The drumbeat for HD 3D continues to pick up the pace, and with broadcasters around the globe pushing forward 2010 plans to bring 3D home HDMI has updated the course of its latest 1.4 spec to ensure compatibility between displays and boxes. Quite simply, existing cable and satellite hardware isn’t going to be held to the same requirements as Blu-ray and videogame equipment rocking the 3D sticker and expecting compatibility with displays on the way, since they won’t be passing the same high quality, high bandwidth dual-stream 1080p images anyway. Additionally, some broadcasters are pushing for HDMI to officially support “Top/Bottom” 3D transmissions they plan to use, which sacrifice resolution while saving bandwidth by shoving left/right images into a single frame. While that should add an entirely new angle to the line counting and claims of “HDLite” (get ready for 3DLite) all viewers can do is wait to hear when or if their hardware will get a software upgrade to 3D (like the one we expect will allow the PS3 to play 3D Blu-ray discs) in the months and years to come, once there’s a standard everyone can adhere to of course.
It’s been a running theme for the past few years, and as more and more people get faster Internet connections, and as video compression technology continues to improve, we’re going to be hearing a lot more about it. I refer, of course (of course!), to illegal streams of live sporting events. Whether you’re firing up TVAnts on Sunday to watch Arsenal take on Aston Villa, or trolling USTREAM for a live feed of WWE’s Royal Rumble, or looking for MMA-TV to watch this month’s UFC pay-per-view, you are, in fact, breaking the law.
Not only are you breaking the law, but you may even be taking money away from the companies/teams/sports you purport to support. But is that all there is to it?
We’ve already gotten up close with the S10 Blade that Viliv is promising to show off at CES, but this invitation is the first we’ve heard of the company’s N5 mobile internet device, which is also slated to debut at the show. As you can see above, this one is a clamshell MID, and packs a 4.8-inch multitouch display, a fully QWERTY keyboard, and 3G, WiFi, and GPS capabilities. Also on track for an official launch: the dual-boot Windows CE / Android Viliv P3, and the Windows CE-based, 1080p video-playing HD5 PMP.
I’m about due for an upgrade to my first generation iPhone, and a sweet camera would help seal the deal. That’s the rumor going around (more or less unrelated to the other set of rumors we heard today, though I probably wouldn’t turn down a higher-resolution iPhone with better camera included) according to a few places, which seem to stem from a company named Omnivision Technologies. They’re expecting to not only see an increase in production of iPhone CMOS image sensor parts from 20 million to over 40 million in 2010, but they also say they’ve landed a deal to put together 5-megapixel CIS pieces for a new version of the iPhone.
Take this with the requisite grain of salt, of course — we’ve expected cameras in some of Apple’s devices before, and a few of us were disappointed. But it’s not a big stretch to think that if Apple does release a new version of the iPhone as expected this year (be it a normal handheld or a larger tablet product), the camera in there will be able to take nicer video and better pictures than before.
Former PayPal SVP Jack Selby is getting into the film business: He’s funding and launching Horsethief Productions, a digital movie production, distribution and marketing firm. Selby currently serves as managing director of hedge fund Clarium Capital Management; before Clarium, he spent three years as SVP of corporate and international development at PayPal.
Horsethief plans to release two-to-three films per year on various digital platforms, including VOD, subscription services like Netflix and premium video channels like Hulu. The company will also rely on the web to promote its content. For example, its first film, The Last Rights of Ransom Pride, already boasts two microsites: lastritesfilm.com, and whokilledthedwarf.com, which introduces viewers to “The Dwarf,” one of the main characters in the film.
As we reported last week, Apple is again rolling out their ‘12 Days of Christmas’ promo for almost all of Europe. From December 26 to January 6 anyone with a iTunes account in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ireland can download a free song, music video, app, television show, or film from ’some of the biggest star performers’ on iTunes.
To help you remember to download the daily giveaway, Apple has created a ‘12 Days of Christmas’ iPhone app [UK iTunes link]. It uses push notifications to alert you when the new download is available and also allows you to connect to Facebook and recommend the download to your friends. So if you live in Europe, get downloading! The promo starts December 26th, but the app is available now!
The live video streaming application Qik has just been approved in the App Store and should be available shortly, we’ve learned. The company submitted the app a couple weeks ago following the approval of UStream’s live streaming application, and as expected, Apple also had no problem with it now. This marks a change from Apple, which previously was blocking all apps that did live video (recording) streaming.
Apparently, the way these streaming apps work is using a restricted API (a screen capture API) to get around the fact that Apple doesn’t grant them access to the video APIs for live capture and streaming. But Apple has suggested that it will no longer enforce protecting this API and in the future should open more that allow for live video streaming.
Vienna, Austria-based tunesBag is opening up the public beta version of its social music service today, after allowing access by invitation only for the past year or so.
The launch has been a long time coming, considering the fact that the startup has already produced a fully functional web client, and Adobe-AIR powered desktop client and applications for iPhone, Facebook and Boxee since its founding in late 2008.
Our friends over at Adafruit Industries made their way over to NYU’s ITP winter show 2009 recently, and they’ve blessed us with some highlights. ITP shows are always interesting and worth a walk through, and this is one show we regret missing this time around. The fridgebuzz MK1 protoype alone is enough to snag our hearts — a MIDI controller with 32 LED button switches and six copper switches, all in a super attractive package. The Super Duper cubes go beyond their ridiculous name, and operate as an interface to control video and music, with each cube boasting a gyroscope, accelerometor, battery, and wireless communication, so that the cubes can be turned (no wires!). There is plenty more to see, so hit the source link to check out photos and a video of the full highlights.
Acer’s Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet may not be making its London debut until next month, but evidently said machine is alive and well (and shipping, to boot) over in Singapore. One particular enthusiast managed to procure one of the twistable rigs, and as a favor to anyone who appreciates freedom, Kris Kringle and In-N-Out double-doubles, he decided to unbox it, snap a few shots, throw up a video and even toss out a respectable list of impressions. We’re told that Acer crammed just about every piece of bloatware known to mankind onto this thing, and the owner didn’t seem particularly thrilled with the keyboard nor the overall multitouch experience. That said, performance was found to be “snappy enough for general use,” and the casing itself was satisfactorily solid. Hit that read link for the full rundown, and hop on past the break for a look at the boot sequence.
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