GE has obviously been in the home energy management business for some time now, but it's stepped up its game in a pretty big way this week. The company has just announced the official creation of its new Home Energy Management business (or HEM), which will fall under GE's Appliances & Lighting division and will be led by Dave McCalpin (pictured above). According to GE, the new business will focus on helping both consumers and utility companies manage electricity consumption and costs, and it will oversee a whole range of GE products related to energy management, including things like the company's GeoSpring hybrid hot water heater, various appliances, and its new Nucleus energy management system set to go on sale next year. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
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GE Appliances Creates Home Energy Management Business
* Innovative line of smart energy products to help consumers and utilities manage electricity consumption and costs. * GE uniquely positioned to provide energy generation, management and storage solutions to address America's tough energy needs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Appliances & Lighting plans to be the first major appliance company to provide a whole-home solution for energy management by going beyond the kitchen to provide insight into energy usage in the family room, the basement, the home office, and all other rooms of the house. From the GeoSpring™ hybrid hot water heater, Nucleus™ energy manager and programmable thermostats, to GE Profile™ Appliances enabled with Brillion™ technology and GE smart meters, GE is developing solutions to help consumers better manage and control their energy use and costs.
Dave McCalpin was recently appointed General Manager of GE's Home Energy Management (HEM) business. The new business will develop and commercialize GE's full line of energy-management solutions that empower consumers to make smarter, more informed energy choices. As utilities roll out smart grid technologies in response to the critical energy challenges we face as a nation, there's never been a better time for GE to launch this business.
GE Energy products, like solar PV, advanced energy storage, thin-film solar, small wind, and residential electric car charging stations, in addition to next-generation products being developed at GE's Global Research Center, will also play an integral part in helping both consumers and utilities realize the true benefits of the smart grid.
Increasing energy demand: Global energy consumption is predicted to triple by 2050,1 and the numbers prove just how important home energy management will be in curtailing sky-rocketing demand:
* Residential housing consumes 37 percent of the electricity produced in the U.S. * Appliances, lighting and HVAC represent 82 percent of household energy consumption.
"It makes economic and environmental sense for the world to better utilize the power we already generate rather than create more capacity to meet our escalating peak-power needs," said McCalpin. "If we can better manage when and how we use power, we can control the demand without compromising people's lifestyles. This is where global smart grid initiatives and GE's new Home Energy Management products come into play."
Where smart grid meets the home: To help manage the growing demand, and improve the performance of the nation's electrical grid, utilities across the U.S. and the world are implementing smart grid technologies – including smart meters on homes. These new technologies can help improve grid efficiency and reduce electrical demand, particularly during "peak" periods (typically 2-7 p.m.). Reducing this peak demand will help limit the number of new power plants needed.
It's estimated that 40 million smart meters, which allow two-way communication between the utility and the home, will be installed on U.S. homes between now and 2012.2 Among other benefits, these smart meters will enable "time-of-use" pricing programs that incent consumers to lower their consumption during "peak-demand" periods.
This consumer-driven demand response reduction could provide the largest reduction in U.S. peak demand, helping avoid consumption equivalent to the generation of 108 coal plants over 10 years.3 Playing a critical role in demand response, HEM devices could actually communicate with smart meters to automatically reduce power consumption of certain devices when the cost and demand for power is highest, helping consumers save without sacrifice.
A year-long study by the U.S. Department of Energy showed that providing real-time pricing information to consumers via the smart meter helped reduce electricity costs 10 percent on average and 15 percent during peak periods.4 "Knowing what is consuming electricity, and how much electricity that appliances are consuming, can be very empowering," states McCalpin. "People will be able to make smarter choices if they have information. The once-a-month electrical bill provides no insight into your usage habits. We intend to change that."
GE bridges the utility-consumer gap: Consumers today have little more than a monthly utility bill to understand how much power they're using and how much they're spending. Compare this to your credit card statements, which you can check almost hourly online. New utility pricing plans, along with inevitable increases in electricity costs, beg for solutions to provide consumers with the information necessary to better manage energy.
GE's Nucleus™ energy manager with Brillion™ technology was developed to provide near real-time information for more control over household energy costs and consumption. Along with monitoring consumers' whole-home energy usage, Nucleus will give people the ability to remotely adjust smart thermostats and alter the consumption of GE Profile™ Appliances enabled with Brillion™ technology in response to utility price signals.
GE's Brillion Suite of Home Energy Solutions, being developed by GE's HEM business, will include the Nucleus, a programmable thermostat, an energy display, smart phone applications, and GE Profile Appliances. Future hardware and software upgrades will further enable Nucleus to monitor water, natural gas, and renewable energy sources, as well as plug-in electric vehicle charging. For more information about GE's Nucleus, click here.
"Smart energy management products will offer consumers more convenience, choice and control than ever thought possible," McCalpin said.
Smart appliances at work: Components of GE's Brillion Suite of Home Energy Solutions are already being tested by five utilities in the U.S. Working in conjunction with the utility's smart meters, GE's Brillion-enabled appliances receive signals from the smart meter and are programmed to avoid energy usage during high-cost periods or to operate on a lower wattage setting. The Nucleus also receives the smart meter data and displays current and historical home energy consumption, giving consumers the insights they need to make better energy choices. Smart appliances have the potential to help lower consumers' energy bills, while giving them the control they desire – even the capability to override these settings.
GE's suite of smart appliances includes ENERGY STAR®-qualified refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, and the new GeoSpring hybrid water heater, as well as ranges and microwaves. www.GEBrillion.com.
About GE Appliances & Lighting
GE Appliances & Lighting spans the globe as an industry leader in major appliances, lighting, systems and services for commercial, industrial and residential use. Technology innovation and the company's ecomagination(SM) initiative enable GE Appliances & Lighting to aggressively bring to market products and solutions that help customers meet pressing environmental challenges. General Electric (NYSE: GE), imagination at work, sells products under the Monogram®, Profile™, GE®, Hotpoint®, Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Tetra®, Vio™ and Immersion® commercial brands. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com.
1 U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, 2005. http://www.itsyoursmartgrid.com/energy_issues/rising_costs.html.
2 Parks Associates Study referenced on SmartGridNews.com. "Bringing the Smart Grid to the Smart Home: It's not all about the Meter." January 2010.
3 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: The potential of residential demand reduction programs represents approximately a 7% reduction in total US peak demand, or 65 GW over the period 2009 -2019. This avoided demand is equivalent to the generation capacity of 108 coal plants over a ten -year period, (600 MW typical coal plant)
4 DOE Pacific Northwest Laboratory, GridWise project. "Department of Energy Putting Power in the Hands of Consumers Through Technology." January 9, 2008.
Well, don't ever knock Japan for not considering absolutely everything. The home to some of the world's biggest, cleanest and fastest trains is also home to one of the most minuscule, but unlike those toys you'll unwrap during the holiday season, this bad boy actually serves a bona fide purpose. Designed and showcased by Hidepon Works, the contraption you see above is actually a gas turbine-powered model train, and while it's small enough to bring a smile to your infant's face, it's large / powerful enough to actually get a conductor from one location to the next. Only problem? Paying for the railway infrastructure.
Things just got a little more heated in the RIM / Kik dispute: RIM's now filed a Canadian patent infringement case against the company, just days after it pulled Kik Messenger from BlackBerry App World due to "breached contractual obligations." We don't have the complaint yet, so we're not sure exactly what RIM's patent covers, but it's a fair bet to say it's likely messaging-related -- and it's probably a safer bet to say that RIM doesn't screw around when it comes to dealing with potential threats to BBM. You mess with the bull, you get the horns.
Could Microsoft actually embrace Windows Phone 7 hacking much like it's sort of done with Kinect hacking? Not very likely, but it seems like the folks behind the ChevronWP7 unlocking tool are at least holding out some hope for that possibility. They've apparently had some "good faith" discussions with Microsoft's Director of Developer Experience for Windows Phone 7, Brandon Watson, and have decided to take the rather drastic step of pulling and ceasing all development on the tool in order to "fast-track" discussions about Microsoft officially embracing homebrew development. Obviously, that may just be wishful thinking, but one thing is clear at least for the moment: it just got a bit harder to hack a Windows Phone 7 device.
Curious timing, no? Just last month, Google's own Eric Schmidt revealed that the Nexus S (manufactured by none other than Samsung) would have "NFC features," and he even went on to proclaim that this kind of technology would eventually supplant the tried-and-true credit card. Today, Sammy itself has revealed a new near field communications (NFC) chip with embedded flash memory, and we're told that this guy remains active for mobile payment even without battery power. Of course, we're still waiting for a confirmed price and release date for the aforesaid smartphone, but could Samsung's NFC mass production date of Q1 2011 be the clue we've been yearning for? Fingers and toes crossed, okay everyone?
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Samsung's New Near Field Communication Chip Offers Increased Wireless Connectivity for Mobile Handsets
CARTES & IDentification 2010
SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, announced today a new near field communications (NFC) chip with embedded flash memory. Leveraging a low power design and advanced RF sensitivity, Samsung's latest chip offers designers a competitive choice for next-generation smart phones with NFC capabilities. NFC enabled devices can instantly establish a wireless peer-to-peer connection and directly handover to Bluetooth and/or WiFi connection for fast, convenient data transmission.
"As momentum builds for adoption of NFC technology in next-generation/ upcoming smart phones, we look forward to securing a competitive footing in NFC-based solutions with our new NFC technology, offering powerful mobile characteristics such as low power design and advanced RF sensitivity."
"NFC is recognized throughout the industry as an easy and effective way to transmit encrypted information between mobile devices or between mobile devices and other stationary NFC-enabled devices such as kiosks," said Tae-Hoon Kim, vice president of DDI and C&M marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. "As momentum builds for adoption of NFC technology in next-generation/ upcoming smart phones, we look forward to securing a competitive footing in NFC-based solutions with our new NFC technology, offering powerful mobile characteristics such as low power design and advanced RF sensitivity."
NFC is a short-range (up to 10cm or 4inches), high frequency wireless communication technology which allows devices such as smart phones to collect or transmit data to another NFC-enabled device without manual configuration to identify devices. In addition, NFC chip can play a role as a contactless smartcard in use for public transportation payments for bus and subway fares and mobile banking payments. It can also read RFID tags in retail stores or on outdoor billboards for convenient on-the-spot data access.
By leveraging its extensive experience in low power design, Samsung developed this NFC chip to have minimal power consumption in both active and stand-by mode. With a 20 percent decrease in power consumption, Samsung's NFC chip remains active for mobile payment even without battery power.
Samsung's new NFC chip is the industry's first to adopt flash for the embedded memory which allows device designers to easily to upgrade software or firmware. For seamless integration and customer design efficiencies, Samsung also provides a software protocol stack and technology services for antenna design and tuning. Through such features and support, designers can reduce their product's time–to-market.
According to market research firm, IMS Research, the mobile phone market is forecast to grow from 1.4 billion units in 2011 to 1.8 billion units in 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of seven percent. In 2011, NFC-enabled phone models are expected to gain pace and the ratio of mobile phones with NFC capabilities is expected to reach 26 percent in 2015.
Samsung's new NFC chip is scheduled for mass production in the first quarter of 2011.
Samsung's new NFC solution will be displayed at the CARTES 2010 from December 7th through 9th at the Samsung booth 3C 035 in Hall 3 at Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center.
We figured Cowon's X7 wouldn't bother passing through the FCC's loose fingertips if it weren't planning on making a stateside debut at some point, and sure enough, the aforesaid media player is gearing up to ship here just two months after its South Korean reveal. Over the years, Cowon has managed to maintain a fairly decent cover in the US of A, but audio purists recognize the brand for its commitment to sound quality over all else. The X7 is a capacious (160GB) player with a fairly large display (4.3-inches) and a world-beating battery good for ten hours of video and up to 103 hours of audio. Yeah, a full long weekend's worth. As with anything in life, Cowon's made some sacrifices here as well; you won't find a WiFi module, but you will spot support for Bluetooth headsets. How's it all shake out? Join us after the break for our full review.
Just like the V5 and A3 that have preceded it, the X7 is classically styled. It's a no-frills design, with a matte black finish, simple curves and a beautiful fit / finish. It sits nicely in the hand, and while it's not the lightest PMP in existence at 0.46 pounds, it's definitely not as heavy as we expected given the large 160GB drive and presumably gargantuan battery arrangement within. In the past, we've found Cowon's portable media players to be delightful for video watching, and the same is the case here. The only bummer is the screen resolution; 480 x 272 may have cut it three years ago, but today, we've simply come to expect higher pixel counts. The image quality was great, however, as were viewing angles, but we couldn't help but yearn for something a touch more dense.
It also uses a resistive touchpanel rather than capacitive, but it's actually one of the most responsive we've ever toyed with. It works just fine with a stylus or with a finger tap, and unlike many resistive panels, we weren't forced to actually use our fingernails to make inputs. Swiping motions are supported, but multitouch gestures obviously aren't. We should also point out just how fond we are of the overriding UI; but then again, we're pretty into the Zune UI that Cowon has quite clearly taken a note from here. Unfortunately, things aren't as lust-worthy once you dig in. For one, there's no way to orient the UI horizontally; you're stuck in portrait mode for the vast majority of applications, like it or not. Furthermore, there's no clear and intuitive way to move around in your music library. Let's lay out an example: say you're listening to a particular song. The options beneath it are "Prev," "Next" and "Open." It's pretty obvious that the first two will jump forward or back a track in the playlist, but since when does "Open" mean "jump back to the track listing?" From there, you'll need to discover that "Top" actually means "go to the artist / genre / etc. selection screen." It's not impossible to get used to, but it's not setting the bar for user-friendliness, either.
Performance
As for actual performance? In a word, it's great. Jumping from music to videos to the notepad function was as snappy as ever, with next to no lag to speak of. In fact, the only hiccups we found were waiting for the drive to spin up a requested tune. Nothing longer than waiting for a Class 2 microSD card to find the same jam in our Nexus One, though. There's also an inbuilt FM tuner (which works sufficiently well), an audio recorder (which does likewise), as well as an image viewer, movie player and a utility drawer containing a calculator, notepad, stopwatch, etc. You'll also notice a "Browser" in the UI -- no need to get your hopes up, as there's no WiFi and no web browser onboard. It's simply an image browser, and a dream crusher.
We definitely dig the lower-left edge placement of the volume up / down buttons, and while minuscule, the "Menu" (i.e. "Home") button works as advertised. Outside of that, we've got a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom edge, a power / hold switch on the lower-right edge, an internal speaker right on the front (which works well for backseat viewing by two, by the way), a dedicated DC input port and a proprietary USB / AV cable outlet. That's a major downer -- you can't simply toss in a generic micro or mini-USB cable here and expect to load new content. You'll need to bring Cowon's included cable, or else prepare for a long night weeping into your pillow. We do appreciate how easy it is to simply drag media onto the drive after it mounts on your computer, but then again, we appreciate anything simpler that the abomination known as iTunes syncing.
Audio quality
The saving grace, as always, is the audio quality. Put simply, we're thinking you'll be hard-pressed to find a capacious PMP with sound quality that matches what we're hearing from the X7. Cowon's audio fidelity has never let us down, and nothing changes with the X7. It's simply the best audio experience out of a PMP, bar-none. The included "JetEffect" and BBE equalization patterns are simply world class. It's easy to sift through the laundry list of options, and we were able to find EQ tweaks that bettered just about every genre of music we tested. It's aural bliss, plain and simple.
Wrap-up
Cowon's X7 is the definition of a mixed bag. The overall design is lovely, but the low screen resolution, quirky UI and use of a propriety connection cable dampens our excitement. That said, we looped a video for around nine hours before seeing any hints of exhaustion, leading us to believe that you may honestly get triple-digit battery life if sticking to audio alone. Having 160GB of onboard storage is also a godsend for album collectors, and the world-class audio quality will more than satisfy any budding audiophiles. (We should note that Cowon's shipping a 120GB version elsewhere in the world, but only the black 160GB unit in America.) In the end, this unit is little more than a multimedia player; there's no WiFi, no web browser, and no support for apps of any kind. If you're looking for that, there's a Zune HD or iPod touch waiting with your name on it. But if you're looking for something that's simply the best at being simple, the X7 is tough to beat.
As of now, the X7 has yet to go on sale in the United States, but Cowon swears that our unit is being followed by a flood of others that'll hit retail later this month. As stated above, the only model coming to the US is a black version with a 160GB hard drive. Cowon's never been one to compete solely on price (at least not in America), and that's not changing with the X7. Given the $319.99 retail price, the 160GB unit represents a ~$70 upcharge over the 160GB iPod classic -- a unit with a far smaller display, worse audio quality, a battery that's not even half as good and a deadly requirement to use iTunes. Since it's tough to find any PMP with both 160GB+ of capacity and a penchant for running apps, the X7 looks like a far greater bargain than the V5 or S9. If you need boatloads of room on your PMP, and are willing to pay a premium for the best audio quality a set of human ears can get, keep your eyes on this JetMall newcomer.
And here we go: Verizon just announced its 4G LTE pricing and full list of coverage areas. Some 38 markets will go live when the switch is flipped on December 5, including Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and LA, and pricing starts at $50/month for 5GB of data, with an $80/month plan for 10GB. Overages run $10 per GB, which isn't insane, and there's also supplemental coverage in around 60 airports. Check the full PR after the break.
More modems will be coming out within "weeks" and are all backwards compatible with its EV-DO network.
Verizon will talk about "consumer-oriented devices" (translation: phones) at CES.
The modems are capable of 4G-to-3G handoff, but not 3G-to-4G -- they'll stay on 3G until you're done transmitting data.
The LTE and 3G plans might integrate, according to CTO Tony Melone, but probably not until 2012 or 2013.
It sounds like the modems will only be available in stores on December 5th -- no third-party retailers at first.
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VERIZON WIRELESS LAUNCHES THE WORLD'S LARGEST 4G LTE WIRELESS NETWORK ON DEC. 5
Laptop Users Benefit First from Fastest and Most Advanced Wireless Network, Arriving in 38 Major Metropolitan Areas with New Value-Priced 4G Data Plans
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless announced today it is turning on the world's first large-scale 4G LTE network on Sunday, Dec. 5. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network will be the fastest and most advanced 4G network in America. Business users will be the first to take advantage of the 4G LTE network with speeds up to 10 times faster than the company's 3G network.
With the launch, Verizon Wireless is also offering new value-priced 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans starting at $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance, as well as two new 4G LTE USB modems: the LG VL600 which will be available at launch, and the Pantech UML290, available soon.
Dan Mead, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said, "Beginning Sunday, Verizon Wireless is making the best network even better. Our initial 4G LTE launch gives customers access to the fastest and most advanced mobile network in America and immediately reaches more than one-third of all Americans, right where they live. That's just the start. We will quickly expand 4G LTE, and by 2013 will reach the existing Verizon Wireless 3G coverage area."
Road warriors using laptops will immediately benefit from Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network with super-fast connectivity that's up to 10 times faster than the company's current 3G network. The company expects 4G LTE average data rates in real-world, loaded network environments to be 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2 to 5 Mbps on the uplink.
Mead continued, "We are building our 4G LTE network with the same commitment to performance and reliability for which we have long been recognized. Our commitment to superior network performance, combined with broad 4G coverage areas and the strong value of our data plans make 4G LTE Mobile Broadband the best choice for laptop users."
4G LTE Mobile Broadband Data Plans, Devices and Coverage Areas Verizon Wireless customers can choose from two 4G LTE Mobile Broadband data plans: $50 monthly access for 5 GB monthly allowance or $80 monthly access for 10 GB monthly allowance, both with $10/GB overage. For laptop connectivity, two 4G LTE USB modems will be initially available: the LG VL600 is available at launch and the Pantech UML290 will be available soon, each $99.99 after $50 rebate with a new two-year agreement. Both USB modems provide backward-compatibility with Verizon Wireless' 3G network. If laptop users travel outside of a 4G LTE coverage area, they will automatically stay connected on the company's 3G network.
The two modems harness the power of the company's 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network to help enterprise, business and government customers make their workforces more productive, providing super-fast laptop connectivity. Both modems will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, online at www.verizonwireless.com, by phone by calling 1-800 256-4646 and through the company's business sales channels.
The company expects consumer-oriented handsets will be available by mid-2011.
Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network is initially launching in 38 major metropolitan areas and in more than 60 commercial airports coast to coast – at both airports within the launch areas plus airports in other key cities. Street level coverage area maps will be available online on Dec. 5. Today, customers can go to www.verizonwireless.com/4Glte to check if their addresses will be in the initial 4G LTE coverage area.
Spectrum and Network Partners By leveraging its 700 MHz spectrum for LTE deployment in the United States, Verizon Wireless is capable of quickly deploying a high-quality wireless broadband network with excellent coverage. Verizon Wireless' primary 4G LTE network vendors, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, are providing the underlying infrastructure for the 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network.
Visit www.verizonwireless.com/lte for more information about Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE network.
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Major Metropolitan Area Deployment (Dec. 5, 2010) Akron, Ohio Athens, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Baltimore, Maryland Boston, Massachusetts Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Cleveland, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Houston, Texas Jacksonville, Florida Las Vegas, Nevada Los Angeles, California Miami, Florida Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota Nashville, Tennessee New Orleans, Louisiana New York, New York Oakland, California Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Orlando, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix, Arizona Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Rochester, New York San Antonio, Texas San Diego, California San Francisco, California San Jose, California Seattle/Tacoma, Washington St. Louis, Missouri Tampa, Florida Washington, D.C. West Lafayette, Indiana West Palm Beach, Florida
Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Initial Commercial Airport Deployment (Airport Name, City, State) Dec. 5, 2010 Austin-Bergstrom International, Austin, Texas Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshal, Glen Burnie, Maryland Bob Hope, Burbank, California Boeing Field/King County International, Seattle, Washington Charlotte/Douglas International, Charlotte, North Carolina Chicago Midway International, Chicago, Illinois Chicago O'Hare International, Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, Covington, Kentucky Cleveland-Hopkins International, Cleveland, Ohio Dallas Love Field, Dallas, Texas Dallas/Fort Worth International, Fort Worth, Texas Denver International, Denver, Colorado Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida George Bush Intercontinental/Houston, Houston, Texas Greater Rochester International, Rochester, New York Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, Atlanta, Georgia Honolulu International, Honolulu, Hawaii Jacksonville International, Jacksonville, Florida John F. Kennedy International, New York, New York John Wayne Airport-Orange County, Santa Ana, California Kansas City International, Kansas City, Missouri La Guardia, New York, New York Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis, Missouri Laurence G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Massachusetts Long Beach/Daugherty Field, Long Beach, California Los Angeles International, Los Angeles, California Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, Metairie, Louisiana McCarran International, Las Vegas, Nevada Memphis International, Memphis, Tennessee Metropolitan Oakland International, Oakland, California Miami International, Miami, Florida Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, Minneapolis, Minnesota Nashville International, Nashville, Tennessee New Castle, Wilmington, Delaware Newark Liberty International, Newark, New Jersey Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, San Jose, California North Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada Orlando International, Orlando, Florida Orlando Sanford International, Sanford, Florida Palm Beach International, West Palm Beach, Florida Philadelphia International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Phoenix Sky Harbor International, Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, Mesa, Arizona Pittsburgh International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Port Columbus International, Columbus, Ohio Portland International, Portland, Oregon Rickenbacker International, Columbus, Ohio Ronald Reagan Washington National, Arlington, Virginia Sacramento International, Sacramento, California Salt Lake City International, Salt Lake City, Utah San Antonio International, San Antonio, Texas San Diego International, San Diego, California San Francisco International, San Francisco, California Seattle-Tacoma International, Seattle, Washington St. Augustine, Saint Augustine, Florida St. Petersburg-Clearwater International, Clearwater, Florida Tampa International, Tampa, Florida Teterboro, Teterboro, New Jersey Trenton Mercer, Trenton, New Jersey Washington Dulles International, Dulles International Airport, Washington, D.C. Will Rogers World, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma William P. Hobby, Houston, Texas
11:44AM "Whether you call it 4G or chicken soup, it launches this Sunday."
11:36AM Sounds like the modems will only be available in stores on December 5th -- no third-party retailers at first.
11:33AM "At some point in the future" Verizon might integrate LTE and 3G plans into one -- around the time that they start transmitting voice over LTE -- but Melone's generally dodging the question of plan unification pretty artfully. It's certainly not integrated to start, you'll be paying separately for LTE. He's thinking late 2012, early 2013 for the integration.
11:29AM The modems are capable of 4G-to-3G handoff, but not 3G-to-4G -- they'll stay on 3G until you're done transmitting data. Interesting.
11:27AM Melone says he believes LTE pricing "takes the market where it needs to be." Interesting phrasing there -- seems like Verizon's pretty confident that they've settled on a pricing model for data.
11:26AM Presentation's over. Q&A time!
11:25AM "This is for simple laptop connectivity." Jeff says they'll be talking about "consumer-oriented devices" (translation: phones) at CES.
11:24AM Street-level mapping of coverage will be available on Sunday.
11:22AM "Android really took off when Verizon got involved." He feels they'll do the same thing for LTE. Little full of himself there!
11:22AM "Not all 4G is the same." Not sure who he's referring to here, but it could be T-Mobile.
11:21AM "Looking ahead, I look forward to forging new relationships" as the network expands. We think Melone's hinting that we'll see other manufacturers hopping on board for modems and phones.
11:18AM They'll be "talking more" about other devices at CES, which they anticipate launching by "mid 2011." We suspect that's actually a bit on the safe side -- everything we've heard suggests they'll have phones out earlier.
11:17AM More modems coming out "within weeks." All are backward compatible with Verizon's EV-DO network.
11:17AM "We feel that virtually all of our customers" will fit into either the 5GB or 10GB plan, but there's "no limit" on the amount of overage you're allowed to incur -- there's no arbitrary slowdown on your account. (Gee, thanks guys!)
11:15AM Wired network-like latency, so he claims.
11:15AM 5 to 12Mbps down, 2 to 5Mbps up. Melone's talking about latency, too, which he claims is about half what you get on 3G.
11:14AM Melone's talking about continuing to expand 3G services, so they're clearly not looking at LTE as a short-term replacement in any sense of the word.
11:13AM News flash: Josh reports that the modem he's received is incompatible with Mac. Insane.
11:13AM Talking about the "nationwide" 700MHz spectrum holdings they've got to build out the network. Referring to it as "beachfront property."
11:10AM "Obviously, we're not stopping here. We have a very aggressive plan" to get to nationwide coverage in 2013.
11:10AM Also available in "over 60" commercial airports; most within the 38 launch markets, but some that are outside for the benefit of "road warriors."
11:09AM Launching in 38 markets, covering about 110 million pops.
11:08AM "Think of a flight from New York to Tokyo. It takes about 14 hours. Now imagine a technology that allowed you to get there in 80 minutes."
11:08AM It's officially official: launch is Sunday, December 5th (which we knew). They're claiming a 10x boost over the company's EV-DO network.
11:07AM On a side note: our dear leader Josh has just received his LTE modem. He says it's "huge" (physically, not metaphorically).
11:06AM And here comes Tony Melone, CTO of Verizon Wireless.
11:06AM Verizon's Jeff Nelson is in Massachusetts at the company's innovation center where they're working on LTE. Makes sense, considering today's announcements.
11:05AM And here we go -- although we're not sure if we're going to get any more information than what the press release has already told us!
11:05AM The two USB modems from LG and Pantech will each run $99.99 after $50 rebate.
11:04AM Well, we still haven't started, but we've seen the press release: $50 for 5GB, $80 for 10GB with $10/GB overage on both plans.
11:03AM "Today's conference is scheduled to begin momentarily." Still on hold!
10:57AM Really uplifting classical music on the hold line here. We wish we could tell you what the tune was (wouldn't you be impressed?) but we're simply not the classical buffs you thought we were.
So as you probably know, today's the day that Verizon comes clean with all the details on the commercial launch of its LTE network, having scheduled a press conference for noon Eastern Time. We already know many of the details, but we're crossing our fingers for some juicy extras in the event, namely any hints of information on when we'll see LTE-enabled handsets in the marketplace like the rumored HTC Mecha and that unnamed LG. Oh... and some solid plan pricing details would be nice, too. Follow the break for our liveblog!
Say hello to the new Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo, a device that while "inspired" by the Premiere is much more than just the same old box with new stickers. Set to debut in the UK in mid-December, it packs a 1TB HDD, but trumps TiVo's previous efforts by promising a third tuner (to be enabled by a software update in 2011), an internal cable modem for downloading without cutting into your existing broadband speed and ties into catch-up TV just in case you forget to DVR something. While the box itself has a slick new design, the traditional peanut remote hasn't changed and neither have the menus as seen by these screenshots. Interested parties should squirrel away £199 (plus £40 for installation and £26.50 for the XL TiVo package) and hit the source link to queue for purchase.
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Virgin Media launches the UK's first next-generation entertainment platform
· Game-changing interface brings together the best of TV, on-demand and web through a single box · Unique content discovery and personalisation tools · A world of apps for the living room
Virgin Media has today unveiled details of Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo®, the UK's first next-generation entertainment platform.
The new service will lead a much-anticipated revolution in the way people find and enjoy their favourite content. An easy-to-use graphical interface will combine the live TV schedule with catch-up TV, a huge library of on-demand programming and popular web-based applications alongside a market-leading personal video recorder. As a result, Virgin Media customers will never miss out on great programmes and will find it easier than ever to discover new types of entertainment to match their tastes and preferences.
The platform will be supercharged by Virgin Media's unparalleled digital network, ensuring guaranteed quality of service, whether watching in Standard Definition, High Definition or 3D. This also means that - unlike other internet enabled TV services - customers will be able to watch what they want at the click of a button, rather than waiting for time-consuming downloads. As Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo utilises dedicated channels of bandwidth, the user's viewing choice will not come at the expense of their broadband connection, so households can watch and surf simultaneously without interruption.
Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: "This is a landmark moment in the UK's digital revolution and vividly illustrates why Virgin Media is the only company who can provide the ultimate digital lifestyle. For the first time, viewers will have a truly personalised viewing experience so they can get the most out of the wonderful worlds of the internet and TV all in one place. We're really excited to bring our customers what is just the first of successive generations of transformational services based on this unique TiVo-powered platform."
The game changing platform features a highly intelligent recommendations engine which will learn to predict the type of shows that a particular customer loves and, just like a personal shopper, will recommend great content on offer. The superior search technology will find films, music, TV shows and online content as well as providing rich programme information and details about the actors and directors, allowing viewers to discover even more content connected to the cast and production. The user will be able to create a WishList™ search based on a particular show, theme, actor or director and all future content relevant to that will be automatically recorded.
The iconic peanut-shaped TiVo remote control will also give viewers the chance to rate shows through the instantly accessible TiVo 'thumbs up/thumbs down™' buttons. Using this feature to help ensure even greater accuracy, the intelligent service will provide suggested shows and store them in the 'My Shows' folder – so Virgin Media customers will never miss out, even when they didn't set a recording.
As well as planning TV viewing over the next week, the service allows viewers to scroll backwards by up to seven days in the TV Guide and access catch up TV and programming information instantly. This will ensure catch up TV becomes simply a seamless extension of live TV viewing.
Through its dedicated 10Mb cable broadband modem, which is built into the personal video recorder, the new platform will also bring the ever-growing popularity of the app store to the living room for the first time, doing for TV what the iPhone and Android have done for the mobile phone. Built on an Adobe Flash-based platform, the latest videos, social networking and information apps will be updated regularly. The service launches initially with apps from major web brands including catch-up TV from BBC iPlayer, videos from YouTube, shopping from the online marketplace eBay, Tweets from Twitter and photos from sites such as Facebook, and the app line up will expand over the next several months.
The service will be supported by a brand new set-top box offering 1 terabyte of storage – up to 500 hours of standard definition programming – as well as access to 4,600 hours of TV shows, movies and music on demand. In due course, there will also be the facility to set recordings remotely via online and mobile devices.
Featuring cutting edge hardware design, the Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo box will have three tuners*, allowing viewers to record two channels whilst watching a third so recording conflicts become a thing of the past. The future-proofed service will automatically be updated with new features and functionality as they become available.
Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo will begin to roll-out from mid-December. Standard price of £199**, plus £26.50 per month*** for the XL TiVo package which features over 160 channels, an unrivalled TV on demand library and access to all standard HD channels. For further information, or to register for interest in the Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo service, visit: www.virginmedia.com/TiVo.
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Notes to Editors: * The service is launching with two tuners and will be updated with three tuners in early 2011. ** Standard £40 installation costs apply. *** When taken with a Virgin phone line. Monthly cost is £32.50 when taken without a phone line.
About Virgin Media: With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.
The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.
Virgin Media has the UK's most advanced TV on demand service and was the first TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder.
The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world's first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country. Virgin Media is also a 50 per cent joint partner with BBC Worldwide in UKTV, which consists of ten channels including Dave, G.O.L.D., Watch and Alibi.
Virgin Media Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market and the London Stock Exchange (VMED). For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com
TiVo, TiVo logo, and WishList are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide.
Verizon has a press conference lined up in a few minutes to officially drop all these details, but they've thrown their official LTE site live already where you can see almost everything you want to know: chiefly, that the initial 38 markets (and 60 airports) will go live this Sunday, December 5th with two USB modems in tow -- one from LG and another from Pantech. We've already heard all of that in one form or another, but it's nice to see it spelled out officially on Verizon's site. The one crucial detail we're still missing, of course, is plan pricing -- so we anxiously await that here in the next few minutes, but in the meantime, feel free to play with Big Red's LTE coverage locator.
And now, there's a name. The iDevice streaming adapter that we spotted a couple of months ago finally has a proper affiliation, with the PCD Bigstream being quasi-revealed today as the run-up to CES continues. Fundamentally, it's pretty simple -- just plug a nub into the 30-pin Dock Connector of your iPod, iPhone or iPad, and then connect the tent-like transceiver to your television. Once connected, users will purportedly be able to beam "Netflix, Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go, and iTunes content, among other apps," directly to their set sans cabling. It's difficult to tell if PCD has actually landed licensing agreements with these media portals (or if it's just really, really good at circumventing DRM), but all should be revealed at the 2011 edition of CES next month. The system relies on a 5.8GHz wireless RF link to distribute signals, and as you can tell, it's entirely more flexible than AirPlay -- a protocol that can only stream video from Apple's own iPod and YouTube applications. Curiously enough, the first version will only support 480p transmissions, though a 1080p model should hit shelves later in 2011. Here's hoping we'll get a good look at how exactly it performs in Vegas.
Nielsen's just released a report finding that 29.7 percent of mobile users in the United States now own a smartphone. Of that 29.7 percent (which you can see in the pie chart above), 27.9 percent of them have iPhones, 27.4 percent are BlackBerry users, and 22.7 percent have an Android device. Windows Mobile, Symbian, Linux and Palm are left to divide up the remaining chunk -- about 22 percent -- of the market. That's a massive shift from the beginning of the year, when the iPhone boasted 28 percent of the market, BlackBerry had 35 percent, and Windows Mobile about 19 percent. The biggest winner in this story is Android, which has gone from 9 percent of the smartphone-owning market at the beginning of the year, to 22.7 percent of the market today. The story looks a bit different, however, when people are asked about what kind of smartphone they would like to own next. In that case, Apple and Google are the big winners, with 30 percent of 'likely' smartphone upgraders' reporting they'd like an iPhone, while 28 percent said they want an Android device, and only 13 percent reporting that they're interested in a BlackBerry device.
The picture looks very much the same with current smartphone owners, as well. As far as gender goes, the percentages are very similar when asked what smartphone is desired next, except that more men report wanting an Android device, while more women -- about 12 percent more -- say they simply don't know what they want next. Hit up the source link for charts on all this knowledge.
We've seen Apple Keyboard add-on look-alikes -- like Interlink's Bluetooth Calculator Keyboard, which has shown up for sale in some Apple stores, but has middling reviews due to connection problems -- but LMP wouldn't want its new Bluetooth Keypad to slip through the cracks of subtlety. The device, which just passed through the FCC, comes with a connector that allows you to snap the independently powered and Bluetooth-ed keypad right onto your numeric keypad-less Apple Bluetooth Keyboard. Get it? It's like they're one big magical keyboard now! Well, not now in a literal sense, because the LMP Keypad has yet to hit retail, and we don't have a word on pricing either. But in our dreams...
Coby's been selling an Android tablet on the Home Shopping Network for a couple of months now, but it's just released another model that's now available at retailers across the US. That comes in the form of the Kyros MID7015, which is just about exactly what you'd expect a $250 Android tablet from Coby to be. That means you'll get a 7-inch resistive touchscreen, Android 2.1 (with apps from the AppsLib marketplace, not Android Market), 4GB of built-in memory, a microSD card slot for expansion and, somewhat notably, an HDMI port that promises to let you output full 1080p video. Hit up the source link below for the complete specs.
Sure, your N8 might take a great picture -- but is it about to become a hotbed of legal wrangling between Espoo and one of the more prolific research universities in the States? We love us some heady courtroom drama, and Pasadena's Caltech is now officially attempting to bring the smack down on Nokia, LG, Pantech, Toshiba, STMicroelectronics, and others over a total of nine patents related to sensor technology (as far as we can tell, lens optics aren't involved). For its troubles, the university wants unspecified damages for infringing on the intellectual property... which, if it wins, we're hoping we'll be poured into its Jet Propulsion Laboratory. You know, because rockets are awesome.
Yamaha's been the go-to company when it comes to iPod docks that are a notch above average, and the outfit's latest is no different. It's a me-too world out there, and somehow the TSX-140 manages to set itself apart by offering an eye-pleasing motif alongside an IntelliAlarm feature. Put simply, the latter allow users to be awoken by music on their iPod, but rather than blasting firmly at 11 when the clock strikes way-too-early, it gradually ups the volume until your brain is alert enough to obliterate the snooze button. As expected, there's an iPod docking port on the top as well as a USB port, and you'll find a pair of 3.5-inch ported bass reflex speakers beneath the Earthy exterior. In addition to the illuminated buttons on the top panel, three front panel controls give access to source, volume, radio presets, alarm clock and equalizer functions, and while Yamaha claims that this guy provides "a gentle, stress-free feeling that makes waking up a pleasure," we're guessing it'll still be a chore doing everything after.
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YAMAHA TSX-140 DESKTOP AUDIO SYSTEM WAKES YOU GRADUALLY, GENTLY TO YOUR PERSONAL SELECTION OF HIGH QUALITY iPOD/iPHONE MUSIC
--Yamaha's Proprietary IntelliAlarm provides soft fade in of music, early suppression of jolting high frequencies found in other, more traditional systems--
BUENA PARK, Calif.––Yamaha Electronics Corporation today introduced the TSX-140 Desktop Audio System that wakes you gradually and gently, leaving you feeling more relaxed and refreshed than ever before.
With earth-inspired color choices, the TSX-140 is beautiful to the eye and ear, offering compact, elegant design. It represents the latest addition to Yamaha's TSX family of docks compatible with Apple's iPod Touch and iPhone (3G/3GS/4). Moreover, the Yamaha TSX-140 is capable of playing MP3 and WMA files stored on a USB stick, as well as FM/AM radio programming.
With its twin 3½–inch ported bass reflex speakers and Yamaha digital amplifiers, the TSX-140 delivers its superlative performance through Concert Quality Sound, a proprietary Yamaha concept that virtually eliminates all unnecessary noise and distortion, and Extended Stereo, which creates a perceptually larger stereo sound field through Yamaha DSP.
Unique to Yamaha, the TSX-140's IntelliAlarm wakes you gently with the audio source of your choosing, first filtering out uncomfortable high frequencies, then gradually restoring the full audio spectrum before beeping to ensure you are awake. The IntelliAlarm provides a gentle, stress-free feeling that makes waking up a pleasure.
For added convenience, the TSX-140 offers a USB mini-B connector that facilitates iPod/iPhone syncing to a computer while charging in the dock. In addition to the illuminated buttons on the top panel, three front panel controls give access to source, volume, radio presets, alarm clock and equalizer functions. LED indicators show which function has been selected for simple, fast tuning. A brightness sensor automatically adjusts all display LEDs to suit the ambient light level.
"The Yamaha TSX-140 is designed for the consumer who wants a no-compromise sound experience, even on a nightstand," said Tom Sumner, President, Yamaha Electronics Corporation. "IntelliAlarm offers consumers a gentler, more natural way to get going in the morning, instead of being jolted out of a sound sleep."
Inspired by natural colors and echoing ceramic art, the TSX-140 is available in three finishes: black, brick and gray.
The Yamaha TSX-140 carries an MSRP of $399.95.
For more information, write Yamaha Electronics Corporation, P.O. Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90620; telephone (714) 522-9105; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/hometheater.
NRG Solar (get it?) and SunPower -- neither of which are strangers to extracting juice from that glowing ball of fire in our sky -- have just linked up to build one of the world's largest photovoltaic solar plants. The tandem will start construction in San Luis Obispo County next year, creating around 350 jobs in the process and helping California inch ever closer to realizing its 33 percent renewable portfolio standard. The 250-megawatt plant still pales in comparison to a few others (namely this guy in Arizona), but it dwarfs the vast majority of factories in operation today. The project is expected to stretch out for three or four years, but when all is said and done, around 100,000 homes (yeah, even the home of one Vincent Chase) will be given sun-sourced energy thanks to this here installation. That said, the actual energy bills for Californians everywhere probably won't sink -- but hey, at least you're throwing Ma Earth a well-deserved bone, right?
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NRG Solar and SunPower Agree to Build 250-Megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch
- Construction Planned to Begin in 2011 -
PRINCETON, N.J. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) today announced groundbreaking agreements to begin construction next year of the 250-megawatt (MW) California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo County. The solar power plant is expected to create approximately 350 jobs during construction, will power about 100,000 homes and will be one of the largest photovoltaic solar power plants in the world, when complete. NRG Solar plans to invest up to $450 million of equity in the project over the next four years, subject to final total project cost and negotiation of the financing terms and conditions.
Under the agreement announced today, NRG will, subject to certain conditions, assume all ownership and financing responsibilities for the California Valley Solar Ranch. SunPower will continue to develop the project, and will design, build, operate and maintain the solar power plant. Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2011, with a portion of the project expected to begin operating by the end of 2011 and the balance coming on line in 2012 and 2013. When fully operational, the solar power plant will help California achieve its 33% renewable portfolio standard.
The project is currently seeking a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program Office, which supports accelerated commercial use of innovative energy technologies to help sustain economic growth, yield environmental benefits, and produce a more stable and secure energy supply. The DOE Loan Guarantee Program Office has provided a draft term sheet for the California Valley Solar Ranch project, which is a significant milestone in the process leading to a conditional loan guarantee commitment.
"California Valley Solar Ranch will be an important component of our multi-technology portfolio of clean, zero-emission solar power facilities," said Tom Doyle, president of NRG Solar. "We are pursuing large-scale photovoltaic projects across the Southwest and working with like-minded companies that can ensure our projects will be exceptionally successful. SunPower has the proven technology and experience building solar power plants around the world to deliver a well-designed solar project that will be a major contributor to helping California meet its ambitious renewable portfolio standard by the end of the decade."
"This partnership with NRG Solar and the DOE represents a major milestone in delivering 250 megawatts of clean, renewable solar power to California's electricity customers," said Howard Wenger, president of the utility and power plants business group at SunPower. "For two years, SunPower has been working to develop this project responsibly, with respect for the environment and the community. We are delighted to have found in NRG a partner that shares our vision to build a solar power plant in San Luis Obispo County that enhances the local economy, protects local habitat and generates emission-free solar power for California. The DOE is playing a critical leadership role in supporting renewable energy that provides economic and environmental benefits, as well as a secure, stable energy supply in the U.S."
California Valley Solar Ranch has executed 25-year power purchase agreements with Pacific Gas & Electric for delivery of 250 megawatts. The power purchase agreements have been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission. The closing of the NRG and SunPower agreements announced today is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and the completion of development, including obtaining required permitting and regulatory approvals.
By the end of 2010, SunPower will have installed more than 1,500 megawatts of solar power systems worldwide, including 400 megawatts of ground-mounted power plants.
The much-delayed and much-desired Venue Pro is now finally ready for its proper launch. Dell has begun taking online orders for its first Windows Phone 7 device and prices are set at $99 for the 8GB handset or $149 for the 16GB version -- both on two-year contracts with T-Mobile as your carrier -- or, alternatively, you can snap them up for $449 or $499, respectively, if you just want the phone by itself. Shipping is promised for December 9th and there's even free delivery if you have a couple of business days' worth of patience. So, what are you waiting for?
Samsung, being the global leader in mobile displays that it is, was understandably a little unnerved by Apple's IPS LCD-sporting iPhone 4, but now it's back to the forefront with its brand spanking new Super PLS tech. PLS stands for Plane to Line Switching, which helps Samsung deliver some pretty spectacular viewing angles -- even better than the already stellar ones you'll find on IPS panels -- while also improving screen brightness by a reported 10 percent. The target market for Super PLS displays will be smartphones and tablets, with a delicious WXGA resolution on offer for the top bidders. Mind you, Samsung also claims production costs are 15 percent lower than comparable IPS tech, meaning that the only thing standing between us and the next new hotness is time -- Sammy expects to begin mass production early next year. Oh, and it's working on securing a set of 30 patents relating to Super PLS, so don't go holding out hope for direct competitors from LG or anyone else anytime soon.
Mama always said that one was never enough, and just five months after revealing its first NIC / GPU combo card to us at Computex, Bigfoot Networks has taken the wraps off of its second. This go 'round, the outfit is partnering with VisionTek to produce the VisionTek Killer HD 5770, a single PCIe card that combines an AMD Radeon HD 5770 GPU (with 1GB of GDDR5 memory) and a Killer E2100 networking card. All told, buyers are presented with two DVI ports, a single HDMI output and a gigabit Ethernet jack. The card is compatible with Windows 7, Vista and XP, and put simply, it's designed to both improve your frame rates (that's AMD's role) and lower your latency / jitter (hello, Bigfoot!). The NIC portion actually has a 400MHz onboard processor that helps minimize the impact of slight changes in your connection, and Bigfoot's management software will be thrown in for good measure. The board is expected to hit North American retail shops within a fortnight or so, with the $199.99 asking price representing a ~$10 savings compared to buying an HD 5770 GPU and Killer 2100 separately. Oh, and you get a pretty sick dragon, too.
VISIONTEK LAUNCHES WORLD'S FIRST ONLINE GAMING UPGRADE CARD FOR PCS
VisionTek Killer™ HD 5770 Combines Graphics and Networking to Supercharge Your PC
INVERNESS, IL. and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - December 1, 2010 -VisionTek Products and Bigfoot Networks today announced the launch of the VisionTek Killer™ HD 5770, the world's first single-card, PCI Express solution combining Bigfoot Networks Killer™ E2100 game networking technology and AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 graphics family technology to supercharge mainstream PCs for online gaming.
The Killer™ HD 5770 is a one-card, one-slot solution that combines leading-edge graphics and networking to give consumers explosive HD gaming performance for today's hottest online titles. The Killer™ HD 5770 card uses the AMD Radeon™ HD 5770 graphics processing unit (GPU) to deliver Microsoft® DirectX® 11 support, multimonitor setup and 7.1 audio via HDMI output. The Killer™ HD 5770 card also uses the Killer™ E2100 platform to deliver blazing-fast Gigabit Ethernet networking optimized for online gameplay. The Killer™ E2100 platform is a new, embedded version of the award-winning Killer™ 2100 gaming network card developed by Bigfoot Networks.
Benefits of the VisionTek Killer™ HD 5770 card include:
• Multiple Displays – Immersive gaming with multidisplay capabilities • Game Networking Performance – Whether you're playing MMOs or first-person shooters, the Killer™ E2100 platform delivers fast networking with a new level of online gaming performance and a competitive edge • Intelligence – The Killer™ E2100 platform identifies and accelerates traffic to your game with Advanced Game Detect™ for unmatched online gaming performance • Maximum Control – See which applications are hogging PC bandwidth. Set limits using Visual Bandwidth Control™ or shut them down completely with Application Blocking, so they don't interfere with online games • Visibility – Monitor and manage gaming rig health and performance with at-a-glance Online Gaming PC Monitor™
"The VisionTek Killer™ HD 5770 card is the only upgrade card specifically designed to combine high-quality graphics and low-latency networking for gaming," said Michael Innes, COO & EVP of VisionTek Products, LLC. "We are pleased to offer our customers unrivaled online gaming performance with the unprecedented convenience of a single plug-and-play card."
"With the Killer™ HD 5770, players with mainstream PCs can turbocharge their systems at a fraction of the cost of a new PC," said Michael Howse, CEO, Bigfoot Networks. "Bigfoot Networks pursues strategic initiatives with companies like VisionTek because of its shared commitment to offering unique, intelligent products to demanding gamers."
"VisionTek has been a strategic partner for nearly 10 years and brings extremely innovative AMD design concepts to the North American market," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's GPU Division. "We rely on our leading partners to expand on our technology reach. VisionTek once again delivers on that directive with its new Killer™ HD 5770 launch."
The VisionTek Killer™ HD 5770 gaming graphics and network card will be available in early December through North American online and retail channels at an MSRP of $199.99 USD. Visit http://www.visiontek.com to learn more.
About VisionTek Products, LLC VisionTek is a leading supplier of PC enhancement products to retailers and consumers. Based out of Inverness, IL, VisionTek brings the most innovative and best performing products to the PC enthusiast consumer market. Information about VisionTek products is available at http://www.visiontek.com.
About Bigfoot Networks Bigfoot Networks is a leading networking technology company that develops hardware and software solutions that significantly improve the online gaming experience. Its products are designed to provide maximum network performance for online gaming and other real time applications. To learn more, visit Bigfoot Networks at http://www.bigfootnetworks.com.
More bad news for fans of little Windows servers for home. HP, makers of the MediaSmart boxes that defined the first release of Windows Home Server, has confirmed that it is canceling plans to support the next major release of the OS, codenamed Vail. This comes hot on the heels of the removal of storage pooling from that release, an extremely unpopular move among the relatively few but ardent fans of WHS. HP is promising to continue support for its existing MediaSmart products but apparently has already redeployed development teams to focus on WebOS devices. For its part, Microsoft will be relying on Acer and Tranquil PC to hang the decorations for the Vail release party. Anyone still care to RSVP?
At this point, is there anyone that doesn't suspect the next iPad will sport a camera? We've heard as much, more or less, and now here's more fodder for the suspicious out there: according to Digitimes, a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing from Largan Precision pegs itself as the "sole lens module supplier" for the impending second-generation iPad, with shipments (of the part or of the tablet, we're not sure) due out in the first quarter of 2011. It's worth noting that Largan is the camera parts supplier for the iPhone 4. We haven't been able to check out the filing ourselves yet, and for its part Largan's not saying a word, but we'll let you know what we dig up. You can now return to the part of your iPad 2 dream where it's rocking a glasses-free 3D ultra-retina display... on both sides... and it's transparent... and foldable... and not real.
Update: China Times is reporting that Largan got lucky with the exclusive order because Apple's other iPhone 4 camera supplier GSEO (Genius Electronic Optical) is already running at full capacity. Said publication also casually mentions an "end of Q1" launch for the iPad 2, which makes sense given that the original iPad was launched in April.
Witness our last review of an Android smartphone from Motorola and you'll know what we think of Motoblur. Then again, we reckon we could get over our qualms when Moto's skin is stretched out over this delectable-looking, supposedly Tegra 2-boasting smartphone. The Olympus has been snapped again, this time by someone claiming to have bought it at a flea market, and it now shows off an HDMI output alongside the standard microUSB connector, both of which are planted on the side of what's looking like a very thin device indeed. The Olympus is carrying over the Defy's penchant for minimal bezel up front, though now that we have something to judge its size against, it does look to be equipped with at least a 4-inch screen. Pretty good competition for LG's Star, we're sure you'll agree. If only we knew when it might launch...
It's quite fitting for a device that's purportedly codenamed Zeus to make its first video appearance somewhere in the wilds of Greece. What we have here is the apparent full motion debut of Sony Ericsson's big crossover device, the PlayStation Phone, one half portable gaming console, one half Android smartphone. Unfortunately, we never see it flexing out its slider to reveal that delicious control pad, but judging from its curves and little design details, it does indeed look to be the real deal. Techblog.gr reports that it's dubbed the Sony Ericsson Z1 and comes with Gingerbread on board -- something that meshes well with earlier indications that some Zeus devices in the wild are already running Android 2.3 (and above) -- while the screen is a 4-inch panel that apparently offers great touchscreen responsiveness. See the mythical creature for yourself after the break.
Seems like LG really has a thing for those quantum dot LEDs. After hooking up with Nanosys earlier this year, the Korean giant is now stretching out another of its tentacles -- LG Display, to be specific -- for a partnership with a competing QLED designer in QD Vision. What's being promised by this joint venture falls right in line with your generic pipe dream -- better color accuracy than OLEDs, up to twice the power efficiency at a given color purity, and a cheap and straightforward manufacturing process. In fact, because QLEDs do not require the same glass substrate as most current display technologies, they offer unmatched flexibility (olé!) in terms of how and where they may be used. The only downer, and you had to know there would be one, is that QD Vision describes its tech as still in the "development stage," but hey, at least we have another cool acronym to add to our library.
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QD Vision and LG Display Join Forces to Develop New Generation of Active Matrix Displays Based on Quantum Dot LEDs (QLEDS)
Advanced display technology will produce brilliant, colorful images while requiring far less energy than today's display products
Watertown, MA, November 30, 2010 – QD Vision, Inc. and LG Display (NYSE: LPL, KRX : 034220), today announced a joint development agreement focused on creating highly-efficient, high-performance active matrix displays based on electroluminescent quantum dot LED (QLED) nanotechnology. The display will require much less energy than current products, while producing brighter, richer colors.
The new breakthrough products will employ patterned thin films of QD Vision quantum dots to create a direct-view, active matrix display. In addition to energy and color improvements, the new technology is expected to lower display manufacturing costs by greatly simplifying the overall display manufacturing process.
"LG Display has always been at the forefront of advanced display technology. This partnership with QD Vision will accelerate development of exciting new LGD products for the rapidly expanding display marketplace, and increase our industry leadership position," said Chang-Dong Kim, Vice President of LG Display.
Quantum dots provide the stability and reliability of inorganic semiconductor materials, and can be processed in solution. This enables the efficient manufacture of next generation electroluminescent displays with extraordinary color, efficiency, and stability. For more information: http://www.qdvision.com/qleds-the-future.
"The continuing advances in nanotechnology at QD Vision are the key to a whole new generation of displays that are far superior to what is available today. Our relationship with LG Display will result in exciting new products that meet growing consumer demand for ultra–thin, high quality, energy efficient displays," said Jason Carlson, QD Vision President and CEO.
About LG Display
LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LPL, KRX: 034220) is a leading manufacturer and supplier of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, OLEDs and flexible displays. The company provides TFT-LCD panels in a wide range of sizes and specifications for use in TVs, monitors, notebook PCs, mobile products and other various applications. LG Display currently operates eight fabrication facilities and five back-end assembly facilities in Korea, China and Poland. The company has a total of 35,000 employees operating worldwide. Please visit http://www.lgdisplay.com for more information.
About QD Vision, Inc.
QD Vision (www.qdvision.com) is a quantum dot product company that delivers highly differentiated lighting and display solutions. QD Vision's Quantum Light™ platform enables step-change advances in current generation solutions, such as LCDs, LEDs and even OLEDs, and ultimately a significant leap over these technologies. Leveraging a first-tier patent position in nanotechnology originating at MIT, QD Vision is a privately held company based in Watertown, Mass.
ASUS is still holding back some of the details on this one, but what it has revealed about its new U36 ultraportable is certainly enough to get us interested. Weighing in at just over three pounds, the laptop is said to pack your choice of a Core i3 or i5 processors, along with NVIDIA Optimus graphics, and a four-cell battery that promises ten hours of battery life -- all of which comes wrapped in a 0.75-inch magnesium shell that's apparently available in your choice of black or silver. Unfortunately, all other details, including the screen size (though 13.3-inch seems likely), remain a bit of a mystery, as does the pricing and launch details.
Update: We've come across a couple of Taiwanese listings for the U36 spilling the full specs: 13.3-inch LED-backlit screen, Intel Core i5-460M CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics with 1GB of memory, 2GB of system RAM, a 500GB 7200RPM hard disk, HDMI output, one USB 3.0 port, a 1.66kg weight, and Windows 7 Home Premium as the OS. Pricing is less reliable, but we've seen a top MSRP of NT$41,900 ($1,375), which has invariably been discounted by local retailers to saner levels. Let's just wait and see how things turn out when the U36 makes its way westward.
Update 2: ASUS just informed us that the MSRP for this model in the US will be $999, and that it's expected to arrive in about three weeks. At least some retailers are already taking pre-orders, and an Amazon listing is said to be coming "shortly."
Admit it, Google Editions wasn't exactly your highest priority item among the things promised for a 2010 launch, but, according to Mountain View's Scott Dougall, the e-bookstore from the world's favorite search company will indeed make its debut before December's through. It's premised as a web-centric, buy-anywhere, read-anywhere platform, one that eschews the proprietary hardware and software model currently championed by the likes of Amazon for a more ubiquitous and accessible one (a humble web browser is all you'll need, which should make Tim Berners-Lee beam with pride). Small websites of all creeds, whether they be independent bookstores or book reviewers, will be encouraged to participate by linking their users to Google Editions of whatever scriptures they're discussing -- with an unannounced revenue sharing model keeping them interested. Retail pricing won't differ, we're told, from what Amazon and Barnes & Noble currently charge, which raises the question, what's the downside to Editions?
Well, well, look at what's been added to a tentative agenda when the FCC meets on December 21st: net neutrality. Here's how the item reads:
Open Internet Order: An Order adopting basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression. These rules would protect consumers' and innovators' right to know basic information about broadband service, right to send and receive lawful Internet traffic, and right to a level playing field, while providing broadband Internet access providers with the flexibility to reasonably manage their networks.
Presumably, a draft order is now circulating amongst attendees, the details of which are of the utmost concern for both consumers and wired / wireless providers alike. According to the AP, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will outline his net neutrality proposal in a speech on Wednesday, with plans to bring the new rules to a full vote before the end of the year and ahead of the newly elected Republicans taking their seats in the House.
Update: The AP received an advanced copy of Genachowski's speech. Here are the highlights of the FCC proposal:
Wired broadband providers will be required to let subscribers access all legal content, applications, and services with the flexibility to manage network congestion and spam as long as they publicly disclose their network management approach. Broadband providers would also be allowed to experiment with dedicated networks to route traffic from specialized services like smart grids and home security systems as long as they "don't hurt the public internet."
Wireless providers would also be required to disclose network management practices and be prohibited from blocking access to web sites or competing applications like cellphone VoIP services. However, they'd be given more flexibility to manage traffic due to relative bandwidth constraints. In other words, wireless networks will still be special under the FCC proposal, just not as special as the plan pitched by Google / Verizon (which only required transparency) over the summer.
The proposal would leave the FCC's regulatory framework for broadband unchanged as a lightly regulated "information service," not as a "common carrier" as Genachowski had wanted. Another victory for Comcast.
Update 2: The New York Times says that the proposal will allow broadband companies to implement usage-based pricing, charging customers higher rates for heavy data usage.
Adobe's ubiquitous Flash Player has a new beta version out today that promises to complete the move to hardware acceleration of video played back using the web software. You'll no doubt be aware that the current, non-beta Flash already does some offloading of video tasks to the GPU, but the new Stage Video API permits the entire workload to be shifted over, resulting in "just over 0 percent" CPU utilization when playing back 1080p clips. Should you doubt the veracity of Adobe's bold new claims, the company's set up some demo vids for you to test this out for yourself after downloading the beta -- hit the source link to find out more. Windows, Mac and Linux machines are supported right out of the gate, while Microsoft gets an extra bone thrown its way with Internet Explorer 9 hardware acceleration also being implemented in this latest iteration of Flash. Full PR after the break.
Show full PR text
Launching Flash Player 10.2 Beta
We're happy to announce a beta release of Flash Player 10.2 for Windows, Mac, and Linux is now available for download on Adobe Labs. Flash Player 10.2 beta introduces a number of enhancements we're excited to share, including Stage Video, a new API that delivers best-in-class, high performance video playback across platforms. The new beta also includes Internet Explorer 9 hardware acceleration support previewed earlier (in Flash Player "Square"), enhanced text rendering, and two popular requests from the community: a native custom mouse cursors API and support for full screen playback with multiple monitors.
A lot of folks want to deliver the best possible video experience to the widest number of people. Stage Video in Flash Player 10.2 beta advances that goal. This new capability will help web sites deliver smooth, beautiful video across devices and browsers by enabling access to hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline. As we showed in a sneak peak just last month at Adobe MAX, Flash Player 10.2 beta with Stage Video can deliver brilliant HD video with dramatically little processing power. Working together with hardware vendors has helped us take advantage of the GPU to offload not only H.264 hardware decoding (introduced in Flash Player 10.1) but the rest of the video rendering pipeline, including color conversion, scaling, and blitting. How efficient is hardware acceleration in Flash Player 10.2 beta? Using Stage Video, we've seen laptops play smooth 1080p HD video with just over 0% CPU usage.
Quality and performance are important, and so are richness and reach. Accordingly, Stage Video supports fully interactive, rich content combined with video. 1 billion people have Flash Player today. Because Stage Video works across browsers, when the final shipping version of Flash Player 10.2 is released, users will benefit from Stage Video accelerated content with a simple Flash Player update. We're also introducing Stage Video across devices. In fact, today Google TV already takes advantage of Stage Video in Flash Player to deliver gorgeous 1080p HD video playback on TVs.
For content providers, Stage Video will work with all of the existing video viewed in Flash Player once they utilize the new API in their video player SWFs. This means their websites will continue to benefit from Flash Player's advanced streaming for smooth, higher quality playback, DVR-like playback control, content protection, and consistency, with no changes to their encoded videos or infrastructure. Developers can learn more about how to enable their sites to take advantage of Stage Video today, and sites like YouTube have already started adding early support for Stage Video.
In addition to enhanced video playback, Flash Player 10.2 beta includes Internet Explorer 9 GPU support. In some of our tests this has yielded up to 35% improvement in rendering performance with Microsoft's latest browser. Some other features are less about big numbers but little details that make experiences better. Flash Player has long allowed viewers to enjoy true full screen playback with one click. With Flash Player 10.2 beta, users with multiple monitors will be able to watch videos in true full screen on one display while multi-tasking on another (we heard you!). And we're including another popular request from designers and developers: support for native custom mouse cursors. The new API allows developers to create their own cursors, static or animated, and ask the native OS to render them rather than use resources to manually draw custom cursors. This opens up new creative possibilities and can improve responsiveness in games, applications, and other content. Finally, the Flash Player 10.2 beta release also includes new sub-pixel text rendering enhancements that leverage Adobe typography research to further enhance readability of text in Flash Player, especially for complex character-based languages.
We encourage developers to install Flash Player 10.2 beta to check out these upcoming features. Developers with the beta can check out the Stage Video demos on Adobe Labs, including a demonstration of Stage Video from our friends at YouTube. If you're an end-user, you probably don't need to download the beta – you'll benefit from Stage Video with the final release of Flash Player 10.2 next year as websites take advantage of it. We've found the beta to be pretty stable and ready for broad testing, but keep in mind this is a pre-release version of Flash Player, so not everything will be fully baked. If you encounter any issues, please file a bug in our public database so we can investigate. We appreciate your help and feedback.
We're excited about what's coming, and we hope you like it!
Tom Nguyen Product Manager, Flash Platform Runtimes
Do you really need another reason to lust after the AR.Drone? Ok, then how about AR.Pursuit, Parrot's new multiplayer augmented reality game and the first developed for the AR.Drone? It just hit the iTunes App Store for $2.99. Sure, it's a few days late, but you can use that pent-up angst to pursue and destroy the AR.Drones operated by your family and friends, just as the baby Jesus intended this holiday season.
Well now Sonos, what's this? A job opening for a Senior Product Manager to help the company "re-invent home theater sound for the digital age." More specifically, the position will be responsible for leading "new product creation teams." Hard to say for sure, but sophisticated wireless audio for home theaters certainly sounds like a safe refuge now that Marantz, Denon, JBL, iHome, B&W, and countless others will soon be competing with Sonos' whole-home distributed audio solutions just as soon as Apple's new AirPlay technology can gain traction. Besides, just picture a fully synchronized wireless 7.1 channel surround speaker system that requires just a few minutes to setup and works as robustly as Sonos' other streaming audio gear. We imagine that it wouldn't take too many tweaks to Sonos' existing software and hardware (you can already convert two S5 all-in-one speakers into a more powerful stereo pair) to pull it off. And anyone who's ever tried to cleanly wire a home theater for multichannel sound will surely understand why the prospects of going wireless have us more than a little intrigued.
It looks like a document. It's chock-full of documents. But not Microsoft Word documents. Only documents that could dream of one day being scanned in and converted to a Word document. It's the Icon Notebook, brought to you by the brilliant minds at Brigada Creativa, and it's on sale now for €6.95 ($9.34) direct from Spain. Which is a whole lot cheaper than a Word license, no matter the font you're talking in.
Looking like something that escaped from the bridge of the U.S.S. Palomino is Eizo's DuraVision FDF2301-3D, a dark, menacing visage containing a 23-inch LCD. It sports a full HD resolution and can display content in 3D, but its real trick is that it can do so without glasses. Yes, deep within that dark and angular exterior is the necessary set of hardware to ensure that two eyes see two separate images, supposedly without any of the weirdness we've seen with other glasses-free displays. The penalty is of course its imposing bulk and what will surely be an imposing price. No cost has been set, but indications are that it will cost many thousands of dollars -- not that it'll ever hit retail.
Miffed you didn't buy that $300 8GB steampunk USB drive we shared over the summer? Well, the good news is if you've got $395 worth of shillings lying around, Will Rockwell's 16GB steampunk USB drive christened "The Collective" is yours for the taking. Besides its J.J. Abrams-like name, particularly cool details to highlight include a brass manifold featuring four coolant pipes, a large framed cabochon which acts as a service light, and a faux-gauge made from a domed cover and watch hand. A storage tank serves as a cap for the drive and there's even a tiny plaque bearing Mr. Rockwell's engraved John Hancock placed smack dab in the middle. Last but certainly not least, the elaborate thumbdrive ships with a velvet platform and a glass museum case, so that all who visit may bask in its craftsmanship and finally see the rusted version owned by that Victorian-poser down the block as the tetanus carrier it really is.
A good roadie can be identified by two things: a wardrobe composed entirely of darks and bulging pockets full of batteries. Sanyo would like to let those tireless workers downsize to some slimmer black jeans with its new Pedal Juice battery pack, which is rocking a little Eneloop technology inside and can power a whole slew of daisy-chained devices. Charge it up for 3.5 hours and it'll provide 9V DC of output to whatever you like, powering a 10mA effects pedal for a whopping 50 hours. That's about 10 times longer than a simple 9V battery and, unlike one of those, the Pedal Juice will provide a constant 9V right up until it's dead. It even promises less electrical interference than using an AC adapter. All that for $149.99, which may sound like a lot for a battery pack, and it is, but real musicians know that success doesn't come cheap.
Good news, frequent (and not so frequent) fliers. In addition to offering free Goggle-sponsored WiFi on its long-range flights this holiday season, Delta has announced plans to expand Gogo internet access to many of its regional jets, beginning in January. The company says that it should have this next wave of upgrades done by the end of 2011. This will definitely come as a relief to those of us who will be enjoying hours-long "regional" flights in the new year, either on Delta planes or those of its regional partners (including Shuttle America, Comair, and Atlantic Southeast). The expansion will apply only to aircraft with a first class cabin -- you know, the spacious compartment you pass through before being herded into the back with the rest of us schlubs.
One of the many gripes about Google TV so far has been the ancient version of Netflix's Watch Instantly app it shipped with, but Scott Greczkowski from Satellite Guys appears to be the first to receive a new version on his Logitech Revue. Pictured above, it seems to reflect one of the (many) versions of the PS3 Netflix app, with queue management and search functions available. Android Central notes that the last update arrived less than a week after the date of the build and this one is marked November 22 so hopefully it should arrive any day now, until then check out the video (embedded after the break) or more pics at the source link.
One of the world's top suppliers of cellular infrastructure, Nokia Siemens, has dropped some juicy knowledge today that Apple's new iOS 4.2 update supports a technology called network-controlled fast dormancy that better optimizes how the phone connects to the network. The company touts that it's a win-win -- better battery life, less unnecessary network utilization -- and also points out that Nokia implemented the technique in all of its smartphones starting earlier this year. Since network-controlled fast dormancy is a feature that benefits the network itself as much as it benefits the individual user, knocking out two power players like Nokia and Apple (over half of new smartphone sales, NSN points out) should make a big dent.
Interestingly, NSN seems to have arrived at this discovery through "tests" it conducted, not by working with Apple on implementing it. Sure, we don't pretend to know all the interactions that occur between manufacturers, carriers, and suppliers during a phone's development, but it certainly seems to us that Apple would benefit by engaging infrastructure companies early and often as these baseband updates come together -- particularly as it seeks to keep a tight lid on the very congestion issues that network-controlled fast dormancy is designed to help eliminate. Either way, it's interesting to see how quick Nokia Siemens was to probe for the change this time around.
Sure, Verizon's holding a press conference tomorrow, but unless they've got a secret LTE smartphone or tablet (we can only hope) we've got a fairly good idea what the company will say. We're hearing Verizon will flip the switch on its LTE network on December 5th, unveil a pair of hot new USB modems to take advantage of those supposedly stellar speeds, and launch the SIM cards required to make LTE function in the first place. The gadgets include the LG VL600 thumbstick we've seen before, but also this marvelous-looking Pantech UML290 key, which has not only a slick swiveling case but also a dual-jointed USB port beneath. We doubt we're going to have any trouble getting this one plugged into even the slimmest of port-abhorring slimline computing machines. See where one of the SIM cards goes in the gallery below.
Update: The populace has spoken, and "sexy" is no more. Shall we call them "transforming" modems, then? They most certainly are.
Been looking for the perfect thing to boast to your iPhone-owning friends about? Well brace yourself, because doubleTwist has just gone wireless with its latest update, introducing a feature called AirSync which allows Android users to keep their media collection simpatico sans cabling. The new app for PC and Mac boxes couples with its Android counterpart (along with a new AirSync component) and lets you do most of your management without needing a wire between your phone and computer. The desktop application and DoubleTwist player for phones won't cost you a thing, though AirSync itself is $0.99 on the phone for the first 10,000 buyers, and then jumps to $4.99 a shot.
Setup is relatively painless, requiring just a passcode from your phone which is input on the PC side. From then on, whenever you've got the app open and your device in range, the content stored on the phone will appear in your DoubleTwist list just as if you'd plugged the phone in (similar to the Windows Phone 7 / Zune wireless sync). We took AirSync for a ride with our Mac and Droid Incredible, and everything seemed to work fine, though we did notice a few bugs (one that was pretty major) that need worked out. Firstly, you'll probably want to just start fresh with syncing your collection -- we made the mistake of trying to pick up where we'd left off and accidentally wiped the content stored on the phone. We also noticed issues with the application trying to sync or update your database while listening to music; more than once our playback abruptly stopped when the app was attempting to talk to the phone. Syncing can also be pretty slow depending on your connection -- really slow if you've got a big collection.
Despite those complaints, AirSync (and both the doubleTwist Android app and desktop client) are incredibly slick solutions to a problem plaguing lots of smartphone users. The company obviously has just begun its work with the app -- and it's clear that there are kinks to work out -- but the dream of a wireless future for Android users just got a lot closer to reality.
And now, there's a name. The iDevice streaming adapter that we spotted a couple of months ago finally has a proper affiliation, with the PCD Bigstream being quasi-revealed today as the run-up to CES continues. Fundamentally, it's pretty simple -- just plug a nub into the 30-pin Dock Connector of your iPod, iPhone or iPad, and then connect the tent-like transceiver to your television. Once connected, users will purportedly be able to beam "Netflix, Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go, and iTunes content, among other apps," directly to their set sans cabling. It's difficult to tell if PCD has actually landed licensing agreements with these media portals (or if it's just really, really good at circumventing DRM), but all should be revealed at the 2011 edition of CES next month. The system relies on a 5.8GHz wireless RF link to distribute signals, and as you can tell, it's entirely more flexible than AirPlay -- a protocol that can only stream video from Apple's own iPod and YouTube applications. Curiously enough, the first version will only support 480p transmissions, though a 1080p model should hit shelves later in 2011. Here's hoping we'll get a good look at how exactly it performs in Vegas.
NRG Solar (get it?) and SunPower -- neither of which are strangers to extracting juice from that glowing ball of fire in our sky -- have just linked up to build one of the world's largest photovoltaic solar plants. The tandem will start construction in San Luis Obispo County next year, creating around 350 jobs in the process and helping California inch ever closer to realizing its 33 percent renewable portfolio standard. The 250-megawatt plant still pales in comparison to a few others (namely this guy in Arizona), but it dwarfs the vast majority of factories in operation today. The project is expected to stretch out for three or four years, but when all is said and done, around 100,000 homes (yeah, even the home of one Vincent Chase) will be given sun-sourced energy thanks to this here installation. That said, the actual energy bills for Californians everywhere probably won't sink -- but hey, at least you're throwing Ma Earth a well-deserved bone, right? 
At this point, is there anyone that doesn't suspect the next iPad will sport a camera? We've heard as much, more or less, and now here's more fodder for the suspicious out there: according to Digitimes, a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing from Largan Precision pegs itself as the "sole lens module supplier" for the impending second-generation iPad, with shipments (of the part or of the tablet, we're not sure) due out in the first quarter of 2011. It's worth noting that Largan is the camera parts supplier for the iPhone 4. We haven't been able to check out the filing ourselves yet, and for its part Largan's not saying a word, but we'll let you know what we dig up. You can now return to the part of your iPad 2 dream where it's rocking a glasses-free 3D ultra-retina display... on both sides... and it's transparent... and foldable... and not real.
Adobe's ubiquitous Flash Player has a new beta version out today that promises to complete the move to hardware acceleration of video played back using the web software. You'll no doubt be aware that the current, non-beta Flash already does some offloading of video tasks to the GPU, but the new Stage Video API permits the entire workload to be shifted over, resulting in "just over 0 percent" CPU utilization when playing back 1080p clips. Should you doubt the veracity of Adobe's bold new claims, the company's set up some demo vids for you to test this out for yourself after downloading the beta -- hit the source link to find out more. Windows, Mac and Linux machines are supported right out of the gate, while Microsoft gets an extra bone thrown its way with Internet Explorer 9 hardware acceleration also being implemented in this latest iteration of Flash. Full PR after the break. 
One of the world's top suppliers of cellular infrastructure, Nokia Siemens, has dropped some juicy knowledge today that Apple's new iOS 4.2 update supports a technology called network-controlled fast dormancy that better optimizes how the phone connects to the network. The company touts that it's a win-win -- better battery life, less unnecessary network utilization -- and also points out that Nokia implemented the technique in all of its smartphones starting earlier this year. Since network-controlled fast dormancy is a feature that benefits the network itself as much as it benefits the individual user, knocking out two power players like Nokia and Apple (over half of new smartphone sales, NSN points out) should make a big dent.
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