Hasta La Gadget!

Big.Little technology allows a single processor to provide both high performance computing for tablets, yet also allow the kind of power saving capabilities that a low performance processor could provide. By using two sets of core, this may revolutionize tablets in the coming years.

I can’t honestly say that I recall the Tesla Model S being an Internet connected vehicle. The Model S is apparently connected to the Internet while in operation. At least that’s the idea given by company CEO Elon Musk as he shows off a feature of the Model S to Bloomberg that I’ve never seen. Musk promises the vehicle will play any song you ask for at any time.

You might think that your Ford will play any song in your playlist, assuming your Ford is equipped with Sync. The catch with the Ford system and the other systems on other vehicles is that you have to have the music stored on the cars internal drive or on your iPod or other device attached the infotainment system. According to Musk, the Model S will reach out onto the Internet and get any song available without you having to connect an iPod.

Musk doesn’t go into details of how the system works other than saying the car goes on the Internet and finds the music. That means it’s unclear whether the car has its own internal Internet connection, or if it’s connecting to a Wi-Fi connection inside the building, or if it’s connecting to the Internet via a smartphone. One thing that is impressive about the system is that it appears to be very fast.

The delay between asking for song and the song being retrieved and played appears to be no longer than the delay on other systems finding a specific track on your iPod playlist. This is a really cool feature, it’s too bad you have to spend hundred thousand dollars on a car to get it.

[via Bloomberg]

Elon Musk shows off “any song, any time” Easter Egg in Tesla’s Model S is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

BlackBerry has pushed out the first update for the BlackBerry Z10, promising improvements in battery life, multimedia and third-party app performance, and enterprise features around calendars and contacts. The new firmware, a 150MB download, is being released as an OTA update, and according to BlackBerry has been pieced together primarily in response to consumer feedback from the first month of reports.

One of the most important changes will be to battery life, with BlackBerry saying that it has wrapped up more than 60 optimizations to try to address complaints. Poor runtimes from the Z10 were one of our key complaints when we reviewed the smartphone, with it often failing to make it through a full day. “Heavy users especially should see a longer average usage per charge cycle” BlackBerry claims, though gives no specifics as to what has changed.

Elsewhere, there should be improved low-light performance from the camera, another point of contention among early-adopters, who felt the Z10′s shots were simply too dark. The way BlackBerry 10 deals with call logging and conversations has also been tweaked, and there’s a fix for using Google Calendars on the platform. Pulling in contacts from online databases is also smoothed.

Video playback in the browser has been refined, and BlackBerry has also fettled the third-party app environment. That should be “fast and smooth” now, the company says, pointing out that a new influx of titles – such as WhatsApp – is expected in March.

The recommendation is that users update to 10.0.10.85 over a WiFi connection, since 150MB might be slow going (or just plain expensive) over mobile data. It will pop up as a notification over “the coming weeks”, or owners can update manually by going to “Check for Updates” in the Software Updates section of the settings.

BlackBerry 10 gets first update: Battery life and low-light camera fixes, more is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Super-fast internet connections like Google Fiber have only geek, not consumer, appeal, Time Warner Cable’s CFO has insisted, dismissing suggestions that the ISP will need to speed up its consumer service any time soon. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference this week, chief financial officer Irene Esteves said that while the company has the capability to deliver high internet speeds, The Verge reports, right now customers don’t actually want them.

In fact, Esteves pointed out, Time Warner Cable is already selling high-speed service, it’s just that the only people who will pay for it are businesses. “We’re already delivering 1 gigabit, 10 gigabit-per-second to our business customers,” she said, “so we certainly have the capability of doing it.”

For consumers, though, the demand has been quite different, the CFO argues. “A very small fraction of our customer base” pick Time Warner Cable’s faster home options, which top out at the “Ultimate” package with up to 50Mbps downloads and up to 5Mbps uploads. The majority of its packages are under 20Mbps, however, with uploads of at most 5Mbps.

“We’re in the business of delivering what consumers want, and to stay a little ahead of what we think they will want” Esteves says, taking a contrary stance to Google’s “we will need fiber” attitude. However, that’s not to say Time Warner Cable wouldn’t be happy if Google encouraged people to need speedier service, with the CFO pointing out that should the search giant discover a “magic pill” to drive faster broadband adoption, the ISP would move to cater to that demand.

Unsurprisingly, the exec’s comments have divided opinion, with most in the tech world arguing that it’s the limitations of home network connections – often, when it comes to content creation, the limit of upload rates which are usually far slower than download speeds – that has kept services from proliferating, rather than the other way around.

For the ISP, however, which can’t simply offer a “halo” service in one area like Google Fiber, it’s a question of investment versus return, and if subscribers won’t pay the rates, they won’t be pushing the envelope in speeds any time soon. Time Warner – as well as others – has already demanded similar indulgences from Kansas City, the first location to have Google Fiber, for its own competing trial service, but with estimates pegging the cost of a full US fiber roll-out at $140bn it’s unlikely to spread considerably.

Consumers don’t want (& won’t pay for) gigabit internet says Time Warner Cable is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sky already supplies fixed phone line and broadband on top of its TV services in the UK, but it’s just announced it’ll be gaining a few more customers. The company has shaken hands with Telefonica UK to purchase the latter’s broadband and phone line business provided by the consumer-facing O2 and BE brands. As you would imagine, big bucks will change hands: Sky plans to fork over £180 million (around $273 million) right off the bat, and will write a cheque for up to a further £20 million (circa $30 million) “dependent upon the successful delivery and completion of the customer migration process by Telefonica UK.” Regulators will need to give the deal the thumbs up before it’s official, but if and when that happens, Sky will become the second biggest ISP in the UK after adding over 500,000 new customers to its books. Should everything progress as planned, the buyout will be completed by the end of April, which gives Rupert Murdoch just enough time to carry out the vault extension he’ll need.

Update: If you’re worried this transaction will impact anything you’re currently signed up to, you can probably rest easy. O2 has tweeted one of our editors to report “there will be no material change to a customer’s broadband service and no fundamental contract change.”

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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Via: GigaOM