LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV -- the 22.3mm-thin LX9500

Well, here's a way to make those 3D tellies attractive -- slim them down to unreasonable proportions and kill as much of the bezel as you can. The newly announced LX9500 isn't quite as skinny as the stuff we saw LG show off at CES, but at 22.3mm it still makes the majority of laptops look on in envy. Paired to a pleasingly minimal 16mm bezel, it makes for quite the gorgeous living room accessory, whether on or off (one more pic after the break). The new LED-backlit set will offer a full 1080p resolution and a 400Hz refresh rate, which is more than enough to make those active shutter glasses useful. A 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio is given, but that number wouldn't impress us even if it was the total US national debt to 1, we want real contrast numbers or nothing at all. Anyhow, Reuters is reporting a 4.7 million Won ($4,134) launch price for the 47-inch model, which should go on sale a week from now in Korea. A 55-inch variant should also be available when these 3DTVs make the journey westwards in May.

Continue reading LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV -- the 22.3mm-thin LX9500

LG unveils first Full LED 3D HDTV -- the 22.3mm-thin LX9500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Latitude 13: a thin-and-light for big business

Dell is serious about its thin and light class of machines judging by its ability to churn out these lovely lappies from its Adamo design studio. Today we've got the Latitude 13. Oh sure, it looks almost exactly like the Vostro v13 for small businesses but this is Latitude brother, Dell's mainstream business brand. As such, it comes fully IT-ified with a preinstalled Citrix client, easier virtualization options, and baked in know-how for system image and software update distribution. So it's not really new, but it's still "the world's thinnest 13-inch commercial client laptop," according to Dell and that's gotta be worth a second look when it begins shipping in a few weeks.

Dell Latitude 13: a thin-and-light for big business originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As the old clichés go, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

The execs at NBC really need to take some history lesson from within its own organization. It’s incredibly appalling that no one at NBC decided to use the public uproar on its dealing with Conan O’Brien and turned that to its advantage.

NBC just need to look back to the early days of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. It’s no secret Leno was not doing well in ratings. It wasn’t until the appearance of Hugh Grant admitting his transgressions where Leno gained an edge against his rival.

The situation with Conan was exactly that opportunity for NBC. The spotlight was on Conan soon after the controversy started. Conan ripped into NBC with no mercy. People were excited to see the fireworks between NBC and their top talent. This was clearly validated by the significant increase in ratings for Conan's Tonight Show. People were watching! People were engaged!

Despite Jeff Zucker proclamation on how he made a business decision; but that was far from a business decision. It was an irrational and emotional decision by a guy whose ego is thru the root. Why? remember Zucker was being called the media genius for his amazing accession to become the executive producer at NBC’s Today Show at the age of 26. Zucker still considers himself the stuff, the genius. If Zucker had made a business decision, he wouldn’t have let this played out the way it did.

What should NBC have done? It’s very easy. As mentioned, NBC failed to realize that it had gained a group of new audience for Conan. These people discovered that Conan is very funny to watch. These are the same group of people who rallied for Conan. These are viewers who follow Conan like a cult. These are fresh new 18-49 viewers so coveted by the advertisers.

I would have let the whole mess play out as a publicity stunt. I would not commit to Jay at all on moving him to 11:35pm. Instead, I would have told Jay to hang on as things get sorted out.

In the mean time, continue to negotiate the exit package with Conan superficially. And in the last minute, declare publicly that NBC had made a stupid mistake to move Jay back thus restoring Conan to his rightful place as the host of the Tonight Show.

If NBC had done that, it would have amassed enormously positive sentiments from its viewers. Ratings would increase. It keeps the new found audience who now will stick with Conan. NBC would no longer be viewed as the company run by a bunch of bozos. Yes, Zucker would lose face. But I’d rather do that knowing I had played a great hand that benefited the company.

The net of it is, the egos of NBC execs hurt NBC. They didn’t put the company’s future ahead of their ego. Instead of turning a bad situation into a good one, NBC made a bad situation worse.

 

Apple bunging Bing search into iPhone?

Ready to get your Bing on, iPhone owners? That curious little Microsoft search engine you shrugged off just a few months ago could become a mainstay in your daily routine if BusinessWeek's sources are correct. According to a pair of persons familiar with the matter, Apple and Microsoft are discussing dropping Google as the default search engine on Apple's somewhat popular handset -- talks that have been underway for "weeks," apparently. BW paints the move as further evidence of an escalating rivalry between Apple and Google. In fact, one BW source claims that, "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle." No doubt, the once cozy relationship has seemingly fractured with Google CEO Eric Schmidt vacating Apple's board and Apple recently snapping up Lala and Quattro Wireless -- acquisitions that some analysts see as defensive measures against a rapidly encroaching Google. Isn't competition fun?

Apple bunging Bing search into iPhone? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bill Gates joins Twitter, seen playing kissy face with Ashley Tisdale

Bill Gates joins Twitter, seen playing kissy face with Ashley Tisdale originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Audi teams up with Nvidia for next-gen MMI replete with Google Earth, Vibrante entertainment system

Continue reading Audi teams up with Nvidia for next-gen MMI replete with Google Earth, Vibrante entertainment system

Audi teams up with Nvidia for next-gen MMI replete with Google Earth, Vibrante entertainment system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Reportedly Deep in Talks to Buy Yelp [Unconfirmed]

Techcrunch hears that Google is in advanced talks to buy Yelp (supposedly for $500 million), and that the deal, while not finalized, is very close to that stage. This could be a huge boon for Google's mapping and mobile efforts.

This is a little bit odd because Google already has Places, which is a fairly similar (and actually quite good) service to Yelp—but Yelp is the biggest crowdsourced directory out there, and intimate mingling with Maps could make it all the more powerful. This is unconfirmed as of now, but we'll keep you updated if we hear anything else. [TechCrunch]

Download ALL of National Geographic's Wallpapers at Once [Wallpapers]

National Geographic offers a lot of gorgeous wallpapers for those of us craving desktop eyecandy. Unfortunately there's no easy way to download the photos in batches. Until now, that is, because Lifehacker's found a way to make things easier.

Swing over to Lifehacker to check out the simple command line scripts to download all of National Geographic's 2008 and 2009 wallpapers. Oh, and don't forget to share your favorites, please, because my desktop's in need of a change. [Web Upd8 via Lifehacker]

Acer to launch first Chrome OS netbook, Android-based Aspire One sales disappoint

Acer loves it some Google. And unless Google's trying to stamp out your revenue stream, who doesn't? Now Acer chairman, JT Wang, says that he expects to be first to market with an official Chrome OS netbook -- sometime in the second half of 2010 according to DigiTimes' sources. In fact, JT says that Acer's been working on a Chrome OS device since mid-2009. This despite admittedly weaker than expected demand for its dual-boot Android netbook, the Aspire One AOD250. Guess even the Google halo isn't enough to shoehorn its smartphone OS into a market dominating position on cheap ultra-portables. It's worth pointing out that DigiTimes' moles aren't saying anything new with the launch time-frame since Google's target for its gold Chrome OS build has been 2H of 2010 ever since the lightweight OS was announced. Not that the timing matters too much since we'll likely be seeing plenty of Chromium OS netbooks flooding the grey market long before the second half of 2010.

Acer to launch first Chrome OS netbook, Android-based Aspire One sales disappoint originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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