Oh Tegra, is there anything you can’t do? Not only are you at the heart of the Zune HD, you’re also the rumored silicon foundation underpinning next generation smartbooks, media pads, MIDs, and even the Nintendo DS. Now we’ve got MSI chairman, Joseph Hsu, peddling promises of an NVIDIA Tegra-based e-book reader that will be fully revealed in the first half of 2010 — exactly as rumored. While no details have been provided, one could assume that a device with that kind of power will be doing more than just refreshing electronic ink on a single display slab, particularly with dual-display e-book readers now the norm.
Mobinnova’s élan, or the Beam as it’s reportedly known as now, is a curious beast. It runs Windows CE, yet it’s packing NVIDIA’s Tegra graphics technology. Thus, it’s not really a netbook, but calling it a smartbook might be short-changing it. Whatever the case, a recent interview with Mobinnova’s CTO Mark Anderson has unearthed plans to launch the machine at CES 2010 with an undisclosed mobile carrier (or more, maybe) in America. We’re also told that it should last between five and ten hours when playing back HD video, or up to 24 hours if it’s just sitting around looping an iTunes playlist. Needless to say, our interest is definitely piqued — hit the read link for a gallery of shots, and keep an eye right here for the rest of the story direct from Vegas.
While Microsoft tries to figure out if it should take Tegra-powered Zune HD in a gaming direction or the Xbox in a portable direction, there are wild rumorings from the underground that claim Nintendo is planning on using Tegra to power a next generation DS handheld. The primary source on this comes from Bright Side of News (which doesn’t have a big track record to judge by), who claims the debut is planned for late 2010 and conjectures that the device could either use the upcoming 40nm 2nd-gen Tegra tech, or the existing, tried-and-true 65nm chip. There were rumors from Yahoo! Games of a Tegra DS afoot at GamesCom in August, with higher resolution screens and full backwards compatibility, and PC Perspective also claims its own NVIDIA insiders are confirming this — the evidence is certainly stacking up. If it turns out to be true it’s going to mean a pretty dramatic jump forward in portable gaming power, but either way this generation of handhelds seems due for a refresh, and there’s plenty of ultra compact silicon floating about to make a graphical leap possible.
Flash 10 already supports HD video on the desktop, but 10.1 — announced this week at Adobe’s MAX conference in Los Angeles — is being billed the first to really reap the full benefits of the Open Screen Project by unifying feature sets across a wide variety of platforms on the desktop, the laptop, and the pocket. As usual, Windows, Mac, and Linux will all get hooked up with the latest release, but public betas of 10.1 for Windows Mobile and webOS will be hitting before the end of the year as well followed by Android and Symbian in “early” 2010. RIM’s also gotten official with its rumored membership in the Open Screen Project, though the lack of a timeline for 10.1 support in BlackBerry OS is a stark reminder of the long technical road that lies ahead for Waterloo as it tries to match the smartphone competition tit-for-tat in the multimedia space. At the end of the day, mobile Flash means nothing without the horsepower to properly drive it, so let’s hope that Tegra, Snapdragon, and next-generation architectures like OMAP4 start to come on board en masse just as these builds come out of beta.
Speaking of fast chipsets, the other big news out of the show is that Flash 10.1 will take advantage of GPU acceleration on a number of key mobile platforms, including both nVidia’s Tegra and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon alongside ION for smooth (well, theoretically smooth) 720p and 1080p video on the latest generation of netbooks and smartbooks.
Update: Added video of the Palm Pre running three instances of Flash in parallel after the break.
Read – Flash 10.1 announcement Read – RIM joins the OSP
Kevin C. Tofel certainly knows his way around ultra-portable devices like MIDs, UMPCs, and netbooks. And during a product briefing with NVIDIA, the managing editor behind jkOnTheRun received confirmation from NVIDIA that it’s working to deliver Google’s Chome OS on the Tegra smartbook platform, eventually. Anyone surprised? Tegra is ARM-based and Google has been perfectly clear that its Chrome OS is targeting ARM and x86 systems ranging in size from netbooks to full-size desktops. But hey, it’s Tegra and Google’s unproven OS together at last… what could go wrong? Until that day it’ll be Windows CE or Android (and maybe a Linux distro or two) when the first Tegra-based Smartbooks begin shipping from carriers, well, right about now.
We’ve spotted an early prototype of an upcoming MID from Mitac powered by Tegra and running Windows CE, and we like where it’s headed. There are actually a lot of similarities to Mobinnova’s smartbook, though we suppose it’s more of a Tegra thing: CE with a custom interface on top, emphasis on 720p media playback and output (there’s an HDMI jack and TV tuner) and what promises to be an uber-competitive price and good battery life for the form factor. Mitac also plans on selling the thing with a fold-out case / keyboard combo to sweeten the deal. The unnamed device is quite thin, but unfortunately the unit we saw was out of battery — though NVIDIA assured us it was “really cool” while it worked. Sure guys, sure.
When we broke news and images of the Zune HD back in April, we were more than a little excited. There had been talk — and rumor — of a widescreen, touchscreen Zune for some time, and seeing the fruits of Microsoft’s labor made it clear that the company had done its homework. As time wore on and we reported on the official announcement, confirmation of NVIDIA’s awesome Tegra chip inside, and news that the Zune Marketplace would extend into Xbox Live, we were downright giddy at the possibilities. Finally the much-anticipated, heavily lusted after micro-slab has been brought to market — and it’s not just the unit itself. Along with the release, we’re seeing new desktop software, the Zune brand move towards a connected experience for Windows computers, and the expansion of the Zune Marketplace and ecosystem — replete with applications designed just for the Zune HD interface.
So the time has come for the Engadget review. Does the Zune HD finally match up with Microsoft’s ambition, and can it stand up to the heat and ubiquity of the competition? Read on for all the answers.
Considering that even now only a swath of Zune HD owners are able to update their software in order to — you know — have a working device, we can understand Anything But iPod’s eagerness to stop trying and just crack open Microsoft’s newest entrant into the portable media player market. Without getting too gushy, we can definitively say that the innards look just as sexy as the exterior, but unfortunately the make and model of the internal WiFi chip (amongst other things) remains a mystery. Hit the read link for a nice gallery of closeups, but be sure and shield your screen from any lingering cube passers.
Update: iFixit just went live with their teardown as well!
Update 2: The iFixit teardown is complete. While there aren’t any 802.11n WiFi or vacant camera-space surprises like those found inside Apple’s iPod touch, the Zune HD doesn’t need any to pique our interest. What you will find photographed in exquisite detail is the NVIDIA Tegra SoC, SiPORT HD Radio module, Toshiba-sourced flash NAND, a 2.45Wh battery, Wolfson MIcro WM8352 audio subsystem, and Foxconn logo confirming its manufacturing origin. There’s also a “for our princess” inscription meant as a tribute to a Zune team member who passed away during development. Check the gallery for a tease or head over to iFixit to get knee-deep in it.
The Zune HD is soon to be officially out on the streets, and we’ve got the official Engadget hands-on / unboxing. Now, we were excited as all get-out to wrap our paws around the Tegra-powered PMP, but some of that luster has worn off since popping this baby out of its extremely attractive packaging. Why is that, you ask? Well, Microsoft decided to hold on loading up any usable software until the new Zunes were out to market. What that means is that we have yet to do any serious testing with the new device — despite having the gem sitting right here. We can tell you that the Zune HD is most definitely a thing of beauty as far as gadget standards are concerned, and while the only media we’ve been able to enjoy is the big M’s demo video, we have been marveling at the clarity and crispness of that OLED display.
Obviously we’ve got a proper review coming soon, but we take this stuff pretty seriously and don’t like to offer our opinion till we’ve spent some quality time with a device. You can expect a look at both the music and media playback capabilities of the ZHD, as well as the new Zune integration into Xbox Live, Windows Media Center, and all other kinds of connected-world goodness. Till then, feast your eyes on the galleries below, and quietly curse Microsoft for handing us a neutered Zune.
Update: As a commenter points out below, these devices are being sold to end users in the same condition our unit is in — namely, without any real functioning software. It’s a pretty unusual move for a company like Microsoft to put devices into the hands of consumers with no functionality at all, but it seems the Zune team was cranking till the last minute. Let’s hope all the hard work pays off!
As you shove your way through the crowd in a baseball stadium, the lenses of your digital glasses display the names, hometowns and favorite hobbies of the strangers surrounding you. Then you claim a seat and fix your attention on the batter, and his player statistics pop up in a transparent box in the corner of your field of vision.
It’s not possible today, but the emergence of more powerful, media-centric cellphones is accelerating humanity toward this vision of “augmented reality,” where data from the network overlays your view of the real world. Already, developers are creating augmented reality applications and games for a variety of smartphones, so your phone’s screen shows the real world overlaid with additional information such as the location of subway entrances, the price of houses, or Twitter messages that have been posted nearby. And publishers, moviemakers and toymakers have embraced a version of the technology to enhance their products and advertising campaigns.
“Augmented reality is the ultimate interface to a computer because our lives are becoming more mobile,” said Tobias Höllerer, an associate professor of computer science at UC Santa Barbara, who is leading the university’s augmented reality program. “We’re getting more and more away from a desktop, but the information the computer possesses is applicable in the physical world.”
Tom Caudell, a researcher at aircraft manufacturer Boeing, coined the term “augmented reality” in 1990. He applied the term to a head-mounted digital display that guided workers through assembling electrical wires in aircrafts. The early definition of augmented reality, then, was an intersection between virtual and physical reality, where digital visuals are blended in to the real world to enhance our perceptions.
Augmented Reality Today Total Immersion is one of the most successful augmented reality providers today, having created interactive baseball cards, a 3-D tour of the Star Trek Enterprise, and now, a new line of Mattel actions figures based on the upcoming sci-fi-flick, Avatar.
Here’s a quick look at how their augmented reality technology works. Take the baseball cards. Users have to first log on to a URL (www.toppstown.com) and enter a 3-D section where they enter an interactive code found on their baseball card to activate the software. Then, they can hold the card under a webcam and Total Immersion’s software goes to work. continue reading…
Futurists and computer scientists continue to raise their standards for a perfectly augmented world. Höllerer’s dream for augmented reality is for it to reach a state in which it does not rely on a pre-downloaded model to generate information. That is, he wants to be able to point a phone at a city it’s completely unfamiliar with, download the surroundings and output information on the fly. He and his peers at UCSB call this idea “Anywhere Augmentation.”
But we have a long way to go — perhaps several years — before achieving Anywhere Augmentation, Höllerer said. Augmented reality is stifled by limitations in software and hardware, he explained. Cellphones require superb battery life, computational power, cameras and tracking sensors. For software, augmented reality requires a much more sophisticated artificial intelligence and 3-D modeling applications. And above all, this technology must become affordable to consumers. The best possible technology that is available today would nearly cost $100,000 for a solid augmented-reality device, Höllerer said.
Given the cost of creating decent augmented-reality technology, early attempts have focused on two areas. One, augmented reality for your computer is prominently appearing in attention-grabbing, big-budget advertisements. And a few consumer applications of the technology are just beginning to surface in smartphones.
A recent example of augmented reality appeared in the marketing campaign for the sci-fi blockbuster District 9. On the movie’s official website was a “training simulator” game, which asked computer users to print a postcard containing the District 9 logo and hold it in front of a webcam. The postcard contains a marker; when the game detects that marker in the webcam video, it overlays a 3-D hologram of a District 9 character on the computer screen. From there, players can click buttons to fire a gun, jump up and down or throw a human against a wall in the game. (See video above.)
Mattel is using the same type of 3-D imaging augmented reality in “i-Tag” action figures for James Cameron’s new movie Avatar. The toy includes a card containing a marker, which is projected as a 3-D action figure on a computer. This way, children can battle each other’s virtual characters on a computer screen.
But augmented reality isn’t truly useful in a static desktop environment, Höllerer said, because people’s day-to-day realities involve more than sitting around all day (outside of work, at least). And that’s why smartphones, which include GPS hardware and cameras, are crucial to driving the evolution of augmented reality.
Brian Selzer, co-founder of Ogmento, a company that creates augmented reality products for games and marketing, recognizes the need for augmented reality to go mobile. He said his company is working on several projects coming in the near future to help market mainstream movies with augmented reality smartphone apps. For example, movie posters will trigger interactive experiences on an iPhone, such as a trailer or even a virtual treasure hunt to promote the film.
“The smartphone is bringing AR into the masses right now,” Selzer said. “In 2010 every blockbuster movie is going to have a mobile AR campaign tied to it.”
On the consumer end of the spectrum, developers have recently released augmented reality apps for the Google Android-powered HTC G1 handset. Layar, a company based in Amsterdam, released an augmented reality browser for Android smartphones in June. The Layar browser (video above) looks at an environment through the phone’s camera, and the app displays houses for sale, popular restaurants and shops, and tourist attractions. The software relies on downloading “layers” of data provided by developers coding for the platform. Thus, while the information appears to display in real time, it’s not truly real-time: The app can’t analyze data it hasn’t downloaded ahead of time.
“This is the first time media, internet and digital information is being combined with reality,” said Martin Lens-FitzGerald, co-founder of Layar. “You know more, you find more, or you see something you haven’t seen before. Some people are even saying that it might be even bigger than the web.”
Cellphone giant Nokia is currently testing an AR app called Point & Find, which involves pointing your camera phone at real-world objects and planting virtual information tags on them (above). Users of the app can view each other’s tags on the phone screen, essentially crowdsourcing an augmented reality.
“This year we’re feeling a real urgency to work on augmented reality because the hardware is finally catching up to our needs,” said Rebecca Allen, director of Nokia’s research center in Hollywood.
Georgia Tech is also busy tinkering with augmented reality. The video demo above demonstrates an augmented-reality zombie shooter called ARhrrrr. The smartphone in use is a prototype containing an Nvidia Tegra, a powerful chip specializing in high-end graphics for mobile devices. How do you play? Point the phone camera at a map containing markers, and a 3D hologram of a town overrun by zombies appears on the phone’s screen. Using the phone, you can shoot the zombies from the perspective of a helicopter pilot. And you can even place (real) Skittles on the physical map and shoot them to set off (virtual) bombs.
As for the iPhone, officially there are no augmented reality apps in the App Store yet — because Apple doesn’t provide an open API to access live video from the phone’s camera. This barrier prompted augmented reality enthusiasts and professionals to write an Open Letter to Apple pleading for access to this API to make augmented reality apps possible in the App Store.
Brad Foxhoven, Selzer’s partner at Ogmento, said Apple has told him the next version of the iPhone OS (3.1) “would make [AR developers] happy,” implying the live-video API will become open, and AR apps will become available very soon.
Meanwhile, some augmented reality developers have already hacked away at the iPhone’s software development kit to code proof-of-concept augmented reality apps. The video above demonstrates an app called Twittaround, an augmented reality Twitter viewer on the iPhone. The app shows live tweets of mobile Twitter users around your location.
“We’re doing as much as we can with the current technology,” Selzer said regarding the overall augmented-reality developer community. “This industry is just getting started, and as processing speeds speed up, and as more creative individuals get involved, our belief is this is going to become a platform that becomes massively adopted and immersed in the next few years.”
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