Following Samsung's unveiling of the Sliding PC 7 tablet hybrid and 9 Series notebook, Electronista took a closer look at late-stage prototype models previewed this week at CES. The PC 7 represents Samsung's latest iPad rival, larger than the Galaxy Tab and geared for tasks that prove difficult without a desktop OS and full keyboard.
Sony showed off a tiny fuel cell at the Smart Fuel Cells 2008 exhibition that ends today, which combines a fuel cell, Li-polymer battery and control circuit for the first time. In testing conducted in Japan, Sony found a 1Seg video broadcast can play for 14 hours on 10mL of methanol. Use of a refined technology using the fuel cell could significantly boost the run times of today's consumer electronics, specifically laptop and cellphone batteries.
Gateway today announced the shipment of several new desktop computers, the focus of which is the GM5664. Sold only at retail, the system is one of the few mainstream computers with a hybrid Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive, allowing playback of both HD media types, though it can only burn standard DVDs and CDs. The system is also equipped with a quad-core AMD Phenom 9600 processor, a 1TB hard drive, and a 256MB Radeon HD 2400 XT video card. It is currently selling for $1,150. As a cheaper option, the GT5662 switches to a DVD SuperMulti drive, a Phenom 9500 chip, and a smaller 500GB hard drive. Its price is $750.
Only months after its introduction, Samsung has already decided to discontinue the BD-UP5000, its hybrid Blu-Ray/HD DVD movie player. The unit was to have been one of the most powerful players Samsung had produced, with 1080p24, HDMI 1.3, and an Ethernet port for Internet content; users have reported substantial problems with it however, such the inability to run HD audio codecs, or properly view discs such as Sunshine or 3:10 to Yuma. Other problems have included troubles with with standard DVDs or the 4:3 aspect ratio.
