connected
Latest
BMW announces compatibility with four new iOS apps, removable in-car LTE router, we go hands-on
At this year's New York International Auto Show BMW is expanding its portfolio of connected apps -- by four. The company announced iOS integration for Audible, Glympse, Rhapsody and TuneIn Radio and we couldn't help but swing by to check them all out. This integration (which also will work on Connected Minis) entails an update to those existing iOS apps. In other words, you won't need a dedicated BMW app nor second versions of these individual apps. You can use the ones you already know and love. Join us below for a little more information on how that works, and a look at the company's in-car LTE router that's also on display.%Gallery-184397%
The Engadget Interview: CEO Frederic Rose explains Technicolor's Qeo connection
When even your fellow tech editors ask "Why are you interviewing Technicolor?", you know there's a wide disconnect between the perception of a company and what it actually does. But the firm best known for saturating hues into early films like the Wizard of Oz has branched into a wide range of technical niches that only loosely connect with its original pursuit, thanks to the company's acquisition by Thomson. Products now include set-top boxes, home networking, mobile TV and a huge portfolio of technical patents -- the company controls licensing of the MP3 codec, for instance. It's now trying to address a problem that's plagued the gadget industry for quite awhile now: how to get devices from disparate ecosystems working together to make gadget-using connected and seamless. To that end, Technicolor has developed Qeo, a software system designed to allow TVs, handheld devices, intercom systems and appliances to all have one big confab. The company's CEO, Frederic Rose, took the time to explain how it works, and we went eyes-on in another video to show how a connected home using the technology might work. Considering that it shows devices using a variety of standards and operating systems all working to serve you, it's pretty impressive -- go after the break to check them both out.
Boxee tag teams with Sigma Designs to get its cloud streaming into Smart TVs
Right down to its name, Boxee has always been about the set-top boxes, but now it's teaming with system-on-chip specialist Sigma Designs to get its streaming services inside Smart TVs. According to the pair, that'll give panel makers an easy way to integrate Boxee's cloud-based DVR, Web Servies, TV channels like ABC, NBC, CBS or PBS, social networking and on-screen programming. For its part, Boxee has been playing catchup with the likes of Roku and Google, and after baking its hardware and services into Sigma's UXL SoC, will no doubt be keen to enlist as many TV manufacturers as possible to its flavor of cloud streaming entertainment. It'll be showing the new chip in action later this week at CES 2013 where we'll try to get our hands on it, but meanwhile, check out the PR after the break.
NPD counts 39M game consoles in US homes going into 2013
The NPD's latest report says there are 400 million Internet-connected devices in American homes these days, 39 million of which are video game consoles.The majority of connected devices (about 184 million) are still plain ol' desktop and laptop computers, and smartphones are in second place with about 133 million devices. Video game consoles come in third, right above tablets (31.8 million) and connected HDTVs (16 million), which means there's a significant number of game-oriented devices out there plugged into the Internet.The NPD says it expects these devices to start connecting to each other more in 2013, with smartphones and tablets doing more sharing to larger television screens. Video game consoles serve plenty of functions outside of pure gaming already, including video streaming, networking, and Internet browsing. NPD's report says that if smartphones and tablets can provide those services in a combination that appeals to customers, those categories will continue to grow this year, possibly even leaving dedicated game consoles behind.
Tep Wireless review: another great option for international mobile hotspot rentals
Traveling is great -- nay, amazing. And travel that requires a passport can be even more fulfilling for those willing to open their minds to new cultures (and, perhaps, deal with entirely too much security screening). But here's the thing -- travel is a lot better, generally speaking, with an internet connection within arm's reach. Things are never more likely to go awry than when you leave your comfort zone (or, you know, home nation), and we here at Engadget have been investigating the best methods for maintaining a connection whilst abroad for the better part of our lives. To date, you've got a smattering of options: rent a mobile hotspot from XCom Global, pick up a rental SIM from iPhoneTrip, pray that you can find a shop that rents data SIMs upon your arrival or pony up for whatever absurd roaming fees that your home operator deems fit. All of the above options have their pros and cons, but the good news here is that your choices are expanding. As the market for ubiquitous connections continues to grow, another player has recently entered the market. Tep Wireless began as a hotspot rental service that mainly looked after those traversing the United Kingdom, but recently, it expanded its coverage umbrella to include some 38 countries across Europe and 50 nations total. This here editor recently had the opportunity to cross through four of those on a single journey, with a Tep hotspot in hand the entire way. Care to see how things turned out? Let's reconvene after the break.
Tep Wireless expands mobile hotspot rental plan to 50 countries, revamps pricing
The international mobile hotspot rental market just got a lot more interesting. While Xcom Global's offerings are still broader, Tep Wireless is expanding in a major way. Previously reserved for European nations, the upstart is now serving a full 50 nations, adding Brazil, the United States, South Africa, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and UAE to its repertoire. For those in need of a refresher, the company enables customers facing an international trip to order their hotspot and get it delivered prior to departure, with a prepaid envelope included to ship it back once they've returned. The company's made clear that its hotspots will track data usage in real time right on the inbuilt display, and they're programmed to hop onto different networks as borders are crossed. (If you're curious, we confirmed that it all works as advertised in a recent jaunt across European borders.) The full pricing chart fo is hosted up after the break, with those needing unlimited buckets able to pay a $6.95-per day surcharge. (It should be noted that the preexisting EU-wide pricing options remain for those sticking to that region.) It'll probably look a touch pricey to light users and common tourists, but business travelers unwilling to take chances on connectivity when heading overseas will find the rates far more palatable than roaming fees from their home carrier.
ARM forms UK group to foster an Internet of Things, put 50 billion devices online by 2020
ARM isn't content with dominating the mobile space. It's been by the far the most vocal about an Internet of Things where everything is connected -- and to make that happen, it just established an industry forum in the UK that it hopes will establish common ground for all those internet-linked light bulbs, refrigerators and thermostats. Home energy firm Alertme, cloud-aware sensing outfit AquaMW, lighting maker EnLight and white space wireless guru Neul will start meeting with ARM from August 24th onwards to hash out our automated, eco-friendly future. There's a certain urgency in this for the chip designer: it expects 50 billion devices on the grid by 2020. With IDC estimating a billion new connected devices just in 2011, the clock on that connected device transition is ticking very loudly.
Tep Wireless unveils European-wide hotspot rental service for $5-a-day, 1GB of data included
Hardcore jetsetters should still be turning to Xcom Global, iPhone Trip or a local mobile shop upon arrival, but those who won't be burning up the megabytes now have yet another alternative when traversing European lands. The outfit best known for keeping those traveling to the UK connected is now branching out a bit, enabling a single rental hotspot to provide mobile data access across 38 countries in the EU. You'll pay $5 per day for the privilege, but here's the kicker: only 1GB of data is included, regardless of how long you stay. If you chew through that allotment, you'll have to pay $55 for an extra 1.4GB or $95 for another 4GB. Granted, that's significantly less than what AT&T and Verizon would charge, even if you sign up for their discounted global plans. (For those curious, the same pools would run between $180 and $250.) It ain't ideal for those working on the go, but if you're just looking to tear through a Foursquare Bucket List while Eurotripping... well, you can place your order today in the source link below.
Minitel to be shut down tomorrow: France bids adieu to the internet's precursor
Back in the mid-80s, the idea of transferring funds, checking your email, buying stocks and booking a trip online was all a faraway dream. But if you happened to be in France at the time, you might've already been wired up and doing these things for years -- thanks to the state-subsidized Minitels that were in each and every household. The country was far more interconnected than any other and proud of the text-only terminals, even though government-owned France Telecom monopolized access and you had to be newspaper company to supply any content. It took off anyway, and soon faux-newspaper companies sprung up everywhere for the not-so-secret purpose of delivering paid Minitel services. They supplied information, financial access, ticketing, online shopping, and even some naughty text-based services (sacré bleu!). At its apogee in 1998, the system generated over a billion dollars a year in revenue, and accounted for nearly 15% of the annual income for online retailers 3 Suisses and La Redoute, to name a couple. But France can be an insular nation, and Minitel never really spread anywhere else. The internet gave the coup de grace to the system and displaced it, and though it's still accessed by millions each year, France Telecom will pull the plug once and for all this Saturday. Some regret that the nation didn't build on its technological lead, but most French folks will probably remember the boxes nostalgically, knowing that they beat the internet by almost 20 years. [Image credit: Musée De l'Informatique]
Panasonic prices 2012 Blu-ray lineup, high-end units due in May
Panasonic has officially priced-out its 2012 Blu-ray player lineup announced back at CES, and it includes no fewer than six boxes (and price-points) for you to choose from. Four of the new players -- ranging in price from $150 to $350 -- are capable of playing your favorite Blu-ray flicks in 3D and come with Panasonic's Viera Connect service, which provides access to online content from Amazon, Hulu and Netflix and a host of applications including Facebook, Skype and Twitter. The 2D models -- which range from $90 to $120 -- aren't left out in the cold when it comes to connectivity, and include IP VOD support for streaming web-content. What's more, the entire 2012 lineup is DLNA-enabled, can be controlled via a smartphone app and, with the exception of the DMP-BD77, has WiFi built-in. Four of the six units are available for purchase immediately, but you're going to have to wait until May if you're interested in the two higher-end models. Mosey on past the break to view the full press release.
Over 500 million Chinese citizens now connected to the web
The number of internet-connected Chinese citizens jumped 4 percent in 2012, pushing the country's total number of users over the 500 million mark. A report issued by the state-owned China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) reveals that over 37% (513 million people) living in The Middle Kingdom are now traversing the information superhighway. Unsurprisingly, the majority of these internet connections (close to 70%) can be attributed to mobile phones; as we've seen over the past few days, this mobile-centric user-base has generated very high demand for certain cellular products. Those scrutinizing the CINIC's report note that the statistics quoted by the Chinese government could be a wee bit on the high side. The report considers a user "internet connected" if they are over the age of six and have been online in the past half year. Hit the source link for more surfing stats from the Far East.
Motorola Connected Home Gateway tour (video)
When we first told you about Motorola's Connected Home Gateway, it was little more than a picture of a cool looking router. Thankfully, however, the company has been giving tours of the technology on the floor of CES, showing off the way it brings together such things as climate control, home security and automation. Of course, it's not really a real world use case here -- for one thing, the wireless in the Las Vegas Convention Center WiFi isn't all hot the week of CES, with ten billion gadgets being shown off at the same time. Still, the walkthrough we got was pretty cool, shutting off lights and the like from the comfort of your handy Motorola smartphone. Check out the demo, after the break.
Broadcom buys NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7b in cash, hopes to add more processors to lineup
You've probably never heard of NetLogic Microsystems, but you can bet that its technologies may very well end up in your next smartphone, tablet or vehicle. Broadcom has just announced its intentions to pick up the aforesaid company for a cool $3.7 billion in cash, with the "definitive merger agreement" already approved by the boards of both. According to Broadcom, the deal will extend its portfolio with "a number of critical new product lines and technologies, including knowledge-based processors, multi-core embedded processors, and digital front-end processors," and according to a televised CNBC interview with president and CEO Scott McGregor, he's hoping to extend Broadcom's reach in the automotive industry. His view? We're getting dangerously close to streaming television (and more) to a serious quantity of motorcars, but beyond wild aspirations, there doesn't seem to be too many hard plans being made public. The full release is hosted up after the break.
HBO Go coming to game consoles, bringing all-you-can-eat HBO to the TV
While you may have been surprised to learn that the Wii was the most popular game console for Netflix users, you should not have been surprised to learn that over "half of all Netflix users connect via a game console," as reported last week. It's similarly unsurprising to learn that Time Warner is looking to expand the reach of its popular HBO Go service from the web and mobile to connected TVs and – cue drum roll, please – video game consoles. With over 4 million downloads for the mobile apps, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says, the HBO Go service is considered to be a hit. Subscribers of the premium cable channel can access every episode of HBO's many original series, from Deadwood to The Sopranos to Game of Thrones. Extending access to the television is an obvious next step; however, it's unclear if Time Warner would charge for TV access, like Hulu has with its Hulu Plus offering, or treat all screens the same, also known as The Netflix Strategy. In addition to the price, we also don't know a date for availability of the service. Tell you what, HBO – let us subscribe to your fancy service and skip the onerous cable TV plan, and you've got yourself a deal!
Microsoft unites with former exec in building a 'smart city' in Portugal
If you want better cities, goes the theory herein, you'll have to start at their very foundations. Steve Lewis, ex-Microsoftie and current CEO of Living PlanIT, has a vision for how to make our cities smarter and more sustainable, and it starts literally at ground level, with the installation of smart sensors into buildings as they're being built. The appeal of his company's ideas has already attracted some tech luminaries as partners, Cisco being among them, and now Microsoft has also been signed up -- to provide the cloud framework required to keep all those sensors talking with its Azure platform. Paredes, a Portuguese municipality, will play host to one of the first such projects, eventually providing homes for nearly a quarter of a million people and costing a staggering €10 billion ($14.1b) to complete. To understand the synergistic benefits of having your life monitored by an omniscient Urban Operating System sentinel, skip past the break for a press release and explanatory video.
BMW Connected hitting 1 Series cars first, lets you tweet your disregard for speed limits
The BMW Connected app has been available for a few months now, following in the footsteps of Mini Connected as it sits there, and taunting you from the App Store. We knew cars supporting the feature would be coming in March, and now we know which ones will be first: BMW's svelte little 1 Series. To enable the streaming radio and even streaming video (when the car is stationary) on the dash-mounted display you'll need to tick the box next to a €150 (about $205) option. In your suitably equipped car you can then get your Facebook and Twitter feeds read to you and even provide automated responses using "vehicle information such as current speed, outside temperature or navigation destination." We're hoping the car can apply some flowery language to such hard data, like "bat out of hell" for those particularly warm days in which you're driving at a high rate of speed from an unpleasant point of origin.
Pandora for Mini Connected and SYNC AppLink now available for iPhone
The Mini Connected app finally hit the App Store back in December, enabling those with suitably equipped little German/British autos to connect their iPhones and iPods and do what nature intended. Well, everything nature intended except for streaming Pandora. Now that solemn right is a possibility too, with the latest version of Pandora available in iTunes. Update that, plug your iPhone into your Mini, and you can get your stream on, just like we did at CES. However, if you're more of a domestics guy or gal you don't have to feel left out, because this new version supports Ford's SYNC AppLink as well. And, yes, we had some quality hands-on time with that, too.
Garmin connected nuvi 1695 takes an immediate left turn out of FCC HQ
A new nuvi is coming down the highway, and it means business. Navigational business. It's the Garmin nuvi 1695, a connected GPS device that offers Bluetooth and GSM, much like the 1690 before it. In fact, it's not entirely clear what makes this different from the last year's 1690, but GPSTracklog speculates this will offer Garmin's traffic trends feature also found in the 3700, augmented by real-time updates from every other 1695 user similarly stuck in traffic. Seems like a good guess to us, but we're of course more curious about how much the thing will cost -- $500 for the 1690 when it was new was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow.
Apple to make an HDTV within two to four years?
The famous Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, has another wacky prediction for us: within the next two years, he says, Apple will release a connected HDTV. Unlikely, to say the least -- the thinking around the virtual TUAW offices is that Munster's way off base on this one. Not only is the HDTV market pretty darn price sensitive (Apple is, of course, not one to compete on price), but Apple has always considered television "a hobby," and they're not likely to take on a whole new market unless they think they can do something different. However, we'll give Munster his chance. He says that combining "hardware, software, and content will become a key selling point for TVs" in the future, and Apple does that very, very well. He says that the natural evolution for the Apple TV is to build an all-in-one solution with a screen for about $2000, and that Apple might even offer a subscription service in order to completely oversee the producer-to-consumer relationship. Admittedly, that does sound like something Apple might want to do. Munster also says that such a service could be ported to the iPhone and iPad for a wireless solution as well, and that makes it a pretty tempting idea. Yet again, that presumes Apple wants to get involved in television, and with most of their attention already focused on bringing content to the iPad, that's a bit of a stretch. I guess we'll wait and see. Would you buy an all-in-one TV and subscription from Apple if that's what they decided to do?
TomTom XL Live connected GPS passes the FCC
Looks like domestic drivers may soon have the privilege of shelling out extra money every month for TomTom's "connected" services. According to recently unearthed FCC documents, the mid-range (and until now Euro-centric) XL Live has been manhandled and passed all its tests. This guy operates on the GSM850 and GSM1900 bands, which means it should be available on AT&T or T-Mobile's 2G network -- you know, when it does make it to market. And when it does make it to market, might we recommend you go with the Homer Simpson voice skin? That thing is hilarious. [Via GPS Tracklog, Thanks Rich]
