Improve Netflix Support

Roku has debuted the next generation of its set-top entertainment player, aiming to solidify its position in the streaming entertainment sector. In addition to adding 802.11n support across all devices and improved Netflix support for high-end models, the Roku now does games.
  
Roku has created a Wii-like Bluetooth motion remote accessory that allows for gameplay on the device and retails for $29. The first title to support this new functionality will be the ever-popular Angry Birds. Other titles are expected in the coming weeks and months, including Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio, as well as two titles from Namco, Pac-Man CE and Galaga.

No doubt, Roku is using the gaming capabilities as a way to differentiate itself in the set-top market, where it is facing a stiff challenge from Apple TV, which retails for $99, but lacks the broad streaming capabilities and the gaming functionality that the Roku 2 will provide.

Roku also beats Apple TV in terms of size. While Apple's new set-top box is pretty small, the new Roku is even more minuscule: it measures in at 3 inches wide and about an inch high.

As before, Roku will maintain three different models. The entry level HD will retail for $59 and support 720p HD video. Stepping up to the XD at $79 will gain 1080p video, and enhanced 1080p playback support and Dolby 5.1 surround sound for Netflix videos.
  

The top of the line XS will cost $99, and carry many of the same features as the XD, but includes a USB port and wired Ethernet capabilities. In addition Roku will include the Bluetooth motion remote and a copy of Angry Birds at no additional cost. All units will be available through Roku's retail channels when it launches later this month.

In addition to the gaming support, Roku's content catalog will expand to nearly 300 channels. Additional channels will be coming soon from Facebook, AOL HD, and FOXNews.com, it said.

New Tablets Pack Some Surprises

 

Lenovo announced three new tablets on Wednesday: two into an increasingly crowded Android tablet market, and one into the catatonic Windows 7 tablet arena. In addition to offering choices (a first in the still nascent tablet category), Lenovo points to differentiators like Launch Zone (its Honeycomb overlay), Netflix certification for the Android tablets, pen-based input, a host of pre-loaded Android apps, including security features, and a special Lenovo-approved App Shop that can also serve as a hub of private corporate applications. On the surface, these seem like excellent tablets--not necessarily stunning in any way, but all of the requisite boxes are checked, and each tablet includes a pretzel-like twist or two. While many tablets have emerged from companies that have traditionally produced mobile smartphones, these come from one of the recognized leaders in laptops.
If anything will stand out for buyers in a market where the closest thing to iPad-like success happens during developer conference give-aways, it might be the resonance of a brand like Lenovo, its healthy sales channel, and whatever good will it has earned through its service and support. But let's not be overly generous; that is a wait-and-see situation.
The IdeaPad Tablet K1 and ThinkPad Tablet are Lenovo's Android devices. The former is aimed at consumers and the Thinkpad is aimed at the enterprise. Both run Android (Honeycomb) 3.1, both include the NVideo Tegra 2 processor running at 1.0 GHz, and both offer configurations for 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB of storage. Both support 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. In short, those specs add up to good, solid, screaming-fast devices.
Both are 10.1-inch devices with screen resolutions of 1280 x 800 (full HD); both tablets measure in at a thin 13.3mm and weigh about 1.65 pounds. Pretty standard fare here; by comparison, the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 are lighter and slimmer. Size-wise, the Lenovo tablets are about on par with the HP TouchPad (a hair slimmer and a tad heavier).
Finally, both Lenovo tablets include front- and rear-facing cameras (2 megapixels and 5 megapixels, respectively), the full fleet of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options, and low-power graphics processors.
The differences between the IdeaPad K1 and the ThinkPad look fairly subtle on the hardware side. For one thing, the K1 doesn't have as many input options as the ThinkPad. The ThinkPad includes a USB 2.0 port; the K1 doesn't. The ThinkPad has a full SD card reader; the K1 has micro SD. Both support HDMI out, but the Thinkpad uses micro-HDMI, whereas the K1 uses mini-HDMI. But who's counting?
The ThinkPad display is an IPS (in-plane switching) display for 178-degree viewing angle, and has Corning's Gorilla Glass. The K1 doesn't, but the K1 is a 10-point multitouch display, meaning that when applications support that level of multi-touch, you can use all 10 fingers. Yes, I'm serious. Lenovo tried to get 12-point multi-touch so you can use a couple of toes, but that feature just wasn't ready in time (now I'm kidding). The ThinkPad Tablet is a 6-point multitouch device.
The K1 actually has two 5w speakers, while the ThinkPad has only one; the K1 also has a separate jack for microphones, whereas the ThinkPad combines its mic and headphone jack. The K1 also lets you take in sound intravenously. (Kidding again.) The point is that the K1 is meant to be more of a personal entertainment device.
The ThinkPad also comes with an optional digitizer pen, and accepts pen-based input, thanks to a partnership with N-Trig, and handwriting recognition software called Notes Mobile. You can export notes as a PDF, or for editing.
From a hardware standpoint, then, with a few minor exceptions, the K1 and ThinkPad tablets are standard Android hardware. But Lenovo has made a big point about software differentiation. Both devices support a range of software options, including what Lenovo calls Launch Zone. This is the Lenovo flavor of Android extension (think HTC Sense and other similar fare), and it creates five different (and customizable) zones: one to read, one to listen, one to watch, one for email, and one for the Web. It sounds a bit like Windows Phone 7 hubs, but we'll have to wait and see when units are ready to test.

Sonos Play 3 Affordable, quality music plays

News... Sonos has made its name by providing an easy way to get high-quality digital music in any room in your home, whether it lives on your computer, network-attached storage or the Internet (think Spotify, Rhapsody and Pandora). Wednesday, Sonos lowered its entry-level pricing to $299 with its new Play:3, a small all-in-one that combines a music streamer and speaker.
Measuring 5.2-by-10.5-by-6.3 inches, the Play:3 is much smaller than Sonos’ other all-in-one, the 8.50-by-14.40-by-4.80-inch S5 ($399), making it a good fit for tight spaces like kitchen counters and bathrooms. For larger spaces, a pair can produce stereo sound, with each playing a dedicated left or right channel. The speakers even have a sensor to tell whether they’re positioned horizontally or vertically, so they can adjust their output accordingly.

 

Google+ iPhone App Quickly Tops Apple List of Free Apps

 






Does Google+ have more iOS users than Android users? It's barely been 24 hours since Google launched a rather buggy, but long-awaited iPhone app for Google+, but the app has already topped the App Store's list of "Top Free Apps."
According to the latest third-party estimates, Google+'s population has more than tripled from five million last week to around 18 million on Tuesday.
This feat does not reflect Android app download figures. Google+'s Android app launched the same day as Google+ and, according to Android Market estimates, it has been downloaded between 1-5 million times. Ironically Facebook for Android is the second most-downloaded free app in the Android Market after Google Maps, while Google+ doesn't appear on the list.
In a review of Google+'s iOS app, PCMag said the app was a "fine start" but was inhibited by its lack of support for iOS 5 or administrative controls in Huddle (Google+'s group chat feature). Click on the slideshow below to see how the iPhone app for Google+ works.
If Facebook's history is anything to go by, mobile apps are imperative to the survival of social networks. In January, Facebook topped the list of most downloaded free iOS apps of all time. Facebook boasts "more than 200 million active users" accessing the network through smartphones, and HTC is betting on Facebook Mobile junkies with a recently announced "Facebook phone," the HTC Status.
Now perhaps the greatest edge one social network can have over the other is an iPad app.

Apple update the MacBook Air

The new MacBook Air notebook computers, which lack optical drives (another example of Apple pushing users toward a disc-free future), gain speedier Intel processors -- ranging from the 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 chip in the lower-end 11-inch-screen model, to the dual-core 1.8GHz Core i7. The i5 and i7 processors are known for being pretty powerful, with variations of this chip line running in Apple's MacBook Pros and iMac computers.
A backlit keyboard and a Thunderbolt port have also been added to the Airs in this refresh. Thunderbolt ports are capable of transferring data at a rate of 10 gigabits per second, much faster than USB 2.0, which transfers data at about 480 megabits per second. But, as of now, there aren't a lot of external hard drives or cameras and other items that utilize the ports due to the cost of implementing the technology -- a Thunderbolt cable itself sells for $49.
Despite the changes, the price range for the MacBook Air is staying the same; from $999 to $1,699.

 And it just might be that $999 price point of the 11-inch base MacBook Air that is responsible for Apple killing off the much beloved white polycarbonate MacBook laptop. Though we don't know for sure if that's the reasoning -- as of Tuesday morning, Apple officials weren't available for comment on why the white MacBook is getting the axe.
Without any notice, the white MacBook (which also started at $999 and had a 13-inch screen) was yanked from Apple's lineup and online store. Some old refurbished models of the MacBook are still available from Apple online, but new models are done.
The move to discontinue the polycarbonate MacBook will leave Apple, for the first time since 2001's introduction of the iBook G3, without a solid-white laptop for sale. A stroll across just about any U.S. college campus in the last decade was a testament to the massive popularity of Apple's entry-level laptops, which makes this move a bit surprising.
But if Apple no longer sees a need for disc drives in its entry level notebooks, which the MacBook Air now seems to be, the MacBook must have made a lot less sense to Steve Jobs and other Cupertino execs. Now, every Apple laptop (and desktop for that matter) is clad in silver aluminum.
Those looking at a laptop and also wanting a disc drive can either pair a MacBook Air with a portable disc drive for an extra $79, buy a pricier MacBook Pro laptop, or look to one of the many Apple competitors.

wowowowwww

Last week, we heard all about Mila Kunis' upcoming date with a U.S. Marine, Sgt. Scott Moore -- who asked her to the Marine Corps ball via YouTube.

Then a female Marine, Cpl. Kelsey De Santis, got in on the act, and asked Kunis' Friends with Benefits costar, Justin Timberlake, to attend a ball with her.

All this made for some raucous subject matter during their Today interview Monday. (Technically, they were there to discuss the film, a comedy that explores the joys and pitfalls of casual sex with a friend. Click here to see the trailer.) But the talk was mostly about…well, balls.

In the clip, the couple explains that they'll actually be attending two different balls. And the conversation digressed from there…

"Apparently there's multiple balls," said Timberlake.

"Yeah, marines have a lot of balls," said Kunis.

"Marines got balls," said Timberlake.

"They do," said Kunis.

"We want to pay honor to our country and embrace their balls,” said Timberlake.

As the interview wound down, Timberlake couldn't help but point out the low-brow turn that the proceedings had taken. "Did we just class up the Today show?" he asked. "I feel like that's what we did."