Hasta La Gadget!

There’s been a veil of secrecy revolving around the Samsung Galaxy S4 the moment the Galaxy S3 was released as smartphone consumers are often looking for what’s next rather than appreciating what they have in their pocket. We’ve heard rumors of the Galaxy S4 possibly featuring touchless gesture inputs, an S Pen like its Galaxy Note cousin and Samsung’s 8-core Exynos 5 chipset. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Apple Will Release Budget iPhone June 2013, Says Analyst, Leaked iPhone 5S Images Show Off Identical Look To iPhone 5,

Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment, has taken the stage here in Dana Point, California for this year’s D:Dive Into Media, speaking candidly about his outfit’s use of social media to advertise, and more importantly, how modern technology is impacting meaningful change on the creative side of things. Citing shows like Sons of Anarchy, Mad Men and Breaking Bad — ones that he’s obviously a fan of — he noted that the proliferation of DVR technology has enabled a lot of it.

“I personally believe that this explosion in creativity you’re seeing right now is due to the fact that you can create 13 episode, long-form narratives and then watch it whenever you want. It even brings better directors and writers who don’t think that they can tell their stories in the two-hour frame of a major motion picture. I think this is a direct effect of technology. It’s the first time I’ve seen it — there was always talk about how technology would impact creative, and this is it.”

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

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Being based in Canada means that I’m often traveling for work, and that means fiddling with SIM cards. A new Kickstarter project from the same people who brought you the X-Wing joke campaign proposes to make keeping track of those SIMs and navigating international border-crossing much easier, with a simple design that adds a couple of simple twists to a basic low-profile iPhone case design.

Unlike the X-Wing squadron project, the SIMPLcase, as creators Simon Kwan and Ed Dean call their latest project, isn’t a joke. It’s a minimalist case (which adds just 3mm to the iPhone 5 at its thickest point) that houses a SIM tray capable of holding up to three SIMs (in addition to the one inside your phone) as well as an ejector tool. It also has a groove in the back which, combined with any credit, debit or ID card, helps transform it into a basic stand for propped-up portrait or landscape viewing.

The SIM and ejector tray is rubber to better grip those tiny fiddly components and make sure they don’t get lost, and the cases all ship with an ejector tool compatible with the iPhone in case you’ve misplaced your original (it’s remarkably easy to do). And while the initial project will be designed for iPhone 5, there also exists an iPhone 4/4S prototype, which the guys plan to put in production should there prove to be enough demand to justify it.

Ed and Simon know a thing or two about tripping around the world. They met working in the same shared office space in Shanghai, after growing up in London, England and Boston respectively. Both have ample experience in graphic design and product development, and first-hand knowledge of supply chain logistics, meaning they have the know-how to deliver on their project timeline of a June 2013 anticipated ship date.

Is there enough demand out there for an iPhone case aimed specifically at world travelers? That remains to be seen, but given that SIMPLcase is only looking for $20,000 in backer money, with pre-orders starting at just $12 and including free shipping anywhere in the world (cheaper than a lot of brand-name slim cases), I don’t think they’ll have that much trouble selling out the first batch, if only to satisfy the needs of people like me who perfectly fit the niche market they’re targeting.

A new group inside Intel has been revealed this week as Intel Media, heading off a set of negotiations with masters of content for an end-game that includes Intel Web TV. With a full Web TV service, Intel will join the ranks with Hulu and Netflix, though it’s unique offering is said this week to be including both live television broadcasts and collections of previously aired TV shows and movies. Netflix and Hulu at the moment offer only previously-aired programs (with some pointed exceptions like Netflix’ own limited series House of Cards).

Intel‘s Erik Huggers spoke up at the D: Dive Into Media conference this Tuesday. As the Corporate Vice President of the new sector, Huggers was able to confirm the news that’s been “tipped” for quite a few weeks on end. Interestingly enough, Huggers assured the public that this new sector was made up of hires from Apple, Netflix, and Google. Quite the triple-snipe, that is.

It was also revealed that Intel would be bringing on a set-top box to compete with the already ripe market. This box and its abilities will be the embodiment of what Huggers said would be Intel’s new mandate: “Build the best Internet television service ever.” Sounds like a mighty big hill to climb – but with their claim to also be “working with the entire industry” to get it all done, we’ll likely see a service and a device by the end of this year.

This is also the timeline delivered by Huggers this week – inside this year, 2013. That’s the expectation, at least, while services are being confirmed between here and there. It’s been promised by Huggers that this system will work with a collection of apps as well as on-demand content and live TV. Nothing like another operating system to get into for developers – but perhaps this is a come-as-you-are type situation. We can only dream!

Intel Web TV service confirmed by VP for 2013 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At the Dive into Media conference yesterday, Microsoft went on stage and talked about one of its most successful products to date: the Xbox 360. Specifically, the company announced that they have sold over 76 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide since its launch in 2005. Plus, the console has outsold the original Xbox three times over so far.

Microsoft also announced that they have sold over 24 million Kinect sensors worldwide. Granted it hasn’t been out as long as the console itself, but for only being out on the market since 2010, 24 million is certainly a respectable number. The Xbox Live community has also increased to 46 million users, which is a 15% increase from last year.

The Xbox 360 is the best-selling console in history, and for the past 24 months, the console as been at the top of the charts for every single month throughout the past two years. On average, Xbox Live users spend 87 hours per month playing games and utilizing various entertainment apps inside the online service, and the console is moving towards more of an entertainment device than ever before. Microsoft says that 18 billion hours of entertainment were racked up in 2012 on Xbox 360 consoles.

With the plethora of content that’s available on the Xbox 360, it makes sense that more and more people are using the gaming console as primarily an entertainment device, and Microsoft knows that. So, we could see the next-generation Xbox focused more towards the entertainment crowd than what we originally thought, while still catering towards gamers, of course.

[via Trusted Reviews]

Microsoft Xbox 360 sees 76m units sold globally is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.