Wednesday, June 17, 2009

VuNow's internet video-to-TV streamer finds a home in Sherwood receivers

VuNow's internet video-to-TV streamer finds a home in Sherwood receivers


The VuNow platform is sitting a lot prettier, as it has grabbed an OEM deal to be included in Sherwood's upcoming line of receivers. Already making an appearance as the Netgear ITV2000 standalone unit, now high end amps and surround sound systems will have access to a variety of internet video sources without additional hardware. Verismo's said it will be pursuing many different opportunities for its technology, we'll wait and see where the YouTube / CNN / ESPN and more streaming hardware shows up next, though your cable box would appear to be a safe bet.

Continue reading VuNow's internet video-to-TV streamer finds a home in Sherwood receivers

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VuNow's internet video-to-TV streamer finds a home in Sherwood receivers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:41 AM

Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids

Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids


Past Disney gadgets may have been heavier on the Disney than the gadget, but we're guessing there'll be at least a few parents out there a little envious of ASUS's new Disney-branded Netpal netbook for kids, which will be available in your choice of "Princess Pink" or "Magic Blue" colors (the latter replete with tiny Mickey Mouse icons). In addition to that eye-catching exterior, each netbook also packs a custom, kid-friendly Disney interface, along with a range of built-in parental controls, and some customizable themes based on Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Wall-E, and other Disney properties. As you might expect, however, the netbook itself is just a standard 8.9-inch Eee PC, but it is at least available with either a 16GB SSD drive or a standard 160GB hard drive. No word on a release date just yet, but it looks like this one will set you back $350.

[Via GadgetMix.com]

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Disney and ASUS announce Netpal netbook for kids originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:41 AM

Switched On: When netbooks suffer from 'Droid rage

Switched On: When netbooks suffer from 'Droid rage

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Despite powering only a handful of handsets available on the market, Android has already had a significant impact on the competitive landscape in smartphones. Looking at its primary rivals that run on a variety of hardware from multiple manufacturers, Android has provided a free and highly customizable licensed challenge to Windows Mobile, And competition with the Google-developed mobile operating system may have also provided the final push of Symbian into the world of open source.

Just because Android has turned the tables, though, does not mean it should be used on devices that rest on them. Recently, the infatuation with Android has led to much speculation and supplication regarding the operating system as an alternative on netbooks and less proven "gaptops" that live between the smartphone and the notebook. But while blazing benchmarks may erase any speed records set by netbooks running Windows, they can't erase what amounts to a weak case for Android on these devices.

Recent history shows that the overwhelming majority of consumers want Windows on their netbooks. This has become especially true as the market has shifted from the quasi-appliance like original Asus Eee, with its suboptimal 7" screen, to most netbooks running 10" and now even larger screens and vendors such as Dell and HP that are pillars of the Windows hardware world have grabbed market share. Even these manufacturers have more to gain by going with their own twist on Linux. HP, for example, has created a unique and differentiated experience with its Linux environment for netbooks. It will take some time before various Android implementations are so unique. It's unclear why an Android-based netbook would fare much better than Linux-based netbooks have.

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Switched On: When netbooks suffer from 'Droid rage originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:40 AM

Tegra might power Zune HD, definitely does augmented zombie reality

Tegra might power Zune HD, definitely does augmented zombie reality

Ready for a double dose of Tegra newsbits? We've been wondering what's packed in the Zune HD for some time now, but apparently PC Perspective has had the answer since Computex and didn't realize the newsworthiness until now. According to the article, NVIDIA staffers told the site that its uber-powerful Tegra processor will be the heart and soul of Microsoft's revised PMP. There's been no official word from anyone, and for all we know it might've been some (possibly misinformed) employee mouthing off for kicks. If true, however, it'd be one helluva 'screw you' from Microsoft to Windows Mobile fans, who've been waiting over a year at this point to see some retail hardware running on NVIDIA's mobile platform. We've put in calls to both companies for some sort of statement, but we're not getting our hopes up.

In other news, a group of researchers from Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design are showing off some of CPU's impressive potential with an augmented reality game ARhrrrr. Using a Tegra-powered mobile dev kit, the game projects a 3D town based on a two-dimensional diagram where you tap the screen to shoot zombies, or lay Skittles in real life to serve as virtual bombs. We've seen similar implementations before, but we're admittedly quite infatuated with this one, and as a bonus, there's video of the demo after the break.

Read - Zune HD uses NVIDIA Tegra processor
Read - Augmented Environments Lab: ARhrrrr!

Continue reading Tegra might power Zune HD, definitely does augmented zombie reality

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Tegra might power Zune HD, definitely does augmented zombie reality originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:40 AM

Amazon puts code where its mouth is: releases Kindle source to the world

Amazon puts code where its mouth is: releases Kindle source to the world


Well, here's a nice start to what Jeff Bezos was saying about giving the Kindle reader team some competition: Amazon just released source code for all its Kindle devices. It's fairly basic Linux underneath (kernel 2.6.22 on the latest 2.1 software), but obviously includes E Ink drivers and other relevant hardware support. What's unclear without compiling one of these and booting it up (to our untrained eyes, anyway) is whether Amazon stripped out its various DRM and licensed codec support -- MP3 and Audible seem very likely candidates for explosion, even if turns out Amazon did leave in its own Kindle Book DRM. We're also lacking an actual specific license for the code, though the folder we unpacked the OS to is called "gplrelease," so hopefully we're looking at the GNU General Public License -- which would mean manufacturers can take and repurpose this code to build their own Kindle clone / destroyer / gentle homage.

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Amazon puts code where its mouth is: releases Kindle source to the world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 5:39 AM

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