Canon’s PowerShot S95 gets reviewed, found to be worthy S90-successor

September 3rd, 2010 by

Donald Melanson

Canon's PowerShot S90 managed to attract a considerable fan base with some stellar image quality and professional-level features, but it did have a few drawbacks -- most notably a lack of HD video that's hard to overlook these days. The new and improved PowerShot S95 promises to address that and other complaints, however, and according to PhotographyBlog, it succeeds on most counts. Not only does the camera maintain the same high image quality as its predecessor, but it offers some added flexibility with an improved lens Control Ring, improved image stabilization, a new HDR mode and, last but not least, 720p video recording. Despite those newfound HD capabilities, however, video still seems to be this camera's main shortcoming, as you'll have to make do without autofocus or optical zoom during recording. That wasn't enough to prevent it from getting a 4.5 out of 5 rating from Photography Blog, though -- hit up the link below for the site's full review.

Canon's PowerShot S95 gets reviewed, found to be worthy S90-successor originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skype 5.0 beta brings 10-way video calling to the world

September 3rd, 2010 by

Vlad Savov

Skype's Windows client is showing a bit of ambition today as its latest beta version now boasts a mighty 10-way video calling implementation. The earlier v5.0 beta threw up five-way vidchat, but it'd seem Skype kept its software engineers working through the summer and now we've got double the visual fun. Which would be awesome if we actually had nine other people we cared to see while talking to them. This update also brings a UI makeover, your typical stability and call quality improvements, and a neat automated call recovery feature. Download away, if you must.

Skype 5.0 beta brings 10-way video calling to the world originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010

September 3rd, 2010 by

Ben Bowers

Just in case those George Takei commercials didn't clue you in that Sharp was serious about Quattron, the company has announced four new TV lines at IFA sporting yellow as a fourth subpixel color. At the top of the list, the Quattron 3D-enabled LE925 line will be available in 60-inch or 46-inch sizes and feature Sharp's proprietary high-speed FRED LCD signal processing technology along with side-mounted scanning LED backlighting -- which like the LV Series -- is touted to produce 1.8x better brightness than competing sets and reduce 3D crosstalk. Aquos Net+ connectivity is thrown in too, along with 2D-to-3D conversion, a digital triple tuner and 8GB of built-in flash memory for timeshift recording. Playing second fiddle to this overachiever are the 2D-only LE924E, LE824E and LE814E series, which will also feature Aquos Net+. Pricing details for all of the new lines are still unknown, but they're slated to be available in Germany and Austria later this month. Here's hoping Sulu gets his jaw checked out before then.

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Sharp releases slew of new Quattron TVs at IFA 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

September 3rd, 2010 by

Vlad Savov

Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a Game Gripper), but ultimately we'd all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G -- with Android and an NES emulator inside -- with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?

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NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SageTV puts $150 HD Theater 300 up for pre-order, breaks down the specifications

September 3rd, 2010 by

Darren Murph

Whoa, welcome to the new decade SageTV! Nearly two full years after introducing the HD Theater HD200, the aforesaid company is hitting back with the HD Theater 300 -- and frankly, the timing couldn't possibly be worse. Last month, a $149.95 price tag on a no-name streamer may have looked attractive, but with the revised Apple TV and price-adjusted Roku line, we get the feeling this one will be a hard sell. At any rate, this new networked set-top box boasts a non-stackable design, a Toslink optical audio jack, HDMI 1.3 socket, a pair of USB jacks and an Ethernet connector. It also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD/MA (which means you're cleared to bitstream to your HDMI 1.3 receiver), but you'll need to pony up an extra $29.95 for a WiFi dongle. Yeah, bummer. The outfit suggests that you turn this critter into a whole home DVR solution by running SageTV Media Center software alongside of it, but you should probably know that you'll have some trouble if trying to shove DRM'd content through it. It's available for pre-order down in the source link if you're interested.

[Thanks, Tom]

Continue reading SageTV puts $150 HD Theater 300 up for pre-order, breaks down the specifications

SageTV puts $150 HD Theater 300 up for pre-order, breaks down the specifications originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors

September 3rd, 2010 by

Joseph L. Flatley

Our friends at Engadget en Español have turned us on to some pico projecters that recently popped up on Philips' Flickr account. We don't have too much info, other than they are designated (in no particular order): PPX-1430, PPX-1230 and PPX-1030. And they're really rather small. Yeah, we're underwhelmed too. But we must report even the least breathtaking gadgets: it's our meat and potatoes, after all. And you can bet your bubby that if Philips does relate any mind-blowing information at this year's IFA (which is going on as we write this), we'll let you know. Oh, you want more pictures? Well, here you go!

Gallery: Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors