Kindle Fire from Amazon

 The Kindle Fire is a tablet computer version of Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader. Announced on September 28, 2011, the Kindle Fire has a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS technology and runs a forked version of Google's Android operating system. The device—which includes access to the Amazon Appstore, streaming movies and TV shows, and Kindle's e-books—was released on November 15, 2011.

The Kindle Fire retails for US$199.   Estimates of the device's initial bill of materials ranged from $150 to $201.70.  Analysts have projected the device to be a strong competitor to Apple's iPad, and that other Android device makers will suffer lost sales.   Amazon's business strategy is to make money on the selling of digital content on the Fire, rather than through the device itself.
The Kindle Fire's external dimensions are 7.5×4.7×0.45 inch (190×120×11 mm), with the visible area of the screen a little smaller than a standard 4×6" photograph.
Customers began receiving their Kindle Fires on November 15, 2011, and in the following December, customers purchased over 1 million Kindle devices per week.  International Data Corporation (IDC) estimated that the Kindle Fire sold about 4.7 million units during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Posted on 07.05 / 0 komentar / Read More

How to watch live UK TV on iPad

It was the day England was playing against Nigeria in the world cup. I was driving to my friend’s house to watch the game but I was stuck in stop and go traffic in a small residential road. I had never tried to watch live TV on iPhone so I thought let’s see if I can open ITV-Player in Safari. As I was suspecting this wasn’t possible. Why? Because ITV player similar to many other video players uses Flash technology to play video, and flash is not supported in iPhone or iPad. Frustrated, I decided to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly how I can watch live TV on my iPhone. I spent the whole week reading reviews, Googling and testing different apps. Here are my findings.

BBC, ITV, channel 4, and channel 5

On the BBC iPlayer website you can watch the BBC channels live and you can watch previously recorded programs. On ITV player, Channel 4 On Demand, and channel 5 websites you get to see only previously recorded programs. Now if you try to open any of these websites in your iPhone or iPad browser (Safari) unfortunately you won’t be able to watch the TV programs. The only expceptin is BBC iPlayer which allows you watch only the previously recorded programs on iPhone but not iPad at the time of writing this post.

So is there a way to watch live TV on iPhone?

The answer is yes. You can watch pretty much all the standard free view digital channels on TVCatchup.com and the best part is that you don’t even need to download an app for this and it is completely free. How that is possible and how long is this going to last? I don’t know but I would say make the most of it while it lasts! All you do is to point your browser to this address:

To watch on iPhone:
Go to: http://iphone.tvcatchup.com
To watch on iPad:
Go to: http://ipad.tvcatchup.com
You can watch the following channels live:

What about the quality?
Surprisingly good, particularly BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4, and Channel 5 which all play in high quality.
I watched BBC1, BBC2 and ITV over my home Wi-Fi and all streamed beautifully with good quality (ok maybe not perfect but very good). One thing I noticed is that on all three channels there was an exact 40 second time delay, and yes I timed this with my iPhone stopwatch (a true geek). Next I tested the channels over 3G. I switched off the WiFi on iPhone and was on O2 3G full 5 bar reception and… “Yes results I am super excited! I am watching live BBC1 very good quality over the 3G Network.” The delay is the same as on WiFi, 40 second. The Tvcatchup.com service was actually launched at the end of 2009 so not entirely new but it’s the first time am using it.

How can I watch the Sky sport channels on my iPhone?

The Sky Mobile TV app allows you to watch Sky Sports 1,2 and 3 as well as Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Extra, Sky News, At The Races and ESPN.
The Sky Mobile TV app currently works over Wi-Fi. Sky iPhone tariffs include unlimited Wi-Fi access over BT Openzone and The Cloud Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK (including most Starbucks).
The app is free but you have to pay a monthly subscription to be able to watch the TV channels. £6/month for iphone and £35 for iPad. The user comments are mixed on this one. There are many positive comments but also some concerns and complaints have risen over the streaming quality `nd the high price for iPad subscription. I haven’t yet tested the sky streaming myself so if you are a subscriber please share your thoughts on this.

A few apps for watching live internet from around the world

SlingPlayer Mobile Price £17.99


This is a slightly different proposition. SlingPlayer is for slightly more advanced users who want to get all their standard TV channels live streamed their iPhone. It is also costly and takes some setting up.
So how does it work? Hook up a SlingBox Solo or Pro to your home network and TV equipment, and it takes your TV signal, encodes it, and streams it over the internet. Install SlingPlayer Mobile on your iPhone or iPod touch to do the same.
SlingBoxes integrate with almost any hardware – Sky+, Apple TV, cables boxes – and can control them remotely. But the setup is expensive – £112 for a SlingBox Solo, plus the cost of the app which is £17.99. The good news is that the latest version 1.2 now supports viewing over 3G.
OrbLive by Orb Networks. Price £5.99
Works similar to SlingPlayer with the difference that Orb streams the video programs from you computer. You don’t need a separate box like Slingbox but you will need a TV tuner in your computer.
Orb works by recording live TV on a personal computer, which is then accessible on the owner’s Apple device using the Safari web browser. It requires a £70 TV tuner card and £5 Apple app to work.
TVU by TVU Networks Corporation. Price £2.99
Allows you to watch live TV from more than 300 channels worldwide. It costs £2.99 and works over WiFi only at this time. The basic features it includes are favourites, search, and landscape mode viewing. Also, there is no limit on the amount of time you can watch TV.
I have tried TVU and like many others must say the picture quality is generally very unreliable. You are able to check the signal strength for channels and I must say that from my experience many channels have low signal strength resulting in buffering and cut offs. If you are looking for some very special focus channel or foreign language channel this might be for you. For example there is a channel only dedicated to single dads and another one is for black belt karate viewers.
Justin.tv By Justin.tv Free
This one is more of a social media TV where everybody can create their own channel and stream it live on Justin.tv. Watch live video and participate in chat or share your favourite channels with friends.

Source:iphoneappcafe.com

Posted on 18.18 / 0 komentar / Read More

Apple's iPad Reaches Out, Will Go on Sale in 21 Countries

Apple said today that its third-generation iPad, released in the U.S. and nine other countries March 16, will start being sold in an additional countries 21 countries this month.

Image via CrunchBase

Consumers in South Korea, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela can buy the tablet starting on April 20. Users in India, Israel, Colombia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand will have to wait until April 27.

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the new touchscreen tablet, which adds a faster processor, high-resolution display and support for high-speed wireless networks, on March 7, saying it will usher in the “post-PC era” as more consumers opt for a portable mobile device for viewing content, surfing the web and checking their email. Apple said more than 3 million were sold in the weekend after it was released. The company offers six models, starting at $499.
Sales of the iPad, which accounts for about 20 percent of Apple’s sales, are expected to help drive a 47-percent jump in sales in the quarter ended in March, to about $36.3 billion (though some analysts are predicting sales as high as $41 billion.)
Apple probably  sold between 12 to 13 million iPads in March (or as many as 812,500 a day if you think most sales were the new iPad). But the number does include demand for the year-old iPad 2. Apple cut the price of the older model by $100 — giving it a starting price of $399 — to win over cost-conscious buyers.
As for the iPhone, Apple may have sold as many as 33 million. The iPhone, which now represents more than half of sales, got a boost from new buyers in China following a distribution deal for the iPhone 4s with China Telecom in early March.
Apple will announce  fiscal second quarter results on April 24, and everyone will be listening out for clues as to when the next iPhone — the iPhone 5 — will be released. Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray, thinks it will be sometime this summer. But he says it almost doesn’t make a difference, as customers in the market for a new smartphone will likely wait for Apple’s new model instead of buying a rival phone.
“The reality is the “when” question doesn’t matter for shares of Apple as we believe consumer demand for the iPhone is captive,” Munster wrote in a report last week.”Buyers are unlikely to go out to buy a different phone if launch is not until October.”
After touching $644 last week, Apple’s shares were trading down today at $584.98 at 2:08 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq.

Source:Forbes.com

Posted on 17.43 / 0 komentar / Read More

Looking Beyond Gadgets, Six Trends in Consumer Electronics

  

We all love gadgets. They seem to occupy most of our waking moments even when we sleep via a sleep app to monitor your sleep patterns. But do you think about what drives the development of those gadgets? Or what your smart phone will do next?
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is the world’s largest technical professional association that’s dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of all us humans. The organization goes back to 1844 when electricity was just starting to impact society – the telegraph and electric power and light. In fact, there’s a pretty interesting timeline that shows major technological milestones from 1844 through today. Famous members range from Alexander Graham Bell, Elihu Thomson, whose company merged to form General Electric and Bernard M. Oliver, who you can thank for the hand-held calculator.
According to a few of these IEEE experts post CES 2012, they identified six trends they believe will dictate the next product development cycles of consumer electronics companies around the world. In other words, your next gadget, might have these capabilities.  *
1. Ubiquitous, Nonstop Connectivity
Internet-connected devices aren’t new, but their increased connection capabilities are changing the way society works as a whole.
“A fully connected society will require a shift in the way people work, think and live,” said Dr. Henry Samueli, IEEE Fellow and chief technical officer at Broadcom Corporation. “It’s not just about the device itself; it’s about connecting all the devices together and sharing content. In a few years, all consumer electronic products will be able to share content – quickly and seamlessly – in a way that is transparent to the user.”
2. Cloud-Based Applications
Constant connectivity and seamless mobility means more data storage. Technology companies and service providers are turning to the cloud for increased storage and computing power.
“Cloud-based services are able to process and access information that would otherwise be impractical to achieve on a small, under-powered device,” said Stuart Lipoff, IEEE Fellow. “By taking advantage of powerful servers and the wealth of information in the cloud, the little battery powered device in your pocket takes on the power of a super-computer.”
Lipoff predicts new applications such as pattern recognition and various forms of artificial intelligence, including facial recognition, will be among the product features consumers can expect in the future.
3. Streaming Web-Based Video
According to Richard Doherty, IEEE Senior Member, 2012 will be the tipping point for online video consumption. “The upswing in web-based video streaming can be credited to the widespread availability of video-capable internet TVs and external devices,” said Doherty. “These devices include video consoles and innovative, optimized net streaming boxes.”
 
4. Intelligent Transportation
Safer, faster, more convenient transportation is a growing trend affecting commuters and consumers worldwide. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) focus on the use of ordinary devices (such as a cell phone or GPS) that are enabled with built-in custom software so cars and buses can “communicate” with roadways and transportation systems.
Developments in consumer electronics for ITS are leading to a future where the technology can help provide a more streamlined traffic flow, better usage of energy resources and fewer vehicular accidents.
“Consumers everywhere will benefit from the advancement of ITS,” said IEEE Senior Member Alberto Broggi. “Vehicles will be able to monitor their surroundings and warn drivers of pedestrians, traffic patterns, and other vehicles, resulting in safer commuting. Advanced sensors will allow vehicles to detect and warn drivers of any immediate stops or dangers in the way of the vehicle, which can significantly decrease the likelihood of vehicle accidents.”

Source:Forbes.com

Posted on 17.35 / 0 komentar / Read More