CrunchGear |  |
- Daily Crunch: Recliner
- Eyes On: The HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook At ShowStoppers
- MadCatz Demos Two Crazy Game Controllers: The FightStick V.S. And The Pro Circuit
- Novatel Shows Off The Globetrotting Verizon Jetpack Hotspot
- Eyes On: The Gaems Inc. G155 Portable XBOX Rig
- Eyes On: The Lenovo YOGA At ShowStoppers
- We’re Live From CES: Showstoppers, The Second “Mini” Press Event Live, On Stage
- T-Mobile Debuts The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G
- TC/Gadgets: An Interview With Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers
- Tune In At 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern For Our TC Gadgets CES Recap (Plus Prizes!) #CESCrunch
- IK Multimedia Adds MIC Cast, STOMP and MIX to their iRig Line
- Corel Launches AfterShot Pro, A $99 Aperture Competitor
- We’re Live From The CES Show Floor! #cescrunch
- Hands On With Zomm’s Lifestyle Connect: For If You’ve Fallen And You Can’t Get Up
- Watch The Pioneer CES 2012 Press Conference: AppRadio 2 For All
- CES 2012: An Interview With Gary Shapiro, President of The CEA And A Really Nice Guy
- CES Day 1 Pre-Cap: Every Child Needs A Tablet And Flipping The Parrot
- After Netflix, Roku’s Streaming Players Hit The UK, Ireland (Starting At £49.99)
| Posted: 11 Jan 2012 01:00 AM PST  Here are some of yesterday’s posts on TechCrunch Gadgets: Eyes On: The Gaems Inc. G155 Portable XBOX Rig TC/Gadgets: An Interview With Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers IK Multimedia Adds MIC Cast, STOMP and MIX to their iRig Line CES 2012: An Interview With Gary Shapiro, President of The CEA And A Really Nice Guy
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| Eyes On: The HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook At ShowStoppers Posted: 10 Jan 2012 08:23 PM PST  Ah, the Spectre. HP’s latest and greatest ultrabook is certainly no slouch when it comes to performance, but it’s definitely a looker to boot. You probably already know all about the thing (and here’s a quick refresher in case you don’t), so I’ll just shut up and let you look at this beauty. But before that, let’s talk about how the Spectre feels. It’s a very slim computer, and while it’s lightweight, it has a definitively study feel to it thanks to its glossy Gorilla Glass back. Definitely the kind of thing you won’t need to treat with kid gloves 24/7, although I’d resist the temptation to hurl it around just because it’s so light. Its full complement of ports (think HDMI out, Ethernet, USB 3.0, and mini DisplayPort) make it a worthy computing companion, as do the Core i5 or 17 processor that the Spectre will ship with in February. Until then, let’s just take a look at these photos and dream, shall we?
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| MadCatz Demos Two Crazy Game Controllers: The FightStick V.S. And The Pro Circuit Posted: 10 Jan 2012 07:51 PM PST  Fighting game fanatics (I know at least a few of your a reading) will love this one. Developed for use with the forthcoming Street Fighter X Tekken game, the FightStick V.S. is sure to grace tournaments and basements in due time. What’s more, if you want to go for a more accurate arcade experience, pick up a connector kit (a metal plate that costs $20) to daisy chain two of these $199 bad boys together. The game is due to hit consoles in March of 2012, and while he couldn’t offer specifics, Mad Catz’s Alex Verrey said the fight stick would be ready by then. Next up is the “Rolls Royce of controllers,” the MLG Pro Circuit XBOX 360 controller. It’s been designed and manufactured with the blessing of Major League Gaming, and has probably been rigorously tested by hordes of picky nerds. It also allows players to swap magnetic faceplates and button modules, which means Xbox players can (gasp!) use a layout more akin to the Playstation controller.
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| Novatel Shows Off The Globetrotting Verizon Jetpack Hotspot Posted: 10 Jan 2012 07:30 PM PST  We’re no strangers to Novatel Wireless — their aircards have been saving us on a regular basis this week — and now they’ve swung by our part of the ShowStoppers stage to show off their new Jetpack mobile hotspot for Verizon. The Verizon Jetpack sports an OLED display and support for Verizon’s 4G LTE network but perhaps more importantly, it also has full support for global roaming. Trying to surf the web in Venice? Go for it! Need a solid data connection outside the Louvre? Not a problem. Of course, you’ll have to shell out quite a bit for that privilege, but hopefully you’ve got a corporate checkbook picking up that tab. No word yet on availability, but hopefully it arrives before summer rolls around and all you tourists start travelling en masse.
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| Eyes On: The Gaems Inc. G155 Portable XBOX Rig Posted: 10 Jan 2012 07:16 PM PST  The folks from Gaems Inc. tackle a pretty interesting problem — what’s a gamer to do when they need to get their fix away from home? Their answer is the G155, a self-contained home gaming environment meant for use on the go. At first glance, it’s essentially a giant briefcase that provides portable protection for the Xbox 360 (both old and new variants) and the PS3 Slim. Ah, but there’s a twist — it contains its own LED-LCD screen for all those on-the-go frag fests. It also sports dual audio jacks for when playing your Little Big Planet by yourself gets too depressing. It’s pretty much exactly what I always wanted a child when forced to go on (what seemed like) inordinately long vacation — a robust way to lug around all of my miscellaneous games while my parents went around looking at antiquities and historically important landmarks. The G155 can be had on Amazon and in Microsoft stores for $499 with a 250GB Xbox 360 in the bundle, and it runs between $269 and $299 if you want to provide your own system.
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| Eyes On: The Lenovo YOGA At ShowStoppers Posted: 10 Jan 2012 06:51 PM PST  News of the Lenovo YOGA tablet just broke the other day, and now at ShowStoppers we’ve got the chance to get up close and personal. It’s pegged as the world’s first multiposition notebook, the its unusual contorting dual-hinge layout makes it a real eye-grabber. The fact that it’s known for running Windows 8 certainly makes it an impressive piece of kit. “Touch is dominating our lives,” a Lenovo rep told us. “People want a tablet and they want a PC, and the YOGA is the machine to do it.” There’s still no official word on availability — that really depends on Windows 8 sees the light of day — but it’s expected to cost potential customers somewhere between $1,000 and $1,200.
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| We’re Live From CES: Showstoppers, The Second “Mini” Press Event Live, On Stage Posted: 10 Jan 2012 06:32 PM PST  We’re going live right now from Showstoppers and we’ll be interviewing just about everyone on the floor. We’re talking cars, computers, apps, and services, so tune in. We’ll be offering giveaways during the livestream so keep your eyes and ears peeled. If there is something you want us to ask, Tweet us at @techcrunch with the hashtag #CESCrunch. Looking forward to hearing from you!
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| T-Mobile Debuts The Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G Posted: 10 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST  Just two years ago, everyone at CES was asking one question: Where are all the Android phones? If anybody asked that same question this year, they’d be met with blank stares and guffaws. This show has been jammed with Android phone after Android phone since before it even officially started. The latest one off the line is T-Mobile’s Galaxy S Blaze 4G (bit of a mouthful, eh?), which is the third device to play friendly with T-mobiles 42Mbps HSPA+ network — which, by the way, just saw a bunch of expansion. Alas, while it’s nearly 3 pages long, T-Mobile’s announcement of the Blaze 4G is pretty light on details. So far, the only things we really know about it are that it’s 42Mbps HSPA+ compatible, that it has a dualcore 1.5Ghz Snapdragon CPU packed inside, and that it’s shipping “later this year”. No price, no specific launch date, and a bunch of specs left mysterious for now. Meanwhile, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network saw a bit of expansion, with the 42Mbps network rolling out in 12 new markets and their slightly less speedy 21Mbps network finding its way to 9 new spots. Alas, the announcement also fails to mention.. which regions these are. We’ll update this post as soon as we find out. T-Mobile also mentioned that they expect to receive AWS spectrum in 128 markets as a result of their deal with AT&T falling through. Update! Just heard back from T-Mobile. While they couldn’t share any more details on the Blaze 4G specs, they outlined which regions saw expensions. 21Mbps 42Mbps
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| TC/Gadgets: An Interview With Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers Posted: 10 Jan 2012 01:35 PM PST  The hottest and coolest thermostat on the market this year was clearly the Nest. This intelligent hunk of steel looks great on a wall and, more important, helps save energy in the home. The Nest learns as you use it, ensuring your home is comfortable year-round. We sat down with Matt at CES 2012 and he ran through the product and, more important, gave us some great advice on starting your own hardware start-up and how sensors are going to be everywhere soon – in the home and on our bodies.
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| Tune In At 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern For Our TC Gadgets CES Recap (Plus Prizes!) #CESCrunch Posted: 10 Jan 2012 01:22 PM PST  After the onslaught of media that is CES, who wouldn’t want more CES? We definitely do, which is why we’re running the TC Gadgets Webcast live at 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern straight out of our posh studio on the CES show floor. Our goal? To recap the day’s news, interview cool people, and give away amazing prizes. Today we’re giving away a real, live Sony Vita to one lucky winner – details during the broadcast – but watch this space for some great content and be sure to watch our daily live streams from the show floor. We’ll be running these webcasts every day at 4pm Pacific, giving away great prizes in the process. Do you have questions or concerns? Tweet us @techcrunch with the hashtag #CESCrunch. We’ll do our best to answer your questions on the fly. Something you particularly want to see at the show? We’ll aim our camera at it for you. Need a Nathan’s hot dog? Our Intern David will get it for you. That’s why they call TechCrunch Gadgets the most servile name in news.
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| IK Multimedia Adds MIC Cast, STOMP and MIX to their iRig Line Posted: 10 Jan 2012 12:59 PM PST  IK Multimedia unleashes a plethora of new hardware this week at CES 2012 within their iRig line. This triumvirate of products look to make it easier than ever to use iOS devices, live and inline, with analog musical instruments like guitars, bases, vocals and regular DJ consoles. I have used several of their devices in the past with excellent results, so I am stoked to see how this new group of products perform. This miniature microphone looks to be a smaller, more compact version of their previously released iRig MIC (which I have to say I love). I have the older, larger version right here in my computer bag and use it constantly for recording interviews and voice overs. The tight pattern noise cancellation on the original iRig MIC is excellent and is extremely useful in loud situations (like CES). The new, smaller iRig MIC Cast promises similar noise canceling, in a smaller more compact package. If matches the original in that arena, it stands to be an excellent in-the-field microphone for mobile devices. Check back for updates after I get my hands on one. Here are the detailed specs straight from the press release:
Offering live monitoring is a nice touch and very useful for interviews. You definitely don't want to record a whole conversation only to find out you had the microphone too far away, etc. iRig MIC Cast costs $39.99/€29.99 (excl. tax) and will be available in Q1 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. For more information: www.irigmiccast.com This interface for using IK Multimedia's excellent AmpliTube guitar modeler, finally makes it practical to use your iPhone as a tone source for live guitar or bass use. The form factor of the iRig STOMP is that of a traditional Stompbox guitar pedal, which allows for "hands free" use. More press release specs:
I've toyed with the idea of using AmpliTube as the sole source for playing upright bass at small gigs, but the inability to truly "bypass" was always a deal-breaker for me. This could enable that scenario. We'll see. iRig STOMP costs $59.99/€44.99 (excl. tax) and will be available in early Q2 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. For more information: www.irigstomp.com
Again, IK has developed hardware that mimics traditional setups for DJing, yet added an easy way to use iOS devices as the source, enabling compact setup. I doubt this will ever actually supplant the true sounds and art of vinyl DJing, but surely anyone that has shlepped a huge stack of records to a show could appreciate the smallness going on here. In any event it looks like it could be one part of a DJ setup. Pricing and availability is as follows: iRig MIX costs $99.99/€74.99 (excluding taxes) and will be available in February 2012 from electronic and music retailers around the world. Pre-orders are already available from the IK Multimedia online store and other selected resellers. For more information: www.irigmix.com
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| Corel Launches AfterShot Pro, A $99 Aperture Competitor Posted: 10 Jan 2012 12:42 PM PST  Corel’s new AfterShot Pro software runs on Windows, Mac, Linux(!) and offers a $99 package for managing photos including RAW handling, image editing, and quick library management. AfterShot is a digital photography workflow app like Aperture and Lightroom. It’s chock full of goodies like a complete RAW workflow, flexible management, advanced non-destructive editing, robust metadata tools, batch processing, and integration with the image editor of your choice. Corel is claiming breakthrough performance with the software being fully multithreaded and optimized for multi-core and multi-CPU machines. A fully functional demo is available at Corel.com, the full product is priced at $99.99 which puts it in between Aperture and Lightroom in terms of price – a nice place to be.
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| We’re Live From The CES Show Floor! #cescrunch Posted: 10 Jan 2012 12:17 PM PST While we’ve been running around Vegas like mad to cover all of the pre-CES happenings, the main event starts… now. We’re streaming live from the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the biggest companies in the world have gathered to show off their best and brightest new toys. All of the chaos of the show floor, beamed right to your house. Live! Oh, how wonderful the future is. Talk to us live using #cescrunch!
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| Hands On With Zomm’s Lifestyle Connect: For If You’ve Fallen And You Can’t Get Up Posted: 10 Jan 2012 11:50 AM PST Zomm’s latest creation is called Lifestyle Connect, a small Bluetooth device that acts, in short, as an emergency alert system for folks who might have some health issues and live alone. If you fall or injure yourself in the home, the Lifestyle Connect will signal your phone to call the proper authorities as well as your friends and family. The system locates you – whether you’re at home or outside – and handles everything with voice control. The device costs $199.99 and comes with a sort of personal emergency concierge service that will help you while you’re down. It’s surprisingly small and light and the battery lasts two straight weeks on one charge. It’s less expensive than competitors and, more important, it works with the cellphone you have so it can be used everywhere. Check the video above for a video hands-on.
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| Watch The Pioneer CES 2012 Press Conference: AppRadio 2 For All Posted: 10 Jan 2012 11:23 AM PST Pioneer’s AppRadio was pretty darn cool when it first launched and now there’s another version with improved apps, improved UI, and improved hardware. We hung out with Pioneer at CES yesterday and here is the raw feed featuring Pioneer’s products including car stereos, AppRadio, iPhone interfaces for your whip.
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| CES 2012: An Interview With Gary Shapiro, President of The CEA And A Really Nice Guy Posted: 10 Jan 2012 11:07 AM PST
Every year we try our best to talk to Gary Shapiro, the man behind Consumer Electronic Show. He’s a guy who at least appears to genuinely wants to see big and small companies succeed. Last year we spoke about his book, The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, that calls America to action. But this year, with Microsoft leaving CES and the show seemingly shrinking, we had a bit more to talk about. Interestingly enough, Mr. Shapiro states loud and clear Microsoft isn’t leaving CES en mass like the Internet would have everyone to believe. They will keynote another CES, he said. But for the short term, it’s better for CES, the attendees and also Microsoft if the Ballmer steps down from the podium for a bit. Well, you know, you can watch the video above and see for yourself. If nothing else, watch as I flub my way through the first part of the interview. Of course I know about Parrot and their awesome A.R. Drone.
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| CES Day 1 Pre-Cap: Every Child Needs A Tablet And Flipping The Parrot Posted: 10 Jan 2012 10:38 AM PST Hands On With The Parrot AR Drone 2 It’s CES time again and we’re out in full force with the live video and the streaming and the interviews. Here are some highlights from the past weekend when we interviewed a number of CES notables as well as attending some of the major press conferences of the week including Samsung, Sony, Nokia, and Intel. We were also live last night at Digital Experience where we saw a pet tracker and a glass-backed laptop. An Interview With Eton Radios Chilling With One Laptop per Child Lifestyle Connect by Zomm
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| After Netflix, Roku’s Streaming Players Hit The UK, Ireland (Starting At £49.99) Posted: 10 Jan 2012 08:58 AM PST  One day after Netflix made its debut in the UK and Ireland, Roku has announced that two of its streaming players, the Roku LT and the Roku 2 XS, are heading to Britain too and are already available for pre-order on Amazon. The Roku LT, which is billed as the lowest-cost option for streaming video and music directly to a TV, over Wi-Fi and without a PC, retails at £49.99. The Roku 2 XS, which adds casual games like Angry Birds to the offering and also sports an Ethernet, a MicroSD and a USB port, costs £99.99. Read more at TechCrunch Europe.
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