NHK working on Hybridcast interactive TV platform (video)

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NHK is working on Hybridcast (an entirely different system to the Hybridcast 3D-delivery setup it demonstrated last year), a system that uses the internet to make vanilla TV broadcasts interactive. It works by pushing HTML5 overlays to your tablet and TV, so you can play along with quiz shows or follow a travelogue from the comfort of your couch. The company is planning to build a set-top-box with the technology ready for sale next year, with integrated TVs hoped to arrive from Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, Sharp and Mitsubishi shortly afterward. You can see what the residents of Japan can expect by watching the video after the break.

Continue reading NHK working on Hybridcast interactive TV platform (video)

NHK working on Hybridcast interactive TV platform (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 07:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S III reportedly notches nine million pre-orders worldwide

Samsung's Galaxy S III reportedly notches nine million pre-orders worldwide

Wondering how the launch of Samsung's Galaxy S III is going? According to the Korea Economic Daily, an unnamed Samsung executive revealed that the followup to its previous fastest selling phone has already racked up nine million pre-orders around the world. That would put it nearly halfway to the 20 million Galaxy S II's Samsung reported shipped back in February, and all without even officially moving a unit in the US yet. It's not that we're jealous of the rest of the world's abilities to lay their cash down for some quad-core Exynos action while we wait to hear about the likely (still awesome) dual-core LTE-equipped US carrier variants due this summer, but yes -- we're jealous the rest of the world already has the option of choosing Samsung's latest flagship phone. Once they do start shipping (assuming there's no delays in customs) there should be plenty to go around however, as Reuters' translation also indicates the company's factory is already cranking out five million units every month.

Samsung's Galaxy S III reportedly notches nine million pre-orders worldwide originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gartner: mobile phone sales fell two percent last quarter, Samsung confirmed as numero uno

Gartner: mobile phone sales fell two percent last quarter, Samsung confirmed as numero uno

Gartner's latest dispatch reveals a wobbly global trade in mobile phones. Although our love of smartphones continued to blossom, with sales of that subcategory up nearly 45 percent, it wasn't enough to stave off a two percent overall decline compared to the same quarter in 2011. A total of 419.1 million handsets were sold, representing the first hiccup after nearly three years of growth and leading analysts to point fingers at a slow down in the Asia / Pacific region as well as a lack of product launches at the start of the year. Meanwhile, these figures also confirm what was already gleaned from IDC's shipments data: Samsung has knocked Nokia off its 14-year-old perch to become the padrone of the mobile phone market, with a cut of over 20 percent. It also replaced Apple as the number one smartphone vendor, claiming ownership of almost half of that segment. Damn, it feels good to be a pebble.

Gartner: mobile phone sales fell two percent last quarter, Samsung confirmed as numero uno originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 05:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: HP’s all-in-one PCs over the years, one from 1983

Visualized: HP's all-in-one PCs over the years, one from 1983

HP's TouchSmart sub-brand and its other AIOs should be no stranger to many PC advocates, but in case you've never come across one before, the company's laid all of them out on one side of its Global Influencer Summit in Shanghai. Models range from the TouchSmart IQ770 launched back in 2007, all the way to the recently shipped Z1 workstation and even the just-announced t410 Smart Zero Client; but the real gem of the booth is that little beige HP 150 right in the middle -- it's one of the first-ever touchscreen PCs, dating back to 1983, powered by an 8MHz Intel 8088 chip, ran MS-DOS and cost a mere $3,995.

Whilst on the topic, HP's Vice President of Industrial Design Stacy Wolff shared some interesting stats: his team found that much like laptops, there are very different screen size preferences across different regions, with the US showing strong interest in 20-inch and 23-inch HP AIOs, whereas China much prefers 20-inch over 21.5-inch and 23-inch. With the big jump in AIO market penetration in each region between 2008 to 2012 (almost doubled in Japan and the US; and an even bigger leap for other markets), HP predicts that these machines will continue to steadily increase market penetration across more price points -- this was illustrated with what it conveniently calls the "AIO wedge" on a chart. Feel free to take a gander at our gallery for more tidbits.

Visualized: HP's all-in-one PCs over the years, one from 1983 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 May 2012 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA reports Q1 earnings: rakes $60.4 million profit on $924.9 million in revenue

NVIDIAWhat's black and white and red all over? One thing it's probably not is NVIDIA's Q1 2013 earnings report. That's why we're here to dig through the muck and tell you that the company saw both profits and revenue fall from last quarter. Revenue was down three percent to $924.9 million but, more shockingly, net income dropped 47.9 percent to just $60 million. With a slew of new product launches over the last few months NVIDIA is optimistic about the future and actually managed to beat Wall Street's expectations. Though it offers little explanation for the drop off in its earnings press release, we'd expect things to get back to normal soon. For all the fine financial details, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA reports Q1 earnings: rakes $60.4 million profit on $924.9 million in revenue

NVIDIA reports Q1 earnings: rakes $60.4 million profit on $924.9 million in revenue originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 May 2012 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles

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Research firm IDC predicted there would be a steep drop off in tablet shipments during Q1 of 2012. Following the surge of sales during the holiday season, a fall of 34 percent, while certainly staggering, is hardly surprising. But there's bad news: shipments failed to meet even those bleak predictions. Shipments fell by 38.4 percent, thanks in large part to Android slates stumbling dramatically. After a reasonably impressive holiday season, IDC expected Android would continue to make inroads in the market. Instead, the number of units moved dropped drastically, allowing Apple to not just maintain its position at the top of the heap, but assert an unquestionable dominance not seen since the early days of Honeycomb. After accounting for 54.7 percent of all tablet shipments in Q4 of 2011, the iPad opened up an impressive lead, claiming 68 percent of the market in Q1 of 2012. What's more, after catapulting to the number two spot by shipping 4.8 million units at the end of last year, Amazon fell to number three -- accounting for only 4 percent of tablets shipped, a precipitous fall from 16.8 percent last quarter. That's good news for Samsung, however, which reclaimed its place as first runner up slate wars. For more, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles

IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers

Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribersVonage may have raked in $216 million in revenue, netting itself $14 million in profit, but things still seem to be heading in the wrong direction for the company. We're not even talking about the sharp decrease in net income -- the $350 million made in the last quarter was thanks in large part to a one-time tax benefit. Revenue remained flat sequentially at $216 million, but was down slightly from the same time last year. What's more, churn had increased from Q4 and, despite signing up 165,000 new accounts, the VoIP carrier managed lose 19,000 subscribers -- and that's after dropping 14,000 last quarter. For more info check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers

Vonage reports $14 million in income, loses 19,000 subscribers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 22:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011

Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011

All hail the e-book! Seriously, if it weren't for this marvelous literary development, try saying with a straight face that you wouldn't at least take pause before adding a new title to your collection. Numbers are in from The Publisher's Association -- a group of 120 companies across the trade in the UK -- which reveals that e-book digital sales have increased 54 percent for the year 2011, and of that statistic, 13 percent of revenues came from academic and professional titles. As a sign of changing preferences, the total sales of both e-books and their traditional counterparts fell by two percent during the year -- and let's be honest, it's not hard to see which group fell short. Also reflective of the shift is the fact that average book prices fell by 1.3 percent during the year, which compares favorably to the UK's current inflation rate of 4.47 percent. Those interested in the full story will find the PR after the break.

Continue reading Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011

Yes, people still read: e-book sales by UK publishers grew 54 percent in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 May 2012 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down

Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down

Well, the first quarter of 2012 is officially over Motorola Mobility, and the financial news is rather sobering for the company. While revenues were up, the climb was modest, to just $3.1 billion. And that small bump in incoming cash was not enough to stave off another quarter of loses. In fact, after losing $80 million in Q4 of 2011, Moto lost $86 million in Q1 of 2012. The company continued to bleed cash in large part because shipments of mobile devices dropped off dramatically. Only 8.9 million devices were shipped in the quarter, down from 10.5 million in the last part of 2011. With 5.1 million of those being smartphones however, the phone division did manage to increase revenues by three percent. The one bright spot was the home segment which, thanks to its home gateways and broadcast goods, managed to make (that's right, not lose) $68 million, up from $53 million a year ago. For more numbers and charts check out the source link.

Continue reading Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down

Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP reclaims top spot in PC sales, market as a whole climbs 21 percent

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Well, Apple's reign atop the list of the world's top PC makers was short lived. After clawing its way into the lead, if you counted the iPad as a PC, HP is back atop the heap -- even with Cupertino's tablet-inflated numbers. According to Canalys, the Palo Alto company shipped 15.8 million units in the first quarter of 2012, barely sneaking passed Apple by 40,000 computers. Of course, remove Apple's 11.8 million iPads, and it's not even a competition. Lenovo, Acer and Dell rounded out the top five, with the total market shooting up 21 percent over the same time last year. However, there is plenty of reason to believe we won't see client PC fly out the door at such an incredible rate. Amazingly, according to Canalys, tablets accounted for 40 percent of all PC shipments in the US. For more details check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading HP reclaims top spot in PC sales, market as a whole climbs 21 percent

HP reclaims top spot in PC sales, market as a whole climbs 21 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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