LG kicks off CES with 55-inch 'ultra-HD' TV

LAS VEGAS (AP) — LG unveiled a 55-inch TV that sports "ultrahigh-definition" resolution with four times the sharpness of regular HD television sets, kicking off what is likely to be a mini-obsession with the latest super-clear format at the annual International CES gadget show.
The model announced Monday is the smallest in a 2013 lineup that includes 65-inch and 84-inch versions. But the smaller size — and smaller price tag — begins the parade of TV makers that are seeking to bring ultrahigh definition to the masses.
Also known as "4K," ultrahigh-definition screens are 3,840 pixels wide and 2,160 pixels tall, or more than 8 million in all. The higher resolution will let TV screens get larger without degrading picture quality, though initially the price tag will limit those sets to technology's early adopters.
LG said the 55-inch and 65-inch versions will be available later this year in the U.S. No price was announced, but it will be less than $10,000. The 84-inch version that went on sale late last year cost $20,000.
For a few years, though, there won't likely be a mainstream standard for getting native ultra-HD movies and TV shows to the screen either by disc or broadcast.
LG Electronics Inc. said these new TVs will have upscaling technology that takes images of lesser quality and renders them in high detail. The Korean electronics maker also said it has formed an ultra-HD content agreement with Korea's top broadcaster, KBS, and is seeking out deals with other global content providers. The company offered no specifics.
LG said that with an ultra-HD TV, it will be possible to play phone games with very sharp resolution and in 3-D. The company said it has been possible to hook up smartphones to the TV to play games with current sets, but the resolution isn't good.
Along with the lineup of higher-resolution TVs, LG unveiled a new Magic Remote, which acts like a wand that is sensitive to motion and is used to navigate on-screen menus. LG said the new model responds better to natural speech and can be controlled with a single finger rather than "very tiring arm gestures." It also lets you change the channels by writing numbers in the air.
The company also touted the ability to tap different devices so they can share data. With that capability, you'd be able to see what's inside your refrigerator while shopping, and you'd be able to monitor how clean your house is getting with cameras on a robotic vacuum. Washing machines will also have such capabilities.
Also at the gadget show, rival Sharp Corp. introduced two super-clear TVs and one ultra-HD computer monitor. The 32-inch monitor uses Sharp's IGZO technology, based on a semiconductor material called indium gallium zinc oxide. The monitor, planned for launch in February, responds to 10 points of contact at once — one for each finger.

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Sleek new Sony Xperia Z phablet leaks ahead of CES debut

Sony’s (SNE) CES 2013 press conference is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday evening, but one of the stars of the show is anything but a mystery. Press images and even a full review of Sony’s upcoming Xperia Z phablet already hit the Internet last month, and now a fresh round of leaked images has been published by Chinese gadget site Digi-wo.com. Xperia Z spec highlights include a 1080p HD display, a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a microSD slot and a 13-megapixel camera, and Sony is expected to announce launch details during Monday night’s event.

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Samsung Says It's Making More Money Than Apple, Now

Riding the wave of gadget goodness from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung released a pretty impressive set of fourth quarter earnings estimates, including a record high profit. The South Korean electronics manufacturer says that it will make $8.3 billion in profits on $52.7 billion in revenue. That's a shade better than Apple's own record high profit of $8.2 billion on just $32 billion. Now, we could all day about the devilish details in the earnings reports and differences between the two companies revenue streams, but one things is brutally clear: Samsung is making more money than Apple, now. At least if its estimates are correct, they are.
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Tim Cook and company can't be thrilled about this news. Apple's very publicly struggled with Samsung's roaring success in the smartphone business, so much so that it has peppered its competitor with patent litigation lawsuits around the world in an attempt to get its products pulled from shelves. Though Apple won a big decision in the United States last fall, Samsung's been doing pretty well in the appeals process, and it's increasingly looking like Apple will not have its ban.
RELATED: These Are the Samsung Products Apple Wants Banned
Meanwhile, Samsung is still knocking the socks off of consumers. Just hours before releasing the glowing Q4 earnings estimates, the company pulled back the curtain on some pretty mind-boggling new TVs that will probably cost as much as a car but also shows that they're on the right side of the innovation curve. That would be the lucrative side.

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RIM shares fall at the open after earnings

 Research In Motion Ltd fell in early trading on Friday following the BlackBerry maker's Thursday earnings announcement, when the company outlined plans to change the way it charges for services.
RIM, pushing to revive its fortunes with the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 devices next month, surprised investors when it said it plans to alter its service revenue model, a move that could put the high-margin business under pressure.
Shares fell 16.0 percent to $11.86 in early trading on the Nasdaq. Toronto-listed shares fell 15.8 percent to C$11.74.

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Investors shed shares of Blackberry maker

Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion slumped more than 16 percent Friday with future revenue coming into question and a declining number of subscribers.
RIM's stock jumped initially Thursday when the Canadian company released better-than-expected third-quarter results and a stronger cash position.
Shares reversed course during a conference call later, when executives said that the company won't generate as much revenue from telecommunications carriers once it releases the new BlackBerry 10.
RIM's stock had been on a three-month rally in which the stock more than doubled from levels not previously seen since 2003.
"Despite a solid quarter, the stock is trading down due to the introduction of a lower enterprise service tier and fears that RIM will not receive monthly services revenues for consumer BB10 subscribers," said Jefferies analyst Peter Misek. He thinks RIM has offered carriers a lower-priced option in exchange for a bigger purchase commitment for the new device. He kept his "Hold" rating.
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu kept maintained a "Neutral" rating on the stock, but lowered his earnings estimates, saying he continued to be concerned about RIM's ability to compete with Apple and Google.
Shares of Research in Motion Ltd. fell $2.29 to $11.83 in morning trading.

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RIM’s biggest problem: It’s still scrambling to catch yesterday’s hottest mobile app

The moment I first realized that RIM (RIMM) was truly in enormous trouble was back in 2010 when I heard then co-CEO Jim Balsillie downplay the importance of apps. Yes, you read that correctly. Balsillie actually told attendees at a Web 2.0 summit in 2010 that the Internet itself was the most important “app” for mobile devices and contended that the “Web needs a platform that allows you to use your existing Web content, not apps.” My feelings on this matter were only solidified when I attended the BlackBerry World conference in May 2011 and watched RIM executives proudly announce that the Playbook tablet would soon get its own version of Angry Birds sometime in the near future. In reality, Angry Birds didn’t release for BlackBerry until late December of that year, or two full years after it was originally released for iOS.
[More from BGR: WhatsApp goes free for iPhone for a limited time]
All of which brings me back to RIM’s current state: Despite the great looking hardware and user interface pictures we’ve seen from new BlackBerry 10 smartphones so far, the company still has an app problem. I was reminded of this when I read a post over at CrackBerry titled, “There’s still a chance for WhatsApp on BlackBerry 10.” The issue here isn’t whether RIM eventually does or doesn’t get WhatsApp on its platform — the issue is that RIM always seems to be one step behind when it comes to getting the hottest apps of the day on its devices.
[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 browser smokes iOS 6 and Windows Phone 8 in comparison test [video]]
The most absurd example of this, of course, is Instagram. Yes, it’s very likely that BlackBerry 10 will support the popular photo-sharing app right out of the gate given the company’s partnership with Instagram owner Facebook (FB). But we still have no official confirmation that Instagram will be a BlackBerry 10 app just over a month before the new platform launches, and this is symbolic of the fact that RIM is always stuck at the back of line when it comes to app developers’ priorities.
Simply put, RIM can’t possibly hope to compete with Android, iOS or even Windows Phone 8 if its users will always wonder if they’ll be able to do all the cool things with their phones that their friends can do. In the unpredictable Wild West of today’s app market, where new apps seemingly go viral overnight to become global powerhouses, platform developers need to make sure they have quick and simple ways for app developers to port over their software. And until RIM figures out a way to get this done, it still has no shot in the long term.

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Without an ‘iTV,’ Apple’s growth could shrink to the single digits by 2015

Another analyst believes that Apple is losing its shine. Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research on Thursday trimmed his price target for the company, citing concerns that growth may be slowing. The analyst believes that iPhone sales will remain strong for at least the next two years, however Apple (AAPL) is expected to lose overall market share “if it does not bring out a lower-price device” in the wake of a changing industry. Sacconaghi notes that the iPad should continue to see success in a tablet market that is “a rocket…an absolute juggernaut,” with tablet PC shipments estimated to more than triple over the next five years. It is believed, however, that Apple will likely become a single digit growth company by 2015, unless it releases a new major product such as an HDTV.
[More from BGR: RIM’s biggest problem: It’s still scrambling to catch yesterday’s hottest mobile app]
“That said, it will have a pristine balance sheet, and be generating a mind-boggling $49 billion in free cash flow a year after paying its current dividend,” Sacconaghi wrote in a note to investors, according to Forbes. “More importantly, we believe that Apple’s innovation offers significant option value, which is not in our forecast. Three years ago, the iPad did not exist. Today it generates $32 billon in annual revenues, and as a standalone business would be the 11th biggest U.S. tech company. Potential ‘options’ for Apple investors include a lower-end iPhone, a television ‘solution,’ a larger iPad or converged device and monetizing advertising, e-commerce and search from its iOS platform (and credit card database) of 435 million users.”
[More from BGR: WhatsApp goes free for iPhone for a limited time]
The analyst kept his Outperform rating on shares of Apple, although he trimmed his price target from $800 to $750 and lowered his 2013 fiscal year EPS forecast to $49.41 per share, from $50.57.

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Windows already threatening iPhone in Southern Europe

Kantar Worldpanel’s report for November came out and much has been made of the iPhone market share surge in the United States. What I find interesting in the November numbers is just how ice cold the iPhone has gone in so many international markets, from Australia to Brazil to Southern Europe. The iOS market share showed hefty declines outside in many major markets: down 5.4 percentage points in Australia to 35.9% and down 1.6 points in Brazil to 1.6%. That’s right — the iPhone market share has halved in the most important South American market over the past year. And this happened while BlackBerry and Symbian market shares absolutely caved in. This should have been the period for Apple (AAPL) to pick up points while RIM (RIMM) and Nokia (NOK) floundered. Instead, the sky-high pricing of the iPhone models has effectively started reversing Apple’s market share gains across several major markets.
[More from BGR: Fan-made tweak gives Apple a blueprint for better multitasking in iOS 7 [video]]
In November, the burden of the stiff iPhone pricing was highlighted by how rapidly Windows has started closing the market share gap in Spain, Italy and France. Because Nokia has had trouble ramping up the production of the new Lumia 920 and 820 Windows models, it chose to crank out older Windows models like 800 and 610 for remarkably aggressive Christmas promotions. As European markets are now hitting 50% smartphone market penetration, consumer demand is shifting towards cheap models, and Apple cannot compete in the budget category. The new first-time smartphone buyers have a lot lower household income than the consumers who bought smartphones in 2010. In the recession-ravaged Europe, the upgrade cycle is lengthening and prepaid smartphones are a more important part of the overall product mix.
[More from BGR: RIM’s biggest problem: It’s still scrambling to catch yesterday’s hottest mobile app]
As a result, Windows market share in Italy hit a stunning 11.8% in November despite the razor thin availability of the Lumia 920. Windows has already erased most of the market share lead iPhone had in Italy. The iOS market share slipped to 20.6% during the last month. In Spain, Windows market share vaulted to 3% from 0.4% a year earlier while iOS share faded to 4.4%. As the affordable HTC (2498) 8S ramps up and the even cheaper Lumia 620 launches at the end of January, Windows may overtake iPhone in Spain already in February.
The strong performance Apple had in France and the United Kingdom kept its overall European market share climbing by 2.5 percentage points in November. But in Southern Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia, iPhone is slipping badly due to the lack of a low-end version. This is what is driving the Google (GOOG) Play revenue surge globally as Android apps now narrow the huge lead Apple built in the app market before the year 2012. Apple may well have to reconsider its iPhone pricing strategy in a fundamental way. Maintaining $620 ASP level globally could lead to a scenario where Android has 10-to-1 volume lead outside the United States and Northern Europe, and Windows actually has a shot at pulling well ahead of Apple in lower income countries from Spain to Brazil to South-East Asia.

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Mobile apps slowly creeping up on TV as the lazy person’s favorite pastime

Some day, we may refer to lazy and docile people as “app potatoes.” New data from Flurry Analytics shows that Americans are spending more time using mobile apps than ever before, and are now spending nearly as much time using them as they spend watching television. According to Flurry, U.S. consumers now spend 127 minutes per day using mobile apps, up from just 94 minutes per day one year ago. Television, by contrast, has remained constant as Americans spent an average of 168 minutes per day watching TV in both 2011 and 2012. Flurry doesn’t think that apps are just a fad either, as the firm writes that “we ultimately expect apps on tablets and smartphones to challenge broadcast television as the dominant channel for media consumption.”

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Internet governance talks in jeopardy as Arab states, Russia ally

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A landmark attempt to set global rules for overseeing the Internet threatened to fall apart on Friday as a rift pitting the United States and some Western countries against the rest of the world widened, participants in the talks said. A 12-day conference of the International Telecommunications Union, taking place in Dubai, is supposed to result in the adoption of a new international treaty governing trans-border communications. But in a critical session at the midpoint of the conference on Friday, delegates refused to adopt a U.S.-Canadian proposal to limit the treaty's scope to traditional communications carriers and exclude Internet companies such as Google, the ITU said on its website. Further complicating the negotiations was what a U.S. official at the talks called the "surprise" announcement of an accord among some Arab states, Russia and other countries to pursue treaty amendments that are expected to include Internet provisions unacceptable to the United States A still-secret draft of the coalition's proposals is to be introduced soon by the United Arab Emirates, the official said. "It doesn't look good," said a former U.S. intelligence official tracking the talks for private technology clients. The emergence of the new coalition, whose members are generally seeking greater Internet censorship and surveillance, is likely to harden battle lines separating those countries from the United States and some allies in Western Europe. The United States and others objected to the introduction of complex new material midway through the conference. "All of the indicators we have so far is it's something that could be a clear effort to extend the treaty to cover Net governance," said policy counsel Emma Llanso of the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology, which draws funding from Google and other U.S. Internet companies. "What we're seeing is governments putting forward their visions of the future of the Internet, and if we see a large group of governments form that sees an Internet a lot more locked down and controlled, that's a big concern." CONCERNS ABOUT GOVERNMENT CONTROLS The U.S. ambassador to the conference said in an earlier interview that his country would not sign any agreement that dramatically increased government controls over the Internet. That would potentially isolate America and its allies from much of the world, and technology leaders fear that the rest of the globe would agree on actions such as identifying political dissidents who use the Internet and perhaps trying to alter the Net's architecture to permit more control. The 147-year-old ITU, which is now under the auspices of the United Nations, historically has set technology standards and established payment customs for international phone calls. But under Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, it has inched toward cyber-security and electronic content issues, arguing that Internet traffic goes over phone lines and is therefore within its purview. The ITU is considering other issues in its most extensive rewrite of the treaty in 15 years, including proposals that content providers shoulder the costs of transmission. But none is as controversial as the projected Internet controls. The Internet's infrastructure, while initially funded in part by the U.S. government, is now largely in private hands. It has been subject to little government control, although many nations have attempted to regulate Internet communications in various ways. ICANN, a self-governing nonprofit under contract to the U.S. Department of Commerce, is ultimately responsible for making sure that people trying to reach a given website actually get there, but most technology policies are developed by industry groups. At the ITU meeting, the American delegation had counted on support from at least Japan, Australia and other affluent democracies. But its effort to stave off wholesale changes has been hindered by complications in Western Europe, where some countries were supporting a change to the economic model that would have Google, Facebook and others pay for at least some of the costs of Internet transmission. Smaller groups at the ITU conference will work through the weekend, with the full body meeting again on Monday.

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How one startup is overhauling Android to make it enterprise-ready

The common misconception that Android isn’t secure enough for the business world or government employees is about to change. A Boston-based startup called Optio Labs has created a custom version of Google’s (GOOG) mobile operating system that can control what can and cannot be accessed depending on location, network or running apps. The technology can even allow a phone to display sensitive company data or block things like texting and camera usage based on room-specific security and access settings, Technology Review reported. This unique feature can utilize a Bluetooth beacon that, when in range, would send a cryptographic tether to a device. It would also be possible to use near field communications to view sensitive information, theoretically forcing workers to “bump” their bosses phone to get initial access. “You can dream up just about any rule, it can be your GPS location, or an indoor location detection: when you are in this specific room you can use these apps and connect to this data, but the moment you walk out we will delete the data, shut down the apps, prevent you from getting access to them,” said Jules White, co-founder of the company. The technology could prevent information from being lost or stolen and can increase productivity by stopping workers from texting and spending time on social networking sites while in the office. Optio Labs is said to have sold its custom Android software and accompanying policy-management system to undisclosed systems integrators and smartphone manufacturers. Android devices containing the software are expected to arrive on the market in late 2013.

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New Android apps worth downloading: Kickvox, Splice, Spellwood: Word Game Adventure

Kickvox is a visual search engine designed specifically for mobile devices. We’ve got a pair of quality games for your approval including Splice, a title that’s all about recombining cells to make new organisms, and Spellwood, a word game for people who are new to word games. Kickvox (Free) What’s it about? Kickvox is a search engine app designed for mobile devices that emphasizes visual search results, rather than lists of links. What’s cool? An emphasis on search results you can see makes Kickvox a little easier to use than your usual web search engine, especially on a mobile device while you’re out in the world. The app is also designed to provide answers, rather than just search results. You can type in questions as well as keywords. Kickvox also makes navigation through search results easier by letting you quickly click through them, rather than hitting a Back button to return to results, and keeps a history of everything you’ve searched so you can find it again later. Who’s it for? Users who handle their Android devices like information-seeking computers when they’re out in the world will definitely find a use for Kickvox. What’s it like? Google Search is another solid app for finding info on the go, as is Alfred. Splice ($2.99) What’s it about? Puzzler Splice has players recombining microbial cells to make specific structures and solve each of the game’s levels. What’s cool? Splice is something of a weird take on the puzzle genre, offering something new in its microbe-rearranging mechanics. You only have a limited number of moves, or “splices,” in each level to make the target structure, so you’ll have to work carefully and strategically to get through. Splice includes more than 75 puzzles, and each one has more than a single solution, so you can try to find the best ways through each one and challenge your friends to beat them as well. Who’s it for? Splice is for puzzle fans, especially those who are looking for something that’s a little different from the usual fare. What’s it like? Check out Osmos for another interesting puzzler with a bacterial feel. Spellwood: Word Game Adventure ($1.99) What’s it about? Word game Spellwood is like Scrabble, and has players dueling with one another to make the best words and rack up the highest scores. What’s cool? Spellwood includes both a single-player mode, in which players go on an adventure of on their own, and multiplayer modes that allow you to take on players from all over the world, or friends through Facebook Connect. The game is also a simplified version of crossword titles like Scrabble and Words With Friends, which makes it great for novice players. In keeping with the magical theme, players can change things like word score values and other aspects of the game using magic spells. Who’s it for? Spellwood is particularly good for novice word game players, and those who want to ease into the genre with something a little simpler.

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SEC wrestles with Internet age in Netflix case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A regulatory probe of Netflix Inc over disclosures made on its chief executive's Facebook page could prove an important test of whether a rule designed to prevent leaks to analysts can translate to the social media age. The movie and TV streaming service revealed on Thursday that it may face action from the Securities and Exchange Commission if the agency determines the comments from CEO Reed Hastings violate a rule that requires information to be disclosed to investors at the same time. Hastings' Facebook page had more than 200,000 subscribers, including reporters and analysts, when he told them on July 3 that the company had hit 1 billion hours viewed in June. By comparison, cable financial news network CNBC had 175,000 viewers and Fox Business News had 59,000 viewers on December 6, according to the website TV by the Numbers, citing Nielsen data. But the case may not hinge on whether Hastings' Facebook page qualifies as a public dissemination. Instead, it may come down to two other issues. One, whether the information was material to investors. And two, if it was material, whether investors knew that Hastings' Facebook page was a venue to release important company news. As evidence of materiality, the SEC could point to statements Hastings made earlier in the year highlighting milestones, including hours streamed, as metrics investors should watch. But the company contends the July 3 comments were not material. It says that the company posted a blog entry a few weeks earlier that said the company was approaching that milestone. Also, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman testified before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on June 27, and said at the beginning of his testimony that Netflix "delivers close to a billion hours of streaming movies and TV shows to its consumers every month." Such prior disclosure could hurt any SEC case. "Whether what he said is materially different from what the company has already disseminated, that may be a real challenge for the commission to maintain that position in court," said former SEC lawyer Eugene Goldman who is now with McDermott Will & Emery. But movements of the company's stock price could bolster an SEC case if the agency can prove the stock jumped on the news. Netflix attributed the jump in its stock price to a positive analyst report released the night prior to Hastings' Facebook post. The stock closed at $67.85 on July 2, and opened one percent higher the next day at $68.49, on a positive report from Citigroup. The stock closed at $72.04 on July 3, a six percent jump that would be unusual from an analyst report alone. 'LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD' The second issue of whether Hastings' Facebook page was a known source of material company news goes to the heart of whether the SEC's rules - and its interpretation of them - are outdated. SEC adopted the rule at issue, Regulation Fair Disclosure, or Reg FD, in 2000 over concerns that companies were meeting with small groups of analysts or institutional investors and disclosing material information to them. The concern was that "shortly after these types of meetings, trading would take place on the basis of such information," Goldman said. "This seems a lot different from that." The new potential action raises questions about whether the rule was designed to address disclosures like the one made by Hastings. "There's a huge divide between CEOs living in the real world and the financial industry, which lives behind regulatory walls. Reg FD is built for the old way of communicating from behind these walls," said Howard Lindzon, a hedge fund manager and founder and CEO of StockTwits, a social network for traders and investors to share real-time ideas and information about stocks. Reg FD does not delve into the use of social media for disclosing information to investors. But the SEC issued guidance on the subject in August 2008. That guidance states that companies can use websites to disclose information as long as they are a "recognized channel of distribution." To determine that threshold, the SEC lists factors companies should weigh, including whether their site is "posted and accessible" and also whether "the company has made investors and the markets aware that it will post important information" on the website. Netflix may have hurt itself on this point, if the SEC is able to prove that the information was material. Hastings acknowledged in a blog posting on Thursday that the company does not "use Facebook and other social media to get material information to investors." The SEC is likely to home in on that comment as it continues its case against the company. But Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors who has posted company-related developments on his Twitter feed, said it is hard to believe that the SEC could consider a CEO's Facebook post to be a narrow release. He noted that reporters regularly follow companies' and executives' social media posts. "To consider a press release to be a more public venue than a Facebook or Twitter account where someone is followed by hundreds of thousands of people, including the press themselves, is simply untrue," Musk said in an email.

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