Sharp’s new Blu-ray wireless player is WiSA-certified, ships this spring for $4,000
Sharp isn’t only introducing an array of televisions at this year’s CES. Today, the company also took the time to reveal a new Universal Player, its first to support the WiSA open standard. The SD-WH1000U, as it will be known by model name, can play CDs, SACDs, DVDs and Blu-rays wirelessly, with the accessibility side of things being complemented by two HDMI and three USB 3.0 ports — yes, it can connect to the internet as well. Most important, however, is the fact that the Sharp Universal Player meets WiSA requirements, allowing you to seamlessly push out high-quality video and audio content (1080p resolution, 24-bit/96kHz uncompressed sound at 5.2-5.8 GHz range) without the need for any cords. Just don’t expect this potential addition to your WiSA-friendly setup to be a cheap one, as it’s set to be priced at a cool $4,000 once it begins shipping later this year.
Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Sharp
LG’s curved G Flex phone comes to AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile later this quarter
There’s no doubt that the LG G Flex is one of the more unique Android devices we’ve played with recently, thanks to its curved display, self-healing back and uncanny ability to change its shape. Until now, you’ve only been able to get it in a couple Asian countries or through an online importer, but it’s obviously wowed execs in the US wireless industry — AT&T has formally announced its intent to carry the G Flex as part of its lineup. In addition, LG just revealed at its live CES 2014 event that the handset will come to Sprint and T-Mobile in the same time frame. The specs will largely be the same as the Korean version, although LTE compatibility in the US is something that we weren’t able to enjoy in our initial review. None of the carriers are ready to talk specifics about price or availability yet, but AT&T and LG told us that we could expect it sometime in the first quarter of this year; T-Mobile will have more details to share in the coming weeks. As for how much it’ll cost you, we wouldn’t count on it being cheap at first: After all, the Korean version goes for more than $900 (unsubsidized) right now.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T, LG
Sharp is teasing a 3D-ready, 85-inch 8K display at CES, no glasses required
Sharp loves to show off the 8K technology it hopes to see in your living room in the future. It’s no surprise, then, that the outfit is yet again using CES as a platform to tease another super, super high-res 85-inch screen. Unlike the gorgeous panel we saw last year (pictured above), though, this time Sharp’s rolled into the desert with a glasses-free 3D flavor of its 7,680 x 4,320 display. The company isn’t sharing many more details at the moment, but, for what it’s worth, it did mention that its latest 8K creation was done in collaboration with Philips and Dolby. While we haven’t seen this thing ourselves, we know it’s here, somewhere in Las Vegas, so we’ll be sure to update this post as soon as our eyes meet all those pixels.
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Sharp
Our 2014 CES stage schedule is here and it’s awesome!
Sure, there’s a certain amount of creeping dread in the lead up to CES each year. It’s a sleep-deprived week spent elbowing our way through the packed halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The food is bad, the facilities few and far between and the hygiene practices of the tech-blogging community questionable, at best. But there are also plenty of things that make it one of the most exciting weeks of the year, not the least of which is our stage. As with the last couple of years, we’ve got a prime spot in the convention center lobby, where we’ll be speaking to some of the biggest and most innovative companies in the world of consumer electronics.
The list includes Sony, Ford, Pebble, Nokia, Leap Motion, Oculus, MakerBot, Lenovo, Samsung, AT&T and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, to name a few. You can check out the full schedule here and stay glued to our CES event hub for updates. See you on stage!
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Desktops, Cameras, Displays, Misc, Gaming, GPS, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Meta, Peripherals, Robots, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Wireless, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Sony, Nokia, AT&T, AMD, Lenovo, NVIDIA
Source: CES 2014
Xbox One sales in 2013 top 3 million units across 13 territories
There are approximately 3 million Xbox One owners worldwide as of the end of 2013, according to the latest numbers from Microsoft. That’s up another million since mid-December, and accounts for sales in 13 countries. Not too bad, eh?
Xbox marketing head Yusuf Mehdi announced the new sales number on Microsoft’s Xbox news site, where he wrote, “Since our launch, demand for Xbox One has been strong, selling out throughout the holidays at most retailers worldwide. We are continuing to work hard to deliver additional consoles to retailers as fast as possible.”
Filed under: Gaming, HD, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
AT&T Sponsored Data lets businesses foot the bill for consumers’ wireless data use
At AT&T’s Developer Summit today, the wireless operator introduced what it calls Sponsored Data, something it likens to a 1-800 number for wireless data. Sounds strange, but this new wireless data model is pretty straightforward. The service, which is mostly geared towards businesses, allows users to test out or view applications, games, upcoming movie trailers and even websites without impacting their monthly data plans.
Sponsored Data is, of course, all about consumer engagement. With unlimited data fast becoming a rarity, consumers need to monitor their data consumption to avoid blowing past caps. It’s easy to see how that cautious behavior doesn’t translate well for businesses looking to hock their virtual wares. Sponsored Data then removes that concern, offering users a way to browse the web or test drive new apps freely on their phones with the same 4G speeds they’d normally enjoy on their personal data plans. Though consumers won’t be charged for taking advantage of Sponsored Data, they will see it appear within their monthly billing statement. The fees, however, are entirely the province of business partners backing that “toll-free data.”
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T
Digital Storm’s Bolt 2 is a Steam Machine, dual-boots Windows and SteamOS
Digital Storm’s latest Bolt is more than the standard tower we’ve seen from the PC boutique company in the past– it’s a Steam Machine! Well, sort of. It’s also a regular PC, with the ability to dual-boot into both Windows and SteamOS. The biggest difference is that it ships with Valve’s Steam Controller — something you’ll need if you’re interested in playing any cursor-based games in your living room.
Confusingly, the Bolt 2 was previously teased with a starting price of just under $1,500; the latest update from Digital Storm puts it at a starting price of $1,899. No specs are available, but we previously heard you could outfit the box with a GPU as serious as NVIDIA’s GTX Titan. We’ve reached out to Digital Storm for more, and expect we’ll have all the details by later today when Valve holds its CES 2014 press conference.
Source: Digital Storm
CES 2014: Corning Announces Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass to Fight Germs on Mobile Devices
Following its announcement late last week regarding new “3D” curved Gorilla Glass for smartphones and other products, Apple’s glass supplier Corning today officially announced its antimicrobial Gorilla Glass, incorporating ionic silver into the glass to inhibit growth of bacteria and other organisms.
“Corning’s Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass inhibits the growth of algae, mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria because of its built-in antimicrobial property, which is intrinsic to the glass and effective for the lifetime of a device,” said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials. “This innovation combines best-in-class antimicrobial function without compromising Gorilla Glass properties. Our specialty glass provides an excellent substrate for engineering antimicrobial and other functional attributes to help expand the capabilities of our Corning Gorilla Glass and address the needs of new markets.”
The new antimicrobial Gorilla Glass will be included in a new version of Steelcase’s RoomWizard conference room scheduling device, which is being shown at CES this week in Las Vegas, and the company says that it is working with “numerous manufacturers” to develop applications for the material. The company has also demonstrated that it can produce antimicrobial Gorilla Glass in high volumes needed for popular products such as the iPhone.
Last year, Corning noted that it was working on antimicrobial technology as part of a feature arguing that Gorilla Glass 3 is a superior material compared to sapphire, which has been gaining attention as a potential future display covering. Late last year, it was revealed that Apple had reached an agreement with GT Advanced Technologies to develop a sapphire glass manufacturing facility in Arizona, with Apple building out the plant and GT Advanced operating it. Apple currently uses sapphire to cover the rear camera on several of its recent iOS devices and for the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s, but it appears that Apple may be looking to significantly expand the use of sapphire in its products.
Amid the increased talk of sapphire as a possible replacement for Gorilla Glass in future mobile devices, Corning is clearly continuing to push its technology forward, with the new techniques for curving the glass allowing for innovative new product designs and antimicrobial properties serving as another selling point for device manufacturers and consumers. Corning is also working on next-generation flexible “Willow Glass”, but the company has indicated that it will be several years before that product can make its way into mobile device display assemblies.
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HP serves up 21.5 inch Android-powered All-in-One
Android hybrid tablet/laptops are so 2013 according to HP, which just announced its new Android-powered HP Slate21 Pro AiO.
Unlike the AiO desktop PCs that dual-boot Windows and Android, this one strictly runs our little green friend, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
Said to be designed for productivity in office, education and kiosk environments, the AiO features a 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution IPS touchscreen display with wide 178-degree viewing angles, plus Its stand design allows it to decline up to 70 degrees. There is also optional “VESA mounting,” that makes it flexible enough for a variety of work environments.
Other specs of the HP Slate21 Pro are an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core T40S Processor (1.66 GHz – Dual-Core/Single-Core mode up to 1.8 GHz), 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of flash storage, SD card slot, 8.11 a/b/g/n dual band wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port on the side and two on the back, HDMI input, a USB 2.0 upstream port, RJ45 network connection, integrated Ethernet, DTS Sound and integrated audio, two, integrated stereo speakers, a 720p HD webcam and access to the Google Play store.
The AiO can use apps such as Kingsoft Office Suite, Google Docs, Google Drive, it’s certified Citrix ready and HDX verified and can deliver a virtual workspace with secure data and Windows application support via Citrix Receiver, so users also can easily switch between the Android environment and content displayed from a Windows PC.
With business users in mind, it comes pre-installed with Citrix XenMobile, which allows companies to manage apps and secure the HP Slate21 within a corporate environment.
When available, you get all of this this, plus 50 GB of Box cloud storage, starting at $399. If you’re not getting this for business, it should be able to handle games such as Dead Trigger 2 beautifully.
via HP
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LG debuts Life Band Touch
LG is finally dipping its toes into the wearable technology world with the announcement of its Life Band Touch wristband. With its matte black finish and touchscreen interface, this activity tracker looks appealing. Being able to track your heart rate and calorie consumption, the device seems very similar to other activity trackers such as Nike’s Fuelband but there are some “cool” features that make it stand out from the fitness crowd.
One of the neatest features is that the heart rate monitoring doesn’t occur on the wrist, but works through “Heart Rate Earphones” which checks the wearer’s pulse through blood flow in your ear! It also comes with the standard smartwatch features such as notifications, tells time, and plays music
The Life Band Touch can sync with either Android or iOS devices using Bluetooth 4.0, although nothing specific has been said about what type of devices, smartphone or tablet, it will work with. As CES continues hopefully more details emerge as far as pricing and availability.
Source: LG
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AIVAnet 