EMI Frees Artists to Sell Own Tunes

We're loving EMI these days.

Not only did they free up a good chunk of their catalog from the shackles of DRM, but now they've hooked up with Snocap, a company that enables artists to set up MyStores. MyStores are online music stores that allow bands and artists to vend music from their own Web sites, blogs, or MySpace pages. Fans can even embed widgets on their sites, allowing for sales that way. Songs will be sold in the DRM-free MP3 format for $1.30, and will be available as early as this week, starting with artists like Korn, Dean Martin, and Yellowcard.

The Fashionably Late Total HD

When it comes to brokering the peace between HD DVD and Blu-ray, we tend to think of multi-format players, so it's easy to forget that Warner Home Video was supposed to be releasing a hybrid two-sided disc format called Total HD later this year. It's one of those everybody-wins formats because consumers are guaranteed a usable disc and Warner cuts costs and maximizes shelf space.

So, uh, what's happening with that?

It seems that Warner's holding off until they can build up a critical mass of Total HD titles, in the area of 10 or 20; that way retailers can group them together and they won't get lost amid all the not-so-Total HD discs. So your dual-format bliss will have to wait until early 2008.

The Photographer Stays in the Picture

Good: Tripods are the best way to make sure you're always in your summer photos, or to get rock-steady shots in low-light conditions. Bad: Tripods are a pain to carry around -- even if they're tiny and lightweight, you constantly find yourself attaching and detaching them, until one day you realize the tripod you once couldn't live without has been sitting at the bottom of your desk drawer since last September.

Move Products proposes a solution: their forthcoming (and as yet unpriced) Millipod is super-slim and foldable, so once you install it on the tripod mount you don't need to take it off. Just fold it up when it's not in use, and you're barely notice it's there.

If you need to get just the right angle you can adjust the height of the Millipod's front leg, as well as rotate the tripod. The added bonus is that you can rotate the Millipod out of the way when you need to access the underside of the camera to change the battery or the memory card.

The Bluetooth Headset for Non-Stop Blathering

Bluetooth headsets are handy, but sometimes I just have to say "enough is enough" -- and by "sometimes" I mean whenever I see people just walking around with headsets they aren't actually using. In fact, there are a few people in my neighborhood that I've never seen not wearing a headset. Maybe they're just really popular and must be prepared for phone calls to occur at any given moment! And then there's the guy who I've never seen not talking on his headset. I don't even want to think about how many lozenges he buys every year.

I'm sure Plantronics had these folks in mind when they designed the Voyager 520, a headset that not only gets eight hours of talk time out of one charge, they actively promote it as a device for all-day use. Sure, the QuickPair technology sounds nice (as the name implies, it's for quickly pairing the headset with different devices) and I have no doubt that it's one of the best-sounding headphones you can get for its $100 price tag. But if you find you really need eight hours of talk time a day, maybe you should consider some kind of implant.

YouTube's Upcoming Challenges

You can't be as big as YouTube and not attract unwanted attention -- both in the form of backlash and rising competition.

A few days ago Advertising Age's Simon Dumenco compared YouTube to AOL -- that is, the AOL that seemed unbeatable before collapsing under the weight of its own hype and the eventual realization that the company offered little that couldn't be found elsewhere. In particular, he notes that lately he's been watching more online video on other sites, as big players begin to learn the workings of Web video and well-funded competitors start their own sites.

It's hard to disagree with him, but I think he's forgetting an important point: AOL didn't disappear, it evolved and survived. And while it's not the same company it was at the turn of the millennium (hey, which company is?) it still pulls in great heaping piles of money.

That's one thing about being an 800-pound gorilla; even when hundreds of smaller simians move in, you've still got chest-pounding rights. And unlike nature, when other 800-pound gorillas start showing up in the business world, they eventually learn to compete and coexist. For an example, look no further than television, where there are a handful of broadcast networks and hundreds of smaller channels. Speciality video sites like PandoraTV and major competitors like MySpace TV will force changes, but if Google is smart about how they use their existing lead, they'll still be around and doing quite well in a few years -- hopefully while avoiding the public meltdown AOL endured on its road to recovery.

Take Your iPod Along for the Ride

Summer's here, which means it's time to pump up my bike tires and hit the trails. But it's not exactly safe, or legal, to ride your bike while plugging in a set of earphones and listening to music.

Well, with iHome Audio's iH85B bicycle speaker, you can add to all the street pollution. All you do is load your iPod inside the speaker case, then mount that to the frame of your bike. You then use the remote control, which connects to your handlebars, to navigate through your tunes. The water-resistant iH85B is available soon for $100. Now the only problem is potentially offending fellow riders with your musical tastes.

BBC iPlayer Ready for July Launch

Finally, the BBC has announced a launch date for iPlayer, its online broadband TV service: July 27.

After many delays, iPlayer finally went through public trials back in April, and it looks like everyone liked what they saw. The service's promised features are largely unchanged: broadband users will be able to watch any BBC program up to seven days after its airing, mimicking the "Listen Again" feature on various Beeb radio websites. Users can also download shows for viewing up to 30 days after airing.

The downside is that the service will only be open to "BBC licence fee payers," i.e., people who otherwise get the BBC. (I'm pretty sure BBC America, BBC Canada and BBC World Service viewers don't count.) But the BBC model is, I think, something worth watching. I do like how the BBC is looking at partnerships with other online entities like MSN, Telegraph.co.uk and AOL -- but then, they've generally been good about increasing access to their digital holdings. According to Ashley Highfield, their director of future media and technology, they'll be starting trials of iPlayer delivery via PVRs and broadband set-top boxes as well.

New Mice Stay Clean, Protect Your PC

A mouse is just a mouse. Or is it? With Iogear's Personal Security Mouse with Nano Technology, all you have to do is swipe your finger against the built-in scanner in order to gain entry to your PC. Use it to access encrypted files, folders, and hard drives. It also stores Website registrations so you no longer have to scratch your head trying to remember which password goes with which user name. Not only does this thing include a fingerprint scanner, it's also a bacteria killer thanks to its special titanium dioxide and silver nano-particle compound coating.

But maybe you like to keep things clean the old-fashioned way. By washing 'em. Well, check out Belkin's Washable Mouse. Not only can it handle that accidental coffee spill, but it can also be held under the faucet for a good cleaning once in a while. Otherwise, the mouse is pretty simple, with little more than a touch pad that lets you scroll vertically or horizontally.

Neuros OSD Meets YouTube

You've got to give it up for the the folks at Neuros. Back when they released the Linux-based Neuros OSD media center, they threw open the doors and invited the open-source community to hack away at it, which they did with gusto.

The latest addition is a YouTube browser and viewer that works directly over your Ethernet connection -- which means that all of YouTube is immediately at OSD users' fingertips, beating Apple by a few months (their YouTube content is being added gradually, with the entire catalog expected to appear sometime this fall). Not that it's a contest or anything.

The Cell Phone Blue Bin

I've been doing some spring cleaning around the office -- yes, I know it's officially summer, I've been busy -- which sometimes entails finding new homes for the bits of electronic detritus that accumulates around here. Today I finally pulled together all the stuff I haven't been able to Freecycle and came across a dead cell phone (my very first, from around ten years ago).

I haven't disposed of the thing until now because the two nearest dropoff spots for phones are just inconvenient enough. Why isn't this easier, I wondered, considering how common cell phones are? Why isn't it a bit more like Japan, where NTT Docomo and am/pm Japan recently rolled out cell phone recycling bins at convenience stores?

It's true that Japan's rate of cell phone usage (and turnover) far outpaces our own, so there's more of a need for this kind of a system. But as North Americans slowly start to implement recycling programs for electronics, we're still a little weak when it comes to conveniently disposal. These blue boxes are a step in the right direction; I hope we start seeing something similar here.

Technorati Profile

iTunes' Latest Victim: The Record Album

Ever since iTunes started hauling in great big buckets of money, pundits have declared that the end of the album is nigh. But artists -- with the exception of a few online-based auteurs like Jonathan Coulton -- haven't really abandoned the format yet. Well, until recently.

The Guardian's John Harris reports that the group Ash have announced that they're giving up on the album format, instead releasing a series of downloadable singles from now on.

That shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. As has often been reported, CD sales have been in free-fall, while downloads -- which are generally singles -- are rising. What does surprise me is that Harris laments the impending death of the album as much as he does. "What, for the true fan, will replace the giddy expectation that comes from knowing that your currently cloistered favourites are about to return with their latest opus?" he asks.

Oh, I don't know. How about the music we actually want to hear? Let's face it: when the shuffle feature was invented, a lot of people realized they could mess with the song order of their favorite albums with little or no effect on the overall experience. While some albums (Harris offers The Clash's London Calling, Prince's Sign O'the Times and Blur's Parklife; I offer the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik) are perfectly structured, self-contained gems, the truth is that most people -- music listeners, not music fans -- simply don't care.

You could almost say the CD player was a tacit recognition of this fact. With the program function, people could -- and did -- remove tracks they didn't want to hear, or move them around according to their tastes. People talk about mashups as a way for people to mold pop music as a means of personal expression, but the reality is that we've been doing it since the 1980s, when we realized we didn't have to listen to "Walking in Your Footsteps" if we didn't want to.

Personally, I think Harris is being alarmist. Let's remember, first of all, that the modern pop album is only about sixty years old; for millennia before that, musicians made individual songs or collections of songs of varying lengths as they saw fit for what they were trying to express. What the "death of the album," such as it is, will allow is a return of that choice. Ash can release a series of singles if that works for them. If Mike Oldfield decides that he wants to release an album inspired by a book again, he can. Where Harris sees despair, I see what the Internet and digital technologies often promise: freedom.

A Different HD DVD/Blu-ray Battleground

When I wrote earlier about the unexplored lessons that the Beta/VHS wars had to teach us, I didn't expect to find an example so soon. I just came across a story about a different, less flashy battleground in the format wars: enterprise storage.

It seems that while the consumer space is tilting toward Blu-ray, when it comes to enterprise storage it's still up in the air -- though HD DVD might have the edge. It's simply a matter of economics: the equipment and the discs are cheaper. (Though the author goes on to mention that hard disks have gotten bigger and cheaper, I'd still bet on optical media for a few years yet. Which would you rather accidentally knock off a shelf: 600 GB of DVDs, or 600 GB of hard disks?)

This is a parallel to the Beta/VHS thing because while Betamax lost in the consumer space, the format -- or rather, its descendants, Betacam SP and DigiBeta -- have been mainstays in the professional video industry for years. In short, Sony is still making money from the effort that went into creating Betamax over 30 years ago; it's entirely possible that the DVD Forum will still reap some success from HD DVD, even if it ultimately falters in the public's eyes.

Decades Later, Some Facts About Betamax

Ever since the Blu-ray/HD DVD format war got underway and people started drawing parallels to the Betamax/VHS rivalry that started over 30 years ago, I've been amusing myself reading various misstatements about the Beta and the reasons for its defeat. However, a recent Economist article on HD DVD and Blu-ray actually made me scratch my head in puzzlement, so I figured I might as well address some things here.

I was at first amused when the article stated that the Betamax VCR "may have been technically superior to its VHS rival, but it was a dead-end design," and that "the VHS machine had a flexible concept that could be continually refined" (I don't know what that means, as both formats were extended -- SuperBeta and SuperVHS being two examples -- over the years) and that "within a couple of years, Sony?s Betamax technology had been trounced" (Beta machines were on the market for 27 years before Sony stopped producing them). More amusing, the article later states, "The Betamax lost out because, unlike the VHS machine, it couldn?t record for the full three hours needed to cover a baseball game" -- which was only true before Sony introduced the Beta-III recording mode in 1979.

So you might ask, why is this important? Well, as I said before, people are using the Betamax/VHS format war as a basis for their analysis of the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war -- so wouldn't it be kind of important if they had their facts straight? My feeling is that most of the people repeating these "facts" never owned a Betamax, or simply weren't scrutinizing events the same way they are now. The result is a decades-long version of Telephone that gradually drifts farther from reality.

Aside from the occasionally repeated myth that only Sony made Beta machines (easily refuted by a visit to BetaInfoGuide), the other often-repeated assertion is that a major factor in Beta's demise was that the adult movie industry didn't get behind it. It's an odd statement because there doesn't appear to be a shred of evidence to support it. Pick the name of any of the 1980's major porn video distributors (IMDB is good for this), google the name along with the word "Betamax," and you'll turn up all kinds of references to releases in Beta and VHS.

There are, in fact, a lot of lessons that can still be learned from Beta's travails. But we won't learn much if we're mostly getting -- and repeating -- misinformation.

The Misguided Attacks on Kaleidescape

Here's an ongoing example of the entertainment industry cutting off its nose to spite its face. The players are the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) and a company named Kaleidescape. The DVD CCA is an umbrella organization, mostly made up of entertainment companies, that administers the CSS copy-protection scheme found on DVDs; Kaleidescape makes high-end media servers -- the kind where all your DVD and CD content is copied to a hard disk array, making large volumes of media accessible from remote controls around the house.

For some time now, the DVD CCA has accused Kaleidescape of violating their CSS license by copying DVD movies to their servers. Earlier this year, the Santa Clara Superior Court in California ruled in favor of Kaleidescape -- and now, it turns out the DVD CCA's response is to do an end run by revising their license agreement to expressly prohibit exactly what Kaleidescape is doing.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation rightly points out that this is one of the problems with DRM and with the DMCA; both are supposedly tools for protecting intellectual property, yet both can be and are used as weapons to ward off any entity deemed a threat.

Again, it comes back to Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios -- the Betamax case. That case showed that for all their talk of creativity, the entertainment industry's first reaction to new technology it can't immediately control is to try to shut it down. It also showed, in hindsight, that when something comes out of left field and consumers respond to it, it's a better idea in the long run to work with it. Movie companies were scared of the VCR's potential for piracy, but it was the VCR that built the home video market -- which now makes up almost half of the movie industry's total revenue.

If the movie companies behind the DVD CCA stood back and looked at the big picture, they'd realize that Kaleidescape is actually helping, not hurting them. Kaleidescape's customers are well-heeled collectors and people who manage serious media libraries -- so serious that your garden-variety 200-disc carousel isn't anywhere on their radar. (Kaleidescape's 3U Server can hold up to 1,340 DVDs or 15,000 CDs). This is a customer base that spends a ton of money on movies and music, and enthusiastically embraces anything that will solve storage problems. In fact, the general rule of collections, as my wife ruefully understands, is that they expand to fill available space; so if anything, Kaleidescape's servers encourage people to spend more money on movies and music.

The DVD CCA shouldn't be persecuting Kaleidescape, they should be thanking them.

Skewering Microsoft Surface

Last month I (and many others) oohed and aahed over Microsoft's Surface technology. Whether you can't wait to try it or have already washed your hands of the whole concept, take three minutes out for this spoof of a Surface promo. Happy Friday.

Join the Dundler Mifflin Crew

Now here's a game I can get into: office hijinks. The NBC show The Office is being turned into a videogame. Due this fall for PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC (as an online download), The Office game will pit the staff of Dundler Mifflin against each other as they try to complete small jobs and play pranks. The studio has the rights to the likenesses of the actors, though they will be using bobblehead-doll versions of the characters. The game, which is being created by casual-game developer MumboJumbo, will also feature video and audio snippets from the show. I'm all over it. I call Dwight!

Keep An Eye on Your Kids With Their Phones

Surveillance seems to be a theme these days. The AmberWatch Foundation has developed AmberWatch Mobile, a tracking service that can be used with cell phones. AmberWatch Mobile was announced at Qualcomm's BREW 2007 conference yesterday.

When the service launches in September, it will allow kids using an AmberWatch Mobile-enabled phone to send alerts in case of trouble, which will include GPS location data, and parents will be able to monitor their children, including via "scheduled checks" that automatically notify them when their kids arrive home from school, or are otherwise where they're supposed to be.

I really like the idea of a simple means for kids to call for help (particularly as the system is smart enough to automatically try another contact if the first one doesn't connect), but I wonder how effective the scheduled check is -- how is it different from, say, a child calling a parent once he or she is home?

I also have some lingering unease about the Big Brother aspect of being able to track your children at all times (which should come as no surprise). What do you think? Would you opt for the ability to track your kids 24/7 if you could?

Creative's Bitty Player Gets a Screen

The Zen Stone is Creative's iPod-Shuffle-competitor, a tiny screenless wonder that comes in six colors and costs just $40. It's been out for just over a month, but the company has already announced the Zen Stone Plus, a tiny screened wonder that comes in six colors and costs just $70.

The Zen Stone Plus one-ups the features of its less-sophisticated sibling by offering an OLED screen, 2GB of memory, FM radio, voice recorder, and stopwatch. No drivers are needed for the device--just plug it in, and drag and drop songs onto the player. Battery life is rated at about 9.5 hours, and it can be yours in July in black, white, red, blue, pink or green.

No, I'd Rather Not Be on Candid Camera

Sometimes you're paranoid. Sometimes they really are out to get you. Either way, sweeping the room for monitoring devices is a good idea.

Whether you manage sensitive information, think the feds are on your tail because you bought Catcher in the Rye last week, or just have delusions of grandeur, you can at least get some confirmation using this inexpensive ($50) handheld wireless signal detector. This little device catches the very slight emissions from low-power cameras and listening devices within a 10-meter (33-foot) radius. What you do when you actually find something is entirely up to you.

Bring the Smooth Sound of Tubes to Your Digital Music

Ask any audiophile and they'll tell you -- newer and digital isn't always better. First, lossy compressed audio is often questionable. (People actually refer to 128-kbps MP3s as "CD-quality?" Please.) Second, the best amplifiers aren't those with a ton of processors, but those that use technology that's very old-school: vacuum tubes. That's right -- technology that's more ENIAC than Intel produces warmer, fuller sound.

In the past, if you wanted to listen to your iPod through a tube amp you had to connect it via a 1/8'' jack. However, UK-based Roth Audio has released the Music Cocoon MC4, a stylish tube amp that comes with a convenient iPod dock, along with the usual 1/8'' and RCA inputs. As you'd expect, the dock also charges the iPod, and Roth Audio has included a remote control so that you can savor your entire Miles Davis collection without leaving your chair.

The Music Cocoon MC4 has been available in the UK since about April, but has recently appeared in North America for $749. Sure, that's more than the iPod itself, but your ears will thank you again and again.

It's Not Just a Good Idea, It's the Law

Back in December I mentioned that South Korea and China were seriously looking into universal charging and data ports on all mobile phones sold in those countries. The objective: to reduce waste and keep costs down.

I'm pleased to report that the law has gone into effect in China. Not only that, they've gone ahead with their earlier plan to standardize on USB adaptors -- meaning phones can be charged from a computer or any other device that delivers power over a USB connection.

As in other industries, this could potentially ripple outward to all cell phone manufacturers worldwide. Manufacturers would kick and scream at first (they already have), but it would be hard for them to argue with the bottom line: It's estimated that if every new adaptor costs 7–8 yuan, then the savings for the Chinese market alone would amount to about 2.4 billion yuan ($300 million).

I'm assuming, though, that this figure was derived is with the expectation that an adaptor will always be included with each new phone -- a one-to-one replacement. If they want to be truly progressive about this, then adaptors would be considered optional accessories for new phones, encouraging people to use the adaptor that came with the phone they're replacing. Otherwise, we'd find ourselves with drawers full of unused adaptors in a few years -- and that wouldn't be helping anyone.

[Thanks, edublogs.]

Calling All Levi's

A sign of a good pair of jeans is that it can accommodate a cell phone without creating too much of a bulge. Or maybe the sign of a good cell phone is one that doesn't create too much bulge in your jeans. Well, whatever. In any case, Levi's is introducing its own mobile phone targeting "young people."

According to the company, the phone has a riveted steel case, detachable chain, and comes in a "feminine" edition as well. You can get the regular edition in metallic silver, black, or brown copper, while the double-X-chromosome version comes in shiny silver and shiny sand, and features a mirror screen.

The phone was designed by the French company ModeLabs, and will be multimedia centric, with music, photo, and video capabilities. No specs or details, except that it will be available in September in Europe.

Ringtones Aren't Just for Cell Phones Anymore

In an era of extreme customizability, your home phone's brring brring can seem rather... quaint. I mean, come on. Your cell phone can let you imagine that you're Jack Bauer or Kim Possible, so why can't your wired phone be a little more exciting?

This is the logic behind Home Phone Tunes' Ringboxx, a device that gives you the ability to customize ringtones in any house with an RJ-11 jack. You connect the $79 Ringboxx to your PC via a USB cable, download ringtones, then place it between the phone jack and your phone, much like an answering machine. When you get a call, the Ringboxx plays your downloaded ringtone.

As with cell phones, you can specify certain ringtones for certain people, and assign a ringtone just for 1-800 numbers to weed out telemarketers -- sort of like a spam trap for them. (Of course, you'd need Caller ID for this.)

A variety of audio clips have been licensed to Home Phone Tunes so that you can download, say, a snippet from Gwen Stefani's "Orange County Girl" or a Looney Tunes cartoon. However, you'd better hope you like what they have to offer: right now, you can't download your own ringtones to the Ringboxx.

Samsung's U3 Stays Slim, Low-Maintenance

iTunes, Windows Media and other music-management software may appeal to some, but I'm an old-fashioned guy -- give me that old drag-and-drop any day.

That's pretty much the reason I don't use my iPod nano all that much, even though it's just the right size and sounds better than some of the other players in my collection. It's also the first reason my eyebrows went up when I read about Samsung's new U3 music player (no relation, apparently, to U3 smart USB drives). The second reason is that the sleek player doesn't come with a USB cable; it plugs directly into the port on its own for syncing and charging.

No cables, no software -- it's like music-player nirvana for some. (Okay, me.) The U3 comes in 1, 2, and 4 GB capacities, with according $79, $99 and $149 price tags and fashionistas can fret over whether to pick the white, green, pink, blue or black case. Better decide quick though -- Samsung says they're launching the U3 sometime this month.

The Latest in Gadget Bling

Remember how diamond vendors were worried that the movie Blood Diamond might negatively impact sales? No? Exactly -- from the looks of things, even Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Honsou's good looks didn't do much to dent sales. For further proof, you don't need to look any further than two new blinged-up bits of tech gear.

Encased in rose gold, Vertu's limited-edition Pink Diamond Signature phone (pictured) features a flower pattern that contains tiny pink and white diamonds. Talk time? Features? Price? Darlings, if you have to ask...

There's also the Diamond Flower Mouse from Swiss company Pat Says. It's a descriptive name, but leaves out a few key details: the optical mouse's body is made of white gold, and the flower in question is made up of 59 sparklers. All of this for a mere $25,000? A steal!

TV Blasts from the Past

A couple of months ago, I reported that Sony Pictures Television would be condensing a bunch of classic TV shows and offering them up on the Web as minisodes. That site is now live and running as The Minisode Network, hosted by MySpace.

So far the network features a few episodes from 15 different television series, including Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Fantasy Island, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, and Who's the Boss? Pretty much, my childhood. New minisodes will be added each week, with the goal of offering more than 500 by the time 2008 rolls around.

Now I'll admit I had my doubts about boiling some of my favorite shows down to a few minutes. But after watching some Silver Spoons, Facts of Life, and Charlie's Angels, I have to say that they're much more satisfying than I imagined. You get the gist of the plot, a few good laughs, and a satisfying blast of nostalgia. In fact, some of the shows might even be better off this way. You'll have to deal with some Honda ads (the exclusive sponsor at launch); they're annoying after a while, but not overly invasive. Definitely worth a visit, if at least to view some bad fashion and Ricky Schroder's childhood haircut.

Blu-ray Gets a Blockbuster Boost

Last week I promised myself I was going to ease up on my reports about the HD DVD/Blu-ray format war, because I always come to the same conclusion: it's all rather silly.

But I have to admit I am endlessly fascinated by the ways in which the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps spar over who's winning at any given time. It usually comes down to who's sold the greater share of software or hardware, but both of these assume that all things are equal, and unless it's a complete rout the data's only good for theorizing as to why consumers pick one or the other. Things get really interesting when something precipitates or accelerates a slide one way or the other, and that can sometimes come about due to a third party -- usually one that controls access in some way.

We may be seeing just such a tipping point now. Blockbuster has announced that over the next month, they will be expanding their Blu-ray movie rentals. Up until now, 250 stores in the chain have been carrying both formats; by mid-July, 1,700 stores will have more than 170 Blu-ray titles. Why? Because they had significantly more Blu-ray rentals than HD DVD.

Of course, Blockbuster isn't quite the powerhouse it used to be, but it's still a major enough player that you might want to bookmark this posting for when you get into chicken-and-egg debates in the future.

Now You Can Carry the Force With You

OK, I know what I'm getting my husband for his birthday. The two things that rock his world are tech gadgets and his 30-year-old memories of going to see Star Wars for the first time. So what could be more appropriate than USB thumb drives in the form of Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Stormtrooper, or R2-D2? The drives come in capacities of 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB, and depending on amount of storage, you'll be shelling out $69, $99, or $139. They're available at Dynamism.com, and each one comes with a protective hoodie that hooks onto a keychain.

Avon Calling? No, That's My DS

The Nintendo DS can already keep your mind fit (thanks to Brain Age), but now Konami wants to use it to help you look good, too.

On October 18, the game company will release the ¥4,500 (about $36) Dream Skincare, which is most likely the first software title that encourages you to moisturize. No, really. Dream Skincare tracks the user's basal body temperature and hormone balance, then gives her customized beauty tips. (I'm assuming the target audience is female, as no one ever seems to care about our hormone balance.) If someone wants to look extra-fabulous on a special day, she can input the date of the occasion and get special skincare instructions as the big day approaches.

Right now, Dream Skincare is only slated for a Japanese release. Which means Japan's women will not only live longer than everyone (in 2003, 84% of the 20,000-plus centenarians in Japan were women), they'll look better, too.

A TV That's All Luxury

Got about 14 grand spare? Then check out the Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 7 home entertainment system.

The BeoVision 7 includes a 40-inch widescreen LCD topped off with a built-in DVD player, a loudspeaker (either horizontal stereo or vertical center channel--take your pick), and a digital surround sound processor with support for 7.1 surround (eliminating the need for a receiver). The TV itself can auto-adjust to any lighting condition and presents the most optimal picture whether the sun is glaring in or you've got the curtains drawn.

Other features that contribute to that $13,750 to $14,250 (depending on which stand you choose) price tag: DVD player that lights up so you can see while inserting your disc in the dark; electronic curtains that sweep to the side whenever you turn on the TV; and a motorized stand or wall bracket that turns or tilts the screen toward you for the perfect view (you can even program it to revert to a certain position when off). Oh, and the speaker also follows the motion of the screen, because if you're looking Matt Lauer straight in the eye, you want to hear him talking loudly in your ear too. The BeoVision comes in black, silver, gray, red, and blue, and is due this summer.

Movies Are Actually Doing Pretty Well

The Motion Picture Association recently sent out a report on just how well the six major Hollywood movie industry has been doing across the entire spectrum of theatrical, home video and TV sales around the world. The upshot: pretty healthy.

In fact, Disney, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner did so well in 2006 compared to 2005 that it calls into question some of the claims made when they weren't doing so hot. As the rate of revenue growth slowed over the last few years, movie studios -- much like their music-industry counterparts -- were quick to blame DVD piracy and file-sharing services like BitTorrent. Yet when a banner year like 2006 rolls around, there's no mention of either of these factors, even though they're not declining.

First interesting point: Canada showed the biggest increase in revenue outside of the U.S. -- and yet camcorder piracy in Canada has been considered so rampant (though the numbers, like many in this arena, are questionable) that Warner has stopped showing public advance screenings up here.

Second interesting point: DVDs still dominate the industry's market share, making up 44% of the industry's revenue. This despite the fact that DVD encryption was cracked years ago, file-sharing continues, and bootleg DVDs are available on the street the same day as the movies hit the cinemas.

So where's the promised apocalypse?

Let's just make this clear: the movie studios, like all copyright owners, have a right to complain about piracy. But I'd like for their decisions (and lobbying) to be based on fact, not doomsday scenarios. I'm hoping someone remembers to bring this up whenever the movie industry starts talking about, say, using more government resources to fight piracy.

Portable Video Downloads from Archos

You're having a cup of joe at the local (WiFi-enabled) coffee shop when all of a sudden, you get a jones to watch a movie. With the newly announced Archos 605 and 705 PMPs, you can buy and download movies over WiFi, and start watching them just as soon as they download--no computer intermediary necessary. To start, Archos's new content portal will allow you to purchase or rent movies from CinemaNow, download music or music videos from Burnlounge.com, and stream videos from YouTube or Daily Motion.

The 605, available in July, features a 4.3-inch widescreen and comes in three memory capacities: 4GB ($229), 30GB ($299), and 160GB ($399). The 705 WiFi, coming in August, has a whopping 7-inch widescreen and sports capacities of 80GB ($399) and 170GB ($499). Besides surfing and downloading videos (and music) from the Web, you can also record shows from TV (with $100 dock) or stream them from your PC. This could become a dangerous habit.

Making Use of Bluetooth: It's All in the Wrist

Sony Ericsson has updated their line of Bluetooth-enabled watches, which they introduced just eight months ago.

The update comes in the form of three watches, all sporting the model number MBW-150. Dubbed the Music, Executive and Classic Editions (the Classic is pictured here), the watches offer the same features as the original MBW-100: when it's paired to your Bluetooth phone, the watch vibrates when you receive a phone call or text message and displays the caller's number on its face. At the press of a button, you can choose to ignore the call or send it to voice mail. If you have a music phone (and, I presume, the Music Edition watch), you can control the volume and navigate tracks via the watch's controls.

Actually, there's only one new feature in these watches, but for some people it could be a dealmaker: the watch alerts you (more vibrations!) when it loses its signal, making it harder to lose your handset. Look for the MBW-150 in the fourth quarter of this year.

More Warner Music Videos Online

Following their earlier deals with YouTube and PremiumTV, Warner Music Group is now cozying up to CinemaNow to release music videos via their WatchMusicHere.com site, for $1.99 a pop.

The videos will be made available as 1500-kbps DRMed WMA files, which can be viewed on up to three devices. Curiously, they make a big deal of the fact that the videos are convenient "single-file format" downloads, declaring that they are "the first premium video download service to offer videos in a 1500K single-file download, which can be played on up to three compatible desktop and laptop PCs, Media Center Edition PCs, and Archos portable media players." Wait, isn't that single-file-on-multiple-devices scheme the same as the one iTunes uses? And while I understand giving a shout-outs to partner companies, what's with the implication that the WMAs won't play on other handhelds?

Philips Goes High Fashion

As a chick, I appreciate the effort to make gadgets look fashionable. But really, does anyone need crystal-studded earphones?

Well, I guess the answer is yes, because Philips has just unveiled its new line of Swarovski-adorned accessories. The line includes stainless steel earbuds, pendant-style earbuds, and over-the-ear headphones. And if you're sick of getting snide looks whenever you whip out your unsightly USB drive, the line also includes 1GB flash drives disguised as heart pendants as well as lock-shaped cases that you can hook onto a strap or belt. Phew.

The headphones range from $79 to $149, while the USB drives will cost a cool $179. Look for these shiny accessories this August in department stores, specialty electronics shops, and Swarovski stores.

HBO Goes All Out on HD

Even if you've got an HDTV and high-def DVR, you still probably spend a majority of your time watching standard-definition shows (unless you love sports and nature documentaries that much). But HBO is giving consumers a push toward high-definition by committing to broadcasting everything in 1080i. According to the chairman and CEO of HBO, the company will make all 26 of its HBO and Cinemax feeds available in high-def starting this year and finishing the rollout by mid 2008.

DirecTV is the first provider to jump on the new offerings, with plans to launch 11 new HBO HD channels starting in September. These channels include HBO2 (East and West), HBO Family (East and West), and Cinemax (East and West). Now that's the kind of push we don't mind.

Toshiba's Combo DVR/HD DVD Recorders

Forgot to mention earlier that Toshiba unveiled another weapon that might help HD DVD's sagging fortunes. The same day that the company announced they'd have to revise their sales projections, they unveiled the Vardia A300 and A600 combo DVR/HD DVD recorder decks.

Both units are identical, except for their hard drive capacity (300 GB for the A300 and -- big surprise -- 600 GB for the A600; that's around 39 and 78 hours of HD content, respectively). Both have dual tuners, the ability to edit video for burning while another program is recording, and a FireWire connection for transferring content from other FireWire-sporting Toshiba DVRs. (Hey, how about from camcorders and the like? Just curious.) Perhaps most interestingly, they can also act as high-definition media servers.

Both decks are slated for release in Japan by the end of the month; the A300 will sell for around $1,200, the A600 for around $1,600. There aren't any plans to bring the player Stateside just yet, but the company promises to keep an eye on both markets to see if they should make the leap.

Toshiba's HD DVD Ups and Downs

Ever get the feeling someone's giving you mixed messages? Toshiba's been kind of like that the last few days. On Monday the company was on top of the world, with the North American HD DVD Promotional Group proclaiming that HD DVD players accounted for 60% of the North American set-top player market for high-definition DVD players and that more than 75,000 HD DVD movies had sold in the last week of May alone. Also, Toshiba's budget-priced HD-A2 became the top-selling high-definition player to date.

(I won't get into all the unspoken caveats raised by the press release -- and there are many -- but I'm always wary when these kind of hardware claims are made, especially when they're so specific. Note that the release only mentions standalone high-def players, with no mention of the PS3 -- which, it turns out, is quite a significant factor. What about players found in computers and on the Xbox?)

Huzzahs all around at the Toshiba offices, I'm sure. But the very next day, the word out of Tokyo was that the company had to lower its sales target for HD DVD players and recorders from 1.8 million to 1 million units by the end of this year. Why? According to Yoshihide Fujii, head of Toshiba's digital consumer business, "Sales in the U.S. have been slower than expected." (Hm. Suddenly those caveats might bear more scrutiny.)

Toshiba's current plan to outfit all of their laptops with HD DVD drives might tip the scales, though the PS3 has had something of a head start and surely Sony isn't sitting idly by. But I wonder if, deep within Toshiba's head office, somebody is asking if this format war was really worth it.

NYC Cabs Get More Interactive

As if a ride in a NYC taxi didn't adequately make us carsick, it looks like TaxiTech's interactive touchscreen systems are about to make their way into a greater number of cabs. The system is currently being tested in 50 taxis, and it just received approval from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to be installed in more of the city's 13,000 cabs. The 15-inch display delivers ad-supported entertainment and sightseeing-type information to riders, along with GPS, text messaging, and the ability to pay your cab fare by credit card (about time). Unfortunately, watching a bunch of moving pictures probably won't help out with that nausea issue?

Zune and DS Lite Get Colorful

It's looking like the revenge of the primary colors over here with two limited-edition cases for two different kinds of handheld entertainment. Over in Japan, Nintendo DS Lite owners will be able to show off their Pokemon street cred (or, I suppose, vice versa) with a ?16,800 ($139) yellow DS Lite, complete with Pikachu etching on the cover. This is for hardcore nerds (or eBay speculators) only: first you've got to stand in line on July 20 at the Pokemon Center in Japan, submit your name into the lottery, then hope you're one of the people chosen to buy one.

It's a bit easier to go out and get yourself a red Zune, which Microsoft dropped this weekend at Amazon and Target only. But I have to wonder at this whole idea of releasing exclusive colors and special-edition Zunes when the player makes up such a small percentage of the market. (And not in that Porsche-vs.-Ford Taurus way, either.) Maybe it's just me, but limited editions of anything -- media players, DVD box sets, books, whatever -- only really mean something when the item in question already has a certain cachet. The Zune isn't anywhere near there yet, so this feels like putting the cart a few miles ahead of the horse.

Blockbuster Bulks Up Online DVD Service

The DVD-by-mail wars are heating up, as Blockbuster has launched an Internet-only-based rental service to compete with Netflix.

Blockbuster by Mail starts at $4.99 for two DVD rentals a month--same pricing as Netflix--but undercuts pricing on its competitor's most popular plan, that in which you can borrow an unlimited number of DVDs per month, three at a time. Blockbuster's plan costs $16.99 (plus a coupon for one free in-store rental), while Netflix currently charges $17.99.

Blockbuster by Mail is not to be confused with the costlier Blockbuster Total Access, which lets you rent movies online but exchange them for new ones in store. Blockbuster by Mail, on the other hand, lets you return movies in a store but not in exchange for a new flick.

The Audience is Listening... and Reporting

Annoyed by cell phone chatter and flagrant camcorder piracy during the movies? Regal's got you covered.

Back in December I reported that Regal Entertainment Group, the largest theater chain in the U.S., was rolling out a trial in which selected audience members could use a wireless handheld device to report disturbances like cell phone use and fisticuffs. Thanks to the weekly podcast of The Business, I was alerted to the fact that the program is now expanding to 114 cinemas.

I was also alerted to something I'd previously been unaware of: the device also has a button labeled "Piracy," just in case one of those select audience members spots someone giving their camcorder a workout during a screening of Shrek the Third.

I'm ambivalent about the the system being used to fight piracy. Countless gangster films and schoolyard observations have taught me that no one likes a snitch. (And don't pirated DVDs usually come out around the same time as public screenings begin anyway?) Then again, maybe something like this will assuage studios enough that they'll relax the practice of confiscating cell phones and laptops during preview screenings for high-profile films. And maybe Warner Bros. would reverse their recent bone-headed decision to nix public preview screenings in Canada.

In any case, the only reason Regal would expand the system from 25 to 114 cinemas would be if they consider the pilot program a success. I wonder how they measured that success?

Two Cute MP3 Players Debut Overseas

Shopping for MP3 players usually involves weighing certain factors like storage capacity, ease of use, and gapless playback. Cuteness rarely enters the equation.

Clearly some feel this is a deficiency, because two new players are being released abroad that aim for the adorable. In Asia, iRiver and Disney have teamed up to create a tiny MP3 player modeled on Mickey Mouse's head. You rather disconcertingly plug the headphone jack into the crown of spherical cranium, but if you play with the ears you control the volume or move between tracks.

Meanwhile, in France, Baby Bidou is releasing a pair of MP3-playing teddy bears (one pink and one blue) with integrated mono speakers. These 6'' x 2.5'' players are small enough for the toddler set to carry around, but not so small that they present a choking hazard or end up in some other orifice. Betcha it can still clog up the toilet, though.

DS Owners, Start Your Browsers

Getting tired of training your Nintendog? Brain Age headed in the wrong direction? Take a break from the games and hop on the Web. The Opera browser for the Nintendo DS is now out and available, though you'll have to pay $30 for the privilege of blogging, reading headlines, and buying movie tickets from your handheld.

Access is limited to WiFi locations; however, the DS's touchscreen should make it much less frustrating to navigate the Web than on most cell phones. And you can customize the way the screens work: Browse the entire Web site on the bottom screen while the top screen zooms in on highlighted areas, or combine both screens to display the entire site.

Apple Pitching Movie Rental to Studios

It was reported over the weekend that Apple has been talking to the major Hollywood studios about making their movies available for rent online, possibly starting this fall. The service would work with both the iPod and Apple TV, with a 30-day rental costing $2.99.

On its own, the news is almost shrug-worthy. These days, when I see a sentence with the words "Apple," "in talks with," and "Hollywood," I almost want to yawn and say, "Wake me when the deal's done." (Not that every deal Steve Jobs has tried to broker has worked out, but honestly -- have they ever done badly for the entertainment majors?) But one theme has popped up in various reporting that seems worth mentioning. Apparently the reason the Hollywood studios have been reluctant to sell movies -- especially new ones -- on iTunes has been that they were afraid it would cannibalize DVD sales. Er, what? Or are they so addicted to the DVD format's profit margin and enormous revenues that they just can't bear to see any decrease, even if it means more money overall? So much for maximizing consumer choice.

Microsoft: Maybe the Wii's Not So Bad

We've been having a lot of fun here and at Game On needling Microsoft and Sony, supposedly the big boys of console gaming, because they've been having their posteriors handed to them on platters by the Nintendo Wii -- this despite pre-launch speculation that without high-end graphics and horsepower, the diminutive game didn't stand a chance in the next-gen console wars.

It's doubly funny that just weeks after a Microsoft executive politely sneered at the Wii, another is saying that, well, maybe emulating the Wii in some ways might not be a bad idea. Word is that the Redmond giant is actively looking to expand its Xbox 360 demographic by appealing more to women and children, and possibly lowering the price of the console to within the Wii's $250 range. Hey, not to be too smug about it, but we told you so: other media industries (with the possible exception of comics) have long realized that if you work hard to appeal to more than one audience, you'll make money hand over fist. It's not that Microsoft or Sony completely ignored kids and women; it's just that those audiences appeared to be more of an afterthought. It's good to see that someone appears to be wising up, but let's see if they follow through with a broader view of the gaming experience.

Back from the '50s: Live Ads

Earlier this week, Nielson reported that during the first week of May, about 70 percent of DVR owners refrained from fleeing for the fast-forward button during commercial breaks. But that's still not stopping networks like NBC from trying some new techniques for getting DVR watchers to stick around during ads.

The latest form of creative advertising? This Tuesday, during "The Tonight Show" broadcast, watch for a live commercial featuring Leno's announcer doing a little skit pumping the benefits of owning a Garmin GPS device. The skit will kick off that segment's regular commercial break.

Now the idea of the live commercial isn't exactly new. They were commonplace back in the '50s and ran for several decades. Of course, doesn't this mean that people will just start fast-forwarding through commercials after the live ad ends?

NBA Finals Game Presented in 3D

Want to see LeBron leaping toward you as he prepares for a stuff? Well, if you live in Cleveland, head on over to the arena for game 2 of the NBA finals. You and 14,000 other Cleveland-ites will each receive a pair of special 3D glasses to watch "the first-ever live game in pro sports shown to the public in 3D HD." "To the public" are the key words there. Back in February, the NBA All-Star game was broadcast in 3D HD to a special audience at the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

The game, which takes place in San Antonio, will be shot by four special 3D HD cameras. In Cleveland, the game will be projected onto four screens, each measuring 40-by-23-feet. You'll need a ticket to get into the viewing party, though admission is free. We can't vouch for the price of beer, though.

DRM-free iTunes Tracks Still Have a Cost

Looks like there's a side effect to EMI and Apple's attempt to popularize the notion of DRM-free music downloads. It's been discovered that the iTunes music tracks lacking digital rights management (DRM) have something no one expected: the name and e-mail address of the purchases, embedded in each file. Speculation has been flying back and forth as to why Apple encodes this information into purchased music, including the theory that it makes it easy to trace the origin of a pirate file found on a file-sharing network. (This is unlikely, as it was also revealed that the same information is found in DRM-encoded iTunes tracks.)

Whatever the reason, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann hits the nail on the head: Apple should at least have encrypted this information, and they should have made it clear to customers that this information was there. (Mind you, there are other file formats out there that embed indentifying information, unencrypted. A Word doc may not have your e-mail address, but sometimes having your name attached to what you thought was an anonymous document can be a problem...)

Sling Hooks Up with NHL, Riles MLB

When it comes to tech, is hockey more progressive than baseball? If you look at the actions of the NHL versus those of MLB, it would seem so.

The NHL has joined with Sling Media to enable users to post hockey clips online. The Slingbox allows you to stream content from a TV, DVR, or other set-top box to a computer and even certain cell phones, whether they're in the house or on the other side of the world. This summer, the company is planning to launch its new Clip+Sling service, which makes it easy to clip segments from those videos and upload them to Sling's Website. The NHL has rubber-stamped the service by not only allowing users to record hockey clips, but contributing its own content to the service.

Meanwhile, MLB Advanced Media has expressed concern that users will stream home games to themselves while they're on the road (which interferes with their own online offerings). The group claims that the Slingbox allows for the "redistribution of content without MLB?s express written consent," though it has, thus far, stopped short of filing any legal action. Still, it doesn't look like they'll be ready to play ball with Sling anytime soon.

Powering Up, Over the Air

As I absently kick the many power cords under my desk, it's hard not to love the idea of wireless power. We've managed to uncouple our devices in many other ways, but when it comes to charging up our batteries, we have to plug in a cable or otherwise make contact with a power source.

Maybe not for much longer. Researchers at MIT have successfully implemented what had previously been a theoretical system for delivering power via electromagnetic waves; in their tests, they lit a 60-watt lightbulb that was sitting seven feet away from its power source.

The system exploits pretty basic physics. A transmitting copper coil was attached to the power source, and a similar coil to the light bulb. The two coils resonated at 10 MHz, which led to gathered energy flowing between them -- even when solid objects were placed between them.

(The question you might then ask is, what if the solid object between them is a person? Will they burst into flame, grow extra arms, or suddenly become super-geniuses? Sadly, no. Unlike microwaves, which have very small wavelengths, the longer waves of a 10 MHz field have a minimal effect on people.)

Researcher Marin Soljacic describes the system as "rudimentary," which is apt as both coils are a good two feet in diameter. Their challenge now is to create a more compact system, that transmits power with greater efficiency (they're currently at about 40% efficiency), possibly over greater distances. But so far as I'm concerned, the beauty of the system is that it isn't based on much more than college-level physics. It's kind of nice to see simple, elegant solutions once in a while.

Porn Producers Feeling Internet's Pinch

It's generally assumed that the where technology leads, the adult entertainment industry will follow, probably before anyone else. Oh, and that the adult entertainment industry is invariably a growth industry. While that's true in the global sense, I was a bit startled to read that, much like mainstream media organizations, the "traditional" porn media industry is under threat by, of all things, the Internet.

There are several levels of irony here, but when you think about it the lessons were already there for anyone who paid attention. It's generally said that porn built the home-video industry, which is kind of true. But let's look at what that shift really meant. People avoided having to sneak into adult movie houses, which was good for them; it became easier for people to see adult movies, which was good for the porn industry; but what's usually left out of the discussion is that the movie houses themselves disappeared, superseded by the new media of video. For that matter, the notion of a "porn movie" -- that is, shot on film for theatrical distribution -- disappeared as well. so the porn industry as a whole benefited, but that meant part of it had to collapse while another expanded.

What we have now is an acceleration of the same trends and the amplification of the aforementioned advantages to consumer and industry. A broadband Internet connection is even more private, in the community sense, than going to the video store or getting a plain brown package in the mail. But this is happening at the expense of the home video market (DVD sales and rentals), which according to AVN Online dropped from $4.3 billion to $3.6 billion between 2005 and 2006. Meanwhile, Internet sales have been going up, from $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion. Vivid Entertainment Group, arguably the most successful of the porn media companies, saw its revenue from DVD sales drop from 80% to 40% over the last three years.

But focusing just on the industry groups tells only part of the story. Had the discussion focused only on the established comnpanies in the mid 1980s, we would have seen the companies making porn for cinemas adapting to video distribution, noted that the video sales were rising while theater rentals were diminishing -- but companies like Vivid, who now dominate the industry, were yet to come or were just starting out.

The same thing is happening now. The new threat to Vivid are the companies that started out offering X-rated content over broadband, rather than switching to it. They're also facing increasing competition from the indies: individuals who start their own websites (some, literally "mom and pop" operations) and build their own brands independent of the established system. And they're already working Web 2.0 -- not just the MySpaces and YouTubes, but the adult equivalents that have sprung up just for them.

It's not all about smut, though. The porn industry is so tightly bound up with technology that watching what's happened there is like looking at the mainstream music, TV and movie industries in fast-forward. It's easy to see why the majors are scared; it's also easy to see why they're going to be eaten alive by today's smaller, brasher companies if they don't adapt, and soon.

Get iTunes on Your Cell--Now

Want to listen to your iTunes music without dropping $500 on an iPhone? There's a way, but it may not be the smoothest solution. Melodeo's nuTsie service lets you tune into your iTunes playlists on your mobile. Currently available as a beta, nuTsie references your iTunes playlists, then streams those tracks from its own servers to your phone or to a Web browser (even songs you purchased from iTunes).

Unfortunately, there are hiccups. According to our own IDG News Service, you can only listen to playlists, not individual songs. Also, if a song on your playlist isn't available in Melodeo's library, you're out of luck--it ain't gonna play. Plus, if your playlist comprises a full album, Melodeo will throw in some random tunes in order to comply with "radio rules" (which are the same ones that reign over the broadcast and online radio world and that determine how artists and record companies are paid).

Melodeo still has not determined how it will charge for the service--whether it'll be a monthly or a one-time download fee--so if you're interested, you might wanna hop on the beta while it's free.

Get Your Own NBC Clips

While some broadcasters are trying to clamp down on having their content distributed randomly on the Web, the peacock network is trying to facilitate the process.

NBC Universal is planning to turn some of its programming into widgets that users will then be able to post to their own blogs, sites, and MySpace pages. But don't expect "The Office" or "30 Rock" type fare. To start, widgets will be culled from shows like "Dateline, Hardball," and the nightly news. Video snippets will also come from sports and iVillage.com programming.

However, the network has promised more content and personalization options as the program develops. Hey, NBC, give us some Conan clips and we'll be psyched.

Call it Pac-Man 2.0

So Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has a thing for hyperbole. A few days ago he mentioned that there would be an announcement coinciding with the Pac-Man World Championship that he thought would "go down in video game history."

Turned out that, yeah, it's kinda cool, but video game history might just take a pass. See, Microsoft and Namco have teamed up to create Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox Live Arcade, which will feature new mazes for our yellow friend. The new widescreen mazes will be in crisp high-def , and even change shape during the course of a game.

Not a bad idea, and I wouldn't mind giving it a shot. I'm certainly not going to rush out and buy an Xbox 360 for it. Greenberg might want to dial down his morning caffeine a bit.

Kids Are Getting Into Consumer Electronics Earlier

In one of those press releases that surprises approximately no one, market research firm NPD announced yesterday that kids are being introduced to electronic devices earlier than ever before, and getting accustomed to them quicker.

Like I said, hardly surprising. I mean, we're introducing battery-powered devices to our kids earlier, which means they're familiar with them before they can even walk. There's a reason toddlers don't need us to start their Wiggles videos for them after a short while.

What is surprising is that some of the numbers related to usage are down. Fewer kids own or use electronic devices compared to similar surveys from 2005 and 2006, and close to a quarter of the households surveyed said they hadn't purchased any new electronic gadgetry in the past year. That said, ownership of media players, portable games and digital cameras specifically have increased considerably, with cell phones and portable DVD players not far behind.

No child-development experts have been interviewed yet about this report, so we've yet to hear any alarmist comments about alienation, anti-social tendencies, etc. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't worry: parents with Net-savvy kids will probably soon be approached with printouts of the report justifying the need for an 80 GB iPod.

Microsoft Is Ready for Ignition

Perhaps taking a page from Apple's front-page placement program for iTunes, Microsoft has just launched Ignition, a program that will give a band a month of promotion across the company's Zune, Xbox Live and MSN platforms. The first group to be featured is the UK quintet Max?mo Park.

A few months back the Wall Street Journal reported on how Apple's program works to their benefit (by boosting featured albums' sales), but also to the artists' benefit (by increasing exposure to their work) and that of independent labels in general (by broadening people's tastes in music). Except for degree of influence -- iTunes is still the leader of the music-store pack, by a wide margin -- there's not much difference between the two companies' strategies. Well, except for one: unlike Apple, Microsoft is charging the musicians featured on Ignition. They haven't revealed how much money changes hands, but considering Microsoft's deal with Universal, in which every Zune sold puts money in the music company's pockets, I'd say whatever the cost, it's too much.

TomTom's New DIY Maps

I love our TomTom GPS, but with all of the new townhouse developments and roadwork in the area, it's not uncommon for the unit to not be able to find a certain road or to route us to an unusable exit.

Enter Map Share. With TomTom's new do-it-yourself technology, you can indulge all of your cartography dreams by working on the maps yourself. Whenever you note a change in the road, use the GPS's touchscreen to make the changes, such as marking a street as blocked or inserting new street names. You can even share your changes with other TomTom users by uploading them to your computer using the included software.

The first North American unit to feature Map Share is the TomTom GO 720, which features a 4.3-inch widescreen display, voice-recording capabilities, built-in MP3 player and FM transmitter. It also includes roadside assistance so you can find nearby police stations or hospitals, as well as get help identifying your current position. It'll be available in July, just in time for that summer road trip.

The Solid-State Era Is Upon Us

The next notebook or high-capacity iPod you buy just might have flash memory instead of heavier, more fragile hard drives. If you can afford it. Or if you're very, very patient.

It's been barely three months since SanDisk announced their 2.5'' 32 GB solid-state drive (SSD), designed with a serial ATA interface. Using a standardized interface makes it easier to slip the SSD into existing production systems, or for well-heeled DIYers to upgrade their gadgets themselves.

The only trouble was that 32 GB was kinda lean for a portable computer, which is why SanDisk's new 64 GB SSDs -- they come in both 1.8'' and 2.5'' sizes -- are more tantalizing. SanDisk hasn't announced pricing yet, and mass production is projected to begin until the end of the year. We're not actually in the SSD era yet, but I'd like to think we're at least seeing it on the horizon.

Welcome to the (Robot) Social

In The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams ironically referred to a robot built by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "Your plastic pal that's fun to be with." But at the University of Hertfordshire, plans are underway to develop something along the same lines.

The robots created as part of the Interactive Robotic social Mediators as Companions (IROMEC) project wouldn't be playmates, exactly, but more like aides for kids with developmental delays like autism and Asperger's syndrome.

One of the fundamental problems that people with either condition have is difficulty "reading" the facial and body-language cues that neurotypical people pick up on unconsciously to communicate with each other, which makes social interaction extremely difficult. Basing their work on previous AuRoRA (Autonomous mobile Robot as a Remedial tool for Autistic children) and KASPAR (Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics, pictured) robots, IROMEC's plan is to spend the next three years examining how robot toys can help kids on the autism spectrum learn how to interact with other kids. AuRoRA robots used movements to encourage imitation and stimulate turn-taking behavior (something of a challenge for kids on the spectrum), while KASPAR's addition of some facial expressions promoted interaction. The new toys will be more ambitious, functioning as mediators between children and encouraging interaction.

An aspect of this that I find interesting is that while we've historically thought of robots as things that can replace us (in, say, manufacturing, cleaning, or bomb disposal) these robots are explicitly designed as helpmeets -- for instance, IROMEC's robots can be used by therapists and parents to provide an entry point for their own participation in exercises and games with autistic children.

DVR Owners Still Tune into Ads

So the good news for the television industry is that a good number of DVR owners still watch ads. The bad news is, many don't. For instance, during May 10's broadcast of "The Office" (the one where they go on a beach retreat), about 51 percent of DVR owners skipped through the commercials, whether they were watching the show in real time or up to a week after. The numbers come from Nielson Media Research, which has just started tracking commercial viewership alongside the number of audience members for the actual show.

If you measure just real-time viewing, a total of 249,000 people skipped the ads that aired during "The Office" (about a 6 percent drop-off from the show to the commercials). But when you look at the overall stats for the first week of May, almost 70 percent of DVR viewers (18 to 49) stay tuned during commercials, which, quite frankly, seems pretty good to me. I mean, I start a show 15 minutes late just so I can fast-forward through commercials. Guess I'm a little more anti-ad than the rest of the world.

Sony Lowers Cost of Entry to Blu-ray Goodness

It wasn't so long ago that the cheapest way to get a Blu-ray player was to drop a few bills on a PS3 -- or, more recently, to get the right Blu-ray drive for your PC.

If neither option is really your speed and you're a member of the Blu-ray camp, Sony's new BDP-S300 is what you've been waiting for. The $499 (MSRP) player does the whole 1080p thing (crucial point there) and incorporates Sony's Bravia TheatreSync to integrate operations (unnecessary, but certainly nice to have). It also does Dolby Digital Plus, but old-school BDP-S1 owners need not rend their garments -- a firmware update will be available next week to bring you up to speed.

Sony's Stylish HD Radio

I love retro-looking audio equipment, which perfectly suits my retro musical tastes. So I was immediately attracted to Sony's new tabletop HD Radio.

The XDR-S3HD, along with the XT-100HD (a car tuner), represent Sony's entr?e into the HD Radio market. The XDR-S3HD sports a lovely cherry wood finish, stereo speakers with simulated surround sound, bass and treble controls, sleep timer, and alarm clock. A remote lets you change the station from your couch, and the auxiliary input jack (with included cable) allows you to hook up a portable music player.

At $200, it's not the cheapest tabletop HD Radio (Radiosophy's is selling for $100 through the end of June, and there's also a $40 rebate right now that should bring the price to $60). But this sure would look pretty on my bookshelf when it hits in July.