Google, Apple and Microsoft set to battle for control of the car

As the car becomes a connected Internet device, the titans of the tech sector are battling for control of the wheel.

The war is shaping up a lot like the computer sector, with Google, Apple and Microsoft and others fighting to be in control of the vehicle's "operating system" to deliver apps, navigation and other services.

Some of those battles were played out this week at the Consumer Electronics Show CES in Las Vegas, which included a record nine auto manufacturers and scores of equipment makers, including software and related tech companies.

"People want consumer apps in their cars, they want to connect to their smartphones, they want to connect to the cloud," says Grant Courville, director of product management at QNX, which makes the on-board systems used on tens of millions of cars.

But the battlefield is wide open because "there's no clear dominant app ecosystem in automotive," Courville told AFP from the CES floor.

At CES, Canadian-based QNX unveiled a partnership with Qualcomm to support the chipmaker's new automotive platform, which connects to smartphones and offers apps for maps, speech recognition, geolocation, and vehicle analytics.

At the same time, Google unveiled a partnership with General Motors, Audi, Honda and Hyundai in a new partnership to bring the Android mobile system to vehicles in a new Open Automotive Alliance

The moves come with Microsoft in a longstanding partnership with Ford, and Apple widely expected to expand its system for connecting the iPhone with automotive electronics systems.

"Carmakers are conflicted," said Tim Tang, an analyst with IDC attending the Las Vegas expo

"They are trying to decide whether to build their own systems or partner with another company. If they partner, they mitigate a lot of the risk, but they give a lot away, looking at future services, like apps, pay-as you go insurance. No one is certain where it is going but carmakers don't want to be left out. The car is becoming a mobile accessory."

Tang said a key question for automakers is whether the cars should have a dedicated connection or use the smartphone.

"If it is a smartphone model, it's easy to get traction quickly, you don't need to design the system five years in advance. But if it is built into the car you have some advantages. If the car is stolen, for example, you can shut it off."

The General Motors division Chevrolet said this week it would deploy fourth generation (4G) Internet connections on several models to help motorists who want to stay connected with the growing number of apps for automobiles.

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Casio G-Shock STB-100 Sport Watch hands-on: classic looks get smart

When you’ve got a design for a watch as ubiquitous as the Casio G-Shock on the market, you’re allowed to be late to the new technology party. This year Casio’s entry in the STB-100 comes in the form of Bluetooth 4.0 and a sports-tracking collection of bits and pieces in their slightly modified G-Shock design. While we’re not about to suggest this watch is in any way more all-inclusive than its smartwatch competitors from Sony, Samsung, Pebble, and the many others shown off this week at CES 2014, Casio still retains that built-in fan base they’ve cultivated for years.

Attaching itself to the iPhone alone, this particular sports watch is aimed at two groups - those that already own a G-Shock and want to expand their collection into the Bluetooth/smartwatch realm, and those that are looking for a sports-tracking device and don’t want to appear to actually be wearing one of these new-fangled “Smartwatch” thingies, so to speak. Casio has molded this device to look as naturally un-smart as any past model.

The iPhone app for the STB-100 - as they were showing off this week - is just about as bare-bones as a connected app gets. You’ll be able to control your music and track your steps in a variety of ways. You'll be able to track your running pace, time elapsed while running, distance traveled, and data for biking with its built-in cadence sensor.

For an Apple user used to listening to music on the go, this device’s control setup allows you to be able to press a button on your watch to switch music tracks, and that’s about it. Something rather similar to what you’re doing already with the wire connecting you to your earbuds, more than likely. One way or another, you’ll be able to skip a track.

At the moment it does not appear that Casio is doing just one whole heck of a lot with the data you’re getting,* but it does seem that they’ll be expanding their software soon - we’ll have to wait and see. Wait for the actual release of this device this year, that is.

*UPDATE: This watch will be connecting to Abvio’s Runmeter, Walkmeter, and Cyclemeter, as well as the app known as Wahoo Fitness. Casio is also working with other developers to expand this collection in the near future.

Source:www.slashgear.com

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Nintendo 3DS game sales hit 'record-setting' 16 million in 2013

Nintendo wants to remind you that while Microsoft and Sony have experienced recent successes with their new gaming consoles it, too, has seen a significant uptick in sales. But for handheld games.
The company published an annual overview on Friday, revealing it sold a "record-setting" 16 million 3DS games in 2013. That's a 45 percent increase over last year. Nintendo also announced that US consumers gobbled up 11.5 million Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS handheld consoles last year, compared to 35 million units total for lifetime sales.
Due to the response from consumers, Scott Moffitt, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo USA, claimed the company has no plans to slow down in 2014: "With more games featuring fan-favorite franchises on the way, the best days of Nintendo 3DS are still to come," he explained.
In fact, Nintendo has more Nintendo 3DS games planned for early 2014, including Bravery Default (launching on 7 February), Azran Legacy (launching on 28 February), Yoshi’s New Island (launching on 14 March), Disney Magical, (launching on 11 April), and more.

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Who Needs a Console – PlayStation Games Going Console-Free?

Announced at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, Sony will soon be introducing a new approach in gaming. Beginning this year, Sony will be rolling out a method that will allow subscribers to play some of their greatest gaming hits without the use of a console. Amazing and yet disturbing news considering how many millions of people have just purchased PS4′s, outselling Microsoft Xbox One’s by a million units.

What Sony’s proposing is to being allowing their latest smart TVs, (2014 Sony Bravia), PS4′s, PS3′s and PSVita’s to stream back catalogue games through the cloud. We already know that Sony plunged heap loads of dollars, (the $380m acquisition of Gaikai in 2012) and man hours into developing their new cloud server system, we just didn’t know how vast their scope was in doing so. Now that it’s complete, Sony fully intends to take full advantage of its capabilities and plan on continuing to do so far into the future.

The initial roll out will be a US only, restricted test of the services beginning later this month with plans to begin a more expansive launch this summer. The Sony Bravia TVs will be the first devices utilizing this new service, but Sony also plans to open the market up to 3rd parties. While Sony has yet to provide many details as to what other platforms, such as smartphones, tablets, etc. will be able to access this fine new feature, Samsung, one of Sony’s chief rivals, has said that they plan on Partnering with Sony to allow their TVs to offer game access as well.

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