Hasta La Gadget!

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

It’s generally a bad idea to extrapolate larger consumer behavior from personal experience and say “if I like it, surely everyone else will as well.” It’s a mistake that happens all the time, but there’s is one case where I will use my personal behavior to at least start the foundation for analysis — when I don’t want a new gadget or technology. Granted, sometimes I’m just not the target audience, but even then I’m usually able to remove myself from the process and say it might not be for me but others will love this. In the case of 3D TV, however, I think my lack of interest doesn’t bode well for the market.

I’m surprised by figures, forecasts, predictions and prophecies all showing a rosy outlook for 3D TV beginning as early as this year, because I’ve seen most of the 3D offerings available and I have no plans to buy — not now and not anytime soon. I should be a part of the core demographic for 3D: I like TV, movies and video games. I’m am early adopter. I have reasonable disposable income. I’m not afraid of betting on the wrong standard. And yet, I’m not buying. Here’s why.

Continue reading Entelligence: 3D TV falls flat for me

Entelligence: 3D TV falls flat for me originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The World Cup may have just ended, but whether you’re into football or not, there must have been a point over the last five weeks where you or someone you know moaned about missing a live goal. This is where SlingBox comes in — in case you didn’t know already, it’s a little networked box that piggybacks on your set-top box’s AV and IR ports, thus stuffing your TV experience into your computer or cellphone via WiFi or even 3G. Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian, BlackBerry and iOS have been mingling with the SlingPlayer Mobile app for some time now, and for the same $29.99 tag, Android users can now also join the party. But is the app worth the money? Does it get on with our green bot? Read on to find out.

Continue reading SlingPlayer Mobile for Android review

SlingPlayer Mobile for Android review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s all about how you hold it, apparently. Intel’s Labs have churned out a proposal for a new user-identifying system to be embedded into remote controls. Given a bit of time to familiarize itself with particular users, this new motion sensor-equipped channel switcher is capable of correctly recognizing its holder just by the way he operates it. Taking accelerometer readings every 100 nanoseconds, the researchers were able to build a data set of idiosyncrasies about each person, which would then be applied the next time he picked up the remote. Alas, accuracy rates are still well short of 100 percent, but there’s always hope for improving things and for now it’s being suggested that the system could be employed to help with targeted advertising — which is annoying anyway, whoever it may think you are.

Intel’s smart TV remote will recognize you, tailor content to your wishes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a world of connected screens, the venerable TV continues to wait in isolation while the personal computer and the cell phone have become ubiquitously connected. Sure, there have been experiments in interactive TV — gadgets like WebTV and modern game consoles are connected devices, and set-top boxes like the Roku and TiVo add connected components — but most TVs in the US remain blissfully ignorant of the internet. There’s arguably more TV content viewed on PCs than there is web content consumed on TVs. Here’s why the TV remains disconnected and how that might change.

First, the PC and TV don’t get along well. It’s been a match that’s been tried for more than a decade. It would seem like a no brainer: take a device with great connectivity and pair it with the TV. In the 90s Gateway introduced a line of Destination PCs that were designed for living room use, Microsoft later built some of the best TV and PC integration with their Media Center efforts, and even Apple has added a ten foot user experience to Mac OS with its Front Row UI. None of these efforts ever went mainstream. Why? Simple: PCs are designed for smaller screens, mice and keyboards, and TVs aren’t. No matter what shell you layer on top, you’re still stuck with a PC OS underneath that’s not optimized for the TV experience.

Continue reading Entelligence: The evolution of the TV

Entelligence: The evolution of the TV originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why pay for cable to watch stuff on my television when I can stream most of the TV I care about to every screen I watch for $10/month? That’s what I’m thinking after using the awesome Hulu Plus iPhone app. More »