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AMD will contribute 'engineering expertise' to MeeGo development project
Now here's a very positive new sign for MeeGo's future. AMD, Intel's oldest and boldest nemesis, has added its name to the list of companies actively supporting the development of the platform -- which got its start as a joint project between Intel and Nokia -- and has pledged the contribution of its "engineering expertise" to the further advancement of the open source OS. In simpler terms, AMD must be aware of the great potential of MeeGo and is seeking not to be left behind, as illustrated by Ben Bar-Haim, the company's software development VP, who expressed AMD's hope that "this operating system will help drive our embedded plans and create expanded market opportunities for our forthcoming Accelerated Processing Units." Good to know, guys, good to know. Jump past the break for the full press release.
InstantAction dies in an instant, future of embedded gaming looks questionable
Well, that was brief. Just a few short months after InstantAction went public with its embedded browser-based gaming platform at GDC 2010, the Oregon-based startup has gone belly-up. If you missed out on what this here outfit was offering, you clearly aren't alone -- but for the historians in attendance, we'd invite you to revisit our hands-on for an overview of what was planned. Unfortunately, the company has yanked all of its Vimeo clips detailing the system's features, and its website now affirms that the service as a whole is "no longer available." We're hearing that it'll be selling the underlying Torque Game Engine (and presumably that fancy "chunking" tech that enabled games to be played in a browser with just a broadband connection), but based on the tepid response so far, we're guessing it won't fetch much. We definitely saw a bit of promise in the concept -- after all, browser-based games like Solipskier are all the rage in some circles -- but bona fide console / PC games simply don't fit that mold, or so it seems.
Roku makes hardware and software available to license, embedded TVs can't be far out
Aw, suki suki now! Roku -- the guys responsible for taking over your living room -- just announced that it's making its hardware and software platform available to license. At first glance, you may assume this means little to nothing for consumers, but you're (hopefully) mistaken. If you'll recall, the Roku XD was rebranded in order to slip into Netgear's vast sales channels, but the software part of this equation has our interest very much piqued. We've already seen Vudu's software baked into a number of HDTVs, and we're envisioning a future filled with world peace, In-N-Out for all and Roku-embedded television sets. We'll take two outta three if we have to, though.
Windows Embedded Automotive hits version 7, powers Nissan Leaf, takes MyFord global
We know how patiently you've been waiting for this day, but it's here. It's really here. Microsoft Windows Embedded Automotive 7 is out, appearing in the download queues of "select car makers and suppliers in the automotive industry." What does it offer? Why, Silverlight support for fancier UIs, real-time text-to-speech technology, and better expandability for third-party plugins. In bigger news, Microsoft is confirming that Windows Embedded Automotive (an earlier version) is the brains behind the Nissan Leaf's Information Hub, which not only handles infotainment duties but also gives charging status and power consumption figures. Finally, the MyFord system is going global, shipping to Blue Oval vehicles in Europe and Asia in 2011. That's after 2.5 million Sync-equipped cars have hit the road. Highway domination? Nearly complete.
Savant stuffs iPod touch into multifunctional Touch Remote, includes VoIP and FaceTime promises
That's no render we're looking at, Savant assures us, it's the most recent photograph of the company's Touch Remote prototype. This crazy do-it-all peripheral comes with an embedded fourth-gen iPod touch -- no word on whether you'll be able to remove it, though it looks unlikely -- and mirrors the abilities of Savant's iPad home control and automation app. That means that once you get your lights, climate control, network cameras, and home cinema hooked up to Savant's control hub, you'll have yourself a neatly streamlined remote to save you doing anything yourself again. Or so goes the theory, anyhow. Savant augments the offering with promises of VoIP and FaceTime integration by the time the Touch Remote ships to retailers in the first quarter of next year. MSRP is set at $399, which may or may not be feasible given that the iPod touch by itself costs at least $229. We shall see. For now, you can see the prototype device on video after the break.
Intel retires Tunnel Creek codename, debuts E600-series Atom System on a Chip
The light at the end of Intel's Tunnel Creek? The E600-series platform. As expected, this is an Atom-based system on a chip designed for embedded devices, offering up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, integrated USB and gigabit Ethernet support, plus an Ion-enabling PCIe bus. The processor itself is a 45nm chip available in speeds ranging from .6 to 1.6GHz, too slow to really rock anyone's proverbial socks, but these could make for a some mean little MIDs or perhaps a hot infotainment system for your next-gen Camry.
Acer shows off Windows Media Center Embedded at IDF (video)
Among the various demos at IDF today, Acer showed off its Revo 2 sporting a special treat -- Windows Media Center Embedded. A quick perusal of the menus (video is embedded after the break) showed off the same live TV / internet streaming video integration we've come to expect from Media Center, although obviously running on a simpler dedicated box. Acer's aiming for availability in the first half of 2011, we'll see if this setup can do any damage in the set-top box / media streamer wars.%Gallery-102060%
ASUS' Intel CE4100 Companion Box with Windows Media Center Embedded, there and back (to the ether) again
Seriously, blink and you might've missed it. ASUS had its own Intel CE4100-powered companion box on display running what our memory recalls was Windows Media Center Embedded. We'd love to confirm for the 5 percent of our brain that's uncertain, but by the time we went back for pickup shots of the adjacent (and awesome) Acer box, it was already gone. (Did the RevoPad scare it of that badly?) At any rate, this ASUS device has no drives, but it does boast an ATSC antenna, component and composite video. It's slated for the first half of next year, though representatives weren't willing to talk price just yet. Some more pics in the gallery below. %Gallery-102066%
Windows 7 Embedded doesn't support CableCARD, yet
Sure the final release of Windows 7 Embedded just got delivered to OEMs last week, but we were afraid that it might not be all its cracked up to be and wondered why CableCARD support wasn't mentioned in the original press release. Well we reached out to Microsoft and learned that the initial release of Windows 7 Embedded doesn't support CableCARD tuners. We're not sure if this is a CableLabs technicality or just one of those things, but Microsoft does expect to release a quality fix engineering (QFE) update by the third quarter of this year that will make things right. Lets just hope it's in time to be included in the first embedded box to market; and that there's nothing else we love that's missing.
InstantAction goes live with browser-based gaming model
Remember InstantAction? You know, that startup that debuted at GDC in an effort to take on OnLive and catch the world ablaze with browser-based embedded gaming? If you've forgotten the dirty-dirty on this here company, be sure and give our prior hands-on a look; once you're up to speed, you may be interested in knowing that the company's first weekend in business (in the consumer's eye, anyway) is this one you're living in right now. The new "direct-to-consumer online video game distribution service" has gone live with LucasArts' The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, enabling gamers to embed full titles into blogs, Facebook profiles and pretty much any other site that'll handle an HTML embed string. The magic involves a delicate mix of in-browser, thin-client, and progressive downloading technologies, and while this title may not float your boat, the concept could be gold for indie developers looking to reach directly to potential clients. Head on past the break for the full release, not to mention a play-by-play of how to try this thing out.
Windows 7 Media Center coming to embedded devices
We love Windows 7 Media Center, but at the end of the day we'd never give one to our mom and expect it to just work the way an embedded DVR like a TiVo or a Moxi would. But dependability isn't the only concern about using a PC as a DVR, there is noise and how it looks in the living room to consider as well. The compromise before us might just be a thing of the past as Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 Embedded has been released to manufactures and includes many of the great features of the regular Windows 7 family, like Windows Media Center. At this point there aren't any announcements from manufactures leveraging these new found features, but in the press release Microsoft is certainly bolstering the broadcast TV and other media features in a set-top box. AOpen is the only manufacturer mention by name that we're familiar with, which also makes good small-form-factor PCs, but that won't stop us from dreaming of the best, easy to use and dependable whole house DVR ever. Update: Video of Media Center on an embedded device in action after the jump.
VIA Nano E-Series CPUs offer native 64-bit support, guaranteed longevity, and extreme energy efficiency
Oh, look who it is. The company that was supposed to give the Atom a good run for its money is back at it today with the announcement of a new E-Series of processors, operating at speeds between 800MHz and 1.8GHz. Bringing native 64-bit software and virtualization support, as well as a 7-year guarantee, these will certainly appeal to business types, while their minimal idle power consumption (as low as 100mW) and multimedia-accelerating promises should garner some interest from consumers as well. VIA is promising "exceptional hardware acceleration of the most demanding HD video codecs and industry leading 3D graphics capabilities" when these CPUs get dropped into integrated chipsets like the VN1000. Them's fighting words indeed, and we should be able to gauge their veracity in due course with samples available for interested parties right now and mass production sure to swiftly follow. Go past the break for the full PR.
InstantAction streams full games to any web browser, gives indie developers a business model (video)
Look out, OnLive -- you've got company. InstantAction is having their coming out party at GDC, and we stopped by for a lengthy chat about the technology, its future and the hopes / dreams of the company. Put simply (or as simply as possible), IA has developed a browser-based plug-in that allows full games to be played on any web browser so long as said browser is on a machine capable of handling the game. In other words, you'll still need a beast of a machine to play games like Crysis, but the fact that you can play them on a web browser opens up a new world of possibilities for casual gamers and independent developers. You'll also be notified before your download starts if your machine and / or OS can handle things, with recommendations given on what it would take to make your system capable. Oh, and speaking of operating systems -- games will only be played back if they're supported on a given OS, so you won't be able to play a Windows only title within a browser on OS X or Linux. Rather than taking the typical streaming approach, these guys are highlighting "chunking." In essence, a fraction of the game's total file size has to be downloaded locally onto your machine, and once that occurs, you can begin playing. As an example, we were playing The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition -- which is the sole title announced for the platform so far, though Assassin's Creed was demoed -- within minutes, and since you're curious, that's a 2.5GB game, and we were on a connection that wasn't much faster than a typical broadband line. More after the break... %Gallery-88068%
MIT gestural computing makes multitouch look old hat
Ah, the MIT Media Lab, home to Big Bird's illegitimate progeny, augmented reality projects aplenty, and now three-dimensional gestural computing. The new bi-directional display being demoed by the Cambridge-based boffins performs both multitouch functions that we're familiar with and hand movement recognition in the space in front of the screen -- which we're also familiar with, but mostly from the movies. The gestural motion tracking is done via embedded optical sensors behind the display, which are allowed to see what you're doing by the LCD alternating rapidly (invisible to the human eye, but probably not to human pedantry) between what it's displaying to the viewer and a pattern for the camera array. This differs from projects like Natal, which have the camera offset from the display and therefore cannot work at short distances, but if you want even more detail, you'll find it in the informative video after the break. [Thanks, Rohit]
AMIMON's WHDI wireless HD modules coming to netbooks and laptops
For as long as we can remember, AMIMON's WHDI technology has been reserved for use in high-end AV components -- HDTVs, Blu-ray players, set-top-boxes, etc. Today, the outfit has finally figured out a way to break free from its current box and get all up in the grille of the mainstream market. As of now, WHDI modules are being made available for netbook and laptop manufacturers, enabling portable PCs to send or receive high-def signals from other WHDI-enabled devices sans cabling. The outfit expects lappies with their tech built-in to ship sometime in 2010, and when we prodded for more information on who exactly would be taking 'em up on their offer, the company stated that specific partners wouldn't be announced for a few more months. Still, built-in support for beaming 1080p content from a laptop to an HD panel without a single cord? Major score.
Movie Gadget Friday: Code 46
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema. On our last visit, we examined the computer hacking fantasies of 1980's adolescents in Weird Science. Skipping on from software-engineered babes to a bio-engineered society, this week we investigate the gadgets in the human-clone-saturated cities of Code 46. Though most of the futuristic technology in this 2003 film is in the form of mind-altering viruses, the everyday devices used by Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton slightly stretch today's technical specs in true sci-fi form. Memory Videobook Preventing scrapbooks from being left behind as primitive forms of experience archiving, this gadget combines the cheap plastic form of photo-books with a relatively thin interactive screen. The device captures first-person memories from a user in the form of lossy video (alas, the specs behind memory capturing have yet to be released, much to our irritation). Playback and fast-forward/rewind are enabled through basic scrolling gestures on either the corner of the video or the opposing soft-acrylic, touch-sensitive finger pad. Similar to Americhip's video-in-print technology, the memory videobook appears to use a TFT LCD, but with a far more outstanding resolution. While this memory scrapbook device is far from chic, we kind of respect that it stays true to its historical laminated, cutesy form despite the high tech modifications. More after the break.
ZillionTV may go around ISPs, take ad-supported streaming video direct to consumers TVs
Hard to say what this means for the "ISP as distribution partner to ad-supported video service" strategy ZillionTV said it would pioneer when originally announced this spring, but today's press release indicates a significant shift in direction. If you've already forgotten about the FCC-inspected ZBar and ZRemote, this is the company planning to offer video on demand over the internet from its library of film and TV partners Hulu-style, but direct to your television. Now the company will consider selling hardware straight to subscribers of ISPs not down with the plan, aside from sliding directly into televisions and various connected hardware as Netflix, VUDU, Amazon and others already have. At the same time, the planned Q4 nationwide launch has morphed into a vague "second half of 2010" promise, from here we'd guess getting ISPs to sell hardware that competes with their own pay-TV services isn't as easy as ZillionTV anticipated.
Light Blue Optics' touch-based laser projector hitting manufacturers in Q4 -- will look nothing like this image
While the global economic crisis has swept aside a number of early innovators in mobile technology, Light Blue Optics finds itself flush with cash this morning. Having secured $15 million in funding, the UK outfit now plans to have its laser-based pico projection engine to OEMs by the end of the year; a move that should result in a tiny retail projector sometime in the first half of 2010. Why should you care? Well, unlike all those LED-based pico projectors now saturating the market, laser-based projectors offer more vivid colors and the ability to auto-focus that mobile image as it's moved about. Even better, LBO has touch-enabled the system allowing users to interact with the projected display. A second generation engine about the size of a sugar cube will ultimately allow the technology to be embedded in mobile devices like cellphones as we're already seeing with LED-based engines. Since the supplied image above totally misrepresents the first generation device, we've embedded a video of the tech, first published in March, after the break. Skip to the 3-minute mark if you want to avoid the pitch.[Via PicoProjector-info]
Poll: Would you buy a TV running ChromeOS?
Forget widgets and ten-foot experiences. If someone's designing a lightweight, net-connected operating system, why not jam that into a flat panel and let us have our way with it? That's the idea we had after all the Google operating system news of the last week, although like an embedded Boxee solution or the long rumored AppleTV TV, we may be waiting a while whether its ChromeOS, Moblin or something else, although there's already least one Media Center Extender-packing display on the way from Toshiba. So, are we crazy or is this something that could sell? Let us know in the comments below. %Poll-31770%
Raph Koster speaks on Metaplace's new functionality and the state of virtual worlds
Metaplace introduced the world to a brand new technology two days ago -- the ability to embed a fully functional virtual world into any website or forum, anything that can handle HTML.This upgrade allows Metaplace to act like a more enhanced version of Google's old Lively service. All you need to do is make a world, take the embeddable HTML code from it, drop it into your website, and you now have a full virtual world running in flash right inside of your blog post or forum thread. The world can be edited to your whims through the Metaplace builder, letting you create whatever you want to create inside of your space. Think of it like Second Life Lite.We had more than a few questions for Raph Koster, the founder and creator of Metaplace, about this new upgrade for his virtual platform, so we caught up with him to pick his mind on Metaplace and virtual worlds at large.
