Hasta La Gadget!

A Swedish company will be the first to sell an internet-connected, Android-based TV set. The TV, from the amazingly-named People of Lava, will also be the first television made in Sweden for decades.

The TV is set, fittingly, to enter beta-testing in early Summer, and other than size and price, tech-specs are still to be finalized. The first model will have a 42-inch high-definition LED screen and cost between $2,000 and $2,500 ($2,700 and $3,400). This will be followed by 47 and 55-inch models.

An internet-connected TV is surely a Good Thing, allowing things like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu to stream straight to the big screen. The use of Android, too, seems smart: it already works, it’s free and it is all about the internet.

But after video-streaming, and perhaps a news or weather screensaver, we don’t see a whole lot point in other services. The People of Lava TV will come with a browser, Google Maps, and you’ll be able to grab more apps (Twitter and Facebook head the list). But these will require a keyboard, and if you’re going to grab a keyboard, why not just grab your laptop, cellphone or even iPad off the coffee table? This has the added advantage of not annoying everyone else in the room.

The web-TV is the future, but just treating it as a giant-screened PC is the wrong thing to do. Take this in the direction of Boxee, however, and we’re willing to talk.

Company site [People of Lava. Thanks, Robert!]

Press release [PDF]

Apple’s campaign against Adobe Flash has become explicit. The company on Thursday published a website of “iPad-ready websites,” listing sites that support “the latest web standards — including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.”

Clearly Apple believes Flash is an outdated standard. Apple has reportedly been urging web developers to use HTML5 for video playback rather than Flash. Noticeably, HTML5 appears 10 times on the “iPad-ready websites” page.

Websites on-board the iPad-ready boat include The New York Times, CNN, Reuters the White House and others.

Apple’s lack of Flash support for the iPhone has been a paramount complaint among critics who believe they’re missing out on a big chunk of the web. Apple’s persistent lack of Flash support for the iPad reinforces the corporation’s vision of a future where Flash is left behind.

But as simple as it may sound to ditch a format in exchange for another, Wired.com’s Webmonkey editor Michael Calore points out that ditching Flash for HTML5 would be complex for the web as a whole. (HTML5 is technically not a format, after all.) He points out that there’s no agreed upon video format for HTML5, and support varies greatly from browser to browser.

“Not to be overly critical of Apple — anyone pushing for open web standards deserves kudos — but the company seems more deeply concerned with digging Flash’s grave than it does with promoting semantic markup,” Calore wrote.

Read more of Calore’s views on this topic over at Webmonkey.

See Also:

• Apple Video Shows iPad Flash Support, But Don’t Believe It …
• Ten Things Missing From the iPad
• The Key to Apple’s iPad? Uh-Oh, It’s Magic
• Adobe Plays the Porn Card in Flash Campaign Against iPad

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

HomePlug has been around for years now, nearly as long as mobile broadband, Windows Mobile and sliced bread… combined. Unlike any of those three, however HomePlug hasn’t exactly caught fire in the industry. For those unaware, the general principle with these devices is to send network signals (or other signals, we suppose) over a home’s existing power network. In theory, this would prevent someone from being forced to run a 50 foot Ethernet drop, instead using the 50 feet (or more) or power wiring that already resides within the walls of a given abode to transmit the same signals. For whatever reason, early models were plagued with flaky performance and speeds that were far less than advertised. Granted, things have progressed quite aways since the HomePlugs of old, but has the tech finally reached a place where it could be adopted en masse?

We recently had the chance to test out Innoband’s HomePlug AV+802.11n AP Starter Kit, which is a two-piece solution that consists of a transmitting unit (which connects to your router or modem via Ethernet and plugs into a nearby wall outlet) and a 802.11b/g/n WiFi transceiver, which is designed to be plugged into a different wall socket where you need an Ethernet connection or extended wireless coverage. Curious as to how things stacked up? Tap that ‘Read More’ link for the rest of our review.

Continue reading Innoband HomePlug AV+802.11n AP Starter Kit review

Innoband HomePlug AV+802.11n AP Starter Kit review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPad doesn’t run Flash. If your website uses Flash, it won’t play well on the iPad. Turns out, a lot of people want their sites to look pretty on the iPad. So the internet’s already starting to look different. More »

‘Tis fun while it lasted, yeah? Verizon’s FiOS has provided a much-wanted (or much-needed, some would argue) sliver of competition in markets that were previously offered just one or two ISP options, and the wicked fast speeds available through the fiber-based service were just one big stream of cherries-on-top. We’ve personally noticed that the company has slowed down the rate at which it blasts out releases trumpeting new FiOS and FiOS TV markets, and now we know why: an Associated Press report notes that the operator has canned all public plans about expanding its FTTH home network, though it will continue to build-out where it had previously announced service (Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, namely). Of course, Verizon never stated that it would be making FiOS a nationwide service, but after hitting at least some sections of 18 states, we had high hopes that it would keep on keepin’ on. Unfortunately, it looks like you’ll be forced to move to FiOS-heavy Massachusetts, or simply gaze endlessly from your apartment window knowing that you’ll never feel the warm glow of a FiOS wire. Sniffle.

Verizon shelves plans for future FiOS rollouts, relocations to Massachusetts set to boom originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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