The much awaited Dual Play 3D technology for smart TV's by LG was showcased at CES 2013. This allows 2 players to play the same game at same time, with individually seeing the complete screen for their own gameplay. Not a new tech, but this is the first time it has been incorporated into a smart TV.
The game LG demoed is called Mini Motor racing , originally an iOS and Android game, customized for the Dual Play mode for the LG series.It's a top down action racing game , in which each player sees his own screen, with LG's patented FPR (Film-type Patterned Retarder) passive 3D tech.So no screen division in multiplayer mode.
The game is played using the LG Magic remote, which comes with the television. The remote has motion controls, making the gameplay feel like using a Wiimote.LG expects the game to be available for download by the 1st quarter of this year.
The Chinese company Hisense knocked at CES doors with its premium Ultra LED XT900 television series, with sizes of 65, 84, 110 inches , with a brilliant resolution of 3840x2160 pixels , along with 120 Hz panels allowing for active shutter 3D picture. Local dimming technology also provides greater dynamic contrast ratio.
Built in Wifi and a detachable USB camera for Smart TV functions like Skype , along with facial recognition and gesture control are some more features in it. Though not the most brightest of TV's at CES (with 4K panels taking all the limelight), it still is an impressive series. No pricing or launch dates have been announced.
Specs of the XT900 series are:-
UHD (3840x2160) native resolution
U-LED technologies
120 Hz
Wifi enabled
Smart TV with Google TV
65, 84,110 inch size variants
3D
Precise local dimming
Mega Dynamic Contrast ration (10,000,000:1)
Multi Screen Play
Detachable camera
Voice control
Archos comesup with yet another unique product with a device to turn any HDTV into an Android powered HDTV, called the TV Connect.
Not the first android powering device, giving the users the ability to play games, video chat, surf the web, stream videos and all, but what's cool about it is that it comes with a TV Touch remote, which as you can see, sports quite some buttons there, doubling as a keyboard, and gamepad.
The analod buttons provide "multi touch" controls like swipe and pinch & zoom. Users can also "touch" their TV by pointing the remote with the "Pointing Wand" feature. All these are complimenting the fact that this device runs not on Google TV OS, but on the latest Android Jelly Bean!!!
Though it requires a bit of use of the game mapping tool to play games, and may seem a bit cumbersome, but the hardware makes up for it. Having a 1.5 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 gigs of onboard memory, expandable to 32GB with micro SDHC slot, built in WiFi, micro USB, USB host port(for external HDD's), Ethernet port, mini HDMI port,and HDMI cable, along with access to Google Play , does help attracting attention.Measuring 235 x 105 x 34 , it can be made to sit above or below the TV. It also has an integrated HD webcam. ARCHOS will demonstrate it at CES 2013, and is releasing it in february, at a price of $129.99.
The first thing coming to the mind thinking television improvement is thinness, large, better resolution display, greater connectivity ,bla bla bla.... A shocker it is, this image in the CES 2013 Teaser , showing a TV design by Samsung. Yes, this portrait thing with a tree aint a new french window , but a design for televesions to come from Samsung!! And some say its TRANSLUCENT, of all things!!!
Now this IS crazy allright , i mean , your programs are in 16:9 widescreen mode, and as Gizmag writes it "Either Samsung engineers have been drinking too much of eggnog, or this teaser isn't what it seems". So this could suggest a sort of rotation of mode of viewing instead, again that only could be for watching while lying down or something.... :3An Airplay like local streaming device could be one possibility, which showed up as pretty cramped in portrait mode in Apple's Airplay display mirroring.
Translucency aint that clear here, seeing the teaser pic, with different background, but that is a possibility with Samsung demonstrating semi transparent displays for refrigerators and billboards.. Again no logic as to what that would serve to do, apart from the bragging rights (which could be granted with just a humongously large price tag) . Again, all this is what we will find at CES 2013
Upcoming CES 2013 , with so much we have already shared, will also be hosting the demonstration of new gaming apps for the LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV, with many games using 3D feature of the TV, with dual player option, where both players have FULL screen of their own to each of them, unlike usual split screens!!
The games are played with the company's new motion-sensing Magic Remote.The company will showcase titles led by Disney's Where's My Water, which became the number one downloaded game app on the app store in 90 countries. Players who enjoy The Sims FreePlay
will use the television's remote or they can download a smartphone app
that acts like a custom controller. Other games will include Mini Motor Racing, Air Penguin, and more that are already popular on smartphones and are geared towards family fun.
This may not cause trouble for the gaming console giants, but for the newcomers like android based Ouya, this is gonna be fight for survival. Though Apple's entry into the living room is what may be the event that decides the future of this gaming battle!
Yeah you read it right, though a name that doesnt come to the mind AT ALL when you think of televisions or cable service or set top boxes, but Intel is set to change it by launching its virtual cable service and set top box this CES.According to Techcrunch,
the service will be a hybrid of streaming services and over-the-top
(streamed) traditional cable channels. It's designed for "people who
want streaming TV access but don’t want to entirely cut the cable cord
and lose key content like sports." Redbox is mentioned in the report, though netflix and hulu could join the fray too.
Intel will start the service in US first, on city-by-city basis, to assess its marketability and consumer acceptance, and to minimize thus incurred losses, if any.
In March, the Wall Street Journal
reported on the chip manufacturer's plans, describing it as a "virtual
cable operator." Intel wouldn't provide internet service, but it would
provide channel bundles (similar to traditional cable packages), which
could be streamed over the internet.
Now there's a super cool thing about the set top box - if you are subscribed to a channel, then you can watch ANY program relayed from the last one month ANY time !!! And that too without recording!!! I mean this is a killer feature enough for Intel to attract consumers, even if Intel may not (somehow) negotiate for a la carte channel subscriptions. That adds another amazing thing to look forward to in the upcoming CES!!
LG and Sony have both introduced Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs with 84-inch screens within the past three months and both are priced at US$20K or more. These monster televisions have 16:9 aspect ratio UHD screens (3840 x 2160 pixels). There are no more than a few hundred UHDTV sets available worldwide, but given the price, that should be sufficient to satisfy the Christmas demand.
Imagine that a Christmas miracle happens, and an 84 inch UHDTV finds its way under your tree. The very next thing on your to-do list is amazing your friends and neighbors with the unimaginable clarity of a UHDTV screen. If it looks like the blank screen Sony pictured above, no one will be very impressed. To show off a television, you need a video source matching the screen resolution, so, brimming with pride in your new UHDTV, you reach for ... what?
The world of home video entertainment is dominated by 1080p format HDTV. Satellite dish? 1080p programming at best. Cable? 1080p. Your 50 GB Blu-ray discs are chock-a-block full of wonderful 1080p video data, but such will not properly show off your UHDTV.
Hold on – these UHDTVs can upconvert HDTV video into 4K UHDTV video. Doesn't that cover the amazement requirement? Sorry, but as much as the salespeople would like to convince you otherwise, when you upconvert an image you lose resolution and contrast – all you gain is an assortment of video artifacts. Nice as a novelty, but ... lacking ... in amazement.
Uber gaming screen? Well ... no. Even though Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 is rumored to have a 4K output mode, the highest definition art in current video games is stored at HDTV resolution. The actual resolution of games will be HDTV until some true (and likely truly expensive) 4K games are developed from the bottom up.
The one place that 4K content can be easily found is your local theater. Nearly three-quarters of the 100,000-plus worldwide movie theater screens have 4K digital projectors – a nod to James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar. Since then a number of truly 4K films have been screened. The Hobbit will be the first digital 4K movie to be shown at 48 frames per second, and Sony is currently in talks with Blu-ray about making 4K Blu-ray-based versions of their upcoming reboot of Spider-Man available for home use.
"Blazing Bristlecone", a single frame from "Timescapes", won Tom Lowe the Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year award in 2011 (Photo: Timescapes)
There is even a 4K movie called Timescapes, a lushly visualized 50 minute memento of the American Southwest available as a 330 GB video file on its own hard drive. It is in the Cineform codec, a nearly lossless format used in 4K theaters. That surely takes care of the amazement requirement? Yes – if you can play it.
Here's one of the dirty little UHDTV secrets – HDMI is currently not able to transfer native Ultra HD video. HDMI cables are able to carry an UHD bitstream, but there is no HDMI standard for coupling an UHD video signal into an HDMI cable. (DisplayPort works with UHD, but neither the Sony nor the LG Ultra HD TVs have DisplayPort connections.) Sony engineers are currently developing a converter box able to accept native Ultra HD via a bank of four HDMI inputs. This converter would then output the Ultra HD signal via a single HDMI to the projector. It is not known how LG is addressing this problem.
Sony is sensitive to the content problem, and has the resources to provide a solution that will indeed amaze your friends and neighbors. Everyone who buys a Sony UHD television will be "loaned" a US$25,000 Sony UHD video player, together with a set of ten UHDTV movies newly mastered from theater releases or original filmed versions. The loan is open-ended, with Sony noting that it will not be going into customer's houses to repossess the video players.
The movies include The Amazing Spiderman, Taxi Driver, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. In the end, it would appear that Sony will quench the need for amazing Christmas demonstrations of new technology, as long as that video player is available and delivered before Christmas. After all, what would Christmas morning be without a little suspense?
The Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, is one of the largest showcases of new technology in the world.
Hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association in Las Vegas, CES 2013 will open to press and exhibitors from every facet of the electronics industry, and TechRadar will be there.
We'll descend upon the gambling capital of the world for four days of basking in the glow of the latest computers, televisions, cameras, phones and more.
First, the show floor opened on Jan. 9, a week later than usual. LG andSony unveiled 55-inch Ultra High-Definition TVs, then the largest in the world. Intel gave us a glimpse of the touch enabled Ultrabooks we've been seeing everywhere lately.
Last and most notably, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave the company'slast CES keynote, introducing the world to Windows 8's Metro interface, and announcing Xbox 360 apps for Fox, IGN and more.
To follow that, CES 2013 will be a mix of keynote razzle dazzle, sneak peeks at the latest tech, and introductions to products that will go from patently unaffordable to a given in every living room, a lot faster than you'd believe.
Before TechRadar hits the CES 2013 show floor from Jan. 8-11, we thought we'd put together a preview of the gadget glory you can expect from our on the ground coverage.
LG gives CPU making a try
The rumor mill is turning even faster as the days wind down to CES 2013. One thread we keep seeing pop up is processors, and LG is the latest to jump in the mix.
A report out of Korea has the tech firm producing in-house made CPUs next year, starting with chips for its web-capable Smart TVs.
One chip could be the H13, with the H standing for home entertainment and the 13 for the year, and we could see it and others come early January.
A tablet to take notice of
There's a good chance we'll see a good number of tablets at the show, but there's two we've heard about recently that could really turn some heads.
Asus is reportedly working on a tablet with the model name ME172V, a slate that could reach no more than 7 inches, come with a microSD slot for expandable memory and flash a price that puts the Google Nexus 7 on notice.
And while Samsung's Galaxy S4 is stealing most of the South Korean company's 2013 thunder, we've heard the firm might be planning a 13.3-inch tablet to take on Asus' Transformer series.
The 13-incher would even feature a QWERTY keyboard dock.
Intel to outline new tablet chips
In the mood for some T-time?
Intel is supposedly prepping the introduction of a next gen processor at CES 2013: the Bay Trail-T.
The Bay Trail-T is rumored as a quad-core scheduled for a 2014 launch, though CES will see the series' debut plus info on what manufactures are building slates based off the Trail-T.
A SoC sibling is also expected at the Vegas show. Dubbed the Valleyview-T, the chip could take on Nvidia's Tegra 3 and Qualcomm's S4.
Look for long battery lives plus 22nm prowess, superior audio, boosted memory capacity and amped up graphics when used in conjunction with the Gen7 Intel GPU. There's even talk 3D video recording could be in the cards.
Galaxy S4 with Full HD Super AMOLED display
As the major hardware manufacturer taking up CES real estate, it's no surprise Samsung should (so far) dominate the rumor mill.
This one has a Full HD Super AMOLED display arriving at the show, but that's not all: chances are we'll see such a screen housed inside the Galaxy S4.
A Samsung source reported that the display's resolution will reach 1920 x 1080 and a staggering 441 ppi, but the real point of interest is in the ultra-thin and energy efficient AMOLED technology.
Fingers crossed Samsung decides to bring a SIV with such a screen as its CES carry on.
Huawei Ascends take flight
With Windows Phone 8 reveals by Nokia, HTC and Samsung already in the books, it was easy to forget that a fourth manufacturer received a Microsoft nod to use the new OS.
China's Huawei may take the CES stage to bring its WP8 dish to the party in the form of the Ascend W1.
Though the Ascend W1 will be the last guest to arrive, it may turn out to be the phone everyone flocks to if a cheap asking price is tacked on.
The firm may also introduce the higher-end Ascend W3, a phone with a 4.5-inch display that recently leaked online.
Huawei has kept its lips sealed on whether it's even working on one or more Windows Phone 8 handsets, so CES could be the time it decides to open up.
World's largest Ultra HD TV from Samsung
Can you say "whoa?" Samsung is about to set mouths agape with an 85-inch Ultra HD LED TV, "the world's largest commercialized UHD LED TV."
The company made the over eight million pixel tube official Nov. 12, and we're looking forward to standing wide-eyed before the mondo television that probably makes the lights on the Strip look like dying flashlights.
While we don't necessarily anticipate a radical image reimagining, we do expect Samsung will take advantage of the stage (and a keynote speech) to introduce a new facet to its business identity – a refresh, as it were.
One of CES's exhibit categories is "Digital Health and Fitness," so Samsung will likely tack onto that theme with the introduction of products (or the retooling of current devices) that fit into the health and wellness category.
Samsung has reportedly hired a design team that's worked with Nike on some of that company's branding initiatives, so we'll likely see some dynamic stuff from South Korea in Vegas.
As Samsung continues to grow from an Asian powerhouse to a global one, how it sells itself to a broad international audience will be key to its future.
We expect Stephen Woo, president of Samsung Electronics' device solutions division, to set the tone of the company's refreshed self during his keynote address Jan. 9.
The debut of Ultra High-Definition television
It took a while but CRT televisions have finally become the stuff of garage sales and trips to grandma's house, and 3D screens have just started to crack the home market. Now everyone's lovely flatscreen is about to become a little bit obsolete, thanks Ultra High-Definition.
After a brief flirtation with 4K high-definition, the CEA settled on the name Ultra HD. However, Sony, always one to buck a naming trend (remember Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD?) has said it will stick with numbered moniker, calling its pixel-dense displays 4K Ultra High-Definition (4K UHD).
LG's 55-incher, we've its since topped
Still, everyone seems to be in agreement over the spec requirements set by the CEA, defining what it takes to be called Ultra HD. According to the group, Ultra means at least 8 million pixels, with a minimum resolution of 3840 x 2160, and an aspect ratio of at least 16 x 9.
Now the question is how big will the screens at CES 2013 be? There's debate between engineers as to whether anyone can even tell the difference between UHD and regular HD on a display that's less than 100-inches. And when will these TVs become affordable? Right now they're around $20,000 (UK£12,515, AUD $19,210), keeping them firmly in Donald Trump and Richard Branson territory.
Intel introduces a new mobile processor, stakes its claim
Intel is probably one of the most recognizable names coming to CES 2013, though it's not the only chipmaker making a stand on the Vegas exhibit floor.
We expect Intel to show up big at the event, schooling the competition on how it's done, and very likely announcing a new mobile processor or two as well as some destined for PCs.
Intel is in an interesting position in terms of its mobile future: although it claims to have 20 Windows 8 tablets sporting its new Z2760 processor coming to market soon, the firm's chips are currently only found in six smartphones.
ARM and its licensees (Nvidia and Qualcomm) are making a killing in the mobile space and all are heading down to Nevada for the show, creating a perfect storm for one-up-man ship on the Strip.
ARM-based chips, while found in major money makers like the iPad and various Android tablets, aren't terribly up to snuff when it comes to processing prowess.
Yet Intel hasn't even breached the realm of relevancy smartphone space, making CES the time where it needs to stake that claim.
There's been talk that Apple may chuck Intel as its CPU provider in the coming years. Cupertino recently developed a poppy processor for its iPad 4 – the A6X – a chip that's reportedly twice as fast as those found in older iPads.
For that reason alone, Intel has got to show why it's relevant in mobile and why it deserves to be considered the top chipmaker in the world now and for years to come.
We'd love to see Intel not only announce a new mobile processor, but unveil a new partnership. It's got to prove it can work well with others (and capture consumer imagination) if it hopes to move deeper into smartphones and tablets.
Nvidia trumps out Tegra 4
Nvidia's Tegra 3 has done quite for itself this year, jumping into phones like HTC's One X+ and tablets such as Google's Nexus 7 and Microsoft'sSurface.
That doesn't mean Nvidia doesn't have its eyes to the horizon, and we believe the company will introduce its Tegra 4 processor come CES.
We might see the Tegra 3's successor at CES 2013
Word of the T40 (the new Tegra's model number) got going in April, with a report pointing to early 2013 as the time the Tegra 3's successor would ascend the throne.
At the time, it sounded like the Tegra 4 would fit four new Cortex A15 ARM chips, taking it way past the A9 Cortex chip summit.
Speeds of 1.8GHz are probably going to be average for the new processor, while by the middle/end of the year, 2.0 should be its cruising GHz.
If we're lucky, we might even see an Android or Windows 8 tablet poke about with the Tegra 4 inside.
Microsoft's show no more
The Consumer Electronics Show has long been Microsoft's chance to shine. The software giant has always given flashy presentations, usually involving celebrities. Shaq, Conan O'Brien, Ryan Seacrest, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and more have all appeared to help co-founder Bill Gates and current CEO Steve Ballmer show of the company's latest tech.
Sadly, CES 2013 will be the first year where Microsoft won't be giving one of its signature keynote presentations. It gave the world plenty of notice, saying in December 2011 that CES 2012 would be its last. Steve Ballmer's last presentation at the Las Vegas trade show focused on Metro, the new Live Tile-based interface for Windows 8.
Ballmer and Seacrest present at CES 2012
Companies have moved quickly to fill the space left by Microsoft's exodus. Qualcomm has nabbed the open keynote slot. The telecommunications mogul will be giving its Born Mobile keynote on Monday, January 7th. Meanwhile, satellite provider Dish and appliance manufacturer Hisense snapped up Microsoft's booth space in under an hour.
However, Venturebeat has quoted CEA president Gary Shapiro as saying, "Microsoft will have something" at CES 2013. While it's unknown what that something will be, there are plenty of possibilities. More Windows Phone 8devices? A Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8? Its all in the realm of possibility.
LG unveils Smart TV platform underpinned by HP's webOS
While we expect LG to march out a bevvy of phones and TVs, including some we haven't seen before, what's really piquing our interest heading into the new year is word that it may launch a Smart TV service based onwebOS.
webOS, the open source system developed by HP, could take the reigns from LG's antiquated NetCast Smart TV interface during the show, a move that wouldn't leave our jaws dropped.
HP delivered on its promise to walk out webOS to the public by September, a vow it made in January, and now it needs a big product and solid partner to get its face out there.
The marriage between the two should be equal – reports have HP providing the OS while LG will plug in its dual-core L9-powered motherboards.
If our expectations pan out, we'll likely see the death of LG's small screen partnership with the struggling Google TV service, a relationship LG championed at CES 2012 yet has since cooled.
Automotive electronics
The CEA estimates that factory-installed automotive technology will generate $8.7 billion dollars in 2013, so it's no wonder seven major car companies will be on the show floor.
Audi, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru will be joined more than 100 auto tech companies displaying the latest in-car tech. This is a record setting presence for the automotive industry at CES.
Displays and presentations will include electric drive technology. GoElectricDrive TechZone will demonstrate electric vehicles paired with their respective charging stations, ones that can be used at homes and in public facilities. The Safe Driver presentation will show more than the typical hands-free devices, highlighting technologies that can help drivers park, watch their speed and avoid collisions.
However, not everything between automakers and car tech designers is completely sunny. With so much hardware being put into cars before they even leave the factory, will the aftermarket industry be facing an all-time low? A presentation titled "Are Automakers Running the Aftermarket Off the Road?" will address the issue.
