It’s true. Audiovox , a relative no-name in terms of consumer end products in the music industry, has just signed a non-binding term sheet to purchase all of the shares of Klipsch Group and its worldwide subsidiaries. We’re told that the transaction is subject to a number of contingencies, “including satisfactory completion of due diligence, negotiation and signing of definitive agreements and requisite approvals,” but we can’t imagine anything popping up to stop the inevitable. No hard financial terms were revealed, and there’s no estimated closing date for the deal. Oddly enough, Klipsch was here at CES unveiling a smattering of new products, and Audiovox was also here showing off far, far less interesting gear. We’re hoping and praying that Audiovox allows Klipsch to continue working as its own entity rather than swallowing ‘em whole and stifling innovation with corporate bureaucracy (similar to how Disney lets ESPN run its own show ), but we’ll be honest — we’re feeling a little uneasy about it. Klipsch is definitely one of our favorite audio companies around, and the last thing we’d want is to see a good company get hit with an undue amount of heavy-handed corporate control. Here’s hoping for the best! P.S. – If you missed our Klipsch headquarters walkthrough from a year ago, feel free to have a peek. Continue reading Audiovox to buy Klipsch, we can’t help but worry Audiovox to buy Klipsch, we can’t help but worry originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Mustang next to get SYNC AppLink smartphone integration, we hope to be next to get a Mustang
January 7, 2011 No Comment
If you’ve been paying attention to our auto coverage from CES this year, posts with pictures of pretty cars that go tearing down the page amidst the flood of tablets and superphones, you might have spotted our hands-on with SYNC AppLink . It’s making its debut in the 2011 Ford Fiesta, letting smartphoners stream Pandora and a few other apps right through the car. Now Ford is confirming that the 2012 Mustang is going to be next to get the nod and, like on the current Fiesta, it’ll be free. That said, if you can’t resist ticking the boxes next to the premium options you can choose to add voice-activated navigation, which includes an 8-inch touchscreen that also displays AppLink information. No word on cost for that just yet, but you can check out the interface in the pictures below. Gallery: Ford Mustang SYNC AppLink Continue reading Mustang next to get SYNC AppLink smartphone integration, we hope to be next to get a Mustang Mustang next to get SYNC AppLink smartphone integration, we hope to be next to get a Mustang originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The more things change, the more they stay the same at MSI, as the company’s two tablets — due to ship within three months — still feel like early prototypes. MSI showed off both its Windows 7 and Android 10-inch slates at CES 2011, now known as the WindPad 100W and WindPad 100A, and both sport last-gen tablet specs. Despite pitching the Windows device as an Oak Trail device , the WindPad 100W’s still got a 1.66GHz Atom Menlow Z530 CPU here, and Windows 7 is seriously laggy and unresponsive despite the presence of a 32GB SSD and 2GB of RAM. Though it have the promised HDMI port, it’s basically the same device we saw in May of last year. Meanwhile, the WindPad 100A (nee WindPad 110 ) has indeed had a redesign , but possibly for the worse — it presently only has a single physical key pulling double-duty as Back and Power, and apparently there’s no Tegra 2, just a ARM Cortex A8 chip from an undisclosed vendor. It’s actually got a fairly useful custom skin on top to display icons at proper tablet resolution and quickly swap between multimedia, Android Market, and a full 1GB of RAM, but the device wasn’t anything special otherwise, and if you ask us, an Android 2.2 tablet with these specs is going to be a hard sell in a post-CES 2011 world. Still, it’s always possible MSI could pull things together at the last minute and surprise us. PR after the break. Gallery: MSI WindPad 100W and 100A tablets at CES 2011 Continue reading MSI WindPad 100W and 100A tablets hit CES 2011, we go hands-on MSI WindPad 100W and 100A tablets hit CES 2011, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Wrap your head around this one, you have your Google TV connected to your TV and your DVR, and now you’ll soon be able to connect to a Sling Box in other room, house, city, country, and watch that content too. This Flash app optimized for Google TV was on display at CES and reminds us more of the Sling Player app on a portable than a Google TV app. No word on when it might be available or how much it’ll cost — you didn’t think it’d be free did you? — but it did seem to work pretty well in our short time with it. Gallery: Sling Player coming to Google TV The SlingPlayer coming to the Google TV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Samsung made a lot of noise about its first-party Smart TV initiative yesterday, so we had to stop by and check things out — especially that new WiFi-based RMC30D Smart Touch Remote , which comes bundled with all new 8000-series TVs and above. (It also works with the 7000 series, but you have to buy it separately.) Unfortunately, things weren’t working so well — tons of WiFi interference in the area made control hard to do, and the system itself was a confusing UI nightmare made worse by the remote’s slow resistive touchscreen. Oh, and did we mention that the remote itself is a straight-up iPhone 3G KIRF? Because yeah — it is. Things were slightly improved when we loaded up the soon-to-be-released Android control app on a nearby Fascinate, but that didn’t fix the essential issues with the UI — it’s very much just a picture of a regular remote drawn on the screen, which rarely works well on a touchscreen device. Don’t just take our word for it — check the video after the break. Gallery: Samsung RMC30D Smart Touch remote hands-on Gallery: Samsung Smart Touch Android remote app hands-on Continue reading Samung Smart Touch Remote and Smart TV hands-on Samung Smart Touch Remote and Smart TV hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Panasonic and Verizon team up to Mobile HD Visual Communications System using LTE
January 7, 2011 No Comment
LTE is hardly available everywhere, but that’s not stopping Verizon from looking for novel ways to exploit all that lovely bandwidth, recently partnering with OnStar to do everything from streaming in-car security cameras to Skype video chatting from the highway. Now it’s Panasonic getting down with 4G, the two companies partnering to the Mobile High Definition Visual Communications System, basically a collection of remotely controlled cameras, microphones, and a display on each end that enables two distant sites to communicate wirelessly. The initial implementations here are primarily medical, like an ambulance calling ahead and giving doctors an idea of what’s inbound, or a patient being able to visit with a doctor remotely. However, we can see plenty of other potential applications going forward. Remote access to the CES show floor so that everyone can experience the insanity? Oh yeah. Continue reading Panasonic and Verizon team up to Mobile HD Visual Communications System using LTE Panasonic and Verizon team up to Mobile HD Visual Communications System using LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We said we’d bring you an Verizon LTE speed test on the Acer Iconia Tab A500 , but we can give you better than that — here’s a test of latency in cross-platform online multiplayer gaming and a FiOS app that streams live television. Hosting a game of Dungeon Defenders on an Alienware M11x laptop (also connected to LTE), Verizon joined the party with an Acer Iconia Tab, and a pair of the slates were able to go head-to-head in a peer-to-peer Asphalt 5 race over LTE as well. What’s more, the carrier showed us an experimental version of its FiOS DVR Manager app, which streamed live television to the Iconia over LTE — similar to what we saw on the iPad . Unlike the games, it was choppy and took some time to cache, but we’ll have to see what it’s like when (or if) it’s finalized. Of course, if you had just clicked the play button on the above video instead of reading these words, you’d already know all that. Gallery: Verizon LTE multiplayer gaming on Acer’s Iconia Tab Eyes-on: Verizon LTE gaming and live TV on the Acer Iconia Tab (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Last year at CES, we had a surprise visit from RED’s Ted Schilowitz showing off their non-functioning RED Scarlet prototype. Ted just stopped by our trailer again, this time with a working version and it’s a seriously impressive piece of hardware. We grabbed a camera and sat down with Ted for an in-depth hands-on, so head on past the break for the exclusive video and some details! Gallery: Hands-on with the RED Scarlet 3K at CES 2011 Continue reading Working RED Scarlet appears at our trailer, we go hands-on! (video) Working RED Scarlet appears at our trailer, we go hands-on! (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Tick, the CPU and GPU get integrated into the same 32nm die , tock, they both go down to 22nm with the latter gaining DirectX 11 support. Intel’s only just unveiled its Sandy Bridge processors, but the next update to the company’s desktop and laptop hardware has already gained an important detail. Mooly Eden, general manager for the PC Client Group, has disclosed the news that Ivy Bridge — the die shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture — will include DX 11 graphical capabilities when it arrives late in 2011. We’re inclined to agree with Intel that DirectX 11 really wasn’t a necessary implementation for Sandy Bridge given its humble gaming credentials, but Mooly expects a lot more applications will have harnessed the available APIs by the time we come to cross the Ivy Bridge. Let’s hope it is so. Intel’s next CPU refresh will include DirectX 11 graphics support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Vizio CES hands-on with ultrawidescreen TV, passive 3DTV, OnLive and Android clock radios
January 7, 2011 No Comment
Predictably, as the leader in North American LCD sales, Vizio’s booth was absolutely filled with LCD HDTVs, including the slew of displays announced this week during CES. We got some hands-on time with the OnLive implementation Vizio’s bringing to its VIA Plus (read: Google TV) as well as the Versus single screen head-to-head gaming setup — which you can check out on Joystiq — a quick look at new soundbars with wireless subwoofers, new headphones and even an interesting Android-powered clock radio with integrated iPod dock, but our biggest question was if the new Theater 3D tech based on LG’s FPR passive 3D screens was ready for prime time. Check out a few more pics in the gallery and our impressions after the break. Gallery: Vizio’s CES showcase Continue reading Vizio CES hands-on with ultrawidescreen TV, passive 3DTV, OnLive and Android clock radios Vizio CES hands-on with ultrawidescreen TV, passive 3DTV, OnLive and Android clock radios originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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