SISAREA

While Sony’s new Bloggie Touch provides the template for how simple and easy a touchscreen camcorder could really be, Kodak’s similarly well built and attractive PlayTouch provides a stark contrast, with a modicum of simplicity on the surface, but a megaton of functionality to uncover. The PlayTouch isn’t as pick-up-and go as the Bloggie, but the basic touchscreen controls can be quickly mastered. What sets the PlayTouch apart are the in-depth features like an external microphone jack (complete with gain control), video effects (like black & white and sepia modes), and the particularly ambitious video editor. You can only trim shots and extract stills from that latter mode, but paired with the newer generation EasyShare functionality that lets you pre-assign photos and videos for upload to YouTube and Facebook, among other services, you can almost completely avoid using your computer as anything but a dumb pipe to the internet.

The PlayTouch really isn’t a “gift it to your grandma” sort of camcorder; even with a $230 pricetag you still have to bring your own SD card, there’s no built-in storage, and most of the higher end functionalities like the external audio jack will be lost on the general populace. Still, if you’re looking for a pocket camcorder that is more than just a dumb pocket camcorder, Kodak seems to be continuing the niche it carved out for itself originally with the Zi8.

Kodak PlayTouch preview originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maybe we’re a bunch of idiots, but while the Flip and its ultra-simple camcorder ilk have certainly made shooting video simpler and more accessible for the masses, we still find many of these cameras surprisingly unintuitive or just “blah” at doing what they do (Kodak’s otherwise excellent Zi8 and PlaySport cameras come to mind) when it comes to UI. After playing with the horrendous Flip Slide HD, we were almost sure touchscreens would act as another obstacle to using these things, but of all people, Sony has come to the rescue. We found the original Bloggie line very unimpressive, but this new Bloggie Touch crop is exactly as easy to use as you’d imagine a one button device would be.

That big record button on the front? You press it, and it records stuff. The responsive touchscreen UI takes care of secondary issues, like playing back that stuff you recorded, swapping resolution (it shoots at up to 1080p), setting a timer, and more detailed settings, with four well placed icons, while a touch slider operates the digital zoom. If you hold the camera like a still camera and tap the camera shutter button now naturally placed on the top you can take 12.8 megapixel stills (okay, we lied, there are two buttons, three if you count the on / off button). Despite the slim, sexy design of the camera, Sony still worked in a pop-out USB plug and a full sized HDMI jack. Even the $180 / $200 price (for 4GB or 8GB of storage) is surprisingly good. Just a reminder, in case you’d forgotten: the Bloggie Touch is built by Sony. We’ll be looking forward to its October launch.

Sony Bloggie Touch preview: an actually simple ’simple camcorder’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s oddly angled camcorders have gotten plenty of love around these parts for their design and specs, and the new HMX-T10 series is no different. Separating itself from last year’s HMX-R10 with a revised design and lens angled 20-degrees (instead of 25), these camcorders can still capture video at up to 1920×1080/60i and stills at up to 4.7 megapixels, while you frame the action on the 2.7-inch touchscreen LCD. Add in optical image stabilization, 10x zoom and the aforementioned full HD capture with a $299 pricetag and you have a healthy competitor to the alternative of the shakycam footage your cellphone probably spits out when these reach the shelves in September. Check the specs in the press release after the break, and shots from every angle of models in black and white paintjobs in the gallery.

Continue reading Samsung’s HMX-T10 HD camcorder features a new perspective

Samsung’s HMX-T10 HD camcorder features a new perspective originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/31/hannspree-pairs-android-2-2-with-tegra-2-for-a-10-1-inch-multito/’; Yearning for a bit of dual-core action on the move? Who isn’t. Hannspree will soon try to quell that 1080p-sized hunger in all of us with its freshly announced €399 ($507) Froyo tablet. There’s no lack of spec sheet ambition here: a 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC is surrounded by 16GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD), an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1,024 x 600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, and mini versions of HDMI and USB ports. Flash 10.1 is also proudly supported, while the 3,500mAh battery is said to last up to 8 hours when playing 1080p movies. We’d be getting real excited right about now, but we’ve learnt to be cautious with such lofty promises — remember the Gemini?

Continue reading Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet

Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:13:00 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 Sid, who ain’t buying a laptop if it’s LCD doesn’t react to his digits, you understand? If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“What is the best multitouch entertainment laptop? The only one I’m aware of is the HP DV6Tse with a multitouch display. I’m just wondering if there’s a better value multitouch laptop out there?”

Well, we know for sure that you have a few options, but that whole “value proposition” thing is anyone’s call. Any readers out there care to chime in on what their favorite / least favorite touchscreen laptop is? You know where to go.

Ask Engadget: best multitouch / touchscreen-enabled laptop? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia is being coy this morning by revealing a trio of pictures of what it only describes as its “new device.” Of course, being a devoted Engadget reader, you’ll instantly recognize the visage above as that of the Nokia 5250 — the already leaked successor to the 5230 ( aka the Nuron). Specs are promised for later today, so contain your excitement until a more civilized hour. For now, you’ll find one more pic — of the bodacious, camera-adorned back — after the break.

[Thanks, Adam B.]

Update: That wasn’t a long wait. Nokia Conversations has the scoop on the 5250, including confirmation of the name. The real headline here is the eminently frugal price of €115 ($146) before taxes and subsidies. For that handful of change, you’ll get your old favorite S60 5th OS with a mobile version of Guitar Hero 5 pre-installed, along with an FM radio and a media player slap bang in the middle of your 2.8-inch homescreen, all to underline this new phone’s musical inclinations. The touchscreen panel fits 640 x 360 pixels (16:9 display ratio), and battery life is rated for 18 days of standby, seven hours of talktime, or 24 hours of music playback. Not bad at all. Shipping in Q4 [Thanks, Keith!].

Continue reading Nokia 5250 gets official: €115 for a 2.8-inch touchscreen with 16:9 display ratio (updated)

Nokia 5250 gets official: €115 for a 2.8-inch touchscreen with 16:9 display ratio (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As far as we can tell, the general logic behind touchscreen iMac rumors goes something like this: “Apple is good at touch UIs, so it should build a touchscreen iMac.” Unfortunately, the reality of a usable, desirable touchscreen desktop computers has yet to materialize (sorry, HP and Microsoft), and so far Apple has steered clear of those dangerous waters. An international patent recently unearthed at the World Intellectual Property Organization, however, shows just how Apple might go about a touch UI on a desktop computer.

Basically, the patent covers the method of transitioning from a traditional “high resolution” UI (best operated by a mouse) to a “low resolution” UI suitable to finger operation (like iOS). A myriad of sensors can be employed to detect the user moving the screen into touch mode, and as the user does this the difficult high res bits like cursors and scrollbars and drop down menus “slide off the screen,” leaving only a touch UI at the end of the transition. It’s all very broad and vague, naturally, being a patent, but it’s an interesting idea, and makes more sense than ruining the good thing desktop UIs have going with a tacked-on touch UI in the style of Microsoft’s Windows. Of course, stuffing two UIs into one device also seems rather un-Apple like, so we’re not going to start expecting an Apple-built touchscreen iMac or MacBook to act exactly like this until Steve gets on stage and starts telling us how we magical and revolutionary it is.

Apple patent unearthed for touchscreen Macs that can flip between mouse and touch UIs with tilt of the screen originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Manufacturing upstart PocketBook is clearly still gung ho about e-readers, judging by the five new models it has announced will be released at IFA in September, which include a pair of entry-level ProBook 602 and 902 units, as well as the ProBook 603 and 903 premium units. The 60x designated models sport 6-inch screens, while the 90x models have a bigger 9.7-inch. All models will feature 2GB of internal storage, a Linux-based OS, and include WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. However, the higher-end versions also gain 3G connectivity and a Wacom touchscreen. More interesting and genre-bending though is the so-called “entertainment model” PocketBook IQ that will be available in three case color options, feature a 7-inch TFT color touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and will run Android 2.0. Access to PocketBook’s own Bookland.net e-book store unfortunately rounds out all the details we know so far, but we’ll be sure to find out more once IFA gets going. Check out shots of the individual readers and get the full translated PR below.

Continue reading Pocketbook announces color touch screen Android powered e-reader and more

Pocketbook announces color touch screen Android powered e-reader and more originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re looking for the quintessential tablet experience, but aren’t so fond of giving up the small luxuries that come with owning a laptop, HP’s TouchSmart tm2t was probably high on your list once it was introduced earlier in the year. Boasting a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen, a swivel option for converting it into a tablet and plenty of power for the Average Joe / Jane, it looks — on paper, at least — that this guy is the definition of ’striking a balance.’ For those that plopped down the coin to bring one home, we’re interested to hear how it has or has not lived up to your expectations. Is the note-taking experience up to snuff? How’s that touch response? Would you want to have resistive instead? Bumped up the CPU a notch or two? Don’t be shy down in comments below — we need more oddballs like this in the world, and we need ‘em to be done right.

How would you change the HP TouchSmart tm2t? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia has just revealed its X3-02 handset, which does the unthinkable and marries a relatively standard 16-button keypad with a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen. Now, we might have our reservations about Nokia’s S40 OS being able to translate to a touch-friendly UI, but the beauty of this phone is that touch comes as essentially a free extra rather than the fundamental navigation paradigm. It’s augmented with 3G, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, and the whole thing is wrapped within a 9.6mm-thin brushed aluminum shell. All that, and the X3-02 will only cost €125 (before sales taxes and subsidies, as usual) when it launches later this quarter. See it on video after the break.

Update: Nokia has informed us the X3-02 uses a resistive touchscreen, no real surprise given its price.

Continue reading Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type puts a touchscreen on your Series 40 featurephone

Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type puts a touchscreen on your Series 40 featurephone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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