Philips
Latest
LG and Philips / TP Vision announce Smart TV Alliance for cross platform TV apps
Following up on last year's promise to build a standardized SDK for creating Smart TV apps, LG and TP Vision (the new owner of Philips' TV business) have announced the creation of the Smart TV Alliance. Its goal is to create a "non-proprietary ecosystem" to encourage developers to make platform-independent apps based on standards like HTML5. One of the main problems currently for the Smart TV market is that there's many different platforms, some manufacturer specific while others like Google TV and Yahoo! Widgets play across differently branded devices. Curiously, Sharp was included in the previous announcement at IFA last fall and is not mentioned by name this time around, although the press release hints at "other Japanese manufacturers" in the process of joining that will be announced accordingly. The current plan is to release SDK 2.0 by the end of this year, until then interested devs are asked to register on the group's website for more info.
Project Unity stuffs 20 classic consoles into one: if you can't play it, it's probably too new (video)
Most gamer who want to play with more than one or two vintage console platforms often turn to software-based emulators that may or may not be above-board. How about stuffing all of the authentic hardware into one controller and one base unit? Modders at Bacteria's forums have developed Project Unity, an attempt to natively address 20 consoles across 17 actual platforms folded into a single device. The gamepad, arguably the centerpiece, includes two each of analog sticks and directional pads, along with multiple shoulder buttons and a central button grid that can either be used to steer an Intellivision or fill in for otherwise missing controls. Stuffing the unique controller hardware into one gamepad obviously presents problems with board sizes and the laws of physics, so much of the relevant circuitry sits in modified NES cartridges. Our only dismays are the lack of original Xbox support and the slightly imposing challenge of aggregating and modifying that much classic gaming componentry in one place -- if you're more concerned about convenience in your retro gaming than preserving the original feel of that Sega Master System or SNK NeoGeo, though, you've just found Utopia.
Dolby 3D on prototype 4K display and HTC Evo 3D hands-on (video)
Truth be told, we haven't been wildly impressed with the glasses-free 3D solutions we've seen to date, be it because of the limited viewing angles, unconvincing picture or lack of availability here in the US. That could soon change, however, if Dolby's version of the three-dimensional experience makes its way to a production-ready television set. Best known for its audio technologies, the company just launched its own 3D standard in cooperation with Philips, called Dolby 3D. The platform-agnostic solution is far from ready to make its way into your living room, but it's conceptually sound, and the prototype 4K 3D TV and mobile versions being demonstrated at Dolby's NAB booth make us hopeful for the future. As with all displays -- especially those that support 3D -- you'll really need to see to believe, but we had an opportunity to do just that, and walked away very impressed. The 56-inch 4K prototype display is viewable from nearly any angle, with 24 different viewpoints, though you'll really need to be front and center for the greatest 3D effect. Side viewing is certainly possible; you'll just sacrifice some depth in the process. Even from the front, 3D appears slightly muted compared to what we've seen with passive- and active-glasses equivalents, though we can't say that we mind much, considering that the image is still dramatic enough when you need it to be, such as when displaying scenes with significant depth. The company was also demonstrating Dolby 3D on an HTC Evo 3D along with a nondescript tablet, where an on-screen slider lets you dim the three-dimensional intensity just as you would adjust the volume, enabling you to customize the experience to suit your needs. Since Dolby 3D is merely a display standard, we won't be seeing any branded televisions or smartphones, though perhaps we'll see some third-party adaptations come CES 2013. Jump past the break to see it in action.
Philips' L Prize-winning light bulb goes on sale Sunday, priced between $20 and $60
It's a little strange crowning a "winner" when only a single company enters the contest, but that's exactly what happened during the L Prize celebration in August of last year. Philips was the only outfit to take the US Department of Energy up on its offer, earning some $10 million to develop what might go down as the most radically designed, wildly expensive bulb your table lamp has ever seen. That said, the victorious bulb is a big fan of Ma Earth (and her of him), using just 10 watts of energy while outputting light similar to that of a 60 watt incandescent. It'll hit retailers like Home Depot this Sunday (Earth Day) for around $50 a pop, while some utility companies may subsidize 'em in an effort to hit the magical $20 price point. Hey, no one said saving energy would be remotely affordable, right?
Dolby Labs and Philips unveil Dolby 3D tech, want to deliver glasses-free 3D in HD
Dolby helped the 3D revolution happen in movie theaters years ago, and now it's teamed up with Philips to do the same for TVs, tablets, laptops and phones. The two companies have created a format and content delivery technology, dubbed Dolby 3D, to bring high definition 3D content to any and all devices with 3D displays, including those that don't require glasses. Its secret sauce automatically optimizes video for different screen sizes and also upgrades half-resolution 3D to full-res. The idea is to provide both broadcasters and OEMs with a way to deliver 3D HD content to customers buying Dolby 3D devices, while remaining compatible with existing 3D gadgets. All that's left is to actually build some hardware that'll let us see all those snazzy suits from Mad Men in high-def and the third dimension.
Philips' new ErgoSensor desktop display demands that you sit up straight
Remember those halcyon days when your mother would chide you to sit up straight should you ever start to slouch? Good news, desk jockeys, because Philips' ErgoSensor desktop monitor is here to stop your stooping now that mom's no longer around -- and it doesn't require you to wear some silly plastic pendant or occupy any of your USB real estate. The 24-inch, 250-nit, 1920 x 1080 display has a sensor in its bezel that watches you while you work, and warns you when your posture becomes poor or if you've been staring at the screen too long. It also informs users how to set up the monitor for optimal viewing distance and ergonomic position. Plus, it can tell when you're not around and shut the screen off to conserve power. We don't know how much money the monitor will cost or even when it'll be available to fix your poor sitting form, but we do know you can learn everything else about it at the source below.
Philips transfers TV business to a joint venture with TPV Technology, TPV takes the controlling stake
It took almost exactly a year, but Philips is finally free of its pesky, money-losing TV problem. As planned, the company transferred its television business into a joint venture with Hong Kong-based TPV Technology called TP Vision -- an arrangement that endows TPV with a controlling 70 percent stake. (Philips will still receive royalties on top of whatever it earns through this venture, and plans to sell Philips-branded sets in the US through a separate partnership with Funai.) Though the deal was first detailed a year ago, Philips only announced today that the transaction had closed. Now that it has, the newly formed company will produce Philips-branded TVs in a bid to make it one of the "top three players," according to TP Vision chief Maarten de Vries. As you'd expect, all of the 3,300 employees that previously fell under Philips' television division will now be in the employ of TP Vision, and Philips' various manufacturing sites have been transferred over too. All of that and a healthy dose of rah-rah in the full PR below.
Report: Apple mulling second Israeli facility after Anobit purchase
It looks like Apple's acquisition of Anobit was only one part of its Israel-based plans -- business daily Calcalist is claiming that the company will open a research center there by the end of February. It's unrelated to the purchase of the flash-chip maker, since Ed Frank was apparently despatched to scope out suitable bases for a new facility in early 2011. It's reportedly going to be based in the Matam Technology District, south of Haifa, adjacent to similar facilities operated by Microsoft, Intel and Philips. It's already received hundreds of resumes for engineers: it's looking for those with specific know-how in chip development, hardware testing and verification. The new complex is to be kept separate from Anobit, with no communication allowed between the two teams. Another tidbit that emerged from yesterday's conference call was that Bob Mansfield is integrating Anobit's team into Apple's, but company founder Ehud Weinstein will depart for pastures new -- much in the same way that some of Intrinsity and PA Semi's staff departed after being swallowed by Cupertino's cash.
BASF, Philips team up to create transparent OLED car roof
If you're the sort who wished your car had a transparent roof when the rain falls down but want some shielding when the sun's up (or, you know, vice versa) then BASF have good news for you. It's showing off the transparent OLED technology it developed with Philips that behaves like glass when inactive, turning opaque when activated. We're already familiar with the technology here, because it's the same kit that the chemicals giant showed off on its custom Smart Forvision it produced with Daimler back in September. As before, it's also been able to pair them up with transparent solar cells, for environmentally friendly sky watching: just remember that people will be able to see you pick your nose from all angles now, okay?
Share iPad displays with Philips In-Car Screen Kit
I have kids, and I live over three hours away from our nearest family. I know how difficult it is to entertain a car full of kids while driving, which is why the Ubergizmo post about the Philips In-Car screen kit caught my eye. It's simply a pair of LCDs that strap to the back of a car seat and connect to your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. A single cable connects the LCD displays to your iOS device and lets you watch videos from the comfort of you car seat. There are no proprietary cables or DVD players to setup, which makes setup a breeze. The system is available in both 7-inch (PV7002i) and 9-inch (PV9002i) sizes and includes all the straps and power adapters that you need. Both systems will be available in April 2012 for US$169.99 and $199.99, respectively.
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 5, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 5, 2011: C Spire announced this week that it's launching the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. The device is currently available for purchase for $50 with a two-year commitment and after a $50 mail-in rebate. [AndroidCentral] Images and specs of Philips' first Android device, the W920, surfaced this week, and its spec sheet doesn't look very good: Froyo, a 1GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 4.3-inch WVGA display, a 5MP camera, 10.5mm thin frame and it has a 1,280mAh battery. The fun part is the rumored price tag: £400 ($627). [LandofDroid] Ting is a new Sprint MVNO that'll launch mid-2012. It'll be prepaid and use a bump-up and bump-down model for pricing -- in other words, going over your minutes will just bump you into the next higher plan, while using fewer minutes can bump you to a lower plan. [Cnet] Another prepaid provider in the news this week is PrepaYd Wireless, which launched this week. It offers a "Y Pay More" plan that will give you unlimited talk, text and 3G data for $40 per month. If you don't need data, you can get all-you-can-eat talk and text for $35. Much like Ting, PrepaYd Wireless utilizes the Sprint network. [MobileTechNews] If you use a BlackBerry OS 7 device on AT&T, the carrier is offering you two free months of BBM Music. Normally you need to pay $5 a month to store 50 songs. [Crackberry] While we're on the subject of BlackBerry phones, Twitter for BlackBerry just got updated to version 2.1 and now offers multi-account support. In addition to being able to view up to five accounts in the same feed, it also includes the ability to tweet one thing to more than one account simultaneously. [BlackBerry] Pandora and Windows Phone may never mix well, but at least the radio service can be enjoyed now through an unofficial Pandora app called MetroRadio. It's free, and is finally available in the Windows Phone Marketplace. [WPCentral]
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: docks
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. 'Tis the season to go shopping and slightly broke! Unless you're living off the grid, you can't escape the marketing merriment amping up the arrival of that most wonderful time of the year. You know, the one where loved ones run themselves ragged skipping from store to store in an attempt to find the perfect gift that just screams, "I care," and costs a pretty penny, too. Well, we know things can get hectic and the options overwhelming, but for the music aficionado in your family, you can't really go wrong with a speaker dock. Let's face it, even Great Aunt Eddie's rockin' a portable media player these days. So, why not help her get up off the couch, out of her mind and into a living room hoedown with a wall of MP3 sound? Lucky for you, we've whittled down the dizzying array of digital audio offerings into a handy guide fit for the frugal and lavish alike. Need a little inspiration? Then head on past the break to peruse the goods and get psyched for that onslaught of holiday cheer.
Honey, at home: Philips urban beehive shrinks your ecological footprint, increases holes on belt
It's a first-world issue: running out of honey when we need just a little more to sweeten up that bowl of oatmeal or cup of coffee. What we need is a constant supply of the golden stuff, and Philips has thankfully come up with this urban beehive to provide precisely that. It's the latest addition to the company's germaphobe-unfriendly "microbial home" concept. The system is half flowerpot, half hive, with bees able to travel between flower pollination and your domestic honey factory their honeycomb house. Honey can be 'tapped' from the base, with a smoking system in place to "calm the bees" before opening the hive. Now, if Philips could fashion something to keep us in a constant supply of maple syrup, then maybe even bakery dreams have a future, after all. %Gallery-139021%
Philips InstantTrust water purifier offers immediate bug-free hydration
Well, if you can boil a kettle with a bulb, why not crank up the dial and zap bugs with UV? Philips is doing exactly that with InstantTrust, a new instant water disinfection solution that is petite enough to be used in household appliances like taps, water filters and even water pitchers. The ultra-violet system is able to nix those nasty microbes at a rate of around four liters of water per minute and, unlike other bacteria-zapping systems, at any water temperature. Hopefully, the new system will put an end to the watery adage, "If it's brown drink it down, if it's black send it back."
Arduino-powered lighting system infuses your LED with some Ambilight-like pizazz (video)
Why spend your hard-earned money on one of Philips' Ambilight displays when you can just make your own, using some Arduino-based wizardry and a little bit of elbow grease? Fortunately, Minty Boost creator ladyada is here to help. All you'll need is a strand of digital RGB LED pixels, a five-volt DC power supply (along with a female power adapter), any USB-equipped Arduino micro-controller and, of course, the appropriate Processing programming environment. You can find the full how-to at the source link below, but the results are pretty impressive -- a capture-based sketch system that's compatible with just about any media player. See it for yourself in the video after the break. [Thanks, Phil]
Philips' Android-based GoGear Connect PMP now available for pre-order
Time is slipping away for it to meet its promised September debut, but Philip's Android-based GoGear Connect handheld / PMP is now available for pre-order from at least one online retailer (J&R). It'll run you $170 for the 8GB model and an even $200 for 16GB (both a slight discount off the list price), each of which come equipped with a 3.2-inch display, WiFi connectivity, built-in speakers, a microSD card slot for additional storage, and Android 2.3 with access to Android Market. Unfortunately, there's still no indication of an exact ship date, but we're guessing you won't have to wait too much longer if you decide to take the plunge. [Thanks, Peter]
LG, Sharp and Philips to build developer's kit, create Smart TV app standard
A triumvirate of television titans -- LG, Sharp and Philips -- are joining forces to create a development kit, defining a common standard for their Smart TV apps. The power play addresses the problem of fragmentation, since developers will only need to make one version of an app for it to work across all three of the 'tubes operating systems. Based on open standards like HTML5, CE-HTML and HbbTV, developers should get their hands on a beta version by early October, with the finalized version due by the end of the year. The better question now is whether the Romanesque trio can drum up enough developer support to beat out competitors in an app-tastic coup d'etat, or if the likes of Vizio, Sony and Samsung will eventually join in. Needless to say, we'll be digging for more at CEDIA later this month.
Philips Fidelio DS3801W, another ring-shaped AirPlay speaker, does the FCC tango
Those of you who kinda dug JBL's On Air, but wished it was just a tad more wheel-like, will probably love this AirPlay-enabled speaker from Philips that just passed through the FCC. Burdened with the name DS3801W, this ring-shaped Fidelio unit not only packs WiFi, but a USB port for charging and playing back music from your iDevices, as well as an "MP3-Link" jack (which appears to be just a 3.5mm audio plug) for all your non-Apple players. We got a brief hands-on with its battery-packing sibling, the DS3881w, at IFA and we expect this unit to ship for a little less than that model's $330 price point. Check out the source link for a bunch more images, as well as the user manual and all the RF exposure reports you can handle.
Philips GoGear 3 Android PMP hands-on (video)
One of the fun things about attending a show that's open to the public like IFA is that you tend to get the same pitch from companies as folks walking in off the street. And the pitch with the latest Philips GoGear is quite simple: this is the company's shot at the iPod touch. We swung by the Philips booth to give the thing another spin. The 3.2-inch portable media player has a touchscreen and runs Android 2.3 -- really, it's got most of the basic functionality of a handset, save for the whole calling people thing. The build on the device is a bit plasticy and certainly can't compare with the touch on that front, though it is quite light and should slip into your pocket easily for a trip to the gym, if you're so inclined. The player also doesn't make the most of potential screen real estate, due to the three large buttons and Philips logo taking up roughly a quarter of the its face -- an odd choice, given the GoGear's touchscreen. The PMP also has three large brass buttons in its side. The GoGear 3 runs Android apps with ease, flipping through the selection of Google programs without a problem. It's also got Android Market built-in, accessible through its built-in WiFi. That functionality also comes in handy with the company's SimplyShare software, which lets you stream music and video content to other devices. No word yet on final pricing or availability, though the Philips rep we spoke with said it will likely run around €150 for the 8GB version and €180 for the 16GB.%Gallery-132461%
Philips Sonicare DiamondClean USB toothbrush to stay fresh at your desk
For the modern dental enthusiast, we present to you the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean USB toothbrush -- because keeping your stank breath fresh at your computer is essential for early morning Skype calls. Long since gone are the days where brushing your teeth was limited to the bathroom. Nowadays, you'll need to keep those chompers fresh no matter where you might find yourself, including (but not limited to): the computer lab at school, your home office, your boss' office, or maybe even the Apple Store. Claiming up to 100 percent plaque removal and 44 percent more bristles, some are going so far as to call this £250 ($405) teeth gleamer the "iPod of toothbrushes." Check out the full PR and the so fresh, so clean jam after the break. Update: the folks at Philips emailed to let us know the USB toothbrush will sell for a suggested $219.99 in the US.
