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Myriad Social TV brings social networking to your cable box (hands-on video)
The marriage of social networking and television is nothing new, but Myriad recently launched Social TV, a white label solution which allows TV service providers to roll out their own custom social networking platform on your cable box. It complements services like Twitter, Facebook and Google+ by offering a more contextual way for viewers to interact with their friends while watching TV. Social TV provides an integrated HTML5 experience that's consistent across both television and companion devices (phones and tablets). Viewers can chose between receiving alerts on their TVs, mobile devices or both and can create show- or series-specific virtual communities that automatically expire when the program ends. The system is even mindful of time zones and time-shifts messages to prevent spoilers. More after the break. %Gallery-183426%
Myriad Updates enables social networking via USSD (hands-on video)
You may not be familiar with USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) but there's a good chance you've used it before -- by dialing *225# (or something similar) to check the balance on your account. Just like SMS, it's a protocol baked into every GSM phone. Unlike SMS, it allows session-based, real-time communication between a handset and an operator's USSD gateway -- without the store and forward mechanism required for text messaging. Basically, it's a simple way to enable data connectivity on phones without deploying an actual data network and while it's pretty slow, it may be monetized. We met with Myriad's VP of Business Development Olivier Bartholot at Mobile World Congress who gave us a demo of Myriad Updates, a solution based on the company's Xumii back-end that delivers social networking services like Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to any GSM handset via USSD. This means no data plan is required and there's no app to install or cumbersome SMS-based UI to deal with. Myriad's partnering with Vodafone, Orange and Mobinil to provide social networking access to customers in emerging markets who may be using very low-end devices (like the Nokia C1 above) with limited or no data functionality. Hands-on video and PR after the break.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Myriad's Olivier Bartholot (update: video embedded)
Find out everything you've ever wanted to know about Myriad -- and more -- courtesy of the company's product VP, Olivier Bartholot, who will be joining us on stage at 6PM ET. Update: Interview video is now embedded.
Broadcom befriends Sling and Myriad, outs new set-top and streaming chips
Busy days at Broadcom, which has already forgotten about its earlier 5G WiFi announcement and launched a barrage of new chips for set-top boxes and home networking. The line-up supports the latest MoCA 2.0 standard for greater network bandwidth over coax wiring, but even more interesting is what some of the SoCs can do for smart TV and streaming. The BCM7425 dual-tuner HD gateway SoC will support Sling Media's "place-shifting" platform, potentially making it easier for set-top manufacturers to enable TV streaming to mobile devices. A similar deal has been inked with Myriad over its clever Alien Vue software (shown above), allowing Broadcom-equipped boxes to run apps designed for Google TV and HTML 5 without the need for extra dedicated hardware. In short, if your service provider fails to make TV content smarter or easier to access in 2012, they won't be able to blame it on Broadcom. Further details in the PR combo after the break and at the source link.
Myriad Alien Vue brings Google TV apps to existing HDTVs, set-top boxes (video)
Couch potatoes may soon be able to get a more complete Android app experience without leaving the living room, or picking up a tablet or smartphone. Myriad's new Alien Vue is a customizable OEM platform that enables TV and set-top box manufacturers to bring Android to their existing products, adding support for apps designed for Google TV and HTML5. Myriad is the developer behind Alien Dalvik, which allows you to run Android apps on non-Android devices, including iOS and MeeGo. Alien Vue brings that concept to the living room, and includes a branded app store, web browser and portable device control, letting you control your TV and other home theater devices using a phone or tablet. But unlike Dalvik, it'll be up to manufacturers to add support for Vue -- you won't be hacking your TV and installing the software yourself. We'll be bringing you a full hands-on from CES, but jump past the break for a quick video demo.
Myriad's Remarkz HTML 5 web annotation app hands-on
W3C tests HTML5 browser compatibility, crowns IE9 the champ Myriad Dalvik Turbo hands-on: Android apps just got fast Myriad 'Alien Dalvik' runs Android apps on any phone... starting with MeeGo (video) It wasn't that long ago that Myriad gave us an exclusive sneak peek at its platform agnostic Android app emulator, Alien Dalvik 2.0. While we were there, the company gave us a glimpse of another project, called Remarkz, that piqued our interest. Remarkz is a slick little HTML 5 application that lets users annotate web pages with text and drawings and share the marked up pages via email, Facebook and Twitter. As opposed to using screen grab programs like Skitch or Jing, Remarkz keeps the web page links live and only requires adding a bookmark to get started. Additionally, a timeline feature lets you see when new notes are made on a page and who made them -- giving it greater potential for use as a collaboration tool. True to Myriad form, it works on any platform (tablets, PCs and Macs) using any browser that supports HTML 5. It's still in beta for now, but the app works pretty well despite a small bug here or there. Plus, given its egalitarian nature, Myriad hinted that we may see it on more screens (think big) in January at CES, which would up its cool quotient considerably. Interested? Check out a video walkthrough of the app after the break, and hit the source to start using it yourself.
Video of Myriad's Alien Dalvik 2.0 on an iPad
Engadget got a sneak preview of Myriad's Alien Dalvik 2.0 running on an iPad. Alien Dalvik is a small bit of custom code that allows almost any non-Android device to run unaltered Android apps. Version 2.0 of the software allows Android apps to run on iOS. Interestingly, Alien Dalvik 2.0 runs in the cloud, which means all the processing is going on on remote servers and not on the iOS device itself. What happens is that when Dalvik 2.0 is launched on the iPad, the iPad connects to the servers, which then send an H.264 video feed of Android back to the iPad on which users can interact with apps. For my taste it's too complicated of a system and the fact that it is cloud based means that an Internet connection is always required. In addition, I've never met an Android app I wanted that didn't already have an equivalent on the App Store. Still, if you are dreaming of a dual-OS tablet, Alien Dalvik 2.0 might just be your thing. You'll just have to wait a while, since it won't be ready for the masses until the first half of 2012.
Hands-on with Myriad's Alien Dalvik 2.0 on an iPad (video)
Last week, Myriad outed its plans to unveil Alien Dalvik 2.0 -- which works on iOS -- at CTIA, which starts today. But, knowing our readers would be champing at the bit to see it in action a little early, we got an exclusive sneak preview of the software for you right now. As a quick refresher, Alien Dalvik's a custom bit of code that lets you run unaltered Android apps on a non-Android OS, like Maemo or MeeGo. This new version brings that same black magic to iDevices (and just about anything else), so head on past the break for more about Myriad bringing Apple and Android together in app harmony.
Myriad Alien Dalvik hands-on (video)
What if you could run Android apps on other platforms? That's exactly the question Benoit Shillings and his team at Myriad asked themselves before setting out to create Alien Dalvik. The resulting software provides a host environment for the (mostly Java-based) Android apps to run pretty much anywhere. Alien Dalvik behaves a lot like Wine on Linux, which allows Windows programs to run inside Linux without installing Windows or using a virtual machine. We stopped by the Myriad booth at MWC this week where Benoit was kind enough to give us a demo of Alien Dalvik running on a Nokia N900. Despite being in the early stages of development and still un-optimized, the software worked as expected. Benoit showed us Google Maps, a chess game, and the IMDb app all running as separate processes inside Maemo. This version of Alien Dalvik was written using Qt and should also be able to run on Symbian devices. You can't buy the product as an end user, but Myriad wants to make the technology available to carriers and device manufacturers to help streamline the deployment of apps across platforms. Watch our video after the break.
Myriad Dalvik Turbo hands-on: Android apps just got fast
Even on the latest round of Snapdragon-powered models, Android apps don't typically seem to exhibit the same level of buttery-smooth prowess as their iPhone equivalents. There are a variety of reasons for that, but the most damning seems to stem from Google's choice of the Dalvik Java runtime, which -- to put it simply -- trades performance for diminutive processor and memory footprints. You may not have ever heard of Swiss company (and OHA member) Myriad, but it sprung to life through the merger of Esmertec and Purple Labs and claims to have software running on an astounding 2 billion phones worldwide -- in other words, these guys know a thing or two about phones -- and they've applied their expertise to tighten up Dalvik and make it burn rubber. Follow the break for video!
Swiss firm claims huge boost in Android app performance, battery life with new virtual machine
At the core of Anrdoid lies a little bundle of code known as the Dalvik virtual machine, a runtime environment for Java apps that's specifically optimized for hardware with limited memory and processor power -- you know, the kind of situation you find in your average smartphone. The relative success of the Android Market suggests that Dalvik's getting the job done on some level (as long as you're not looking for a texture-intense FPS), but the fact that Google bothered to create a separate native development kit to speed up intensive operations certainly serves as a damning counterpoint. Enter Swiss firm Myriad -- a founding and code-contributing member of the OHA, coincidentally -- which is touting this week that it's crafted a much higher-performance replacement for Dalvik, appropriately known as "Dalvik Turbo." Just how much higher-performance are we talking? Myriad claims apps run in Dalvik Turbo "up to three times" faster, all while reducing battery drain and giving devs the power they need to create graphically intense games. Even better, it apparently maintains complete compatibility with existing Android apps and is available for all the key mobile platforms -- ARM, Atom, and MIPS included -- and is virtually guaranteed to make you sob uncontrollably to learn that your Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, or 2.1-based device isn't using it. It'll be on display at MWC next week, so we're looking forward to finally seeing Gang Wars humming along at 60fps on a G1.
Rock Band Weekly: The Material, The Myriad, Them Terribles and Maxmo Park
Many folks may not recognize the bands in this week's Rock Band Weekly. That's okay, though, since we've placed some handy-dandy videos after the break to keep you informed. In fact, we're going to watch them right now. Who are these people?MTV2 pack (240 Microsoft Points / $3) "Moving to Seattle" - The Material (80 MS Points / $1) "A Clean Shot" - The Myriad (80 MS Points / $1) "Bullets & Guns" - Them Terribles (80 MS Points / $1) Individual song "Girls Who Play Guitars" - Maxïmo Park (80 MS Points / $1) The tracks will be available to download next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.
Flickr Find: Apple sans-serifs signs
This might be the Mac-geekiest thing I've ever seen, but this is TUAW, so here you go. Sharp-eyed reader Morgan W has a flickr pool up of signs around the Apple campus in Cupertino, and notes that three of their newest building signs (at Bandley Five, Six, and Eight) have an updated logo with no 3D effect, and use Myriad for the font instead of Garamond, which the old signs used.Will Apple's stock prices jump around at the news? Probably not. but as Morgan says, just like the missing Open Apple, it's another sign that we're moving further and further away from the "rainbow and serif Apple of yore."
