People are spending more and more time consuming news, video, and other content on smartphones, tablets, and other devices with touchscreens. Now Fox News plans to do the same thing… in a new newsroom featuring computers with 55 inch touchscreen displays which they’ll use to do their work live, on the air… for some strange reason.
Even the folks in the the promotional video seem kind of skeptical, but I suspect the goal isn’t necessarily to be more efficient… it’s to look good on TV. Enormous touchscreen displays are a bit more photogenic than the back of a reporter’s laptop. The right tools for the job… or something.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Fox News unveils newsroom of the future with huge touchscreens for some reason
Touchscreens are great for casual web surfing, light gaming, and other tasks you might perform on the bus, while sitting on your couch, or lounging in a beach chair. But Fox seems to think they’re good tools for news gathering too… or at least that they’ll look good on TV. [The Verge] - Samsung says the Galaxy Gear only works with the Galaxy Note 3, but that’s not entirely true…
The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch is designed to pair with your phone and show notifications on your wrist, among other things — but it only officially works with one handset at the moment. Unofficially, it seems to work with other phones, it just doesn’t yet support voice controls unless you’re using a Galaxy Note 3. [xda-developers] - Do you read digital magazine apps on your tablet? Apparently most of us don’t
I really like Wired Magazine’s mobile app… but I don’t read it very often. Apparently I’m not alone. While many of us use apps like Flipboard, Zite, and Currents to read news from multiple sites in a magazine-like format, most folks don’t use standalone magazine apps. [GigaOm] - New Samsung Game Pad for Galaxy smartphones on the way
Like gaming on your phone… but wish it had controls that felt a bit more like those on a PlayStation? There’s a game controller for that. [SamMobile] - Intel, Bit-Tech sponsor an NUC case-mode contest for tiny, fanless PC cases
So you’ve got a tiny Intel NUC computer… but you’re unimpressed with the utilitarian case that came with it. Here are some ideas for some pretty spectacular case mods. [Bit-Tech] - Flexible displays don’t mean flexible phones
Samsung, LG, and other companies have been showing off flexible display technology for a few years, and that’s got many folks longing for phones they can fold or roll up and put in their pockets. Those might exist one day… but the rest of the tech in today’s phones aren’t flexible enough for that yet. The true advantage of flexible screens is that they’re harder to break. But they’ll be pretty rigid when they start showing up in phones.
You can keep up with the latest news by following Liliputing on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter… or you could just load up the website on your 55 inch touchscreen computer.
Is this real? Looks like a SNL skit.
on many other sites I see many complain about how people can use them on a News program, and the obvious is frequently missed, it is not made for the user on a 55″ screen but the “Audience” who will be viewing those screens from the comfort of their TV!!!, almost all the major News organizations try to get the attention of the audience with either big wall screens or CGI effects, it’s how they make their MONEY!$$, this is actually good technology as more people use them they will correct any anomalies and re-engineer them for greater effect of the audience perspective!, therefore even a NEWS channel can bring innovation of technology just by using it!
The idea of large screens have potential, but the interface needs to be adapted to the size. And that do not seem to be the case with the FOX implementation.
Seems to be a further adoption of what they were already doing with the touch screen wall display, just set up for individual users.
Though, it’s mostly like how television shows in general display technology… like having all text messages large enough for the viewers to easily see from a few feet away without needing to zoom in on the phone screen for example.
In this case it seems mostly for the viewers benefit to get a glimpse of what they’re working on, which is why all the screens are facing the cameras and helps the viewer see how they’re constantly aggregating the Internet for the latest news… and explains why the content aren’t better optimized for the size screens as the interns aren’t just working but showing that they’re working…
Though, a side benefit is it lets Shepard easily see what they’re working on and that could help with segments like around the world in 60 seconds news segment for example…
How long until one of the screens shows a giant game of Freecell?
Depends on the interns… They’ve been caught before on the more traditional desktop desk systems but it’s easier to get caught goofing off with a 55″ screen…