Panasonic and LG won’t be the only ones with Skype-enabled HDTVs, though we peeped it in the specs earlier, Samsung has officially announced its new 7000 and 8000 series televisions will also include access. Accessible through the embedded Samsung Apps service, it appears it will work with the new HD video processing webcams just like the others, so users can log in to or create an account with the remote then make video or voice calls away from the PC. We heard at CES those cameras could run as high as $200, check out the CES 2010 demo from Panasonic to see if couch videoconferencing is worth the additional expense.

Samsung makes Skype for new LED lit HDTVs official originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With LTE onslaughts from Verizon and AT&T (not to mention countless carriers around the world) drawing near, Sprint’s wasting no time beefing up its WiMAX network ahead of its competitors’ 4G launches in an effort to give WiMAX the best chance it can. Without giving a hard figure, the company says that it expects to launch WiMAX service in “many” markets this year, with several notables among the lot: Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Houston, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC are all called out by name. SF and the Big Apple in particular will be huge wins — assuming the deployments go smoothly — thanks to abnormally high concentrations of geeks (including yours truly, of course) that will immediately appreciate faster wide-area broadband. They’re not listing dates just yet, so it’s unclear just how soon we can expect these to light up.

Sprint promises ‘many’ new 4G markets in 2010; New York, SF included originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung is offering a picture of what the intelligent, energy-efficient houses of the near future may look like. Samsung C&T’s (a leading innovator in the construction and housing industry in Korea) Green Tomorrow model house in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province is built around a heavily-insulated roof installed with solar panels and triple-glazed, low-emissivity glass throughout. Green Tomorrow is designed to consume 56 percent less electricity than average apartment units, which use more than 33,000 kilowatt-hours a year. Green Tomorrow is a product of a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, including solar and wind power generating equipment, low-power light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, a radio frequency identification-based management program for monitoring food, clothes, other items, the smart grid system and information systems for cars.

Some of the technologies, including the solar power equipment, new heat insulation materials and geothermal heating systems for car roads, are already applied to the Raemian Dongcheon apartment complex in Yongin, where the first residents are expected to move in during May. Samsung will start applying the technologies used for Green Tomorrow in its Raemian apartment units built from 2013.

Beginning on March 3, 2010, at CeBIT, MSI will reveal the world’s first large-sized 3D All-in-One PC with powerful computing capabilities. Taking advantage of recent advances in 3D imaging technology, MSI has integrated 3D display technology with a powerful CPU to ensure smooth, clear 3D images and a higher level of detail. The combination of 120Hz LED panel and Shutter Glass 3D glasses brings the kind of 3D video experience that you would normally only get in the movie theater right into your home. Put on the 3D glasses and touch the screen with your fingertip, and the beautiful scenery of the planet Pandora from the movie Avatar will appear right in front of you, almost as if you could reach out and touch it.

MSI has officially launched a new generation of the Lightning series graphic card, the R5870 Lightning. The new MSI R5870 Lightning features the industry’s first 15-phase (13+2) power supply design; comparing to the reference-design 7 (5+2)-phase power supply module, it provides more than twice the power required by the GPU; It also features two 8-pin external power connectors, allowing more ample power supply for the R5870 Lightning; The design of the new MSI R5870 Lightning has also incorporated a dedicated LPL (Lightning Power Layer) design, which is designed for GPU and memory power. This helps to increase the stability of power supply and also reduce noise.

These outstanding features boost overall performance and reliability to a whole new level. This can be described as a top-performing product specifically designed for the extreme gamers and built to be perfect

Asus an Nvidia launch partner in introducing the new Nvidia Optimus technology for its latest range of notebooks in coming months. These include the powerful multimedia N Series, several slim and light U/UL Series models and versatile mainstream K Series notebooks. The Asus N Series notebooks are equipped with the cutting-edge Nvidia Optimus technology which harnesses the power of both discrete and integrated graphics to deliver the right amount of visual performance for the job at hand—thus extending battery life. Together with Asus SonicMaster technology for enhanced audio clarity, Video Magic Technology for true-to-life videos through GPU computing and USB 3.0 for high speed multimedia data transfers, the Asus N Series is the best choice for entertainment indulgence anytime, anywhere.

Within its compact, lightweight body, the Pentax X90 features a high-magnification optical 26-times zoom lens offering a focal-length coverage between 26mm wide angle to 676mm super telephoto (in the 35mm format). Coupled with the 1cm Macro mode – which allows the photographer to capture dramatic close-up images of a subject from just one centimeter away – it offers quick, effortless shooting in a wide range of photographic situations.

The Pentax X90 comes equipped with an electronic viewfinder, which comes in handy when shooting the subject against harsh backlight or when the user needs a more solid hold of the camera. The Pentax X90 with large 2.7-inch colour LCD monitor with approximately 230,000 dots captures high-quality movie clips, equivalent in image quality to that of high-definition TV (1280 x 720 pixels).

The Pentax X90’s battery life is approximately 50 percent longer than predecessor model. This translates into the recording of approximately 255 images with a single recharge of the battery. Pentax X90 with approx. 31.2 MB built in memory measures 111.0(W)×84.5(H)×110.0(D)mm and weigh approximately 428g (loaded and ready).