It seems SlashGear has a friendly relationship going with Notion Ink, the makers of the Pixel Qi (demo 1, 2) / NVIDIA Tegra / Android powered Internet Tablet (a winning combo in my opinion). The guys have posted new renderings of the Adam, which are said to be closer to the final design that will make its appearance at Mobile World Congress 2010 next week (above is Notion Ink’s photo collage from CES). Also revealed… Adam will have battery life capabilities surpassing Apple iPad’s 10-hour claim and that it will be available in two sizes — though no specifics other than the thickness of the two models were given (12.9 & 11.6 mm | the iPad is 13.4 mm thick). And lastly, Notion Ink will soon be announcing a “Developer Challenge” competition with a prize fund of $1 million for the best Android apps targeted for the Adam and Internet Tablets in general. FYI, I just discovered through SlashGear’s CES video (embedded below) that Adam will support Adobe AIR apps (like TweetDeck and others) in addition to Flash-based content through the web browser. That’s big news in this space… and may mean Adam will be one of the first tablets to tap into the upcoming Digital Magazine Storefront.  MORE »

Good news for folks who had their eye on the original O!Play HDP-R1 released back in the Summer of 2009 (now under $100 on Amazon), but were unsatisfied with the fact that it only offered Ethernet network connectivity. ASUS’ new O!Play Air HDP-R3 now sports built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi and a multi-format memory card reader. Of course, all the goodness that made the original great is still in there — like the USB 2.0/e-SATA port, 1080p video output via HDMI v1.3, and support for nearly every conceivable media format/container including MKV, ISO, VOB, MTS, H.264, VC-1, etc. MSRP on the ASUS O!Play Air HDP-R3 is $139.99 (presently $129.99 at Amazon). MORE »

I have a feeling Auto Rip n Compress is going to be everyone’s next “must-have” add-in for Windows Media Center. The add-in allows you to easily rip DVD or Blu-ray movies from your couch using only your remote. Of course, you’ll need to have some software pre-installed on your PC — like AnyDVD HD, Handbrake, ImgBurn, Haali Media Splitter, etc. — and a free account with Get Digital Data (aka GD3) to get the whole experience going. But after that, though, you’ll be in ripping nirvana making compressed or uncompressed movie copies complete with metadata and cover art. By the way, if you like Auto Rip n Compress, consider making a PayPal donation to the developer — it’s good karma. [via] MORE »

Sure the idea of ripping all your Blu-ray discs to your PC’s hard drive or networked home server sounds appealing, but the reality of going through the process isn’t quite as pleasant — especially when you consider how much storage space you’ll need (an uncompressed Blu-ray movie copy can be 25+ GB in size). Enter the S1Digital Blu-ray Disc Changer (MSRP $1,499). According to the company’s press release (attached below), the S1Digital Blu-ray Disc Changer can supply your Windows Vista / 7 Media Center PC or Windows Home Server an instant catalog of available movies to play or serve up. In addition, S1Digital is bundling in a free copy of the My Movies add-in to manage your collection and pull all the relevant metadata and cover art to keep your library of Blu-ray movies up to date. MORE »

Strategy Analytics has a released a new research study dubbed, Profiling the Connected Media Consumer: a Contextual Study, that examines what owners and potential buyers of network enabled HDTVs are looking for and/or expecting in their “Connected TV.” The good news… vocal early adopters are already guiding what features and services their products should support (as evidenced by the number of firmware updates supporting additional services like Netflix, Blockbuster, Pandora, etc.). Strategy Analytics has found that there are four core motivators for consumers to connect their televisions to the internet: personalization (i.e. widgets), customization, interest driven content (i.e. video podcasts/channels), and social experiences (i.e. Facebook, Twitter). The report also revealed that consumers prefer multi-function TVs that don’t require an additional set-top box and are able to stream media through their LAN or internet wirelessly. All in all, nothing especially new here, if you’ve been following eHomeUpgrade for some time now. MORE »

Uh, oh. It looks like Apple will soon be the only tablet manufacture able to produce a device with a touch sensitive bezel control interface. (Now it’s starting to make sense why version one the Apple iPad has such a thick bezel, instead of going flush with the display.) According the USPTO website, Apple Inc. filed for the patent (7,656,393) in 2006 and was just granted it today. I must admit… the detailed examples of how the “intelligent bezel” will work are sound — especially given the fact they work universally no matter if the tablet is in a portrait or landscape position. Elements of the bezel include: power (always top-center), menu (always in one of the four corners), up (on left/right side mid-screen), down (on left/right side mid-screen), left-click (center-bottom), select (center-bottom), right-click (center-bottom). What’s more, the touch bezel is able to ignore areas after it has been touched and held in place for a certain amount time. I’m guessing this bit is probably the trickiest part of the technology to get right. Note: the patent is not exclusive to “tablets,” but can be applied to just about any portable consumer electronics device with a bezel and display. Ouch…. I’m wondering how this will affect devices like the Palm Pre which has a bezel finger swipe control? I’m hoping not at all if the functions a touch bezel provides are significantly different than what Apple has diagrammed in its patent. [via] MORE »

It appears that Chromium OS developers have begun laying the groundwork on a custom Tablet UI layer for Chrome OS. While things are just in the “visual exploration” phase, the mockups  give us a sneak peek at what a future Google Tablet may look like — and I’ve got say… it looks pretty darn cool. In fact, some of the proposed features are so fresh that they’re difficult to describe. Quoted below is the developer’s explanation of what you’re looking at in the attached concept video, as well as the UI mockup renderings included below. MORE »

We’ve seen our fair share of Android tablets at CES and many have finally sobered up after the Apple iPad unveiling. So what now? How about a Windows 7 powered device with no compromises? French firm, ExoPC, has a 8.9-inch (1024×600) tablet expected to ship this March called the ExoPC Slate. What makes this product unique is that they’ve gone through the trouble of creating a touch UI layer on top of Windows 7 Professional (something I suggested to HP) to operate the device and provide media-centric functionality. Its unclear if the ExoPC can toggle between its custom interface and the Windows 7 default environment (which, by the way, does support touch), though I’m guessing it can. Additional details should be available closer to launch, but in the meantime have a look at ExoPC’s handy comparison chart pitting their $599 32GB device against the Apple iPad and ARCHOS 9PCtablet. MORE »

Good news for Apple iPhone and iPod touch users. Logitech has added a new app to the iTunes App Store called Touch Mouse. The FREE app turns your handheld into a wireless remote for your Windows or Mac computer (requires installation of the Touch Mouse Server software). Touch Mouse’s feature highlights include: multi-touch trackpad, keyboard (including CTRL, ALT, super key), left/center/right 3-button mouse setup, two-finger scrolling, on-screen text display while typing, and landscape and portrait operation modes. Not bad, Logitech! Alternative Logitech product: diNovo Mini.

Image credit: OhGizmo!

It occurred to me that the Apple iPad has no native, cross-platform media streaming capabilities (a big missed opportunity if you ask me). Being the case, I did a quick search on Google for an iPhone app, since most are compatible with the new iPad, and discovered PlugPlayer (iTunes – $4.99). What’s interesting is that not only does PlugPlayer allow you stream and playback music (including FLAC and OGG Vorbis), photos, and video from any network connected DLNA/UPnP storage server or PC it also allows you to remotely control a music player docked iPod Touch (similar to the Tango remote app we covered earlier) with your iPhone — and I’m guessing via the iPad as well. Below is a quick user-created video demo of the software in action. MORE »