quattro
Latest
Audi delays e-tron launch in the wake of CEO's arrest
Audi's electric SUV, the e-tron Quattro crossover, notable for its optional aerodynamic side cameras and super-fast charging abilities, was supposed to be revealed at the end of August. Just last week, however, the car maker's CEO was arrested over his alleged role in Dieselgate, the scandal over Audi owner Volkswagen's cheats on emissions testing. It's not surprising then that, according to a report at Autoblog, Audi has decided to delay the planned launch of the SUV for an undetermined later date.
Nokia and Vodafone will bring 4G to the Moon
German new-space firm PTScientists has been planning a mission to the Moon for many years now. It has partnered with Audi to produce and deliver two XPrize-winning quattro rovers to the Moon that will explore both the lunar surface and carefully return to the Apollo 17 landing site in 2019. Now the team has partnered with Vodafone and Nokia to create a Moon-based communications network using 4G LTE to bring high-def video of the moon to those of us here on Earth.
Sigma makes a super wide-angle version of its super wide camera
Don't think Sigma's extremely wide dp Quattro cameras are outrageous enough? Don't worry, the company has you covered. The new dp0 Quattro mates a new version of Sigma's high-detail Foveon X3 sensor (billed here as equal to a 39-megapixel conventional sensor) with a fixed 14mm f/4 ultra wide-angle lens. Yes, you read that correctly -- buy a dp0 and your only choice is to capture all-encompassing shots. While the glass corrects for the chromatic aberrations and distortions you sometimes see in wide-angle imagery, you'll need a penchant for shooting landscapes or real estate ads if this is going to make much sense. Sigma isn't talking about prices or ship dates for the dp0 just yet, but the $999 price of both the dp1 and dp2 suggests that you'll be paying a hefty sum to own a compact cam with freaky optics.
Sigma's unique dp2 Quattro camera can be yours in August for $999
The dp2 Quattro is a strange looking camera. Its extra-wide design is quite unusual, but if Sigma's CEO is to believed, the 29-megapixel shooter will deliver superior image quality thanks to its unique sensor. The Quattro layers pixels in order to capture red, green and blue colors vertically -- there's no need for interpolation, resulting in sharper, more vibrant photos. The company claims that the dp2 can output an equivalent of 39 megapixels, based on tests that pit the chip against traditional sensors. The dp2 is expected to ship in early August for $999, including a fixed 30mm (45mm equivalent) f/2.8 lens. Pricing info for the dp1 and dp3, which come with permanently attached 19mm and 50mm lenses, respectively, is not yet available.
Hands-on with the Coolpad Quattro II 4G and 8920
CTIA 2013 seems to be dedicated to some of the lesser-known names in the US wireless industry, so it's fit that Chinese manufacturer Coolpad should take advantage of the situation to steal the show. Indeed, we were able to take a look at the phone maker's upcoming stateside model, the lower-end Quattro II 4G. In the past year, its predecessor cranked out roughly a million units on MetroPCS, and Coolpad is hoping to build upon that success to get a foothold in the US. This sequel, which offers stock Android 4.1.2 with a 4.5-inch qHD TFT display, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8930 chip, 5MP rear camera and VGA front-facing cam, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 1,800mAh battery, isn't going to satisfy the tastebuds of power users or high-end flagship seekers, but it's a quality option for those who aren't planning to spend a ton of money on a decent handset. Given the intended audience, the device is perfectly solid with reasonable performance; we appreciated the company's use of a textured back cover. One nitpick: despite our best efforts to get rid of fingerprints, smudges remained with no hope of removal in sight. Coolpad wasn't able to give many details on pricing or availability, but reps confirmed that it should arrive on C Spire in late June / early July, with it likely hitting other regional prepaid carriers after. Given the original Quattro's $80 price point on MetroPCS last year, we wouldn't be surprised to see the next-gen version offered for around the same cost. The company's still working to expand its presence on some of the larger networks, but it hopes to make its debut in the postpaid world early next year. %Gallery-189075% %Gallery-189076%
BLU Products unveils Tegra 3-running Quattro 4.5, 4.5 HD and 5.7 HD
It was just weeks ago that BLU Products' smartphones were largely dual-core models like the Vivo 4.65 HD. The company clearly wants to ramp things up, as it's kicking off the Quattro line based around Android 4.0 and the quad-core, 1.5GHz Tegra 3. At the entry level is the $250 Quattro 4.5, which includes a qHD display at its namesake size as well as a 5-megapixel camera, 4GB of built-in storage and a microSD slot. The next step is, unusually, the biggest: the $300 Quattro 5.7 HD (what you see above) keeps the same storage, but jumps to the extra-large category while upgrading to a 720p display and an 8-megapixel camera. BLU sees the $350 Quattro 4.5 HD as the real darling. It beats its non-HD cousin with a curved, 720p screen touting Gorilla Glass, and throws in a larger 16GB capacity as well as a more light-sensitive 8-megapixel camera. The two smaller models ship to the US early this month, to be followed by the 5.7-inch behemoth in late March. When they arrive, every one of them will carry unlocked HSPA+ 3G that supports both AT&T and T-Mobile.
Audi goes arty, crafts A4 replica slot cars for 'quattro experience' installation (video)
Audi and art? Those two worlds aren't ones we'd necessarily lump together. But the luxury car-maker's done just that, collaborating with Slot Mods USA to create the "quattro experience," an installation replete with remote controllable A4 replicas and a custom track. Let's be clear, though, this is no mere hobbyist recreation. As the accompanying mini-documentary shows, the team behind this project not only put great care into constructing the 20ft x 7ft custom track with the right bends, it also faithfully crafted the slot cars so as to mimic the Audi quattro's all wheel drive mechanic. So, how'd they do that? Through a combo of 3D printing, a four-wheel drive chassis and, most importantly, a calculated arrangement of traction magnets, the crew was able to get the cars up and running, and even outfitted with in-dash cams. And, in an appropriate modernist twist, there's an app for all of that -- a custom one designed by Audi that runs on the iPad and lets "drivers" steer via a POV feed and onscreen controls. Unfortunately, the whole shebang's only on display in Toronto for the time being. So, unless you're planning a trip to the Great White North anytime soon, the mini-doc after the break's about as close as you're going to get to the real thing.
Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 and LifeBook T902 convertibles show up with Windows 8, we go hands-on (video)
The annual Hong Kong Computer & Communications Festival is usually just flooded with discounted computer products and booth babes, so we were pleasantly surprised when we spotted a couple of unreleased Windows 8, dual-digitizer devices at the Fujitsu booth. Pictured above is the Stylistic Q702 "Quattro," an 11.6-inch tablet-cum-laptop that was announced last month. This particular unit sported an Intel Core i5-3427U chip (capped at 2.3GHz instead of 2.8GHz), a vibrant IPS panel, a fingerprint scanner, front and back cameras, 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD -- twice the announced capacity, for some reason. Much like the ASUS Transformers, undocking the tablet was only a matter of pulling the latch on the hinge, but we found the latch to be rather stiff to operate. Hopefully this is just a prototype issue. Other than that, we just wish the final keyboard dock will somehow get a slight weight reduction: for the screen size, 1.88 pounds isn't too bad for the tablet alone, but together with the heavy keyboard, the Q702 could become a nightmare for regular travelers. The second prototype lurking at the back of the booth was the bulkier LifeBook T902 "Tercel," a 13.3-inch convertible laptop that was unveiled alongside the Q702 last month. According to its label, this swivel-hinged machine packed a Core i7-3520M, 8GB of RAM, 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive, Blu-ray burner, LTE radio and a 72Wh (6,700mAh) battery. Oh, and there's also a fingerprint scanner below the display. While the software failed to reverse the screen rotation after we flipped the screen back to laptop mode, it was in general just as responsive as the Q702, though the hardware felt more solid and ready. With this in mind plus the Windows 7 label and Wacom label below the keyboard, we wouldn't be surprised if the T902 comes out before the Q702. Until then, feel free to check out our impromptu hands-on video of the Q702 after the break. %Gallery-163302% %Gallery-163303%
Unnecto Quattro hands-on (video)
It's Italian for the number four and also the name of a certain German auto, but Unnecto's latest device bearing that very moniker has little to do with either. In fact, the star feature of this low-end Android 2.3.5 handset, shown off on the CTIA 2012 show floor, is its ability to accommodate dual-SIMs. Yes, much like the touchscreen-only TAP that preceded it, this phone offers users with multiple lines the option to pack two SIMs -- full-sized and micro -- for easy account switching. Spec-wise, the 4-inch handset's not much to get hot and bothered about, loaded up as it is with a middling 800 x 480 TFT display, VGA front-facing / rear 5 megapixel cameras, 4GB of storage (augmented by a pre-loaded 8GB microSD) and a 1,400mAh battery. There's no dual-core running under the hood either, just a lone 650MHz MediaTek 6573 processor and it shows given that our brief hands-on with the preliminary software was riddled with lags and stutters. Keep in mind the phone's still a work in progress and that mostly stock UI will eventually ship sometime this June with a customized overlay. An upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is also purportedly on deck for Q4, but we're somewhat skeptical the single core handset could even support it. As for the price, well that all important bit is still up in the air, although we've been told it should retail between $150 to $200. If you're interested in buying what Unnecto's selling, check out the gallery below and hop on past the break for a brief video demo. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report.
Apple taking mobile ad share from Google, Yahoo, should have 21% by year end
Apple's iAd service is a relative newcomer to the mobile ads industry, which is probably why it's completely falling apart. No, sorry Carol, we're kidding -- Apple's service is doing extremely well, and it's already threatening established mobile advertising services like Google and Yahoo!. IDC claims that Apple will end the year with 21 percent of the market, which means that in less than a year's time, the company will have picked up almost a quarter of a rapidly growing and expanding industry. Google's share is dropping, and that's in addition to the AdMob purchase it made a while back as well. That is a phenomenal start for the iAd platform. And in fact, IDC is convinced that Apple's gigantic entry into the ads market has actually buoyed all ships -- even smaller advertisers like JumpTap and Millenial Media are growing, and even they cite Apple's entry into the industry as a marker for their popularity. Other cellphone and mobile platform creators are looking into their own advertising as well now, when before they would have just depended on a third-party service to run things for them. And yet despite the incredible growth, Steve Jobs is probably disappointed -- he said earlier this year that he wanted Apple to oversee half of all mobile advertising by the time 2011 started. That's unlikely to happen, but still, a quarter of a market that Apple entered less than a year ago is nothing to sniff at.
Report: Apple developing exclusive iTunes purchase tracking for iAds
TechCrunch has the word that Apple may be implementing a "VIP" ad program within its upcoming iAd service. An email reportedly sent from a Quattro sales representative mentions a "Verification of iTunes Purchase" program, in which an advertiser for a certain app would be able to see his or her users' iTunes purchases, and deliver ads based on that information. Quattro is the mobile ad company purchased by Apple a while back, and presumably the division overseeing iAds. That verification process would allow app creators to not only know which of their customers has already bought other apps of theirs, but it would enable them to only show you ads for apps you haven't yet purchased. In Flick Baseball Pro, for example, you wouldn't see ads for Flick Fishing if you'd already bought it from the store. That might give Apple the advantage against other ad programs on the App Store, and even if not, it would let them charge a premium price. Since everyone else is guessing at iTunes sales data, Apple would actually be able to deliver real numbers for iTunes purchases, and help app developers target app ads.
Why Apple might want to buy ARM
--- Last January, Apple COO Tim Cook stated, "We believe we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make." That motivation, backed by Apple's 41 billion cash on hand, makes its rumored acquisition of ARM Holdings so compelling. --- What would you do if you had $41.7 billion in cash reserves? That's what Apple has and, as Ken posted earlier, the rumor du jour suggests the company might use a modestly large chunk of it to acquire ARM Holdings. If such a deal is in the works, it would be Apple's largest purchase ever by an order of magnitude; the suggested £5.2 billion (US$8 billion) sticker price dwarfs the biggest prior buyout, which brought NeXT into Apple for $400 million and delivered the foundations for Mac OS X (along with a certain iCEO). ARM licenses its chips to many consumer electronics heavyweights; in addition to powering the iPad and iPhone, ARM processors power other smartphones, including those running on the Symbian, Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7, and yes, Android operating systems. An Apple acquisition of ARM, therefore, could have far-reaching implications on consumer electronics, especially when it comes to competitive access to the latest and greatest ARM chips. In the London Evening Standard article, a trader was quoted as saying "A deal would make a lot of sense for Apple .... That way, they could stop ARM's technology from ending up in everyone else's computers and gadgets." That may be taking it a bit far -- ARM's licensing and product lineup couldn't be made completely private in the short term -- but it would make Apple the most-favored customer for ARM's designs. It would also help Apple's other recent buyout, chip shop Intrinsity, make the most of its expertise. Back in January 2009, Apple COO Tim Cook stated, "We believe we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make." As the processor plays a pivotal role in shaping the user experience on mobile devices (think performance and power consumption) an acquisition of ARM could provide Apple the ability to better integrate and leverage ARM technologies in order to stay ahead and differentiate from the competition. The A4 chip in the iPad is based on an ARM design, which was first whispered about almost two years ago. In the last two years, Apple has made several notable acquisitions: of semiconductor company P.A. Semi, mapping company Placebase, music streaming service Lala, and mobile ad firm Quattro Wireless. So far, the Quattro Wireless acquisition has produced the most visible results, in the form of iAds. If an ARM acquisition is indeed happening, it'll be fascinating to see what comes out of it.
Adept Quattro shows off terrifying speed, robotic precision (video)
See that blur in the image above? That'll be the Adept Quattro, a machine claiming the title of being the world's fastest industrial pick and place robot. On the evidence of today's video, we're not going to argue. Being demonstrated as part of the first National Robotics Week, the Quattro took on a WiiMote-controlled moving platform and still effortlessly conducted its job at a pace that would make even Usain Bolt feel inadequate. The person controlling the platform tries his best to confuse the machine with rapid changes of direction, but whatever he does, the chips are placed and removed from their repositories with unerring precision. Go past the break to see the Quattro in action.
Apple to announce iAd / AdKit 'mobile advertising system' on April 7th?
Since Apple's acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January, both parties have been keeping mum on plans for Madison Avenue domination, but now MediaPost claims to know a thing or two about the newlyweds. According to the report, Apple will apparently unveil "a new personalized, mobile advertising system" which will go by the underwhelming name of "iAd" on April 7th. The article speculates that the service could be heavily focused on location-aware advertising, though that angle could hit some snags as apparently coffee-partner / arch nemesis Eric Schmidt and a little company called Google hold patents on said functionality. Of course, something that drives a wedge between these two players wouldn't exactly be a surprise at this point -- and we'd be happy if Apple doesn't cash in on those ad-supported OS ideas it's recently had. Really, we're not surprised to hear this may be coming, as a tipster just pinged us with info that an "AdKit" reference has shown up in a special file on Apple's public "Phobos" server. This file, which is called StoreBag, provides a public XML interface into iTunes. That interface describes how applications and web browsers can "call home" to either retrieve iTunes information pages or to request that iTunes jump to a given product listing. What you see here is a key-value pair from that file. The URL string that follows after the "adkit-product-url" key suggests that Apple is about to introduce a way to link ads with product URLs. How will this URL work exactly? It's hard to say without any further details, which are regrettably sparse on the ground, but it suggests that ad sourced product links can be used in a similar way to affiliate-driven links. <key>adkit-product-url</key> <string>http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/adkitProduct</string> Not much else is known about Apple's first venture into the ad business at this stage, but Steve Jobs has allegedly told some executives that this will be "revolutionary" and "our next big thing." Frankly, we're starting to get a little concerned with just how often the folks in Cupertino are bandying around the word "revolutionary" -- but we'll hold our judgments until after this announcement happens (if it happens at all).
Apple to announce iAd mobile advertising platform
Earlier this month, Apple posted a job listing that hinted at mobile advertising. Steve Jobs had strong words for Google when he told employees "We did not enter the search business. They [Google] entered the phone business." It was always interesting that Jobs never said anything about Apple not entering the ad business. Perhaps this is why. If iAds are announced on April 7th, you can bet Google will have some strong reactions to it. But who knows, maybe Steve was trying to break the iAd news to Eric Schmidt gently over that coffee the other day?
Apple job listing hints at official App Store advertising
A little over a month ago, Steve Jobs blasted Google at an Apple Town Hall meeting for entering Apple's territory. "We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business," Jobs told employees. "Make no mistake: they want to kill the iPhone. We won't let them [...] This 'don't be evil' mantra? It's bullshit." Notice Jobs didn't say, "We didn't enter the ad business." A recent Apple job listing for a Senior Interactive Web Developer pretty much confirms that Apple is entering the mobile advertising business head on. The listing begins "Apple advertising is an opportunity to redefine the advertising on mobile devices. It's an exciting environment and a fast-paced development organization. We're looking for an experienced interactive developer." The successful applicant will be responsible for developing the front end web UI development of compelling, interactive digital advertising experiences. The posting hints that Apple wants to make it as easy as possible for developers to monetize their apps. As AppleInsider points out, Apple wants to make it as trivial for developers to add advertisement placements to their applications as it currently is to add buttons or interface controls. With the iPhone and Android totaling 75% of U.S. smartphone web traffic as of last November, it's no surprise Apple wants to enter the ad business on their device that is responsible for 51% of the market. Last November, Google bought Admob, the largest mobile ad company in the world, for $750 million. Shortly thereafter rumors emerged that Apple had been in talks with Admob before Google's deal. Less than two months later, Apple acquired Admob competitor Quattro Wireless in a deal valued at $275 million. It looks like Apple is as serious about the mobile ad business as Google is about the smartphone business.
Apple makes it official, acquires Quattro Wireless
Following up on last evening's rumor, Apple has pulled the trigger and made its acquisition of mobile ad network Quattro Wireless official. A sale price wasn't disclosed -- $275 million is the popular number being thrown around -- but the company's CEO Andy Miller has been immediately elevated to Apple's newly-minted VP of Mobile Advertising position. In a news post on Quattro's site, Miller says that its products and services won't change "for now" -- but considering that it offers tailored advertising across a huge bounty of devices and platforms, we have to imagine Apple's long-term strategy is going to involve making this framework more of an App Store value-add for developers. Time will tell, but one thing's for sure: this is good news if (and only if) it either makes life easier on devs that want to offer awesome free apps or finally ushers in the era of free, non-carrier-subsidized, ad-supported smartphones that don't suck.
Will Apple buy mobile ad company Quattro Wireless? UPDATE: Yes.
According to Kara Swisher at AllThingsD, Apple may announce the purchase of Quattro for the relative bargain price of $275 million. I say bargain because, as Kara points out, Google paid three times that for AdMob, another mobile ad company. So what? This bit of news, when taken with the ad patent filed by Apple, could suggest they are going to implement some sort of ad system on something. But what? AdMob could be used on Android-powered devices... How about ads on a tablet device? Ads could help lower the cost of the mythical tablet, especially when those ads are sold by, say, content creators like a newspaper or four. I realize those are a lot of threads to pull together, but all the speculation seems to be swirling around this tablet, the cost and the content that'll go inside. Traditionally cost has been the Achilles' heel for an Apple product, but with ad-supported price breaks you could theoretically lower the cost of the product to the consumer while keeping some margins. Then again, Apple may simply be planning to integrate Quattro into the developers' toolkits, and provide them with an in-house solution for ad-supported apps. Or maybe they are going to sell an ad-supported OS X for Dell machines. Who knows? As I write this neither company had any comment on the sale or announcement. UPDATE: Yeah, Apple bought Quattro after all. Let the advertising begin!
Apple buying mobile ad network Quattro Wireless for $275M?
Now that everyone and their mother's got a smartphone, you've got a pile of sweaty capitalists pounding on the door trying to find every last conceivable way to turn the trend into cold, hard cash. One of the most obvious -- quality apps from a central clearinghouse -- is proving fruitful through countless official platform app stores, but targeted mobile advertising has to be a close second. Google saw the writing on the wall and snapped up AdMob not long ago; one of AdMob's competitors, Quattro Wireless, is now rumored to be locked up for a purchase by Apple for a cool $275 million as early as tomorrow. While mobile ads (or ads of any sort, really) aren't event remotely in Cupertino's repertoire, it's easy to see how this could give the company an opportunity to capitalize on the iPhone's vibrant free app ecosystem, centralize revenue for devs (while stealing a nice little cut for itself), and take back a cottage industry that's flourished since the App Store's debut. At this point, it's unclear what this means for iPhone users -- or would-be tablet users, for that matter -- but seeing how this jibes with recent Apple IP, this tie-up might actually make a frightening amount of sense.
Archerfish Quattro video monitoring and recording system now available at Amazon
Cernium's just announced something that should really please the 'I know the cat is putting my stuff on Ebay while I'm at church' crowd. The Archerfish Quattro is a full scale, no messing around video monitoring and recording system that pays attention to the little details while you're not around. Analyzing info in real time, if the Archerfish Quattro spies something funky, it'll send a message to your mobile phone or email. The system is expandable so that you can have as many cameras in the setup as you want (well, up to four), and best of all? It's available at Amazon now, so you can order it without having to leave home -- which you don't want to do yet. It's just not safe. The Archerfish Quattro system can be purchased now for a starting price of $1700. Full PR is after the break.
