News written by Rich Fiscus (August, 2011)

The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has, according to one unofficial source, reached 30,000 apps.

To put the number in perspective, there are close to 500,000 iPhone apps available in the iTunes store and Android Market boasts more than 200,000 apps. Of course between them they also serve nearly two thirds of the global smartphone market.

According to Windows Phone Applist, who track various statistics about Windows Phone development, there are currently just over 30,000 apps in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

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Microsoft is upgrading Windows Explorer in Windows 8 by replacing traditional menus and toolbars with a ribbon interface.

The ribbon interface is the biggest of several changes intended to make Windows Explorer more efficient for common activities, which Microsoft research indicates are currently performed primarily from the context (right-click) menu or keyboard shortcuts.

Thanks to an incomplete selection of options, Windows Explorer's buttons and menus account for less than 15% of all user operations, including copying/moving, viewing properties, renaming, and creating/deleting.

Microsoft concentrated primarily on those common operations in designing the Windows Explorer ribbon's Home tab. The percentages listed for each button indicates how often the operation is expected to be performed.

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Pandora, the popular Internet radio service, continues to grow at an amazing pace, so why is it they can't seem to turn a profit?

The answer lies in a fateful ruling from the Copyright Royalty Board. The CRB's existence is the result of a DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) provision mandating arbitration to determine fair Internet radio royalties in the event rights holders and webcasters couldn't reach their own agreement.

In theory this guaranteed that Internet radio providers would be on equal footing with the much larger music labels in royalgy negotiations. In practice it didn't work out that way.

In 2006 SoundExchange, a royalty collection agency created by the RIAA, entered into arbitration with a variety of webcasters entered into arbitration. The Copyright Royalty Board was created, under a 2004 law, to act as arbitrators, fulfilling the DMCA mandate.

The key point to understand is exactly what that mandate is:

In establishing rates and terms for transmissions by eligible nonsubscription services and new subscription services, the copyright arbitration royalty panel shall establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and a willing seller

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Last week we introduced you to a number of new guides and videos from AfterDawn. This week we are going to shine the spotlight a little closer on one of them.

If you are used to extracting and converting titles from DVDs, it can be quite a shock to move up to the world of Blu-ray.

Thanks to features like Picture-In-Picture, BD-Java, and multiple video formats and resolutions, just figuring out what files you need can be a daunting task if you have never done it before.

Making things even more complicated, there is no single, all-purpose tool like DVD Shrink for Blu-ray discs.

In our guide for Extracting Content From A Blu-ray Disc we break the process down into two steps.

In the first part, Analysis, we cover using BDInfo to analyze various aspects of the playlists (MPLS files) on a Blu-ray disc. Then we explain how to use Media Player Classic - Home Cinema to preview titles to help you decide which ones you want to keep.

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PROTECT IP is the name of a bill which is working its way through the US Senate with a version also expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives next month. It would require the Attorney General's office to compile of list of domain names which DNS operators (in the US) will be required to block.

According to some critics, it threatens to undo more than a decade of Internet security development in a single stroke.

To understand exactly what that means, I talked to one of those critics - Paul Vixie of the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC). You may not be familiar with ISC, but you almost certainly make use of their software every day.

ISC is a non-profit corporation which develops BIND, the most widely used DNS server software on the planet. When you type a domain name like AfterDawn.com into your web browser, your computer relies on a worldwide network of DNS servers to translate it into an IP address.

As part of BIND development, ISC has put significant resources into making DNS more secure through the use of an extension called DNSSEC. DNSSEC adds an encrypted signature to DNS records, making it possible to ensure the IP address you get from a DNS server is authentic.

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Research In Motion (RIM) has just begun a closed beta for their BlackBerry Messenger based subscription music service, BBM Music. Beta testing is being conducted exclusively in Canada, the US and the UK.

The full service is expected to launch in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the US, and the UK later this year.

As we reported earlier this week, BBM Music will cost $4.99 USD. Prices may vary by country.

Mike Lazaridis, RIM President and Co-CEO, said:

We have partnered with leading music companies to provide a ‘full track’ music sharing and discovery experience that will provide users with quality music on demand and allow them to connect with friends on a whole new level.

BBM Music's features are basically what we already reported, although we have a few more details.

• Music from all four major labels is available
• You can select up to 50 songs
• No more than 25 song selections may be swapped out per month
• Songs may be downloaded to the subscriber's BlackBerry or streamed across an internet connection
• You can setup a personal "community" to share BBM Music tracks. Other people's tracks don't count against your 50 song limit
• You can create playlists which include both your own and your friends' music

Earlier this week a federal judge presiding over EMI's copyright infringement lawsuit against MP3tunes dismissed the label's claim that the file locker service does not qualify for DMCA safe harbor protection.

Safe harbors are intended to shield service providers from third party liability for copyright infringement. In other words, if someone infringes using your service, there is no legal claim against the service.

To qualify for safe harbor protection, a service provider must comply with various other provisions of the DMCA. Among them is a requirement the provider, "does not have actual knowledge that the material or an activity using the material on the system or network is infringing" and "is not aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent."

MP3tunes operates a music file locker service which allows subscribers to store copies of free music they find on the Internet. They call this sideloading.

MP3tunes also operates a partner website called Sideload, which keeps an index of links to songs which have been sideloaded to subscribers' lockers.

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Samsung has stated in no uncertain terms they won't be buying Hewlett-Packard's PC business.

A statement on the South Korean electronics giant's official blog states, "The recent rumors that Samsung Electronics will be taking over Hewlett-Packard Co.'s personal computer business are not true."

Samsung chief executive Choi Gee-sung also issued a separate statement with additional details:

Hewlett-Packard is the global leader in the PC business, while Samsung is an emerging player in the category. Based on the significant disparity in scale with Samsung's own PC business and lack of synergies, Samsung is not interested in the acquisition.

Rumors about an acquisition came on the heels of HP's decision to spin off their PC business (Personal Systems Group) into a separate unit, with an eye towards selling it. HP is currently the market leader in PC sales.

There are several reasons it probably doesn't make sense for Samsung to buy HP's PC division, starting with the uncertain future of the PC market as a whole.

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A Fox Network executive responded to TorrentFreak's report of an increase in piracy caused by the network's change in online video policy with a statement that completely dodges the issue.

Earlier this week TorrentFreak pointed out how Fox's decision to delay the availability of their shows for free online viewing had already resulted in more piracy.

As of last week, the free streams for Fox shows aren't available on Hulu until 8 days after they air. Instead, they are only available to Hulu Plus or Dish Network subscribers.

Fox is also working on other pay TV providers. Fox Television senior vice president Scott Grogin told The Hollywood Reporter:

We are actively in negotiations with all cable/satellite/telco providers regarding authentication of their customers. We hope to announce several more agreements before the start of the new television season in mid-September.

He also claims the network is, "pursuing a strategy where the 90+ million households who pay to watch our programming via cable/satellite/telco will ultimately receive maximum benefit."

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If you have ever gotten frustrated with the file transfer dialog in Windows, you should be happy to find out it is getting some long overdue improvements in Windows 8.

The dialog which appears when you copy or move files is arguably one of the least useful parts of Windows. It estimates time remaining for a transfer operation which is completely unreliable. On top of that, if you start multiple move or copy operations each one opens a separate dialog.

Perhaps worst of all, there is no pause option. If you want to temporarily stop a transfer and then resume where you left off, you are out of luck.

The new dialog for Windows 8, which was revealed by Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky, looks to address all those issues.

The basic dialog will combine all ongoing file copy or move operations in a single window, adding pause and resume buttons for each.

Rather than predicting how much time is remaining, which often varies from one second to another in the current dialog, it simply lists the completion percentage.

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It is being reported that Apple plans to introduce a scaled down iPhone for emerging markets.

Despite plenty of consumer and carrier interest, these markets have eluded Apple domination due to the iPhone being exclusively a high end product. The price puts them out of the reach of many potential customers in countries like China.

According to Reuters, production of the new phone, which will have 8GB of storage and be based on the iPhone 4, is already underway.

They also say Chinese carriers China Mobile Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd are in talks with Apple to carry the unit.

Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund, said, "A lower-priced version of iPhone 4 seems to be a necessary evil at this point in the iPhone adoption cycle, especially in emerging markets where the average income of individuals is much lower."

The discount model is not expected to be sold in the US, Europe, or other well established iPhone markets.

In fact, as market research from NPD Group showed earlier this year, Apple is already capable of competing effectively at the low end in the US. At that time, the iPhone 3GS ranked second in unit sales only to the iPhone 4.

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Samsung has just announced four upcoming additions to their Galaxy line of smartphones, named the Galaxy W, Galaxy M Pro, Galaxy Y & Galaxy Y Pro.

Along with the phones comes a new naming scheme with varying letter designations indicating price/performance levels. The letters, and corresponding levels, are (from highest to lowest):

• S (Super Smart)
• R (Royal / Refined)
• W (Wonder)
• M (Magical)
• Y (Young)

In addition, the designations "Pro", "Plus", and "LTE" may be added to indicate a QWERTY keyboard, an upgrade from an existing model, or LTE connectivity respectively.

We have introduced steps to ensure users can simply identify the device designed to deliver the perfect experience for them," said JK Shin, President and Head of Samsung's Mobile Communications Business.

	The Galaxy W will feature a 1.4GHz processor & 3.7" touch screen.
	The Galaxy M Pro will have a 1GHz processor, 2.66" touch screen & QWERTY keyboard.
	The Galaxy Y will offer a 832MHz processor and a 3" touch screen.
	The Galaxy Y Pro will be similar to the regular Galaxy Y, with a 2.6" screen & QWERTY keyboard.

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Details are emerging about RIM's upcoming BlackBerry music service. They will reportedly offer BlackBerry Messenger users access to a wide selection of music from all four major labels.

As a subscription service, history tells us BlackBerry Music has some big hurdles to clear. To date, subscription music hasn't exactly been big business.

A report from from The Wall Street Journal, provides some specifics.

At $5 a month the price isn't bad, assuming the music selection is as good as reported.

Subscribers will get access to 50 songs at a time, which doesn't sound like much. But how many songs does the average person actually listen to in a week or a month?

As long as subscribers can regularly and easily change their selections it's not necessarily a big deal. Plus they will be able to share songs with other subscribers who are also BlackBerry Messenger contacts.

The songs will only play on a BlackBerry device running their music app, which may not matter much to most people. One of the reasons many people buy smartphones is their music capabilities.

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Website operators in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein have until the end of September to get remove all Facebook "like" buttons or face fines up to 50,000 euros.

The announcement came from Data Protection Commissioner’s Office (ULD) in Schleswig-Holstein. A statement explains:

By using the Facebook service traffic and content data are transferred into the USA and a qualified feedback is sent back to the website owner concerning the web page usage, the so called web analytics. Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years. Facebook builds a broad individual and for members even a personalised profile. Such a profiling infringes German and European data protection law. There is no sufficient information of users and there is no choice; the wording in the conditions of use and privacy statements of Facebook does not nearly meet the legal requirements relevant for compliance of legal notice, privacy consent and general terms of use.

ULD head, Commissioner Thilo Weichert, points the finger for these alleged violations directly at website operators:

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In recent months AfterDawn has had some major additions to our Guide lineup we hope you will be interested in.

We now have several guides devoted to Blu-ray. If you need help extracting titles from a Blu-ray disc, we have two new guides you may want to check out. Extract Content From A Blu-ray Disc shows you how to use free programs for selecting titles and MeGUI's HD Streams Extractor for extracting video, audio & subtitles for processing.

If you don't want each title extracted into a single Matroska (MKV) file, Create MKV files from Blu-ray titles with MakeMKV may be of interest.

If you have a collection of TV series DVDs you don't plan to replace any time soon, you might want to think about combining them in Blu--ray format, either on a DVD or a Blu-ray disc. You can get help with that in our guides on Extracting Content From A DVD, Converting SUB/IDX Subtitles to BDN XML & Authoring a Basic Blu-ray Disc With EasyBD Lite.

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Unless you've been away from planet Earth since Monday, you should have almost certainly heard about Google's big announcement on Monday that they are buying Motorola Mobility. You probably also know the reason they felt compelled to spend more than $12 billion dollars was a bundle of patents that came with the deal.

What you may be wondering is why a company like Google, with so many innovations under their belt, needs to buy patents. Shouldn't they already be collecting patents daily in the course of normal business?

In fact the answer is no, and that's the not so secret reality of the software patent game. Software patents usually have little or nothing to do with software.

Let's look at one of the most significant software patents in the mobile OS world. US Patent 7,966,578 (full patent documentation below) covers one of the most elementary features of every modern touch interface - moving the display by swiping.

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From August 21 through August 27, Best Buy will be offering a package which includes 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet bundled with a 3D HDTV.

For $1499.99 you will be able to get a Samsung 46" Class LED 1080p Smart 3D HDTV with your tablet.

For another $500 you can move up to a 55" HDTV plus a 3D Starter Kit with your tablet. The starter kit includes 2 pairs of active Bluetooth 3D glasses, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third in 3D and mail-in vouchers from Samsung for Megamind and Shrek Forever After in 3D.

Best Buy is hoping to spur interest in tablets as a remote control and second screen for your TV.

IBM has unveiled an experimental new type of microprocessor, called a cognitive computing chip, which is designed to emulate the operation of the human brain.

The primary purpose of the technology, which is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA), is to develop computers capable of doing things computers don't currently do well, but human brains do. For example, a person is much better at facial recognition than a computer.

In order to create their two protypes, IBM began by discarding the standard model for computer architecture, which separates memory and processing into separate components, tying all the memory to a single processor or group of processors using a shared data pathway called a bus.

By contrast, their "neurosynaptic cores," spread both processing and memory throughout the processor similar to the way neurons and synapses are arranged in the brain.

“This is a major initiative to move beyond the von Neumann paradigm that has been ruling computer architecture for more than half a century,” said Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research.

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This week seems to be bigger than most for software patent news. Earlier in the week we had Google's announcement they are buying Motorola Mobility to acquire defensive patents. Now we have what could be a landmark ruling against the validity of a software patent on the basis that it describes a mental process.

The decision came from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is responsible for hearing appeals in patent infringement cases.

What makes it so important is the nature of many, perhaps most, software patents which are nothing more than a description of some common human activity with legalese added which translates to "do it with a computer." They are exactly the type of patents Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is suing companies like eBay, Facebook, and Netflix over.

In this case, the patent covered a system for detecting fraud in credit card transactions. The patent holder argued that since it specified using the Internet for looking up information, the necessity to use a computer transformed it into a machine process.

The court disagreed with this assessment:

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David Stebbins, who has previously demanded $600 billion from Wal-Mart, claiming they entered into a contract with him by responding to an email, has now filed a motion to force Google to pay him $500 billion.

Stebbins claims to have amended YouTube's Terms Of Service (TOS), requiring them to either terminate his account within 30 days or pay him $500 billion. He says those same TOS allow him to do so:

Paragraph B of Section 1 of these terms state that the terms can be unilaterally modified at any time. If the other party does not wish to accept the new terms, they may sever the contractual relationship.

On March 22, 2011, I took Youtube up on that generous offer and sent them an email announcing my own modifications to the Youtube terms of service.
Paragraph B of Section 1 of these terms state that the terms can be unilaterally modified at any time. If the other party does not wish to accept the new terms, they may sever the contractual relationship.

So what were his amendments? Most of them aren't clear in the filing, having been redacted by scribbling over them with a pen.

However, he did leave a portion untouched which he claims entitles him to binding arbitration or, if Google fails to respond to an arbitration request within 24 hours, automatic judgement in his favor.

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The National Music Publisher's Association (NMPA) has decided to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit against YouTube. Neither the NMPA nor YouTube has released details of the settlement, but based on YouTube's history of fighting such suits to the end and winning, they probably didn't have to offer any concessions.

NMPA represents thousands of music publishers for purposes of royalty collection. Through a subsidiary, the Harry Fox Agency (HFA), they collect mechanical royalties for compositions. These are separate from the royalties collected by other organizations for recordings or performances.

NMPA President and CEO David Israelite called the settlement, “a positive conclusion for all parties and one that recognizes and compensates the work of songwriters and publishers going forward.”

On their official blog, YouTube explained what that means:

Going forward, the 46,000 music publishers already affiliated with HFA will be able to license the musical compositions they represent for use by the YouTube community. When these publishers allow YouTube to run ads alongside user generated videos that incorporate their compositions, the publishers, and the songwriters they represent, can make money. We’ll also be working with HFA to invite other publishers to sign up, even if they’re not affiliated with HFA.

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Responding to reports yesterday of new evidence that his contract with Mark Zuckerberg for partial ownership of Facebook was a forgery, Paul Ceglia has gone back on the attack. Now he is claiming that either Zuckerberg or his lawyers are the real forgers.

Ceglia told ZDNet's Emil Protalinski

I believe based on the fact that Orin Snyder argued almost exclusively for my parents computers, the location where the so called “image” was discovered that either Orin Snyder is clairvoyant and had a premonition that his “smoking gun” was on my parents computer or he knew in advance that it was planted there. Perhaps by Zuckerberg himself and perhaps by Orrick, the firm Eduardo Savrin accused of conspiring with Zuckerberg to deprive him of his shares during his case.

He went on to say:

This “image” they claim is the original is forged and we will prove it has no authenticating properties what so ever. I would have expected more from him and his henchmen.

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Nokia has announced a partnership with Polar Mobile to provide mobile apps for more than 300 different content providers, including Wired UK, Advertising Age, The Globe and Mail, and Shanghai Daily.

The first 50 apps will be developed for the Symbian OS, and will be available globally through Nokia’s Ovi Store next month. Apps for MeeGo and Windows Phone will come some time later.

Richard White, General Manager, Nokia Canada said, "Nokia is excited about the opportunity to team up with Polar Mobile to bring hundreds of quality apps to consumers around the world. Polar Mobile’s ability to scale and attract a global set of brands is strategic in supporting Nokia’s efforts in offering compelling apps and experiences for our users."

Certainly this move is good for Microsoft. One of the disadvantages faced by the Windows Phone platform is a relatively small number of apps compared to either the iPhone or Android. Bringing a handset vendor on board who will also invest heavily in apps is a big plus for them.

On the other hand, switching to a platform where that's necessary may be a foolish move on Nokia's part. It seems like they might be more concerned with being some platform's flagship brand than choosing the best OS for their phones.

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Netflix has announced a feature for their Watch Instantly streaming service which is intended to make it more kid friendly. By clicking on the 'Just for Kids' tab at the top of the Netflix website, you can get a listing of titles categorized in a new way.

"Kids discover and categorize movies and TV shows differently than adults," said Todd Yellin, Netflix Vice President of Product Innovation. "Just as we have revolutionized the way people find the movies and shows they want to watch when and how they want to, we're making it easier for kids and parents alike to have the best possible Netflix experience."

At the top of the Just for Kids page are icons for many popular characters. Below you will find categories like Dinosaurs, Princesses, Robots, Disney & Girl Power.

To develop these selections, Netflix used ratings and reviews from Common Sense Media, a leading non-profit that provides independent, trustworthy ratings, reviews, and information to help parents make great media choices.

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It's no secret that HP's WebOS powered tablet, the TouchPad, hasn't exactly set the world on fire. Now it seems Best Buy may be giving up on the tablet.

According to a report from AllThingsD, Best Buy has sold as few as 25,000 TouchPads and that number is "charitable" once returns are figured in. Sources claim the big box electronics retailer wants to return the remaining stock in their warehouse, over 200,000 units, to HP.

Neither company has commented on the report, which also mentions that a senior HP executive will be visiting Best Buy headquarters to discuss the matter. However, we may know more tomorrow after HP holds their third quarter earnings call with industry analysts.

What we do know is HP has a long way to go if they want the TouchPad to be mentioned alongside tablets from Apple and Samsung as more than a punchline.

HP has already cut prices by $100, but price is only part of the equation, and based on iPad sales probably a small part. A much bigger hurdle for HP to clear is the low visibility of WebOS.

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It appears the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google could be the best thing to happen to Research In Motion so far this year.

RIM, the company behind the Blackberry brand, has been having a rough year. Their stock price has fallen more than 50% since the year began thanks in no small part to disappointing sales of their Playbook tablet and an extended period between major handset upgrades.

RIM's stock rose nearly 10% based on speculation their patents, which largely center around data synchronization, might make them the next handset maker to be sold. In addition, RIM is part of the alliance which, earlier this year, outbid Google for more than 6000 patents previously owned by now defunct Nortel Networks.

Like the Motorola deal announced on Monday, Google's interest in the Nortel patents was seen as primarily defensive, which raises the question of just how much interest there would be for purchasing RIM. Unlike Google, the companies frequently suggested as potential buyers, Apple, Samsung, HTC & Microsoft already own extensive smartphone related patent portfolios.

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