Hasta La Gadget!

Dish is further reinforcing its promise to deliver content even when you’re not in front of the TV. The new Dish Anywhere app is your portal for live streaming, powered by Sling, along with on-demand content direct from the web. As one of three apps designed specifically with Hopper with Sling owners in mind, Anywhere is tasked with displaying movies and TV shows directly from your set-top box at home. You also have access to the programming guide, and a full remote control for familiar navigation.

We tried out the Anywhere app while connected to a Hopper on the same network. It took a few moments to connect, but once we were linked up, channel flips were speedy and content looked smooth, though it did appear to be a bit softer than HD. Naturally, the feed looked best on an iPhone, with the iPad only serving to magnify artifacts. In short, it’s probably not yet time to retire your TV, but if you spend a lot of your time away from the living room and have the bandwidth to spare, the value proposition of a pricey satellite subscription just jumped up a tick.

Continue reading Dish Anywhere app delivers content on the go, Sling video feed from Hopper DVR (hands-on)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

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Clue’s in the headline, really. If you’ve been waiting on the news that Samsung’s 10.1-inch Galaxy Note with Verizon LTE, then today’s your lucky day. Samsung has announced at its press conference that the S-Pen running tablet will be coming to the network this month with a customized version of Jelly Bean and photo editing tools. There’s no word on pricing yet, but we’ve contacted the company for more information.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 with LTE headed for Verizon

Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, Samsung, Verizon

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We figured Vizio would bring new laptops, All-in-Ones and HDTVs to CES this year, but as companies are often wont to do here in Vegas, Vizio had a Jelly Bean-flavored surprise for us — in the form of a pair of unlocked Android handsets. There’s a 5-inch model with a 1920 x 1080 LCD, 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing shooter and a dual-core Qualcomm SoC. It’s got 32GB of built-in storage and 2GB of RAM, plus there’s a microSD slot should you need more room. Its sibling is a 4.7-inch model packing a 720 x 1080 display powered by a dual-core MediaTek chip, the same 8-megapixel rear cam, and a 1.3-megapixel unit on the front. It also has a microSD slot, 16GB of onboard storage and 1GB of RAM. Each phone comes with AT&T band radios, including HSPA+ 42, and will run bone-stock Jelly Bean (save for a minor tweaks). Want to know more? join us after the break for our full impressions.

Continue reading Vizio reveals 5-inch and 4.7-inch Android handsets bound for China, we go hands-on

Filed under: Mobile

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Fujifilm unveiled its new X-series of cameras, which admittedly made me tingle when I had some hands-on time, but they’re also showing off a bunch of new cameras aimed at more general audiences at CES this year. These include revisions of its rough-and-tumble all-weather line with the XP60, a variety of new “bridge” cameras (aka SLR gateway drugs), and the extremely long-zoom SL1000.

Fujifilm knows where the bread gets buttered in consumer digital cameras these days – it admitted as much during its press event today when it talked about where the camera market has been headed lately, with the major growth coming from smartphones and DSLRs. Consumers need something extra spicy in their standard compacts and fixed lens cameras, in order to help them sway those who’d rather keep things in their pockets.

The XP60 is Fujifilm’s latest waterproof, dust proof and shockproof go anywhere camera, which sports a new double-sealed battery door for added protection, and a 16MP 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with built-in IS for low-light shooting. It has a 5x zoom lens and a 10fps burst mode for high-speed shooting, and hits stores in March for $199.95.

The HS50EXR offers 42x zoom factor, and gets some help with the new EXR CMOS II sensor, which is what gives the X-series its fast new AF juice thanks to the addition of phase detection. Its 16 megapixel resolution and 11fps burst mode should really help it appeal to those who want DSLR quality without having to worry about the additional weight and size of a camera with swappable lenses. Focus peaking also makes its debut here with manual focus on the HS50EXR, and optical image stabilization is applied between F2.8 and F5.6, across the entire zoom range. It also drops in March, for $550.

If you’re looking for longer zoom and even faster autofocus, there’s also the new SL1000, which manages 50x zoom and AF locks in as little as 0.2 seconds, thanks to its 16 megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor. It ships in March as well (see the trend here?) for $399.95. There are also the S8200 and S8300, which are $299.95 and $309.95 respectively, boasting 40x and 42x zoom, and 16MP 1/2.3-inch BSI-CMOS sensors for good low-image quality capture, fast burst mode and quick AF. Arriving in… wait for it… March.

Your Internet-connected devices may be getting more cooperative, thanks to group of startups and established players who have come together to create a new nonprofit group called the Internet of Things Consortium.

The “Internet of Things,” for those of you who aren’t too familiar with it, basically refers to the growing trend of uniquely identifiable, Internet-connected electronic devices. Jason Johnson, the consortium’s chairman, said that the term was first coined to refer to industrial technologies like RFID, but we’re now seeing a wave of consumer products, too, often funded on Kickstarter.

There are 10 initial participants in the group: Active Mind Technologies (which makes Game), Basis Science, Coin, Kease, Logitech, Movl (which makes KontrolTV), Ouya, Poly-Control, SmartThings, and Ube.

Johnson said the goal is to play a “very active” role in finding new ways for Internet of Things-related products and services to work together (in part by taking advantage of new technologies like Bluetooth Low Energy and Low Power Wi-Fi) and create “a richer fabric of intelligent devices.” For that reason, one of the key criteria for new members is an open approach to integrating with other companies. Johnson said a meeting of the consortium would be “not unlike a standards body meeting,” except that the group won’t just focus on technology, but on business as well.

Here’s an email comment from Ube CEO Utz Baldwin about why this effort is important:

The successful adoption of [machine-to-machine] and connected home technologies is dependent on open standards for the provisioning and control of millions of headless devices. We are excited to be among other emerging companies that share the same vision and that are committed to moving the industry forward collectively.

Johnson may be best known to TechCrunch readers as a managing partner at the Founders Den, but his past experience includes serving as chairman of the Wireless VoIP Consortium and vice president of Dolby Laboratories’ technology standards licensing business unit. He said he’s also working on a stealth Internet of Things startup of his own.

The consortium will hold its first meeting on Wednesday at 5 pm, at CES in Vegas. If you’re interested in attending, you can email events@iofthings.org.