VUDU on Thursday announced that it has brought brought three key Internet apps to VUDU-enabled TVs. These are the same apps that were already available on the VUDU box and include Picasa, Flickr, Pandora, a free TV on-demand service and a few simple games. VUDU says it brought these apps to the TVs from its partners due to popular demand.
Acer on Wednesday made a new claim to the fastest smartphone available with the Liquid. The company's first Android phone, it's one of the first to ship with Android 1.6 but is also the first Android phone to ship with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Using the 1GHz chip makes it faster than the 800MHz Samsung Moment and helps drive the 800x480 touchscreen as well as speed up 3D and Android's already accurate web browser.
Fon today formally rolled out its once-teased Fonera 2.0n router. The new update adds 802.11n Wi-Fi speeds but is better known for adding built-in clients for several services independently of computers. Owners can upload content to Facebook, Flickr, Megaupload, Picasa, RapidShare and YouTube when the relevant computer is turned off; it can also download BitTorrents and send Twitter updates to signal when a transfer has been completed or a guest connects to the public hotspot.
Google on Tuesday announced that it has released an update to its photo software, Picasa. Version 3.5 adds several new features, including facial recognition technology that is designed to automatically organize content based on the subjects in the pictures. The system works in a similar way to Apple's application, iPhoto, which added facial recognition early in the year.
Belkin has introduced its Home Base networking hub on Tuesday, which allows users to share peripherals using their existing wireless networks, including printers, external hard drives or other USB devices. The Home Base is compatible with other Wi-Fi b/g/n devices and will also allow users to automatically back up a connected computer's files onto a designated and connected USB hard drive.
Pioneer at the CEDIA expo today provided demonstrations of its first networked media hub. The concept device shown on the floor, so far known only as the Entertainment Tap, still has a Blu-ray player but is intended for online media playback first and foremost: it can recognize media from DLNA-ready devices over Ethernet or Wi-Fi and has access to Netflix movies, Picasa photos and YouTube videos. Mobile control is also a high priority as the Tap can not only stream its content to a handheld over the Internet but could use an iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control for all of its functions.
Toshiba produced a surprise at IFA today with word of a touchscreen media tablet of its own. The Journe Touch is treated as a high-end mobile Internet device (MID) with an emphasis on video playback: the device can play HD video either at a reduced resolution on its 800x480 display or at full resolution through an HDMI output. Its Wi-Fi is used that way as well, as web browsing is considered secondary to streaming Internet video from YouTube or the movie service Acetrax.
Mitsubishi announced on Thursday that it has integrated VUDU support for the flagship Diamond models in its Unisen Immersive Sound range of LCD HDTVs. This will give users access to VUDU's extensive library that include thousands of HD movies and TV shows. The two Diamond Unisen models, the 46-inch LT-46249 and 52-inch LT-52249, have an Ethernet port that allows them to connect to the web. Otherwise, there is an optional VUDU wireless accessory bridge for hooking up to existing home networks.
Cerevo on Saturday unveiled its first product, a camera designed explicitly for Internet uploads. The CerevoCam is simple, with just a 9-megapixel (but CMOS) sensor and basic controls, but includes 802.11n Wi-Fi for an automatic photo upload feature. It can send photos either to the company's own CerevoLife site, which hosts 5GB of free storage, or else put the content on established sites like Flickr, Picasa, or Twitter-oriented photo hosts.
Panasonic this morning gave all of its Viera Cast Blu-ray players support for Amazon's Video On Demand service. The feature gives the company's more advanced disc readers from 2009, including its portable reader, the option of streaming purchases and rentals directly from the reader without needing the storage for a complete copy. Using VOD isn't dependent on having a matching Panasonic TV (which already supports the feature) and supports HD with a sufficiently fast connection.
FON today significantly improved its core wireless router by launching the Fonera 2.0n. The device appropriately has 802.11n Wi-Fi for faster speeds and longer ranges than the older 11g model. More importantly, though, it adds USB and dedicated clients for multiple services directly on the router. Owners can download from BitTorrent, Megaupload or Rapidshare to USB storage without turning on a computer; they can also upload photos or videos to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa or YouTube from an attached camera.
(Update with official info) T-Mobile will officially put Google's Android 1.5 on G1 smartphones early next week, the company said today. In spite of having already pushed the update early to some users, T-Mobile USA hopes to have the update begin in earnest before the end of next week. The rollout will take place in phases to manage the load and will let every phone get the update by the end of May.
Eye-Fi on Tuesday announced users of its Eye-Fi Share Video and Eye-Fi Explore Video cards can now upload photos or videos to Picasa Web Albums, Photobucket and SmugMug in addition to the previously supported YouTube and Flickr. The addition lets any appropriately enabled still or video camera publish videos to the sites over a Wi-Fi connection created directly from the memory card itself, bypassing computers entirely as with the earlier version.
Digital Cowboy today provided an all-in-one alternative for media hubs in the Media Cowboy DC-MC35ULI. The set-top box takes any 3.5-inch SATA hard drive and will play common audio and video formats up to 720p but also has its own top-mounted Dock Connector to play music and video directly from any click wheel iPod; a remote supports controlling both the Media Cowboy's internally stored content as well as that on Apple players.
FON on Thursday held a small, informal demonstration of its Fonera 2.0/La Fonera+ router in Paris, announcing in will be made available in Europe on April 21st, with other markets that include the USA, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan being added in May. Compared to the original La Fonera, the new Wi-Fi router adds an extra LAN port that allows users to connect a wired device. The new device also can share 3G data network access as a Wi-Fi connection and users can set how much of their own bandwidth they want to share with other FON members.
Sony on mid-Thursday crowned its Cyber-shot news at CES with the DSC-G3. The camera is both one of Sony's few Wi-Fi equipped cameras but is the only one to include its own web browser. The addition not only allows for basic web use on the 3.5-inch touchscreen but also streamlines photo and video uploading; users can post images to Flickr, movies to YouTube, and other similar actions without having to return home to a computer. A streamlined landing page improves the experience in particular for sites like Picasa.
VUDU today staked out a potential edge in networked media hubs on Tuesday by launching a new platform specifically tailored to normally web-oriented services. The RIA (Rich Internet Application) standard lets developers write and users download add-ons that convert web games, photo and video services into a native program for the VUDU Box rather than have to use a special web browser or make special arrangements for app development. The implementation will make it relatively straightforward to integrate web content while still having a "lean-back" interface with remote control, the company explains.
Boxee has released an updated alpha version of its media player software adding support for the Watch Instantly video streaming feature from Netflix as well as MTV music videos, the WB network and photos from the Boston Globe. The move comes two weeks after the startup secured its first round of venture capital funding, hoping to license the XBMC-based software for use in set-top boxes and other devices.
Google has released v1.5 of its Data APIs Objective-C Client Library, a framework for Mac OS X developers which allows the use of Google data in third-party programs. Included is a variety of APIs, including ones for Google services such as Calendar, Picasa, YouTube and more. The new library includes the Book Search API, which allows people to browse and search for the contents of books online, and the Finance API, which lets people track portfolio information.
First announced in January, Panasonic's PZ850-series Viera plasmas have at last been given final details, prices and release dates. The sets are luxury models sized in 46, 50, 58 and 65-inch formats, and feature built-in Internet access, allowing users to view YouTube clips or Picasa photos without a separate player or interface. Support for more websites should be added automatically as Panasonic announces them.
Google is making even deeper in-roads into the Japanese cellular market, reports say. Citing anonymous sources, Reuters claims that Google has signed a new deal with NTT DoCoMo, the country's largest wireless carrier, permitting a variety of applications to appear on DoCoMo's i-Mode network. These may include the likes of Gmail, Picasa and Calendar, according to Reuters.
If confirmed, the move may give DoCoMo a temporary edge in its home market. While both DoCoMo and number-two carrier KDDI are a part of Google's Open Handset Alliance, KDDI has not announced any Google features for existing phones. National business paper The Nikkei notes that DoCoMo is trying to forge the closest possible link with Google, to the exclusion of competitors.
Google today continued its Web service optimizations for Apple's iPhone with the release of a new iPhone interface for Picasa, the company's photo-sharing site. According to the company's blog, one Google developed decided to revamp the site for the popular device when found that it had "some very cool AJAXy features," which unfortunately were designed with a "desktop web-browsing experience in mind." On the heels of its homepage revamp for the iPhone, the new Picasa interface offers easy access to albums, displays pictures with comments, and includes an easy search feature. The iPhone-friendly interface offers slideshow options as well as both landscape and portrait support (like all webpages).
TiVo today revealed that its digital video recorders will all support streaming photos directly from online image sites such as Photobucket and Picasa, allowing subscribers to its service to view and distribute images to TVs without buying a second media hub. The feature supports viewing one's own collection and viewing others, but also allows users to view customized feeds regardless of the owner. A subscriber can view photos from either service by keyword tags that automatically update as new images are posted online.
