glass

LOS ANGELES--Aside from Halo 4, the most interesting thing at Microsoft's E3 press conference was SmartGlass, the multidevice sharing app for games, videos, and Web surfing. But SmartGlass was only sketched out in the broadest of terms (and probably very carefully chosen ones at that), so we're left with several burning questions, especially about how it will work with Windows 8.

What devices will it actually work on? Microsoft says "all your devices." Does that mean all your Windows devices, or are Android and iOS included? (Update: We're hearing now that iOS and Android are included.)

Is it a downloaded app or Web-based? Will SmartGlass be a standalone app or an HTML 5-based Web service? Or some combination of the two depending on what platform you're on? Windows 8 tablets seem to be included, but are Windows RT tablets?… Read more

Will the future of the living room come to a Microsoft-Apple throwdown? It's certainly looking like it.

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft's SmartGlass app for tablets is fascinating not just because it adds a second screen to the Xbox 360, but also because it's platform-agnostic: it'll work on Android or an iPad, it seems, just as easily as Windows. Add in Internet Explorer for the Xbox 360 and a bevy of new entertainment video apps, and it's pretty clear: the Xbox 360 is ready to take on Apple TV.

I guessed as much as far as Windows 8 on a next-gen Xbox … Read more

E3 2012 sees Microsoft in a unique position among the console companies. While Sony may make game consoles, televisions, and laptops, only Microsoft owns both a console ecosystem and major PC operating system. And with Windows 8 only months away, now may be the perfect time to finally draw a solid line connecting the two. But based on what we've seen at the Microsoft E3 press conference, this may not be the year for that.

SmartGlass, the new multi-screen/multi-platform app from Microsoft, is a good start. While SmartGlass will be available on many types of tablets and phones, … Read more

Microsoft has shown off a new multiscreen entertainment platform called SmartGlass.

Unveiled today at Microsoft's keynote speech at the E3 gaming expo, the platform allows users to play video and other media from their mobile devices on their big-screen television, thanks to the Xbox 360. In addition, it acts as a mobile companion to enhance gameplay.

Microsoft's announcement today confirms an earlier report claiming that Microsoft was planning to launch an AirPlay competitor.

According to Microsoft, the new SmartGlass will work on Windows, Windows Phone, and the Xbox 360. In addition, it will support Android and iOS. The … Read more

CEOs of digital music startups often strive for diplomacy when it comes to talking about the major powers that control most of the world's music. Not Paul Campbell.

"Simon Cowell is Satan, and the major labels have become antique dealers," says Campbell, a 53-year-old former BBC TV and radio producer turned entrepreneur. "We don't touch the labels and never shall. The key is to cut yourself free from the labels."

Which is exactly what Campbell has done with his company, Amazing Media, and it's why he's having such success.

Unless you're … Read more

Foxconn may assemble the iPhone and iPad in China, but key components are made in the good ol' USA, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking today at the D10 conference.

"This is not well known...but the engine for the iPhone and the iPad are built in the U.S. in Austin, Texas," Cook said.

Cook is almost certainly referring to Samsung's Austin chip plant, where the A5 -- and presumably the newer A5X -- chips are made.

"The glass is made in a plant in Kentucky," he added, referring to the Corning's Gorilla Glass facility. … Read more

We can now confirm that at least one human being not in the employ of Google has touched those mysterious Project Glass spectacles.

In an episode of Current TV's "Gavin Newsom Show," set to air on Friday, the host and California lieutenant governor dons the futuristic goggles with an embedded heads-up display that have been the subject of much speculation and some comedy over recent months.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki -- co-founder of gene-mapping startup 23andMe -- guest on the show. Brin claims to snap a picture of Newsom, seemingly without using his hands, and then passes the glasses to Newsom to show him the shot. … Read more

Plastic shades seem so passe, compared to Gucci's new liquid wood sunglasses.

The Italian high-end fashion giant worked with sunglasses manufacturer Safilo to create the "green" glasses, which sport a frame made of material never used before in production eyewear: liquid wood, a renewable plastic of sorts that actually consists of biodegradable wood fiber, resins, and the polymer lignin. … Read more

How does Google and its high-tech-specs effort top company VP Sebastian Thrun's viral photo of a dad's-eye view of Thrun swinging his boy round in circles?

Easy. It puts the Project Glass spectacles on someone, puts that someone on a trampoline, then puts the setting on "video" and lets that someone start jumping and filming.… Read more