Horizons
A Google logo is reflected on a Street View car in Riga, Latvia. Google is poised to release a tablet in 2012. (Reuters)
Upcoming Google tablet takes aim at Kindle Fire: report
Back in December, Google exec Eric Schmidt announced that Google was close to releasing its own tablet computer – possibly a tablet branded with the Nexus moniker. "In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality," told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sea, according to the UK Telegraph. That announcement meshed well with a long-simmering rumor: That Google and LG had partnered to build a tablet.
At the time, the assumption was that Google would be going after the corner of the market currently dominated by the Apple iPad (in other words, high-end). But now DigiTimes, a Taiwanese tech site, is alleging that Google could instead be gunning for the Kindle Fire, the budget tablet released last fall by Amazon.
Citing anonymous sources from "Google's upstream supply chain," DigiTimes speculated that a Google tablet – armed with Android 4.0 software – will hit in either March or April. The price? Less than 200 bucks, so as better to compete with Amazon. (The Kindle Fire retails for $199, meaning, as we noted recently, that Amazon actually loses money on every Kindle Fire it builds.)
So is the scuttlebutt for real? Well, typical caveats apply: Google is remaining mum, and although DigiTimes is well sourced, the site has been wrong before. That said, many tech bloggers seem willing to believe the DigiTimes report, if only because Google – long a holdout in the tablet game – seems well-poised to introduce a Kindle Fire (or iPad) competitor.
Over at PC World, Daniel Ionescu breaks down the possible routes for a Google tablet.
"The tablet market represents a slightly different challenge for Google than the smartphone market, where Android has already won (in sales)," Ionescu writes. "Google can either pursue Apple’s model to produce high-end tablets, where the biggest profits are, or it could pursue the media tablet market, where Amazon is taking a loss on the hardware and hopes to profit from sales from its content ecosystem, including movies, music, books and apps."
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The Nokia Lumia 710 is shown at an event in London. (Reuters)
Meet the Nokia Lumia 710, the entry-level Windows phone
These days, most of the tech press spotlight belongs to high-performing, high-priced smartphones such as the Apple iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which will set you back a cool 300 bucks, assuming you opt into a 2-year contract (the phone costs even more if you don't). Budget-minded consumers might be forgiven for thinking they've been left out in the cold.
Well, say hello to the Lumia 710, the new smartphone from the team at Nokia. The Lumia 710, which launches January 11 in the US, comes equipped with a 1.4Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (solid), Windows Phone 7.5 Mango software (lovely), a 3.7-inch screen (nice), and a very low price (woohoo!). How low? 50 bucks, with a contract. In other words, the Nokia Lumia 710 is one of the first real entry-level Windows Phones.
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So how does it stack up? Well, over at Laptop magazine, Sherri L. Smith likes what she sees.
"The $49.99 Nokia Lumia 710 is one of the best value-priced smartphones out there. It offers an engaging user interface, snappy performance, and a clear and bright display," Smith writes. "Right now the HTC Radar 4G is free on T-Mobile, which offers better sound and a slightly better camera. However, we prefer the Lumia 710 because Nokia includes free GPS navigation, which will save you more money over the long haul," she adds.
But Athima Chansanchai of MSNBC isn't so sure.
It was "cumbersome" to share pictures and other data on the Lumia 710, "which is one of the biggest selling points of jumping on the smartphone bandwagon," Chansanchai writes. "It was like a maze, the first time I started dabbling with this Windows Phone, and I was the little mouse that only found the cheese after many, many wrong turns and dead ends.
Eager to try out the Lumia 710? Drop us a line in the comments section. And for more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut. And don’t forget to sign up for the weekly BizTech newsletter.
The upcoming Roku Streaming Stick will plug directly into a TV's HDMI jack. No wires required. (Roku)
Roku Streaming Stick: 400 channels of video, zero wires
Back in 2008, Roku introduced the Roku DVP -- a small (for the time) set-top box that brought Netflix streaming to the masses. In November 2011, it rolled out the Roku LT, a smaller device that allows users to pull video from all sorts of online sources. (The LT ranked among the Monitor's favorite gadgets of 2011.) Now, Roku has announced an even slimmer streaming solution: it’s a stick about the size of a thumb drive.
The Roku Streaming Stick plugs directly into a TV’s HDMI port and pushes hi-def video to your screen over Wi-Fi. No need for wires, or even for a monthly subscription (unless you’re using Netflix, Hulu Plus, or similar paid services). Details are still murky, but Roku apparently plans to offer a few versions of the stick, with prices ranging from $50 to $100.
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The Streaming Stick uses a protocol called Mobile Hi-Def Link, or MHL, which lets it draw power and connectivity right from the HDMI port. There aren’t a whole lot of MHL-capable TVs out there right now, but support is growing and the specification should be widespread before too long (it’s already being adopted by Sony, Samsung, and Toshiba, as well as the Best Buy brand Insignia).
In spite of its size, the Streaming Stick has the functionality of a standard set-top box like the Apple TV or the Boxee Box -- including flash storage, Wi-Fi, and an on-screen interface. The stick offers access to Roku’s web platform, which allows users to pull in movies, TV shows, Web video, and all sorts of other content from more than 400 channels. Roku says the Streaming Stick will be available within about six months, and will be sold on its own as well as bundled in with some TVs sold at Best Buy.
Why is this such a big deal, if MHL-capable TVs aren’t widely available? After all, lots of higher-end TVs ship with streaming features already built in. But as Roku points out, TVs are used for six to eight years on average – and manufacturers aren’t likely to offer software updates for the duration. Roku promises to support its products for a longer period of time, and if your Streaming Stick does become obsolete down the road, shelling out for a newer model is probably going to be a lot cheaper than buying a new TV.
Readers, what do you think? Are you tempted by the Roku Streaming Stick, or are you already happy with another set-top box? Do you think the stick will be a hit? Let us know in the comments – we’re listening.
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A Lenovo ultrabook is shown at an event in November. Ultrabooks – slim, portable high-powered notebooks – are expected to steal the show at this year's CES. (Reuters)
Ultrabooks set to steal the show at CES
First it was laptops. Then it was netbooks. Then it was tablets.
Now it is "ultrabooks" – a term introduced and trademarked by Intel to describe a slim, portable, high-powered PC. (In a nice analysis of the ultrabook, Ina Fried of All Things Digital jokes that she has another name for the devices. "I call them laptops," she writes.) And according to an array of reports from tech analysts, ultrabooks are set to dominate the show at this year's CES, an annual technology gala staged in Las Vegas.
Among the ultrabooks expected to be unveiled at CES are models from manufacturers such as Toshiba, Dell, Acer, Asus, and HP. Still confused about the actual purpose of an ultrabook?
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Think the MacBook Air, running Windows. Think small, light, and powerful.
So how will the ultrabooks end up performing on the electronics market? Over at Computerworld, Barbara Krasnoff advises a wait-and-see attitude.
"I'm not so much a skeptic – the idea of a slim, lightweight, comfortable-to-type-on full-featured notebook with a very long battery life is extremely attractive – as I am cautious," Krasnoff writes. "The current crop of the first ultrabooks to make their appearance are attractive, but according to a review that Computerworld's Brian Nadel did of the Acer Aspire S3 and Asus Zenbook UX31, they aren't yet quite the wonders that we'd like."
Krasnoff also points out – correctly – that most of the ultrabooks debuting at CES hover in the $1,000 range, which is well out of the range of the casual consumer (but, of course, in the same range as the MacBook Air). "One of the factors that drove the netbook into almost immediate popularity a couple of years ago was that you could pick up one of the small, lightweight systems for about $400, more or less," Krasnoff notes.
On a related note, if tech-savvy consumers have already shelled out for a smartphone (typical price: 200 bucks, with a 2-year contract), and a tablet ($500, let's say), will they really have the wallet capacity for an ultrabook? Well, yes, maybe, says David Johnson, an analyst at Forrester.
"While the ultrabooks are thin, light and offer instant-on convenience, the tablet will still have a place in the computer bag for reading, reviewing documents, and informal discussions or presentations," Johnson told Wired.
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A Canadian man says he used a photo of his passport, stored on his iPad, to cross the border into the US. Here, the Apple iPad 2. (File)
Visiting the US? Forgot your passport? Try your iPad.
Earlier this week, a surprising story began ricocheting around the Internet – a Canadian man named Martin Reisch had crossed from Canada into the United States using nothing more than his driver's license and a photo of his passport, which he had uploaded onto his Apple iPad.
No, there isn't an app for that. He simply had a digital image of his passport.
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According to Reisch, he had traveled from Quebec almost all the way to the Vermont border when he realized that he was missing his passport. But he did have a saved image of his passport, which he allegedly presented to a border control official. "He kind of gave me a stare, like neither impressed nor amused," Reisch told the Canadian Press. "He was very nice about it," Reisch added.
Only hiccup: US officials say Reisch is not telling all of the truth.
"The assertion that a traveler was admitted into the U.S. using solely a scanned image of his passport on an iPad is categorically false," a customs official told Wired today. "In this case, the individual had both a driver’s license and birth certificate, which the CBP officer used to determine identity and citizenship in order to admit the traveler into the country."
Reisch, for his part, has battled back, maintaining that he did not have his birth certificate – only, as he originally said, his iPad and his driver's license.
Check Reisch's Twitter feed for more, and in the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for the weekly BizTech newsletter.
IN PICTURES: Remembering Steve Jobs
The Nokia Lumia 900 could launch in early 2012. Here, a user holds the Nokia Lumia 800. (Reuters)
Nokia Lumia 900: AT&T's 'Ace' in the hole?
Just a few months after the unveiling of the Lumia 800, Nokia is set to take the wraps off another Lumia handset, this one affectionately dubbed "Ace."
So say the folks at tech site Pocketnow.com, who have published what they say is a spec list for the forthcoming Lumia 900. On the list: a 4.3-inch high-resolution display, 512MB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and the Windows Phone Mango operating system.
"Although it will almost certainly be sold carrier locked, Ace – like most modern Nokia handsets – will contain the 1700MHz band necessary for T-Mobile 3G, so we imagine that a workaround to unlock that functionality will arrive with the quickness," writes Evan Blass of Pocketnow.com. "At 160 grams [0.3 pounds], Ace weighs 18 more grams than the Lumia 800, likely due to the combination of a bigger screen and LTE radio." (To compare, the iPhone 4S weights 140 grams, still around 0.3 pounds.)
Launched in Europe late in 2011, the Lumia 800 – the first Nokia phone to run the Windows Phone OS – has yet to debut on US shores, although some bloggers have forecasted a January release date. As we noted back in October, the Lumia line is the early offspring of the Nokia and Microsoft partnership, which was penned earlier this year.
Before Nokia and Microsoft joined forced, Nokia ran an OS called Symbian; in the US, at least, Symbian will now be phased out.
So how will the Lumia 900 – essentially a plus-sized version of the Lumia 800 – stack up to competitors such as the iPhone and the Motorola Droid Razr?
Well, over at Gizmodo UK, Sam Gibbs sees good things (mostly). "[W]hile I’m still not blown away by the specs here, I liked the aesthetics of the Lumia 800, so I’m not sad to see Nokia’s sticking with the design theme," he writes.
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Steve Jobs speaks at an event in 2008. This week, a Chinese company announced it would make a $99 action figure of Mr. Jobs, the former CEO of Apple. (Reuters)
At $99, Steve Jobs action figure is priced like an Apple product
A Chinese company called In Icons is poised to launch a new action figure of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs – complete with black turtleneck, blue jeans, "highly-articulated body" and two apples (get it?) – one whole apple and the other missing a bite. The figurine, which has been described alternately as "expressive and finely wrought" and "creepily realistic," is priced at $99, and set to ship in February.
Of course, as Tim Hornyak of CNET points out, this isn't the first Steve Jobs action figure. Back in November of 2010, when Jobs was still alive, Chinese retailer MIC Gadget announced it was building a small plastic Jobs figurine. But Apple lawyers promptly swooped in, and ordered MIC to cease and desist.
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"Mr Jobs has not consented to the use of his name and/or image in the Product," Apple reps wrote in a filing. "Unauthorized use of a person’s name and/or likeness constitutes a violation of California Civil Code Section 3344, which prohibits the use of any person’s name, photograph or likeness in a product without that person’s prior consent."
So will the same fate befall the new action figure? Almost definitely. The toy "is supposed to ship this month, but pre-orders for the $99 figure have already stopped," notes Leslie Horn of PC Magazine. "The site says pre-orders will resume 'soon,' but if Apple's past moves on third-party tributes like this are any indication, it will probably pull the plug on the toy."
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IN PICTURES: Remembering Steve Jobs
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