Archive for July 16th, 2009

We sort of saw the writing on the wall, but now Belkin has went and made it official: the FlyWire is dead. Originally showcased at CES 2008 and at practically every AV-related trade show since, the wireless HD-enabling FlyWire was seen as the poster child for wireless HD / HDMI by many, and the death of this product certainly doesn’t bode well for the technology as a whole. It’s true that AMIMON — the wireless startup responsible for the WHDI technology within the FlyWire and a few other devices — just landed an extra $10 million in VC funding, but still, we’ve literally been waiting years for this so-called “promising technology” to get a foothold in the market. Or even make a wave, really.

As has become customary these days, Belkin is also pinning the cancellation of the FlyWire on the economy, with a spokesperson telling us that the “retail price of $1,499 would be out of line given the current state of the economy.” She continued by stating that the company has “opted to halt production of FlyWire” and “will no longer be introducing [it] to the market.” Granted, the company does seem somewhat apologetic, concluding that “there will be some disappointed folks out there, but [Belkin's] end goal is to introduce products that are accessible and that make sense in the current environment.”

Frankly, we’re not buying it. In April, Belkin affirmed to us that while AMIMON’s WDHI technology was “solid,” it was taking its sweet time in order to “pay very close attention to the user experience, such as the packaging, setup, and the quick install guide.” We could be way off base here, but we’d say the economy was sucking quite a bit harder in April than it is today. And honestly, that’s beside the point. A $1,500 device that enabled a Blu-ray player to communicate wirelessly with an HDTV is obviously a luxury item, and regardless of unemployment numbers, Belkin had to know that the FlyWire would only appeal to upscale consumers. You know, the same folks who also put in an order for a Ferrari California in 1H 2009 while their hedge fund dived.

To us, the sudden death of the FlyWire is more of an industry signal than anything. For quite some while, we’ve been wondering when the industry at large would embrace wireless HD and HDMI technology, and now we’re beginning to think that said embrace will never happen in any significant capacity. Even Wireless USB couldn’t cut it, and we’re guessing there are an awful lot more USB users out there than HDMI. If the price dropped dramatically and the sector consolidated a bit in order to agree on a single standard, we’d say wireless HD / HDMI has a fighting chance. ‘Til that happens, you can pretty much bank on the FlyWire fiasco becoming a model for the rest. Belkin’s statement in full is past the break.

Continue reading Belkin kills the FlyWire — does wireless HD / HDMI even have a chance?

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless

Belkin kills the FlyWire — does wireless HD / HDMI even have a chance? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The old adage goes “be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.” After years of bellyaching (we’re as guilty of it as anyone) that Nokia was giving Europe first dibs on its hottest handsets over North America, we’re now seeing perhaps the most dramatic, positive shift in North American strategy in the company’s history — in fact, they’re straight-up saying that they want to push all the way to number 1 in the local market. But is it enough of a shift to fend off aggressive moves from Samsung, LG, Apple, and the rest of the gang across every conceivable market segment?

Nokia’s product portfolio manager for the region, Ira Frimere, sat down with Computerworld recently to discuss the renewed push, admitting that the company has had to rethink some fundamental things about its products and its business model to help its cause in the States; one small example is the fact that the Surge is launching without the typical four-digit model number or Nseries / Eseries code that is found on virtually every Nokia sold worldwide, ostensibly because Americans apparently prefer names to numbers (it’ll launch as the Surge 6790 internationally, it turns out). Additionally, the company has dedicated a facility in San Diego to working with its North American carrier partners — AT&T and Verizon, most prominently. It’s still early on, but the labor there seems to already be bearing fruit, considering that AT&T will be stocking three S60 devices once the Surge launches — a record — and Verizon’s rumored to have some interesting stuff in the pipeline.

Frimere adds that Nokia believes services are key to winning American hearts and minds, an area the company has been putting extensive R&D into lately with its Ovi line (unfortunately, so is everyone else — and getting to iTunes and App Store-level acceptance with Nokia Music and the Ovi Store is going to be an uphill battle, to say the least). Ultimately, the conclusion seems to be Nokia’s reluctant admittance that breaking into the US market requires a willingness to give carriers far, far more respect than they deserve by bending and breaking to their somewhat odd demands — and that’s going to be an ongoing problem for consumers, whether you’re a Nokia fan or not.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Nokia talks shop about its revised US strategy, but is it enough? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honestly, now that Nokia’s hooked up with Intel we didn’t think we’d ever see any more straight Maemo devices, let alone random third-party Maemo MIDs, but here we are, looking at the Optima OP5-E. The 4.3-inch touchscreen MID with an 806MHz Marvell processor and 128MB of RAM is said to be going through some final software testing before release, and it apparently will support SMS and telephony in the future, so apparently those KIRF iPhone looks are for more than just confusing tourists. No pricing and likely no availability outside of China, but hey — Maemo, people. Give it up.

[Via Pocketables]

Filed under: Handhelds

Optima OP5-E MID first non-Nokia MID to run Maemo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We certainly didn’t mind that the Tony Hawk Ride board we played at E3 had a charcoal coloring, and that goes double for our feet. Apparently that sentiment isn’t shared by the game’s director Josh Tsui, who told GamesIndustry.biz that it’ll be launched in a “more consumer friendly… [and] iPod-like” white color, which in our minds all but guarantees someone out there’s gonna mistake this for a new version of the Wii balance board. Tsui’s not shy with praise either, calling the board “the most advanced peripheral on the market.” Ultimately, the color isn’t gonna matter to us, and with a board-compatible sequel rumored to already be in the works, there’s plenty of time to re-release the peripheral in all sorts of attractive palettes — that’d of course be very iPod-like.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Tony Hawk Ride’s skateboard peripheral turning white before launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Tuesday evening more than 300 confidential Twitter documents and screenshots landed in our inbox. We said we were going to post a handful of them only, and we’ve spent much of the last 36 hours talking directly to Twitter about the right way to go about doing that. We’ll have more to say on that process in a couple of days.

The documents include employment agreements, calendars of the founders, new employee interview schedules, phone logs and bills, alarm settings, a financial forecast, a pitch for a Twitter TV show, confidentiality agreements with companies such as AOL, Dell, Ericsson, and Nokia, a list of employee dietary restrictions, credit card numbers, Paypal and Gmail screen shots, and much more.

These are the last two documents we are going to share: a subset of the detailed notes from a set of executive meetings that took place between February 12 and June 9, 2009. Much of the information in these notes is either personal in nature (new hires, etc.) or too sensitive to share. What’s interesting of the rest we are posting here with our commentary. These notes include never-before revealed discussions between Twitter and Google, Microsoft, and others, as well as details of product planning, company goals, employee retention, and new proposed terms of service and APIs. Even acquisition targets such as CoTweet and Twitpic are discussed (and sometimes dismissed). It’s important to note that we have been given the green light by Twitter to post this information – They aren’t happy about it, but they are able to live with it, they say (more on why they did that in our later post).

One other caveat – as we’ve said before, these documents are rough meeting notes, not polished documents meant for broad consumption. There are lots of typos and outdated information. But on the plus side, the rawness of it shows the dedication and deep commitment of this team to making Twitter into a world-class company.

Finally, there are some details about partner discussions, particularly around Google and Microsoft, that we are just not going to publish. Twitter has been in negotiations with both companies around a broad set of transactions for months. But we aren’t going to go into great detail about exactly what has been discussed, or Twitter’s strategies toward those negotiations. So while it looks like there is a lot of detail around those discussions below, the most sensitive stuff has been removed.

Did anyone else think that Sony would have finally killed off the UMD movie for real by now? Guess again, suckers. The company just spilled some more details on that Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines PSP Entertainment Pack, and in addition to that sexy white PSP-3000 and 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, your $199 will get you an as-yet-unnamed feature film on UMD. Yes, even as Sony tip-toes into the future with the PSPgo, it’s still trying to peddle movies on a garbage proprietary format no one ever really wanted and that most studios have stopped supporting. Old habits die hard, we suppose. Video after the break.

Continue reading White PSP Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines bundle to sell for $199

Filed under: Gaming

White PSP Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines bundle to sell for $199 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seriously Nintendo, what is it? Do you hate freedom? Are you still bitter about the US reception to your underwhelming GameCube? Whatever the case, we’re never going to forgive you for this one. After waiting for years for a Wii in any color other than glossy white, it seems that only the Japanese will be able to enjoy the sleek, sexy and altogether drool-worthy black Wii console. In fact, a rep for the Big N informed GameDaily that there are “no plans to have other colors of the Wii in the United States.” As for us? We’re plugging our ears and pretending this “individual” has no idea what he / she is talking about. And weeping, uncontrollably.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo shatters dreams, has “no plans” to ship black Wii console in USA originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seriously Nintendo, what is it? Do you hate freedom? Are you still bitter about the US reception to your underwhelming GameCube? Whatever the case, we’re never going to forgive you for this one. After waiting for years for a Wii in any color other than glossy white, it seems that only the Japanese will be able to enjoy the sleek, sexy and altogether drool-worthy black Wii console. In fact, a rep for the Big N informed GameDaily that there are “no plans to have other colors of the Wii in the United States.” As for us? We’re plugging our ears and pretending this “individual” has no idea what he / she is talking about. And weeping, uncontrollably.

[Via Joystiq]

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo shatters dreams, has “no plans” to ship black Wii console in USA originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a reason Google is working at a rapid pace to bring location services to the forefront of many of its products (Maps, Search, Latitude, etc) — new potential business models. Sure, location also happens to be useful to many consumers, and that’s undoubtedly why Google loves it even more. Like AdSense, it’s a mixing of what’s potentially useful for a consumer, with a way to make money. So what exactly are they going to do with it? Well, location-targeted ads are already out there, but will get much more refined. But there’s also potential for new ways to use location as a business model. And the startup Foursquare is already showing the early stages of what could be some very interesting things.

A couple months back, we wrote about localities in New York and Los Angeles using Foursquare “mayorships” (which you get when you check into a venue the most times compared to others in the city) as a way to give out special deals, like free beer. That idea continues to expand.

As Amit Gupta noted yesterday, a bar/performance space is doing something similar in San Francisco. But they’re also expanding on the idea. Not only does the mayor of the venue (The Marsh) get free drinks, but everyone who checks into the venue on Foursquare and shows proof (on your iPhone or other mobile device) gets $2 off a ticket to any performance that night.

There’s a reason Google is working at a rapid pace to bring location services to the forefront of many of its products (Maps, Search, Latitude, etc) — new potential business models. Sure, location also happens to be useful to many consumers, and that’s undoubtedly why Google loves it even more. Like AdSense, it’s a mixing of what’s potentially useful for a consumer, with a way to make money. So what exactly are they going to do with it? Well, location-targeted ads are already out there, but will get much more refined. But there’s also potential for new ways to use location as a business model. And the startup Foursquare is already showing the early stages of what could be some very interesting things.

A couple months back, we wrote about localities in New York and Los Angeles using Foursquare “mayorships” (which you get when you check into a venue the most times compared to others in the city) as a way to give out special deals, like free beer. That idea continues to expand.

As Amit Gupta noted yesterday, a bar/performance space is doing something similar in San Francisco. But they’re also expanding on the idea. Not only does the mayor of the venue (The Marsh) get free drinks, but everyone who checks into the venue on Foursquare and shows proof (on your iPhone or other mobile device) gets $2 off a ticket to any performance that night.