subscribe

VR Grab Bags: Education Edition

The number of activities taking space in the virtual reality space these days is truly accelerating at a dizzying pace. Frankly, it’s just impossible to keep up. And not every little revelation is worthy of a dedicated article. The only answer seems to be a periodic curation of interesting developments, products or thinking. And that’s … Read more

Hitachi Officially Exits Japan TV Market After 60 Years

Hitachi has announced it is exiting the television market in Japan to focus on its Lumada Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform. The company also announced a new retail partnership with Sony — from October, it will sell Bravia-branded TVs at its retail outlets. The decision comes over 60 years after Hitachi released its first 14″ TV in … Read more

Strategy Analytics Reviews Lenovo Smart Display Digital Assistant

Strategy Analytics’ User Experience Strategies (UXS) group says that the Lenovo Smart Display helps to not only make the in-home digital assistant experience much more useful, usable and compelling, but also helps to educate the user on what to say and how to say it. Incorporating a display opens up new and more engaging use … Read more

Now with Netflix — Now TV Launches New App and UHD Smart Box

The Netflix app has launched for Now TV streaming devices, coinciding with the release of the UK-based Sky subsidiary’s new “Now TV Smart Box with 4K & Voice Search”. Available now, the Roku-powered device offers Ultra HD streaming at up to 60 frames per second, with HDR, voice search capabilities and a Live Pause feature. … Read more

Microsoft Brings Dynamics 365 Apps to HoloLens

Microsoft has launched Dynamic 365 applications for its HoloLens augmented reality headset, increasing the device’s functionality for field workers like engineers and technicians. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist allows users in the field to broadcast a video feed of what they’re looking at back to a central hub, so an expert can assist in the job … Read more

Oculus Quest Standalone VR Headset Coming Spring 2019

At the Oculus Connect 5 conference, which took place in California, United States earlier this week, Oculus Santa Cruz was formally announced under its official name, Oculus Quest. The new standalone VR headset will launch in spring 2019, priced at $399. Oculus Quest uses the same Touch controllers as Oculus Rift, while four wide-angle sensors … Read more

Netflix Adds HDR Still Image Support and Plugs AV1 Codec

Netflix has added HDR images to its user interface in a bid to bring its content browsing experience in line with the HDR content the service has featured since 2016. In an announcement on its official blog, the company wrote, “It turns out that compositing and displaying HDR graphics along with video is harder than … Read more

Magic Leap and Microsoft Bid on US Army AR HUD Contract

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports that both Magic Leap and Microsoft are among the companies bidding for a $1 million contract to build augmented reality heads-up displays for the US Army to use in training exercises. The publication wrote, “The US Army is seeking technology companies to supply 100,000 headsets at a … Read more

High-end TVs Shoot it Out in Scarsdale

Last Sunday (September 23rd), Value Electronics (VE) held the TV shoot-out it began in 2007. Normally, the shoot-out is attached to a technology show in New York, but it was held this year at VE’s showroom in the wealthy New York suburb of Scarsdale. VE is a high-end video and audio integrator and dealer, and … Read more

Bitmovin Launches Free Tool For Optimal Encoding

Bitmovin, a world leader in online video technology, announces the Per-Title Ladder Benchmark Tool, a free online resource for any video content owner or network operator to receive guidance on the optimal OTT (over the top) encoding configuration for their content. Per-Title Encoding offers automated ladder (a set of individual encoded streams corresponding to a … Read more

LG Display’s OLEDs to Become Profitable in 2018 Q3

Anonymous industry sources recently told ET News that LG Display is looking at a profitable third quarter of 2018 for its OLED business, the publication reports. LG raised its prices in the second quarter by an estimated 2.5%, amid healthy sales of OLED TVs. The sources added that there is potential for a further 2-3% … Read more