LG's 55-inch curved OLED TV hits Germany for 8,999 euros this week HD

Following its availability at several Best Buy locations across the US, LG's 55-inch curved OLED TV is finally making its way to Europe. The company today announced that it'll arrive in Germany this week for 8,999 euros (roughly $12,000), with wider availability and pricing set to be announced in Q4. LG notes that it stands as the first to offer this type of kit in both the US and the EU, though, we're sure Samsung won't lag too far behind as usual. Full press release after the break

LG FIRST TO LAUNCH OLED TV IN EUROPEAN MARKET
Stunning Curved OLED TV Rolls Out Initially in Germany, Other Countries to Follow

SEOUL, Aug. 25, 2013 - LG Electronics (LG) today announced the availability of its CURVED OLED TV (55EA9800) in Germany, becoming the first TV maker to bring advanced OLED TV technology to European customers. The CURVED OLED TV will be sold at select retailers across the country starting this week and will roll out in other European markets in the fourth quarter.
"LG is fully committed to delivering the most advanced OLED TVs to European customers," said In-kyu Lee, vice president and head of the TV division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment Company. "With next generation display technology and an ultra-thin curved design, our CURVED OLED TV represents the beginning of a new era in home entertainment."
DisplaySearch estimates Europe will account for up to 30 percent of the global OLED TV market by 2017. The respected research firm also projects worldwide demand for OLED TVs will grow to more than seven million units by 2016. As the first company to offer a large-screen CURVED OLED TV in the United States and Europe, LG is poised to become the standard-setter for the next generation TV market.
Featuring an elegantly curved screen and LG's own WRGB OLED technology, the CURVED OLED TV provides exceptional picture quality and an immersive viewing experience. A triumph of design, the cutting-edge unit has been awarded the prestigious Red Dot: Best of the Best honor and has also been certified by respected international product testing bodies, TÜV Rheinland, Intertek and VDE for its unsurpassed picture quality. LG's premium TV is also the first OLED TV in the world to have received THX certification.
The CURVED OLED TV will be introduced to German customers at a special event at high-end electronics retailer HIFI Profis in Frankfurt. The one-of-a-kind TV in Germany will carry a suggested price of EUR 8,999. Prices in other European markets will be announced at launch time.

Read more »

Pegatron employee spies a pile of iPhone 5Cs, all warming up for September

When we spotted this photo on French blog NoWhereElse, we were close to dismissing this as just a bunch of iPhone 5C knock-offs (the shanzhai industry works very fast), just as the site also speculates. But after digging around the original poster's Sina Weibo profile, we deduced that this spy shot came straight out of Pegatron's Shanghai plant, which matches what we've read in the recent China Labor Watch report on Apple.
According to her posts, the cheeky employee -- or more likely an ex-employee at this point -- in question joined the company's quality control department around mid-July. In an earlier comment, she also hinted that her plant is responsible for the latest Mac mini as well. The above photo was published yesterday, and it only came with the following caption:

"The low-end iPhone 5C to be launched for Chinese consumers in September doesn't look much different than the Xiaomi Phone 2, right?"

While it doesn't explain what's going on in the image, this appears to be a warm-up procedure (likely just with small batches for quality control) to make sure the devices are fully functional before they are boxed up. We've seen this in factory tours before, but no photography was allowed in the production lines; which makes us wonder how this shot came out of a supposedly well-guarded environment. September couldn't come any quicker for leaky Apple.

Read more »

Facebook kills physical Gifts in favor of digital redemption codes

Not even a year after its inception, Facebook is killing physical Gifts. According to TechCrunch, the social media giant is ending its intermediary role for sending teddy bears, wine and chocolate (sounds romantic, no?) from its partners. Instead, it's focusing on its own gift card, as well as redemption codes for iTunes credits and the like. Why? Well, aside from the cash the company will save, users simply weren't buying physical Gifts all that much. The new Gift page will begin rolling out to ten percent of the site's US userbase over the weekend, and the entire stateside population should see it within two weeks. It's a little less personal, sure, but at least you won't have to worry about getting your loved ones gift receipts.

Read more »

EA COO Peter Moore: 'We don't ship a game at EA that is offline'

---

Electronic Arts is a mainstay in the game industry. From early days on the PC, pre-game consoles, to its current role as one of the world's largest game companies, the EA name's been synonymous with gaming. To stay in such a position, the publisher's had to adapt to changing trends in gaming, as games moved from home PCs to game consoles, and now to the internet. The next console generation is no exception, with EA promising two of its largest franchises -- Battlefield and FIFA -- for the launch of both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this holiday. And that's to say nothing of EA's investment in a nascent game studio composed of the people responsible for the Call of Duty franchise, Respawn Entertainment -- a pretty major coup considering that those folks previously worked at EA's main competitor, Activision.
It's with all this in mind that we sat down to speak with EA Chief Operations Officer Peter Moore at Gamescom 2013, not long after Moore held press attention captive in an hour-long presentation. He said his company's current dedication to online functionality in its games is unmatched: "We don't ship a game at EA that is offline," he told us, an echo of his competition's claims about the next generation of game consoles. Head below the break for a lengthy discussion with Moore on all things gaming in 2013.

Read more »

Bing intros robust product results for snappier impulse shopping

                            If you can't even remember when you've last used Bing, you'll find a deluge of new features next time you visit. The latest among these perks is a more elaborate result page for product searches, making the engine a potentially dark and dangerous place for chronic spenders. When you look up a product term such as "DSLR cameras" or "smartphones," you'll now see a list of the most popular models in that category. That's not the deepest end of the rabbit hole, however, as searching for a particular model rewards you with a summary of its specs, links to reviews and a list of alternative items. Microsoft will also equip the page's ads with product images in case none of the things in those lists wins you -- or your credit card -- over. Unfortunately, you'll need to rein in the call of your inner shopaholic for now -- the update's not yet available for everyone, but outgoing CEO Ballmer and Co. will roll it out in the coming months.
 

Read more »