display

Hands-on: Is Intel's Wireless Display a game changer?

The relationship between TV and PC is a complicated one. Over the years, we've used desktops, laptops, and small form factor machines to act as media centers, networked entertainment hubs, and more recently, as Hulu and streaming-Netflix players.

Our love/hate relationship with getting a PC signal on a large TV screen has recently moved toward ambivalence, as living room game consoles have taken over many streaming media tasks, adding Netflix streaming as well as their own libraries of movies and TV shows to buy or rent.

To that end, one of the CES announcements we were most excited about, at least in theory, was Intel's Wireless Display technology. This combination of hardware and software would allow you to wirelessly stream whatever was on your laptop display to a nearby plasma or LCD TV.

Having seen a few demos of varying effectiveness (which didn't stop the technology from winning CNET's People's Voice award at CES 2010), we were excited to be able to hook up a Wireless Display (or WiDi, as it is also known) setup in the CNET Labs to test it out.

While the underlying technology is part of Intel's 2010 Core series platform, to start it'll be available only in three specific laptops, one each from Dell, Sony, and Toshiba. All three are Best Buy exclusives, but they also, fortunately, come bundled with all the hardware you'll need to hook the WiDi up.

That means these three laptops are WiDi-certified, and each comes bundled with an adapter from Netgear somewhat awkwardly named Push2TV. When and if the WiDi technology gets rolled out on more laptops, the Netgear box will be available separately for $99.

Though there are other ways to wirelessly stream audio and video to your big-screen TV, the possibility of effortlessly mirroring whatever is on your desktops to another display, with near-zero setup, makes this a much better candidate for mainstream adoption.

With a new Toshiba E205 laptop (one of the three initial WiDi models) in hand, and the included Netgear adapter, we set out to test Intel's Wireless Display. In practice, the actual results were not completely effortless, but they came pretty close. … Read more

Digital City 68: All iPad, all the time (podcast)

This week, we debate the pros and cons of Apple's iPad touchscreen tablet, as well as Intel's new Wireless Display technology; plus, there's some good news for fans of DRM-free gaming.

Related links: >>Should the Apple iPad be considered a computer? >>10 things Netbooks still do better than an iPad >>Classic Activision games go DRM-free

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live! >>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes >>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page >>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! … Read more

Apple releases firmware update for 27-inch iMac displays

Along with the recent update to iTunes that Apple released, the company also issued the anticipated firmware update for their 27-inch iMacs which is an update for the display hardware itself, and is supposed to help address video problems that have plagued the new machines. These have included blank displays, yellow-tinted LCD colors, and display flickering, of which the latter is addressed by this update.… Read more

Cardboard meets OLED as game pieces go digital

Board games are already experiencing a renaissance as they move from the tabletop to the desktop (think Lexulous and Scrabble), but researchers from Canada's Queen's University are trying to further advance the ol' board game with a technology that essentially turns each piece into a graphics-saturated mini-display, thus merging the tangible aspects of board games with software-generated action normally seen in strategy games such as World of Warcraft.

Queen's Human Media Lab Professor Roel Vertegaal and HML graduate Mike Rooke say their technology (PDF) would let groups of people play electronic games in a sociable, physical setting … Read more

Intel, too, eyes home energy management

Intel has designs on the nascent home energy management business, following Google, Microsoft, Apple, Panasonic, and dozens of smaller tech companies.

Intel last week launched a Web site dedicated to its Home Dashboard Concept, a touch-screen display designed to help families control and reduce energy use. The Atom-based device will let people record video messages to other family members and, through third-party applications, let people look up information on online yellow pages or track packages over the Internet.

For Intel, the energy dashboard is another attempt to crack into the consumer electronics market. "Computing in the home is going … Read more

Nokia patent shows shape-shifting phone

A patent filed by Nokia with the US Patent and Trademark Office describes a bendable device with a flexible screen. It's not simply that, of course, as we know phones with flexible panels aren't new. Remember the ill-fated Readius from Polymer Vision?

According to parts of the patent, the differentiating factor is that such a device will respond according to the shape a user puts it in. For example, bending it to resemble a can will cause it to do a search for a bar or pub in the neighborhood, while making it into the shape of a … Read more

Setting up, calibrating display color profiles

When you set up a new computer or display, the factory settings may be slightly off, giving the computer a slightly washed out look. To get the colors and display to be rich and accurate, I always recommend spending time to calibrate the colors on new monitors, especially when a computer is using multiple monitors (either dual displays on a desktop or an external display attached to a laptop).… Read more

The 404 Podcast 494: Where you have to invert the image to see us nude

LAS VEGAS--Don't close the window yet; that show title is a joke. Don't worry, the video you're about to watch features three fully clothed nerds talking about the best of CES 2010 for The 404 Podcast's last show LIVE from the CNET stage here.

We've rounded up the funniest stories from this year's show for this wrap-up episode, starting with Jeff eating his hateful words about 3D PS3 and Xbox 360 Game Room. Turns out the gameplay in 3D actually impressed our former cynic, but we can all agree that those ridiculous 3D glasses are truly the only detractor from 3D games, and especially movies. After this story, we promise never to speak of 3D again...until 4D comes out.

Next, we have a lineup of stories that allow us to do what we do best: make fun of the more outrageous aspects of the show. For example, did anyone walk by the Samsung booth? Someone needs to notify these folks that we are, in fact, struggling to pull ourselves out of a recession--jeez is that booth consuming ridiculous amounts of energy. Other hilarious stories from CES 2010 include IoSafe's virtually indestructible hard-drive demolition, and a Taser demo that you have to see to believe.

We've also got a story about a controversial iPhone app that claims to see through clothing and we see if anyone can guess the most pirated e-book of 2009. Finally, be sure to check out our Best of CES 2010 nominees that represent the top products in nine categories as recommended by our techspert CNET editors.

If it's your first time listening to The 404, be sure to catch us our live show every morning at 11 a.m. EST on CNET Live. You can find all past episodes archived at The 404 Blog, and be sure to follow us on Twitter or add us on Facebook!

EPISODE 494 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Netgear debuts first Wi-Fi Direct device

UPDATED on January 11 at 12:30 PST: Though based on the final Wi-Fi Direct specification, the Push2TV is not yet certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance group, which is the owner of the Wi-Fi Direct designation and plans to start the certification program for Wi-Fi Direct later this year.

LAS VEGAS--Remember the time you needed to hook up your laptop to an external screen, be it a monitor or a TV, and had to fumble around with cables, ports, and the laptop's keyboard? Now, you won't have to do that anymore.

Netgear, in collaboration with Intel, unveiled Thursday … Read more