Google announced plans for its Trekker project last October. And last week, it revealed the first results with “some of the most detailed and amazing interactive imagery of the Grand Canyon, as promised, showing off Google’s vision for how the world can be catalogued and detailed for everyone’s daily tasks and travels,” writes TechCrunch. These images are now showing up on Google Maps for public availability. Continue reading Google Maps Goes Off Road with Impressive Trekker Project

THX has released its first mobile iOS app, designed to help consumers properly adjust their home theater set-up, including TVs, projectors and speakers. The $1.99 app uses custom designed video patterns and audio tests to optimize equipment settings and proper connections. The THX tune-up system uses an iPad or iPhone camera to measure colors and users can follow step-by-step instructions via narration and text. Continue reading THX Launches Mobile App to Tune-Up Home Theater Systems

In his review of the new BlackBerry Z10, personal-tech columnist David Pogue reverses his earlier suggestion that Research In Motion’s smartphone was doomed. While the once dominant BlackBerry has dropped to a single-digit percentage of the market and the company’s stock has plummeted, Pogue surprisingly notes that the new phone is “lovely, fast and efficient, bristling with fresh, useful ideas.” Continue reading RIM Changes its Name, Unveils Surprising BlackBerry Z10

Microsoft has been paying $250 million per quarter since 2011 in platform support payments to Nokia for using the Windows Phone brand. While this amount has exceeded what Nokia pays Microsoft to use its software, this is about to change. Nokia recently announced that it plans to pay Microsoft $1 billion in royalties for Windows Phone mobile software usage. Continue reading Windows Phone Usage: Nokia to Pay Microsoft $1B in Royalties

“Disney Infinity”is a new interactive universe that allows children to interact with figurines in a digital world. It connects characters from Disney and Pixar movies including “Monster’s University,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Incredibles,”although Disney plans to add more before the June launch. With characters from different franchises interacting with one another, will we see any “Star Wars” entries? Continue reading Disney Preps Infinity: New Universe for Interactive Gaming

Apple and Google dominate the smartphone software market with a combined 87 percent control, but new competitors hope to chip away at this duopoly. New entrants including Tizen, the Mozilla Foundation and Ubuntu hope that introducing competing operating systems would help convince consumers to purchase products through alternatives to the Google or Apple stores. Continue reading New Mobile Operating Systems Look to Disrupt iOS and Android

Panasonic has taken an interesting route for a Windows 8 Pro tablet with its FZ-G1, another entry in its ruggedized Toughpad series. The company promises the 10.1-inch tablet can endure intense heat and sunlight, pouring rain and freezing conditions. Panasonic sees the FZ-G1 as a secure solution for industries in which a tablet may take a beating, such as food services, military, healthcare, public safety, utilities and more. Continue reading CES 2013: Panasonic Windows 8 Toughpad Gets Ruggedized

Since 2008, Sony has attempted to gain a foothold in the smartphone market, trying everything from a mobile gaming phone built on their PlayStation brand to enlisting James Bond to market the Xperia TL. The company’s latest offering in the flagship Xperia line, the Z, might not need 007’s help to take on Apple’s iPhone and make waves in the ever-growing sea of Android phones. Continue reading CES 2013: Sony Mobile Dunks 5-Inch Xperia Z Android Phone

PhoneSuit Inc. introduced Lightplay, a Wi-Fi-enabled Smart Pico projector with a motion controller that fits in the palm of your hand. Built-in Wi-Fi, rechargeable battery and tiny dimensions make this a very portable package. Android apps can run directly on the projector or it can be used with multiple connections from other devices. Continue reading CES 2013: New Lightplay Wi-Fi Projector Works with Android

Polaroid is reaching out to the next generation of digerati with a 7-inch Kids Tablet. Rugged and rubberized, it’s a three-button unit that won’t make parents’ hearts skip a beat when it’s dropped. The $149 model comes with 8GB of memory and a 2-megapixel rear camera. Parental controls round out the picture on the Android device (which is being unofficially marketed as “easy enough for an adult to set up!”). Continue reading CES 2013: Polaroid Launches Kids Tablet and Opens Fotobars

Google’s new “send to TV” feature is starting to pop up on a collection of new TVs and devices from companies like Sony, LG, Panasonic and Bang & Olufsen. The feature turns a consumer’s Android device into a YouTube remote for the big screen, and also allows users to push videos from devices to Google-equipped TVs. These YouTube-friendly sets will premiere at CES this week. Continue reading CES 2013: Android Devices Are Now YouTube Remotes for TVs

Chinese manufacturer Huawei has been on our radar since rumors began buzzing about its long-awaited Windows Phone 8 handsets and a possible 5-inch smartphone/tablet hybrid announcement. Then news was leaked regarding its Android-powered Ascend Mate with 6.1-inch screen, designed to take on the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Well, it’s now official. The company announced today that its Ascend Mate has the largest screen of any smartphone in the world. Continue reading CES 2013: Huawei Unveils World’s Largest Smartphone Screen

In the first big news at CES 2013, NVIDIA announced Project Shield, a portable open platform gaming device designed for serious gamers that will run both Android and PC games. During a pre-show press event at the Palms Hotel on Sunday, January 6th, the company also unveiled its new powerhouse Tegra 4, which it claims is “the world’s fastest mobile processor.” Continue reading CES 2013: NVIDIA Announces Project Shield and Tegra 4

A favorite pastime of analysts in recent years has been attempting to forecast what will prove to be the top trends emerging from the annual International CES confab in Las Vegas. Of course, this year is no different, as consumer electronics continue to branch out from purely an interest of the technorati, become more intrinsically tied to our lifestyles and subsequently draw more mainstream media attention. As we get ready to hit the show floor when the exhibition opens its doors tomorrow, we take a look at some of the more interesting forecasts recently published. (One of our favorite pastimes is discovering who will be right and who will end up missing the mark.) Continue reading CES 2013: A Look at Some of the More Interesting Predictions

The smartphone continues to grow in popularity and power as the always-on processing unit of choice. Quad-core units, phones with screen displays of 1080p and outsized “phablets” are expected to take center stage at the 2013 International CES. There’ll be a wow-factor, like the 5.5-inch flexible screen Samsung prototype, and a now-factor, like wireless pocket chargers from Energizer and Lilliputian that provide up to 20x life. Continue reading CES 2013: Phones to Tout Quad Cores, 1080p and Flexible Screens