Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

Ruh roh. Research firm DisplaySearch has just unleashed a new report that takes an in-depth look at the ultrathin XEL-1, and it ended up finding a video lifetime barely half of what Sony promises. Apparently the company ran a couple of Sony’s OLED TVs for 1,000 hours, after which it found that blue luminance degraded by 12-percent, the red by 7-percent and the green by 8-percent. Extrapolating the data it gathered, it estimated that the unit would lose half of its brightness in 17,000 hours — Sony says you can expect 30,000. Of course, Sony is still standing by its numbers, and even we can see that DisplaySearch’s methods aren′t perfectly scientific, but if you were honestly expecting to watch this thing for the next decade (and not a year less), you may want to hit the read link and snoop around.

[Via Yahoo, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

Alright everyone, let’s review: If you’re going to put out a joke press release for April Fool’s Day, it’s important to make sure it’s actually April 1st. That’s a little lesson the folks at AbleComm apparently didn’t get, because the company’s April Fools press release about Panasonic putting partially-Ablecomm-sourced plasma screens in cell phones went out yesterday, April 3rd — and got subsequently picked up by a variety of news outlets, including us. Yep, we got punked, we’ll admit it. Unlike us, however, AbleComm hasn’t yet had the stones to issue its own retraction, instead ordering PR Newswire to completely pull the release and put out a new, PRNewswire-written three-line retraction elsewhere. Yikes. We’ll probably live without plasmas in our cellphones, but but c′mon, people, at least admit it when the joke goes bad. Check out the retraction and the original fake press release after the break.

[Thanks, David]

Continue reading April fool: AbleComm forgets what day it is, retracts Panasonic plasma cellphone release

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Dell reported an $11.6B profit last year, but the company apparently isn’t satisfied — it just announced a plan to shave off $3B in costs over the next three years. As you′d expect, it’s going to take a little more than off-brand soda and thrift store uniforms to achieve the sqeeze: 6,500 jobs are due to be eliminated (on top of 3,200 already cut) and a desktop manufacturing plant in Austin is scheduled to close as well. The big chunk, however, is going to come putting the squeeze on design, manufacturing, and logistics, as well as cutting component and material costs across all Dell product lines. That’s the part that has us a little worried, actually — we′re fans of new Dells like the XPS M1330, here’s hoping this doesn’t mean a return to beige boxes.

[Via Yahoo]

 

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Laptops

HP’s already jumped on board, and it looks like Qualcomm’s now also managed to convince Dell of the merits of its Gobi dual-3G chipset, which will soon be finding its way into a variety of Latitude, Precision, and other unspecified consumer laptops. For those not up to speed, that welcome addition will let you connect to both EV-DO and HSPA networks the world over without having to carry two different mobile broadband cards with you, with switching between the two as easy as flipping a software switch. Unfortunately, there’s no word on the exact models that′ll be getting the upgrade, nor is there any word on how much extra it′ll cost or exactly when it′ll be available, with Dell only going so far as to say that they’ll be available “later this year.”

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Laptops

Grabbing a laptop with a built-in Blu-ray drive isn’t at all difficult; finding one that’s reasonably affordable, however, is. Starting today, users looking to pick up a new BD-equipped lappie can get their kicks for under nine bills, as the base model Inspiron 1525 can be fitted with a Blu-ray combo drive (and the requisite 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo T5550 processor) for the low, low price of $879. Kicking things up to a Blu-ray burner will tack on another $200, and given the 1,280 x 800 screen resolution, we get the idea you’ll be utilizing that HDMI output in order to enjoy the 1080p capabilities (if it’ll even reach above 720p). Still, the aforesaid configuration is pretty lacking in most respects (1GB of RAM, 80GB HDD, and a woefully underwhelming GMA X3100 graphics accelerator), but hey, at least you’ll have Blu-ray! Grab yours now if you’re situated in Canada, Europe or the US of A.

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Laptops, Peripherals

We’re closing out our Week O’ Dell scoops the way it began, with Dell’s new Ergo, revealed. Clearly, it’s not a waffle iron or bulk food scale with LCD monitor. It’s just an E-series stand supporting LCDs up to 24-inches. Sorry, but it looks like the existing Latitude D-series of docks won’t work for the new Es. As such, prepare to purchase a truckload of new E-Ports to accompany your Latitude E6000 and E5000 laptops, 򩠜 and 򩞸 ultra-portables, and the semi-rugged E6400 ATG. At least the XT2 Tablet should work with the existing XT media base. All the details can be found in the gallery below.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: GPS, Laptops

Our week o’ Dell scoops continues with what Dell calls its “mainstream” and “essential” series of Latitude E-series laptops. While the enterprise-ready, mainstream series packs just about everything (and more) that you could hope for in a balanced spec-for-size lappie, the essential series is only essential if you’re on a tight budget and just can’t live without the comparatively low-end chub. The 15.4-inch 򪂴 and 14.1-inch 򪁐 models will replace Dell’s D830 and D630 whereas the “essential” 15.4-inch E5500 and and 14.1-inch E5400 carry on the low-end tradition of Dell’s D531 and D530. With any luck, these will be Dell’s first Montevina / Centrino 2 class machines if they all hit the targeted June release date as planned. AMD fans will see the E5500a and E5400a configurations at about the same time. So what can you expect under the hood? Well, just look at the 5.1-pound E6500 which reads like a suit’s, geek fantasy:

• UWB, Bluetooth 2.1, mobile broadband
• Integrated GPS, yes GPS
• New 84WHr slice batteries for “all day″ computing
• LED backlighting, 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution, discrete nVIDIA graphics and DisplayPort out
• Hard, Hybrid, and Solid State disk drive options with eSATA jack for more
• Optional camera and mic
• Plenty of security options including contact-less smart cards and encrypted hard disks

Time to pad those budgets a bit, eh CIOs? Full low-down in the gallery below.

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

Ultra-portables are by the far the sexiest class of laptops. Especially when they start at just 2.2-pounds (1kg) like Dell’s upcoming 12.1-inch E4200 or 3-pounds for the 13.3-inch E4300. Both pack LED backlit displays; Centrino 2 chipsets; Firewire, eSATA, 2x audio, ExpressCard 34, and at least 2x USB ports; integrated UMA graphics; DDR3 800MHz with Intel Turbo Memory 2.0; DisplayPort; and a host of security features to keep corporate IT types happy. The 򩠜 differs with a higher WXGA+ resolution, modular optical bay, peppier CPU options, and a choice of beefier hard disk drives instead of the 32GB or 64GB SSD restriction of the 򩞸. Plenty more in the gallery including a head-to-head comparison’s of each new model with the D430 they’ll replace. Stay tuned as our exclusive Week o’ Dell Scoops continues.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops

See that? That’s Dell’s Latitude roadmap stretching into Q1 of 2009. We already told you about Dell’s XT2 tablet plans yesterday and gave you the initial peek at the E-series back in February. Details of each the new Es shortly as our week o’ Dell scoops continues. Until then, kick back and soak it all in with the assurance that Dell’s thinner, lighter Centrino 2-based E-series laptops with options for “all-day batteries″ and an emphasis on design are on the way. Non-squinty version available below.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Alright Avian Securities, looks like you might have some explaining to do. Dell claims that the 20 to 30% failure and return rates for SSD laptops cited by Avian’s report “don′t even vaguely resemble what’s happening in our business.” Dell says it wasn′t contacted in the study, and that “global reliability data shows that SSD drives are equal to or better than traditional hard disk drives we’ve shipped.” The company says that return rates are “are in line with our expectations for new technology,” and an “order of magnitude” better than what is being reported. To be fair to Avian, the original report cited an unnamed “large computer manufacturer,” which some in the press assumed meant Dell, thought it was never said explicitly. It looks like we’re going to need some more hard facts from both sides to get the true picture of SSD reliability and customer satisfaction, but for now let’s nobody panic.

 

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops, Tablet PCs

That’s Dell’s product rendering for its second generation Latitude XT convertible tablet. Expected in November 2008, the XT2 will ship with Intel’s latest Montevina, er “Centrino 2″ architecture in your choice of ULV or LV CPUs, new UMA graphics supporting Vista Aero, and possibly the option of an ultra-thin, optical drive integrated directly into the laptop instead of the optional Media Base. Dell also plans to replace one of the three USB ports with eSATA, a definite trend for Dell laptops in 2008. Otherwise, it brings the same 12.1-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display found on the original XT — which is fine by us.

 

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Hate surprises? Like teaching kids about the Santa myth and the truth of their adoption? Good, this series of Dell scoops is for you. We’ll be back in a few with the first peek at Dell’s second generation Latitude XT tablet. And that’s just the beginning. Until then, why not guess what that mystery device is up top.

Hint: It’s not as innovative as it looks.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Cellphones

Don’t hide it. We all share the same moment of reflection accompanying any $500+ smartphone purchase: “Man, I could really use a cheap, new Axim right about now.” Say it loud boy, ‘cause you might be in luck if DigiTimes’ sources are to be believed. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Dell is set to “resume its handheld device business” with a focus on Windows Mobile, not Android as previously rumored (though we’d would be nuts to rule that out). Sources claim that Foxconn (not Quanta) is preparing to accept handset orders from Dell who is busy organizing its handheld device team under Ron Garriques, the executive VP Michael Dell hired away from Motorola’s cellphone division in early 2007. Of course, the industry stood shaking in its Palm OS boots the first time Dell entered the handheld market in 2002 — a “Palm killer” as Dell’s inexpensive and bulky Pocket PCs were then hailed. Now, with Palm all but dead, Dell would enter an entirely different marketplace dominated by premium handsets from the likes of RIM, HTC and that upstart from Cupertino. Following ASUS′ resurgent WinMo offerings unveiled at CeBIT and Acer’s recent acquisition of E-Ten, we’re pretty sure Michael Dell isn’t just looking on from Round Rock, fiddling.

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: Displays

Not feeling enough LCD love from Dell lately? How about this new UltraSharp 2009W? The new 20-inch 16:10 widescreen monitor does up a 1680 x 1050 resolution, with 36% more pixel content than Dell’s 19-incher. The display also outperforms its budget friendly E207WFP predecessor with a 102% color gamut, 2000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 5ms response time, and four USB 2.0 ports. Only inputs available are DVI with HDCP and VGA, but perhaps all can be forgiven with that $289 pricetag. It’s available now.

[Thanks, Bart]

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

Sweet heavens, Dell hasn′t forgotten that there’s a 15-incher in between the Penryn-stocked M1330 and M1730! As we suspected it would, Dell really, truly went ahead and added options for a Core 2 Duo T8300, T9300 and T9500 to its XPS 򼗊 in short order after a mysterious message popped up hinting at as much on Friday. The 2.4GHz, 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz chips come at an upgrade cost of $75, $200 and $475 (respectively) and can actually be ordered right now. No, celebrating wildly in your cubicle wouldn’t be overreacting.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Original post by Darren Murph