CrunchGear |  |
- Best Buy Has 32GB TouchPads For $149, But There’s A Catch
- Glareless Glass, Flexible Solar-Powered E-Paper, And More From FPDI
- GameStop Starts Selling Android Tablets Bundled With Games
- The New Google TV: 4 Demo Videos Including Looks At The New Apps
- Google TV Update Rolls Out On Sunday: Better Content Discovery, Android Market, But Hulu Is Still Blocked
- RIM’s PlayBook Push: Buy Two, Get One Free
- Is The Nook Color 2 Launching On November 7th?
- Nintendo Is Planning In-Game Virtual Item Sales For 3DS
| Best Buy Has 32GB TouchPads For $149, But There’s A Catch Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:53 PM PDT  Here’s one to file under “completely unexpected” — remember HP’s long-dead TouchPad? Well, apparently it’s got some life it in yet, as Best Buy will be allowing their customers to purchase a 32GB model for $149 so long as they buy an HP computer at the same time. The deal starts on November 1, and I suspect Best Buy and HP will be hyping it like crazy next week. This whole thing begs a far bigger question though: where the hell are these things coming from? It’s been a few months since the TouchPad Fire Sale of 2011, so shouldn’t supply channels have dried up already? Even HP’s own employees had to go through the wringer to get their hands on one, and now they’re back in circulation? As it turns out, these leftover TouchPads may be the result of a last minute production run meant to clear supply channels out of end-of-life components. Estimates put the number of TouchPads ready to sell at between 100,000 and 200,000, but it’s unknown whether or not Best Buy will be getting all of them. I get that it’s probably part of some pre-holiday promotion to drive computer sales, but the whole thing just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I can’t really blame HP and Best Buy for trying to make a few bucks off of a loss leader like the TouchPad, but it seems unfair considering some early bargain-hunters had their orders abruptly cancelled. For those of you thinking of jumping on the deal and returning the computer later, be warned that your mileage may vary. While I’m sure some stores won’t have any problem tweaking your transaction, others are likely to shut you down as soon as you walk up to customer service.
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| Glareless Glass, Flexible Solar-Powered E-Paper, And More From FPDI Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:08 PM PDT  You wouldn’t expect an event like FPDI, the Flat Panel Display International Exhibition, to be much more than a dry little gathering of circuit benders and substrate wranglers. And that’s kind of what it is. But you would do well to remember that these pixel jockeys are putting together the screens that make things like the iPhone 4 possible. And this year’s expo looks like a bumper crop of technology we’ll be seeing in devices soon. Tech-On, as usual, is covering the event with gusto, if you want to get this straight from the source. But I’ve highlighted the items most worth paying attention to below. If you like pixels, inquire within. “Invisible glass”Yes, you say, glass is already transparent. But if any of our readers are on Apple laptops, they know the sorrow of a highly-reflective display. Ever since laptop makers have gone over to glass (with its superior transmissive qualities), we’ve been plagued by the reflections of lights, windows, and our own hideous faces. Nippon Electric Glass Co (great band name) has produced a solution. The glass on the left is normal LCD substrate glass, which they say allows 92% of light to pass through, while reflecting around 8%. The glass on the right, which is enhanced with a special anti-reflection film (30 coats of a nanometer-scale thickness on each side), allows 99.5% of light to go through, reflecting only 0.5%. As Tech-On puts it from their first-hand experience, “When I stood in front of the glass substrate, it was difficult to recognize the existence of the substrate. Many other visitors were gazing at the invisible glass with surprised looks on their faces.” If the increase in thickness isn’t too much and there are no hidden optical effects, this could be a huge improvement for our portable displays. Flexible E-paper with integrated battery and photovoltaic cellsOne of the big draws of e-paper-based e-readers is their long battery life. With moderate use, you might only have to plug in your Kindle once every few weeks. But what if all you had to do was turn it over when you were done and let the sun charge it? AU Optronics has a prototype that’s different from existing devices in several ways. First of all, it’s flexible — and while we’ve seen flexible devices, few are this thin or simple. Basically it’s just a screen controller, display, and a bunch of photovoltaic cells, and it’s just over a tenth of a millimeter thick. Next, it works without an external power source. That is, like one of those solar-powered calculators we all had, it can function by sunlight alone, which provides the few hundred mW necessary to drive the screen. You’d have to hold it up to the sun to turn the page, though, which might be a little awkward. At the show, it sat on a rechargeable battery because artificial light isn’t enough to power it. So it’s not like this device is going straight into stores. But it’s a great concept nonetheless. High-res tablet displays from SamsungI keep going on about the iPad 3, which I think will have a high-res display — 2048×1536 to be exact. There are naysayers, but I continue to trumpet this idea because I desperately want it to be true. And Samsung is one of the display manufacturers making it happen. But until recently, we’ve mainly seen only non-standard displays approaching that resolution. Small, high-res displays for medical electronics, or Pentile-based displays that won’t have the same brightness or image quality as a traditional 3- or 4-subpixel LCD. But this year at FPDI they’re showing off the real thing. This 10.1″ display has a resolution of 2560×1600, which is exactly four times as many pixels as today’s “HD” screens, which are for the most part at 1280×800. Unfortunately, they couldn’t even get a perfect panel put together for the exhibition, and you can see the flaws in the display (vertical lines). This means it’s not ready for manufacture, though they’re confident enough to show it in public. They do show off another display with the same nominal resolution but a lower sub-pixel count – a Pentile display that they say produces a higher effective resolution at the same power cost as lower-power displays. Good for them, but I’m holding out for the tried-and-true method. MEMS-based transmissive/reflective displayYesterday I wrote about a new display technology being researched in Taiwan that used micro-electricomechanical systems (MEMS), re-orienting silver-coated zircon crystals to control the wavelength of light reflected. That one wasn’t ready for prime time, though it’s fundamentally different from existing displays — even this new MEMS-based one from Pixtronix. It’s reminiscent of Pixel Qi’s displays, but I’m actually not sure what the method is that company uses. In this case, MEMS control both luminance and color, and when ambient light is high enough, the backlight can be shut off completely and the screen will work like an e-paper one. Continuing coverage can be found at Tech-On, which has done all the reporting and images found in this post. I’m only here to point you in their direction.
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| GameStop Starts Selling Android Tablets Bundled With Games Posted: 28 Oct 2011 01:08 PM PDT  Perhaps realizing that re-selling other people’s boxed games wasn’t exactly a sustainable business model, GameStop decided a few months back that it was going to try selling devices as well. The iPhone and iPad can be bought there, and your games can be traded in credit for them as well. But what have they been missing, and what have their customers undoubtedly been clamoring for? Android tablets! Shortly after they announced they’d be inviting Apple into their stores, they announced that they were working with a device maker to bring a GameStop-branded Android tablet out as well. Hardcore gamers trembled with delight. And now their day has come! All right, I kid. People aren’t actually very excited about this kind of thing. In fact, as one commenter succinctly put it in September, “there’s 2 things that gamers hate the most: tablet games, and gamestop.” And it’s true. The gaming chain has a history of enraging gamers with poor customer service, shady business practices, and generally just not being as good as Steam. Back in September, GameStop said “We definitely have selected [a tablet manufacturer].” As it turns out, they’ve selected three, if the WSJ’s sources are to be trusted. The “specialized” tablets will be by Asus, Acer, and Samsung. How specialized can they really be if three competing companies are making them? They’ll sell at full price in-store with a set of seven free games, the quality of which I question (Android games haven’t impressed me thus far). Though they do have out of the box support GameStop’s new controller for tablets… which you have to buy separately. The people who buy Android tablets aren’t gaming fans, they’re Android fans. And the people who go into GameStop aren’t Android fans, they’re gaming fans. And furthermore, they’re not going to buy a tablet at GameStop because they know they can buy it for $100 less on Amazon or Best Buy. And they’re not going to buy it at GameStop because they don’t go to GameStop to spend $500 on a tablet. For that money they could buy a 360, a PS3, and a Wii (check!), with money left for a game or two. Luckily they’re only rolling this new feature out to a few of their thousands of stores. Unless one of those pilot stores is by you, I don’t think you’ll get the chance to pick up that Galaxy Tab gaming rig you’ve been panting over.
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| The New Google TV: 4 Demo Videos Including Looks At The New Apps Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:07 AM PDT Google just announced the major refresh of Google TV. It adds a bunch of new features to the platform including Android Market and a TV & Movies. I’m not entirely sure this new coat of paint will help sell the house per se, but it will certainly make the current owners happy. The update will slowly hit existing Google TV units starting with the Sony models on Sunday with the Logitech boxes getting it shortly thereafter. As with most mass roll outs, you might be waiting in line awhile until a spot opens on the server. Thankfully Google released these demo videos that show off a bunch of the new features to pass the time.
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| Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:58 AM PDT  Google TV is finally ready for prime time a year after it officially launched. Starting on Sunday, the update will first roll out to the Sony Internet TV units with the Logitech Revue units getting it shortly thereafter. Existing users will probably love the update as it brings a redesigned interface and a selection of the Android Market. It seems to be exactly what the platform should have been when it launched last year. But for everyone else, either those looking to cut the cord or supplement pay TV with Internet video, it’s still a tough sell. All the downfalls associated with Google TV a year ago still exist. While the system might not be half-baked anymore, I’m still not sure if Google TV deserves a place in your living room. A Fresh Coat Of PaintThe first version of Google TV was a mess. The user interface was inconsistent between screens and often slow in operation. The search screen used a completely different interface and the home screen wasn’t designed for TV. Like most first generation Google products, it felt like a beta. The Google TV team started anew and used Android as a design template. I can’t speak to its operation as I’m waiting for the update myself, but from the screens and demos I’ve seen, the new interface is completely different and it finally looks like a proper 10-foot interface. The home screen now features just a single row of customizable icons. It houses the most used apps along with a handy clock and link to notifications. The app screen now uses a more natural grid arrangement rather than a list and the Android Market looks straight out of Honeycomb. But with all the UI changes, the Google TV engineers spent the most time on improving content discovery. Google TV was never designed for cord cutters. It’s designed to live alongside paid TV, but present Internet video and apps in a seamless experience. The original Google TV search app was an amazing tool, but a tool gimped after big media’s blockade of free streaming websites. That’s where the new TV & Movies app comes in. It’s All About The AppsThink of the TV & Movie app as a new guide. It attempts to bring together cable/satellite content with programming from the major paid streaming services. Better yet, it’s smart, presenting results based on viewing history and preferences. Say you want to watch Boardwalk Empire. The guide presents all the available viewing options: Your TV provider’s HBO channel naturally, but also HBO Go, and Netflix or Amazon if they’re available. This information is presented in a gorgeous grid view enhanced with cover art and additional information. During a chat I had last week with Google TV’s head, Mario Queiroz, he indicated that the team’s goal is to provide an API for this service with the intent to improve the search experience even more. Android Market was missing from the product since launch and is part of the latest update. The Market will only feature Android apps that can actually work on a TV and do not require specific hardware like a touchscreen. 30 apps out of the 800 launching will be featured including CNBC, Fox News Business, Zillow, and Aol HD — so, you know, apps you probably won’t use. Mario indicated to me that HTML 5 Google TV apps are not segregated from standard Android apps since to the user, they’re still apps. Smart. YouTube has always been a big part of Google TV and the new version launches with a completely redesigned Leanback YouTube app exclusive to the platform. Windows Media Center users should feel right at home. The app is a virtual clone of Microsoft’s aging HTPC program. Down the left side is a list of shortcuts while a clean title layout is used for the content including what appears, at least from the screenshots, to be the upcoming YouTube Channels. The new YouTube app was developed after the GTV team discovered that users used YouTube twice as much as expected (probably because big media blocked its free content). Google + is eventually coming to Google TV and could potentially save the platform from the deadpool. Of course, Google + might need a life-preserver too. Mario explained that Google +’s social tools fit neatly within the Google TV team charter. Everything from sharing photos to TV discovery could be a social experience and the team is working closely with the kids from Google + to integrate all the functionality. When Google + hits GTV — Google isn’t announcing a timetable yet — it could become a must-have for fans of the social network. Sharing media is one of Google + strengths and could play neatly into Google TV. The new Google TV hardware finally seems ready for consumers but I’m not sure it’s the best platform for the job. The first version was a mishmash of design elements, obtrusive interfaces and strange navigation paths. The new interface looks great, and likely feels more natural, but Google TV is still hampered by big media. The update only addresses hardware and software issues — stuff a team of engineers can control. Unfortunately Google TV didn’t take off the first time because of a larger fundamental issue that still hasn’t been addressed. A History LessonGoogle TV was the tech media’s darling product last fall. It was supposed to be the next big thing, simultaneously beating Apple in the living room while disrupting how TV is consumed. Logitech predicted it would ship 500k of its $299 Revue Google TV units. Sony was the first out of the gate with the Internet TV (MG hated the remote) followed by the Logitech model a few weeks later. The early reviews almost universally loved it, but then big media struck. Suddenly ABC, NBC, and CBS shut out Google TV, with FOX and the other networks following suit. Hulu, Fancast, and all the other aggregate streaming sites were locked out, too. It was never designed to be the cord-cutter’s set-top box but at least before it first launched, it seemed like the perfect Hulu streamer. Without this content, Google TV became a glorified YouTube/Netflix box, a very hard sell at $299 when similar devices where selling for $99. Just weeks after launch, the platform that had showed so much promise was treading water, just trying to stay afloat. Google TV quickly faded into obscurity and Logitech eventually cut the Revue’s price by 2/3 down to $99. The bad press at its launch effectively burned Google TV the first time around and I’m not sure this new coat of paint will cover the ashes. Look for a full Google TV 2.0 review in the coming days. The significant update warrants another look at the platform. However, even though I’m sure Google TV now runs like a champ, it still doesn’t look more user friendly than Roku’s interface and the Boxee Box still access to all the free content blocked from Google TV. Then for the Apple user, an Apple TV provides an awesome unified experience. There still isn’t any notable features exclusive to Google TV. Google TV is still stuck. This latest update brings a ton of features along with an improved interface. But it doesn’t add content and, well, content is king. Google is announcing today that new hardware is coming next year from Samsung, Vizio and other unannounced partners. The new units will use more powerful chipsets, which will probably make Google TV silky smooth. But Hulu and all the rest will likely still be blocked on this new hardware, too, leaving Google TV as… a glorified YouTube/Netflix box. Again. Bonus! Google just posted more demo videos of the new apps. The new overview video is below and the rest are here.
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| RIM’s PlayBook Push: Buy Two, Get One Free Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:54 AM PDT  RIM’s ailing PlayBook has seen its fair share of price cuts at your local big box retailers, but here’s a deal just for all you businessfolk out there. From now until the end of the 2011, RIM is running a buy-two-get-one-free deal on their tablets through their network of authorized resellers. The announcement makes no mention of the specific PlayBook models that business users can pick up, but presumably all three are on the table. The deal is sweetened a bit by a secondary offer that gives away one premium PlayBook accessory per tab purchased, so those just dying to score a leather sleeve, charging pod, or a 6 ft. HDMI cable can rest easy. It’s not a bad deal per se, but it obviously presupposes that you or your business actually wants 3 PlayBooks in the first place. Despite being a RIM product, PlayBooks seem to lack some of the business-savvy that made BlackBerrys so ubiquitous. And speaking of BlackBerrys, don’t forget to keep them handy; with the PlayBook OS’s 2.0 release pushed back until February of next year, you and your coworkers will have to lean on BlackBerry Bridge for trivial things like email and BBM for just a bit longer. if you’re just tickled by the prospect of swimming in PlayBooks, feel free to check out RIM’s list of vendors, or see if there’s one within spitting distance.
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| Is The Nook Color 2 Launching On November 7th? Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:54 AM PDT  The Kindle Fire is about to get some major competition and as early as November 7th. The Digital Reader, pretty much the best source online for ebook news, has several sources indicating that B&N will have a large announcement on November 7th. The next Nook Color is expected to headline the show. The Nook Color set the standard late last year for enhanced ereaders. By using a color LCD screen and a highly curated Android release, the Nook Color was an instant hit and was no doubt the template for Amazon’s Kindle Fire. But Barnes & Noble isn’t just going to roll over and let the Fire steal the market it created. Enter the next-gen Nook Color. Expect the Nook Color 2 to go toe-to-toe with the Kindle Fire. It will likely carry the same $200 price and similar internal specs. But B&N isn’t Amazon and hasn’t built a massive Android ecosystem. Where Amazon can serve everything from books to movies to cloud storage on its devices, Barnes & Noble is stuck hawking just books and housewares. But B&N might be fine as long as they can sneak Netflix and the entire Google Apps suite onto their tablet. Plus, it needs to be as hacker friendly as the original. It was previously rumored that the new Nook Color would launch in September but that fell through. Another older rumor also states that there will be two new Nooks coming this quarter. November 7th might turn out to be a big day in the ereader world. Barnes & Noble, Inc. is a bookseller. Its principal business is the sale of trade books (generally hardcover and paperback consumer titles, excluding educational textbooks and specialized religious titles), mass-market paperbacks (such as mystery, romance, science fiction and other fiction), children’s books, bargain books, magazines, gift, cafe products and services, music and movies direct to customers. As of January 31, 2009, the Company operated 778 bookstores and a Website. Of the 778 bookstores, 726 operate under the Barnes &...
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| Nintendo Is Planning In-Game Virtual Item Sales For 3DS Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:22 AM PDT  It seems factors like the smartphone gaming revolution, the rise of social games, and shrinking video game sales do have an impact on Nintendo’s business strategy after all. Various Japanese media, i.e. the country’s biggest business daily The Nikkei, are reporting today that Nintendo is planning to offer in-game virtual item sales for 3DS titles. The background here is that Nintendo’s sales from its “digital” business (downloads of classic games, for example) currently account for under 5% of the total. This number is much higher for other “traditional” video game makers: Konami, for example, is now making more money with social games (which are very popular in Japan) than with packaged software. According to the reports, Nintendo is planning to enable the micro transaction system on the 3DS as early as next month, via a firmware upgrade. Games supporting the system are then expected to be released in 2012: these titles will offer features (like additional stages, extra characters, etc.) that can only be unlocked if the buyer pays a certain fee to Nintendo. My guess is that the new payment system will also make it possible for the company to offer subscription-based game play models, for example for RPGs, in the future. Nintendo repeatedly said it won’t offer smartphone games, a lot of which are monetized via virtual item sales.
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Posted By e Readers Tips to e Readers Reviews at 10/29/2011 05:26:00 AM
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