It looks like Dick Tracy may finally get his wristwatch cell phone, the one that does video calls.
LG Electronics Inc. plans to introduce a wrist phone later this year, giving reality a chance of catching up with the comic-strip hero who famously used a two-way “Wrist TV.”
Several manufacturers already make wristwatch phones, but the LG model would likely be the first that can do video calls. It has a built-in camera and full cellular broadband capabilities, the company announced Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show. No price was disclosed.
As demonstrated by LG’s chief technology officer, Woo Paik, the phone is slightly more than half an inch thick and has a touch-screen interface with three buttons. It offers two hours of talk time on a single charge, Paik said.
LG didn’t announce a U.S. carrier partner Wednesday, and no U.S. carrier sells any of the existing wristwatch phones. However, LG is one of the largest phone suppliers to U.S. carriers, and the wrist phone would be compatible with AT&T’s network, so it could come to the U.S.
No device needed for new MP3-player headphones: A new model of headphones can play MP3s themselves, without connecting to a separate device.
Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Adrenaline Technologies LLC is releasing SlotPhones, a pair of wraparound Bluetooth headphones that work as a standalone MP3 player if you insert a song-filled microSD memory card into a tiny slot on the side. The product also serves as a stereo Bluetooth headset that can receive calls and music from your cell phone.
Adrenaline Technologies showed the lightweight, collapsible gadget this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show, and expects it to be available in the second quarter for about $130.
The SlotPhones name echoes that of the recently released slotMusic format supported by SanDisk Corp., four major record labels and retailers Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. SlotMusic comes on 1-gigabyte microSD cards loaded with music free of copy protections. Some full-length albums are being sold in this format — and now they can be played on SlotPhones.
New Toshiba set-top can record high-def channels: Toshiba Corp. is planning to use the Cell processor, the brain of Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 game console, to create an ultra-powerful TV set-top box that can record up to six high-definition channels at once and improve the look of any video.
The box and a separate flat-panel LCD TV will be sold as a package this year in Japan for between $5,000 and $10,000, said Scott Ramirez, vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. It may come later to the U.S., he told press gathered Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
Toshiba has been experimenting with several different ways to expand the use of the zippy Cell processor, which was jointly developed by Toshiba, Sony and IBM Corp. Toshiba has demonstrated laptops and TVs with Cell processors, but the PlayStation remains the main use for the chip.
The Cell TV box will accept video content from cable, memory chips and other sources, raise their apparent resolution, then send the video signal wirelessly to the TV, Ramirez said.
“You’re going to have the cleanest picture you’ve ever seen,” Ramirez said.
More options for watching TV in the car are on the way: Audiovox Corp. said Wednesday it will make an in-car receiver for Qualcomm Inc.’s subscription-based mobile TV broadcasts, previously available only on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless cell phones.
The receiver will be available in eight to 10 months for less than $500, Audiovox senior vice president Tom Malone said at a presentation at the International Consumer Electronics Show. It will work with all existing in-car entertainment screens, including seat-back, dashboard and ceiling-mounted ones, he said.
There are 20 million U.S. cars with such screens, according to Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Audiovox.
“We feel with this partnership, we have an opportunity to breathe new life into rear-seat entertainment,” Malone said.
Users will pay a subscription fee to use the system, but details have not been finalized, said Gina Lombardi, president of Qualcomm unit MediaFLO USA.
Currently, Verizon Wireless and AT&T cellular subscribers with compatible phones can pay $15 per month to receive 10 channels through MediaFLO. The broadcast system covers 68 markets and is expanding to cover more than 100 by the end of the year, Lombardi said.
The Associated Press
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
