Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hillcrest Labs takes its TV motion control system to China, becomes TCL's new best friend

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/23/hillcrest-labs-tcl-v7500-freespace/

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It's only been a few days since Hillcrest Labs open sourced its Kylo web browser for TVs, and now the company's back with yet another announcement. Well, this time it's more about TCL who's just declared its top TV market share in China. Much like the Roku 2 and LG TVs with Magic Motion remote, Hillcrest's Freespace engine has been outted as the enabling technology behind TCL's recently announced V7500, a 3D smart TV series featuring a heavily customized Android 4.0.3 and a 7.9mm-thick bezel. This means users can interact with and play games on this slim TV via motion and cursor control on the remote (there's also voice control here but it doesn't look like Hillcrest has anything to do with it). There are no dates or prices just yet, but TCL better be quick as Lenovo's got something very similar ready to ship soon.

Continue reading Hillcrest Labs takes its TV motion control system to China, becomes TCL's new best friend

Hillcrest Labs takes its TV motion control system to China, becomes TCL's new best friend originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

TiVo Stream Delivers Recorded Shows to Your iPhone [TiVo]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5912418/tivo-stream-delivers-tv-shows-to-your-iphone

TiVo Stream Delivers Recorded Shows to Your iPhoneDespite the DVR market being usurped by cable companies, TiVo has managed to keep going and trying to bring new ideas to market. Today they announced TiVo Stream, which will allow owners of TiVo Premiere boxes ($150-250, $15/month) and an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to stream video or transfer it directly to their device:

TiVo Stream seamlessly delivers the content available on a consumer's TiVo Premiere or Premiere Q DVR to alternative screens such as iPads and iPhones. Unlike similar offerings in the market, this is the first product to enable streaming or download of shows simultaneously to multiple portable devices without interrupting what's playing on the television. The power of TiVo Stream enables users to quickly transfer shows to their mobile device for viewing outside the home.

This is a pretty cool upgrade for iOS and TiVo users if it works as well as described.

TiVo Expands Whole-Home and Multi-Screen Offerings | TiVo via MacWorld

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How This Entrepreneur Got Her Products Into Swag Bags At The Golden Globes

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tara-rex-got-her-products-into-the-golden-globes-2012-5

tara rex taradaraThis post originally appeared at American Express OpenForum

Tara Rex was trained as a nurse and used to work in a hospital emergency room. She later got married, had two kids and decided to stay home to take care of them. It was the end of her life-long career, but the start of her entrepreneurial voyage.

"I wanted to do something where I could be at home and still have a little income," says Rex. "It's hard to do that when you work in a hospital."

Now, her Taradara store on Etsy that has been recognized by FOX Business and had its products featured in swag bags for celebrities at the Golden Globe Awards. Rex did it all out of the comfort of her Denver home.

We spoke with Rex about her business and how she's been so successful with it.

How she got started

Rex was always creative. When she was in high school, she got plenty of scholarship offers from arts schools, but surprised her family when she decided to go into nursing.

So she started making small crafts. They were quick to make and the gratification came quickly. At first, she would give them to friends as gifts, but after a while, she realized the business potential in her hobby.

Rex initially tried to sell her wares on Big Cartel, a site that lets artists create independent online stores. She also tried Etsy, another e-commerce website that focuses on handmade items. That's when things really took off.

"Etsy really has made my business," says Rex, who still has her Big Cartel store up, but doubts that there's any items left on it. "Etsy had more of a presence online, and it was easier for people to find me with my Etsy shop."

Promoting her store

As a solo entrepreneur working out of her home and two kids to take care of, she doesn't have much time or many resources to go out and advertise. So she uses every opportunity she can to build connections and get the word out.

"I promote it on Twitter, Facebook, my blog and I'm a huge networker," says Rex. "It's my business and it's me marketing—nobody else is going to do it for me."

She does all she can, but relies on her customers to send on her message. She calls word-of-mouth marketing "a wonderful thing."

Rex also uses the Etsy community to promote her store. For instance, she has a series called Etsy Shop Spotlight, where she features other Etsy shops once or twice a week. While she doesn't ask for anything in return, the goodwill encourages other Etsy sellers to work together and promote each other.

The Golden Globes

Making all those connections paid off in a huge way. On one of her Etsy Shop Spotlights, Rex featured a seller who was doing something for the Academy Awards. Rex was blunt and asked about it.

"You have to go for it," says Rex. "Don't be jealous or scared about it. Just ask—you have nothing to lose."

The seller is a member of the Artisan Group, which works with all the big award shows and does gifting to celebrities for holidays like Mother's Day.

Rex applied, the group deemed her worthy and she earned the opportunity to have her iPhone covers featured in the swag bags at the Golden Globes.

What's next for Taradara?

Rex isn't stopping any time soon. In fact, she wants to grow her business and brand by stepping beyond the boundaries of Etsy and the Internet and entering the world of brick-and-mortar retail.

"We're in the works of making this bigger," she says. Rex has a deal in the works to get into shops in Beverly Hills. It would be an exclusive line for the stores, but since they're still working out the details, there's no official release date yet.

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New OmniVision 16-megapixel camera sensors could record 4K, 60 fps video on your smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/22/omnivision-16-megapixel-camera-sensors-record-4k-video-on-phones/

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Nokia has reportedly been dreaming of PureView phones with 4K video; as of today, OmniVision is walking the walk quite a bit earlier. The 16-megapixel resolution of the OV16820 and OV16825 is something we've seen before, but it now has a massive amount of headroom for video. If your smartphone or camcorder has the processing grunt to handle it, either of the sensors can record 4K (3840 x 2160, to be exact) video at a super-smooth 60 fps, or at the camera's full 4608 x 3456 if you're willing to putt along at 30 fps. The pair of backside-illuminated CMOS sensors can burst-shoot still photos at the bigger size, too, and can handle up to 12-bit RAW. Impressive stuff, but if you were hoping for OmniVision to name devices, you'll be disappointed: it's typically quiet about the customer list, and mass production isn't due for either version until the fall. On the upside, it could be next year that we're feeding our 4K projectors with Mr. Blurrycam smartphone videos.

Continue reading New OmniVision 16-megapixel camera sensors could record 4K, 60 fps video on your smartphone

New OmniVision 16-megapixel camera sensors could record 4K, 60 fps video on yo! ur smart phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DICE to require 64-bit OS for some 2013 games, that Windows ME box in the den isn't cutting it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/22/dice-to-require-64-bit-os-for-some-2013-games/

DICE to require 64-bit OS for some 2013 games, that Windows ME box in the den isn't cutting it

We're entering a world of mainstream 64-bit computing -- whether we like it or not. Just weeks after Adobe started requiring 64-bit Macs for CS6, DICE's Rendering Architect Johan Andersson has warned that some of his company's 2013 games using the Frostbite engine will need the extra bits as a matter of course. In other words, it won't matter if you have a quad Core i7 gaming PC of death should the software be inadequate; if you're still running a 32-bit copy of Windows 7 come the new year, you won't be playing. The developer points to memory as the main culprit, as going 64-bit guarantees full access to 4GB or more of RAM as well as better virtual addressing. Andersson sees it as a prime opportunity to upgrade to Windows 8, although 64-bit Vista and 7 (and presumably OS X, if and when Mac versions exist) will be dandy. Just be prepared to upgrade that Windows XP PC a lot sooner than Microsoft's 2014 support cutoff if you're planning to run the next Battlefield or Mirror's Edge.

DICE to require 64-bit OS for some 2013 games, that Windows ME box in the den isn't cutting it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Eurogamer  |  sourceJohan Andersson (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

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