While Toshiba’s stateside reps had us convinced its 14-inch Ultrabook wouldn’t see the light of day until sometime in June, that message of withholding apparently didn’t make it Down Under. Outed by its Australian arm today, that would-be Portege is actually the company’s Satellite U840. We already knew the electronics giant had intended on shuffling this Windows 7 machine out under that brand umbrella back at CES, but now we have a ,500 AUD (about ,608 USD) price tag to go with a list of confirmed specs. Officially on deck for this aluminum-bodied laptop are an Intel Core i5-2467M processor and HD Graphics 3000 GPU, 720p-capable 1366 x 768 LED display, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB of storage, in addition to ports for HDMI, mic, headphone and USB (1x USB 3.0 and 2x USB 2.0). We still don’t know much about the capacity of the six cell battery powering this svelte notebook entry or a concrete landing date for that matter. But from the looks of this Aussie product page, that release is creeping mighty close.

Toshiba Satellite U840 goes official for Australia, still waiting on its US passport originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve seen Nikon’s successor to the D700 slip out a few times this past winter, but this latest leak and its bevy of press images might just be the real deal. According to Brazilian site ZTOP, the company’s set to officially debut its 36.3-megapixel D800 tomorrow. So, what’s on the spec list? Well, it looks like those rumors were true, as this high-end DSLR apparently boasts that aforementioned CMOS sensor capable of 7360 x 4912 resolution and the ability to toggle ISO from 100 – 6,400. As you’d imagine, this high-end, digital light box also comes equipped with the ability for full 1080p30 HD video capture, recording content in either H.264 or MPEG-4 formats. Naturally, there’s also a 3.2-inch LCD viewfinder onboard so you can sift through your sizeable gallery of stills. While we still caution you to take this news with a nigh invisible grain of salt, it’s likely all will be revealed in one day’s time. Check out the source below for additional shots.

Nikon D800 slips out for an early bird preview, to be officially unveiled tomorrow? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve all been there: fire up a clip from YouTube or a movie on Netflix and things start out great. But, then, after just a few moments, that LTE connection starts to give up the ghost and suddenly you’re faced with unbearable stutturing or a video that just dies mid stream. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications are looking to solve that conundrum with DASH, or Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP. The idea is actually surprisingly simple — files of different sizes and qualities will be available depending on signal strength and network load, and the stream will be able to seamlessly switch between them as these variables change. While this sounds like a win for both consumer and carriers, we’re sure there are a few of you out there who just want the highest quality possible, even if that means waiting forever for that HD clip of the all accordion cover of Take On Me to buffer. Full PR is after the break.

Continue reading DASH promises stutter free streaming video over LTE, hopes you don’t care about quality

DASH promises stutter free streaming video over LTE, hopes you don’t care about quality originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s just get this out of the way, shall we? If the LG Spectrum looks familiar, you’re not imagining things. It may have been a highlight at the company’s CES press event last month, but the handset bears more than a passing resemblance to its older, more excitingly-named sibling, the LG Nitro HD — and, by extension, the globe-trotting Optimus LTE. Beneath their 4.5-inch IPS displays, you’ll find virtually identical guts, including a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1,830mAh battery and 4GB of internal storage, coupled with a 16GB microSD. There are some important distinctions here, of course — namely, changes to the phone’s shell and, of course, a shift from AT&T to Verizon. So, how does world-weary Optimus fare from its jump to Big Red? Find the answer past the break.

Continue reading LG Spectrum review

LG Spectrum review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“I’m looking to buy a small HD LED projector to use at home for movies and games etc. I’d prefer it to be small to avoid having another large black box cluttering up the place and LED because of the decent lifetime compared to traditional projectors. I’d be happy with a 720p resolution device, but a lot of pico projectors are under 30 lumens, is this level sufficient for a decent size-display in a dim room? Thanks a bunch!”

So, what’s it gonna be dear friends? If you don’t know the drill: it’s a jump to your left, a step to your right, put your hands on your hips and leave a comment below.

Ask Engadget: Best HD LED Pico Projector for a small room? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA switching its Public Channel and Media Channel to HD originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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