TiVo: Now Playing Home Movies

As of this week, you can officially spam all of your families and friends' TiVo-connected television sets with your homebrew videos. TiVo has launched its home movie sharing service, allowing you to send "video montages" straight to any broadband-connected TiVo series 2 or 3 boxes.

There's a catch. To send a video, you must sign up with the One True Media service. Upload your videos and photos to the site, then use the editing tools to create your montage. You receive your own TiVo channel code, then invite peeps to subscribe to your channel. Your friends can even Season-Pass your channel, so your videos automatically end up in their Now Playing list.

The service starts at $4 per month or $40 a year, though if you sign up now, you can join the beta and share five videos for free (until April 30).

Dated Digital Devices Do Double Daylight Saving

Like many people, a few weeks ago I found myself manually adjusting clocks that used to automatically adjust themselves for daylight-saving time. In particular, I remember changing my VCR's clock and thinking, "That'll come back to haunt me in a few weeks." Then, of course, I immediately forgot about it.

That all came rushing back to me today, when I read an article from yesterday's USA Today reminding us that to older devices, this weekend is the time to spring forward. Ouch. And we're going to have to deal with this again in the fall. Double ouch. And in the coming years. Repeat ouch until fade.

I suppose I shouldn't gripe. If anything, this will hurry me along the path to replacing that VCR, at least. But for the other handful of devices lurking around here, what used to be convenient has now become quite inconvenient. Maybe I shouldn't have chucked my wrist watch after all.

80 GB PlayStation 3 in the Works

Sony is quietly preparing a version of the PS3 console packing an 80 GB hard drive. I say "quietly" because unlike Microsoft's recent trumpeting of the 120 GB Xbox 360 Elite, Sony hasn't actually announced anything. As our colleague Martyn Williams reports, the increase in the future PS3's storage capacity is mentioned casually in an FCC filing that's about a change in the Bluetooth module.

Whether this fits into some grand scheme or it's just the result of the usual shift in hard drive prices and capacity, Sony's keeping mum. But honestly, considering the 33% capacity increase, I don't think hardcore gamers will care too much about the reason.

All Nike Sneakers to Get iPod Connectivity

Now that the spring thaw is well under way up here, it's getting so that you can't take two steps without bumping into a jogger or wannabe track star. Which might be why Nike has decided that now would be a good time to announce that by the end of the year, all of their running shoes will feature Nike+ technology.

To recap, in case you didn't read our stories from last year: The Nike + iPod Sport Kit pairs a sensor in your shoe and a wireless receiver connected to your iPod Nano. The sensor keeps track of your progress, and relays it to your Nano, which provides you with feedback through your headphones. If you were fashion conscious, you had to organize your running wardrobe around the limited selection of the Nike+ shoes that had the sensors built in. Now you'll be able to get those purple sneaks you always wanted and still stay in shape technologically.

Serve up a Hot Cuppa Music

What will those crazy artistes come up with next? If you head over to the Museum of Modern Art's online store, you'll find the $42 Music Mug, which looks like a moderately stylish coffee mug -- except that it's actually an "interpretation of the desktop coffee cup" designed by Masato Tokuno.

This interpretation is, in fact, an MP3-player dock and speaker. Connect any audio player to its 1/8'' audio jack (the cup is 3.25'' wide, so you could even stick a PSP in there, albeit awkwardly), and you're good. The "mug" doesn't even need batteries or a power source beyond the player itself. Just don't forget the warning that MoMA adds to their product page: "Cannot be used for drinking."

iTunes Delivers Some Payback (The Good Kind)

See, it's the little details that make for happy customers. Today Apple launched a new iTunes service called Complete My Album, which allows users to get a refund on a single track if they later decide to buy the album it's from. (Single tracks usually sell for $0.99, while albums sell for $9.99.) Until today, buying a single first and then getting the album later meant you were essentially paying for a track twice.

No dawdling, though -- you'll only get the refund if you buy the corresponding album within 180 days of buying a track.

Glowy Speakers, Just in Time for Easter

There's something in the water across the pond, because UK gadget stores can't seem to get enough of oddly shaped, funky colored, glowing portable speakers for digital audio players.

The latest is the Hipper 50, which looks like a refugee from (a) a cheesy science-fiction film, (b) an upscale head shop, (c) a deranged Easter accessories catalog, or (d) all of the above. The ovoid 2-watt speaker has 10 LEDs providing a nice variety of color, and can be set to pulse to the music supplied through the line-in jack or USB port. Even without music, it can change color at different speeds, or act as a night light. You can also connect several Hipper 50s together for parties, or whatever excuse you have for psychedlics. That sounds reasonably versatile for ?44.95 (about $88).

Mempile Squeezes 300 GB onto One Disc

It may seem premature to start looking at the next generation of optical video disc technology, as the high-definition DVD era is just shy of its first birthday and sales are just starting to pick up speed. But an Israeli company named Mempile forced the issue when they announced that they'd developed what they call TeraDisc technology -- a red-laser-based optical disc that, in their words, "allows for 3D recording of transparent virtual layers on the entire volume of the disc."

Right now, that means a disc with 0.6 mm of active material -- that is, the recording material sandwiched by the plastic shell -- can hold a little under 300 GB of data. Mempile predicts that optimizing the material and doubling its thickness (to a whopping 1.2 mm, which is the thickness of a DVD disc) will lead to 1 terabyte of storage on a single 5-inch disc.

Perhaps surprisingly, Mempile doesn't foresee the TeraDisc being used for video playback as we now do with DVDs; it's simply too big to be useful, considering current HD technology. Instead, the company sees the TeraDisc being used for data archiving, or a means of moving video from a PC to a PVR. But if the technology does take off, and media mavens find themselves able to dramatically cut down their shelf space by storing a few hundred DVD videos on one disc, then playback applications are sure to follow.

How To Hack Your Apple TV

Apple TV? Fantastic idea. But with a mere 40 GB hard drive, a bit underpowered. It seems a little ridiculous: a device for media junkies that only has enough room for 50 hours of video, with no official upgrade path?

Sure enough, the capacity-boosting hacks started appearing in short order. But if your mad haxx0r skillz are, shall we say, somewhat lacking, you can look to the fine folks at iResQ, who will happily upgrade your Apple TV's drive to 80GB, 120GB, or 160GB at prices ranging from $199 to $259. So now you can keep both the National Geographic shows and Robot Chicken on hand at all times.

Blu-Ray Outselling HD-DVD 70% to 30%

News from the front in the format wars: just two weeks after its release, 100,000 copies of the Blu-ray edition of Casino Royale have shipped, the first time any high-definition DVD title has hit that benchmark. This is where people start kicking the word "milestone" around because this comes just nine months after the first Blu-ray discs started to appear; however, it took eleven months for the first DVD title to sell that many units.

Blu-ray boosters have a right to be crowing, I suppose, but I can't help wondering: how much sooner would this milestone have been hit if there were one unified hi-def disc format? I'm just askin'.

Meanwhile, Sony bashers might want to concede that, for all of last year's missteps and misfortunes, Sony might have had the right idea when it came to hitching the Blu-ray format to its PlayStation 3. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) reports that Blu-ray movie sales increased more than sevenfold after the PS3's launch, while Blu-ray "has accounted for approximately 70 percent of the high-definition market since the first week in January," according to SPHE Worldwide prez David Bishop. Which, I suppose, boils down to two words for the HD DVD camp: It's on!

Zune Cries Out for Attention, Matching Earmuffs

It's official: pink is the new black. Even Microsoft is jumping on the cute-tech bandwagon by producing a pink Zune player, which will start shipping May 1. The price will be the regular $249, which I'm sure will dismay the person who shelled out $761 for a limited-edition pink Zune auctioned on eBay last November. Man, that's gotta hurt.

No one's saying anything one way or the other, but I'm guessing that the since it's not tied to pop singers or breast cancer, the pink Zune is designed to appeal to women. While I welcome overtures to female tech consumers, could someone please take the bold step of choosing a different color, just for once?

Laptops Least Likely To Appear on Dell.com

What laptop features would you pay extra for? And how much would you pay? Even if your choices are outlandish (I was thinking along the lines of a built-in jelly bean dispenser and cheese shredder, for those emergency snack situations I find myself in) I doubt you'd have thought of the two ideas on offer from Flybook and Luvaglio.

In the "you know, that's not a bad idea" category we have the Italian-designed Flybook VM, which includes a widescreen 12.1-inch LCD that can be raised on a telescoping arm and angled. The notebook packs an Intel ULV Core Duo 1.06 GHz processor, 60 GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, fingerprint reader, microphone, ExpressCard/54, and camera. You also have the option of including integrated 3G wireless broadband (UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM) (there's a slot for a SIM chip). The Flybook VM comes in four fashionable colors (black, silver, red or yellow) and sell for $2400 to $2700.

In the "more money that sense" category we have UK-based Luvaglio's Million Dollar Notebook. Sure, the 17-inch LED-backlit screen makes it a little pricey, as well as the 128 GB of solid-state storage, Blu-ray drive, integrated screen cleaner (I'm not sure what that means, and I'm scared to ask). And the ability to customize the notebook based on a selection of "materials, finishes and accessories" (in the words of Luvaglio CEO Rohan Sinclair Luvaglio) costs a little extra as well. But the real expense probably comes from a single piece of bling: a rare colored diamond that doubles as a security device, as the laptop won't start unless that specific jewel is placed in its housing. For all the high-falutin' pedigree, it sounds to me like someone's a fan of science-fiction clich?s.

New Helio Phone Has Dual-Sliding Action

With the CTIA Wireless trade show about to get under way, the cell phone news is starting to fly quickly and furiously. The Ocean is a new mobile from upstart cell service Helio, known for bringing over cool phones from overseas vendors.

Most interesting is the phone's form factor, which features a dual-sliding keypad design. Pull the 'pad out from the bottom, and you have the traditional set of number keys for making calls. Slide it from the side and you can use the full QWERTY keyboard to text, IM, email, and surf the Web, all while taking advantage of the screen in landscape mode. The phone also has a "presence detection" feature; punch in a friend's name and the phone will tell you which IM service he/she is logged into (Yahoo!, AIM, or Windows Live Messenger).

The phone is no slouch in the features department, offering a 2-megapixel camera (useful for uploading pics using the service's mobile version of MySpace), Bluetooth, 200MB of internal memory, and a microSD slot. Helio also claims that the Ocean plays 15 hours of music thanks to a "special chip designed to optimize music playback," which should help out as you start stocking up on tunes from the service's music store. The Ocean is due this spring and will cost $295.

Wii Browser Launch Bumped to April

If you've been waiting anxiously for the arrival of the Wii's Internet browser, you'll have to cool your heels for a few weeks. Opera and Nintendo announced today that the browser, aka the Internet Channel, has been delayed until next month. According to Opera, it's all good: in the company's press release, they say that the companies are "working closely together to meet user requests for browser features and to enhance the overall Wii Web experience." Hey, if it'll take longer to put in features that users actually want, well, Wii can get behind that. (Sorry. I tried so hard to resist. I'm wiik.)

MTV2 to Debut Show on iTunes Before TV

If a TV show appears online before it's broadcast, is it still technically a TV show? I mean, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the folks who hand out the Oscars) disqualify movies that have aired on TV prior to their theatrical release, which I guess means they aren't really movies. So what to make of Viacom's new move, in which they'll be releasing the entire third season of The Andy Milonakis Show on iTunes this week -- a full month before the first episode airs on MTV2? (The episodes will also available via Amazon Unbox, AOL Video, Wal-Mart Video Downloads and Xbox Live Marketplace as of next week.)

It does seem kind of savvy, in some ways. Milonakis got a TV show due to his popularity online a few years ago, so in a sense it's a nod to his original fan base. And in a move that seems designed to assuage advertiser fears, episodes will also include URLs that direct people to show footage that's exclusively available online -- but this only applies to the broadcast episodes. The same die-hards who buy the show early will likely watch the episodes again to get the extras, or so the logic appears to be. In any case, it'll be interesting to see if this catches on.

Media Companies to Launch YouTube Rival

News Corp. and NBC Universal are banding together to fight the good online-video fight against Google and YouTube. The two companies announced that they are working on a joint site that will contain TV shows, movies, and clips. Users will even be able to edit and share some of those clips.

According to the LA Times, the site is expected to go live this summer and could feature NBC and Fox shows like "Heroes," "The Office," "Family Guy," and "24." Movie downloads from Universal and 20th Century Fox would also be offered, for a fee. And that's not to say that the site would exclude content from other media companies, like Time Warner and CBS. The service is open to signing up other companies' videos and offering a cut of the ad profit.

News Corp. and NBC Universal's venture includes deals with Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL, and MySpace--all Google's rivals. Speaking of that little company, the LA Times article has an interesting, though I guess not shocking figure: Google this year is expected to claim almost one-third of all Web-based ad revenue. Wow. That's, uh, a lot of cash.

Multiplayer Tetris Hits Cell Phones

Who doesn't love a good game of Tetris? Well, imagine how much better it could be if you got to play others in a Tetris duel. With the new multiplayer version from EA Mobile, cell-phone-wielding Tetris players will be able to go head-to-head against their friends, over the air, even if they're on different carriers.

Multiplayer Tetris lets you block your opponent from clearing lines, and you can choose from two modes. Ultra pits you against another player in a two-minute race to see who can clear more lines while Forty Line requires you to clear that number of lines before your adversary does. You can play against friends, or allow yourself to be matched with a random opponent.

Still More Ways to Keep Your PC Germ-Free

I've already mentioned a few ways the germ-phobic can keep their computers from becoming breeding grounds for bacteria. These have generally involved washable keyboards and mice, but the pickings have been slim -- particularly frustrating if you're picky about your peripherals.

While I'm still waiting for a washable split-style ergonomic keyboard, Unotron still opens up the field a bit with wired and wireless washable keyboards, some of which have removable wrist rests. They take the same approach with their washable optical mice, most of which feature scroll wheels, and one of which is wireless. Best of all, all that cleanliness comes without a premium: prices for the keyboards range between $45 and $79, while the mice run from $49 to $69.

Smartweb Hopes to Improve Road Safety

Most communication between cars on the road involve shaking fists and words not suitable for a family publication. But the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence research project might change that.

Dubbed Smartweb, the system they're envisioning would involve various sensors on our cars, with information gleaned from those sensors passed on to other cars via an automotive P2P network. A BBC report on Smartweb gives an example where a car can deduce that it had passed over a slippery surface by correlating wheel traction information and the current temperature. That information would then be passed on to neighboring cars, which would then pass that information on to cars behind them. Drivers of those cars would receive some kind of warning that the road ahead is slippery. Other information like real-time traffic information and parking availability could also be relayed.

Smartweb hasn't actually been produced for the public as yet, but with partners like BMW and Daimler Chrysler on board, I'd expect to start seeing something like it in new cars in the next few years.

Movie Gallery Goes Online

Watch out, Netflix. Get moving, Blockbuster. Movie Gallery, the company behind the Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video, and Game Crazy stores, has announced an online video rental service, to be launched in mid-to-late 2007.

So far details are sketch. There's no word on pricing, and the company has yet to specify how the service will work--besides stating that the "implementation will be a low-cost friends and family program that will provide existing customers with another easy way to rent movies." Hm.

Besides rolling out online rentals, Movie Gallery also plans to add about 200 movie vending machines (it already has 74), which will make videos available in grocery stores, malls, and other locales.

Make Your Zune the Life of the Party

I haven't mentioned Microsoft's Zune player in a while, have I? (Though considering some of my previous missives, some folks at Redmond might not think this is bad news.) I'll rectify that right now, thanks to a note from accessory maker DLO that they've released two new Zune products: the HomeDock for Zune (pictured), and the TransDock Micro for Zune.

The $69 TransDock Micro plugs into your car's cigarette lighter, and both charges the Zune and acts as an FM transmitter. Like many such transmitters, it comes with a line-in jack to accept audio inputs from other players; unlike many such transmitters, it also comes with a line-out connection for use with a cassette adapter or the stereo's aux input.

The $99 HomeDock for Zune strikes me as being remarkable only for how unremarkable it is. It acts the same as most iPod docks; it has audio and video outputs so that it can be connected to your AV system, and the included remote control lets you play back your music or videos from the couch. The player can also charge while it's connected, and there's a USB output for syncing with your PC. The thing is, Microsoft's own Home A/V Pack does exactly the same thing for exactly the same price. The difference? The Microsoft product is smaller, but the remote has 11 buttons versus the DLO remote's 18.

It's odd because I expect better from DLO. There should be some extra little feature that makes it more enticing than the Microsoft product. Am I missing something? Oh, wait -- maybe the extras is the site's unintentional humor, where they suggest you "take your next house party up a notch -? tell everyone to bring their Zune and take turns being VJ!" Ummmm, yeah. Maybe when more people have one.

Viacom vs. YouTube: Unasked Questions

This weekend I finally joined the YouTube crowd, and while my video was uploading I found myself thinking about Viacom. Partly it was because of their recent lawsuit against YouTube; partly it was because of a press release a friend of mine forwarded to me on the same day as the lawsuit. In it, digital video company MotionDSP announced Ikena Copyright, a program that uses "video intelligence algorithms" to identify a video clip's "video signature" and match it to an existing video database, regardless of the editing tricks the clip's author might use. The pitch is predictable: a company like YouTube can use Ikena Copyright in conjunction with such a database to identify copyrighted video that has been uploaded to the site. Or, companies like Viacom can use it to efficiently identify infringing clips. But there are four very important things that remain unexplored.

First, assuming that YouTube and other such sites do go with such video-signature systems, is the system really scalable enough to handle the entire output of Hollywood, Bollywood, and the world's other major cinematic powers? Will smaller producers and individuals be able to enter their works into the database and seek similar protection? And if so, how manageable a system can this be if, as some say, there are 100,000 uploads to YouTube alone every day?

Second, everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that "copyrighted" and "infringing" are two different things. People can get permission to use copyrighted video segments in their own works. Furthermore, fair use in American copyright law and fair dealing in other countries' copyright laws do allow certain exceptions for using copyrighted material without seeking permission.

Third, copyright terms vary from country to country. For that matter, so do the exceptions I mentioned above. What happens if, say, I use a clip that's public domain in Canada, but not in the US? Can an American company's takedown notice affect work that's perfectly legal in the country of origin, or vice versa? Should it?

All of these are things that can lead to false positives?incorrectly tagging a video as infringing, when in fact it's perfectly legit. It's easy enough to make this kind of error when people are turning up what appear to be violations. As a recent Slashdot entry on DMCA abuse points out, Viacom is aware that a handful of the clips they targeted were, in fact, perfectly fine. (Are there other clips they aren't aware of? And doesn't that make you wonder how, exactly, they identified all 100,000 of them?) I imagine that an automated system will only make things worse.

This leads me to my fourth point, which makes it all the more surprising that Viacom is charging in like this. In an article in Hollywood Reporter, Esq., Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Fred von Lohmann mentioned an interesting little fact: that if a content owner uses a takedown notice to remove content that doesn't infringe on their intellectual property, they can be sued by YouTube or the user who had their clip pulled. The more ill will Viacom and other media companies generate, the more likely that people who have been stung will band together and use that aspect of the law to fight back. Do they really want it to come to that?

Now that I think of it, maybe it's no surprise why these questions aren't being asked.

Another Pink Player

The feisty pop singer P!nk has lent her face and signature color to another bit of portable electronic gadgetry. This time, rather than the PSP, she's teamed up with German company TrekStor to release a branded i.Beat MP3 player, dubbed the i.Beat p!nk. The player has her signature engraved on the back, and it comes preloaded with photos. No price has been given for the player.

(Actually, like her branded PSP, this player has already seen the light of day over in Europe. It's just that it will finally be making its way over here for an April release.)

Bearing a slight resemblance to Samsung's YP-Z5 (or as I prefer, the "almost-iPod"), the flash-based i.Beat p!nk comes in 1 or 2 GB capacities, and plays back MP3, WMA (including DRMed WMA9) and WAV audio as well as SMV video. (The player comes with SMV conversion software.) Extra features include, among other things, an FM radio, voice recorder, radio recorder, clock and calendar; it also comes with a pair of Sennheiser headphones.

Curiously, the p!nk player also comes in black. I'm not sure what to make of that.

PS3 Searches for Cancer Cure

Since the advent of the PS2, Sony and Microsoft have been sure to talk up just how much processing power their consoles pack. Enterprising gearheads have taken this as a challenge, and have come up with all kinds of applications for PlayStation and Xbox hardware. Taking a cue from Seti@Home, Entropia and World Community Grid, Sony plans to harness the PS3's computing power and networkability in their software update at the end of this month.

The update will create a "Folding@home" icon onscreen that users can click, which will enable the network-connected PS3 to devote some of its idle processing power to a Stanford University grid networking project that will study "misfolded" proteins that may be at the root of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and some cancers. So the next time a skeptic asks why you waste your time with game consoles, tell them you're doing it for science.

Thanko's MP3 Headband

People are continuing to find interesting places to clip the diminutive iPod Shuffle. If you're thinking that your Shuffle should nestle somewhere on your cranium but you're not much of a baseball cap person, you might be in the market for Thanko's Vonia. The Vonia is a sports headband that serves as both iPod holder (it slips into a pouch in the front) and headphones. I mean "headphones" literally -- the Vonia uses bone conduction, so your skull carries the sounds to your cochlea.

The Vonia goes for a mere ¥9800 (about $83) on the Thanko website. People making Olivia Newton-John jokes -- well, that's free.

Schedule TiVo from Your Cell

Have you ever given yourself a giant forehead-smack because you forgot to schedule a TiVo recording? Of course, you can do it over the Web, but if that's not an option, try a cell phone.

TiVo and Verizon Wireless have launched TiVo Mobile, an application that lets you schedule recordings on a Series2 or Series3 box from a cell phone. In order to download and run the app, you'll need a compatible Verizon Wireless phone, such as the Samsung SCH-a950, LG Chocolate, or LG VX8300, and you'll have to pay a $1.99 monthly fee.

The app features the same familiar TiVo interface, allowing you to browse program listings, as well as search for shows. It will also offer customizable channel lists, recommendations, and a view of the most popular/recorded shows.

Check Out March Madness Games Online

With March Madness getting under way today, college basketball fans far and wide will be maniacally checking scores on the Web, pressing their noses up against the window at the local bar on their lunch break, or, uh, catching that sinus infection that's been going around. And even if you are at home "sick," there's no guarantee that you'll get the feed you actually want to watch.

Like last year, CBS SportsLine will be broadcasting all 56 games from the first three rounds of the tournament, for free. Head over to March Madness on Demand and choose which matchup you want to watch (games airing locally may be subject to blackout--I guess some things don't change).

To deal with the demand, bandwidth has been doubled in order to take on more viewers (last year, 1.3 million people signed up), and the site will be able to handle 300,000 streams at one time (up from 200,000 last year). Quality's also been improved, with the video size increased by 50 percent, and streaming quality upped to 450Kbps (from 400Kbps).

She Blinded Me With Ringtones

Give Thomas Dolby a three-minute single over a ringtone any day.

Not that he's got any romantic attachment to old-fashioned music -- even us moderate fans, who shout "Science!" while leaping on furniture at any opportunity, know he's too much of a propellerhead for that. In fact, he's a large part of the reason we even have ringtones. Even though he dropped off the music-industry radar a long time ago, he's been keeping busy with music and technology via Headspace and Beatnik, two companies he founded in the 1990s. Beatnik produces software for audio synthesis (and, ahem, DRM) on mobile devices.

On the occasion of his return to music -- he's just kicked off a tour around his new CD and DVD, both titled The Sole Inhabitant -- he was cited on Flashnews.com (sorry, you have to pay to play) as saying that he finds it harder to compose ringtones than pop music. The trick is in making a ringtone that's catchy but not irritating. (Come to think of it, that's something of a trick in pop music too.)

All of which provides me with an excuse to point you to one of the best reads you'll ever find on the Web -- MusicThing's "Tiny Music Makers" series, which details the creation of the signature musical stings used by Intel, Apple, Microsoft, THX and the UK's Channel 4.

Give Your iPod Some Extra Juice

Doing the New York-Tokyo run? Then it might be a good time to catch up on the last season of Monk on your video iPod -- oh, except that it'll conk out in the middle of the fifth episode, leaving you with the rest of the flight to contemplate the fine selection of in-flight movies.

For those marathon movie/music sessions, Newer Technology has just released the $49 NuPower Video+, a slim lithium-polymer battery pack that clips into place on the back of a fifth-generation iPod. You can also use it as a portable charger, and a charging cable port in the back means you don't have to detach the unit if you don't want to.

The base of the Video+ also doubles as a stand, but to all appearances it seems that the iPod is held kept pretty much vertical, which isn't much use for viewing unless you're crouching in front of the surface it's on. In any case, Newer Technology says that a three-hour charge on the Video+ supplies up to 16 hours of video or 80 hours of music, so unless you opted for the three-hour stopover in Atlanta, you're pretty much covered.

Watch "The Office" on Your Cell

With Verizon Wireless and Sprint's live streaming video services, cell phones are easily on their way to becoming a mini TV in your pocket. And soon you may be able to watch full-length prime-time shows right on your phone.

NBC Universal will be making "The Office," "Heroes," "Battlestar Galactica," and other shows available for on-demand streaming over the air through the MobiTV service. Shows are expected to cost $1.99 (though prices will ultimately be set by carriers) but will only be available to view for 24 hours. Other programs, like "Friday Night Lights," will be available for free, though you'll have to deal with some ads.

The episodes will become available the day after they air, and you'll likely find one or two episodes of each show. The service is set to begin in the next few months, though carriers have yet to be announced.

Stream Media to Your TV in HD

Like many TV junkies with way too much media stored on my computer, I'm waiting to see if Apple TV will do for TV what the iPod did for music. But in much the same way that hardcore digiterati prefer more feature-laden (though less slick) digital audio players to the iPod, there might be more interest in some quarters for Netgear's EVA8000, aka the Digital Entertainer HD.

Connecting to your home network via Ethernet or 802.11g, the Digital Entertainer HD can stream audio (MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, FLAC) and video (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, WMV, XviD), including DRMed Windows Media and iTunes content. A nice plus: the Digital Entertainer HD earns its suffix by being able to play back high-definition video at up to 1080p through its HDMI port.

Like the Apple TV, the appeal lies in being able to use the media stored on the computer without actually being in front of the computer -- but the Digital Entertainer HD takes things a step further by being able to remotely access a PC's installed TV tuner card for PVR functions. I also like the idea of functions that take advantage of multiple devices, like "Follow Me" (where you can pause a video in one room and continue it in another) and "Party Mode" (where music playback is synchronized over different units).

What I'm most curious to see is how easy it will be to set up and use -- which is, of course, where Apple is king. I doubt that Netgear will be able to give Apple a run for their money, but if they pull things together right, they'll be able to carve a respectable niche for themselves.

Apple's Major Music Mojo

Video killed the radio star? That's old news. These days, the place to be if you want to make it big is iTunes. A tip of the hat to MediaBistro for pointing me to a recent Wall Street Journal article that breaks down how front-page placement on iTunes can quintuple an album's sales compared to the following weeks.

Two interesting tidbits:

* No money changes hands for these placements, with Apple preferring to barter things like exclusive content and special pricing.

* Apple's promotion of albums by independent artists not only boosts the albums' sales, it exposes people to a wider range of music. Apple claims that indies make up 15% of iTunes sales, three times the percentage of bricks-and-mortar retailers. I've mentioned before that Apple's selection isn't quite as top-40 as people think, but it's nice to have some numbers.

One point, though. The WSJ article is titled "Music's New Gatekeeper," which is accurate. But I find the situation distressingly similar to the physical world, where the omnipresence of big chains makes it less likely that you'll notice the small independent music stores. (Shout-outs to Peacock Music in Plattsburgh, Pure Pop in Burlington and Pop Shop and Beatnick in Montreal. I haven't strayed, I've just been busy.) There are online equivalents to these stores -- I've mentioned eMusic repeatedly, and I'm also a fan of Epitonic -- you're still more likely to discover them by accident than anything else. Unless, you know, someone happens to mention them on their blog.

Archos 204 Gets a Color Screen -- Overseas

Some countries get all the luck.

By all accounts, the Archos 202 was a nifty little audio player. The diminutive (2.9" x 2.3" x 0.7") 20 GB unit played MP3, WAV and WMA files with or without DRM, and it managed a respectable 20-hour battery life. The trouble is, it was only available in Europe. Its new sibling, the Archos 204, is pretty much the same -- except that it has a 1.8'' color OLED screen. Still no Stateside love, though. It looks like your best options are to drop the 180 ? (about $238) and have it delivered to your Parisian cousin, hope for it to eventually come out here (if it does, it's likely it'll be at a lower price), or visit the Archos site and stare wistfully.

I'm not sure which way I'll go just yet. I'll get back to you on that.

SanDisk's 2.5" 32 GB Solid-State Drive

Generally speaking, we expect new technology to make things smaller, not bigger. But sometimes you've gotta buck the trend. Just two months after unveiling their 32 GB 1.8'' solid-state drive (SSD), SanDisk has launched a 2.5'' serial ATA drive with the same capacity, thus opening up the possibility of NAND-based storage on mainstream notebooks, rather than ultraportables.

SanDisk touts the usual benefits of solid-state storage: no moving parts (and therefore less susceptibility to drops and temperature variations, less heat given off, and no drive noise) and lower power requirements. For now, though, it's still a luxury item. The 32 GB drive currently sells to manufacturers for $350 and that's the large-volume price. Still, this development brings the possibility of quieter, more durable and less power-hungry laptops and media players that much closer.

Coupons to Help Digital TV Switch

Most of us who live and breathe technology will easily make the switch from analog to digital television sets by the year 2009--if you haven't already. But there are plenty of people (my parents, for instance) who will question why they will have to trash their 10-year-old RCAs, or buy some sort of converter set-top box, to keep getting Charlie Rose over the air.

Realizing that, the government is offering up a little help. The Department of Commerce has announced the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) plan to subsidize the conversion from analog to digital. Under the plan, households will be able to claim a pair of $40 coupons that can be applied toward the purchase of a box that converts digital signals for viewing on analog TVs.

Currently the plan entails allocating $990 million to any household that requests coupons. When and if that money gets used up, another $510 million will be set aside for those consumers who don't subscribe to either cable or satellite. But is it enough? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, about 20 million people still get programming over the air, and another 15 million may subscribe to cable or satellite but still have other TV sets in their house that use an antenna.

Get Your Funk On Via USB

What's next, USB platform shoes? Now Saturday night can be extended through the entire week, thanks to the ?10.99 (around $21) USB Mirror Ball. Just plug it into your USB port and the LEDs in the base and rotating ball do the rest. Moderately sized at 96 mm x 98 mm x 153 mm (3.8'' x 3.9'' x 6''), you might have to clear a little space on your desk, but if you're the type who has "Ring My Bell" as a top-rated track on your media player, you probably won't mind.

The Mouse That Never Forgets

Because they're always hurting for space, road warriors generally try to cram as much tech into as little space as they can comfortably manage. Sometimes that translates to ultra-portable laptops; sometimes it means combining two or more devices. Hong Kong-based Hopestar Electronics has come up with an example of convergence I'd never have expected: petite notebook mice that double as USB flash drives.

These Mini Memory Mice are optical three-button mice with scroll wheels, sporting retractable cables -- and anywhere from 32 MB to 1 GB of memory. Given that USB thumb drives can now be had in sizes smaller than an actual thumb, I'm not sure how necessary this combination is. But if you're thinking of giving this a shot, be warned that the Mini Memory Mice use the poky USB 1.1 spec -- so you'd better not be working on anything urgent.

AT&T Goes Red with the Treo and Pearl

For those of you looking for a little color in your mobile phone, AT&T has busted out red versions of the BlackBerry Pearl and Palm Treo 680.

The Pearl features a thin .57-inch profile and packs in a 1.3-megapixel camera, memory-card slot, and RIM's abridged QWERTY keyboard. The antenna-less 680 includes a full QWERTY keyboard, camera, and MP3 player. Both phones can be upgraded with GPS capabilities by adding a Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver and an optional, subscription-based service from TeleNav.

Both phones can be had for $200 (after rebates) and a two-year contract.

Convert Old Tapes to DVD the Easy Way

Video cassettes are so twentieth century, but those of us with large collections tremble at the thought of converting hundreds of cassettes to DVD -- the whole capture-convert-burn process gets a little tiring, even if you're lucky enough to have your AV gadgets next to your computer. Late last year I decided to bite the bullet and start the process, but the sheer scale of the endeavor has led to the kind of procrastination I haven't indulged in since I still had to hand in term papers.

My salvation, however, may be at hand: I was just reminded that Sony has been producing their DVDirect line of DVD recorders for a while now, and the latest edition has recently appeared. The $218 DVDirect VRD-MC3 is a reasonably portable box with composite, S-Video and FireWire inputs that burns your video straight to a DVD-R/+R/-RW/+RW DVD discs (including dual-layer versions of each, except for DVD-RW) -- no fussing with computers or software, unless you really want to.

If you want to create fancy menus and precise chapter stops, then you can stick with your computer; the VRD-MC3 can put in chapter stops at preset intervals or if you hit a button manually, but that's about it. Still, for quickly bringing your video collection into the twenty-first century, this could be just the thing.

Digital Music and the Blame Game

If you thought the skirmishes over DRM and Apple's iTunes had waned, think again. The European Union's consumer protection commissioner Meglena Kuneva recently directed some barbed words toward Apple, criticizing its use of Fairplay DRM and the closed iTunes/iPod system. This is nothing new, but it does make for an interesting companion to another report that the major music labels still don't seem to have a viable digital music strategy other than putting their music on iTunes, then complaining about it.

Like the captain said, what we have here is a failure to communicate. For those who haven't been keeping score: Kuneva (who, a spokeswoman stressed, was airing her own views) and several European countries have been speaking out against DRM in general, and iTunes in particular. Apple's Steve Jobs has pointed the finger at the music industry for requiring DRM. The music industry blames Apple for having a closed system and for locking prices.

What no one has proposed -- at least, not seriously -- is dialogue. The major music labels currently pick and choose where their tracks will go, generally releasing them on iTunes. This cuts out a quarter of the MP3-player-owning market; can you think of any other industry that deliberately ignores such a high number of potential customers?

Apple, meanwhile, quite rightly does not want to be the only one to give up its DRM scheme. All other things being equal, it would put a major dent in iPod sales.

Things would go a lot smoother if the music industry made its content available across all media, like it used to do in the analog world. Or, if Apple found some way to open up iTunes in such a way that would minimize its risk. Neither entity will do these things on their own, so they have to find a third way: sit down, bring Microsoft and the rest of the PlaysForSure community to the table, and work something out. (Apple should initiate this, as right now they're the ones with the upper hand.) Endless finger-pointing isn't doing anyone any good.

Will Sony's Home Come to PSP?

When Sony announced its online service PlayStation Home earlier this week, it talked about it in terms of the PlayStation 3. But according to gaming site IGN, which dug into a technical FAQ about Home, Sony is considering bringing aspects of the service to its PSP handheld and even cell phones.

The FAQ states that Home will initially be available through the PS3, but eventually the goal is to let users access the service through portable networked devices like the PSP and mobile phones. IGN goes on to surmise (and they admit they've got no evidence or confirmation of this) that the service might just include aspects of the Home service, such as chat, VoiP, and buddy lists, rather than the full 3D experience that'll be available for PS3. Even if that's the case, IGN says that's still a welcome addition for the PSP, which currently can't communicate at all with the PlayStation Network.

And Now, a Phone Ad From Your Sponsor

Everyone wants something for free, but how badly? In a recent survey of mobile users in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and England, 33% of the respondents said they were willing to watch ads on their phones rather than pay for content. (Though some aren't too keen on the idea of text-message ads -- sort of like how we tolerate ads in our Web pages, but not within our chat conversation windows.)

Contrast this nugget to an earlier report from a different group, where 79% of the respondents said they were "annoyed just by the thought of mobile ads on their phones." Does this mean we're experiencing a shift in attitudes as more people get access to the mobile Internet, or is this just a statistical fluke? Either way, you know marketers are looking at this current study and thinking of lining up deals.

I shudder at the thought of advertising invading my Treo, but I wonder if a minute or two of ads every day would be too high a price to pay for, say, unlimited Internet access. How about you? How much advertising would you tolerate for better services or more content?

SDHC Capacity Bumps Up to 8 GB

SDHC, the high-capacity version of the stalwart SD card format, just got bigger and faster. Yesterday both SanDisk and Kingston announced 8 GB versions of their SDHC cards, so you can lose -- er, store more information at once on a tiny plastic wafer.

SanDisk's $239 Ultra II SDHC card will come bundled with their USB 2.0 MicroMate SDHC/SD card reader, as the high-capacity cards aren't compatible with existing SD card readers. However, the Kingston cards range in price from $109 to $129, depending on the speed. $129 gets you a minimum sustained data transfer rate of 6 megabytes per second; the SanDisk card has a minimum data transfer rate of 4 megabytes per second, though it can hit maximum speeds of 10 MB/s (read) and 9 MB/s (write).

The higher capacity is especially useful for digital video recording applications. For instance, on the Panasonic SDR-S10 can store up to 110 minutes of video at the highest quality setting. It's also useful for digital still cameras, but are you honestly going to carry thousands of photos with you at all times? Didn't think so.

Kingston's cards are available now, while SanDisk's will be available in June.

Noise Canceling Goes In-Ear

JVC is fusing two different technologies that will allow you to shut out the world whenever you tune into your music. The memorably named HA-NCX77s combine electronic noise-canceling technology with an in-ear headphone design that seals out background noise.

JVC claims that the 'phones are capable of canceling up to 80 percent of background noise. An attached power supply provides about 70 hours of listening, and it features a mute switch so you can turn down the noise. The 'phones are available immediately for $80.

Magellan GPS Features AAA Info

Magellan has joined up with AAA, and the result is the new Maestro line of portable GPS devices. The three new units--the Maestro 4000, 4040, and 4050--will be stocked with information from AAA's TourBook, including diamond-rated restaurants, hotels, and roadside assistance for AAA members that shows your current location.

All of the units include a 4.3-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth for hands-free calling, and a simplified user interface for cutting down on the number of keystrokes. The top-of-the-line Maestro 4050 (available in May for $700) also features voice recognition, so you can shout commands at the device, and a traffic dongle that lets you route around jams (you'll need a subscription for traffic data, though three months are included). It's also got preloaded maps of all 50 states, plus text-to-speech capabilities, so the device will try to pronounce street names (rather than just "turn in 50 yards").

If you don't feel like dropping $700, check out the $500 Maestro 4040 or the $400 Maestro 4000, both due in April. The 4040 has Bluetooth, text-to-speech, along with maps of all 50 states, while the 4000 loses those capabilities and maps of the unattached states of Hawaii and Alaska.

A Camcorder for Adventurous Moviemakers

I've always wanted a camcorder that could withstand Montreal winters and a rambunctious six-year old simultaneously. Okay, maybe not always, but at least since last weekend, when my wife suggested we record our son's sledding antics. "Love to," I answered. "But I'm not in the market for a new camera just yet."

Maybe next year. Today Panasonic announced the $399 SDR-S10, a flash-based, water-resistant camcorder designed to withstand drops from up to four feet. The use of flash media also keeps the size and weight down -- it's a mere 1.22'' x 2.48'' x 4.49'' and less than half a pound without the battery, so it's easy to slip into a coat pocket. The SDR-S10 records on SD or SDHC cards.

You pay a price for that convenience, though. The camcorder only records to MPEG-2, so dumping your video to a MacBook might be problematic. Also, while the the SDR-S10 sports a 16:9 LCD, the specs suggest that the camera achieves this aspect ratio by cropping, rather than recording an anamorphic MPEG.

If you're looking for razor-sharp images for your next cinematic oeuvre, you might want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want to record your next snowboard/mountain bike session -- or, worse, give the camera to a five-year-old amped on refined sugar -- this might be just what you need.

Micron Sensor Brings HD to Digicams

The march toward a high-definition future continues. Micron Technology announced today that they've developed a two CMOS sensor that brings 720p high-definition video capture to consumer-level digital cameras.

The MT9P401 is a 5-megapixel sensor designed for "hybrid cameras" (um, aren't they all, these days?) and can capture 720p video at 60 frames per second. The sensor also enables a 15-frame burst mode. Mass production of the sensor is expected in the third quarter of this year. Another sensor, the 8-megapixel MT9E001, which is now in mass production, is capable of 720p video at 30 frames per second, with a 10-frame burst mode at its highest resolution.

Given that I spent a fair bit of Tuesday morning at an event switching between a digital still camera (that records so-so video) and a camcorder (that takes so-so stills), I'm happy to see that we're edging toward the point where we don't have to decide between one kind of camera or the other. Now if someone would just squeeze these sensors into a Treo, I'd be all set.

Are You Ready for Mind Games?

If you thought eye control was freaky, you'd better sit down: San Francisco startup Emotiv Systems has developed a controller (the pictured headset is the developer version) that use sensors to read your thoughts. No more fiddling with a d-pad; just think "frag that alien with my grenade launcher" and you're blowing up bug-eyed monsters before you know it.

Brain-powered controllers aren't new. I first tried a consumer-level product ten or eleven years ago, where I played a side-scrolling game by thinking "up," "down," "left," "right," -- or, as often as not, "Oh no, the rocks! Aiiieeeee!" Emotiv, however, says their technology detects more specific thoughts, as well as emotions and unconscious thoughts. The three developer kits for the headset -- the Expressiv, Affectiv and Cognitiv suites -- detect facial expressions, emotional states, and conscious thoughts, respectively.

While I agree with CEO Nam Do's statement that this may well be "a revolution in the way players interact with a game," I can already see the potential for all kinds of mayhem. (I have visions of my wife putting one of these things on my head while I'm watching Gina Torres on TV. How will I explain my way out of that?)

Sony Joins the Community

Sony has arrived at the online-community party, fashionably late, but looking good. PlayStation Home will launch this fall at no cost, with a beta beginning in April. The service lets you wander a virtual world, meeting, chatting, and following people into multiplayer games.

With Home, you set up your own apartment--reminiscent of The Sims--which you can decorate and fill up with your own content, such as music and personal pictures. You can even walk into a theater and access videos, or maybe HD content. A trophy room gives you a place to keep track of different gaming achievements.

Sony's gaming avatars will take on a more photo-realistic look, and of course, you'll be able to customize your image, from your face to your clothes. You'll also be able to play casual games as in Xbox Live Arcade. Check out a video of PlayStation Home here.

TiVo Gets Amazon Downloads

Hey, fellow TiVo-ites! If all of that TiVo'ed content isn't enough to fill up your life, you now have the option to download movies and shows straight from Amazon's Unbox service to your DVR.

All you have to do is sign up for Amazon Unbox and register your Series2 or 3 TiVo. Then rent or buy any TiVo-designated content, and you will have the option to select your DVR as the download destination. Not all Unbox content is available for TiVo watching, so you need to look for the TiVo logo on each download page; check the list here.

Your box talks directly to the service, so your DVR must be connected to the Internet via broadband, not a phone line. Once your content is downloaded, it appears in your Now Playing list.

New Olympus Voice Recorders

These days, most MP3 players have voice-recording capabilities, but it's hard to forget that they're audio players first and voice recorders second. If you're a journalist, a student, or anyone else who needs to record audio in the field fairly often, but you'd still like to slip on the headphones for some music once in a while, you might consider the $199 Olympus WS-331M voice recorder.

Unlike most of the voice recorders of yesteryear, the flash-based WS-331M records to WMA, with six different quality settings, so that you can fit anywhere from 35 to 555 hours on the 2 GB device. A number of convenient recording functions are included: filters to reduce background noise, slow playback and selective looping (to make transcribing easier), timed recording and onscreen file management. None of these are new, but it's nice to have them all present.

When you switch from work to play, the WS-331M becomes a bit more rudimentary. You've got MP3 and WMA playback, onscreen track name and artist info and SRS WOW XT audio processing, but that's about it. Perhaps the best touch is that the WS-331M is recognized as a removable mass storage, so it's easy to move files back and forth between the recorder and a computer.

The WS-331M still isn't the perfect player/recorder hybrid, but it's a step in the right direction. Expect to see it on the shelves next month.

Archos Ups Its WiFi Line of PMPs

Archos is continuing to extend its line of wireless-enabled portable media players with the 704-WiFi. The big brother to Archos' 604-WiFi, the 704 is stocked with a giant 7-inch touchscreen, 80GB of storage, and of course that sexy wireless capability that means you can stream video from your PC, check e-mail, and scan the Internet using the built-in Opera browser.

Like all PMPs, you can watch video, listen to music, and watch slideshows. If you attach it to the optional $100 DVR Station, the unit can record video from a TV or other source, such as a cable box or DVD player. It can also handle PlaysForSure content, so you can download music and videos from any compatible store such as Amazon, AOL, CinemaNow, and Wal-Mart.

Of course, the 704-WiFi isn't exactly tiny, measuring in at 7-by-5-by-.8 inches, and 22 ounces--though a built-in kickstand helps keep the player upright. Nice touch. Battery life is decent: You get 25 hours of music and 5 hours of video. The 704-WiFi ships later this month, but is available for pre-order now for $550.

Study: BlackBerry Use Can Cause Stress

I'm a fan of being connected. Obviously. And I bought a Palm Treo 650 years ago so I could stay up on my work email when I'm away from my computer. But I've found that constant access to my email stresses me out. Do I really want to know there's a problem with a project when I'm about to enjoy a movie? Is there some reason I can't get that e-mail in the morning?

According to a recent study by MIT's Sloan School of Management, I'm not alone. By looking at BlackBerry use at a certain company, the study found that constant e-mail checking led to more stress. According to the study, 90 percent of subjects claimed they felt "some degree of compulsion," checking their e-mail on nights, weekends, at church, at the gym, and even when they were out socially.

The study also found that the problem stems from managers. Once higher-ups start compulsive e-mail checking, everyone else follows suit till it becomes normal that someone will get back to you at any hour of the day.

Videogame Console War Will Get Fierce

Who will win this generation's console war? According to Electronic Arts' outgoing CEO Larry Probst, it's still going to be Sony. But not before they lose some ground to Nintendo and Microsoft. "We expect that there will be a more level playing field this time around than last time," he said during an investor conference.

Probst says that although Sony should win the console war, it will likely lose the sheer dominance that it enjoyed with the PlayStation 2. To date, Sony has shipped more than 115 million PS2s, and they're still going strong. In January the PS2 came in just behind the Wii as the second-highest-selling console for the month. Not bad for a seven-year-old device.

Sony's Simple but Stylish Flash MP3 Player

Sony raised a few eyebrows when it announced a video Walkman last week, but in the fuss we missed another new media player bearing the Walkman name. The NW-E010 series of flash-based audio players look like a cross between the PS3 and your garden-variety USB thumb drive, packing 1 to 2 GB, a color OLED display and an FM tuner. The NW-E010 supports MP3, unprotected WMA, unprotected AAC and of course Sony's proprietary ATRAC. Like earlier flash drives, it also has a quick-charge function, so if you're in a hurry you can pop it into your USB port for three minutes and get three hours of juice. The NW-E010 is currently only out in Europe, but there's no reason not to expect it to eventually come to these shores.

Old Sirius/XM Radios Will Still Work

If you're a satellite radio subscriber like me, you've probably wondered whether you might have to buy a replacement radio if and when the XM Radio and Sirius merger happens. Of course I don't want to spring for a new radio to replace my Sirius Sportster. But I also fear the potential cost of having to install a new radio.

Well, the companies have confirmed (or reaffirmed) the fact that current radios will continue to work and receive programming from both services once the two companies marry (we'll have to wait and see what the FCC and DOJ have to say about this matter). Of course, part of this is to ensure that new customers keep on buying radios while the deal is in limbo. But that's good news for those of us who have already invested.

Your Mouse Says No but Your Eyes Say Yes

A Stanford doctoral student is working on a way to keep us from ever burning any calories while computing. Manu Kumar has been hard at work developing a method for navigating computer interfaces by tracking eye movement using a system of infrared LEDs and a high-resolution camera embedded in specialized monitors.

Kumar's method expands on existing technology originally created for disabled users, but introduces two elements: some use of the hand (for instance, to click on a selected link), and an algorithm that corrects for the natural jitter of our eyes.

The full Technology Review article on the subject makes for interesting reading; I particularly like the idea of a document that automatically scrolls as you read, as the system knows how far along you are.

There are currently kinks in the system and it's a bit pricey (Kumar's system costs $25,000), but I wonder how useful even a refined version will be. I know that when I'm reading text and I'm pressed for time my eyes dart around the screen looking for key words and phrases, which could make for some interesting scroll behavior. And we can just forget about games, where I rarely look directly at the item I want to click on, fire at, or whatever. Still, I'm encouraged by a comment from Tufts University professor Robert Jacob, who says "It's almost like magic when it's working. The sensation you get is that the computer's reading your mind, and that's really very powerful."

Verizon Wireless Unleashes TV Service

Do you need to see who got booted from Survivor the instant it happens? Verizon Wireless is hoping to get customers to tune into live Survivor, Daily Show, and Letterman broadcasts through its just-launched TV service. V Cast Mobile TV is now available in 19 locales, mostly in the Midwest and West.

By paying $15 to $25 a month (and purchasing the Samsung SCH-u620, the first to support this service), you get 24 hours of streaming video from eight channels: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, and Nickelodeon.

But you won't necessarily be getting an exact replica of what's playing on your TV at home. According to USA Today, some shows like the CBS Evening News, Survivor, Letterman, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report will be on during their normal time slots, but other shows, like South Park and Chappelle's Show, will stray from their regularly scheduled time. MTV's programming will match what appears on TV.

New to YouTube: The Beeb

More in the push-pull of the online video world: Viacom is pleased as punch to have taken the hard line against YouTube as of last October, but the British Broadcasting Corporation -- the BBC, or the Beeb to its friends -- has just made a deal to create BBC and BBC Worldwide channels on YouTube, along with a channel for BBC News clips.

This is just the latest in the Beeb's ongoing embrace of and experimentation within the digital world. Years ago, when they started digitizing their radio archives, they released an astonishing collection of audio clips online, featuring interviews with political and artistic notables ranging from Chinua Achebe to Charles M. Schulz to Steven Spielberg. More recently, they've released some of their software as open source, and, for a while, released hundreds of audio, video and image assets for the public to download and use as they wanted. Let's see where they go from here.

Ribbit! Sorry, I Have to Take This Call

Some people describe cell phone rings as "chirps," but the Center for Biological Diversity means it literally. The Pinos Altos, New Mexico-based environmental group is trying to raise awareness of endangered species through a series of free ringtones.

The ringtones in question are recordings of endangered animals around the world, like poison arrow dart frogs, beluga whales and boreal owls. The idea is that if someone asks about one of the unusual ringtones (presumably after you've finished your phone call), you can explain to them where it comes from or point them to the website, thereby raising awareness of the problem of endangered species.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time that someone has married the calls of the wild with the calls of the technological wild. If you've got four minutes to spare, listen to this 2002 radio program about artist Nina Katchadourian, who changed her car alarm to sound like wild bird calls.

EA Gets in the Game Music Game

You know it's a multimedia world when a games company has a music executive. Steve Schnur, worldwide exec of music and marketing at Electronic Arts, announced today that music from EA's games are now available for download from their EA Trax site, or from iTunes.

From my casual browsing of the site, the selection appears to be entirely made up of the songs heard in different games -- for instance, the NFL 2005 selection touts music from Franz Ferdinand, Burning Brides, Sugarcult, The Network and Ash. Many of these songs are exclusive recordings or remixes, but if you were hoping to get the score to your favorite game, you might be out of luck.

Schur promises that "if it?s in the game, it?s now available for fans to own," but that doesn't appear to be completely retroactive. After going through the list of game titles, it appears that SSX 2 isn't on the list. Looks like I'll still have to wait before I can get that Rahzel cut.

Europe's PlayStation 3 Gets the Shaft

Europe can't be happy. And with good reason. Less than a month before the release of the PlayStation 3 across the Atlantic, Sony has announced that Europeans will be getting a watered-down version of the PS3.

The PS3-Euro (that's not the official name, by the way) will be missing the Emotion Engine, the chip behind the PlayStation 2. Experts anticipate that this move will help Sony cut prices in the long term. Of course, this means that backward compatibility will be suckier on these machines than on the PS3s sold in the US and Japan because it will have to be done through software emulation.

According to Sony, more than 1,000 PS2 titles will be playable at launch, and the company will be releasing regular PS3 firmware updates that will consistently add to that number. Unfortunately, there's no mention of what those 1,000 titles will be, and the site that will be listing those games doesn't go live till March 23. Which, of course, is the day the console will be releasing.

The DVD Forum Turns 10 (More or Less)

Got a press release today, where the DVD Forum is celebrating its tenth anniversary, notwithstanding the fact that it was founded in August of 1997.

What struck me about the release was the self-congratulatory tone of the first paragraph, in which they say the Forum has been "hailed as a model for collaboration between the consumer electronics, IT and entertainment industries." And they deserve it -- as I recall, some tech publications in the mid-1990s reported on the strain of so many companies working together (and sometimes at cross purposes), occasionally threatening to split into factions. But the alliance held together, a unified standard was born, and the little disc went on to change those three industries mentioned earlier.

What the press release doesn't say is that things started to come apart a few years later, with the advent of recordable DVDs. DVD-RAM already existed, though its main purpose was for backups; but when it came to DVDs for the average home user, the various companies came to loggerheads over technical issues. The end result was a breakaway group called the DVD+RW Alliance and two formats that would come to be known as DVD-R and DVD+R, along with their respective rewritable formats. The recordable DVD market sputtered along until Sony came up with the DRU-500AX and DRX-500ULX, drives that could write to both formats -- a revolutionary idea that is now the norm.

If the lesson hadn't already been clear after the VHS/Beta thing, it should have been the moment the DRU-500 drives started selling out: unity sells, discord doesn't. (Why is that a surprise? After all, it's the same principle that governments and most industries use.) But we've since run headlong into the HD DVD/Blu-ray fiasco, and though several solutions have since presented themselves, it doesn't look like the peace will be brokered as easily as with the recordable DVD formats.

But thinking about it further, is that really a surprise? "Incompatibility" and "consumer electronics" are words that seem to go together as often as not. Betamax and VHS. DAT and DCC. Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio. PCI and VLB. The many floppy disk formatting methods (oh, for those days when I had PC, Amiga and Mac floppies scattered around the office). I could go on for hours.

When all is said and done, though, the DVD Forum is still right to pat itself on the back. For a few brief years, they managed to hold things together well enough to produce a format that profoundly affected multiple industries and altered the habits of millions of people. It's arguably one of the most incredible inter-organizational achievements in the history of the modern world. So happy tenth, DVD Forum, and here's hoping that more companies learn from that short but phenomenally fruitful period.