HP Bows $1,300 Super-Thin All-in-One PC with NFC Chip and Trackpad
A few new product introductions were displayed at the latest ShowStoppers event in New York Monday night, led by an NFC (Near Field Communications)-equipped all-in-one PC from Hewlett-Packard. The Spectre One, the first all-in-one in HP’s stylized Spectre line, is one of a series of Windows 8-based all-in-one PCs the company introduced Monday.
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The $1,299 HP Spectre One, due in stores Nov. 14, packs Beats Audio and USB 3.0, an HP spokeswoman told us, but no touchscreen due to the thin styling of the 0.45-inch-deep monitor. The Spectre One comes with a track pad to supplement the keyboard, she said. An NFC chip in the base allows users to transfer photos wirelessly from an NFC-equipped smartphone, or to enable family members to log into the PC with their personalized settings, including parental controls, she said. The PC comes with two programmable NFC tags, she said. While the upcoming iPhone is rumored not to contain an NFC chip, numerous Android-based smartphones due out before Christmas will support the feature, she said.
HP also showed the Envy 23 and Envy 20 23-inch and 20-inch all-in-one PCs that offer webcams, optional SSDs and up to 3 terabytes of storage, the spokeswoman said. Both PCs include touchscreens with 10-point capacitive touch displays and offer optional optical drives, she said. The Envy PCs, starting at $799 and $999, will ship in October, she said, along with a value-oriented all-in-one Pavilion 20 starting at $449.
Rumors that the iPhone 5 will have a different connector from previous models have spawned a range of design changes among third-party companies now opting for wireless connectivity to iOS devices via AirPlay or Bluetooth. BlueAnt showed a Bluetooth streamer at ShowStoppers called The Ribbon, a device with a 3.5mm cable on one end that transmits music from a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone or tablet to any speaker with a matching jack, the company said. Battery life is 6 hours, the company said. The flexible, rubber device, which can attach to a shirt or collar, can be used to make and receive voice calls, has controls for play, pause and track control and has access to iPhone’s Siri voice control technology with a double tap, BlueAnt said. The $69.99 Bluetooth device uses aptX audio compression and is due in stores next month, said a spokesman. Users can plug the device into the auxiliary jack of a car stereo to stream music through a vehicle’s speakers, he said.
Boxee executives, meanwhile, are anxiously awaiting a ruling from the FCC on whether its Boxee Live TV product will be required to have a CableCARD, Andrew Kippen, vice president-marketing, told us at the event. The company is expecting a ruling in the next few weeks that could have a huge impact on Boxee’s Live TV product. Boxee’s Live TV connects to an antenna or cable set-top box to bring broadcast TV reception and basic-tier cable channels to D-Link’s Boxee Box, but the proposed FCC rule would allow cable operators to encrypt basic-tier programming and thus require that the D-Link and ioGear Boxee boxes to have pricey CableCARDs for encryption. Kippen is expecting the FCC ruling “within the next few weeks,” he said.
Meanwhile, Comcast agreed last summer (CED June 29 p6) to deploy a stripped down set-top box that would unscramble an encrypted signal for basic TV and allow Boxee customers to continue to view basic channels for free, Kippen noted. Boxee has spoken with Time Warner Cable and Cox Cable along with the NCTA and remains hopeful similar agreements can be worked out, Kippen said. “We're working on deals that would be a win-win for everybody,” he said.
Boxee has been hoping to add Hulu Plus to its roster of streaming services, but hasn’t been able to tie the knot yet, Kippen said. “We're working feverishly to add it,” he said, “but we have no timetable to announce at this time.”