Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier today, we sat down with Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai and a small group of journalists to catch up with Sony announcements at CES 2014. Many questions were asked, and Mr. Hirai answered as candidly as he could without announcing anything new. Here are the highlights:

4K adoption & content availability

This is the obvious question that most people want to know: basically “if one buys a 4K TV, what content is available, and how fast will new content arrive? Kazuo Hirai acknowledged that these things “don’t happen overnight” and pointed out that it took years between the apparition of HD (1080p) and its large-scale adoption. We’re basically at the beginning of 4K and it will also take years before it becomes a mass-market.

He didn’t get into details, but my interpretation of this is that mass-market is when 50” 4K TVs cost around $2000 and $2500. I personally believe that 4K will come much quicker than HD did because the world has gone digital and content is already being produced in 4K. In fact, if you look at the upcoming content, most big budget movies will be available in 4K fairly quickly. Now, if each of us will have his/her own appreciation of “when” 4K availability will be good enough, but from the looks of it, this should not be a huge problem in the next 18 months. I anything, the content will come before prices will reach a point where 4K becomes a mass-market product. (more…)

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai Candid On 4K, TV Content & Wearable Tech original content from Ubergizmo.

Even if companies like Samsung dominate the global smartphone market, it doesn’t mean that its all smooth sailing for them. In order to please shareholders and investors, these companies strive to post positive quarterly fiscal results, but that’s not always possible. Samsung has announced that its 4Q 2013 operating profit is down 6 percent year-over-year as smartphone sales slowed down in developed countries.

In its earnings preview, the company estimates that it will have raked in an operating profit of 8.3 trillion won or $7.8 billion in the last three months of 2013, thus falling under analysts’ expectations and also registering an 18 percent drop as compared to the previous quarter. According to analysts, higher marketing costs have been eating into Samsung’s operating costs as it tries to ramp up demand for its products in established markets. Samsung is actually believed to spend the most on marketing, well into the billions. The company did not go into much detail in the earnings preview, but it will paint a much more broader picture about earnings as well as net profit later this month. In the new year, Samsung is expected to focus more on tablets as well as low-end smartphones. Apparently it expects to sell as many as 330 million smartphones in 2014.

Samsung’s 4Q 2013 Profit Falls Below Expectations original content from Ubergizmo.

Let’s face it, our hands are not clean, neither are our faces, especially when you’re out all day either at work or school, and there are only so many times we can wash our hands on a daily basis. Even then there’s no stopping friends, family members, or strangers with grubby hands to grab at your smartphone, ultimately “soiling” its display with germs and bacteria. It does sound pretty gross but it is a common occurrence and not something we give much thought, but if you’re really particular about cleanliness, you might be interested to learn that Corning has announced what they are calling the world’s first antimicrobial cover glass.

According to Corning’s SVP and General Manger, James R. Steiner, “Corning’s Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass inhibits the growth of algae, mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria because of its built-in antimicrobial property, which is intrinsic to the glass and effective for the lifetime of a device.” This helps Corning stand out from the competition whereby other antimicrobial wipes/films tend to degrade over time, versus Corning’s solution which seems more permanent. Corning expects that their new glass can be installed in a variety of products, such as computers, cellphones, telephones, display panels, and even calculators.

It sounds like a pretty cool piece of technology and we can’t wait to see which company will be the first to implement it into their products. Corning’s antimicrobial glass announcement was made shortly after the company announced their 3D Gorilla Glass which many have speculated could make its way into Apple’s rumored iWatch.

Corning Antimicrobial Glass Announced original content from Ubergizmo.

[CES 2014] The wearable device trend is catching on, which is why we’re seeing the market inundated with various gadgets that latch onto the human body and try to make our lives easier. Garmin has announced one such product today. Called the Vívofit, it is billed as a stylish and lightweight fitness band which has been designed to “turn good intentions into lifelong habits.” It happens to be the only fitness band available right now that greets users with a personalized daily goal, then continues to track their progress and remind when when its time to move around to achieve those goals. It displays steps, calories, distance, time of day and goal countdown on a curved display that is always on. (more…)

Garmin Announces Vívofit, A Stylish And Lightweight Fitness Band original content from Ubergizmo.

Corning is a company that is known for its Gorilla Glass series of screens that are supposedly extremely resistant to scratches and cracks. They have supplied these screens to numerous smartphone manufacturers in the past, and it now it looks like the company might have something new for OEMs in the future that comes in the form of a 3D-shaped version of Gorilla Glass, as announced by Corning a few days ago. What’s 3D-shaped Gorilla Glass, you ask? Well it’s basically glass that is curved in a more pronounced way, which we guess you could liken to devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Round or the LG G Flex.

According to Corning, “More than half of the top 10 smartphone manufacturers already market devices that incorporate cover glass with subtle curves, and the demand for even more-dramatic form factors is increasing. Corning’s 3D-forming technology meets this demand and expands the design possibilities for industrial designers.” This seems to suggest that companies in the future who might want to create more dramatically curved devices will not have to forgo durability afforded by Corning’s products for something else that is more pliable. Of course as it stands only Samsung and LG have devices that are curved, but according to speculation, some believe that this could be Apple’s answer to a curved display which might be used in their rumored iWatch.

Assuming this is true, it will not be Apple’s first foray into curved displays. In fact older models of the iPod nano (specifically the 2009 model) did feature a subtly curved display. We’re not sure what will result from this but hopefully Apple’s iWatch will be able to show off Corning’s efforts.

Corning Develops “3D” Version Of Its Gorilla Glass, Fuels iWatch Rumors original content from Ubergizmo.