TV maker Vizio unveils PCs at CES
Vizio, the TV maker that shook up the US market, is aiming to do the same to the PC industry with the unveiling of a line of notebooks and all-in-one PCs at the Consumer Electronics Show next week.
The California company, which has been swapping the sales top-spot with Samsung in the US LCD TV market, says the largest product launch in its history will challenge the “sleepy giants” of the PC world in the same way it took on Samsung, Sony and other TV players.
Google TV adds LG, subtracts Intel
Google has just premiered its TV announcements for next week’s Consumer Electronics Show, where the major television makers will be showing off the latest in “Smart” internet-connected sets.
The addition of LG TV models and replacements for Intel as the processor maker for Google TVs is the new news, although Google revealed its activation rates for its “TV meets the Web” service have doubled since Version 2.0 of Google TV was launched in October, suggesting a boost for sales of Sony devices.
Arise, Sir Jony: Apple designer Ive is knighted
Apple’s top designer, Jonathan Ive, has been knighted in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list for raising the standards of industrial design and championing British talent abroad.
Raised in north-east London, Mr Ive – known as Jony – has been the design mastermind behind Apple hardware ranging from the iPod, iPhone and iPad to its iMac and Macbook computers.
Left to its own devices, Apple might never have come up with the iPod. The now-ubiquitous music player was the brainchild of one Tony Fadell, a former employee of Philips, whose concept failed to raise sufficient funding, prompting him to hawk it around established corporates.
Less game-changing innovations also owe their existence to outsiders. The military came up trumps when a microwave manufacturer wanted to develop methods of heating more evenly – the soldiers’ system had been tried and tested with blood plasma on the battlefields.
Apple could face product bans in Germany
Apple had a bad week in its multi-front patent war, capped by the real possibility of an iPhone and iPad import ban in Germany.
Sony, Microsoft report Black Friday boom
The Black Friday glad tidings from consumer electronics makers continued on Tuesday, with Sony announcing a big rise in US sales and Microsoft reporting a record week for its Xbox 360 console and Kinect controller.
The news followed Nintendo’s announcement on Monday of record sales of its Wii and 3DS gaming machines.
Intel and Toyota steer in-car research
Intel and Toyota are getting behind the wheel together to carry out research on next-generation “in-vehicle infotainment systems”.
It all sounds very vague at this stage and executives at a media briefing on Thursday could not provide any date for when an Intel Atom microprocessor might power such systems in Toyota cars. But the deal represents a big-name partnership for Intel in an industry it still views as a new market for Atom and where it needs such breakthroughs.
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