Epson is looking to bring projection into the mainstream and possibly take on the traditional TV market with the launch of its two brightest 1080p Home Cinema projectors to date. According to TWICE, “The $799 Home Cinema 1040 and $1,699 Home Cinema 1440 deliver brightness levels of 3,000 and 4,400 lumens of color and white brightness, respectively, to make them suitable for viewing in rooms with higher ambient light, said Jason Palmer, senior marketing manager for home entertainment.” Palmer suggests that the two portable projectors, featuring three LCD chips and the ability to project up to 300 inches, could compete for living room space with today’s flat panel TVs.

Asus, Huawei, LG and Motorola are among those planning to offer new Android Wear-powered smartwatches to challenge the popular Apple Watch. New watches running Google’s software are expected to debut next week at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The products will mark the second wave of Android Wear devices, after last year’s initial line failed to gain much traction. “The goal is that the new Android Wear devices will have enough features and alternative designs to lure buyers away from the Apple Watch,” CNET reports. Google’s Android powers the majority of the world’s smartphones; the company hopes to replicate that success with Android Wear.

Photo and video sharing app Snapchat is expanding its Discover publisher platform with three new channels: tech and culture news site Mashable, gaming news site IGN, and YouTube food and travel video network Tastemade. These publishers join brands such as BuzzFeed, CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN and Vice Media for a total of 15 Discover channels. “Though still in an early phase, Discover is key to Snapchat’s plans to monetize its app, which began with disappearing photos but has since expanded into semi-permanent content,” notes The Hollywood Reporter. “Last year, prior to the launch of Discover, Snapchat was making very little money, which is common among early-stage technology startups.”

The Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) has released the licensing spec for its Vidity technology. According to The Hollywood Reporter, proponents view Vidity as an “important next step toward a 4K Ultra HD transition by offering consumers a ‘flexible’ way to store, copy, play and share downloaded digital content across multiple enabled devices.” Vidity, which SCSA says is complementary to streaming platforms such as UltraViolet, is backed by 20th Century Fox, Comcast, Intel, LG, Samsung, SanDisk, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Western Digital. It supports 4K Ultra HD and high dynamic range.

Cox Communications has quietly been testing a mobile online video service called Flare Kids, which recently launched as an iPad app. Flare Kids offers free and ad-free access to clips and full episodes from 10 networks and publishers such as the Disney Channel, National Geographic Kids, Nick Jr. and PBS Kids. “However, Cox didn’t actually strike licensing agreements with these publishers,” notes Variety, “but instead is just aggregating content already available elsewhere, with some of the videos being pulled from YouTube.” The app, designed to help parents “safely navigate the multitude of existing, free online content for children,” plans to add e-books, games and music in the near future.

Amazon has launched a new Android shopping app called Underground that provides access to free apps and games available via the Amazon Appstore. “Underground gathers and displays apps and games that are ‘actually free’ as Amazon calls it — with no hidden costs like in-app purchases,” reports The Verge. “But unless you are one of the hundreds of people still using the Fire Phone, it’s still a pain for most people to install any apps from the Amazon Appstore on an Android device.” To offer apps and games for free, Amazon has deals with developers to pay them on a per-minute played basis. Those interested in Underground can download the app from Amazon’s website.

Best Buy, the world’s largest electronics chain, announced it plans to offer the Apple Watch in 900 stores come September 4, and expand availability to all of the company’s 1,047 big box stores in the U.S. by the end of the month. “The chain began offering the watch — offering models for between $349 and $700 — less than three weeks ago on its website and at 100 locations,” explains Bloomberg. “It has performed so well that, together with Apple, we’ve decided to roll it out,” said Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly. How the device sells through the retailer could help Apple decide whether the wearable will become a mainstay in its lineup.

While new immersive technologies are expected to significantly impact a variety of industries, retail could face the largest immediate transformation. Virtual and augmented reality headsets at the retail level could become the norm in as little as three years, suggests data from CCS Insight. According to Advertising Age, “Brands are in the early stages of using virtual reality to create fully immersive, contextual experiences that reach beyond existing physical and digital channels to create a very new, and very real, type of shopping experience: v-commerce.” The article offers the following strategic recommendations: Start playing and testing, focus on mobile-enabled VR, and integrate technology.

The auto industry is combining its resources to address security issues in connected vehicles with a new alliance and anti-hacking hub. “Through the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers, automakers are working to establish an Information Sharing and Analysis Center to act as a secure, industry-wide clearinghouse for intelligence about cyberthreats to vehicles and their networks,” reports Automotive News. The Center will include representatives from major automakers, as well as associated vendors and telecom companies.

The LA Dodgers Accelerator program, in partnership with R/GA Ventures, kicks off this week with 10 startups “at the intersection of sports, technology, entertainment and media.” The 10 companies (selected from nearly 600 applicants from 34 countries) represent industry segments such as stadium management, mobile ordering, wearables and connected health software, according to TechCrunch. “Our definition of sports is much broader than just the major leagues; it touches on things like fan engagement and data analytics that really have a global application,” says Stephen Plumlee, managing director of R/GA Ventures.

Google recently unveiled a $200 app-controlled Wi-Fi router designed to manage home networks. The OnHub router is built in partnership with TP-LINK, and includes Bluetooth and ZigBee connectivity to communicate with smart home appliances. “It intelligently seeks ways to reduce Wi-Fi congestion, and lets you allocate bandwidth to devices that need it most, like your Netflix-streaming Roku or Apple TV,” The Wall Street Journal notes. “It can diagnose connection problems, distinguishing between what’s happening on your home network and what might be happening with your service provider.”

GameFly’s $6.99 per month streaming game rental service is now available via select Samsung smart TVs. The Netflix-like service, which launched in June on Amazon Fire TV boxes, provides access to a bundle of seven games each month. “Game streaming has been an ambitious dream since the ill-fated days of Onlive, but the concept is starting to finally gain traction once again,” according to The Verge. “Gamefly is joining an increasingly crowded field that includes Nvidia’s Grid service, as well as PlayStation Now, which gives you access to more than 100 PS3 games for $19.99 a month.”

Sony plans to take on fitness trackers such as the Fitbit Charge and Polar Loop with the new SmartBand 2, a waterproof wearable device that monitors heart rate and sleep patterns in addition to delivering phone notifications. “The company already released the Android companion app, showing that you can pause your music, go to your previous or next track by tapping once or twice,” reports TechCrunch. “Sony also created a special feature that lets you monitor your stress level, or your level of excitement.” A night mode disables notifications and there is also an alarm clock. The $130 SmartBand 2 will hit shelves next month.

According to a new report from Okta, Microsoft’s Office 365 has beaten Salesforce.com as the most widely used cloud application for businesses. Okta analyzed use of 4,000 cloud applications across 2,500 companies in 185 countries. The report notes that Box was the third-most widely deployed platform, followed by Google Apps and Concur. “Google for Work president Amit Singh has responded to Okta’s report saying via Twitter that the study focuses on large companies and has an emphasis on email services,” notes Re/code. “He says that if you expand the size of the sample, Google for Work and Dropbox would top the list.”

Authors United has submitted a request to the Department of Justice to investigate what the group describes as the “unprecedented power” Amazon has over the book publishing market. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The group formed last year in response to Amazon’s bruising negotiations with publisher Hachette Book Group, primarily over pricing. Led by author Douglas Preston, the group sent a letter to the DOJ that said Amazon has repeatedly blocked or limited the sale of thousands of books on its website, sold some books below cost to gain market share, and attempted to compel customers to buy books from its own imprints rather than from other companies.”