EE TV is a set-top box that streams video to your mobile devices
Already the UK’s biggest mobile network, EE is looking to branch out. The company today announced EE TV, a new set-top box that will serve up over 70 Freeview channels, as well as various catch-up and on-demand services. The box itself has DVR capabilities, with a 1TB drive capable of storing roughly 600 hours of recorded TV or film. Up to four channels can be recorded at any one time. With EE being a mobile network, smaller screen devices are integral to the product. EE TV will pump content to up to four different screens including your TV, so tablets and smartphones connected to the same WiFi network can tune in to different channels, watch on-demand video streams, or view anything that’s been recorded to the box.
As you’d imagine, this is handled through iOS and Android apps which mimic the set-top box’s UI. Or rather, the UI across all screens was developed with the mobile experience in mind. It’s very visually driven, and from a brief demo, appears to be relatively simple and intuitive to navigate. You can also use the apps as a remote for the main set-top box if you’ve misplaced the physical one, and “flick” anything you’re watching on a mobile device to the living room TV instantly. You can also pause whatever you’re watching on one device, and resume from another — something EE says is only possible on its set-top box currently. Probably the most interesting feature is called “replay,” which lets you record up to six channels all the time, with the last 24-hours of content always available to catch up on.
Alongside the 70+ selection of Freeview channels, and catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, apps including YouTube and Wuaki.tv will also be available at launch, with various other services said to be joining the platform soon. EE TV will be launching in the very near future, and will be free to any of the company’s broadband subscribers. Mobile customers will be able to get involved from £9.95 per month, and if you’re not an EE customer of any description, then you’re out of luck.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet
Source: EE TV
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IBM’s Watson sets up home in NYC to learn new tricks
Watson has gone a long way since its Jeopardy days. From that time, it has helped with cancer research, created its own recipes, pored over medical records and even reintroduced soldiers to civilian life. Sounds like IBM has even bigger plans for the supercomputer, though: the company has just launched Watson’s new headquarters in New York’s Silicon Alley, as well as five new client experience centers worldwide. IBM chose the location, because it keeps Watson near Silicon Alley developers and students from universities like NYU, making it easy to find talent when needed.
IBM has revealed the details of some of its more recent Watson partnerships. ANZ Global Wealth and Deakin University in Australia are using Watson to give customers financial advise and to assist students online, respectively. CaixaBank in Spain is helping Watson learn Spanish, while Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand is tapping into the computer’s abilities to improve cancer care and to analyze patients’ cases. Finally, Metropolitan Health in South Africa has been using Watson to provide its customers health and wellness services.
Since IBM believes the computer still has a lot more to offer, though, the company has also opened five Watson client experience centers in Australia, Brazil, England and Ireland. These centers are really more like interactive labs where potential clients can experience Watson for themselves, before deciding if they want to tap into its many, many talents for their services.
[Image credit: IBM Watson/Flickr]
Filed under: Misc
Via: TechCrunch
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Working Apple 1 Motherboard, Vintage Apple European Headquarters Flag to Be Auctioned [Mac Blog]
On October 22, British auction house Bonhams will auction off a rare working Apple 1 motherboard that is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000, reports Mashable. The motherboard itself was constructed by Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs’ family garage for The Byte Shop, and carries the number “01-0070″.
Also up for auction is an original flag from Apple’s European headquarters, which was in use until 1996. The flag is expected to fetch somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500 and is said to be the only flag from the headquarters that was kept in “fine condition.”
Last year German auction house Breker sold two working Apple 1 computers, as one unit complete with its original white cardboard box sold for $330,000 while another unit sold for a record-breaking $671,400. The Apple 1 was originally released in 1976 and sold for $666.66. Approximately 200 total units were produced, as few remain in functional condition today.
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Respite is in sight: Nexus 5 camera bug will likely be eliminated for good in Android L
The Nexus 5 camera bug is one of the best documented issues on Android KitKat and despite several fixes that have alleviated a lot of the outcry when the bug was first found, there are still people suffering from the debilitating issue, battery draining and all. Well, it seems there is good news for those of you still suffering as the specific issue that relates to the Nexus 5 camera bug has been marked as “Fixed” in the Google Issue Tracker and has been earmarked to be included in a future release, which we’re assuming is Android L.
While the camera part of the issue was resolved for many people in Android 4.4.3, the battery draining due to 100% CPU loads often remained, though it appears Google has now found a fix. Interestingly, this issue has only ever affected the Nexus 5, so only it will receive the fix, but for those who have been struggling with the bug, you’ll be glad to know that salvation is only a few weeks away – or at least, that’s what the rumours tell us.
Are you still living with the Nexus 5 camera bug? Let us know your thoughts on the release of a fix.
Source: Google Issue Tracker via Phandroid
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It’s official: HTC smartwatch will not be happening in 2014 because no one “has gotten it right”
We were surprised by the lack of presence of HTC during IFA 2014 this year, particularly seeing as most other manufacturers were making big pushes with their maiden, or even second, Android Wear wearables. This naturally gave birth to rumours that HTC had put their HTC smartwatch on hold while they reevaluate given the stiff competition, and today, the company has confirmed as much. Speaking on behalf of HTC’s Creative Labs team, Drew Bamford revealed the reason HTC won’t be releasing a HTC just yet is less about being scared of entering the market, but more about feeling irresponsible to their consumers:
“We’ve seen a lot of general purpose wearables come to market. There’s not a strong reason to wear one every day. When we come to market with our product we want to make sure the product has a strong point of view and there is a really compelling reason to strap it on your wrist. We think the strategy we were working on will get us there, but we want to take our time and get it right. We honestly don’t think anyone has gotten it right.”
Delaying your release so you can get it right – hardly a strategy that we can complain about, but presumably only if they come through with something. A HTC smartwatch has been on the radar for some time now, but everything has been vehemently denied, apart from the fact that they have been working on one. We’ll likely have to wait till 2015 to see even a trace of an Android Wear wearable from the Taiwanese manufacturer, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
What do you think about HTC waiting to release their first smartwatch? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.
Source: re/code via Droid-life
We think the strategy we were working on will get us there, but we want to take our time and get it right. We honestly don’t think anyone has gotten it right.
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Ambi Climate is the smarter way to control your air conditioner [Kickstarter]
The allure of the “Smart Home” gets stronger with each passing year with more and more cool technology released oriented towards making home life more connected. The primary issue of this currently is the formidable cost associated of this “Smart Home” – while the concept of connectedness is tantalizing, replacing swathes of equipment in the home isn’t exactly a cheap exercise. That’s why we were so excited to hear about Ambi Climate, by Ambi Labs, a new Kickstarter campaign that is looking at bringing smart air conditioning while still being able to utilize your existing air conditioner.
Using the Ambi Climate hub, you’re able to send infrared signals to air conditioners from almost all major brands and control it using an Android or iOS companion app. But it’s more than just an expensive AC remote – the Ambi Climate also uses “Ambi Mode” which allows it monitor not only your home’s climate, but the local weather and your air conditioner’s performance to judge what are the optimal settings for your home. What’s more, Ambi Climate also geo-location signals to turn on your AC when you are close to home so you arrive to your desired temperature, and is accurate enough to turn off the AC when nobody is in the room being cooled.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambi-labs/ambi-climate-the-smart-add-on-for-your-air-conditi/widget/video.htmlIf that sounds like the type of thing you need in your life, you can contribute to the Kickstarter campaign at the link below. In just first 24 hours of the campaign, the Ambi Climate campaign has already amassed $54,759, more than doubling its initial target of $25,000. While the early bird pledges are already taken, you can still get an Ambi Climate starting at $99, $50 off the expected retail price for the package.
What do you think about Ambi Climate – is this something you’d want in your home? Let us know your thoughts.
Source: Ambi Climate via Kickstarter
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The Big Picture: Mix precision drinks with this delightful CAD drawing
Being the bartender sounds fun, until you realize you have to crack a cocktail recipe book. Engineering to the rescue! This drawing — originally used to test plotters — was converted into an AutoCAD file by Florian Römhild, who later colorized it. You can see it contains all the info needed to mix classic drinks — the volume of each ingredient (with a handy key), type of glass, garnish and whether to shake or stir. It also lets wannabe drink-slingers visualize each libation at a glance. The best part? You can stick it up on your bar for reference and a touch of geek chic. For a PDF version, hit the source.
[Image credit: Florian Römhild]
Filed under: Misc
Via: Fast Company
Source: Florian Romhild
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GitHub’s free student bundle gets you started on writing code
It’s harder to score student discounts on programming tools now that many of them are subscription services, but GitHub has just launched a bundle that could make it far less expensive to get cracking. Its new Student Developer Pack gives you free access to the kind of tools you’d typically need to get a serious coding project off the ground, including the Unreal game engine, cloud hosting and GitHub’s own code repository service. How much you get for free varies. Some partners simply offer credit, while others will give you a subscription — in a few cases, for as long as you’re still a student. The hope is that you’ll like the tools enough to pay for them later, of course, but it’s hard to knock an offer that leaves you with fewer school-related bills.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: TechCrunch
Source: GitHub Education, GitHub Blog
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Apple’s Ultra-Slim 12-Inch Notebook Reportedly Entering Production in Small Quantities
Quanta Computer has begun production on Apple’s ultra-slim 12-inch MacBook and will look to ramp up its efforts beginning November, reports Digitimes. Despite these newest efforts however, the report also states that the notebook will not be ready in time for this holiday season.
Since initial production of 12-inch MacBook Air has not yet reached a satisfactory yield rate, component makers and Quanta are making efforts to hike yield rates for the time being, the sources said. As initial production is in limited volumes, 12-inch MacBook Air may not be able to hit the store shelves in time for Christmas, the sources indicated.
Specifically, component makers are reportedly having issues with the new MacBook Air’s ultrathin chassis, which is said to be slimmer than the current 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air. The supply chain sources also add that the 12-inch MacBook Air will come with a touch-enabled Retina display.
Rumors of an ultra-slim 12-inch MacBook from Apple have gained traction throughout the past few months, as reports from Jack March last month indicated that the notebook would launch in multiple color options and feature fanless internals. A fanless machine would also suggest that the machine would adopt an ultra low-power processor, such as the Broadwell-Y Core M processors recently announced by Intel.
However, a touch-enabled Retina display seems less likely for the 12-inch MacBook, as the inclusion of one would greatly increase the cost of the machine. A multi-touch 12-inch MacBook would also likely conflict with Apple’s rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is said to be launching early next year.
March’s report previously indicated Apple appears to be aiming for a mid-2015 launch for its 12-inch notebook. The notebook will reportedly come in silver, gold, and space gray options.
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HTC exec Mike Woodward leaves ahead of a big unveiling and jumps to Amazon
Just a couple of years ago, Mike Woodward left a position as AT&T’s phone portfolio VP to join HTC, and now Bloomberg reports he’s moving on again, to Amazon. At HTC, he was President of the North American division and President of Global Emerging Devices, which would have put him in charge of products like the action camera we’re expecting to see HTC reveal tomorrow. The timing makes this move even more interesting, and he confirmed to Bloomberg that it occurred within the last month or so. Beyond the frequent executive shuffling we’ve seen from HTC over the last few months and years, rumors just last month pinned AT&T as the complication that prevented HTC from building a phone for Amazon.
It’s not clear what Woodward will be working on at Amazon, but it seems unlikely for the company to just give up after the Fire Phone’s disappointing launch earlier this year. It also wouldn’t be surprising if the retailer is considering own-brand wearables and/or cameras to go along with all of the other devices it’s now selling, but for now we’ll be keeping our eyes firmly on HTC. The “Double Exposure” event should kick off around 4PM — we’ll be covering it live and you can expect a video stream on YouTube here.
Tomorrow, we’re focusing on the future. Join us for the announcements at http://t.co/QeL9kwowKs #HTCLive http://t.co/nQZn330xK9
– HTC (@htc) October 8, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Amazon
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AIVAnet 