With 4K in mind, Sony refreshes its Action Cam and Handycam lines
CES 2015 wouldn’t be the same without Sony announcing new products. As such, the electronic giant is today revealing updated Action Cam shooters and Handycam camcorders. The main change across the board is the addition 4K to both lines, though there are still some models that will be limited to 1080p — not surprisingly, those are going to come with a lower price tag than its higher-resolution siblings. For starters, there’s the Action Cam FDR-X100V and FDR-AS100V, with the former being the one that supports 4K at 30 fps. Other than that main differentiator, both the FDR-X100V and FDR-AS100V feature a high-precision, ultra-wide angle lens, Advanced SteadyShot (to help with stabilization), stereo microphone, manual settings and the ability to control your frame with a companion mobile app.
Moving on, the Handycam FDR-AX433 and HDR-PJ670 are making their debut here in Las Vegas too. The AX433 is the model that comes with 4K shooting, alongside Balanced Optical SteadyShot and 4K photo capture. The HDR-PJ670, meanwhile, misses out on 4K but does have Balanced Optical SteadyShot built-in, a lens that’s 26.8mm at its widest angle, 50Mbps high-bitrate recording and the ability to livestream via Ustream.
Sony’s pricing the Action Cam X100V and AS100V for $500 and $400, respectively, with both set to arrive sometime in March. The AX433 and PJ670 camcorders, meanwhile, are going to sell for $1,100 and $700, while the entry-level models will start at $230. Those are due to ship in mid-February.
Filed under: Cameras, Misc, Peripherals, Sony
Work Wide updated to v1.2.0.6 to provide fixes for app launching bug
With Work Wide having recently rolled out a pretty massive update that brought support for more devices, new styling, full-screen mode and more, the latest update that is available in BlackBerry World and appearing as an update right now may seem rather tame in comparison. It’s a simple bug fix release to address some issues BlackBerry OS 10.2+ and 10.3.1 saw within the app.
Lenovo VIBE X2 Pro announced for that perfect selfie
Selfies are a big thing, whether you like it or not, and Lenovo are embracing this trend with the Vibe X2 Pro, a smartphone that they are claiming delivers the perfect selfie everytime.
That’s largely due to the Lenovo VIBE Xtension™ Selfie Flash, which is a pocket-sized flash that plugs into the audio jack to give the user a quick way to create the perfect lighting conditions to capture a selfie.
The Selfie Flash works by using 8 diffused LEDs to supplement available light for natural color tones, even in low light condition. The rechargeable flash provides up to 100 selfies in a single charge to snap and share pictures day and night, while the 100% shutter sync times seamlessly to capture picture-perfect selfies.
The VIBE X2 Pro itself features a 5.3-inch FHD display with a 64-bit Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Octa-Core processor that cutting edge performance and battery life, so Lenovo claim, as well as dual (front and back) 13-Megapixel cameras.
The Lenovo VIBE X2 Pro will be available beginning in April, 2015.
The post Lenovo VIBE X2 Pro announced for that perfect selfie appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung Milk expands into VR and TV
Last year Samsung gave Galaxy users access to its Milk Music and Milk Video apps. In large part, both apps were received well due to their clean design, premium feel and excellent content. Samsung announced today that those two apps will expand onto their TV’s as an app and will be released this Spring.
Samsung also announced that they will be released Milk VR, an app specifically designed for the Galaxy Note 4 and Gear VR. According to the press release, the Milk VR app should be released sometime today so for the few of you who got your hands on the Gear VR, you might need to check the Galaxy App store a couple times today to be the first to get the app. Samsung has committed to released new content for Milk VR five days a week. Content availability will decide whether or not VR is just a fad or is a success, as I have tried a few apps with Google Cardboard and loved it but content was highly limited so i hope Samsung delivers on its promise.
Content through Milk VR will be available in 4K and 2k resolution giving users the best possible viewing experience.
The post Samsung Milk expands into VR and TV appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Got Milk? Samsung Wants You to Have It on TV and the Web
Samsung’s Milk Media products will live in the shadows no more. Its Milk Music service, a station-based streaming client akin to Pandora, was launched in March 2014 exclusively on Samsung phones.
At CES, however, Samsung, announced its intention to bring Milk far and wide, and Milk Music is now available for download on Samsung TVs. A web player will be launched this spring.
Not to be outdone by its aural sibling, Milk Video, a video aggregation app (think of one place to view all the videos you see across dozens of platforms), was launched on mobile phones in November and will come to Samsung TVs in a few months.
While there’s no word yet on the phone apps ending their exclusivity on Samsung devices, the web music player will be available to the general public, independent of one’s ownership (or not) of a Samsung phone. As a Samsung exclusive, Milk Music was initially launched without ads in an attempt to woo people over to using Samsung devices. Samsung has stated that the app will not always be ad-free, which one could assume might correspond with the web interface launch.
One might also surmise that with new Samsung TVs shipping with the Tizen OS, this marks the beginning of Samsung’s long march toward independence from Android. Only time will tell.
Prepare yourselves for Milk.
Keep up with all things CES 2015 right here.
Come comment on this article: Got Milk? Samsung Wants You to Have It on TV and the Web
Apple to Announce Q1 2015 Earnings on January 27 [Mac Blog]
Apple updated its investor relations page today to note that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter (fourth calendar quarter) of 2015 on Monday, January 27. The quarterly earnings statement will be released sometime 1:30 PM Pacific/4:30 PM Eastern, with a conference call to discuss the report taking place at 2:00 PM Pacific/5:00 PM Eastern.
The earnings release will likely provide a look into initial sales of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 during their first quarter of availability as well as sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus throughout the holiday season. Apple reported a record $182.8 billion in sales for fiscal 2014, with a record 169.2 million iPhones on the year.
MacRumors will provide coverage of both the earnings release and conference call on January 27.
Alcatel Smarwatch first look
At CES 2015 Alcatel has announced its plans for a smartwatch, simply dubbed the Alcatel OneTouch Watch. While this isn’t an Android Wear device, Alcatel is hoping that its own unique UI and operating system — paired with an affordable price of $149 — will be enough to intrigue the “everyday consumer”. We managed to get a little time with Alcatel over the weekend, and so let’s take a quick look.
One of the first things you notice about the device is its circular design, which is still pretty uncommon with smartwatches with the G Watch R and Moto 360 being the two best known examples of this form factor. Like the 360, but unlike the R, Alcatel’s Watch manages to keep the display size as small as possible but with a sacrifice: it has a “flat tire”, meaning a portion of the glass doesn’t actually display anything. The Alcatel OneTouch Watch is noticeably smaller than the Moto 360, offering a 1.22-inch LCD display with a 240 x 204 resolution.
As for the Watch’s construction, it is made of metal and its watchband will come in a few different varieties such as metal and different band colors. That said, the band inside isn’t actually removable due to the fact that the band actually has its charging cable integrated, allowing you to remove a cap at the end of the band that then can plug into a standard size USB port.
Turning to the software, it does about what you’d expect: displays notifications, tells time, lets you control basic functions like music, change watches, track steps and calories, and so forth. There’s even a heart rate monitor and other similar functions. It is worth noting that outside of Android support, the watch also offers support for those multi-platform users that happen to also have Apple devices.
For those interested in the Watch, it’s expected to arrive in March, again at the price point of $149.
Republicans will try to defund the FCC if net neutrality moves forward
The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece today that discusses new ways that Republicans in Congress will try to stop the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from imposing net neutrality rules on broadband Internet providers. The FCC is expected to publicly release and vote on the new rules at some point next month.
Net Neutrality advocates want the FCC to classify broadband providers as a utility which would allow the FCC to actually have authority over rules/regulations already in place. At the moment, the FCC’s power is minimal at best. But according to Republicans, net neutrality is a “step too far” and “regulatory overreach by the FCC” and that such rules could hurt future progress with cyber-security and wireless spectrum.
So, what could Republicans do if the FCC takes the next step towards classifying broadband providers as a utility?
In the House, a Republican staffer for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, said lawmakers won’t know what steps they will take until they see the agency’s final plan. But all options are on the table, he said, including legislation to block reclassification and cutting the agency’s budget. – Wall Street Journal
The FCC is already vastly under-staffed and over-worked due to multiple record-breaking acquisitions being put on its table, such as the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger.
This isn’t even the first time that Republicans have tried to slash the FCC’s budget. Last year, the House put forward an appropriations bill, H.R 5016, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, that cut the FCC’s budget by $17 million and was $53 million less than what the FCC was requesting. This on top of the already significant cuts that the FCC dealt with during sequestration from the previous year.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, John Thune (R-SD), the incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is one of the main forces behind the potential Republican manuever. It also isn’t hard to see why he is so much against net neutrality, he has quite the history.
In 2009, a number of Republicans proposed a spending measure that prohibited the FCC from “expending any funds in fiscal year 2010 to implement any Internet neutrality or network management principles, or to promulgate any rules relating to such principles.”
As Stop The Cap noted then, AT&T donated more than $400,000 to the six Republicans opposing Net Neutrality, and one of those senators used to work for a Washington DC lobbying firm that was hired by Comcast. His name is John Thune (R-SD).
A year later, another group of Republicans, including Thune, introduced a new bill titled the “Freedom for Consumer Choice Act (FCC Act),” which was essentially written by AT&T. As TechDirt noted at the time, AT&T was the top contributor to most of the politicians involved in the bill and the few politicians who didn’t have AT&T’s donor support in past year suddenly saw AT&T appear on their list of top contributors.
As Politico wrote about recently:
The fact that this argument is even slightly political is ridiculous. This isn’t a conservative or liberal issue. Consumers want their internet without absurd and arbitrary restrictions. That is it. As shown by the sky-rocketing prices and average service, consumers are even willing to over-pay to have such freedom on the internet. As this site has mentioned on a number of occasions, net neutrality has never nor will ever have anything to do with the government “controlling the Internet.”
Viper SmartStart 4.0 allows you to start or lock your car using Android Wear
The future is closing in on us fast, folks. Following Hyundai’s big Android Wear news a few days ago, Viper has just announced their new Android Wear-integrated app. SmartStart, the company’s smartphone app that allows users to start and lock their cars, has been around for quite some time. However, up until now, the functionality has been limited to smartphones. With the update to SmartStart version 4.0, Viper is extending car control functionality to both Android Wear and Apple Watch devices.
The Android Wear integration will act exactly like the app does currently, but now you can use it on your wrist. Here are all of the features included in SmartStart so far:
- Lock/arm
- Unlock/disarm
- Remote car starter
- Trunk release
- Panic or car finder
- Aux channel control
For quite some time, Viper has made quality car security systems for a (relatively) inexpensive price, with some going as low as $149.99. So if you already have a Viper, now may be your time to pick up an Android Wear device. The update to version 4.0 should be rolling out to the app sometime in early 2015. If you still need to grab the application, you can do so from the Play Store.
YOUR CAR FROM APPLE WATCH AND ANDROID WEAR
~ Smart Watch Technology to Become the Next Evolution of Viper SmartStart ~
VISTA, Calif. (January 5, 2015) – Viper, the 30-year leader in car security, today announced
that Viper SmartStart, the app that gives users the ability to start, lock, unlock and track
their car from virtually anywhere in the world with their smartphone, will be available for
Android Wear and Apple Watch in early 2015. Viper made the announcement at the 2015
International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Viper’s smart watch functionality will be available for free download for Android and iOS
through the company’s newest version of the Viper SmartStart 4.0 app. Viper SmartStart
4.0 is compatible with all Viper SmartStart hardware, which means all existing and future
Viper SmartStart users who purchase an Apple Watch or Android Wear product will be able
to take advantage of the smart watch features at no additional cost.
“Wearable technology will give Viper SmartStart users the ability to feel connected with
their vehicle in an even more accessible and convenient way,” said Frank DeMartin, Senior
Vice President of Development and Engineering for Viper. “Whether people choose to use
Viper SmartStart through their smartphone, smart watch or both, the updated Viper
SmartStart 4.0 app will enhance their ability to seamlessly communicate with their car.”
To increase the functionality of Viper SmartStart for the smartphone, SmartStart 4.0 is
updated with a more intuitive home screen that offers faster access to the primary
controls, including interactive overlays to walk customers through how to use the app.
Consumers can visit http://www.viper.com to purchase a Viper system from an authorized dealer,
learn more about Viper SmartStart 4.0 and enter a contest to win a smart watch and a
complete Viper system. Pricing starts at $149.99.
Apple Watch is a trademark of Apple Inc. Android Wear is a trademark of Google, Inc.
About Viper
For 30 years, Viper has been a world leader in automotive electronics. Viper protects and
remotely starts more vehicles than anyone else on the planet. Viper created the connected
car category with the launch of Viper SmartStart in 2009 – the app that lets you start,
locate and control your car from virtually anywhere in the world with your smartphone.
Recipient of hundreds of technology patents and awards, the company is based in Southern
California. Visit http://www.viper.com or follow our social: @vipersmartstart,
facebook.com/viper, youtube.com/vipersmartstart.
Samsung’s new service lets you download 4K movies
The few 4K video services that exist right now typically require that you stream whatever you’re watching — not very practical given the sub-par state of broadband in some areas. You won’t have to settle for a mere 1080p for much longer, though. Samsung is teaming up with its frequent media partner M-Go to launch a 4K movie download service that uses the UHD Video Pack hard drive to store those extra-sharp blockbusters and dramas. Supposedly, it’ll offer the “highest quality content” that Samsung owners can get. The company hasn’t said when you’ll get to try this Ultra HD offering beyond a generic 2015 window, but it’ll work with both SUHD and regular UHD sets.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Samsung
Source: Samsung
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