Tech news, analysis, culture, business, security, and more
Samsung’s criticially acclaimed LED-backlit flagship LCD just got an overhaul: The all new Series 9 950 will come in 46-inch and 55-inch sizes, 120Hz motion-blur reduction and a whole bunch of eco-friendly attributes, like paint-free “Touch of Color” and absence of mercury and other toxic chemicals. They will range in price from $3,200 to $4,200, but…
We first saw it back at CES branded as the Samsung Home Digital Media Adapter. Now it’s been rebranded as MediaLive. Essentially a media streamer, the Samsung MediaLive connects to televisions via HDMI and can stream A/V from Windows systems including AC3, H.264, JPEG, MPEG2, MPEG4, WMA, and WMV over LAN or Wi-Fi (up to…
The Nintendo Entertainment System Belt Buckle may be a) a real product, b) a completely stupid, far-fetched contraption, c) a way to cook your genitals or d) all of the above. Just attach it to your belt and be ready to play with it everywhere and/or be kicked by random people on the street. [NESBuckle]
Going for thin and pretty, Samsung launched its Series 8 LCDs—the 850 and 860 models—with new bodies that are just 1.9-inches thick at the middle, and thinner on the ends. The 120Hz sets also come with a “Touch of Color” thanks to injection molding—rose for the 850 and deep blue for the 860. A USB…
We heard about ’em back at CES, but Samsung has released pricing and availability info on their upcoming Series 7 plasma line. The 1080p displays feature 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast, DNIe Pro image processing, Ethernet for their Infolink RSS and 4 HDMI ports. Available this August, they can be yours for $2,800 (50″), $4,500 (58″) and…
A year ago, we said that no iPhone SDK meant no killer apps. It came, and the apps are here in staggering numbers. But many of the amazing apps and concepts we grew to love as unofficial apps aren’t here, and only about 100 of the 500+ apps at launch in the official store are…
Yeah, yeah, the Large Hadron Collider is in no real danger of accidentally opening up a black hole that swallows the world when it’s finally fired up on August 7. We know. But still, we sometimes like to pretend it is, and this is where Cern’s LHC cooldown status website comes in. Using it you…
Part of Vizio’s new XVT premium line, the 50-inch VP505XVT plasma known in a past life as the VP504F, actually uses Panasonic panels, meaning it’ll have something in common with future versions of Pioneer’s top-of-the-line Kuro sets. Yes, the plasma universe is collapsing upon itself as we speak, though for not that might not be…
We’ve seen plenty of naked/half-naked/non-naked ladies playing the Wii, but you can’t make a night out of just jubblies on the computer screen—not socially, at least. Dark Room Sex Game is an “erotic rhythm game without any visuals, played only by audio and haptic cues.” The result is a quasi-sexual experience that’s almost just as…
Adam already pointed out the need to carry a camera with you at all times to catch amazing pictures. Now, here’s one reason to always remember to carry a good videocamera. And survival kits and a GPS and armored suits and canned burgers and infrared goggles or a F-35 helmet. Unlike Lori Mehmen, however, these…
This concept USB watch, dubbed “Timeless” is either a fabulously ironic piece of deconstructivist electronic art, or a geeky overload. Whichever way you look at it, it’s kinda neat: basically it’s a simple digital watch, with an internal battery that’s charged when you plug it into a USB socket. And then the same USB socket…
For those of you who’re into a little bit of creative electronics as well as fancying yourself as a bit of a mean DJ, this DIY laser light show may be just the thing to spice up your parties. Not only will the project spray laser light around (and who doesn’t like laser light shows?)…
A team at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal have produced the world’s first field-effect transistor based on paper. The paper layer acts as an “interstrate”, with the actual FET components being fabricated onto both sides: so the paper holds the transistor together and acts as an insulator. Amazingly in tests the paper transistor performed…
Be happy: A new wireless HD video standard guarantees that major brands including Sony, Sharp, Hitachi, Samsung and Motorola will have interoperable wireless video streaming. Amimon-the chip makers behind the “video modem” wireless HD tech we’ve been seeing on and off for the last few years, and most recently in Belkin’s Flywire-is announcing the WHDI…
Over at Sound and Vision Mag they’re asking exactly this question, and there’s a lot of logic behind it. Current flat-screen TV tech favors the 16:9 (or 1.78:1) dimension ratio, but many movies are shot in Cinemascope 2.35:1, around 32% wider. That’s why you still see letterboxing on your HDTV, or the frames are cropped…
After having seen The Dark Knight three times over the last weekend I can’t help but think this would be a great scene for the next film (which had better not be called Caped Crusader): A city municipal worker in the IT department changed some very important passwords and refused to give them up, even…
DirectX 11 is coming, and it looks pretty awesome. Sure, you get advancements in shading and better support for multi-core machines, but what’s really got our heads turning is the concept of letting programmers use the GPU in your video card to do some of the heavy lifting, meaning your graphics chip becomes a second,…
Not content to just offer a new version of Windows Live Messenger for a competing platform, Microsoft today released an updated official version of the full Windows Live app for Windows Mobile that features contacts syncing, support for Live Spaces, Live Maps, and push email from HotMail, MSN, or Live accounts. It’s a free mobile…
Many companies use Windows Live Messenger for corporate IM because it’s free and comes with pretty much any Windows computer they purchase. Windows Mobile users have had mobile IM love for awhile, but BlackBerry users have been left out, at least as far as official messengers go. They had already been promised an official client,…
The Atmos 561 Clock, made by Jaeger LeCoultre and designed by Mark Newson, is powered entirely by changes in temperature and sits inside a block of crystal for good measure. According to The Watchismo Times, a change in temperature of one degree celsius can power the clock for two days. A mixture of Ethyl Chloride…