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New Roku Streaming Stick to Compete with Google’s Chromecast

2014-03-05 by QTOOTH

Roku is set to start shipping its new HDMI-connected Streaming Stick in April. It is intended to compete directly with Google’s very popular Chromecast. Seeing as Roku’s new device sells for $49.99 versus $35 for Chromecast, it looks like the competition will be fierce.

So what makes this different than the original $99 Roku Streaming Stick? The new HDMI Version is not limited to “Roku-Ready” TVs that use ports that support Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) technology. It will work with any TV with an HDMI input.

According to Roku chief marketing officer Matthew Anderson, the original MHL-compatible Roku Stick will still be available, but most likely limited to being bundled with compatible TVs and specialized remote controls that can work with the streaming device and the set itself. Roku has not disclosed sales figures for the original stick, but since the company certified 60 different products from 14 consumer electronics partners and that 20 companies are already in the Roku Ready program, it is estimated that they have shipped about 8 million devices in the US alone.

And just like the rest of Roku’s streaming boxes, the new Streaming Stick will support Roku’s 1,200-plus apps/channels, including authenticated TV Everywhere apps such as HBO GO, Watch Disney, WatchESPN, and TWC TV from Time Warner Cable.

As long as there is a solid internet connection that can handle the data rates, the new HDMI version can deliver 1080p video and uses a mini USB port that can draw power from a USB port on the TV or directly from a wall outlet. The 802.11n Wi-Fi-enabled device will also ship with a remote control and the ability to use mobile apps that can also control the Roku Streaming Stick. Anderson said the new product is also made to support DIAL (Discover and Launch), a feature currently supported by the Roku 3 that lets users fling video from YouTube and Netflix from a mobile device to the TV, tying in a feature that’s central to the rival Chromecast platform. The new adapter will also let users view locally-stored personal photos on the TV.

Roku is trying on several fronts to compete with rivals such as Google and Apple, who makes the ever-popular iTV. At the International CES event in January, Roku announced that Hisense and TCL are the first television manufactures that will launch models that integrate the Roku platform. The first of the Roku TV models are expected out this fall.

QTOOTH will be on the lookout for this device and will do a review when the Roku HDMI Streaming Stick become available.

Check Out All of the Latest Gear at the WearableTech Expo in Los Angeles

2013-11-13 by QTOOTH

We here at QTOOTH are extremely excited to be attending the first Wearable Tech Expo to be held in Los Angeles. It promises to be a very eye-opening event with plenty of innovative technologies on display as well as talks by some of the industry’s leading luminaries. The conference is being held at the Hilton Los Angeles December 10-11, 2013. The event is tailored to explore the ins and outs of the rapidly growing market for wearable technology products and services. The two-day conference will feature live presentations and educational discussions from the pioneers of this movement who will share their profound insights on the latest wearable tech devices, trends, technologies and the future of this multi-billion dollar industry.

Sound like fun? Would you like to go? As media sponsor of the event, QTOOTH has a line on discounted tickets to the event which you can find by clicking here.

With new companies and products entering the market virtually every week, it can be hard to keep up or gain a clear perspective on where it all might be leading. This expo will help to gain some much needed perspective on how wearable technology will impact both our businesses and our personal lifestyles.

The range of topics on the agenda are extremely diverse. The Wearable Tech conference program includes:

Opening Keynote Panel: Wearable Tech – The Next Generation Electronics that will Drive Next Generation WT Products – This keynote will kick off the event, diving into the next wave of internal electronics and sensors that will drive innovation and power next generation product development.
The Smart Watch Phenomenon – Extraordinarily Useful or Simply Marketing Hype? – This panel will speak to the five-year future of smart watches and provide insight on what to expect from this market.
Quantifying Yourself – Do All Those Wearable Device Health Details and Graphs Really Make a Difference to Your Health? – Attendees will discuss the hype around health monitors and explore the truth behind functionality vs. fashion statements.
Enterprise Wearable Technology – This session will feature both enterprise vendors and enterprise end users who are working to develop and deploy cutting-edge solutions and discuss how these technologies will evolve at every point in the workforce value chain.
Fireside Chat: Creating a Wearable Tech Business from the Ground Up – Attendees will learn from an entrepreneur who has taken the plunge in building a wearable technology company from the ground up. Learn best practices, potential pitfalls and the “secret advice” for launching a successful wearable tech business.
Wearable Tech and Your Brain Waves – Really Useful Devices or Possibly Dangerous Toys? – As wearable devices begin to wirelessly monitor brain waves and brain-generated electrical signals via EEG, where’s the line between safe and dangerous when it comes to monitoring information as it’s emitted from the brain. This panel will debate that answer.
Fashion Technology and WT Design – Endless Possibilities – Fashion lovers will have the opportunity to discover the driving force behind a variety of technologies, especially smart clothing and how devices and sensors interact with and become part of the fashion itself.
Augmented Reality and a Hands-Free World – With new technologies designed to enhance visual reality, this session will explore the current state of the art in augmented reality.
Smart Materials – It’s Not Just the Toy, It’s what the Toy is Made of that Counts as Well – As wearable tech continues to grow, new materials come to market to help create the solutions. Attendees in this session will have the opportunity to discover many of these new wearable materials and get a glimpse into tomorrow’s possibilities.
Will Wearable Technology Prove Itself to be a Sustainable $50 Billion Market? – This panel discussion dives deep into perspectives on why wearable technology is either already turning into a significant marketplace or will have a shorter lifespan than expected.
Wearable Technology in the Entertainment Industry – Attendees will have the chance to examine how much of the wearable technology shown in movies such as “Tron: Legacy” and television shows can actually be implemented in the real world.
Making Sense of Google (News – Alert) Glass – Unsustainable Phenomenon or the Real Future? – Attendees will hear expert opinions on Google Glass, including the developers building applications for the device, as well as end-user content developers using Glass in creative ways.

Not only will attendees get to take part in all of these presentations and discussions, but they will also have the opportunity to go to the Wearable Tech Demo Forum and Reception. This will give them a chance to see technology and product presentations from nearly 20 companies. Nothing beats hands-on experience and this will be the place to do it.

So the question is: Wouldn’t you love to go? As mentioned before QTOOTH does have a line on discounted tickets. Click here for details.

And if you can’t make it, have no fear, QTOOTH is going to be there and we’ll be live tweeting from the event and posting many a followup story to everything that goes on. Hey, it’s what we do! Stay tuned…

Moto X Phone – Revealed by Google at Last

2013-08-03 by QTOOTH

The Moto X! Finally revealed by Google it represents a bid to revive the once mighty mobile tech giant. We here at QTOOTH remember having several Motorola phones over the years. We loved them. Durable with excellent call quality. Nothing else compared. The ultimate benchmark for quality was a Motorola phone on the Verizon network. We were huge, devoted fans. Remember those days?

And then the smart phone revolution began and Motorola was completely cut out of the loop. How they didn’t see it coming is a mystery. Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, LG, even Blackberry had at least something going on. But not Motorola.

So, after much hype and anticipation, Motorola Mobile’s new owner Google finally rolled out their new offering. The general consensus? Better luck next time. Overpriced, under-performing and laden with curious choices, including NOT including the latest version of the Android operating system. This has to be one of the biggest mysteries, after all, Google makes Android and Google owns Motorola. Why wouldn’t it be sporting you latest offering? Baffling…

The biggest feature that they are touting? It’s ability to come in different colors… after being special ordered… and taking at a few days to get to you. Really? When most people want a phone they want it immediately. They want to walk into a store and by it today. And in the end, who really cares what color your phone is when you are just going to cover it with a case or some type of protector? That’s where the real style choices happen, not with the phone itself.

The phone features a 4.7-inch screen device is aimed at the iPhone and the Galaxy S phones. The Moto X features “all-day” battery life, a choice of colors and materials, and an instant-start camera, the company said today at a press event in New York. The Moto X is priced starting at $199 with a two-year contract and will only be available on all AT&T by the end of August or early September. That’s about the same time that the new Apple iPhone is set to hit the market and will probably make the Moto X completely irrelevant.

The device is the first homegrown smartphone from Motorola since Google acquired the business last year for $12.4 billion, as the Internet giant ramps up its hardware ambitions against Apple and others.

There is some claim to being made in U.S.A. and are hoping to attract fans because of this. The reality is that it will only be assembled in Texas at a former Nokia factory and that this will mostly involve the customizing of the color options. Customers can choose the colors of the front, back and accents of the Moto X on the website Motomaker.com. Motorola guarantees phone delivery in four days. One of the custom options is to have a wooden back made from a choice of ebony, teak, rosewood, or bamboo. Only that last choice is remotely sustainable. So? Not exactly hi-tech and not exactly made in America. Unlikely that they will fool anyone with this ruse.

Here are a few good details:A curved, ergonomic back and 10-megapixel camera. Similar to the Motorola Droids on Verizon Wireless, the Moto X runs on a chip system known as X8. Motorola developed twin lower-powered chips to run alongside the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro main processor.

The multichip system is designed to conserve battery life by letting the processor sleep while the lower-power chips work in the background — sensing location, speed and message notifications, as well as listening for voice commands. As an example, even if the phone is locked, the user can say, “OK Google now,” to create and send a message, or open turn-by-turn navigation through Google Maps. And with two flips of the wrist, sensors will turn on the camera and be ready to shoot in 2 seconds, said Rick Osterloh, product chief for Motorola.

As we see it here at QTOOTH maybe Google/Motorola will make more of their investment back when they introduce it to the international market. Maybe they are just trying to establish value by charging $199 with a two year contract but it should be half the price, or less, for what it offers. We’ll take an iPhone 4s or a Galaxy S3 over this anytime. Also, maybe they have plans to roll out instant upgrades to the latest Android OS. Whatever their plans are, they better move quickly to save this phone from an early death.

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Google to Provide Free WiFi to San Francisco Parks

2013-08-02 by QTOOTH

Google has made a $600,000 gift to the city of San Francisco in the form of providing free WiFi to 31 parks, playgrounds, plazas and recreation centers. Under the agreement, Google will install the system starting in November and it should be complete by April of 2014. The no-strings-attached deal is intended to empower citizens and community groups and will serve as a pilot for a future, city-wide version.

Attempts at this have been made before, most notably six years ago, but none of the players involved could agree on the terms of the contract. However it wasn’t to be, in part because of the public and officials’ fears that the companies would make undue profit. The current initiative, headed by Supervisor Mark Farrell along with with SF’s Department Of Technology and Ron Conway’s sf.citi, includes no plan for Google to make money. The terms of the contract are for the next two years. After that it will be up to the city to find funding from local businesses and tech partners for continuing support.

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This move by is not without precedent. Google has paid for limited wireless networks in neighborhoods of New York and Boston, and also set up a paid fiber-optic network in Kansas City.

San Francisco’s Mayor Lee stated, “We are behind. I call us the innovation capital of the world but we need to catch up. This is where the relationship with the private sector is so important to us” and that the program will “Bridge not only the digital divide but bring the innovative spirit to every community in San Francisco.”

Hard to believe, but a lot of the recreation centers are still on dial-up connections. This should go a long way to improving their infrastructure. This will also help residents who are at a disadvantage because they proper lack access to the internet, increasing their education, voice in civic affairs, and to gain the tools necessary to better their socioeconomic standing.

Here’s the full list of public areas gaining free Wi-Fi in San Francisco, via the SF Chronicle:

Alamo Square, Balboa Park, Bernal Heights Recreation Center, Boeddeker Park, Chinese Recreation Center, Civic Center Plaza, Corona Heights, Crocker Amazon Playground, Duboce Park, Eureka Valley Recreation Center, Gene Friend Recreation Center, Hamilton Recreation Center, Huntington Park, Joseph Lee Recreation Center, Justin Herman Plaza, Margaret S. Hayward Playground, Marina Green, Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center, Mission Dolores Park, Mission Recreation Center, Palega Playground, Portsmouth Square, Richmond Recreation Center, St. Mary’s Recreation Center, St. Mary’s Square, Sue Bierman Park, Sunnyside Playground, Sunset Playground, Tenderloin Recreation Center, Upper Noe Recreation Center, Washington Square

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Ruckus Explores Tracking Your Indoor Location with Your Cell Phone

2013-07-14 by QTOOTH

Ruckus Wireless has discovered another application for its Wi-Fi technology beyond just delivering fast connections to the web. Drawing on the help of YFind, a location services startup based in Singapore, Ruckus utilizes Wi-Fi signals to triangulate a smartphone’s position indoors, an environment that GPS signals typically can’t penetrate.

Ruckus revealed on Wednesday that it purchased YFind for an undisclosed amount. Wi-Fi location is becoming a hot market now that most of the world has been mapped, marked and recreated in a wide variety of navigation and location-based services apps. The problem with using GPS in buildings is that our usual tools that we depend on to determine location — like GPS satellites and mobile network towers — aren’t strong enough or accurate enough to deliver a precise interior location.

When discussing a building’s interior, location data needs to be within a few meters, otherwise the app will display a position in the wrong room or floor. GPS signals can’t pass through most roofs or floors and cell tower triangulation just doesn’t have that level of accuracy.

But the big the big dogs like Google and Qualcomm, and even smaller niche companies like Wifarer, Walkbase, and WifiSlam (which was just purchased by Apple, are attempting to solve that problem by converting Wi-Fi networks into miniature GPS constellations. Every Wi-Fi access point has a unique identifier, and by measuring the strength and direction of a building’s access points, these companies can determine a device’s position within a few meters.

The first Wi-Fi location companies began by working independently of the Wi-Fi equipment manufacturers producing the signals — and usually independently of the businesses that owned the networks. However, the big Wi-Fi vendors are starting to get involved. The large enterprise-level wireless-LAN supplier Aruba Networks purchased Meridian earlier this year, and now Ruckus has acquired YFind.

Ruckus said it would begin offering up a suite of location services such as indoor navigation, geo-targeted advertising and “footfall analytics” to customers. Ruckus is most likely looking to use YFind as a teaser to gain more enterprise Wi-Fi customers (right now the majority of Ruckus’s business is in outdoor Wi-Fi). By layering location data on top of access, Ruckus’s indoor access points become all the more useful to the businesses that buy them.

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Wearable Technology Market Will Top $6 Billion by 2016

2013-07-05 by QTOOTH

Demand for real-time data, including personal health information, is driving the market for wearable, wireless devices that will grow from 14 million items this year to as many as 171 million in 2016. In four years, the market for wearable wireless devices is expected to achieve minimum revenues of $6 billion, according to new research from IHS iSuppli subsidiary IMS Research.

Smart wearable device market to boom. A $6 billion market in 2016 is our most conservative forecast which assumes that the adoption of wearable technology will be limited by factors including lack of suitable technology, poor user compliance and lack of an overall enhanced experience from devices that are wearable as compared to non-wearable products,” said Theo Ahadome, senior analyst at IMS Research. The majority of wearable devices are concentrated around a few products mainly for healthcare and wellness applications, such as glucose and heart rate monitors.

In the future, devices for personal entertainment and military use will increase dramatically. For example, the introduction of Google’s Smart Glasses and the rumoured Apple Smart Watch” will be part of a new wave of wireless wearable devices. Sleep sensors, hand-worn terminals, and industrial and military head’s up displays — transparent screens that provide data and are attached to helmets — will provide users with actionable data, leading to even more rapid expansion in the market for wearable technology.

Most wearable, wireless devices today are used to transmit vital signs or to track user exercise performance or fitness metrics. Dominating the market are continuous glucose monitors, such as devices from Abbott and Medtronic, and activity monitors, such as those from Fitbit, Adidas miCoach and Nike Fuelband. Fitness and heart-rate monitors from Garmin, Polar and Suunto are also market leaders, Ahadome said.

The US Federal Communications Commission recently approved a Medical Body Area Network MBAN radio spectrum for use in hospitals. The MBAN spectrum first is expected to be used in hospitals, but over time, medical instrument vendors say MBAN devices could be used at home, where 80% of health care services are delivered.Unlike traditional medical telemetry systems, which require separate links for each function being monitored, wireless MBAN systems could monitor all required functions and then aggregate the results and transmit them to a remote location for evaluation. The data could be uploaded to private clouds within hospital data centers and also to public cloud providers, such as Microsoft’s HealthVault.While medical wireless devices and their data will be regulated under HIPAA the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, one problem with consumer-grade wearable devices is that the information will likely be sent over unsecured networks to public cloud service providers.For example, consumers may upload workout and sleep monitoring data into online personal health records. “You don’t necessarily want many applications in different places, but in one centralized place,” Adhadome said. “Personal fitness records will be cloud based. It becomes a free-for-all in terms of where your data goes.”

Last year, the amount of information created and replicated surpassed 1.8 zettabytes 1.8 trillion gigabytes, growing by a factor of nine in just five years, according to IDC’s Digital Universe study.While 75% of the information in the digital universe is generated by individuals, less than one-third of all stored data today has even minimal security or protection. Only about half the information that should be protected is protected at all, IDC stated.

via Techworld.com