Over the past decade, technological advancements have made televisions thinner and thinner, with giant cathode ray tube sets replaced by flatscreen TVs whose thickness are now measured in millimeters.
Starting next year, however, ‘fatter’ flatscreen TVs may be making a comeback in emerging markets, according to one screen maker.
iOS5 turns Apple TV into a games console… almost
Amid all the Apple hoopla of the last fortnight, there has been surprisingly little mention of the potential impact of the new iOS5 on the games console industry.
Combining Apple TV with any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running the latest software allows whatever is on the screen of the handheld to appear simultaneously on the big screen, through Airplay Mirroring – including games. The result is something which looks pretty similar to Nintendo’s planned Wii U console, combining a touchscreen wireless controller with traditional console-style gaming.
Intel dissolves Digital Home
Intel has quietly ditched its Digital Home Group, which had championed the Smart TV category of internet-connected televisions – a target market for its Atom microprocessors.
The company made the high-profile appointment of Erik Huggers from the BBC in January to head what was described at the time as a “key strategic business for Intel”. An Intel spokeswoman said on Wednesday that Mr Huggers was remaining at Intel but Digital Home was not now considered a core business.
Apple unveils iPhone 4S
Apple has unveiled a new version of the iPhone, with the same design as its existing handset but upgrading its hardware, software and services to stay ahead of smartphone rivals.
The iPhone 4S, available from October 14, has the same dual-core processor as the iPad 2, an improved camera, 4G data speeds and better battery life. There will be a “World” version of the phone that can be used on different networks and Sprint has been added as a carrier. Apple emphasised improvements in a new version of the operating system – iOS 5 – and demonstrated a voice-recognition personal assistant called Siri.
Our live reporting from the event as it happened and reaction to the news is after the jump.
Amazon entered the tablet battle this week, unveiling the Kindle Fire, a $199 tablet that will run on Google’s Android operating system.
While news of Amazon’s tablet was long-rumoured, the unexpected price point caused quite a stir with some commentators. Others saw the Fire as a game changing device for media consumption.
iPhone 5, minus the master
How important has Steve Jobs’ famous reality distortion field been to Apple’s ability to shape perceptions of its new products – and persuade avid buyers to line up round the block to get their hands on them?
With next week’s unveiling of the iPhone 5, which has just been confirmed, we will get the first chance to see what a big Apple product launch feels like without the company’s guiding spirit.
The head of a leading sportswear company once told me a contractor had introduced pregnancy testing at its factories.
That sounded good, I said – manufacturers taking care of their female employees. He gave me a pitying look. The factory had introduced the tests so it could fire pregnant workers before they could claim maternity leave. He had asked them to stop.
IFA predicts 2011 gadget growth
The claim of Berlin’s International Radio Show (IFA) to be the biggest consumer electronics show in the world is fiercely contested by the Consumer Electronics Association in America, which organises the better known CES in Las Vegas.
But this week’s IFA is certainly better attended as well as being better timed than its January counterpart in terms of gauging what sort of year the industry is having and revealing what are the likely best-sellers in the upcoming holiday season.
Hewlett-Packard to make more TouchPads
Adding insult to an injurious two weeks at Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest computer maker has discovered that the discontinued TouchPad is a hit, at least at going-out-of-business-sale prices, and has pledged to manufacture some more.
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