CrunchGear |  |
- Sony And LG End Dispute Over Patents, Ink Licensing Deal
- Daily Crunch: Swimmingly
- P50-GP08: Hitachi’s Last (?) Flagship TV Can Be Controlled Via iPad/iPhone
- HTC’s Big Announcement: HTC To Acquire Majority Stake In Beats By Dr. Dre
- Video: Free-Moving Kinect Used To Map Room And Objects In Detailed 3D
- No Charges For Chen In iPhone 4 Leak Case – Others Not So Lucky
- New USB Spec Calls For Up To 100W Of Power, Thinks “Thunderbolt” Is A Cute Name
- CableKeeps Keep Your Jumbled Mass Of Apple Chargers Nice And Neat
- The PenMoto, Reborn
- HDI 3D Projectors Look Like Something Aliens Gave Us
- Sculpt 123D iPad App Makes Sculpting Cool Again
- Logitech & Zagg Unveils The Logitech Keyboard Case for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
- Apple Blocks Sales Of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 In EU, Motorola’s Xoom Next?
- How To Make Your Own iPad Head Girl Helmet
- SEROPI-2 Robot Performs With Humans, Can Bend To Grab Things From The Ground
- Metaio’s Augmented City Demo May Answer The Question Of AR’s Utility
- Nintendo Leaning On Star Fox 64 3D, Flame Red 3DS To Relaunch The Struggling Handheld
- WhiteMagic: Sony Shows Next-Generation LCD For Cameras And Phones
- Vudu Is Now Streaming To The iPad, Uses Web App To Avoid The App Store Revenue Tax
| Sony And LG End Dispute Over Patents, Ink Licensing Deal Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:38 AM PDT  We spent quite a few posts in the last months covering a patent dispute between LG and Sony over four Blu-ray-related functions used in the PS3. The lawsuits affected sales of the console in the US and Europe in spring this year, and they came right after Sony brought a patent infringement claim (regarding cell phones) against LG to the U.S. International Trade Commission in late 2010. But today both companies announced all is good now: LG and Sony have settled a total of 24 patent-infringement lawsuits with regard to TVs, Blu-ray technology and cell phones. According to Reuters, Sony and LG also inked a cross-licensing deal that covers all these devices (such a deal is often the end game in this kind of disputes and allows the parties involved to use each other’s patents without paying fees).
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| Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:00 AM PDT  Here are some recent stories on TechCrunch Gadgets:
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| P50-GP08: Hitachi’s Last (?) Flagship TV Can Be Controlled Via iPad/iPhone Posted: 11 Aug 2011 12:29 AM PDT  Just last week, Hitachi decided to pull the plug on their domestic TV production business by year-end, but that doesn’t mean the company doesn’t go out with a bang. A total of six Hitachi Wooo TVs were announced [JP] in Japan today, with the 50-inch 3D model P50-GP08 stealing the show. The plasma TV might very well be Hitachi’s last self-produced flagship model, and a look at the spec list reveals this is actually regrettable:
Hitachi plans to start selling this beauty in Japan for $4,200 on August 27. The company hasn’t said yet whether the TV will be sold abroad, too. Via AV Watch [JP]
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| HTC’s Big Announcement: HTC To Acquire Majority Stake In Beats By Dr. Dre Posted: 10 Aug 2011 08:10 PM PDT  Cat, meet the outside of the bag. You know that “major announcement” that HTC has scheduled for tomorrow morning? The details have just made their way out a bit early.
HTC just confirmed that they will be entering a strategic partnership with Beats Electronics, a company best known for its Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones. While they’re leaving some details for tomorrow’s call, it’s expected that HTC will announce that they’ve acquired a majority stake (at 51%) of the company. The actual size of the investment varies a bit depending on who you’re talking to: CNET says over $500 million, while AllThingsD pins it at $300 million. As you’d probably expect, HTC will be utilizing this investment to squeeze Beats technology (along with the “Beats” brand, of course) into their phones, with the first Beats-ified handsets hitting the shelves sometime this fall. At the very least, this means that the music that some people insist on blasting out of their phone’s crappy speakerphone while riding on public transportation might sound a wee bit less crappy in the future. To celebrate, here’s a picture of a much younger version of me (and TechCrunch alum Peter Ha!) hanging out with a totally-excited-to-be-there Dr. Dre: We’re still planning on liveblogging tomorrow’s event just in case any interesting details get tossed in the ring. HTC Corp, (TAIEX: 2498) produces smartphones running the Android and Windows Mobile operating systems for themselves and as an OEM to other manufacturers. Since launching its own brand in...
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| Video: Free-Moving Kinect Used To Map Room And Objects In Detailed 3D Posted: 10 Aug 2011 05:43 PM PDT  We’ve seen hacks for the Kinect from the very start, and even some that suggested one like this might be possible: a Kinect being moved around like a camera, recording the depth of everything it sees and building up a full-3D map of the room and every object in it. They call it KinectFusion, and it’s really quite fascinating to watch. I’ve re-hosted the video here, since the original is a bit cramped and not everyone wants to download the whole thing. The position of the camera is constantly tracked by monitoring the depth of known objects in its view, and with that information known, the 3D data recorded can be given absolute measurements, producing a static map of the room. And it all happens in real time. Watch just the first demonstration and you can see the system “painting” a 3D model of the room as quickly as the researcher can move the Kinect around. It tolerates change, as well: move objects in the scene and it’ll update the model. It “knows” whether an object is moving or the camera itself is. And by combining this new model with the normal capabilities of the Kinect, the room or object can be interacted with, as they demonstrate in the video by “throwing” gobs of little paintballs at things in real time, and picking up a real-life teapot that is also being mapped in 3D. Absolutely extraordinary that this is being done with an off-the-shelf device, a common PC, and some clever programming. Among the applications for this suggested by the Microsoft Research team: “extending multi-touch interactions to arbitrary surfaces; advanced features for augmented reality; real-time physics simulations of the dynamic model; novel methods for segmentation and tracking of scanned objects” — and I’m sure you can think of a few yourself. Turning the Kinect into a user-controlled tool instead of a passive user-monitoring tool opens up a huge amount of possibilities, as other hacks have demonstrated as well. KinectFusion is a team effort between Microsoft Research Cambridge, Imperial College London, Newcastle University, Lancaster University, and the University of Toronto. The project was demonstrated at SIGGRAPH yesterday, but this video really shows it off much better. Hopefully we’ll see a code release soon and people can play around with this amazing tool. [via Reddit]
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| No Charges For Chen In iPhone 4 Leak Case – Others Not So Lucky Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:54 PM PDT  After more than a year of uncertainty, the case of the stolen iPhone 4 has been brought to something like a conclusion. San Mateo County Assistant District Attorney Morley Pitt announced that charges would not be filed against Gizmodo’s Jason Chen, whose liberty has been in question since the police raided his house shortly after the alleged theft. Pitt said that “it is a very gray area,” but that regarding journalist protection laws, “this was not the case with which we were going to push the envelope.” Not the most precise statement of exoneration, but very sensible. On the other hand, Brian Hogan and Sage Wallower, who found the next-generation phone incognito at a bar, will be charged: misappropriation of lost property (i.e. selling something you found), and possession of stolen property (it becomes stolen once you decide to sell it) respectively. They face a maximum of a year in jail plus fines and probation; I don’t want to speculate too much on their fates, but hopefully the association with a freshly-deemed-legal journalistic endeavor will cause the judge to look more favorably on them. Now seems as good a time as any to link to my If I Did It post, in which you can learn a few missteps to avoid if you should come across a top-secret piece of hardware. And don’t forget that our tip line is anonymous. Exercise discretion, friends. Update: here’s the official statement from the DA’s office.
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| New USB Spec Calls For Up To 100W Of Power, Thinks “Thunderbolt” Is A Cute Name Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:45 PM PDT  I’m sure many of our readers have come across a situation where they’d have liked USB to carry a bit more power to their devices. Your phone or iPod, charging ever-so-slowly, or perhaps an external drive that only works on “powered” USB ports — or must be plugged into a wall socket. A wall socket, in this day and age! I ask you! Fortunately, the SuperSpeed USB group (or whatever shadowy illuminatus it is that truly controls USB) has decreed that the next generation of the USB 3.0 standard (PDF) will include support for a shocking 100 watts of power. That’s enough to keep ten drives running, or an LCD, or even an entire laptop. And believe it or not, it uses the same cables and ports we’ve already got. This really is rather a large jump from the 5 standard watts or 10 extended watts found in normal USB ports. Even the vaunted (and electrical-sounding) Thunderbolt only delivers 10W. With 5Gb/s and 100W of power, the USB spec could be entering a second spring here. The ability to power larger and more sophisticated devices, like printers, monitors, and speakers, could make it even more universal than it already is. It’s a real leg up on the Thunderbolt/Light Peak designs, which, while they can handle the data from ten external drives, likely couldn’t power more than two of them. The cables should be able to handle about 1.5 amps of current. It’s not clear how the power load division will be altered, but it seems reasonable to suppose they’ll be increasing the number of concurrent loads. Now, despite the fact that this new spec would use existing cables, there are potential problems. Not all motherboards and power supplies are prepared for this kind of power transfer, and improperly managed, these high wattages could burn out components, tax the PSU, and cause overheating. Charge-carrying USB cables of poor quality already melt and catch fire. But it’s disingenuous of me to suggest this as a drawback when the power is carefully monitored by the USB controller and it should only use wattages and currents tested and known to be safe with given classes of USB devices. I’m more worried that few devices and computers will have the power overhead to support this, since they likely pick PSUs carefully tailored to the power draw requirements of the system. Fears of outdated hardware bursting into flame aside, I think this is quite exciting. It’s a serious increase and could enable a completely different accessory ecosystem. Don’t expect to charge your devices ten times faster just yet, but after the design is finalized in early 2012 (it’ll be previewed at the Intel Developer Forum in September as well), you could reasonably expect some very interesting USB-powered devices. [via Tech Report]
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| CableKeeps Keep Your Jumbled Mass Of Apple Chargers Nice And Neat Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:43 PM PDT  I think we can all agree that one of the worst parts about buying a new gadget is the fact that it’s just one more thing we’ll have to charge, one more electrical socket we’ll have to free up, and one more charger to keep up with. But a new Kickstarter project aims to help deal with that. From a startup called Nice, I proudly introduce to you CableKeeps. CableKeeps are little molded pockets made of Santoprene rubber that hold your various Apple chargers in a compact, organized manner. So far, Nice has come up with three different models. “Goldie,” for the iPod and iPhone charger, is able to prop up your iPod or iPhone like a little kickstand suspended on the wall. Depending on where your electrical sockets are, this could be a pretty cheap way to watch a movie while your iPhone/iPod charges. Just a thought. Then we have “Nibbles,” which is designed for the slightly larger iPad USB power adapter. Unfortunately, Nibbles doesn’t have the same kickstand functionality as Goldie, but it’ll still bring a little color to your surge protector. Finally, for our European friends with wacky, tri-pronged electrical sockets, Nice is offering the “Gulp.” What’s cool — and made clear in the video — is that all the CableKeeps are made right here in the U.S. Nice seems really genuine about keeping things environmentally friendly, and we’re all for that, but it won’t make a difference if funding doesn’t pick up. The project is at $6,580 as of this moment, but needs to reach $35,000 before September 8. A pledge of $18 or more will get you one special edition CableKeep of your choosing, while $28+ will get you two different CableKeeps, and $40+ scores you all three models. If you’re outside of the States, Nice asks that you add an extra $10 to your pledge for shipping costs. Kickstarter is a platform for funding creative ideas and ambitious endeavors. It is funded by an all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes...
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| Posted: 10 Aug 2011 11:57 AM PDT  We covered the PenMoto when it was still a gleam in its creator’s eye and, sadly, it was never completed as the designer, Kelvin Geis, cancelled it on Kickstarter. Well, friends, the PenMoto is back and it’s better than ever. The new project involves the same pen mount product – a magnet holds your Wacom or drawing pen in place so you can use the keyboard and then flip it back into your hand when you’re ready to draw – and $25 gets you one pen ($35 for international orders). However, Kevin has improved many of the features and reduced the manufacturing complexity considerably. Previous backers of the project will get the pen for free when it is manufactured. Why did they cancel the previous project?
So there you have it: the pen holder of the future is still alive and kicking and waiting for your pledge.
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| HDI 3D Projectors Look Like Something Aliens Gave Us Posted: 10 Aug 2011 11:35 AM PDT  HDI makes high-end projectors and this $55,000, 300-inch 3D projector is one of their products. The projectors come in multiple styles and types (these are just renders) and each model number, the 120, 200 and 300, is related to the maximum screen size these puppies can project. At 55 bones these things had better give you an MRI as well. The projectors have two full-res imagers so there is no 3D flicker between images. That means you’re seeing two 1920×1080 images instead of an image of potentially reduced quality coming from one imager.
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| Sculpt 123D iPad App Makes Sculpting Cool Again Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:41 AM PDT  I can't decide whether or not Michelangelo would roll over in his grave or jump for joy if he saw this app. Then again, Michelangelo would probably faint from seeing a light bulb, so who knows how he'd react to tablet applications. In any case, the Sculpt 123D iPad app from Autodesk looks like a really cool way get your hands dirty with an art form that the majority of us have no experience with: sculpting. You start with a basic shape, like a car or a person, and then get to use different tools to "sculpt" that shape into what you'd like it to be. The app also has stamps that you can adjust and add to sculptures. If there's something you can't find in the Sculpt 123D library, Autodesk has that covered too. The app lets you take a picture with your iPad and then stencil in the imagery on a sculpture. So theoretically, you could probably create a pretty life-like sculpture of a friend, or yourself (if you're in a narcissistic mood). Let's say even though you've taken pictures and browsed through the shape library a billion times, you still can't find what you need for this all-important sculpture project. Well, Autodesk has a five extra packs of shapes that can be purchased within the app. Once your project is finished, you can share a screenshot of the masterpiece through Facebook, Flickr, email, or YouTube. "YouTube?" you ask. "Why would I upload a still image to YouTube?" Well, because Sculpt 123D lets you create turntable videos of your final product. The app is available today for the iPad only, and is free for a limited time in the Apple App Store. Whenever the "limited time" comes to an end, the app will cost $.99. Jump past the break to check out the Sculpt 123D demo video. Autodesk is a software design and service company. The company operates in four segments: Platform Solutions and Emerging Business and Other (PSEB); Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC); Manufacturing Solutions...
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| Logitech & Zagg Unveils The Logitech Keyboard Case for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Posted: 10 Aug 2011 09:31 AM PDT  Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 owners? Your keyboard case has finally arrived. The Logitech Keyboard Case for Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a long product name for what is popularly called a Zagg Case. Let’s not get caught up in the manufacturing design details, but this keyboard case carries a Logitech badge and per the product page, is a Zagg product. The branding is just like Logitech’s iPad 2 keyboard case. In fact this product is almost an exact copy of the iPad version. It’s just designed to work with the GalTab 10.1 instead. The keyboard case connects with the GalTab 10.1 over Bluetooth and features quick access keys above the chiclet keyboard. The case itself snaps onto the tablet, providing a good degree of protection while neatly storing itself. Pricing is inline with the iPad 2 version with a $99 MSRP. Of course you need a Galaxy 10.1 to go along with it, which is becoming rather difficult in Australia and Europe. The product page just went live, but as of this post’s writing, the large “Preorder Now” button directs you to Logitech’s homepage. That will likely be fixed shortly and will allow anxious buyers to slap down their credit card to be added to the waiting list. Update: The pre-order link now works properly. Huzzah! Logitech designs and manufactures computer and electronics peripherals such as mice, keyboards, speakers, and remote controls. Zagg is the creator of invisibleSHIELD™, a clear thin protective cover for portable electronic devices.
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| Apple Blocks Sales Of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 In EU, Motorola’s Xoom Next? Posted: 10 Aug 2011 07:27 AM PDT  Back in April when it was just a bunch of harsh words and vicious threats, the beef between Samsung and Apple was pretty entertaining. But things are only funny until someone gets hurt, and this time it’s Europe that will feel the pain. In its never-ending tiff with the South Korea-based Samsung, Apple won a temporary injunction to block sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 within the entirety of the European Union, minus the Netherlands. What’s weird is that Samsung seems to have had no idea any of this was going down until it was too late. Specifically, the order was given “without any hearing or presentation of evidence from Samsung,” according to Samsung spokesman Kim Titus, who confirmed with Bloomberg. Apparently this is pretty normal in Germany — plaintiffs must only prove that infringement occurred to get an injunction rolling, either preliminary or permanent, with no requirement to inform the other party. However, the court often only grants a preliminary injunction (like this one) when it believes that a subsequent permanent injunction will be granted, as well. If it’s not and Apple loses, the Cupertino-based company will most certainly owe damages to Samsung. According to German news service dpa, the injunction is entirely related to design and intellectual property right, rather than software- or hardware-related patents. Apple made it clear long before anything went down in Europe that it wasn’t pleased with the look and feel of the GalTab 10.1, and even went so far as say that Samsung copied Apple-style packaging, too. The word “slavishly” comes to mind. But there’s still a little sliver of hope for our European friends who’ve been just dying to play around with Samsung’s 10-inch slate. Galaxy Tabs still in stock will continue to sell until the current inventory is gone. So if you need one, just leave now. Don’t even keep reading. I mean it… Go! Anyway, Samsung has responded to the injunction, promising to “act immediately to defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings in Germany and will continue to actively defend these rights throughout the world. [We will] take all necessary measures to ensure Samsung's innovative mobile communications devices are available to customers in Europe and around the world.” Meanwhile, Apple seems to have moved on to yet another competitor, reports SlashGear. Motorola and Apple have been entwined in litigation for the past few months, but only after digging into the Galaxy Tab news was it uncovered that Apple has already filed a complaint in Europe regarding the design of the Honeycomb-powered Xoom. Since Samsung had no idea the injunction had gone through, it’s pretty likely that Motorola is only becoming aware of this now, as it spreads across the web. Speculation suggests that Apple is going straight for a permanent injunction with Motorola, since the Xoom has been around long enough to warrant it. Started by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over the last 30 years, officially changing their name from Apple Computer,...
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| How To Make Your Own iPad Head Girl Helmet Posted: 10 Aug 2011 06:53 AM PDT  Well, not really, but Thinkmodo has put out a new video showing some behind the scenes footage of how they, in partnership with Clockwork Apple, created the iPad Head Girl hat, um…head piece. The thing actually looks pretty solid, although I would not go as far as to say that it looks comfortable. You likely saw the iPad Head Girl video making rounds in the media last week. Conceived by Thinkmodo's Michael Krivicka and James L. Percelay as a way to promote Hearst’s first iPad-only magazine CFG (Cosmo For Guys). The video became the #1 most While the concept seems fairly simple, the video does shed some light on the amount of work that went into this shoot. Who knows, now that the campaign is over, maybe there is an opportunity to re-productize this faux chapeau as a new-wave, expensive lampshade?
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| SEROPI-2 Robot Performs With Humans, Can Bend To Grab Things From The Ground Posted: 10 Aug 2011 06:51 AM PDT  The Korean Institue of Industrial Technology’s SEROPI project has already produced one imposing-looking robot, SEROPI-1, and now they’ve announced the completion of SEROPI-2, an oddly Johnny-5-looking robo personality that is shown here interacting with children and actors on a stage. SEROPI-2 is four feet tall and moves at 7.2 kilometers per hour. He can also bend down to grab stuff off the floor and he has stereo vision, force sensors, a laser range finder, and a navigation system. He’s considerably sleeker than his previous incarnation thanks to improved materials and design. What is he good for? Well, he’s clearly having fun with the kids but the ability to move around and interact with objects on the ground is particularly useful in industrial and military settings. The various autonomous systems also point to a number of interesting use cases including remote exploration and health care. It is my hope that he and his kind will show us mercy when they eventually come to power.
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| Metaio’s Augmented City Demo May Answer The Question Of AR’s Utility Posted: 10 Aug 2011 06:27 AM PDT  Augmented Reality veterans Metaio are announcing some more details about their upcoming insideAR conference scheduled to take place in Munich, Germany on September 26 – 27. While the speaker list for the event has been available since July, the greater theme for the conference is being updated via press release today. That theme is: "From a Vision to a Roadmap". To help illustrate this thematic announcement, Metaio have release a video that shows a small scale demo of their vision for the "Augmented City". This demo was created by Metaio and the Media Processing Division of ARM—makers of the Mali family of GPUs essential to the demonstrated rendering ability of Metaio's software. The demo is cool and illustrates their vision well, but it's important to note that, strategically, the focus of the insideAR event also seems to be tied to revealing their roadmap for reaching this vision. That information will be shared publicly and also in more detail with select business partners during the second (and private) day of the insideAR conference. For if ever a technology needed a roadmap for practicality, it is Augmented Reality. I mean, I am one of the believers, but in many a conversation about AR with colleagues and clients alike, the dialogue often strays to "Yeah, but how is that going to be realistically implemented" or "how do we get from A to B". These are legitimate questions. So the simple format of sharing the vision but also sharing the practical, tactical and technological steps to reach the vision seems like a clean and clever way to break the content up and attempt to deliver actionable results. I plan to be in attendance and will let you know if the concept lives up to the hype. But back to the Augmented City demo… In this video, I think Metaio CTO Peter Meier does a good job of explaining the roll of hardware and software to create best-of-breed AR experiences and also describing how Metaio's optical recognition (for which they are field leaders) will enable experiences. So after watching in its entirety, I began to see where they are headed with both the vision and the technology. Rather than viewing it as an animation or a cartoon, I imagined some of the examples within it at normal scale in a real city and myself in that city and subject to the meta information at hand. I began to imagine some real world scenarios of my own:
There are many possibilities if the practical hurdles can be jumped or removed. Let's hope that practical approaches can be found for implementing these "natural" AR experiences without overwhelming users. That seems to be the one of the goals of Metaio's approach with the insideAR format. It's a good idea to try to show vision and action and that seems more realistic than the typical “whizz-bang-look-how-cool-my-tech-is” approach to gain attention for marketing reasons. My fingers are crossed.
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| Nintendo Leaning On Star Fox 64 3D, Flame Red 3DS To Relaunch The Struggling Handheld Posted: 10 Aug 2011 05:49 AM PDT  Meet the red 3DS. It’s a lot like the standard blue and black model, but, you know, red. The Flame Red color flavor debuted in Japan a while ago, but Nintendo is finally bringing it here as part of the system’s relaunch this Friday. (As if the color red will help the 3DS) The 3DS hasn’t exactly been a hit so far. The company took a big loss last quarter after sales came in well below expectations. This clearly caused the company to reevaluate the 3DS’s $249 price-point and so, the system was cut to $169. That price cut goes into effect this Friday as Nintendo desperately tries to stop the hemorrhaging. The 3DS was seemingly set up to fail from the start. Built around a marketplace gimmick, the 3d-ified 3DS launched earlier this year without a blockbuster title. Nintendo kept telling gamers to wait. The good games are on their way, they said. So gamers did just that. They waited. And waited. And the good games still aren’t here. The only notable games so far are simply remakes of older games. The $249 price didn’t help either. The 3DS launched as Nintendo’s most expensive portable ever. Even its predecessor, the Virtual Boy, launched at a sub-$200 price point back in 1995. At $249 the 3DS was more expensive than the Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, and more importantly, the iPhone, which has taught a whole generation that games should cost $1.99 or less. The 3DS was just too expensive and wasn’t supported by a blockbuster Mario or Zelda title at launch. But this coming Friday, August 12, the system gets a new chance at life. The Flame Red model hits the states to help celebrate the new $169 price and team of pilots led by an experienced fox is ready to help save the portable 3D gaming system from an early death. Do a barrel roll! (It’s actually an airleron roll but that’s not much of a battle cry.) Company: NINTENDO Website: http://nintendo.com Nintendo, a technology company widely known for its line of game consoles, was actually founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. It began as a Card Game company and evolved...
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| WhiteMagic: Sony Shows Next-Generation LCD For Cameras And Phones Posted: 10 Aug 2011 05:29 AM PDT  Sony announced WhiteMagic today, a “next-generation”, 3-inch TFT LCD screen that boasts 1.23M-dot full VGA resolution. What’s special about the display is that it has two distinct modes: if switched to “low power mode”, power consumption of the backlight is pushed down by over 50% to 125mW, with Sony saying brightness in this mode is still comparable to that of conventional LCDs. When choosing “outdoors mode”, WhiteMagic’s brightness can be boosted from 470 cd/m² to an impressive 1,000 cd/m², while power consumption of the backlight in this mode (300mW) stays about as high as that of conventional screens. By way of comparison: the iPhone 4 reaches a maximum brightness of 500 cd/m². Sony achieved this by adding a white pixel to the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) pixels and developing an algorithm to correct picture distortion (“RGBW method”). The company plans to start shipping the first samples as early as October (price: $65 each). It expects WhiteMagic to be used in mobile devices, for example cameras and smartphones (even though it’s not a touchscreen apparently).
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| Vudu Is Now Streaming To The iPad, Uses Web App To Avoid The App Store Revenue Tax Posted: 10 Aug 2011 05:18 AM PDT  Walmart’s Vudu movie streaming service is ready to pipe movies directly to your iPad. But don’t look for the traditional iOS app. There isn’t one. Vudu is streaming movies over a web app, which doesn’t force Walmart to share revenue with Apple. Vudu is skirting Apple’s new terms of service that requires sharing revenue. Much like Amazon’s new Kindle Cloud Reader, Vudu can offer all the functionality of a streaming vide app through the magic of Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) without dealing with the App Store and its approval police or revenue tax collectors. The tablet-specific web app is already live and ready for consumption. Users will find Vudu’s 20k-strong streaming library accessible through an intuitive interface based around cover art. It allows for reviews, trailers, and even a wish list. This move to the iPad isn’t all that surprising as the service is now streaming, via the web, to desktops through Walmart.com. Movies purchased on Walmart.com are also available for viewing on the iPad. Avoiding sharing revenue isn’t the only benefit to the web app. The company can roll out updates as it sees fit and doesn’t have to deal with the App Store’s approval process when adding new features. This sort of autonomy isn’t possible with the App Store. iPhone users aren’t exactly left out of the phone. The service does currently work on the device, but it’s not currently optimized for the smaller screen. Vudu says the iPad is just the first supported device and other hardware platforms, including Android, are currently in the works. Vudu has always been considered the little brother to Netflix. That might be changing, though. The streaming service tends to get movies online quicker than Netflix, and its recent expansion onto new hardware shows that it’s ready to expand from the set-top box. All they need now is a competitive all-you-can-eat subscription plan that includes access to their beautiful HDX titles and they’ll start winning over Netflix doubters. VUDU, Inc. provides digital technologies and services that deliver Internet entertainment to consumers’ HDTVs and home theaters. It offers VUDU Box and VUDU XL, which provides access to movies... With more than 23.3 million members in the United States and Canada, Netflix, Inc. is the world's leading Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows. For $7.99...
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