Hello Everyone,

It appears that my ability to obtain the Verizon Wireless Samsung Galaxy Nexus from RadioShack prior to launch has given me an opportunity to write for BWone.com. With that said I figured an introduction would be in order as my first official BWone.com post.

Who am I and what makes me tick? Well for those of you that know me well, know that I am a jack of all trades. From home remodeling, electrical work and landscaping to a little CSS, WordPress and a lot of corporate systems administration, I’ve basically had my hand in everything. I am by no means a master at any one one thing including writing and blogging, however my desire for technology is what drives me to take on roles that are otherwise out of my wheel house. (i.e. blogging for BWone.com)

On a more personal level – I’ve been happily married for 9 years and have the most beautiful little girl in the world! Those of you with children know that your free time is limited which means most of my posts will be created in the wee hours of the night!

So now that you know I little about who I am, I’d like to thank everyone here at BWone.com for extending this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this niche. I’d also like to ask that you be patient with me as I gain more experience blogging and that any questions or topics you’d like to see discussed, you simply just let me know and I will do my best to accommodate them.

Best,

Michael Woods

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Here at BWOne.com we would like to wish everyone out there a Happy Thanksgiving! Be thankful for all that you have received and be thankful for the good things that have yet to come.  We are thankful or all of the blessings that we have received this year.  We are thankful for all of our readers and supports for making this year a big one for BWOne.com.

Post your comments below letting us know what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving and what you hope to be thankful for in the future.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and always remember to Live Your Tech World In High Definition!

Sony will release the HMZ-T1 3D head-mounted visor in Japan on November 11th.  If  you remember we saw the prototype back at CES 2011 and now they are official and releasing in Japan. The design has changed a bit from when we say it the first time but the specs look to be the same s before. It comes with two 0.7 inch 1280×720 OLED display that gives the user experience of viewing a 750 inch display about 66 feet away. It also has 5.1 surround sound coming out of the integrated headphones as well as the processing unit that has HDMI input and output so you can take the visor off to watch regular TV. It’s priced at 60,000 yen which is about $783 in the US. Check the video from CES 2011 and PR Below.

Via Engadget

Source: Sony Japan

Press Release:

Introducing World’s First*1 3D Compatible Head Mounted Display Equipped With High Definition OLED Panel
- Offering a new 3D-viewing style with movie theater-like virtual screen*2 experience –
Head Mounted Display "Personal 3D Viewer" (HMZ-T1)
Head Mounted Display "Personal 3D Viewer" (HMZ-T1)
Tokyo, Japan – August 31, 2011 – Sony Corporation ("Sony") today announced the launch of Head Mounted Display "Personal 3D Viewer" ‘HMZ-T1′, a device that offers a spectacular new style for viewing both 2D and 3D content. Simply slip the device onto your head to experience the movie theater-like virtual screen (equivalent to a 750-inch screen*2) expand before your eyes.*3
It is equipped with the newly-developed 0.7-inch (diagonal 18.0mm) high definition OLED panel (1280 x 720), which have been realized through Sony’s unique expertise in both OLED display and semiconductor silicon drive technologies. The ‘HMZ-T1′ achieves HD picture quality that makes full use of the OLED display’s high contrast, color reproducibility, and fast response. In addition, the device adopts the ‘Dual Panel 3D Method’ which consists of separate panels for the left and right eye in order to display independent HD picture quality to each eye, which realize 3D vision. The viewer can enjoy natural and bright 3D picture quality that is crosstalk-free. Furthermore, we have achieved a wide horizontal viewing angle of 45 degrees by incorporating an optical lens that thoroughly suppresses unwanted elements such as aberration and distortion. Viewers can now enjoy watching video on a movie theater-like big-screen (750-inch virtual screen, virtual viewing distance approx. 20m)*2. Sony has also adopted its original virtual surround signal processing technology. Combined with the high-resolution 3D picture quality, viewers will be able to fully enjoy powerful acoustics equivalent to a maximum of 5.1ch through the left and right headphones alone.
Sony group has offered a wide range of 3D products and 3D content production systems, from industrial 3D filming and editing equipment and movie theater systems through to its "BRAVIA" LCD TVs, home projectors, Blu-ray™ Disc devices, Personal Computer VAIO and "PlayStation 3" while its "Handycam" and "Cyber-shot" cameras even enable people to film 3D video themselves. And now, this new 3D viewing style provided by ‘HMZ-T1′ will enable users to enjoy the movie theater-like experience whilst relaxing on their living room sofa, thus further expanding Sony’s 3D world.
Main Features
(1)
The high definition OLED panel delivers HD picture quality.
(2)
The ‘Dual Panel 3D Method’ delivers natural and bright 3D picture quality that is crosstalk-free.
(3)
Optical lens which realize wide 45-degree horizontal viewing angle (750-inch virtual screen, virtual viewing distance approx. 20m)*2 which is equivalent to a movie theater screen, while the shielding construction creates a deep feeling of immersion.
(4)
’5.1ch Virtual Surround Technology (Virtualphones Technology)’ for realistic and expressive sound.
*1
As a 3D-compatible Head Mounted Display for consumer product (announced on August 31, 2011).
*2
Virtual screen size experience may vary between individuals.
*3
This device must be connected to the supplied processor unit via supplied cable, and the processor unit must be connected to a playback device such as a Blu-ray disc™ device via the HDMI cable.
Main Features (Details)
(1) High definition OLED panel delivers high picture quality
It realized 0.7-inch, high definition OLED panel (1280 x 720), through Sony’s unique expertise in both OLED display and semiconductor silicon drive technology. The display’s high contrast, color reproducibility, and fast response give added depth, allowing the viewer to enjoy smooth and high picture quality. For more information about high definition OLED panel
High contrast： The self-illuminating OLED panels achieve a powerfully high contrast that transcends the limits of measuring equipment. The display’s ability to render true ultra-deep black tones results in beautiful and stunningly crisp contrasted images, even for bright light such as fireworks or twinkling city lights against the night sky.
Color reproducibility： Sony developed a new signal processing circuit in order to maximize the features of OLED, particularly the bright, highly-pure colors and smooth gradation expression. Sony’s own proprietary ‘Super Bit Mapping Video (SBMV) technology’ has been incorporated to convert the 8-bit video of terrestrial digital broadcasts and Blu-ray discs™ for reproduction as a gradation expression equivalent to 14-bits. Even the faintest color differences are faithfully reproduced.
Fast response： The OLED panel illuminates as soon as electrical current is passed through it, giving it superior fast response (response time: less than 0.01ms) for video. This enables the panel to display smooth, natural video, even for fast-moving activities such as sports and games, without any blurry afterimages.
Interchangeable lens camera "α77" and "α65", as well as "NEX-7" are equipped with 0.5-inch (diagonal 12.7mm) and XGA electronic viewfinder (EVF). (Announced on August 24, 2011)
(2) The ‘Dual Panel 3D Method’ delivers natural and bright 3D picture quality that is crosstalk-free
Displaying 3D images using a single screen generally requires either the Frame Sequential (FS) method, in which the screens for left and right are switched rapidly, or the Line by Line (LBL) method, in which the video for left and right is displayed alternately on the scan line. The FS method tends to generate crosstalk phenomenon, which occurs when the left and right video frames do not switch completely, resulting in mixed images. Under the LBL method, the number of pixels is halved.
‘HMZ-T1′ adopts the ‘Dual Panel 3D method,’ which utilizes separate panels for the left and right eyes, each with its own dedicated 3D video. Therefore, it does not generate crosstalk. Furthermore, as the HD quality video is displayed separately on each of the panels, viewers can now enjoy high resolution 3D video that is natural, bright and extremely pure, to an extent that had not been possible until now.
(3) Optical lens which realize wide 45-degree horizontal viewing angle equivalent to a movie theater screen, while the shielding construction creates a deep feeling of immersion.
From Sony’s optical lens technology developed through the projector, the adopted optical lens realize the wide 45-degree horizontal viewing angle, which enables the viewer to enjoy a movie theater-like atmosphere with wide vision experience of 750-inch virtual screen (virtual viewing distance 20m)*2. In addition, it realizes low aberration and distortion which reproduce the primary movie theater picture quality. The viewer can easily read small subtitles whilst experiencing the intensity of 3D as the video images expand before their eyes.
The design of this device is such that it covers the maximum possible field of vision (approx. 200 degrees), surpassing the video viewing range of 45 degrees. Any information unrelated to viewing is isolated, resulting in a feeling of deep immersion. The supplied light shield (shade plate) can intercept the light from below, which further enhances the feeling of immersion for the viewer.
(4) Equipped with ’5.1ch Virtual Surround Technology (Virtualphones Technology)’ to enjoy realistic and expressive sound
‘HMZ-T1′ incorporates Sony’s unique expertise in surround signal processing technology ’5.1ch Virtual Surround Technology (Virtualphones Technology)’, which is developed especially for headphones. "Virtualphones Technology (VPT)" creates a sound field that naturally reproduces the sound to make it seem as though the sound source is emanating from speakers placed all around the viewer (including front and back). The viewer can enjoy sound equivalent to a maximum 5.1ch multi-channel audio, thus further enhancing the spatial effects of 3D, whilst simultaneously experiencing a very realistic feeling of actually being there.
Equipped with 4 surround modes
It is equipped with 4 surround modes which one can select depending on the content. Aside from ‘Standard’ mode, the user can also select from ‘Cinema’ for authentic movie theater-like acoustics, ‘Game’ for reproducing a clear sense of direction, which can be vital for game-playing, and ‘Music’ for those times when the viewer simply wants to enjoy the original sound, such as might be heard in a recording studio.
Other Features
1. Convenient operation
The device’s control key (located behind the front) is used to control the volume and basic operations (such as playback, pause, fast forward, rewind, previous chapter, next chapter) of any connected devices with HDMI CEC control function. Settings for the picture quality and audio quality can also be performed via menu screen.
2. Convenient functions
It is equipped with a wearable sensor, which automatically turn off the panel if the viewer is not wearing the product. It is a convenient function and environment friendly. If the viewer is not wearing the product for a fixed period of time, it will automatically switch to standby mode.
3. Processor Unit for connection to other devices
Head Mounted Unit (left) Processor Unit (right)
Head Mounted Unit (left)
Processor Unit (right)
The processor unit is equipped with one socket for HDMI output and another for through output. The built-in HDMI output switcher enables both the Head Mounted Display and a television to be connected to the processor unit at any given time, thereby allowing the user to switch between devices for their desired output destination.
Furthermore, the processor unit and the HMD can be connected together with a single cable, which integrates the audio and video signals with the power source.
Health Consideration
Age restrictions
Considering the protection of the growth and development, we ask children (age 15 and younger) to refrain from using this product.
Cautionary matters when using the device
In any rough or unstable environment with a propensity for travel sickness to occur (such as in a vehicle), we ask our customers to refrain from using the device.

We get another hands on look at the LG Thrill 4G coming exclusively to AT&T. The Thrill 4G has a 4.3 inch stereoscopic 3D display with a Texas Instruments 1.0 Ghz dual core, dual memory, dual channel system with a separate processor for just voice + data which make this the most powerful phones in the market

The cameras are dual 5 megapixel cameras with 3D recording in 720p and 2D recording in 1080p. The camera allows you to take 3D photos and send them as 3D or change them to 2D to send to friends and family. There is also a front facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat. LG uses their new android overlay called  Optimus UI to give you an enhanced experience of android without getting too intrusive in the system.Their though is to add to the standard experience with android without totally changing it and slowing down the system. It will come with 8GB of internal memory with 6 GB of space available and micro SD card slot available for up to 32 GB of storage available. The Thrill 4G will be a  powerhouse for playing 3D video games which some will come pre-installed in the system when launched for AT&T.

Facts Sheet From LG:

LG Thrill™ 4G is the ultimate on-the-go super phone for consumers looking to experience the next generation in smartphone devices. Providing users with the first mobile device in the United States to feature glasses-free 3D view, shoot and share technology, LG Thrill creates a unique opportunity for consumers to capture life-like images, video and experience real 3D gaming from the palm of their hand. With dual 5MP stereoscopic 3D cameras and a pre-loaded 16GB micro SD card, users can capture crystal clear 3D images and view 720p HD 3D video playback. In addition, HDMI-out and DLNA features offer wireless content streaming, making sharing 3D content easier and faster than ever.
Unique features:
Multimedia:3D Capabilities, Virtual surround
HSDPA / HSUPA:14.4 Mbps / 5.7 Mbps
Main Display:4.3” 480X800 (WVGA) 3D TFT
Memory:8GB eMMC / 512MB RAM + 8GB MicroSD(inbox)
WiFi / GPS: 802.11 b/g/n / GPS
Camera: Dual 5MP AF with LED Flash
Bluetooth: 3.0 HS
USB: 2.0 Hi-Speed (micro USB)
Battery: 1,500mAh
SNS: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace
Instant Messaging: Google talk

Specifications:
Chipset: IFX XMM6260 + TI OMAP4430
GSM: Quad Band 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
UMTS: Tri Band 850 / 1900 / 2100
Sensor: Gyro, Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity, Light
Size: 128.8 X 67.8 X 11.9 mm
Audio Codec: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WAV, WMA, AMR
Video Playback: H.263, H.264, DivX, MPEG4 @ 30fps
Video Record: H.263, H.264, MPEG4 @ 30fps (2D) H.264 SEI @ 30fps (3D)

It’s time to give you guys a quick update on what’s going on at  BWOne.com. We haven’t post as many videos or stories recently because we have upgraded the backend of our main site. Its on new hosting that should make the site faster and more responsive. Also if you haven’t had the chance check out our mobile website as well. Just type in bwone.com and the mobile version will come up . If you are using iOS you can save the site on your phone using Web App mode which it will prompt you when you first go to it.

We are starting  newsletter soon. Sign ups are available here and the schedule has not been set just but it will start in June. It will have featured content and top news from our site so sign up.  We will be rolling out a ton of content soon between now and the rest of June with E3, Sprint & Motorola press event which we will be live blogging from both events during the companies press conferences. CE Week is coming up as we will be covering all tech from there and our usual reviews, news, articles and more will be coming through as well so be sure to Subscribe to all our social media and RSS Feeds below.

Thank you for your support and remember to Live Your Tech World In High Definition!

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The Blackberry Playbook is RIM first entry into the highly popular and heavily crowded tablet market. Does it stack up to the competition? Read on for our review.

Hardware & Design

When you first look at the Playbook you notice it has a picture frame look. Also with that the device has a very boxy shape and gives it a sleek and professional look. The material on the back gives the Playbook a nice feel and good grip. The 7 inch screen with a 1024 x 600 display is looks great. Pictures looks sharp and clear and video is smooth with no lag and look great. Some people make worry that the screen is too small but with the Blackberry Tablet OS built for this size screen from the ground up everything works solid on it.  The stereo speakers on the front are some of the best speakers I have heard on a tablet. The speakers are located in a common spot where you would place your hands on a tablet so you will need to make sure that you hold the tablet below the speakers so not to block the great sound out of them

.

The 1.0 Ghz  dual-core processor and 1 GB of ram makes things snappy, fast and responsive which we will get more into in the software part of the review. The only drawbacks from the hardware is that there is a mini HDMI port but no mini HDMI cable included in the package which  companies should include in the package as standard I feel and the power button is just plain terrible. It’s too small and hard to press. Hopefully we will see a small revision of this power button soon. The front facing 3 megapixel camera and 5 megapixel rear facing camera are some of the best cameras I’ve ever used on a tablet. Both record 1080p video great and while pictures can be a bit dull in color the overall image quality of top of the line among tablet. I took a deeper look at the cameras in a separate review.

This is top-notch hardware from RIM here which we did go deeper into during the unboxing & setup. But with this great hardware does the software match up?

Software & Usability

Blackberry Tablet OS is the first major OS change for RIM. This OS is based on QNX and provides a very user-friendly and elegant experience.  All actions on in the OS are all touch based with swipe movements on-screen and the use of the touch sensitive bezel around the screen.  A big key feature of Blackberry Tablet OS is the multitasking which is true multitasking on the Playbook.  You can have up to 6 apps opened at the same time. It’s easy to switch between apps by just swiping up on the bottom that will bring up the home screen and you can scroll through the apps which still run in the background like videos for example. From that same home screen you can close an app just by swiping it away in an upward motion. Also within an app if you swipe on the side you can scroll through apps that way.  With the 1 Ghz dual core processor and 1 GB of ram the OS runs smooth with no slow downs or lag. Everything just runs great and this OS is one of the easiest to update of any Blackberry device.

As far as apps go there really isn’t that many available. The App world had a lot of paid apps and not too many free and not a whole lot to begin with but it should grow over time and if the support for Android apps was available at launch it would help this issue. There is a lack of a lot of native apps as there is no e-mail, calendar, contacts and BBM app available right now and you can only access those features if you are using Blackberry Bridge which requires a Blackberry Smartphone. Very disappointing these features that RIM is known for is not included in launch. Also there is no video chat app available which makes no sense with such great cameras.

Overall

The Playbook is sort of like a half-baked cookie. While a half-baked cook still takes good you don’t get the full flavor you get with a fully baked cookie.  The hardware is solid and top-tier and the OS is fun, elegance and easy to use but the lack of core features like e-mail, contact, calendar and lack of apps available in the app world keeps the Playbook from being a true competitor at the moment.  RIM has stated that these features will be coming down the line and I’m sure that in line with the 4G version coming down the line. The Blackberry Playbook will be a great tablet. The key term there is “will be” because as of right now its just a decent one.

Software updates are a common thing with a lot of the tech out these days and the Playbook had seen a couple of updates since its release. Here is a quick walkthrough on how to update your Blackberry Playbook.

(You will notice in the video I’ve already done this part and hit the software update icon in the notification section so this part below is just giving you the steps in writing.)

The first step is that you’ll need to check for software updates as it doesn’t seem push notifications for them has been activated yet. You’ll need to be connected to your wi-fi network and you will want to swipe down the settings menu on the home screen and then choose software update and then hit check for updates.

You’ll see that one is available, the version number, size of the download and quick description of what is in it. Hit download to begin and depending on your network speed it could take between 2 to 10 minutes to download. Once download you will just need to hit install and let it go. If the battery is low you’ll want to plug it into a power source so you don’t lose power during the update. The Playbook will reboot once installed and to verify the installation you can swipe down the settings window and go to about and you’ll see the current update version number.  This is by far the easiest update I’ve ever done to a Blackberry device and a much better experience then during the unboxing and first setup.

There wasn’t anything special in this current update and there wasn’t a change log but I did notice the browser seemed to be a bit more responsive especially to pinch and zoom.  Hopefully software updates for the Playbook will stay this simple.

The Blackberry Playbook comes with a neat feature that is already built into the OS and running which is the ability to screen capture anything that’s on the screen.

It’s very simple to use all you need to do is set up the screen shot you want to capture and at any time hold the volume – (minus) and + (plus) buttons on the top bezel next to the power button at the same time. You’ll hear a camera click and the screenshot has been taken. It will save in the pictures section and will be in 1024 x 600 resolution.  The screen capture feature works in pretty much any application and works in both portrait and landscape mode. If you have a Playbook give it a try!

We take a n in-depth look a both the rear and front facing cameras on the Blackberry Playbook.

Let’s start off with the camera app itself which to be honest is a pretty boring app. You don’t get the cool color filters and advanced features that you see on some other android based tablets. Although the app is on the boring side it is simple and easy to use with an all touch screen control setup. Swiping down at the top of the screen will give you a few more options for each mode. In picture mode you can choose your aspect ratio and to turn stabilization on or off. In video mode you can choose between 1080p, 720p or 480p video recording and both modes have the option of auto scene mode or either sport or whiteboard scenes.

Picture quality is decent with very clear pictures and I’m always a fan of widescreen format for pictures as it just seems to make the image you are taking stand out better.  The colors do seem a bit dull. No matter what type of lighting there is it doesn’t pop out the colors. You can fix this a bit in photo software such as Picasa but only so much.

Video quality for both the front and rear facing camera is crystal clear and solid. I didn’t experience any lag when recording and audio quality was also great. Video does suffer from the same dull color as the pictures. Even in the best of lighting the color won’t pop out this could be due to no enough light getting into the lens of the cameras. (See video at the bottom of post for video quality example)

The Blackberry Playbook has some very nice cameras. Picture and video quality from them is among the best in the tablet market. Currently there isn’t a way to directly share theses pictures and video natively but support for that should be coming down the line later. The BlackBerry Playbook takes full advantage of its unique feature of being able to record 1080p video on the rear and front facing cameras and not just doing it but doing it well.

The long anticipated entrant into the tablet market for Research In Motion has made its way into retail stores today. The Blackberry Playbook Wi-Fi version is now available and we’ve got an unboxing, hardware tour, setup and first impressions.

The Blackberry Playbook comes with specs that you have seen on similar tablets that are coming out. It has a 1.0 Ghz dual core processor, 1 GB of Ram, 3 Megapixel front facing camera plus a 5 megapixel rear facing camera and both can record 1080p video and no flash. The screen is a 7 inch touch screen display with a 1024 x 600 resolution and the surround frame is touch sensitive for gesture commands. On the bottom of the bezel you have a micro USB port, HDMI port (no cable included) and a proprietary charging port for the option dock accessory. On the top you have  the volume controls and a play/pause button, 3.5 mm headphone jack and a very small power button which many reviews have already criticized and I will do the same. It’s just too small and I could see a small revision to the hardware to make that button bigger.  As for included accessories you get a high-capacity micro USB charger, micro USB cable and a cleaning cloth. The device overall comes to you with a nice presentation package. The packaging gives the device a good impression which may sound silly to most even myself but it is something some consumers pay attention to as it shows detail.

As for setup boot time is a little bit on the long side. Setup is a bit long as your asked many questions and there is no way to fully skip it. You will need to download a required update when you first turn it on and this was a frustrating experience as the download failed on me about 6 times and it doesn’t restart from where the download last ended, instead it asked you to download and try again. This whole process too about 30 minutes to finish.  When finally done  I got into the OS and it definitely was responsive and fast from what I notice on first boot. We’ll need to see when some apps are installed and running will that speed stay up.

Overall the Playbook feels good even with the boxy shape. There is a bit of weight to it but its good weight. The new Blackberry Table OS is attractive to look and use at first but we will leave it up to our review to see if it stays that way.