This week the folks at Apple have pushed a new set of channels to their television companion device Apple TV. These channels include Vevo – a channel that works with massive amounts of music videos, and the Weather Channel for starters. Also up for grabs this week are Disney and the Smithsonian Channel. Disney comes […]
Roku has been busy with the updates lately, having released Redbox Instant in its channel store earlier this month, and now rolling out an update for its iOS app. With the mobile update comes a new feature for Play on Roku, which was first seen back in late 2012: video streaming. There’s no mention of […]
Shortly after it was revealed that Redbox Instant will be coming to Chromecast, Roku has announced that the service is now available on most of its devices including the Streaming Stick. For those unfamiliar, Redbox Instant is the Netflix-esque video streaming service that accompanies the red DVD-dispensing boxes found in many stores. The service has […]
It would appear that Google is good and ready to enter the smart TV market from a Chrome angle this week with a device called Chromecast. This little beast is made to plug into your television’s standard HDMI port, connect to the web, and obey your every Chromebook and/or Android device’s command. Sound easy enough?
Here you’ll be working with a new “cast” button in apps like YouTube – sound familiar? – that’ll play a video that you choose from your phone or tablet (or Chrome web browser window) to your Chromecast-connected TV. This works in a manner thats exceedingly similar to the Nexus Q, a much larger device introduced by Google at Google I/O 2012 – and ditched not long after.
This device will be offered through the Google Play store the same as the Nexus device lineup and will be opening some rather interesting avenues for not just Android devices, but the whole Chrome operating system universe as well. Think about how not just televisions will be utilized, but massive computer displays as well!
We’ll be exploring this device and its abilities in greater detail once we have our hands on a unit. For now you’ll want to know this: this device connects with software, not with hardware, over a Wifi connection in your living room. It’ll work with the YouTube app on iOS, you can access this button with YouTube in a Chrome internet browser – and we’ll see what else as soon as hackers get their hands on it, too!
UPDATE: Netflix, too, of course. Expect big things from this cross-collaboration in the near future!
Chromecast: a tiny computer that connects your TV to your phone, tablet, and laptop is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
I’ve seen many different kinds of clunky TV boxes, and many are forgettable. There are quite a few that are basically eyesores in your living room, and it’s not always easy to find a way to make them appealing, except if you completely hide them away.
Fan TV was developed by Yves Behar’s Fuseproject studio. The design was created for the company Fanhattan. The remote and set-top box are quite unique. They are supposed to mimic nested stones. The pebble-shaped remote is supposed to respond to the slightest touch, and you can tap as well as swipe it to navigate through your movies and shows.
The system itself is designed to integrate live TV, DVR and streaming media in a single interface. Though it’s not clear what other devices will be required in order to use the live TV and DVR features. There will also be companion apps for iOS devices so you can watch and control your content on the go.
Here’s a brief demo of the Fan TV in action:
There’s no word yet on pricing or a release date for the system.
[via designboom]
Sometimes you just want to enjoy TV without making a commitment, and time-shifting broadcasts either means building your own HTPC or purchasing an OTA DVR — like the now defunct Boxee. Back in 2011, Channel Master teamed up with Entone to fill that niche and a recent FCC filing shows the company (once again) partnering with Echostar to bring a new OTA DVR to the market. The set-top box — called Channel Master K77 (not pictured) — also provides over-the-top functionality and comes in two flavors: CM-7500GB16, which features 16GB of built-in flash (and relies on external USB storage for DVR support) and CM-7500GB320, which incorporates a 320GB hard drive. While it’s unclear when the device will launch, it will be competing with a number of similar offerings from Simple.TV, Tivo (Series 5) and Aereo once it lands on store shelves.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Zatz not funny
This week there’s a bit of an insider tip floating about speaking on Intel’s very first HDTV set-top box, on that’ll be offered at retail for web-streamed live TV. This device is said to be working with web connectivity that needs no television package plan, therefor aiming to do the traditional TV industry a blow
With 70 million active monthly users, we suspect the world isn’t desperately searching for another way to listen to Pandora. That said, we certainly can’t fault the internet radio provider for attempting to optimize the experience for as many platforms as possible. The latest push comes in the form of tv.pandora.com, a service the company claims is optimized for that proverbial “10-foot experience.” The HTML5-based site plays nicely with your Xbox 360 at the moment, and Pandora says that it’ll be coming to further TVs, set top boxes and consoles in the months to come. tv.pandora.com has a simplified navigation system, play, pause, skip and thumbs up and down functionality and 500 curated stations to get you started. You can check the site out today, or peep a press release on the matter after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Microsoft
This week the folks at Kingnovel have released a device by the name of K-R42-1, a so-called “Android TV box” made to utilize the mobile operating system on your big-screen television machine. What’s odd about this machine – and similar television boxes running Android – is the fact that Google makes their own “Google TV” platform that also works with Android at its base. The differences between this machine’s Android and Google TV’s Android are slight.
Inside the K-R42-1 Android TV box can be found a 10/100 ehternet jack for web connectivity , 2GB of RAM, and a Rockchip RK3188 ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor. In addition to its ethernet jack this machine connects to wi-fi and features an external antenna to boost wireless connectivity. The K-R42-1 also works with Bluetooth 2.0, has 8GB of internal storage and has a microSD card slot for memory expansion.
Oddly you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack on the side of this box – strange because generally you’ll be sitting quite a ways away from it whilst enjoying your television programming. Up front is an IR (infrared) sensor for use with the wireless remote control that comes standard in the box – it’ll be interesting to see if this continues to be a trend now that device like the Samsung GALAXY S 4 and HTC One work with IR-blasters for controlling media devices of all kinds.
Word has it Android 4.3 may have infrared driver integration, making devices with IR in or out all the more useful. This machine works with Android 4.1.1 out of the box with no word of Android updates in the future – but you never know!
This device works with a standard USB port, SPDIF, full sized and micro HDMI, a single A/V port, and DC power in. You’ll find this machine being called MK888 in some stores, with a price of $96 USD attached to it. It’s not going to be easy finding this device in the USA, mind you, and as Google TV continues to push for Google’s vision of the Android-integrated television, devices like these aren’t going to be too prevalent in the USA any time soon.
SOURCE: Liliputing
Kingnovel K-R42-1 Android TV box appears to continue Google TV split is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Roku is a high-selling little set top box that brings a variety of content platforms, such as Netflix and Vudu, to its users’ televisions, giving them smart TV-like functionality sans actually being a smart TV. On April 10, Roku announced that it had sold 5 million players, and now the company’s CEO has spoken with The Hollywood Reporter, sharing his vision of the company’s future.
In the future, we could be seeing Roku-branded televisions, according to a statement made by Anthony Wood, Roku’s CEO. “We see a huge opportunity to be an operating system for televisions and that’s what we’re focused on right now.” Roku is reportedly in talks with more than 24 OEMs for certifying its device/software for TVs.
One particular area of focus is the Streaming Stick, which is a device about the size of your standard thumb drive that can be plugged into a TV. By the end of 2013, Roku expects to see 3.5 million “devices” that are Roku-certified, though it didn’t go into any more detail about those devices. In addition to that, Roku also wants to see its software integrated in TV sets.
The company is said to be in talks with “about two dozen” television makers, looking at having the software built into the devices at some point in the future, although such plans weren’t included in the end-of-2013 timeline it specified for having Roku-certified devices on the market. Although not all the brands were listed, the majority are said to be so-called “house brands,” such as Best Buy’s Insignia.
The idea behind such a business shift is two-fold: on one hand, companies will benefit from having the Roku branding on a television – in theory, at least – and perhaps especially by offering a television that has the software integrated into the set, no secondary device necessary. And by more heavily pushing its software, Roku will spread its proliferation. The company has received a $60 million investment from several companies, which is going towards this goal.
SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter
Roku looks outside the box as funds are pushed towards TV integration is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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