer electronics show. Along with four other reps from Popular Science, CNET, and the Envisioneering Group, we narrowed down our short list to just ten items, either finished products or promising prototypes with some sort of vague plan to eventually get released. It took us a while to unpack, decompress, and get over jet-lag, so at long last, here's what we picked.
Pioneer's Image Recognition Car Navigation System: This is a cool new prototype that uses GPS and a camera to tell you where to drive, whether it's down a more scenic or less trafficked route, or to avoid a nearby car. Unlike traditional GPS systems, this one shows a camera view of the road rather than a graphical map.
NTT Docomo Wellness Phone: While there's nothing new about a portable pedometer, heart rate monitor, calorie counter, or breath analyzer, this prototype is the first that combines these health-monitoring features with a cell phone. The killer app is the ability to transmit the heath information to the doctor, diet specialist, or hospital via the cell phone network. It seems pretty much everything else has already been added to the cell phone, so how about some life- and health-saving features!
JVC's LED Backlit Television: We picked this LED (light-emitting diode) TV prototype because – unlike LCDs –- it's both energy-efficient and mercury-free. It also offers super high contrast (100,000 to 1) and more colors – a combination that no company has managed to pull together thus far.
Sharp Electronics' System LCD Module with Embedded Optical Sensors: At first glance, this touchscreen seems like an iPhone wannabe – it lets you zoom in and out using your fingers – but it's actually much more powerful, since it lets you use more than two fingers at once. So, for example, you can play several "keys" of an instrument, or more than three button commands on a virtual keyboard. 
NEC's FieldAnalyst with Age and Gender Recognition: This camera purports to detect age and gender just by focusing on you. How does it do this? By going through a database of around 10, 000 faces. The idea is to use it in malls or other public spaces for market research. It was a cool idea, which is why we put it on our short list, but to be honest, after trying the thing out, we found it to be way off on our age (in a good way!).
Sony Rolly: Yes, you may have seen and heard about this robotic moving and dancing speaker system, available only in Japan, but you haven't heard about it from us, so we'll lift our very own quote in the CEATEC Tech-Pert panel press release about this nifty new device:
"Though seemingly useless, the Rolly got our nod for its originality, sense of fun, and smooth operation. It mixes two qualities for which its creator, Sony, is known: audio and robotics, and the idea of a dancing music player could only come out of the creative and fertile minds typically found in a Japanese R&D lab. The robotics are graceful and it actually sounds good, considering the device's small size. The Rolly is the quintessential "only-in-Japan" gadget, but we think with the right marketing idea, and a considerable drop in price, the Rolly could well become the pet rock/Tamagotchi of 2008 in the U.S. Yes, it's whimsical, and never thought we needed a Rolly, but now we're not sure if we can live without one. – Tom Samiljan, Switched.com"
Hitachi's Blu-ray Camcorders (DZ-BD7H and DZ-BD70A): We have our issues with DVD-camcorders – they're clunky and not that versatile -- but their claim to fame is ease-of-use and the ability to create a ready-to-play disc right out of the device (no computer editing necessary). Hitachi's new Blu-ray camcorders – the first ever by any manufacturer -- earned our praise because they offer you the option of shooting right onto Blu-ray discs or onto a built-in hard drive (which offers a bit more versatility if you want to do extensive edits). They also boast an impressive 80 minutes of battery life!
Panasonic and Toshiba's High Definition Recording on DVD Media: Thanks to a new transcoding process that makes video files smaller, Panasonic and Toshiba displayed HD recorders prototypes that are capable of storing up to two hours of HD-quality video on standard DVDs. In other words, you get HD-quality video on a regular DVD recorder (provided, of course, that you have an HDTV!).
Toshiba's SpursEngine High-Performance Stream Processor: This new processor enables all kinds of cool new applications and innovations, including real-time facial makeup and wardrobe rendering (scary!), the ability to handle hundreds of TV and sound sources at the same time, and cool, hand-gesture-based, motion-sensitive video/PC controls.
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