Day: October 18, 2012

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From Geeks are Sexy Technology News: Amazon targets large groups with Kindle distribution tool


Amazon is introducing a podcast like distribution tool for documents, aimed at schools and businesses.

The new free tool, Whispercast, allows an organization to link multiple devices in a form of network, though files only transfer in one direction. Managers will be able to put individual Kindles into separate groups (for example corporate departments or different school classes) and then automatically send materials to everyone in a particular group. Users will need to be on Wi-Fi rather than 3G to get the content.

The system will work with personal documents, meaning a teacher could create and send a lesson schedule to every pupil, or a human resources department could distribute a new staff manual. The Whispercast service will also allow organizations to send documents to anyone with a device that runs the Kindle app.

As well as personal documents, organizations can distribute Kindle books through Whispercast. For example, a school could buy an electronic textbook “in bulk” and send it to an entire class. It’s not clear if there’ll be special pricing for such purchases.

The idea is that the system will work whether users bring their own Kindles or if the organization buys devices for them. For those who hand out Kindles, there’ll be tools to centrally register them, require a password, control Internet access, and decide what if any material users can buy on the Kindle. There will also be a tool to block users from carrying out a factory reset or deregistering a Kindle and transferring it to their own account.

Amazon is also offering bulk discounts to schools or businesses that buy a batch of Kindles. It’s not offering specific discounts but rather inviting buyers to ask for a quote.

(Image credit: Amazon)

[Whispercast]

from Geeks are Sexy Technology News

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From Droid Life: Apple’s Apology to Samsung Will Happen, Judge Says No Less Than 14pt Arial Font

Apple’s appeal has been lost, and a public apology is all that is left to do in a U.K. case between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. According to the judge, Apple’s apology must appear on their official website and in newspapers while featuring the Arial font with a size of no less than 14pt.

As for when we can expect to see an apology, we still await the details. How about that for comedy?

Via: Gizmodo

from Droid Life

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From Ars Technica: Boxee to offer cloud DVR service, over-the-air channels next month

Boxee plans to offer a new set-top box that will allow users to get over-the-air broadcast channels and access to a cloud DVR service, as reported by GigaOM Tuesday. The cloud DVR comes with a monthly fee, but will allow for unlimited storage space as it launches in a handful of cities next month.

The new box forgoes the XBMC platform used in older hardware in favor of a custom Linux-based operating system. The hardware itself is manufactured by D-Link, uses a Broadcom chip rather than the Intel chips in the old Boxee box, and looks like an unassuming black set-top box instead of Boxee’s usual oddly shaped-polygon balancing on one of its corners.

For the new product and service set, Boxee is streamlining its app offerings down to an essential few, including Vimeo, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, and Vudu. The over-the-air service and apps appear to be launching without regional restrictions, but the DVR service will only be available in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washington, DC at first, with more markets coming in 2013. Once shows are recorded, users can watch them on a TV or through an HTML5 Web application on a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

from Ars Technica

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From Autoblog: Hyundai, Broadcom to equip vehicles with built-in ethernet

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Hyundai is the second manufacturer after BMW – having put its Flexray ethernet system into the X5 – to pledge to install Ethernet technology in its cars. This isn’t a ploy to give you yet another place to work on those regional sales spreadsheets, it’s about reducing vehicle complexity while making the cars and their systems more efficient. The Korean manufacturer will be doing so in conjunction with Broadcom, the U.S. firm having created the “one pair Ethernet” (OPEN) special interest group that now counts 81 members.

Various in-vehicle electronics use a variety of protocols, primary among them being control area network (CAN), local area network (LAN) and low voltage differential signaling (LVDS). Broadcom wants to integrate those incompatible and highly specialized systems into one Ethernet system – the same plug-and-play one your computer can use all over the world – and in doing so make Ethernet “the backbone of the car.”

Developed with BMW and Hyundai, Broadcom’s BroadR-Reach standard uses two unshielded cables instead of four, which allows for light and inexpensive wiring that can be fit through a bodyshell’s tight spots. Achieving the kind of consolidation ultimately envisioned would bring numerous and wide-ranging advantages like lowering the cost and complexity of electronics, at the same time allowing for greater electronics capabilities inside the car like 360-degree car camera security systems, using the same IP standard familiar around the world, allowing for speeds from 100 Mbps to 1 GBbps for faster and better communication between systems, just for starters. Lighter wiring – and there’s a lot of it in a car – also means lighter cars.

That futuristic world is still in the future, though. Automakers are naturally keen to develop Ethernet applications in phases, such as focusing just on infotainment, to make sure it can stand up to the rigors of an automobile’s daily life. Hyundai hasn’t said which of its products will be the first in line or when that vehicle reach showrooms, but has cited infotainment, lane departure warning, park assist and telematics as the features likely to benefit. Read more in the press release below.

Continue reading Hyundai, Broadcom to equip vehicles with built-in ethernet

from Autoblog