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Samsung’s new 75-inch TV has a big price tag to match

Friday, July 13, 2012 // by Saurabh // Labels: , , // No comments:



That 55-inch TV you've been watching Netflix on is starting to look awfully small, now that Samsung has taken the wraps off its new 75-inch 75ES9000. The set, now on sale in South Korea, packs more than just a massive LED-backlit display in its incredibly thin 7.9mm deep frame.


In addition to featuring common Smart TV apps such as Netflix and Twitter, the television includes built-in wifi and a video camera that can be used for video conferencing. The camera also lets you interact with the on-screen display using hand gestures, much like Microsoft's Kinect for the Xbox 360. In fact, you can even control the TV using your voice.


All of this screen real estate and the technology behind it comes at a pretty steep price. The 75ES9000 is selling for 19.8 million South Korean won, or approximately $17,442. If you're in the market for a TV — especially one you can get now, and for less than the price of a car.

Report: More fixes for overheating iPads?

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Apple is quietly revising its third-generation iPad in a number of ways to fix an overheating issue with the tablet, according to Digitimes.


The Taiwanese tech site reported Friday that Apple is switching out the third-gen iPad's dual-LED backlight module for a single-LED module like the one used for the iPad 2. That report comes on the heels of a Digitimes report from a day earlier that claimed Apple was upgrading the battery in its new iPad, also to deal with the overheating problem.


Both reports cited unnamed sources in the Asian electronics supply chain. The rumored revisions to the third-gen iPad will appear in models made available around the holidays, Digitimes reported.  The iPad's overheating issues have been well-documented. Days after Apple released its third-gen iPad, Dutch site Tweakers.net published thermal images that it said showed the new iPad running 10 degrees hotter than the iPad 2. Using an infrared camera, Tweakers measured the temperature of each tablet side by side after five minutes of running GLBenchmark and found that the new iPad hit 33.6 degrees centigrade (92.5 Fahrenheit) while the iPad 2 ran at a cooler 28.3 degrees centigrade (82.9 Fahrenheit).  Apple told All Things D that the new iPad runs "well within our thermal specifications."


If Digitimes' sources are correct, Apple is tackling the overheating issue on several fronts. First, there's the reported revision to the battery, which would make the tablet "slightly lighter and thinner than previously designed," the site reported.  The third-gen iPad's second LED is apparently also a contributing factor to the tablet running hotter than Apple would like. Luckily for the iPad maker, returning to the single module design "will not affect luminosity and clarity of Apple's Retina Ddsplay," according to Digitimes' sources.  Finally, the touch-screen panel on the revised iPad will utilize Sharp's indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) panel technology, Digitimes said, citing the Chinese-language Apple Daily site. That will allow for a thinner profile for the revised tablet and, somehow, "longer battery life," according to Apple Daily. It would also mean Apple is switching from its current panel supplier, Samsung, to Sharp.  As always, Apple product rumors should be taken with a grain of salt

Samsung said to be working on new, even bigger Galaxy Note

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Sentiment over whether the mammoth screen on the original Galaxy Note (pictured above) seemed to be split between people who found it useful, and those who found it a bit excessive. Apparently not content with the 5.3-inch screen on its original smartphone/tablet hybrid, Samsung is reportedly poised to unveil the Galaxy Note 2, a device that manages to up the already enormous screen size to 5.5-inches.


The new Note is also said to feature a more powerful processor, as well as an improved camera, pushing past the original's 8.0-megapixel lens and landing closer to 12 or 13 megapixels. Of course, this means we'll have to yet again ask the question of whether we really need a smartphone with a tablet form factor, but given our own Taylor Hatmaker's enthusiastic response to the first Note, we're eager to see exactly how the Note 2 stacks up.


Samsung will supposedly reveal the new handset at the IFA consumer electronics show, which takes place in Germany this August. If this well-sourced information does indeed pan out, you can expect at least another year's worth of conjecture over whether a smartphone with a stylus is simply too much to handle.

Devices connected to internet set to reach 15 billion by 2015

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Devices connected to theinternet will reach 15 billion by 2015 and later to 50 billion by 2020, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad Director Professor U B Desai said today.

"Coming together of web technologies, mobile computer and communication technologies have greatly enhanced the capabilities of global reach even for the common man, opening several opportunities and possibilities for better living," he added, at a two-day national conference on 'Advanced Communication and Computer Technologies, organised by the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Visakhapatnam centre at the National Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) here today.

IETE president R K Gupta highlighted the role played by his organisation in reducing the digital divide by bringing together students, practicing professionals and industry.

IETE chairman, Visakhpatnam centre and Director NSTL S V Ranga Rajan said that 110 papers were shortlisted out of 160 papers presented by delegates in the area of communication technologies, image processing, microwaves and antennas, embedded systems, radar and sonar signal processing and others.

Ice Cream Sandwich is the third favorite flavor of Android

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Although Google continues to make improvements to its Android mobile operating system, users of devices designed to run it are still a few steps behind. According to the latest stats released by the search engine giant, only 10% of Android device owners are running version 4.0 of the software, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.


The most-used variant, Gingerbread (Android 2.3), was released in December 2010 and has an install base of 64%. After that is Froyo (Android 2.2) at 17.3% and Eclair (Android 2.1) at 4.7%. Ice Cream Sandwich debuted in October 2011 on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and, according to Google, is compatible with any device that's able to run Gingerbread.


That said, there's a good reason why all those devices that should be able to run it aren't:fragmentation. Hardware manufacturers actually need to tweak Android releases in order to make them work with each individual device, which means that older handsets and tablets are pretty low on their priority lists. What's more, cellular carriers have to agree to roll out each version of Android to each device individually. Time will tell if Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean — which made its debut on the new Nexus 7 tablet from Google — fares better in this regard than its frozen-snack-themed predecessor.

Microsoft promises cheap Windows 8 upgrade for Windows 7, Vista, XP users

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Microsoft is ensuring its upcoming Windows 8 operating system is made available to the maximum number of existing Windows users. And the Redmond-based software giant is leaving no stone unturned to give Windows 8 enthusiasts a taste of the OS at an inexpensive price.


Just last month, Microsoft revealed a Windows 8 upgrade offer for just Rs. 699, and it generated quite a buzz among Windows enthusiasts. According to that specific announcement, Windows 7 users who buy a PC (desktop or laptop) between June 2012 and January 2013 were entitled for a low-cost upgrade to Windows 8 Pro.


Microsoft is topping that announcement with a limited-time offer that allows not only Windows 7 users, but also those stuck on Windows XP and Windows Vista to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for just US $39.99. That’s approximately Rs. 2,200, presuming the existing Rupee-vs-Dollar rate doesn’t change. Not a bad price for a brand new Windows 8 copy, if you ask me.


In a blog post, Microsoft gave additional details of the limited-time Windows 8 upgrade offer. While the Rs. 699 Windows 8 upgrade offer is only for relatively newer Windows 7 PCs, the limited-time $40 upgrade to Windows 8 ropes in almost anyone using a genuine Windows 7, Vista and XP machine.


If you are more comfortable buying a DVD from a retail store, you can buy a upgrade to Windows 8 Pro disc for US $69.99 during this promotion, according to Microsoft’s blog post.


To upgrade to Windows 8 through this offer, interested users will have to visit Windows.com and purchase a copy of Microsoft’s upcoming OS in the coming months. The Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant promises to keep things simple by walking you through a step-by-step process from purchase to download and finally to installation.


This offer will be available in 131 markets, according to Microsoft. It’s unclear whether India’s part of the program, all attempts to reach a Microsoft India spokesperson were futile. We’ll update this article as soon as we hear more.

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