From Personal Tech column January 24, 2013

Astell & KernWhile the iPod and iTunes dominate portable players, some users consider the music’s sound quality to be less than stellar. This has opened up a niche for rivals to offer higher-fidelity recordings on higher-end devices. This week, a look at one such player, also a PC appendage and an app audio upgrade.

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Posted in Audio, Personal technology |

Chris Nuttall Apple down 10 per cent as Q1 disappoints

January 23, 2013 9:11 pm by Chris Nuttall

Apple’s shares fell more than 10 per cent in extended trading in New York after the Silicon Valley company reported first-quarter revenues and iPhone sales below Wall Street expectations.

Apple reported $54.5bn in sales compared to an analyst consensus of $54.7bn. along with iPhone sales of 47.8m units, below expectations of around 50m.

Our live blog of the earnings announcement and subsequent conference call is after the jump. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Hardware, Mobile, Telecoms |

Chris Nuttall CESsentials 2013 – iON Air Pro 2

January 12, 2013 3:37 am by Chris Nuttall

What it is: ION’s second-generation point-of-view action camera, the Air Pro 2

Key points: 14Mp sensor, 180-degree lens and the addition of a microphone in-jack are the main improvements to the Air Pro, which retains its basic design and features, such as vibrating when it is turned on and its body being watertight, obviating the need for an extra waterproof case. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Personal technology |

Chris Nuttall CESsentials 2013 – Canon PowerShot N

January 12, 2013 2:41 am by Chris Nuttall

What it is: The PowerShot N - a point-and-shoot camera from Canon with a radical new design.

Key points: Very compact and lightweight with an 8x optical zoom, 12.1Mp sensor, 28mm wide-angle lens, tilt-touch LCD panel and Full HD video capability. The unusual feature is two rings on the lens are used for operating the shutter and the zoom. The camera’s Creative Shot mode analyses a photo taken and offers you five different versions of it, using various filters, crops and focuses. A “mobile device connect” button activates Wi-Fi, turning it into a hotspot and allowing a mobile device such as a tablet or laptop to connect to it and download photos. An app is available. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Personal technology |

Chris Nuttall CESsentials 2013 – The Tê pod tea-maker

January 12, 2013 12:21 am by Chris Nuttall

What it is: Cambridge Consultants, the product development company that helped create the first round tea bag, has come up with a prototype pod-based tea maker called the Tê.

Key points: Hot water is drawn into a brewing chamber where a pod containing tea has been placed on a spindle and will begin to spin, pulling water in, mixing it with the tea leaves and then forcing it out through small holes in the side of the pod. (See video below) This dispenses an excellent cup of tea in just two minutes. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics, Personal technology |
From PERSONAL TECH COLUMN January 10, 2013

CES

International CES – the major annual show for the consumer electronics industry in Las Vegas – gave us the first sight this week of new televisions, smartphones, computers and a wealth of other products. As CES shows products often far in advance of launch, pricing and availability for many of them is still vague or unknown, but here’s the highlights of what to look out for in trends and gadgets in the coming year.

Huge TVs with prices to match, yet showing the smallest of details, were most-talked-about at CES and are likely to be least-seen about the living room for years to come. In a night of big numbers, I went up 64 floors to see Toshiba’s 84in L9300 UHD TV unveiled in a Las Vegas hotel’s rooftop restaurant, before crossing over to a lounge where Samsung showed its 85in S9 4K UHD TV . The head of Samsung TV told me they had a 110in one, but it would not fit in the elevator.

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Posted in CES 2013, Personal technology |
From FT.com January 9, 2013

LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 07: Qualcomm Inc., Chairman and CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs speaks during a keynote address at the 2013 International CES at The Venetian on January 7, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs from January 8-11 and is expected to feature 3,100 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Qualcomm’s “Born Mobile” sign towers over other billboards; its booth is one of the biggest and its chief executive delivered the main keynote speech, with appearances by music and film celebrities and even Sesame Street’s Big Bird.

For a company that has traditionally avoided the limelight and not emphasised its brand in its customers’ products, the world’s biggest maker of mobile chips by shipments appears to be using this year’s international Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as its coming-out party.

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics, Mobile, Personal technology, Smartphones |

Chris Nuttall CES 2013 – Sony backs 4K like it’s 3D

January 8, 2013 3:53 am by Chris Nuttall

Sony has announced new TVs, content and distribution services for the Ultra HD standard it refers to as 4K, where screens have four times the number of pixels as the current Full HD standard.

At its press conference at the International CES consumer electronics show here in Las Vegas on Monday, it also showed a prototype TV where 4K was combined with another hot technology – OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) – although the demonstration failed. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics, Personal technology |

Chris Nuttall CES 2013 – Intel promises all-day power

January 7, 2013 8:59 pm by Chris Nuttall

Intel has unveiled new Atom processors for tablets and smartphones at International CES as it tries to make inroads in a market dominated by its rivals’ ARM-based chips.

The world’s biggest chipmaker also introduced its fourth-generation Core processor, codenamed Haswell, which it promises will finally deliver all-day battery life for laptops. New table PCs were also being featured (pictured) and advances in “perceptual” computing.

We were at Intel’s news conference and our as-it-happened report is after the jump. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics |

Chris Nuttall CESsentials 2013 – LG gets smarter with TVs

January 7, 2013 7:57 pm by Chris Nuttall

Our highlights from the 2013 International CES in Las Vegas (January 6 -11).

What it is: LG kicked off the CES press day with its news conference and announcements on OLED, Ultra HD and Smart TVs

Key points: A 55in OLED TV will finally go on sale; an 84in Ultra HD TV is on the way; LG’s smart TV lineup features an improved interface, better voice and gesture controls and new apps including a Verizon FiOS one that gives access to 75 live channels. Its plasma lineup is being reduced from five to three models and CCFLs – the old screen lighting technology for LCDs – are gone, with LG just using LED from now on. Three new screen sizes for Google TV models are being introduced, increasing the offering to five. Read more

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics, Personal technology |
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