Cable manufacturer Chromis is taking orders for DisplayPort 1.4 active optical cables it’s billing as 8K-HDMI-ready. The pre-terminated cables support 8K60 display stream compression, 8K30 and 4K120 video, it said. No power is required, said the company.
Home security product company SimpliSafe is representing the tech category during the Super Bowl, Adweek reported Tuesday, the company’s first such appearance. A 30-second spot is set to air in the first quarter, it said. Creative agency Preacher won't give a sneak peek, nor did it respond to questions Wednesday.
Amazon began delivery by automated vehicles Wednesday in a neighborhood in Snohomish County, Washington, it blogged. A promotional video shows a six-wheeler, the “size of a small cooler,” rolling along a sidewalk at what Amazon calls a “walking pace” and then stopping in front of a home for drop-off. A customer, who has been notified that the bot has arrived, walks out the door to the sidewalk, picks up the lid and retrieves her package. Many questions remain about the program, but Amazon’s initial description says six Amazon Scout devices will deliver packages Monday through Friday during daylight hours in the community. Though the all-electric bots will be autonomous, they will initially be accompanied by an Amazon employee, but the company didn’t say how long that would last. Scout was developed at Amazon’s R&D lab in the same county and can “safely and efficiently navigate around pets, pedestrians and anything else in their path.” Amazon will take what it learns from the program “so Amazon Scout can, over time, provide even more sustainability and convenience to customer deliveries.” The company didn't respond to questions.
With the 2019 AFC and NFC champions in the books, the focus now turns to which companies will advertise during Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, and the tech spend so far is light. On Tuesday, AdAge showed Audi and its electric vehicles as the only technology on tap for the high-profile media event that has become as notable for its marketing reach as for the play on the field. Audi is to run a 60-second spot from Venables Bell in the second quarter, highlighting the carmaker’s e-tron vehicles and its plan to launch three EVs in the next three years. Variety pegged CBS' bill to run a 30-second ad at $5.1 million-$5.3 million.
POW Audio is taking preorders for an expandable Bluetooth speaker designed for smartphones. The $99 speaker can be attached to the back of a phone using a universal mount and then folded down to pocket size when not in use. The company’s WaveBloom technology expands to create a passive radiator, supporting speaker drivers with an air-filled chamber that’s said to provide more bass and volume than what’s possible with a phone’s speaker. The POW speaker can be combined with another to create stereo sound, is water-resistant and is compatible with Bluetooth 4.2 at a range of up to 100 feet, the company said. The speaker charges via USB-C and is said to deliver eight hours of runtime on a charge.
Forty-three percent of U.S. broadband households say voice control is an important feature for their next smart TV or streaming media purchase, said a Tuesday Parks Associates report. “Consumers expect new connected entertainment products and services to offer voice as a control and search option,” said Parks analyst Craig Leslie, saying companies will increasingly use artificial intelligence as product differentiators. In early 2018, the average broadband home hosted 10.4 connected devices, including 8.6 connected CE devices; 55 percent of those surveyed found voice control of connected entertainment devices appealing, it said.
The Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance is adding members like the Wireless ISP Association, working with ATIS, and released a certification tool developed with Radisys, the CBRS alliance said Monday. “Now with more than 120 members, the Alliance is seeing a new set of organizations beginning to engage in the OnGo ecosystem,” it said. Cisco Wireless Chief Technology Officer Matthew MacPherson joined the alliance’s board, the group said.
Garmin applied its GPS know-how to a $499 golf accessory that’s designed to monitor swing metrics. The Approach G80 combines GPS technology with launch monitor capability to allow golfers to analyze and fine-tune their performance -- at the driving range or during course play -- by tracking club head speed, smash factor, swing temp and estimated distance, said the company. The device, with the form factor of a smartphone, has a 3.5-inch color touch screen designed to be used outdoors. Golfers place the device in a slanted position on top of a golf ball across from the tee to record measurements. The device can be a game player, too, packing 41,000 preloaded courses around the world that players can call up to compete with friends, Garmin said.
It's estimated $1,500 cost will be a major “stumbling block” for Motorola’s Razr foldable smartphone, expected to debut in the U.S. this year exclusively through Verizon, blogged Strategy Analytics. “The price may end up looking cheap,” as SA speculates Samsung’s first foldable phone “will likely have a retail price of at least $2,000." The Razr “will be entering a crowded field,” SA said Thursday. Besides Samsung, Huawei, LG and others have announced foldable smartphones for 2019, it said. That “actual volumes” available for sale this year “will be extremely small” makes it likely that foldable smartphones will become “the ultimate device status symbol in 2019,” it said.
KB Home is offering Google Assistant smart home control as a standard feature in two Orange County, California, communities, joining homes in Denver, Jacksonville and Las Vegas, it said Friday. Dish Smart Home Services is installing and integrating the devices after move-in, and will integrate the smart home products with the homeowners' existing internet service, a spokesperson emailed us. A base package includes a Google Wi-Fi mesh network, a Google Home and a Home mini smart speaker, a Nest Hello video doorbell and installation and integration. Buyers can add cameras, smoke and carbon dioxide alarms, lighting controls, window shades, appliances and door locks, he said.