Hasta La Gadget!

This week the folks a Google have introduced a re-birth of the TV-connected smart device Nexus Q with a dongle called “Chromecast”. This device connects through your television’s standard HDMI port, connects to the web via Wi-Fi, and is controlled by a wide variety of devices, including Android, iOS, Chrome for Windows, Chrome for OS X, and Chrome OS on the Chromebook Pixel.

This device can be explained first by the Nexus Q, a machine that was introduced in 2012 and was quickly doused in the face of its slightly larger-than-life form factor and limited functionality. Now here in 2013, Google comes back with essentially the same package in a pocketable dongle called Chromecast.

This device connects – at first – with YouTube, Netflix, and Google’s media services in Google Play – movies and music, too. This device will cost a surprising $35 USD – and if you’re reading this just a few minutes after the device was first introduced, you’ll likely see one of two messages: “Coming soon” or “sold out”. This could be a glitch, or it could very well be that Google hit the price point on the head.

The device itself works with HDMI and is CEC compatible, working with a maximum video resolution output at 1080p. The dongle measures in at 72(L) x 35(W) x 12(H) mm and weighs an easy-to-forget-about 34g, and needing one of the following operating systems to function:

• Android 2.3 and higher
• iOS 6 and higher
• Windows®7 and higher
• Mac OS 10.7 and higher
• Chrome OS (Chromebook Pixel, additional Chromebooks coming soon).

And be sure to note that you’re going to need to plug this bad boy in to the wall as well. Barely visible in these preview images, there is indeed a microUSB port at the back of this machine – most modern televisions have a USB port on their back anyway, they’ll do the trick. Otherwise you’ll be needing another power port behind your TV. Time for another power strip!

Chromecast hits $35 price point, aims to connect TV to the web this week is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve been invited to a breakfast with Sundar Pichai, the man with the [Chrome and Android] plan, and we know what you’re dying to find out: will we feast together on bran muffins or jelly donuts? Coffee or orange juice? Kidding aside, we imagine one of the biggest fellas on Google campus just wants to have us over for some tea, so we’re going to be there with our liveblogging hats on, ready to get you all of the latest product announcements and other news at a second’s notice. Perhaps Android 4.3 and the latest Nexus 7? Or is it something else entirely? Will there be dancing? Join us at noon EDT and hit up this link for the action!

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google

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AT&T’s 2013 second quarter results are in, with the telco reporting $3.8 billion in net profits, a slight decrease from the $3.9 billion earned the same quarter last year. Total revenues for Q2 came in at $32.1 billion, representing a 1.6-percent increase year-over-year. AT&T’s attributing much of this gain to a 2 million-plus increase in subscribers — both on the wireless and wired broadband end — and an uptick in mobile data plans. Wireless revenue for the quarter, which includes mobile phone and tablet sales, came in at $17.3 billion and accounts for a 5.7-percent boost versus Q2 2012, while revenue for wireless service totaled $15.4 billion. On the data front, the carrier saw significant growth as its revenue jumped nearly 20 percent compared to the same period last year, settling in at $5.4 billion.

Of its new subscriber load, 1.2 million can be attributed to AT&T’s wireless business, while its U-Verse broadband and TV service gains — which now totals 9.4 million subs overall — account for the remainder of that figure. According to AT&T’s estimates, almost three-quarters (73 percent) of its 49.5 million postpaid wireless subscribers are smartphone users, of which nearly 35 percent have active LTE plans. Coverage for that high-speed data service currently reaches over 225 million households, with the carrier targeting a total of 270 million covered by year-end. AT&T anticipates that LTE rollout will be almost entirely complete by summer 2014.

Update: In the investor call, AT&T executives hammered home the commitment to high-speed data and the willingness of its customers to opt for larger data buckets, especially when it comes to its Mobile Share plans. About 13 million subscribers are on a Mobile Share plan, and more than 25 percent of those are opting for 10GB or more per month. Interestingly, more than 15 percent of customers on Mobile Share moved over from grandfathered unlimited plans — over 70 percent of postpaid customers are on some kind of tiered data plan.

AT&T also said on the call that it sold more iPhones this quarter compared to Q2 2012, though it would not provide specific numbers. Further, CEO Ralph de la Vega said that T-Mobile’s recent offering of the iPhone had a significantly less impact on churn than when the iPhone went to Sprint and Verizon. Not to leave others out, he said that this quarter saw its best-ever Android sales and that it hopes the Lumia 1020 will drive sales of the company’s Windows Phone devices as well.

As for the carrier’s recent purchase of Leap, de la Vega said that the acquisition will accelerate AT&T’s entry into the prepaid segment. Combined with the official launch of LTE in AT&T’s goPhone lineup, he hopes that Leap will give the carrier a better position in the prepaid market than before.

Nicole Lee contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, HD, Mobile, AT&T

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Source: AT&T

The tech world may be hoping for Apple to unbox some wearable technology in the near future but who cares about the iWatch when an NFC ring is a thing? NFC fans — you know, these sort of folk — hankering for the convenience of having the wireless transfer tech always on their person should point their eyes at this U.K.-based Kickstarter project.

The NFC ring is designed to be used in conjunction with NFC-enabled gadgets — such as smartphones and tablets, NFC door locks and so on — so the wearer can perform tasks such as unlocking their phone, unlocking their front door or sending their contact info, personal website or Bitcoin address to another smartphone user by either fist-bumping or using an open-palm gesture.

Provided you’re happy to wear a bit of bling, the relatively slimline ring gets around some of the awkwardness associated with bumping and grinding NFC phones together to do data transfers (aka ‘phone sex‘). Being passive NFC, it also doesn’t need any battery power to work. And all the programming is done via apps, including third party apps if you want to use it to unlock your phone.  The NFC ring creators have also made their own open source software for writing actions to the ring.

The ring actually has two NFC inlays, with a larger ‘public’ area designed to worn at the top for sending things like contact data via a fist bump gesture, and a smaller ‘private’ area designed to be worn so it can be concealed in the palm and only activated via an open palm gesture. This area is intended to store more sensitive data such as front door and phone unlocking info, says creator John McLear.

The dual NFC design is intended to help keep a ring owner’s most sensitive data from being slurped by nearby NFC readers. But it’s worth pointing out that jewellery rarely stays put so NFC ring bearers are likely to end up spending a lot of time checking their precious is correctly aligned. Or drunkenly failing to send contact info to the person they are trying to chat up in the bar, and trying to unlock a non-existent front door instead. That’s a whole new level of geek faux pas.

The NFC ring is basically a more convenient (i.e. wearable) version of the NFC tags that are sometimes shipped with NFC smartphones. But since awkwardness is a barrier to more widespread NFC use, anything that helps reduces friction is a welcome development for the contactless fraternity.

The NFC ring is fast approaching its Kickstarter funding goal of £30,000 — with close to 1,100 backers pledging almost £29,500 so far with 27 days left on the campaign. The creators say rings are due to ship in late October, if all goes to plan. Cost per ring is around £25/$38 but the creators have also released a CAD design so the basic ring form can be hacked, customised and 3D printed. They are then offering cheaper pledges to just ship the NFC inlay for fixing inside these 3D printed rings.

It’s worth flagging that the “normal size ring” (which is ~7mm wide) doesn’t work with all NFC phones — notably the Samsung Galaxy S4 and BlackBerry Z10 won’t play nice. For those devices the creators warn “you will need an alpha size ring”, which they add is “really only for chaps with big fingers”.

AT&T’s Mobile Share plans have sometimes been too expensive for customers who only need a little data. The carrier will soon be more accommodating, however: it’s adding both 300MB and 2GB tiers on July 26th. The $20, 300MB pack costs half as much as the 1GB plan, and is intended mostly for basic phone users. We’ve reached out for more details on 2GB pricing, but it’s not hard to see this new tier slotting neatly between the 1GB and 4GB offerings. Both new plans should represent better bargains for frugal customers, although they won’t do much for bandwidth lovers — Lumia 1020 customers will likely want some extra headroom.

Update: AT&T tells us that the 2GB plan will cost $50, plus $45 for each smartphone.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T

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Source: AT&T