CES 2015: Misfit Introduces Connected, Color-Changing ‘Bolt’ Light Bulb [iOS Blog]
As a followup to its Swarovski Shine fitness tracker, Misfit today announced its new Bolt wirelessly-connected light bulb. Similar to Philips Hue, the $50 Bolt light bulb allows users adjust the light intensity and color of the bulb using an iOS device.
The Bolt light bulb is powered by CREE LED technology, providing the equivalent of a standard 60-watt light bulb. It connects directly to a smartphone via the Misfit and Misfit Home app or even a Misfit Flash activity tracker without the need for a hub or additional configuration. It also integrates with the Shine fitness wearable and Beddit sleep tracker to provide a simulated sunrise automatically during the morning wake-up hours.
The Bolt connected light bulb is available for pre-order from Misfit’s website, with pricing set at $50 for a single bulb or $130 for a three-pack. Shipping is expected in mid-February.
MediaTek processor at heart of world’s first Ultra HD Android TV
MediaTek has been working with Google to port Android TV onto its MT5595 processor. The result is Sony’s latest generation of Bravia TVs, the world’s first Ultra HD TV platform running Android TV.
MediaTek’s MT5595 is a quad-core big.LITTLE SoC which includes two ARM Cortex-A17 cores and two ARM Cortex-A7 cores. The SoC also supports Google’s VP9 codec and the HEVC (H.265) codec, both of which are designed for 4K2K content streaming at 60 frames per second.
Consumers can watch movies from Google Play or cast their favorite entertainment from a mobile device to the Sony Ultra HD TV. The MT5595 also supports up to 4K2K streaming content.
We are very proud to stand alongside Sony in introducing the new Android TV device. The experience of Sony’s Android TV will set the standard for future smart televisions. This is a momentous occasion for MediaTek to be changing the way people watch TV with our strong partner, Sony.
Ching-Jiang Hsieh, President of MediaTek.
The MT5595 is a TV SoC and not only does it support 4K HEVC/VP9 at 60 frames per second, it also supports 4 x 2K HEVC/H.264 60 fps simultaneous decoding, as well as MediaTek’s ClearMotion technology for up-conversion of low-frame-rate videos. In terms of broadcasting it supports a large range of worldwide broadcasting standards including ATSC/DTMB/DVB/ISDB and HbbTV broadband.
Consumers can expect MediaTek-powered Sony Android TV devices to be commercially available by March 2015.
Samsung says all its products will be IoT enabled within 5 years
B. K. Yoon, Samsung’s co-CEO took to the stage at CES 2015 on Monday to declare that all Samsung’s products will be Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled within five years. Five years in technology is a long time, just look back to 2009/2010 and see what smartphones existed then, or take a look at Android 1.5 Cupcake. So in one sense Yoon’s vision isn’t impossible. However what is more interesting is that he said that 90% of Samsung products would be able to connect to the web by 2017. Now that is only 2 or 3 years away (depending if he meant by the end of, or the beginning of 2017). That is a bigger challenge.
Samsung makes a huge range of products. OK, its smartphones are already connected devices, as are its Smart TVs. But what about its washing machines, air conditioning units, and microwave ovens? Yoon said in his speech, “five years from now, every single piece of Samsung hardware will be an IoT device, whether it is an air purifier or an oven.”
This means that Samsung is serious about IoT. However before we look how Samsung plans to promote this technology, we need to ask two questions. First, what is the benefit of an IoT enabled microwave oven? Second, will Samsung make a mess of this?
In answer to the first question, I am a bit of a pessimist (or maybe realist). Although I can see the advantages of Smart Homes and Home Automation, and I understand the benefits of monitoring our household appliances in terms of energy consumption, I must say I can’t really see the benefit of an IoT enabled microwave oven or of a web connected vacuum cleaner. In our family we use our microwave oven scarcely, and other than how much electricity it has consumed, I can’t really see any benefit in being able to interrogate it about how many minutes it has been active this month, how many times the door has been opened, or how often we used the defrost setting. Seriously, I can’t.
Which leads me to my second question, if Samsung has committed to making all of its products IoT enabled within five years that means it will add IoT just for the sake of adding it, rather than because an appliance needs it. This could mean that we end up with devices that are IoT enabled but yet pump out worthless information. Also, the cost of such products will be higher as they are now more complex, and they pose a security risk.
There is also the question of how an Internet enabled fridge is going to help a family living below the poverty line in a war zone. If Samsung can’t make the cheapest possible fridge then it is performing a disservice to those people. Adding IoT tech will increase the cost of that fridge. We can only hope that the IoT chips and circuits needed to web enabled these fridges will only cost pennies within 5 years from now.
Open Standards
Our IoT components and devices will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices.
But leaving behind the questions of why? and should we? Samsung is right about one thing, in this new IoT utopia, for everything to work there needs to be high levels of interoperability. All these different sensors, devices, IoT hubs, and IoT gateways need to be able to work together. “We have to create an open IoT ecosystem,” said Yoon. “The IoT experience needs to be seamless.” To that end Yoon promised that all of Samsung’s products would be built on open platforms. “Our IoT components and devices will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices,” Yoon said during his keynote. “Without this kind of openness, there won’t be an Internet-of-Things.”
And Samsung is in a good position to drive these open platforms and to use them on their products. Last year Samsung sold over 665,000,000 devices, that is over 20 devices per second.
If IoT features become a selling point for more than just mobile devices than it is guaranteed that other large consumer electronic manufacturers like Sony, Phillips, and LG will follow. However an IoT standards war is probably on the horizon. This is because to make something “open” just means you need to publish it, and maybe throw in a little source code. However that doesn’t mean that every appliance will speak the same lingo. In the bizarre world of technology you can have several open platform standards that aren’t compatible, but yet everyone can claim to be open. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
What do you think? Do you like Samsung’s vision? Are you looking forward to IoT enabled products?
iHeartRadio announces partnership with QNX and more at CES 2015
Streaming music service iHeartRadio has announced a number of new partnerships at CES 2015. The company is teaming up with seven different brands to integrate their service into new devices, including those made by Google, Sony, TiVo, and more. iHeartRadio will be one of the first apps ready for Google’s new Cast for audio system, and the service will also find its way to in-dashboard multimedia and navigation systems by Clarion and BlackBerry’s QNX.
EA releases first Need for Speed: No Limits trailer
EA has just published the first teaser for its latest racing game, Need for Speed: No Limits, on its official YouTube channel. The short video shows some pretty amazing graphics, whilst street racing and customizing rides. The footage also highlights some of the work the developers have put into the games visuals and to be completely honest; it looks awesome.
If you’re into racing games, Need for Speed: No Limits is definitely worth your attention.
Hit the break below to view the trailer.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: EA releases first Need for Speed: No Limits trailer
Lenovo announces their new, e-ink smartwatch
Lenovo is jumping into the wearable market, anyone surprised? Their new smartwatch is called the Lenovo VIBE Band VB10. Lenovo’s take on the smartwatch is really more of a fitness band with some smartwatch features included. It uses an e-ink screen to prolong battery life up to 7 days. The smartwatch/fitness band consists of a… Read more »
The post Lenovo announces their new, e-ink smartwatch appeared first on SmarterWatching.
Read the rest at SmarterWatching.com!
The post Lenovo announces their new, e-ink smartwatch appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Sleep Number’s new smart bed is for kids, can adjust as they grow
Sleep Number brought the world the smart bed at CES 2014. And now, for kids! The SleepIQ Kids bed, however, isn’t simply a smaller iteration in primary colors. While it offers the same sleep monitor nous of the SleepIQ bed for grown-ups, there’s also some simple features for parents to help gauge their kids’ sleep, can be adjusted for firmness, as well as things like a monster detector. (Aww.)
The bed connects to Sleep Number’s sleep “dashboard”, which constantly monitors use. While this would include hours slept, it can also alert parents when a kid in out of bed or there’s a lot of movement going on. As kids grow, the SleepIQ Kids bed can have its firmness adjusted, while like its predecessors, the bed can arch upwards for big picture books and bedtime stories. Parents can also turn of lights around the bed remotely, with under-bed lights also activating when a kid gets up. The future of beds doesn’t come cheap: The SleepIQ Kids Bed will launch this year, with prices starting at $1,000 at Sleep Number’s own site and its own stores.
Will we soon be able to watch brand new movies on our phones?
“The Interview” is the most successful online release ever for a Hollywood movie. For the first time, customers were able to watch a new film from the comfort of their house and/or on their phone or tablet. Thanks to Sony Pictures Entertainment being hacked and movie theaters being threatened, Sony decided to release the film online at the same time that it hit select theaters.
“The Interview” then took in a surprising $15 million in its first four days of online sales and rentals. As the Los Angeles Times noted, “The Interview” was streamed or downloaded more than 2 million times over the holiday weekend after it was released on Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft’s Xbox Video and a stand-alone website on Christmas Eve, the day before it hit theaters.
But will we soon be able to watch more new films on our smartphones/tablets? Not likely.
Movie theaters continue to resist shortening the window between theatrical and home release. At the moment, theaters have imposed a 120 day window (although, some can get the movie after 90 days). Theater operators argue that making a movie available in the home at the same time as it appears in theaters takes away from the theatrical experience and discourages people from going to the cinema.
Meanwhile, customers who go to movie theaters wearing Google Glass are being detained and threatened, customers who record and send twenty seconds of the movie to a family member are being arrested and customers who record a group of girls celebrating a birthday party at a movie theater are being arrested and jailed for two days.
Let’s not also forget theater owners considering whether it would be a good idea to jam cell phone signals in their theaters to cut down on rude behavior and piracy. Nevermind that it was illegal at the time to jam cell phone signals.
It isn’t all on the movie theaters though as movie studios have financially enjoyed such an arrangement with the theaters. The business of releasing a movie in the theaters, then on DVD and then on HBO/Starz has reaped the movie studios many billions of dollars over many years.
But with DVD business sales declining heavily and ticket sales declining even more rapidly, movie studios are suddenly realizing that they need to open up new distribution streams. The problem for the movie studios is that most money made by the studios does come from movie theaters. Movie theater chains know this and use this fact to fight back against movie groups that they do not like.
For example, several months ago, Netflix agreed to finance the “Crouching Tiger” sequel. While the movie was supposed to be released on Netflix on the same day as it hit Imax theaters, most theaters across the country refused to screen the movie due to the Netflix availability. According to Regal, the nation’s largest cinema chain, they did not want to participate “in an experiment where you can see the same product on screens varying from three stories tall to 3″ wide on a smart phone.”
This comes after several major movie theater chains refused to show the comedy “Tower Heist” after Universal Pictures wanted to make the movie available at an expensive price to consumers after three weeks from its launch at the theaters. When movie studios wanted to offer $30 video-on-demand movie rentals after the movie had been in theaters for 10 weeks, movie theater chains revolted.
Another victim in this business cycle are smaller theaters who continue to complain about the number of restrictions put in place by the movie studios due to exclusive deals signed with the major movie theater chains. For example, when “Gone Girl” debuted in October of last year, a number of small-town theaters in east Texas wanted to play the movie. But 20th Century Fox made the film available to only one venue in Kilgore, Texas, while other theaters would have to wait another week.
Going back to 2005, one poll (via TechDirt) showed that almost 75% of people preferred watching movies at home. That is 10 years ago when someone’s movie choices with streaming services were much more limited.
The movie industry openly admits to running a distribution pattern that has worked for decades. So, while technology is changing, the movie industry seems intent on trying to slow everything done for their own financial benefit. They will continue to pretend as if Netflix doesn’t exist and will threaten to ban any movies that don’t allow the theaters an absurd amount of window release time.
Qualcomm demos Snapdragon 810 features in video
The Snapdragon 810 is now officially here, thanks to the chip’s début in the LG G Flex 2. Following the company’s CES press conference, Qualcomm has released a few videos to help explain some of its latest SoC’s finer features.
Performance is obviously a big part of Qualcomm’s latest processor line-up, but the company is also introducing some interesting new features, such as 4K video streaming, LTE-to-WiFi call continuity to prevent dropping calls as you roam around, and multi-microphone noise cancellation when recording video. Oh, and there’s a cool looking flying drone thrown in for good measure. You can check out the video selection below.
Are you excited for the next generation of Snapdragon 810 powered flagships?
Kodak licenses trademark to Bullitt for new Kodak IM5 smartphone
You may not have heard of Bullitt, but I am sure you have heard of Kodak. Bullitt designs, manufactures, markets and sells mobile phones in partnership with global brands, in this case with Kodak. And the company has just announced its first Kodak smartphone, the Kodak IM5, at CES 2015.
The Kodak IM5 is all about ease-of-use. Although it runs Android, it doesn’t use the standard launcher, or any of the popular launchers, but rather it has a special user interface that offers quick and easy access to key functions such as calling, messaging, camera and contacts.
The 5 inch device has a full HD display and is powered by an unnamed 1.7 GHz octa-core processor, which if I had to guess sounds like it comes from MediaTek. There is 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
Too many memories stay stuck on mobile phones, often because the process for sharing them is too complicated for users.
Since it carries the Kodak name then photos are central to the IM5’s appeal, however rather than make an expensive phone with expensive optics, Bullitt has decided to go with easy-of-use imaging functionality. The idea is that the IM5 makes taking, storing, sharing and printing photos quick and simple. That is not to say that the camera is bad, it has a 13MP auto-focus main camera, but the real power is in the unique image management software that lets users quickly edit photographs and either display them on the device, share them on social media or print them using a customized app compatible with home printers.
The focus (sorry no pun intended) on ease-of-use was underlined by Eileen Murphy, VP Brand Licensing at Kodak: “Too many memories stay stuck on mobile phones, often because the process for sharing them is too complicated for users; that’s why we’ve partnered on the IM5, the first device in a range of mobile products that takes our heritage and experience in photographic technology and combines it with Bullitt’s expertise in designing high-quality devices for a specific target consumer.”
Available in white or black, the Kodak IM5 will be available globally, starting with roll-out in Europe from the end of Q1 2015. The cost is rumored to be around $249.
The Android Authority team on the show floor at CES will try and head over to the Bullitt stand, and if they manage to get some more photos then I will update the post… Stay tuned!
AIVAnet 
