Hasta La Gadget!

So, the word is that Samsung was planning on showing off Google TV at its presser, but switched things up at the last minute and stuck to its first party Smart TV offering. Still, that didn’t stop two Samsung Google TV boxes from showing up at the show floor, a Blu-ray player and a standalone “companion” box. They both look pretty svelte, and the companion box is particularly smaller than the standalone Logitech and Sony boxes. Samsung’s explanation of the showing was the idea that Samsung was “capable” of supporting other platforms, though they didn’t have any promises of a release, a release date, or a price range. We also saw a Samsung Galaxy S running the Google TV controller app, which isn’t much of a stretch, and there wasn’t any sort of physical remote or keyboard on display. Basically, Samsung is showing the bare minimum of a Google TV offering, which seems to be sort of appropriate with Google TV’s current feature set, if you want to get all “deeper meaning” about it.

Continue reading Samsung shows off Google TV companion box and Blu-ray player

Samsung shows off Google TV companion box and Blu-ray player originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Verizon is shopping for ways to get its brand spanking new 4G airwaves loaded, because Sling’s just announced an unusual subscription-based deal with them that should kill the upfront cost normally associated with buying a Slingbox and a $30 SlingPlayer Mobile app. Monthly pricing hasn’t yet been announced, but if you’ve got one of Verizon’s new LTE phones, you’ll have the option of getting some dollar figure tacked onto your monthly bill and a box will get shipped to your door on loan; cancel the subscription, and you’ll presumably have to return it or pay a fee. It’s an interesting shift in Sling’s business model, but from Verizon’s perspective, it’s also got an air of anti-net neutrality to it — especially if the $30 SlingPlayer option in the Market goes away. Here’s hoping it doesn’t! Follow the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Sling hooks up with Verizon to rent Slingboxes to LTE customers

Sling hooks up with Verizon to rent Slingboxes to LTE customers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LAS VEGAS — This year’s Consumer Electronics Show is more about incremental upgrades than massive breakthroughs. And, of course, there are the tablets.

Check out this video for a quick, two-minute overview of the highlights.

We expect literally dozens of tablet manufacturers to release iPad competitors this year, and many are on display at CES this week. Toshiba, Motorola, Panasonic, Vizio, Coby and others are all planning tablet or tablet-like offerings in a variety of sizes and with a range of capabilities. It’s too soon to tell which of these will be worth buying, but they’ll definitely be hitting store shelves in a big way in 2011.

As for smartphones, geeking out is the name of the game. If bragging about your PC’s dual-core processor and high-speed L2 cache is your kind of thing, you’ll be happy to know that you can soon do the same with your smartphone. Phone makers are beefing up processing power in an effort to support increasingly demanding mobile operating systems and apps. That’s good news for those who live in and through their portable devices.

We’ll be bringing you more news from the show as it develops. Check out our CES 2011 full coverage page for all the stories from Vegas, or hit our CES 2011 top stories page for just the highlights.

Ocosmos wasn’t only showing off a new duo of Windows 7 handheld gaming machine here at CES, but also a newfangled remote in its O-Bar line. This guy is an ultraslim Bluetooth remote, designed to control set-top boxes, game consoles and connected HDTVs. Details were a little unclear (to say the least) on how exactly it would all work, but apparently the company’s supremely interested in licensing out the technology underneath of it for use in other remotes. We get the impression that El Goog doesn’t know about that Google TV logo there on the bottom, and folks at the booth noted that this was just a mockup for demonstration purposes. The goal here would be to place a virtual keyboard on the capacitive display, then enabling couch dwellers to bang out searches for shows on their set. For reasons unknown, there are also a pair of shoulder buttons at the top, possibly for embedded games. This one’s expected to ship later in the year for an undisclosed amount, presumably sans the Google branding.

Ocosmos O-Bar Smart TV / Google TV controller hands-on at CES 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Cricket Muve music service and Samsung Suede hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones

Cricket Muve music service and Samsung Suede hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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