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Impressions of OnLive, live on Vizio VIA Plus TV
When OnLive announced its particular brand of cloud-based gaming was making its way to Vizio's VIA Plus line of connected products, we were eager to get some more details. We got an opportunity today at Vizio's CES suite. While the Vizio tablet and smartphone were on display, they weren't rocking the OnLive implementation just yet; however, that's hardly surprising since, while it was running on the above television, it won't be available publicly on VIA Plus devices until "late in the year." So what did we learn? That by building the OnLive functionality right into the hardware, they're managing to bypass the input latency associated with an attached device. The television is also able to automatically switch to "game mode" to help ameliorate those delays. And since all of the VIA Plus sets support 3D, OnLive will be working with publishers to support 3D mode directly in the service.
Smartroi Android powered TV is officially headed to Korea
Remember our slight skepticism in April over reports that South Korean manufacturer GPNC would soon be releasing TVs running Android 1.5? Well it seems our clairvoyant powers that day were on the fritz, since the company has now officially announced the launch of an Google-powered TV dubbed Smartroi. Other hard details on the unit are predictably slim, but GPNC has confirmed that the TV will be sold in Korea and sport a 42-inch Full HD LED backlit screen, a 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 500cd/m² brightness, and USB connectivity. There's no verification on what version of Android will ship with the unit, but support for OS upgrades in the future has been hinted. Not satisfied with those measly tidbits? Neither are we, but considering Google still labels GPNC's site as suspected of malware, we're content to just keep letting updates flow to us.
Toshiba reneges on promise of free laptops and TVs if Spain win World Cup
Buy a Core i5 laptop or a Toshiba TV, and if your country wins the World Cup Final, we'll refund your money. Simple and to the point, don't you think? Toshiba ran this advertising campaign in Germany, England, Portugal, Italy and Spain in the run-up to the global football tournament, but now that one of those nations has actually gone and scooped the silverware, refunds seem remarkably hard to come by. As it turns out, the small print on that ad included instructions to see Toshiba's site for further details, which elucidated a requirement that all claimants must register their product by the 17th of June. Naturally, that's now led to a whole heap of peeved Spaniards feeling cheated, and big time consumer association Facua arguing that such a major condition to recovering your cash shouldn't have been hidden away online. In the absence of it being clearly marked on the promotional materials, it argues, Toshiba should honor everyone's receipts irrespective of registration. We're inclined to agree -- maybe the Japanese company can recover any losses from the wages of its cheeky advertising staff.
Doubletwist introduces in-app music store powered by Amazon
We posted about Doubletwist earlier this year -- it's a pretty innovative music app (developed in part by Jon Lech Johansen, otherwise known as DVD Jon) that not only plays you play whatever you like, obviously, but even lets you share and send music off to anyone, even other people who don't have the app itself. Now Doubletwist is stepping up even more closely to becoming an iTunes competitor: they've announced a partnership with the Amazon music store to sell music directly from within the app. No TVs or movies -- just music, purchased directly within the app, and then able to be sent out to any devices or social networks as usual. TechCrunch says the store's simplicity is actually a selling point -- iTunes has ballooned up to do way more than just sell music, and in Doubletwist it's much more straightforward. Here's the other bonus for Mac users: while we originally had to wait for an app release, the music store is currently only available on the Mac version of the software. A PC version is coming soon. It's doubtful Doubletwist will replace iTunes for many people, given all of the various things iTunes does for a Mac user. But then again, if you are using the Amazon MP3 store with any frequency, Doubletwist is probably worth a look: it's a free download on the website.
NEC LCD3735WXM joins the 37-incher club
While we've seen an assortment of 37-inch TVs before, seriously, who wouldn't want 37 inches of liquid crystal awesomeness? This new NEC LCD3735WXM will hit the stage (also known as your home entertainment center) with an ATSC high def tuner, 1366 x 768 resolution, VGA / DVI (with HDCP support) along with S-video, component and composite video inputs, 16:9, and a 1,600:1 contrast ratio and a 9ms response time. Sadly, you'll have to wait until next month to throw down $2,300 to get one of these, though.
Norcent's LT-3725 anchors its new LCD line
Norcent, our favorite TV maker in San Dimas, California (home of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," dude!), has just released a new line of five TFT LCDs, known in company parlance as the "25 series." These flat panels range from the 20-inch LT-2025 to the flagship 37-inch LT-3725, with all but the LT-2025 sporting a 16:9 aspect ratio, 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i compatibility, and 1366 x 768 resolution. Starting with the 27-inch model, the LT-2725, Norcent decided to toss in some HDMI action, along with ATSC, Clear-QAM and NTSC tuners. Prices on these televisions start at $340 and keep head north to about $1150.
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Resident's 18 TVs might have caused high-rise fire
Picture this: you're kicked back watching several of your 18 televisions while propping your feet up on one and holding the door open with two others -- and then your room catches on fire. Strangely enough, something very similar may have happened; the precise cause of the fire that lit up Florida's Hotel Versailles -- forcing the Red Cross to relocate 150 residents -- is still being investigated, but there's no way having that many TVs plugged into a small army of power strips can be safe. When firefighters arrived, even they commented on the difficultly of extinguishing flames while wading through over a dozen CRT sets. So the next time you think about rigging up an insane multi-monitor setup, keep your protective gear close at hand.
