Hasta La Gadget!

Although DLNA may have had a significant head start, the streaming media standard available on more than 9,000 devices is about to be challenged in a very big way by Apple’s upstart AirPlay technology. At least it will be if Jordan Watters, BridgeCo‘s VP of Sales and Marketing, is to be believed. BridgeCo as you’ll recall, is the company that makes the silicon for AirPlay devices — currently an exclusive arrangement we’re told. While Apple may have thrust BridgeCo into the consumer spotlight, this ten year old company has a long history of quietly providing networked media processors and connectivity software to a who’s who of audio companies. Here at CES we’ve already seen two speakers from iHome, the Zeppelin Air from B&W, and a trio of speakers from the previously unannounced AirPlay partner Klipsch rolled out. And this is just the beginning.

According to Jordan Watters, AirPlay devices could ultimately dwarf “made for iPod” audio docks by 2x to 4x. Part of the reason for Jordan’s optimism is the fact that so many iOS devices have already been sold and that many audio devices already on the market using BridgeCo chips can add AirPlay functionality via a software update, including the nine receivers just announced from Denon and Marantz. “The ecosystem is already there,” he said smiling. And unlike iPod docks which are usually sold at a rate of one per iOS device, Watters sees consumers purchasing multiple AirPlay devices for every iOS device sold in order to enable whole-home distributed audio. In fact, growth could come as a “step function ramp sucking into the market,” Jordan enthused. In other words, he expects AirPlay growth to be explosive. We’d chalk up the hyperbolic talk to Jordan’s marketing role if it weren’t for the abundance of anecdotal evidence supporting his claims here at CES. To start with, the company’s modest meeting room was packed with interested manufacturers poking around BridgeCo’s AirPlay offering. Jordan’s also booked back-to-back-to-back with meetings until the show ends (and into the coming weeks we suspect). But what really convinced us was an all-in-one speaker prototype from a major consumer electronics company that was quickly whisked away before meeting the sensor beneath our D300’s lens. If they’re involved, well, we expect the rest will follow.

Apple AirPlay devices set to explode in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Trade shows obviously aren’t the best environment for evaluating a universal remote, but we couldn’t resist taking Sony’s RMN-U1 HomeShare IR / WiFi controller for a quick test drive here at the CES. Physically the device is surprisingly light and has a decent screen resolution. Clicking the home menu displays icons for every system component as well as an activities button for accessing online music services like Slacker, playing tracks from a networked Blu-ray player / iPhone / iPod, or even sending media files between DLNA-networked devices. If a BRAVIA TV is connected to the system, users can select the particular input they’d like to hear audio from or cue a movie. Once a track is playing, the screen will display the song’s album art and metadata along with playlists. Overall the RMN-U1 looks pretty capable at managing music — though it’s a bit menu heavy. It also seems fairly expensive considering what else is available at its $300 price point, but then again, we’re not aware of another IR universal remote that’s compatible with Sony’s WiFi HomeSharing. Check out our gallery below for more shots of the interface and you may even spy photos of the rest of the new HomeShare line too.

Sony HomeShare RMN-U1 universal remote hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

3DTV is “cool and all,” but one of the biggest challenges to its adoption is a lack of substantial content. VideoEFx is a small company with a nondescript booth situated somewhere in the ginormous Las Vegas Convention Center, but what it’s showing off is quite remarkable. A small black box about the size of an iPhone, it can take any 2D content and convert it to 3D in real time. Our first impression was one of amazement, especially given the fact that we were watching ourselves in real time through a standard 2D video camera hooked up to the TVs in the booth. When we asked how such a thing could be possible, we got hints about some fairy magic creative engineering that employs similar visual cues that your eye processes when you look at anything. Apparently some broadcasting companies have expressed interest in using the tech to power their own 3D streams due to the simplicity (and cost effectiveness, we assume) over current 3D filming solutions. We know you can’t experience it from wherever you’re tuning in, but take our word that this is some seriously impressive stuff — even if other companies have achieved similar 2D to 3D conversion magic within TVs before. Still, not all sets offer this capability, and this even doubles as a three port HDMI switch. It’ll carry a $400 price tag when it lands in April.

VideoEFx box transforms your 2D content into 3D (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The Wireless Media Stick is an interesting little product that aims to bring media streaming to pretty much anything with a USB port. If the concept sounds familiar, that’s because it kind of is — we reviewed the Infinitec Infinite USB Memory Drive late last year. This USB stick has built-in WiFi, so you connect it to your network and can plug it into pretty much anything with a USB port that can read a mass storage device. We saw it demoed in a Blu-ray player as well as an iPod dock (both USB-equipped of course), and in the short time we spent with it the thing seemed to work as advertised. Under the hood it’s essentially a Samba client, so all you have to do is share a folder on your Mac or PC and it’ll show up in your Xbox, PS3, or whatever other box you’ve got it plugged into. We also saw an Android app that enables you to share all your content on your device straight to the stick, which should be hitting the Android Market January 30th. There are also BlackBerry and iOS versions in the works, but we weren’t told when to expect them. We watched a playback of a Green Hornet movie trailer streamed to the device and it didn’t seem to have much lag, but we’ll have to put one through the paces to make a final judgment call. If you want to pick one up, it’ll cost you a cool $120.

Wireless Media Stick hands-on: stream your content to anything with a USB port originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Yes, this is what happens when the iPhone 4 and the iPad mingle in the back alleys of Shenzhen and bring mutant KIRF-y children to CES. The EYO T8100 is a dumbphone boasting a (likely resistive) 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen, quad-band GSM radio, dual SIM slots, two megapixel rear camera (with flash), VGA front camera, analog TV tuner, Java support, and WiFi, all wrapped in a silver / black, white, or pink package. Check out the spectacle in the gallery below.

Crapgadget CES, round five: iPhone 4 and iPad wed in unholy KIRF matrimony originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments