In a move to halt RealNetworks from selling its RealDVD software the Motion Picture Association of America is suing the company asking a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order to stop RealDVD from being distributed. The MPAA is blasting Real for selling software it says should be called "StealDVD" - not RealDVD.
RealDVD is a program that allows you to store copies of a DVD in a copy-protected form for personal use on your PC (see review). It debuted today and is currently being sold for $30.
RealNetworks got a jump on court proceedings earlier today and sought a declaratory judgment in the Northern District of California that would shield it from a lawsuit by the MPAA. Real argues its DVD archiving product is legal and should be afforded the same legal status of a similar archiving product Kaleidescape, which allows you to create archive copies of DVDs on a $10,000 home media server.
Continue reading "DVD Ripping Wars: MPAA vs. RealDVD"
Microsoft has teamed with the Washington State Attorney General's Office to crack down on so called "scareware" merchants both believe are threats against PC users. Scareware is a loathsome breed of malware that scares you with pop-up messages such as "virus found on your PC" or "Warning! Your PC is infected." Of course the only way to "fix" the problem is to install the advertiser's software to neutralize the threat. The problem is most often no problem actually exist and the scareware is just, well, trying to scare you into buying something you don't need. And unfortunately many unsuspecting PC users are duped into handing over their money.
To fight this nasty practice Microsoft and the state of Washington are filing a lawsuit against the Texas-based company Branch Software and its creator James Reed McCreary IV which both allege is engaged in "scareware tactics." McCreary's software, Registry Cleaner XP, the lawsuit claims advertises itself as a pop-up window claiming that the system has been "damaged and corrupted" and redirects you to Branch Software's Website to download the software for $39.95. Upon download the software tells you that it has cleared your PC of 43 threats, however it finds the same 43 threats on every system it is tested on.
Better PR for Microsoft Than Seinfeld?
Continue reading "Microsoft to Fight Scourge of 'Scareware'"
The Nintendo Wii version of the mega-popular Rock Band was lame. Though it possessed the same addictive cooperative gameplay, its lack of downloadable content kept it from succeeding on the same level as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. That's about to change -- MTV Games, publisher of Rock Band and Rock Band 2, confirmed that Rock Band 2 for the Wii will feature downloadable songs. This much-needed addition should bolster the Wii out of its relative inferiority and attract hard-core gamers to the system.
But how can the storage-less Wii handle any downloadable content? For some time, rumors have floated around that Nintendo would create an external hard drive. Perhaps this will see release before Rock Band 2 hits shelves in mid-November. Others speculate using the paltry internal storage, USB devices, or SD cards to hold songs.
Downloadable content is one of the defining characteristics of next-gen gaming. Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network feature hundreds of games for direct download. Without a hard drive, Nintendo has had to focus on physical discs, missing out on huge profits and a broadened fan base. Rock Band alone surpassed the 6 million downloaded songs mark in March, raking in roughly $12 million. (You can check out our video review of Rock Band 2 here).
Whatever Nintendo's solution for its storage deficiency may be, this news heralds the next level of Wii gaming, above and beyond Rock Band.
Congress may not be able to pass a bailout bill to save financial markets, but it looks like it might just figure out how to save Internet radio. I'm glad they've got their priorities straight.
On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7084, dubbed the "Webcaster Settlement Act," a bill authored by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Washington) and co-sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman (D-California), Donald Manzullo (R-Illinois), John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas). Webcasters and SoundExchange, the nonprofit group that collects artist royalties from Internet radio stations, are expected to reach an agreement for lower royalty rates in the coming months. However, since Internet radio operates under a government license, any agreement would be stalled without Congressional approval, so a deal to continue negotiations while Congress is out for the election season is crucial. The bill allows talks between the two parties to continue until February 15 and makes any deal reached legally binding even without Congressional approval.
The Webcaster Settlement Act comes after last year's ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board to significantly increase royalties paid by Internet radio stations. Many Webcasters argued that the new royalties would saddle them with crushing bills. The Associated Press is reporting that as much as 70 percent of Internet radio's revenue could go to royalties, making the business model untenable.
Supporters of the current bill have been advocating for Internet radio ever since the Royalty Board's 2007 decision. The Senate is expected to vote on H.R. 7084 this week. Obviously, other issues are more prominent on the Congressional agenda, but this effort is real progress toward a compromise that could ensure Internet radio continues to thrive. Let's hope Congress finds the time.
The makings of a wireless war erupted yesterday when Sprint launched its mobile WiMax broadband network in Baltimore and the GSM Association cut the ribbon the same day on a campaign to push a competing wireless technology, HSDPA broadband. The GSM Association has ambitions to offer a national high-speed wireless service and is pushing to have its wireless technology hardwired into to small laptops. Sprint and the backers of WiMax also plan to deliver high-speed wireless service nationwide.
These two competing technologies will soon be battling it out for mass adoption - similar to what we saw with Blu-ray and HD DVD.
WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) has the very strong possibility of succeeding Wi-Fi as the future wireless broadband of choice - with a theoretical range of miles. On the other hand HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) is the successor or 3G networks (sometimes called 3.5G or 4G Internet). Average speeds for the two technologies are similar as well, with WiMAx ranging from 2 to 4MBs while HSDPA from 1 to 7MBs.
So what's the fuss all about then?
Continue reading "Sprint's WiMax Debut to Spur Wireless Showdown"
Got a tech tip that could improve someone's life? Know a time-saving Website that others should try? Chime in and tell us about it.
Back in late August we ran an online feature titled 20 Tech Habits to Improve Your Life that included tips from streamlining your inbox to extending your Wi-Fi range with a parabolic reflector. Penned by Gina Trapani, lead editor of Lifehacker.com, the story stirred up quite a bit of interest and even made the front page over at Digg. We're now in the process of updating the story for an upcoming print issue and will include the best reader suggestions we receive.
The original story has already seen some useful comments:
PC World forum user, geeeek, points out that "Spypig lets you know if [an email you've sent] has been read or not. It's a free email tracking tool. It's better than calling the person or writing them another email and asking did you get my email yet?
Forum users pern0808 and LaAdi both point out that there are some useful free password managers out there; they recommend Lastpass and Password ++, respectively.
Those are two great examples, and we're looking forward to hearing more. So post a comment below with a personal top tech habit that improved your life.
Apple could soon be forced to drop digital rights protection from iTunes. A government-appointed consumer rights advocate in Norway is fighting to keep the company from selling music with DRM technology -- the stuff that restricts how you can use the songs and makes it tricky to place them on devices other than iPods. Right now, most of iTunes' music comes with those limitations.
The Norway official says that inclusion violates consumers' rights and thereby violates the nation's laws. The users should have the option, he says, to play content on any device they choose -- not just an iPod. The country has been talking with Apple for months about opening up its music store and has achieved some limited success, but its consumer activist says more must be done.
Continue reading "Apple Faces Fight to Free iTunes From DRM"
To those of you who were loyal early adopters of Wal-Mart's music download service, Wal-Mart has a message for you: Say goodbye to your music. Since February Wal-Mart has offered only DRM-free songs for download, but before that customers of Wal-Mart's service could download songs encoded with DRM. BoingBoing picked up an e-mail Wal-Mart sent to its customers saying the DRM servers will be shut down on October 9, making it impossible for customers to transfer their DRM encoded music to a music device or another PC after that date.
Wal-Mart is just following the recent trend of screwing over customers by dropping DRM, as led by Microsoft and Yahoo. Sure, customers can burn their DRM songs to a CD to preserve their songs after the DRM servers are shut down, but why should customers be punished with extra work for buying their songs legally? Can someone remind me how is this supposed to prevent piracy? Downloading songs from a P2P network is easy enough that even a non-tech-savvy person can do it, while dealing with legal DRM workarounds takes a level of technical knowledge that the average consumer just might not have.
I have no problem with DRM encoding when it works. But DRM only works when companies are willing to keep the DRM servers running. Once those servers are down, the downloaded music is exposed as the rental that it really is. Now I'm just wondering what will happen when iTunes eventually and inevitably shuts down its own DRM servers. I hope some forward-thinking programmer over at Apple can come up with a solution to remove the DRM from its songs by then, or there will incredible customer backlash.
I applaud Wal-Mart for switching to selling only DRM-free music, but at the same time it isn't right for Wal-Mart to drop its existing customers (the ones who helped build the business). How hard would it be for Wal-Mart to allow its customers to download their DRM encoded songs again in the now-offered DRM-free format? Customers shouldn't be inconvenienced for buying their songs legally. That's just bad business.
LiquidTV, the latest offering from TiVo and Nero, bypasses the set-top box and brings digital television recording straight to your PC. Starting October 15, $199 will buy you the LiquidTV software, a standard TiVo remote, a USB DTV tuner/antenna, and the essential one-year TiVo pass. Those already sporting a TV tuner on their PCs can buy the software alone for $99 and use a mouse for navigation. The interface is crafted to look exactly like the one you'd find on your regular TiVo, so if you're already familiar with the layout, you won't have a new aesthetic to warm up to.
LiquidTV breezes through the ordinarily cumbersome TiVo-to-PC transition, and streamlines media transformation to portable media devices such as the iPod and PlayStation Portable. You can also burn programs onto CDs or DVDs. Like the ordinary TiVo service, LiquidTV features WishList search, Season Pass recordings, and TiVo Suggestions. It records and pauses live TV, and even allows remote online program scheduling.
Nintendo may be getting ready to announce a revamped Nintendo DS this week. On Saturday, Japan's Nikkei Net reported that Nintendo will launch a new DS with a camera, music playback and improved wireless capability (for non-gaming uses) before the end of the year.
Reports are also saying that the camera could be integrated with game play somehow, but it's unclear if the new camera would have video capability or be just for still images. But that's not all. There are also unconfirmed reports that the new DS could have a larger screen and the ability to transfer data from the Wii or an SD card.
Even thought the report above is unconfirmed, a move like this makes sense for Nintendo. Sony allows data sharing between the handheld Sony PSP and the PS2 and PS3, and the PSP has made waves with its wide array of non-gaming features (although never enough to overtake the DS in sales). If Nintendo really does improve the DS to match the PSPs abilities, it could go a long way to secure its lead over its Sony rival.
Nintendo has set simultaneous press conferences for Tokyo and San Francisco on Thursday, according to Wired, so we may see some confirmation of these rumors by then. We'll keep you posted.
Motorola is hoping to stem its recent financial bloodletting by throwing its might behind the popular Android operating system. It's betting that Android is the mobile OS of the future and has reportedly begun to assemble a 350 team of Android developers to transform its mobile business.
Motorola's weak point has always been the software interface. While phones like the hugely popular RAZR V3 sold in millions across the world, users were never particularly impressed with the software capabilities of the devices. In a bid to turn its luck around, Motorola is now set to adopt Google's Android mobile operating system, bridging the gaps between hardware and software.
Goodbye Moto, Hello Android!
Continue reading "Motorola Is Going Android, Nokia Might Follow"
Apple's iPhone has inspired almost every phone maker to design touch-screen phones. Earlier this week there was the introduction of T-Mobile's G1 touch screen. The one lone holdout has been Nokia, the world's top cell phone maker. Next week the phone giant will succumb to touch-screen peer pressure and launch the "Tube," according to the Reuters news agency.
The Nokia touch-screen Tube will reportedly surface at a media event in London on October 2. Early pictures of the phone appeared on the IDNES.cz website. A ZDNet blog chimed in with some rumored Tube features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, an SD card slot, and a 640 x 360 touch-screen. The phone will run on the standard Symbian S60, according to reports.
Unless Nokia announces something completely unexpected for its first touch-screen, the phone is likely to be overshadowed by the recently released Android phone, but maybe that's not such a bad thing. After all, a slightly reduced price tag might be all it needs to attract the average cell phone customer who is interested in the iPhone, but still finds it a bit out of their price range.
The Senate yesterday held a hearing about behavioral targeting -- wherein companies watch your online habits and tailor content to your interests -- and ISP leaders like Verizon and AT&T agreed, in principle, stop the practice.
They vowed never to engage in tracking services and essentially challenged the rest of the Web to do the same. What they did not do was endorse legislation. In fact, Tom Tauke, Verizon's executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communications, explicitly said: "At this juncture, we aren't prepared to endorse legislation."
There is an interesting article in the Telegraph this morning about the somewhat marginal anti-iTunes trend among popular musicians and the possible demise of America's largest music retailer. The premise is basically this: iTunes is destroying the artistic integrity of the album, some artists are making more money without iTunes, one of the most anticipated albums to come out this year won't be sold on iTunes, so this may be the end of iTunes.
A 2007 patent filing by Google (published just yesterday) sheds light on how Google aims to take over the wireless world - shaking from grounds up the wireless industry business model. It appears the Android OS was just a small part of Google's plan for a wireless revolution.
It would have been too simple if Google launched the G1 phone, powered by its own Android mobile OS, existed just as an iPhone competitor. Android as an operating system is just the launching pad for what the search giant has planned for the wireless industry.
Continue reading "Android: First Step in Google's Plan to Change Mobile World"
MySpace Music's long-awaited overhaul went live today, granting users access to thousands of streaming songs and new features such as customizable playlists, updated aesthetics, and a direct connection to Amazon.com's MP3 library.
The new homepage resembles the iTunes music store and has a cleaner, more streamlined feel than many MySpace pages. It features quick links to your personalized music page, videos, featured playlists, top artists, shows, classifieds and discussion forums.
MySpace inked a deal with three major record labels to allow access to free copies of songs, so there is no shortage of good tunes.
A federal judge has granted a new trial for Jammie Thomas who was convicted of copyright infringement last year as part of the Recording Industry Association of America's campaign against illegal file sharing. On Wednesday the Minnesota federal judge Michael Davis threw out the verdict against Thomas.
The issue the court is considering is whether or not the RIAA had to first prove that other people had downloaded from Thomas' files or if making them available for download was enough. Citing a case from 1993, Davis determined that there did have to be proof of distribution and that putting them out there on Kazaa was not enough, as he had originally told the jury.
Disproportionate Damages?
Continue reading "New Trial Set in RIAA vs. Jammie Thomas Case"
A day after the launch of the much-anticipated Google Android phonefrom T-Mobile, the Web has been buzzing with complaints about the 1GB cap on the data usage of the phone. In response T-Mobile has moved swiftly and changed its mind and lifted the cap on the G1's monthly data plan. The G1 now has no data cap and is unlimited.
Even though 1GB of data usage might be enough for your monthly email usage, early adopters will welcome the 'unlimited' usage plan for the G1 as they are prone to use more of the data-intensive features of the phone, such as GPS-assisted maps, Web browsing, viewing YouTube videos or sharing pictures taken with the phone's 3.2 megapixel camera.
It's no surprise that when T-Mobile's G1 phone debuted yesterday, critics were quick to compare it with Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry. But it's not just the brand that's sour about the G1 -- many omissions, shortcomings and flat-out disappointments are apparent in Google's first foray into the mobile phone market. Here are my top ten:
10. Multi-Touch MIA
A small oversight, but those familiar or in love with Apple's innovative multitouch interface will groan when they discover the same feature isn't present on the G1.
9. Accelerometer Quirk
The G1 includes an accelerometer, but it functions only when the keyboard flips out, not by tilting the device. So if you want to surf the Web in widescreen, you must first double the size of your phone. Cosmetic differences such as this could spell selling point or a walk-away.
8. Uninspiring Interface
While it's not the ugliest kid on the block, the G1 interface doesn't "wow" in any way. Watch CNET's walk-through video and see how it's fine, but not quite what you'd expect from HTC's innovation and coming from under the shadow of Apple's obsessive aesthetics.
7. No Video Recording
You'd think HTC would pack in some video recording capabilities with that 3.2-megapixel camera. It didn't, forgoing a unique opportunity to beat Apple at its own game -- the iPhone does not support video recording either. If they'd sneaked in that feature, some of the G1's other shortcomings would be more tolerable. As is, the newcomer is playing par for the course and not challenging mobile phone conventions.
6. Battery Life Lacking
Talk-time on the G1 is standard: five hours. But the phone's stand-by time is a raging disappointment: the G1 can sit still for only 130 hours, compared to the iPhone's 300. And I thought my iPhone's battery was inadequate; this is almost unacceptable. So keep your charger handy, because you'll need it.
5. Skimpy Storage
The G1 comes standard with 1GB of storage with an optional 8GB Micro-SD add-on. Eight GB might sound like a decent number, but with competitors handling as much as 16GB built-in, the G1 becomes more of a money suck.
4. Stingy Data Cap
Google on the go -- but with a hard stop at 1GB. T-Mobile quietly announced a 1GB data cap on the G1. So even though the G1 is roughly $380 cheaper than the iPhone, the iPhone offers "unlimited" data connectivity. Moderate to heavy data users will plow through T-Mobile's 1GB cap in no time at all, leaving them with 50Kbps, or an EDGE connection. This is not so much a problem with the phone itself, but T-Mobile's stinginess is tied to the G1 and impossible to ignore.
3. Desktop Synching Absent
Like the lack of Exchange server support, the absence of desktop synching makes it difficult to connect with Outlook. No desktop synching means no ActiveSync; no ActiveSync means millions of Outlook users are left out in the cold. The G1 is bad for business.
2. Wanted: 3.5mm Headphone Jack
If I were going head-to-head with one of the biggest music giants in the world, I think I'd pack some tunes. Unfortunately the G1 neglected to include a 3.5mm headphone jack, relying instead on a USB port. That means buyers of the G1 will have to purchase a headphone jack adapter in order to enjoy their Amazon.com MP3 store on the go. This omission is so foolish it's almost hilarious -- who thought this could possibly be a good idea?
1. No Exchange
T-Mobile and Google will be hard-pressed to compete with RIM's Blackberry or any other modern smartphone, given the absence of Exchange server support. This omission seems particularly foolish given the G1's built-in QWERTY keyboard and 3G connectivity. The iPhone's touch keypad is awkward and messy for people writing e-mail on the go; with the QWERTY, the G1 had a primo opportunity to hone in on Blackberry's turf. Google reps said they expect third-party application developers will create Exchange support soon enough, but its absence from the initial rollout sets the G1 behind competition just one day after its release.
T-Mobile's Android-based G1 is getting its own application market, but it may cause just as many headaches as the iPhone's App Store. When the G1 launches on October 22, an app store called the Market will launch alongside the G1 with about 180 different apps. T-Mobile has already announced a few, including Shop Savvy, a comparative shopping application; Ecorio, which helps you track your carbon footprint; and BreadCrumbz, a tool to create visual maps.
Unlike its Apple rival, the Market will have no oversight whatsoever and developers will be able to use any part of the system's features they want. This fits in well with the open source model that Google is touting, and many developers are no doubt giddy with the prospect of unbridled freedom with a likely rival to the iPhone. We may see highly creative and inventive apps and the G1 will probably be able to do things that the iPhone doesn't. But this could also have some huge downsides.
No oversight means no one is checking for malicious code, such as spyware, that could be lurking behind the surface of your shiny new app. Also, without a vetting process the chance of an app getting into the Market with some Android-crashing power seems very likely.
Google plans to provide a ratings system where users can tell about their experiences, but that means the risk associated with first-time use of an app is much higher than with other phones. I don't mean to sound over-cautious here, but have T-Mobile and Google thought this through? The new G1 may be a huge success and could change how other companies develop mobile phones. But if the Market causes too many headaches for users, Google's plan for the Android may have to be seriously overhauled.
We knew NBC was looking to ramp up its online content providers, but who knew this was coming?
General Electronics, which owns 80 percent of NBC Universal, has announced its debut into the HDTV market with General Displays & Technologies (GDT), a new joint venture with display manufacturer Tatung. Furthermore, GE says it will be teaming up with NBC to bring Internet and digital HD content direct to the TVs.
For the TV network giant, this is a big score in its ongoing push to get its shows streamed wherever possible, even when it meant squashing a year-long pricing dispute with Apple to get its content back on iTunes.
The recent push in the streaming Hulu service, of which NBC is joint owner, as well as services from Amazon Unbox only add to the ubiquity.
The first wave of GE HDTVs, which arrive in spring 2009, will require a set-top box (sold separately) to access the online content, although further models will look to incorporate the feature. For GE, a company that hasn't made its own TVs since the late 80s, this also means a stake in the exciting new market of Internet-ready TVs. Seeing as how popular Net-ready TVs have been in 2008 already,, GE's (re)introduction seems to be proof of a coming standard. And it sure beats the old cathode-ray-tube TV sets.
Have you noticed the content at Hulu has been getting bigger and better over the summer? I did, and today Hulu is rolling out a few new features as it looks to increase its toehold in the online video market. The new features include improved navigation, search and user interaction (aka social networking). The best new feature is Hulu's "Channels" drop-down menu, which improves its previous genre categorization.
In the old model, Hulu users could find content by genre but were forced to search separately for TV comedy or film comedy, for example. Now, Hulu has mashed it all together into one big category. You can use Hulu's familiar menu on the left-hand side to drill down into films, TV episodes, clips, and so on. Hulu is also touting its "anime" channel and a new "Web originals" for Web-only content. Channels are designed not only for users but also for advertisers as Hulu looks to increase its market share. Today only one channel, "Food and Leisure," has a sponsor, but it's safe to assume Hulu is looking to get as much sponsorship as it can across the site.
Other new features on Hulu include an actor-based search and new discussion boards that are available on every video page. Whether discussion boards become a popular part of Hulu remains to be seen, but it's part of the community-building effort. Hulu allows users to create profiles as well, and choose whether they want to make their viewing habits public. Yet another Website looking for that holy grail of social networking. I don't know about you, but I, for one, am more interested in viewing the content than discussing it with strangers, but that's just me.
The online video market is heating up these days. Amazon improved its online movie rental experience this summer; iTunes is always popular, of course; Joost (another free video site) is making a grab for some market share; and Netflix recently announced it will stream current CBS and Disney TV shows this fall. On top of that, virtually every network makes recent episodes of popular programming available for a limited time. Hulu has some stiff competition--some of it coming from its own parents News Corp. and NBC Universal--but with an expanding library and the ability to host current programming, Hulu's popularity should grow even more over time. For now, Hulu remains a U.S.-only service, but the company says it is working to bring Hulu to international audiences.
The Blu-ray U.S. market share dropped to 8 percent at the end of last week -- more than 13 percent from the previous week -- with traditional DVDs commanding the other 92 percent, according to Nielsen VideoScan. This is far from Sony president Ryoji Chubachi's ridiculously lofty goal of 50 percent market share by year's end.
Concurrent with this decline, Sony and Blu-ray boosters are using aggressive marketing campaigns to raise consumer awareness of their high-definition format in hopes of bolstering Blu-ray out of its slump. This month's issue of Wired Magazine will bundled in with the publication a Blu-ray disc of Sony-produced online web series Coma, starring Michael Madsen Sony will also ship with its players free discs like Men In Black and episodes of the Discovery Channel series "Fearless Planet" and "Sunrise Earth," illustrating its drive to differentiate between regular DVDs and their high-definition brethren while inundating the playing field with free incentives to hop on board.
Blu-ray disc players have also seen price cuts -- despite grim predictions -- with one recently sneaking in at just under $200. The Industry Standard believes Blu-ray player prices will drop below $250 by the day after Thanksgiving; a likely estimate given that this year's Black Friday predictions have Blu-ray players at $149, or $199 with bundled movies. This $250 figure does not include players built into home computers or "door buster" deals, suggesting permanence in the cut.
As for a miraculous 42 percent increase in market share by year's end? That probably won't happen, but Sony and the Blu-ray advocates hope their advertising and supposed price cuts will capture an audience looking to jump to the next level of high-def viewing.
T-Mobile has just released the first official images of its T-Mobile G1 with Google smartphone, announced today. The press conference was still going on when these images became available. Since I've posted the images we have posted full reports on the launch.
* FAQ: What T-Mobile's New G1 Phone Will Do For You
* T-Mobile, Google and HTC Introduce First Android Phone
*Android Phone Due in Europe Before Christmas
Here are some details on cost:
Available in the U.S. beginning Oct. 22, for a price of $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement. The T-Mobile G1 will also be available in the United Kingdom beginning in November, and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009. Countries include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
Here are the images:
Continue reading "First Official T-Mobile G1 Images: On Sale Oct. 22 for $179"
T-Mobile, the country's fourth largest cell service provider, will unveil today the G1, the first mobile phone to feature Google's Android operating system. The much-anticipated device, which would be iPhone's main competitor, is now said to come with free Gmail access, targeting Blackberry users.
In a bid to sell around 400,000 Android phones by the end of the year (that would equate to 4 percent of the smartphones sold in this period) T-Mobile is said to plan on offering free Gmail access, without the need for a data plan. In contrast, Blackberry's e-mail services costs an additional $15 a month on top of the call plan. On the downside, if indeed Gmail access will be free on the G1, T-Mobile might lose many of its Blackberry users who will most likely trade in their older phones.
Continue reading "T-Mobile Android Phone Out Today, Comes With Free Gmail"
Two hospital workers have been fired over a slew of patient pictures posted to MySpace. The University of New Mexico Hospital employees are accused of snapping the shots on their cell phones as the patients were being treated in the emergency room.
The hospital's director tells the Albuquerque Journal the pictures were primarily close-ups, and that the MySpace profile in question was set as private and thus only visible to the employee's online friends. The patients, he says, were not personally identifiable.
Still, in an age where medical privacy is , the move is sure to send shudders down plenty of spines. Would you want photos of your body on a stranger's MySpace page without your knowledge, particularly after you'd suffered some kind of presumably serious trauma?
Continue reading "Hospital Patients' Photos Posted On MySpace"
Apple is recalling the iPhone 3G USB power adapters shipped with the handset in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, and several other Latin American countries.
In a page on its support site, the company says that under certain conditions, the adapter's prongs can break off "and remain in a power outlet, creating a risk of electric shock." Apple has received reports of broken prongs "involving a very small percentage of the adapters sold," but no injuries have been reported, the support site says.
However, iPhone 3G owners should stop using these adapters immediately, Apple says. Instead, until they can exchange them for a redesigned version (identifiable by a green dot in one of its corners--see below), they should charge the phone by connecting the USB cable to a computer.
Apple says it will replace the defective adapters in Apple retail stores starting October 10; alternatively, you can order a replacement adapter online--but then you'll have to wait. Apple says replacements ordered online will ship within three weeks of the order date, starting October 10.
To obtain a replacement, you must provide the serial number of your iPhone 3G. If you order online, you must provide your name and address for shipping, and be prepared to return the defective adapter in the shipping box Apple will provide.
Those who go to an Apple store to get a replacement must also bring the defective adapter as well as their iPhone 3G.
Details of the Latin American exchange program will be announced before October 10, the company says.
Reported "spy" shots of T-Mobile's Dream phone are popping up on the Net today adding to the hype leading up to the launch of the so-called Google Android smartphone tomorrow. The image above comes from rizzn.com. The site owner claims the pictures are real and come from a "super secret Google spy."
T-Mobile isn't commenting on the alleged "spy shots," but neither was it volunteering much when it came to a flurry of T-Mobile Dream leaks the blogosphere and media reported on last week.
Also making its rounds today is word of the official name for the T-Mobile phone made by HTC. Sources say the HTC Dream is going to be launched as the T-Mobile G1.
Engadget grabbed a screenshot of a T-Mobile webpage (that is no longer accessible) that appears to refer to the HTC Dream as the G1.
Are these real Android spottings or just wishful thinking? We'll find out tomorrow.
Memory chipmaker SanDisk with partner record labels EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group announced today their latest idea of CD replacement, the slotMusic.
SlotMusic is basically a MicroSD memory card that will come preloaded with music albums from the participating record labels and is mainly aimed at mobile phones that come with a MicroSD slot.
Though the fingernail-size album might seem as a good idea, here's why SlotMusic is likely to make no difference in the market.
1. It Aims at a Crowded Market
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched the apartment of University of Tenn. student, David Kernell, early Sunday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the hacked Yahoo e-mail account of Gov. Sarah Palin.
According to a report by WBIR, Knoxville's NBC affiliate, when FBI agents arrived at Kernell's apartment a party was underway. Some reports claim that Kernell and his friends fled the apartment once federal agents arrived. After emptying the house, agents proceeded to take photographs of the apartment for several hours. So far the police have not released any documentation, such as a search warrant, to the public.
Kernell's three roommates received subpoenas and could testify in court in Chattanooga this week. So far no charges have been filed against Kernell, but a grand jury is reportedly set to convene on Tuesday. As suspected earlier, Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative. Kernell Sr. told Wired.com that while he was aware of the suspicions about his son he did not ask him about it over concerns that he may have to testify in court.
Continue reading "Palin Update: Tenn. Student Implicated in Hack"
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You probably know the story so far: Microsoft announced it had signed up Jerry Seinfeld as spokesman and got lots of flack for choosing a spokesperson whose greatest fame came when Windows 95 was fresh and new. Then the first ads costarring Seinfeld and Bill Gates aired, and prompted a surging sea of coverage, most of it mocking and/or negative in the extreme. Then--depending on who you believe--Microsoft either decided to cut the Seinfeld spots short or proceded to the second phase it had planned all along. Which took on Apple's "Get a Mac" ads directly with a Microsoft employee who's a lookalike for John "PC" Hodgman and a diverse group of folks proudly declaring "I'm a PC."
You can read PCW blogger Brennon Slattery's take on the new "I'm a PC' commercials here. And I write about 'em here in this post at my Technologizer site. Our bottom line is pretty similar: We think they're OK. Certainly better than the Bill and Jerry Show, at least.
That would seem to be the general consensus on the Web, where gazillions of folks are still weighing in on every new ad in the campaign. It'll be interesting to see how long the fascination with all things Windows advertising lasts; I'm guessing it will wind down before the campaign does.
One thing I haven't seen much coverage of is the print component of the campaign. Microsoft has just unveiled a bunch of print ads, all with a "Windows: Life Without Walls" theme. Here are thumbnail versions of a few of them:
The print ads are quite different from either Bill & Jerry or "I'm a PC"--and unlike either of those series of spots, they actually discuss supposed virtues of Windows. They talk about the fact that a billion people use Windows and seem to say those people form a community without quite explaining how. They point out that Windows runs on PCs, phones, and TVs. They mention Windows Live only briefly (one word, actually: "Live"). And they say that the whole goal of Microsoft as a company is to make stuff that "defies inertia."
I have more to say on the print ads--lots more, in fact--and you'll find it all in this story over at Technologizer, along with images of all the print ads. If you're not already a victim of Windows Advertising Fatigue, drop by and join the conversation...
Two new "I'm a PC" ads debuted yesterday, both employing a John Hodgman look-alike, Bill Gates (sans Seinfeld), and author Deepak Chopra, among others. They aim to change the Apple-induced impression of PC users as geeks operating bad software and so far from cool they'd need three maps to get there.
Instead, both ads focus on the everyday nature of PC computing and the good they do in the world. We're shown an African school teacher declaring that she's a PC and connected to over a billion people around the globe. We're also shown a blogger for Obama and a McCain supporter. We see people wearing jeans, designing jeans, and studying genes.
Continue reading "New "I'm a PC" Ads Show Microsoft's Human Side"
NEW YORK, NY - It may still feel more like summer than winter out, but that doesn't mean tech firms aren't dreaming of snow flakes and hoping their latest gear is popular with consumers during the holidays. Last night, tech companies gathered to show off their newest gadgets in New York. Here are three three new products that caught my eye.
Skype Video Phone by Asus: This is an attractive piece of hardware, but if you ask me it's all dressed up with nowhere to go. Skype says it accidentally released the specs on this device yesterday, but by the time I caught up with Asus last night it had pulled the information off its website and wasn't sharing much specification-wise. However, according to reports the new Skype video phone has a touch screen, 640x480 pixels resolution, ethernet, Wi-fi, speaker and mic (obviously), and a USB port. The battery lasts about 20 minutes so it's really not going to be much use.
It's an attractive device with easy to use controls (I didn't try the touchscreen and the Skype rep didn't mention it), and is meant for the non-tech savvy who can't start up or operate a computer. When I took a look at the machine I found the video quality to be a little on the grainy side and jumpy at times. The Skype video phone will retail for about $300, but my advice would be to save your money and use Skype software on your home computer instead.
Next Up
There are less than 100 shopping days until Christmas: Do you know where the deals will be? Dealnews.com has already released its predictions for Black Friday, the post-Thanksgiving shopping free-for-all, when retailers historically slash prices in hopes of luring seasonal shoppers.
Expected bargains, according to the site, will include:
*UMPCs for as little as $199 and dual-core laptops for $299;
*22-inch LCD monitors for $99 (!)
*Blu-ray Disc players for $149 ($199 with bundled movies)
*Entry-level GPS units for $49, Bluetooth/widescreen units for $99
*A $99 HD camcorder
*Canon's SD1100 Digital Elph (which I just bought for $178) for $139
Apple aficionados, meanwhile, can expect small discounts on iPods, MacBooks and iMacs--plus free shipping from the online store no matter how small your purchase.
Interestingly, though Dealnews expects to see HDTV bargains for no-name brands, they recommend holding off until later (i.e. December) for deals on high-end models; last year, they remind us, Fry's and Amazon had a price war on Samsung and other brand-name LCD sets three weeks before Christmas.
And dream on if you're hoping for deals on the iPhone 3G or Nintendo Wii--but we didn't need Dealnews to figure that out.
Sling Media, known for its innovative Slingbox video "place shifting" product, is ready to go to market with two new products.
The first, called Slingbox PRO-HD (shown below), is an incremental upgrade to its flagship product line, while the second product, called SlingCatcher, represents the company's foray into the growing market for devices that allow us to watch internet video--streaming and stored--on our living room TVs.
Slingbox PRO-HD is one of the first--if not the first--product to grab HD video from your cable box at home and sling it across the house to another PC, or across the country via broadband to a laptop or mobile device. Previous Slingboxes have automatically down-coded HD content to standard def before sending it over the internet. Slingbox HD does not--it uses an H.236 codec to send it over the net in all its HD glory.
We watched some HD content that had been slung from a Slingbox PRO-HD to a small Sony VAIO laptop via the LAN, and I must say the video looked unmistakably high-def. Of course the big question is this: how much bandwidth is required to transmit true HD video to a PC or mobile device via the (wired or wireless) Internet?
Answer: a lot--at least 1.5 megabytes per second--both upstream where the video is being sent, and downstream where the video is being received. While broadband speeds are increasing, many, many of us still don't have that kind of speed. For those that do, namely Comcast and Verizon FiOS customers, the Slingbox HD may make sense.
The new SlingCatcher product (above) feeds video content to a TV (not a laptop). It gets that content from three places. First, it can receive content from a Slingbox hooked to the cable in another city. This can be nice if you want to watch your home cable service at another location, like a vacation home. (To me it's marvelous that the cable companies have not sued to prevent people doing this, as it almost surely violates Fair Use policies.)
Slingbox's Brian Jaquet explains that his company's customers began asking for this capability shortly after the original Slingbox came out a few years ago. However, the first SlingCatcher product will not be able to catch HD programming from a distant Slingbox PRO-HD--not yet anyway; they're working on that.
Continue reading "HD Slingbox, Web Media Streamer Coming Soon from Sling Media"
The hacker who claims credit for breaking into Sarah Palin's Yahoo Mail account is revealing how he did it -- and the process is far simpler than one might have imagined. Keep reading and see if your own accounts are really as secure as you think.
A message posted on a forum called "4chan," where news of the hack first surfaced, says the secret wasn't cracking Palin's password; it was changing it. A user identifying himself as "Rubico" claims all he did was select the option to reset the password on Yahoo Mail's interface. The service, he recalls, asked only for her birth date, zip code, and where she met her husband (which was her own self-chosen security question). That information can all easily be found with some basic Internet searching -- a task the hacker says took him less than an hour to complete. (Related: See Scientific American: How I Stole Someone's Identity)
The forum posting, incidentally, has been connected to an e-mail address belonging to a college student from Tennessee. Some reports speculate that student may be the son of a Democratic state representative also from Tennessee, though that information has not been confirmed. The FBI and Secret Service are actively investigating.
Continue reading "Palin Hack: How It Happened and How to Keep Your Account Safe"
In our weekly reviews department meeting this past Monday, a debate broke out. This is nothing new: in past meetings, our department has debated everything from global warming to why I am wearing this stupid-looking hat.
But this week, senior editor Melissa J. Perenson, senior associate editor Danny Allen, staff editor Ginny Mies, senior performance analyst Elliott Kirschling, and I were debating the merits of various online music services. We'd just finished testing Apple's new iPod Nano and iPod Touch, and were wondering whether to boost those players' lab scores because they supports iTunes. That alone gives the players streamlined access to more than 8 million songs and close to 40,000 chunks of video content--and in the case of the iPod Touch, thousands of available apps.
Now, any time you bring up iTunes in a room full of opinionated people, you're going to have a heated debate on your hands. Some of those in the room called iTunes the best music service out there due to the sheer number of offerings, its nearly flawless integration with the market-leading iPod, and the fact that the App Store makes it much more than just a music service. Others in the rooms noted that it's a closed ecosystem that has a large footprint, no subscription service, offers mostly DRM-protected songs in the AAC format only, and only works seamlessly with a handful of players other than the iPod.
Long story short, we left the meeting agreeing to disagree. And some of us were limping.
There are simply too many variables to consider when it came to dubbing a music service "better" than another. A lot of those variables have to do with things other than the service itself: all factoring in equally are the formats you want your music to be in, the style of the service, the files and services supported by your portable player, and your preferred types of non-music content (podcasts, audio books, TV shows, and what have you). Over the past few days, it's been serious food for thought.
For now, we'd love to get your input on the music-service model you use and like the best. There are a lot of good music services out there, and they do things a whole lot differently:
So in a perfect world, in which all services worked with all players, and all of these music-service models had the same selection of tunes, which model would you choose? Vote in our poll and let us know about your favorite (or least-favorite) services in the Comments section below.
T-Mobile will announce a $199 price tag next week during a press conference for its much anticipated handset dubbed "Dream," according to reports. The phone, made by device maker HTC and that uses an operating system designed by Android/Google, is one of the most anticipated new phones since the release of Apple's iPhone.
But the question remains: Can Google, HTC, and T-Mobile mimic the success of Apple and deliver a "must have" phone?
The answer is unclear whether phone fanatics will line up for hours or days (or if at all) to be the first to buy T-Mobile's Dream. Neither Google, HTC, or T-Mobile engender the same passion and loyalty that Apple does with its customers. Also, if you ask me, too many cellphones that have come after the launch of the iPhone feel to me like want-to-be iPhones playing feature-catch-up with Apple. I certainly hope that T-Mobile's Dream offers a fresh design and a host of innovative new features - but the only thing we do know is the Dream will be hardwired to link you to Google.
T-Mobile Leaks Build Buzz
Continue reading "Android Priced at $199: Can T-Mobile Mimic the iPhone's Success?"
Microsoft this morning announced a bunch of changes coming to its popular Hotmail service , including a facelift, faster loading times, and larger storage.
A screenshot of the new Hotmail looks like a combination of Microsoft Outlook and Google's Gmail with a simple, streamlined interface and separated columns. Microsoft "combined the classic and full versions" of Hotmail to create this design but really, it just looks like Outlook. To personalize the service, Hotmail will now be customizable with various themes and colors "so your personality can really shine through."
Continue reading "Microsoft to Revamp Hotmail to Look a Lot Like Gmail"
The Wikileaks website that posted e-mail and photos from Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin's personal Yahoo e-mail account appears down at this time. The site, which is dedicated to publishing leaked governmental, corporate, or religious documents, has not been accessible since yesterday when it posted five e-mail screenshots, contact lists, a partial list of received e-mail, and two family pictures found in Palin's hacked Yahoo account. [UPDATE: The Wikileaks page on Palin's email, complete with pictures, seems to be back up.]
Initial reports of Palin's Yahoo account hack were unverified until Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain, released a statement Wednesday calling the hack a "shocking invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law."
Today come reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service have launched an investigation into Palin's hacked account.
CNN is reporting FBI Spokesman Eric Gonzalez confirmed an investigation is under way.
According to the CNN report, Gonzalez stated:
"We are aware of the allegations and we are coordinating with Secret Service as far as the allegation that someone has hacked into Governor Palin's personal e-mail account... We are going to be working a joint investigation with Secret Service on this."
Meanwhile new questions have also been raised as to Palin's use of her private e-mail account for official business of the government. Critics have accused Palin of using private e-mail accounts for circumventing public record laws.
A group called Anonymous is taking responsibility for hacking Palin's Yahoo e-mail account. According to the Wikileaks site: "Circa midnight Tuesday the 16th of September (EST) activists loosely affiliated with the group 'anonymous' gained access to U.S. Republican Party Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account gov.palin@yahoo.com and passed information to Wikileaks."
In case the page goes down again, you can view an image of the original Wikileaks "Sarah Palin Yahoo inbox 2008" page here.
Microsoft is giving Jerry Seinfeld the boot for its latest Vista advertisement (set to launch today) and instead will directly attack Apple's marketing strategy of mocking PCs.
Microsoft decided not to focus on odd antics of Seinfeld and Gates this time around and instead will feature a company engineer who resembles the PC guy (aka John Hodgman) in Apple's ads. According to those familiar with the new ad the "PC" guy says, "Hello, I'm a PC and I've been made into a stereotype."
This latest ad, part of Microsoft's $300 million "Windows. Life without walls" campaign to un-tarnish Vista's reputation, will reportedly feature a mix of average PC users and celebrity PC users. Some of those Vista-using celebrities include: Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, and Pharrell Williams. Bill Gates will also make cameo appearances.
Continue reading "Latest Microsoft Vista Ad Defends "I'm a PC" Guy: Seinfeld Out"
Just hours after news reports questioned Sarah Palin's use of Yahoo Mail for official business, a group of hackers claims to have broken into her account.
The group, known simply as "Anonymous," sent screenshots appearing to be from gov.palin@yahoo.com to leaked document site WikiLeaks, where they were published Wednesday morning (a screen shot of the WikiLeaks's Palin Webpage can be found here). The images show an e-mail exchange with Alaska's lieutenant governor in which Palin seemingly complains about a local radio host being "inconsistent and purposefully misleading," as well as an exchange with an advisory board member who appears to reassure Palin about the recent wave of negative press. A list of contacts and a couple of family photos (see below) are also included in the published materials.
(see below for images from WikiLeaks)
Continue reading "Palin E-Mail Hack Adds to Republican Tech Headache"
Photoshop is front-and-center in the political blogosphere this week. Here's why:
Canadian-born photographer Jill Greenberg was hired by The Atlantic magazine to shoot John McCain for its October cover. She did. The media-hungry Greenberg also shot some horror-show pics of McCain lit by a strobe from below, casting creepy shadows on his face and on the wall behind him. She put those on her website. She also photoshopped some of the McCain shots, and added "funny" captions above and below his head.
Here's my personal favorite, in which Greenberg unfairly superimposes Sarah Palin's mouth on McCain's face:
Just kidding about Palin's mouth, and sorry for the disturbing image, but that is really one of the McCain Photoshop creations at Greenberg's web site.
Here's what the Editor of The Atlantic has to say about it.
Many in the blogosphere are saying that Greenberg, a Democrat, is simply using her freedom of speech (and her copy of Photoshop) to create a satirical comment on an important political event, and she has every right.
Fine, but what a sophomoric way to do it. I put Greenberg's artwork down there with those emails you get insisting that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Greenberg comments that she was trying to "stir things up" before the election. But her pictures are just more junk, more noise in an already spin-crazy campaign. If anything, you end up sympathizing with McCain.
But that's just what I think. Check out Greenberg's photos (click "names" then go to John McCain) and let us know what you think.
UPDATE: Greenberg has apparently removed the images from her web site as of 4:25 PM Eastern. I'm glad I screen-grabbed the one above in time.
Despite optical media's market dominance, it looks like Blu-Ray Disc prices will not go down any time soon. "There's not enough market [volume] to lower the price," Andy Parsons, chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association, said at the DisplaySearch/NPD HDTV conference in Los Angeles. He added that companies have to build "awareness and demand for the technology" before prices can drop.
But sales figures suggest a great deal of consumer awareness, especially when compared to digital downloads. DVD sales have flattened but still outpace digital downloads, with 52 percent of HDTV owners buying movies or TV shows on DVD, compared to 6 percent downloading, according to the NPD Group. On average, consumers spend 41 percent of their movie budget on buying DVDs; 29 percent on rentals; and only 0.5 percent renting or purchasing online. The physical media format is far from dead, and major companies aren't expecting another format war like the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD battle.
"It's a mistake to think it's either a physical [media] or an electronic [download] business," Danny Kaye, vice president of research and technology strategy at 20th Century Fox, told CNET. "That's arbitrary. They will coexist."
Now's the Time to Drop Blu-ray Prices
So with the figures pointing toward physical media as the top dog, how much more consumer awareness does the Blu-ray Disc Association need before it reevaluates the current pricing scheme?
With HD-DVD out of the way, and digital downloads barely a contender, the only barrier I see between Blu-ray and market saturation is the very thing the Blu-ray Disc Association is unprepared to do. You can often buy standard-definition DVDs for $20 or less; Blu-ray Discs sell at $25 or above. Additionally, DVD players get cheaper by the minute, with many clocking in at below $100, whilst Blu-ray players are still hovering between $200 and $800. This hesitancy to lower prices will likely prolong the life of standard DVDs, making it harder for reluctant consumers to switch.
I think there's no time like the present to drop Blu-ray prices--which will spur customer awareness and keep competitors such as iTunes and Apple TV, the Roku Netflix box, and Amazon's Video on Demand on the periphery. It only seems fair to give a little love to Blu-ray supporters and coax newbies into the ring.
UPDATE 9/18 - Andy Parsons Responds
Continue reading "Blu-ray Disc Prices not Dropping Any Time Soon"
Anyone who lives in fear of an Orwellian future had better put on their tinfoil hats and stock up on bunker supplies, because with the new drivers licenses introduced in New York we are one step closer to that reality. What makes these licenses so special is the inclusion of radio frequency identification chips. RFID chips are already found in credit cards and passports, but New York is the first state in the U.S. to put these chips into its drivers licenses.
RFID Benefits
There are some benefits to having an RFID chip in your drivers license--primarily, RFID-encoded licenses can replace your passport. The RFID chip will not transmit personal information such as your name, birth date, and Social Security number, but it will contain an ID number that will identify you as a US citizen to Customs agents. At the moment, however, using an RFID license as a passport will work when only when entering the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, or the Caribbean, and only when traveling by land or sea, but there is a level of convenience if you visit those places often.
Drawbacks
Unfortunately, the cons far outweigh the pros for using RFID-encoded drivers licenses. A quick search on Amazon.com showed me that an RFID reader can be easily purchased for as cheap as $43. The New York DMV's RFID FAQ states that no personal information will be recorded on the RFID chip, but as long as the chip would contain some number that is connected to my name I know I wouldn't feel safe carrying it around in my wallet. Of course, I could always make myself a nifty RFID-blocking duct-tape wallet, but the overall investment in the new license just doesn't seem worth the risk to me.
Thankfully, it is not mandatory to get a new RFID license. It's just an option for New Yorkers who want to put themselves at risk unnecessarily, or those who frequently drive to Canada.
Fans of NFL star Chris Cooley got more than they bargained for on Sunday when they logged on to the Washington Redskins' blog. Cooley uses his site to reach out to fans and take them behind the scenes for an in-depth look at an NFL player... and that's exactly what he did. While preparing for Sunday's game, Cooley took a photo of team study materials sitting on his lap that coach Jim Zorn gives to his players for every game. The problem was he took this photo in the nude, and, well, he revealed a little more than he bargained for.
In a snapshot that is destined to join the ranks of "12 Photos That Should Never Have Been Posted Online," Cooley's photo shows the playbook, his naked thighs, and, you guessed it, his privates. Most of the time, photos like this are pulled almost immediately, but when you are a football star in the middle of a big game, details tend to go unnoticed--which lead to an apology later in the day. "We are very sorry that we showed a penis on our website all day yesterday," Cooley wrote. "That was by no means our intention and we did not want to offend anyone. The picture wouldn't have been up for so long, but we were in the middle of winning a big game. Once again, this was a complete accident and we regret not reviewing the post more closely. Thanks."
Interestingly enough, Cooley apologized only for the sensitive body parts, but not for revealing sensitive Redskins documents online. According to the Washington Post, Cooley "briefly described the play of the Saints' defensive ends and listed the numbers of players used in defensive packages." The Redskins ended up winning the game against the New Orleans Saints anyway, but Cooley's actions raise larger questions about the online behavior of professional athletes. "I think the rule of thumb that I'm going to have to contend with here is that if you have your own blog, and you're putting photos or you're even saying anything, that nothing really should be put in there that has Redskins playbook [on it]," Zorn told the Washington Post.
Cooley's actions should also serve as a warning to non-tech-savvy celebrities (I'm talking to you here, John McCain): Beware the pitfalls of technology.
If you ever went to McDonald's and felt the sudden need to have a brand new song on you Zune while stuffing french-fries in your mouth you're in luck. Thanks to a marketing partnership between McDonald's, Microsoft, and Wi-Fi provider Wayport, announced yesterday, Zune owners have fast and free access to the Internet allowing them to stream music wirelessly or buy a la carte tunes. Just don't forget to wipe those greasy hands off first before pulling your Zune out.
As part of a Zune 3.0 software update that added some cool updates to the Zune player, Microsoft now allows free access (no password or Web page log-in required) to hot spots in more than 9800 McDonald's. This addresses a shortcoming with the Zune player that previously prevented owners from accessing Wi-Fi hot spots that required users to first enter a password or agree to a wireless terms of service via a Webpage (Zune doesn't include a Web browser).
Continue reading "McDonald's and Zune Don't Mix: 'A Side of Beck with Your Burger?'"
All the Google Android hype just might be true: T-Mobile's first Android-based phone is expected to be revealed next week and in stores by next month.
Invitations leaked around the Web indicate the heavily anticipated T-Mobile Dream will be unveiled and demoed at a media-only event in New York next Tuesday, September 23. The HTC-manufactured phone should then become widely available by the end of October, according to the Wall Street Journal. Despite all the talk of delays, then, that date would put Android right on target with its initial timetable.
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) finally hopped on the streaming video train and has embedded full-length movies and television shows on the site. Now U.S. users can click on the bright gold "Watch It" button and instantly check out 6000 different programs. Most of the content is derived from Hulu, Sony, CBS, and a variety of independent filmmakers, with other indie filmmakers invited to upload and join the party.
Amazon.com, which owns IMDB, hopes its links and ads will drive users to purchasing DVDs or heading to its fee-based Video on Demand service. The revitalization also yanks IMDB from its pedestrian roots and into the Web 2.0 sphere by offering immersive content rather than just clips, trailers, and text.
After a few minutes of watching IMDB's bastardized versions of Hulu videos, you'll happily return to the mother site. I watched an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on IMDB and noticed the Hulu logo beneath the player. The full-frame video was grainy and the audio was muffled and weak. This was radically different than the quality I'd seen before, so I headed back to Hulu.com to watch the same episode -- "Charlie Got Molested" -- and was surprised by the difference. Hulu offered the same content in widescreen mode with great visuals and crisp audio.
"Sunny" on IMDB
"Sunny" on Hulu
It seems weird that IMDB didn't take the entire Hulu video as is and post it on the site; instead, IMDB seemed to have covered it in dirt and slapped it on as an afterthought. This leads me to believe the venture itself is a belated effort to turn one of the great Web 1.0 sites into a 21st century contender. Though the idea is great -- IMDB should logically highlight the "M" in their acronym -- the execution could use a coat of paint.
Blog Postscript: (PC World's Melissa J. Perenson found similar results with the quality of Hulu video syndicated across the Web. For syndication, Hulu offers a lower-quality image stream than it does on its own site.)
Google's browser Chrome may not be ready for Mac yet, but CrossOver Chromium is.
CodeWeavers recently released open source versions of Chrome for Mac and Linux called CrossOver Chromium. It is based on the open source code, called Chromium, that Google released as part of the Chrome project. With a little help from Wine, an open source code that runs Windows apps on foreign operating systems, the CodeWeavers folks were able to bring their Chrome imitator to the non-Windows crowd. So is it a fully functioning version of Chrome for Mac and Linux? Well, not really -- but if you want to get a small, ineffective taste of what Google Chrome will be like for Mac, CrossOver Chromium is worth playing around with for a few minutes.
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I tried CrossOver Chromium for Mac and it looks very Windows-y; actually, it's kind of a weird mix of Mac OS X and Windows 98. It has the Chrome Opera-style start page with snapshots of previous visits, and I found the scrolling ability a little jumpy. The close, minimize and expand buttons are on the Windows side, and the options and tools buttons take you back to a time before the smooth tubular feel of XP and Vista.
Former PC World Editor Harry McCracken said he couldn't get Flash to work on CrossOver during his trials and neither could I. But again, CrossOver Chromium is not meant to be your browser of choice. The CodeWeavers team calls it a "proof of concept to showcase what Wine can do."
Will they develop it further? I doubt it; for now, I'll take them at their word that CrossOver Chromium is meant to give Mac and Linux users something to whet their appetite for the real deal. If you want to give it a try, click here.
For everyone who has been following Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, Google Earth now brings you pictures of the aftermath.
Texas Coast Before Ike -- June 2008
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has taken recent photos of the areas hit by hurricanes Ike and Gustav and supplied their shots to Google. You can download these photos as an overlay for Google Earth so you can see the results of the hurricanes for yourself.
Texas Coast After Ike -- September 2008
Hurricane Gustav Google Earth overlay: download here. Hurricane Ike Google Earth overlay: download here.
Luckily, from the NOAA images, there doesn't appear to be major damage across most of the Texas coast. However, select pockets of coastline show where Ike hit hard, and it's difficult to see any flood damage to houses from the top-down viewpoint of Google Earth.
Consider this: Don't simply look--lend a hand. Those wanting to donate to hurricane relief charities should be mindful of Charity Navigator's tips for crisis charities. It warns givers to donate to established charities rather than charities created specifically for the disaster. Those new charities may be of less repute, created solely to take advantage of people's goodwill. And if you do contribute to a new charity, make sure the charity is registered public charity with 501 (c)(3) status under the U.S. tax code.
Looking for a charity? I'd recommend the American Red Cross since it has always been a reliable and trustworthy charity.
Here it is: the first ever BlackBerry with a touchscreen, long anticipated and rumored for the past few months - after all the blurry photos and patchy info. And this time, it looks like Apple really has competition.
Leaked information on a few specialty blogs revealed late yesterday the BlackBerry Storm, Research in Motion's (RIM) first touchscreen smartphone, launched exclusively on Verizon Wireless. The news of having the phone exclusively with one carrier is nothing you haven't heard before, as Apple created a precedent when it launched the iPhone only on AT&T.
Specs Revealed
Continue reading "Sneak Peek: Pre-Launch BlackBerry Storm Pics and Specs"
A Blackberry without the signature keyboard/kekpad I love is not a real Blackberry. I don't know what RIM is going to do for a keyboard on Storm, but this Verizon customer is itching to take one for a test drive.
The guys at Google have got to be smiling. A double shot of iPhone App Store banning has mobile developers fuming -- and could provide just the ammo Android needs for its upcoming launch.
Apple has officially kicked two popular apps out of its App Store over the past days. Podcaster, a program that lets you circumvent iTunes to directly download podcasts, found out it was getting the "REJECTED" stamp just before the weekend. Now, the makers of the popular tethering tool NetShare are sharing a similar plight. NetShare disappeared without notice in August. Its creators now say they've finally been told they too are banned for good.
Continue reading "Apple App Store Ban: Android, Here's Your Chance"
On Thursday Google unveiled Search with My Location, a new service for Windows Mobile that allows users to search via their approximate location on the go. So the next time you're in a new neighborhood with a powerful lust for Thai, your answer is fewer clicks away.
Search with My Location sits underneath the ordinary search bar and uses Gears Geolocation API, a breed of Cell ID technology that functions the same way as on Google Maps. The "Do No Evil" search giant promises never to send your personal information anywhere even when you're logged into your Google account. If for some reason you want Google to track where you're at, you can opt in under the settings menu.
The folks over at Wired see this as an opening for advertisers to pay big bucks in order to bump their businesses to the top of the search results list. For everyday consumers, it's a convenient way to discover new places or find that joint where you were supposed to meet your friends.
The convenience of the service outweighs its possible negative outcomes, which cannot get much worse than targeted advertisements (not currently included in Search with My Location). With the proliferation of GPS-powered devices we use, and the anonymity Google provides for this service, I don't see Search with My Location inciting any significant criticism or becoming fodder for yet another Big Brother analogy.
Search with My Location is currently available only on specific phones in the U.S. and U.K. For those with iPhones, check out the free Yelp App, which uses GPS for your location to show off its user-reviewed businesses.
Seagate today announced new external hard drives with some handy and somewhat rare features.
The new FreeAgent lineup comes preformatted for both Windows and Mac computers and includes desktop and portable models. The new FreeAgent Go hard drives come in 250 GB and 320 GB versions for Mac, and up to 500 GB of storage space for Windows users. Seagate claims it has the thinnest portable hard drive out there, with the new drive measuring just under one-half inch. For those who need more clutter on their desktop, SeaGate also offers a docking station (sold separately, of course) for the FreeAgent Go so that your hard drive won't feel underdressed next to your iPod and Blackberry.
Well, I shouldn't be so crass--a docking option is a nice idea and I'm surprised that no one has come out with one before this for portable drives. The Free Agent Go comes in silver, black, red, and blue and ranges in price from $160 to $190 for Mac, and $120 to $240 for Windows.
The Mac versions for both desktop and portable will come with a FireWire 400/800 port, which is not something you find too often, as well as the standard USB 2.0. Windows users will have to make due with USB 2.0. However, Seagate's Free Agent Xtreme will come with all the bells and whistles: Firewire, USB 2.0 and a 3GB-per-second eSATA connection. The desktop versions provide up to 1.5 TB of space, and are relatively cheap with the top model selling for $300 ($350 for Mac). The 1.5TB model won't be available until October, so before then you'll have to stick with the 1 TB version instead. For Mac users, Seagate says all of its hard drives for Mac come Time Machine ready, and with a $350 price tag for 1.5 TB of storage, Free Agent could be a great alternative to Apple's Time Capsule, the 1 TB model goes for about $500.
Hollywood is uniting to challenge Apple's domination in the digital media distribution market. Major studios are teaming up with leading retailers and electronics companies in a bid to transform the paid movie download in an experience similar to buying DVDs, while combating piracy at the same time, Reuters reports.
The consortium, known as the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), bids to let video purchased at any outlet be played on any device worldwide. With Digital Rights Management (DRM) confining millions to play their digital files on a few key mobile devices, this recent move is set to liberate the people to play their files on a variety of platforms and devices.
Continue reading "Studios Bid On Liberating Digital Media 'Ecosystem'"
America's dynamic duo is back at it again. Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld's second foray into eccentric advertising is bebopping, scatting, and creating a ripple of reaction across the Internet. Love it, hate it, or don't care about it, you can't deny one thing: There's just something about these ads about nothing.
The latest Seinfeld-Microsoft collaboration puts the unlikely couple in an average suburban home, where the two pals feast on scalloped potatoes, gum-filled rolls, and booze-infused mustard (sorry, no churros this go-round). The media moguls painfully partake in the average life, searching for a experience that'll let them connect with "real people."
Getting the Connection
Continue reading "When Bill Met Jerry: The Microsoft-Seinfeld Sequel"
A new ad (released today) from the Obama campaign takes a pretty funny swipe at John McCain, claiming that the Arizona Senator arrived in Washington in the early eighties and still doesn't know how to use a computer.
Cutting Xbox 360 prices earlier this month proved to be a successful strategy for Microsoft. According to reports Xbox sales have increased by 100 percent since then.
Now, in an effort to boost sales even more for its Xbox game console, Microsoft announced another price cut. This time it's for its Xbox 120GB hard drive that can be added to existing Xbox models. It now sells for $149 - down from $179.
This is good news for those cheapskates willing to tinker. If you buy a hard drive-free Xbox Arcade ($199) and add the 120GB HD yourself, you'll essentially own the equivalent of an Xbox Elite ($399) system for $50 less.
Continue reading "Price Cut Boosts Xbox Sales: But is it Enough?"
Where are you going to get your wine for this year's holiday season? How about Amazon? That's right, next month the online retail giant will take another step to becoming your one-stop shopping experience when Amazon adds US-made wine to its catalog, according to reports.
But don't get too excited just yet. Amazon will only be selling wine to customers in 26 states due to the complexity and confusion about online wine sales. Even though the Supreme Court struck down restrictions against out-of-state wine sales in 2005, online retailers are still nervous about the difficulties that come with interstate alcohol sales. To that end, Amazon is teaming up with New Vine Logistics, experts in interstate wine sales who have the ability to ship to about 45 states.
Overnight Research In Motion (RIM) has managed to regain some of its competitive edge showing signs it could be a serious player in the battle for mobile search and services. RIM's BlackBerry devices suddenly seem to have become the most popular kid on the block with major players such as Google and Microsoft now vying for some mobile screen real estate on the BlackBerry's OS.
How did BlackBerry find itself in this enviable position? The answer is, on mobile devices the mobile service provider that gets their tools embedded in the phone's software have the advantage. (Remember Microsoft's advantage of having the browser baked into Windows?)
Things heated up for RIM when it announced earlier this week a new strategy to tackle the consumer market which included the product launch of the BlackBerry Pearl 8220 flip phone along with a host of "lifestyle apps" and services designed to bring BlackBerry devices closer in feature parity with Apple's iPhone. These lifestyle apps, announced by RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie on Thursday (see above), consist of a host of new integrated applications customized for BlackBerry devices.
Here is a breakdown of who's courting RIM with what:
Continue reading "BlackBerry Enters Fray to Deliver Mobile Services"
It's a big day for BlackBerry users. In addition to newly announced deals delivering TiVo, Microsoft, and MySpace content to the often overshadowed phones, another just revealed plan will present personalized radio stations to Berryheads near and far.
Slacker has signed a partnership with Research in Motion to offer a personal radio application free of charge to all BlackBerry phones running OS 4.3 or later. The app will let users link up live to any Slacker station, any time. The only restriction is that you can only skip tracks six times per hour. And fear not: The service will stay ad-free until at least next year, RIM says.
Continue reading "BlackBerry Tunes In Free Slacker Music App"
If your cell phone reception suddenly goes dead someplace where you know it should be good there is a chance (albeit a small one) someone may have stolen your wireless provider's cell tower. That's exactly what happened to a radio tower in Windber, Pennsylvania, and no one knows where it went.
According to reports from the local television station WJACT thieves pulled up to 120-foot tower located in the Windber backwoods and cut the antenna's guidelines and yanked it down with a tug from a truck. Police told WJACT reporters the radio-tower bandits were motivated by the rising value of the steel and copper used in the construction of the tower. In addition to the tower, a 300-pound Penelec transformer full of copper was also stolen from the site.
Luckily the 120 foot radio tower was not operating at the time.
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) struck a blow against rising text message prices by calling on the major wireless carriers to explain themselves (and their fees). Earlier in the week, Kohl, who chairs the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, sent a letter to Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile arguing that the increase in text message prices may be more about decreased customer choice, rather than rising costs. Kohl has given the CEOs of the Big Four until October 6 to respond, and wants to hear their rationale before deciding how to proceed--possibly even to an antitrust investigation, according to Ars Technica.
In his letter, Kohl points out that Sprint was the first major carrier to up its text messaging charges, increasing them from 10 to 20 cents. The others eventually followed suit. Kohl believes, as many others do, that text messages are so small that they do not warrant such a large rate increase. The senator also points out that since all four carriers raised the price around the same time, they have not engaged in the "vigorous price competition" that is expected in a free market. The big four wireless carriers serve more than 90 percent of the cell phone market, so the absence of competition for text message pricing is definitely worth looking into.
To be fair, cell phones are in everyone's hands these days because prices and packages from wireless carriers have made them affordable. However, when you consider that the average cost for sending a megabyte of text messages averages out to more than $1300 without a text messaging plan, it's clear that something is not right. Although text message costs seem to be hitting customers all over the world, earlier this month Twitter announced it was shutting down its outgoing message service from the U.K. after costs became prohibitive.
Back in the U.S., cell phone companies have been taking a lot of heat lately. This latest inquiry comes after a judge in California ordered Sprint to refund $18.7 million in early termination fees it had collected and to cease collecting ETFs worth $54.7 million from other customers who refused to pay.
How many days are you willing to wait in front of a T-Mobile store to be the first to own a gPhone? You might have to decide soon. According to the Reuters news agency, T-Mobile is set to announce availability of its mobile phone based on Google's Android operating system as soon as September 23.
According to sources the T-Mobile phone, called "Dream," will be available "within weeks." Those same sources say T-Mobile plans to hold a press event in New York City on September 23. Reuters, however, is not clear in its report as to whether the actual T-Mobile Dream phones will go on sale that date. If the sources are correct in estimating actual phones being available in "a couple weeks," then September 23 could be the date the Dream becomes a reality.
Dreaming of the Dream
Continue reading "T-Mobile to Sell Android 'Dream' Phone Sept. 23?"
Google has rolled out Google Mobile Apps for Blackberry, giving owners of the cell phone a comprehensive phone app that bundles many key Google features into one streamlined application. Google Mobile App for Blackberry (a free download) is one of most complete bundled offerings of mobile applications by Google for a major carrier. It comes at a time when Web services are integrating more deeply into mobile devices, giving you the ability to connect wirelessly to advanced "cloud" services.
The Google Mobile Apps for Blackberry offers:
Fast Google search - enter queries without waiting for a browser to load
Search history - easily access and amend your previous queries
Google Suggest - complete queries with less typing
Easy access to Google products - one-click access to other Google Web-based services (Mail, Maps, News).
Google Apps support - get direct links to your Google Apps Calendar and Documents/Spreadsheets
To download the app, go to m.google.com on your BlackBerry device.
Bridging the Google Cloud
Reaction to yesterday's Apple "Let's Rock" press event have been, well - underwhelming. Thanks to Nano redesign leaks and educated guesses about iPod Touch tweaks, Steve Jobs' keynote was anything but a surprise.
The dearth of interesting shiny new Apple toys leaves me wondering what could have been. That said, here are five things I wanted to hear announced yesterday from Apple - but didn't.
1. Wireless iPods That Sync Directly to iTunes
Continue reading "Five iPod 'Let's Rock' Updates That Should Have Been"
Fans of both TV and eyestrain have a lot to get excited about: Verizon has just announced that V Cast subscribers can now get full episodes of hit shows like "30 Rock," "The Office," and "CSI" right on their phones thanks to partnerships with NBC, CBS, as well as MTV.
These new channels differentiate Verizon from competitor Sprint, which also streams shows to its phones, although not from these channels. Pricing is also a differentiating factor, as Sprint ties the TV charge into regular service charges that amount to about $20 more per month for TV access. Verizon's V Cast can cost $3 for a 24-hour all-access pass to V Cast content, or you can pay a $15 monthly subscription, putting Verizon's service just cheaper than Sprint's.
And then there's the iPhone, which gives you access to all of the shows that Sprint and Verizon offer for 99 cents per episode. Of course, the disadvantage of the iPhone is that the videos need to be downloaded whereas Verizon and Sprint allow you to stream the videos straight to your phone.
Of course, this is all a moot point if, like me, you feel that a phone screen is too small for watching anything much longer than a movie trailer. There must be some people who really use these services, but I keep asking myself why. No TV show is worth the eyestrain of watching on a tiny phone screen, if you can even really call that "watching."
The remnants of AOL's walled garden are about to come down, but could the company become the No. 1 destination for Internet users once again? AOL yesterday released the first part of a home page redesign, which allows users to access their Yahoo! Mail and GMail accounts right from the AOL homepage. The new AOL also offers a Hotmail option, but only as a link to the Hotmail landing page. "We'd love to give you access to Hotmail also but unfortunately, Microsoft does not provide us the ability for you to access your account via AOL.com," AOL's Sanjay Nayar said in a blog post. If you're not interested in those options, you can also add standard AOL fare like Radio, TMZ, AIM, and so on.
Now this may not sound like much of a revolution, but AOL is the only major Internet portal to explicitly promote the use of third-party services under its own brand so far. True, you can add almost any e-mail account to your iGoogle page, but there is a big difference between having it all there by default versus trying to hunt down the right gadget for your profile. We should also see options to access the major social networks and an RSS Reader on AOL.com in October, according to TechCrunch.
AOL had about 111 million unique visitors in July, according to Comscore, placing it just behind Google, Yahoo! and MSN. AOL has always been a popular destination, especially for the office crowd, because of its short news items at the top of the page and its penchant for celebrity gossip. And fourth place is nothing to sneeze at, but clearly AOL is looking to streak ahead. If you haven't been to AOL in a while, the new features make it worth a second look.
Facebook users may be in for a shock logging into their accounts today. That's because if you haven't switched to the new Facebook layout, which debuted a few weeks back, your account may be sporting the new Facebook look - whether you like it or not.
As of today, Facebook says it will begin forcing its 100 million users to get used to the redesigned Web site. Facebook begins today rolling out the new Facebook look to all of its customers. As of this writing the update isn't yet enforced across Facebook's entire network, but some users are reporting they are locked into the new Facebook template with no ability to revert back to the old one.
Seven weeks ago, the Facebook unveiled a makeover of its service that allowed users to decide whether they wanted to opt in the new design. During the trial, users were able to revert to the old version of Facebook if they didn't like the new look. There is no turning back now.
Facebook Makeover Now Permanent
Announced today, iTunes 8 is officially available for download, and it does indeed add some nice new features to Apple's music software. The most interesting of them all is Genius, a playlist- and recommendation-generating sidebar/button combo that uses the combined power of the iTunes user base to make cohesive, nicely flowing mixes.
In order to work correctly, Genius requires two things of iTunes users after download: you must have an iTunes store account (a lengthy disclaimer on the sign-in page assures you that all your account information is stored anonymously), and you must wait for iTunes to scan your entire music library and catalog your iTunes collection.
The latter process took a while; Genius took about 20 minutes to fully scan my 2,857 song (12.4GB) library, or just over a minute and a half per gig of music. Still, I'm assuming this is a one-time-only wait, and that subsequent additions to my iTunes library will take much less time to scan and catalog. In other words, I hope Genius doesn't scan my entire library every time I add new songs.
The reason behind this lengthy song indexing and data-export to Apple? In his iPod and iTunes announcement today, Steve Jobs said it was to match up your tastes to other iTunes users. Genius analyzes what those users had also bought, what they're also listening to, and displays your Genius playlists and recommendations accordingly.
The first few passes through Genius worked great, and it's a straightforward, intuitive process. To use Genius, you select a track in your library and click the "Genius" button at the bottom right corner of the iTunes interface (which looks suspiciously like the Springfield Isotopes logo). Once you're viewing a playlist, buttons on the top right of the iTunes interface let you refresh that playlist with a new batch of songs, save that playlist for good, or adjust the number of songs in your list.
In my first test, playing a song by The Roots brought up a 25-song playlist immediately after clicking the button. This playlist was spot-on, consisting of similar hip-hop acts (Ghostface, Madvillain, The Pharcyde, and Public Enemy, for example). The Genius Sidebar also updated properly, giving me one-click access to purchase albums and songs by The Roots, as well as recommendations and buy links for similar-sounding acts (Rahzel, Talib Kweli, Ghostface, and Mos Def, for example).
The Pixies built a playlist featuring Pavement, The Breeders, Modern Lovers, Neil Young, and Neutral Milk Hotel--another success. Playing Wilco also brought up some nice results: a playlist filled with Arcade Fire, Spoon, Grandaddy, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Elliott Smith songs. But mixed in with those results were a few head-scratchers: the Ramones, Ween, and Nirvana.
After that, my tests got really interesting. The Roots, Pixies, and Wilco aren't entirely mainstream, so I decided to test the results with a band everybody knows... but has music that isn't available on iTunes. Yes, the Beatles.
Launching "Dear Prudence" and clicking the Genius button brought up this message.
OK, maybe that song just has no equal. I tried something from Revolver.
No dice. Ah, look at all the lonely people trying to build playlists.
Maybe "Come Together" off of Abbey Road? Nope.
What this suggests is that the iTunes Store listings largely determine what is showing up in your Genius list. If an artist isn't available in the iTunes Store, the Genius playlist creator may not work.
I tested this further by using the Genius button with some really obscure acts and mislabeled songs. That didn't work, either; I'm guessing because Genius couldn't find those songs in the iTunes Store and in other users' lists of purchased tunes.
(Update: Assistant Editor Nick Mediati reports the Genius feature didn't completely work when he used Kool and the Gang's "Celebration"--which he bought from the iTunes Store, no less--to build a Genius playlist. The Genius sidebar listed recommendations for him to buy, but did not generate a playlist.)
All in all, Genius is a nice addition to iTunes, and it's something that I'll use a lot. Rather than a criticism, I thought the above experiences were just kind of funny, and it makes a whole lot of sense that the new feature has problems recommending mislabeled and very obscure songs.
But let the record show that I have fooled Apple's Genius within minutes of testing. As such, I declare myself some sort of supergenius. And, yes, you can be a supergenius too, just as long as you listen to obscure music, mislabel your ID3 tags in iTunes, or like the Beatles.
TravelMuse has been around for a while; it's an interesting mix of editorial content about travel destinations and a travel search engine. At Demo this morning, they announced new features that let you work with your travel partners to plan a trip.
What I found most interesting about this site, though, was its inspiration finder. You tell the site what season you want to go on the trip, how much per person you want to spend on flights and hotels, how long you're willing to fly and what you want to do. TravelMuse recommends spots within the travel radius you specified that meet your criteria. If you ever get in a rut of going to the same places every few years, this is a great way to break out.
Once you've figured out where to go, you can set up a trip plan, then add locations and activities to it. It's easy to add information from TravelMuse itself, but with a browser plugin, you can also add information from elsewhere on the Web. You can assign activities to certain days, then shift the itinerary around with a simple drag and drop.
I haven't dug around in TravelMuse enough to see whether they can really replace Orbitz or Expedia as a way of making actual reservations (the site has the capability, but I don't know whether the data is as deep and the interface as handy). But it looks valuable as a way to come up with initial travel ideas and plans.
Microsoft today announced BlueTrack, a new mouse-tracking technology that the software giant claims is more precise than existing laser and optical mice, and works on more surfaces as well.
BlueTrack uses a blue light beam sensor that is four times the size of the typical laser mouse's beam, and integrates with a Microsoft-desgined tracking sensor. The result, the company says, is a mouse designed to work well on a range of materials, from carpet to granite countertop. BlueTrack will roll out in
Microsoft's high-end Explorer and Explorer Mini mice.
The BlueTrack-equipped Explorer Mouse will retail for $99.95, and the Explorer Mini for $79.95. Both will be available from Best Buy starting next month.
Alongside BlueTrack and its new BlueTrack-equipped mice, Microsoft has announced a number of other accessories and services, including its new Arc Mouse, which collapses to half its regular size for portability, and Video Messages, a new service Microsoft describes as "the video version of voice mail," allowing users to record a video message and share it with friends and family.
The format for the Demo conference here in San Diego is that each company gets six minutes to present what's great about their service. Some, like Plastic Logic and Usable, come out looking like winners. And then there are services like HeyCosmo, which at the halfway point of the conference looks like Demo's dog.
The idea, as far as I could tell, was to organize trips and outings by harassing friends and strangers alike with annoying robot calls and phone tree menus. Want to go to dinner with friends? You choose some restaurants you're interested in and HeyCosmo calls each one and asks, in a voice with all the warmth of your GPS device, whether they have room for you at the time you want to eat. The restaurateur, assuming they don't hang up immediately, presses 1 if they can seat you, 2 if they can't, etc. Then you still have to call them back to confirm the reservation. This is better than OpenTable how?
Another example from the HeyCosmo demo: You and some pals are taking a friend to Las Vegas for his birthday. HeyCosmo's robodialer calls all your friends and asks them whether they'll agree to pay everyone's travel expenses or everyone's food costs. Has anyone ever split the costs of a trip that way? It's a great example of a service that operates not the way people do but in the way the developers could get the code to work.
With Apple's "Let's Rock" media event minutes away, here's a quick roundup of some last-minute rumors making the rounds:
AppleInsider predicts that the iPod nano will sport a motion sensor similar to the iPhone's to detect switching from portrait view to landscape view, along with one rather unique feature:
One of those people described a function by which the iPod's 'shuffle' function is invoked when a user physically shakes the player. Another person said the new nano would be capable of determining its orientation and provide a more natural Cover Flow view in landscape mode.
Gizmodo claims to have received images of the new iPod nano's user interface. Gizmodo notes, "They are so polished and we like them so much that we hope they are real, but for now, they are just a couple of images out of nowhere." There isn't anything particularly groundbreaking about the new interface, but it sure is prettier than the current one.
Lastly, MacRumors says that the iPod nano will see capacity increases, and that it will come in nine different colors.
Stay tuned for PC World's coverage of today's Apple event, and ongoing news throughout the day.
While most of the world's eyes are glued on today's Apple "Let's Rock" event, Microsoft yesterday announced its third-generation Zune MP3 players with some exciting new features.
Starting September 16, Microsoft will offer a "Buy from FM" feature allowing users to tag songs they like on the Zune's built-in FM player and purchase them on a Wi-Fi connection. Songs tagged for purchase are queued and begin downloading once Wi-Fi is detected, and the Zune can access private and public hotspots. Over 450 radio stations will be available on this service--with some help from radio giant Clear Channel--with more in the wings.
Another added feature is "Mixview," a Pandora-like service that visually maps an artist's influences and similar-sounding contemporaries. Mixview's algorithm scans your current library and generates lists of music you might enjoy.
Naturally, there's a catch. Microsoft wants $14.99 per month for unlimited Buy from FM downloads and the option to listen to more than 30 seconds of any Mixview-recommended song. Mixview will be a free Zune- and PC-specific software download, though Sony and other MP3 player manufacturers hope to strike a deal with Microsoft, broadening Mixview's scope.
Prices on the third-generation Zune have dropped considerably, too. The new 120GB model will sell for $249, compared to Apple's $349 160GB iPod. The new 16GB model is priced at $199.
Even with the price drop and these new features, Microsoft will be hard-pressed not only to compete with the national attention Apple will garner today, but with its ubiquitous iPod, which consumes more than 70 percent of the MP3 player market.
Both of these new "features" sound stodgy, behind the curve and undesirable. The Zune is a good-sounding and good-looking player, but Microsoft seems slow to deliver itself from the old highly-restricted way of distributing music.
The most intriguing presentation for me at this afternoon's Demo session was UsableLogin, a system that will allegedly let you use one easy-to-remember password at any site you have an account for and not suffer the dire consequences typically forecast for those of us too lazy to change our passwords.
The theory is this: You go to your bank's sign-in page and instead of the usual boxes, you're greeted by some version of the image below. (You choose the image you want, a bonus if, like me, you believe that kittens are for drowning.)
Usable remembers the account user name and you fill in a simple password like "Die Fluffy." The Usable system takes that simple phrase and transforms it into a super-secure password using data on your PC and data that resides on the Usable servers. According to Usable's press release: "Usable Security never stores or saves the person's codeword, and Web sites never see it." I don't understand how the system gets you into a Web site if the site never sees your password, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
According to Usable founder Rachna Dhamija even if someone steals your password, they won't be able to use it to access your accounts because they won't have the data from your machine that Usable uses to transform the password in the background. And the system lets you see from a dashboard when your accounts have been accessed and from what systems. If you stop using a PC, you can deauthorize it so that others won't be able to use it to get into your accounts.
I don't pretend to understand entirely how Usable's system works and it'll be early next year before Usable's available. But Dhamija is certainly right that the password system is broken now and UsableLogin looks like a good way to solve it.
It looks like the dream of laptop that can hold a full day of battery charge has finally arrived. According to an HP press release, the company has managed to get one of its laptops running for a full 24 hours on a single charge.
The notebook in question is the HP EliteBook 6930p, assuming you've bought some upgrades.
HP cites three primary factors for the stellar battery performance. The first is the $189 optional 12-cell ultra-capacity battery, which HP boasts can boost a notebook's battery time by up to 10 hours.
The second factor is an energy efficient, solid-state hard drive--HP used an 80 GB SSD for this 24-hour test.
The final factor HP cites is its Illumi-Lite LED display, which the company says uses less energy than a traditional LED display. HP notes in the fine print of the announcement that the Illumi-Lite LED displays won't be available until next month.
There was one other interesting factor that HP mentions in the press release: The operating system. The 24-hour test was done on a laptop running Windows XP. HP recommends using Windows XP if you want similar battery life results. Sorry Vista, that's yet another knock against you.
The technology in Blue Lava's ILovePhotos looked very slick in their presentation here at Demo. Instead of organizing your photos by conventional tags, the software recognizes faces and makes the people shown in a photo the organizing principle.
The desktop application (available only for Macs now, with a Windows version promised within a year) pulls out individual faces and lets you tag those faces with names and contact information. Every time Carmen Electra's face shows up in your photos, the photo will get the Carmen Electra tag. And if you want, the system will e-mail Carmen with a link where she can see all of your photos of her (and then apply for a restraining order if necessary).
The company's six-minute demo here showed lots of instances of it correctly pulling out new faces from photos, but it wasn't as clear how well it would do recognizing the same face in different photos, especially if the subject changed glasses or facial hair, simply because the company didn't show any examples of that kind of challenge. The site is in closed beta now.
Now that the Web is starting to rival television as a medium for video entertainment, two companies have built interactive program guides to help you find the stuff you really want to watch.
Here at DEMO in San Diego, Invision.tv showed its version of a program guide. (Be warned, Invision seems to be having a hard time dealing with the surge of Demo traffic.) It organizes video by channels, like CNN and Funny or Die, then gives you thumbnails of each individual video. You can watch a video you select in a small window in the upper left corner of the Invision site or you can choose to play it full screen or at the site where the video originates.
You can tell Invision what you're interested in and it'll deliver suggestions. You also have access to social networking tools that let you vote or comment on a video, mark it as a favorite or share it with a friend.
Ffwd.com requires a little more setup than Invision. To make it work, you need to sign up and tell the site about your interests. Than Ffwd shows you channels with videos about your interests, which can be as specific as The Addams Family television show or as broad as fitness. The site builds channels based on those interests, drawing video from numerous sources. The videos are filtered by their popularity with other Web viewers.
Ffwd identifies subjects in the video you're watching. You can click on an icon, see the subjects involved and find more videos on that subject. The site also lets you filter types of videos. If you only want to see full episodes of The Office and not short clips, you can choose that specification for that channel.
If you're looking for a way to cut through the clutter of endless skateboarding and dad-getting-hit-in-the-crotch videos, these services both look like good ways of finding stuff you're really interested in.
I'm at DEMO in San Diego and just saw the first really interesting presentation of the morning from a company called Plastic Logic. It's a document reader like the Kindle, but designed more for business documents, with a format like a regular 8.5-inch-by-11-inch piece of paper.
But the most interesting thing about the reader, which is supposed to be formally announced early next year, is that it's built on plastic instead of silicon and glass. That means it can bend or even be hit by the heel of a shoe, if you can believe the company's video, without any serious damage.
Like the Kindle and the Sony Reader, Plastic Logic's version is monochrome and easily read in broad daylight. It weighs less than a pound and has a battery life of days, according to the company.
You can markup a document using your finger on the screen or write a note with an on-screen keyboard.
The device looks very cool, but there were some warning signs about the demonstration: The product doesn't even have a set name yet, the company's factory won't open until later this month and the company gave no information during their presentation about the cost of the device. If Plastic Logic is able to actually deliver a device like this one, though, it could make a big difference in how people read documents.
Online streaming firm RealNetworks has released new PC-based software product called RealDVD that allows you to rip copy-protected DVDs onto your hard disk, legally. The question I and other critics have is, why now and why Real? Free tools for ripping DVDs (albeit illegal) have flourished online for some time. Video download services such as iTunes and streaming video sites such as Hulu.com seem to serve video-philes adequately as is.
Nevertheless, RealDVD (priced at price of $50 or for $30 as an introductory offer) will copy an entire disc to your hard disk in
about 20 minutes, depending on the computer's DVD drive and CPU speed. Users can copy as many discs as their hard disk (or external USB/FireWire hard drive) can hold and the movies can be viewed straight away from the software's library window (pictured below). The ripped movies are uncompressed and include all the extra features on the DVD, like bonus footage, surround sound and alternate audio tracks (including metadata to be displayed in the library windows, like cover art, synopsis and ratings).
Continue reading "Real Makes DVD Ripping Legal: Too Little, Too Late?"
What's Real doing about copying to mobile devices? Are the files able to be converted, or will we have to shell out the $ for a converter too?
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I can't say that I remember the very first time I heard of Google, but I do remember when it was a buzzy newcomer entering a market dominated by well-established search engines such as AltaVista and HotBot. I even remember trying it a couple of times early on and not being all that impressed with the results, and going back to other search sites. (I remain convinced that this wasn't because I'm a lousy judge of search engines, but rather that it took a while for all the things that made Google so good to click into place.)
But people kept on saying good things about Google, and I kept on trying it. Eventually, I got it. So, of course, did hundreds of millions of other people.
In its first ten years, Google has become the dominant search engine by far and by most measures the most important Web company, period; it's done cool things with e-mail and local search and many other things beyond Web search; it's bought YouTube and lots of other companies; it's tried to revolutionize a zillion businesses, from magazine advertising to renewable energy. And it's done one thing that only a handful of companies have ever done: become a verb.
The first ten years with Google, in other words, have been anything but boring...and for many of us, it's so utterly essential to how we live our lives that we long ago lost track of how many times we use it each day. The company is far from uncontroversial--the Google backlash is real and will probably grow--but it's also been called the world's #1 brand.
Over at my Technologizer site, I've posted three stories to mark Google's first decade:
A World Without Google: Some ruminations on the company's impact...and what the Web, and life, would be like without it;
Twelve Bizarro Googles: A look at twelve weirdo variations of Google, including Klingon Google, Elmer Fudd Google, all-spam Google, and backwards Google;
Google 1998, Google 2008: A quick look at what Google looked like when it was brand new--which, it turns out, is surprisingly like what it looks like right now.
I can't imagine anyone who's reading these words and doesn't have an opinion--pro, con, or mixed--about Google. I'd love to hear your thoughts--and any predictions you've got for the company's second decade and beyond...
Like the device used in the Tom Cruise vehicle Minority Report, a new e-newspaper reader is being announced September 8 by Plastic Logic at Demo, a San Diego tech trade show.
The screen is as large as a piece of copier paper--currently the largest on the market--and, like Amazon.com's Kindle and Sony's eReader, Plastic Logic's device uses E Ink technology and stores hundreds of pages of text and black and white images. The digital newspapers will update several times per day and Plastic Logic's reader nabs the feeds via Wi-Fi. The display is 2.5 times larger than the Kindle; it's also two ounces heavier and one-third thinner. It will be available for sale the first half of next year.
The electronic newspaper has been discussed among big companies for years, and given the declining state of printed media, its debut seems well-timed. But is the news-reading public prepared to drop several hundred dollars plus the cost of subscriptions on something already available on other readers and for free on the Internet?
A similar device, the iLiad, popped up in Europe a few years ago and came packed with a hefty price tag--the product costs 599 euros ($855) and comes with a one-year subscription; subscriptions cost 189 euros ($270) for each year thereafter.
The perfect e-newspaper reader is years off. E Ink, the company behind the screen technology, hopes to develop software that will allow users to write on the screen and watch videos. Other companies are also working on devices that will bend like physical newspapers for easy reading and portability. Such dynamic products won't likely hit the market for many years, which isn't surprising given the technology's infancy.
While I appreciate the thinness and clarity, I feel an 8.5-inch device is too large (and expensive) for the casual reader. Technology today is thinner and smaller than ever before, and while that is not necessarily ideal for newspaper reading, it's certainly taken into consideration by the buying public.
Plastic Logic's announcement adds healthy competition to the field. I expect the delayed Kindle 2.0 will emerge relatively soon and come bundled with advanced newspaper-reading capabilities.
Microsoft's much-dissected Seinfeld/Gates ad may be taking a lot of heat, but it has its fans--and among them is a comedian with a globally impressive title.
(By the way, PC World Senior Editor Tim Moynihan has a different take--he thinks the ad is underrated.)
Now, I could have told you that the shoe-centric spot was funny. It exemplifies everything comical about Jerry Seinfeld--the obsessions over random minutia, the reality of the every day and often awkward nature of life, the churros. (All right, I'm not sure what churros have to do with Jerry, but something about them is inexplicably amusing.) I'm no authority, though. So I turned to someone who is--and as it turns out, this rising star is more qualified than I ever could have imagined.
Iliza Schlesinger blew away the competition to win NBC's Last Comic Standing this summer. I knew she was full of laughs, but I had no idea she actually worked in advertising before picking up the comedy bug.
Continue reading "Last Comic Standing Appreciates Gates/Seinfeld"
My guess is most people don't use Google's new Chrome Web browser as their primary browser yet. Google still has a long way to go with the browser adding features and fixing problems. Nevertheless, I've collected what I think are some of the most useful tips and the most interesting tweaks for the Chrome browser.
ONE: Surprisingly Handy Keyboard Shortcuts
Continue reading "Ten Cool Google Chrome Tips and Tweaks"
chrome, google, apple, the works...
http://neoviky.blogspot.com
Vicki
chrome, google, apple, the works...
http://neoviky.blogspot.com
Vicki
The first installment of Microsoft's new $300 million ad campaign, starring Jerry Seinfeld and somebody named Bill Gates, is the subject of much hemming and hawing across the Web.
The early feedback suggests that the commercial was, at the very least, confusing, and at the very worst, an unmitigated disaster. Computerworld's Preston Gralla even goes so far as to call it the worst TV ad ever.
In case you haven't seen it, here it is.
But here's why I liked it: Microsoft isn't telling you to do anything, they sure as hell aren't trying to be "cool," and in the span of one minute and thirty seconds, they have created a piece that is as meaningful as what most are touting as meaningless.
Of course, this campaign was touted as a "response" to Apple's extremely successful Mac vs. PC commercials, in which author/comedian John Hodgman plays the stodgy old Windows operating system, repeatedly foiled by the much younger and hipper Justin Long, who portrays the Mac.
Rather than "respond," it seems Microsoft and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the ad agency that developed the campaign, are opting to take the high road. There is no anti-Apple mudslinging. There are no inflated claims about what Microsoft's products can do. The commercial isn't suggesting that purchasing a certain brand of consumer goods makes you cooler; in fact, the unabashedly geeky exchange between Seinfeld and Gates in a discount shoe store -- over churros -- underscores the fact that they're not trying to be cool at all.
In short, the company isn't responding to Apple's "we're cooler than you" campaign. That's a great idea, much like not responding to a message-board troll is a great idea, too; the ensuing back-and-forth just means you've stooped to their level. Instead, the campaign embraces the "uncool" tag that Apple has thrust upon them, and that alone makes them much cooler than self-proclaimed coolness.
Oh, and then there's this important detail: Seinfeld and Gates play themselves in the commercial, not symbolic embodiments of operating systems or commercial products. To me, this is the real "response": they, like everyone else, are real people.
They shop for shoes at discount stores (well, at least in this commercial). Just like everyone else, their conversations and debates are often meaningless. Just like us, they sometimes daydream about absurd scenarios -- showering with shoes on and edible, cakelike computers, for example. The subtle message here is that there is a huge difference between being a person and being a consumer product. Taken one step further, it suggests that there is a huge problem with defining how "cool" you are based on the products you buy.
In this sense, the spot also subtly exposes the nature of commercials. It provokes viewers to form their own conclusions about what is being advertised, rather than to simply believe what is being told to them by the company that's selling the product. In fact, if you were to take this commercial's message at face value, you'd believe that Microsoft will soon be coming out with a delicious, cakelike computer. The inherent absurdity hints that consumers should take all commercials with a grain of salt and encourages them to examine things more deeply.
Many argue that while the commercial is entertaining, there's nothing in it to remind the viewer that it's a Microsoft spot; as such, it fails as a marketing device. I disagree; Bill Gates's presence alone makes it clear that it's a Microsoft commercial. And just like in his retirement video, Gates shows he has no qualms in poking fun at himself, his public persona, and even his infamous mugshot.
Taken as the first installment of a campaign, I like the spot even more for its future potential. Seinfeld was a sitcom hugely known for its "meaninglessness," but like The Simpsons, it also created an intricate alternate world known well by its fans: a world filled with Art Vandelays, yada-yadas, Festivus, and sudden Kramer entrances.
In this first spot, several elements have that Seinfeldian, realistic-alternate-reality feel: Shoe Circus, the Shoe Circus Clown Club, and The Conquistador shoe, for example. It's a 90-second hybrid of Seinfeld meets Twin Peaks: mundane, absurdist comedy combined with a heaping helping of "what the hell is going on here?"
And in terms of creating buzz, the commercial was definitely a success. Everyone's talking about it. (Read what the winner of the Last Comic Standing show has to say about the ad.)
All in all, that's just one person's opinion. What do you think?
Y'know, I really didn't mind the commercial. Technically, it was a commercial about nothing. y'know, like Seinfeld. Whoopee. But I do like the fact that MS took the high road.
Since you brought it up, Tim, these obnoxious Mac vs. PC ads are getting to me. It's to the point that these cute, hipster jabs at "uncool" people makes me want to smack someone. Seriously, if some guy came up to me and started smugly bragging about how he can do this or that, I'd walk away. If he kept acting like a jerk, I'd probably just kick his iButt.
But maybe that's just me.
*disclaimer* Darren is sick today. Anything said or written will likely be forgotten in about an hour.
Don't you think it's an awfully expensive 1:30 of air time to talk about nothing?
I know MS has the bucks to burn, but 2 retired Billionaires (OK, Sienfeld is a multi-millionaire) talking about crappy shoes doesn't change my frustrating experience with my OS and apps. Better, more stable products would however. Taking this "high" road seems rather smug and aloof to this underwhelmed Vista (and wanna be XP or even a Mac) user. Note: I'm writing this on my wife's Mac from work, my PC's acting funny after upgrading my virus protection. Fix that, and m a y b e I'll find you ads funny.
My buddy just informed me that "they're working on a fix, and will release less buggy (more funny) update soon."
THAT make me laugh.
Michael Moore's newest documentary, Slacker Uprising, will be available as a free digital download concurrent with its theatrical run. By signing up at SlackerUprising.com, fans of the polarizing Democrat can scope out his 62-city tour rallying young voters to cast against George W. Bush during the 2004 election. The film will be released on September 23.
Moore's previous film, Sicko, received a similar treatment, except it was leaked on the Web and downloaded illegally. Moore stated he did not have a problem with its pre-release, as long as nobody profited from his work. The planned Internet release of Slacker Uprising seems to be a strategic move to have more control over its distribution. Moore also states the download, via BlipTV, will be in high-resolution far superior to the "YouTube quality" of pirated video.
Continue reading "Latest Michael Moore Movie Goes Direct-to-Web"
You might not be the only one underwhelmed by the new $300 million advertising campaign Microsoft launched last night featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. The new ad was aired initially during the NFL kickoff game on NBC and is also available now on Windows.com. (Maybe not so ironically, the video is only playing for me in Internet Explorer - not Firefox.)
In the new ad, Seinfeld finds Gates in a discount shoe shop and starts sizing up his shoe size (10). When Gates says that the shoes he was trying on are too tight, Seinfeld comes with his idea of making them looser, wondering if Bill ever tried wearing his shoes in the shower (Bill said "never"). In the end, Gates gives Seinfeld a wiggle confirming that Microsoft is going to come out "with something moist and chewy like cake." Yep, that's it... Just one reference to Microsoft and nothing else.
Continue reading "First Seinfeld Vista Ad is Out: And Makes No Sense"
It works with Opera on Linux.
A very odd commercial...
First:
* Churros are not cheese sticks. They are sugar-dipped deep-fried bread sticks. Or 'Cake Sticks' if you will. Moist and Chewy. Mm-hmm..
* The discount shoe store could be an analogy for, discount / cheap computers for the 'rest of us', e.g., those who shop at Shoe Pavillion rather than Macy's, discount PC's instead of boutique Apple stores....
* The Conquistador could be Vista: kinda tight. People do contortions to make it work. But it's good and solid, good enuff for Bill Gates -- platinum credentials! -- to buy 'em. A 10.
* Will Windows ever be 'moist and chewy' (like a Mac perhaps?) Yes, we secretly have plans to catch them. The butt-shake was the secret-decoder-ring answer that no one can decipher. I certainly can't decipher why anyone would want to see Bill Gates shake his butt.
* Bill is stodgy, but he likes Seinfeld and ultimately buys his own Churro, too: late to the party, but.... (ok no more butt jokes).
Shoe store setting , seams familiar , ah yes -Al Bundy the shoe salesman of a couple of decades ago if I recall.
He used to cock up everything he did -, and Seinfeld said his show was about nothing.
It makes perfect sense.
Blu-ray may have won the format war over HD-DVD, but how long will that victory last? According to Samsung UK director of consumer electronics Andy Griffiths, not as long as Sony may have been expecting. In a recent interview with site Pocket-Lint, Griffiths said, "I think it (Blu-ray) has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10."
Instead, Griffiths sees direct digital distribution as the future of video formats, and with the growing popularity of streaming content and the popularity of distribution services such as Apple's iTunes store, it's not hard to imagine a completely digital future.
And what a digital future it will be. Digital distribution is cheaper, both to put out and for us as the consumers. And while there are risks involved with losing your movies if anything happens to your computer, there's still the option to back-up your digital films on a physical disc if you feel the need. But I think Griffiths is still being too optimistic for Blu-ray, because digital distribution is already here, and it's a constantly growing market. Given the still high cost of Blu-ray discs, I'd say two or three years is a more reasonable estimate before digital distribution swallows the disc market.
Are you simply trying to boost reader interaction here by making such wild predictions?
No format has an endless life, but to predict "two or three years" for the only emerging physical HD format is just silly. Digital distribution may be "already here," but it has a long way to go before it can handle the size and speed of true HD movies. We have many years of delivery infrastructure replacment and building ahead, not to mention cost issues. And do you really think the movie studios will allow copying of movies for backups? If anything, it will be a rental model (pay per view) with copy protection. If you want to buy (own) the movie, then guess what you'll need? Blu-ray!... which will already be well-entrenched while the hi-speed networks played catch-up.
Microsoft yesterday confirmed rumors of an Xbox 360 price cut. Starting tomorrow, the "Arcade" base model will sell for $199, down from $279. The other two models--the "Pro" and "Elite"--will sell for $50 less, clocking in at $299 and $399, respectively. This new price cut makes Microsoft's Xbox 360 the cheapest video game console on the market, strategically timed for the upcoming holiday season. Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360, told The Wall Street Journal that 75 percent of console sales occur in the fourth quarter.
Currently, Nintendo's Wii sells for $249 and the 80GB version of Sony's PlayStation 3 costs $399.
It's worth noting that the $199 iteration of the Xbox 360 does not feature a hard drive, composite or HDMI cables. The "Pro" ships with a 60GB hard drive and the "Elite" with 120GB; both also include component, composite and HDMI cables.
PC World compared the lower-priced Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and found that, despite cuts, the PS3 may still be the best choice for consumers. The PS3's main selling point is its built-in Blu-Ray disc player--acknowledged as one of the best Blu-Ray player deals on the market. The Xbox 360 underwent the embarrassing allegiance to HD-DVD, which lost the hi-def video war earlier this year.
Even though sales are lagging and the Xbox 360 is sans hi-def video player, Microsoft may hop ahead of the market come fall when high-profile exclusive games such as Gears of War II and Fable II are released. Microsoft also landed a downloadable content deal with the makers of the mega-popular Grand Theft Auto IV, and nabbed the hitherto-Sony-exclusive Final Fantasy XIII. Microsoft also plans to unveil a Netflix-streaming service in the fall.
As far as the casual gamer market goes, the family-friendly Wii currently dominates, but an overhaul of the Xbox 360 user interface, as well as avatars that look suspiciously like Nintendo's "Mii" characters, may bolster the Xbox 360's appeal.
So while we still haven't seen Microsoft's version of the motion controller, Friday's price cuts certainly stand to intensify the console wars just in time for the holiday season.
I'll tell you what, Mr. Gates, I will install and run Windows Vista if you persuade HP to give me the promised free copy I was supposed to have received with the purchase of my new PC last year. I bought it because it said that I could register with their site and receive Vista by mail on disc when it came out. I registered, provided all the required information, and I received a confirmation. Guess what? The disc never arrived. HP says it wasn't their fault that the fulfillment company lost my and other people's registrations. The fulfillment company says it has no legal obligation to me only to HP. So, get in the case of your vendors and maybe some of us will install it.
Microsoft announced that Office Live Workspace (OLW) Beta has reached 1 million users. The online service launched 6 months ago and is meant to serve as an extension to Micrsoft's Office suite and is also (as some say) a direct competitor to Google's Docs and Zoho.
Kirk Gregersen, Director of Product Management for Office Live Workspace and Office Consumer and Small Business, said that as of a week ago, the public beta of Office Live Workspace was downloaded by one million customers. Also, the company announced that a final version of OLW will be released by the year's end.
Continue reading "Microsoft Office Live Celebrates 1M Users: I'm Still Yawning"
Sony is recalling 73000 VAIO TZ-series notebook computers because of a reported "burn hazard" related to faulty wiring near notebook hinges, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Sony. The USCPSC is reporting 15 VAIO customers have lodged complaints of their notebooks overheating with one customer claiming their notebook caused minor burns.
Consumers are urged to stop using the recalled notebooks "immediately and contact Sony to determine if their notebook is affected," according to the USCPSC alert issued today. Information posted on Sony's Web site regarding the recall contradicts USCPSC's advice and says customers who have affected models "can continue to use the unit. However, they should still call 1-888-526-6219 at their earliest convenience."
According to Sony the models in question are VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and the VGN-TZ2000 series. Notebook models were sold through the SonyStyle stores and Web site, at retails stores, and via business-to-business channels between the dates of July 2007 and August 2008, according to the USCPC.
Sony states on its Web site:
"The issue involves a small number of units which may overheat due to a wiring problem. Sony has initiated a voluntary program to perform a free inspection and, if necessary, a repair to ensure these units meet our high quality standards."
Sony is directing VAIO customers to visit a "fixmypc" Web page at its site and follow the instructions to determine if your model is impacted.
Sony Plagued By Long History of Recalls
Continue reading "Sony Recalls 73000 Vaio Notebooks: Not Again!"
Gentlemen, start your engines: Google's claims of Chrome being the fastest browser are being put to the test. Ready to see how it really stacks up with the competition?
First up, Mozilla. The guys behind the Firefox franchise lashed back Wednesday, saying Chrome may be able to beat its current browser -- but its upcoming 3.1 version will leave it in the dust. The next Firefox, now under development with a targeted 2008 release, switches to a new JavaScript engine called TraceMonkey. Its creators say outperforming Chrome's heavily hyped V8 JavaScript platform won't be a problem.
The company's own speed tests, conducted with the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark system, show Firefox 3.1 coming in a full 28 percent faster than Chrome on a Windows XP machine and 16 percent faster on a Vista computer. Percentages aside, the actual time difference amounts to about 500 milliseconds, give or take, in each scenario.
Continue reading "Google Chrome Speedy? Not So Fast, Say Some"
Earlier this year, security researchers found a so-called "carpet bombing" flaw in Apple's Safari browser, where visiting a malicious site could result in a bombardment of downloads to the user's desktop. As ReadWriteWeb reports, this same old security vulnerability has cropped up in Google's new Chrome Web browser.
ReadWriteWeb explains that "after a user double-clicks the download at the bottom of the screen [where Chrome displays files once they have been downloaded], this application is opened without any warning, which would allow a malicious hacker to easily execute any Java program on a user's machine." Yikes.
Safari and Chrome are cousins, as both use the open-source WebKit browser engine at their core. Apple, however, already issued a fix to this problem in June with the release of Safari 3.1.2, two months after the bug was first discovered. In Safari 3.1.2, the program asks you to confirm that you want to download files; prior to that, Safari would download files without a warning.
This bug has been around for a while and I'm a little surprised that it slipped through the cracks and made it into the public release of Chrome. Apparently, though, Google uses a slightly older version of WebKit in Chrome--one still affected by this bug.
Aviv Raff has more information on this bug, and links to a demonstration of how the flaw works.
As always, surf safely, everyone!
Apple sent out select invitations to a "Let's Rock" media event set for September 9 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. As with the run-up to many other Apple media events this one is no different when it comes to spurring a guessing game of expected announcements. Will Steve Jobs be there? Will he pull a thicker redesigned iPod Touch out of his pocket? Will new next-gen iPod Nanos be announced along with a possible Apple partnership with satellite radio provider Sirius XM?
Apple iPod navel gazing kicked into high gear today when iLounge reported it has come into the possession of Apple's next-generation digital media player designs. iLounge speculates these blueprint-looking Apple designs prove we can expect a taller and narrower fourth-gen iPod Nano and a thicker second-gen iPod Touch at the "Let's Rock" event.
Continue reading "Apple "Let's Rock" Event Sparks Rash of iPod Rumors"
Nice to know that apple seems to listen to their customers when it comes to features... although you would think before xm they may want to put a FM tuner in it first...
just my 2 cents
Less than 24 hours after Google launched Chrome, the search giant's foray into the Web browser rumble among IE, Firefox, Opera, and Safari, everyone is talking about how Web heavyweight Google will do. So here's a roundup of the most interesting comments about Chrome across the Web.
Chrome is an " excellent browser that is friendly enough to handle average browsing activities without complicating the tasks, but at the same time it's powerful enough to meet the needs of more-advanced users," says PC World Assistant Editor Nick Mediati in his review. Nick also points out that Chrome " is Google's operating system", despite year-long rumors of a Google OS.
J.R. Raphael gives Seven reasons for and seven reasons against Chrome in another PCW article. Among J.R.'s top reasons on why to adopt Chrome: "it won't crash," "it's really fast," and "it opens new doors on your home page." On the downside, Chrome "is only in its first beta" (and we all know about Google's perpetual beta products, it lacks available add-ons, and has no synchronization features yet.
PCW Contributing Editor Harry McCracken analyzes Chrome vs. the World, saying that "It's tempting to assume that Google's entry into any new market will be world-changing." Harry adds that "it wouldn't be the least bit surprising if Chrome did turn out to be a great big deal" even if "in the Windows world peace isn't a word that comes to mind when considering Chrome. If the new browser ends up mattering at all, it will be explosive--and absolutely nobody, Google included, can predict exactly how things will shake out." Obviously, we yet have see how far Chrome will go in the browser market. One thing is for sure, though: Google is already advertising Chrome on its search homepage, right under the search field (hard not to notice).
ArsTechnica's Ryan Paul gives a take on Chrome as well, saying that "although the software [Chrome] feels polished and robust, the early stage of development is clearly revealed in its lack of support for advanced features like RSS integration and full bookmark management." Fair enough, Ryan; Google has a bit more work to do on Chrome to bring it up to date with some of the features we've been largely accustomed by now.
Meanwhile, CNet's Stephen Shankland put Chrome to the test (yes, the speed test). Stephen revealed that Chrome is by far faster than Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, Firefox 3.0.1, or Safari 3.1.2 in the Javascript component benchmarks execution speeds. It is quite interesting that Chrome is faster than Safari, especially as both browsers are based on the same open-source rendering platform, Webkit. Nevertheless, Stephen makes a good point in a different report saying that "on the Web, a site that responds a few milliseconds faster can make a big difference in people's engagement. It's for this reason that Google believes its new Web browser, Chrome, is a project worth investing in rather than a footnote in the history of the Internet."
Silicon.com's Nick Heath can't help bashing Chrome, and gives Five reasons why Chrome will crash and burn." Nick thinks one of the reasons for Chrome's future crash is that "the Google brand [is] already ubiquitous worldwide" and "the sheer scale of the search giant's reach starts to scare consumers." Here's a question for you, Nick: Atypical user has Micrsoft Windows installed, browses the Web with Microsoft Internet Explorer, has an e-mail address with Microsoft Windows Live Mail (Hotmail), and types documents in Microsoft Office Word. What's the problem if they replace some of those products with Google's? In the end, it's about whom they trust and like more, right?
Still, Glenn Derene of Popular Mechanics asks whether "the world really needs another big web browser?", pointing out that "Chrome does have one subtle function that could eventually prove transformative. It can create Application Shortcuts, putting launch icons on your desktop or quick launch toolbar for Web-based apps. It's actually a pretty simple idea, but it puts cloud-based programs on equal footing with the resident apps on your PC." And yes, this is a good idea, as cloud computing is becoming ever more popular.
And even though Google's Chrome may be aimed at Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla's Firefox, which has grabbed a 20 percent market share in the last few years, is likely to lose ground as well. John Lilly, chief executive of Mozilla Corporation, has blogged about the launch of Google's promised Chrome browser, neutrally commenting that Chrome will be a browser optimized for the things that they [Google] see as important, and it'll be interesting to see how it evolves." And as Google has been one of Firefox's prime promoters and distributor, Google's focus on Chrome will inevitably diminish its support for Firefox.
"Nick thinks one of the reasons for Chrome's future crash is that "the Google brand [is] already ubiquitous....." "
Well actually he doesn't. Read the article again, he is quoting "Tor Odland" Head of communications for Opera.
I think the biggest concern here should be how developers will deal with the proliferation of browsers and the market share they accumulate. It's hard enough to support the ever-evolving behavior of major-version browser releases (IE5-IE7 in context of Javascript, CSS and even DHTML), but having to develop for multiple browser technologies also means more test environments, familiarity with the platform-specific debugging tools, etc. And that all translates to cost.
Being a techie, keep it coming. From a development management standpoint, one standard for browser technology would be fine with me.
I think the biggest concern here should be how developers will deal with the proliferation of browsers and the market share they accumulate. It's hard enough to support the ever-evolving behavior of major-version browser releases (IE5-IE7 in context of Javascript, CSS and even DHTML), but having to develop for multiple browser technologies also means more test environments, familiarity with the platform-specific debugging tools, etc. And that all translates to cost.
Being a techie, keep it coming. From a development management standpoint, one standard for browser technology would be fine with me.
The more you read, the more it seems like P2P networks are the scourge of the Internet. Record companies file lawsuits because of the swapping of copyrighted files via P2P sites, and ISPs jack up service prices using P2P traffic as an excuse. So with P2P networks being the "bad guys" on the Internet, recent Internet traffic statistics reported by PlusNet offer some good news by showing that usage trends are shifting away from potentially illegal P2P traffic and toward legal, licensed streaming content.
Streaming content is on the rise over last year by a whopping 168.9 percent, according to PlusNet. While it's important to factor in the fact that users have many more options for streaming content than a year ago, the numbers also show that streaming content is on the rise monthly, with June's usage up 9.38 percent over May. And while streaming content is on the rise, P2P traffic is decreasing, although not as quickly. P2P traffic is down 8.75 percent from last year, accounting for 25.93 percent of Internet traffic compared to its footprint of 35.95 percent of Internet traffic last year, PlusNet reports.
The numbers, as Ars Technica points out, can only mean good news all around. ISPs use the fact that most P2P traffic is illegal content as an excuse to block high traffic or charge more for it. But if people are getting their content from legal means, then the ISPs have less leverage to charge more for people using more bandwidth.
The main component, though, is that people just want easy-to-access content. Most major networks now offer their shows streaming for free, as well as other services like Hulu and Veoh, and it's just easier to get the streaming content than to go through the hassle of a P2P network like BitTorrent. And NBC and CNN and the rest don't want you to have to pay more to stream their video--so opposition to extra fees from ISPs may come from content providers, not just P2P sites and fans.
Nokia announced today a package called "Comes with Music" that allows new handset buyers to download for free an unlimited number of music tracks. Nokia's latest move comes as a competitor to Apple's iPhone popularity and its over-the-air music store, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store.
"Comes with Music" (CwM) will be bundled with pre-paid editions of Nokia's 5310 phone and allows users to download onto their computers (and sync to their phones) as many tracks as they want from Nokia's music store of 2.1 million songs music store (about a quarter of Apple's iTunes Music Store's offering) for 12 months from the phone's purchase. After a year, customers must buy a new phone in order to continue downloading more songs and keep all the songs downloaded so far. It's as simple as that, or -- as Nokia's U.K. managing director, Simon Ainslie, called CwM -- "your music with no catches."
Nokia's CwM package will launch next month in the U.K, exclusively with the Carphone Warehouse (CPW) retailer, which is also the country's only independent supplier of Apple's iPhone. It will be interesting to follow how CPW will market "Comes with Music" alongside the iPhone (but we will keep you posted on that). Nokia plans to introduce "Comes with Music" next year in other countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, and Singapore -- but no U.S. launch is yet in sight. Why not, Nokia?
Nokia did not disclose any pricing details yet, but here's a price breakdown to give you an idea of how much the service will actually cost customers. (All prices are based on a rounded exchange rate of USD $2 to GBP 1) Nokia's basic music-enabled 5310 cost about USD $160 on pre-paid deals and surveys suggest that users are willing to pay between USD $200 and USD $600 for a "Comes with Music" enabled phone. In comparison, in the U.K., Apple's iPhone will be available on pre-paid deals for USD $700 and USD $800 from September 16.
Comparing Nokia's 5310 handset with Apple's iPhone, the iPhone wins hands down, technically speaking. The 5310 has a candy bar form factor and still relies on 2G speeds and it can't really compete with iPhone's 3G speeds, GPS, Wi-Fi and touchscreen. Nevertheless, Nokia's device could come as a cheap alternative (just in time for Christmas) for parents who want to put their children's music downloads into legality for a reasonably low(er) price, as the iPhone, though sleek and smart, is more expensive and requires a separate music subscription service.
Nokia has been the world's largest handset manufacturer since the late '90s and sold 146 million music phones only last year. If Nokia bundled "Comes with Music" with all the music phones sold in 2007, just an extra USD $20 per phone could make Nokia's service bigger than the total of the digital music market. And with CD sales falling every year, no wonder that Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, the world's three largest labels, jumped on Nokia's "Comes with Music" boat.
Now, Nokia, just launch "Comes with Music" worldwide, stock up on the songs in your music store (and catch up with iTunes Music Store) and bundle CwM with your high-end devices as well. Maybe this way your claim of a "revolution" would be justified (plus you can make some big bucks).
For those eager to download the beta version of Google's Chrome Web browser the best they can do for now is ponder the official screenshots of the browser. The availability of the beta Google Chrome browser is expected later today.
If the screenshots aren't enough for you there is also the Google Chrome comic book that explains what Google Chrome is and why it was developed.
As of this writing the Google comic book on Chrome appears to be overwhelmed and is not accessible. For an alternate browse of the Google Comic book check out this reprint at Google Books.
For background on Google Chrome check out earlier Today@PCWorld coverage.
Here are some of the screenshots taken from Google's official Google Chrome Web page (which appears to be inactive right now).
Here are the screenshots as they appeared on the Google Chrome site's front page. Note the site is not accessible right now with many speculating the official download will be available to the public at 2pm ET.
Continue reading "Official Google Chrome Screenshots"
As of the time of this comment, the above "found download link" post is nothing but spam for the poster's web hosting outfit.. There is no download link..
The closest I can see as a download location, will be at http://www.google.com/chrome (it currently has a "generic" 404 error page on it, NOT the google standard 404 - which means they are going to open content there shortly.
There will be a forums area also for people to talk about chrome, etc at http://www.chromebrowsertalk.com
xdrive download link is wrong download it from here i downloaded it
http://www.jinsblog.com/2008/09/02/google-launched-its-new-browser-chrome-direct-download-link.html
www.google.com/chrome is live (1:04 pm PT) download from the official website.
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Chrome is ambitious for sure--not a me-too product or a rebranding of someone else's browser, but a significantly new entrant that, on paper at least, sounds mighty appealing. Highlights:
--It has a tab-centric interface, with a default home page that shows snapshots of your favorite sites and new memory management techniques designed to prevent tabs from bogging down your browsing;
--It uses sandboxing to prevent malware from doing damage to your PC;
--It includes built-in anti-phishing;
--It uses an all-new JavaScript implementation designed to provide snappy performance for Web-based applications;
--It includes Gears, the Google-initiated platform that helps online apps provide offline capabilities;
--It's open source;
--It's based on Webkit, the same open-source browser engine that powers Apple's Safari.
I gleaned these facts from a remarkable 38 page comic book by cartoonist/explainer Scott McCloud. Google Blogoscoped has posted the whole thing, but it's long and dense with info for developers. So I've posted a condensed highlight reel over at my Technologizer site, covering most of the stuff of most interest to us folks who just use browsers rather than develop Internet content for them.
I read all 38 pages of the comic book, and while I thoroughly enjoyed doing so, I was still left with as many questions as answers. I've asked ten of the Chrome questions I'm most curious about at Technologizer.
I can't wait to try it out for myself. And while I've often written that you shouldn't assume that every new Google product will change the world, or even be very good out of the gate--here's my take on the lackluster state of Knol--I can't imagine that Chrome will just fizzle. And I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.
Sounds sweet! I will totally try it out. I think it is about time some one did something different with Internet browsers; and non better than Google to do it.
I just downloaded and installed Google Chrome. If Chrome is going to be a success on the internet, Chrome will have to support addons. For example I love AdBlock Plus in FireFox and had forgotten what it is like to browse the web with ads. (including PCWorld!!) When I used Chrome, I felt like I was using Safari, no AdBlock Plus, no Siteadvisor, no Google Toolbar!!, and very limited options for customizing the look and feel of Chrome. I know Chrome is in Beta and most addons for FF will be ported to Chrome (maybe) in time, and I look forward to seeing what the Google team does with the browser, but for now, I will stay with FF3. I also hope that some of Chrome's good points (separate processes, drag tabs, etc) will make it into FF3.1 or 3.2 :)
News emerged today that Microsoft is preparing an application marketplace for its Windows Mobile platform, dubbed Skymarket. It seems everybody is keeping an eye on Apple's marketing strategies these days. With Apple registering 60 million downloaded applications through its AppStore and cashing in over $30 million in sales in just one month, Google has jumped into the same boat as well, unveiling a similar sales concept called Android Market.
Following its Microsoft siblings Windows Marketplace, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Zune Marketplace, Skymarket purports to gather into one place most of the 18.000-plus applications available out there for Microsoft's mobile operating system, once Windows Mobile 7 launches in early 2009. Skymarket will probably come as an alternative to Handango, a third party store for Windows Mobile applications that comes bundled with many WM devices, and from which Microsoft doesn't earn any money.
The reports on Microsoft's Skymarket launch emerged when the Redmond giant posted job listings seeking for a "senior product manager" and a "product manager - commercial integration" who would be responsible for "the launch of a v1 marketplace service for Windows Mobile."
Details on Skymarket's features are quite scarce at the moment, as Microsoft did not yet confirm the service's existence. Nevertheless, one would safely assume that Skymarket will be built into Windows Mobile 7 and will enable users to search, buy and download applications for their smartphones, presumably in a similar way to iPhone 3G's AppStore or Google's Android Market.
Smartphone sales increased to 19 percent of all mobile phone sales in the second quarter of this year, up 9 percent in comparison to the same period last year, according to the market research firm NPD Group. Apple's iPhone sales are still going strong and Google's Android phones are expected to ship by the end of this year. Microsoft has to do some catching up before it is left out of the game, even though it has been one of the pioneers of mobile operating systems ever since Windows Mobile launched.
Well it took enough time for MSFT to realize that they needed to open up the mobile channel. Not relying on proprietary Office Mobile apps will allow them to make business users happy.
I'm wondering when a 'cross platform mobile' application market will be launched?
Obviously there are more windows mobile applications than any other mobile platform out there just seems strange nothing competing with the iPhone app store has been launched.
Seems like an obvious choice with
http://windows.MobileAppStore.net
or
http://android.MobileAppStore.net
or
http://iphone.MobileAppStore.net etc etc.
Cheers,
Dean
