May 16
May 15
YouTube for Google TV updated with streamlined UI, support for paid subscriptions
Posted in: Today's Chili
Google TV is getting a refreshed YouTube app to go along with its update to the latest versions of Android and Chrome. The video-streaming service now features a sleeker UI, complete with playlists displayed under the video discovery and subscription tabs and larger thumbnails for previewing content. The update also lets you subscribe to a channel with just one click, and it’s now easier to share a clip via Google + as well. Other additions include more in-depth playback controls and support for paid subscriptions. Google TV owners can download the update now — just hit up the source link below.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Google
Via: Android Police
May 15
May 13
This year at Google’s developer conference, SlashGear will be in attendance at what’s guaranteed to be a celebration of convergence. What we’ve seen from the previews, leaks, and rumors of the contents of this conference point towards Android, Chrome, and Google TV devices moving in towards one another, keeping more than just their software in mind.
Just this morning it was suggested by Sundar Pichai that Google’s Android and Chrome operating systems would not be converging – at least not any time soon. That said, it’s very possible that they will be overlapping on a larger level sooner than you might expect. Google TV, as well, has been rumored to be converging with Android on a greater level ever since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was given Miracast wireless transmission abilities.
Wireless Projection with Miracast
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and higher has the ability to allow your phone to project its display’s contents to machines that work with Miracast. This Miracast term refers to a standardized system for displays – and boxes you hook up to displays – to accept wirelessly projected image information. Have a peek at our original guide for this system entitled How does Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Wireless Display Mirroring Work? and you’ll find the following passage:
“With Miracast being an “industry standard”, you can expect many brands to pick it up soon if they don’t already have it integrated now. Miracast is a technology that’s built in to devices – it’s not a device in and of itself. Miracast certification has begun for devices of many kinds, so you can expect not just displays to have it integrated, but receivers that will plug in through your HDMI port instead – this working for legacy displays.”
The video you’re seeing shows some Texas Instruments device action with Miracast back well before Android 4.2 came along. This very basic demo shows the same functionality built in to Jelly Bean here and now. Point to take home: Miracast has been around long enough, it’s high time for it to be adopted on a grand level.
There aren’t very many Jelly Bean-compatible wireless display devices out on the market right this second. Google will very likely lead the way with a Google TV device – maybe even a Nexus Google TV product. If Google shows faith in Google TV with a product they give to developers at the conference, it’s possible that confidence will grow in the market’s mind.
On the other hand, the Nexus Q never took off. One of its fatal flaws was the relative lack of opportunity developers had to work with it right out of the gate. A very different situation would unfold if Google gave away a Google TV product with Miracast technology built-in.
Nexus Device Refresh: Nexus 7, Nexus 10
The Nexus 10 is a 10-inch display-toting Android tablet that hasn’t seen one whole heck of a lot of press since it was first delivered several months ago. The Nexus 7 has, on the other hand, seen significant success in the market due to its low cost and relatively well-balanced specifications – one year after it was given away at Google I/O 2012, it remains a top search term in Google for those looking for news updates.
The Google Nexus 7 has been tipped on several occasions – several quite recently – to be getting a refresh in the form of an advanced display. It has also been suggested that the Nexus 7 would be getting a new processor in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon, though the exact power within has not been clarified.
The Nexus 10, on the other hand, has not seen one whole heck of a lot of action anywhere – not compared to the Nexus 7, anyway. If Google does refresh the Nexus 10, it will be as a bit more of an afterthought next to the Nexus 7, not as a major news item on its own. Expect both of these tables to be mentioned – at least in passing – during Google’s major initial keynote.
Google’s one major keynote will take place on Wednesday, May 15th at 9AM PST. SlashGear will be in attendance and will be delivering you up-to-the-minute details throughout the 2.5-hour session.
Featured Sessions
This convention is home to numerous break-out sessions and talks from those in-the-know across the developer universe. These sessions revolve around Android and Chrome, of course, but there are many mini-events that have to do with specific apps and services too. Some of the highlights that indicate Google and the greater industry’s aims here include:
• Android: Enchant, Simplify, Amaze: Android’s Design Principles
• Chrome: JAM with Chrome
• Google+: Google+ Platform Overview
• Search: From Structured Data to Knowledge Graph
• Maps: Google Maps: Into the Future: Wednesday, May 15, 12:00pm
• Cloud Platform: Ushering in the next generation of computing at Google I/O
• Women Techmakers Session with Susan Wojcicki (SVP, Ads), Anna Patterson (VP, Knowledge), Johanna Wright (VP, Search and Mobile), Jean Wang (Staff Hardware Engineer, Glass), and Diane Greene (Board of Directors, Google).
Oddities SlashGear will also certainly be checking out include a Google+ AirShow and a Data Sensing Lab. The Google+ AirShow will allow users to check live streaming cams attached to blimps flying above the Moscone Center. The Data Sensing Lab will be visualizing environmental data from the area, lying it over indoor maps in real-time: this includes motion, noise level, humidity, pressure, and temperature.
Glass
Though we’ve not heard anything specific about what advances will be spoken of surrounding Google Glass, this year will mark the one-year anniversary of the moment developers were offered the opportunity to purchase a pair of the futuristic face-based computers. We’re expecting that our journey to and through the San Francisco-based event collection will be clad with more than a few Glass-faced users, that’s for sure.
Join us starting tomorrow – SlashGear will be scoping out the event center early and making sure we’re on top of the situation from start to finish! Make sure you hit up the SlashGear Google I/O portal throughout the week!
Google I/O 2013: What to expect from this year’s developer conference is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 26
Samsung has hinted at a potential OLED partnership with Google, with chatter from within the company of a deal on OLED TVs after CEO Larry Page visited one of Samsung’s South Korean OLED facilities. “During the meeting with the Google CEO, I proposed the expansion of our business partnership to him” Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong told The Korea Times, describing Page’s reaction as showing “interest in our OLED business.”
Exactly what stage the talks – if there are, in fact, any at all beyond Page showing interest in where his Korean hosts took him to visit – are in is unclear, though sources inside Samsung suggest that if anything it’s very early days. “We don’t rule out the possibility to enter a new business partnership with Google in OLEDs” one unnamed official told the Korean paper, “but more time will be needed for further details.”
Interestingly, while Samsung has previously made use of OLED panels for Google-branded smartphones, such as the Galaxy Nexus, the chatter between Lee and Page is apparently now around larger displays. Sources within Samsung claim Google wants to increase its collaboration in OLED TV, mimicking some of the relationship the search company has around Google TV and LG.
The ongoing relationship between Samsung and Google has been the stuff of concerted rumor over the past year, with Samsung’s enthusiastic reskinning and general modification of Android – as well as the best-selling nature of the Galaxy series of smartphones – being seen as a challenge to Google’s driving role in the mobile OS. However, Samsung has also been facing issues from Apple, with whom it shares a difficult supplier/competitor relationship.
Samsung continues to supply Apple with many of the components the iPhone maker uses in its smartphone and tablet line-ups, not to mention memory for its Macs, but the two have found themselves frequently at odds in the courtroom over allegations of patent infringement and design copying. More recently, Apple is said to have been diversifying its supply-chain, in what’s believed to be an attempt to reduce its reliance on Samsung components.
How Google’s involvement in OLED production might shift that power dynamic again is unclear, though there remains talk of both Google and Apple having smart TV ambitions yet to be revealed. Last year, tenuous rumors of an LG-made Google Nexus TV circulated, for instance, borrowing the Nexus branding from mobile and extending it into the living room.
[via AndroidBeat]
Samsung and Google chatted OLED partner potential spills VP is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 23
Asus Cube With Google TV Launched
Posted in: Today's Chili
Hmmm, earlier this year when we were just starting to tiptoe into 2013 at CES in Las Vegas, we saw the Asus Cube, although it was known as the Asus Qube then. I guess there is nothing quite like the right kind of spelling to get off on the correct footing, as Asus has officially launched the Asus Cube with Google TV to the masses, and the main purpose of this device would be to bridge the gap between the Internet as well as live TV.
Running on the most recent version of Google TV, users are able to stream the best in on-line content from the Internet, in addition to other activities such as watching live TV, playing games, accessing the latest apps, or surf the Internet via Chrome. The remote itself comes with an integrated microphone, which would come in handy since the Asus Cube with Google TV supports Voice Search right out of the box. It will be accompanied by 50GB of WebStorage and a couple of USB ports. The Asus Cube with Google TV will play nice with current existing cable or satellite TV service without having to switch inputs, and a Quick Guide enables you to browse while watching TV or stream from any app, among others.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Bandai Unveils Vending Machine That Targets Elderly Women, Dispenses Handkerchiefs, Tama-chan Watermelon Cooler, 
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Apr 22
ASUS Cube Google TV review
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The past year has been a busy one for Google TV — in fact, with the big I/O conference right around the corner, we’re sitting down to review our fifth such device in the past 12 months. The ASUS Cube naturally does everything one would expect from a Google TV set-top box, but it also has a few tricks of its own, like a mic for voice search and a unique “Cube” main menu interface. At $129, it’s priced just above the Vizio Co-Star and far below the Sony NSZ-G57. So how does it stack up? Let’s see.
Gallery: ASUS Cube review
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, ASUS
Apr 10
Xbox 720 rumors are a dime a dozen these day, and we’ve just got another one. The Verge is reporting that Xbox 720 will be able to take over TVs and set top boxes, this according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans. It’ll take over them in a way that is similar to Google TV, and perhaps this is the reason why we’ve been hearing recently that the next Xbox will require an always-on internet connection to function, because it will need to be online in order to connect to entertainment services. For streaming purposes, the connection will have to be always-on.
The cable box signal will be routed through the next generation Xbox via HDMI, allowing it to overlay its features as well as a user interface on a set top box or an existing TV channel. Basic cable functionality is guaranteed at launch, while Microsoft’s partnerships with various content providers will ensure that this feature is implemented in a much better way than Google TV, as users will have access to a wide variety of content. The Kinect is said to be of importance as well, it will be used to detect eye movement as well as multiple people. This means that it will be possible for content to be automatically paused when the viewer turns his or head away from the TV. Microsoft has refrained from commenting on this report. It is rumored that the company will announce Xbox 720 in May.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dark Souls 2 Highlighted In 12-Minute Gameplay Demo, The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Mod Places Nicholas Cage’s Face On Everything, 
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Mar 08
I remain quite jealous that my house can’t get access to the incredibly fast Google Fiber Internet service or the Google Fiber TV service. I understand living in a more rural area likely means I’ll never have access to impressive services like this. If you do happen to live in Kansas City and have access to Google Fiber TV and happen to be one of the few that has a 3-D TV in your home, the TV offering from Google now has two new 3-D channels to check out.
Google announced yesterday that its Fiber TV service has its first 3-D channels that include 3net and ESPN3D. The rollout of the 3-D channels began yesterday and subscribers can get 3net including with some existing packages on channel 338. The premium ESPN3D channel will require an additional subscription and another five dollars per month.
The cheapest TV package that gets access at no additional cost to 3net is the Gigabit + TV Plan. That plan costs $120 per month. Google says 3net has a lot of original 3-D programming such as shows on natural history, documentarians, action/adventure films, kids and family titles, concerts, scripted series, movies, and more.
ESPN3D is “the industry’s first 24/7 3-D sports network,” according to Google. There has to be at least one or two people living in Kansas City that have access to Google Fiber, subscribe to Google TV, and also have a 3-D TV to take advantage of these two channels. Actually, there may not be.
[via TheNextWeb]
First 3-D channels come to Google Fiber TV is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jan 08
Diamond Multimedia intros AMP2000 Android set-top box, availability coming later this year
Posted in: Today's Chili 
It’s been quite a few months since Diamond Multimedia announced it’s AMP1000 set-top box, so the company likely figured there was no better better time and place than CES 2013 to release its latest Android-based media offering. With the AMP2000, the multifarious company joins the likes of Roku and FAVI in the powered-by-Google streaming race — in which it’ll give potential users the ability to wirelessly view files on any HDMI-ready TV set, as well as offering support for applications like Hulu Plus and Netflix. Diamond Multimedia notes the AMP2000 comes “with Google TV,” though it doesn’t go into much more detail, and thus it’s quite unclear whether this means you get the actual Google TV experience — you know, the one found on devices such as that Vizio Co-Star — or if it’s something a bit more like Always Innovating’s HDMI Android dongle. Speaking of the lack of details, mum’s the word on how much the AMP2000 will run you when it ships “sometime in March or April,” but we can only imagine it to be around the same price as other similar offerings.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software, HD
Source: Diamond Multimedia
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