Sharky's Notebook

Sure, you've fawned over razor-thin OLED TVs and vibrant AMOLED screens, but as Philips keeps reminding us, the organic diodes are good for more than displays -- they also make a fancy light bulb, too. This week, the company's took the wraps off the latest advance in that direction: an bright-white OLED module that takes alternating current. Philips says that up until now, OLED technology required low-power DC voltage, which necessitated costly switching mechanisms built into such products in turn, but now they've got panels that sip fresh-squeezed AC juice directly from the wall. Now, it's just a question of when they'll be bright and cheap enough to be remotely worth your while. PR after the break.

Continue reading Philips claims first AC-powered OLED module, points the way to cheaper, more reliable bulbs

Philips claims first AC-powered OLED module, points the way to cheaper, more reliable bulbs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There might be a tiny bit of upheaval up at the peaks of Nokia management today, but that doesn't mean we all need to stand around looking serious and forecasting who'll leverage what synergies in order to actuate the requisite paradigmatic shift in the company's device portfolio. No, we're much more inclined to go check out a new ad video that show off the mods and hacks Nokia users have put together with their handsets. It's quite the breathless run-through, this ad, but if you're careful you'll spot a few of your old favorites used in quirky new ways. March past the break for a gander.

Continue reading Nokia celebrates its users' inventiveness in latest N8 ad (video)

Nokia celebrates its users' inventiveness in latest N8 ad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can't have your NAS being held back by a wimpy processor, eh? QNAP, a long-standing name in the networked storage biz, just announced a revision in its Turbo NAS lineup, placing Intel's hot-off-the-fab-line Atom D525 into four Turbo NAS products. The 2-drive TS-259 Pro+, 4-drive TS-459 Pro+, 5-drive TS-559 Pro+ and 6-drive TS-659 Pro+ are all seeing the aforesaid 1.8GHz chip fall into place, enabling transfer speeds as high as 116MB/sec while maintaining low power consumption. Outside of that, it looks as if these guys are the same as they ever were, boasting compatibility with 2.5- and 3.5-inch hard drives, v3.3 of the QNAP NAS management software and support for more RAID variations than you can shake a decently sized stick at. Pricing is all hush-hush at the moment, but we're sure someone would talk dollars if you dial up the right dealer.

QNAP pops Intel's 1.8GHz Atom D525 into refreshed Turbo NAS family originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg Now this is what you call a juicy standoff. Intel has announced that Paul Otellini will grace the stage at IDF next week with a demo of his company's next-gen CPU/GPU chip, codenamed Sandy Bridge, and not to be outdone, AMD has immediately retorted with plans to put its own Zacate competitor up on display -- at the same time, in the same city, but at a slightly different location. Both Zacate and Sandy Bridge meld general-purpose and graphical processing duties into one slice of silicon, consolidating the traditionally discrete CPU and GPU into a power-efficient do-it-all chip. You'll find details of where AMD's impromptu demo will be taking place after the break, whereas the Intel Developer Forum will probably be discoverable by the masses of bespectacled engineers trudging in its general direction. Boy, San Fran's gonna be one happening place next week!

Continue reading Intel to show off Sandy Bridge at IDF next week, AMD counters with Zacate demo nearby

Intel to show off Sandy Bridge at IDF next week, AMD counters with Zacate demo nearby originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To the last person on Earth (that reads this site) who can't already stream Netflix to their home theater in at least four different ways: if you have a 2010 Panasonic HDTV or Blu-ray player your sometime is now, as the video streaming widget originally promised way back during CES should have recently shown up in a software update. You'll find it in the VIERA Cast menu next to existing tools like Amazon VOD, Skype and Pandora (pictured above) unless of course you're sporting one of last year's models, which are sadly and inexplicably left wanting. If there's any confusion, peep the press release after the break to make sure your specific model made the cut, we'll be double checking for a 5.1 audio option on any of our Watch Instantly movies, again.

[Thanks, Justin]

Continue reading Panasonic finally adds Netflix streaming to VIERA Cast equipped 2010 HDTVs & Blu-ray players

Panasonic finally adds Netflix streaming to VIERA Cast equipped 2010 HDTVs & Blu-ray players originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Should the classy white, or the patriotic red and blue PlayStation controllers not take your fancy, Sony's rolling out another hue just for you, discerning consumer: pink! The Japanese maker of everything with an electronic pulse has a bit of a tradition with this color and it's not like the great PS3 hasn't been licked by a few strokes of red lite before. Pricing is your typical $54.99 for this wireless console commander and GameStop should have them in within a couple of weeks.

Pink DualShock 3 arriving September 21, who's manly enough to buy one? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quite appropriately for a camera, all we have in this here leak is the one image above. It shows a purported K-5 DSLR from Pentax, whose body looks almost a carbon copy of the well loved, but now aging, K-7. The biggest (only?) difference we've been able to spot between the two is in the jog dial on its top left shoulder, which now looks quite a bit taller. Also making the transition from the K-7 is the 18-55mm Weather Resistant lens, which should make the K-5 another well fortified shooter from Pentax. Now if we could only know what's inside the shell as well, we'd be as happy as our jaded souls can be.

Pentax K-5 DSLR leaks out, leaves us guessing at the specs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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(function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.src = 'http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js'; s1.parentNode.insertBefore(s, s1); })(); Digg What happens when Apple introduces a square-shaped new iPod and adorns it with an analog watch face for a lock screen? A whole new cottage industry sprouts up, whereby entrepreneurial types dust off old and mostly worthless watch straps, cut out an iPod nano-shaped compartment in them, and charge you $19.99 for the privilege of turning your tiny PMP into a somewhat bulky wristwatch. The saddest part about this is that we've got a feeling they might be on to a winner here.

iLoveHandles turns nano iPods into oversized watches originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you need a tablet with presence you need the Kno. Its dual capacitive 14-inch IPS displays, each clocking in at 1,440 x 990, make this thing closer to a Surface than a Courier and surely present some unique challenges when it comes to pricing. Kno, the company, plans to sell it by the end of the year for an MSRP of under $1,000, and a new $46 million injection in financing should go a long way toward making that happen. Kno's primary market is education, offering partnerships with various textbook publishers and functionality that's focused more on research and less on quelling the rage of disgruntled birds. But, will the college kids want to make room in their organic hemp messenger bags for this monster? And, will their parents pay a grand for the thing?

Continue reading Kno receives new funding for its humongous dual-screened tablet, still hoping to ship this year

Kno receives new funding for its humongous dual-screened tablet, still hoping to ship this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and the same usually goes for tablets. But in the Great Venn Diagram of slate form factors, the ViewSonic MB-P702 seems to hover around the intersection of tablets and e-readers. It's got a 7-inch 800 x 480 resolution touchscreen LCD display and functions as both an e-reader and a movie player -- but not, as far as we can tell, an internet-based experience. Looking to the former function, the MB-P702 reads PDF, TXT, EPUB and others with handwritten notation capabilities. For video, we're looking at MKV, AVI, WMV, MPG, MP4, and RMVB, with 1080p support and HDMI out. Unfortunately, all we've got is rough machine translation and some renders of the product. A sea of 7-inch slates on the horizon -- ViewSonic's own ViewPad 7 included. With any luck, it's an "optimized experience" (and a competitive price point, knowing the company's MO) that'd keep it in check.

ViewSonic MB-P702, the color e-reader and HD video player you didn't yet realize you needed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not be the most timely KIRF we've seen, but it looks like folks that were taken with the Nokia Booklet 3G's design but not its high, on-contract price will soon have the device they've been waiting for -- sort of. While its 3G-ness is still in question, this as yet unnamed netbook does pack a 10.1-inch, 1,024 x 600 display, along with an Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a non-removable battery, and "maybe" an HDMI output. Still no word on an exact price or release date, but M.I.C Gadget expects it to be "at most" 2,000 yuan, or just under $300.

[Thanks, Chris]

Keepin' it real fake: the affordable, off-contract Nokia Booklet 3G you've been waiting for, maybe originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The rumors were true. Nokia just announced a change in leadership: Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is out, Stephen Elop, the current head of Microsoft's Business Division, is in. That's right, the very Finnish Nokia will now be led by a Canadian. Before Microsoft, Elop, a computer engineer by education, held senior executive positions at Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems, and Macromedia. The embattled OPK will vacate his position as President and CEO on September 20th and will continue to chair the Board at Nokia Siemens Networks. Money quote:
"His (Elop's) strong software background and proven record in change management will be valuable assets as we press harder to complete the transformation of the company." Naturally, OPK leaves with a severance package honoring his 30 years of service. That translates to 18 months gross base salary and target incentive totalling about €4.6 million plus 100,000 restricted Nokia shares that will vest on October 1, 2010. Once again, proof that it's good to be king.

Update: Click through if you'd like to gaze into the hopeful eyes of Nokia's new CEO.

Update 2: Nokia just introduced Stephen Elop to the world in a live press conference (available now for replay) from Espoo. Jorma Ollila, Nokia's Chairman and former CEO, confirmed that the CEO search had been ongong since late May and OPK, for his part, has been very professional and "very gallant" throughout the process. Jorma then praised Stephen for his "very strong cultural sensitivity," a question that's very near and dear to Fins concerned about a North American taking control of their beloved Nokia. Elop will be moving to Helsinki in the very near future and his first order of business will be to "listen." Elop said that Nokia is well aware of the challenges it faces as well as the solutions to those challenges. It's his job, then, to surface those solutions and to execute on them going forward. Understandably, Stephen refused to talk about specific next steps. Stephen did say that the North American smartphone market is absolutely critical to Nokia and will be an emphasis under his leadership (as it had under OPK, unfortunately, with poor results). Hopefully, Elop's contacts in the US can help.

One final tidbit of interest. When Stephen sat down with Ballmer to express his intention to leave Microsoft for Nokia, Ballmer was said to be disappointed but supportive due to his respect for Nokia as a company. He even helped with the transition. Don't you hate it when your stereotypes are debunked?

Continue reading Nokia's OPK is out, Microsoft exec in as President and CEO (updated)

Nokia's OPK is out, Microsoft exec in as President and CEO (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you've ever used Android for any period of time, you know that the notification system can be both a blessing and a curse -- it's one of the most powerful, useful, and flexible approaches out there, but if you don't keep up, your menu bar can stack up into a mess of cryptic numbered icons. So we were really hoping Android Notifier could help us with that -- it pipes notifications to your OS X desktop over WiFi or Bluetooth. (Linux support is coming soon, and the project is looking for a Windows volunteer.) While it works as described -- we had it up and running with Growl on our iMac in just a few moments -- it's also unfortunately a little limited: only phone, SMS, MMS, and voicemail notifications are sent, and clearing them on the computer doesn't clear them on the phone, which sort of misses the point. We can't knock it too hard, since it's free, it works, and we're sure the developers will extend it soon enough, but until then our quest for the perfect continuous client... continues.

Android Notifier sends notifications to your desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Noah, who needs a bit of assistance in making the transition from textbook to e-book. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"I have a class that has gone paperless. All of our readings are posted online as PDF scans of books. I have become quite annoyed with having to read these on my computer. So I have thought about purchasing an e-reader. The best choice seems to be a Kindle, but would you recommend a Sony, Nook, or something else instead? My primary interest is great PDF support / viewing. Thanks." We know, you're "too busy" with "classes" to really answer here, but everyone deserves a study break or three. Take a breather and help your fellow student out -- it's just the right thing to do.

Ask Engadget: Best e-reader for school use / PDF viewing? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Woah, who saw this coming? Apple has changed its super-controversial stance on third party developer tools for iOS apps, now allowing any and all comers, "as long as the resulting apps do not download any code." We're guessing this is mostly a nod to game developers, who use ported engines like Unreal and interpreters like Lua, but it also apparently covers apps developed in Adobe Flash CS5. In addition, the rules on mobile advertising have changed, so AdMob ads are seemingly back in, and Apple's also publishing its App Store Review Guidelines at long last, which will give developers a better idea of how their apps are going to be scrutinized by Apple before they submit them. We're sure we'll be hearing plenty in the coming weeks as developers and arm chair analysts rifle through Apple's so-far-secretive guidelines, but mostly we're just excited to see what sort of innovation and development accessibility we've been missing out on while these third party tools have been off the market. The full (and brief) release can be found after the break.

Update: Google's responded to the newly-relaxed restrictions, saying "Apple's new terms will keep in-app advertising on the iPhone open to many different mobile ad competitors and enable advertising solutions that operate across a wide range of platforms."

Update 2: Our friend John Paczkowski at All Things Digital has Adobe's statement: "We are encouraged to see Apple lifting its restrictions on its licensing terms, giving developers the freedom to choose what tools they use to develop applications for Apple devices."

Update 3: In case the last update didn't give it away enough, Adobe announced in a blog post that it'll resume development on its Packager for iPhone tools, for Flash CS5 devs who want to convert their work to the portable powerhouse.

Meanwhile, it seems like it's time for a little recap:

• Apple's iPhone lockdown: apps must be written in one of three languages, Adobe in the hurt locker
• Adobe says iPhone / iPad adoption and 'alternative technologies' (cough, HTML5) could harm its business
• Steve Jobs responds directly to developer over new iPhone SDK rules, cites blog for explanation
• Steve Jobs publishes some 'thoughts on Flash'... many, many thoughts on Flash
• Adobe's CEO: Jobs' Flash letter is a 'smokescreen' for 'cumbersome' restrictions (update: video)
• Adobe decries Apple's 'walled garden,' yet pledges 'best tools' for HTML5
• Adobe targets Apple in ad campaign launched today, publishes open letter from founders
• Steve Jobs' D8 interview: the video highlights (updated)
• Adobe's CEO: 'we've moved on' from Apple's argument, and Flash still rules

Continue reading Apple backpedaling on some iOS development restrictions, will allow third party tools and ad services

Apple backpedaling on some iOS development restrictions, will allow third party tools and ad services originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lasers. Is there anything they can't do? The latest addition to the 50-year-old technology's bag of tricks comes courtesy of a team of researchers from the Australian National University, who've managed to create a laser beam that effectively functions as a tiny tractor beam. The key, it seems, is that the laser beam is hollow, which allows tiny particles to be trapped in what the researchers describe as a "dark core," which in turn causes the particles to be pushed along the beam by an effect known as the "photophoretic force." As you might expect, that only works on very tiny particles, but the researchers are able to move them as far as one and a half meters, and they say that the technology could have a number of practical applications, including directing and clustering nano-particles in the air, and even transporting dangerous substances and microbes -- in small amounts, of course.

[Thanks, Lester]

Australian researchers trap tiny particles in tiny tractor beam originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's becoming progressively easier to land LCD monitors with IPS panels (as opposed to the decidedly less stunning TN panels), but given that there's rarely ever enough competition to truly push prices as far south as we consumers would like, we're welcoming LG's latest with wide open arms. The outfit has just issued a new foursome -- the IPS2062T, IPS226V, IPS236V and IPS231P -- of LED-backlit displays, with sizes running 20-, 21.5-, 23- and 23-inches in order of mention. The larger three offer 1,920 x 1,080 resolutions with a six millisecond response time, and the whole lot offers a deceiving 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 250 nits of brightness and 178-degree viewing angles. You'll find plenty of glossy black to go around, but sadly you'll find plenty of questions when it comes to pricing and release dates.

LG does the IPS dance with IPS2062T, IPS226V, IPS236V and IPS231P monitors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that mysterious Windows Phone 7-powered ASUS from early August? Turns out it showed up at Gnomedex this year, and there's video floating around to prove it. The phone stars in a nearly 12-minute epic detailing the various parts of the platform -- all of which we've seen before -- but obviously, our attention is focused squarely on this hardware that we haven't really seen before (and looks very different from the ASUS device that Microsoft was using to demo WP7 in the early days). It's hard to say if the talk of an AMOLED display is true -- or whether this is a retail or near-retail piece of hardware -- so we'd hold off on saving up for this one just yet. Since Garmin-Asus came into existence, ASUS' phone efforts have been squarely focused on the joint venture -- and seeing how this steady supply of prototype hardware proves that they'll be making commercial WP7 devices, it'll be interesting to see whether Garmin's involved. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, Jack]

Continue reading ASUS Windows Phone 7 proto shows up on video

ASUS Windows Phone 7 proto shows up on video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We remember it like it was yesterday -- pressed against the edge of our seat, speakerphone on 11, listening to Qualcomm preach about how these so-called "smartbooks" were coming to take over the world. Can't fault 'em for trying. A little over a year after the (admittedly valiant) effort began, Qualcomm's CEO is effectively putting this whole nightmare behind him. According to Slashgear, Paul Jacobs admitted during an event this morning that "tablets such as the iPad had already occupied the niche his company expected smartbooks to." Essentially, the iPad delivered on the concept of an "always-on, all-day device" long before smartbooks ever had a chance at gaining traction, and judging by the fact that only a handful of these guys ever made it to market, we'd say that brutally honest assessment makes a lot of sense. We aren't necessarily better off for it, mind you, but it definitely seems that the resurgence of the tablet (and the proliferation of the longevous netbook) has extinguished any hope of smartbooks dominating the world. Hey, at least this guy's man enough to know when a journey's reached its end. Sayonara, smarties.

Qualcomm's CEO confesses: tablets killed the smartbook star originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've already heard a few rumors about Olympus's supposed E-3 successor, the E-5, and the folks at 4/3 Rumors have now turned up another pair of leaks ahead of the DSLR's expected launch later this month. That includes a teaser that seemingly confirms that the camera will be announced on September 15th (just a day off the earlier rumor), and what appears to be the first image of the camera itself -- or a tiny corner of it, anyway. Those both suggest that the camera will sport a strikingly similar design to the E-3 it's replacing (something backed up by 4/3 Rumors' "trusted sources"), and the camera's specs also seem to be in line with what we've heard before -- including a bump from ten to twelve megapixels, and new 720p/30fps recording mode.

Continue reading Olympus E-5 leaks point to September 15th launch, familiar design

Olympus E-5 leaks point to September 15th launch, familiar design originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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