Hands-On

Apple TV Hands-On with Videos

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As reported the Apple TV has shipped this week.

Gizmodo published a good video showing the Apple TV box focusing on initial setup. The user interface is just neat as expected.

The Apple TV box does not support direct file manipulation. It just syncs from the PC/Mac. Maybe Apple adds that in the future via a firmware update.
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Posted on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Joost 0.8.1 Beta Test Hands-on Impressions

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I just found an invite the Joost beta test in my inbox. To summarize the experience in one word: AWESOME!

The user interface concept is just what you expect from a state-of-the-art service. Transparent overlay menues are nothing new, but it is good to see them used well. The channel navigation is great. The viewing experience in full screen is nice. Although most footage is not in HD.

I just got 16mbps DSL service from the pink giant (Deutsche Telekom), still I got several hick-ups watching footage.

The biggest issue with the current Joost service i found is that fast forward is not working. Apparently it should work to move the slider on footage that I already viewed, but that did not work either.
Fast forward on something I did not watch before is not supported right now, based on a comment in the Joost forum. Fast forward is an important feature. I hope to see this working in the next version of Joost.

There are also already short commercials featuring Eclipse and T-Mobile. They appear switching between shows. Read more

Posted on Sat, 3 Mar 2007 06:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Hands-On with Intel 8-Core V8 Workstation

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Intel showed the V8 Workstation, which features 8-Cores at the CES 2007.

The Intel V8 features Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor X5355 CPUs running at 2.66GHz. Rob Enderle over at Digital Trends got a V8 from Intel and compared it to his AMD Quadzilla machine.

Quote:
"Having what amounts to unlimited headroom is damned nice. You don’t have to think about shutting stuff down if you want to do something else, you can multi-task everything, begin virus scans whenever you want, run video games (several at once if you want), watch TV or movies, and generally fry your brain, depending on your attention span and your tolerance level for distraction. "
Read the full V8 hands-on report.
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Posted on Mon, 26 Feb 2007 04:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

SlingPlayer Mobile Hands-On Review

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The long awaited SlingPlayer Mobile is available now for download as a 30 day trial.

Laptop Magazine already published a review of the SlingPlayer Mobile. They tested the Slingbox client on the UTStarcom PPC-6700 with Sprint service. Over Wi-fi the experience is like on a TV. Over EV-DO it is ok, but it gets a bit blurry.

If you already have a Slingbox and a Windows Smartphone than you do not have to wait for DMB or DVB-H mobile TV and get charged by the minute. Read more

Posted on Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:47:17 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Hands-On Photos with the Smart Sony Ericsson M600

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Sony Ericsson announced the M600 3G business phone early February. The M600 features a very clean design and as the first photos show the user interface is also very clean.

The Sony Ericsson M600 supports text input via the touch-screen offering text recognition and a virtual keyboard. Alternatively the keys can be used which offer a minimalist QWERTY keyboard.
Esato features several fresh hi-res photos of the M600 from their visit at the CeBit show. Engadget Mobile has also some photos from a Sony Ericsson press event. Read more

Posted on Mon, 13 Mar 2006 06:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Dive into These Xbox 360 Hands-On Reports

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Gaming Blog Kotaku got an Xbox 360 early and is publishing one Xbox 360 hands-on report after the other. Reading all of them should pass the time easily until November 22nd.

Start at the Xbox 360 in the house report and work yourself through the general Xbox 360 Hands-on, Xbox 360 Live Hands-On, Xbox 360 Multimedia Hands-On, Xbox 360 NBA 2K6 Hands-On and Xbox 360 Interoperability Hands-On.
Kotaku's Brian D. Crecente is not done yet, but he must sleep now. Read more

Posted on Tue, 15 Nov 2005 07:40:48 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Motorola RAZR 2 Hands-On Photos

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Update 05/15/07
Motorola announces RAZR 2

PSP Updates (yes, they usually report about Sony PSP Hacks) got their hands on an unannounced Motorola RAZR 2 and published several photos of the next generation RAZR phone.

The RAZR 2 (not the official name, could be also called V3i) has a MicroSD card slot, 1.3MP digital camera, Bluetooth and a slightly updated keyboard. It is supposedly a bit thicker than the RAZR V3. All in all, a not very exciting update. Maybe it is even just for selected markets and this model will not be launched globally.
See the photos here. Read more

Posted on Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:16:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Zen Micro: First Hands-on Photos of the new Creative Zen Micro

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Shiny Plastic has a set of first hand photos of the new Creative Zen Micro.

Quote:
"In my eyes it takes a lot to beat the iPod mini but the Zen Micro is in with a chance: it has the same small size but solid feel as the iPod mini and I'm tempted to say that after a few minutes use the navigation with the vertical scroll pad seems better than using the mini (why go round in a circle on the mini to scroll down a list when you can just scroll down on the Zen Micro). "
More details and hi-res photos on Shiny Plastic. The Creative Zen Micro is featured on MP3PlayersRule.com.

Shiny Plastic has also first hand photos of the rather boring looking Virgin Electronics 5GB MP3 Player.

See also Engadget for some more Zen Micro photos.

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