Court rules AT&T’s Aio brand must change marketing colors
Lest customers confuse it with T-Mobile’s branding, pre-paid carrier Aio Wireless must stop using the plum colors in marketing. A federal court believes that AT&T’s pre-praid subsidiary Aio’s shade of purple is a bit too close to T-Mobile’s magenta. While some laughed at T-Mobile’s lawsuit against Aio when it was first filed last fall, it’s Legere and Co. having the last laugh today. Aio must stop using the plum color in marketing, its website, social media, and anywhere else a customer might look.
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HTC to offer wider range of products in 2014
In addition to the flagship, look for mid-range and entry-level models from HTC
A new report out of Reauters today tells us that HTC will employ a different strategy for 2014, namely more phones.
The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market.
Whereas last year saw HTC focusing almost solely on the flagship line HTC One, this year should bring them back into the mainstream. HTC co-founder/chairwoman Cher Wang is optimistic about the future, particularly around the HTC One.
It’s worth pointing out that HTC is reversing a course it already reversed in the last two years. Remember all the various HTC models in 2010-2011? Remember all those versions of the Sensation? HTC said that was too much for them and they stripped down to one key model in 2013. Perhaps there’s a happy medium in there somewhere.
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Broadcom’s new chips could put fast LTE in your budget smartphone
While entry-level smartphones are getting to be quite good these days, few of them have fast LTE; many have to make do with either basic LTE or 3G. If Broadcom is successful with its just-revealed M320 and M340 system-on-chip designs, though, advanced 4G could soon be very affordable. The new chips respectively bundle dual- and quad-core processors with 150Mbps LTE radios, making it easier for small firms to ship cheap handsets (Broadcom expects sub-$300 pricing) with speedy internet access. They’re already integrated with Android 4.4 KitKat, too, so companies don’t always have to fuss over software support. Broadcom isn’t saying when phones with the new chips will reach the market, but it’s currently delivering sample units to “leading” manufacturers.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Broadcom
‘Fish on Wheels’ frees your guppy from the tyranny of the tank (video)
A company called Studio Diip has created a motorized go-cart. For fish. Though “why” is the first question that comes to mind, at this point we’re only able to give you the “how.” When Little Dory starts to swim in a particular direction, her movement is captured by a top-mounted web cam, processed by a Beagleboard and used to steer the Arduino-controlled carriage under her bowl. As seen in the video after the fold, that lets her follow her muse outside the aquarium’s confines. We’re hoping this experiment makes it beyond the lab one day, as we’re pretty damned curious to see where a fish wants to go. (“Away from the cat” or “towards the ocean” seem like safe bets.)
Filed under: Misc, Transportation
Source: Studio Diip
Apple Celebrates The Beatles’ American Debut with New Apple TV Channel
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ American debut, Apple today has expanded the lineup for its Apple TV set-top box by adding a channel dedicated to the legendary rock group.
The channel allows users to view The Beatles’ groundbreaking performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for a limited time, and also offers download links to The Beatles’ U.S. releases, which are available digitally for the first time on iTunes.
The Beatles’ music originally debuted on iTunes in November 2010 after years of speculation and prolonged negotiation between record label EMI and Apple. The group’s music went on to sell 2 million songs and 450,000 albums in its first week on the iTunes Store, and eventually reached overall sales of 5 million songs and 1 million albums within in two months. Exclusive ringtones by The Beatles were made available on iTunes in February 2012, and a digital compilation of 59 rare and unheard recordings by the group also launched last December.
Thanks, Mike!
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Japanese smart diaper is destined to have a lot of crappy days
The current move towards wearables is surely good news for us, but unremittingly bad news for them. A flexible sensor developed at the University of Tokyo is about to discover just how bad when it’s put to work as a sort of early warning system inside diapers. It’s constructed from a printable organic circuit that detects changes in wetness, temperature and pressure, but apparently not smell (small mercies). It can charge wirelessly and transmit data wirelessly too, so that a caregiver holding a receiver can tell whether a baby or incontinent elderly person needs changing without having to unclothe them first. The device is expected to come to market as soon as its power efficiency has been improved, and we bet it can’t wait.
Filed under: Wearables, Science, Alt
Via: Japan Daily Press
Source: New Straits Times
Blackmagic now shipping its Production Camera 4K for $1,000 less than expected
So far, all of Blackmagic Design’s cinema cameras have suffered through various shipping delays, and the new RAW-capable Production Camera 4K is no exception. But if you plunked four grand down to order one quite awhile ago, there’s a double-shot of good news: it’s finally shipping out and you’ll be getting $1,000 back for your troubles. The 4K super-35 sensor, global-shutter equipped model is now priced (permanently) at $2,995 instead of $3,995, making it the cheapest 4K pro cameras on the market right now. That may change when Panasonic’s 4K Lumix GH4 starts shipping for (likely) less money and with footage that, while not RAW, also looks very promising. Considering that there were exactly zero sub-$3,000 4K cinema cameras on the market a week ago, though, it’s nice to now have the dilemma of which to pick.
Filed under: Cameras
Via: No Film School
Source: Blackmagic Design
[RUMOUR] Chromecast is coming to Australia soon with additional Telstra Content
For some time now, the rest of the world has looked on as America enjoys its exclusive look at the Google Chromecast streaming device, and unless you have been particularly diligent or optimistic with your wallet, it is actually quite difficult to get one wherever you might be; I myself had to go to the U.S of A itself to get one. We heard earlier this week that the U.K. will be getting the Chromecast, and today, we get the rumour that the Chromecast is coming to Australia soon too.
The rumour comes to us courtesy of the newspaper, The Australian, who alleges that Google and Australia‘s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, are in talks to bring the streaming device to the land Down Under. Telstra plans to bring the Chromecast to Australia as a different means of accessing its collection of online content which includes movies and sports programs. While I can’t personally speak for the quality and cost of Telstra’s services, I can say that it would definitely be a good thing if the Chromecast arrived over here, particularly since the SDK has opened the floodgates for all manner of apps to start adding Chromecast support.
This is for all the Australian folks: would you get a Chromecast if it were released in Australia? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: The Australian via The Next Web
[LEAK] Android KitKat for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 are coming and this is what the status bar will look like
Knock, knock. Leak. Leak who? Leak from Eldar Murtazin, that’s who! Eldar Murtazin has been on top of some very important leaks the last few weeks including ones regarding the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the apparent demise of the Nexus line of devices. This time his leak comes in the form of the above picture which is allegedly the status bar for Samsung’s Android KitKat update. Naturally, that would be the Android KitKat for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 that is imminently due, and no doubt also to be featured on the Galaxy S5 to be announced at MWC 2014.
Pure white is definitely an interesting choice, particularly if you have a white background, but it looks like it adheres to the standard KitKat interface that we have seen on all the devices that have already received Android 4.4. Murtazin also tweeted earlier today that this change to the standard white icons “means a lot for TouchWiz‘s future” which suggests that Samsung may be finally playing Google‘s fiddle after the two were at loggerheads regarding Samsung’s Magazine UX and treatment of native Android apps. This can only mean good things for Samsung and, in turn, TouchWiz, which has been increasingly disparaged for its memory space hogging and general operation.
What do you think about the status bar leaked today? Think this is Samsung turning over a new leaf with Google? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Twitter (1), (2) via Phone Arena
HTC admits it took its ‘eyes off the ball’ in neglecting low-end phones
Did you know that HTC still made cheaper phones like the Desire 601? Possibly not, considering the attention lavished upon the company’s One series of flagships. HTC is now expecting its next quarter to be the worst so far, with the company’s top executives admitting that the outfit “took [its] eyes off the ball” in terms of the range of devices that it sold, and that concentrating on the HTC One caused it to miss out on a “huge chunk of the mid-tier market.” The company has also conceded that the $1 billion spent to get Robert Downey Jr. onto billboards hasn’t boosted sales of HTC phones. Instead, CEO Peter Chou has promised that the company will build a new, compelling portfolio of affordable devices in the hope of clawing back some of that lost ground — and lost profit.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC
Source: HTC
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