We have an update to the Samsung Blu-ray news originally reported earlier in the week. The company is expected to demo a 7.1 channel Blu-ray 3D home theater system featuring column speakers with tilting cones that “vertically cascade” audio to the listener.
“Samsung‘s AirPlay-toting Audio Docks aren’t the only home entertainment kit the company has for CES; there’s also a three-strong line-up of home cinema speaker systems, ranging from 7.1-channel lounge-dominators to a slimline 2.1 speaker-bar setup,” reports SlashGear.
Wi-Fi connectivity via Samsung’s home theater system will allow access to Samsung Apps, Facebook and Twitter. According to the post: “Its functionality shared by the Samsung HT-E5500W 3D Blu-ray Home Theater System, a 5.1-channel setup with twin HDMI 1.4a inputs, iPhone/iPod dock, ‘Disc to Digital’ feature for ripping DVDs to digital copies (when the DRM permits it), and upscaling from DVD, streaming or other digital media to 1080p.”
No pricing available yet, but it may be announced in Las Vegas next week.
In its video review of the much anticipated RED Scarlet-X 4K camera, the team at Cinema5D has posted several impressive visual samples that illustrate capabilities of the new camera involving low light shooting and wide dynamic range imagery.
Engadget sums it up: “Native 4K recording? Check. A built-for-war body? You bet. Backordered despite a downright shocking $11,700 price tag? Most certainly. As with RED’s prior products, the Scarlet-X seems to be wowing just about every shooter lucky enough to come into contact with one.”
“The Scarlet-X boasts 4K video recording (4096×2160) at 25FPS, while 3K shooting brings the speed up to 48FPS, 2K can be shot at 60FPS and 1K doubles the speed again to 120FPS,” reports Electronista. “The Super 35-level sensor is also capable of shooting 5K stills at 12FPS continuous capture speed.”
Videos include: 4-minute demo of the camera and its features, 2-minute video shot in low light on the streets of Hollywood, and two additional videos showcasing the camera’s capabilities in various lighting conditions.
The Cinema5D post includes a complete breakdown of accessories used for the tests and a link to an evolving Scarlet-X buyer’s guide.
Facebook and Google are expected to directly compete for dominance of the social sphere in 2012, reports TheNextWeb.
The competition will see both pushing consumer features, but also trying to win enterprise users and social media marketers.
We’ll also see Facebook’s much-anticipated IPO, an increase in social media outsourcing, and leveraging of social tools in realms such as education and the presidential race.
“With the three heavy hitters — Facebook, Twitter and Google+ — taking up most of the social media space, it’s hard to imagine a new company coming into the picture and taking people’s attention away from existing services,” explains TNW. “Instead, we’ll probably continue to see services that plug into the existing environment, like Flipboard and its many competitors, which have capitalized on how social media has become a tool for the curation of current events and news.”
Five predictions: Facebook and Google+ will go head to head for the number one spot, mobile social media will come into its own, social media will become a natural extension of journalism, 2012 will be the year of the social media IPO, and Twitter will embrace advertising and brands.
Despite steep advertising price increases, the Super Bowl has sold out again. Half-minute spots during the game cost $3.5 million, up 59 percent from 2001.
“The increase in ad prices for the Super Bowl are a clear sign of how important the ratings juggernaut has become to advertisers as viewership for regular broadcast TV continues to shrink amid growing competition from cable and the Web,” explains The Wall Street Journal.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, for example, purchased four-and-a-half minutes for the February 5 broadcast.
“NBC also will be streaming the game for the first time on NBCSports.com, though the network says it is limiting the commercials it carries online,” reports WSJ. “NBC said as many as eight advertisers are expected to pay between six and seven figures for the streaming ad time.”
According to Nielsen, last year’s Super Bowl (Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers) was “the most-watched telecast in U.S. history, attracting some 111 million viewers.”
Showtime announced it will offer select promotional episodes of shows such as “Shameless” and “House of Lies” along with additional content including sneak previews and behind-the-scenes video via a promotional app it will introduce this week on the Roku set-top box.
“Showtime is the first content owner to take advantage of a newly released sample reference application built by Brightcove, Roku and A Different Engine, a San Francisco-based interactive agency,” reports Multichannel News.
“The app provides a simple user interface that follows Roku’s navigation conventions and provides built-in connections to Video Cloud playlists, reducing the amount of time required for user-interface design, development and quality assurance,” explains the post.
“The Roku audience is made up of millions of passionate viewers,” says Brightcove VP Eric Elia. “By integrating with the Roku platform, we are making it easy for programmers like Showtime to reach this audience.”
Roku has unveiled plans for its new Roku Streaming Stick, a device the size of a mini thumb drive, which will fit into the HDMI jack on the back of TVs to stream online video.
The dongle would provide video in HD and feature Wi-Fi capabilities and upgradeable software.
The device will provide the “same access to Roku’s video programming partners that one can get from a Roku box, but without an extra piece of hardware dangling from the set by an umbilicus,” reports The New York Times.
The article says that Roku intends to make deals with TV makers in an effort to bundle the Streaming Stick with their sets, “which will be updated frequently and can be replaced entirely by a consumer if there’s a compelling reason to do so, without having to junk a television set.”
“A stick is a better deal for consumers than a box,” says James McQuivey of Forrester Research. “It’s less intimidating, and it’s portable. You can take it with you on vacation, plug it into a hotel TV. People will like the portability.”
USA Today points out that this part of the market is heating up: “Google TV, which was widely rejected by consumers when first launched in 2010, is looking to make a comeback at CES, and Apple is expected to launch its own Internet-connected TV in late 2012.”
Expected to ship in the second half of 2012, the stick will cost between $50 and $100 — comparable to the price of the original Roku set-top box. The company will be demonstrating the device at CES next week.
BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield suggests UltraViolet won’t help studios with movie sellthrough until digital copies come down in price and are made available prior to Blu-ray and DVD releases.
Greenfield recommends a $10 price for high-definition UltraViolet copies, which can be streamed to mobile devices and PCs.
Home Media Magazine reports: “Despite the influx of subscription-based video-on-demand services and TV Everywhere platforms such as HBO Go, there are more than 40 million households with access to electronic sellthrough of movies via digital connectivity, according to Greenfield.”
“Even if more retailers, beyond Warner-owned Flixster come on-board to support Ultraviolet (still a big ‘if’), we believe the studios will need to shift the windowing of electronic sellthrough to at least two weeks, if not four weeks ahead of DVD/Blu-ray,” Greenfield wrote in a post earlier this week.
The most successful brands on Facebook are not necessarily the ones that simply have the most “likes,” according to the Relationship Quality Index (RQI) developed by Fathom Analytics, a subsidiary of social media analytics firm MotiveQuest.
The RQI ranking weighs factors such as number of fans, user engagement (“how often they post on or interact with pages”), emotional quality (“how much and how positive emotion is expressed on comments”) and momentum (“based on how quickly they’ve been acquiring fans lately”).
To measure emotion, “MotiveQuest initially provided a semantic analysis system used by the Department of Homeland Security to track and monitor sentiment on the Web,” reports Ad Age. “It has evolved into a tool for ascertaining how likely someone is to be loyal to Dove vs. Olay, for example, than how likely someone is to strap on an explosive vest.”
YouTube and MTV currently top the Facebook RQI ratings, followed by Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Disney, Walmart, Red Bull, PlayStation and iTunes. See the Ad Age post for the top 25 brands.
PayPal chief Scott Thompson has been named the new CEO of Yahoo, effective January 9.
Thompson will be Yahoo’s fourth CEO in less than five years.
Interim CEO Tim Morse, who temporarily replaced Carol Bartz in September, will return to his previous post as chief financial officer.
“Thompson certainly has his work cut out for him,” suggests Digital Trends. “Although Yahoo boasts more than 700 million users — making it one of the most highly-trafficked services on the Internet — the company’s stock has essentially flatlined since Microsoft’s abortive hostile takeover attempt back in 2008.”
Thompson has indicated his first orders of business will include meeting with sales teams and regional leaders to gain a better sense of what publishers and advertisers expect from the company. He also plans to “ramp up on Yahoo’s products and services.”
Westinghouse has revealed its line of TVs to be displayed at CES next week.
“As promised, it’s packing a few LED lit models including the 70-inch UW70 and 55-inch EW55 models, packing standard 1080p, 120Hz refresh rate spec sheets,” reports Engadget.
According to the company press release: “The sets, which offer three HDMI, one component and one VGA input, feature options like 3D noise reduction, inverse 3:2 pulldown for film-based content and three-way selectable color temperature.”
The release further explains “Westinghouse will debut four new CCFL-based sets at CES including the generously sized 50-inch CW50 series, the 38.5-inch CW39 series and the 37-inch CW37 series.”
The company will premiere its first slim-bezel HDTV model, a “46-inch UW46 series…that makes sure there’s very little frame around your picture,” indicates Engadget.
Westinghouse is also “jumping on the soundbar trend” with the WSB-N20BW with Bluetooth support. Additionally, the company will display a few mid-range sets and a 3D model.
“Hackers are looking to circumvent Internet censorship laws like the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act in the U.S. by building their own, satellite-based Internet,” reports ReadWriteWeb.
The idea may not be as far-fetched as it sounds, suggests the article. Some hobbyists have already launched satellites (for a short time) by balloons, which makes them difficult to track. However, funding may prove the biggest obstacle.
“The Hackerspace Global Grid was outlined recently at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin,” explains ReadWriteWeb. “If the scheme gets off the ground, the collective would develop a network of ground stations that would link to the satellites and allow terrestrial-bound users to log into an Internet that would be free of regulation.”
“The first goal is an uncensorable Internet in space. Let’s take the Internet out of the control of terrestrial entities,” proposes hacker activist Nick Farr.
PCWorld offers its take on what will be the hot trends at CES next week in Las Vegas.
“In 2011, it was all about Android tablets; in 2010, 3D televisions and e-readers dominated the show; and in 2009, netbooks were a big topic. So what does 2012 promise?” The following are some highlights from the anticipated trends.
OLED: “LG’s new TV has a 55-inch display, 0.16-inch depth, weighs 16.5 pounds, and promises a response time that is less than 0.0001 milliseconds.”
Ultrabooks: “Intel introduced the concept of Ultrabooks — laptops with slim designs, solid state drives, and longer battery life — in May. But the real onslaught of these MacBook Air competitors is expected at CES, with as many as 30 to 50 Ultrabooks making their debut.”
Quad-Core Phones: “Get ready for blazing fast smartphones loaded with quad-core processors, such as Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4.”
4K: “LG plans to show off an 84-inch 4K 3D HDTV with Internet connectivity. Toshiba is also working on a 4K 3D display, so perhaps we may see more than one 4K set.”
Ice Cream Sandwich: “Unlike 2011, where the Motorola Xoom was the only device running Google’s tablet-specific version of Android (Honeycomb), ICS is already available to any manufacturer who wants it. Electronics maker Coby plans to debut four ICS tablets at CES, and it’s a good bet other tablet makers will follow suit.”
PCWorld will have a dedicated page for CES coverage.
PCMag.com provides its CES expectations in regards to the cell phone market.
“The key overall trends we’ll see on the high end will be Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 720p screens, and 4G LTE,” predicts Sascha Segan, lead analyst for PCMag Mobile. “I’ll be happy if 3D phones go the way of projector-phones, back into the realm of momentary fads.”
AT&T is expected to unveil a post-merger LTE buildout strategy. “Will they stick to their plan of only covering 80 percent of the country with LTE?” asks Segan. “T-Mobile hasn’t planned a press conference yet, but they’ll be having meetings to explain what they’re doing with their juicy $4 billion breakup package from Big Blue.”
AT&T may announce a Nokia Lumia Windows phone, while BGR suggests HTC will demo an LTE Windows phone.
Prediction for Sprint: “A powerful HTC phone — maybe one of HTC’s first quad-core phones — could help calm the worries around Sprint’s upcoming transition from WiMAX to LTE for its 4G network.”
“Samsung is likely to save its Galaxy S III for Mobile World Congress in February; ditto LG for the latest chapter in its Optimus line. While CES is sure to bring some appetizingly tasty handheld devices, I suspect the main courses will be served up later, at mobile-only MWC,” suggests Segan.
Fuel cell chargers for consumer electronics may finally reach mainstream adoption. Swedish manufacturer myFC plans to distribute POWERTREKK in Europe and the U.S. this spring.
“Two recently published patent applications also indicate that Apple is investigating similar technology for its portable computing devices,” reports Forbes.
Michael Lefenfeld, chief exec of New York-based SiGNa Chemistry, the company responsible for the cartridges in POWERTREKK’s fuel cells, claims the cells “will cost less than a 4-pack of AA batteries.”
A tablespoon of water starts POWERTREKK’s portable fuel cell, which charges any USB device. The hybridized fuel cell system recharges the existing batteries of gadgets rather than replacing them.
An iPhone, for example, can be charged in an hour and a half. The device should be ideal for outdoor enthusiasts; it can also be brought onto a plane.
The team at Engadget has compiled an interesting list and summary of key events regarding CE devices and services from the past year.
“In an industry that changes minute by minute, a year’s worth of news is a lot to digest. We combed our archives in an attempt to drown out the noise and came up with a short list of the stories that made 2011,” explains the post.
Product highlights include: Verizon iPhone 4 launch shatters records (February 4), Apple announces the $499 iPad 2 with 1GHz dual-core A5 chip (March 2), Nintendo introduces Wii U at E3 (June 7), Sony’s NEX-7 becomes first APS-C camera with a 24.3 megapixel sensor (August 24), Amazon launches $199 Kindle Fire (September 28), Apple’s iPhone 4S introduces Siri voice command (October 4) and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime with Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich is the first-ever quad-core tablet (November 9).
Additional news highlights: IBM’s million-dollar Watson competes with humans on “Jeopardy” (February 16), Microsoft announces plans to acquire Skype for $8.5 billion (May 10), NFC-based mobile payment system Google Wallet is introduced (May 26), Steve Jobs outlines iCloud and iTunes Match at WWDC (June 6), Google+ sparks social network competition (June 28), Netflix announces it will split its service in two with DVD-only and streaming-only plans (July 12), the world mourns the loss of Steve Jobs (October 5) and Adobe says it will axe Flash Player for mobile and “aggressively contribute” to HTML5 (November 9).
