Taking the traditional flat screen and turning it on its head, the new Xeneon Flex gaming monitor from Corsair is mind and screen-bending tech at its finest. A flexible OLED screen that literally curves to create a more immersive gaming experience, the Xeneon Flex isn’t the first of its kind. However, it seems to have worked out the kinks of its predecessors by developing a way to allow the user to bend the screen (and flatten it again) whenever they want.

Again, this is not a new idea. LG unveiled a prototype of a similar design at CES 2021, an appropriate platform for such a boon to the gaming world. But despite its promise, LG’s version was problematic. Consisting of a 48-inch OLED screen that was incredibly bendable, that display was theoretically able to create a gentle curve that granted players better peripheral vision at the push of a button. Unfortunately, the mechanism behind this monitor magic presented problems in terms of both cost (more expensive) and durability.

To ameliorate these obstacles, Corsair has taken things a step further with the Xeneon Flex, eliminating the use of motors entirely. But how does the screen move if it’s not mechanized?

The answer is strangely simple: users simply have to grab the screen and pull it to their desired curvature, a grab and yank maneuver that may lack elegance, but makes up for it with its effectiveness. Just grab the screen on either end, give it a good pull, and voila! A completely customizable gaming experience. Practicality aside, the design also allows the screen to have a different level of curvature on each side, adding a level of freedom that would most likely be impossible with a motor.

If this seems like magic, that could be because it’s as close to magic as gaming screens get. The Xeneon Flex boasts a 45-inch OLED display that not only has a surprisingly generous aspect ratio (21:9) but also has a resolution and brightness whose peak performance makes for an undeniably immersive gaming experience. The Xeneon is also tops on compatibility, working with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Free Sync Premium. And don’t worry, it’s loaded up with plenty of connectivity ports, too.

While Corsair has yet to announce the pricing and availability for the Xeneon Flex, we’re sure gamers everywhere will be waiting with bated breath for the chance to bend their screens and immerse themselves a little deeper into their favorites.

The post Corsair’s Curved OLED Monitor Lets You Shape Your Gaming Experience first appeared on Dornob.

Obviously, you aren’t exactly getting the same experience with this mini ultra-wide monitor as you would with full-size models like Samsung’s brand new Odyssey Ark, a curved 55-inch wide gaming monitor that’s expected to come with an appropriately massive price tag. But the point is you can take the Lukos with you wherever you go, and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper.

The monitor is built around an advanced IPS panel that purports to offer higher display quality, better color contrast, higher color accuracy, and better screen uniformity than typical displays, delivering iMax-style 4K cinematic viewing for movies. Its 60Hz refresh rate and 2ms response offer smooth playback for gaming, and it’s powered by an ultra-high bandwidth processor that can display four 4K split-screen signals at once.

The split-screen feature is what makes the Lukos an especially enticing option for productivity. The screen can be tilted or rotated into vertical position while you view several different things at once: books, social media, YouTube, multiple browsers, or whatever else strikes your fancy. In that sense, it’s a dream for multitaskers and those of us with ADHD, who are accustomed to flipping back and forth between dozens of open tabs and programs. Still, the small screen has its limitations. For instance, it won’t be much use for tasks like detail-oriented photo editing or spreadsheets, regardless of what the marketing images might envision.

The Lukos comes with a host of ports, including three HDMI, two DP 1.4, one DP 1.2, and one USB-C, and can connect to PCs, Macs, laptops, smartphones, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Xbox, among other devices. A remote control makes it easy to switch back and forth between inputs, adjust the brightness, and more. It’s easy to imagine using this screen on the go for gaming or watching movies, though the aspect ratio will likely result in some letterboxing for most media. But it could be useful as a secondary screen below your primary display, too.

The portable Lukos 4K ultra-wide monitor just completed a round of crowdfunding on Kickstarter and was offered to supporters for as little as $419. Hundreds of backers pledged over $167,000 USD to get the project off the ground. If you’re itching to get one, the creators estimate that it’ll be available later this year at a retail price of $619. Curiously, it does appear to already be available on AliExpress for less than that, with the same name and seemingly all the same stats. That listing claims nearly 1,000 are in stock and ready to ship for just over $500 each.

The post The Lukos is an Ultra-Wide 4K Monitor You Can Take Anywhere first appeared on Dornob.

The size isn’t the only thing that changed in the 2022 update to The Wall. Samsung’s new MicroLED technology also supports 20-bit grayscale depth, which means it can express the tiniest details in a scene, offering unprecedented control with over one million degrees of brightness and color levels. It also expresses 100 percent of DCI and Adobe RGB color gamut for a spectrum of incredibly lifelike colors that’s rare in any display.

“Art mode” is another update, which lets customers turn what could be a massive eyesore on their wall into a giant piece of art when it’s not in use. “Multi view” lets users view content from four different sources simultaneously in 4K resolution at up to 120 frames per second, and Dolby Atmos delivers an immersive audio experience with top, side, and bottom channel speakers for multidimensional sound. Ultra-low reflection black technology keeps the colors true.

People will certainly use these enormous TVs in their multi-million dollar mansions, but Samsung envisions them appearing much more commonly in places like automotive showrooms and corporate boardrooms as well as government, hospitality, retail, and healthcare settings. The Wall can also be custom-ordered in all kinds of shapes to fit existing environments.

Here’s a breakdown of what makes MicroLED TVs so pricey, other than the sheer size. All modern televisions are lit by light-emitting diodes in some form, usually a series of hundreds or thousands of LED lights behind or on the edges of an LCD screen. The LCD actually creates the image using color filters of quantum dots on some TVs. OLEDs work a little differently with pixels made of a material that glows when powered up with electricity; these electroluminescent materials are the organic compounds that give the “O” to OLED. The amount of energy sent to each pixel changes its intensity. MicroLEDs, on the other hand, eliminate the need for an LCD layer all together, creating the color and light with all those tiny, expensive LEDs instead.

Someday soon, MicroLED will likely eclipse OLED as the standard display technology on higher-end televisions and become more affordable. In the meantime, we’ll be seeing absolutely wild price tags over $100K for offerings like The Wall and other MicroLED TVs by brands like LG and Sony. If a television that costs almost as much as a starter home in a small city sounds crazy to you, you probably haven’t heard of LG’s DVLED wall-sized TVs measuring up to 325 inches wide, some of which will set you back a whopping $1 million dollars.

The post Samsung’s The Wall: Here’s What a $150,000 TV Looks Like first appeared on Dornob.

The good news is, today’s TVs are finding the ideal balance between size and picture clarity, upping the ante with OLED technology that makes for the ultimate viewing experience every time.

What Makes OLED the Cream of the Crop?

OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology is at the top of its class in the television world because it quite simply offers the best color and display imaginable. Because OLED requires no backlight, each individual pixel is maximized for the optimum colors, angles, response times (aka reduced blurring), and overall viewing experience out there. Most experts agree that OLED is the new gold standard, and some bigger brands like Samsung and Sony have even taken it a step further with QD-OLED technology that promises even better color and viewing angles.

The New Kid on the Block

While Samsung may be the top-selling TV brand overall, its OLED TVs have never been quite as popular as those by other brands like LG. But all that may be about to change after the mega brand introduced their new QD Display TV into the mix during this year’s CES event in Las Vegas.

Making a splash as a 2022 Best of Innovation award winner at one of the most influential tech conferences in the world is a pretty good way to make a statement, and Samsung’s new 65-inch QD-Display TV definitely delivers. According an official awards statement, the company’s new offering is “the world’s first true RGB [red, green, blue] self-emitting Quantum Dot OLED display…combining the contrast levels of RGB OLED with the color and brightness of quantum dots.” In plain English, the color is next-level. Unlike anything we’ve seen before in the world of OLED TV technology, it’s guaranteed to shake things up among its competitors. While further details about the QD-Display TV (including its name) remain shrouded in mystery, it was confirmed at CES that new Samsung models will also boast four HDMI 2.1 inputs; a 144Hz refresh rate; a “Neo Quantum Processor,” and immersive audio experiences.

But what does this announcement mean for the consumer, besides the obvious better picture, brighter colors, faster processing, and more epic sound quality?

According to a recent article on CNET, it could, in fact, spell lower prices overall for those looking to upgrade but have thus far been unable to afford the sometimes hefty price tag associated with OLED models. The reason? The availability of more OLED TVs equals increased competition among brands fighting for attention of consumers, inevitably leading to lower prices. And while other brands like Sony plan to introduce their own QD-OLED TVs later this year, Samsung definitely beat them to the punch with their CES award-winner.

The post Samsung’s Next-Gen QD OLED TV Shines at CES 2022 first appeared on Dornob.

Scientists aren’t sure whether cephalopods can actually dream, but there’s no trickery involved in Heidi’s changing color. Many of these creatures, including octopi, squid, and cuttlefish, have the ability to instantly camouflage themselves thanks to “chromatophores,” elastic cells of pigment that expand and contract in real time. They’re controlled both consciously and unconsciously by the creatures’ decentralized nervous systems, which can make decisions without any input from their brains.

Now, this amazing natural ability has inspired a new 3D-printed smart gel that could revolutionize electronic displays, camouflage tech, and soft robotics. Developed by engineers at Rutgers University, the stretchy material can reveal colors when light changes, as noted in their study, “Multimaterial Printing for Cephalopod-Inspired Light-Responsive Artificial Chromatophores,” published in the Applied Materials & Interfaces journal.

“Electronic displays are everywhere, and despite remarkable advances, such as becoming thinner, larger, and brighter, they’re still based on rigid materials, limiting the shapes they can take and how they interface with 3D surfaces,” says senior author Howon Lee, an assistant professor for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the School of Engineering at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. He adds that “our research supports a new engineering approach featuring camouflage that can be added to soft materials and create flexible, colorful displays.”

A light-sensing nonmaterial is embedded into the hydrogel, which can then be applied to a 3D-printed stretchy material also developed by the researchers. When combined, these materials form an “artificial muscle” that’s capable of expanding and contracting in response to light, in much the same way as cephalopod skin. The researchers continue to work on refining this new material’s sensitivity, response time, durability, and scalability to explore potential applications.

“Smart gels” are materials that “gel” (i.e. expand and contract) in response to external stimuli. That gives them a lot more abilities than standard hydrogels, which are capable of remaining solid while absorbing far more than their weight or volume in water, like those used inside disposable diapers.

In 2018, Rutgers engineers invented a way to “4D print” a smart gel, a discovery they built upon for this project. The fourth dimension refers to the material’s ability to change in shape and size. That study, also led by Howon Lee, demonstrated how the manufactured hydrogel shrinks or grows in size according to the temperature around it. This capability is demonstrated using a chess piece made of the hydrogel in a video on the Rutgers Today website.

“The smart gel could provide structural rigidity in organs such as the lungs, and can contain small molecules like water or drugs to be transported in the body and released. It could also create a new area of soft robotics and enable new applications in flexible sensors and actuators, biomedical devices, and platforms or scaffolds for cells to grow,” says Lee.

The post Squid Skin Inspired This Innovative Shape-Shifting 3D-Printed Smart Gel first appeared on Dornob.

Originally launched in 1998 in a multitude of spunky colors, the iMac has been the go-to model for graphic designers ever since, thanks largely in part to its speed and cutting-edge graphics capabilities.

The 2020 upgrade of the desktop touted under-the-hood improvements like a more powerful processor, more memory and storage possibilities, and a True Tone display. It also featured a better camera and microphone for the new pandemic-inspired work-at-home lifestyle. But the iMac has not had a significant aesthetic redesign since 2012. If the rumors are true, 2021 could be the year Apple’s personal computer finally gets the facelift everyone has been waiting for.

According to the Bloomberg piece, sources “familiar with the plans” say the 2021 iMac is getting an entirely new shape. More specifically, the new computer is expected to have a flat back rather than the current curved style. Another sign that the Silicon Valley-based company is serious about redesigning the iMac is the fact that it filed a patent a year ago for an iMac body constructed of one continuous piece of curved glass. Even if that particular blueprint doesn’t turn out to be the final design, the Bloomberg sources stress that the computer is getting “one of the biggest visual updates” of any Apple product this year.

The iMac’s screen is also getting a makeover, with a reduced chin and slimmer bezels (the borders around the monitor that could potentially increase the viewing area without having to expand the total size). The current model boasts a 21.5-inch and 27-inch version, but Apple’s two new iterations – codenamed J456 and J457 – could have 23-inch and 30-inch screens, respectively, bringing them back on par with current competitor sizes.

The overall design could have resemblances to the iMac Pro Display XDR monitor, sources add. In terms of color, it’s currently only available in “Space Grey,” but seeing as newer Mac laptops are offered in silver and gold as well, it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to assume the company’s new desktops will likely offer similar color options.

On the inside, sources say the desktop computer will be getting the commanding new Apple Silicon processors (many of the company’s 2020 products have already had their previous Intel Corp. chips replaced with the brand’s own new tech, which has tested to outperform other market alternatives). In a December 2020 report, Bloomberg claimed that “for its next-generation chip targeting MacBook Pro and iMac models, Apple is working on designs with as many as 16 power cores and four efficiency cores.”

And to go along with the larger screens, the company might also incorporate HDR into the new iMac so it can support all the 4K HDR content offered on its TV+ streaming service.

One thing that won’t be included in the anticipated redesign: Face ID recognition. Although it was originally alleged to be in the works, an unnamed Bloomberg source says it’s more likely to show up in the following edition.

So, when can we expect to see the overhauled iMac? Back in October 2020, The China Times whispered that it would be released in spring 2021. While there are rumors of a special Apple event coming in March, many believe it’s most likely the company will present its updated desktop at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

The post Apple iMac to Get First Major Redesign in Almost a Decade first appeared on Dornob.

That fact is evidenced by the popularity of various flight-themed adventures offered in 2020. Back in July, the Taipei Songshan Airport furnished passengers with “a flight to nowhere,” complete with check-in, security, and boarding procedures for a seat on a grounded plane. With only 60 seats available, more than 7,000 people applied. Companies like EVA Air followed suit with sky-view sight-seeing treks that typically sold out in minutes.

When Australian airline Quantas started selling its excess business class pajamas, nostalgic flyers snapped up all 10,000 pieces within hours.

And of course there was the viral TikTok video of a dad who missed flying so much that he purchased a pair of First Class Delta plane seats and installed them in his living room. He’d also buckle his seat belt, pull out the safety information card, and listen to sounds of turbulence to fully recreate the flying vibes.

The latest air travel-simulating contribution is a view that can turn your workspace into a jet cabin. The Sky Scape digital airplane window looks just like the real thing with a plastic frame and faux shade handle, while the 22-inch high-resolution display provides a circulating view of takeoff, in-flight clouds views, and landing scenes. The atmospheric light in the ultra-realistic picture also cycles between sunrise and sunset, providing both brilliant blues skies and deep purple vistas.

A joint effort from Japanese companies Joled Inc., an OLED screen maker, and LandSkip Inc., a digital display and installation firm, the Sky Scape window was actually under development long before the coronavirus struck. The timing of its release turned out to be serendipitous. Originally designed to be another relaxation tool in the LandSkip arsenal of digital landscape offerings, it now offers a way to soothe socially-distanced employees in their cubicles or home offices.

“I’ve found that it really helps with concentration,” says LandSkip Chief Executive Officer Kazuki Shimomura. “Time passes in a very productive way.”

Joled, a company formed in 2015 when Sony and Panasonic merged their organic light-emitting diode technology (OLED) divisions, saw this project as a way to make their tech more accessible to individuals.

“We wanted to get our panels into the hands of many users while enhancing their value,” says Masayuki Ono, Joled’s Director of Business Development.

For those interested in looking down on the clouds during the workday, the Sky Scape will be available to rent on a subscription-style basis and will be less than the $290 charged for the LandSkip’s larger displays typically installed in hotels and hospitals.

And for those who still find air trips stress-inducing, the companies have also produced the more earthy Terra Bonsai, a digital display of the traditional manicured Japanese tree. A symbol of being in harmony with nature, the tree moves through the stages of the seasons: budding spring pink blossoms, lush summer foliage, falling auburn leaves, and snow-covered branches. The dark background surrounding the ethereal floating Bonsai morphs serenely from fluttering butterflies to a peaceful koi pond.

The post Travel-Deprived Frequent Flyers Can Get Their Fix with Digital Airplane Window Screens first appeared on Dornob.

Unveiled on December 11th at the China International Industrial Design Expo, the “Slide-phone” features three foldable screens attached by hinges folding over vertically in the same direction. Technically, there’s no real sliding action involved, but rather an “unfurling,” as Engadget put it. The first segment offers a clock and notifications, the second opens the camera for selfies or video calls, and the third reveals the full seven-inch widescreen display you need to perform most tasks, play games, or watch movies.

A built-in stylus provides a finer level of precision on the touchscreen than your fingers allow. Another unusual feature is the suede leather-covered hinges, a material you don’t see on phones…well, ever, really.

“In addition to playing videos with an operable side panel, the user may also enjoy the phone as a controller in game mode with panels on either side, in multitask mode with numerous apps displayed in a row, and panoramic photography mode in full screen,” says Nendo. “The controls on the side of the phone are shaped like ellipses cut in half, functioning as two to four buttons, becoming small, semicircular buttons or combining into one large button as the folds slide up and down.”

“Further, the stylus ordinarily inserted in the phone may be taken out for use and the phone folded in half to give the user the feeling of writing in a notepad. The notion resulted in an interface allowing the user to open and close the upper half of the screen to, as it were, flip the page. The hinges are covered with suede leather to prevent the impression that, for having three hinges, the phone is an inorganic, rigid contrivance.”

The “music-link” feature allows the Slide-phone to interact with a constellation of other devices like a smartwatch, an AI speaker, a portable charger, and a wireless charger, all designed with a similar sleekness. As OPPO explains, “when the TWS earphones and portable charging case are placed on the AI speaker, users can enjoy a seamless music experience transitioning from headphones to speaker. This symbiotic design between devices, and the emphasis on portability and convenience, reflects OPPO’s integration of technology and human-centricity in its design philosophy.”

Folding smartphones aren’t a brand new concept, of course. Samsung’s book-style folding Galaxy Z Fold and Fold2 are widely available now for about $1,379 and $2,000 USD, respectively, and Huawei offers the similar Mate Xs with an edge-to-edge outer display for about $3,900 USD. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola’s Razr 2020 are clamshell-style folding phones that become impressively compact when closed. But none of these designs are quite as flexible in use as the Slide-phone, nor do they fold down as impressively small (about the size of a credit card).

For now, the Slide-phone is just a concept, and it’s hard to say whether it’ll ever actually go up for sale. But it could be a peek at where smartphone design is headed in the future. Are you intrigued?

The post Nendo’s New Folding Slide Phone is the Size of a Credit Card first appeared on Dornob.

Now available in China at a price tag of ¥49,999 ($7,200), the 55-inch TV features an edge-to-edge transparent self-luminous display that aims to make the images seem like they’re “suspended in the air.” When it’s turned off, the Mi TV LUX just looks like a pane of glass. Xiaomi’s spin on OLED technology is what makes this possible.

Most OLED televisions have an opaque reflective back panel, but this version uses Transparent OLED, with all processing units and connections like speakers, HDMI ports, and antenna inputs built into the stand. Xiaomi had a head start on this innovation, since they’re the number one OLED Basic Module (OBM) manufacturer in China.

“Apart from its futuristic design, Mi TV LUX Transparent Edition is also equipped with flagship-level hardware that achieves groundbreaking upgrades in both sound and picture quality,” Xiaomi states. “Its 55-inch transparent OLED panel features a 150000:1 static contrast ratio and an infinite dynamic contrast ratio, offering extra rich blacks and unmatched brightness. Leveraging its DCI-P3 93-percent color spectrum support, Mi TV LUX Transparent Edition is capable of restoring the awe-inspiring colors that bring images to life. Its 10-bit panel displays 1.07 billion color combinations, an extra-wide color spectrum far beyond what the human eye can perceive.”

“Mi TV LUX Transparent Edition also supports AI Master for Audio, allowing the device to intelligently detect the type of content playing and choose a fitting audio mode from a list spanning movies, music, newsfeed, sports, and others. The device takes audio performance a notch higher with Dolby Atmos®️ support. Not a TV, but an art piece, Mi TV LUX Transparent Edition adopts an aesthetic design that combines a 5.7mm ultra-thin body rectangular screen and a round base, creating an ultra-immersive viewing experience.”

This might be the closest we can get to experiencing the kind of entertainment seen in sci-fi movies, like holograms hovering in the air around us, without wearing virtual reality headsets. Obviously, the effect would be amplified if the TV were larger, but maybe Xiaomi will eventually offer bigger models, too.

Not everyone’s a fan of the design, however. Gizmodo UK says that “no one except cartoon supervillains actually want this in their homes.” Whether that’s true is debatable, but critics have a good point: a transparent TV probably won’t replace your regular TV for all viewing purposes, especially when watching movies or shows with dark settings. Blacks tend to get washed out, and whatever is behind your television will affect your ability to see what’s on the screen. Put it in front of something distracting? Your picture will be distracting, too. And putting it in front of a blank wall seems to defeat the purpose.

Would you throw down the cash to have this showpiece in your living room?

The post World’s First Mass-Produced Transparent TV Hits the Market in China first appeared on Dornob.

Google has been in the smartphone game for awhile now, but the company’s new Pixel 4a is drawing more interest to its cellular offerings than ever before.

The Pixel line of products goes beyond phones, in fact, all the way back to 2013 with the first-generation Chromebook Pixel. Soon after that, the line expanded to include laptops, tablets, and smartphones, with the latter in particular already having seen a few generations of mid-range offerings and subsequent mixed reviews. However, the much-anticipated Pixel 4a seems to finally be living up to the expectations of a Google product.

Layout

Early reviews are praising the Pixel 4a’s display, saying the screen offers both clarity and good color. Unfortunately, the smartphone is only offered in a black exterior — one of many streamlines that allow for the lower price tag.

Down the left side of the phone is the SIM card tray, and on the right side lay the volume buttons and turquoise power button. Along the bottom is a USB-C port and speaker, while the headphone jack sits on top. The overall screen measurements are 5.7-inches high x 2.7″ wide x 0.3″ deep.

Cameras

The Pixel 4a comes with a 12.2-megapixel dual-pixel rear camera. The front camera offers 8 MP, 1.12-μm pixel size, ƒ/2.0 aperture, fixed focus, and an 84-degree field of view. Even better, the camera’s HDR+ feature automatically adjusts for color and lighting, although the standard manual adjustments are also available for your convenience. Low-light or nighttime pictures can be lit up using the Pixel 4a’s “Night Sight” feature.

The phone’s portrait mode is garnering especially high marks for its strong central focus on the subject and professional-style blurring of the background. And because this is a Google product we’re talking about, captured images can also be quickly and easily edited using Google Photos software. Another feature allows you to send photos directly from the viewfinder of your phone camera to your favorite Google and third-party social apps.

Battery

The Pixel 4a’s 3140 mAh2 battery seems to have a moderate life of six or seven hours, though the company claims that it’s extremely quick to charge. The battery’s also adaptive, which allows it to monitor and “learn” what apps you use the most over time, in turn reducing power to the ones you rarely use.

Software

At this point you’d have to be living under a rock to not be familiar with Google Chrome as an available browser. On top of that, the Pixel 4a comes equipped with the company’s signature office suite, complete with the likes of huge Microsoft alternatives Google Sheets and Google Docs. And of course, you’ll find that this smartphone has no trouble working in tandem with the ever-popular Gmail platform.

Just like Siri for iPhone, Google has a voice assistant, too, and you can use it to help you make a phone call, find a recipe, set a timer, add an appointment to your calendar, or send a text.

Security

Safety features like a fingerprint reader keep the sensitive information on your phone from being easily accessible to strangers, while a Titan M security chip monitors the info at all times. The phone will even automatically filter out robocalls before your phone ever rings. Plus, the Pixel 4a has a crash detection feature that will automatically call 911 if it senses you’ve been in a car accident.

Since updates are key to maintaining security features, the Pixel 4a will automatically receive the latest OS and security updates for at least the next three years.

Other Key Specs

Last but not least, the Google Pixel 4a boasts 6GB RAM and and 128 GB of storage space. The internal processors include the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 730, with both Octa-core and Titan M.

The phone comes with a one-year warranty and is currently available for pre-order from $349, or $14.54 a month for 24 months.

The post Behind the Buzz: Everything You Need to Know About the Google Pixel 4a first appeared on Dornob.

Many people thought we’d get something along those lines for the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy Classic release, but that time has come and gone. Retro gaming hardware maker Analogue has stepped in to fill this hole in the market with a device that’s capable of playing just about every cartridge-based portable game ever released.

Even better is the fact that while those games will look just like you remember them, the graphics will be a lot more crisp, displayed on a backlit 615ppi LCD screen with a 1600×1440 resolution (10 times the resolution of an original Game Boy). While Nintendo games are natively supported, you will need an adapter for games from creators like Sega, Neo Geo, and Atari (which Analogue will presumably offer separately).

The company says: “Out of the box, Pocket is compatible with the 2,780+ Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance game cartridge library. Pocket works with cartridge adapters for other handheld systems, too, like Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, and more. Completely engineered in *two FPGAs, [it offers] pro level color accuracy, dynamic range, and brightness. There has never been a display this advanced in a video game system.”

Designed in partnership with British studio Kenyon Weston, this retro/modern gaming mashup has the standard buttons of original the Game Boy, and it also looks much the same in terms of how the cartridges work. The only major difference is that its been given a makeover for the 21st century, with a minimalist black silhouette and a distinct lack of garish labels.

When Nintendo came out with its Switch portable gaming device, some people found it hard to get used to playing in landscape orientation. The Analogue Pocket is oriented in “portrait mode” like smartphones, which can feel more natural in your hands. Plus, you aren’t just limited to the small screen, as the device’s built-in HDMI dock lets you play on your television with either Bluetooth or wired USB controllers. And with its built-in Nanoloop app, you can even use it as a synthesizer.

“Analogue isn’t just for games anymore. It’s for making music. Pocket has a digital audio workstation built in called Nanoloop. It’s a synthesizer and a sequencer designed for music creation and live performance. Shape, stretch, and morph sounds. Capture music or play and sculpt live.”

The Analogue Pocket is currently priced at $199, though it’s not expected to hit the shelves until 2020. Rumor has it that quantities will be limited, so if you’re dying to get your hands on this design freak gamer’s dream-come-true, you might want to sign up for email updates at the Analogue website.

The post Revisit Your Favorite Game Boy Games with the Analogue Pocket first appeared on Dornob.

After the somewhat disappointing debut of the new iPhone 11 series, those hoping for something new and exciting can turn their attention to Google’s much-anticipated Pixel 4 and 4XL smartphones. Unveiled on October 15th and released on October 24th, the Pixel 4 puts the capabilities of the Android operating system on full display and offers some cool new photography features.

There are some clear improvements in this incremental upgrade on the Pixel 3 — and also some less than impressive aspects. Like the new iPhone, the Pixel 4 presents nothing particularly groundbreaking over its predecessor. However, it’s still a pretty cool phone.

Let’s start with looks: the new design is pleasingly streamlined, with an aluminum frame finished with a rubberized black coating around the edges so it’s easier to grip. With a 5.7-inch display, it’s on the smaller side of new smartphones, sittingcomfortably within the palm of your hand. Its rear panel is made of glass in either matte Oh So Orange, matte Clearly White, or glossy Just Black.

One of the Pixel 4’s most noteworthy features is its radar-powered face unlock process, which senses your approach and grants you access in no time flat using biometric sensors. Some people will love the way it automatically kicks in, while others will likely miss the fingerprint sensor for security reasons. A few outlets have reported that the Pixel’s face unlock feature also works when you’re asleep, putting you at risk of privacy invasion. Google plans to update the phone to require eye detection, though it could slow down the auto-unlock feature.

The Pixel 4’s camera remains its strongest selling point, especially for casual consumers who aren’t Android loyalists. It features a 16-megapixel 2X telephoto lens alongside its standard 12-megapixel main sensor lens, and the front selfie camera has a 90-degree field of view. It also still has its best in class “night mode,” which gives you surprisingly sharp and bright photographs of dimly lit scenes.

A few other new features include “Ambient EQ,” a technology that adjusts the color temperature of the screen to match the room, “Motio Sense,” which automatically drops the volume of rings and alarms when you reach for the phone or dismisses calls at the wave of your had, and a 90Hz OLED Smooth Display for sharp-looking text, graphics, and animations. The “Neutral Core” feature that powers the phone’s cameras can also detect car crashes via the Safety app and automatically call 911.

Unfortunately, some of these cool new features seem to have come at the expense of battery power. For the Pixel 4, Google shrank battery capacity to 2,800 mAh, which, with all those power-hungry features, might make users a little nervous about keeping their devices charged.

Like Apple, Google removed the headphone jack from its new designs a while ago, but then re-introduced it in the Pixel 3 — much to the delight of many people who want to be able to use headphones and charge their phones at the same time. On the Pixel 4, they’ve taken it away again. You won’t find any adapters or USB-C earbuds in the box, but the company will offer a $100 Google Store credit to buyers so you can choose your own.

The Pixel 4 XL expands upon the phone in a variety of ways, including a 6.3-inch OLED display, additional pixel density, and a 3,700 mAh battery. The Pixel 4 retails at $799 (64GB) and $899 (128GB), while the 4 XL will cost $899 (64GB) and $999 (128GB). It’s available now at the Google Store and through cell service providers.

The post Inside Google’s Pixel 4 Smartphone first appeared on Dornob.

Car enthusiasts have been waiting on the edge of their seats for the new Porsche Taycan. Despite it being out of reach financially for most at a starting price of $150,000, the dream is far from dead. While many just want to sit behind the wheel, hear the roar of 750 horsepower, and feel the muscle of 774 pounds of torque, others are equally as enthralled by the fantastic technology inside the car, much of which is based on the 911 and Panamera trims but packs a much bigger punch.

Dashboard Dazzlers

The gracefully arched dashboard from the Mission E model will be mostly replicated in the Taycan, though it will be the first Porsche panel with no mechanical gauges whatsoever. Just use the touch-responsive buttons on the outer edges to control stability, dampers, headlights, etc. You can also personalize each function to best fit your needs. For instance, in the car’s full-screen navigation window, you can opt for highly informational satellite data or stick with basics on navigation, speed, and traffic signs.

Just below the dashboard display is Porsche’s first push button ignition switch. The undersized shifter is on the opposite end of this panel, comparable to the 911 set up, but the Taycan version protrudes straight out instead of upright.

Multi-Plex Screens

The Taycan dashboard boasts three screens, including one in front of the passenger front seat. The 10.9-inch center screen includes Porsche’s most recent MIB 3 user interface software for easy navigation of the infotainment features, including Apple Music, which can be fully integrated with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The system also has a voice-interactive digital assistant similar to Alexa and Siri. Whenever Porsche releases a product or software update, you’ll receive a notification right there on the center screen.

Directly beneath the Taycan’s infotainment screen is an 8.4-inch touchscreen with a permanent list of entertainment shortcuts, as well as temperature controls, a track pad, and an assortment of other controls for driving, parking, and broadcast volume. The track pad is tactile and responds to finger gestures such as drawing and spelling.

The third and most innovative screen feature is the optional one facing the passenger front seat, which is roughly the same size as the infotainment screen. It lets the passenger help navigate, scan music options, or search for destinations such as restaurants and lodgings without interfering with the driver’s activities. The third screen is also fully functional while the car is being driven, unlike the driver screen, which has limits in place for safe and undistracted operation of the vehicle.

Extra Perks

The Taycan has a few more extras that make it unique. The ventilation system is adjustable to blow in almost any angle, and the settings are actually tied to the car key, so they’ll automatically switch to your preferred temperature each and every time. Models with the optional four-zone climate system have electronically operated vents in the back seat, too, as well as a touchscreen for operation in between the two front seats. Drivers can choose the best seating position for their ride from Normal, Comfort, and Sport modes. Oh, and the car also comes standard with two full-sizes cup holders — something lacking and desperately needed in the 911.

The post The New Porsche Taycan is a Treasure Trove of Technology first appeared on Dornob.

Videos might be best viewed in horizontal format, but we just can’t seem to get used to holding our phones that way. Using apps like Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram, where vertical videos are the norm, trains us to record videos vertically. There’s a good reason for that, too. Humans are generally vertical in proportion, and we often take photos and videos of ourselves and others to post on social media. But try to watch that vertical video on a TV or laptop screen, and it just looks wrong.

Samsung claims to have a solution for exactly that problem. The tech giant has just unveiled a new television that can physically be turned on its side to watch content that has been filmed vertically on mobile phones. Dubbed “The Sero,” this orientation-flipping TV is aimed at younger people who have grown accustomed to watching content vertically on their phone screens. Measuring 43 inches, the Sero is designed to encourage millennials to project more of their smartphone content onto larger devices. It includes 4.1 channel 60W speakers, a minimalist silhouette, and an integrated navy blue stand.

The Sero’s QLED screen can also slide up and down on the stand, and it can even be switched to “ambient mode” to display clock faces, photos, and art when it’s not in use. Currently only available in Korea, it comes with a hefty price tag of $1,600. Creative strategists think Samsung is using it to test potential demand for such a product, hoping to convince younger generations that they need more than just a smartphone to enjoy video content. It’s unclear just how much the quality of videos recorded on phones might suffer when they’re projected onto a 43-inch display though.

The vertical TV also questions assumptions about how we use our smartphones, and how viewing the same content on a larger device might affect the experience of watching it. Held in our hands and viewable from a small radius, our phones feel private, almost like extensions of ourselves, and we have an immediate sense of connection to them thanks to touchscreens that allow us to interact with all we see. Taking that content and enlarging it not only puts more distance between it and the viewer, but it also makes it feel like more of a public and shared experience. Whether people like that or not remains to be seen.

News of the Sero TV comes fresh off Samsung’s folding phone fiasco. The $1,980 Galaxy Fold is supposed to be available to the public on May 31st, but that launch date has been called into question after a number of early review units broke. That gadget looks like a regular phone until it unfolds into a 7.3-inch tablet, and its debut was expected to change the game for smartphones of the near future.

Some media reviewers at CNBC and other outlets found that the screen cracked or went black within a matter of hours, while others mistakenly peeled off what looked like a plastic screen protector, accidentally removing a key part of the display. In an email to pre-order customers, Samsung said it will automatically cancel all orders if it can’t fix these issues by its launch date.

The post Samsung’s New Vertical TV Appeals to App-Loving Millennials first appeared on Dornob.

Kyocera’s latest creation might just be the tiniest cell phone of all time. It’s literally the size of a credit card in all dimensions except depth, measuring just 91 mm x 55 mm x 5.3 mm and weighing a mere 47 grams. The KY-O1L also boasts a 2.8-inch black and white ePaper display, similar to those found in e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. It runs on an Android operating system, but it’s not able to support any Google Play apps just yet.

That might seem limiting, but this piece of minimalist tech does a lot more than you might think. In addition to call functionality, the phone is also equipped with a messaging app, calculator, calendar, and web browser. It gets a decent amount of juice per charge, too, with a standby time of 100 hours and a continuous talk time of 110 minutes. What more can you ask for from such a minuscule device?

Indeed, minimalists who dream of reducing their screen time (or their dependence on technology in general) will find this highly portable phone quite intriguing. It’s got a pleasing monochromatic black body, it fits in your wallet, and the look of its display is actually pretty decent once you get a look at it on video. There’s nothing to distract you from doing all the things we’re constantly told will make us happier than focusing on our phones, like having conversations in person, enjoying the outdoors, and getting some exercise in. As long as you’re willing to sacrifice the ease of ordering an Uber or getting a quick Postmates fix with the tap of your finger, you’ll find that you can still perform a decent number of functions through the browser.

While it’s not exactly an iPhone killer, the Kyocera KY-O1L “credit card phone” does meet a growing need in the cell phone market. Just ask the people who rushed to purchase the Jasper Morrison-designed “dumb phone” by Punkt, which sold out instantly. The $295 MP 01 does nothing but call and text, and it rarely needs to be charged. Its makers marketed it on the basis of its potential to eliminate distractions and technological temptations, and it worked better than they could’ve ever imagined.

Another minimalist cell phone design, the Light Phone 2, fits into an even similar niche. The 4G phone features a grayscale E-ink display and offers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, text-based GPS navigation, and an audio player in addition to texting and calling. The developers say they might add ridesharing, weather, voice command, calculator, and dictionary capabilities to the phone as they refine its design, but they’re staying firm on their decision to skip social media, advertising, e-mail, and news. That’s quite a bit more than Kyocera’s tiny phone can do, but the KY-O1L still has it beat in terms of size and weight, as the Light Phone 2 measures 91 mm x 55 mm x 6.5-7.5 mm and weighs 80 grams.

The KY-O1L is currently only available in Japan through the carrier NTT Docomo at an attractive cost of just $280.

The post Minimalist Tech: Kyocera’s New Phone is the Size of a Credit Card first appeared on Dornob.

In terms of size, the PIQO offers a huge step up (both literally and figuratively) from viewing content on the tiny screen of your smartphone, yet it’s just as portable. Powerful enough to cast a projection as large as a standard television with excellent picture quality, this pocket projector has the capability of turning just about any space into a home theater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJUCMmYsN1A

The PIQO is powered by Android, so it’s compatible with over 3 million apps on the Google Play store as well as all iOS, Mac, and Windows systems and devices. Stream straight from Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, or just download content while you’ve got an internet connection and take it with you to places where Wi-Fi isn’t available. It also boats a touchscreen display of it’s very own, the ability to run up to five hours of video playback or 50 hours of music playback, and gravity sensors that automatically adjust the projection angle for a perfect picture every time. It takes just 15 minutes per 1 hour of video playback to charge, and it weighs less than eight ounces.

The founders of this pocket projector explain that their product packs twice the luminosity of competing tiny projectors, which are typically still large and clunky and require several cables and adapters to use. The PIQO offers a streamlined design, built-in Hi-Fi speakers with nuanced midrange tones and deep bass, cinema-quality colors and rich, dark blacks. The built-in touchscreen makes it easy to select media via quick tapping and drag-and-drop motions.

Take it outside for a barbecue, use it in the kitchen to follow recipes as you cook, pull it out in the boardroom to give presentations to your colleagues and clients, or use it to keep the kids entertained on the go. The best use, however, might just be setting it beside you in bed and projecting a movie onto the ceiling as you fall asleep.

“HD video, apps, gaming, internet, screen mirroring — and that’s just the beginning. Your TV was built to be a media player. PIQO was built to be a powerful multimedia center that does it all. Never before has there been a more versatile projector in such a small package. There’s never been a projector like PIQO before. With a battery, screen resolution, size, and a list of features unheard of in the industry, PIQO is poised to be the new standard in mobile entertainment.”

Pre-orders for the PIQO portable projector can be placed now on Indiegogo at exclusive early-bird pricing deals of up to 60 percent off the anticipated retail price. Orders are expected to start shipping in May 2019.

The post This Tiny Projector Packs a Movie Theater in Your Pocket first appeared on Dornob.