The Wi-Fi Alliance began its Wi-Fi 6E certification program for devices built to transmit signals on the newly launched 6GHz band. Introduced just before CES 2021, the program comes in time to certify next-generation devices that can take advantage of the fastest speeds ever available with Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi 6, which began its rollout in 2019, adds access to the 6GHz band after the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to open it for unlicensed use. Until now, Wi-Fi use has relied on 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Continue reading Wi-Fi 6E Certification Program Paves the Way for New Devices

In advance of CES 2021, Texas-based computer tech company Dell unveiled the latest in its PC and laptop products. Notable are the Latitude 9420 and 9520 laptops with SafeShutter, which Dell says is the first webcam shutter that automatically opens and closes by synching with videoconferencing applications. These laptops, which are upgraded with 11th Gen Intel Core vPro processors, also have secure mic and mute keys. Additionally, Dell reported that the 9420 will have additional enhancements specific to remote working. Continue reading Dell Debuts Features for PCs and Laptops Ahead of CES 2021

Days before CES 2021 opens, South Korean tech company LG Electronics introduced its first-ever LG QNED TV, which marks a significant improvement in brightness and contrast. The LCD (liquid crystal display) TV uses ultra-small LEDs as the backlight; these LEDs are one-tenth the size of those used in its previous LCD TVs, which provide a much brighter picture because more of them can be bunched into a single area. The 86-inch LG QNED TV model, which offers 8K resolution, contains 30,000 LEDs as backlight. Continue reading LG Electronics Unveils Mini LED QNED TV Ahead of CES 2021

Dell is unveiling its new 40-inch ultrawide curved WUHD monitor, as one of its range of refreshed UltraSharp monitors, just days before the beginning of CES 2021. According to Dell, the UltraSharp 40, which is priced starting at $2,100, has 35 percent more “on-screen space” than a 32-inch 4K 16:9 screen. The company is dubbing it the world’s first 40-inch, curved ultrawide WUHD 5K2K monitor, based on publicly available data. Another new UltraSharp product is the UltraSharp 38 Curved USB-C monitor, starting at $1,500. Continue reading Dell Unveils 40-Inch Curved 5K Monitor, Other Hi-Res Displays

Unless there is breaking news, ETCentric and The Daily News Brief will not publish during the upcoming holiday break. We wish you and your families a very happy holiday season. Our team is currently planning coverage for CES 2021 and will be back in January with the latest in entertainment technology news. Continue reading Happy Holidays: ETCentric to Return for CES in the New Year

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced that its next annual CES confab, scheduled for January 6-9, will be “an all-digital experience” due to the coronavirus pandemic. While prioritizing the health and safety of exhibitors and attendees, the virtual experience promises the usual keynotes and conferences, product showcases, media events, and opportunities for meetings and networking. According to CTA chief exec Gary Shapiro, “Technology helps us all work, learn and connect during the pandemic — and that innovation will also help us reimagine CES 2021 and bring together the tech community in a meaningful way.” Continue reading CTA Announces All-Digital Experience for January’s CES 2021

Unless there is breaking news, ETCentric and The Daily News Brief will not publish during the upcoming holiday break. We wish you and your families a very happy holiday season. Our team is currently gearing up for CES 2020 in Las Vegas and will be back in January with the latest in entertainment technology news. Continue reading Happy Holidays: ETCentric to Return for CES in the New Year

After years of development, direct-to-consumer streaming is poised to actively provide new choices for how the world consumes entertainment content. While it started as a response to the one-size-fits-all model offered by cable companies, it now offers choice of separate walled gardens, each with a different gate. Aggregators in the streaming space are quickly bulking up to what traditional providers charge based on the cost of channel acquisition. To some consumers this will seem like déjà vu. Others will choose carefully among the direct offerings to customize the content entering their world.  Continue reading CES: Streaming Digital Citizenship as a Societal Experiment

It’s almost a new year and a whole new crop of technology is about to introduce a phase change into our collective psyche. It’s time to reflect before we dive into the shameless and enthusiastic possibilities it portends. Let’s take a moment to muse about our new realities. With 5G no doubt to be pervasive at CES 2020 next month, some of the new effects of the streaming marketplace will soon be apparent to the consumer. As each entertainment giant introduces new streaming services at what appears to be astounding value, when cobbled together they increasingly grow to approximate a consumer’s old aggregated service bill from a cable provider.  Continue reading CES: Anticipating New Era of Streaming Digital Citizenship

We’re not going to lie: the annual “heads up CES” piece on artificial intelligence is a major exercise in hit or miss. This is because technology rarely evolves on an annual time scale, and certainly not advanced technology like AI. Yet, here we are once again. Sure, 2019 was as fruitful as it gets in the AI research community. The raw debate between Neural Networks Extremists (those pushing for an “all neural nets all the time” approach to intelligence) and the Fanatical Symbolists (those advocating a more hybrid approach between knowledge bases, expert systems and neural nets) took an ugly “Mean Girl” turn, with two of the titans of the field (Gary Marcus and Yann LeCun) trading real insults on Twitter just a few days ago.  Continue reading The Human Interface: What We Expect From AI at CES 2020

Sony wants listeners to feel like they’re having a live music experience even when listening to a recording. The company just announced plans to release its immersive listening technology, 360 Reality Audio, this fall. After debuting it at CES in Las Vegas, Sony is ready to move forward with the release, which will include around 1,000 tracks to start. Listeners will be able to access 360 Reality Audio songs through the Android and iOS apps of music streaming services such as Amazon Music HD, Deezer, nugs.net and Tidal. 

Continue reading Sony Readies Launch of Immersive 360 Reality Audio Tech

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), producers of January’s CES tech confab in Las Vegas, recently projected CE trends for 2020 and beyond after updating its semi-annual U.S. Consumer Sales and Forecasts report. According to Variety Intelligence Platform (VIP), a new division of Variety, key takeaways from the report most relevant to the entertainment industry include subscription video streaming services, smart TVs, 4K tech, gaming and 5G Internet (in addition to related networking options and VR/AR products). CTA anticipates consumer tech retail revenue will reach $415 billion in the U.S. next year, up 5.7 percent from 2018.  Continue reading CTA Predicts SVOD, Smart TVs, 5G Will Drive CE Revenue

Twitter unveiled its new camera feature at SXSW this week, 12 years after the social micro-blog made its initial splash as a hot new app at the Austin, Texas conference. Over the next week, Twitter users on iOS and Android devices will start to have access to the in-app camera for recording and sharing photos and short videos. It also includes the option to livestream from the user’s location, while Twitter will recommend nearby locations to tag and relevant event hashtags if geolocating services are turned on. Additionally, the upgrade allows users to add captions and change the tweet text background color. Continue reading Twitter Introduces its New In-App Camera Feature at SXSW

Unless there is breaking news, ETCentric and The Daily News Brief will not publish during the upcoming holiday break. We wish you and your families a very happy holiday season. Our team is currently gearing up for CES 2019 in Las Vegas and will be back in January with the latest in entertainment technology news. Continue reading Happy Holidays: ETCentric to Return for CES in the New Year

A future untapped market for media and entertainment is the time gained in our days thanks to the freedom provided by self-driving cars. As the world’s population increases, travel times also continue to grow. When we no longer have to focus on the road while in our vehicles, all that time becomes a perfect opportunity to provide content. Audi and Disney have partnered to create what the German automaker is calling a “new type of media” to fill that time. The fruits of this partnership are scheduled to be revealed at January’s CES in Las Vegas. Continue reading Audi, Disney to Demo Media for Autonomous Vehicles at CES