The technology behind this display might not be new, but the approach to demonstrating it is absolutely captivating. Good thing too because the idea here is to combine Epson's rear-projection technology with 3M's 0.3-mm thin Vikuiti film to project talking avatars on shop windows in a bid to lure lusty nerd-boys and impressionable Cosmo-girls in for a closer look. Check it after the break courtesy of Impress.

Nearly five months to the day after Amazon introduced its Kindle 2 e-reader, the company has decided to hack a full $60 off of the price tag in order to offer it to US consumers for $299. Sneaking under that magical $300 mark could allow the outfit to move an awful lot more of these buggers, and with the competition finally heating up, we'd say it's probably a solid defensive move as well. So, are you interested in pulling the trigger now that the Kindle 2 is under three bills? Or is that e-book app on your smartphone doing just fine?

[Thanks, Michael]

You know that fancy flat-panels can display more colors than the human eye / mind can even interpret, right? Thanks to our hard-wired limitations, a certain facet of boffins across the way are developing a method that would scale back the amount of colors used in an OLED screen in order to shave energy usage even further. Johnson Chuang of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia has worked with colleagues in order to conjure up sets of colors that "slash the power consumption of an OLED panel by up to 40 percent, with minimal effect on how people perceive an image." In theory, at least, this breakthrough could lead to longer battery life in cellphones, PMPs and all manners of portable devices. As Chuang puts it: "Say you're running low on battery and you want to use Google maps to get home; switching to an energy-aware color set could make your battery last longer." Don't pretend that doesn't interest you.

We just crashed Sharp's AQUOS launch party and got a nice look at the new AQUOS panels, along with a bit of a peek at the LEDs behind the curtain. In a lot of senses, Sharp's new panels are a collection of last generation technologies: the LEDs aren't locally dimmed, the 120Hz refresh rate falls short of the 240Hz that's been bandied about of late, and the internet services don't offer video playback or WiFi connectivity. That said, the picture is looking pretty great. Sharp credits its specialized LEDs for increasing the color gamut, and new LCD tech for improved blacks and improved brightness due to better controls and less electronics getting in the way. As for 120Hz, Sharp says that its engineers found that 240Hz introduced noise, and on a personal note we don't think we need many more Hz in our lives. There aren't really any excuses for the shortage of internet services, but we should be seeing some new stuff at CES next year. Localized dimming is also due for the next generation, but Sharp sees the next big step for LCD tech being the RGB backlight available in its XS1 top-of-the-line set. In practice the blacks look great and the colors look great, but we'll have to sit these new sets down next to competing TVs to really get a good idea of where Sharp's at with this gen.

There are just two months to go before CEDIA kicks off in Atlanta, but Sharp's obviously not down with waiting 'til the Fall to introduce its latest gaggle of AQUOS HDTVs. First off, we're taking a look at the outfit's first LED-backlit AQUOS television, which will be available in 52- (LC-52LE700UN), 46- (LC-46LE700UN), 40- (LC-40E700UN) and 32-inch (LC-32LE700UN) screen class sizes. Each of the sets boast 1080p resolutions, a new X-Gen Panel -- which supposedly leads to deep, dark black levels that could very well blow your mind -- a 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 176-degree viewing angles. Separately, Sharp also debuted the 65-inch LC-65E77UM and the 60-inch LC-60E77UN, 1080p sets that are joining the E77 series and offering up 120Hz dejudder technology, a 4 millisecond response time, four HDMI sockets and an RS-232 socket for custom installers. We should be getting a little face time with all of these here shortly, and if you're looking for specifics on any given set, hop on past the read link and have a look.

It's not exactly all that uncommon for Dell to misprice an item on its website and, if you're lucky, it might even honor it. But it looks like the stakes have just been raised considerably in Taiwan, where the company recently listed a 19-inch monitor for NT$500 (or about $15US) and promptly received more than 26,000 orders for close to 140,000 of the monitors. Now, ordinarily, Dell would simply send out a polite email explaining their mistake and call it a day, but Taiwanese regulators have now stepped in and ordered suggested that Dell honors the misprice after receiving a couple of hundred complaints. For its part, Dell simply says that it plans to "compensate the buyers for the mistake," although it's not clear if that means it'll actually be sending out the monitors -- which, incidentally, would add up to more than $20 million at their full list price.

Update: Engadget Chinese tells us that the Taiwanese government has suggested to Dell that it compensates consumers fairly and will assist in legal action against Dell if they don't. Also, the $15 price applies only to the first monitor purchased with discounts applied to subsequent units for those who made multiple-monitor purchases.

Update 2: Dell has agreed to issue a NT$1000 (about $30) coupon for every monitor purchased including those made through multiple purchase orders. That sound more than reasonable to us.

[Via The Raw Feed]

Elonex has been dabbling in small screen wares for quite some time now, so it's not a huge surprise to finally see it join the likes of BeBook, Sony and Amazon by introducing its very own eBook reader. Design wise, the 6-inch reader looks an awful lot like that played-out OEM model that everyone seems to start with, but hey, you won't find us kvetching about competition. The device is launching exclusively at Borders UK, and with that comes the new Borders eBook Download Store. With a 4GB expansion card, there's room for some 8,000 ebooks, and the 9 millimeter-thin frame ensures that this one won't bog you down too much. Interested consumers over in the UK can snap this one up right now for £189 ($311), and that price nets you 100 free ebooks, a charger, data cable and a great sense of pride.

[Thanks, Sam]

By and large, there's nothing too incredible about LG's latest LCD HDTV. It's 22-inches, can double as a PC monitor, boasts a deceiving 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and consumes some 40 percent less power than the average Earth-hating 22-inch LCD. There's also a pair of HDMI sockets, a DVI port and a 1,680 x 1,050 resolution, not to mention an automatic brightness sensor that responds to ambient light. There's no word yet on how pricey the 20 millimeter-thick set will be nor when it'll ship stateside, but hopefully it -- along with its 24-inch Full HD sibling -- will make the trip in short order.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

It doesn't do 3D and it doesn't curve all around your periphery, but Alienware's OptX AW2210 does a decent number for its just barely sub-$300 price tag. The 21.5-inch widescreen LCD panel boasts 1080p resolution, two millisecond response time, 16.7 million colors, and an 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. Throw in two HDMI and four USB ports -- sorry, no VGA or DVI here -- and you've got yourself a pretty nice option. The screen's on sale now via Alienware direct.

Update: Alienware's sent us word that the monitor does in fact sport DVI input, and it looks like the product page has been updated to reflect that.