CES 2010: New Sharp HDTVs will be the first with four-color optics
It's a busy morning before the CES show floor opens, and it's the one day of the year when you're guaranteed lots of exciting news from the biggest names in consumer electronics. Tim Conneally reports live from Sharp's press conference.
12:40pm PT: lower budget version of the Quad pixel Aquos comes out in spring as well in sizes ranging in 60in, 52in, 46in, and 40in
CES 2010: Toshiba uses PS3's Cell processor for new Cell TVs
It's a busy morning before the CES show floor opens, and it's the one day of the year when you're guaranteed lots of exciting news from the biggest names in consumer electronics. Betanews' Tim Conneally reports live from Toshiba's press conference.
10:36am PT: That's it...Toshiba's big announcement is the Cell TV...pics pending!
What happened to the Android video chat phone I was expecting?
Saygus has been showing off its Android-based Vphone platform since November, so I was eager to get my hands on it to check out its noted two-way video chat capability. The CEA even gave the company an award for its innovation in low-latency 3G video chat.
Up until now, the company has only shown off the VPhone (or V1) handset, a very bulky, but respectably designed dual-camera slider. The video chat service had not been widely shown in action.
Marvell shows off the 'Alex' Android-based e-reader
Just a day before Barnes and Noble launched its Nook e-reader, a heretofore unheard of company called Spring Design sent out a mass-mail press release which showed its own dual-screen, Android-based e-reader called "Alex."
Like clockwork, the company filed suit against Barnes & Noble, claiming that the Nook copied its features, but without actually showing off a real product of its own.
Popcorn Hour becomes Popbox, tries to take on Roku and Boxee
Syabas Technology scored a minor hit with its Popcorn Hour streaming set top box, but it didn't grab as big of an audience as Roku did with its $99 Netflix streamer, nor did it become quite a geek favorite like Boxee.
So this time around, the company has made its product a bit sleeker, a bit shinier, and given it a name a bit less dorky. In March, the Popbox will make its official debut. The new set top box includes Netflix 2.0, Revision3, Channels.com, Shoutcast, Photobucket, Weatherbug, Twitter, games from Funspot, and all the expected Networked Media Tank features for streaming content over your home network.
AT&T completes HSPA 7.2 software upgrade, does not promise faster speeds
Complaints about AT&T's network may have reached the point of ridiculousness recently, but the wireless carrier today announced that the software for its 3G sites has been completely upgraded to support HSPA 7.2, which could improve connection reliability.
AT&T announced the upgrade to HSPA 7.2 in May, which promised to raise its maximum 3G downlink speed from 3.6 Mbps to, what else, 7.2 Mbps.
T-Mobile to bring 21 Mbps HSPA+ to US this year
T-Mobile may not be the exclusive carrier of the Nexus One, as was previously expected, but the wireless carrier had another big announcement up its sleeve: HSPA+.
T-Mobile has been testing the "3.5G" network technology in Philadelphia since mid-2009, and the company today said it will have the technology deployed across its network by mid-2010.
Can the Nexus One turn Google users into Android phone users?
Without Google and HTC, there would be no Android, plain and simple. But can these two companies, after establishing Android's presence in the mobile world, re-imagine the way that mobile devices are sold?
We're about to find out.
LG finally brings mobile digital TV hardware to the States
Mobile Digital TV is still about a year away from mainstream adoption, but major strides were made in 2009. Now on the last day of the year, consumer electronics company LG has announced it will finally be showing off Mobile DTV products at the Consumer Electronics Show.
The mobile DTV concept has been developing for more than three years, but only began to seriously take off in the last four months, after the Advanced Television Systems Committee approved the A/53 ATSC Mobile DTV standard.
Google pulls an Apple with its own pre-CES event
In a move reminiscent of Apple circa January 2007, Google today announced it will be holding an invitation-only Android press event at Google Headquarters on January 5, just two days before the International Consumer Electronics Show opens its doors to the public.
Though the invitation only describes the event as an "Android press gathering," the widespread expectation is that this will be the official launch of the HTC/Google Nexus One, an as-of-yet unreleased Android device that has been distributed internally at Google and hotly discussed in the blogosphere.
Sprint mentions WebOS update, world waits
Though Palm has not yet officially confirmed it, Sprint has posted a support article that says today is the day when WebOS will be updated to version 1.3.5.
Sprint's description of the 1.3.5 update is brief, and lists only four "enhancements" to Palm's flagship operating system:
FCC calls Verizon's logic for increased termination fees "troubling," says inquiry will continue
Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission launched an inquiry into Verizon Wireless' early termination fee for "advanced devices," which was increased to $350 in November.
Verizon responded to the inquiry last Friday, with a letter that cited various ways that "advanced devices" --essentially anything that we'd call a "smartphone" today-- are more costly for the network to offer. According to the company, any time a customer cancels his contract, Verizon Wireless still collects less than it's losing.
At the end of the 2000's, the era of the iPod draws to a close
Like the Walkman was to the 80's, and the Discman was to the 90's, the dedicated, disconnected portable media player will no doubt be looked upon as a relic of the 00's.
Today, the ability to play media files is stock functionality in tech devices. All computers have media players, four out of the five video game consoles have them, and most smartphones have them. You can pick up a low-quality Portable Media Player for $20 at the local all-night drug store, or you could even fish them out of a 50ยข Skill Crane machine.
Facebook users share 'Everything,' including how sorry their lives are
Social networking site Facebook has more than 350 million active users, and more than 35 million users update their "status" every day. They could be updated with personal information, music, videos, links, or anything that users feel the need to share with their social group.
During 2009, nearly 13 billion of these status updates were posted, and Facebook has released its "Top Status trends of 2009," indicating just what was on people's minds.
Verizon: Even with higher termination fees, we still lose money
Verizon has filed its response to a December 4 Federal Communications Commission probe which examined the carrier's recent increase to early termination fees for subscribers with "advanced devices" such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android and Palm handsets.
The FCC asked why such an increase was necessary, how customers are informed of the new fees, and why the fee is not prorated all the way down to zero.
Tim's Bio
Tim Conneally was born into dumpster tech. His father was an ARPANET research pioneer and equipped his kids with discarded tech gear, second-hand musical instruments, and government issue foreign language instruction tapes. After years of building Frankenstein computers from rubbish and playing raucous music in clubs across the country (and briefly on MTV) Tim grew into an adult with deep, twisted roots and an eye on the future. He most passionately covers mobile technology, user interfaces and applications, the science and policy of the wireless world, and watching different technologies shrink and converge.
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