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 |
From FT.com January 7, 2013

There are few better views in Las Vegas than the neon-sparkling Strip by night from the panoramic windows of a 64th floor restaurant, but Toshiba diverted eyes on Sunday to an equally engrossing sight, with its unveiling of an 84-inch “Ultra HD” TV atop the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

Dancing models, luscious foliage, scenes of natural beauty dazzled like a Vegas show on the huge screen. The clarity of the picture was amazing; the colours were rich and vibrant. But the price was unmentionable.

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Posted in CES 2013, Consumer Electronics, Personal technology |

Chris Nuttall Leap Motion lands Asus and another $30m

January 3, 2013 1:00 pm by Chris Nuttall

Motion-sensing advances in computing will be a major feature of next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with companies including eyeSight, InvenSense, PointGrab and PrimeSense showing their technologies and Intel emphasising the “perceptual computing” of voice and gesture commands at its press conference.

But Leap Motion, which will be demonstrating its motion controller’s capabilities at the show, claims its technology is over a hundred times better than the competition and today it is announcing a a $30m funding round and a deal with Asus. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Hardware, Tech Finance |

Chris Nuttall Kaleidescape buys Hollywood second DVD chance

December 11, 2012 7:48 pm by Chris Nuttall

Kaleidescape, whose dvd-ripping system for the rich has embroiled it in eight years of legal battles with Hollywood, has come up with a new offering the studios seem to like.

The Kaleidescape Store, opening today with more than 3,000 digital movies and 8,000 TV shows from Warner Bros, offers a solution to a thus far intractable problem for the majors – how to persuade consumers to buy rather than rent their digital entertainment. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media |

FT ebook Q&A: The Amazon Economy

December 5, 2012 6:38 pm by Financial Times

The FT’s latest ebook is about Amazon and its voracious expansion from online book retailer into technological giant.

Is the company a force for good? Can it justify its current stock price? Why does Amazon compete with the companies it provides services to? Will Amazon agree to pay more tax in the UK as Starbucks just agreed to do?

Thanks to everyone who took part in the Q&A. If you have further questions, please post them to Twitter using #FTAmazon. Barney Jopson, the FT’s US retail correspondent, and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, global media editor, will answer them here as soon as possible. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Digital media, Internet, Tech, Tech Finance |

Tim Bradshaw Christmas miss for the Pebble watch, Kickstarter’s $10m project

November 12, 2012 10:53 pm by Tim Bradshaw

The developers of the Pebble smart watch made Kickstarter history in May when they raised $10.2m, the largest sum received through the fast-growing crowdfunding site. But it is now in danger of attaining an equal notoriety for delays and busted deadlines.

After missing its original September delivery date, the Pebble’s creators warned this weekend that many backers will not receive their device in time for Christmas. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Tech |

UK judge orders Apple apology redo

November 1, 2012 4:40 pm by Financial Times

Apple’s battle with Samsung in the UK courts has taken yet another new twist, after the US group was reprimanded by a judge for posting a statement on its website that was too cheeky, writes Robert Cookson.

Last month, the Court of Appeal ruled that Samsung had not infringed on the design of the iPad and ordered Apple to post a statement on its UK website to ensure that the public were aware of the judgement. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Internet |

Tim Bradshaw The Apple earnings guessing game begins again

October 26, 2012 1:51 am by Tim Bradshaw

The big headline from Apple’s latest results was its low earnings forecast for the months leading up to the holidays. Tim Cook warned that earnings per share would fall, year over year, to $11.75 – well below Wall Street consensus of $15.41.

The explanation is plausible: the costs of ramping up manufacturing of a suite of new iPhones, iPads, iPods and Macs all at the same time will hit margins.

But investors don’t seem to buy it. Apple’s stock, initially down when results first landed, is unchanged in the after-market. Read more

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Posted in Consumer Electronics, Tech |
From beyondbrics October 25, 2012

There wasn’t much in Apple’s Q4 results about China. But what few snippets there were to be found were revealing.

In an earnings season that has already seen a number US companies, including Dow Chemical, DuPont, 3M, FedEx, Caterpillar and Alcoa, blame faltering demand in China for their weak earnings, Apple has managed to buck the trend.

 Read more

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Posted in Asia, Consumer Electronics |
From Inside Business column October 24, 2012

Will Windows 8 turn out to be Microsoft’s “New Coke”?

Messing around with one of the world’s most familiar everyday products is hardly something to be undertaken lightly – and with the new version of Windows, which goes on sale on Friday, there has been a lot of messing around. That almost guarantees some degree of user backlash. But it would be wrong to judge the outcome of what amounts to a bet-the-farm gamble by Microsoft on its initial reception.

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Posted in Computers, Consumer Electronics, Hardware, Software |
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