Look out, you're falling into a pit of balls! This unusual demonstration of human stupidity was put on by Casio to promote its Exilim range of cameras. How this helped is anyone's guess. Click on the image above for more IFA silliness.
(Credit: Crave UK)Every year we go to the IFA tech trade show in Berlin, and every year we see bigger demonstrations of corporate wealth and visitor stupidity. We thought we'd share some of the more interesting sights from this year's visit, concluding with a photo of one Crave writer eating an enormous sausage. Be prepared: it was twice the size of his head.
(Source: Crave UK)
(Credit:
Erica Ogg/CNET)
BERLIN--Spotted in LG's enormous booth here at IFA: a razor thin OLED TV with a 15-inch screen.
That's still about half the size of the average person's LCD or plasma TV, but it's progress. Currently Sony is the only company that sells an OLED and its measures just 11 inches diagonally. LG will officially one up its rival when this hits the market in Korea first next year.
Called "The Object," this display is 0.1 inches thin and weighs in at just over 11 ounces.
See more after the jump. ... Read more
(Credit:
Nate Lanxon/CNET)
BERLIN--We heard Sony was showing off a 3D PlayStation 3 here at IFA. Curious, we headed to the enormous Sony stand where we discovered a young boy--DualShock controller in-hand, 3D glasses mounted on his visibly excited face--playing the PS3's Wipeout racing game on a massive 3D television.
Naturally, we had to kick him off so we could have a play. For the next five minutes we blazed through the game's futuristic raceways with a perception of depth we've never experienced before, all presented in 1080p high-definition and vivid color. And in just more than a year, Sony told us, it expects to be selling the same experience in European stores.
Today, our experience involved a regular PS3. All the three-dimensional horsepower comes not from a modified PlayStation, or even special versions of its games--it's all down to some ingenious picture-processing technology inside a new Bravia TV (currently a prototype). This means it should work with all existing PlayStation 3 games. At least, that's the intention.
At the end of 2010, Sony plans to release this 3D Bravia for use with its games console. But over the following two or three years, we were told, it wants to build the picture-processing technology into the PlayStation itself. That way, gamers will be able to enjoy 3D gaming on any high-def TV. Plans to incorporate the system into Blu-ray players, and even Vaio laptops, also exist.
The downside is that the picture-processing technology will only work for games--it requires computer-generated imagery to function, so can't currently be applied to movies and TV shows.
But would that stop you investing? Does a PlayStation 3D sound like your idea of gaming nirvana? Leave your thoughts below.
(Source: Crave UK)
Even Haier is getting in on the wireless HDMI game.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)BERLIN--Though still struggling to find homes in the hearts of consumers in North America, the two competing standards for wireless high-definition home video have taken their battle on the road.
Here at IFA, several companies showed products using either WirelessHD, which uses the 60GHz band to send signals, or WHDI, which operates in the 5GHz band.
Philips, which has shown wireless HD kits at the Computer Electronics Show for several years, is giving it a go in Europe too. The new kit comes with a transmitter and receiver pair that can send up to 1080p signals at 30 frames per second (fps) at a range of about 65 feet. Toshiba and Funai also demonstrated similar versions of WirelessHD adapters here.
Vestel's wireless HDMI adapter.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)Long the domain of big brand names in electronics, promising wireless HDMI products has now even come to smaller and regional manufacturers. Three new companies demonstrated TVs that receive high-definition signals without wires: Haier, Vestel, and TCL, all using the WHDI standard. If you haven't heard of any of those three, you'd be excused since one is more known for its air conditioners and washing machines, another makes white-label TVs, and the third is sold mainly in Europe.
You'd also be excused for being slightly skeptical. We've heard these promises for a while, that the soon speakers, TVs, and video players will connect to each other without wires. While gadget exhibitions like IFA here this week are great places to show off forthcoming technology, we have a hard time believing that this in fact is the beginning of a new wave of wireless, high-definition devices for the home.
But the tide could be starting to turn. Just recently the European Union finally approved use of the 60GHz band, which WirelessHD operates in. That could theoretically open the floodgates for more wireless high-def products. However, there are problems with in several European countries, so mass adoption is likely still a ways off.
Nokia's X3 makes music.
(Credit: Nokia)It's been a busy week here at Crave with a whole lot of gadget news coming out of IFA 2009 in Berlin, including Toshiba announcing a touch-screen tablet called the JournE. This is, perhaps, Toshiba's effort to take on Apple's mythical machine before it's even official. Begun, the tablet wars have.
• We also saw some new photo and video gear from Panasonic. The company's betting quite a bit on the future of cinema being in 3D, and we think that's a good bet to make.
• Nokia's World Conference, also in Germany, was the venue for the debut of a pair of new high-end music phones, the X6 and the X3. Nokia's phones usually have boring names, but we're glad they're now naming them after experimental aircraft. Go, Nokia, go.
• Logitech's new Wi-Fi radio is an improvement on its already awesome lineup and includes Flickr integration, which, while pointless, is rather cool. I want one.
• The PS3 and the Xbox 360 have finally--finally--bested the Wii from Nintendo in U.S. sales. It was a tough road to get to the top, but they made it. Welcome to the big league, guys.
What can we say, except awww?
(Credit: Will Wagenaar)• Just when I was sick of Auto-Tune and the millions of songs that abuse it, and just when I thought it was going away, T-Pain brings an app to the iPhone that Auto-Tunes everything. Thanks, Shor-tay. Thanks a lot.
• These robot sculptures are adorable and I wish they were real and I had one as a pet. I would name him "Clanky." Or "Josh."
• Oh, and there was some stuff going around about the iPhone getting MMS or something. I may have missed it.
See anything else we missed? Write to us at crave at cnet dot com. We always love to hear from you.
(Credit:
Philips)
Philips is taking another shot at the wireless HDMI market with its stylish Wireless HDTV Link kit (PDF). Announced at IFA 2009 in Berlin, the 599 euros ($854) package includes a transmitter and receiver pair capable of processing up to 1080p signals at 30 frames per second (fps) within a 20m range. Connectivity-wise, the Wireless HDTV Link offers two HDMI inputs and dual component-video sockets for all your HD needs.
There may be a potential bottleneck, though. While the above frame rate is sufficient for 24fps Blu-ray Discs, other programs such as console games are encoded at a much higher 50fps to 60fps speed. For such cases, the Philips kit may have to apply redundant video conversion that could affect the picture quality, especially for motion fluidity.
(Source: Crave Asia)
Are people as interested in 3D at home as manufacturers think? These IFA-goers appear to be, anyway.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)Many of the biggest names in consumer technology are pushing not only 3D cinema, but watching 3D movies and playing 3D games at home.
Earlier this week, Sony CEO Howard Stringer promised Blu-ray players, PlayStation 3, and laptops that will be "3D compatible" next year. Panasonic used the upcoming James Cameron flick "Avatar" to push its "Full HD 3D" idea, and Nvidia and JVC are also showing off monitors and TVs that will make even PC video game playing three-dimensional.
Despite their obvious enthusiasm for the idea, so far there isn't much evidence that consumers actually want 3D in their homes. Most people are still getting used to paying extra to watch it in the theaters while sporting a pair of plastic spectacles, and some still complain that it's hard on the eyes to watch anything in 3D longer than 10 minutes. So why are gadget makers so excited about it?
Because of two factors: First, people are watching 3D films. The box office totals of recent hits like "Up," "Monsters vs. Aliens," and "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," show that there is indeed interest in the format.
The Philips 21:9 3D-capable TV on display at IFA in Berlin.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)But most of all, the companies that make consumer electronics see it as something else to sell that will distinguish their brand from the rest of the pack and from what they currently have at home. Blu-ray prices are coming down and the format is now solidly successful. And HDTVs, which became a must-have item, are becoming a commodity as well. Manufacturers are always on the lookout for some new twist that will compel users to upgrade, and for now, that appears to be 3D in the home.
Some trepidations
And while there is a race to be first to have a hit product for 3D at home, not everyone is onboard. Both Philips and Toshiba say they have tested the waters of 3D at home, but say it doesn't feel very inviting just yet.
In their massive booth here at IFA, Philips is showing prototypes of their 21:9 ultrawidescreen TV and a Blu-ray player, both of which are 3D-capable. Yet, interestingly, they have "no immediate plans to launch any commercial 3D TV products in the short term," the company said during their press conference Thursday. The technology, they are freely admitting, "isn't quite there."
Toshiba executives are voicing the same concern. ... Read more
A blade of a laptop: the Sony Vaio X Series
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)Giving the MacBook Air and the Dell Adamo a run for their money in the thin/coffee-shop sexy department, the Sony Vaio X Series notebook previewed at IFA Berlin definitely has the looks to rise to the top. At less than half an inch thick and weighing 1.5 pounds, it certainly could be one of the thinnest thin-and-lights out there, and a carbon fiber exterior should help with durability. Internal 3G and an "all day and into the night" battery also sound nice.
As to price and specs beyond an 11.1-inch screen, we're as curious as you are. Until then, here are some up-close and personal shots direct from Berlin for you to peek at. Hope you like the color black.
BERLIN--In the midst of America's raging debate on the future of health insurance, one man says he has a solution to out-of-control health care costs: more robots.
A prototype robotic telepresence "nurse."
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)Of course, this is coming from Colin Angle, a roboticist and CEO of iRobot, the company that makes both robotic vacuum cleaners and bomb-defusing gadgets currently in use by the U.S. military. At IFA here on Friday, he said that robotic telepresence devices, which would act like nurses in a person's home, could reduce the $2.2 trillion, or 17 percent of the U.S. GDP, currently spent on health care every year.
Angle insisted that when it comes to elderly people staying at home instead of moving to a nursing home, or a sick patients that don't need care such as surgery, "all of the things over time can be done with robots."
He's not talking about the kind of robot that the average person might think of, like Rosie from "The Jetsons" or Honda's Asimo. (In fact, Angle says those anthropomorphic style bots are "a technological marvel, but nearly, utterly useless.") Rather, the robotic nurses he has in mind look more like a machine than a man; more similar to the Roomba and Scooba household robots that Angle helped invent.
Instead of patients with chronic illnesses constantly going to a hospital for even minor treatments and checkups, a telepresence device could act as a proxy for the doctor to check in on them. The robot could examine, diagnose, and make sure a prescription is administered on the right schedule. The patient, in other words, wouldn't have to set foot in a hospital unless he or she needs care that is only available there.
The same model would cut the cost of nursing homes for aging people with a diminished ability to perform normal household tasks. In the future, robots are expected to be able to handle tasks such as daily medical reminders, cleaning the house, preparing food, and transportation.
The Roomba, from iRobot.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)While robots aren't cheap, neither are hospital visits. And Angle says he's encouraged by the money that people are already spending on home automation systems and devices. He says that half a million people in the U.S. last year spent between $2,000 and $3,000 each on equipment such as security monitoring services, and that in the next three years, that number will jump to over 7 million. In other words, the idea of spending money to keep an eye on things in your home isn't a totally foreign concept.
Skeptical about robot "nurses"? Angle says he's heard that reaction before. "Our biggest problem is that nobody believes robots work. It's like science fiction," he said.
The sales of Roombas and Scoobas, and the $35 million order that iRobot took from the U.S. Army earlier this week certainly aren't fictional, but there's quite a ways to go before robots can actually do all the things he has in mind. The company's first product, the Roomba vacuum cleaner, took 10 years to develop, while its iConnectr telepresence robot is limited compared to what he envisions for the future.
"That's a start," he said. "I admit we've only taken the first few steps."
The main menu of the YouTube client on Samsung's Blu-ray players.
(Credit: CNET)Add YouTube the growing list of streaming media services supported by Samsung Blu-ray players. Effective immediately, Google's megapopular online video site will be added to the Samsung's current 2009 (and future) Blu-ray players via a free firmware update. The update also adds support for playback of MKV files. (A placeholder button has been added for the previously announced Blockbuster video-on-demand service streaming service as well; it's still on track to be added later this year.)
We were able to run the automatic firmware update on our Samsung BD-P3600 review sample quickly and painlessly. The YouTube main menu (shown above) looks different from the Yahoo Widget-ized version you'll find on Samsung TVs, but it's otherwise pretty similar to the YouTube experience on other electronics products. Our only beef was--just like other non-PC YouTube players--it doesn't stream YouTube's HD content.
Its MKV support was also good. We played back an MKV-wrapped AVC file (1.37GB, 1,024x550-pixel resolution) from a USB thumbdrive. Aside from a slight stutter at the very beginning, playback was smooth and problem-free, and we had no problems using fast-forward and rewind. (For the uninformed: MKV support is a favorite of digital media geeks who get their HD movies from more unconventional sources, such as BitTorrent.)
The YouTube upgrade was first mentioned just yesterday at Samsung's IFA news conference in Berlin. It's available on all three current 2009 Blu-ray players: the BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600. Those services join Netflix and Pandora that are already available on the players. For those keeping score at home, this upgrade makes the Samsung Blu-ray players more competitive with the excellent LG BD390.
Separately, a Samsung representative has confirmed to CNET that YouTube and Blockbuster support will also be rolled out to the company's 2009 Blu-ray home theater systems (HT-BD1250, HT-BD7200, HT-BD8200, HT-BD3252) later this year, but no date has yet been specified.
This post has been updated from its original version to include hands-on testing of the software upgrade and additional information. Also, the state of the Blockbuster service has been clarified. CNET's David Katzmaier and Matthew Moskovciak contributed to this report.
