Wel internet, geen 3D in nieuwe tv's van LG

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/brightmagazine/~3/YSzY03bHWLk/wel-internet-geen-3d-nieuwe-tvs-van-lg

Televisies van LG's nieuwe televisielijn Infinia beschikken over internetconnectiviteit. 3D staat nog even in de ijskast.

In april komen de eerste tv's van LG's nieuwe home entertainmentlijn Infinia uit. Opvallend zijn het het randloze ontwerp en het nog iets plattere scherm dan in eerdere toestellen. LG brengt zowel een plasmaserie (PK950) als een led-variant (LE8500) uit.

Eén op de vijf televisies die dit jaar wordt verkocht zal beschikken over een internetverbinding, zo luidt de voorspelling. Op welke manier consumenten internet kunnen gebruiken op hun tv is van de tv-fabrikant afhankelijk, zoals Philips NetTV. Bij LG is dat in de vorm van het NetCast Entertainment System. Hiermee kunnen gebruikers straks YouTube-filmpjes kijken op hun tv, Skypen en webapplicaties als Picasa en AccuWeather gebruiken. NetCast is een gesloten systeem, je kunt je tv niet zomaar als browser gebruiken maar kunt alleen terecht op de sites die aan NetCast zijn toegevoegd. In de toekomst wil LG ook nog de mogelijkheid bieden om widgets te installeren, de manier die Samsungs Internet@tv ook gebruikt.

Verder zijn de tv's voorzien van DLNA-technologie (Digital Living Network Alliance) waarmee je draadloos toegang hebt tot de mediabestanden van bijvoorbeeld je pc of harddisk.

Interessant is vooral de Wireless Media Box (WMB) die je er los bij kunt kopen. Op dit apparaat kan je al je randapparatuur van Blu-Rayspelers tot spelconsoles aansluiten, waarna de WMB ze draadloos - tot 15 meter - verbindt met de Infinia-televisies. Met je afstandsbediening kan je via de televisie je WMB aansturen. Zo houdt je alle apparten uit het zicht maar zijn ze wel benaderbaar.

Over 3DTV's uitte LG nog geen vastomlijnde plannen, in tegenstelling tot de aankondigingen van Sony, Samsung en Panasonic. Ze testen zowel actieve als passieve vormen van 3D en zowel op plasma- als lcd-schermen. LG heeft de technologie al wel in huis, maar denkt dat de consument er nog niet klaar voor is. Het zou echter zomaar kunnen dat LG over twee maanden besluit om toch een 3DTV uit te brengen, wist een medewerker ons te vertellen. Op de site van LG worden ze voorzichtig welwacht nog  al genoemd.

3 reacties

Sent from my iPhone

Auvibel, eat this -> Put.io Turns Torrents Into Streams [Invites]

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/58L1VqWZFcE/putio_turns_torrents_into_streams.php

putio-logo.jpgIt's services like Put.io that are behind why Google executives argue desktops will be irrelevant in three years, why Steve Ballmer says Microsoft is betting the bank on the cloud, and why storage stats for the newest gadget are becoming less and less important.Everything is going to the cloud.

Does it often feel like a waste of time to download something just to watch it once and then delete it? Then Don't. Use Put.io. Put simply, Put.io fetches files from the Internet and allows you to either store them there or immediately stream them.

Sponsor

Put.io can get files from bittorrent, FTP, direct download and rapidshare, as well as from standard websites. It can even automatically keep up with downloads, pulling links from an RSS feed.

While the immediate question is one of legality, we do want to mention that, aside from pirated movies and television shows, there actually are a lot of videos out there available for download by bittorrent and other means. Beyond that, Put.io addresses the issue of legality and the DMCA, saying that "It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") and other applicable intellectual property laws. Responses may include disabling access for all users to the material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and/or terminating submitters of the material ability to use the Put.io service at all."

We gave the service a shot and it downloaded a 750 megabyte torrent in less then a minute. Although the service wasn't able to stream the MKV format directly on the site (and we had the wrong DiVX player version), we gave it another shot with an AVI torrent and we had streaming video in under a minute. And Put.io stores the files so you can come back and access them again and again.

Currently, beta testers get 50 gigs of storage with 150 gigs of bandwidth. The bandwidth is not counted when downloading the files to the service, but instead when you access them - so repeated watching of a large file could surely reach that limit.

In addition to the basic functionality, you can share files and folders with friends and access files from anything that supports a browser, from your iPhone to your PS3. In addition to a mobile version, the service is planning to release an API as well as a Boxee plugin. The site is still in public beta, but Put.io is offering 300 invites to our readers. Simply visit this site and get an invite.

Discuss


Sent from my iPhone

Twitter Sees 347% Growth in Mobile Browser Access

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/iPu8ERykHFU/twitter_sees_347_growth_in_mobile_browser_access.php

There's good reason tweets are limited to 140 characters - the microblogging social network was developed specifically with mobile in mind and 140 characters is the size limit for a text message. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Twitter has experienced a 347% jump since a year ago in people accessing the site via mobile browser.

Sponsor

comscore-mobile-acces-users.JPGAccording to a comScore report, both Twitter and Facebook have experienced significant increases in mobile browser access over the past year.

"Social networking remains one of the most popular and fastest-growing behaviors on both the PC-based Internet and the mobile Web," said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile, in the company's press release. "Social media is a natural sweet spot for mobile."

Just over 30% of smartphone users access social networking sites using a mobile browser, comScore reports, up from 22% just a year ago. Access to Facebook using a mobile browser grew 112% while Twitter grew a whopping 347%.


comscore-mobile-browser-pct.JPGWhat do these numbers mean in terms of actual number of visitors? According to comScore, Facebook saw 25.1 million mobile users in January 2010, Myspace had 11.4 million and Twitter 4.7 million. As the report points out, "these figures do not include access of the social networking services by the nearly 6 million mobile phone owners who do so exclusively through mobile applications."

As smartphones continue to grow in popularity, social networking services will get more and more traffic from mobile use, and we wouldn't be surprised to see mobile access overtake other methods of access at some point in the future.

Discuss

Sent from my iPhone

Barnes & Noble Doesn't Want Digital Magazines to Be Owned Apple and Amazon After All [Ebooks]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ARDK1kiNGeE/barnes--noble-doesnt-want-digital-magazines-to-be-owned-apple-and-amazon-after-all

Though they could've fooled me, Barnes & Noble apparently isn't content to let ebooks and digital mags be a two-horse race between Amazon and Apple. They just made a big hire in Jonathan Shar, from Time, who's going to be running their "Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content, Barnes & Noble.com" division. Though that division name tells me they're already kind of fucked. [MediaMemo]

Sent from my iPhone

Apple 'iKey' Places a Combination Lock on Your Wallet [Patents]

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/t7pVIwB7uQE/apple-ikey-places-a-combination-lock-on-your-wallet

At its surface, a recently uncovered Apple patent application describes a Motion Based Input Selection. But a closer look reveals that Apple wants the iPhone to become your life's omnitool.

Using near field communication—or RFID, which isn't in the current crop of iPhones—coupled with a cute, onscreen UI (like a combination lock), Apple's patent describes a future in which iPhone users open their front doors and even pay for their next iPhone with a 3-digit pin. Many have already dubbed it the "iKey."

I'm not sure that I could stand waiting at Walgreen's while the guy in front of me attempted to wield the iPhone's accelerometers with enough dexterity to purchase some antacid and the latest edition of Sport Fishing. But given that a good chunk of the world is already benefiting from phone-based RFID shopping, there's little question that the basic premise is a good one. [Patent (PDF) and Telegraph and ElectricPig via Slashdot]

Sent from my iPhone

Is the Internet a Fundamental Right? [POLL]

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Mashable/~3/RlgzkIYE_Ks/

In a study conducted by the BBC World Service, four in five respondents said they believe web access is a fundamental right. 90% described the Internet as “a great place to learn,” and 78% considered it a source of “greater freedom.” A bit more than half said that the Internet should not be regulated by government at all.

27,000 people form 26 countries were surveyed, and their responses varied by location. While a large number of people from the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Korea said the Internet shouldn’t be regulated, many residents of China, Pakistan and Turkey disagreed; only 16% of Chinese, 12% of Pakistani and 13% of Turkish respondents said the Internet shouldn’t be regulated.

We’re always curious where our readers stand, especially since this is a hot issue right now with the recent struggle between Google and China. Where do you fall on this issue? Take part in the poll below, and feel free to elaborate in the comments.

Is Internet access a fundamental right?online surveys

Tags: News, Political, poll, rights, web

Sent from my iPhone