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Sony W900A: One of the better LED values

While many of Sony's marketing terms mean nothing in English (or sometimes even Japanese), there have been some memorable ones: Bravia, WEGA, XBR, et al. Here's another, less-catchy, less capitalized one to add to the list: Triluminos. It's Sony's term for a technology, also known as Quantum Dots, which theoretically enhances the number of colors an LCD can produce. CNET writer Geoffrey Morrison examines the dots in depth here, but in essence it's a film of microscopic crystals that glow green, red, or blue when stimulated by a light source.

The KDL-55W900A is the first … Read more

Nokia Lumia 900 gets a Windows Phone 7.8 boost

At long last, Nokia Lumia 900 owners will receive an update that can make its interface look like modern Windows Phone 8 handsets -- cosmetically, anyhow.

Although the Lumia 900 and other Windows phones of its generation hit something of a dead end in software development, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.8 update gives them the appearance, at least, of being Windows 8 phones.

OS 7.8 installs resizable widgets that let you cram or expand more-dynamic live tiles onto the home screen at will. You'll also find an expanded color palette at your disposal, and the ability to … Read more

Hey, HP board, how do you like them Apples?

commentary Back in 2011, Hewlett-Packard's chairman Ray Lane was photographed using an Apple MacBook Air as he was trying to turn HP around. Personal preference speaks volumes about HP and the fate of the PC industry.

Lane stepped down today as chairman of HP just after, coincidentally, Gartner released a report forecasting dim prospects for the PC industry.

Things seem to get dimmer with each forecast, as the tablet -- which means Apple's iPad for the most part -- takes a bigger bite out of PC sales.

Here's what Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said … Read more

Intel talks new chips, partners at Mobile World Congress

A year ago, Intel's CEO took the stage at Mobile World Congress to tout new partnerships and talk up the benefits of Intel's mobile chips.

At that time, the Santa Clara, Calif., semiconductor maker's presence in the smartphone market was essentially nonexistent. Today, Intel has 10 phones shipping in 20 countries (though not the U.S.), and it keeps improving its power consumption and performance.

While that's good progress, Intel still has a long way to go, as the company readily admits. It hopes the new chips it's officially launching today at MWC 2013 will … Read more

Intel claims 'superiority' over ARM in phone video

Intel is turning up the bravado in a new video that boasts "superiority" over ARM in phones.

Intel may be engaging in a bit of ad copy puffery with this caption penned by Francois Piednoel: "A little demo of x86 superiority over ARM."

Intel's first dual-core phone chip, Clover Trail+, isn't shipping in products yet, so it's by no means clear if it can out-benchmark and outlast phones based on the newest ARM chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Samsung.

That said, the phone that the Clover Trail+ processor will debut in is worth … Read more

Nokia to launch flagship smartphone on Verizon this year -- report

Nokia is readying a flagship smartphone for Verizon Wireless, a new report claims.

Verizon is planning to carry the Lumia handset later this year, The Verge is reporting today, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company's plans. That device, codenamed Laser, will "be a variant" of Nokia's Lumia 920, but it's not clear what sort of features the handset will have.

According to The Verge, Nokia's device will be put on the same playing field as Verizon's other flagship devices, including the iPhone.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop hinted at a … Read more

Lenovo K900 taps Intel's first dual-core phone chip

LAS VEGAS--Lenovo's big-screen K900 smartphone is one of the first to integrate Intel's first dual-core Atom chip for phones. And includes an impressive camera too.

By smartphone standards, the K900 has a massive 5.5-inch screen 1080p IPS display. So, no better time to tap Intel's new chip to manhandle all the pixels in that giant display.

The Atom Z2580 roughly doubles the central processing unit (CPU) performance of Intel's single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo's K800 phone. The new Atom silicon also boasts an improved graphics chip.

A few more deets on Intel's … Read more

Lenovo's K900 brings Intel's Clover Trail+ to the smartphone (hands-on)

BARCELONA, Spain--When we first saw the Lenovo K900 at CES early last month, the Chinese company wasn't quite ready for journalists to try out the handset, but it has finally taken off the bubble wrap here at the MobileFocus Global fringe event at MWC.

Upside The 5.5-inch Intel Atom-powered (Clover Trail+) smartphone runs at a speedy clock speed of 2GHz, and we hardly noticed any lag while we were playing with it. While it's certainly a long handset, the 6.9mm barely weighed anything in my hand. Of course, it's worth noting that the K900 strikes … Read more

Sony XBR-X900 series: 4K gets smaller, cheaper

LAS VEGAS--4K isn't just for wall-size, five-figure TVs anymore.

Sony is among the first major TV makers to announce it will sell 4K, aka Ultra High Definition (UHD), televisions in sizes less than 84 inches. The XBR-X900 series, which currently counts a $25,000 84-incher as its sole member, now includes 65-inch and 55-inch sizes, which will sell for $4,999 and $6,999 respectively. They'll be available beginning April 21.

UHD/4K in this TV's (and most other's) case means a pixel count of 3,840x2,160 -- four times as many pixels as today'… Read more

Hisense's whopping 110-inch XT900 TV

LAS VEGAS--Ultra HD is the theme of this year's CES, and Chinese brand Hisense has unveiled three new XT900 TVs, including a 110-inch, which will feature this mega-resolution.

Hisense's XT900 TVs will include 65-inch, 84-inch, and 110-inch "precise local dimming" televisions.

All of the TVs come with a range of features including Smart TV with onboard Wi-Fi, active 3D with two sets of glasses, and a 240Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the TV features a detachable USB camera for Skype calling, built-in gesture control, and facial recognition.

Pricing and availability of the three televisions has yet to … Read more