OmniVision OV2724 should lead to super-small, 1080p60 front phone cameras

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/omnivision-ov2724-may-lead-to-super-small-1080p60-front-cameras/

When most front-facing mobile cameras are shoehorned in between a myriad of sensors, they seldom have the breathing room they'd need for truly noteworthy performance. OmniVision can't quite defy physics, but its new OV2724 sensor could challenge at least a few of our common assumptions. The OV2722 successor stuffs 1080p imaging into the company's smallest chip of the kind, at 5mm by 5mm by 3.5mm -- ideally, leading to full HD front cameras in tinier devices. Full-size devices still stand to benefit, though. The OV2724 has the headroom to record at an extra-smooth 60 frames per second, and individual frames should be more eye-catching between the higher dynamic range and better low light shooting. The only frustration left is having to wait for mass production of the new sensor in the summer quarter -- we won't see any phones or tablets reaping the rewards for at least a few months.

Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Tablets

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Source: OmniVision

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New Sirius XM CEO considering infotainment, in-car safety offerings

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/sirius-xm-infotainment/

Satellite-based streaming is a successful enough enterprise for the time being, but even the most naive of executives must know that the momentum isn't sure to last. In-car LTE and cheap web-based solutions provide access to millions of tracks on demand, making other options less relevant. Doom and gloom aside, there's still an opportunity to remain afloat, and Sirius XM's new CEO, Jim Meyer, has a plan to diversify his company's portfolio of products.

The music would continue to flow, but OnStar-like options would become available as well, according to a Reuters interview with Meyer. Other services, such as weather, realtime gas prices, roadside assistance and stolen car tracking could be implemented with the company's existing satellite infrastructure, and might be offered on a subscription basis down the line. "This is going to take a while," according to the new chief executive, who said that the new products might be implemented in certain 2017 and 2018 vehicles, but likely not sooner. Sadly, he's not talking details just yet, but there may be more to share before the end of next year.

Filed under: Transportation, Wireless

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Source: Reuters

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Qualcomm aims to solve the coming mobile data crunch with small cell base stations

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/qualcomm-small-cell-network/

Qualcomm's been doing very well lately, and most of those chips it builds are for mobile devices that demand a lot of data to serve their owners' needs -- and as more and more folks jump on the smartphone bandwagon, the demand for data will continue to grow exponentially. Today at Qualcomm's What's Next in Mobile event in Santa Clara, California, the company told us more about its plan to help build a network that'll be able to serve up the data all its SoC's need. The goal is to give us 1000 times the capacity of what we currently have. One of the key parts, as Qualcomm sees it, is small cell base stations in homes, offices and retail spaces working in tandem with the large cell towers that currently adorn so many roofs and mountain tops -- the same thing ex-FCC head honcho Julian Genachowski talked about last year.

You see, macrocells (read: towers) can blanket wide areas in signal, but they struggle to penetrate the innards of buildings, which is where small cells come in handy. For those who aren't familiar, small cell base stations like femtocells and picocells have been around for years, helping to boost cell signal in small areas by hooking into a local wired network. Until now, these small cells have served as a small-scale supplement to macro networks, but Qualcomm CTO Matt Grob sees them comprising a much bigger chunk of the network of the future. According to him, there are a few issues with using them in an expanded role, however.

Filed under: Mobile

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Acer Aspire V5 11.6-inch notebook leaked with $450 price tag, unexpected AMD Temash chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/30/acer-aspire-v5-amd-temash/

While AMD announced its new Temash APU (alongside others) at this year's CES, the only device we've seen sporting it was an intriguing reference hybrid that made the rounds at the show. Now, details of an Acer Aspire V5 notebook have emerged, indicating the company is preparing its first Temash-powered device for general consumption. Acer already has a trio of Aspire V5 models with Intel Core processors and NVIDIA handling the graphics, but a half-complete product page for an unannounced V5-122P-0643 swaps those components out for AMD's wares. Formally called the AMD A6-1450, the Temash APU combines a quad-core 1GHz processor -- or 1.4GHz in "Turbo" state -- with a Radeon HD 8280 GPU. When put into tablets, it has an unusually low, sub-5W power envelope that allows for passive cooling. While we don't know exactly what wattage this Acer notebook will have, the presence of Temash should bode well for battery l! ife. Hea d past the break for more details.

Filed under: Laptops, AMD, Acer

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Via: MiniMachines

Source: Acer

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Netflix original series 'Orange is the New Black' debuting July 11th

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/30/netflix-orange-is-the-new-black/

Despite having recently introduced the likes of Hemlock Grove and House of Cards, Netflix isn't staying put and is now boosting its original content with yet another production: Orange is the New Black. The new comedic drama series, created by Weeds' own Jenji Kohan, is set to start streaming to worldwide Netflix subscribers beginning July 11th. Similar to Netflix's House of Cards, Orange is the New Black consists of thirteen episodes running at around 60 minutes -- however, the main story here won't be based on drama coming out of D.C., but rather a "world populated with unforgettable characters and no-holds-barred humor set against the backdrop of a women's prison." Be sure to peruse over the PR after the break, where you'll find more deets about the plot as well as the full cast.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: Netflix

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