Tag: CES 2012

CES 2012: Nvidia Talks Up Tablets, Android As The Future

Nvidia, makers of fine PC video cards, have found a new future in mobile processing.

Nvidia used their CES keynote to push the Tegra 3 quad-core processor and Ice Cream Sandwich operating system as the future of tablets and smartphones.

In Nvidia’s keynote recap on their blog, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, talked up Ice Cream Sandwich as a unifying force for tablets and smartphones using Android software.

“Ice Cream Sandwich unites, unifies and turns all the Android devices into a single platform, with one enormous installed base,” Huang said.

The company took time out to boast about their new Tegra 3 processor and what it can do. They used popular iPad app Snapseed as a new app for Android devices that can only run on Tegra 3 equipped devices.

More impressive is the ability for a Tegra 3 tablet to stream sophisticated games from a GeForce GTX-based gaming PC. The company took this opportunity to play Skyrim and Battlefield 3 on the tablet using a gamepad.

Nvidia made it a point to say that tablets are their new bread and butter. This led to the announcement of the ASUS ME370T, a 7-inch tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich and their Tegra 3 processor. The tablet will sell for $249.

The Tegra 3 processor has plenty of innovations for tablets besides being five times more powerful than its predecessor. The CPU features what they call a “ninja” core that allows the tablet to switch between the four main CPUs and a fifth lower-power “companion” CPU for less demanding tasks and standby mode.

It also uses a software called PRISM that reduces backlight power consumption by 40 percent by modulating the backlight per pixel, frame and scene, all in real time. It also features DirectTouch which offloads the touch panel’s processing to one core which enables six times faster touch processing, lower costs and lower power consumption.

With these new technologies, Nvidia is promising that tablets running on Tegra 3 will get 12 hours of battery life.

Lastly, Microsoft pledged support for Tegra 3 by saying that their new Windows 8 mobile platform will have to use Tegra 3 due to the operating system’s multi-threading nature.

Nvidia’s keynote was initially disappointing because there was no information about their next generation of GeForce GTX video cards, but tablets are still a growing market that requies this kind of exposure. There will be plenty of time for graphics cards later. Now it’s time for Nvidia to innovate in the mobile arena just like they have in desktop graphics.

January 10, 2012
CES 2012: Panasonic Brings 3D Cameras To The Olympics

Panasonic announced at their CES press conference that they were partnering with NBC Sports Group to bring the 2012 Olympics to American viewers in 3D. Many events in the London games will be filmed and produced in 3D by Olympic Broadcasting Services using Panasonic equipment, and will be distributed by NBC to American viewers on a next-day delay.

Panasonic’s chairman and CEO Joseph Taylor said that “[f]ull HD 3D is ideal for capturing the true spectacle of Olympic competition and the pageantry of Olympic ceremonies,” and said that the partnership “will deliver to home viewers an unprecedented 3D Olympic experience that will make them feel as though they are right there with the world’s finest athletes as they compete.”

Though it has been fairly popular at the movie theater, 3D technology in homes has been a bit slower to catch on. It is not entirely clear how many people will be able to watch the 3D broadcasts, especially with the events on a delay. It will be interesting to see how this remarkable experiment in 3D broadcasting turns out.

[Source: Panasonic Press Release; Image: Panasonic]

January 10, 2012
CES 2012: Gorilla Glass 2 Could Mean Thinner Smartphones

If there has been a theme to this year’s CES so far, it has been thinner gadgets and better TVs. And thinner TVs, for that matter. Corning, makers of the Gorilla Glass that you probably have in your smartphone screen, has definitely jumped on the “thin is in” bandwagon this year with their Gorilla Glass 2. Last week we covered Corning’s announcement that they would be debuting Gorilla Glass 2 at CES. It seems that they unveiled it late yesterday.

Gorilla Glass 2 delivers the same remarkable strength and durability of the original Gorilla Glass, but sports several improvements. Promised improvements include better image quality and touchscreen responsiveness. The big news, however, is that the new generation glass is a remarkable 20% thinner. Considering that the thickness of many of our handheld devices – tablets, phones, and even some computers – is measured in millimeters, that is a big reduction. There is little word on when we will start to see Gorilla Glass 2 in new gadgets, but once we do, we can probably expect to see those devices start getting even thinner. First generation Gorilla Glass has reportedly been in most of Apple’s iOS devices, though neither company has formally acknowledged it. The iPad 3 is rumored to be getting a bit thicker. If Gorilla Glass 2 is ready in time, that may not be the case after all. Either way, look for your already skinny devices to shed another millimeter or two after Gorilla Glass 2 goes into production.

Meanwhile, MacRumors has posted a video showing Gorilla Glass 2 in action. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments.

January 10, 2012
HTC Announces Titan II Smartphone At CES

Windows-based phones get serious with the help of the HTC Titan II.

HTC announced at CES their first Windows-based phone to run on a 4G LTE network and it is a beauty. The kicker, however, is that it comes with a 16-megapixel camera. That’s truly ridiculous for a phone’s camera and makes the HTC Titan II easily one of the most compelling phones on the market for the camera alone.

“HTC’s history of innovation in 4G technology includes delivering the first 4G-powered devices to each major carrier in the U.S., so it is exciting today to continue that leadership with our first 4G LTE Windows Phone, the HTC TITAN II,” Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corp., said. “This full-featured smartphone combines HTC’s design with AT&T’s high-speed 4G LTE network and Microsoft’s powerful Windows Phone software, giving people more of what they crave.”

The phone is equipped with a 4.7-inch super LCD capacitive touchscreen that looks to provide a great viewing experience for movies, games and more. Of course, with it being a Windows Phone, it will also offer Xbox LIVE which has always been the most compelling part about the Windows phone software.

The phone also features 720p HD video recording with the rear facing camera and video chat over Wi-Fi with its 1.3 mega-pixel front-facing camera.

Now about that amazing 16-megapixel camera, it’s almost as if HTC and Microsoft want to replace digital point-and-shoot cameras. It features a wide-angle lens, autofocus, dual LED flash, red eye reduction, image stabilization, a backside-illuminated sensor and a physical camera button. It seems like HTC made a camera and decided to throw a smartphone on top of it.

The phone’s hardware will feature a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S2 processor and a decent battery that will provide plenty of longevity before a recharge is required.

The Windows phone software is also looking pretty good and could be a serious contender for iOS and Android devices. With this new amazing camera that happens to be a smartphone, Windows phones could be a market disruptor. If Windows phones can keep getting hardware this good, I don’t see why not.

The HTC Titan II will launch exclusively with AT&T in the coming months.

January 10, 2012
CES 2012: Microsoft Announces Kinect For Windows

Kinect is finally making the official move from Xbox 360 to Windows-based PCs.

Last night at Microsoft’s final CES keynote, they announced that the Kinect hardware would be coming to Windows-based PCs on February 1 in 12 countries.

The Kinect for Windows bundle will sell for $249 and contain the Kinect hardware and accompanying development software. The price also includes a one-year warranty, access to ongoing software updates for both speech and human tracking and continued Kinect for Windows software enhancements.

For those who find the $249 price a bit steep, and it really is a bit steep, Microsoft will be offering the device for $149 to qualified educational users.

Microsoft does explain through their blog that the reason Kinect for Windows costs more is that Kinect for Xbox 360 is supported through the sale of Kinect games, Xbox Live subscriptions and Xbox Live software sales. This all, of course, makes perfect sense as game consoles are able to be sold at a lower price point for the same reason.

The company also stated in their blog that Kinect for Windows will be a hardware-only business model. This means that the SDK and runtime will be provided free of charge to all developers.

In a move that encourages developers to buy the new hardware, Microsoft has stated that those who wish to release their non-commercial creations must do so with the new Kinect for Windows hardware and accompanying software. Software that was released using the beta SDK on Kinect for Xbox 360 will still be allowed with Microsoft extending the beta license to June 16, 2016.

In a keynote that was pretty lackluster and showing Microsoft’s apathy for CES, the Kinect for Windows announcement was pretty exciting. While we all knew it was coming to Windows eventually, I didn’t expect to see it this soon. Kinect is a pretty amazing piece of hardware and it will be interesting to see where developers take it on a more open platform.

January 10, 2012
CES 2012: Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock Coming in September

Belkin, a company that specializes in connectivity accessories, unveiled the new Thunderbolt Express dock at CES today. The dock is designed to allow users to take fuller advantage of the new Thunderbolt technology found on an increasing number of computers, most notably those made by Apple.

The dock sports a remarkable array of connector ports: 3 USB 2.0, HDMI, ethernet, firewire, and a 3.5 mm audio port. It also has two Thunderbolt ports – one upstream, one down. It allows simultaneous use of multiple devices, meaning that users can plug one Thunderbolt cable into their computers, and gain instant access to anything plugged into the dock.

The Thunderbolt Express Dock retails for $299 and will be available in September.

[Source: Belkin Press Release]

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: DISH announces new Broadband and DVR services

Somebody is finally taking on the righteous task of bringing faster internet to those in rural areas and that somebody is DISH Network.

DISH Network announced a partnership with ViaSat Inc. at CES today to bring next-generation satellite broadband to homes across America bundled with their satellite television service. The company also announced a new DVR system that will bring impressive storage and recording abilities to their service.

The new satellite broadband service, called DISH Broadband, is the most appealing new option just because it’s the fastest satellite offered yet in the United States and it’s squarely aimed at rural Americans who can’t get access to broadband Internet.

“This is one more example of DISH meeting the needs of consumers,” DISH CEO Joe Clayton said. “The market potential for this new Internet service is substantial given the nearly eight million to 10 million mostly rural American households that are unserved and millions more left with slower broadband alternatives.”

The service will cost $79.98 per month with an installation starting at $99. ViaSat will handle the satellite delivery services while DISH will handle the billing and tech support.

During the same conference, DISH also took out time to announce their new set-top boxes Hopper and Joey. The Kangaroo names are intentional as that is the mascot for their new devices.

The Hopper is the main unit DVR that features three satellite TV tuners, a 2TB hard drive that can store up to 2,000 hours of video content, bluetooth for linking to devices like wireless headphones and picture-in-picture for watching any two channels at the same time.

The Joey is the smaller set-top box that connects to the Hopper unit. This allows for the most interesting feature of the new set-top box in that it can deliver up to four different on-demand or recorded shows to four rooms in the house. This essentially allows every member of the family to watch something different any time they please.

The other big feature of Hopper is PrimeTime Anytime which records every PrimeTime television show on every major network. This also means that the Hopper DVR can record up to six shows at once.

The Hopper will also offer the usual plethora of TV apps like Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, photo sharing and games.

While the new Internet service is definitely appealing, especially to those in rural communities, it’s the new DVR and set-top boxes that create the most excitement. It’s hard not to be in love with a system that can record and play back that many programs simultaneously throughout a household.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Lifeproof Wants You To Take Your Phone Anywhere

Lifeproof first made news with their iPhone cases several months ago. These cases are designed to be, well, life proof. An iPhone in a Lifeproof case is supposed to be able to withstand almost any amount of water, dirt, snow, and shock – pretty much anything you can throw at it. The case is so rugged that the assembly instructions actually ask buyers to assemble the case without their iPhone in it and submerge the empty case in water for half an hour in order to be sure they’ve assembled it correctly.

Today at CES Lifeproof has announced a new line of accessories for the case that will make it even easier to take your iPhone absolutely anywhere. The new Lifeproof in Motion line includes belt clips, a bike bar mount, an adapter for those with GoPro mounts, and an armband for jogging and swimming. Yes, swimming.

The accessories are available on Lifeproof’s website now. The case itself runs $79.99. And don’t worry, if you’re one of those people who has to see it to believe it (I was), they have a series of videos showing the Lifeproof case in action. The video demonstrating the case’s performance in water is embedded below, for your viewing pleasure.

[Source: Press Release]

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Fitbit Scale Shares Your Weight With Your Friends

Fitness technology company Fitbit has announced a new product in their lineup. Announced at CES today, the new Aria Smart Scale is a wi-fi enabled bathroom scale that can track the weights of eight separate family members, and gives you the option to upload them to the internet. The scale pairs with the Fitbit Wireless Activity Tracker to help you get an overall picture of your health and activity level. You can track the data collected by the Aria and by the activity tracker on Fitbit’s website, or with one of Fitbit’s smartphone apps – iOS or Android.

Of course, Fitbit is aware that weight isn’t necessarily something you want to broadcast across the internet, so the wi-fi sharing feature is turned off by default. Enabling it, though, gives you access to a variety of rewards, and the chance to compete with friends who are also trying to lose weight.

The scale ships in March, and is priced at $129.99.

[Source: Mashable]

January 9, 2012
ROCCAT Brings Their “A” Game To CES

One of the best PC peripheral makers is finally bringing their products to the US market.

ROCCAT Studios, a German manufacturer of professional PC gaming devices and equipment, revealed at CES today the full details of their entrance into the US market.

Beginning in mid-February, Amazon will begin shipping out ROCCAT’s lineup of gaming keyboards, mice, headsets and additional accessories. The three main products being shown at CES are the Isku illuminated gaming keyboard, the Kone[+] gaming mouse and the Kave 5.1 Surround Sound gaming headset.

The Isku keyboard may just look like an awesome illuminated keyboard until it’s combined with the Kone[+] gaming mouse. The two accessories use the company’s proprietary ROCCAT Talk protocol which allows the keyboard and mouse to communicate. This allows the user to execute mouse macros quickly with the keyboard. It also allows for the user to control the dpi settings of the mouse through the keyboard for precise aiming. The keyboard will be available for $89.99 in mid-February.

The Kone[+] gaming mouse is by itself a ridiculous piece of hardware with a 6000dpi laser sensor that works with a 10.5 megapixel resolution and 1000Hz polling rate. Essentially, this mouse is ridiculously fast and can react to all kinds of movement without any kind of input lag.

The mouse also features software that allows the user to assign two functions to each mouse button, effectively doubling its usefulness. The mouse itself houses 576kb of onboard memory that will save up to five control profiles so switching between settings isn’t even a problem. It also features 20 presets for the top 20 PC games on the market right now. Last but not least, it features a weight system comprising four 5g weights allowing the user to customize the weight of the mouse to their preference. The mouse will be available in mid-February as well for $79.99.

Finally, there is the Kave 5.1 surround soung gaming headset. While seemingly not as fantastic as the mouse and keyboard combo, it would not be wise to count this headset out. It’s your standard surround sound headset with a great desktop remote that has numerous slides that control front, center and rear sounds. A small innovation that is nonetheless appreciated is a small blue LED light on the mic that informs the player of when the mute function is on. The headset will be available at the same time for $119.99.

Any PC gamer should be excited for the launch of these products. Not only do they look good, they have many features that aren’t seen in a vast majority of gaming PC peripherals. They are also cost effective which is a major plus in the PC gaming market.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Samsung Galaxy Note Coming To America

At their CES conference today, AT&T announced that Samsung’s Galaxy Note, which has been available overseas for some time, is coming to the US. For the time being, at least, the phone will be exclusively on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. There is currently no information on pricing or release date.

With the Galaxy Note, Samsung is trying to split the difference between the smartphone and the tablet. The HD Super AMOLED display measures 5.3 inches – right in the middle of the 3.5-4-inch screens of most smartphones and the 7-inch screens of many tablets. It also comes with an S Pen (i.e., a stylus), that promises somewhat finer control than users can get with a finger alone. The device also sports a 1.4 GHz dual core processor, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera and 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, HD video recording, and 16 GB of internal memory along with a microSD card slot.

While 7-inch tablets have generally done fairly well, Steve Jobs famously said that 10 inches was the bottom limit for an iPad. Anything smaller, he said, would suffer from an identity crisis – too small to be a tablet, too big to be a phone. With the Galaxy Note, Samsung has deliberately created a device with the very identity crisis Jobs worried about, and used that as a selling point. It will be interesting to see how well the device does (at least Samsung is immune to charges of copying Apple on this one). Look for more information as the reviews start to roll in. Meanwhile, check out the video below, then let us know what you think in the comments.

January 9, 2012
Google, YouTube Events At CES 2012 Announced

In case you have trouble finding your way around the busy CES business this week, Google’s posted in their blog today about where convention goers will be able to find Google and YouTube events.

We’ll kick things off at 3:00pm PT on Tuesday, January 10 with chairman Eric Schmidt speaking at CNET Presents – The Next Big Thing in CE, in Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) North Hall N255-257. On the following day, January 11, we have a bunch of events across topics:

Google’s senior policy counsel Rick Whitt will participate in the Innovation Policy Summit Session: Spectrum for Wireless Broadband: Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together in LVCC North Hall N264 at 10:15am PT.

On the education front, Angela Lin, manager of YouTube EDU, will present on “High Tech U”—digital tools and services that are changing the traditional ivory tower—at 3:00pm PT in LVCC North Hall N256.

End the day at 5:00pm PT with CNET’s Women In Tech panel, featuring Marissa Mayer, VP of product management, in LVCC South Hall, Upper Level Lobby – CNET Stage.

On Thursday, January 12 at 10:00am PT, YouTube will be keynoting the Entertainment Matters program in the Las Vegas Hilton Theatre. Robert Kyncl, VP of global content, will share his thoughts on the evolution of the entertainment industry, and he’ll later be joined by partners and friends for a panel discussion.

There will also apparently be some Google TV and YouTube demos around the convention center. Chances are, though, that you’re going to encounter some Google or YouTube-ness whether you like it or not, but at least now you can know where to be (or not to be) when they’re putting on the ritz.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: RIM Shows Off New BlackBerry Phone And Tablet OS

RIM has announced new versions of the operating systems for their BlackBerry phones and BlackBerry PlayBook today at CES. The company described the new software in dual press releases issued this morning.

BlackBerry OS 7.1, which begins rolling out to BlackBerry smartphones today, includes a variety of new features. BlackBerry Tag allows users with NFC-enabled phones to exchange information – contact info, documents, photos, etc – by bumping their phones together. Mobile hotspot functionality has been added as well, along with enhanced search capability.

PlayBook OS 2.0, meanwhile, has a lot more catching up to do. The PlayBook was widely panned when it released, and several features users regarded as critical were missing from the device on launch. The new OS adds many of those features in, and includes a whole lot more. A slew of email and messaging features have been added, including a unified inbox, rich-text composing and edting for email, and inbox search tools. The new OS also adds the ability to pair a user’s BlackBerry phone with their PlayBook, making the phone a remote control, keyboard, or mouse for their tablet. The update also includes a variety of productivity enhancements and access to new apps and content. The OS is expected to be available in February.

[Source: BlackBerry Press Release, PlayBook Press Release]

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Vizio Gets Into The Computer Business

Vizio, maker of LCD TVs, has announced that they are breaking into the computer business. In a press release issued at CES today, the company debuted a line of desktop and notebook computers aimed to bring the quality and affordability that characterize Vizio’s HDTVs to the computing world.

Vizio’s new PC line is comprised of two desktop all-in-one PCs, one notebook, and two thin and light notebooks. Vizio’s decision to enter the computer market stems from an awareness of the increasing role of our computers in entertainment – particularly in video streaming. With these computers, Vizio set out to create devices “that can stream content for a family movie night and put together an important business presentation the following day.” That is, Vizio wants to make computers that meet users’ entertainment needs and their business needs equally well.

The PCs will incorporate Vizio’s VIA (Vizio Internet Apps) system, which will allow for tight integration between users’ Vizio HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and PCs. There is no word on pricing yet, but the line is scheduled for a Spring 2012 release, so look for more information in the near future.

[Source: Vizio Press Release]

January 9, 2012
LG Unveils New Line Of Smart Home Appliances At CES

If you thought that there was no more room for smart devices, LG has just the thing.

Today at CES, LG unveiled their smart home appliance line that uses their smart technology called LG THINQ. The appliances include a smart oven, a smart refrigerator, a smart washer/dryer combo and a smart robotic vacuum cleaner.

LG is pushing five new technologies in their home appliance line – Smart Grid, Smart Diagnosis, Smart Access, Smart Adapt and Food Management. LG claims that this software will let homeowners control and manage refrigerators, washing machines, ovens and robotic vacuum cleaners via a smart network.

“We’re excited to add home appliances to our largest ever line-up of total LG innovations ever to be shown at CES,” Young-ha Lee, President and CEO of LG Electronics Home Appliance Company, said. “By drawing on LG’s latest IT and mobile technology, our smart appliances promise to be real game changers, offering a big leap forward in convenience and efficiency.”

Smart Grid programs washing machines to do the washing at the most cost-effective times. The oven also taps into the smart grid to offer cost options that take into account the duration and electrical cost of the cooking. The refrigerators can also adjust their temperatures to take advantage of decreased energy rates.

Smart Diagnosis will take notice of anything that goes wrong with a home appliance. Take for example if the refrigerator door is left open, the appliance will notify the owner on its display panel. In later models, this will be done via Wi-Fi and send a message to the owner’s smartphone or tablet PC.

Smart Diagnosis will also be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong in case of a serious malfunction. It will allow service technicians to know exactly what’s wrong to save time and money.

Smart Access allows users to oversee their household chores regardless of their location. Through smartphones or tablet PCs, they can see the time left on food in the oven or check the temperature and contents of the refrigerator. It will even allow users to instruct their robotic vacuum cleaner to clean or watch over the house.

Smart Adapt downloads the latest options for the appliances, included pre-programmed recipes or washing cycles that best fit the user’s lifestyle. Food management goes hand-in-hand with Smart Adapt by letting users keep track of everything in the fridge and when it expires.

These smart appliances came out of nowhere and LG surprised everybody with this announcement. After the initial shock value sank in though, it makes sense. These are all excellent ideas that will make people’s lives easier. Now we just wait until our appliances start refusing orders and begin the robot revolution.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Google TV Coming To A Lot More TVs

Google has announced new partnerships with a variety of TV manufacturers. As CES gets underway, several of those companies are starting to unveil their new products. The LG Smart TV is being unveiled at LG’s press conference right now, along with a variety of other LG devices – including smart appliances.

Meanwhile, there are products from Samsung, Sony, Vizio, and more still in the pipeline. Last week Google made an announcement about the new partnerships, and published a video showcasing some of the new features coming to a Google TV near you. Check out the video below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Dragon TV Changes The Way You Watch TV

Voice recognition has moved beyond a fad and is becoming more mainstream. Next stop is your TV.

Naunce, developers of the Dragon voice recognition software for the PC, are debuting at CES their new Dragon TV service. It allows users to navigate their televisions using only their voice.

Nuance estimates that 1.6 billion TVs will be connected to the internet by 2014 and they want a piece of the pie. They want to make it easier to find what’s on as they find current remote controls to be too hard to navigate with. Dragon TV offers a new technology that allows consumers to easily find what they are looking for while maybe even finding something new.

A few examples that they offer include, “Go to PBS,” or “Find comedies with Vince Vaughn.” While I question their choice in comedies, it’s an impressive technology that would revolutionize the way we watch TV.

Smart TVs offer more than just television by incorporating social media and messaging systems into the package. Nuance isn’t missing a beat by incorporating Dragon TV into this aspect as well by allowing consumers to use the service for hands free control. The provided example is “Call John via Skype.” Once again, removing the remote control out of the picture and letting your voice do the talking is an extremely inviting proposal.

Dragon TV is flexible enough to be integrated into pretty much all connected TVs and devices. It’s also robust enough to take advantage of all the current features of smart TVs and similar devices.

Dragon TV main feature suite is all about taking advantage of current smart TV standards like application control and internet messaging. The best feature is definitely the software’s ability to pick out the user’s voice out of all the potential other noise in the room. This would make it easy to control the TV even during a viewing party.

“Traditional search on televisions is tedious and amazingly outdated,” Mike Thompson, senior vice president and general manager of Nuance Mobile, said. “Dragon TV brings an amazing voice experience, similar to what people do everyday on their phones and in their cars, directly to the living room.”

Amazingly enough, Dragon TV is available now and supports all major TVs, set-top boxes and application platforms including Linux, Android and iOS.

January 9, 2012
Google Maps Indoors Of CES 2012, Makes Sure You Cannot Get Lost

It’s official: you cannot get lost anymore. Even if you throw yourself into the tidal foot traffic of a convention such as CES this week, where you should be easily swept away by the frenzied tech fiends, you cannot get lost. Well, not unless you try.

What makes it so difficult to lose your way this year at the tech convention is Google Maps’ offering of the floor plan for CES 2012 as part of their recently announced effort to include maps of indoor places as well as outdoor places. Not only will you easily navigate your way through the airports of Las Vegas as you arrive for CES, but now you will deftly maneuver your way through the labyrinthine arrangement of nearly every exhibit at the convention. Android Police offered up this example of the nifty map:

As with any of the Google Maps you summon, you can zoom in or out to pinpoint more detailed locations at CES. Furthermore, you can even get directions to a certain booth you’d like to visit by punching in the destination of interest. This Maps function will be an invaluable given the convention is happening in Sin City. However, it’d have been really nice of Google to include a function that helps you locate the lost member of your squad once you get blackout hammered after an exciting day of galavanting among all the shiny new technology.

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: Ubuntu TV Coming Soon

Ubuntu, usually known for being the most popular implementation of the open-source Linux operating system, is getting into the TV business. Canonical, the group behind Ubuntu’s continued development, is showing off a prototype Ubuntu TV at this year’s CES.

Ubuntu TV promises to simplify and streamline users’ entertainment experience, providing them with a one-stop shop for broadcast TV, cable, streaming applications, and online services. The goal is to do away with the staggering array of remotes and set-top boxes that clutter so many living rooms by integrating everything into the TV itself. Users only have one TV, and Ubuntu TV promises that they’ll only need one remote. Users will also have the option of using their smartphones or tablets as remotes.

Ubuntu TV also promises users the ability to share content between their computers and their TV, as well as between the TV and their mobile devices via the Ubuntu One cloud service. Ubunty TV will also run apps from third party developers, giving the platform tremendous growth and expansion potential.

Unfortunately, Ubuntu TV is still in the early stages of development. The version showcased at Canonical’s CES booth is apparently just a demo version. The technology looks promising, though. Look for more news in the coming months as developers and TV manufacturers get on board with Ubuntu TV. Meanwhile, check out the video below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

[Source: Canonical Blog]

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: OpenMobile Makes Android Apps Run On Everything

There are more than just Android and iOS powering smart devices today and one company is making apps easier to get on those other platforms.

OpenMobile announced today at CES their Application Compatibility Layer (ACL) which allows for perfect porting of the more than 300,000 apps available for Android to devices running on other OSes including Windows, Linux and more.

ACL is meant to provide a plethora of apps to any device running any OS by porting Android apps perfectly to the device. OpenMobile claims that there is no exception and that their unique software emulates the Android runtime environment perfectly so that every app runs like it would on an Android device.

They also claim that ACL will not drain any system resources such as power or memory so devices will remain just as they are without any negative impact on their performance.

The big news is that ACL will require no developer effort. This basically means that nobody will have to rewrite or modify the code to make them run. It makes the implementation of these apps effortless.

This essentially allows any business to ship their device with a large quantity of apps preloaded onto their devices without having to rely on developers to craft custom apps for their platform.

ACL will support all tablets, eReaders, smart TVs, smartphones and connected cars and any OS they happen to be running.

This is an industry shifter in the mobile arena. By giving access to all the apps on Android to other smart devices running other OSes, it leverages the competition by allowing any device to compete in the mobile market. Apps are one of the most important resources to any smart device and OpenMobile is making the market more competitive which can only be good thing

January 9, 2012
CES 2012: USB 3.0 Coming to Tablets And Smartphones This Year

The USB 3.0 standard has been around for several years now, but most smartphone and tablet devices have remained stuck with the older, slower USB 2.0. According to Rahman Ismail, chief technology officer for the USB Implementers Forum, that is about to change. Speaking at CES, Ismail said that MicroUSB technology would be available and coming to the smartphone/tablet market by the end of the year.

The new technology offers data transfer speeds between computers and mobile devices of roughly 100 megabytes per second, or 800 megabits per second (Mbps). While that is not much compared to the nearly 5 gigabits per second available between PCs with USB 3.0, it is nearly double the 480 Mbps available for mobile devices with USB 2.0.

Data transfer isn’t the only area of improvement, either. In most of our gadgets these days, USB does double duty: data transfer and charging. In addition to significantly faster data transfer, the newer standard also improves the power transfer speeds, which means faster charging for tablets and smartphones with the technology.

[Source: PC World]

January 9, 2012