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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iPort has come out with an in-wall control mount for the iPad that transforms the device into an integrated wall touchscreen. The new iPort CM2000 Control Mount for iPad and the iPort CM100 Control Mount for iPod touch both come with an in-wall frame that can transform them into sleek in-wall touchscreens for quick access to the weather, news, stocks, internet radio and other apps. The iPort CM100 retails for $250 and the CM2000 for $499.

Think you know multitouch surfaces? Think again. We've just come across a video demo of the Token multitouch, erm, pedestal, which seems to have come straight from the future. A clear sheet of glass that beams out video from your computer and accepts touch inputs in return, the Token concept has been designed by a chap named Rodrigo hailing out of Chile. We know it uses a rear projector for its video, but other construction details are scarce at this point; what's really special here, however, is the way he combines it with a Traktor Pro controller titled Emulator, turning a few intelligent finger swipes into a kickass light-and-sound show. See it on video after the break.

Continue reading Token multitouch screen shows us the future of DJing, today (video)

Token multitouch screen shows us the future of DJing, today (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mutewatch aims to be a less watch-like watch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP rolls out Mini 5103 business netbook with optional touchscreen, SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today BlackBerry and AT&T launched their most powerful BlackBerry yet. The new BlackBerry Torch 9800 is RIM’s first touch QWERTY device slider. The phone was developed with AT&T as a partner and seems to be an exclusive, and wow, are we sick of carrier exclusives! Putting that gripe aside, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 is looking very sweet, especially since it is running the new BlackBerry OS 6. The hardware itself features a precision optical napped, the same BlackBerry keyboard that BlackBerry users have come to know and love, a 5MP camera with flash, a 3.2″ 360 x 480 capacitive touch screen display, 512MB Flash memory, 4GB on‐board memory, a microSD/SDHC memory card slot (4GB card included, cards up to 32GB supported), 3G with support for HSDPA and UMTS, as well as built‐in GPS and Wi‐Fi (802.11 b/g/n). The device measures approximately 4.4” x 2.4” x 0.57” closed and 5.8” x 2.4” x 0.57” when open.

One notable hardware spec that the device seems to be missing is an accelerometer, but that doesn’t seem to be a deal breaker. Also, none of these hardware specs are quite cutting edge, but what is most exciting about this new BlackBerry handset is the BlackBerry OS 6 which sports a ton of new features and U.I. improvements. For starters, just like on the iPhone, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 now sports universal search which lets you search everything – including contacts, calendar events, text messages, and music. The OS also has universal inbox, which integrates Facebook, Twitter and all your social feeds. And just like on Android, once you read a message, it disappears form the universal inbox so that there is no accumulated clutter.

New Web Browser:
The web browser has been vastly improved and is running on the web kit engine. A new feature called Auto-wrap text zoom makes it easier to read websites. All you need to do is double tap on the text on a web site, and the font automatically grows, while the page reformats itself so you can read comfortably.

Redesigned Home Screen:
The home screen has also been redesign. It now sports notification previews, similar in concept to the notification previews on Android. A tap on the top notification preview bar shows information about your recent notifications, right on your home screen. For example, you can see the subject of an email. Plus there is now more content on the home screen and you have the ability to add additional content and views by swiping to the right or left, again, this is similar in concept to Android’s multiple home screens.

Enhanced Media Experiences:
BlackBerry OS 6 now offers users the ability to view pictures by folder or date, and you can even rearrange folders all on the device. Multiple selections can be accomplished using a two finger tap that enables you to select multiple pictures at once. The camera also now automatically names pictures by location using geo-location. So anything you take in New York City, will automatically be named New York City.

OS 6 also features WiFi Music Sync when you install Desktop Software 6 on your computer. Beyond the individual songs that you synchronize, you can also see your entire computer’s music catalog on your device so that you can sync other songs at a later time, even if you don’t have room for them on your phone at the moment. The multimedia app also displays album art. Plus, a podcast app is also preloaded.  The podcast app lets you download podcasts wirelessly, without syncing – via 3G or wifi.

Social:
New Unified Social Feeds allow you to see all of your social activity at once. You can seamlessly flow from one app to the next – from Twitter, to Facebook, etc. You can use multiple social applications and jump between them seamlessly.

The Apps:
Many popular apps will be available from the home screen right out of the box, without even going to BlackBerry App World. Some cool and notable apps, includes Slacker which features caching and multitasking, MobiTV for watching live TV shows, whether on 3G or wifi, and PrimeTime ToGo that will automatically download episodes after they air so you can watch them even when you don’t have a wireless connection. These apps also integrate with Universal Search, so that you can for example, search for an artist and end up in Slacker. There is also a preloaded RSS feed reader. You can also search App World by topic using Universal Search.

AT&T customers can now make purchases and buy content inside of their apps with the charge showing directly on their AT&T bill. Plus, the BlackBerry payment service opens up API’s to developers so they can sell power ups, subscriptions, create in-app pruchase and make trial periods inside of the apps. It will also will provide developers with mobile analytics so that they can monazite more efficiently. Developers can now distribute the Apps through BlackBerry World that are authored with HTML 5, CSS and Javascript. They can create apps that run in the background, as well as apps that access information on the device – including data from location based services, and apps that even utilize the BlackBerry Push services. Applications written for 5.0 will still work on BlackBerry 6.

BlackBerry Torch goes on sale August 12th for $199 with a two year contract with a data plan. Overall, the new BlackBerry Torch brings many welcome an much needed improvements to keep RIM afloat as a serious player in the smartphone space, and it should help keep current BlackBerry users from having a wandering eye. However, it’s unlikely to tempt current multimedia driven iPhone or Android users enough to make a switch.

Check out this 14mm-thin contender: built by Pegatron and still at the prototype stage, the MasterPad looks to be the embodiment of Steve Ballmer's incoming armada of desirable Windows 7 tablets. It sports an 11.6-inch IPS screen, which accommodates a 1,366 x 768 widescreen resolution, a 1.3 megapixel webcam plus mic, two USB ports, a memory card reader, an accelerometer, mini-HDMI port, 3G connectivity, and 32GB or 64GB SSD options. All that hi-tech goodness is wrapped up in a magnesium and aluminum alloy body, weighing 990 grams. There are some less cutting edge specs, like the disappointing 2-cell battery that will only get you 5 hours of use and the 1.66GHz Atom N450 CPU -- but we're being promised 1080p video playback and Flash compatibility are ready to roll, and our machine translation hints at an additional HD video-processing chip. The early hands-on experience seems to have left the Israeli journos impressed, and their homeland can expect the MasterPad to arrive "in the coming months," with an Android version also in the works. See it on video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading MasterPad prototype marries Windows 7 to 11.6-inch IPS screen (video)

MasterPad prototype marries Windows 7 to 11.6-inch IPS screen (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever since the Flip became popular, so many manufacturers have come out with competing products with not only similar function, but similar form as well. Quite frankly, we’re growing sick of the unoriginality, so it’s good to see that Samsung’s latest HD camcorder has a design that more or less deviates from the norm, if only for a little bit. The HMX-E10 pocket camcorder packs in 1080p HD H.264 video recording at 30fps, a 270 degree swivel lens, a 2x digital zoom, it has a generous 2.7″ touchscreen LCD, a one touch upload button, and it also packs in HDMI and a direct USB connector. The HMX-E10’s LCD screen is also divided into two sections. The top section plays the live view of what is currently in the frame, while the bottom half displays a series of touch-screen controls – including record, stop and play. And what is cool about its swivel lens is that users can use it to to rotate it and take pictures of themselves. On top of that, the camera also comes with lens effects and color effects like sketch, defog, a lens shift effect, and vignetting effects. The Samsung HMX-E10 pocket camcorder will retail for $199 in September and will be available in cream or black.

The TouchTec pen is a new product from the creators of the TouchTec gloves that we are super crazy about. The TouchTec Pen is a “Multi-function Capacitive Touch Screen Stylus and Ball Point Pen”. In other words, it’s a pen that also can operate as a iPad/iPhone stylus. There are quite a few iPhone/iPad compatible styluses out there on the market, but what makes the TouchTec Pen unique is that it also doubles as a pen.

Design:
Available in silver, with a pink version coming soon, the TouchTec Pen is a lightweight and sleek pen with a clean modern aesthetic. At the top of the TouchTec pen there is a flat round surface where the TouchTec leather material is attached. This side of the pen is what you use when you’re operating your iPad/iPhone with it.

The iPad and iPhone both have a healthy amount of fun drawing Apps available for them, but it’s really difficult to draw anything serious with your fingers. If you want to draw something serious, you really need a stylus. The TouchTec pen works well, its surface tip is responsive and does great with popular drawing apps. However, because its surface is round and flat, it doesn’t always work when you try to draw by tipping the TouchTec pen at an extreme angle – because some of its surface area needs to have contact with the screen. Also, because the surface is flat, and not sharp and pointy, it is still difficult to draw and write notes with precision. Granted, using the TouchTec Pen is a big improvement over using your fingers, but it isn’t going to be precise as a Wacom Tablet Pen. Unfortunately, to date there is no iPad/iPhone compatible stylus on the market that sports a sharp tip. Also, in comparison to the competing Pogo Stylus – which sports a foam-like tip that has been known to wear down pretty quickly, the TouchTec Pen’s leather tip is more likely to last longer.

Overall, the TouchTec pen offers you a better alternative to carrying around both a pen and a stylus. It will also work on most touchscreen devices like the Droid, Nexus One, Palm Pre, iPhone, iPad, and so on. The TouchTec Pen retails for $20.00, and at that price, the price sure is right. For $14.95 you could pick up the competing Pogo stylus, or for five dollars more you can get a stylus that doubles as a pen – kind of a no brainer, right?

The Good: It’s a pen and touchscreen stylus in one! Lightweight, thin profile

The Bad: Flat round tip isn’t good for precision drawings