Samsung Fascinate review
By now you've probably seen the reviews of the other
Galaxy S phones -- the
Epic 4G,
Captivate, or Vibrant -- or at least gotten an idea of what Samsung's push into the Android market is all about in 2010. After hitting every other major US carrier with like-minded devices, the company has finally seen fit to unleash the Fascinate on Verizon. Up until this point, the Android offerings on Big Red's network have been varied, but not all particularly attractive beyond the Droid lineup. The Fascinate is arguably the first handset that gives something like the Droid X or the Incredible a proper run for its money. Of course, those are pretty high stakes in game that changes on an almost daily basis, and Samsung's offerings are not without their... idiosyncrasies. That truth is nowhere more pronounced than on its latest handset. So is the company poised to hit the market where it hurts with this final puzzle piece, or is this an incomplete picture? Read on to find out in our full review of the Samsung Fascinate!
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Ricoh CX4 gets reviewed: slight improvement over the CX3
Well, it looks like Ricoh is still sticking to the if-it's-not-broke-don't-fix-it model with its CX series of cameras. Just as it found in its
review of the CX3,
Photography Blog says that the new
CX4 model delivers some modest improvements over its predecessor, but likely not enough to warrant an upgrade -- or stand out from the competition, for that matter. The improvements this time around include some improved image stabilization, as well as a handful of new features like a multi-shot night landscape mode and subject-tracking AF, which both apparently work reasonably well. One of the other new changes also proved to be one of the camera's biggest drawbacks, however, as the reduced handgrip makes the CX4 harder to hold comfortably than earlier models. Hit up the source link below for the full review.
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Official: Samsung Fascinate launching September 9 for $199 (update: September 8 online)
Put away your
leaked Verizon documents, good folks, the Fascinate finally has an official release date:
September 9. Verizon's
Galaxy S variant snuck up on all of us with a commercial appearance last night, which was accompanied by that appropriately blown out text at the bottom, indicating it'll be in stores within a couple of days. That doesn't leave much time for you to build up fresh anticipation, so hopefully you were able to sustain yours while everyone else was unpacking their Captivate, Epic and Vibrant handsets. Hey, you might be late to
the party, but at least you'll be there. See the ad (minus the launch date note) after the break.
[Thanks, Kyle]
Update: And what do you know, the official press release has just dropped, confirming the above in-store date and giving us an even earlier one: September 8 for online orders. Pricing is set at your usual $199 on a two-year contract, provided you have the patience to deal with a $100 mail-in rebate.
Continue reading Official: Samsung Fascinate launching September 9 for $199 (update: September 8 online)
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Amino launches Freedom over-the-top video set-top box, challenges Google TV to arm wrestle
If the
AppleTV announcement didn't satiate your need for a
Google TV set-top box battle royal, then new details about Amino's Freedom box might do the trick. Yes it still packs the same hardware announced back in 2009 such as an Intel CE4100m Atom Processor, 500 GB of internal storage, SD card support, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11n and 1 GB of RAM. We've now discovered however that it'll also run its own Amino branded version of Nokia's
MeeGo OS, adding apps and gaming support to its list of capabilities that already included 1080p playback, VOD streaming, and DVR recording. In other words there's going to be a new Google TV competitor on the block sometime before the end of this year looking for a fight. Whether it'll provide a Lincoln Hawk-worthy performance though is something we'll let the bookies squabble over until we can go hands on with both.
[Thanks, Hary]
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Amazon steals Microsoft's Director of Game Platform Strategy for some reason
Amazon's
gaming related job postings are starting to bear exotic fruit having just nabbed Microsoft's Director of Game Platform Strategy,
Andre Vrignaud. Vrignaud started with Microsoft in 2002 as Director of Xbox Live Platform Strategy and more recently helped manage Microsoft's overall gaming platform strategy with a hand in figuring out how to roll out Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7. Obviously, this leads to speculation that Amazon is looking to expand
further into digital games as it's already done with music, video, and digital books. And with Amazon working on
non-Kindle hardware with ambitions for
dual-screen readers, well, we'd say the question isn't what, but when?
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Intel may finally be ready to embrace USB 3.0
It's September so that can mean only one thing in Intel land: IDF. The second of this year's
Intel Developer Forums is this year preceded by speculation that the big blue giant's next motherboard reference design -- codenamed
Cougar Point -- will include USB 3.0 support. Intel's relationship with the 3.0 interconnect standard can at best be described as
strained, but motherboard and laptop makers haven't shied from integrating it into their wares and as the number of devices supporting SuperSpeed increases, it's becoming somewhat inevitable that Intel would have to play ball as well. At least until
Light Peak shines its "instant obsolescence" ray onto USB cables
next year. Then again, bear in mind China's
Commercial Times has been wrong before, so let's not credit this as fact until someone
with a blue name badge tells us so.
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ASUS upgrades G53 and G73 gaming laptops with 1.5GB NVIDIA GTX 460 grunt
Ready to splash the cash on NVIDIA's fresh new
mobile Fermi graphics cards? ASUS is the first company to take the veils off its GTX 460M offering, which it has seasoned with a most welcome addition: 1.5GB of dedicated GDDR5 graphics memory. The ROG
G53JW and
G73JW machines are the beneficiaries of this upgrade, with both capable of 3D work should you ask them nicely, and offering such tasty options as
quad-core Core i7 CPUs, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 750GB of storage, 16:9 displays (1,366 x 768 on the 15.6-inch G53 and up to 1,920 x 1,080 on the 17.3-inch G73), Blu-ray-writing optical drives, and 8-cell 5,200mAh batteries. The lighter of the two laptops weighs in at 3.6kg, but if that doesn't put you off, both are available right now at online retailers.
[Thanks, LifeBringer]
Continue reading ASUS upgrades G53 and G73 gaming laptops with 1.5GB NVIDIA GTX 460 grunt
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Sharp's twin-lens 3D prototype camera isn't a smartphone, yet (video)
Regardless of its ability to present a 3D image without glasses, we just
weren't very impressed with Sharp's 10.6-inch display at the IFA show. That's not to say that its parallax barrier technology doesn't perform well at smaller sizes, like say, oh, the
Ninentdo 3DS. In fact, Sharp's 3.8-inch switchable 3D (400 x 480) / 2D (800 x 480) display did a decent job of tricking our eyes into seeing a 3D image by exposing different pixels to each eye though tiny slits placed in front of a normal LCD. What we didn't see, though, was this smartphone-looking prototype (lacking radios, unfortunately) that combines that 3.8-inch parallax barrier panel with Sharp's
twin-lens 3D camera module. So unlike some other
3D prototype cameras we've seen, Sharp's pup will present the 720p/30fps video in 3D immediately after taking the snap -- no special glasses required. Of course, with Sharp
promising a 3D cameraphone before the end of the year, well, you've now got a pretty good idea how it will look. Video from Engadget Spanish after the break.
Continue reading Sharp's twin-lens 3D prototype camera isn't a smartphone, yet (video)
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Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for
We still consider Samsung's
Hummingbird application processor to be among
the very best for mobile computers, but this morning Sammy itself is stepping up the charge to make it look real old real fast. The freshly announced dual-core Orion promises to whip us all into a frenzy of geek lust with "5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung," 1080p video encoding
and decoding at 30fps, embedded GPS, a native triple display controller, and on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface. Those last two bits mean you can drive two displays on your mobile device while feeding a third, such as a HDTV, all thanks to the one all-powerful chip inside. Availability for "select customers" is coming late this year, with mass production set for the first half of 2011. To say we're looking forward to it would be a massive understatement.
Continue reading Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for
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PS3 3.42 software update reportedly patches jailbreak, hates fun
Sony just released its 3.42 software update for PlayStation 3 owners. As a mandatory update, PS3 jockeys must accept it if they want to continue accessing the PlayStation Network or PlayStation Store. While Sony's American mouthpiece isn't saying much about the release, Sony Japan says that it fixes a "hardware security issue," and that's it. Sounds like a patch for
PSJailbreak and its
open-source variants to us.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Permalink Joystiq |
PlayStation Japan [translated], PlayStation Blog |
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PARITy differential keeps your MAV flying level even if you clip its wings
Ever wonder how the single driveshaft in your car manages to power two (or more) wheels simultaneously? The answer is the differential, a device capable of splitting torque dynamically. There are a variety of different types of diffs, from fully unlocked to more pricey limited-slip models, but none are quite like the one created by
Harvard graduate student Pratheev S. Sreetharan and professor Robert J. Wood. Dubbed the PARITy (Passive Aeromechanical Regulation of Imbalanced Torques), it's only five millimeters long and, while such a tiny thing would evaporate if mounted between the rear wheels on a Mustang GT, it's destined for rather smaller applications: tiny, winged
micro air vehicles. The scientists proved its effectiveness by clipping one wing on a PARITy-equipped drone and, despite the imbalance in lift surface, the robo-bee maintained level flight -- differential automatically flapping the tinier wing more quickly to compensate. You know what that means: keeping our robot overlord's spies grounded just got a little bit harder.
Permalink Gizmag |
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Meizu CEO Jack Wong: Oh hey, the new iPod touch 'looks a bit like the M9II'
0diggsdigg Should there be an international award for Cheekiest Man of the Year, it'd have to go to
Meizu's shameless
Jack Wong. Shortly after Apple's keynote last week, the CEO of
KIRFdom seized the opportunity to cry foul on the
new iPod touch, claiming it "looks a bit like" his forthcoming M9II
Android phone, as pictured above. Wait,
M9II? Turns out even though the
M9 has yet to materialize in early October, Mr. Wong already has an enhanced model to be brought forth by his faithful unicorns. Assuming both M9 series devices will carry the same Meizu-fied Android 2.2 software, the only known differences on the M9II include a larger 4-inch display (as opposed to 3.5 inches at 960 x 640), the additional front-facing camera plus flash for the rear camera, and a
Cortex-A9 CPU. To play devil's advocate, we'd actually suggest Wong skip the M9 for this lovely dream phone, but we're probably too late -- check out his snazzy prototype M9 after the break.
Continue reading Meizu CEO Jack Wong: Oh hey, the new iPod touch 'looks a bit like the M9II'
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Computer controlled Bayan from 1988 makes us want to go back to the past
Back in 1988, Russian engineer Vladimir Demin combined a bunch of solenoids (loops of copper wire) and a Bayan (a Russian accordian), to create a self-playable instrument controlled by his awesome, self-built
computer. Yes, we're impressed, and you will be too, if you take a look at the video below.
Continue reading Computer controlled Bayan from 1988 makes us want to go back to the past
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Exclusive: Samsung NX100 in the wild
Looks like we can take the guesswork out of
today's leaked render, after all. A generous (and, as usual, anonymous) reader just sent us a handful of pictures of what appears to be -- quite convincingly, we might add -- the
Samsung NX100 we've been eying since a
low-res snapshot came to light last month. According to our tipster, video on the camera is great and changing settings is easy, on par with DSLRs, but the of course size still doesn't compare to point-and-shoots. And to repeat the earlier specs, now that they seem more likely: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that's 921K AMOLED. A shame we can't claim those fingers for our own just yet, but patience is a virtue. Or something like that -- it's not like we have a choice, might as well say something to feel better about it.
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U of M laser mimics helicopter heat signatures to thwart missiles
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a new laser-based countermeasure for aircraft, and unlike
others we've seen (and we've seen
a few) this technology aims to "blind" missiles rather than knock 'em out of the sky. The system uses a mid-infrared supercontinuum laser to mimic the heat signature of a helicopter, and it has no moving parts -- making it rugged enough to last a long time on rotor-based aircraft. The school has even spun off a company, Omni Sciences, to develop the thing, and has received some $1 million in grants from the Army and DARPA to build a second-generation prototype. Of course, questions remain: is it really a
wargadget if you can't blow something up with it? And even if it is, where's the fun in that?
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Lumix DMC-LX5 review roundup: great hardware for a not-so-great price
Reviews are starting to trickle out for Pansonic's
LX3 successor, the
DMC-LX5, and so far they all seem to echo similar sentiment. The form factor hearkens back to its Micro Four Thirds darling
GF1, at least from the top, with "dinky buttons" (in
CNET UK's words) on the back reminding you of its point-and-shoot bloodline. The pictures are solid if not characteristically warm -- and the ability to simultaneously produce RAW and JPEG files is a nice touch -- as is the choice of either Motion JPEG or AVCHD Lite video. The universal issue with this camera is the price; that £449.99 tag (the equivalent of $691 in US currency) doesn't quite seem to match the offerings, especially when it's about on par with entry-level DSLRs with interchangeable lenses (albeit without the slim look). As
PhotographyBLOG puts it, Panny's gotta hard case to make for a camera "that looks, at first glance to be very similar to a £299 model." Hey, a hardware switch for changing the aspect ratio (just above lens barrel; 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1) doesn't come cheap. Much more detail can be found in the reviews below.
Note: It's worth mentioning that this camera can be had for $500 at Amazon right now. Still pricey, but not $700 pricey.
Read - PhotographyBLOG
Read - CNET UK
Read - Pocket-lint
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MIT app turns your Android phone into a supercomputer... of sorts
Oh, sure -- a few people have called Google's
Nexus One a "superphone," but suddenly, that nickname has taken on a whole new level of meaning. A team of talent from
MIT has put its head down in order to concoct a new Android application that can come darn close to solving complex computational problems in just a fraction of the time that it'd take a bona fide
supercomputer. The goal here is to let researchers and scientists convert to Google's mobile OS, but if you aren't falling for that one, it's also designed to "let engineers perform complicated calculations in the field, and to better control systems for vehicles or robotic systems." Of course, the models that are hosted on the phone
do require a supercomputer to create, but once certain formulas are embedded, the app can then compute approximations in mere seconds rather than hours. Best of all, rbAPPmit is available for download as well speak in the source link below, but we'd probably wait for the (presumably thick) user guide to surface before diving in headfirst.
[Thanks, Alasdair]
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Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface
We're not quite sure what to make of this, as our first reaction is to label it a fan made render and move on. But it's a very detailed render, so let's hear this one out in between bites of freshly grilled burger (or whatever you do to celebrate Labor Day; we think more working is an appropriate course of action, but to each his or her own). So what you see surfaced on the
Digital Photography Review forums is an apparent render of the Samsung
NX100 and a diagram pictured after the break -- labeled by number but missing the complementary key. We still don't know much about the forum poster nor the images' origins, but later on he or she did provide supposed dimensions and some display specifications: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that's 921K AMOLED. We're intrigued to say the least, but nothing tangible at the moment.
Continue reading Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface
Permalink 1001 Noisy Cameras |
dpreview (1), (2), (3) |
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Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom
Hey, there little guy! That's the
Toshiba AC100 -- an Android 2.1 smartbook with Toshiba's custom user interface -- on show in the UK, where you can now grab one up. The 10.1-inch, 1.9-pounder has yet to show its face anywhere near the US, but as for specs it's got a 1GHz
Tegra 250 SoC, a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI port. While it's listed on Amazon you still can't actually order one of these bad boys stateside, but if you're in the UK, you can grab one up for
£292.52 (almost $450) for the non-3G model. Video of the little guy in action back in June is below.Continue reading Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom
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Nokia said to be launching E7 smartphone next week
Well, it looks like the
mystery of Nokia's
Symbian^3 slider may soon be solved --
Reuters is reporting that the company will introduce its new "flagship" E7 smartphone at its Nokia World event in London next week, and it says that the device will pack both a "large" touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. That's further backed up by the existence of an XML file on Nokia's own site, which seemingly confirms that the E7 does indeed run Symbian^3, and that it boasts a 640 x 360 display along with that QWERTY keyboard. Not much more than that at the moment, but those previous leaks suggest that we're basically looking at a slider version of the
Nokia N8.
[Thanks, Wes]
Permalink Electronista |
Reuters, Nokia (XML) |
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Sleek Audio's SA7 earphones briefly tested, dubbed 'stonkingly good'
We didn't get to hear them for ourselves at IFA 2010, and it sounds like we missed out -- a pair of publications are already showering Sleek Audio's
nigh-bulletproof SA7 buds with praise. The tightly-woven carbon fiber casing may look stylish, but both
SlashGear and
TrustedReviews were even more impressed by the sound, calling the combination of dual-armature drivers and one-piece aluminum housing "more precise" and "stonkingly good" respectively. Both noted hugely powerful bass that sounded fantastic alongside the trebles and mids, rather than drowning them out, and high frequencies that remained comfortable to listen to even at higher volume -- a mark of excellence, to be sure. Of course, one typically expects quality audio when slapping four Benjamins down -- we'll have to hear how these stack up against other audiophile buds.
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SlashGear, TrustedReviews |
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Carl Zeiss Cinemizer 3D Plus glasses get OLED infusion, still no attention
Carl Zeiss keeps on making minor improvements to its
Cinemizer head-mounted display, announced way back in 2008 and intended to be the most amazing way to watch stuff on your iPod. They didn't
exactly catch on then, and two years later we're not entirely sure that the latest revision will either. The tiny screens that sit a fraction of an inch from your eyeballs have been upgraded to OLED, which should make them bright and lovely as they pummel your rods and cones, but sadly they're still stuck in VGA land -- 640 x 480 is not a lot of pixels these days. This version also pledges greater compatibility with non-Apple devices, a welcome change, and even more welcome is the new visual styling, which makes you look a little less walleyed than
the last model. Despite this the price hasn't changed much, estimated to be around €400 ($515), but that's still a lot to pay just to have the coolest Frozone costume ever.
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Engadget Spanish |
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Windows Phone 7 ad promises 'the revolution is coming' (video)
Usually we'd advise you not to read too much into this -- we'd point out that this was a themed ad served up before the showing of
Lawrence of Arabia at London's Secret Cinema event -- but what the hell: Microsoft says
the revolution's coming.
It's on now!Continue reading Windows Phone 7 ad promises 'the revolution is coming' (video)
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Scientists using metallic wastes to generate clean energy
Solar farms are swell and all, but they aren't exactly fit for laboratories or studio apartments. Thanks to new discoveries by gurus at the University of Birmingham, though, we could be on our way to a far more diminutive method of creating clean energy. As the story goes, we could soon be using microbes to transform wastes in metals into energy. The team managed to pinpoint Hydrogenase enzymes and BioPd in their research, which they believe can be used as catalysts for the treatment of persistent pollutants. The overriding goal, however, is to "develop a one-step technology that allows for the conversion of metallic wastes into high value catalysts for green chemistry and clean
energy generation," but it's difficult to say at this point how close they are to realizing it. The best news? This is bound to start a new rash of Cash 4 Gold commercials.
Permalink Physorg |
SGM Journals |
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Nuu Mini Key adds a bulky physical keyboard to the iPhone 4
For all the benefits of touchscreen keyboards, there are many who maintain a steadfast allegiance to the gods of tactile feedback. So how does this Mini Key case with sliding QWERTY for the iPhone 4 strike you? Unfortunately, the keys were a bit hard to press on the backlit prototype keypad handled by Engadget Spanish, and it links to the iPhone via Bluetooth, not the iPhone's dock connector (there's a cutout at the bottom for a cable to pass through). And no, all that added bulk still doesn't include
an extended life battery pack. Perhaps some of this will change before it goes on sale before the end of the year for $60 / €60, we doubt it though.
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Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager
Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia's Senior Comms Manager, so it's fitting that he'd be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited
N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper
Kauppalehti that
advance orders of the N8 will "begin shipping 30 September." Bear in mind we're chewing through a machine translation here, but that part's pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords -- that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia's UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they're remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users' hands.
Permalink E's Phone Blog |
Kauppalehti.fi, NokNok |
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Samsung suggests Galaxy Tab will cost between $200 and $400 on contract -- also coming to Vodafone
Early reports indicate Europe
will pay a pretty penny for Samsung's Galaxy Tab, but the 7-inch tablet may cost a good bit less when it comes to US shores -- the
Wall Street Journal paraphrases a Samsung executive who claims it could run between $200 and $300 depending on the
all-important carrier subsidies. The
Korea Times, meanwhile, suggests a $300 to $400 retail price according to a different Samsung bigwig, who added that the Tab "will cost slightly more than the Galaxy S smartphone." As you're probably aware, Sammy's Galaxy S typically retails for about $200 in the US -- excepting Sprint's
Epic 4G at $250 -- so if you held a
bursting Li-ion battery to our head and forced us to guess, we'd say the latter range of dollar signs is far more likely.
By the way, Vodafone shows the Galaxy Tab as "coming soon." Hit our more coverage links for details.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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