LG announced that its first flat-screen 4K OLED TV lineup will be available next month. The EF9500 series will be similarly priced to the curved EF9600 series ($5,500 for the 55-inch model and $7,000 for the 65-inch model). However, the new series will mark the first fully HDR-compliant OLED TVs, capable of displaying high dynamic range content from streaming sources and components such as Ultra HD Blu-ray discs and players shipping later this year. HDR offers more contrast between light and dark images for a superior viewing experience. Continue reading LG to Intro New Flat Series of HDR-Compliant 4K OLED TVs

Samsung Electronics plans to extend its Tizen operating system beyond mobile phones to its new smart TVs beginning next month. At CES, Samsung CEO BK Yoon announced that Tizen TVs would initially launch in the U.S. and Korea, followed by a rollout to additional international markets later in the year. Samsung, which has spent years developing Tizen as an alternative to Google’s Android mobile operating system, is looking to better compete in software and services with OS leaders Google and Apple. Continue reading Samsung Targets Google and Apple with Plans for Tizen TVs

Rather than copying Chromecast to webOS, LG released an open source Connect SDK late last week that integrates media casting, making it easier for developers to bring their apps to connected devices such as Roku streaming boxes, Google’s Chromecast, Amazon’s Fire TV and LG’s own TV sets. By combining existing multiscreen and home sharing protocols such as Google’s Cast SDK, DLNA and DIAL, developers’ mobile apps only need one set of code to work on a variety of big screen devices. Continue reading LG Launches Open Source Connect SDK for App Developers

As official partner to the Consumer Electronics Association, senior editors from Engadget selected finalists for this year’s Best of CES awards. At the end of the week, they had selected winners across 13 categories, in addition to a ‘Best of the Best’ winner — the Oculus Rift ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype. Engadget also announced that the People’s Choice Award went to Razer for its first wearable device, the Nabu, which registered nearly 50 percent of the more than 54,000 reader votes. Continue reading Engadget Announces the Best of CES 2014 Awards Winners

Yesterday we published a first pass list of products and services we’re looking forward to seeing next week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Today we’re continuing the list with more that should be of interest to those who work in entertainment media technology. While yesterday’s report focused on gaming, wearable devices, connected vehicles and 3D printing — today’s list takes a look at cameras and camcorders, media players, streaming media and some very large Ultra HD televisions. Continue reading CES 2014: Compelling Products Generating Early Buzz (Part 2)

It’s been nearly a year since LG purchased HP’s webOS to power its future televisions. At a recent semiconductor event held in Seoul, Korea, LG researcher Hong Sung-pyo announced that the company has plans to debut a new TV running its version of the defunct smartphone OS at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The webOS-powered TV will reportedly run a 2.2GHz dual-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM, enabling multitasking features. Continue reading LG Plans to Debut its New webOS TV During CES in January

Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser, recently announced the debut of the first smartphones powered by the Web-based Firefox OS. These modest smartphones are targeting first time buyers and consumers looking for less expensive alternatives to iPhones and Android phones. Firefox OS may not compete on the same level with Apple and Google, but it does present an opportunity for new Web-based devices that can offer many features. Continue reading New Firefox OS Looks to Power More Affordable Smartphones

Apple and Google dominate the smartphone software market with a combined 87 percent control, but new competitors hope to chip away at this duopoly. New entrants including Tizen, the Mozilla Foundation and Ubuntu hope that introducing competing operating systems would help convince consumers to purchase products through alternatives to the Google or Apple stores. Continue reading New Mobile Operating Systems Look to Disrupt iOS and Android

In his first public appearance since joining Hewlett-Packard in November, CEO Leo Apotheker delivered a speech in San Francisco that outlined the company’s new online strategy that he explained will target both consumers and businesses. Apotheker emphasized cloud computing and an online app store as part of his vision to bring HP to the forefront as “the platform for the cloud and connectivity.” He suggested that the app store would include programs from HP as well as from other companies.

Apotheker dismissed speculation that HP would be acquiring software maker SAP AG or any other provider of transactional business programs. The Wall Street Journal reports that his goal is to address the “increasing amount of unstructured data — information that isn’t easily categorized”; HP will “focus on products and services that will help businesses better make sense of them.”

Apotheker explained that the company’s webOS operating system (newly acquired along with Palm last year) is designed for smartphones and tablets, but will also ship on HP PCs, providing the company with a greater scale. HP plans to produce laptops and desktops with webOS working alongside Windows, enabling computers to interact with HP’s smartphones and tablets.