Thursday, August 30, 2012

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Sony Xperia J approved, torn down by FCC in first 24 hours of its official existence
Aug 30th 2012, 15:23

Sony Xperia J approved by FCC, torn down within 24 hours of its official existence

Of Sony's trio of Xperia phones announced yesterday at IFA 2012, we've now seen the smallest and most budget-friendly model -- the Xperia J -- make it through the mounds of red tape and federal approval. Fortunately for us, Sony didn't bother requesting confidentiality on the various teardown photos that typically are kept away from prying public eyes. As always, it's important to withhold any assumptions that this particular device will make it to any US carrier; FCC approvals never offer any guarantee, and the J's lack of LTE isn't going to help matters. Still, this seems like an ideal device for a prepaid operator to pick up, so we'll keep our fingers crossed. In the meantime, gaze upon the full teardown in the gallery below.

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Sony Xperia J approved, torn down by FCC in first 24 hours of its official existence originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're the first to hit a million Flipboard subscribers, and now you can win a Nexus 7!
Aug 30th 2012, 15:01

We're the first to hit a million Flipboard subscribers, and now you can win a Nexus 7!

There are a lot of great ways to get your Engadget news, including our fine selection of apps and our tablet magazine Distro -- plus the good 'ol World Wide Web, of course -- but we've been shocked to see just how many of you have been consuming our wares daily on Flipboard. Shocked and, well, flattered. The service finally hit Android in June and, in the month after that, our overall Flipboard subscribers jumped and surpassed one million. That's a huge number on its own, but that's not all. We're very proud to say that we're the first to hit one million subscribers, making Engadget the biggest single property on Flipboard!

We're so happy about that we want to give a little something back. So, we're picking up a Nexus 7 and will be sending it to one lucky reader. To enter, all you need to do is sign in and comment below. The full rules are below, so make sure you give those a skim before commenting.

If you're a Flipboard user with feedback on the Engadget experience there, or a subscriber who would like to sponsor us on Flipboard, email us: flipboard [at] engadget [dot] com!

Continue reading We're the first to hit a million Flipboard subscribers, and now you can win a Nexus 7!

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We're the first to hit a million Flipboard subscribers, and now you can win a Nexus 7! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Huawei shows off early version of Emotion UI for Android, packs a 'stock' skin too (hands-on)
Aug 30th 2012, 14:49

Huawei shows off early version of Emotion UI for Android, packs a 'stock' stock skin too handson

Huawei didn't have any new hardware to show during its packed press conference, but it did have an early version of its Emotion UI skin for Android devices. Aiming to make its smartphone experience a little gentler for first-timers, while offering up a slightly different flavor of Google's OS, Huawei's been polling its customers, running user experience salons and meeting regular groups of between 40 - 70 consumers to understand what was working -- and what was definitely not. To this end, the company's "driven [itself] crazy" by keeping to a tight schedule and releasing iterative updates every two weeks (at least for beta) and monthly for stable builds.

Continue reading Huawei shows off early version of Emotion UI for Android, packs a 'stock' skin too (hands-on)

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Huawei shows off early version of Emotion UI for Android, packs a 'stock' skin too (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG's EA93 29-inch display features 21:9 aspect ratio, we take a look at IFA (video)
Aug 30th 2012, 14:26

It's alive! We spotted a powered-off version of LG's latest monitor earlier in the week, but now it's loaded up with content and ready to make its formal debut. LG's gone big -- very big -- with some of the showings at its IFA booth. But in addition to the massive 84-inch UD 3D TV and the 55-inch OLED HD TV, it's also showcasing some more modest displays. The company announced its 21:9 aspect ratio monitor, the 29-inch EA93, just prior to IFA. The IPS monitor boasts a WQHD resolution (2,560 x 1,080 pixels) and supports four-way split-screen view. The wide-screen aspect ratio is the same you'll find at a movie theater, making it an ideal choice for viewing Blu-ray flicks, and LG's framing the EA93 as a choice setup for photographers and other multimedia pros, too.

LG had a half dozen of the displays on hand at its IFA 2012 booth playing content in a loop. One station demonstrated cinema playback with a trio of recent film trailers, while other demos included a stock-tracking layout, side-by-side browser windows and the Windows 8 screen you see above. Speaking of that latest Microsoft OS, the EA93 is perfectly suited for viewing extended layouts, giving you direct access to even more tiles simultaneously. We couldn't accurately judge sharpness, as the pre-recorded screens didn't appear at full resolution, though colors did appear bright and accurate. The chrome stand complemented the black finish nicely, while a multitude of ports on the back enabled USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort and DVI connectivity. You can grab an up-close look at both sides of the 21:9 monitor in our gallery below.

Continue reading LG's EA93 29-inch display features 21:9 aspect ratio, we take a look at IFA (video)

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LG's EA93 29-inch display features 21:9 aspect ratio, we take a look at IFA (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Smarttype puts screen in your keyboard so you can see and type while you type and see
Aug 30th 2012, 14:22

Smarttype puts screen in your keyboard so you can see and type while you type and see

Marrying a keyboard and an LCD is not exactly revolutionary any more. Art Lebedev has been doing it since at least 2008. But those devices have always been aimed at power users and gamers, not your average Joe. Smarttype, from KeyView, doesn't display custom buttons for World of Warcraft of alter the fonts you see for languages that don't use the Latin alphabet. Instead, its primary purpose is to display exactly what you're typing. The screen along the top of the tiny deck allows users that aren't proficient touch typers to see what they're pecking out, without looking back and forth between the keyboard and their monitor. There are also a handful of apps that pop up notifications for email or display the current weather. The goal is to bring the interactive app revolution that has made our phones "smart" to the rather staid world of the keyboard. For now the Smarttype is only available in Israel, but the company is working on international availability. For more, check out the video after the break.

[Thanks, Ilya]

Continue reading Smarttype puts screen in your keyboard so you can see and type while you type and see

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Smarttype puts screen in your keyboard so you can see and type while you type and see originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG's 55-inch OLED TV enters the third dimension, we slide on our glasses (hands-on video)
Aug 30th 2012, 14:05

LG's 55inch OLED 3D TV

We first saw LG's 55-inch OLED TV at last year's CES, where it drew a fair share of oohs and ahhs at the company's press event. In May, the tentative pricing info for the European market was released, but this set's future in the US remained TBD. Fast forward to IFA 2012, and we're in front of this giant again -- but this time, it's sporting 3D. True, at 55 inches, it's no goliath compared to the 84-inch TVs we've seen this week from Sony, Toshiba and even LG, but the company claims this 55-inch model is the largest OLED HDTV available, and its carbon fiber backing and ultra-thin 4mm profile are certainly the markings of a high-end setup.

During LG's booth tour today, we had a chance to sneak a peek at the now 3D-capable set, which otherwise looks quite similar to the version we saw at CES, albeit with a bit more polish. In order to achieve a 4-millimeter profile, the set packs all of its connectivity in the base module. There's also an Invisible Connection module on order, which hooks up to the TV through a proprietary optical connector and transparent cable, should you wish to mount the display on your wall. Naturally, 3D content wasn't as sharp as its 2D counterpart, but the OLED looked great regardless. With its ultra-thin design, it's surely meant for consumers who care about aesthetics perhaps even more than image quality, but if you can stomach the €9,000 price tag, this is one fine get. Take a closer look in our gallery just below.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading LG's 55-inch OLED TV enters the third dimension, we slide on our glasses (hands-on video)

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LG's 55-inch OLED TV enters the third dimension, we slide on our glasses (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG's 84-inch UD 3D TV makes its formal IFA debut, we go hands-on (video)
Aug 30th 2012, 13:48

Handson with LG's 84inch UD 3D TV

Here's yet another 84-inch 4K TV, this time from LG. The company's 84LM9600 was announced last week and has already started shipping in Korea, but it's here at IFA and poised to hit the market worldwide. Priced at about $22,105, this display is big in every way. You get a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 -- four times the resolution of existing full HD panels -- and what LG calls "3D sound" thanks to 2.2 integrated channel speakers. 3D is courtesy of the company's passive glasses technology. So how does that all look?

We spotted the set during LG's booth tour today. At first it seemed like "just another" 84-inch 4K TV (the form-factor seems to have exploded within the last week), but this flavor is rigged for three-dimensional viewing as well. You'll need to view 2D content in order to take advantage of the full resolution, and the picture in this mode seemed to be on par with the competition, based on our quick peek at IFA. And how about 3D? The passive picture was consistent with the company's other sets, just, well, much much larger. Will you be making room for this massive set in your living room? You might want to take a closer look in our hands-on photos below before pulling out that credit card.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading LG's 84-inch UD 3D TV makes its formal IFA debut, we go hands-on (video)

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LG's 84-inch UD 3D TV makes its formal IFA debut, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video)
Aug 30th 2012, 13:39

LG 27inch Personal Smart TV handson updated video

Designed for more realistic living quarters, LG's unleashed its Personal Smart TV to the IFA crowds. With a 27-inch IPS display, 1920 x 1080, you'll find the typical stable of connectivity options, including two HDMI, three USB, component, LAN and SCART connections. The screen seemed well, lit with the IPS panel offering suitably reliable views from most angles. It's a pretty stylish-looking TV too, with a rough metallic finish to the bezel, which while not jaw-dropping, is still suitably narrow. The Smart TV functions were also navigable through LG's Smart Remote, offering a WiiMote-ish approach to media browsing. Our demo model was already packed with German media content -- in both 2D and 3D -- ready for when it launches here next month. It'll be appearing in shops across Europe around the same time, although there's no word on the set landing on US shores. Check out our quick hands-on video after the break.

Follow all of our IFA 2012 coverage by heading to our event hub!

Continue reading LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video)

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LG 27-inch Personal Smart TV hands-on (updated: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Galaxy Note II priced for Vodafone: 640 euros of LTE phablet goodness
Aug 30th 2012, 13:34

Galaxy Note II priced for Vodafone,

Wondering when you'll be able to get your hands on a Galaxy Note II and just how much it'll cost? Well... we can't help you. But, a placard spotted on the floor at IFA today should give us some hint as to pricing. When it lands in Germany in the coming months, the second-gen phablet will set customers back €639.90, or about $803, through Vodafone. That's quite the hefty price tag, even for an unsubsidized LTE device. Heck, the current model is only $549 commitment free from AT&T right now. Let's just hope the price in dollars is closer, numerically to the German price and not so close in monetary value.

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Galaxy Note II priced for Vodafone: 640 euros of LTE phablet goodness originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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