New Gadgets
- Dolby confirms 14 theaters for inaugural screening of Pixar’s ‘Brave’ with Atmos audio
If you want to be among the first to experience Dolby’s new Atmos surround sound experience, the company has released a list of 14 theaters that will have it up and running in time to show the first movie with the technology. Disney / Pixar’s Brave hits the screens June 22nd and thanks to the Atmos setup is ready to direct sound to listener’s ears from as many as 64 speaker feeds and 128 simultaneous inputs, combining with 3D visuals to increase viewer immersion. Not sold yet? Check out a few instructional videos about intelligent surround sound, and why 13.1 channels just wouldn’t have been enough, plus of course, the list of all fourteen theaters.
Dolby confirms 14 theaters for inaugural screening of Pixar’s ‘Brave’ with Atmos audio originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dolby | Email this | Comments - AOC Aire iPlay desktop LCD docks iPhones and iPods, rocks the joint (modestly)
AOC has a bit of a long-term memory issue: it claims the Aire iPlay E2343Fi is the first computer monitor to have a built-in iPhone and iPod docking station. Nope. But don’t let that deter you from checking out the new 23-inch LCD, whose cradle in the base will both keep your Apple gear topped up as well as play movies and music through the display. The 10-watt speakers won’t exactly bring the house down, though they will let you take the headphones off. As an actual computer display, it’s a typical TN-based panel with a 1080p resolution, a quick 2ms pixel response time and a boldly claimed 50,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Those who find a separate dock or (gasp) wires too much can officially spend $280 for an Aire iPlay of their own today; Amazon and other shops have already knocked the price down to a more palpable $230.
AOC Aire iPlay desktop LCD docks iPhones and iPods, rocks the joint (modestly) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AOC, Amazon | Email this | Comments - Amazon rumored clinching major labels for cloud music rights, iTunes Match feels the heat
When we last checked in, Amazon was thought to finally be pushing for full music rights in its Cloud Drive and Cloud Player services. It might be a smooth operator at the negotiating table: subsequent tips to CNET maintain that the top four major labels (a currently-independent EMI as well as Sony, Universal and Warner) have all signed deals that will let Amazon offer the same scan-and-match music downloads and streaming as Apple’s iTunes Match. The pacts would let Amazon offer access to every song a listener owns without having to directly upload each track that wasn’t bought directly from Amazon MP3. Aside from closing a conspicuous gap, the deal could end a whole lot of acrimony from labels who were upset that Amazon preferred a free-but-limited service over having to charge anything. The online shop hasn’t said anything official yet (if at all), but any signatures on the dotted line will leave Google Music as the odd man out.
Amazon rumored clinching major labels for cloud music rights, iTunes Match feels the heat originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CNET | Email this | Comments - Alleged Xbox 720 document leak resurfaces, stirs rumors of Kinect 2, native 3D, AR glasses
A document passing itself off as an internal Microsoft presentation about the future of Xbox has surfaced, and is stirring internet chatter with its possible hints at the future of the console. Despite turning up online over a month ago and potentially dating back to 2010, a few things mentioned that have since come to fruition — like SmartGlass — are earning it more attention. The proposed developments include cloud-based entertainment, native 3D, augmented reality “Fortaleza Glasses,” scalable hardware — all by 2015. If that’s too long to wait, however, the time line also indicates we’d be seeing the next generation hardware in 2013 for $299 (more precise and four-player ready Kinect 2 included). The Xbox 720 package described includes such pie-in-the-sky bullet points as Blu-ray and whole-home DVR features, all from a low-power always-on box built on a “Yukon” ARM hardware platform.
Of course, even if this is legit and not just some business student’s exercise, all the talk of value propositions, OEM licensing and developer profitability are proposals that could have changed. Need more reasons to be skeptical? Digital Foundry points out the extremely optimistic wattages listed and previous appearances of the illustrations included. Ponder over the full 56-page document for yourself — taking into account the bored minds on the internet that are capable of cranking out this kind of stuff, like that infamous Nintendo Revolution video — after the break.
Update: The document has been pulled from Scribd, apparently at the request of a Covington & Burling, LLP.
[Thanks, Leonard]
Alleged Xbox 720 document leak resurfaces, stirs rumors of Kinect 2, native 3D, AR glasses originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Scribd, @Digital_Foundry (Twitter) | Email this | Comments - Nantsune meat slicer scans in 3D to get the perfect cut, bring home the bacon in record time (video)
Bacon, our old friend. We’ve missed you. Japan’s Nantsune must have missed it too, as its new Libra 165C meat slicer is using some mighty advanced technology to cut pork quickly. Beating a Nikko creation to the punch by about a year, it uses a displacement sensor to scan the shape of a slab of meat and make cuts that are the exact same weight, regardless of their shape or thickness. By knowing as much as it does in advance, the Libra can cut as many as 6,000 slices every hour; they’re not ready-made bacon slices, but they’ll certainly get to those cuts much faster than earlier methods that only weighed in mid-chop. You might not want to get visions of setting up Nantsune’s meat machine in the kitchen: it’ll be ready by the end of June, but the $160,000 price could mean sacrificing a whole lot of other food to avoid breaking out the cleaver.
Nantsune meat slicer scans in 3D to get the perfect cut, bring home the bacon in record time (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Microsoft details Windows 8 Calendar app design, wants to ‘show your life clearly’
As part of its “Building Windows 8″ blog series, Redmond has been doling inside info on apps like Mail and People, and now it’s Calendar’s turn in the spotlight. Steven Sinofsky blogged that one of the primary marks was to serve up a clear view of your life, and the team wanted Calendar to be easy to read and distraction free. To bring that about, it kept the info displayed to a minimum, giving users the option to easily change colors for important events and drop distracting ones from view if necessary. The designers also stressed ease of navigation, a simple interface for adding events, copious notification options and and advanced scheduling tricks — like a full page of notes for each event. Of course, Microsoft also wanted to ensure the app conforms to Metro design standards and functionality, and it seems to fit that mold in spades. Sinofsky also said that a lot of user feedback was accounted for, so be sure to check the source to see if that “Caturday” idea made the cut.
Microsoft details Windows 8 Calendar app design, wants to ‘show your life clearly’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- LTE arrives in Colombia, stays for the coffee
Citizens of Colombia have yet another reason to be proud this week, as LTE connectivity is now part of the nation’s infrastructure. State-owned telecom UNE EPM has officially flipped the 4G switch for Bogota and Medelin, and plans to bring similar LTE services to residents of Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena and Bucaramanga in the near future. If all goes well, UNE EPM hopes to provide LTE coverage for 90% of Colombia’s population by year’s end. The carrier is now offering both 6GB and 12GB data packages to its post-paid subscribers starting at $89,900 COP ($50 USD) per month, which include data caps of 10Mbps. Meanwhile, prepaid users may choose between 1.2GB, 4GB and 8GB of data usage. Full PR follows the break, though you’ll have to excuse the computer translation.
[Thanks, Paul]
Continue reading LTE arrives in Colombia, stays for the coffee
LTE arrives in Colombia, stays for the coffee originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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RCR Wireless, TeleGeography | UNE EPM | Email this | Comments - Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers
We’ve been waiting, rather patiently we might add, for carbon nanotubes to really start making a difference in our computing lives. That day has yet to pass, but researchers at Stanford are making good progress. Breakthroughs have been coming at a steady pace over the last several years, but there are still major obstacles. For one, aligning tubes end to end has proven practically impossible, and metallic carbon nanotubes (as opposed to semi conducting ones) wreak all sorts of havoc with circuits. (That wouldn’t be an issue if there was a reliable way to produce only the semiconducting variety.) Rather than charge headlong into those challenges though, the Stanford team has figured out a way around modern limitations, without sacrificing much of the energy efficiency that makes carbon nanotubes so attractive. The team has found an “imperfection-immune” way of designing nanotube circuits that removes metallic contaminants and is unaffected by misaligned tubes. For more info, check out the PR after the break.
Continue reading Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers
Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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- Nokia hints at June 18th news, may be PureView related instead of Microsoft (Update)
Amidst the upheaval in Espoo Nokia continues to push forward, and tonight its Facebook page has already posted a couple of teaser images, including the one seen above, suggesting there’s big news due on June 18th. Astute observers will note that’s also the day its good buddy Microsoft has already planned its own high profile and highly secretive event, although you may not want to connect the two just yet. One of the images is a map of Hawaii, which AllThingsD notes is home to area code 808, a possible reference to Nokia’s PureView 808 41MP cameraphone technology, which was followed up by the above image, with tempo cranked all the way up (ready to to go boom…like an 808?). Draw your own conclusions — of course we’ll be hanging around Monday to see what happens.
Update: If the Roland TR-808 image wasn’t explicit enough, Nokia US has dropped another hint on its Facebook page, featuring what appears to be artwork cropped from the 808 State album ex:el.
Nokia hints at June 18th news, may be PureView related instead of Microsoft (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
