Can one chip make a difference in your laptop’s battery life? Yup, and hopefully it comes to Chromebooks soon. Data from connected pets can help their health while Sony countered Microsoft well with its new PS4. Read more »
The creation of the Open SmartWatch Project means developers can use the Android-companion Sony device to try out new peripheral use cases — at their own risk, of course. Read more »
Sony’s new PS4 game console will feature a number of video apps, including Redbox Instant and Netflix, but the company is leaving it to Microsoft to try to reinvent TV. Read more »
Google’s standard Android keyboard with gesture typing and floating word suggestions is available for all Android 4.0 or better devices. Sony’s Xperia Z looks like the next Google Experience phone while Samsung boosted the Galaxy S 4 free storage with an update. Read more »
Another manufacturer may be joining Samsung and HTC in offering “Google Experience” smartphones. Sony is expected to announce a version of the Xperia Z with pure Android as the Nexus line could be lower priced phones. Read more »
Apple is said to be very close to completing all major deals necessary to launch a competitive streaming music service. But will it be too little, too late? Read more »
Looking for a 5-inch smartphone that’s not too big? Sony’s Xperia ZL has to be a contender as the front face is nearly all screen. Here are my first impressions after spending some time with the Android handset. Read more »
On Tuesday, May 21, Microsoft raised the curtain on its first new gaming console in nearly seven years: the Xbox One. In order to better understand how the Xbox One is being received by the larger tech community, we surveyed GigaOM’s own readership on the new offering. So which new feature of the Xbox One was chosen to have the biggest impact? Read this analysis to find out. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google, for whom serious competition could be just around the corner. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Content owners, whether they are publishers, retailers, or marketers, are always looking for new ways to deliver a unique experience to their customers. We call this content personalization. Key trends in this area are led by a collection of technologies that we call post-programming curation. These technologies use the best of behavioral tracking, collaborative filtering, audience targeting, and dynamic content presentation. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Many long-standing legal rules of engagement between publishers and consumers tilted the playing field in unexpected ways in the first quarter. The period also saw a major expansion in the amount and quality of original productions for web-based video platforms and a major move by chipmaker Intel to stake a claim in the digital living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
I took a brief tour of the National Association of Broadcasters convention show floor today. Here’s what I saw and learned. Read more »
With the continued miniaturization of technology, the rise of flexible software frameworks, and the growing interest in technologies such as biomonitoring and location-based services, the smart watch is fast becoming technology’s next big thing. We asked GigaOM readers to weigh in on the future of the device. Here are the results. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Sony’s attempt at a smartphone success in the U.S. looks good on paper: The Xperia ZL has top-notch hardware. But without a carrier partner, can consumers be convinced to pay full price? Read more »
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter fan site Pottermore is launching on Sony’s PlayStation Home. Pottermore CEO Charlie Redmayne said the partnership provides the “most immersive experience possible within that space.” Read more at paidContent »
Sony is ending a price promotion that it had been running in its U.K. store since last July. The promotion sold select ebooks for just 20 pence, and Amazon matched the discounts on Kindle books in the U.K. Read more at paidContent »
The console era is over — or so a growing number of game-industry executives would have us believe. While social and mobile gaming have taken a sizable share of the video games market, there is room for growth for hardware, particularly in streaming technology and the emergence of open-source platforms. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Gaming consoles are still big business, especially when you consider that they also double as cord-cutting devices. But Sony’s Playstation 4 announcement was short on details and just plain long on everything else. Read more »
The rise of long-form TV dramas is often attributed to networks like HBO and Showtime, but Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton believes it’s a direct result of Netflix and digital video recorders. Read more »
It’s another edition of our call-in podcast where we take your questions and provide answers. This week: Windows RT inking, useful Android freeware, BlackBerry 10 data plans and more. Read more »
IDC reported its smartphone sales data for the final quarter of 2012 and if I gave you three guesses as to who increased sales the most from the year ago quarter, you still might not guess right. Read more »
Sony decided it will focus only on high-end smartphones going forward and it may be doing the same in tablets if the new Xperia Tablet Z is any indication. Read more »
In a surprise ruling, a Delaware jury has found that Apple’s iPhone infringed on three patents issued in the early 2000′s. The verdict is the latest incident of a global patent battle that appears to have gotten out of hand. Read more »
TV broadcasters and programmers must embrace a new set of video-delivery techniques to reach consumers today. Online delivery to so many types of consumer devices means that video programmers must produce multiple internet-streaming formats that use different types of security and different ways of inserting ads. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The third quarter saw many parts of the traditional media business in flux. Other developments included the rollout of new device-based content ecosystems, red flags and red ink for traditional consumer electronics makers, and a resurgence of consumer purchases of movies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
My Samsung Galaxy Note 2 arrived and so did an update that adds the ability to run two apps on the screen at the same time. Atooma, a free beta app, is making all of my Androids smarter and Sony launched PlayStation Mobile this week. Read more »
Sony is taking games beyond its own hardware with the Sony PlayStation Mobile platform. The game store opens today for Sony and Sony Xperia Android phones and tablets, with three HTC models to have access soon. Purchased games also run on Sony’s PS Vita. Read more »
Google added new Japanese reading features to its ebooks app yesterday and is now selling the Nexus 7, ebooks and movies through the Google Play store in Japan. Kobo expanded to Japan in July, and Kindle is expected to launch there in October. Read more at paidContent »
At GigaOM’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco on Thursday, Jack Buser, Sony’s senior director of PlayStation digital platforms, talked about why Sony developed the PlayStation Mobile platform for PlayStation games that can, for the first time, be played on devices not made by the Japanese company. Read more »
Whether it’s the iPhone 5, the importance of LTE, or BYOD trends disrupting the enterprise, there are always technologies, trends, and companies changing the way we define mobile. Here are some noteworthy segments to watch in the coming months, from location-based shopping to apps to wireless networks. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Just a few days after the approval of the DOJ’s ebook settlement, HarperCollins has entered into new contracts with ebook retailers, and they’re already discounting its titles. What kinds of deals will you get? Read more at paidContent »
Ebook buyers in 54 states and territories are set to receive $69 million in a settlement between the states and HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster. Those who bought agency-priced ebooks between April 2010 and May 2012 are eligible for payment if the settlement goes through. Read more at paidContent »
Sony is bringing its new Google TV set-top box to Germany, where it could soon compete with the Roku box. The question is: With Netflix and Hulu both absent from the German online video market, which services are Germans going to watch with these devices? Read more »
Sony’s newest e-reader, the Reader PRS-T2, may appeal mainly due to the $129 price tag. But the ability to share passages on Facebook and integration with Evernote make it even better. Evernote is superb for clipping web content for viewing later on nearly any device. Read more »
Digital self-publishing site Smashwords is making it easier for self-published authors to get their ebooks into libraries. The site is allowing certain libraries to buy Smashwords titles in bulk, and is also adding custom library pricing options for its authors. Read more at paidContent »
With the growth of sensors and microelectronics, the potential uses of wearable-computing technologies now reach to health and fitness, gaming, fashion, disabilities and augmented reality. Most importantly, the widespread adoption of wearables will drive the form function and market for mobiles in vital ways. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Tablets featured prominently in the connected consumer space, both as a product category and as a component of broader platform strategies by major OS providers Microsoft, Google and Apple. Meanwhile Facebook began laying the groundwork to add payment processing to its platform. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Sony Computer Entertainment’s $380 million acquisition of cloud gaming provider Gaikai suggests Sony’s future may not be in any piece of proprietary hardware but in a cloud delivery platform that brings PlayStation games to any connected device. Read more »
After disappointing sales of its first-generation Google TV product, Sony will launch an updated version of its Android-based set-top next month. It will also be the first to extend the platform beyond the U.S., with plans to debut it in Europe and Latin America. Read more at paidContent »
