Virgin Media has announced the UK’s’ first next-generation entertainment platform’. Rolled out later this month for £199, plus your monthly subscription, the TiVo powered box packs on-demand programming, a catch-up service, your own personal video recorder and a range of web-based applications. It will also boast a 1TB hard drive that can hold 500 hours of content and an integrated 10mb modem. If that’s not enough, HD and 3D specific channels are thrown in. With that in mind, Virgin Media will have been buoyed by figures from Futuresource Consulting who have predicted that more than 4million 3DTVs will have been sold worldwide by the end of the year. Futuresource expect the figure to double next year.
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Over at the ever-expanding Cupertino Compound, Steve Jobs has confirmed AirPlay will be introduced next year to support Safari and apps, thus solving a glaring omission from its headline iOS 4.2 feature list. In a typically succinct response to a question from MacRumours reader, the turtle-necked one said, “Yep, hope to add these features to AirPlay in 2011”. With that little matter cleared up, the long rumoured dual-cameras for the second gen iPad has been all-but-confirmed. Largan Precision, who supply Apple with lenses for the iPhone 4 have apparently secured the gig, although, as yet, they’re not telling. Retina display, a USB port and FaceTime are other hot, hot hunches.
Acer’s head honcho Gianfranco Lanci has confirmed his people are working on a Windows Phone 7 mobile. The prolific gadget maker, who recently showcased the rather splendid Iconia laptop, already works with Android for its customisation, a fact that appeals to Lanci, “If we look at Windows 7 today, I think we see the same opportunity you can see on Android.” This last statement raised eyebrows after the Big M said it didn’t want custom skins on its mobiles. Still, Windows Phone 7 can’t afford to be too picky if the latest figures are to be believed. Facebook stats has calculated that only 117,000 people have hopped onto the Facebook’s on-board Facebook app which is a drop in the ocean compared to mobile software leviathans, Android and iOS.
LG has been working its little socks off to produce a handset to rival the likes of the uber-successful Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Desire range, so they’re hoping a not-so-little Star has been born. The LG Star has come out of the shadows and been captured in a series of shots that show it packing Android 2.2, a 4-inch screen and an 8-megapixel camera. There’s even a 7-minute video putting it through its paces. Android’s big brother, Google has also been busy today, unveiling plans to further eat into the eBook market with Google Editions. Launching in the dear old, US of A this side of Christmas, us Brits will have to wait for the new year for a gander.
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Posted by Luke Johnson
