According to insiders at LG, the company’s new 8K display has been airlifted to Las Vegas for next month’s 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show. LG Display engineers will accompany the prototype to its CES booth. Codenamed “Mabinogion,” the 55-inch display features a resolution of 33.2 million pixels, more than 20 display driver integrated circuits, and a brightness of 500 nits. LG Electronics (LG Display’s largest client) is rumored to be adding an 8K TV to its UHD lineup next year. Continue reading CES 2015: LG Expected to Unveil its New 55-Inch 8K Display

Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association, set the stage for the upcoming 2015 CES with a special briefing on December 4 for ETC members. DuBravac placed his remarks within the context of more than a century of innovation beginning with the inventions of recording, radio and telephone transmission. “Five key pillars drive innovation today,” he said. “Ubiquitous computing, an explosion of devices, universal connectivity, access to storage, and embedded sensors.” Continue reading CEA Economist Outlines ‘Post-Smartphone Era’ at ETC Event

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is planning to unveil its first smartwatch, possibly during CES in January. According to a source familiar with the matter, the watch will run on an Intel processor, likely with a focus on fitness features (measuring steps, calories burned, quality of sleep). But unlike most smartwatches, TAG Heuer’s offering is expected to look less like a touchscreen gadget and more like a traditional wristwatch. If not unveiled in Las Vegas next month, the watch will be announced during Q1 2015. Continue reading TAG Heuer Plans to Introduce Sleek, Intel-Powered Smartwatch

StoryTech Managing Partner Lori Schwartz moderated a CES 2015 webcast “Know Before You Go” on December 3rd. Industry experts discussed key trends they expect to see at January’s International CES in Las Vegas — from emerging areas such as immersive gaming, virtual reality and wearables to the infrastructure, platforms, and applications of a variety of compelling new products. Topics of the webcast centered on digital disruption, personalization, Big Data, the Internet of Things, and much more. Continue reading Know Before You Go: StoryTech Offers Preview of CES 2015

Tel Aviv-based StoreDot claims it has developed a battery technology that can charge a mobile phone in 30 seconds and an electric car in mere minutes. The prototype can reportedly store a higher charge more quickly by using nanotechnology to synthesize artificial molecules. Bio-organic peptide molecules known as “nanodots” enable the rapid absorption and retention of power. StoreDot is aiming to have a slimmer version of the current prototype available for the smartphone market by 2016. Continue reading Battery Using Nanodots Charges Mobile Phone in 30 Seconds

ETC@USC begins its coverage of the 2015 International CES with a special Entertainment Technology Roundtable featuring Dr. Shawn DuBravac, chief economist and senior director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association, on December 4 at the ETC quarterly meeting at Paramount Pictures Studios. DuBravac is expected to highlight leading CE trends and innovations and preview indicators from his State of the Industry Report, the traditional kick-off of CES media briefings. Continue reading CES 2015: CEA’s Shawn DuBravac to Brief ETC December 4

CTIA, The Wireless Association, kicked off its Mobility Week in Las Vegas with a keynote address by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler who spoke candidly about net neutrality, competition and the upcoming spectrum auction. Wheeler, who was CEO of CTIA from 1992-2004 and has been criticized by some consumer groups for his previous alliance, made it clear that in an environment where a vast and growing majority of Internet access is via mobile that a free and open Internet is vital. Continue reading CTIA 2014: FCC Chair Talks Net Neutrality, Spectrum Auction

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced recipients of the 66th Annual Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, which will be presented at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas for the ninth consecutive year. Apple, Microsoft, Roku, Sony and TiVo will be recognized for television enhancement devices. HBO and Netflix will receive awards for second screen navigation. Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corporation will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Continue reading NATAS Announces 66th Tech Emmys, To Be Presented at CES

At this week’s Black Hat security conference, researchers plan to unveil different techniques for easily taking over a smartphone without alerting the user or phone company. Security consultant Mathew Solnik will outline the ways in which he can use the Internet to hack anyone’s phone from 30 feet away. Georgia Institute of Technology students will present the ways in which they can take over the latest iPhone. And a researcher from Bluebox will show how Android apps can steal user data. Continue reading Black Hat: Smartphones Next Target of Cybersecurity Threats

Energous and Witricity have developed new ways to charge smartphones, tablets and other small devices without needing wires to plug them into an outlet. Energous’ WattUp technology allows users to recharge phones in special cases or receivers that can pick up signals from a transmitter that is plugged in more than 10 feet away. Toyota and TDK are already planning to utilize Witricity’s wireless charging technology in upcoming hybrid and electric cars, and car batteries. Continue reading Startups Use New Technologies to Wirelessly Charge Phones

LG announced that its new family friendly, all-in-one computer powered by Chrome OS will be available for $350. The “simple, fast and secure” Chromebase will take on the iMac-dominated all-in-one space when it begins shipping this month. Chromebase combines cloud computing, access to “tens of thousands of apps” via the Chrome Web Store, a widescreen 21.5-inch 1080p display, an Intel Celeron 2955U Haswell processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Continue reading LG All-In-One Chromebase Computer to Hit Shelves This Month

As part of the “Media Management in the Cloud” conference running at the NAB Show in Las Vegas this week, Brian McKay, executive vice president of production operations at Warner Bros., discussed the challenges and opportunities of moving the studio’s archive into the cloud. In one of the final sessions of the conference, which concluded late Wednesday, McKay appeared onstage with David Cohen, senior editor at Variety, for a one-on-one conversation. Continue reading Warner Bros. Exec Discusses Moving Studio Archive to the Cloud

Day one of Media Management in the Cloud, a two-day conference co-produced by NAB and the ETC, opened Tuesday morning to a standing-room only crowd in the Convention Center’s South Hall. After a brief welcome by ETC CEO Ken Williams, ETC’s Erik Weaver began the day’s events, noting that almost everything happening at NAB this year seems to have some connection to the cloud. Day one presentations and panels focused on key areas related to cloud services, such as cost, scalability, security, production and storage. Continue reading NAB Cloud Conference Opens to a Packed House in Las Vegas

Chute helps clients take the best content created by a brand’s most loyal customers, people who create content that features their brand, and use it in marketing and ad campaigns with the customers’ permission. Chute scours the Web for user generated content of all types — text, photo, music, video — that celebrates a client’s brand. Using both online metrics and human screening, they select the best examples of content: selfies holding a favorite drink, a post about a store experience, a fake commercial for a favorite car, etc. Continue reading SPROCKIT Startup Enables Companies to Leverage Fan Content

DataFission has developed generally applicable technology that can index, search and report on all forms of unstructured, metadata-free digital data. With deep roots in military research, this San Jose company has developed algorithms that can index files and streams of data, without human interaction, in one sweep. The system can index any type of data, including video, still images, music, audio tracks, text, software and metadata. According to its brochure, DataFission is “Solving the world’s problem of searching the unsearchable.” Continue reading NAB: DataFission Platform Aims to Search the Unsearchable