Latest news

Just a week after expanding from the U.S. to Europe, Roku has announced it has added the BBC iPlayer to its set-top box content offerings.

Roku boxes are only available in the UK and Ireland, for the time being, and only two of the most recent models are available, the Roku LT and Roku 2 XS. The devices sell for GBP 49.99 and GBP 99.99.

For their European offerings, Roku has 40 channels including Netflix, Crackle, MLB.TV, UFC, Angry Birds and more. The iPlayer will give BBC users a chance to watch on-demand back catalogs of popular shows like Doctor Who.

Roku, which launched in 2008 and is very popular in the U.S., has sold over 2.5 million devices.

Says the company (via TNW): "Roku recognizes the importance of region-specific programmes so today we are excited to announce the addition of BBC iPlayer to our platform. This is among the first of many significant content partnerships for Roku in Europe and we look forward to making additional announcements in the coming weeks."

Despite a slumping market, the Microsoft Xbox 360 had another big month.

In the U.S., in January, the console had another solid month, marking the 13th month in a row it was the top selling console in the country.

For the month, 270,000 360s were sold, good for 49 percent of all consoles sold. The figure was also the 11th time in a row that the Xbox accounted for over 40 percent of hardware sales.

Overall, the Xbox accounted for $310 million in total sales (hardware, software, and accessories), much higher than the PS3 and Wii.

Says NPD in their report: "Historically, after several years in the console lifecycle there is a softening of demand, but Xbox 360 continues to defy that convention. The Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend the lifecycle of the console by re-imagining entertainment and delivering new technologies like Kinect for Xbox 360, a new Xbox dashboard, and new entertainment content partners in 2011."

According to the Russian newspaper Vedomosti, popular streaming services Netflix and Hulu are considering expanding to Russia.

Hulu executives have allegedly visited Moscow and met with top Russian film studios in an effort to roll out the service. Amongst the executives was Johannes Larcher, the company?s SVP of international, reads the report.

Russia, despite being a haven for piracy, especially of movies, was recently let into the World Trade Organization, which is said to have piqued Hulu's interest.

Additionally, Netflix had a similar trip, in the efforts of expanding to the nation, which has the most online viewers in Europe.

Netflix is currently available in 45 nations, while Hulu is U.S.-only.

Netflix already operates in 45 countries (recently launching in the UK and Ire

Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a way to improve CPU performance more than 20 percent using a GPU built on the same processor die.

"Chip manufacturers are now creating processors that have a ?fused architecture,? meaning that they include CPUs and GPUs on a single chip," said Dr. Huiyang Zhou, who co-authored a new paper based on the research. He explained, "Our approach is to allow the GPU cores to execute computational functions, and have CPU cores pre-fetch the data the GPUs will need from off-chip main memory."

The research was performed in conjunction with AMD, who talked about plans to increase CPU/GPU integration in a presentation to analysts last week. Based on that presentation, the techniques identified in this research could be used in AMD processors within the next two years.

Although this research appears to be focused on current PC technology, most likely AMD's Fusion APU, it also has obvious applications for improving ARM processor performance. ARM's SOC (System On a Chip) design emphasizes power efficiency over speed, making it the standard choice for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

Stories are emerging about a new device Google is testing which appears to be some sort of streaming media box.

Speculation began back in December when Google filed an application with the FCC asking for permission to test the mystery box. The application explains, "Google is developing an entertainment device that requires testing outside the laboratory environment."

It also provides details about some of the device's technical features. It will connect to Wi-Fi networks, home electronics equipment, and even Blutooth devices. The application also indicates 252 of the experimental devices are involved in the tests, which were scheduled to start on January 17 and run for six months.

According to a report from the New York Times, the device will initially be sold as a streaming music appliance, but later expanded with additional features. That seems plausible considering their streaming music service, Google Music, has been operating since last year.

One interesting question is how Motorola Mobility figures into Google's home entertainment plans. Their acquisition of the smartphone and set-top box maker could be approved by regulators in both the US and EU as soon as next week. While Motorola's smartphones are widely perceived as the focus of Google's interest, their set-top boxes could be just as important.

According to the most current market data, it appears that Spotify has doubled its market share in just one year.

In 2010, the unlimited streaming music company had a market share of around 9.1 percent thanks to its 750,000 paying subscribers. Overall, that year, there were 8.2 million paying subscribers for streaming music.

By the end of 2011, however, thanks to the company's launch in the U.S., that share has more than doubled, to 18.7 percent. The company has about 2.5 million paying subs now, compared to a global market of 13.4 million.

Arctic put together some quick math, and while Spotify grew over 100 percent year-over-year, the market only grew 63.4 percent, implying it could be the dominate streaming service in the market in just a few short years if growth rates remain stable.

The popular smartphones will be getting the promised Android 4.0 update at some point next month.

Followed by the Sensation XL within a small time frame, the HTC Sensation and Sensation XE will be the first two HTC devices to receive the much-anticipated update.

Reads the company's Facebook page: "HTC has been working hard to get its Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades ready, and we're excited to announce that our first round of ICS upgrades will roll out by the end of March for the HTC Sensation and HTC Sensation XE."

Additionally, the company says the update will be headed to the HTC EVO 3D, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD "later in the year."

Warner Music Group saw its sales stay flat in the last quarter at $780 million, thanks to a boost from Spotify and iTunes.

Digital revenue as a whole jumped 17 percent, and now accounts for a full 28 percent of the company's quarterly sales.

Music downloads, from iTunes, Amazon MP3 and other services, accounted for $205 million in revenue during the quarter, with streaming services like Spotify bringing in another $15 million. Streaming is increasing at a fast pace, 36 percent last quarter, while downloads remain in their shrinking growth mode, at just 15 percent.

The company remains hopeful that former pirates will shell out money for the convenience of a Spotify (or other service) which offers millions of tracks in decent quality and via your computer and mobile devices.

Hasbro and Zynga have announced today a partnership in which the toy giant will create toys and games based on Zynga's social games and brands.

With over 230 million monthly users, Zynga's brands like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, CityVille and Zynga Poker are some of the most popular games in the world.

Says Mark Pincus, founder, CEO and chief product officer of Zynga: "It's exciting to partner with Hasbro as we share a common vision for play and a mission to connect the world through games. This partnership is so special because it represents an exciting leap forward in enabling people to connect their virtual and real worlds. Hasbro has inspired play through their famous toys, games and action figures and we look forward to working with a company that continually creates meaningful and fun brands."

Adds Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro: "Hasbro is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Zynga's immensely popular social games to life in a variety of creative and new expressions that reflect consumers' growing desire to surround themselves with gaming brands they love anytime, anywhere together with their friends and family. Zynga is bringing more games to mainstream culture and is redefining how people play. At Hasbro, we're proud to help bring their games to even more people around the world. This strategic alliance plays off of both Hasbro?s and Zynga?s proven strengths and is emblematic of the new innovations and new platforms we are creating across our entire gaming portfolio."

Samsung has noted today that it expects to sell over 25 million "smart" TVs this year.

Overall, the company expects to sell 50 million TVs this year. Samsung's "smart TVs" are Internet-enabled, interactive, stocked with apps, and most have cameras for video chatting.

At CES, the company made waves by introducing a new smart TV that recognizes voices and accepts controls to turn on and off, change channels and adjust volume. Using the camera, the TV can also recognize hand motions and gestures.

To be released in March, the ES8000 will have access to 1500 apps.

Additionally, Samsung is looking to create a Google TV display by the end of the year.

Kodak has announced it will stop making digital cameras in an effort to focus on its more profitable businesses.

Additionally, the company will also stop making digital picture frames. Both lines of products will be phased out by the end of the quarter, adds the company.

Into the future, the company will focus only on photo printing and desktop inkjet printers. By dropping the other products, the company should save $100 million per year.

Last month, the storied company filed for bankruptcy protection, looking to shred major expenses.

Kodak released the world's first consumer camera in 1888 and is still looking to sell off some of its patent portfolio and a successful deal would keep the company out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company has 1100 very valuable photography and digital photography patents and internally they value the portfolio at around $2 billion.

Despite inventing the digital camera in 1975, the company never capitalized on it, instead sticking to their film business, which has all but disappeared and had already begun shrinking in the 1990s.

Analyst Erza Gottheil of Technology Business Research has suggested today that Apple could launch a 7-inch version of its iPad tablet this year.

The analyst, just like others in the industry, believes Apple will unveil the full-sized iPad 3 in early March for release by the end of the month.

Apple's upcoming tablet should feature a Retina Display screen with a massive resolution, a quad-core A6 processor, and Siri integration.

Additionally, both models will come with an optional wireless keyboard-case accessory.

A 7-inch tablet, depending on the price, would likely compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire, which has quickly become a major force in the market despite being launched very late last year.

In a new blog post about WOA (Windows On ARM) Steven Sinofsky said user's will be limited to running software distributed by Microsoft. Sinofsky heads Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live Division.

This revelation comes in the wake of speculation about whether WOA would be limited to the new Metro UI and why they won't let users turn off Secure Boot on ARM tablets. Metro UI is the touchscreen oriented UI originally developed for Windows Phone. Secure Boot is a BIOS security feature which prevents unauthorized code from running before the OS begins loading.

Sinofsky gave a number of arguments for controlling the software which will run on WOA. He started by talking about code written for the x86/x64 architecture found in traditional PCs. "WOA will not support any type of virtualization or emulation approach," wrote Sinofsky, "and will not enable existing x86/64 applications to be ported or run."

He claims this is because emulation and virtualization would result in poor performance and potential system instability. In addition, he said they wanted to ensure ARM tablets would never require a mouse or keyboard.

Vonage has released new mobile apps for iOS and Android offering free voice and texting throughout the world.

In 2010 Vonage expanded into Skype territory with a Facebook app to offer free calling to other Facebook users. Their new Vonage Mobile apps take this a step further by combining free app to app calling on iOS and Android with prepaid calls to other phones.

Voice calls and texts between Vonage Mobile clients are free, potentially allowing people who have dropped home phone service to save on wireless minutes. Calls made through mobile data connections will still count against your data plan. Of course you can avoid that when your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Vonage Mobile works with your phone's existing address book. It will show you which contacts have Vonage Mobile accounts, and there's a SMS powered Invite feature (see the video below). To call a phone directly, instead of from app to app, you will need to buy credits. When you select a contact it will show you the per minute rate before you make a call.

Calling credits can be purchased directly within the app and go through the iTunes Store or Android Market. According to Vonage, their rates are "on average 70% less than major mobile carriers and 30% less than Skype2." Calls to Vonage home phone numbers are free.

The U.S. Justice Department is also preparing to clear Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility.

In August, Google shocked the tech world by announcing it was acquiring the company for $12.5 billion, mainly in an effort to protect its Android platform. Motorola had over 17,000 valuable patents, which Google will use in defense of its smartphone platform.

Despite being cleared, regulators in the U.S. and Europe will continue to monitor the situation to see if Google will license Motorola patents to competitors on fair terms (FRAND/Fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) as they have been ordered to.

The European Commission will make its decision on the acquisition on Monday.

Motorola Mobility will run separately from Google, and the company will continue to license Android to all current and future manufacturers.