Amazon’s game console to launch in 2014, report indicates
Amazon will debut a game console later this year which will run Android, says gaming-centric site VG247. Expected to launch with a sub-$300 price tag, the console will reportedly allow for downloaded and streaming games.
Senior publishing sources have been meeting with Amazon for a briefing on the hardware – which currently goes by a number of different codenames – and popular Android and iOS games have been used to demo the device… roughly the same size as the PSone redesign, grey in colour, oblong in shape and with sharp edges…being created in conjunction with subsidiary Lab 126, designers of Amazon’s Kindle devices.
There has been a steady rise of Android-based gaming devices from a number of players over the last year, however none of them has the brand recognition of Amazon. Thus far, NVIDIA’s Shield is the best product we’ve seen designed to utilize Android in an entertainment and gaming aspect. Should Amazon introduce an affordably priced console that taps into its library of Android games it could knock out a few startups.
We would also expect that a console from Amazon would harness its own services such as Instant Video, Amazon Cloud, and more. Our gut tells us that this sort of product would come with incentives and/or promotions that tie together Amazon Prime and Kindle products.
The post Amazon’s game console to launch in 2014, report indicates appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Intel’s smart headset understands you even when you’re offline
Intel claims that its Jarvis headset’s voice recognition makes it smart, but we’ve seen voice commands on Bluetooth earpieces before — what’s so special this time around? It’s all about offline support, the company tells Quartz. Unlike many wearables, Jarvis can process complex voice requests without talking to a server. That’s most helpful when there’s no internet access, but it also leads to faster, more natural interaction than you typically get from the likes of Google Now or Siri. You won’t necessarily have to buy Jarvis to reap its benefits, either. Intel hopes to sell its voice recognition technology to phone manufacturers, so your handset may be the only smart device you need.
Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables, Intel
Source: Quartz
Engadget giveaway: win one of two Kobo Arc 10HD tablets
The e-reading enthusiasts at Kobo have been making some waves in the tablet market lately and the Arc 10HD is one of the biggest and best Kobo has to offer. As the name implies, this 10-inch slate boasts a 2,560 x 1,600 HD display, which is perfect for watching movies — but you should probably read the book first. The Arc 10HD runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and offers access to the Kobo bookstore, the Google Play Store and even integration with the Pocket app for offline reading. So let’s get down to brass tacks: The folks at Kobo have been kind enough to provide a pair of these tablets for two lucky Engadget readers to enjoy. Just head on down to the Rafflecopter widget below for your chance to win.
The Rules:
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. Two (2) winners will each receive one (1) Kobo Arc 10HD tablet (K110-KU-BK-K-AN16).
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Kobo and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until January 29th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile, Alt
This iPhone case lets you answer calls while it’s closed
Both LG and Samsung have phone cases that let you take calls without exposing your screen to the elements, but what if you have an iPhone? As of today, you can check out Moshi’s SenseCover. The iPhone 5 and 5s flip case includes both a preview window as well as a touch strip that lets you answer the phone or silence alarms while the device remains safe. It’s not the cheapest design at $45, but it may be worthwhile if you’d rather not risk a shattered display just to start a conversation.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Apple
An early look at iOS in the Car (video)
Apple’s iOS in the Car, which we first met last summer at WWDC, may soon make an official debut. In fact, the dash-friendly interface has been hiding right under our noses in the public version of iOS 7.0.3. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith managed to capture an early version of the interface in action by emulating a vehicle display on his desktop — he posted a video walkthrough of the pre-release software today. The current iteration appears to include a full-screen map, with simple touch controls and indicators framing the top and bottom. There’s even a software home button, which can be used to switch between apps and return to the (currently nonexistent) home screen.
Based on today’s demo, you’ll be able to enter a destination directly into the vehicle by speaking a search term, or by searching on a connected iPhone or iPad. Current functionality appears to be limited to basic location entry and map readouts, but it’s definitely a work in progress — another dev, Denis Stas, managed to get his hands on a screenshot from the iOS 7.1 beta, which offers a more iOS 7-like look and feel. We have yet to hear from vehicle manufacturers about confirmed partnerships with Apple, so there’s no word on when iOS 7 in the Car will actually hit the road, though judging by the tremendous interest in iOS integration in general, several agreements are already in the works.
Filed under: Transportation, Software, Apple
Via: MacRumors
Source: Steven Troughton-Smith, Denis Stas
Verizon shareholders approve buyout of Vodafone stake, deal expected to close next month
The next step in Verizon’s buyout of Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in the company is now complete. Shareholders held a special meeting to vote on the matter, and their consensus was to issue 1.3 billion shares to Vodafone shareholders to complete the transaction; in London, Vodafone shareholders also conducted a vote on the matter today as well, giving Verizon the green light. Now that this hurdle is out of the way, the last step is for the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to approve the deal (along with other customary closing procedures) — and as long as everything works out, the transaction is expected to close on or around February 21st.
Apple Adds ‘Red Bull TV’ Action Sports Channel to Apple TV
Apple today expanded the lineup for its Apple TV set-top box, adding a new Red Bull TV channel with free action sports content carrying branding from the energy drink company. As noted by Variety, the channel includes coverage of live events, as well as curated playlists and on-demand content.
Red Bull TV live programming, films, shows and clips are now available to Apple TV users worldwide for free. Launched in 2010, Red Bull TV features “inspirational entertainment programming” designed to promote the beverage and its high-action brand image. Content includes live global events and sports, music and lifestyle entertainment.
Red Bull TV has also been available as an iOS app for several years.
Red Bull TV is just the latest in a long line of channel additions for the Apple TV over the last six months, with the most recent major expansion coming last month with the addition of Watch ABC, Bloomberg, Crackle, and KORTV.
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Apple Continues to Lose Smartphone Share, Gain Mobile Phone Share in 4Q 2013 [iOS Blog]
Even as Apple’s share of the smartphone market declined in the fourth quarter of 2013, the rise of smartphones to replace more basic feature phones has allowed the company to continue increasing its share of the overall mobile phone market, according to new numbers from research firm IDC.
According to IDC, yearly smartphone shipments topped one billion for the first time in 2013 and now represent 55 percent of mobile phone shipments, up from under 42 percent in 2012. The fourth quarter alone saw smartphone capture over 58 percent of the overall mobile phone market.
Worldwide smartphone shipments in 4Q13 in millions of units (Source: IDC)
For full-year 2013, Apple’s iPhone sales increased by 12.9 percent over 2012, trailing the broader smartphone industry’s growth rate of 38.4 percent. Apple was, however, still able to retain firm control of second place in the rankings behind Samsung even as Apple’s market share fell from 18.7 percent to 15.3 percent. It was a similar story for the fourth quarter on its own, with Apple’s 6.7 percent growth in shipments trailing the broader market and causing the company’s share to dip from 20.9 percent to 17.9 percent.
Apple posted record shipment volume during 4Q13, driven primarily by the addition of multiple countries offering the iPhone 5S and 5C, and sustained demand from its initial markets that saw these models launch at the end of 3Q13. Still, Apple had the lowest year-on-year increase of all the leading vendors. Now that Apple has finally arrived at China Mobile, it remains to be seen how much Apple will close the gap against Samsung in 2014.
But when looking at the overall mobile phone market, Apple performs much better due to its exclusive focus on the rapidly growing smartphone segment. According to IDC’s numbers, Apple easily outpaced overall market growth of 4.8 percent for 2013 and 0.9 percent for the fourth quarter alone, boosting Apple to an 8.4 percent share for the full year and 10.4 percent for fourth quarter. Apple continues to sit firmly in third place among all mobile phone manufacturers behind Samsung and a rapidly falling Nokia.
Worldwide mobile phone shipments in 4Q13 in millions of units (Source: IDC)
Just yesterday, Apple released its earnings report for the fourth quarter (first fiscal quarter of 2014), revealing fairly strong overall performance but weaker than expected iPhone numbers that helped drive Apple’s stock down nearly 8 percent at the opening of trading today. And with the iPhone accounting for 56 percent of Apple’s revenue for the quarter, it’s clear the device continues to be the main factor in measuring Apple’s success.
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Carl Icahn Buys $500 Million More in Apple Shares Following Earnings Dip [Mac Blog]
Activist investor Carl Icahn revealed this morning that he has purchased an additional $500 million in Apple shares following Wall Street’s disappointment with the company’s earnings announcement yesterday.
Apple’s share price closed at $550 yesterday, before falling as low as $503 at open this morning.
Just last week, Icahn announced that his share in Apple had passed $3 billion, then a day later he purchased another $500 million, and now, with the addition of today’s shares, Icahn now owns somewhere in excess of $4 billion in Apple, nearly 1% of the company.
Icahn has repeatedly pushed Apple to increase buyback of its own shares and yesterday’s news that the company has increased its cash on hand to more than $158 billion will likely have Icahn reiterating that demand.
Only 22 percent of Apple’s cash — some $34.4 billion — is located in the United States. The remaining $124.4 billion is located offshore, and Apple would need to pay significant amounts of corporate income tax if it were to bring that money back to the States for a share repurchase.
Apple and several other tech companies have been active in lobbying the Government to allow companies to bring cash back to the United States as part of a one-year “tax holiday”.
Just bought $500 mln more $AAPL shares. My buying seems to be going neck-and-neck with Apple's buyback program, but hope they win that race.
— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 28, 2014
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Nintendo Denies Report of Plans to Release Demo Games on iOS
A Monday report from Japanese business newspaper Nikkei claimed Nintendo is planning unveil an iOS app to market content for its Wii U and 3DS, with the app allegedly featuring information about new games from Nintendo and the mobile initiative potentially also including playable demos of console and handheld games. In a statement provided to Engadget today, however, Nintendo has denied it is planning to offer such minigames on smartphone platforms.
“Nikkei’s article contains information previously stated by Mr Iwata during past press conferences, including statements which relate to Nintendo’s willingness to make use of smart devices to promote our products.
However during such past announcements Mr Iwata has also stated that Nintendo’s intention is not to make Nintendo software available on smart devices and as such, we can confirm that there are no plans to offer minigames on smartphone devices.”
Nintendo is at a crossroads as mobile gaming makes gains on both the console and handheld market. The Japanese game maker reported its third consecutive annual loss and adjusted its forecast to reflect a 35 billion yen ($335.76 million) operating loss, instead of the previously projected profit of 100 billion yen. The company also slashed it sales forecasts for the Wii U from 9 million to 2.8 million units and cut its estimates for the 3DS from 18 million to 13.5 million units.
Many investors and Nintendo fans have called for the legendary game company to embrace mobile platforms, but the company’s executives have so far remained steadfast in focusing their valuable game franchises only on Nintendo-branded hardware.
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