Philips CES 2011 HD lineup: 4000 / 5000 / 6000 series LCDs, Blu-ray players and home theater systems

Consider yourself an HD junkie? You're in for a treat. A feast of treats, actually. Philips has just let loose a veritable smorgasbord of new HD kit at CES this morning, from LCD HDTVs to Blu-ray decks to complete home theater systems. Here's what you need to know:

Dell "Looking Glass" Tablet Appears Online

Dell's long rumored Looking Glass tablet has surfaced in the website of the US Federal Communications Commission, where it has gone for approval.

The company is expected to unveil the device at the Consumer Electronics Show next year in January but certain hardware specifications have been revealed ahead of time.

The documents, which were filed by Dell with the FCC on December 17th, reveal that the 7-inch tablet device will come 3G capabilities that are supported by both AT&T and T-Mobile, Wi-Fi ready, a microSD card & SIM card slot and Bluetooth capabilities.

It is still not clear whether Dell will allow users to make voice calls or not, but voice calling is available on the Dell Streak tablet device.

The main selling point of the tablet device is that it will be one of the first of its kind to run on a powerful Nvidia Tegra 2. It is likely to compete with the Samsung Galaxy Tab and run on Android OS.

The Streak, which was launched earlier this year, came with a 1Ghz Qualcomm processor, 3G and a 5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen.

via ITProPortal

Make a DIY IKEA iPad Stand for $3

Maybe you consider the iPad expensive or maybe you consider it a good deal, but there's no question that buying an iPad stand is a very overpriced purchase. Instead of dropping upwards of $30, just spend $3 on IKEA parts.

All you'll need for this simple stand is an EKBY VALTER bracket, one dowel, and two screws. You just need to turn the bracket upside down, replace the bottom screw with a longer screw, and then screw the dowel to make a deep lip for the iPad to rest on. It's a far cheaper alternative to the stands you can buy and works well for all iPad orientations.

via Lifehacker

So You Got an iPad, Now What?

Were you lucky enough to open an iPad Christmas morning? If you’re wondering what to do with your new tablet we’ve got you covered, with a healthy selection of info, tips, apps and accessory reviews.

First, you may have some questions about your iPad. Like for instance, why isn’t it a standalone device? If it’s such a game-changer, then why does it still rely on being plugged into a computer occasionally to operate? Dave Greenbaum has some answers. They may not be the ones you want to hear, but at least your iPad’s role as a companion device might make a bit more sense.

Apple Plans to Hide Antenna Behind the Logo on Future iPhones

According to a patent, folks at Apple have plans for a new antenna design that hides behind logo on future iPhones and other iDevices. The latest patent filing, shows an antenna placement behind the logo to allow better reception without metal or other housing walls causing interference.

The iPad and iMac has already a sort of “logo antenna” for WiFi. Apple’s new patent clarifies that the logo antenna will go beyond just Wi-Fi which is supposedly used in iMac’s after 2009. The patent states that logo antennas will cover “wireless communications in cellular telephone bands such as the GSM bands at 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz and the 2100 MHz data band.” Additionally, logo antennas will cover multi-bands for telephonic communications and GPS.

via iPhoneHeat

Get Android for Christmas? Here's how to get started with your new phone

So you just unwrapped our first Android phone, eh? Welcome to the world of smartphones. Whether you're upgrading from a feature phone, or switching to the greatest smartphone platform around, we know things can be a little overwhelming at first. But we're here to help. Welcome, and here are a few links to help get you started!

Google Chrome OS Will Die Says Gmail Founder

The man behind Google Adsense and the lead developer behind Gmail is convinced that Google Chrome OS will either be killed in 2011 or merged with Android OS.

Paul Buchheit, who left Google to launch Friendfeed which was later acquired by Facebook, said on Twitter that "Prediction: ChromeOS will be killed next year (or “merged” with Android)". His follow-up thoughts can be read on his Friendfeed here.

This doesn't come as a surprise to us; Sergey Brin, Google's co-founder, told Cnet in November 2009 that it would make sense for both projects to be merged together, thereby allowing Google to focus on one single product.

Back in July 2009, we suggested that Google was likely to merge Android and Chrome OS, something that we suggested was because Google wanted to build "the Holy Grail of operating systems, a platform that is scalable from a set top box to a super computer".

Apple TV Receives iOS 4.2.1 (8C154) Software Update

Apple has just pushed a minor update for the second-generation Apple TV owners. While there is no official change log yet, this update seems to be minor, mainly released to fix bugs and security loopholes.

The build which is marked as iOS 4.2.1 (8C154) is reported by Apple TV as iOS 4.1.1. The same thing happened last month too when Apple released iOS 4.2 for Apple TV, and it was reported on the device as iOS 4.1.

The main highlight of iOS 4.2.x for Apple TV is the video AirPlay feature that will allows you to stream pictures, videos and music right from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to TVs connected to the second-gen Apple TV.

Last iOS update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was iOS 4.2.1 which released on November 22 last month.

via RedmondPie

Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 mouse flaunts its hidden gamepad

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you -- not one little bit. You're looking at a PC gamepad built into the bottom of a mouse, and not a drab one at that. It's called the Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1, and if you just fell in love, we're afraid there's no suggested price, shipping date or a way to buy it yet. What we do know are the promised specs, which include a 5-stage adjustable 1600dpi optical sensor with 125Hz polling rate -- which admittedly sounds last gen -- that connects to your Windows PC over a USB dongle sporting 2.4GHz wireless. There's 14 buttons on the bottom, 7 on the top, and the company's support page suggests the device has force feedback as well. We're not terribly bullish on the "sophisticed Norway Nordic Chip System" the controller apparently has, but considering there are three very legitimate looking pictures of the device in our gallery below, we're not going to write it off quite yet. 

Update: Shogun Bros. tells us the Chameleon should be available in Q1 2011, for the suggested retail price of $55.

via Engadget

CR-48 Netbook: World’s First Chrome OS Netbook

Google, the world’s famous search engine giant, maybe transforming itself into something bigger than just a database for the world wide web. Last January, the company has launched its flagship smartphone, signalling its entry into the mobile market. This time, Google has announced its Cr-48 Netbook, the world’s first chrome OS netbook.

The Cr-48 Chrome Netbook’s release may come as a surprise since Google has been hinting only of the company’s very own Operating system early this year. But the plain black, no design, no logo Cr-48 Chrome Netbook looks so freakin bland that people are sensing it as a marketing ploy for the Google OS. Whichever is true, only time will tell.

7-inch iPad Rumors Start Up Again

Steve Jobs’ disdain for the 7-inch tablet form factor embraced by the likes of would-be iPad killers like the Samsung Galaxy Tab couldn’t be any more dripping even if it poured in bilious rivulets out of his open mouth. At the last earnings call, he flat out dismissed them as “DOA – Dead On Arrival.” He even fantasized about customers sanding the meat off of their fingers until only the skeletal bone was left, since “sand[ing] down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size” is the only way to type comfortably on one.

This contempt seems pretty unequivocal to me, but someone apparently wasn’t paying attention: according to Reuters, Asian manufacturing sources are telling them that Apple is putting together a 7-inch “iPad Mini” for shipment in early 2011.

Archos Internet Tablets get firmware updates, everybody gets a Froyo

Okay, maybe not everybody, but the vast majority of the Android offerings from Archos are receiving some guilt-free sweet treats. Models 23, 32, 43, 70, and 101 (you know, these guys) are all on the lucky receiving end of firmware updates that bring Android 2.2.1 to the table. That comes with improved performance, better battery life estimation, and support for external GPS adapters. All yours for the low, low price of free -- well, assuming you've already bought the tablet, of course.

via Engadget

Microsoft to Compete with Apple TV and Google TV with Xbox 360 based TV Service

There’s a new TV set to be in town and the brains behind it are confident or at least preparing hard to give Apple TV and the Google TV a tough challenge. We are talking about the rumors associated to Microsoft’s own TV subscription in the pipeline.

More than 2.5 million Microsoft Kinect sensors sold to date

Following the biggest shopping weekend of the year, Microsoft announced Monday that it has sold over 2.5 million Kinect sensors in less than one month of availability. Shortly after launch, Microsoft announced that it had sold over 1 million units in under two weeks. Thanks to the Black Friday shopping weekend, Microsoft has increased its sales pace since then — the highly anticipated motion-based controller is now selling approximately 107,000 units per day, up from 90,900 per day during its first 11 days of availability. While the numbers are quite impressive so far, this does make us wonder if Microsoft’s goal of selling 5 million units by the end of the year is looking a bit lofty right now. With less than a month until Christmas and the biggest shopping weekend of the year behind us, Microsoft is only half way there. If the company can somehow manage to keep up its current sales pace, however, Microsoft will smash its projections along with even the most generous analyst estimates.

via BGR

NOOK Color gets rooted and swaps books for Angry Birds

The fine people over at XDA have another trophy on their wall in the form of the Barnes and Noble NOOK Color.

The team has so far shown off the tablet/e-reader running Angry Birds, launcher pro, and a couple other extras. Reportedly Angry Birds runs “as smoothly as on the Galaxy Tab,” but there hasn’t been any video evidence to support that claim yet. As a reminder the NOOK Color does run on a Cortex A8 processor at 800 Mhz so it has the potential to be a pretty capable tablet if the XDA community stays behind it.

My next iPad won't be a 7-incher, but I wish it could be

It took me a while, but I'm starting to fall in love with my iPad in a way I haven't loved a gadget for a long while. There's something about the form factor, the apps, the OS that feels just right and makes me want to do as much of my daily computing on it as possible. Of course, that's still a pretty small sliver of my overall day, and the iPad isn't even close to replacing my laptop for the large majority of my work, but I'm finding myself increasingly doing casual browsing, casual gaming, serious writing, and, yes, even some reading on Apple's 10-inch tablet.

But I have one "big" problem with the tablet that doesn't look like it'll be solved anytime soon: it's not 7 inches. Will Apple ever eat its words and build a smaller iPad, or will the 7-inch form factor be left to the rest of the emerging tablet market to fight over? 

Apple iPad 2 To Come With Retina Display & More?

The next version of the iPad, aptly called the iPad 2, may come with a slew of new features according to a Chinese-language financial newspaper, Economic Daily News, and reported by another English speaking website, based in Taiwan, Digitimes.

The Best Notebooks of 2010

To find out the best laptops of 2010, we checked in with Mark Spoonauer who, as editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com, oversaw 140+ notebook and netbook reviews this year. If you're buying, buy one of these.

Chrome OS consumer launch pushed to 2011, Google-branded Chromebook could still arrive this year

It's almost time to eat turkey and then jet out to Best Buy to be trampled by mad shoppers. Oh yes, the holiday season is just about here, which according to a few posts we've written in the last year means that the Chrome OS netbooks should be as well. Well, it turns out that the Google OS-powered laptops aren't going to arrive this year, or at least not in the way we thought they would. That doesn't mean Chrome OS isn't going to see a bit of an unveil this year, but major manufacturers, including Acer and HP, won't have its own Chromebooks ready before 2011. How do we know? Acer's Jim Wong told us during the company's global press conference that Acer will be launching its netbook based on the browser operating system during the "consumer launch" of the OS next year, while Google has its own agenda and will be doing something "in December." We didn't get to ask if that Acer netbook is in fact the "ZGA" netbook we've seen popping up in bug reports, but our guess is that it will be something quite similar. 

iOS 4.2 review for iPad

If you're an iPad owner, you've probably been on pins and needles lately. That's because back in September, Apple announced that a full-scale update to the tablet's OS would be coming in the form of iOS 4.2, bringing a slew of new features to the device. Included in that laundry list is proper iOS 4-style multitasking, folders, major mail improvements, Game Center integration, and Safari enhancements (like find-in-page text searches). Besides those features, the company has been touting two other big changes that could cause a major shift in the way you use your iPad -- namely, AirPrint and AirPlay. Both additions leverage your WiFi network, certain connected printers, and the new Apple TV in an attempt to make the company's slate less like a distraction and more like the center of your digital life.