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Ice Cream Sandwich widgets leak out ahead of official launch
We expect to be hearing plenty more about Ice Cream Sandwich before the day is out, but that doesn't mean there isn't still room for some last-minute leaks. We've already seen a couple of updated apps slip out, and we now also have what appears to be our first look at Google's refreshed widgets for the new OS. Those include both Gmail and Calendar, as well one for your non-Gmail email, all of which boast a similar appearance that's been further streamlined from their Honeycomb counterparts. As Android Police notes, there's curiously no labels in the Gmail widget, although we'd assume that's just due to the particular messages being displayed (we hope so, at least). Hit the source link below for a look at the rest.
HTC Sense 3.5 beta screenshots leak, bring tears of joy to weather widget lovers
Now that you've seen high-quality images of the HTC Bliss with the screen turned off, are you curious to see what it looks like when it's on? The same folks at XDA.cn who got hands-on time with the Bliss have now come forth with possible screenshots showing the phone is indeed running on a beta version of Sense UI 3.5. What's new here? Even though the lock screen uses the same ring-style unlocking feature as its predecessor, it appears that the new UI will feature two dedicated buttons at the bottom of the home panel -- for the app tray on the left and phone on the right -- and refreshed widgets (including a larger weather panel), among other minor changes. Word also has it that HTC is removing hardware requirements that restricted version 3.0 to the company's highest-end devices, which gives hope to millions of Sense users still on an older, more streamlined UI. More screenshots can be found at the source link.
Nokia announces Symbian Belle alongside three new devices
True to Monday's teaser, Nokia unveiled its latest update to the Symbian OS as well as a few new devices. Belle is indeed coming, and it's heading to the Nokia 700, 701 and 600 in the third quarter of this year. The successor to Anna brings NFC sharing and pairing functionality to the table, along with three additional home screens (bumped up to six), a dynamic lock screen, live widgets in five different sizes, and a pull-down taskbar and notification menu. Fortunately, the new handsets announced today aren't the only beneficiaries of the upgrade: the N8, E6, E7, X7, C7, C6-01 and Oro will all get Belle at a yet-unknown later date. Join us after the break as we go more into detail on the three phones announced today, along with a video and press release. %Gallery-131567%
Nokia RM-670 screen grabs reveal Symbian Belle in all her glory
We caught a glimpse of Nokia's new Symbian Belle OS on some RM-670 spy shots a month ago, but back then we were distracted by the handset's impressive hardware. As if to correct our focus, the attention-seeking successor to Symbian Anna has just revealed herself again in a batch of leaked screen grabs, courtesy of NokiaBlog.ro. The pics reveal different-sized widgets in a range of different positions, suggesting that this OS offers a lot more flexibility in customizing home screens. There's also an Android-esque notifications bar, which gives quick access to core settings too. We don't know how final these revisions are, or how effective they'll be in restoring Symbian's waning popularity when the new OS finally arrives, but there's an encouraging hint of that well-executed simplicity that Nokia does so well. Click the source link below for the full Romanian fandango. [Thanks, Clinton]
Box pics, price and features leak out for the Best Buy Insignia cTV with TiVo
As we close in on the purported release date for Best Buy's Insignia cTV, more details have come to light about the TiVo menu system (but not DVR) powered HDTV. Zatz Not Funny reports the 32- and 42-inch models available initially will cost $599 and $999, respectively, with a pretty standard list of features including built-in 802.11n WiFi, 4 HDMI ports, etc. More interesting however are these box shots that reveal unannounced apps on the way including Chumby widgets -- destined to replace the late FrameChannel? -- as well as Twitter and Facebook, which were integrated via the iPad app but not the box, yet. So far we still don't know for sure if these TVs will be able to serve as multiroom extenders and stream video from a TiVo Premiere (whenever TiVo brings the feature back) but until there's some official word you can get more pictures and details at the source below.
Yahoo! Connected TV watches with you, delivers a more personal ad experience
For a medium heavily ridiculed for its zombie-making capabilities, television is certainly taking on more of an active role courtesy of Yahoo! Connected TV. Coming later this year to select Sony and Toshiba models, the interactive software that's already in eight million homes gains two new features destined to either creep you out, or snag you a twofer on those wings -- broadcast interactivity, and device control. While the latter enhancement merely transforms your smartphone or tablet into an extended remote, it's the former that'll turn your TV choices into a game of peeping Tom, delivering ads custom-fit for you. But the old, yodeling tech giant's not stopping there -- the company also plans to trot out an app store by the years' end, which is currently in pilot testing with Ford and HSN (among others). If widget-based ads are your thing, you might want to hold off until the big manufacturer roll-out next year, or you could always consider that Google option. Brain-rot, please meet the tech loop.
FrameChannel is going away and so is its suite of TiVo widgets
When TiVo launched the Premiere DVR it promised "nearly 1,000 content widgets" thanks to a partnership with FrameChannel, but those will soon disappear. According to its website FrameChannel will shut down at the end of the month due to financial trouble, while Stephen Mack of TiVo says the DVR company is "looking into" replacements for the service that provided weather, news, custom RSS feeds, and stock market data. It may not be a major loss for most however, since the general consensus seems to be that FrameChannel wasn't that great. All the same, a few of you may miss it when its gone, and take note of the unfortunate potential downside of dealing with cloud based services. [Thanks, Joe & Dave Zatz]
iOS 5 jailbreak offers third-party Notification Center widgets
Jailbreakers have already cracked iOS 5's Notification Center widgets, according to 9to5Mac. Notification screen widgets are little apps -- or widgets -- that run in the new Notifications Center in iOS 5. iOS 5 will ship with two widgets, stocks and weather. However, as usual, the jailbreak community wants to push things forward faster than Apple does, and they've already come out with a host of third-party widgets. MacStories has an excellent roundup of some of those custom Notification Center widgets but, as always, if you want to use them you'll need to jailbreak your iPhone. One of my favorites is SpringPrefs (shown at right), which shows you details about your iOS system information, including the amount of free RAM, your Wi-Fi and Data IP addresses, and your firmware number.
iOS 5 to feature 'completely revamped' notifications, widgets
TechCrunch reports that iOS 5, expected to debut at WWDC next month, will feature a "completely revamped" notification system and widgets. Apple has long been rumored to be revamping its notifications system in iOS, and many have expected that such a notification system revamp would make its way into iOS 5. The widgets functionality is somewhat a new concept, however. Besides TechCrunch's mention that there will be iOS widgets, nothing else is known about what they'll look like or what function they'll perform. MacRumors postulates that iOS widgets could "presumably provide quick access to information without the need for launching dedicated apps, much the same as Dashboard widgets in Mac OS X." They might also function similarly to a pretty cool concept video of how widgets might work in iOS.
Vizio dangles upcoming YouTube app for its Blu-ray players
Vizio posted a teaser on its Facebook page of new app updates for its Vizio Internet Apps platform, including this YouTube app that will come to the VBR122 and VBR133 series Blu-ray players first. Amazon VOD and web videos are apparently also on deck, but judging from the comments, owners of certain model TVs are still waiting for updates to flick on their USB connectivity, Hulu Plus, and other apps. These should all come down as automatic updates whenever they launch, let us know if there's any other widgets you'd like us to keep an eye out for.
Android 3.1 on the Motorola Xoom: hands-on (video)
That Android 3.1 update that Google announced during I/O is slowly rolling out to 3G Xoom owners as we speak. How'd we know such a thing? Why, it just landed on our in-house Xoom, of course! Most of the changes to Honeycomb are happening under the hood -- better HTML5 support, faster performance, and USB host functionality for connecting peripherals like game controllers and mice -- but there are some improvements that will be a lot more obvious to the user. Perhaps our favorite is the addition of resizable widgets. For the moment only the email and Gmail inbox, calendar and bookmarks widgets can be stretched or shrunk, but we're sure others will follow. We're particularly appreciative of the expandable calendar widget, which always felt a tad cramped. The task switcher also received a much requested upgrade and now lets you scroll through your last 18 launched apps, instead of just the five most recent. Lastly, the Android Market now offers movie rentals, alongside books and apps, which range in price from $1.99 to $4.99 for 24 hours of playback. There isn't a ton of revolutionary stuff going on here, but it's certainly a welcome and worthwhile update. Check out the video after the break to see Android 3.1 in action.
Dashboard: Irrelevant in the age of iOS or gaining new life in Lion?
The blogging crew here at TUAW headquarters frequently gets inspiration from emails that we receive from developers and hardware manufacturers. As a perfect example, the inbox the other morning contained some information about an upcoming iOS app that syncs to a Dashboard widget. Fellow blogger Erica Sadun said she wouldn't touch the app, since "Dashboard causes me to break out in hives," and Kelly Guimont asked "does anyone use the Dashboard for anything?" That got a lively discussion going on behind the scenes about whether or not Dashboard is even relevant anymore. As an Apple consultant, I can't tell you how many times I've been asked the question "What's that little speedometer icon for?" by new Mac owners who were afraid to click the Dashboard icon in the Dock. When I've shown those clients what Dashboard is all about, they seem underwhelmed. For me, I haven't used Dashboard since I set up my 27" iMac last year. Kelly mentioned that she has a delivery tracker and the Apple Remote Desktop widget installed, but that she "has yet to use" the latter. Most of the blogging team echoed those sentiments.
Yahoo buys TV companion app developer IntoNow and its database of sounds
Earlier this year IntoNow launched its iPhone app that could identify what TV show you were watching by the audio Shazam-style and then share it with others over Facebook or Twitter, pull in additional information, or add the DVD to your Netflix queue. Now, Yahoo has purchased the company and according to the press release (after the break) wants to integrate its SoundPrint tech with its existing services including the Connected TV platform. As NewTeeVee suggests, this could tie-in nicely with its existing plans to use audio watermarks to identify advertisements and display additional info on screen or work with a companion app, both of which it demonstrated at CES. That database of sounds reportedly stretches back over five years and is continually being updated, which could give a major lift to Yahoo over other smart TV platforms that goes far beyond just check-ins and badges.
Sony rolling out Netflix, Yahoo updates; celebrates internet on TV with a new ad
If you access Netflix on your Sony TV (or Blu-ray player or Streaming Player) you'll probably notice it's been updated with the new HTML5 based UI that allows for search of the entire catalog, among other things. A press release issued recently also mentions Sony will be delivering the Yahoo Connected TV store when it launches "later this spring" selling paid apps through its widget powered TVs. Just to make sure people get the message, Sony's official blog just posted this new ad, embedded above, focusing on its TV products from 1960 on and how it can bring music, movies and apps over the internet in HD (and 3D) to the living room.Give it a peek and let us know if you agree with the vision, the press release about all the new features is after the break.
Chumby 8 gets reviewed, dubbed 'best and biggest Chumby yet'
The Chumby has never exactly been a device for everyone, and that's not likely to change with the new Chumby 8 that's recently started shipping. Those that do want a Chumby, however, aren't likely to be disappointed by the new 8-inch model. According to CNET's review of the device, the Chumby 8 is simply the "best and biggest Chumby yet," with the larger display and additional USB ports making it better suited for use as a photo frame or media player, while the plethora of apps available make it as versatile as ever. Of course, it is still a Chumby, which CNET notes makes for an increasingly difficult sell in a world filled with tablets, smartphones, and widget-filled TVs. Hit up the source link below for the full review.
Android Honeycomb / Motorola Xoom hands-ons: widgets, Grocery IQ, and Monster Madness (video)
Fully-functional Xooms with complete (or seemingly complete) builds of Honeycomb are out in force here at Google's event in Mountain View today, and a bunch of partners are hanging out to demonstrate the tablet apps they've been working on. We checked out both Monster Madness -- a game that's been on Xbox 360 and PS3 for some time -- and Grocery IQ, both of which obviously bring very different experiences to the table (unless you consider grocery shopping "a game," which some of us admittedly do). Though we thought we detected some stuttering and lag from Monster Madness when it was demoed on stage, the experience up close and in person was much smoother -- definitely 100 percent playable. We double-checked and confirmed that the tablet game is a 100 percent content port from the console games, you're not missing anything here. It features three control modes that let you toggle between two on-screen analog sticks, one stick, and a fully accelerometer-based mode that most users probably won't consider practical because you've got to tilt the screen too much. Interestingly, the developer noted that there's a low-res mode that he actually toggled in an area of the game with a lot of water because it tends to slow down, despite the fact that it's running on Unreal Engine and is fully optimized for multiple cores. Could it be that game studios are already pushing the limits of this hardware from day one? Moving onto Grocery IQ, it's basically a fancy shopping list with coupons -- it's already on both iOS and Android phones, and odds are good you already know what it is. What was really interesting, though, was that we got a full demo of "application fragment" layout switching between landscape and portrait views (the app has a two-pane view for tablets) and the process of adding and removing widgets. As with some of the first-party widgets we've seen, Grocery IQ seems to have done a good job making its widgets visually rich and engaging -- particularly the coupon browser, which appears as a stack of rotating coupons with color graphics. See videos of both products after the break!
Yahoo! Connected TV Widgets shows off live TV tie-ins, iPad remote and D-Link add-on (update: video!)
Just a couple of years after its initial debut, Yahoo's Connected TV platform is finally ready to escape the TV, among other things. One surprise shown off tonight during the pre-CES Digital Experience event is a new D-Link box that overlays the widgets on any video signal to any display by way of HDMI passthrough. Also on display are prototype remote apps for Android and iPad, both could act as a remote control, while the tablet app could also search or browse for additional programming and share videos straight to the TV Airplay-style. On the paying bills end of things however, this year's big announcement is the ability to tie in with live TV broadcasts, while the company didn't reveal what information keyed the system, it figure out if a TV program or ad being watched is a compatible one and pop up prompts accordingly. While that could lead to even more annoying ads for consumers, there's at least a few interesting applications like the one we saw voting on potential winners of a boxing match as it starts on Showtime, one of the initial partners along with CBS, ABC, Showtime, HSN, Ford and Mattel. Check out the press release after the break, we should have a video of the demo up shortly. %Gallery-113001%
Vizio shows off its full 2011 HDTV lineup: ultrawidescreen, 3D, Google TV, widgets & all
No more dribs and drabs of information leaking out as Vizio has finally listed its entire 2011 LCD lineup, again featuring LED back & edge lighting across all models. That includes two ultrawidescreen 21:9 Cinema models in its Theater 3D line in 50- and 58-inch sizes, two VIA Plus TVs with Google TV in the XVT3D476SP and XVT3D556SP, and continuation of its existing Yahoo! Widgets based Vizio Internet Apps features including WiFi and Bluetooth QWERTY remote across TVs sized 22-inches and above. Check the press release after the break for all the models and what they offer, perhaps wisely there's no detailed information about when and for how much they'll be available just yet, so we'll still have to speculate about which models will represent the sub-$300 3D portion of the lineup.
Paul Allen files amended complaint, points out exactly where patent infringement is hiding
Left with just two weeks to explain exactly how seven of the web's biggest properties (and three office supply chains) violated his company Interval's patents, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen figured out a plan -- Intervals' lawyers are drawing big, colored boxes around large swaths of the allegedly infringing websites' real estate. In all seriousness, a lot of companies may owe Allen a lot of money if Interval truly has a case, because Interval claims to have patented no less than the ability for a website to take a user-selected piece of content and suggest other related pieces of content that might be of interest. Oh, and it's also apparently patented pop-ups and widgets, as most anything that displays information "in an unobtrusive manner that occupies the peripheral attention of the user" is getting the same treatment. Hilariously, it appears that the co-founder of Microsoft didn't provide his lawyers with basic scanning technology, because the PDF of the exhibits they uploaded to the court's web site is just epically bad -- check out everything they say infringes in the gallery below. Disclaimer: We should note that AOL is among the companies being sued by Allen and Interval, and that Engadget is owned by AOL. So you know, just think about that a bunch, or something. %Gallery-112185%
ESPN launches ScoreCenter for connected TVs on Samsung's App Store - Update: Better screenshots
ESPN's ScoreCenter app has been a popular one on Android and iOS devices, but today the broadcaster has taken another step by bringing it to connected TVs. Samsung enabled TVs will be the first to see it in the Samsung App Store, and use it to pull up scoreboards, schedules and live game details along the top, bottom or sides of the screen. According to AdAge, it had planned to bring TV apps using EBIF to market years ago, but delays mean this is the first one to see the light of day. No word on which connected TV will see ScoreCenter next, but for now you can check out a demo video at the source link. Update: and now we have some higher res screenshots courtesy of ESPN, check out the first above and another one after the break.
