Hasta La Gadget!

Last week it was rumored that a certain Motorola Droid Ultra series could be making its way onto Verizon, and it looks like those rumors may have very well been confirmed by Motorola themselves. The image above was taken from […]

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Remember our report from yesterday where a retailer in India was reportedly selling iPhone 5 units with iOS 7 beta installed on it? Sure it’s a great way for non-iOS developers to try out the operating system without having to […]

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Apple has just been granted a new patent (via AppleInsider) for unique bezel technology that could not only add touch controls to a bezel on a small device screen (like one for an iWatch), but that would also make it possible for that bezel to fade in and out of view, providing maximum screen real estate when required, and then coming back into view when it would work better to have a bordered screen.

Why is that useful? Take a look at the iPad mini, and it begins to make sense. With the mini, Apple wanted to maximize screen real estate but minimize hardware footprint, so it reduced the size of the bezel considerably. The new narrower bezel on the sides is great for portability, but also makes it harder to hold without touching the screen itself, which necessitated building new tech to discount accidental touches around the edge of the screen.

The new patent granted today specifies a bezel area that could be hidden or revealed as needed, based on context and touch, changing the appearance of the bezel component when certain touch situations are detected. This could illuminate a part of the defined bezel area, change its color, or even turn it from completely transparent to opaque, creating a bezel where there apparently wasn’t one before.

This has a number of potential implications for use in gadgets: It could make the bezel fall away completely for applications that are best suited to full-screen use, like video playback. Enabling full-screen video wouldn’t even require that much extra in terms of development resources, so it’s a prime use case.

Other potential applications including making the most of a very small screen, like one you might find on a smart watch. Apple has been ramping up trademark applications for the “iWatch” moniker in a number of countries including Japan, Mexico and Taiwan, so it looks more and more likely we’ll see that device come to market soon. And the iWatch would be the definition of a small-screened device, since I can’t imagine Apple wanting to go much larger with the screen than it did for the previous generation, square iPod nano.

A disappearing bezel allows for the combination of maximum versatility with very little available screen real estate, to build interfaces that work differently for different apps, and yet suit each perfectly. It would be rare to see an Apple patent go into effect so quickly, but this one does seem quite situationally appropriate.

If you love the Halo franchise, perhaps you might actually love it enough where you wouldn’t mind a bit of Halo action on your phone. The good news for Windows Phone owners is that they will be able to expect […]

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Some changes underway in the automated retail space: Outerwall, operators of the Coinstar coin-counting kiosks and the Redbox disc and game distribution network, is acquiring ecoATM for $350 million in cash. EcoATM operates its own kiosk network focused on accepting used mobile phones, tablets and MP3 players for cash and has positioned itself, coincidentally, as the “Coinstar for used devices.”

Outerwall, which officially changed its name from Coinstar Inc. today complete with a new stock ticker (OUTR) and ringing today’s opening bell, was already an investor in ecoATM, which had raised $31.4 million in VC financing, plus another $40 million in debt. Because of the 23% stake that Outerwall already owns, that will be deducted from that $350 million pricetag, the company noted today.

EcoATM is also holder of the 2012 Crunchie for best clean tech startup.

The move is a sign of consolidation in the self-service retail space, and also a mark of how Outerwall has much bigger ambitions beyond simply turning your multitudes of pennies into more useful dollar bills — hence, also, the rebranding.

It also underscores how lower-margin companies like these are looking for ways to ramp up into higher value items, while at the same time providing a much-needed service in our highly disposable economy. In the U.S. alone, ecoATM says 175 million new devices are sold each year, but in terms of older models, only 20% of used mobile phones are collected, and another 50% are either stored or simply thrown away.

“With ecoATM, Outerwall will advance its evolution into multiple automated retail businesses and increase our exposure to the growing demand for refurbished products and mobile devices across the globe,” said J. Scott Di Valerio, chief executive officer of Outerwall, in a statement. “As evidenced by our growing investment in ecoATM over the last four years, we are confident that ecoATM’s innovative, environmentally minded business model will continue to resonate with today’s technology savvy consumers.”

Outerwall, for its part, had already been extending well beyond coin machines and simply returning paper money in exchange for coin shrapnel.

In February 2013, the company (still called Coinstar at the time) kicked off a rollout with PayPal to let users credit their PayPal accounts with the change, as well as withdraw money from those accounts ATM-style and also transfer money to others.

It also owns Redbox, the Blu-ray, DVD and video game kiosk network in the U.S. and Canada, which offers a standalone service but also partners with Verizon for Redbox Instant. The company says that to date 2.5 billion discs have passed through the Redbox service.

Lesser known are the Rubi coffee kiosks launched last year.

EcoATM, which will remain headquartered in San Diego, says that going forward it will expand its service to more locations across the U.S. “We are excited to build upon our successful relationship to take the business to the next level,” Tom Tullie, chief executive officer of ecoATM, said in a statement. “We look forward to benefitting from Outerwall’s resources and expertise to accelerate ecoATM’s rollout and bring our innovative solutions to consumers nationwide once the transaction closes.” That transaction is expected to close in Q3 of this year.