May
17
The Sony prototype digital A4 jotter unveiled on Monday has now been captured on video. Designed with university students in mind and planned for a consumer release before March 2014, the 13.3-inch device is the first to use E Ink Mobius, the tech firm's…
May
17
Sony appears to be working on another Xperia smartphone judging from new pictures that have emerged online
May
15
Sony has announced the UK prices of its latest 4K ultra-high definition televisions and they are surprisingly affordable. The Sony Bravia X9 55-inch will set you back £3,999, while the 65-inch version will be £5,999. Considering that Samsung's flagship…
May
14
Sony is really taking the road less traveled with their Xperia XR Smartphone. Sony offers the promise of HD video recording while submerged underwater. Yup! The Xperia XR is not just water resistant, it’s full on waterproof. It is IP55 and IP58 compliant, which means you can add “dust-resistant” to its list of irresisitble features. [...] Read More
May
13
Sony seems determined to improve its image. While rival TV makers tout voice recognition systems and play tuner Top Trumps, Sony’s latest flagship is all about picture quality. Indeed with its ground-breaking wide colour Triluminos backlight and uprated…
May
13
Sony has just announced the Sony Xperia ZR, another high-end Android smartphone joining an already packed 2013 schedule. There's the Sony Xperia Z, Xperia SP and Xperia L already announced, so what does the Xperia ZR bring to the (pool) party? The big…
May
13
Latest Android smartphone from Sony can be used up to 1.5 meters under water
May
13
Sony Japan has revealed a digital paper prototype that it is working on. It's a 13.3-inch slate device with an e-ink touchscreen display and a stylus, so it can be drawn and written on. Its potential, says Sony, is as a replacement in universities for…
May
13
Sony has announced another Android smartphone, the Sony Xperia ZR, which boosts the waterproofing of the Xperia Z, allowing you to capture photos and video in up to 1.5m of fresh water thanks to IP55 and IP58 compliance. The Sony Xperia ZR follows the…
May
9
Sony has just announced a spanking new laptop for the masses that will come with something that most modern day devices have – a touchscreen display. Yes sir, the new Sony Vaio Fit laptop will boast of Sony’s innovative digital imaging, sound and display technologies, where it is tipped to deliver a fair number of [...] Read More
Nov
1
It’s nearly impossible for Sony to create a Playstation or PSP phone offering the same controls and same games as either device. Instead, Sony seems to be pushing for a different kind of mobile gaming altogether, using tablets and phones as the hardware for a new casual gaming platform.
“Mobile gaming is a very important business area for us,” said Sony’s chief financial officer Masaru Kato, according to a transcription of an earnings call provided by Seeking Alpha. “We started out with the PSP that was our first mobile gaming console, but since then the market as you know has expanded into bigger arenas; gaming on mobile phones, gaming on tablets and on certain mobile devices.
“The PSP being a proprietary platform was more concentrated I’d say on the core gaming segment than the light game, but now we are addressing that market as well,” Kato added. “I can not be specific as to how we will introduce new product to address these markets, but one thing I can say is that we have those markets addressed and we will come out with products and services to capture the broader gaming market.”
A transcription by Engadget adds the following: “As for the tablet … obviously as a mobile strategy, this occupies a very important position. On one hand there is PC, and on the other hand there is joint venture with Ericsson on smartphone and for the games devices. And tablets fall somewhere in between.
“It is true Apple has led the market, but when we are to enter the market we would like to put a Sony character onto a new product – and that is the effort we are making right now. Therefore I think you can hope for a very good product to come out.”
Engadget read this mostly as a quasi-confirmation of the purported Playstation Phone photos they leaked last week — which was then denied, then not quite denied, then ignored — but I come away from the call with something quite different.
The PSP is, as Kato says, a dedicated mobile device for core gamers. It’s not a phone replacement. The PSP/Playstation’s analog sticks will never slide underneath a mobile phone’s screen without making the device incredibly thick; Sony can replace them with a touchpad, but then it’s really a derivative experience.
On the other hand, smartphones and tablets open devices up to all sorts of hardware possibilities that the current PSP doesn’t have: accelerometers and gyroscopes, 3G networking, etc.
This is the market Apple’s dominating in mobile, that Nintendo opened up on the console, and that Microsoft is trying to enter by bringing Xbox Live games to Windows Phone 7.
It’s a natural move for Sony: why make an Ericsson Android gaming smartphone that wedges the six-year-old PSP platform inside it when you can make Android gaming smartphones, feature phones and tablets that bring something new (for Sony) and competitive (with Apple and Microsoft) to the market?
If we’re getting wild with it, as long as we’re talking Android, why not bring a similar game platform as applications for Sony’s products on Google TV? Sony games without having to buy a Sony box — which might explain that giant controller.
There will always be a market for dedicated mobile gaming, which is why the PSP will continue to develop and add features and compete with Nintendo. But in mobile, the market for casual gaming is larger by orders of magnitude. Sony has all of the tools to reach that space and offer something both competitive and compelling.
PS Phone: Sony admits “new product” [Eurogamer]
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Oct
28
Console Wars 
Powered by Tableau
“There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands,” John Cougar Mellencamp wrote in the liner notes to his classic album, Scarecrow.
And so it goes with the handover from the Gamecube and PS2 to the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360: Gaming systems that we once loved are thrown into the dustbin of history, while strange new devices take center stage.
Here’s one way to look at those market shifts: With an interactive infographic from Tableau Software.
In addition to the console trends, you can watch Nintendo gain market share at Sony’s expense (while Microsoft hangs in there at a steady level).
The data, from NPD Group, is not particularly new, but the visualization is. If you ever wondered what a generational shift in technologies looks like, here you go.
What other tech data would you like to see visualized? Let us know in the comments!
Thanks, Ellie!
Follow us for real-time tech news: Dylan Tweney and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
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Oct
28
For the holidays, Sony is releasing a standalone Playstation 3 with a 320 GB hard drive, retailing $350. The same PS3 with a Playstation Move controller, Eye camera and Sports Champions game will cost $400; a standalone unit with a 160 GB hard drive costs $300.
The extra hard drive space is purportedly for games, video and other content distributed over the Playstation Network, but I’ve got to say that I agree with this Playstation Blog commenter:
You know I understand that with DLC content increasing at an alarming rate, we do need the extra space. What I dont understand is why you dont just keep all systems across the board with the same amount of memory and have consistent price drops (as technology gets cheaper) instead? 160GB would be ample space for most owners and for those who do a lot more downloading, Im sure those are the people fully capable and comfortable swapping out hard drives. Honestly if I were a basic user, Id prefer to spend $300 for a 160GB PS3 than spend $350 for a 320GB. It also causes more confusion for many non gamer types. What is the difference? Hard drive size. Really? Thats it?
Many other commenters point out that it’s easy to upgrade the internal hard drive of the PS3, making the savings relative to the 160 GB model nominal. On its own, the Move Starter Pack (controller, camera, game) costs $100.
Meanwhile, Nintendo’s offering bundled units at steep discounts and Microsoft Xbox is selling Kinects and new Xboxes like crazy. Either Sony’s margins don’t permit a price drop or they think they’re fine with the price points they have.
Offering a new package with a bigger hard drive makes sense if you’re cutting prices across the board. All this does is make the high-end bundle with the Move controller look like a marginally better deal.
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Oct
27
Engadget has photos of a prototype Sony Ericsson slide-out phone with Playstation/PSP-style gaming controls. The phone has a multitouch track pad (hard to slide analog sticks beneath a screen) and purportedly will appear sometime next year with Android 3.0, aka Gingerbread.
Rumors of an Android 3 PlayStation Phone first emerged in August. But we’ve been down this road many times before, with devices reported to be immanent, then killed off.
According to Engadget, the phone’s screen is “in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches” — they have photos, but not a copy of the phone itself, so there’s some guesswork involved. The phone is also reported to have a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM and 1GB of ROM.
That’s not much storage if the phone’s going to store games, pictures, video, books, apps or other media. Apparently the phone takes a microSD cards but not memory sticks or UMD. That’s one way to solve the storage problem, albeit a cumbersome one.
Engadget also claims there will be a special Sony Marketplace offering Android apps for the device. Custom Android app stores for custom Android devices seem to be the thing to do: Barnes & Noble’s getting ready to do just that for its new Nook Color.
Earlier this week, Kotaku reported that Sony executives were showing off a slide-out widescreen gaming device that the company was calling the PSP2. This summer, the Wall Street Journal reported that Sony was working on adding 3G networking to its gaming devices, and on handheld devices offering wireless communication, gaming and e-reading.
Assuming all of these projects are active, they could be complimentary devices, offering slightly different features and price points, or it could be a single convergent device offering everything. I guess we’ll find out sometime in 2011.
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Oct
14
Heads up, Sony NEX owners: There’s a firmware update for your camera and it’s actually something to get excited about. An exciting firmware update? Yes. With a simple download, you now have full access to 14 new lenses.
The update, for the NEX-3 and NEX-5, brings autofocus to these A-mount lenses. These lenses, which include both Sony’s own and third-party models from Carl Zeiss, are designed for the bigger Alpha SLRs and previously only worked in manual mode on the smaller mirrorless NEXs.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that, by Sony’s measurements, focussing these lenses will take from two to seven seconds, or longer than doing it by hand. Still, it’s free, so what are you gonna do?
There are a few more upgrades: two of the three soft-keys on the back of the cameras can now be programmed with your choice of function, you can choose which menu pops up when you hit the “menu” button, and when you choose manual focus, you can have a section of the picture enlarged on-screen to make things easier, just like Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds cameras.
The updates are available now, and can be installed from Windows or Mac OS2 (!?).
More enhancements for NEX-5/NEX-3 cameras [Sony]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
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Oct
12
Sony on Tuesday launched internet-connected HDTVs and Blu-ray players powered by the new Google TV software interface.
With Google TV, Sony says users can “watch television while tweeting about what theyre watching, checking their fantasy football scores, or finding related content on the web.”
As the video above shows, Sony’s emphasis with Internet TV is less about delivering stand-alone content over the web than recasting the television set as a multitasking device.Prices range from $400 to $1,400, and all models will be available for purchase Oct. 16.
Image by Sony
Sony’s Internet TV HDTVs will come in four sizes: 46-inch ($1,400), 40-inch ($1,000), 32-inch ($800), and 24-inch ($600). All four will have Intel processors, 1080p resolution and LED backlighting (except the 24-inch HDTV, which has a CCFL backlight). They will all have four HDMI and four USB inputs. (The press release has no information about component or composite inputs.)
They all have Wi-Fi, will come with the now-famous QWERTY RF remote with integrated mouse, and of course will have Google TV built-in. (Each Internet TV model has the NSX prefix and a GT1 suffix; for example, the 46-inch Internet TV is the NSX-46GT1.)
Sony will also be selling an Internet TV Blu-ray player, called the NSZ-GT1, for $400. It will have the same remote, a similar Intel processor, and will be able to play back Blu-ray discs. The Blu-ray player will have one HDMI input, one HDMI output and four USB inputs.
Google first presented its new Android-powered search, information and application platform for television at the I/O Conference in May. Last week, they launched a new Google TV website to announce their content and application partners, and Logitech debuted its Google TV set-top box, the Revue.
Sony’s contribution to Google TV, however, has probably attracted the most speculation. An ABC News story on Sony’s Internet TVs showed an oversized remote control that disappointed many (including a few of us here at Wired). Last week Sony Insider received leak about the product line (which we wrote about here at Gadget Lab) that nailed the screen size of all of the HDTVs but happily overshot the prices by as much as $500. I had an inkling, though, that those prices might be high when Sony held a contest to give away a new 40-inch Internet TV and pegged the approximate retail value of the prize at just $1,000.
Sony is certainly pricing Internet TV much more aggressively than most observers expected. In fact, the new Internet TVs will actually be selling for about $100 less than already-discounted current Bravia models with similar specifications. For example, the 46-inch Bravia NX-800, which also has an LED backlight and built-in Wi-Fi, currently retails for $1,500 at SonyStyle.com (marked down from $2000); the comparable NSX-46GT1 with Google TV will start at $1,400. The Blu-ray player does cost more than comparable non-Google TV Sony Blu-ray players with Wi-Fi, which run between $200 and $300. But for only $100 more than the $300 Logitech Revue, the additional Blu-ray playing capability may make $400 seem like a very fair price too.
A handful of Google TV apps will come pre-installed on Sony devices, including Pandora, YouTube, Napster, Twitter, television content from CNBC and the NBA, and Sonys own Qriocity on-demand video service.
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Oct
8
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First things first: In this episode, Brian X. Chen and I show off the Star Trek Enterprise pizza cutter from ThinkGeek. If you know a Trek fan who enjoys eating pizza (and what Trek fan doesn’t?) this could be a fine gift. It’s weighty, shiny silver, and looks just like the starship piloted by Captain James T. Kirk. It’s not the most solidly-built cutter, though, Brian points out — as he holds it dangerously close to my neck.
In more substantive tech news, we discuss the upcoming launch of Windows Phone 7, planned for Monday October 11. Microsoft will be taking the stage with AT&T at this press conference, which pretty much confirms that AT&T will be one of the carriers offering Microsoft’s next mobile operating system.
In other news, Cisco unveiled its Umi video phone, a $600 piece of kit that turns your HDTV into a videoconferencing system. You’ve also got to pay a monthly fee to support the Umi service. Are these guys crazy? Have they never heard of Google Chat?
Brian reviews Instagram, a hot new photo-editing and photo-sharing app for iPhones.
And we talk briefly about Sony’s risibly ugly Google TV remote, images of which popped up online earlier this week. If this is what the future of television looks like, I want to change the channel.
Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you dont want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds
Or listen to the audio here:
Gadget Lab audio podcast #91
Source:wired.com
Oct
8
This week, Sony launched the first commercial 400mW blueviolet laser diode for Blu-ray. The higher-power lasers can perform triple or even quadruple-layer recording at 8X-12X speeds, storing up to 128GB on a single disc.
Sony’s blue-violet laser diode, called the SLD3237VF, will cost about $12. Until the Blu-ray Super-Sized to 128GB, Requires New Player“>multi-layer BDXL spec is supported by players that can read the higher-storage discs, Sony says the new laser will allow a greater range of lenses and prisms to be used in constructing Blu-Ray devices, freeing up some of the restrictions on current hardware. Devices with the more powerful lasers already in place will be easier to upgrade later.
A year ago, Sharp announced a similar technical breakthrough with a 500mW blue-violet laser, with plans to ship in late 2010. Sharp representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
In laboratory experiments, Sony’s Advanced Materials Laboratories and their research partners at Tohoku University have developed blue-violet ultra-fast pulsed semiconductor lasers that can generate as much as 100W. In addition to industrial and nanotech applications, Sony is already experimenting using these lasers to create next-generation optical storage of even higher capacities.
Image above of 100W Experimental Laser by Sony via Semiconductor Today.
Source:wired.com
Oct
7
In yesterday’s roundup of the good, bad and ugly in new remote controls, we included one photo of a vintage remote: the Zenith Space Command. We identified it as the first TV remote, gave some details on its ultrasound-frequency tech and included a CC-licensed photo of an early model.
However, the Zenith Space Command we included was not, in fact, the first version of the device. The post prompted this friendly email from Wired.com reader Dan Turkewitz:
You’re right that the Zenith Space Command is the first commercially available remote. But the model you have pictured is one of those fancy “new” models! This is the original.
Sadly it doesn’t work very well on my 46″ plasma. But it has a place in my home theater setup anyway.
The next model up from this had a huge advance–four buttons: on/off, channel and volume up and down. That one sits on my brother’s desk.
As to its “Tired” features: the channels on the TV could also be changed by jangling a hand full of quarters, which made the same frequency sound as the metal bars in the remote. A trick my brothers and I all used when we weren’t happy with the channel choice of whoever had the remote. Which usually resulted in some fights.
I don’t know; given the current Apple-driven minimalist drive to pare down device controls to the smallest size and fewest number of buttons possible, you could easily argue that this first model of the Zenith Space Command was ahead of its time in more ways than one.
All images and email via Dan Turkewitz.
Source:wired.com
Oct
7
Google TV is so hot right now, and after the ridiculously overpriced Logitech Revue was announced yesterday, everyone is waiting to see what Sony will announce next Tuesday November 12th. Wait no longer: the Sony Insider blog has got the (possible) leaked details.
There will be four models of Sony Google TVs, sized at 24, 32, 40 and 46-inches. Prices, too, have leaked, although not for the smallest set. Starting with the 32-incher, the televisions will cost $1,300, $1,500 and $1,900 respectively.
And that’s it, apart from the picture above. It seems it is costing manufacturers a lot to put Google TV into their gear. The Logitech box costs a market-failing $300 and in the regular consumer’s eye does little more than the AppleTV which costs just $100 and comes with a small remote control, not a car dashboard.
At least with Sony’s Google TV you get the actual TV thrown in, but again, Joe Consumer will look at other, non-Google Sony TVs and see that he can get a 46-inch set for just $800, more than a grand less than this one.
And what happens if Google just dumps this project, like it did with Wave? That, too, was hyped as the next big thing, a replacement for email, IM and all internet communication. Will Google TV, the future of television and internet video, go the same way? (*cough* Google Video *cough*).
Sizes And Pricing for Sony Google TV Family Leaked [Sony Insider]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
Source:wired.com
Oct
7
Apparently, somebody in Sony’s camera-phone department didn’t get the megapixel memo. While pixel-counts in real cameras have been shrinking in favor of bigger, better, more sensitive pixels, cellphone cams seems to be squeezing in more and tinier photo-sites.
The sensor is the 16.41 Megapixel Exmor R, a tiny back-illuminated CMOS sensor designed to boost the spec-sheet of any phone it is stuffed into. Exmor is Sony’s photo-processing engine, used in its cameras and seen here in a cellphone-cam for the first time.
In better news, Sony has also come with the “industry’s smallest and thinnest” lens module, which could lead to better camera in things like the iPod Touch. These modules have auto-focus and are designed for the new Exmor sensors.
But back to those pixels. Sony is actually proud that it has the smallest pixels in the world: 1.12m, if you’re counting (and we are). It has mitigated the light and color-bleeding problems of jamming so many tiny photodiodes so close together by inventing “a unique formation of photo diodes optimally designed for fine pixel structure.” What this means is less noise and higher sensitivity. Here’s a picture:
That picture is taken under perfect lighting in a studio. Don’t expect results like these in the streets at dusk.
I suppose I secretly like these crazy announcements. In squeezing ever more pixels into ever tinier spaces, Sony makes advances that will make proper cameras better. And it’s not stopping, either. Sony ash just invested 40 billion Yen ($485 million) in the Kumamoto Technology Center to make more CMOS chips.
Sony commercializes world’s first 16.41 Megapixe sensors for mobile phones [Sony]
Source:wired.com
Oct
7
Nearly five months after Google announced its first Android-based set-top box software, Logitech has announced the details of the device based on it with hopes that the gadget will soon become a part of living rooms nationwide.
Logitech’s box for Google TV is called the Revue and will cost $300. It will combine cable programming with access to video from the web, photos from Flickr, games, and music from sites such as Pandora and Rhapsody. It will include HD video calling capability, Netflix, Chrome browser and an app that lets you use your iPhone or Android phone as a remote for the device.
The box is currently available for pre-order on the company’s website, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com. It will be in retail stores by the end of the month.
Google first announced its set-top box platform, Google TV, at the company’s developer conference in May. Since then, it has partnered with content creators such as HBO, CNBC, Turner Broadcasting and the NBA.
So far, Logitech and Sony have agreed to build the hardware for Google TV.
The Logitech Revue is a slim device powered by an Intel Atom CE4100 processor and a keyboard controller. To use it, consumers will need a broadband connection. With the bundled HDMI cable, users can link the Revue to the port on their TV, while another HDMI cable connects the Revue to the cable TV box.
Logitech’s thin, lightweight but rather clunky keyboard controller lets users interact with the device, search and choose what they want to watch.
But if you are wondering why the equivalent of the remote has so many buttons on it, Logitech says it chose a keyboard layout so anyone can just pick up and use it without going through a “learning curve.”
The controller also has a rather smooth touch pad with scroll and buttons such as back and home. Logitech has included buttons that control the TV, A/V receiver and DVR, which explains why the entire device looks so complicated. After all, it combines the TV remote and a computer keyboard into a single package.
One of the interesting features of the Logitech Revue box is the ability to make HD quality video calls from the TV. The accessories–Logitech TV Cam and Logitech Vid HD–lets consumers connect to the the Revue using USB and make calls without the need for a computer.
The TV cam has a wide-angle lens so it can capture the entire living room. And it includes 5x digital zoom so consumers can get up, close and personal, if they want.
The TV Cam and Vid HD software enable high-definition video calls of up to 720p. It includes some neat features such as call notifciation. For instance, if you receive a video call, the TV cam will blink to alert you of an incoming call.
If your TV screen is on, you will hear it ring and have the option to pick up or miss the call. The software also ensures that the TV lights up when youve missed a call even when your TV is off.
Overall, the Logitech Revue seems impressive with its hardware specs (1080p, 60 frames per second output, two USB ports, Wi-Fi and ethernet connectivity).It will be interesting to see if Google TV can go mainstream, something that Apple with its Apple TV has failed to do so far.
Photo: Logitech
Source:wired.com
Oct
6
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We hate our remotes. Every electronic media device comes with its own remote. We lose them and can’t control our stuff without them. They break. We confuse them with each other. It’s too hard to do simple things. It’s way too hard to do hard things. We ask too much of them. The batteries die, and they all take different batteries. They’re uncomfortable. They’re unresponsive. What we do with our hands don’t match what’s happening on the screen. And the software on the devices themselves that’s controlled by the remote is frequently terrible.
And occasionally, as with Sony’s controller for its upcoming Google TV, the remotes just boggle the mind with their ugliness and complexity.
We’re not alone in disliking remotes. The above litany of problems comes from what readers told Consumer Reports in an article titled simply “Readers Dislike TV Remotes.”
Now we have an emerging class of internet-connected media devices with powerful software designed to make navigating TVs and movies easier. Google TV, Apple TV, TiVo and Roku join game consoles like Sony’s Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii in providing multimedia content on the biggest screens in our house.
But however sophisticated the software, all of these devices still need a hardware device for us to control them. It’s quite likely that some of these devices won’t be dedicated remotes at all, but phones, tablets or other handheld media devices running apps. We might use these apps to control not just our TVs, but our entire house.
That’s one vision of the future of remote control.
Here, we want to examine the other side of the equation: dedicated hardware controllers. From traditional remotes to mini-keyboards, video controllers and devices that combine all three, here are fifteen devices that offer you a glimpse of everything that’s good and bad about the current generation of remote controls.
Wired: Sony’s controller offers all of the control you could want. Full QWERTY keyboard for text entry, which is essential for search — sure to be a key part of the Google experience. Raised buttons with different feel make it easier to use in the dark. It’s even got tab, control, number, and function keys — not dependent on software to get it done.
Tired: The sheer size of the thing will be a deal-breaker for some. In different shades of gray, it doesn’t look like a device from 2010. Too many buttons could be confusing or intimidating to non-expert users.
Image by ABC News
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Source:wired.com
Oct
6
This monstrosity from Sony might be the best reason yet to go out and buy an Android handset or an iPhone. Seen in an ad shown on ABC’s Nightline, the giant keyboard above is actually the remote control for Sony’s own Google TV hardware, due to be revealed on October 12th.
Sony seems to have dipped back into the 1980s for the remote’s design, an age when more of anything was better. The device seems to be big enough to be awkward in the hand, and yet still small enough to slip down the back of the couch, and features a full QWERTY keyboard, a couple of directional controls, plus dedicated switches for volume, channel selection and everything else. Hell, there’s probably a self-destruct button in there somewhere.
By contrast, you’ll also be able to control your Google TV from a smartphone app. Google doesn’t always make the prettiest interfaces, but they are nice and simple, and they work. Compare this multi-buttoned behemoth to the simple voice-control seen in the Nightline video and wonder just what Sony is thinking.
In reality, Sony’s control is no worse than the keyboard/mouse combos we use for our media-center PCs. The difference is that Google TV is supposed to be easy and simple, and not a media-center PC.
Smart TV: Google TV? [ABC via Engadget]
Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.
Source:wired.com
Oct
4
Google unveiled a new website preview of its Google TV service and announced content partnerships with HBO, CNBC, Turner Broadcasting, and the NBA. Each of these network partners will build custom applications with premium content optimized for Google TV.
Most of these TV applications are either news-oriented or offer specialized interfaces for content. NBA Game Time follows basketball news and highlights; HBO Go will be a special on-demand portal for HBO subscribers that appears to be separate from whatever on-demand offerings are available through one’s cable provider; CNBC Real-Time augments the news channel with personalized stock tracking and news; and Turner will provide a big-screen, new-interface version of its website content from TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
Other announced Google TV applications include Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, The New York Times (which appears to be mostly video- rather than news-driven), VEVO’s music video service, Pandora, Twitter, and of course, Google’s Chrome web browser (w/Flash 10.1 support) and an HDTV-optimized version of YouTube called Leanback. Additional and forthcoming applications will be available through Google’s Android Market beginning early next year.
Google TV’s overhauled website offers a tour and feature list, including TV search, use of an Android smartphone or iPhone as a remote control, and the ability to “Fling” websites, video and audio from your handset to the television. It also spotlights its hardware partners, Sony’s Internet TV and the Logitech Revue set-top box, with an option for notification when more products become available.
Here Comes Google TV [The Official Google Blog]
Source:wired.com
