Hasta La Gadget!

From Sharp comes the latest from its AQUOS line with an emphasis on compatibility and coordination with smartphones – the MX Series LC-24MX1, due to be released on May 30. It comes in 3 colors: green, orange and silver.

Sharp announced the release yesterday and the LC-24MX1 was reviewed by ASCII.jp which I would like to share with you.

Strictly in terms of viewing specs, there is nothing special here. It’s a relatively small size 23.6 inch with standard 1366×758 dot resolution. There is 1 built-in tuner and is compatible with USB HDD and can record for a long period of time.

The best characteristic of the TV seems to be the built-in 2.1ch speaker. When the TV is in standby mode, they speakers can be accessed through the user’s smartphone and automatically come alive to play music from the smartphone.

The speaker unit is 5W+5W output, with a 10W subwoofer, built by Pioneer. When connected to a smartphone, it turns to “music mode” which will make better high pitch and low pitch sound than regular TV audio play mode, which helps make the TV audio better to listen to.

Also when playing Blu-ray, surround-sound mode can be employed.

So, despite its small size and and basic resolution, the viewing experience is fairly enjoyable.

Through its Miracast functionality, images from your smartphone can be wirelessy broadcast to the TV screen, and it can be used as a custom remote control device.

Another big feature of this TV is introduction of the specialized “AQUOS Connect” application. The TV screen and your smartphone screen can simultaneously show the same content.

It will automatically compensate for the horizontal TV screen interacting with the vertical smartphone screen to properly show content on both. And interaction of sound between TV and smartphone can be adjusted by waving the smartphone.

AQUOS Connect also gives “Keyword Search” functionality. Keywords related to a TV program currently on air are automatically extracted, and you can search further information by selecting a keyword you want to know about.

AQUOS Connect can be used through both wireless Miracast and wired MHL, but when you use wired MHL you need to have a wired internet environment.

AQUOS Connect provides an Android version and iOS version, however iOS devices are not compatible with Miracast or MHL. So in that case, a wired internet connection is needed for Miracast and HDMI output adapter is needed for MHL.

The bottom line assessment by Ascii is that it is useful for (mainly younger) people who are used to accessing and viewing content through their smart device and wanting to use the TV as a larger, viewing aid, with better audio, for their content.

Estimated price: 69,800 yen
Display: 24 inch (1,366 x 768)
Size: 56.5 × 17.5 × 41.8cm
Weight: 7kg
Tuner: Digital terrestrial broadcasting, BS/CS, analog broadcasting
Audio output: Max 20W (5W＋5W＋10W)

AT&T just posted its earnings for the first quarter of 2013, and the market couldn’t help but ding the company, which is now trading down in after hours markets. The business as a whole posted a net income of $3.7 billion, which is slightly up from $3.6 billion one year ago. Meanwhile, company revenues took a slight hit, which sit at $31.4 billion — down 1.4 percent from the previous year. In terms of the company’s wireless business, though, there’s plenty of reason for optimism. The company was able to snag an additional 296,000 postpaid subscribers and put a solid 1.2 million people on smartphone plans during the quarter. For those keeping track, smartphone sales now account for 88 percent of AT&T’s postpaid handsets. Unsurprisingly, the company is making more money than ever off of its data plans, which account for $5.1 billion of the company’s business. As for the wireless segment as a whole, income is up 21 percent and AT&T is pulling in revenues of $16.6 billion with a 28 percent profit margin.

Encouraging signs were also revealed for U-verse, as the company’s broadband service netted an additional 731,000 internet subscribers and 232,000 television subscribers during the quarter — its best performance in two years — for a grand total of 8.7 million subscribers. Naturally, one segment of Ma Bell’s business isn’t looking too hot, and that’s the traditional wireline business, as revenues have fallen 10 percent from the previous year. Given the size of this segment, and the weakening demand for the service, it’s easy to understand why investors might be slightly uneasy, even in light of all the encouraging news.

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

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Source: AT&T

Could BlackBerry be prepping a return to slider form for future BB10 hardware? From the looks of this recently awarded design patent, we’d be willing to wager the Waterloo-based outfit’s seriously considering it. The USPTO doc, initially filed back in December 2011, is as plain as they come, outlining a multi-perspective design for a handheld electronic device that looks to be a combo of the Z10’s all-touch candybar aesthetic with a physical QWERTY keyboard hiding underneath à la the Torch series. With BB diehards about to get a first taste of the Q10’s more traditional design, it’s reasonable to assume that a portrait QWERTY slider’s next up on the 2013 horizon. And with the company’s annual showcase, now renamed BB Live, set for mid-May, it’s likely we’ll be hearing about the next phase of BB10’s portfolio and potentially this prospective gem in particular.

Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Blackberry

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Source: USPTO

EE‘s just released its Q1 2013 earnings, giving us a look at its first full quarter with 4G services. The carrier says it’s on track to its goal of a million 4G customers by the end of the year, thanks to the addition or migration of 318,000 LTE customers since the service launched.. Despite those more profitable clients, however, total service revenue (excluding hardware sales) was down 1.5 percent for the period over last quarter, to £1.42 billion. On one hand, the number of 4G additions could be seen as disappointing considering the company’s strong marketing push of the service — though on the other, the company’s only just activated numerous regions, making that one million 4G subscriber goal seem more likely than not. We’ll just have to wait a bit longer to see if Brits are really in love with LTE’s extra zip — and willing to pay for it.

Update: This article originally stated that EE added 318,000 4G customers in Q1 this year, but that figure actually represents the number of users the carrier has added since launching its 4G service. five months ago

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: EE

Pre-orders of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 have already begun at AT&T, but the operator has been oddly silent about the actual date customers can expect to purchase one in stores and online. Now that T-Mobile and Sprint have both announced specific launch dates (April 24th and 27th, respectively), the largest GSM carrier in the country has followed up by declaring its intent to sell the flagship Samsung device on the 27th of this month. This is four days earlier than the anticipated pre-order shipment date, which means the HTC One has merely a full week to bask in the spotlight by itself. What’s more, if you simply couldn’t wait and jumped on those pre-orders, you’ll get yours a full 48 hours early (read: April 25th). As expected, the GS 4 will be offered for $200 (16GB) and $250 (32GB) in both black and white.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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

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Source: AT&T (Twitter), AT&T