As Samsung continues to hedge against Google/Android reliance and standardize across disparate product lines, while perhaps avoiding Microsoft royalties, the company has expanding the Tizen OS initiative beyond smart watches and to connected televisions. Via Liliputing: Samsung’s Tizen-based TV SDK Beta will be available early July following the Tizen Developer Conference in San Francisco from June 2–4th. The Tizen-based Samsung … Read more
Well here’s an interesting promo should you lack for both a TV streamer and tablet. Amazon has paired their new Fire TV with the 7″ Kindle Fire HDX tablet for $249, which clocks in $79 cheaper than purchasing each separately. While the Fire TV remains somewhat app poor, the platform has grown on me and we’ve enjoyed dozens of … Read more
While I can’t say the above TiVo Mini packaging is brand spanking new, I do frequent Best Buy and this is the first time I’ve seen funkadelic Roamio branding applied to other devices in TiVo’s arsenal. Beyond a bolder “TiVo” font and updated graphical elements, 6-tuner and Roamio DVRs are now referenced. Of course, I fully expected this day … Read more
As a former frequent flier, I can’t tell you how many battles between passengers and/or flight crew I’ve witnessed in relation to wireless devices and reclining seats (including very dramatic testimony from a breast-feeding woman who asserted the man in front of her had starved her infant). Fortunately, we appear to have moved to a better place with the advent of gate-to-gate wireless gadgetry and what looks to be an end of reclining seats… on at least a few airlines. And next up is Monarch Air. The carrier is outfitting their fleet with thinner, non-reclining seats… that conveniently provide a tablet holder where one might expect an entertainment console — which sure beats attempting to prop up your device via water bottle (as shown below), providing more stability and a better viewing angle. Not to mention if US carriers like Southwest or United follow suit, our iPads would truly replace the seat-back TV given onboard streaming options.
Remember that buzz saw of a fan that the second gen Simple.TV shipped with? Well Simple, and their hardware partner Silicon Dust, have resorted to a variety of software updates and a drill to rectify the issue. And, as you can see above, they’ve begun shipping devices with a newly perforated chassis. But the good news doesn’t end … Read more
I have no doubt we are building a very, very, strong strategic asset and to the extent the best interest of shareholders are served by providing an exit through acquisition from a strategic player who sees the fundamental uniqueness of what we’ve created, obviously that will get all the consideration it deserves.
Following in the footsteps of Netflix, YouTube has just launched their Video Quality Report to rate, and possibly shame, broadband providers as the net neutrality and peering debate boils over. In my ‘hood, Verizon performs admirably, with its worst showing 8PM – 11PM with 93% of streams coming thru in high def, whereas the Comcast Xfinity service performs … Read more