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Dijit Remote Control App For iPad Finally Goes Live

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 12:23 PM PST

dijit-ipad-splashscreen

Dijit teased us with a preview of their iPad-optimized remote control app back in December, but home theater convergence aficionados will be glad to know that the app is finally available in the App Store.

As previously mentioned, the Dijit app has already graced many an Android tablet, but the iPad-friendly version sports a few new tweaks to improve usability.

Full screen remote? Check. Larger buttons? You bet. And as always, Dijit allows users to manage their share what they’re watching on Facebook and Twitter, manage their Netflix queues, and engage in some good old-fashioned channel surfing with minimal setup.

The app is live (and free) in the iOS App Store, but you’ll need some extra hardware in order to use your iPad for artfully dodging Jersey Shore reruns. Don’t forget to have a Griffin Beacon IR blaster or a compatible Roku device handy, or else you’ll be left checking listings and sharing show recommendations on one device and controlling your home theater setup with another.

Support For Quad-Core iDevices Found In iOS 5.1 Beta Code

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 10:28 AM PST

quadcore9to5mac

It’s no secret that smartphone and tablet OEMs are looking toward quad-core processors to power their next-generation doodads, with Apple’s oft-rumored A6 chipset being one of the most anticipated. According to 9to5Mac, snippets of code in the beta version of the iOS 5.1 update tacity confirm that a quad-core A6 will soon grace Apple’s new iDevices.

9to5Mac’s sources point to two images — the count begins at 0 for the first processing core, which would mean a dual-core device would be referred to with the label “/cores/core.1.” The existence of a reference to “/cores/core.3.” means that Apple has indeed been slaving away on quad-core iPhones and iPads.

Not that it should be a huge surprise — semiconductor manufacturer TSMC was working on a trial production run in August, but the company had issues that eventually led to Apple and Samsung working together again.

Meanwhile, the market is quickly shifting toward quad-core being the next big thing in the mobile/portable space. Asus’s quad-core Transformer Prime tablet hit the streets not long ago, although the experience has been a little rocky for certain users. The Transformer Prime’s NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset was seen in early benchmarks to be a considerable step above the chipset it was meant to replace.

Even so, it’s scores showed that it was only marginally more robust than the iPad 2′s dual-core A5. Now I wouldn’t take those scores as gospel — Matt notes that the benchmarking software may not have been able to fully take advantage of the four cores at the time — but Apple’s quad-core efforts could potentially be the ones to beat.

With all the talk of multiple cores, one has to wonder how much of a performance boost we’ll see once these quad-core iDevices are released into the wild. The answer will be something of a mixed bag — Apple’s first party applications will most likely be tuned to play nice with the additional processing cores, but it’ll take time for the scores of iOS developers hit their stride. In the end though, benchmarks alone won’t entice most people buy a certain tablet. It’s safe to say that new iPads will sell like crazy even if they’re not the first or the fastest quad-core tablet out there.

ChatON, Samsung’s iMessage Competitor, Arrives In App Store

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 09:12 AM PST

chaton-ios

Remember ChatON? The Samsung-built, cross-platform, mobile messaging app which arrived in Google’s Android Market this fall? The app, somewhat similar to BlackBerry’s BBM or Apple’s iMessage, provides users with an alternative to SMS or MMS.

At the time, Samsung was promising support for iOS would be coming “soon.” Well, “soon” has arrived. ChatON is now available for download from iTunes.

That brings ChatON support to three platforms: Android, Bada phones and now iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch). Samsung says that BlackBerry, Windows Phone and web support is still on the way.

For a refresher on ChatON’s feature set, the app lets users message each other, sharing text, pictures, voice messages, location, contacts and calendar data. There’s also a crazy option that lets you draw pictures by hand. Group chat is included, too, and involves a social element that ranks how often you talk to your friends on the app.

The interface seems OK. (Well, maybe a bit juvenile with that big ol’ smiley button. But then again, I’m old). The real draw is the app’s cross-platform nature – instead of using expensive SMS allotments, you can use an app instead. But ChatON competes with several others in this space, including GroupMe, which has the benefit of supporting SMS for those who don’t have the ability to run the app on their phones.

ChatON, however, may get a boost thanks to its creator Samsung who has the ability to pre-install the app on the devices it ships.

You can grab ChatON for iOS here on iTunes.

Shelby.tv To Launch “Touch Play”: An AirPlay-Based Gesture Remote

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST

touch-play-shelbytv-1

Video-sharing startup (and stars of Bloomberg's TechStars reality show) Shelby.tv is about to launch a pretty nifty feature called “Touch Play.” The new addition, a gesture-based remote control that works via Apple’s AirPlay, will be shown off at next week’s CES, with its launch planned for the week following.

For those unfamiliar, Shelby.tv launched in October with a service that automatically pulls in all the videos your friends share on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr into a curated video channel with videos you can watch, favorite and then re-share.

Says Shelby.tv founder Reece Pacheco, with Touch Play, it’s about using the right screen for the right thing. And the TV was made for watching videos! You’ll be able to control the videos on your TV via the Shelby.tv mobile app.

The new gestures are built into Shelby.tv’s iOS applications, but will only work on the latest hardware: the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

Touch Play is a bit more complex than Apple’s Remote app, it seems. There are a number of gestures included, like a one finger tap for the video’s context, a one finger swipe up for a like, a swipe down for a “watch later,” a swipe left or right to move back or forward in a video by 10 seconds, a two finger up or down to change “channels” (e.g. your favorites queue, your “watch later” queue, etc.), a pinch to return to the guide, an expand to expand the sharing controls, and a double tap to play and pause videos. Whew! 

The list seems long, but like all iOS gestures, it’s easier to get the hang of them by doing, not reading some “how to” guide.

Since you still have to wait a couple of weeks to demo this for yourself (boo), you can check out the video below as a preview:

Pacheco says Shelby.tv has an Android tablet app in the works too, but won’t comment on the timing. They also have a “good guess” as to how the rumored Apple TV set will work, and are moving to support it, but won’t talk about that either (also, boo…or maybe, yay?)

You can grab a copy of Shelby.tv for iOS here on iTunes.

More info is available via Shelby.tv’s blog.

Nokia Acquires Norwegian Mobile OS Company Smarterphone

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 06:39 AM PST

Smarterphone

Nokia has acquired Oslo, Norway-based Smarterphone, a company that builds a mobile operating system for so-called feature phones.

The news of the purchase, which was actually completed last November, comes straight from investment firm Ferd Capital, which pumped 6.5 million euros into Smarterphone since 2007.

Other backers of Smarterphone – which was formerly known as Kvaleberg AG, after founder Egil Kvaleberg – include Innovation Norway, Trolltech founder Haavard Nord and management consultant Lars Øberg.

Smarterphone specializes in software that allows handset makers to equip basic models of phones (aka feature phones) with smartphone-like looks and certain capabilities.

Whether Nokia will keep Smarterphone’s platform as a third option for its devices, aside from S40 and Windows Phone, or if this was more about buying talent and know-how, remains unclear.

Financial terms of the deal were also not disclosed.

HTC’s Growth Spurt Is Done (For Now)

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 06:36 AM PST

htc-slipping

HTC released their unaudited Q4 financials earlier this morning, and as expected, they indicate a disappointing decline for the Taiwanese hardware vendor.

The company’s net operating income was down to NT$12.9 billion ($426 million), a nearly $22 percent decline from their position this time last year. HTC’s revenues were similarly impacted — they only managed to pull in NT$101 billion ($3.35 billion), which represents a 2.49% year-over-year dip, and a nearly 25% decrease from their impressive Q3 figures.

HTC tried to downplay expectations for their Q4 performance in November by slashing their revenue forecasts by 20%, but the drop still must have stung. At the time, the company cited increased competition in the smartphone market as one of the key factors for their sinking financials, and they weren’t kidding. Samsung today posted some remarkable figures (even for Samsung), which makes HTC’s path going forward even rockier.

HTC may be temporarily down, but they’re not going out without a fight. HTC has hinted at big things to come in 2012, with one of the latest rumors du jour being the appearance of their first quad-core smartphone at MWC. I still think HTC’s best chance is to throw their considerable weight behind developing a flagship phone with some staying power as opposed to replacing new hardware with even newer hardware at a blistering pace. 2012 is still young — HTC has plenty of time to bounce back, but they’re going to have to work for it.

The Samsung Note Is Definitively Not Coming To AT&T As Far As You Know

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 06:05 AM PST

pink_flip_flop

Remember the mini-slate Samsung released a few months ago? The Samsung Galaxy Note? Pretty cool little device. As we enter CES week, the press releases are flying fast and furious and this one caught my eye. It’s for a small company that makes accessories for gadgets and I suppose (I can’t find the original) it outlined Anymode’s plans for Samsung Note accessories.

The release also noted that the Samsung Note would hit AT&T this year. There were rumors of this, but Anymode essentially confirmed it. Until they didn’t.

A few hours after the original announcement, I got an email retracting the earlier statement. It stated:

RETRACTION OF EARLIER CES ANNOUNCEMENT

JANUARY 6, 2012 –The January 5, 2012 CES Media Alert titled “Anymode Introduces First Accessories for Samsung Galaxy Note” contained inaccurate information pertaining to AT&T and the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note.

The information was not provided by Anymode, AT&T or Samsung , nor did Anymode, AT&T or Samsung approve it.

The issuing party apologizes for the publishing of the inaccurate information and any inconvenience it may have caused.

I love the memory-hole-esque line “The information was not provided by Anymode, AT&T or Samsung , nor did Anymode, AT&T or Samsung approve it.” Yes, Anymode, you did “provide” it. You sent it out. Stand up for your convictions here. It’s a small slate. It’s not a cure for cancer.

In the end, this whole dance is part of the modern CE scene. What you’re seeing here is a small partner messing up and two other partners – much bigger and with more lawyers – pressuring them to convince the world something never happened. I’d call it a cover-up if it didn’t insult the memory of Watergate.

These curtsies, bows, and twirls are what passes for information dissemination in a world run by the rumor. This is why Microsoft left CES – the impetus to launch around a major trade show in a world that can accept breaking “news” in a few hours, not a few months. CES was good when magazines were working on back-to-school issues in January. Now they work on back-to-school blog posts the week before junior straps on his backpack.

Expect more fun line this over the next few days. CES, as they say, is a wild ride.



Samsung Posts Record Q4 Numbers, 35 Million Smartphones Sold

Posted: 06 Jan 2012 05:46 AM PST

samsung headquarters

Samsung has today posted record quarterly profits after selling 35 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, up from 27.9 million in the previous quarter. Operating profits have soared to 5.2 trillion won (US $4.47 billion), representing a 73 percent year-over-year increase.

You can bet that the still-very-popular Samsung Galaxy S II has something to do with it, along with Google’s latest flagship device: the ICS-powered Galaxy Nexus. Of course, the revenue generated from Samsung’s processing chip and OLED display business didn’t hurt either, reports Reuters.

What’s most interesting perhaps is that Samsung only joined in on the smartphone party back in 2010, and has since dominated the market. Last quarter, the South Korea-based electronics giant surged past Apple to take the lead as smartphone king — all the while being taken to court in all corners of the globe.