The long-awaited Apple TV app for Android mobile devices has officially launched on the Google Play Store, providing Android users access to original series and movies on Apple TV+ (currently offered as a seven-day free trial), in addition to MLS Season Pass (in time for Major League Soccer’s 2025 season that begins the weekend of February 22). Apple TV+ also offers a Major League Baseball double-header on Fridays with no local broadcast restrictions. Subscriptions to Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass are available through Google Play accounts for Android mobile and Google TV devices. The Apple TV+ subscription presently runs $9.99 per month. Continue reading Apple TV App Is Available via Google Play for Android Devices

Samsung is showing off what it calls the “next generation of commercial displays” at the Integrated Systems Europe 2025 show in Barcelona. Included are a 115-inch, 4K Smart Signage screen designed to deliver “a new level of immersive visuals” and the Samsung Color E-Paper EMDX that goes up to 75 inches at 5K, uses digital ink and operates at 0.00W power when displaying static images. Both devices consume significantly less energy at their height of workload compared to traditional digital displays, a high priority for business customers. Continue reading Samsung Demos 75-Inch E-Paper Display and AI Smart Signs

Three companies have collaborated on a new e-ink digital display designed for artwork and photography. Available in sizes from 13.3 to 31.5 inches, the InkPoster display was demonstrated at CES this month, promising a gamut of 60,000 colors. The highly-efficient wireless product — which reportedly only requires a recharge about once every year — was developed by PocketBook of Switzerland, Sharp of Japan, and E Ink of Massachusetts. The smallest and largest models use E Ink’s Spectra 6 screen tech, and a third 28.5-inch version uses Sharp’s IGZO tech. Prices will range from $599 to $2,400, although availability has yet to be announced. Continue reading CES: InkPoster Wall Frame Offers New Take on Digital Displays

Matter 1.4 is here, and with it the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has made some important fixes in an effort to get back on track with its aim of a universal interoperable smart home standard. This latest iteration has replaced Multi-Admin with Enhanced Multi-Admin, which largely automates the addition of new Matter devices in multiple ecosystems. It introduces Matter certifiable home routers and access points, allowing border gear manufactured by different companies to work together more seamlessly and accommodates dimmable lighting. The 1.4 update incorporates heat pumps, solar panels and home batteries, but ignores home security cameras. Continue reading Matter 1.4 Expands Energy Controls, Improves Admin Feature

Canon’s new EOS C80 is a professional full-frame 6K cinema camera designed for filmmakers that require a compact yet full-featured device. It is the company’s first cinema model with an RF mount. It also has a back-illuminated, stacked CMOS image sensor with triple-base ISO, which Canon says delivers “stunning imagery in a wide range of lighting conditions.” Base ISOs of 800, 3200 and 12,800 allow for full dynamic range. New to the EOS C line is 12G-SDI output, while Canon’s latest Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus — Dual Pixel AF II — has been added. The C80 also lets users choose from different autofocus frame sizes. Continue reading Canon EOS C80 Offers Full-Frame 6K Recording for Pro Video

Ahead of next week’s scheduled “Made by Google” event, which is expected to promote the company’s next generation of Pixel hardware and AI tools, Google is already unveiling new products, including a fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat with Matter support, and the anticipated 4K HDR Google TV Streamer — a $99.99 set-top box and successor to the Chromecast. The new entertainment hub — shipping September 24 — reportedly provides significantly better performance; integration with Google Home, Thread and Matter for improved connectivity across devices; and new Gemini AI functionality. Continue reading Gemini-Driven 4K Google TV Streamer Replaces Chromecast

China’s Sneaki Design has a new smartphone camera technology called SwitchLens that makes it possible to use professional-quality interchangeable lenses with existing Android and iOS phones. It does this via a phone-mounting external camera unit that has its own one-inch CMOS sensor and coupling device for lenses built to the Micro Four Thirds (M43) open standard. The pro-sized sensor captures still images as 21MP in either the RAW or JPEG formats, and 60p MOV video at up to 4K. Existing M43 compatible lenses from manufacturers including Panasonic and Olympus work with SwitchLens, according to Sneaki Design. Continue reading SwitchLens Adds 1-Inch Sensor, M43 Lenses to Smartphones

Sonos, the company that helped launch the Wi-Fi speaker market is now branching into wireless over-ear headphones. The launch marks a much-anticipated and also inevitable move, considering the U.S. headset market was estimated to be almost $2.2 billion last year, nearly twice as large as the total for wireless speaker sales, according to market research firm Circana. Sonos Ace headphones have what is being called exceptional noise-cancellation and feature Bluetooth connectivity and a Wi-Fi chip so they can be used in conjunction with the Sonos soundbar for a personal home-theater experience. They ship June 5 for $449. Continue reading Sonos Rolls Out Its First Headphones, the $450 Bluetooth Ace

The Comcast NOW suite of low-cost prepaid Wi-Fi and streaming TV service is gaining Internet and mobile products that consumers can purchase month-to-month. NOW Mobile proffers unlimited 5G data, talk and text, with access to more than 23 million Wi-Fi hotspots, for $25 per line. NOW Internet offers “more reliability than fixed wireless options” starting at $30 per month for 100 Mbps, or $45 per month for 200 Mbps. Each tier includes unlimited data and an Xfinity 5G gateway. The packages join NOW TV and NOW WiFi Pass in Comcast’s prepaid portfolio. Continue reading Comcast Offers Prepaid Month-to-Month Phone and Internet

Qualcomm raised the curtain on a variety of artificial intelligence, 5G, and Wi-Fi technologies at Mobile World Congress Barcelona, which runs through Thursday. The San Diego-based chip designer unveiled an AI Hub it says will help developers create voice-, text- and image-based applications using pre-optimized AI models. Qualcomm’s flagship AI chips — the mobile Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and the PC-centric Snapdragon X Elite — were announced last year. With the first splash of products now heading to market the company is promising to push the boundaries of 5G and 6G. Continue reading MWC: Qualcomm Unveils AI Hub and Promotes 5G, 6G Tech

Samsung Electronics has updated its most popular lifestyle television, debuting The Frame TV 2004 at CES and spinning off The Music Frame, a wireless speaker with Dolby Atmos capability that also displays favorite photos or artwork. The Frame TV offers improved energy efficiency and a larger selection of display images. The Music Frame, which takes its inspiration from The Frame TV, features built-in woofers and intelligent audio processing for “a premium audio experience.” It can serve as a standalone wireless speaker or, using Q-Symphony, can provide surround sound when paired with 2024 Samsung TVs and soundbars. Continue reading CES: Samsung Updates Frame TV, Debuts New Music Frame

Seattle-based tech firm Ixana is at CES 2024 demonstrating its Wi-R communication chip, which “reduces energy consumption by 100x compared to radiative wireless technologies like BLE, Wi-Fi, cellular, Zigbee and Z-Wave, enabling a paradigm shift in wearable technology,” according to the company, which nabbed a CES Innovation Award. The 4Mbps YR22 Wi-R chip offers “continuous charging-free body-worn health monitoring, video streaming for extended reality, and intuitive human-computer interaction,” Ixana says, explaining it works via algorithms that run via distributed computing on battery-powered devices. Continue reading CES: Ixana Transforms Human Body into Networked Receiver

Looking Glass has since 2014 been working to bring holographic display into regular consumer use. Now the Brooklyn-based company thinks it’s found the killer app to make that happen: Looking Glass Go, a pocket-sized display that has a $300 MSRP for June 2024 delivery and features a six-inch screen and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to enable receipt of “holograms from the cloud.” The Looking Glass Go allows you to “shoot instant spatial photos with your phone” and view them as holograms — “including holographic AIs you can customize, powered by ChatGPT,” the company says. Continue reading Looking Glass Readies Launch of Mobile Holographic Display

Amazon announced a wide range of compelling news at its annual Devices and Services event this week. The company is adding artificial intelligence to its virtual assistant Alexa and unveiled next-generation Echo Frames smart glasses that let you take the voice assistant “on the go.” AI also provides “enhanced conversational voice search” with the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The company’s eero Max 7 Wi-Fi system and new Echo Hub are also stand-outs from the holiday shopping primer, which streamed live from Amazon’s new corporate compound in Arlington, Virginia, ahead of Prime Big Deal Days, October 10-11. Continue reading Amazon Debuts AI for Alexa and Fire TV Max 4K at Fall Event

Samsung and LG have entered into a smart home pact that enables each firm’s large home appliances to be controlled by the other’s app. This collaboration sprang from the Home Connectivity Alliance, of which Samsung was a founding member in late 2021. As a result, LG’s ThinQ app will indicate when the door has been left open on a Samsung Family Hub smart fridge. Likewise, Samsung’s SmartThings app can instruct your LG dishwasher to turn on at a specific setting. Samsung was also talking-up 6G and artificial intelligence at this week’s IFA 2023 electronics trade show in Berlin. Continue reading Samsung and LG to Launch Interoperable Smart Home Apps