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Cyma Myraid Watches

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 05:03 AM PST

One of the new watch collections for 2011 that won't be easy to find is the "Myraid" collection from Swiss brand Cyma. While brands usually amuse/irritate me when they come up with new names for their products, Cyma actually put some thought into this one. "Myraid," as a word refers to a really large or indefinite number. The dials of the pieces have either a starry image of the "infinite" universe, or a light motif that Cyma simply calls their "infinity rhodium" dial. Like the limitlessness of space, so to is the name of the collection. Really happy Cyma didn't call the collection "Le Big Blue Bucket" or something else (adding of course the requisite accent marks all over the words).


Daily Crunch: Surveillance Edition

Posted: 06 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Samsung Announces Five New Cameras

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 11:28 PM PST

Samsung announced five new digital cameras today, and while we have specs on all of them, we don’t have pictures. I sincerely hope that everyone can see the irony of a press release about cameras without pictures. We will be visiting Samsung’s booth on the floor, so we’ll see if we can actually show you the other Dualview cameras over the next few days.

Let’s start with the one we DO have a picture of, the DualView ST700. You might remember this camera as being the narcissists favorite camera with an LCD on the front and back. The ST700 has a 5x zoom lens, 1.8″ from LCD, shoots video at 720p, and has an ISO range that goes up to 3200. The ST700 also has a touch LCD on the back to control the various functions. The ST700 also sports a mighty 16.1 megapixel sensor. MSRP will be $279.99, expect to see this camera at your favorite retailer in March.

Next we’ll talk about the PL170, another Dualview camera. The P170 will look very similar to the ST700, with the major difference being the front screen is only 1.5″ front screen. The P170 also has a 16.1 megapixel sensor, records 720p video, and even has a 5x optical zoom lens. The back LCD is a 3″ touch screen with the same “smart” features of the ST700. MSRP is $199.99, and expect this one in March too.

The final Dualview camera is the P120. The P120 has the same lens, the same 1.5″ front LCD and 3″ back LCD, but only comes with a 14.2 Megapixel sensor. The P120 even shoots 720p video and has the same Magic Frame, Smart Face recognition, and “Beauty Shot” features as the higher end cameras. MSRP on the P120 is $149.99, and it’ll be at your retailers in March as well.

Moving away from the Dualview cameras, Samsung also announced two new “regular” cameras. The larger of the two is the WB210, a 16.4 Megapixel, 5x optical zoom, point and shoot camera. The WB210 also has Samsung’s built in software features like Smart Auto, Smart Face Recognition, Beauty Shot, and Portait Highlight. Expect to see the WB210 in February with an MSRP of $279.99.

The final still camera is the PL210, a 14 Megapixel, 10x optical zoom, with Optical Image Stabilization and Digital Image Stabilization. The PL210 also shoots 720p@30FPS video, and has all the same special Samsung software of it’s big brother, the WB210. The PL210 will be available next month, for an MSRP of $199.99.

Highlights from Microsoft’s CES Keynote: Windows edition

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 10:26 PM PST


I know that you guys don’t really want to sit through an hour or painful music, hyperbole, and Ballmer, so I’ve taken the highlights from Microsoft’s big CES moment, and put them into easily-digestible blog form. Ain’t I sweet?

We’ve already covered the Xbox highlights, Windows Phone 7 highglights, and Surface highlights, so now it’s time for trusty ol’ Windows to get a post.

Mike Angiulo, Corporate VP of the Windows team, showed off some of the new form-factors that Windows PCs will soon be available in, including the crazy-cool dual-touchscreen Acer Iconica laptop. Instead of a keyboard down below, you’ve got a second display that is touch sensitive. A neat feature of which is that if you hit the touchscreen with all ten of your fingers at once, it immediately opens the on-screen keyboard.

Also shown off was the upcoming Samsung PC7 sliding series laptop (as seen in the image above), which looks a bit like a giant Hiptop. It runs a fanless Oaktrail processor, with a trio of Micro- connectors, including MicroSD, Micro-HDMI, and Micro-USB. I think it has a good chance of winning a few fans in the convertible tablet/netbook crowd, and I love that sliding movement.

Mike then showed off a tablet from Acer, which, as well as finger input, includes a capacitive pen for use with Microsoft’s Ink. It can tell the difference between the pen and your palm, so it wont register palm touches when you’re writing with the pen. It also has all four elements of the display (touch input, pen input, display, and glass) bonded together to minimise light wastage, creating a huge viewing angle and good brightness. Also, because of the lack of air between the layers, the display only needs 20% of the lighting power for any given brightness, compared to other touchscreens.

Finally, Mike also recounted the news that Windows 8 will be coming to System-on-chips (SoC) based on both x86 and Arm. He then showed off an early build of Windows 8 (with a Windows 7 interface) running natively on Intel, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Texas Instruments OMAP SoCs as big as a matchbox.
Check out the motherboard that the Intel SoC runs on:

Tiny technology FTW!

He demoed a full-working version of Windows on the x86-based Intel SoC, and demoed a recompiled Arm version of Word printing on an Epson Printer (using recompiled drivers, of course), a recompiled version of Powerpoint with hardware acceleration, the hardware acceleration present in IE9, and, finally showed of Full-HD Video running on an NVIDIA Tegra chip.

These were all early builds of Windows, so there wasn’t a great deal to show off, but the promise of tiny, full-featured Windows PCs is exciting enough for me.

And that’s the lot! But don’t take my word for it, you can watch the whole event here.

GM And Powermat Find Love In Vegas, Announces A $5 Million Deal That Puts Powermats In Cars

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 09:35 PM PST

GM and Powermat took the CES platform to announce a major partnership. Starting with several GM 2012 vehicles, Powermat’s inductive charging pads will be integrated directly into the vehicles, allowing for a quick and seamless charging solution. The auto maker is investing $5 million into Powermat to accelerate the development cycle.

The exact details aren’t addressed in the press release so it’s not exactly clear how or where the Powermat will work. Hopefully somewhere in this massive CES 2011 mess, we can find a demo or an executive to shed a bit more light on the plans. Most of the deets should be worked out. The first car to get this charging solution will be the 2012 Chevy Volt later this year.

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Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2010

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:56 PM PST

A bit NSFW (of course) but totally worth your time. I mean, what else are you doing. Let Yahtzee run down the top five games of 2010.


Microsoft Outs The Properly Named Touch Mouse

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:37 PM PST

Wait a sec. You haven’t seen this one before. I know it looks like just a different flavor of the Microsoft Arc Touch, but it’s actually the Microsoft Touch Mouse. Where the Arc Touch is just a a fancy travel mouse with just a touch sensor, the Touch Mouse is actually a mouse where the entire top surface is a touch pad. Yep, that means gestures and all the fun trackpads offer.

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Microsoft Extends 360 With Avatar Kinect, Netflix Streaming And Hulu Plus With Kinect

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:18 PM PST

The 360 is turning into more of an all-purpose living room machine, and the Kinect is blowing up. That’s the takeaway from the Ballmer keynote here at CES. They’ve sold a huge amount of Kinect — 8 million, far more than the 5 million they predicted, and which we were all skeptical of. But it’s a surprise hit and I think that’s indicative of both its unique appeal (even the haters have to admit it’s unique) and the growing importance of a powerful box in the living room.

Avatar Kinect? I’m not buying it. But I’m not the target audience. I’d rather have it for the hands-free media control. Either way, though, it’s more stuff the 360 can do, and the central hub for media, games, and communication is obviously becoming a popular and contentious product category.

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Hands-On With Olympus’ Brand New E-PL2 Camera, 2011 Line-Up

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 07:04 PM PST


We had an inkling that the Olympus E-PL2 would launch this week and we weren’t disappointed. The new model is a little light on spec changes but under the hood you have a larger, brighter screen, improved ISO up to 6400, and new layered effects for adding multiple effects at the same time. The new kit, priced at about $600, comes with a m14-42mm. The new camera supports the new PenPal Bluetooth, a $60 device that allows you to send HD images from your camera to any mobile device (except the iPhone, at least for now). The new lenses are movie/still compatible, a feature that considerably reduces lens noise when recording video.

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An All Too Brief Hands-On With The Motorola Droid Bionic

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 05:49 PM PST

Nicholas here, having just spent a hot minute with the new Motorola Droid Bionic. It’s pretty neat, which is very high praise from someone like me. Light, snappy, the whole nine yards.

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Hands-On With The Motorola Cliq 2

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 05:31 PM PST

The Motorola Cliq was the outfits first Android device. Hit? Not as big as the Droid. But nether the less, Moto is back with the successor aptly named the Cliq 2 Android phone for T-Mobile.

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Live From Motorola’s Press Announcement At CES 2011

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 04:22 PM PST

We’re live in Vegas at the Venetian hotel, where Motorola has gathered up just about everybody in the industry to announce… something. What that is, exactly, is a mystery — but we’ve got some pretty good ideas. Will they dive deeper into that Android tablet that we saw a glimpse of just weeks ago? Join us after the jump to find out.

Panasonic Sort-Of Announces The Viera Tablet

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 03:36 PM PST


CES 2011 was set to be filled with tablets and Panasonic briefly showed off their first entry into the form factor. Viera Tablet, as it will be called, will connect to “cloud servers” but that’s about all we know at this point. The tablet will be officially announced in Panasonic’s home country of Japan “in a few hours” although it sounds like it will be at the Panny CES booth so we’ll grab some hands-on as soon as we can. The company expects to launch the slate to the global market later this year.

Official Google Video Preview Of Android 3.0 Spied Briefly

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:45 PM PST

An official video promoting Android 3.0 Honeycomb has just appeared on YouTube, apparently without any accompanying fanfare from Google. It’s on the Android Developers channel, but one would expect at least a blog post to show off the various nuances of the new interface. Actually, as I was writing this very paragraph, the video was taken down, so I’m guessing this was unintentional.

Good thing I downloaded the 720p version and got screenshots of all the interesting bits! We’ll have video for you momentarily, but for now, enjoy these screengrabs of Android 3.0.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab Coming Soon With Only Wifi

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:33 PM PST

Everyone has come to know what the Galaxy Tab is; it's one of the top tablets out there. Previously, it was required to have a data plan in order to use one. Today, Samsung announced that is no longer the case with the introduction of a Wifi-only model.

Read on to see how much and when..

Samsung Sliding PC 7 Sliding To A Windows 7 Near You

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:24 PM PST


This result of “deep collaboration between Samsung and Microsoft” looks suspiciously familiar. Could it be because Asus announced one just like this last night? Oh, snap! Samsung got served, possibly! Actually, not so much, since Asus’ version runs a skinned version of Android, and this Samsung one, related to the Gloria of a few months back is a full Windows 7 thing.

Asus:

It’s got a 10.1″ touchscreen at 1366 x 768, and it’s running on an upcoming Oak Trail Atom platform, and comes with either 32GB or 64GB of SSD storage. When in tablet mode it uses some sort of simplified interface, apparently, but opens up to be a full Windows 7 PC. We’ll probably get a hands on in a little bit, their press conference is soon.

Here’s the press release:

Samsung Creates a New Category of Mobile PC with the Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series

Combining the Benefits of a Laptop and Tablet PC, the PC 7 Series is Ideal for Creating and Consuming Content
2011 International CES

LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Corporation, today announced the launch of its first sliding tablet PC at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Equipped with Microsoft Windows 7 operating system and powered by the upcoming Intel® Atom™ processor platform, currently code-named "Oak Trail," the PC 7 Series maximizes the benefits of a tablet PC with its compact, light design, and incorporates a sliding keyboard for easy typing, enhanced productivity and performance. The display elegantly slides up to reveal a physical keyboard giving the user the option of a multi-touch display or full keyboard and mouse interface.

"The Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series is a great example of the deep collaboration between Microsoft and Samsung, from engineering to marketing"

"With the proliferation of tablet devices, there is a demand from consumers that want the elegance, ease-of-use and portable form factor of a tablet but also the familiarity of a notebook," said Scott Ledterman, director of mobile PC product marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "At first glance, the Samsung PC 7 Series is a compact, light-weight tablet featuring an intuitive touchscreen. However, once the display is slid into place, it reveals a physical keyboard that offers users the familiar keyboard/touchpad interface. The Samsung 7 Series is creating a category unto itself, with a total solution that is not only chic and convenient for content consumption, but also versatile enough for more intensive computing and content creation."

"The Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series is a great example of the deep collaboration between Microsoft and Samsung, from engineering to marketing," said Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the OEM Division, Microsoft Corporation. "This joint innovation delivers a unique PC design and rich mobile computing experiences for our mutual customers."

"Innovative designs based on Intel Atom processors offer not only improved performance and sleeker devices, but also new, creative form factors," said Doug Davis, vice president and general manager of the Netbook and Tablet Group at Intel. "The Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series demonstrates how state-of-the-art form factors can help consumers stay connected, while also providing rich, immersive PC-like experiences on the go."

Pioneering Design

Weighing just 2.2 pounds, the Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series is easily packed into a briefcase and can be used for making presentations or for recording data on the fly. The 7 Series is suited for both indoor and outdoor use with 340-nit brightness 10.1-inch display supported by an enhanced HD resolution (1366 x 768). With its slim and light weight design, the 7 Series allows for mobility without compromising functionality in personal or professional settings.

Everyone from students to mobile professionals can enjoy the convenience of Samsung's Sliding PC 7 Series. The form factor is ideal for personal computing activities like watching movies or social networking, and can quickly adapt the needs of professional users presenting to clients or taking notes at a meeting. The device is also perfect for students, thanks to its handy, portable nature and focus on content. For those who prefer physical keyboards over a touch screen for quickly typing up notes or browsing the Web, the 7 Series features a full, 80/81-key keyboard sleekly tucked away under the display. At the user's convenience, the keyboard slides out completely, creating a laptop-like interface coupled with the touch capabilities on the display.

The six-cell lithium-polymer battery and innovative Eco Light Sensor, which conserves energy and adjusts screen brightness based on available ambient light, allows the 7 Series to last for up to 9 hours.

Innovative Mobile Computing

The ultra-light Samsung Sliding PC 7 Series is engineered with convenience and responsiveness in mind. Available in either 32GB or 64GB models, the 7 Series features expandable storage with the 4-in-1 memory card reader. The solid-state hard drive and Samsung's Fast Start feature powers the 7 Series in as little as 15 seconds, or restores from Hibernate and Sleep modes in a mere 3 seconds. The SSD also fully supports multi-tasking not only in the Windows® mode, but also in touch mode, so users never have to slow down.

Equipped with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, the Samsung 7 Series provides familiarity and comfort to users while enhancing their overall experience. Users with entertainment in mind will benefit from high-resolution graphics and an HDMI port for sharing content on an HDTV. Additionally, the built-in webcam and audio speaker make the 7 Series ideal for video communication with family, friends and coworkers across the globe.

Optional 3G connectivity takes the 7 Series to new levels, with Internet connectivity anywhere, anytime. Moreover, the built-in accelerometer enables portrait or landscape viewing, making the 7 Series perfect for reading daily news articles, or sharing photos with family and friends.

Application Ecosystem

The Sliding PC 7 Series comes with several pre-loaded applications that are optimized for the touch screen display. This includes Samsung's applications for music, video, photos, note taking, weather, clock, compass and many more. In addition, Microsoft Bing™ Maps provides powerful tools that help get more out of search, including the intuitive Bing voice search, which enables users to type with their voice to find what they're looking for. More robust touch applications will be available via the Samsung App Manager and Windows Product Scout.

The Samsung 7 Series acts as a connective hub with other devices to improve the entertainment experience thanks to Samsung's device-to-device connection solutions. Samsung AllShare™ enables users to control, search, swap and play videos, photos, and music across a full range of DLNA® (Digital Living Network Alliance) certified Samsung devices, ranging from cameras and smart phones to TVs and PCs.

The Samsung 7 Series is scheduled to be available in March 2011, with a starting price of $699 MSRP. All Samsung mobile PC products are available through Samsung resellers and distribution channels, which can be located by calling 1-800-SAMSUNG or by visiting www.samsung.com.

Key Specs:

* CPU: Intel® ATOMTM Oak Trail Z670 @ 1.66GHz
* Operating System:
o Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
o Samsung Touch Launcher
* Memory: 2GB DDR2
* Hard Drive (max): 32GB or 64GB (mSATA SSD)
* Screen: 10.1-inch touchscreen HD LCD display (340 nit)
* Resolution: 1366 x 768
* Graphics: Intel Integrated Graphics
* Audio Technology: Integrated speaker (0.8W x 2)
* I/O:
o USB 2.0
o 4-in-1 memory card reader
o HMDI out
* Webcam: 1.3MP
* Battery: Lithium Polymer; up to 9 hours
* Wireless: 802.11b/g/n; WiMax; 3G
* Dimensions: 10.47 x 6.88 x 0.78 inches (W x D x H)
* Weight: Starting at 2.18 lbs.

* All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.


Verizon iPhone Gets Fixed Antenna? [Video]

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:15 PM PST

Not only do we AT&T iPhone 4 users have issues when “death-gripping" the antenna, we can't even get service here at CES.

Verizon customers, pretty much the only people getting service here at CES, are most likely not going to have the death grip issue when Verizon gets the iPhone. Pictured here, we see possible changes to the frame that surrounds iPhone 4. All those little separators on the iPhone that Apple claimed "aren't the problem," have disappeared. Why would they disappear? Has Apple found a solution and are readying a recall? Not likely. Is this the Verizon iPhone? Most likely.

So, if you plan on coming to CES in 2012–possibly the last one–then you'll likely be able to have an iPhone that gets service, no matter how you hold it.

[via 9to5mac]

Microsoft Shows Off Surface v2.0

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 02:07 PM PST

Microsoft’s Surface project — their big, multi-touch table thing — has always been pretty cool… in theory. Alas, it’s always had a few big faults that have made a bit of a pipe dream: it’s big, it’s sorta clunky, and it’s really, really expensive.

Today at CES, Microsoft is showing off the next generation of Surface, aptly dubbed Surface v2.0. They’re not saying just how expensive this things going to be, but it does do away with the other two issues.

Velocity Micro Announces New Line-up of Cruz Tablets

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 01:44 PM PST

Velocity Micro has must announced some new tablets based on Android. 7, 8 and 10-inch screens are available and no contract 3G. Tech inside is 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, and HDMI out.

The 10.1" tablet is a 1366×768 touch screen and is label the Cruz Tablet L510. NVIDIA will provide the chipset in the form of the Tegra 250, processor will a 1GHz dual-core. There are both front and rear facing camera and an Amazon Kindle app pre-installed.

Casio Announces EX-ZR100, Another Incremental Update For Their Flagship Point-And-Shoot

Posted: 05 Jan 2011 01:35 PM PST

Every year I come to CES and hope that Casio is going to blow me away like it did with the original FC-100, still perhaps my favorite point-and-shoot camera ever made. But they haven’t done so, and this year again they provide a practical, but not very interesting, upgrade to this versatile device. The only difference between this and the previously announced ZR10 seems to be the addition of a 12.5x optical zoom.

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