Qualcomm has announced its Skifta Media Shifting Platform, a new push to get its DLNA/UPnP service into more home entertainment hardware, with the first kit to arrive being the Skifta Wireless Audio Adapter. Adding Skifta streaming support to existing home entertainment devices, the new adapter is set to drop sometime in the first half of this year. However, it's Skifta's upcoming hardware development kits and SDK that shoudl make the real difference, embedding the tech into wireless speakers, TVs, STBs, routers and NAS, and other A/V adapters.
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‘Home Entertainment’ Stories
Qualcomm Skifta Media Shifting Platform to take on Sonos
Sony outs 2nd-Gen Google TV boxes with streamlined remote
Sony promised second-gen Google TV hardware, and the company has delivered with the new Sony Network Media Player NSZ-GS7 and Blu-ray Disc Player NSZ-GP9, streamlining the remote and boosting cross-platform support. Gone is the button-festooned madness of the original line-up, replaced with a straightforward trackpad on one side and a backlit QWERTY keyboard on the other. However, either can be bypassed thanks to an integrated microphone for voice-recognition and control.
Samsung 55-inch OLED TV will go on sale this year
Samsung isn’t letting LG have all the OLED TV fun: it has a 55-inch OLED HDTV of its own, and it’s planning to launch it commercially later this year. The new set has the same smart TV functionality as Samsung’s LED and plasma TVs, as well as Voice Control, Motion Control and Face Recognition for navigating media and internet with your voice and waves of your hands.
Samsung Smart LED and Plasma TVs get voice, gesture and face control
Samsung has unveiled its range of new smart TVs, adding voice, gesture and face recognition for a Kinect-style control system where traditional broadcast, VoD streaming and apps can be navigated without a remote. The face-recognition system can also tailor content offered to the viewer, so that children only say age-appropriate content. Each of the 2012 smart TVs now support software and hardware upgrades, too, for future-proofing.
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DISH Network Hopper and Joey multi-zone DVR system revealed
DISH Network has revealed its new whole-house high definition DVR system, the bizarrely named Hopper and Joey, consisting of a main DVR base station and multiple smaller STBs. Hopper can record up to six HD channels simultaneously to its 2TB of internal storage, funneling that to individual Joey boxes that are connected via your home's existing co-axial cabling. Meanwhile an ecosystem of Sling adapters, online management through the browser and the DISH Remote Access apps allow for access outside of the home.
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CES 2012 Is Go: Ultrabooks fast out of the blocks
CES 2012 may not “officially” kick off until Tuesday January 10, but you’d never realize that looking at the flood of new products grabbing a pre-show chance at the limelight. CES Unveil yesterday and the packed timetable of press conferences today are already showing some themes, however, with ultrabooks and smart TV taking an early lead as the consumer electronics industry lays out its cards for 2012.
Google reportedly paying smart TV vendors to use Android [Update: Google denies]
Google is reportedly paying manufacturers to use Android in their TVs, with models such as Lenovo's new K91 ICS-based smart TV supposedly earning vendors a kick-back. The deals, so Neowin's sources say, are part of Google's plan to extend Android through the living room, and are likely what chairman Eric Schmidt was referring to when he suggested that the majority of new TVs would support Google TV by this summer. Updated after the cut.
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Netflix launches streaming in UK and Ireland
Netflix has launched its TV and movie streaming service in the UK and Ireland, as expected, offering unlimited access to its on-demand catalog for £5.99/€6.99. Promised back in October, the service can be accessed through Smart TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, tablets and smartphones, with some content available in HD and with 5.1-channel surround sound.
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Samsung inTouch puts Skype on any HDTV
Samsung has launched the inTouch WiFi Skype camera, a Kinect-lookalike wirelessly-enabled webcam that turns a regular HDTV into a 720p video conferencing tool, YouTube player and web browser. The 3-megapixel fixed-focus webcam is paired with WiFi b/g/n and integrated microphone and speakers, while the inTouch itself actually runs a heavily skinned Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Netflix UK launching this week tip sources
Netflix UK is set to launch this week, sources have suggested, with a high-profile advertising campaign kicking off to drum up excitement about the streaming media service. New deals alongside the adverts are set to begin this coming week, The Guardian's tipsters claim, though it's unclear when, exactly, the service itself will begin operating.
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TiVo app for Android tablets in pipeline
TiVo is working on a version of its new Android remote control and scheduling app for larger tablets, the existing title being suited to smartphones and sub-7-inch devices. News of the second version was apparently confirmed in a comment on the company's blog, with the tablet support said to be "coming soon."
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LG Cinema Screen 3D TV packs 1mm bezel and dual-view for gaming
LG has previewed its Cinema Screen LCD HDTV design, ahead its official CES launch, slimming the bezel of its big-screen TVs to a mere 1mm as well as using 3D tech to allow two 2D gamers to play at once. The company is describing the new frames as down “to negligible levels” and talking up the similarity between movie theater screens.
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