Smart Home News

Facebook now used by over 500 million
MORE than 500 million people use Facebook, the company has announced, confirming its influence on the digital life of the planet.

TV downloads threatening video stores
If video killed the radio star, then downloads may in turn kill the video. The advent of Foxtel IQ, Telstra's T-box and fetchTV threatens to render the local video store redundant.

Is holographic TV coming to Japan?
Japan is floating the possibility of broadcasting sports games as live holograms if it were to win a bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Sony introduces the 3-D sounds
Sony has started shipping the HT-AS5, an audio system that adds 3-D sound to the in-your-face video of 3-D television sets.

Not your father's remote control
Today's universal remote controls are so sophisticated that, in addition to controlling a mind-boggling array of functions for diverse CE devices, they also can learn tricks from other remotes.

Roku-MP3tunes.com deal brings iPod tunes to TVs
Roku and MP3tunes.com have struck a deal that will enable people to play their iPod-based music collections through their television sets without a home serve.

Booming Demand for TV on the Internet in China
Young people in China are starting to favor Internet video over TV, in part as a way to make an end run around government regulators.

IPad to affect sales of gaming devices, e-readers
Owners of iPads use the devices for a variety of activities including game playing, a fact that's likely to affect sales of portable game consoles as well as e-readers.

LG sees jump in 3-D notebook PC sales next year
LG is predicting it will sell 1.1 million 3-D notebook computers in 2011, a fivefold increase. It also expects that number to increase to 13.8 million by 2015.

PC sales rebound, show gains
Worldwide PC shipments jumped 22.4%, a half percentage point less than analyst firm IDC was predicting, in the second quarter.

Wii gave up No. 2 position to Xbox 360 in June
Nintendo's hand-held DS gaming system was the most popular console during June, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 overtook Nintendo's Wii for the second-highest sales total of the month.