Hasta La Gadget!

Ford’s SYNC AppLink technology for smartphone voice control while behind the wheel is currently only a feature of a handful of big-name apps. That may soon change, however, as here at CES, the motor company has announced a developer program to promote integration of its AppLink APIs into third-party software. Registration for the fledgling online community is open at the source link below, and interested devs will get access to an SDK, accompanying documents, and will qualify for technical guidance courtesy of Ford. As well as the dev program, a bunch of brand new and recent AppLink partnerships were reported with Chinese outfit Sina, WSJ, USA Today, Kaliki, Amazon Cloud Player, Aha Radio (pictured above), Rhapsody, Greater Media, Glympse, and BeCouply. Hit up the PR below or head to the source for more information.

Continue reading Ford opens AppLink developer program, wants more apps with in-car voice control

Filed under: Transportation, Software

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Source: Ford

Hisense is a Chinese company you may or may not have heard of. But they’ve jumped in on what seems to be the prevailing trend of CES with six UHD 3D TVs. More »

Earlier today we showed you the Vizio Tablet PC, the outfit’s first Windows 8 slate. Now we’re back for part deux, starring Tegra and a healthy dose of Jelly Bean. While touring the company’s suite, we found two prototypes: a 10-inch tablet with NVIDIA’s new Tegra 4 chip and a mid-range 7-inch model designed to take on the lower end of the market. Starting with the 10-inch model, key specs (aside from Tegra 4) include a 2,560 x 1,600 display, 32GB of on-board memory, NFC and dual 5MP / 1.3MP cameras. The 7-incher, meanwhile, has 16 gigs of storage, and steps down to Tegra 3 and a 1,280 x 800 resolution. No NFC on that one. Both run Jelly Bean, though — stock Jelly Bean, at that.

Design-wise, both have a rubbery, soft-touch finish, similar to what you’ll find on the Windows 8 tablet we saw earlier. As ever, it makes for a sturdier grip, though unlike on the Tablet PC there’s no beveling on the sides where you can rest your thumbs. Both models have narrow speaker grilles on the back, except the 10-inch model has two, while the 7-incher has one. As with the Tablet PC, the display isn’t IPS, per se, but it does have some unspecified wide-angle viewing technology. Indeed, we were able to follow along with a movie from off to the side and with the tablets lying face-up, but we did notice the colors seemed a little pale. Washed out.

As for Tegra 4, we wish we could tell you more but alas, NVIDIA is still being awfully protective over its technology demos. So, while the folks staffing Vizio’s booth let us watch a movie clip, we weren’t permitted to select other media files or play any games. All in due time, we suppose. Suffice to say, the 1080p movie we watched ran smoothly, but that wasn’t ever really a problem on Tegra 3, was it? In any case, we’ll surely be showing you lots more of Tegra 4. As for this particular tablet? We’re not sure. Vizio hasn’t confirmed whether either of these tablets will come to market, though it says there’s a good chance, particularly for the higher-end 10-inch model. Whatever happens, we’ve got hands-on photos below, along with a video walkthrough of both devices.

Continue reading Vizio shows off a 10-inch Tegra 4 tablet and a lower-end 7-inch slate

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Right on the heels on Samsung’s CES press conference, we got up close and personal with Samsung’s just-announced work of art, the 85-inch S9 UHD TV. Its size alone is pretty spectacular, but Sammy clearly wanted to make this one a looker. The company calls stand a “timeless gallery” frame, and indeed the set would fit right in with some of the more conceptual pieces at the MoMA. Still, that easel-like design could be a bit limiting for some living rooms, so you can remove the S9 and wall-mount it — though the 2.2 channel audio is built into that frame. Unique design aside, this TV is all about the high-end specs. “Precision Black Pro” display tech is to thank for the high contrast ratio, and colors really do pop — even without Samsung’s grand display of fireworks. Powering all 85 inches of high-def visuals is a quad-core processor, which should also help to up-sample 1080p footage to make better use of that Ultra HD (4K) resolution. No word on pricing or availability yet, but it’s said to be available sometime in 2013, so start saving those pennies. In the mean-time, check out our walk-around video after the break.

Zach Honig and Tim Stevens contributed to this report.

Continue reading Eyes-on with Samsung’s new 85-inch S9 UHDTV at CES (video)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung

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Dish’s Hopper just took a massive leap. The whole-home DVR solution, which launched at CES last year and began shipping to consumers this past spring, now has built-in Sling functionality — think of it as a supercharged version of the “SlingLoaded” DVR we first saw in early 2009. The new Broadcom 7125 chipset under the hood enables full Sling capability, with all the benefits of DVR integration, letting you view live TV from any of your subscribed channels, along with each and every program saved to the 2-terabyte hard drive — there are no content or location restrictions, meaning the box will feed HD video to a compatible device anywhere in the world. Dish subscribers who don’t plan to take advantage of Sling will see speed boosts as well, thanks to a new 1.3GHz clock speed and 2 gigs of RAM, with a faster bus speed to boot.

All this power translates to a much smoother experience device-wide. During our hands-on and side-by-side demo with the previous-generation Hopper, menu navigation felt much speedier, with apps launching more quickly and no hiccups during guide scrolling. Like other Sling products, you’re limited to one connected device at a time, so don’t plan on handing your login to friends and family members on the other end of the world (unless they’re willing to play nicely, of course). You’ll also have on-demand content through the Dish Anywhere app, and because this is standard video streamed from the web, the simultaneous device limitation jumps to five. Externally, this latest Hopper looks identical to its predecessor, and offers all of the original features, with the added benefit of Sling, boosted performance and built-in WiFi. It’s set to ship this month and will ultimately be free for new customers, though an upgrade path for owners of the now-retired original Hopper has yet to be detailed.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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