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A waking dream of color, from HP

I've been getting requests to review the HP DreamColor LP2480zx for the better part of the last year. Sorry it's taken so long, but here it is. Better late than never.

It's an interesting endeavor, to review a product that costs well over $2,000. This is especially true when other devices that serve the same basic purpose exist and can be procured for fraction of the cost.

In this situation, the intended audience has to be considered. Does it meet their needs as best you can tell? Are there lower-priced alternatives?

This leads to comparisons that … Read more

NEC's LED monitor does ergonomics

As I've mentioned many times in the past year, LED-based monitors have become completely ubiquitous. So, in an LED-monitor world as vast as the one we live in--where one is released every week, practically--how does a monitor vendor make its LED hopeful stand out? NEC seems to think ergonomics and DisplayPort are the ways to go.

This week, the company announced the 23-inch MultiSync E231W. The monitor includes a fully ergonomic design, featuring 110mm height adjustment, tilt, swivel, and pivot, as well as DisplayPort support.

Also, in an attempt to diminish your carbon footprint when using it, the E231W … Read more

NEC PA271W brings onscreen customization to a new level

The decision's been made. The NEC Multisync PA271W is the best-performing monitor we've yet reviewed. It has a high resolution (2,560x1,440 pixels), impeccable color, and an incredibly detailed and in-depth onscreen display (OSD), obviously designed by crazy people (I mean this in the best possible way).

Unfortunately, these same crazies decided not to give this $1,349, 27-inch monitor an HDMI or even component ports.

So, how does it compare overall with the high scoring all-star that is the Dell UltraSharp U2711? Well, we've already let one cat out of the bag, the NEC performs--slightly--better, … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 3: Android iPhone 4 killer and Android viruses (podcast)

Motorola has big plans for its iPhone 4 killer, including a 2Ghz processor. Norton Security is out to defend against Android viruses, but do they exist? What's the deal with the Droid 2, the Droid X, and the HTC Aria? Join Justin Eckhouse along with guest hosts Bonnie Cha and Wilson Tang for a special Android Atlas Weekly from New York.

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EPISODE 3

Stories

Sprint Overstates Early EVO 4G Sales

Motorola Droid for Verizon gets a price drop

Droid 2, Droid X prepped for summer launches… Read more

Cute Qbot aims to be Model T of robots

Where's the robot revolution already? It's 2010! Aren't we supposed to be hip-deep in droids by now? Well, Spanish robot developer Francisco Paz thinks he's got the makings of a proverbial Ford Model T for robots, a cute little number called Qbot.

Qbot may lack arms and legs, and it may look like a knockoff of NEC's perennially underemployed PaPeRo, but it's got several features that make it interesting. One is that it's designed to be an interactive home robot based on readily available open-source software and hardware for DIY upgrades. Another is … Read more

NEC's robot cashier not much help with bagging

NEC has put its communication robot PaPeRo to work as a cashier that can provide verbal guidance on how to scan merchandise at the checkout counter.

The system was recently shown off at RetailTech Japan 2010. PaPeRo is a 15-inch-tall interactive robot that can talk, tell stories, and generally look cute. It doesn't have arms or other manipulators, so forget getting help with bagging. But combined with NEC's Twinpos E-Money Self-Checkout System, PaPeRo can look cute while taking your money.

As seen in the video here, the Twinpos is basically a bar code scanner and touch-panel screen. You … Read more

Group promotes savings with open-source software

For about a year, a group of heavyweight automotive and technology companies has been working on a way to hasten development of in-vehicle entertainment systems. Their solution: share basic software development using the open-source Linux operating system.

Among the nearly 50 members of the group, called the Genivi Alliance, are automakers General Motors, BMW AG, Nissan Motor, and, as of February 17, Renault SA. Suppliers include Visteon, Delphi Automotive, and Continental AG.

The Genivi (pronounced jah-NEE-vee) Alliance is focusing on developing "middleware"--the layer of software that allows various kinds of information and entertainment applications to work together … Read more

NEC's new eco-based 17-inch display takes us back in time

It's difficult to get excited about monitors with standard aspect ratios. For the last three years or so, we've been inundated almost exclusively with wide-screen monitors. Nowadays, seeing a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor might give you the feeling that you just stepped through a time portal )a time portal leading back only four or five years, but still).

I guess NEC doesn't mind bucking expectations, as the company just introduced the 17-inch AccuSync AS171, replacing the ASLCD73VX-BK display and fitting in with the rest of the AccuSync line.

According to NEC, the 17-inch AS171 display consumes … Read more

Lookup tables galore in NEC's new professional display

You really can't go a couple of months without NEC announcing a new professional display, huh? Well, at least they keep me busy (as if I needed that).

This week, NEC announced the successor to its MultiSync 90 series of professional displays, the Multisync PA241W. The display features 102 percent coverage of NTSC and 99.3 percent of Adobe RGB standards. According to NEC, this is an increase from 72 percent in the MultiSync LCD2490WUXi?. NEC also claims a 38 percent smaller footprint size.

Below is a list of features included in the MultiSync PA241W:

1,920 x 1,… Read more