Rockchip’s Android-based desk phone was one of the sleeper surprises at IFA 2010, and having seen Engadget Chinese‘s video demo we’re finding we’d quite like on of our own. The unnamed phone places VoIP calls over WiFi or your mobile network, but also allows for video calls, web browsing and multimedia playback.
We’re still not entirely sure of the specifications – we’re guessing it uses a roughly 7-inch touchscreen – but it also seems that Rockchip might want to do a little more work on their Android build. Several of the hands-on photos show the phone rotated into portrait orientation; not a problem with an Android smartphone, but less ergonomic when you’re having to flip your desk phone around.
It’s unclear whether that’s down to a limitation of the phone or something Rockchip actually wanted to include. Either way, we can see it being a stumbling block for this “home media player” should any companies actually decide to pick up the reference design.
Android-based landline phonerenders are one thing, but Rockchip has been quietly beavering away at the real thing. Tucked away at IFA 2010 last week was the Rockchip Android phone, a desk-bound device which apparently supports both landline and 3G connections, can be used for video calls and browsing the web.
As well as the touchscreen – no word on size, but we’re guessing somewhere in the region of 7-inches – there are hardware shortcuts and a set of stereo speakers, together with a proper handset for making calls. Full specs are in short supply, but we’ll presume Bluetooth and WiFi along with speakerphone functionality.
Unfortunately it seems Rockchip are putting their desk-phone idea out there as a spur to manufacturers to use their Android-capable chips, rather than testing the waters for launching it themselves.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has used his IFA 2010 closing keynote to promise Google TV’s US launch in the fall, as well as confirming that users will be able to turn not only their Android phones but their iPhone into a remote control for the media-streaming set top boxes. Schmidt also revealed that there are more than 200,000 Android activations recorded every day, a figure that falls short of the 230,000 iOS device activations Steve Jobs reported last week.
As for hardware demonstrations, no especially big news from the stage but Schmidt did show augmented Street View functionality for Android; users can now navigate via Street View on their phone in a manner similar to the service on the desktop, dragging the icon around a 3D representation of the map. The CEO also showed close to real-time voice-to-text translation running on an Android device.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt delivers closing international keynote at IFA 2010:
“The future is now” says Schmidt
BERLIN, 7 Sept. 2010 – Google Inc. Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Eric Schmidt took to the keynote stage at IFA today to preview new technologies – including tools for Android-powered smartphones that translate conversations from one language to another as you speak.
Schmidt spoke in Berlin at the 50th edition of the world’s largest consumer electronics and home appliances tradeshow.
Schmidt said more than 200,000 Android-powered smartphones are activated every day, and the Internet will soon deliver information to three or four billion people, “not just the elite,” via smartphones.
“That echoed the 1930 keynote by Albert Einstein,” said Jens Heithecker, executive director of IFA. “Einstein was talking about radio, the new technology of the time. He said ‘technology enables communication and communication connects people.’
“Google today connects people to the Internet and opens the world in the same way radio did 80 years ago. And IFA as a platform defines the technologies and innovations of the future that will move our industry forward,” said Heithecker.
Schmidt also previewed other advances in development at Google:
· Voice-powered search for Android, the mobile operating system for smartphones;
· Street-view search for Android;
· Android and the Android app store will be added to GoogleTV, which fuses television with the Web and search tools. Plans call for GoogleTV to launch this fall in the United States, then worldwide.
· Users will be able to use Android-powered smartphones and the Apple iPhone as remote control devices for GoogleTV.
“This was science fiction,” said Schmidt.
About IFA
IFA is the world’s largest consumer electronics and home appliances tradeshow. Now reaching its 50th edition, it has become the premier venue for global product introductions and business development. For more information, please visit: www.ifa-berlin.com
IFA 2010 has come and gone, but the cool products are still tricking onto the scene that were at the show. One of the more interesting devices I have seen so far came from Sharp and was a concept device that looks like a large smartphone.
The concept device used a parallax barrier display to show 3D images and content without needing to wear glasses. The dual lenses on the front of the device also give away the fact that the thing can take 3D photos. The concept at the show apparently only took still shots and displayed them despite looking like a smartphone.
The specs included a pair of 5MP CMOS sensors spaced 30cm apart. The sensors are also capable of recording HD video at 720p resolution and 30 frames per second. The screen of the device is 3.8-inches and has an 800 x 480 resolution.
Regardless of its ability to present a 3D image without glasses, we just weren’t very impressed with Sharp’s 10.6-inch display at the IFA show. That’s not to say that its parallax barrier technology doesn’t perform well at smaller sizes, like say, oh, the Ninentdo 3DS. In fact, Sharp’s 3.8-inch switchable 3D (400 x 480) / 2D (800 x 480) display did a decent job of tricking our eyes into seeing a 3D image by exposing different pixels to each eye though tiny slits placed in front of a normal LCD. What we didn’t see, though, was this smartphone-looking prototype (lacking radios, unfortunately) that combines that 3.8-inch parallax barrier panel with Sharp’s twin-lens 3D camera module. So unlike some other 3D prototype cameras we’ve seen, Sharp’s pup will present the 720p/30fps video in 3D immediately after taking the snap — no special glasses required. Of course, with Sharp promising a 3D cameraphone before the end of the year, well, you’ve now got a pretty good idea how it will look. Video from Engadget Spanish after the break.
IFA is great for the tech industry. Every facet of the market has a space to show off their latest and greatest. And while Samsung and LG both took plenty of time to show off their glorious devices, smaller companies tend to hide in the shadows. Which is a shame, especially when it comes to a small company out of China called Magic Bulb. They’ve managed to create an LED bulb that has a rechargeable battery inside, but that also has another trick hidden up its sleeve.
Magic Bulb did manage to show off their rechargeable bulb at IFA, so there’s thankfully pictures to go along with the text. As you can see above, the bulb itself looks like your ordinary, run-of-the-mill bulb on the left, which is exactly what you’ll use it for most of the time. It has an estimated life expectancy of 20,000 hours, so it should last you quite awhile. As for that rechargeable battery. It’s built-in, and will make sure that your bulb displays its light for up to 3 hours after a power outage.
And considering the bulb has the ability to output 50W of energy in just 4W, you should be able to see everything around you just fine even if the power does go out. And, if you’re in an emergency, where you’ll need a flashlight? You can actually unscrew the bulb form the housing, extend the neck, and use it as a handheld flashlight. Apparently they figured out a way to make it so that you’re hand doesn’t melt off while you hold it. There’s no word on exactly when the LED bulb will make it to retail shelves around the world, but word has it that the price will be somewhere between $30 and $40.
IFA 2010 isn’t quite finished yet – the show continues through until midway next week – but it’s had its stab at the major headlines. Would-be iPad “killers” and 3D were this year’s themes, with Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and others all trying to convince us that the 1080p HDTV we bought a couple of years ago should really be traded in for a new, 3D-capable set. Product of the show, though, has to be the Samsung Galaxy Tab, with the Korean company delivering a slate that we consistently heard people say was significantly more appealing than they expected.
With no shortage of Android tablets shown over the past six months (though a relatively small number actually making a commercial debut) it was easy to sideline the Galaxy Tab in the run-up to IFA as just another Froyo slate. If anything, though, Samsung has demonstrated that it’s not enough to slap Google’s fashionable OS onto some multitouch-capable hardware and call it a day; their third-party software message still needs to be fleshed out, but the company does at least have the research to justify the design, hardware and functionality decisions they’ve made. More than once we heard from iPad owners frustrated at being unable to make voice calls using the slate’s optional 3G connection, something backed up by Samsung’s numbers and offered on the Tab.
Samsung Galaxy Tab hands-on:
They’re not just dipping a toe, either, instead pushing ahead full-throttle with what Samsung told us will be a range of tablets. Variously sized, and with intra-segment differentiation for media consumers, creators and others, the Galaxy Tab’s broad launch this month and next will only be the start of a number of models to be released in 2011. This first may have taken them roughly twelve months of development from conception, but we’re guessing future examples will come thick and fast as they refine their design approach. Software aside, the biggest challenge is price: Samsung insists they’ve not finalised the numbers, and that any publicly mentioned prices right now are simply speculation, but the inevitability is that, if they’re to position the Galaxy Tab alongside their Galaxy S family smartphones (which retail unlocked for around $400) then it will undoubtedly command a significant premium over cheaper rival slates. Whether consumers are willing to stomach a data plan in return for a subsidised upfront price remains to be seen.
3D‘s future is, if not quite so niche as that of the Galaxy Tab, still with its fair share of doubters and confusion – both among consumers and industry alike. Billed as the next step in HDTV, most manufacturers had some degree of answers to questions over crosstalk, glasses technology and even health concerns of longer-term 3D viewing. They’re also supremely confident about 3D adoption: one company exec predicted 3D-capable sets would account for 40- to 50-percent of new sales within the next couple of years.
Nonetheless, there’s still plenty of confusion still to be addressed. 3D glasses standardisation, for instance, is on the table but nobody could give us a firm guesstimate as to when it might be decided upon: until then, consumers buying 3D HDTVs today (or indeed for what looks like the next twelve months at least) can’t necessarily expect to use the expensive shutter glasses from the first set with whatever they later upgrade to. The early-adopter premium is definitely evident, too; talk of practically weightless 3D glasses hitting the sub-$40 range was widespread, but right now they’re clunky, relatively heavy – especially if you already wear prescription glasses – and are around $150 a set.
The biggest drawback, though, is the lack of content, and that’s something the industry only has partial answers to. As they highlight, you need a tipping point of hardware adoption before media producers take notice in a significant way, but the 3D entertainment on offer right now is underwhelming in both quantity and, more concerning, quality. At keynote presentations for Sony, Panasonic and others – times when you’d expect the most convincing of demonstrations – the content felt formulaic. Philip Berne has written before about 3D film gimmicks such as characters or objects being flung out of the screen at the viewer, and these were in full effect this week.
Most footage had the staggered, layered quality of a cardboard theatre playset; ironically, some of the best video to avoid the effect came from Panasonic’s consumer-centric 3D camcorder (which pairs a 2D HD camcorder with a detachable 3D lens), though the 3D effect in that leaned heavily on the subtle side. Avatar was regularly highlighted as a best-of-breed example of what the 3D industry is capable of, generously skirting the huge investment in time and money the film demanded. Even sports, suggested by some as the “killer app” for 3D, was underwhelming in practice, with fast-moving balls blurrier and more difficult to track in 3D than they were in 2D.
According to the industry, would be 3D HDTV buyers will – when faced with a few hundred dollars premium over a regular 2D set – likely opt to “future proof their investment”, even if they don’t expect to make much use of the 3D functionality. “Try it and experience the content” is the message, though it skirts the fact that so far there’s not much content to try, and even less so if you limit yourself to 3D “done right”. Panasonic and ViewSonic both showed 3D capable camcorders, offering consumers the chance to bypass the entertainment industry and fuel their own content creation, but right now it feels more gimmick than anything else. Better technology was promised in the pipeline, but that’s unlikely to reassure anyone who’s picking up a new TV today.
If IFA 2010 had a third theme, it was competition with its most significant US counterpart, CES. On this 50th anniversary of IFA, the organisers were bullish about the scale and success of their expo in comparison to the perennial Las Vegas show. It’s an approach that courted criticism; IFA’s claims to floor space sold, exhibitors involved and visitors through the door were all widely argued, and we imagine CES will be preparing some glowing numbers of their own in response.
What’s interesting about IFA, though, is that it’s a press, trade and public event: an opportunity for the tech-curious to rub shoulders with journalists and bloggers as everybody hunts out the latest and greatest in not only HDTVs, laptops and tablets, but washing machines, irons and SodaStreams. It can make for a frustrating time when you’re trying to dash between tightly-scheduled keynotes, meetings and presentations, dodging groups clutching swag-bags of t-shirts, USB sticks and branded lanyards, but it’s also a barometer of what has public appeal among the shininess on offer.
3D held its fair share of attention, with plenty of people crowding the gaming stations, though while new technologies such as OLED – LG’s 31-incher stands out in particular – were eye-catching, it was clear that size still came before panel technology. The wedge-shaped groups in front of larger glasses-free 3D screens were telling indicators of their narrow sweet-spots and, more broadly, unsuitability for the average living room. Ereaders and netbooks – until relatively recently a tradeshow staple – had a minimal presence, overshadowed by numerous iPad rivals (such as the Toshiba Folio 100, ViewSonic ViewPad 7, Archos 70 and 101, E-Noa Interpad and Huawei Ideos S7), while Samsung’s expansive Galaxy Tab display was generally several people deep. We expected more iPad-compatible speaker docks, though, pretty much making do with Philips’ Fidelio.
We also thought we’d see more of Google TV, though several companies had rival systems, such as LG, Philips and Loewe’s collaboration on NetTV. Rumors of an LG Google TV set-top box announcement failed to pan out, and while 3D-capable Blu-ray players were common, there were also some high-profile content-on-demand announcements by Panasonic and others. The Apple TV launch, thousands of miles away in San Francisco, managed to overshadow much of the early IFA news, though the concept of streamed rather than physical media was the same.
There’s certainly more of a European flavour at IFA than you’d get at CES, though much of the truly attention-grabbing stuff is the same: big TVs and expensive home theatre kit. What’s interesting this year is that both key technologies from the show – 3D and tablets – feel on somewhat unsteady footing. 3D has the success of High Definition to follow, while tablets are yet to demonstrate whether the iPad is a segment opener or a sales aberration. As products from both niches filter out in force into the market over the next couple of quarters, it’ll be interesting to see whether consumer reception matches IFA booth hype.
IFA covered our travel costs for the trip, and we took part in panel discussions while at the show. As always, no requests for preferential or specific coverage were made or accommodated. You can find all of our show coverage by following the IFA 2010 tag.
Welcome to the special holiday weekend edition of the SlashGear Week in Review. It was another busy week in the world of things electric and geeky so let’s get right to it. We heard early in the week that YouTube was in talks to offer PPV movie rentals. Those streaming flicks were said to be coming at $5 per rental.
Xbox 360 online gamers got some bad news early in the week when word of a price increase surfaced. Starting this November the price for a yearlong Xbox LIVE gold membership moving up by $10 to $59.99. A new feature for Gmail surfaced called Priority Inbox that will look at your email and put messages that are important to you in a different box so you don’t have to wade through so much to find the really good stuff. The feature will be rolled out to all Gmail users in the coming weeks.
The Aluratek Libre and Kobo eReaders finally for a price cut thanks to Borders. The new readers are selling for $130 for the Kobo and $100 for the Libre. That Sena Keyboard Folio for the iPad went official this week with its Bluetooth keyboard on one side. The case surfaced last week at the FCC.
The Viewsonic ViewPad 7 went official early in the week. The device will run Android 2.2 and sell in the UK for the equivalent of $541. Several Archos Android tablets were unveiled early in the week in different screen sizes. The new tablets include the Archos 28, 32, 43, 70 & 101.
The big news of the week was the announcements from Apple. One of the big unveilings was iOS 4.2 that will come to the iPad later this year. The new version of the Apple TV was shown off and the new version doesn’t suck nearly as bad as the old version did.
Apple iTunes 10 was announced at the Apple event Wednesday. One of the key new features was the Ping social Network feature. A new Apple iPod touch was unveiled at the event mid-week with the Retina display from the iPhone 4 and a new A4 processor. The new touch starts at $229.
Apple also refreshed the iPod nano with the promise of 24 hour battery life and compatibility with Nike+. The new nano gets a square shape and a touchscreen. The Samsung Galaxy Tab was made official this week with a ship date in September. The device has a 7-inch screen and a 1GHz processor.
We went hands on at the Apple event with the new iPod Shuffle. The little Shuffle is a square device with easy to use controls in a smaller and lighter chassis. We also spent some hands on time with the fourth generation iPod touch. The new device is thinner than before at 0.28-inches thick with the iPhone 4 retina displays.
We also got hands on with the Toshiba Folio and put the process on video. The Folio runs Android 2.2 and has NVIDIA Tegra 2 inside. We found out late in the week that Sony had beat Apple in number of MP3 players sold with its Walkman. Sony was only able to beat Apple for one month and the feat was done a year ago so it wasn’t tied to the anticipated new gear launched this week.
Toshiba issued a recall on some of its T series notebooks Friday. The recall was due to a burn hazard with machines overheating where the AC adapter plugs in. A really cool and very thin Native Union Moshi MM04 Bluetooth speaker turned up late in the week. The speaker is crazy thin and makes me think of honeybees.
Facebook has blocked one of the new and major features of iTunes 10, the Ping social network. The reason for the blocking of the API was that Apple didn’t have permission to use the feature. Apple removed the feature altogether. We spent some hands on time with the Archos 70 and Archos 101 tablets this week. The tablets went official at IFA 2010.
Hands-on time was spent with the ViewPad 100 that dual boots Android and Windows 7. The tablet is more like a netbook than most tablets. LG offered up a sexy new 31-inch OLED TV at IFA and I want one really bad. The set is only 2.9mm thick. That’s it for this week and have a good holiday weekend!
iriver’s Cover Story (aka the iriver Story Touch Edition) has a tough slog ahead of it. On the plus side there’s the resistive touchscreen over the 6-inch E Ink display, all in a relatively compact body that our hands-on at IFA 2010 found to be pleasantly thin and light; on the downside, it’s set to cost more than €200 ($258) when it arrives in Europe and Asia, a fair chunk more than a Kindle yet lacking either 3G or WiFi connectivity.
What you do get is a note-taking app that works with the thin pull-out stylus in the top right hand side, a straightforward four-way navigation control (suited to left- or right-handed users, since the Cover Story has an accelerometer for page rotation) and a fast enough processor to make sure the only lag involved is the e-ink’s inherent pauses. There’s the usual, slightly cutesy UI too, with the added bonus of some swipes and taps thanks to the touchscreen.
iriver does have a WiFi model coming, which will apparently get basic browsing functionality (though probably not the same sort of Webkit browser as the third-gen Kindle totes) though there’s no mention of pricing for that. It seems they’re looking more at Sony as their rivals: the 6-inch Cover Story lines up against the similarly wireless-free PRS-650, which is €229. It’s nice enough, but unlikely to lure Amazon users away from the more well-rounded Kindle.
TerraTec have plowed away at the internet radio segment, and their new NOXON iRadio 500 is a slick example of the breed. A €299 ($386) standalone model, with both WiFi and a wired network option, the iRadio 500 has a 2.1 speaker system, large 3.8-inch color display and straightforward controls. As well as playing internet radio, it can also stream locally-stored music across your network from a computer or NAS.
While TerraTec supply a remote control, the easiest way to use the iRadio 500 is the large click-knob on the front; the bump to the upper left is the back button. It’s certainly easier than scrolling through a long list of internet radio stations manually, though of course there are touch-sensitive preset buttons on the top, too. Sound quality – over the din of the IFA 2010 show floor – was good, with the compact 2.1 speakers managing to put out a decent amount of sound; of course, you’re also at the mercy of whatever bitrate your station of choice is using.
As well as the iRadio 500, TerraTec has two new entry-level NOXON units – the iRadio 300 and 360 – with internet radio streaming and a mono or stereo speaker setup respectively, together with the NOXON iRadio 700 and NOXON A540. The iRadio 700 adds an iPod docking station and PMP-compatible USB port to the iRadio 500, while the A540 is a standard 19-inch wide HiFi component designed for inclusion in your rack.
Press Release:
NOXON Debuts New NOXON Internet Radios at the IFA Show
NOXON has become the synonym for Internet radio, which continues to find its way into ever more living rooms. Aiming to train the public spotlight on Internet radio output devices, the Nettetal-based NOXON will debut a series of new NOXON tuners at this year’s IFA show. And with good reason: Some 14,000 stations are already broadcasting across via the World Wide Web. There is bound to be something for everyone in an offering as extensive as this. Every NOXON receives Internet radio signals, streams podcasts (pre-recorded audio programs posted on websites), and plays music archived on hard disk via a networked link. A broadband connection is all it takes to get in on the action because every NOXON device readily connects with the Internet via a wireless or Ethernet link. The company put a premium on design when it developed this new range, even improving on the NOXON line’s already very user-friendly handling and menu navigation. The devices to be unveiled at the IFA show also feature enhanced audio. Users seeking to explore the all but infinite possibilities of Internet radio are sure to find the right device in NOXON’s new line. You will see the NOXON products at the TERRATEC booth in hall 12, stand 101.
NOXON iRadio 300 / NOXON iRadio 360
NOXON iRadio 300 and NOXON iRadio 360 are the successors to the popular NOXON iRadio and NOXON 90elf radios. Both new models feature high resolution displays and a two-way sound system, whereby NOXON iRadio 360 comes with stereo sound. Like their predecessors, both devices offer five favorites buttons and one each loudspeaker and headphones output. Slated to ship in November, NOXON iRadio 300 will be priced at 169 euros, and NOXON 360 at around 200 euros.
NOXON iRadio 500
NOXON iRadio 500 receives Internet radio signals, streams podcasts and plays music archived on hard disk via a networked link. Designed to handle intuitively and featuring the trademark NOXON look and feel, this device delivers all these audio signals via a great-sounding 2.1 speaker system. The high-contrast color display is 3.4 inches (8.8 cm) tall. NOXON iRadio 500 will hit stores in November with a price tag that reads 299 euros.
NOXON iRadio 700
A step up from NOXON iRadio 500, NOXON iRadio 700 also comes with a very accommodating iPod docking station. This integrated universal dock is turns the device into a sweet-sounding jukebox that charges the inserted iPod or iPhone. Dialing in any of some 14,000 Internet radio stations worldwide could not be any easier. A list sorted according to various criteria (genres, countries) provides a very good overview of this very extensive offering of stations. A USB port lets users pipe in music from external hard disks and USB memory sticks. Active loudspeakers or even a full-fledged hi-fi system may be connected to the line out or digital output. A 2.1 system and a 3.4-inch color display (8.8 cm) are integrated. NOXON iRadio 700 will cost around 399 euros.
NOXON A540
Catering to the audiophile crowd, NOXON will launch the NOXON A 540 Internet receiver in November. Housed in a classy 19-inch (43-centimeter) chassis, the standard format for sound systems – this device’s elegant look is sure to impress. Other key features include a monochrome display, favorites buttons, and a digital output. It will be priced at around 250 euros.
