Gadget Watch: Look around in Sony's video headset
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A virtual-reality headset from Sony almost puts you inside a video by allowing you to widen your view when you turn your head up, down or side to side.

Sony announces Internet-based TV service in US
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sony says it will start an Internet-based TV service in the U.S. this year, offering a mix of live TV programming and video on demand.

Andrew House, group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., broke the news at the International CES gadget show on Tuesday after months of speculation that Sony Corp. has such a service in the works.

House says the service will have personalized channels catered to the viewer’s tastes. He says it will enable viewers to see what their friends are watching. Sony plans to start testing the service in the U.S. this year.

Based on the number of homes with Internet-connected Sony devices, he says the service would be among the top 5 providers of TV programming in the country.
 

Avid hires Lowenstein, Weaver
BURLINGTON, Mass.–Avid announced the appointments of two technology industry veterans to senior management positions. Rick Lowenstein has been appointed senior VP of customer success and professional services, while Mitch Weaver joins as VP of software development.

Reporting directly to Avid president and CEO Louis Hernandez Jr., Lowenstein will be responsible for driving customer engagement and increasing customer service levels. Weaver will spearhead the company’s software development efforts, reporting to Chris Gahagan, Avid senior VP of products and services.

Lowenstein brings more than 18 years of senior management experience in professional services, consulting and support at technology organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies. He joins Avid from Adobe Systems where, as VP of consulting, he managed the company’s Americas enterprise consulting practice for all digital marketing products.

Weaver has more than 34 years’ experience in leading technical operations, specializing in large systems software development, most recently as corporate VP and general manager at Cadence Design Systems. He was previously president and CEO of Translogic Technology Incorporate, and general manager at both Mentor Graphics Corporation and HP.

ARRI CSC appoints Chris MacKarell as Digital Workflow Manager
SECAUCUS, NJ–Equipment rental group ARRI CSC has promoted Chris MacKarell has been promoted to digital workflow manager. He will continue to oversee ARRI CSC’s Digital Workflow and On
Set activities for New Jersey and Florida facilities while at the same time contributing to ARRI Rental Group product development and Technical Marketing.

MacKarell’s extensive experience in digital media spans 15 years in the post sector. Starting out as manager media illusion support for Avid Technology Inc. he then worked for NBC Peacock Productions as sr. Avid Finishing editor. In 2010 he joined Deluxe where he managed special projects, rolled out infrastructure improvements and new workflow designs. As sr. engineer/workflow architect for Technicolor he then designed, tested and implemented project-specific workflows. Chris MacKarell joined ARRI CSC in 2011 as digital workflow specialist.

Sharp unveils TV positioned between HD and 4K
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Japanese electronics maker Sharp is bridging the gap between expensive 4K TVs and HD versions with an in-between solution that’s also priced in the middle.

Its new Quattron+ technology doubles the vertical resolution of a high-definition set by chopping the existing pixels in half. Meanwhile, it uses a mathematical formula to double the horizontal resolution for everything but certain parts of an image.

According to Sharp, that gives its Quattron+ televisions 16 million subpixels, versus 8 million for its Quattron line and 6 million for HD. It’s a middle ground before stepping up to a 4K TV, also known as “ultra HD,” which has 24 million subpixels.

Quattron+ TVs can receive 4K signals. A 70-inch model is expected to retail for about $3,200.

Up close, the Quattron+ screen is noticeably more detailed than standard HD. Side-by-side footage of people kayaking, snowboarding or getting makeup applied — with the technology turned on and off — revealed richer skin texture in close-ups and sharper details all around. The Quattron+ images even compared well to Sharp’s 4K screen right beside it, although the demo footage was different.

During a demonstration of footage of a melting glacier, part of an image that didn’t seem to get the 4K treatment and details appeared to blur inside some of the light blue areas of the ice.

Sharp representatives said that was because its special use of subpixels horizontally won’t reveal all of the fine gradations of color that would be seen with a true 4K monitor.

Samsung teams up with Comcast for ultra-HD movies
By Peter Svensson, Technology Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of TVs, said Monday that it is tackling the problem of getting ultra-high-definition content to its new TV sets by teaming up with the Internet streaming services of Comcast, Netflix and Amazon.

Like other TV makers, Samsung is betting that a quadrupling of the resolution of TV sets will get consumers interested in upgrading their existing, high-definition sets. The problem is that cable TV services and Blu-ray discs don’t support the bump in resolution, leaving the ultra-sharp sets without ultra-sharp content.

At a press conference at the International CES gadget show in Las Vegas, Samsung said it would get UHD content through partnerships with U.S. streaming services, bypassing traditional cable and disc delivery. Under its partnership with Comcast Corp., the country’s largest cable company, Samsung TVs would get UHD content through an app running on the Internet-connected TV, bypassing Comcast’s set-top boxes.

Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the movie studio and creator of TV shows, giving it direct access to content shot in UHD, which is also known as 4K. Similarly, Netflix Inc., the largest provider of paid streaming video, shot its own “House of Cards” show in 4K and has already said it will supply it in that format to TVs from LG Electronics, Samsung’s competitor.

Internet delivery of UHD movies will place high demands on home broadband connections. As an alternative, Samsung will sell a UHD Video Pack — a hard drive loaded with movies that can be connected to its TV sets. Sony Corp. already sells a similar box for its UHD sets.

Samsung’s UHD sets cost $3,000 and up.

Panasonic unveils wearable 4K camcorder
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Panasonic unveiled a product Monday that combines two big tech trends — ultra HD and wearable devices— with a portable, camera that hooks onto your ear and records in ultra-high definition 4K video.

Panasonic didn’t immediately name the gadget, but it resembles the company’s A100 full HD camcorder, which is a smartphone-sized device that straps to a user’s arm and is connected by a cable to a tubular device housing the lens.

Julie Bauer, president of Panasonic’s consumer electronics division, said the device is waterproof and dust-proof and for the everyday person. Video shot in 4K resolution, which uses about quadruple the pixels found in HD, can be shared via Wi-Fi and viewed on smartphones or ultra HD living room TVs.

Global tech spending seen slipping 1% in 2014
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that global spending on technology will slip 1 percent this year to $1.06 trillion as the lower average selling price of smartphones and tablets offsets unit growth in markets like China.

The decline is off the peak of $1.07 trillion estimated this year.

Steve Koenig, the association’s director of industry analysis, issued the forecast at the opening of the annual International CES gadget show on Sunday.

The retreat doesn’t reflect less consumer appetite for what Koenig called the “dynamic duo” of tech gadgets. Spending on smartphones and tablets is still expected to account for some 43 cents of every dollar spent on technology this year.

But the average price of smartphones, for example, will fall from $444 in 2010 to an estimated $297 this year, despite the number of smartphones sold rising to 1.21 billion up from 1.01 billion.

“These lower-end devices are what’s required to penetrate most deeply into these emerging markets,” he said.

Smartphones and tablets remain such key drivers of technology spending that they are eating into other categories of devices like point-and-shoot cameras, video cameras, portable GPS devices and handheld gaming devices.

However, within other categories of devices there are a few pockets of growth, including wearable devices.

Smartwatch sales are expected to be 1.5 million units globally this year, up from 1 million in 2013, said Shawn DuBravac, the association’s chief economist.

“This is a very nascent market. We’re still looking for that killer application for that particular device,” he said.

Ultra HD televisions, which roughly quadruple the number of pixels of a high-definition set, are also seen taking off.

There were 60,000 such sets sold in the U.S. alone last year, a number expected to hit 485,000 this year, the association said. However, that’s still a small number compared to the nearly 40 million TVs sold in the U.S. each year, DuBravac said.

Wave of wearable gadgets expected at CES event
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Will 2014 be remembered as the year wearable computing took off?

Upstart entrepreneurs and major manufacturers such as Samsung, Qualcomm and Sony certainly hope so.

Gadgets that you snap, buckle or fasten to your body are already marketed to fitness freaks obsessed with tracking every possible metric their bodies produce. There are countless smartwatches for tech nerds who’d rather glance at their wrists to check messages than reach for their smartphones. And thousands of people are already seeing the world differently with the help of the Internet-connected eyewear, Google Glass.

Even with the possibilities these devices offer today, gadget lovers can expect technology companies to stretch the wearable concept further this week in Las Vegas at the International CES event, the industry’s annual trade show.

Several companies are expected to unveil wearable devices that are easier to use, extend battery life, and tap into the power of gestures, social networks and cloud computing.

The wearables wave is still in its early phases. Many of the technologies on display will offer a glimpse of the future —not necessarily products that are ready for the mainstream consumer.

These new gadgets are “like the first generation of the iPod,” says Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that has hosted the trade show since 1967. “It was bulky and it wasn’t that pretty. Look what happened. It got slimmer. It got better.”

Industry analysts’ estimates for the growth of wearables are rosy. Research firm IHS says the global wearables market — which also includes health products like hearing aids and heart-rate monitors — could top $30 billion in 2018, up from nearly $10 billion at the end of 2013.

While some of the growth will come from an aging population that requires more health-related monitoring at home, devices like the Fitbit Force activity band — which tracks a wearer’s steps, calories burned, sleeping patterns and progress toward fitness goals — are also expected to gain popularity as deskbound workers look for new ways to watch their waistlines.

At this week’s show, companies are likely to introduce improvements in wearable screens and battery life, says Shane Walker, an IHS analyst. The two are linked because the more a device tries to do, the more battery power it consumes. This creates demand for innovative low-power screens, but also for ways to interact with devices that don’t rely on the screen, such as using hand gestures and voice.

“With wearable technology, it’s all about battery consumption,” Walker says.

What’s driving the boom in wearable device innovation is the recent widespread availability of inexpensive sensors known as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). These are tiny components like accelerometers and gyroscopes that, for instance, make it possible for smartphones to respond to shaking and for tablets to double as steering wheels in video games.

There are also sensors that respond to pressure, temperature and even blood sugar. Toronto-based Bionym Inc. will show off its Nymi wristband at CES. The gadget verifies a user’s identity by determining his or her unique heartbeat. The technology could one day supplant the need for passwords, car keys and wallets.

Waterloo, Ont.-based Thalmic Labs Inc. plans to show off how its MYO armband can be used as a remote control device to operate a quadricopter drone. The band responds to electricity generated in forearm muscles as well as arm motions and finger gestures.

Co-founder Stephen Lake says the MYO is more akin to a mouse or keyboard that controls activities than the latest line of smart wristbands that simply track them.

“We’ve seen this shift away from traditional computers to mobile devices,” Lake says. “Our belief is that trend will continue and we’ll merge closer with technology and computers. New computer-human interfaces are what can drive these changes.”

Wearables may not gain broad acceptance until sensors advance to a point where they can track more sophisticated bodily functions than heart rate, says Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom Corp., the company that makes wireless connectivity chips for everything from iPhones to refrigerators. Monitors that measure blood sugar, for instance, still require test strips and pin-pricks.

“If you can monitor your blood chemistry with a wearable, now there we’re talking about something pretty compelling,” Samueli says. “Then I think the market will take off in a big way.”

Companies are also expected to tweak the business models for wearable gadgetry as the devices become more mainstream. Fitness-focused wearables could one day help lower your health-care premiums if your insurer can verify your exercise regime. Always-on wristbands that know who you’re with —and their preferences— could become vehicles for location-based restaurant advertising.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of maturity in 2014 in the way companies think about their business,” says J.P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research.

Right now, the market is a swirling cauldron of ideas and products. Eventually, a winner may emerge.

Josh Flood, an analyst with ABI Research, says “the killer app” for a wearable product with the right mix of form, function and price “hasn’t been identified yet.”

Forrester’s Gownder concurs. “It’s a bit of a hype bubble,” he says. “But so was the Internet in 1999.” 

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