Hasta La Gadget!

A triumvirate of television titans — LG, Sharp and Philips — are joining forces to create a development kit, defining a common standard for their Smart TV apps. The power play addresses the problem of fragmentation, since developers will only need to make one version of an app for it to work across all three of the ‘tubes operating systems. Based on open standards like HTML5, CE-HTML and HbbTV, developers should get their hands on a beta version by early October, with the finalized version due by the end of the year. The better question now is whether the Romanesque trio can drum up enough developer support to beat out competitors in an app-tastic coup d’etat, or if the likes of Vizio, Sony and Samsung will eventually join in. Needless to say, we’ll be digging for more at CEDIA later this month.

Continue reading LG, Sharp and Philips to build developer’s kit, create Smart TV app standard

LG, Sharp and Philips to build developer’s kit, create Smart TV app standard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |   | Email this | Comments

Enrolled in the iOS developer program and interested in iTunes Match? Better point that browser towards Apple’s dev portal, as Cupertino’s just flipped the switch for its upcoming music laundering service. There you’ll find iTunes 10.5 beta 6.1 with iTunes Match which’ll let you sign up for a yearly $24.99 fee. Hopping on the bandwagon early has extra rewards too — early birds get three months (on top of their yearly sub) for free. A tipster also provided us with a screencap (after the break) of his iPod touch running the current iOS beta, which now magically has a toggle for the service under the Music section of the Settings app. Taking the plunge? Let us know how you fare in the comments.

[Thanks, Matt]

Update: Looks like the initial signups have stopped, but Apple plans to expand the number of testers “over the next days.” So, keep compulsively checking iTunes if you want in on the next round.

Continue reading iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers (updated)

iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

The Logitech Revue was the first set top box to launch with Google TV. With the newly released software tools, developers can now create Android apps for Google TV. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Google released a set of software tools on Monday that will allow developers to create Android applications for Google TV devices.

With the new tools, developers can test their existing mobile or tablet Android applications in a big-screen environment, eventually porting them over to run on Google TV. It’s also possible to create new Android applications made specifically for Google TV.

“With the add-on you can test your apps to determine if they would be a good fit for TV and whether any tweaks are required,” wrote Google TV product manager Ambarish Kenghe in a blog post.

Apps made specifically to interact with mobile and tablet interfaces, however, won’t run on the Google TV interface. For instance, if an application requires touchscreen interaction, a Google TV user won’t be able to find the app on the Android Market.

Google’s “smart TV” platform received much attention and critical praise after debuting it at the I/O developer conference last year. But after major networks began to block online versions of their content to Google TV set top boxes right around the time of Google TV’s launch, the product failed to catch on widely with consumers. So much so that Logitech, one of the largest manufacturers of Google TV set top boxes, reported “slightly negative” revenues for its Revue Google TV units, as product returns outpaced sales in the second quarter.

Still, Google has a chance to bolster the Google TV platform’s following by cross-breeding it with Android, a platform with a far stronger fan base.

Google TV devices will be Android compatible after an upcoming Android OS update to version 3.0 (Honeycomb).

Apparently, the iOS hacking community is not working for the weekend, judging by the two days it took to crack Apple’s latest beta wide open. Available as of this morning, the Sn0wbreeze 2.8 Beta 6 unlock tool can now give those of you with developer credentials jailbreak access to iOS 5 beta 6. From the looks of this release, the hack works on most iOS devices with the sole exception of the iPad 2. Already itching to get that custom firmware on your Ive-designed iSlabs? Then hit the source link below, and let us know how things turn out.

iOS 5 beta 6 gets a Sn0wbreeze jailbreak, iPad 2 still stuck behind bars originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Smash iPhone  |  iH8sn0w  | Email this | Comments

We already knew Samsung loved the guys at CyanogenMod, but we didn’t think they’d start absorbing parts of its development team. According to Steve Kondik’s Facebook page, the Android facade’s head sculptor is setting up shop at Samsung Mobile. Sammy’s new software engineer told his fans that although his ‘side project,’ CyanogenMod, is not affiliated with his employer in any way, he will be “working on making Android more awesome.” Makes sense, we heard Samsung’s phones were looking for a fresh coat of awesome.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

CyanogenMod founder joins Samsung Mobile, promises to make Android ‘more awesome’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gadget University  |  Steve Kondik (Facebook)  | Email this | Comments