Gadgets – AMP

Google’s made several ‘Star Wars’ VR experiences for Cardboard

Suddenly it’s not so important to own a car that’s “the ultimate driving machine,” as opposed to “the ultimate app machine.” I drive my Honda Pilot instead of my Volvo XC90 whenever I can because the Honda can connect to my smartphone over Bluetooth, plus it has a great navigation system. My Volvo has neither — all it does is drive.

Car manufacturers have picked up on this trend, recognizing that our apps are increasingly important in our car-purchasing decisions.

Given how important in-car technology has become — and the sluggish pace at which it updates — more automobile manufacturers are turning to smartphones to drive innovation. While people swap out their cars infrequently, we change our smartphones every two years or so, making the smartphone ideal as a target for car-app innovation. John Ellis, head of Ford’s developer program, explains:

The only one that puts software on the head unit is Ford Motor Company. We don’t allow you access to the head unit but through a dedicated set of APIs. In our philosophy, the phone drives the head unit: the head unit is a display. Innovation is much faster on the phone than it could be on the head unit. Certainly for us, we’re very bullish on this model. People are starting to see that it just works.

New in our buyer’s guide: The iPhone 6s, Surface Book and much more

You can use 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs with your MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013) or Mac Pro (Late 2013) computer. You can use these displays at the following resolutions and refresh rates with the built-in HDMI port.

3840 x 2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate
4096 x 2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)

With OS X Mavericks v10.9.3 or later, the following DisplayPort displays are supported at their default 30 Hz using single-stream transport (SST).

Sharp PN-K321
ASUS PQ321Q
Dell UP2414Q
Dell UP3214Q
Panasonic TC-L65WT600

MacBook Pro (Retina, Late 2013) or Mac Pro (Late 2013) also support 60 Hz displays using multi-stream transport (MST). These displays need to be manually configured to use MST. Follow the steps below to use the display’s built-in controls to enable this feature.

Sharp PN-K321: Choose Menu > Setup > DisplayPort STREAM > MST > SET
ASUS PQ321Q: Choose OSD menu > Setup > DisplayPort Stream
Dell UP2414Q and UP3214Q: Choose Menu > Display Setting > DisplayPort 1.2 > Enable
Panasonic TC-L65WT600: Choose Menu > Display Port Settings > Steam Setting > Auto

Your Mac will automatically detect an MST-enabled display. However, your display may require a firmware update to support 60Hz operation. Please contact your display vendor for details. If your specific DisplayPort display is not listed above, check with the display’s manufacturer for compatibility information.

Nikon P300: A Light-Swallowing, 1080p-Shooting Pocket Monster

This is Nikon’s answer to the Canon S95 pocket dynamo. The P300 pairs a 12.1-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor (which picks up more light than a standard CMOS sensor) with a fast f1.8 lens. Max ISO is 3200. And it shoots 1080p video at 30fps.

Full size
It’s also got a new easy panorama mode seemingly borrowed from Sony’s pocketcams, creative filters like faux fisheye and a built-in HDR mode that combines multiple shots at different exposures in camera to create HDR shots. (Click to embiggen the specs box.)

The P300’s a little fatter than the S95, but if the photos deliver what’s promised on paper, it’s some extra bulge I can definitely handle. Other downside? No RAW photos, unlike its pro point-and-shoot competition. I’m guessing that’s where they shaved off the feature set to keep it down to $330, around $70 cheaper than the S95.

Asus has a Secret Weapon against the iPad

In a recent interview with IDG, Jonny Shih -the chairman of ASUS- has mentioned that his company is working on a “Secret Weapon” that no one has seen yet, but that the world will soon see as we get closer to the launch date.

He also said that he already knows about some details of the upcoming iPad 2, such as details about the system on a chip (SoC) that the next iPad will run on.

Sony’s next PSP, codenamed NGP

Betcha didn’t think this day would come, but it finally has. Sony has just come clean with its next-generation PlayStation Portable. It’s actually codenamed NGP and will revolve around five key concepts: Revolutionary User Interface, Social Connectivity, Location-based Entertainment, Converging Real and Virtual (augmented) Reality. It will be compatible with the PlayStation Suite and is backwards-compatible with downloadable PSP games and content from Sony’s PlayStation Store.

Specs include a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, 5-inch touchscreen OLED display with 960 x 544 resolution, dual analog sticks (not nubs as on the current generation), 3G, WiFi, GPS, a rear-mounted touchpad, the same accelerometer / gyroscope motion sensing as in the PlayStation Move, an electronic compass, and cameras on both the front and back. Available this holiday season. Wait… what?!

Cutting-Edge, Eco-Friendly LED TV for Less Than $2,200?

A reader writes: I need a good TV for my living room, and I’ve decided that LCD, particularly LED, is the way to go. I’ve heard that some plasmas can look better than LCDs, so I definitely want good video quality, but I heard they use up a lot of energy and I don’t want to break the bank if I can avoid it. Also, I’d like something that doesn’t use up too much power. Please… just tell me what to get!

What up, reader? Indeed, the Plasma vs. LCD conflict is a tough one, as plasma does traditionally provide better black levels, which can translate to superior contrast between dark and light onscreen, especially valuable when watching high-definition movies now in the Blu-ray era.

The good news is that LCDs are continuing to evolve, with the switch to energy-saving LEDs (light-emitting diodes) as their light source (versus more common cold cathode fluorescent lamps, if you want to get technical). The Next Big Thing in energy-efficient televisions is local dimming LED, which can make specific areas of the screen lighter or darker depending upon the picture being displayed. The improvement can be absolutely stunning, imparting more drastic blacks and a much-needed boost to the dynamic contrast ratio, rated at a mind-boggling 2,000,000:1. Unfortunately, a lot of these LED TVs are pricey, but we’ve found one from good ol’ bang-for-the-buck Vizio.

LG Thinq Appliances Let You Remotely Burn Lasagna, Start the Dryer

Every year at CES, there are tons of companies pushing home automation and smart appliances, and, every year, these products fail to storm the marketplace. LG is hoping that 2011 will be different, and that the key to success will be the sudden proliferation of tablets and smartphones. LG’s new Thinq technology will let handheld devices “talk” to the company’s appliances, such as ovens, refrigerators and washing machines. The company is even launching HOM-BOT, a robotic vacuum cleaner that will not only start tidying up on demand but, thanks to its built-in camera, also let you take a peek around your home while you’re away. With Thinq-enabled appliances connected to the ‘Net via a smart meter, owners will be able to schedule cooking times, defrost their refrigerators and start different cycles on their washing machines from their tablets or phones — not just while they’re home, but while they’re out and about. Imagine prepping a nice lasagna, which you toss in the oven on your way out the door in the morning. As you leave work that evening, you remotely tell your oven to fire up, and you’ll have a nice hot meal waiting for you at home.

The smart appliances can also send out alerts for things like the ice maker turning on or off, or a load of laundry finishing a cycle. The refrigerator even has a tool for monitoring your food inventory, although it will have to be managed manually to be of any use. Perhaps most interesting is the diagnostic tool, which allows the appliance to play a series of tones that can be decoded over the phone by LG support technicians. And, for the eco-conscious, every Thinq-enabled appliance will track its energy usage. Check out the gallery below.

Fanatec Porsche GT2 wheel and Clubsport pedals review

Sim racing keeps on moving toward higher-end accessories, while there have always been top-shelf components available to the hardcore, games like Gran Turismo 5 are encouraging more and more people to want a more and more realistic driving experience. Fanatec has been delivering that experience for years and its $250 Porsche 911 GT2 is the company’s latest and highest-end product, offering a luxurious Alcantara covering, the obligatory 900 degrees of rotation, and full compatibility with force feedback for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Fanatec was also kind enough to send us a set of its $200 Clubsport pedals to hit the virtual road with. Click on through to see how we did.

Smart grid and green tech at CES (photos)

Greenwave Reality CEO Greg Memo shows off how a grid-aware home energy system can be controlled and monitored either from a smart phone, PC, or Sony TV. Devices are connected to a home network by using smart plugs, seen on left, and a smart meter. The company is testing its system with utilities in Europe.

Soulra radios from Eton can charge are equipped with solar panels to charge an iPod which fits inside the case. The radios can also run off of an AC outlet. This week, the company also introduced hand-crank operated radios and lights designed for emergency situations or off-grid use. The hand-cranked equipment also comes with a USB port to charge a phone or other small gadgets.

Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 review: the mouse that’s a gamepad, too

Peanut butter and jelly. Gin and tonic. Peaches and cream. Some strange combinations make perfect sense paired, but how about the mouse and the PC gamepad? Those two items are what a Hong Kong peripheral manufacturer decided to combine, and the result was the Shogun Bros. Chameleon X-1 — a gaming mouse you can flip to find twelve buttons and two miniature analog sticks on the bottom. It works as a gamepad, sure enough, and functions as a one-handed multimedia remote too. But is it any good? We’ve used it as our primary peripheral for over a week, and after the break, we’ll tell you.