Are you a Roku user that has been blocked out of using HBO Go on your set top box? It seems it isn’t HBO’s fault, but instead the onus falls to your cable provider.

During an earnings call on Wednesday, Time Warner Inc. CEO Jeff Bewkes discussed the issue of why the HBO Go has been blocked on the Roku device by a few of the cable providers.  For those who don’t recall, to use this app on any device you need to log into your cable or satellite providers account to verify that you do indeed subscribe to HBO.  Currently three cable providers are not providing support for the Roku version of the app, and those include Comcast Corp., DirecTV and, yes, Time Warner Cable Inc.

Mr. Bewkes express his confusion over the “reticence” of some cable providers to allow their customers to watch content when and how they wanted (gee, that sounds awfully familiar).  “As a general principle, we as an industry” should be giving viewers the ability to watch “all their favorite networks on any platform, any device they want to use,” said Bewkes.

Melinda Witmer, Time Warner Cable’s chief video and content officer , said of the situation, “Our video customers have an expectation that we will deliver a flawless experience in the home.  Right now we can’t guarantee that experience via HBO’s Roku app.”  DirecTV issued their own statement on the matter, saying, “While Roku is an innovative product, our priority right now is to bring the entire HBO library to the television via DIRECTV on Demand where it can be presented in its highest quality format.”

The curious part of this whole issue is that all three companies who blocked the app on the Roku didn’t choose to do the same on the iPad app.  The main difference being that Apple’s tablet is blocked from feeding out the videos to a TV via the HDMI adapter.  That particular choice was indeed made by HBO as they say mobile devices do not have the proper technology to stop piracy.

Speaking as both a loyal Roku user and an HBO subscriber who happens to use DirecTV, all they have managed to do is annoy me.  The Roku allows me to hook up a television in my bedroom where I have no satellite receiver and enjoy a plethora of other content thanks to connecting to my network via Wi-Fi.  And if I was a betting man, I would say that is what is annoying at least a couple of these providers as they usually charge for every receiver in a home.  If something like HBO Go was to catch on, you could pay for just one receiver in the home, then buy a Roku box (which run as low as $50) and then never have to pay for watching HBO in a second room ever again.

While I don’t plan on leaving DirecTV any time soon, it does make me think twice about their service.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

A new HTC smartphone running Google’s latest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has been leaked to phoneArena. The handset features a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, LTE connectivity, and what is thought to be an AMOLED display.

It’s unclear exactly what the device will be called, but thanks to that bizarre rear panel — which is reminiscent of the Incredible and the Incredible 2 — it is believed to be the HTC DROID Incredible 3. Its 4G connectivity also suggests it’s a device heading to the U.S.

The handset also packs an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with an LED flash, a front-facing VGA camera, 1GB of RAM, and a microSD card slot for expanding its storage. In addition to the Ice Cream Sandwich OS, this baby is also rocking HTC Sense 4.0.

It retains the four dedicated capacitive touch buttons that we’re used to seeing on HTC devices, as opposed to the virtual on-screen buttons on the Ice Cream Sandwich-powered Samsung Galaxy Nexus. However, as SlashGear notes, that could change prior to its release, with a possibility that this is just a prototype device.

When this handset will become available is a mystery at this point. Its source claims that we’ll see it “sometime this year,” but that’s all they could offer. It’s unlikely that the handset will get an unveiling at Mobile World Congress, unless it also has a GSM counterpart for Europe.

We will, of course, be on the lookout for any more news on this device, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

What do you think of the this mystery handset?

[via SlashGear]

The site was down for nearly a week, according to The Next Web, with its visitors redirected to Boston Police’s Facebook fan page instead. But its triumphant return yesterday morning, along with a hilariously sarcastic video response that I’m sure you will enjoy.

Boston Police Department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said in a statement that while the hack is a serious issue, it wanted a light-hearted way to communicate this to its community:

“It is a serious situation when something like that occurs, but that said, we’re looking for a light-hearted way to communicate with the community, apologize for the convenience and inform them of other ways to connect with us on social media.”

What do you think of the clip?

[via The Next Web]

A controversial blogger who is infamous for his inside knowledge has revealed that Google’s latest Ice Cream Sandwich operating system will be released for the Samsung Galaxy S II on March 1.

Samsung already confirmed back in December that its most popular Android smartphone would be graced with the latest Android update, but what it did not confirm was when exactly it would arrive. The best the company could give us was “the first quarter of 2012.”

Now Eldar Murtazin claims in a message posted to Twitter that the Korean electronics behemoth would begin rolling out its Ice Cream Sandwich update to the device from next month, while its new Galaxy Note will get the release alongside other Samsung smartphones between March and May.

Though Murtazin also notes that those dates will depend on your carrier and your location:

“Android 4 aka ics for sgs2 will be officially available from march 1(depends from country/operator). Update over the air or using kies”

“Galaxy note and other samsung models will get update to ics from march to may. Depends from carrier/country”

We’ve contacted Samsung for a comment on the rumor, which will be treated only as a rumor until we get official confirmation.

Would you like to see Ice Cream Sandwich on your Galaxy S II on March 1?

[via The Next Web]

Apple is reportedly in “crunch mode” as it selects a lineup of third-party applications that will be showcased during its iPad 3 unveiling. Sources “familiar with the matter” have told The Next Web that the Cupertino company is in the process of sourcing apps that will be used for on-stage demonstrations, and in its advertising for the third-generation device.

Apple traditionally shows off impressive third-party apps during new product unveilings to demonstrate not only what its devices can do, but also the kind of software you can expect to enjoy if you adopt its latest gadget. A good example of this is with Infinity Blade 2, which was used at the Let’s talk iPhone event back in October to show off the capabilities of the iPhone 4S and its dual-core A5 processor.

Earlier last year, Apple used its own GarageBand, iMovie, and Photo Booth applications during the unveiling of its second-generation tablet.

With the iPad 3 expected to show its face during the first week of March, Apple has just a few weeks left to finalize its plans. And the company is said to be focused on soliciting graphics-oriented applications that will demonstrate the device’s high-resolution Retina Display:

Our sources tell us that this selection process is continuing at an increased rate as Apple looks to finalize the lineup for the iPad 3. There is also emphasis on graphics-oriented applications with high-definition assets, which appears to be in line with the new iPad featuring a ‘Retina’ display.

Furthermore, some apps are also being sent to Apple’s advertising partner TWBA/Chiat/Day for potential inclusion in its first iPad 3 commercials. This process is also reported to be in its “final phase,” with TWBA/Chiat/Day working to a tight deadline to deliver the ads before Apple’s presentation.

We’re still yet to get official confirmation from Apple on when its iPad 3 event will go ahead, but a number of reputable reports — from All Things D and The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple — claim it will happen during the first week of March, with a launch the following week.

Are you looking forward to the iPad 3?

[via The Next Web]

Just like most Apple ads, the latest two are evocative and heartfelt. They aim to give viewers a real sense of the iPhone’s terrific user experience, rather than boasting about specifications that many users aren’t really interested in.

I’ve been using Siri now since the iPhone 4S arrived back in October, but I still get impressed by Apple’s ads for the digital assistant. I just wish the company would introduce support for local searches to the U.K.

Apple has released a number of Siri-focused adverts now, the most popular of which was debuted back in December and included a guest appearance from Santa Claus himself.

What do you think of the latest Siri ads?

How’d I like it? This car has a ton of potential, even if $50,000 is a steep base price for a family hauler (fully optioned models will likely run north of $90,000). Combining room for seven and their cargo with the smooth, sporty handling and luxury style of the Model S with which it shares a platform, the X may well be nothing short of a blueprint for the modern minivan. The car’s falcon doors may be too ostentatious for some, but they’re cleverly designed to allow for maximum access to the rear seats even in tight quarters like home garages and shopping center parking lots. And the doors’ windows wrap overhead, creating scooped out interior spaces that equal extra headroom for third row passengers. Smart.

Getting in and out of that third row was near impossible, but that was in large part because the prototype’s second row wasn’t sliding fore and aft like production versions will. I’m also not entirely sold on the idea of bucket seats in the back of a minivan – I mean, crossover – but again: Prototype. What I do know is that in our short jaunt around a makeshift test course, the X exhibited quick acceleration and minimal body roll. Placing the car’s batteries beneath the floorboards in the middle of the vehicle not only improves driving dynamics, but it also opens up both front and rear trunks for cargo. Better handling and more room to lug stuff around? Again, smart.

Check out the short video clip shot during the unveil and my test ride. Then watch it again. You’ll have plenty of time to, as the Model X won’t begin shipping until late 2013.

As if to prove what a modern, tech-savvy and connected President he is during an election year, Barack Obama now has his own Spotify playlist. Fittingly the campaign tweeted out its official 2012 playlist, which includes song selections handpicked by the Commander-in-Chief himself.

So how do you get your groove on like the leader of the free world? Well, if you have a Spotify account, just click on this 2012 Campaign Playlist link to enjoy this mix (listed with embedded Spotify links):

No Doubt – Different People

Earth Wind & Fire Experience feat. Al McKay Allstars – Got To Get You Into My Life – (Live)

Booker T. & The MG’s – Green Onions – Single/LP Version

Wilco – I Got You

The Impressions – Keep On Pushing – Single Version

Performed by Jennifer Hudson;Dreamgirls (Motion Picture Soundtrack) – Love You I Do

AgesandAges – No Nostalgia

Ledisi – Raise Up

Sugarland – Stand Up

Darius Rucker – This

Arcade Fire – We Used to Wait

Florence + The Machine – You’ve Got The Love

James Taylor – Your Smiling Face

REO Speedwagon – Roll With The Changes

Raphael Saadiq – Keep Marchin’

Noah And The Whale – Tonight’s The Kind Of Night

Zac Brown Band – Keep Me In Mind

Aretha Franklin – The Weight

U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing

Dierks Bentley – Home

Sugarland – Everyday America

Darius Rucker – Learn To Live

Al Green – Let’s Stay Together

Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky

Montgomery Gentry – My Town

Ricky Martin – The Best Thing About Me Is You Feat. Joss Stone

Ray LaMontagne – You Are The Best Thing

Bruce Springsteen – We Take Care Of Our Own

So what do you think of the Prez’s taste in music?

In this weekly column, we’ll be selecting inexpensive, discarded titles from still playable consoles for your perusal. They may be games you’ve heard of and remember playing, or they may be games that have flown completely off of your radar. Just know that we love them and they’re available on the cheap. That’s a bonafide win/win situation.

If you have any favorite titles that you consider hidden gems, let us know in the comments below and we might feature your pick in the weekly column.

Disaster Report
Platform: PlayStation 2
Original Release: February, 2003

Disaster Report pits players on a crumbling island as their tasked with surviving an earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks. This low budget property released for the PlayStation 2 back in the early 2000s and was met with a mix of lovin and loathing.

The game was actually slated to release on the PlayStation 3 with Move support and 3D capabilities in April of 2011… then the major earthquake happened in Japan that same March. Of course, the title was completely cancelled.

The game is challenging, and a great mix of scary and exhilarating. Clearly, it rocks the graphics of the PlayStation 2 era that have been marred by a tight spending line, but it’s still got style where it counts.

If you can play PlayStation 2 games and you’re looking for a non-traditional take on the survival horror genre, give Disaster Report a try. Be warned, there are some budget related tech issues that can suck the fun out of individual moments.

Brand new, this one is pricey. But you can find it used to the tune of six bucks.

Be sure to check out our ever-growing list of Hidden Gems.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to the stage at his company’s design studio outside of Los Angeles Thursday night to unveil the Model X electric vehicle. Built on the same platform as the Model S sedan, the X is a seven passenger SUV/CUV/Minivan described as quicker than a Porsche 911, roomier than an Audi Q7, and better looking than any minivan ever driven by a Soccer Dad or Hockey Mom. Thanks to skateboard (under the floorboards) placement of the batteries, the X has seating for seven and room for their luggage split between front and rear trunks.

The car is slated to reach its first customers in late 2013, and pre-order reservations were made available to event attendees immediately after the Model X was unveiled. Pricing is expected to be “similar” to that of the Model S, which starts at $57,400 before tax credits. Musk said the X can accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 4.4 seconds; that figure apparently applies to the peformance variant also slated for production. Still: An electric SUV that sprints to 60 in under 4.5 seconds? Whoa. The car will also feature dual motor all wheel drive, with one electric motor providing power to each of the front and rear axles. Range will be approximately 10% less than Model S counterparts, owing mainly to the X’s extra weight.

Styled along similarly swoopy lines as the Model S, the X is slightly elongated as compared to the five seater sedan, and features attention-grabbing “falcon doors.” A 21st Century take on the wood paneled sliding doors of minivans past, X’s hinged wings open a little bit out and a whole lot up, providing for easy access to the seating area in even the tightest of quarters. Musk showed a photo of a Model S and X side by side in a garage to illustrate the easy access to the X’s second and third row seats. The father of five (triples and twins!) also highlighted the ease with which parents can buckle their kids in and out of child seats. No doubt Model X is roomy, though Musk struggled a bit when demonstrating how “easy” it is to slip in and out of the rearmost row – as did I when I later got a ride in the same prototype (see video). Production vehicles will feature second row seats that slide fore and aft to aid in third row ingress/egress, according to Tesla.

The X will also feature an interior quite similar to the S’s. From the massive 17″ touchscreen in the center stack to the leather seats and premium materials, Tesla’s interior design team did right by their sedan and rightfully felt no need to mess with success when it came to their crossover. When I sat in the vehicle I noticed the rear seats were rather short, and if not for the scooped out “skylight” areas of the falcon doors I wouldn’t have had adequate headroom. But again, this was just a prototype and Tesla is all about the Silicon Valley method of iterative design.

All in all, the prototype – Did I mention it was just a prototype? – Model X shown off tonight was impressive and buzzworthy. A very short test ride impressed when it came to acceleration, handling, and overall ride quality, though my seat in the back row felt a wee bit snug. X’s seating for seven configuration might best be suited to, say, five adult-sized and two child-sized passengers as opposed to seven fully grown tech bloggers. Then again, the weird headrests and overall configuration of the bucket seats may well change before production begins.

Tesla’s first car, the Roadster, is a high performance thrill ride. Their second car, the Model S sedan, cut the Roadster’s base price nearly in half while delivering state-of-the-art battery technology and Maserati-esque stying. Well, not “delivering” quite yet – the first S will reach Customer #1 later this year. If the X can live up to the promise made by its launch tonight, Tesla could be on the verge of bringing bleeding edge electric powertrain tech and head-turning styling to the hot crossover market.

If only Musk & Co. could come up with a plan for a lower cost electric vehicle for the masses who can’t afford a $60,000 car. Oh wait, apparently they already have … the Tesla for the masses is said to be next on the upstart car maker’s agenda. Sadly, the world will have to wait another two years for that car’s unveiling.

Whether you want to show some flourish in your tech-gifting this Valentine’s Day, or just need a few alternate ideas to bring in the romance, there are more ways than ever to geek out about love.

Giving Tech Gifts With a “Wow” Factor

This Valentine’s Day, you can bet a bevy of new devices will be going out in a sea of red or pink wrapping paper. (T-Mobile’s even offering up a hot promo, giving away all phones and select tablets for free on Saturday, Feb. 11.) It’s a lock that the mere gift will earn a respectable bump on the relationship-o-meter — but why not up your game by turning the occasion into an extra-special event?

• If you know information like usernames and passwords, save your S.O. some time by fully setting up that device with email, Facebook and/or other accounts.
• Take that favorite photo of the two of you, and load it as the lockscreen or wallpaper.
• Making a slideshow is easier than ever these days (see below), and you can conjure up some magic by creating one and pre-loading it, so s/he can watch it right on that new handset. (For extra cute points, tape a short note to the device’s screen with instructions like “For part 2 of your present, boot me up and open the Photos app, then choose Albums…” etc., or “Launch the web browser and visit this link: [www.yourvidsite.com].” Stand by with a handkerchief — this one could bring on some waterworks.
• Turn a single product into a gift bundle by adding accessories or skins in the recipient’s favorite color or style.
• Change the ringtone to your special song, then wrap up the box and hide it in the room where you plan to give the gift. When the time comes, don’t just hand it over — call the number, and the song will play, guiding your sexy thing over to his/her new sexy thing.

Other Creative Gift Ideas:

• Scenes to Remember: Nothing brings on the sappiness like a little home movie chronicling your love connection. (Best part — it’s cheap too!) This can be made from a few video clips of the happy couple or some still photos stitched together. Desktop software like Photo Story or iMovie, or websites like Animoto.com, make this a breeze. Just collect some snaps, pick a cheesy love song, and wham! — you’ve got a sentimental journey ready to go.

• Hungry For Love: What says romance more than a home-cooked dinner for two? If you’re going to do it, go all out — Use a tablet or large-screen smartphone as your sous chef, and queue up your cheffiest cooking app or website for whipping up something more than just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (I like Epicurious, Cook’s Illustrated and AllRecipes.) Likewise, for the 21+ set, try leaning on wine apps from SwirlIt, Natalie Maclean and others. And for goodness sakes, don’t forget about décor. Set the scene with lots of romantic candles. (You can get some great deals on Amazon.) Gear that could help: Try Belkin’s Kitchen Cabinet Mount for that tablet, or the iGrill cooking thermometer attachment for iOS devices.

• When “Über Geek” Is How You Roll: Not everyone’s into expensive gifts or hitting the candle-lit dinner thing like a playuh. For some people, fully embracing their inner nerd is more their speed, so if you’re a couple that likes to march to the beat of a different drummer — or simply enjoy offbeat things like seeing the World’s Largest Ear of Corn or a trip to a farm museum or observatory — then try hitting up NerdyDayTrips.com for some fun, quirky activities for V-Day.

• Hitting Some Floral Notes: If time is winding down and you can’t decide what to do, there’s nothing wrong with going with tried-and-true flowers and chocolates. Not to mention, if you’re out and about when the V-Day thought strikes, and you suddenly remember that you forgot, 1800Flowers can really come to your rescue. Not only has it moved on from being just a flower delivery hotline to a full-fledged e-commerce website, but it also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS, as well as a downloadable Mobile Gift Center for BlackBerry users.

• Retro Classic, Hipster Cool: Back in the 80s and 90s, making a mixed tape, or “mixtape,” was an artform. (To learn why they’re so great, check out the clip of John Cusack explaining it, courtesy of High Fidelity.) So how do we recapture that magic today? Well, choices range from burning a CD to copying files onto a USB drive — there’s even a Mixtape USB Drive available from places like Perpetual Kid or PBTeen. These come close, but dumping a pile of songs on there doesn’t quite cut it. I like the idea of a USB cassette MP3 player instead. This slim rechargeable gadget is like a cassette, but smarter. Not only does it take SD cards and work like a normal USB card reader, but it also plays inside standard tape players (say, in older home or automotive stereo systems). No tape deck? No prob — it can function as a standalone MP3 player. Not bad for $18 − 24. Just load your thoughtfully arranged mix on this multiply usable device to inspire your own brand of fidelity. (Available here and here.) Prefer an online version? Then try out EveryonesMixtape.com or apps like AirCassette (iOS).

And finally, don’t forget that sometimes it’s the little things that count. If your Valentine is really into you, something small — like changing your Facebook relationship status to “In a relationship” — can help fuel the love buzz… which is what February 14 is really supposed to be about.

Ever crafted or enjoyed an excellent Valentine’s Day? Tell us how you rocked the cupid in the comments below.

Spoilers ahead. If you’re going to read this article, please only do so if you’ve already played through Batman: Arkham City or if you don’t care knowing how it ends. The quotes from Rocksteady and the writing we spread around them will ruin the game for you.

There. We said it.

Batman: Arkham City was the combined vision of Rocksteady Studios, Paul Dini (famed Batman writer) and DC. Rocksteady’s Sefton Hill, Game Director, sat down with Xbox World Magazine and talked about all sorts of things surrounding the creation of Arkham City.

It’s a great interview well worth your time, if you’re interested. We wanted to pull out a few choice quotes to spur a little discussion and thought regarding the way Batman: Arkham City ended. The Joker dies.

Dini, Rocksteady and DC had to come to an agreement when it came to killing Joker, something that Batman himself would never physically do within his comic lore. Here’s Hill:

“You invest time in a game and this story, and you want to feel like the universe is affected by the events you play. We didn’t want it to feel hollow – Joker starts off poisoned, Batman gets poisoned, where does that story go? We knew people would be thinking: ‘obviously they’re not going to kill Batman or Joker, right?’ We felt killing Joker was a really striking end. It was almost taboo, like it was something we could never do. That would be interesting.”

And it was interesting. The Joker, through his own flaws as a character and villain, winds up killing himself as Batman actually works to save him. The game hits that particular moment and slows to a halt as Batman sees his constant enemy dead.

How about reaching that decision with DC?

“They were quite good with it actually. DC, Warner, Paul Dini – they were all in this room discussing the story and discussing what we want to do. It was never a case of them saying: ‘you can’t kill him,’ it was more about whether we were only killing him for shock value.

There were no dissenting voices, as long as it was done in a proper way, as long as it was clear that Batman didn’t go out to kill him – that’s never what Batman would do. Joker being responsible for his own downfall because he wasn’t able to resist stabbing Batman in the back was something we thought would be a nice poetic end for him.”

Check out the interview in the source link below.

[via CVG]

RIP, Kodak cameras

It’s the end of an era.

Eastman Kodak Company has announced today that it will phase out its digital camera, camcorder and digital photo frame business lines. All production for these products are scheduled to cease at some point in the first half of 2012.

It’s no secret that Kodak hasn’t been doing too well on these fronts, as it went after the likes of Apple and HTC for patent infringement just before filing for bankruptcy last month, so it’s not entirely surprising to see it shift gears and refocus on other areas. (And yet, it’s still somehow shocking and sad, given its iconic status in the photography field.) The company hopes its new concentration on retail-based photo printing, inkjet printers, camera accessories and batteries will help rejuvenate its ailing business. It will also look to strike some licensing deals for future camera products.

If you have a Kodak product that’s still under warranty, take heart — the company will honor those and continue to offer technical support and service. It simply won’t be making any new dedicated capture devices.

RIP, Kodak cameras. We’ll sorely miss you.

[image via GeekSugar]

The news comes from, as Game Informer describes the source of this latest batch of speculation, an “Internet sleuth.”

Here’s the Tweet in question from @supererogatory:

Apparently Junction Point is “implementing Wii U support for Epic Mickey 2.” Not sure if that means WiiU SKU or Wii version supports tablet.

While this is certainly just about as far from a confirmation as one can get, the potential match up between Epic Mickey 2 and the Wii U makes complete sense. Nintendo needs games, first of all. Second of all, the original Epic Mickey performed fairly well despite its mixed critical reception.

The major snag working against this rumor? Outside of some speculation based on market surveys done by Disney, there has been no official confirmation that an Epic Mickey follow-up is coming for any console at all. I’d love to see it hit every HD platform, but at this point not even that is confirmed.

We’ll have more on this potential project as it comes.

[via Game Informer]

Well, thanks to a ruling by a federal judge in New York, if you got it from iTunes, you might be able to get some coin for it while liberating some much-needed space.

The case was brought on by Capitol Records, which was suing ReDigi, an online marketplace for iTunes account holders. People interested in buying or selling their old MP3s could hit up ReDigi, but the music label claimed copyright infringement. It embarked on a lawsuit to block sales of Capitol songs there and asked for damages of $150,000 per track.

But U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan wasn’t having it. Just like it was legal to purchase and resell a physical record album back in the day, reselling MP3 files should be likewise protected. (It’s called the first-sale doctrine, which basically says that anyone who buys a copyrighted work can legally turn around and sell it.) What clinched the deal was the ReDigi seller’s app — it verifies the deletion of a song file once the sale has been made. Without it, there’s little difference between selling a MP3 and file sharing — which we all know is pretty risky these days. But with the ReDigi app, Capitol Records’ lawsuit and its claims of copyright infringement were effectively sunk.

[via Ars Technica]

After trialling the store-within-a-store concept here in London, Google is now looking to open its first standalone retail store at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The company gave away its intentions when it filed for planning permission with the Dublin city council.

The store will sell “unspecified Google merchandise,” according to a Bloomberg report, and like all good stores, it will be open to the general public. It will take up around 1,323 square feet of space inside Dublin’s Montevetro office block. However, the search giant claims the space could be used for other things instead.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Google said it is still examining the potential uses of the space:

“While we do have the option to open retail space, we are examining all potential uses. No final decision has been taken.”

Google’s first venture into retail is within a Currys and PC World store in London, where the company sells its Chromebook machines. However, it’s likely a standalone store would also offer up other products, such as Android-powered smartphones and tablets.

The company’s retail focus is said to be inspired by Apple, whose 361 retails stores all over the world have boosted the popularity of all its products, from the Mac to iOS devices. But will Google be able to pull it off?

[via Bloomberg]

The filing uncovered last week revealed Google has been hard at work implementing a device that could connect to home Wi-Fi networks “and use Bluetooth to connect to other home electronics equipment.” Apparently Google will take designing duties, rather than handing the project off to another manufacturer. Historically, the Mountain View-based company focuses on developing the software and then lets other companies take the hardware reins.

“The new device, along with Google’s pending purchase of device maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., shows how serious the Internet giant is about wanting to control both the software and hardware process, a formula used by rival Apple Inc,” the WSJ said.

This would make a lot of sense seeing as Google offers its own music store. The company has plenty of Android smartphone and tablet offerings in consumer homes; all they would need is a way to beam their music collection wirelessly around the house. As for the Sonos similarity, one person familiar with Google’s mystery project said the company’s offering would come at a more affordable price point. As an aside, home-audio hardware is an $8 billion a year industry.

The project will reportedly be available “later this year,” although no specifics were revealed.

[via Wall Street Journal]

Trading today saw the Apple stock hit a new high of $493.17, a rise of $16.49 or 3.46 percent.  This brought the company’s market cap to $459.82 billion, further cementing its title as the most valuable company as Exxon Oil sits back at $401.82 billion. (It passed the oil company to secure the title back on January 25)

What was interesting today’s milestone was what this accomplished in relation to Microsoft and Google.  While both companies ended the day with their shares trading higher, their market caps came in at $198.81 billion for Google and $256.18 billion for Microsoft.  While Apple obviously passed both these companies some time ago, today’s new total made Apple more valuable than the other two combined.  Added together Google and Microsoft come $454.99 billion, almost a full $5 billion behind Apple.

While these numbers can easily change tomorrow morning when the stock market opens again, for at least tonight Apple CEO Tim Cook and the rest of Apple employees can sleep well in knowing there is little hope of anyone catching up to them at the moment.

Curious what else Apple is worth more than now?  There’s a Tumblr for that.

When Google does a release of the software … they do a version of the software for whatever phone they just shipped, Wyatt said. Google’s latest flagship handset is, of course, the Galaxy Nexus. The rest of the ecosystem doesn’t see it until you see it. Hardware is by far the long pole in the tent, with multiple chipsets and multiple radio bands for multiple countries. It’s a big machine to churn.

To push updates out, manufacturers face a number of obstacles before it even gets certified for mass consumption. Once hardware support is figured out, custom software is overlaid for differentiation purposes, and then the devices must get re-certified by carriers. For anxious Android fans, that could mean months of waiting.

Compounding the issue even further is the sheer amount of Android handsets currently on the market. In Motorola’s case, it doesn’t just need to code for its Droid Razr, but its Droid Razr Maxx as well. The company also recently released two Xyboard tablet offerings for Verizon. Other manufacturers like HTC, Samsung, Sony and LG face the same complications as well. But handset makers are beginning to acknowledge the quantity vs. quality debate and, in HTC’s case, have expressed the desire to release fewer devices in 2012.

The issue of fragmentation has been one of Android’s biggest drawbacks, and while Wyatt’s words won’t make the upgrade process any smoother, they give a small behind the scenes look at why the newest OS takes so long to arrive. Hopefully as Google’s OS continues to mature, more handsets will get the latest and greatest Android has to offer faster.

[via PC Mag]

The cavalcade of dessert-y goodness won’t rest there. Other devices slated to receive the Android 4.0 treatment later this year include:

• HTC Rezound
• HTC Vivid
• HTC Amaze 4G
• HTC Evo 3D
• HTC Evo Design 4G
• HTC Incredible S
• HTC Desire S
• HTC Desire HD

Quite a few versions to behold. Unfortunately, the second round of updates hasn’t been given a release date, but the company said to “stay tuned for more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases in the coming weeks.” Perhaps the company is going to reveal more information at Mobile World Congress.

It’s a pretty robust roster, and ambitious of HTC to promise ICS for so many devices. Any handsets HTC left off? Verizon’s ThunderBolt, anyone?

[via Facebook]

Mobile World Congress is set to go down in Barcelona later this month, and it looks like NVIDIA will be bringing some new quad-core smartphones to the party. The company has sent out this invitation to its MWC event, with promise of “quad-core firsts” continuing at the event.

NVIDIA previously promised that we would see the first quad-core smartphones in early 2012, so it’s not entirely surprising that the company has chosen MWC as the place to unveil some of those devices.

The invitation to the event shows a man on a roller coaster holding a phone. Android Central blew up the photo and suspects that the handset shown in the pic is the HTC Incredible S. Another HTC phone, the HTC Edge, is rumored to be one of the first quad-core handsets to hit the market.

TechnoBuffalo will be on the scene in Barcelona later this month, and will of course keep you posted on what NVIDIA (and everyone else) shows off at the show.

[via Android and Me]

Obtained by Cult of Mac, the photos show off a number of iPad 2 vs iPad 3 components, including the flex cable for the sleep/wake and volume buttons, microphone, Wi-Fi and headphone jack. Each comparison clearly shows Apple has taken a different internal design approach, perhaps with a bigger battery, improved camera and Retina-like display in mind. The differences in the two tablets seem to strengthen earlier reports suggesting Apple’s next iteration will be more of an incremental upgrade, similar to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.

As for the design: The iPad 2 is beautiful already, so why fix something that isn’t broken? There still hasn’t been any clear, 100 percent indication whether or not the device will come equipped with a quad-core processor, but past evidence suggests that is indeed what we will see. The biggest concern for iPad fans seems to be the display. If a higher resolution screen doesn’t arrive when Apple announces its next tablet in early March, fans will truly be disappointed.

For all the component comparisons, hit up the link.

[via Cult of Mac]

In the Photography world, 35mm, or “full frame” is the standard by which nearly all cameras are judged. Focal lengths, crop factors and other camera traits are all based on the 35mm equivalent. Granted, a 35mm digital camera sensor is the largest sensor available in the consumer circuit, thanks to models like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Nikon D800. But what would happen if we transcended a 35mm sensor—a chip even bigger than the ones found in flagship full frame models like the Nikon D4 and Canon EOS D1x? Welcome to the land of Medium Format photography, my friends.

Medium format cameras have been around since the late 1800’s, going down in history as the giant, boxy accordion cameras used to capture portraits of your great grandparents. These monsters of the photographic persuasion used a film larger than 35mm, the most popular sizes being 6×4.5cm (645), 6x6cm (66) or 6x7cm (67). Using larger film produced higher quality images, since the negatives did not need to be enlarged as much as 35mm film. Today, Medium Format DSLRs specialize in sensors (around 40MP) that are even bigger than 35mm chips found in top-of-the-line DSLRs.

A few manufacturers make Medium Format DSLRs at present, though they’re not as popular as 35mm DSLRs. One reason is the price. A Hasselblad Medium Format DSLR can cost anywhere between $14,000 – $44,000. Mamiya makes less expensive Medium Format DSLRs, but they’re still in the $10,000-$18,000 price range. Pentax is the first consumer-oriented manufacturer to make a Medium Format DSLR, and the 645D is $10,000 for the body only.

Medium Format cameras are also unwieldy in size. The Pentax 645D is about twice the size of a larger DSLR. In addition, it requires a fair amount of photographic skill to get the most out of a Medium Format DSLR, which is only appealing to pros and advanced hobbyists with money to burn. However, with the right pilot behind the lens, the benefits of Medium Format shooting can be monumental. Let’s take a ride with the Pentax 645D.

The Wooly Mammoth of Digital Photography

Pentax 645D vs. the Olympus E-PM1

The Pentax 645D is a colossal beast of a camera. Take a two Canon EOS 60D bodies, superglue them together, and that’s the general size of the 645D. It was too big to fit in any of my camera bags, so I had to rely on a backpack to haul the anvil around. The Pentax 645D is also a scale crusher. By the end of a handheld shoot, your arm will need to be replaced with a bionic one. This thing is so massive that it has an extra tripod mount on its left side for vertical stabilization.

Aside from its cumbersome size, the Pentax 645D was not that difficult to shoot with. The camera had plenty of real estate for external controls, including five dials, 19 buttons and a four-way directional pad. Since the Pentax 645D captures such large image files, it’s equipped with a dual SD card slot. The camera also has a Mini HDMI terminal, hot shoe and X-Sync socket for synchronizing a flash.

Similar to a higher-end full frame DSLR, the Pentax 645D has a 3-inch 921,000-pixel LCD monitor in back paired with an optical viewfinder with 98% magnification and a nice, wide eyecup. There’s also a secondary digital LCD on top of the 645D that can be illuminated via the press of a button. Pentax shipped me a Pentax-D 55mm F2.8 SDM AW prime lens to shoot with, and I was quite impressed with the quality. The lens has a crop factor of 0.78x, so any focal length of a compatible lens will have to be multiplied by that number in order to reach the 35mm equivalent. Of course, lenses built for the 645D, like the one I was shipped, do not have crop factors.

Shooting with the Pentax 645D

Unsheathing a $12,000 camera in public is an unnerving experience. Every time I took the cinderblock out of my backpack I heard “Don’t drop it!” playing on a broken record inside my mind. Buttons on the 645D are silent and they don’t click—they just sink to the bottom of the camera’s chassis until there’s no more room in their chambers. As a result, it was difficult to auto focus at times since the shutter button did not have two steps. I had to guesstimate a mid-way press before burying the shutter button all the way down. The mirror would then open with a thundering clap before hammering back down on the massive sensor like a guillotine sent to slay 40 million pixels. The Pentax 645D was no point-and-shoot.

One imperative caveat regarding Medium Format cameras is their exceedingly shallow depth of field. Since the Pentax 645D’s sensor was larger than a 35mm sensor, it was beyond simple to focus a subject in the foreground and blur the background completely. The lens’s curved 9-blade aperture made lovely bokeh effects as a result. Of course, depth of field is dependent on the distance from the photographer to the subject, so the 645D also did a fantastic job shooting landscape photography as well. If you’re looking for unusually shallow depths of field to play with, a medium format camera is a prime tool to use.

Depth of field:

As far as camera controls, the Pentax 645D was fairly basic. The camera had a 200-1,000 ISO range that was expandable to 100 and 1600 at both ends. There was a 30-second Shutter Speed with Bulb mode, advanced White Balance Kelvin grid adjustment and 77-segment Auto Focus system. Of course, the Pentax 645D did not have a video mode, which nestled the camera even further into an exclusive niche.

Pentax 645D Image Quality

This is the department of the review where this monster shines. The Pentax 645D is equipped with a 44x33mm 40-megapixel CCD sensor. To place the giant’s sensor in perspective, let’s compare it to a standard 36x24mm full frame sensor found in cameras like the Nikon D700 and Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Although the Pentax 645D is not stocked with one of the larger medium format sensors, it’s still a significant leap from full frame.

Color depth and tonality from the Pentax 645D were fantastic. Detail was electric, down to the last pixel. The camera’s high ISO performance was quite impressive, as general low light sensitivity was not a major issue for the 645D. However, the Pentax 645D definitely requires an adept hand. Any shooting scenarios that contain dynamic lighting will usually end up darker than expected. The 645D has Shadow and Highlight Correction functions, but their effectiveness is limited in heavily contrasted shooting environments. As a result, I had to either shoot in Manual and heed the digital light meter or play with the Exposure Compensation. The best solution with a medium format camera is to watch your lighting in general.

The difference between RAW quality and JPEG quality on a medium format camera like the Pentax 645D is substantial, and that’s a characteristic of the larger sensor. The 645D’s RAW images exhibited brighter exposures, finer detail and more natural colors. If you’re going to shoot seriously with the Pentax 645D, you must shoot in RAW, no exceptions!

The images below were captured in a pitch black setting at a long exposure. The first image is the JPEG while the second image is the RAW touched up slightly in Adobe Lightroom.

Unfortunately, I detected some purple fringing along highlighted edges in some environments, which is most likely attributed to the 645D’s lens. One would hope! Unfortunately I could not try any additional lenses on the 645D to test this hypothesis, but the effects present in the images were textbook chromatic aberrations, and that’s unacceptable in this price range. Fortunately this was not a common occurrence, and was present mainly in defocused portions of the frame.

Again, the depth-of-field was so shallow at close range that only a slice of the image would be in focus at wide open apertures. The benefit of having such a large sensor was that images could be shot from farther away to achieve a greater depth-of-field, and then cropped in post without much of a loss in image quality. The Pentax 645D records RAW and JPEG images. The average RAW file size is 65MB while the average JPEG file is 16MB. Those are prodigious file sizes for the average photographer, and I was required to size the sample images down before uploading them to the gallery.

All image samples in the gallery were captured in RAW at full 40-megapixel resolution, then processed into high-quality JPEGs using Adobe Lightroom. The image of the Kawasaki and the Playground were touched up a bit in Lightroom. For the sake of bandwidth, the images had to be sized down slightly, but you can see them in their largest form by clicking on them from the gallery.

The Buffalo Call

It’s no secret that the Pentax 645D will only appeal to a miniscule percentage of photographers. Professionals who are looking for magazine-quality portraits, landscape sharks who want an Ansel Adams edge and eccentric shooters who long for the days of oversized film will be the prime candidates for this camera. Its depth-of-field is sinfully shallow, allowing shooters to use focus to their advantage. Its image quality, especially in RAW, is on par with the top full frame gladiators. External controls are bountiful, making quick adjustments easy.

Yes, the Pentax 645D is an unwieldy monster. It’s not portable and you’ll have to find an extra large camera bag. Your arms may fall off after a full day of shooting, but there’s nothing like the sound of that guillotine mirror descending upon that giant sensor, slaying all 40 megapixels in one fell swoop. Yes, it’s no Hasselblad. But if you’re in the market for a medium format camera and are looking for an alternative to Leica and Mamiya, the Pentax 645D should not be overlooked.

Apple has officially pulled the plug on the white MacBook. Apple stopped selling the white laptop through retail channels in the middle of 2011. The $999 computer was replaced by the 11-inch MacBook Air as Apple’s entry-level laptop, however, the computer was still made available after the retail phase-out to educational institutions.

According to MacRumors, Apple has indicated that the white Macbook has reached “End of Life” status, and does not intend to make any more of the computers.

The MacBook originally launched in 2006. The computer was briefly sold with an aluminum casing in 2008, but was replaced with a unibody polycarbonate design in 2009 that continued until today.

[via MacRumors]