Hasta La Gadget!

It’s been one of the more conspicuous omissions in the media hub space: despite Google Play being the cornerstone of Google’s content strategy, you couldn’t truly use the company’s music or movie services through Google TV without depending on content you’d already paid for elsewhere. As of a new upgrade, the ecosystem has come full circle. Viewers with Google TV boxes can at last buy or rent directly from Google Play Movies and Google Play Music, and the content will be indexed in the TV & Movies section alongside third-party video services and traditional TV. The upgrade also helps Google’s TV front end play catch-up with its mobile counterpart by adding automatic app updates and subscriptions. While device owners may have to wait a few weeks as the upgrade rolls out, the addition signals a big step forward for a platform that has normally leaned heavily on others for help.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google

Google Play Music and Movies purchasing reaches Google TV, patches a media strategy hole originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The international mobile hotspot rental market just got a lot more interesting. While Xcom Global‘s offerings are still broader, Tep Wireless is expanding in a major way. Previously reserved for European nations, the upstart is now serving a full 50 nations, adding Brazil, the United States, South Africa, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and UAE to its repertoire. For those in need of a refresher, the company enables customers facing an international trip to order their hotspot and get it delivered prior to departure, with a prepaid envelope included to ship it back once they’ve returned.

The company’s made clear that its hotspots will track data usage in real time right on the inbuilt display, and they’re programmed to hop onto different networks as borders are crossed. (If you’re curious, we confirmed that it all works as advertised in a recent jaunt across European borders.) The full pricing chart fo is hosted up after the break, with those needing unlimited buckets able to pay a $6.95-per day surcharge. (It should be noted that the preexisting EU-wide pricing options remain for those sticking to that region.) It’ll probably look a touch pricey to light users and common tourists, but business travelers unwilling to take chances on connectivity when heading overseas will find the rates far more palatable than roaming fees from their home carrier.

Continue reading Tep Wireless expands mobile hotspot rental plan to 50 countries, revamps pricing

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile

Tep Wireless expands mobile hotspot rental plan to 50 countries, revamps pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fox embraced a radical thought when it outlined its Digital HD initiative earlier this month: customers are more likely to buy digital movies if the content isn’t artificially delayed and priced to match the releases on conventional discs. The studio is about to see if that gamble on common sense pays off. As of today, you’ll find 600-plus Fox movies ready to buy or rent in HD across every major digital video store in the US, with many downloads cleared to arrive ahead of their physical counterparts at lower prices that reflect a disc-free reality. The media giant has also decided to play nicely with Google after a longstanding absence, putting its movies and TV shows on Google Play Movies and YouTube. Its tentpole movie release Prometheus is unsurprisingly being used as the prime incentive to try Digital HD; the title is available online three weeks before the Blu-ray launch at a more reasonable $15 price. The sci-fi thriller is even Fox’s first movie destined for UltraViolet cloud lockers. Only Americans will have expanded access to movies and TV at first, but it shouldn’t be too long before many countries can be creeped out by Michael Fassbender’s android — including on their Android devices.

Continue reading Fox kicks off its Digital HD initiative by joining Google Play and YouTube, offering movies early

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Internet, HD

Fox kicks off its Digital HD initiative by joining Google Play and YouTube, offering movies early originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xcom Global has been busy carving out a reputation as the world traveler’s best friend, but that globetrotter has always had to make do with 3G even if there was 4G back home. As of September 20th, frequent roamers of the sort will have access to LTE when abroad — at least, if they’re planning a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. A deal between Xcom and EMOBILE will let visitors to Japan get up to 75Mbps by renting a Huawei GL01P hotspot to the tune of $18 a day, up slightly from Xcom’s usual $15. The pocket router won’t work in other countries, but it will supply dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G if travelers wander outside of the fastest coverage areas. Not planning a trip to Osaka? We’re told Xcom plans to expand its LTE option to Europe at some point in the future, starting with the UK — good timing, that.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking, Mobile

Xcom Global launches LTE data for travelers at $18 a day, starting in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BMW kicked off its DriveNow car sharing service in its home country last year to see if urban EV rentals would catch on. Something must have clicked in Germany, as the automaker is exporting the concept to the San Francisco Bay Area as of September. DriveNow’s initial fleet of 70 ActiveE vehicles will rely on a different business model after getting its American visa: the service drops the strictly by-the-minute model of the German operation in favor of a $12 base fee for a half-hour’s trip, with a 32 cents per minute rate kicking in only during longer drives. Travelers will have to drop off the cars at specified stations, too. There’s a consolation for the trouble through a ParkNow reservation service, which locks in a parking space at a guaranteed rate and navigates there through an iPhone app or the web. Just be aware that those spaces will be limited — only eight DriveNow stations and 14 ParkNow lots are active, which doesn’t afford a lot of free roaming even after discounting the lack of immediate plans for other US cities. We’re nonetheless glad that Bay Area locals without their own ride will have an easier time staying green for their cross-city jaunts.

Continue reading BMW DriveNow EV car sharing comes to San Francisco Bay Area, ParkNow follows suit

Filed under: Transportation

BMW DriveNow EV car sharing comes to San Francisco Bay Area, ParkNow follows suit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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