We should expect to see a major push regarding Google TV in the coming months, according to Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt.
“By the summer of 2012… the majority of the televisions you see in television stores will have Google TV embedded in them,” he predicted while addressing a crowd at the LeWeb conference in Paris.
While Logitech has stepped away from the project, PC Pro reports that LG and Samsung are rumored to be debuting Google TV products at CES in January.
However, The Guardian warns that “Google TV is going to face an uphill battle: it may well be installed in lots of TV sets sitting on the shelves, but people may well be keeping their hands in their pockets; few people need to buy a new television. The market is saturated. TV sales look set for a dramatic slowdown in 2012.”
The Guardian agrees that Schmidt’s contention may be accurate, but adds: “…there’s a long way from that to people buying them, and taking them home, and engaging the Internet capability, and enjoying the experience more than they do through some other channel such as their laptop, tablet, or games console. Let’s check back in a year.”
Westinghouse Digital announced it will showcase new television products, including its new 70-inch LED HDTV, at CES in January.
The 70-inch UW70T9VZ touts 1080p full HD, a 120Hz refresh rate and 8ms response time.
The company will also showcase smaller screens such as the 46-inch “ultra-slim” LED HDTV “that’s so slender, it probably disappears if you look at it side-on,” jokes Engadget.
Additionally, Westinghouse will demo its first ever Bluetooth Soundbar. “The WSB-N20BW Series Soundbar with Wireless Bluetooth will feature powerful sound and a sleek, clean design, offering 2×12 watts, a class D amplifier, and a frequency response of 85Hz – 20Khz, with enhanced bass, reports HotHardware.
Google’s Eric Schmidt said that Android would soon be bigger than Apple iOS.
Schmidt’s belief stems from the fact that Android’s market runs on an open model, which he believes will attract developers.
Addressing a crowd at the LeWeb conference in Paris, Google’s chairman and former CEO “added that Ice Cream Sandwich would redress Android’s device fragmentation and the sheer number of hardware makers would ensure that 2012 would be Google’s year,” reports Engadget.
“Ultimately, application vendors are driven by volume, and volume is favored by the open approach Google is taking. There are so many manufacturers working to deliver Android phones globally,” Schmidt said. “Whether you like Android or not, you will support that platform, and maybe you’ll even deliver it first.”
Android’s success is central to Google’s plans, reports CNET in a related article, and “serves as a mechanism for the company to get its services into peoples’ hands in the hot mobile-technology realm.” Those services include Gmail, Google Apps, Google+, Google Music and Google Maps.
“All the interesting new applications are going to be some combination of social, mobile, and local,” Schmidt said. “Social, local, mobile has been true for humans for at least 10,000 years, so I don’t think it’s going to go away any time soon.”
Fabless semiconductor company Legend Silicon will demonstrate its new automobile-based TV reception system for legacy ATSC A/53 signals called SuperTV at January’s CES in Las Vegas.
“According to Legend Silicon COO and VP of product marketing Raj Karamchedu, the CES showing will use an FPGA-based version of SuperTV technology using four car antennas that makes possible reception of legacy ATSC from a moving vehicle,” Broadcast Engineering reports.
The SuperTV chip will start production in six or seven months. Beyond automobiles, the company sees the technology being deployed in the U.S. “for stationary and portable DTVs, laptop computers, tablet devices and mobile phones.”
The article points out that SuperTV may face some skepticism from the broadcast engineering community. “The mobile environment, in the presence of lots of signal multipath, is inherently very hostile to legacy ATSC reception,” said Charles Cooper, broadcast engineer with du Treil, Lundin & Rackley. “So any new antenna technology will have to overcome very high technical hurdles to make legacy ATSC a reliable mobile service.”
PC World reports that while tablets and smartphones may be all the rage right now, we should expect to see some impressive laptops next year that “promise to be thinner, lighter, and faster” and feature “longer-lasting batteries.”
The article suggests that holding off until CES before making a new laptop purchase may be worthwhile.
Some 30-50 ultrabooks are expected to be announced at January’s show; we should expect better graphics and longer battery life with Intel’s next-gen Ivy Bridge chips; and Windows 8 is anticipated to be the biggest change of any Microsoft release since Windows 95.
“The category will kick into high gear when Intel’s next-generation CPUs, code-named Ivy Bridge, hit the market. Ivy Bridge’s power utilization and performance, together with steadily falling prices on solid-state drives, should make these superthin laptops more affordable and appealing,” predicts the article. “By the end of the year, we may even see ultrabooks with screens that rotate and fold down to transform into a tablet. The emphasis on touch interfaces in Windows 8, together with the thinner and lighter design of ultrabooks, could make this new generation of convertible laptops more desirable than the convertibles of the past few years.”
We may finally see some new OLED TVs in Las Vegas…
“Reportedly, both Samsung and LG Display will showcase new 55-inch sets at CES in January, with the hope of getting to market before the new TV-buying spree during the run-up to the 2012 Olympics,” reports The Verge.
LG Display’s CEO Kwon Young-soo announced over the summer that the company saw no point in continuing with unprofitable small and medium-sized OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays, and would be focusing on larger units, including a 55-inch OLED TV expected to ship by the second half of 2012.
No prices have been announced, but it’s worth noting that LG’s 2010 15-inch panel retailed in the $2500 range.
OLED demos have not been confirmed for January’s CES. “This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been burned however, having been teased for years with beautiful large-panel prototypes at trade shows,” warns the post.
Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Boxee are just some of the companies working on ways to re-imagine the TV experience.
“But nobody seems to be able to answer the big question: what exactly is so broken about TV anyway?” writes Matt Rosoff in a commentary for CNN, part of a series designed to “debunk commonly held perceptions about technology.”
Rosoff acknowledges that channel guides are inefficient… “But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most TV viewers simply won’t care enough about any of this stuff to shell out $1,500 for a new Apple TV, or spend a few hundred bucks and countless hours fiddling around adding a new box to their TV set and figuring out how it works.”
He notes that while the tech industry wants to optimize the television experience, it is important to remember that TV is passive. We don’t want to work at it. It’s not too difficult to turn the set on, find your channel and you’re done. Even Steve Jobs sometimes just wanted to watch TV and vegetate.
“That’s why we love TV just the way it is,” writes Rosoff. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Verizon is planning to launch a standalone video streaming service for 2012 that would offer movies and TV shows via the Web, according to several people close to the plan.
“The phone company is talking with prospective programming partners about the service, which would be introduced outside of markets where it currently offers its broadband and TV package, known as FiOS, these people said,” reports Reuters. “That would make it available to some 85 million U.S. households.”
Verizon may be concerned about cord cutters and competition from Netflix, Amazon and Google.
“Verizon has been back and forth with programmers over the last two years exploring the possibility,” suggests the article. “While a lot of the discussion has been around fees, the programmers have also been concerned about the possibility of hurting their existing — and lucrative — relationships with the cable operators.”
Having its own streaming service would allow Verizon to grow its customer base and thereby lower its programming costs.
“News of the service will have added controversy in the wake of sister company Verizon Wireless’s plans to resell cable TV service for Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc and Bright House Networks,” points out Reuters. “Under that deal, announced last week, Verizon Wireless will pay $3.6 billion for valuable spectrum from the cable companies.”
At this week’s UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Comcast executives described “their multi-billion dollar pact with Verizon inked late last week a transformative event in some ways on the scale of acquiring of NBCUniversal,” reports Variety.
“Talk about content, you got NBC. And wireless, you got this. In perpetuity,” said CFO Michael Angelakis. “This is a deal forever. We don’t have to invest in building a wireless network. We aren’t going to acquire a wireless network. It’s quite a significant transaction.”
The deal to sell wireless spectrum to Verizon will finally enable the quadruple play where customers can receive video, Internet, landline and cell phone service.
“Watching a video on your wireless devices, then resuming it in your home. Great new devices with your Comcast (subscription), great new innovations…will come out of that side of the deal,” said Comcast Cable prexy Neil Smit.
A study from IDC predicts that Microsoft may consider purchasing Netflix and LinkedIn next year in an effort to cash in on “the convergence of mobile computing, social networking, cloud services, and big data analytics.”
“Look for Microsoft to buy a content/media cloud, like Netflix, to provide a marketplace for its apps and content,” says Frank Gens, senior VP and chief analyst at IDC.
Gens refers to the platform built on mobile computing, cloud services, social networking, and big data analytics as the “3rd Platform.”
“The industry’s shift to the 3rd Platform will accelerate in 2012, forcing the industry’s leaders to make bold investments and fateful decisions,” predicts Gens. He suggests companies including Apple, Microsoft, HP, SAP, RIM and others will face “crossroads moments” next year.
Is Computerworld blogger Preston Gralla convinced? Not really. “Building an app store directly into Windows can serve the same purpose. If the price is right, buying Netflix might make sense. But I don’t expect the price to be right.”
Google is adding indoors maps for select malls, airports and transit stations with the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android.
“Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing the map and zoomed in on a building where indoor map data is available,” explains The Official Google Blog. “The familiar ‘blue dot’ icon indicates your location within several meters, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the interface will automatically update to display which floor you’re on.”
Initial partnerships include locations in the U.S. and Japan: Mall of America, IKEA, Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare, San Francisco International Airport, and others.
“Apart from the obvious advantage to users who would now find it easy to navigate through buildings, we also expect the indoor map feature to provide a significant advertising opportunity,” reports Forbes. “Retailer locations in malls and airports would now show up on the map, and they should be interested in highlighting any new deals and promotions on the map users as soon as users enter the building.”
Last month, Google announced that more than 200 million Android devices have been activated worldwide, more than double what was reported by the company in May.
Apple’s App Store may face some competition now that Microsoft is planning a digital store of its own.
“Microsoft has been firming up its answer to Apple’s user-friendly and easily navigable platform for digital computer downloads,” reports TG Daily. “When Windows 8 comes out next year, it will have a standardized outlet for consumers who want to buy direct downloads of PC applications.”
The Windows App Store (not a confirmed name) will be offered some time next year, and developers will be able to post free and premium applications for downloads.
“As of now, it appears this digital storefront will be focused on new software, so legacy programs and applications will not be available,” indicates the post. “It’s just one of many major overhauls expected out of Windows 8.”
Microsoft has a media event scheduled in San Francisco, where additional details are expected to be released.
Sources close to Microsoft have told The Next Web that the company’s Windows 8 beta will be released in late February.
However, WinRumors says the release may be ready one month earlier, and is expected to make its debut at January’s CES.
“Recently leaked screenshots indicate that Microsoft will allow users to change the Start Screen color and the Start Screen background image in beta copies of Windows 8,” reports WinRumors. “Users will be able to create, name and rearrange Start Screen groups as well as navigate with the Windows 8 Apps screen in a better way. Microsoft is planning to group applications to make it easier for users to identify them in Windows 8 beta. Windows Media Center will also return to Windows 8 beta alongside the typical Windows games, DVD creator and .NET 3.5.”
In a related post by The Verge, a preview of MS Office 15 is also expected for CES: “The update is supposed to have a redesigned touch-friendly interface and a Metro Style hub for navigating to documents — we’d expect to find cues from the Metro style UI throughout the software to make it more usable with Windows 8 on a tablet.”
The rumor mill is also dropping hints of new Windows 8 devices. Nokia already announced it would have a Windows 8 tablet ready by June.
Sony announced it has updated firmware for its Bravia LCD TV sets, enabling viewers to get tweets, post on Facebook and watch hi-def videos via YouTube HD.
Bravias have also added compatibility with a version of the Remote Keyboard application, previously available only on Vaio PCs and Xperia smartphones.
“Finally, you can now get live Twitter updates along the bottom of your screen and even use a Shazam like feature called Track ID to determine the names of songs, or their artists, that are played during your shows or commercials,” reports Engadget.
The press release emphasizes keyboard compatibility: “You can already use your smartphone or Vaio keyboard to control your TV and surf the Web — and now you can use other laptops too. From typing a Web address to searching for information about the latest movies, it makes entering text on-screen even easier than using your TV remote.”
The free update is currently available for those with compatible Bravia TVs.
In this opinion piece published on CNET, freelance writer Steve Guttenberg predicts that iPads and other tablet devices will eventually make having a large screen TV a thing of the past.
“By 2020 younger people who will have grown up with tablets won’t see a need to ever buy a big display, which will by then seem as obtrusive as a pair of 4-foot-tall tower speakers do to most buyers nowadays,” he suggests.
For the naysayers, Guttenberg cites audio technology as an example. Twenty years ago, it was hard to imagine that most consumers would be less concerned about a set of quality speakers and more interested in portability or personalization. Yet that’s where we’ve landed.
“With music, everyone except for a handful of audiophiles, listens in their cars, computer, or on iPod,” he writes. “A home hi-fi of any quality now seems irrelevant; the same fate is in the cards for TVs. They will start to look too big, too imposing for the room’s decor.”
This is interesting to consider now, as tablet sales are taking off in the consumer market. Will mobile devices such as the tablet kill TV?
Guttenberg believes we are heading in that direction: “There will always be a market for big TVs, just as there is for great audio, but big-screen sales will continue to shrink over time. Most people will be perfectly content to watch movies and sports on their iPads.”
