arrays

Initially available on Boost Mobile, the Samsung Array has made its way onto Sprint today.

Offered at $19.99 after a two-year contract and mail-in rebate, this feature phone has a sliding four-row QWERTY keyboard, a 2.4-inch screen, and a 2-megapixel camera in the rear.

It's powered by a 480MHz CPU and a 1,000mAh battery, which roughly translates to a reported talk time of 4 hours.

When CNET's own Brian Bennett got his hands on the phone, the device's build aesthetic was reminiscent of a Sidekick, and its screen's low resolution was unimpressive.

For … Read more

Samsung Electronics is giving some love to prepaid wireless providers Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

The two prepaid players, both units of Sprint Nextel, will each be getting their own Galaxy smartphones.

Boost will be getting its own version of the Galaxy S2, Samsung's next-most-recent flagship smartphone. Virgin Mobile will be getting its first Galaxy smartphone, the Galaxy Reverb.

The carriers are getting the phone as the prepaid business heats up. MetroPCS yesterday unveiled a $55 plan that includes unlimited voice, text messages, and truly unlimited data. Boost and Virgin both throttle, or slow down the connection, of users … Read more

Update March 2, 2012: Company reps have told me only that the status, and indeed the model name and prospective features (eg local dimming) of this model, are now uncertain. For that reason I have removed it from the company lineup chart until I hear more.

LAS VEGAS--We love the picture quality improvements wrought by full-array local-dimming backlights, so color us excited that Sharp is migrating the technology down from its awesome Elite TVs to these new models.

The 945 series will offer that sweet backlight configuration in two screen sizes that will be familiar to fans of the Elite: … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Last year LG released only one TV with our favorite kind of LED backlight, but for 2012 it has announced three sizes, from 47 through 60 inches.

All three of the LG LM9600 series offer that rare full-array local dimming LED backlight, but only two--the 47- and 55-inchers--utilize the "Nano" structure found on the 2011 55LW9800, which allows for a thinner cabinet design. The non-Nano 60-incher will have a thicker cabinet, although all three will boast the company's new thin Cinema Screen bezel, measuring "less than 5mm" according to a company rep we spoke … Read more

As we describe in detail in our explanation of the confusing world of LED backlight configurations, our favorite variety is known as (deep breath) "full-array with local dimming." It's also exceedingly expensive to implement, at least to judge from the sticker prices of the only currently shipping 2011 HDTVs to offer this feature: Sony's XBR-HX929, Sharp's Elites, and the LG 55LW9800 reviewed here. The LG is unique among the three as the only one with passive 3D TV capability--combining local dimming with the brightness, crosstalk, and practicality advantages of polarized 3D glasses. If you want … Read more

If you thought all LED TVs were created equal, you're underestimating the power of confusion as a marketing tool. In their continuing efforts to compete against the picture quality advantages of plasma-based flat-panel TVs, makers of LCDs TVs have introduced numerous new technologies. The most successful in our opinion is full-array LED backlighting with local dimming. When you see the words "LED TV" in an ad, it definitely refers to an LCD TV with an LED backlight, but what type of LED backlight and how it's configured make all the difference.

In the article linked below … Read more

In its first year the Chevrolet Volt has garnered several awards, including 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year, Green Car Journal's 2011 Green Car of the Year, and Automobile's 2011 Automobile of the Year. And now the electric car with extended range is going to be built in a solar-powered facility.

General Motors announced it is building the photovoltaic solar array, the largest in Southeast Michigan, at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant. Sunlight will help to create the $41,000 Volt.

Once it's completed, the 516-kilowatt project built by GM and DTE Energy will generate 54,750 … Read more

A woman known as Patient S3, who is paralyzed from her neck down and cannot speak, has just reached the 1,000-day anniversary with a brain-computer interface called BrainGate, and researchers are reporting in the Journal of Neural Engineering that the device is still effective.

"This proof of concept--that after 1,000 days a woman who has no functional use of her limbs and is unable to speak can reliably control a cursor on a computer screen using only the intended movement of her hand--is an important step for the field," said Leigh Hochberg, associate professor of engineering … Read more

THX, born out of the George Lucas/Star Wars legacy, has stayed true to its roots while developing new audio technologies to improve the home entertainment experience.

Last week I spoke with Laurie Fincham, senior vice president of THX to discuss the company's Steerable Line Array technology. He told me THX wanted to create a new type of speaker that could focus sound beams to specific areas in a room. I've heard those sorts of claims before, but Mr. Fincham assured me that this system was designed to a very high standard. The Steerable Line Array speaker prototype … Read more