Smartphone Wars 2012: Who will survive?

by THE GUARDIAN

04:45 AM Jan 26, 2012

LONDON - Smartphones are becoming pervasive: Ninety per cent of Singaporeans have phones that can browse the Internet and run apps, and nearly half of American mobile users do too.

Yet smartphone brands can rise and fall in the commercial blink of an eye. Five years ago, Apple had not sold a single smartphone, and Microsoft and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion doubted that the iPhone could work. Finland's Nokia dominated the (tiny) market with its Symbian platform. Barely anyone outside Google had ever heard of "Android", a company started by ex-Apple employee Andy Rubin and bought in 2005 by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who made the deal without telling then-chief executive Eric Schmidt.

All that has changed. The iPhone, launched in 2007, has redefined smartphone design and interaction; Microsoft and Nokia have pensioned off the mobile software they then used (Windows Mobile and Symbian) to form an alliance of Nokia's hardware and Microsoft's software as they struggle for market share. RIM has seen profits peak and decline - leading it this week to boot out its two hapless co-chief executives and founders, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

Android, meanwhile, drives all before it, operating more than 50 per cent of smartphones sold today.

Mr Horace Dediu, an ex-Nokia analyst who follows the smartphone market, has a theory that any smartphone company that falls into loss, even once, can never recover. As evidence he cites a long list: Alcatel, Siemens, BenQ, Ericsson, Sony, Motorola, Casio, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Palm and Handspring, none of which has recovered its former position (and some of which do not exist any more).

"Profitability is the canary in the coalmine," he warns. "A loss-maker is seen as a maker of damaged goods."

Since he wrote that last June, Nokia has joined the list - and questions linger over whether glory days lie ahead or behind.

So how can one handicap the runners and riders? Here's your guide to the phone in your pocket, and what may happen to it.

APPLE

BEST BRAINWAVE: Making the iPhone a completely touchscreen-based device, with a really good Web browser, that could also run apps. Despite being relatively expensive, the iPhone has attracted a growing market in the US and China. European buyers tend to prefer less expensive Android phones.

WORST DECISION: According to financial analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura Securities, Apple should have released two phones last year: A new high-end one, and a new mid-range one. With that, he thinks, it would have cleaned up. Instead Android took over.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: Internally, its focus on design and quality, allied to a huge cash pile for hiring factories and marketing; externally, continually loyal buyers.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: All the eggs are in the iPhone basket, where there's only a single new model per year (so far). That hasn't served it badly - it makes more profit than any other smartphone maker - but if a new design misses, it could be left hanging

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Either huge success in China, or a gradual erosion of its world share as people defect to Android (and perhaps Windows Phone) devices.

RISING OR FALLING? Finely poised. Stunning Q4 sales, but now has to keep that momentum going into global economic headwinds, while Android phones keep getting cheaper.



GOOGLE

BEST BRAINWAVE: Making Android free for mobile handset makers, and tying Google services into it - a far simpler model than Microsoft's "pay per handset" version.

WORST DECISION: Putting Android into the market without getting adequate patent cover. Google is buying Motorola for US$12.5 billion (S$15.8 billion) solely for its mobile patents, just to ward rivals off.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: The number of handset companies using Android, which point back to Google search and YouTube, from which it makes its money.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Lack of patent cover; unclear path to actually make money from Android. So far it's mostly been expense.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Further growth, especially in China - though handset makers there aren't using "official" Android, so Google doesn't benefit.

RISING OR FALLING? Still rising.



MICROSOFT

BEST BRAINWAVE: Tearing up Windows Mobile in favour of Windows Phone in 2008. Windows Mobile was a 20th-century product.

WORST DECISION: Thinking that touchscreen interaction would not be the important way of interacting with smartphones.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: The skills of its engineers, and its huge cash pile for marketing.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Tarnished brand in smartphones due to Windows Mobile, and some people's dislike of using Windows on PCs.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Nokia is a strong partner, and Microsoft is a very determined company: Expect more business sales in the coming couple of years, and more consumer promotions such as free Xboxes with handsets

RISING OR FALLING? Rising - because it can't fall any lower than it has.



SAMSUNG

BEST BRAINWAVE: Deciding to focus on Android rather than its own Bada mobile OS.

WORST DECISION: Getting too close to Apple's designs for its phones and tablets. It has a huge design department that produces innovative designs in other fields; in phones, it seems content to mimic Apple's.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: Vertical integration - it's the world's largest semiconductor maker, and makes the screens used in mobile phones, so it can get every part first, and cheaply.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Brand name isn't as strong in the West as it is in Korea, so it can't rely on buyers in the way that Apple can.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Samsung now sells about half of all "official" Android phones. In theory, it should be telling Google how to run it, and even dictating terms. But it's probably content with the profits.

RISING OR FALLING? Rising.



RIM

BEST BRAINWAVE: Devising both encrypted email and free device-to-device communications (BlackBerry Messenger) in the past decade.

WORST DECISION: Aping Apple's iPad with the PlayBook and ordering two million of them. After a year, has shipped about half of them, had to write off US$485 million in the unsold ones, and spent US$1 billion promoting them.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: Commercial customers who rely on BBM and encrypted email; teenagers who love the free BBM service.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Cracks have shown up in the system that keeps BBM and email running: Last October there was a days-long outage which hurt business.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Unless new CEO Thorsten Heins creates a radical shakeup, a decline into invisibility or purchase by someone looking for a new corporate customer base - Microsoft maybe?

RISING OR FALLING? Falling, and with no bottom in sight.



NOKIA

BEST BRAINWAVE: Sacking CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in September 2010 and replacing him with Mr Stephen Elop.

WORST DECISION: Ignoring the iPhone and its touchscreen capabilities: Executives were convinced Symbian could do it better.

BIGGEST STRENGTH: Enormous flexibility and agility in manufacturing: First Windows Phones were developed in less than a year. Most handset makers would struggle with twice that time. "Survival is in our DNA," one of its press officers once said.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Perception that it is "yesterday's brand", having defined the mobile phone business in the 20th century and dominated it from 2000 to 2009.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? Has tied itself to Microsoft for the smartphone business, so will fly or flop together. As it's Nokia, a flop is unlikely. But there's a lot of competition from Chinese low-cost handset companies making cheap Android phones.

RISING OR FALLING? Rising, after bumping along for a couple of quarters. But its finances may still be rocky for a while to come.

Source:  www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/Digital/EDC120126-0000012/Smartphone-Wars-2012--Who-will-survive?

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iPhone 5 will have bigger screen

Next-gen iPhone 'out in summer'

 

iPhone 5 will have bigger screen, says Foxconn source

09:05 AM Jan 26, 2012

 

SAN FRANCISCO - The next iPhone will be released sometime in the summer, and will come equipped with a bigger 4-inch screen, but will not closely resemble the iPhone 4 or 4S, according to sources who claim to have seen samples of Apple's next-generation smartphone.

The 9 to 5 Mac blog reported yesterday that an unnamed employee at Foxconn - the Taiwanese manufacturer of the iPhone - has said that there are "various sample devices" for the next iteration, informally dubbed the iPhone 5, already floating around.

Mr Seth Weintraub, a writer on the blog, said that, given Apple's normal habits, and a typical five-month lead time to put a prototype into production, that puts a new iPhone launch on track for a summer release.

Apple traditionally timed its annual launch of new versions of the iPhone for the summer, but bucked the trend last year with an October release of the iPhone 4S.

The Foxconn source said the sample devices, all of which vary slightly, have some things in common: 4-inch displays, larger than the current 3.5-inch screen; none have the familiar iPhone 4/4S form factor; and none are "teardrop-shaped", like the Macbook Air. Instead, all of the samples are "symmetrical", and possibly longer and wider than the current iPhone.

The source had previously correctly predicted that last year would not see an iPhone 5 launch, but rather the launch of the tweaked iPhone 4S.

Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2011, and has sold 183 million iPhones since the product went on sale in 2007. AGENCIES

Source:  www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120126-0000095/Next-gen-iPhone-out-in-summer

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Review: Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205 fw

I print from my iPhone

 

Send images from iOS device direct to printer, thanks to the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205 fw - if you can get it installed ...

by Edric Sng

04:45 AM Jan 25, 2012

 

The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205 fw.

 

 

HAVE you ever wished you could print a website you were browsing on your iPhone or iPad? With the Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205 fw, now you can.

This is a 4-in-1 multifunction device that includes colour printing, scanning, photocopying and fax functions, all in a 410x389x337.5mm body. No, the printer is not the smallest around, but it's compact enough given its features and quality.

Hooking up the printer to a computer via USB is straightforward - no different from installing any other printer - but I found installing the printer for wireless use a hassle. You need to first connect the printer to a PC or laptop via USB to set up wireless printing. For users who bought a wireless printer just so their computers aren't tethered to the printer, this just doesn't make sense.

That's not all. Setting up your wireless network on the printer requires you to manually key in your wireless network's information during installation as the machine is unable to automatically detect available networks. Users also have to recall the type of encryption their network uses, which can overwhelm the less informed user.

Post-installation, I ended up with four new printers to select from, all with similar names, and only two of the four options allowed me to print wirelessly.

Installation aside, I found using the DocuPrint CM205 fw simple enough. Text was rendered crisp and clear, and colour prints came out impressively vibrant and detailed thanks to the printers' 1200x2400 dpi print resolution and Fuji Xerox's S-LED Printing technology. Scans and photocopies are also quick and detailed. For your office purposes you can't go wrong with the DocuPrint CM205 fw, but for its size the lack of auto-duplexing seems peculiar.

The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM205 fw also has an app for iOS, the Fuji Xerox Print & Scan Utility (Small Office). Available for free on iTunes, this app allows you to use your iOS devices to print from the DocuPrint CM295 fw as long as they are both on the same wireless network.

Sending photos from my iPhone 4s to the printer took slightly more than 80 seconds, and print quality was the same as normal printing, but you only have a few output sizes to choose from. You can also print contacts from your contact list, which comes out in a pre-formatted table. Webpages can be printed too, but you need to manually enter the URL of the website into the app.

Strangely, there is no way to print email attachments like word documents or PDF files.

With the app, you can also scan images to be sent directly to your phone. No more scanning an image to your computer to email to yourself! The data transfer here is almost instantaneous and the scans are detailed, going up to 300dpi.

On paper, the DocuPrint CM295 fw sounds like a great idea, especially with the great print and scan quality. However, the quirks during installation and the inability to print anything other than photos, contacts and webpages limit the uses for the printer.

The Fuji Xerox DocuPrint CM295 fw is available at major retailers for S$649. Edric Sng

Source: www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120125-0000009/I-print-from-my-iPhone

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There's a kind of hush

Noise-cancelling headphones can be a lifesaver for frequent flyers. Here are 8 things to check out when choosing a set

04:45 AM Jan 25, 2012

Sony MDR-NC500DM3

IN THE olden days, you didn't need much to enjoy air travel: A pair of goggles, a trusty biplane and a song in your heart. These days, the equipment list is slightly longer: A roll-on bag, a neck pillow, an eye mask, a fold-out laptop case and a belt with a plastic buckle.

And noise-cancelling headphones.

Regular headphones deliver music directly to your ears. Noise-cancelling models also reduce any dull, consistent roar around you, like aircraft engines, vacuum cleaners and campaign speeches.

Okay, that last one was a joke. Noise-cancelling (NC) headphones don't actually reduce irregular noises like speech and crying babies in the row behind you. Even so, cutting down aircraft roar is supposed to cut down on "noise fatigue", an edgy tiredness that comes from hours-long exposure to loud noise. They also let you listen to music or videos on the train or plane at a much lower (and safer) volume.

For years, Bose has ruled the NC headphones roost. They're incredibly good, but incredibly expensive; the latest model, the QuietComfort 15, costs US$300 (S$380; all retail prices listed are for the US market). They've now been on the market for more than two years; surely, in that time, somebody must have introduced some less-expensive or better-featured rivals.

To test that theory, I rounded up the latest models from 10 companies. In alphabetical order: Able Planet NC1100B (US$250), AKG K495 NC from Harman (US$350), Audio Technica ATH-ANC7B (US$125), Bose QuietComfort 15 (US$300), Creative HN-900 (US$100), JVC HANC250 (US$103), Monster Beats by Dr Dre (US$300), Panasonic RP-HC720 (US$90), Sennheiser PXC 310 (US$300), Sony MDR-NC200D (US$200) and Sony MDR-NC500DM3 (US$400).

I managed to stuff all of them, including their black carrying cases, into a bulging canvas tote bag. I tried them out on four trans-American flights, constantly swapping pairs, testing each for its NC ability and music fidelity (and utterly baffling those seated beside me).

I discovered that when you're shopping for NC headphones, only eight things matter.



1. NOISE CANCELLING

They all work the same way: An external microphone samples the ambient sound, and then pumps out the opposite sound waves, thereby cancelling out some of that external roar.

But there's an enormous range of NC effectiveness. For example, the Monster Beats may be the coolest-looking headphones on the market, but you'd get better noise cancelling by stuffing Kleenex in your ears. There's practically no difference at all between On and Off.

The Audio-Technica, Creative, Able Planet and JVC headphones do best at cancelling low or medium frequencies, but they leave plenty of roar. The Panasonic, Sony and AKG models do better. (The Panasonic's well-designed seal starts blocking sound even before you turn on the NC switch.)

But not one comes close to the Bose. Putting these things on makes the world go away. It's the difference between being at a rock concert and being a couple of miles away from the stadium.

(On my ears, the 15s create a weird, slightly uncomfortable pressure, as you sometimes feel in a descending aircraft. But the customer reviews online suggest that I'm a tiny minority.)



2. BATTERY

NC headphones require power. Some have built-in rechargeable batteries, including the Sennheiser 310 (20 hours) and AKG (10 hours).

Others require AA or AAA batteries: The Audio Technica (40 hours), Panasonic (34 hours), Bose (35 hours), Creative (40 hours), Sony MDR-NC200D (22 hours), Able Planet (50 hours), JVC (50 hours) and Monster Beats (12 hours)

One pair - the Sony NC500DM3 - has both: A rechargeable battery (16 hours) and a compartment on the cord for AA batteries (12 hours more), just in case.



3. PLAYBACK WHILE OFF

Most of these headphones can pass along music even when they're not powered on; that is, you use up battery power only when you need noise cancellation. Some, though, are utterly silent when they're switched off, which is an unhappy surprise. These laggards include the Bose, the Beats and the Sony NC500DM3.



4. ON-EAR, OVER-EAR

There are two kinds of NC headphones: Those with big cups that rest on your head, enclosing your entire ear, and those with smaller cups that rest on your ears themselves.

(Lots of people also swear by the in-ear types - not headphones at all, but something like custom-fitted earbuds that plug your ear opening completely, although I find those uncomfortable for long flights. Then again, some people also swear by plain foam earplugs from the drugstore. They're not much good for music playback, but for less than a dollar, they do a great job at noise cancellation, and you can't beat the battery life.)

The beauty of on-ear headphones, like the Sony NC200D, AKG and JVC models, is that they're tiny. They pack down small and don't bulk up your carry-on. But after a few hours, they can give you sore ear cartilage, which is such a weird ailment you're almost embarrassed to mention it.

The over-ear models don't have that problem, but of course they're huge and come in even huger carrying cases.

The brilliant exceptions are those Beats headphones. Even though they're over-ear, their cups fold back 180 degrees into the headband. (Imagine your hand folding completely flat against the inside of your wrist, and you'll have the idea.) The result: Full-size cups in a much smaller carrying case.



5. MONITOR BUTTON

When you're in flight, sometimes your ears are required for other duties, like answering questions from flight attendants or seatmates. Most headphone wearers address these situations by simply removing the headphones.

The Sony and Beats headphones, though, offer a Monitor button that simultaneously mutes your music and patches the outside world through to the inside. You can hear what people are saying without having to remove the headphones.



6. MUSIC FIDELITY

Cutting out unwanted sound is one goal; doing a great job of delivering the sound you do want is the other.

Now, you won't get audiophile sound quality from US$200 or US$300 headphones. But the Bose, AKG, JVC and Sony models delivered good power, solid and distinct bass, clear midtones and crisp highs. The Beats, as you'd guess from their rapper heritage, specialise in thuddy bass. The Sennheisers sound great, but don't offer much power; subtle classical-music passages disappear completely on the plane.

The sound from the Audio Technica and Able Planets is nothing to write home about. The Creative sound is clear and balanced, but soft passages are lost in flight. The Panasonic set doesn't have much power, but its noise cancelling is so good, you can listen at a lower volume and still hear everything.



7. SPECIAL FEATURES

The Bose and Beats have a microphone on the cord, so you leave them on for smartphone calls. The Able Planets have a volume control on the cord.

The Sennheiser is the only Bluetooth model here, meaning that you don't need a cord at all to listen to the music on your phone. The experience can be wireless.



8. PRICE

In general, there's never been a better illustration of the rule that you get what you pay for. The costly AKG K495 (US$350), for example, is the Lexus of headphones: Gorgeous brushed-metal design, luxury materials, tangle-free cloth-covered cord, extremely comfy. They sound great and completely eliminate low- and mid-aircraft noise.

Even they can't touch the Bose (US$300) for noise cancellation, though. Bose's technology is still a couple of years ahead of the competition.

The compact, on-ear Sony MDR-NC200D (US$200) also stands out for excellent noise cancelling and resonant, clear sound. Among over-ear models, the Panasonic RP-HC720 is a steal: US$90 for noise cancellation and sound quality that ought to cost US$250.



Good NC headphones make a huge difference in the stress of flying. Now, with fares already high, it may seem crazy to suggest spending another few hundred on accessories like these. But your alternative may be even worse: Someday paying for massage therapists, hearing aids and nerve therapy. THE NEW YORK TIMES

Source:  www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120125-0000008/Theres-a-kind-of-hush

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Nakamichi's My Mini Plus

Cubic volume

 

by Ryhan Bte Mohd Yazid

04:45 AM Jan 25, 2012

 

 

FINDING a small set of speakers is easy enough. Finding a small set of speakers which sounds like a big set of speakers is the challenge.

It was a bit of a surprise to find Nakamichi's My Mini Plus on my desk. Given the Japanese brand's reputation for high-quality, well-built products, with an emphasis on home theatre and car audio, a metallic 5cm cube weighing just 139g wasn't what we were expecting.

The possibility of bringing home a Nakamichi product for a shade under S$70 seems almost too good to be true - My Mini Plus, which comes in eight colours, retails for S$69.90 at Technobay, on the third level of CK Tang - so we were keen to put it through the paces to see if it lived up to that famous marque's high standards.

It's portable for sure, but for a wee little thing, it sure can carry a tune. Like Snooki, it's small and loud. Very loud. We threw the speakers in a conference room, closed the door behind us, turned the volume up to the maximum, and were nearly deafened. Across the newsroom, we got weird stares from folks wondering who brought the disco to work. Proof that you don't need volume to produce volume; the My Mini Plus is perfect for house parties.

(As long as your party doesn't go on all night - when fully charged, the speakers can play music for up to five hours straight.)

So how do you get the boom into the box? Three ways: Via a MircoSD card slot, a USB line-in cable to your PC or laptop, or, if you like your parties interrupted by on-air deejays, using its built-in radio.

A minor complaint about that last option - the line-in cable doubles as a radio antenna, but we wish the antenna had been built into the Nakamichi's housing, much like the metal strip around the iPhone 4. But it seems pretty harsh to fault a S$70 gizmo for that. By the way, you'll also need that cable to charge your speakers, sucking power off your PC or laptop's USB jack.

My Mini Plus, in eight words: Small cube, big noise, nice price, why not? Ryhan Bte Mohd Yazid

Source:  www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120125-0000001/Cubic-volume

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There is life in digital cameras yet ...

While more opt to use smartphones as cameras, there's still a market for dedicated imaging devices

04:45 AM Jan 25, 2012

 

LONDON - Smartphones are tempting more people away from cameras but digital compacts still have a few tricks that phones cannot match.

Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States last week, in what seems like a symbolic moment for the photography industry. Though Kodak is credited with building the first digital camera, in 1975, it never really capitalised on the digital revolution. Meanwhile, the cameramakers are facing another threat, this time from smartphones.

Sales of point-and-shoot cameras fell by 30 per cent in value last year as people opted instead to use the camera on their phone. "We see the decline coming into the bottom end of the market," said Ms Zhelya Dancheva, senior account manager for photography at GfK Retail and Technology. "The threat from smartphones seems real and people do take more pictures than they have ever done."

When Apple launched the iPhone 4S last autumn, the company emphasised the improvements to the camera. It has an 8-megapixel camera compared to the 5-megapixel version in the iPhone 4 and Apple has made considerable improvements in its lenses and photo software.

The Samsung Galaxy S II and the Nokia Lumia 800 offer 8-megapixel cameras too, while the flagship BlackBerry handset - the Torch 9860 - offers 5-megapixels. The iPhone 4S and the Galaxy S II both shoot full 1080p HD video, while the Lumia and the Torch offer 720p.

Having decent cameras on hand is increasing people's appetite for photography. They are not rejecting digital cameras, just low-end digital cameras.

Ms Dancheva adds: "The fact that people are exposed to more pictures is making them want better quality cameras."

While digital SLRs offer photo quality that is better than that of a smartphone or a digital compact, they also come at a price. At around S$1,000 for an entry-level digital SLR, these are products for serious photographers, not casual snappers.

However, quality compact digital cameras still offer plenty of features to set them apart from even the best smartphone camera. Digital cameras that offer more than 10-megapixels are still seeing sales growth and some of the top digital compacts offer as many as 16-megapixels.

Though counting megapixels is not a perfect way to measure image quality, these cameras will provide more flexibility if you plan on printing images out. Smartphone images are more likely to end up in a Facebook album than in a frame.

In video too, digital compacts can outperform smartphones. The iPhone 4S shoots highly impressive full-HD videos at 30 frames-per-second, but there are digital compacts that will shoot HD videos at 50 or 60 frames-per-second. That means sharper-looking, clearer videos.

A good digital compact will perform better in low light than a smartphone, which means you will notice the difference if you regularly take pictures. They also tend to offer better zoom and wider angle pictures too, which makes them more versatile than the average smartphone camera.

Mr Richard Trestain, of Canon Europe, says: "We welcome any devices that make people more passionate about photography. Smartphones are helping to do this, but good quality compacts do offer added benefits that contribute to higher levels of image quality. For example, our compact range features the HS System for enhanced performance in low light, and Canon lens technology, which has been developed over decades to offer the highest levels of accuracy."

The manufacturers are constantly adding new features in the race to stay ahead of smartphones. Most quality cameras will now have facial recognition, for example, which means better group shots. Some cameras are even offering "smile" recognition. The next must-have feature could well be Wi-Fi, allowing you to upload directly from your camera to a social network site such as Facebook. This is an area where smartphones lead. However, Ms Dancheva says Wi-Fi enabled cameras "have not had a huge impact on the market".

Despite the benefits that compact digital cameras can offer over smartphones, the handset makers are catching up every year. The challenge for manufacturers is to convince consumers that the extra features they offer make it worth buying - and carrying - an additional gadget. The Daily Telegraph

Source: www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/Digital/EDC120125-0000010/There-is-life-in-digital-cameras-yet-,,,

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Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player

Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player

The flagship Roku 2 XS delivers hands-down the best experience in 1080p HD streaming to your TV—plus motion-based gaming for an extra dose of great entertainment.

It keeps getting better, with over 350 entertainment channels, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, and Amazon Instant Video.

Includes games: The XS remote features motion sensors so you can play games with a flick of a wrist, like the included full Angry Birds game

Easy Setup: Works with virtually any TV, includes built-in wireless, and sets up in minutes

More power: Up to 1080p HD video and inncludes Ethernet for wired connection plus USB port

More and More Streaming Choices

With over 350 entertainment channels and counting, Roku 2 has something for virtually everyone, including:

• Over 150,000 movies and TV shows at your fingertips from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO GO and more.
• Unlimited music from Pandora, MOG, Rdio, and Live365
• Live sports packages including NBA League Pass, NHL GameCenter Live, MLS Matchday, UFC, and MLB.TV
• Photo and video sharing via Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa
• The top news sources, including NBC, FoxNews.com, and CNN, plus channels featuring international and lifestyle programming, tech news, podcasts, cartoons, clips, and more

Game On

Need a break from the movies? Roku 2 also brings some of the most popular casual games to your TV:

• Roku 2 XS features a Bluetooth remote with sensors to support motion-based game play, as well as game-ready buttons to support furious button action.
• Hit games available include the Angry Birds series, PAC-MAN Championship Edition, Galaga, and Storm in a Teacup.
• Every Roku 2 XS includes a FREE full version of the Angry Birds game.
• With the built-in MicroSD slot, you can always add additional storage for hundreds more games in the future.

Plus, more games are added all the time.

Included with the Roku 2 XS

• Enhanced remote with motion control for games
• Angry Birds game
• Remote control
• Two AA batteries
• HDMI video output (for high-definition)
• Composite A/V combo output (for standard-definition; works with included A/V cable)
• Wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n)
• Bluetooth (for using Roku Game Remote, sold separately)
• MicroSD memory card slot (for adding extra storage for channels and games)
• A/V cable (red/white/yellow)
• Power adapter
• Get Started guide
• 90-day manufacturer warranty

What you need

• A TV
• High-speed Internet service with a speed of at least 1.2 Mbps (such as mid-level DSL). For HD video, 5 Mbps is recommended (if you’re not sure what your broadband speed is, go to www.speedtest.net and run the simple test)
• A wireless router

Product Description

Hands-down the best experience in 1080p HD streaming to your TV-plus motion-based gaming for an extra dose of great entertainment. Enjoy 300+ channels featuring the best movies, TV shows, live sports, music, games, and more, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon Instant Video. Angry Birds included FREE!

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