Nintendo has announced the August 19th availability of the new $200 3DS XL, a larger version of its portable console with improved battery life.
“Unlike the Nintendo DS Lite, which released just over a year and a half after the original DS, the 3DS XL does not make necessary improvements to the look and ergonomics of the 3DS,” reports Digital Trends. “The Lite made the DS more compact but dramatically improved its screens and comfort. The 3DS XL increases the size of the 3DS’ screens by 90 percent, with a 4.88-inch top screen and a 4.18-inch bottom screen.”
The new size (close to that of the iPad when the clamshell is unfolded) may make the 3DS a more usable device for some gamers.
The battery life has been improved, offering 30 minutes more play time than the original. Additionally, the 2GB SD card of the original DS has been replaced with a 4GB card.
However, Digital Trends suggests these are the only improvements. “The screens are bigger but the resolution is not improved. The 3DS XL also fails to add the most necessary hardware improvements like a second analog slide pad for improved control of the three-dimensional games,” explains the post.
Mashable takes a look at how augmented reality — although still in its early stages of deployment — is already beginning to impact retail businesses and the consumer shopping experience.
“Augmented reality technology typically overlays the virtual world on top of the real-world environment through a device, such as a mobile phone or a tablet,” explains the article. “But certain companies are redefining the bounds of virtual reality experiences by home-growing their own unique AR technologies and platforms.”
For example, the GoldRun AR platform is available in app form for iOS and Android devices. It can customize AR-based experiences to be shared via Facebook and Twitter.
“GoldRun specializes in interactive experiences accessible directly on the app platform, which hosts various campaigns at one time,” notes Mashable. “For example, clothing retailer H&M can hold a virtual photo-based scavenger hunt, while New York Giants fans can virtually try on the Super Bowl XLVI championship ring and share photos online.”
“We’re creating a platform where we can use augmented reality to create a one-stop shop, based on the concept of using virtual brands to create geo-specific or geo-targeted virtual photo opportunities,” explains Shailesh Rao, co-founder of GoldRun.
Holition is a marketing firm and AR laboratory that has created an interactive digital platform that is complex on the back end, but seamless for consumers who want to try on virtual goods via a Web cam and Internet connection.
“We are pursuing active ways in which the other senses can be integrated into augmented spaces, whether that be touch or sound,” says Holition brand director Lynne Murray. “A lot of our brands say, ‘About 50 percent of our product is ensuring customers can feel the weight of it.’ So, we’re looking at how to include haptic interfaces to our experiences to allow us to communicate multiple sensory experiences.”
ETCentric reported from January’s CES about companies such as Lego developing AR kiosks. Retailers are already letting customers try on clothing and jewelry virtually. Macy’s in Culver City, California recently conducted a demonstration of full body scans of customers in the Fox Hills Mall courtyard.
Paul Adams — former lead researcher of social Web and mobile applications at Google — is currently a researcher at Facebook where he focuses “on researching and designing better ways for businesses and people to communicate and interact,” according to his website.
Marketing firm Simply Zesty has posted a compelling video featuring a presentation by Adams in which he discusses the history of social media and why he firmly believes Facebook has a strong future.
“He is one of the best thinkers when it comes to social and this video that Facebook has just shared shows his thoughts on how advertising works on Facebook and why the world will continue to become more social,” explains Simply Zesty.
“One of the biggest takeaways from the video are his three huge trends to watch: 1) The Web is being rebuilt around people, 2) The amount of information you can access is increasing exponentially and 3) All this information will be available everywhere,” suggests the post. “Those three points perfectly describe where social is at right now. Unlike most sales videos that all the big networks release, this is actually massively useful at showing where the world is headed.”
ETCentric staffer Phil Lelyveld adds: “This 20 minute video articulates part of the foundation of the ETC’s “Big Data”/Metadata project. He says that the future is about our friends, our interests, and our friends’ interests.”
Researchers from the Object-Based Media Group at MIT’s Media Lab have developed an alternative to installing over-sized TVs in order to create a more immersive viewing experience in the living room.
The cost effective approach uses additional side and ceiling screens that are positioned to target a viewer’s peripheral vision.
“And instead of simply stretching the video image to completely fill the area the viewer can see, the Infinity-By-Nine system, developed by Daniel Novy and V. Michael Bove Jr., uses custom software that generates and renders a real-time extension of the image on either side of the TV,” reports Gizmodo.
“Because the viewer’s peripheral vision is never in focus, the extensions being generated only have to be crude blobs and blurry shapes to sell the effect,” adds the post. “Which also means the Infinity-By-Nine system can run on consumer-ready hardware, instead of requiring a room full of state-of-the-art supercomputers.”
Initial testing of the multi-screen system has shown that viewers are increasingly drawn into the story and universe. “And it has even been found to create the illusion of feeling other sensations, like heat when an on-screen explosion feels like it’s completely surrounding the viewer,” notes Gizmodo.
The post includes a video introduction to the Infinity-By-Nine system.
Amazon Studios has announced the first four series projects selected for its development slate — three comedies and one children’s show.
“They become the first submitted scripts to be selected for the Amazon Studios Series Development Slate, extending their option on the projects and awarding their creators $10,000 in options as a result of their intention to turn them into a TV series that will be distributed through the company’s digital video streaming service, Amazon Instant Video,” reports The Next Web.
The four projects include the animated comedies “The 100 Deaths of Mort Grimley” and “Magic Monkey Billionaire,” the mockumentary “Doomsday” and a children’s project called “Buck Plaidsheep.”
Clive Barker is reportedly working on a rewrite of “Zombies vs. Gladiators,” one of 16 film projects currently being developed for Amazon Studios since the division’s launch nearly two years ago. Some 9,000 movie scripts and 1,000 series pilots have been submitted since the launch.
“In practice, it means that Amazon Studios is becoming an additional, crowdsourced content source for Amazon, while the company is increasingly venturing into original programming,” adds The Next Web.
If the programs make it to production, they will be available for streaming on Amazon Instant Video or possibly licensed to Warner Bros. and other TV companies.
Measurement firm comScore recently released its “State of the U.S. Internet” report that measures trends in social networking, mobile, online advertising and e-commerce.
According to the study, “unique visits to social networking sites have increased by 6 percent year-over-year,” reports TechCrunch. “The company also re-confirmed that Pinterest remains the fastest-growing social network as of Q1 2012, and its users rival only that of LinkedIn in terms of buying power.”
Distribution of the worldwide Internet audience — 41 percent Asia Pacific, 26.6 percent Europe, 14.6 percent North America, 8.9 percent Latin America and 8.8 percent Middle East-Africa. (The report notes that in 1996, two-thirds of the Internet population was in the U.S.)
Social networking growth — Pinterest +4377 percent, Tumblr +168 percent, LinkedIn +67 percent, Twitter +58 percent and Facebook +4 percent.
In March of this year, 62.9 percent of phone purchases were smartphones. The number of mobile users is projected to pass the number of desktop users by 2014.
Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Target and Netflix were among the top retail sites in Q1 2012, with Amazon showing an impressive 30 percent growth in its number of unique visitors year-over-year.
“Online shopping has been impacting brick-and-mortar sales, too, thanks to what comScore dubs ‘showrooming,’ which you know as the process of using offline retail stores to look at products up close, then buying online,” explains the post. “Thirty five percent of people told comScore they had ‘showroomed,’ but chose to buy online for better prices.”
While comScore predicts U.S. online ad spending will grow 18 percent in 2012, monetization remains a challenge.
Global TV shipments fell 8 percent from the previous year and 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012, reports the NPD Group.
“Soft demand and cautious expectations about the upcoming year in many parts of the TV supply chain have led to a slowdown in shipments,” explains Paul Gagnon of NPD DisplaySearch.
“Key component prices, such as LCD panels, are not expected to decline much in 2012, and many brands are concentrating on improving their bottom line,” he adds. “Both of these trends will contribute to slowing unit volume among a price conscious consumer market.”
Despite declines, demand for larger screens continues to grow, with the average LCD screen size increasing to more than 35-inches for the first time.
Samsung maintains the largest market share in flat panel displays with 26 percent, while LG has 15 percent and Sony 9 percent.
China remains the largest region for TV shipments, followed by the Asia Pacific market region that includes India, Korea and Australia.
Based on a Supreme Court ruling yesterday, ABC and Fox will not be required to pay fines for broadcast indecency.
“The justices unanimously threw out fines and other penalties against Fox and ABC television stations that violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on television airwaves,” reports The Washington Post.
The ruling determined that the networks could not have known in advance that the objectionable material (including obscenities uttered during award shows and brief nudity in an episode of “NYPD Blue”) would lead to fines.
However, the decision did not address the broader issue regarding the FCC’s basic ability to regulate the airwaves or the possible need to revise its indecency policy.
“Broadcasters had argued that the revolution in technology that has brought the Internet, satellite television and cable has made the rules themselves obsolete,” explains the article. “The regulations apply only to broadcast channels.”
“The Supreme Court decided to punt on the opportunity to issue a broad ruling on the constitutionality of the FCC indecency policy. The issue will be raised again as broadcasters will continue to try to grapple with the FCC’s vague and inconsistent enforcement regime,” suggested First Amendment expert Paul Smith in his brief supporting the broadcasters.
In an effort to boost theater attendance, cinemas across the U.S. are expanding their screenings to include concerts, plays, operas and sports events.
Among this year’s offerings have been the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of “Twilight of the Gods,” a live version of radio show “This American Life,” the National Theatre’s stage production “Frankenstein,” and the Mayweather-Cotto boxing match.
“Along with improved food offerings, bigger screens and 3D projections, theaters nationwide are programming more so-called alternative content,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “Hoping to reverse long-term declines in theater attendance by luring customers away from an increasing array of entertainment options in the home, they’re showing live rock concerts, plays, operas, boxing matches, college basketball games and even public radio shows, often to sold-out houses.”
Approximately two-thirds of the 40,000 U.S. screens have converted to digital, making electronic delivery via satellite possible. “In the next two years 2,000 theaters with a combined 15,000 screens will be connected to a new satellite distribution network,” notes the article.
This opens up new options for exhibitors, especially during traditionally low attendance times.
At $25 per ticket, some 400 theaters screened the Mayweather-Cotto match in May. “At many of those theaters, the fight was sold out and was, on a per-screen basis, the second-highest-grossing offering that day, behind Marvel Studios’ blockbuster ‘The Avengers,'” explains the article.
“With the technology we’re putting into place, we will have a high-quality digital delivery system that can support both live entertainment and theatrical exhibition,” said Darcy Antonellis, chief technology officer for Warner Bros. “It’s the natural evolution of digital cinema.”
The newly rebranded Dolby Theatre (former Kodak Theatre), home of the Academy Awards, reopened this week with new signage and a new audio-visual system.
As previously reported by ETCentric, Dolby Laboratories recently signed a 20-year deal with CIM Group (Hollywood & Highland Center owner) for naming rights to the facility.
The four-level, 3,400-seat venue has been outfitted with Dolby 3D projection and the company’s new Dolby Atmos audio system. The premiere of Disney-Pixar’s new film “Brave” will be the first to showcase the new sound format.
Dolby Surround 7.1 uses different audio channels, while Dolby Atmos object-based sound uses individual speakers rather than entire speaker arrays. In the newly outfitted facility, Dolby Atmos also adds overhead speakers installed on 50-foot trusses.
Atmos offers the equivalent of 128 channels, as compared to the six channels of 5.1 or the eight of 7.1.
“With sound ‘objects,’ directors and mixers stop thinking about which channel a sound goes on,” reports Variety. “They place the source of the sound in space relative to the listener — that is, they make the sound source an ‘object’ — and then the playback device routes the sound to whatever speakers give the desired effect.”
“The Atmos decoder learns all the speaker positions and the acoustics of the room, then the decoder uses the speakers that place the sound where the filmmakers wanted it, whether there are two speakers in the room or 102,” explains the article.
South Korean manufacturers are betting big on a new line of high-end TVs that are much thinner than traditional flat screens and display sharper images.
“Undeterred by the 3D TV flop and failure of Internet connected TVs to boost sales, Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. are hoping OLED technology will keep them ahead in an intensely competitive business that has caused losses in the TV division of Japan’s Sony for the past eight years,” reports TVNewsCheck.
High-end TV manufacturers are facing heightened competition from Chinese makers — as well as from smartphones and tablets, as consumers are accessing more content on portable devices.
“But Samsung and LG are giddy about a technological leap that they are comparing to the invention of the first color TV in the early 1950s,” suggests the article. “Short for organic light-emitting diode, the wafer-thin OLED TVs boast vivid, saturated colors and deeper contrast than the TV displays now available.”
The new TVs will arrive in Europe, Asia and North America for the holiday shopping season. Retail is expected to initially be at least $9,000 for a 55-inch set, about twice as expensive as current models that size.
“Samsung and LG weathered the downturn in the TV industry well enough to keep cash to invest in production lines for the new display technology,” notes the article. “They think its profitability will not fall as quickly as LCD TVs because the technological gap is wide enough to keep late-coming rivals at bay.”
Time Warner Cable has received a U.S. patent for technology that disables fast-forwarding of TV spots and other trick mode functions on physical DVRs, network-based DVRs and third-party recording devices.
The patent’s technology essentially offers the opposite functions of the Hopper DVR, recently launched by Dish Network.
“The ability to prevent trick mode functionality may be important for a number of reasons,” TWC writes in the patent. “Advertisers may not be willing to pay as much to place advertisements if they know that users may fast forward through the advertisement and thus not receive the desired sales message. Content providers may not be willing to grant rights in their content, or may want to charge more, if trick modes are permitted.”
Although Time Warner is unlikely to implement the features anytime soon, it has started to disconnect its Look Back tool and its Start Over function.
Look Back allows subscribers to watch a show they forgot to record within three days of its initial airing.
“The penchant viewers with DVRs have for skipping ads has prompted other multichannel providers to look at ways to preserve advertising placed in TV programs,” notes TVNewsCheck. Comcast recently submitted a patent application that details how it could deliver alternative commercials to subscribers that hit the fast-forward button on their remotes to skip ads.”
Google has opened up its Google+ API to Flipboard, which will allow users of the popular mobile app to browse, publish and comment on Google+ posts.
The move is part of a larger effort to make Google+ more mobile-friendly, explains Bradley Horowitz, Google VP of product management in charge of Google+.
During a presentation at LeWeb in London, Horowitz demonstrated a Flipboard prototype running on an iPad, bringing “its familiar page-turning experience to Google+ text and photos,” reports CNET.
“The quick demo showed Flipboard’s typical interface, with its design of virtual pages that people can flip from one subject to another. One page showed various photos from a particular user, another textual comments, and a third a combination of some text with a large photos. He also showed a basic interface for posting a comment to Google+,” notes the post, adding that it looked more polished than the iPhone version.
Horowitz also suggested that Google+ tablet apps are in development. “We’re dramatically investing in mobile,” he said. “For us, mobile usage is not a problem. It doesn’t impact our business model. It’s a good thing for us,” perhaps giving rival Facebook a jab.
The Engadget editorial team offers some interesting comments in an extensive post that takes a close look at Windows Phone 8 and its possibilities. The following are some of the highlights:
“Rather tragically, there’s no upgrade path from any current Windows Phone device (the 7.8 stopgap notwithstanding). Your hot new cerulean blue Lumia 900? It’ll be obsolete this fall.”
“None of the handsets sold between today and the release of WP8 (this fall) will be upgraded, and none of the devices sold between now and then will run Windows Phone 8 apps… That may be the right thing to do for the platform’s future, but it’s sure going to sting for current users who, it must be said, are left feeling a bit like beta testers.”
“Microsoft ran down my list of complaints about Windows Phone and put a big red line through each of them. High-res screens, multi-core support, more homescreen customization and a seriously modern browser. All-in-all, Windows Phone 8 is shaping up to be a beastly update to the most visually appealing mobile OS on the block.”
“It’s common knowledge at this point that the availability of quality apps plays a huge part in the failure or success of a mobile platform, and the ‘Shared Windows Core’ provides just what’s needed to get more devs cooking up apps for WP8.”
“Unfortunately for Microsoft, balking a bit at the business space allowed Android and iOS time to offer up their own solutions. But Redmond’s got a long history of enterprise support to fall back on, and this slew of new features certainly looks promising with regards to Window Phone’s place in the business space.”
“Because of Windows’ momentum and massive market share, there will be plenty of people writing software for Windows 8, and with WP8, Microsoft just turned every one of those folks into developers for its mobile platform. In short, this, at the very least, should help Microsoft close the app gap, and it has the potential to eventually vault Windows Phone Marketplace ahead of its competition from Cupertino and Mountain View — and that bodes well for Windows Phone’s future.”
Microsoft announced ambitious plans for its Windows Phone 8 operating system at a sneak peek event on Wednesday.
The biggest take-away is that for the first time there will be one software platform — Windows 8 — across desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Developers will be able to create apps that run across platforms, reports Engadget.
Windows 8 phones will support multi-core processors (up to 64), three screen resolutions (800 x 480, 1280 x 720 [16:9], and 1280 x 768), NFC for payments and SD cards. Nokia Maps is built in and includes use offline.
Unfortunately, current phones running Windows Phone will not be able to run Windows Phone 8. However, according to AllThingsD: “Microsoft is planning an update for existing devices that will bring one key feature of Windows Phone 8 — the more customizable Start screen. That update, known as Windows Phone 7.8, will be available for the current crop of Windows Phones from Nokia, HTC and Samsung.”
Microsoft is also promising enterprise-level support and security including encryption, secure booting, and the ability to deploy and manage apps.
