The prolific warez "scene" group ViRiLiTY has announced their voluntary retirement after releasing 8000 cracked software releases or keygens.
The group started in 2002 and their last release is a keygen for Ashampoo’s Core Tuner.
Says their final NFO:
"After more than seven years and over 8000 releases the time has come, so that we are going to close the curtain now. We would like to thank everyone who supported us in the last years and especially those who have been loyal for years! Thank you for the nice friendships and the fun we had with all of you. A big sorry to the high quality software developers who have been defeated by us. But you can relax now, because the real competition is gone ;) Its quite sad to see that 0DAYs today dir is getting more and more empty. We hope the future will bring some new talents to make the scene what it was a few years ago. Highly active, talented and with a strong competition between the groups. I would like to thank the group, active and former members, for the nice time we had and the more fun we are going to have as being part of the scenes history :) ViRiLiTY has always been a small but very strong group, which made ViRiLiTY the way it was. This is the the final release that has been dropped under the label of ViRiLiTY. So please shut down any types of open positions that are running under the name of ViRiLiTY. Otherwise we are going to hunt you down and cut your penis of.
Good Bye
ViRiLiTY 2002-2009"
Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the best selling Blu-ray disc of 2009, and likely of all-time, after moving 1.2 million discs in its first week of release.
The blockbuster sold 6.3 million DVDs as well, placing it within days of surpassing Twilight as the best selling DVD of the year.
Nintendo has confirmed that following today's launch of the updated DSi LL handheld in Japan, the same system, just dubbed the DSiXL will hit Europe in the Q1 2010.
The updated system includes a 4.2-inch screen, dual pens and better battery life then the DSi.
"Nintendo today confirms that a new Nintendo DSi XL console is launching in Europe in the first quarter of 2010," says the gaming company. "The retail price of the Nintendo DSi XL is expected to be higher than that of the Nintendo DSi. Further details will be released soon."
The handheld retails for the equivalent of $220 USD in Japan.
Nintendo has announced today the release of the DSi LL which include a significantly larger 4.2-inch screen.
The handheld will cost ¥20,000 ($220 USD) and the "LL" in the title refers to its larger screen. Nintendo says the new updated console comes after many requests from gamers who wanted a larger screen.
The new screen is 93 percent larger than the DS Lite but resolution will be the same, meaning graphics quality is likely to see a hit.
The gaming company says the DSi LL is aimed at consumers who want to use the handheld for the Internet and for music and movies. The new screen can display text in much larger font.
Buyers of the LL will receive two "pens," the standard one and a larger 129.3mm touch pen. The handheld will also have three DSiWare games already installed.
The system is available in Dark Brown, Wine Red and Natural White.
JVC has launched the XV-BP11 today, an "ultra-thin" 1.5-inch tall Blu-ray player aimed at the entry-level set.
The player is only Profile 1.1 capable however, killing off all BD-Live features. The player has a USB port for content viewing and will read AVCHD video.
The player uses HDMI 1.3 and has RCA Video and coaxial audio and analog audio connections.
For audio, the player supports "Dolby's Digital, Digital Plus and True HD standards as well as DTS, DTS Essential and DTS HD Master Audio," says Electronista.
The player has an MSRP of $200 USD, making it a bit too expensive given the BD-Live players out there for $150 and under.
The company says they hope the service will be able to launch again tomorrow.
"The Sky Player on Xbox 360 service did successfully launch early this morning, it has subsequently been suspended due to an unforeseen technical issue," says Microsoft. "With so much excitement and interest in the service, we'd much prefer to ensure that our customers enjoy the highest possible quality of service.
"We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our customers who have attempted to access the service today. Sky Player engineers are hard at work to resolve the problem - we expect to have the full service available tomorrow."
Lord Mandelson has announced this week that the UK will in fact be adopting the highly controversial 'three strikes' Internet piracy law, disconnecting multiple time offenders from the Internet while levying heavy fines.
The government added that first time offenders will likely be given a warning, then have their bandwidth restricted after a second offense. Third strike means being disconnected from the Internet, or at least "considered" for disconnection given the crime.
The law will come into effect April 2010, says the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation. Ofcom will be in charge of monitoring the file-sharing of UK citizens.
UK ISP TalkTalk, a strong critic of the bill, came out swinging after the announcement: "What is being proposed is wrong in principle and won't work in practice. In the event we are instructed to impose extra judicial technical measures we will challenge the instruction in the courts."
When asked about the material losses for ISPs given disconnection from the Internet for their subscribers, Mandelson added: "I have no expectation of mass suspensions. People will receive two notifications and if it reaches the point [of cutting them off] they will have the opportunity to appeal."
The long hyped (and rightfully so) Motorola DROID is finally official today, heading to Verizon on November 6th with a $200 USD price tag with two-year contract.
The phone has a 3.7-inch multitouch screen, full sliding QWERTY keypad, 5MP camera with dual-LED flash and autofocus, as well as 720x480 videocamera capture at 24fps.
The DROID will run on the newly announced Android 2.0 and will also be the first Android phone to include Google Maps Navigation GPS for free turn-by-turn voice navigation.
The device will, as is standard, have Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth 2.1 support. The phone will come with a 16GB microSD card as well, more than enough for music, movies and apps.
You will need a data plan for the phone, which begins at $30 USD, says Verizon.
Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter has called Netflix's recent move to bring their streaming service to the Sony PlayStation 3 as an "intermediate step" mainly designed to allow the service without breaking an exclusivity deal the company has with rival Microsoft's Xbox 360.
For the time being, users will have to insert a disc into their PS3s to have the streaming features as it will not be part of the actual firmware until 2010.
Pachter believes the disc is a necessity to avoid breaking the deal with Microsoft.
"We believe that the exclusive arrangement limits Netflix’s ability to appear on the 'dashboard' for the PS3 or the Wii, but because both devices have open architecture Internet browsers built-in, the solution proposed for the PS3 would likely not violate the terms of Microsoft’s exclusivity," says Pachter. "We anticipate that a similar arrangement will be announced for the Wii in the next 12 months."
AT&T has announced it will join the upcoming music video service Vevo, joining YouTube, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment.
There were little other details added but Vevo says the telecommunications company will "support Vevo across a variety of connected platforms."
Adds AT&T VP of media services Chris Schembri: "Music and entertainment are two of the broadest-reaching and influential 'passion points' for consumers, and aligning our brand with a new property like Vevo gives us a chance to reach them in fresh, meaningful ways."
Vevo was launched in April and will be available through Vevo.com and the Vevo YouTube channel, likely in December.
The service is free and all videos will be ad-supported. Universal, Sony, YouTube and Abu Dhabi Media company will share the revenue from the service.
"AT&T's decision to join Vevo at such an early stage (before we've even launched!) is a strong affirmation of our vision," added Vevo.
Microsoft has officially launched its streamingSky TV service today for the Xbox 360 today in the UK and Ireland, giving gamers access to movie and TV content on their consoles.
Xbox Live Gold subscribers will have access to 24 channels from Sky and up to 400 movies from the Sky Movies channel. The content is free if you are both a Gold and Sky subscriber. Sky Sports and Sky Movies will also cost extra if you do not already have them.
If you are not a Sky subscriber and do not want a satellite dish, you can pay GBP 15-50 per month for "Internet-only" packages ranging from basic to full including Sports, Movies, and ESPN.
"Today our customers enjoy film, music, videos and games on Xbox 360 and TV is another significant step forward in our entertainment vision," added Microsoft's senior regional director at Entertainment & Devices for the UK and Ireland, Neil Thompson.
"And now Xbox owners will have the variety and volume of entertainment along with unique services such as the avatar community which allow you to share, celebrate and chat - it is clear that Xbox 360 is taking entertainment beyond the living room with unique social interactive entertainment experiences.”
According to AllthingsDigital, Microsoft is in early talks with MySpace in an effort to have MySpace Music tied-in with the MSN online portal.
Microsoft has its own service, MSN Music, but traffic ranks significantly lower than MySpace Music and Microsoft has been looking to kill off the service for some time.
As of April, AOL ranked on top with AOL Music at 30 million unique monthly visitors and MySpace Music fell in second at 27.4 million. MySpace's numbers are expected to be bigger now. MSN Music was far back at 7.4 million.
Says a source close to MSN in regards to its entertainment properties: "It’s a decision to make it so MSN does less better. So there will be a focus of attention on a smaller number of categories in which we can be either #1 or #2 in, rather than #4 or #5."
Android fans long awaiting the next best firmware update can rejoice. Android 2.0 (Eclair) has been officially unveiled by Google, and it includes a good set of new features.
The full new feature set are as follows:
Contacts and accounts
* Multiple accounts can be added to a device for email and contact synchronization, including Exchange accounts. (Handset manufacturers can choose whether to include Exchange support in their devices.)
* Developers can create sync adapters that provide synchronization with additional data sources.
* Quick Contact for Android provides instant access to a contact's information and communication modes. For example, a user can tap a contact photo and select to call, SMS, or email the person. Other applications such as Email, Messaging, and Calendar can also reveal the Quick Contact widget when you touch a contact photo or status icon.
Email
* Exchange support.
* Combined inbox to browse email from multiple accounts in one page.
Messaging
* Search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages.
* Auto delete the oldest messages in a conversation when a defined limit is reached.
Roku, makers of the Roku Digital Video Player (read review here), have introduced two new set-top boxes today, the Roku SD and the Roku HD-XR.
The original video player retails for $100 and the SD will sell for $80 while the HD-XR will retail for $130.
"We`re introducing a breakthrough price point with the launch of our Roku SD player," Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc adds. "Additionally the Roku HD-XR is the first Netflix-streaming device to embed next generation 802.11n dual-band wireless connectivity, making it easier and more reliable than ever to start enjoying movies, TV shows, sports and the best online content available, all on the living room TV."
The Roku SD, as implied, is standard definition only and will include composite cables. The player will have 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and an ethernet port.
Electronics companies Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi confirmed today that their optical disc drive operations are currently under investigation for antitrust violation in the United States.
Sony's Optiarc America, Hitachi's Hitachi-LG Data Storage and Toshiba's Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology divisions each received subpoenas from the US Department of Justice.
All companies are said to be "fully cooperating with U.S. authorities" but refused to elaborate.
The companies account for about 60 percent of the full optical disc drive market including CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc players.
The Japanese Nikkei is reporting that Nintendo is planning to release a new version of the popular DSi handheld in Japan, one that will include a larger screen.
Nintendo says DS/DSi demand has fallen significantly over the past few months and the gaming company is looking for a boost.
The current handheld has a 3.25-inch screen and the updated version will get a 4-inch screen, about the same size as rival Sony's PSP
KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide says of the move: "A bigger screen alone does not count for much...Nintendo is under pressure from iPhone and iTouch." Kamide adds that Nintendo needs to add a more powerful processor and better graphics as well.
The new DSi will sell for 18,900 yen (about $205 USD).
The Nikkei also added that Nintendo will be offering a DSi with "more robust anti-piracy features" in China and South Korea by March of next year to help contain the rampant piracy in those markets.
In an interview with GigaOM's Om Malik, Lee Williams of the Symbian Foundation accused Google of using Android to collect user data for questionable purposes.
Symbian is the mobile phone OS used in Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung smartphones. Despite having a relatively small presence in the US market, it is found on more smartphones worldwide than any other OS.
"First and foremost the goal of a Google system would be to create a situation where you have information about the user and the use of those apps," said Williams.
"Secondarily," he added, "it would be to cookie them, so that you get that unique identifier association with the data you've collected on the individual's habits, routines, and so on and so forth so that you can target apps toward them. So you can build more intelligent cloud-based apps for them."
Williams also complained that Android is fragmenting the market because of differences between the UI of various phone manufacturers.
Microsoft has walked away from sponsorship of the upcoming "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show". After seeing the show's live taping Microsoft executives decided they didn't want the Windows brand associated with it.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said "We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of 'Family Guy,' but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand."
It sounds like no one at Microsoft actually bothered to watch "Family Guy" before jumping at the chance to market to its audience.
Fox plans to find another sponsor, but they'll have to work fast in order to get replacement footage shot promoting a different product. The show is scheduled to air on November 8.
Comments by a New York Times executive are helping stir up a new round of rumors about Apple introducing a tablet computer. Rumors of an Apple tablet have circulated regularly since the introduction of the original iPhone.
The latest talk is about comments Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times, made to his company's digital staff.
He said, "I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that."
It's unknown right now whether he was speaking about a product he has some inside information on or just working from the assumption that Apple will eventually start making tablets.
The New York Times already sells subscriptions for viewing on Amazon's Kindle eBook reader.
During last week's earnings conference call CFO Peter Oppenheimer and COO Tim Cook indicated there would be abnormally high air freight costs in Apple's next fiscal quarter which goes through December.
The unstoppable force that is Paranormal Activity has become (percentage-wise), the most profitable movie of all-time, domestically.
As of this morning, the low budget horror film has brought in $62.5 million USD domestically, even beating out the latest in the Saw franchise this weekend by a large margin.
The film cost about $13,500 USD to make, and its domestic distribution rights were bought by Paramount for a mere $300,000. Currently the movie is sitting on 462,000 percent profit, an astounding figure which just surpasses that of the Blair Witch Project which cost $35,000 to make and brought in $140.5 million domestically, a 400,000 percent profit margin.
Oversees figures are not added in the calculations as overseas rights were given to different distributors in both cases.
Making the numbers even more impressive is the fact that movie has not even been given a full run yet. It will be given another expansion next weekend for Halloween.
"I couldn’t be happier with our team’s great work. Adam Goodman believed in this movie and championed it from the first day he saw it. He recognized it was a great story with commercial potential, and made sure it had a home in our schedule and the release it deserved," added Paramount chairman Brad Grey.
The Fox blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine has quietly become the year's top selling Blu-ray release, surpassing 007: Quantum of Solace in just four weeks.
Fox would not give exact figures but industry sources and analysts have put the movie at about 850,000-900,000 units sold.
“The resounding success of Wolverine on Blu-ray reveals that the consumer still craves their movies the best way possible,” said Fox executive VP of marketing Mary Daily.
The DEG (Digital Entertainment Group) said the Blu-ray sales accounted for about 30 percent of all Wolverine physical media sales, a giant figure.
Fox also notes that Wolverine has been the top cable VOD title for most of October.
The BBC is said to be planning on launching an international iPlayer service, one that will allow global users to watch BBC programming and stream BBC radio networks.
On the downside, there is no word on exact pricing yet but the service will be considered "premium," with content costing as much as $10 USD. The service may also include content from other UK broadcasters such as Channel 4.
Despite being "international," the BBC expects over 40 percent of global viewers to come from the United States. Archived content would also be available including thousands of documentaries.
The BBC is also working on a mobile service, with streaming episodes costing about $2 USD.
According to new research from firm DFC Intelligence, games for the iPhone/iPod Touch will take a large 25 percent of the portable gaming market in 5 years as the Nintendo and Sony handhelds have nearly reached full saturation point.
Overall, the firm believes the total market will grow to about $11.7 billion in sales by 2014.
"The dedicated portable game systems from companies like Nintendo and Sony are still expected to lead the market, but it appears growth for these devices has peaked," says analyst David Cole, via GI.biz. "The platforms from Apple are expected to be responsible for the bulk of market growth over the next few years."
8000 people were surveyed in the US and the EU, and about 60 percent responded that they had played games on their mobile phones in the last year with 40 percent of those saying they had paid for an application. The Apple App Store was the number one service named for purchases.
We have been reporting recently on the new ultraportable Dell Adamo XPS, which promises to be almost half the size of its main competitor, the Macbook Air.
Engadget has revealed some more specs for the ultraportable today, although none has been confirmed by Dell.
There will be 1.4 or 1.9GHz dual-core Intel ULV processors, an integrated X4500MHD video card, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and the LED-backlit screen will measure 13.4-inches. For capacity, the Adamo XPS will have either a 128GB or 180GB SSD (solid state drive.) The batteries are only expected to have a measly 2-4 hour life.
Sprint and Palm have announced today that the Palm Pixi smartphone will be available on November 15th with a price tag of $100 after $100 mail-in-rebate and two year contract.
The phone, the second using the WebOS operating system, will be available through the carrier, Best Buy, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and from Palm.
The Pixi is seen as a "little sister" to the Palm Pre smartphone which has been a big hit for both Palm and Sprint.
"Simply put, this phone is fun and easy to use; with its multitouch screen and full QWERTY keyboard, it's a great device for messaging and social networking at a price everyone can enjoy, and delivers so many of the great features people love about Palm Pre in a fantastic new form factor, making it a huge hit for consumers," added Kevin Packingham, Sprint's senior vice president of product development.
The Pixi includes a 2.63-inch multitouch screen, 2MP camera, QWERTY keypad, GPS and "Synergy," contacts integration.
Last week Reed Hastings announced that Netflix had a new consumer electronics partner who would be providing a client for their Watch Instantly streaming video service. Today they made a joint announcement with Sony saying the PS3 will be getting the Netflix service.
What's more interesting is the way Sony will be adding this feature to their game consoles initially. They will use Blu-ray's BD-Live capabilities and require a special Blu-ray disc available for free to any Netflix member.
You can register to be notified when the discs are available by going to the Netflix website. PS3 Netflix support should become available some time next month.
This is arguably the most ambitious use of BD-Live to date. BD-Live is a feature of Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players. It allows additional content to be provided via a player's built in networking and a broadband internet connection.
In this case BD-Live will be used to provide all the content instead of just extras.
The ever-popular Need For Speed racing series has surpassed 100 million in sales, says Electronic Arts, pushing it into the elite club with four other franchises.
The other members of the club are The Sims, Pokemon, Mario and Grand Theft Auto.
Need For Speed was originally developed in 1994 and there have been 15 titles since. Since 2003's Need For Speed: Underground, EA says over 60 million copies have been sold.
EA's latest, "Shift," was released last month and NFS: Nitro is set to hit next month for the Wii.
A pretty interesting blog post was written up this weekend by Neptune Interactive, the developers behind the new App Store game Tap-Fu.
The developers say piracy of the game is rampant and even attack the old "we if like it, we will buy it" mantra used by some pirates to justify their decision to not purchase the game.
Neptune says when users submit their high scores for the game they also submit the App version, OS Version, Device ID, and Pirated Flag, which lets the developer know that the game is pirated but does not reveal any personal information on the user.
The developers, in their post, actually, quite hysterically, note that downloading and playing pirated games "is MUCH easier than actually buying it on iTunes!!" Cracked versions of the game were also available 40 minutes after the game was released, notes Neptune.
For the first week of sales, the amount of high scores coming from pirated versions (red) compared to legit versions (blue) is pretty biased in one direction:
Tap Fu High Score submissions.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a body of the United Nations (UN), has approved a universal mobile phone charger that will work with all future handsets.
The body says that over 51,000 tons of redundant chargers are used or thrown out each year and that the new energy-efficient chargers will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13.6 million tons, each year.
Because many companies such as LG and Samsung use proprietary chargers, users throw out their chargers when they switch phones, leading to waste. The new universal chargers would allow users to keep just one charger for years at a time, even if they choose to upgrade their handsets.
"This is a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of mobile charging," added Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau. "Universal chargers are a common-sense solution that I look forward to seeing in other areas."
According to VideoBusiness, Blu-ray Disc set-top players continue to drop in price, and one analyst expects to see at least one $50 USD player on Black Friday.
Last year was dominated by off-brand, cheaper players such as those by Sylvania or Memorex but name brand, Internet-enabled players, most with video streaming from Netflix are becoming to be standard at under $200 USD.
Says Abt Electronics owner Jon Abt: “We are doing better than we initially expected, which is due to the price drops. The price drops were expected, but we didn’t think it would be this deep this quickly. BD Live players [most of which offer streaming movie services] are now available in sub-$200 models.”
Abt also says the company is selling 50 percent more BD units year-on-year.
More notably, NPD Group says 14 percent of all Blu-ray set-top sales this year are for sub-$200 models whereas last year that number was under 1 percent.
At the time, the notoriously tongue-tied Ballmer had said: "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there -- you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories."
The company has since released a statement denying the rumor and adding that Ballmer was speaking instead of PC accessories.
"During an interview yesterday, Steve Ballmer was asked about Blu-Ray and the Xbox 360. I wanted to clear something up. Steve was referring to Blu-Ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts very soon when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080pstreamingHD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition," says the post on MajorNelson.
A provision which would require a judicial order before the government could have someone's internet account shut off has been removed from the Telecoms Package being negotiated between European Parliament and the European Council.
The amendment, approved overwhelmingly earlier this year by MEPs, said "No restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end users, without a prior ruling by the judicial authorities … save when public security is threatened."
It would have called into question the legality of laws promoted by the recording industry as the solution to illegal file sharing. Record labels favor laws which allow them to punish alleged copyright infringement without being required to prove their charges in court first.
So far France has followed the industry's blueprint very closely. Their 3 strikes law, which has been approved by both legislators, and in a revised version by the country's top court, does now require judicial approval of internet disconnection.
On Wednesday News Corp Deputy Chairman, Chase Carey, told an audience of broadcast and cable executives he hopes Hulu will move to a subscription model.
He said"I think what we nee to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value."
But is he right about the intrinsic value of the content? His vision seems to be at odds with that of Hulu CEO Jason Kilar.
Kilar's vision for Hulu connecting to as many users in as many ways as possible. It is largely this approach which has made Hulu one of the most popular video sites in the US.
That success hasn't insulated them from the whims of content providers. Earlier this year Hulu cut off access to their content from rival video site (CBS owned) TV.com.
Netflix will be expanding their Watch Instantly streaming video service beyond US borders for the first time next year.
During the company's Q3 conference call, CEO Reed Hastings said "with global studios and with global CE companies we are planning our first international effort in the second half of 2010."
He also indicated Netflix will be adding another US consumer electronics partner later this year, but couldn't name the company yet.
He talked about some ideas for future deals with both movie studios and ISPs. With DVD sales dropping the studios are concerned that cheap rentals are eating into early sales.
Hastings spoke about the idea of a sales-only window for DVDs. Under such a plan they would wait to rent DVDs until a certain number of days or weeks after it goes on sale.
He believes the DVDs released this way would sell better initially and Netflix could benefit from buying discs at a lower price when they do start renting them.
Addressing the concerns ISPs have voiced about the bandwidth used by streaming video like Netlix makes available to every subscriber, Hastings suggested they might be able to work out promotions which would make high end broadband plans more attractive to customers.
Nokia has sued Apple this week over the popular iPhone smartphone, claiming Apple infringes on Nokia patents.
There are 10 patents up for dispute, each of which relate to technologies "fundamental to making devices compatible with one or more mobile standards."
Nokia went as far as to say that they had invested about $60 billion USD in to research and development and that Apple did little to compensate them for the patents.
The patents range from wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption on all iPhone models from the iPhone 1G to the iPhone 3GS.
"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for," said Ilkka Rahnasto, vice president for legal & intellectual property at Nokia, via the WSJ. "Apple is also expected to follow this principle."
Last week, A&T Food store shop assistant Sandra Burt was told by the Performing Right Society (PRS) that she needed to stop singing during work without a performance license or face a fine.
Today, Burt was given an apology letter as well as a bouquet of flowers by the royalty collection agency, a truce after facing extreme criticism around the UK for their move.
The situation started when Burt was playing a radio at work and the PRS sent a letter telling them they would need a license to continue to do so. After the radio was removed, Burt began singing on her own.
Says Burt to the BBC: "I would start to sing to myself when I was stacking the shelves just to keep me happy because it was very quiet without the radio. When I heard that the PRS said I would be prosecuted for not having a performance license, I thought it was a joke and started laughing. I was then told I could be fined thousands of pounds. But I couldn't stop myself singing. They would need to put a plaster over my mouth to get me to stop, I can't help it."
The apology letter reads:
"We're very sorry we made a big mistake. We hear you have a lovely singing voice and we wish you good luck."
According to Sony, the company has sold over 60,000 slim PS3s in Australia since launch date on September 3rd, good enough to 'outperform' rival consoles in the region.
Sony also said they would be starting a new promotion of offering a free slim console with Sony Bravia LCD HDTVs as a way to boost sales.
"I can confirm that in excess of 60,000 units of the PS3 120GB have been sold since launch," said Sony. "I can also confirm that since the launch of the new model on September 3, total sales for the period since introduction have outperformed our competition."
The PSPgo is not selling as well in the region, with early reports citing only 1000 sales in the first week of availability.
Just two weeks agoAmazon took the popular Kindle e-reader international, with a $279 USD price tag, making the device available in over 100 countries. The price of the US-only version was dropped to $259 USD from $300.
Today, following the recent release of the Barnes & Noble Nook, Amazon has dropped the price of the international version and merged sales with the US version, selling both hand-in-hand for $259.
Amazon is refunding the $20 to everyone who purchased the International Kindle since its release.
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto made a few statements this week in regards to the eventual Wii successor, saying the console will likely be smaller and cheaper and less of a "toy."
Miyamoto, during the interview with Popular Mechanics says: "With both the Wii remote itself and Wii Motion Plus, what we've been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience. And while we don't have any concrete plans for what we'll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient."
He did confide that the Wii is sometimes viewed as a toy compared to the PS3 or Xbox 360 but that the Wii successor will still focus on "play."
"I think originally video-game systems were viewed as a toy, and they were something you played with," added Miyamoto.
Microsoft and Burger King have teamed up to bring Japanese consumers the Window 7 Whopper, a sandwich that squeezes seven, yes seven, beef patties into a regular Whopper.
The Win 7 Whopper stacks up at 5.1-inches tall, and the promotion will run from today until October 28th.
The sandwich will sell for 777 Yen, a bit under $9 USD.
Windows 7 launched today to reasonably great critical acclaim and with strong sales.
Verizon has made it clear today that the highly anticipated Motorola Droid Android smartphone will begin shipping next month, after an official unveiling on October 28th.
Press packages were sent out that include a remote control R2D2 droid (from the Star Wars films) holding a card that reads "11.09" and the Moto Droid teaser site.
The device will have a 3.7-inch screen, run a TI OMAP3430 processor, a full slide-out QWERTY keypad, and a 5MP camera.
According to CEO Kevin Russell, the UK wireless carrier 3 expects to begin selling the iPhone 3GS next year.
Currently, the carrier does not sell smartphones, selling more traditional mobile phones in an effort to build subscriber numbers for cheap.
Russell says that is set to change in 2010 when the company adds a decent amount of high-end smartphones to its available lines. The company also adds that the HTC Hero will be the first smartphone for the carrier, and should be available later this year.
3 was recently accused of selling unlocked iPhones to customers who were considering leaving the carrier however Apple has never officially commented on the issue.
Gizmodo interviewedMicrosoft CEO Steve Ballmer and it seems like Xbox 360 owners will soon be able to get Blu-ray add-ons for their drives.
When the site asked Ballmer about Blu-ray for the gaming console, Ballmer said: "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there -- you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories."
Ballmer has been known to misspeak in the past, but this time the Xbox team did not deny the quote.
"Our immediate solution for Blu-ray-quality video on an Xbox 360 is coming this fall with Zune Video and 1080p instant-on HDstreaming. As far as our future plans are concerned, we're not ready to comment," said a spokesperson.
Problems with the configuration of a modem provided by Time Warner Cable to more than 60,000 broadband internet customers make it easy for a hacker to gain control of the unit remotely.
The problems were spelled out by blogger David Chen after he tried to help a friend change some settings on his Time Warner provided SMC8014WG-SI cable modem/router. To anyone with a modest understanding of security his findings will likely be a little surprising.
As with many ISP-provided routers, the Time Warner units disable customer access to a number of advanced features. Shockingly, however, Chen found some important administrative features were still there, and simply masked by Javascript.
By simply disabling Javascript support in his browser he was able to access these additional options, including one which allowed him to print out the device's configuration. That printout included the admin login and password in clear text.
He also came to the realization that this information could be used to hack into any of these routers provided by Time Warner because the web administration interface is enabled.
A Time Warner representative contacted by Wired Magazine's Kim Zetter indicated they "have been working on it."
The MPAA appears to be gearing up for a change in the way they fight file sharing. Two leaders of the movie industry trade group's antipiracy division have reportedly been let go.
Antipiracy has been renamed Content Protection and Senior Executive Vice President Daniel Mandil has been put in charge. He is also assuming the role of General Council for the MPAA.
This seems to signal a shift in legal strategy, most likely meaning Mandil will be expected to mount some kind of legal campaign against unauthorized file sharing.
Could a RIAA-style legal jihad against file sharers be in the MPAA's plans? It's too early to say right now, but if the studios want to see some action the high profile of this approach may make it inevitable.
Or maybe they are hoping to push the newly appointed Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IP Czar) to get the government more directly involved in the fight. The IP Czar position was created by last year's Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act, better known as the ProIP Act.
AT&T has sued LCD panel makers Samsung, Sharp, LG, AU Optronics and two others over claims that they fixed prices on panels sold in the United States in the past few years.
Says AT&T in the suit: The six display makers "formed an international cartel illegally to restrict competition in the United States in the market for LCD panels. The conspiracy included communications and meetings in which defendants agreed to eliminate competition and fix the prices of LCD panels that were ultimately incorporated into LCD products that they knew would be sold in California and the United States."
TGDaily is reporting that UK Windows 7 pre-orders for the giant e-tailer Amazon have set an all-time record, even beating out the seemingly insurmountable pre-orders sales that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows had.
The new operating system is also "significantly" outselling Windows Vista pre-orders, taking just 8 hours to surpass all Vista pre-orders during its run.
"The launch of Windows 7 has superseded everyone's expectations, storming ahead of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the biggest grossing pre-order product of all-time at Amazon.co.uk, and demand is still going strong," added Amazon UK's managing director Brian McBride.
McBride did say however that Dan Brown's recent novel, "The Lost Symbol," had higher pre-order volume, but retails for much cheaper and therefore was behind in gross.
Windows 7 goes on sale tomorrow, and is expected to see large sales, especially considering the numbers Microsoft has given us in response to their promotions on the operating system.
The new Sony handheld PSPgo is seeing slow sales in Australia, with Michael Ephraim, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia confirming that only about 1000 units sold in the first week of availability.
The numbers are unsurprising given the high amount of criticisms toward the device and especially its high price, which is AUD 450 in Australia, which is about $415 USD.
"Clearly we haven't done massive numbers but it's not something that we're concerned about ... because there are still some issues that we need to work through," continued Ephraim.
According to a report from network management vendor Arbor Networks, P2P is largely being replaced by streaming video. The report, prepared in cooperation with the University of Michigan, will be presented at an October 19 meeting of the North American Network Operators' Group.
According to Craig Labovitz of Arbor Networks, “Globally P2P is declining and it is declining quickly.”
The report is based on data collected from ISPs aorund the world over a two year period.
Arbor says P2P traffic currently accounts for 18% of internet traffic now, which isn't insignificant. But according to Labovitz it's still a lot less than in 2007 when 40% of traffic was from P2P.
Google is partnering with the Big 4 labels in an effort to stream music via Google's popular search engine, making it easier for users to discover and ultimately purchase music.
Google has about 65 percent of the search engine market, far ahead of Yahoo, Bing and Baidu.
The new feature will be backed by iLike and Lala, the streaming music startups owned by MySpace.
Users can search for the songs, which will then be streamed on the Google results page. You can then hit "Buy" and be led to iTunes or Amazon MP3 where the song is available for purchase.
All of the Big 4 labels, UMG, EMI, Sony Music and Warner Music are already signed on, say the sources.
The service is unnamed as of now, but should be officially launched on October 28th.
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn has announced that the company will be opening its first ever 24-hour store, in New York City.
The retail store will open on November 13th on 14th Street at Union Square, taking over one of Circuit City's old flagships locations.
The store is 48,000 square feet and Dunn says the retail location will remain open from 8:00 a.m. on Monday until Midnight on Saturday, straight. The store will then reopen on Sunday for 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
The hours will accommodate NYU students and other New Yorkers whose “hectic lifestyles that don’t always conform to traditional retail hours,” added Dunn.
Besides normal services, Geek Squad will be available around the clock as well and the new Best Buy will "boast the largest Best Buy musical instruments department in the United States, including lighting equipment and professional DJ equipment," says TWICE.
Philips has begun shipping the Wireless HDTV Link this week, a device which will connect HD components to HDTVs, wirelessly.
The Wireless HDTV Link SWW1800/27 can send wireless signals to (up to Full HD1080p) TVs, at a distance of up to 75 feet. The device can send signals through walls and other furniture and will allow devices to be stored away from the TV while still connected, and without wires.
Twice says the system "consists of a transmitter, which is designed to resemble a source component, such as a Blu-ray Disc player, and a compact wireless receiver, which is small enough to be stored behind a flat-panel TV mounted on a wall."
BoyGeniusReport has unveiled the upcoming Verizon entry-level Android device, the "Calgary," which will use the MOTOBLUR interface launched with the T-Mobile Cliq.
The leaked pictures show a 3MP camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS, Wi-Fi, a microSD slot, and a full slide out QWERTY keypad.
BGR says the the "OS builds running on it are incredibly smooth as well as responsive."
The source give a possible Q4 release date. We will keep you updated.
On Tuesday Apple unveiled their latest iMac,featuring up to 2TB of hard drive space, screens from 21.5 to 27 inches, and a unique mouse which incorporates the Multi-touch technology used in the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The entire top of the Magic Mouse is a Multi-touch surface, allowing you to scroll in any direction or zoom in or out. It can be purchased separately for use with any computer running Mac OS X Leopard version 10.5.8 or later. There is no Windows support.
The new iMac LCD displays are LED backlit. The 21.5 inch model has a resolution of 1920x1080 (1080P) while the 27 inch version is 2560x1440.
Available CPU options range from Intel's 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo to their 2.8GHz Quad-Core Core i7. Prices start at $1199 for a 21.5 inch model or $1699 for a 27 inch screen.
Quad-Core processors are available only in 27 inch models, and prices start at $1999.
Best Buy has teamed up with Netflix this week to bring the rental company's streaming services to InsigniaBlu-ray players.
The streaming video will be available on the Insignia Advanced Series BD player and the Insignia Connected BD Player. The players are already available for sale at $250 and $180 USD.
The more expensive model has Wi-Fi while the cheaper model is relegated to an Ethernet wired connection.
Best Buy exclusive brands CTO Nigel Waites said the new move “will appeal to Best Buy shoppers who seek unsurpassed convenience, selection and value in a Blu-ray disc player.”
Netflix streaming is available through a number of devices including PCs, Macs, LG and Samsung BD players, and Sony and Vizio HDTVs.
Q-Games, developer of the popular PixelJunk series has said that they will no longer be porting games to the Sony PSP due to the rampant piracy on the handheld.
PixelJunk is an exclusive PSN series for the PS3, and one version, PixelJunk Monsters was ported to the PSP this year.
Founder and CEO Dylan Cuthbert says that anti-piracy measures on the PSP handhelds will not stop the unauthorized distribution of his game. Cuthbert was also "shocked" to read comments by users in chat rooms who openly admitted to playing pirated versions of the game.
"I don't think we'll port anything else to the PSP, we have to see how [PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe] does as there's a lot of piracy," Cuthbert said. "Because Monsters is such a good fit it is being pirated I think, maybe the pirates will buy the full version out of guilt?"
Adds Cuthbert in response to question of whether the company would add serial numbers: "Unfortunately the pirates could just hack those kinds of things out," and that "a PSP demo is in the works but I don't think it makes any difference to piracy."
The Wii launches on November 6th in both the UK and Ireland and will carry an MSRP of £179.99. The system will come bundled with Wii Sports Resort, original Wii Sports, black Wii remote with Motionplus and a black Nunchuk controller.
Adds Nintendo UK product manager for Wii Rob Lowe: "Nintendo has always taken the European market seriously and this isn't the first time a product has launched in the UK or Europe before the US. We are keen to launch the black Wii in time for the Christmas sales season and this starts slightly earlier in the UK and Republic of Ireland [than elsewhere]."
The latest in a long line of "Kindle killers" is here at last, the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader.
An upcoming ad for the device placed in the NYTimes shows a $259 USD price, very competitive with the Kindle and the Sony Reader, the current market leaders. Amazon recently dropped the price of their US-only Kindle to $259 while releasing an international version. Research firms have pegged Kindle market share at 60 percent.
NYTimes says the "Nook will permit readers to lend their digital books to friends and download books wirelessly." but there were little other details as of writing.
Gizmodo got their hands on some pics of the device, which is expected to be officially unveiled later today.
The All Party Communications Group (apComms), an independent group of Members of Parliament and Lords in the UK, has released a report blaming record labels for their own losses from illegal file sharing.
In their report, the group wrote "We conclude that much of the problem with illegal sharing of copyrighted material has been caused by the rightsholders, and the music industry in particular, being far too slow in getting their act together and making popular legal alternatives available."
Lord Mandelson's 3 strikes approach would make ISPs responsible for tracking their customers' communications to identify people who may be engaged in copyright infringement.
"We do not believe that disconnecting end users is in the slightest bit consistent with policies that attempt to promote eGovernment, and we recommend that this approach to dealing with illegal file-sharing should not be further considered," reads the apComms report titled "Can we keep our hands off the net?."
Microsoft has made a new move today that will likely anger many current Xbox 360 users; locking out unlicensed storage devices that are not sold by the software giant.
"When Preview Program members start receiving the Xbox 360 system update next week, one of the changes is that unauthorized memory units will no longer work with the Xbox 360," writes Xbox Live's Larry Hryb, via MajorNelson.
The new update is the one that adds Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm integration and was generally highly anticipated by the gaming community.
As an example of what is coming, the 512MB Microsoft Memory Unit sells for $30 USD while unlicensed storage devices such as the expandable (up to 16GB) 2GB Datel Memory Unit sells for $40 USD. You will now be forced to buy the lower capacity, much more expensive Microsoft drive if you want to have access to your gaming life.
"If you’ve moved your profile or saved games onto one to 'back it up,' you’d better move it back onto an authorized Xbox 360 storage device prior to taking the update. If you continue to use an unauthorised memory unit after the update, you will not be able to access your stored profile or saved games," adds Hryb.
TheLocal is reporting today that the appeal launched by the founders of the Pirate Bay has been pushed until next summer.
The Svea Court of Appeal in Sweden made the decision today, pushing the trial back from its previous start time of "mid-November." Bias accusations brought against two of the ruling judges forced the move, adds the court.
The Supreme Court will hear the bias cases, but TheLocal says it will likely only have a verdict by February.
“If you consider that we originally tried to hold the hearings in August and finally succeeded in getting them booked for November following a number of difficulties, and considering that the Supreme Court will likely issue a ruling in February or March, there is still a possibility that the hearings could take place just before summer,” appeal court judge Ulrika Ihrfelt did note, however.
Ihrfelt, along with appeals court judge Kristina Boutz are the two accused of bias, mainly for their documented ties to anti-piracy and copyright holder trade groups.
The founders of the popular torrenttracker were found guilty in April of being accessories to copyright violation and sentenced to prison.
Spring Design has launched the first ever Android-based e-reader, dubbed Alex, which will also be the first e-reader to include two screens.
The first screen is a 6-inch panel for normal e-book reading (in monochrome EPD) and the second 3.5-inch screen will be a full color touch LCD for Internet browsing and supplemental content for the books.
Alex has Wi-Fi radio, and supports 3G wireless for both EV-DO and GSM, although it has no carrier deals of yet.
"This is the start of a whole new experience of reading content on e-books, potentially igniting a whole new industry in multimedia e-book publishing for secondary authors to create supplementary content that is hyper linked to the text. We are bringing life to books with audio, video, and annotations," says CEO Priscilla Lu."This gives readers the ability to fully leverage the resources on the Web, and the tools available in search engines to augment the reading experience."
Among its other impressive specs, Alex has stereo speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an SD card slot.
Despite a continued global recession, Apple crushed their Q3 earnings last night, mainly due to extremely high iPhone and Mac shipments.
Overall, iPhone sales rose 7 percent and Mac shipments rose 17 percent for the quarter. Profit jumped to $1.67 billion USD, the company's most profitable ever. In response, the stock pushed over $200 a share for the first time since 2007.
Year-to-date profit now stands at $5.7 billion USD, an 18 percent year-on-year increase. Most analysts predict that Apple will continue to set new records, especially as Mac sales continue to chip market share away from PC makers and with the iPhone set for release in China.
“We’ve got a very strong line-up for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010,” added Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
After 6 months of declines, year-on-year, the gaming industry returned to growth for September, albeit barely. September 2009 saw a 1 percent growth year-on-year, with sales rising $10 million USD to $1.28 billion.
"The industry managed a modest increase over September 2008, and generated the second bestselling September on record after 2007 when Halo 3 released and sold over 3 million copies that month," added NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "On a unit sales basis, the industry was flat. The increase in revenues is driven by a rise in average retail prices in all categories with the exception of console hardware in which the average retail price decreased 8 percent from last September."
As expected, the price drop of the PlayStation 3 alongside the release of the slimmed down 120GB model helped push the PS3 towards the top of the hardware charts, slightly behind the DS/DSi but ahead of the Xbox 360 and Wii.
A bill which would require terrestrial radio broadcasters to pay additional royalties to performers for the music they play. Currently US broadcasters are only required to pay the songwriter.
Both satellite and internet radio services already pay performance royalties.
In addition to music industry groups, the bill is getting support from Pandora Internet Radio. The new royalty would be equivalent to Pandora's payments to SoundExchange, which were recently agreed to after almost two and a half years of negotiations..
Before last week's committee vote Pandora sent out emails with a message from founder Tim Westergren. They askied Pandora users to call their Senators and encourage them to support the bill.
Verizon has announced it will begin offering "Quadruple-play" services to Northeast and Mid-Atlantic customers, packaging broadband, TV, home phone and wireless services.
The offering will include Verizon Wireless phone service, DirecTV, FiOS DSL and Verizon's fiber-to-the-home phone service. The FiOS speed maxes out at 15 Mbps.
The service will cost about $130 USD per month (with 450 minutes for wireless users) and will require a 1-year contract.
"We're offering the freedom and flexibility for customers to choose the Verizon voice service or combination of services that meets their individual or family needs, together with our complete line of industry-leading home-entertainment options," added Verizon chief marketing officer Mike Ritter.
Many ISPs including Time Warner and Cablevision already offer "triple-play" packages for TV, cable Internet and home phone service.
Wireless carrier 02 has noted today that the Palm Pre smartphone is selling very well in the UK and Germany where it launched last week.
"We've sold more PalmPre alone today that we normally sell total devices on a Friday," added a spokesperson, via TechRadar. "And one in two customers is buying a Touchstone charger, with the majority buying two."
The Touchstone charging kit, which retails for about $70 USD here in the States, is a dock that requires a "Touchstone" back cover for your device. If you own the dock and the special cover, you can simply place the device on the device and it will magnetically snap together and begin charging, allowing for wireless charging.
O2 did not give any exact figures however, but analysts are claiming the iPhone 3GS likely outsold the Pre in the regions by over five-to-one ratio.
Google and Virgin America have joined forces for free Wi-Fi on all Virgin American flights from November 10th until January 15th.
Says Google: "Bring a WiFi-enabled laptop or mobile device and stay connected for free during your flight. The service is available on Virgin America serving the cities listed below. We hope the service makes your holiday travel a little easier. Grab a seat at virginamerica.com. "
Virgin normally charges $13 USD for Wi-Fi on long flights for laptops and $8 for smartphones and tablets.
According to The Register, Apple has finally allowed an app into the iPhone App Store that will allow users to stream video via their 3G connections.
The EyeTV app will give Mac and iPhone users the chance to watch live TV or TV recorded to their computers.
Until now, Apple had strictly forbidden video streaming via AT&T's 3G network, purportedly to stop AT&T from seeing a large bandwidth increase.
EyeTV was initially removed from the App Store however, and developer Elgato stated: "Some test code that enabled live TV streaming over the cellular network was accidentally left in the the EyeTV App. Apple requested that we remove the code since their agreement with AT&T does not allow redirecting TV signals over the cellular network."
The app has been returned to the App Store today however, and 3G streaming is still available.
Plastic Logic, which has been slowly unveiling its upcoming e-reader, has announced today the device will be called the Que and will be officially revealed at the upcoming CES event in January.
The e-reader will have the ability to read e-books as well as PDFs, PowerPoint and Word documents and the company will announce pricing and availability at their CES booth.
The Que is about 8.5 x 11-inches, the same as a sheet of loose leaf paper and will include Wi-Fi and possible connection to 3G via AT&T's network.
The Que was set to be launched this holiday season but has been hampered by delays, and in the meantime rivals Amazon and Sony have updated their lines.
"We're not worried about that at all and I think the main reason is that our reader is so different," Plastic Logic CEO Richard Archuleta says, however, via Cnet. "We haven't seen anybody even come close to what we're doing with our product."
Plastic Logic has content deals with USA Today, Zinio, The Financial Times, LibreDigital and the Que's bookstore will be backed by Barnes & Noble.
Wedbush Morgan videogame industry analyst Michael Pachter has made some more interesting comments this week on GameTrailer's Bonus Round, stating that Microsoft is ready to move on from PC gaming, and that the company will eventually raise the price of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions.
"Microsoft wants you to never play a game again on your PC and play everything on your 360," says Pachter. "You give a PC gamer an incentive to buy a 360 if you put something that he really wants only on the 360."
Why would Microsoft want to kill off its still popular PC platform?
"You can't hook a guy into Xbox Live Gold if he's playing on PC. So, I mean, that's the other problem is you really wanna hook every gamer who has a 360, you want them to buy all their games on 360, play everything multiplayer, pay you 50 bucks a year so that in a couple years, it's 100 bucks a year. And that's going up -- we all know that," Pachter declares, via 1up.
Electronic Arts Sports president Peter Moore, speaking at the PLAY Digital Media Conference this week, made some interesting comments as to the future of disc-based games, going as far as to call the current business model a sinking ship.
"Look at the platform we're on, it's a burning platform," Moore stated, via IGN. "As a concept, do you stay on the platform and face certain death, or do you jump into the water and face probable death? Most of you would choose probable death, so you start moving towards a hybrid model of digital distribution."
He continued: "I'd say the core business model of video games is a burning platform. Absolutely. We all recognize that, and we'll recognize it 10 years from now when we tell our grand kids .We'll tell them we used to drive to the store to get shiny discs that have bits and bites on them and we'd place them in this thing called a 'disc tray,' and it'd whirl around…and they'll go 'What?' So, the concept of physical packaged discs and the core business model that is video games as it currently stands is a burning platform."
The headline is what Motorola and Verizon wants consumers to think as the companies prepare to launch the Android-based anti-iPhone, the Motorola Droid.
BoyGeniusReport had a hands-on with an "almost final" version of the phone, running Android 2.0, and the editor seemed very impressed by the phone, even claiming it "is the most impressive phone we’ve used since the iPhone."
The device will have a 3.7-inch screen, run a TI OMAP3430 processor, a full slide-out QWERTY keypad, and a 5MP camera. BGR also says that Google had direct involvement with the design of the phone, "something to the point of almost dictating every move Motorola made when designing and making the phone."
The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has approved of the new ATSC Mobile DTV Standard this week in the US, allowing local TV broadcasters to broadcast to mobile devices using any frequencies they may already be using.
The standard pertains to notebooks, in-car systems, Internet tablets and mobile phones.
Mobile TV has been extremely successful in Japan and other Asian nations but has seen slow adoption in the US. Until late last year, Samsung and LG had rival standards but decided instead to partner up and the Mobile DTV Standard was thrown together.
Verizon and AT&T currently offer TV via the FLO TV network but that service is a paid one and offers more national programming than local.
PCWorld explains that "ATSC Mobile DTV is carried alongside the regular over-the-air DTV broadcasts that U.S. stations have been delivering exclusively since analog TV was discontinued across the country in June. It uses a system called Vestigial Side Band modulation, with an IP (Internet Protocol) transport system, according to the ATSC. The technology can send H.264 video and HE AAC v2 (High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding, Version 2) audio. It can support interactive services, subscription-based TV and downloading of content for later viewing."
Mark Wattles, the former founder of Hollywood Video and current owner of Mark's Video rental chains in Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona has announced across the board price drops on rentals via his stores.
Per night prices for rentals have been dropped to $1.49 USD for Blu-rays, $0.99 for new release DVDs and $0.49 for catalog films, prices that match or even undercut rental kiosk giant Redbox.
VideoBusiness has confirmed the new aggressive price drops.
Wattles currently owns 20 locations which were spun off from Hollywood Video when it was purchased by Movie Gallery.
Last August, the NPD Group released a study that showed that about 37 percent of PS3 owners had never once watched a Blu-ray film on their system. The second edition of the study was released recently, and the number hardly changed, moving down to 34 percent.
NPD did note however that the number of PS3 owners watching Blu-ray was higher then PS2 owners watching DVDs at the same point in the console's life cycle.
“It’s at a fairly high level, where it took years for PS2 owners to use [that console] for DVD,” NPD analyst Russ Crupnick added, via VB. “Most PS3 people think of it as a gaming device, but there is a reasonable level of awareness and intended use for Blu-ray.”
In April, Wizards of the Coast sued 8 alleged file sharers over copyright infringement for unauthorized sharing of the then newly introduced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook 2.
The lawsuits claimed the Handbook was illegally shared on file-sharing websites and the many downloads of the unauthorized copies led to lost sales and lost revenue for the company.
This week, two of the eight accused have settled with Wizards, and the company is seeking a default judgment against one more of the accused.
Thomas Patrick Nolan of Florida settled for $125,000 USD and Arthur Le of California settled for $100,000, says Komo. Le's co-defendant, Mike Becker of Oklahoma, was ordered to pay $30,000 in damages and almost $15,000 in legal fees but has so far not responded to the lawsuit and remains in default. Wizards is hoping to collect that money.
Redbox has begun testing selling DVDs through their kiosks this month, offering new and catalog releases for about $20 USD alongside their $1-a-night DVD rental kiosks.
The sell-through kiosks will sell the DVDs under the brand name Vidigo and is currently being tested in five locations in Los Angeles. The kiosks look almost identical to Redbox ones in shape and size but will be colored black instead of red.
Redbox will begin testing smaller sell-through kiosks made for convenience stores soon however, adds president Mitch Lowe. In other news, Lowe says videogame and Blu-ray rental testing is going well.
The rental company recently began circulating a study that showed that Redbox renters are not taking a big chunk out of studio sales like Fox, Universal and Warner have been claiming and instead actually support the figures.
According to VB, "In the past six months, Redbox renters said they bought 3.3 new DVD or Blu-ray titles and 1.4 used DVD/Blu-ray discs. That compares to non-Redbox renters who say they purchased 3.1 new DVD/Blu-rays and 1.2 used DVD/Blu-rays. Additionally, the heaviest Redbox users, who rent at least one $1 title weekly, say they’ve bought 4.4 new DVD/Blu-rays and 1.9 used DVD/Blu-rays."
Last month, Infinity Ward, the developer behind the much anticipated Modern Warfare 2, confirmed that Microsoft was planning a 250GB Xbox 360 Elite that will bundle the game along with a custom colorway.
Today, Amazon has revealed the release date for the bundle, as well as full details on its availability.
The Elite model will come with a 250GB HDD, the game Modern Warfare 2 and two black wireless controllers for $400 USD.
The bundle will be available starting on November 10th, with quantities limited.
We have been reporting recently on the new ultraportable Dell Adamo XPS, which promises to be almost half the size of its main competitor, the Macbook Air.
Besides its 0.39-inch thinness, there has been little other details on the device, however.
This weekend, Bloomberg Business Week added a bit of info on the ultraportable, giving consumers a price and release date at least.
The Adamo XPS will cost $2000 USD and will launch on the same day as Windows 7, October 22nd.
Besides that, the article also says the ultraportable will have a “heat-sensing strip on the lip that, when swiped with a finger, glows white and automatically opens the aluminum lid.”
Sounds good, now let's hear what's inside the case as well.
On Thursday, we reported on the official launch of the Acer A1/Liquid smartphone which uses the "Snapdragon" processor and the Android operating system.
Crave has the full spec sheet, and overall the phone is pretty excellent:
* 3.5? WVGA (800 × 480) Capacitive
* Processor: Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) QSD 8250 1GHz (we will see who is actually to 768 Mhz)
* 256 MB SDRAM * 512 MB FLASH ROM
* 115 × 64 x 12.43 mm
* Weight 135g (including battery)
* HSDPA Category 8/ HSUPA Category 5 /UMTS (2100/1900/900 Mhz) for EU
* HSDPA Category 8/ HSUPA Category 5 /UMTS (2100/1900/850 Mhz) for US
* GSM: Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
* GPRS/EDGE: Class B, multi-slot class 10
* Messaging: MMS, SMS
* WLAN: 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED network connection
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
* Built-in AGPS Support
* 5MP camera with Auto-Focus
* Accelerometer
* Light sensor
* 3.5mm jack
* Capacitive button: Home, Search, Back, Menu
* Battery: Lithium Polymer rechargeable with 1.350 mAh capacity
* Up to 5 hours talk-time for WCDMA / Up to 6 hours for GSM
Dong Ngo over at Cnet conducted a few tests using a MacBook Pro and the new operating systemsSnow Leopard and Windows 7, and found that overall Apple's OS was faster, in most categories.
The test computer was a "15-inch unibody MacBook Pro with a 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB of RAM, and a 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT video card." The Windows 7 used was 64-bit.
Rather than recycle all of Ngo's details, I will link the original article and post his screenshots here.
Major Nelson has reported the GameStop has unveiled a new limited edition Xbox 360 controller that goes up for sale next week.
The controller has a new colorway (black carbon fiber on red) and will come bundled with a Play & Charge Kit.
The bundle will be available exclusively at GameStop, EB Games and Micromania chains in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell stated publicly this week that the company will be launching an Android-based smartphone in the US in 2010. He did not however confirm recent rumors that it would be an AT&T exclusive.
“Mobility is absolutely the theme,” said Dell.
He continued on about the recent launch of a smartphone, the Mini3i, in China. “That’s a starting point for us. You’ll probably see products next year in the U.S. that are family members of the things we started in China.”
Will they all be built on Android? “There are some other open platforms that are emerging that are similar to other businesses we participate in.”
Music Ally was given the data figures on Nokia's Comes With Music service, and it appears the service is seeing massively slow adoption rates, another blow to the struggling handset maker.
As of July, the service had only 107,227 active users globally, with the biggest concentration in the UK, where the service was launched first.
The full list, via Music Ally, for the 9 markets CWM is available:
SingTel, the carrier of the iPhone in Singapore has announced today that they have dropped the price of the smartphone, making it available for as low as "zero dollars."
Th company did not give any further details, but it is likely that receiving the phone for free will come at the expense of a large contract.
Amazon has announced today the launch of Local Express Delivery, giving customers in seven cities the opportunity to use same-day delivery on orders.
The seven cities are New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington D.C. Chicago, Indianapolis and Phoenix are expected before the end of the year.
Amazon Prime members (those that pay $79 USD a year for special shipping privileges including $3 overnight shipping and free 2-day shipping on all items) can use the same-day delivery for just $6 USD. All other members will have to pay $19 or higher for the service.
Amazon gives the following chart for same-day delivery:
* New York City – Order as late as 10 a.m.
* Philadelphia – Order as late as 10 a.m.
* Boston – Order as late as 10:30 a.m.
* Washington D.C. – Order as late as 10:30 a.m.
* Baltimore – Order as late as 10:30 a.m.
* Las Vegas – Order as late as 11 a.m.
* Seattle – Order as late as 1 p.m.
“We want to make online shopping as convenient as possible,” adds Girish Lakshman, vice president of Transportation at Amazon. “We’re continuously working to speed up delivery times and customers receiving items on the same day as ordered is an exciting step. Now, if a customer needs a last-minute present for a birthday or wants a copy of their book club book before the weekend starts, they can order from Amazon instead of the hassle of a last-minute trip to the mall.”
The iPhone Dev Team is reporting today however that jailbreaking is still possible on the 3GS, despite Apple's latest efforts.
"It’s not going to be impossible to jailbreak even if the exploit we used is gone," says Eric McDonald of the Team, via Wired.
All new 3GS models will have the new bootrom, patching the long open exploit.
McDonald explains however, that the new bootrom doesn't do all too much except make owning the iPhone 3GS a bit more of a hassle.
Says Wired: "The newly shipping iPhone 3GS’s bootrom interferes with 24kpwn, but that will only make the handset difficult to start up after it shuts down. Booting up will require being “tethered” to a computer. That means if you shut down a jailbroken iPhone 3GS, or if it runs out of power, you can only turn it back on by plugging it into a computer.
In short, changing the bootrom makes owning a jailbroken iPhone even more of a hassle than it already is. However, McDonald said the Dev-Team will just have to find a new exploit to enable untethered booting once again."
Google has followed tradition this week by posting a video on video sharing giant YouTube, this time showing the delivery of an oversized éclair to the company's headquaters, implying the Android firmware 2.0 is on its way.
The eclair will sit next to a giant cupcake and a giant donut, desserts representing Android 1.5 and the more recent 1.6.
The upcoming Motorola Sholes/Droid/Tao is expected to be the first Android phone launched with 2.0 pre-installed when it hits Verizon later this month.
Although unconfirmed, 2.0 should bring multi-touch support among other improvements.
According to "professional speaker and TV reporter" Jeremy Nicholas, the UK movie theater chain Cineworld has banned notebooks from their theaters, in an effort to stop piracy.
Despite his notebook not even having a camera, Nicholas was told to leave his expensive device with the management and collect it after, and offer he refused.
Says Nicholas, in his blog post: "[The manager] explained that it’s a new policy to cut out piracy. No-one is allowed to take laptops into Cineworld cinemas anymore.
I pointed out the lack of webcam on my laptop and he said he would make an exception in my case and let me in. He maintained his staff had been correct in refusing me entry as it was a new policy."
Apparently, Cineworld was just following the advice of FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) which was giving the same advice to most large UK movie chains. However, Nicholas' smartphone, with video recording ability, was allowed into the theater, as were other patrons, one lady who even had a Flip video recorder in her bag.
Nicholas concludes:
I have a few things to say to Cineworld.
1. If you treat your customers like this, they will go elsewhere.
The Sony PSP handheld continues to sell well in Japan, following the recent price cut on the PSP-3000 unit.
Overall, sales amounted to 40,100, enough to stay near the top of the chart but down from the 52,215 units sold the previous week.
The DS/DSi remained on top, pulling in 50,144 sales, which was down week-on-week but still strong overall.
The PS3 came in third at about 31,000, still holding strong from the release of the Slimmed down model. The Wii came in slightly behind the PS3, at 30,741.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 lagged far behind at 3,326 units sold:
Beginning on November 3rd, Sony will begin offering slim PlayStation 3 units with 250GB HDDs, the largest drives available to date.
The hardware will be identical to the 120GB model, except of course, with a larger HDD, and a larger price tag.
The model will retail for $350 USD.
Sony recently noted that they had sold over 1 million PS3 units since September 1st, when the Slim was launched and all other models saw a $100 price cut.
"The PS3 platform is poised for a tremendous holiday season," added Scott Steinberg, VP of product marketing for Sony America. "The new 250GB PS3 provides consumers with another compelling hardware option and speaks to the growing consumer appetite for digital content from the PlayStation Network – particularly high-definition content that showcases the power of the PS3 system."
The large UK ISP TalkTalk is making a strong point today, calling the Lord Mandelson-backed Internet Piracy bill (three strikes law) "naive," and prone to mistakes.
The law, which would give alleged file sharers two warnings before cutting them off for a "third strike" has met harsh criticism across the world, but was recently made into law in France.
Via a video posted on the BBC news site, TalkTalk shows just how easy it is for everyday users to break into unsecured Wi-Fi (or even WEP, WPA-secured Wi-Fi) and then share music and movies illegally.
Unsuspecting families could be targeted as pirates although they didn't actually commit the crime, and most would be completely unaware of anyone even being on their network.
TalkTalk believes this "presumption of guilt" is just the first step away from due process in the UK, and other nations.
"The Mandelson scheme is every bit as wrong-headed as it is naive," adds Andrew Heaney, director of strategy and regulation at TalkTalk. "The lack of presumption of innocence and the absence of judicial process combined with the prevalence of wi-fi hacking will result in innocent people being disconnected."
Joint mobile phone venture Sony Ericsson has reported poor earnings once again this morning, although the loss was more narrow than expected by Wall Street analysts.
For the Q3 2009, losses amounted to euro 164 million (about $245 million USD). Last year, for the same period, losses came to euro 25 million. Revenue was crushed as well, dropping from euro 2.8 billion to 1.6 billion year-on-year.
Handset units rose to 14.1 million, up 2 percent for the quarter but still down 45 percent for the year.
The company did say however it had received euro 455 million in external financing, mainly from its two parent companies.
Looking to the future, President Dick Komiyama said current market share is around 5 percent and he expects the entire mobile handset market to shrink by 10 percent in 2009.
On Wednesday a Federal judge granted Verizon's request for summary judgement, shooting down all of ASCAP's claims that mobile phone providers should pay public performance royalties for ringtones they sell.
The sale of ringtones already requires the seller to pay mechanical royalties to the publisher (songwriter) and recording artist, just like MP3s or CDs.
ASCAP claimed that when the ringtone is downloaded by a customer or plays when a mobile phone rings it's a public performance. Because of that they were asking for additional royalties.
The short version of Judge Denise Cote's ruling is that there is no public performance under US copyright law so there can be no infringement of that right.
The first claim Judge Cote addressed was the transmission of a digital file from mobile provider to the customer's phone. She pointed out "ASCAP does not contend... that a Verizon customer can actually listen to a ringtone while she is downloading it; it acknowledges that the ringtone cannot be played before the transmission is concluded"
In other words a data download isn't a performance. She also concluded that because the transmission is sent to a single individual it's not public by definition.
Earlier this year, Acer president Gianfranco Lanci predicted that his company would overcome Dell for second place in global PC shipments, and it appears his dream has come true.
New IDC data figures show that Acer has in fact surpassed Dell for second place, with both manufacturers still behind HP, as of the Q3 2009.
"Between this quarter and the next, we can finally pass Dell," Lanci added. "I would expect not only to pass Dell very soon, but also to breach the gap with HP."
Wal-Mart is set to launch Straight Talk this week, a no-contract cell phone service that will be available from 3200 Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
The phones and services will be available on Sunday.
There will be two options for the prepaid service, either $30 USD a month for 1000 minutes and 1000 texts or $45 USD for unlimited minutes and texts.
The service will run on Verizon's network and will be a direct competitor to Boost and Metro PCS which have slowly built a decent subscriber base over the past few years.
The British TV network Channel 4 has signed a deal today with video sharing giant YouTube, partnering to have the broadcaster's shows available for free via Channel 4's YouTube channel.
"YouTube and Channel 4 have signed a pioneering content deal that will make the broadcaster's original programmes available on demand, in full and free-of-charge via YouTube in the UK in the coming months," said the press release. "The strategic partnership marks the first time that a broadcaster anywhere in the world has made a comprehensive catch-up schedule available on YouTube."
One of the first shows available will be "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares," added the broadcaster.
Microsoft has announced that its anticipated addition of BSkyB TV programming to the Xbox 360 will begin on October 27th in the UK.
Graeme Boyd, Xbox community manager for Europe, announced the news today via Twitter, with an "official" announcement set for next week.
The tweet said: "October 27 - that's the date when you'll be able to watch TV from Sky on your Xbox 360. Channel line-up and pricing to come at launch."
The deal was first revealed at the E3 event, and will give access to current subscribers or new deals for non-subscribers. Pricing was not announced, but expect it at the "official" launch next week.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that work on a new way for connecting wireless devices directly to each other is nearing completion. Devices could start being certified for Wi-Fi Direct, as the new standard is called, some time next year.
Based on the announcement it looks like they are hoping to make Wi-Fi competitive with Bluetooth for computer and phone peripherals. It suggests Wi-Fi Direct could be used in devices ranging "from mobile phones, cameras, printers, and notebook computers, to human interface devices such as keyboards and headphones."
Wi-Fi Direct improves on the Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi communications mode used for peer to peer connections now by making them work more like router-based connections. Individual devices will be able to advertise services like routers do now
The possible combinations of wireless devices, like HDTVs, set-top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players, remote controls, portable media players, and smartphones makes this new standard an intriguing development.
But as we've seen in the past with technologies like Firewire, there's more to success than just creating a good product. In the end it's hardware manufacturers and consumers who will determine whether Wi-Fi Direct lives up to its promise.
VidZone has denied that they will be starting a streaming service for the Xbox 360, and will remain with their current system of selling music video downloads via Xbox Live.
In the UK, Microsoft charges on average £2 for individual videos (about 250 MS Points) and says they have no plans to extend their streaming service to the 360. VidZone currently has an extremely popular streaming service available on the PS3 via the free PlayStation Network.
"There's no real plan for us to do anything there, all the focus is going into PlayStation and it's a very different service to what we run on the PS3," said Michael Russo, director of new music development, via GI.biz. "The PS3 offering is much more of a proper consumer product. [Xbox 360] is a very different service to what we've got on PlayStation. Nothing is given away for free, there's no element of streaming, it's all pay-to-own downloadable music video content. It's a smaller business for us and we only represent the independent labels."
Nintendo, Capcom and 53 other DS software manufacturers have filed lawsuit today against four sellers of the R4 flash cart device for the Nintendo DS handheld in Japan.
The plaintiffs are looking for an injunction on the sales and import of the device as well as monetary compensation for "losses" attributed to the R4. The R4 allows for users to place movies, music and pirated games on a MicroSD card for playback on the DS.
A judge ruled in February that importing and selling the R4 in Japan was illegal but Capcom and Nintendo say the device is still available, at least from four stores. Nintendo even says the vendors are ignoring cease-and-desist letters, forcing the second lawsuit.
"We are expecting the entire society, including users, to recognise that our company and other software manufacturers have extremely sustained damages from proliferation of illegal instruments such as the Game Copying Devices," added Capcom, via GI.biz. "The computer industries have sustained serious damages because of those vendors, and we expect to influence the society to eliminate such illegal instruments from the market."
The billionaires Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the creators of the KazaaP2P client as well as Skype, have developed and financed a new unlimited music subscription service dubbed Rdio.
The service should rival Spotify and MOG, and will allow users to stream unlimited amounts of music online for a monthly subscription price.
“We have watched many ad-supported music businesses come and go,” Friis says. “We felt the time was right to revisit this space, this time with a compelling offering and a sustainable subscription model.”
The pricing model has not been revealed yet, but CEO Drew Larner says the company is negotiating deals with the Big 4 labels.
“The idea is to create a subscription streaming service that’s between desktop and mobile,” Larner added, via Bloomberg. “For someone who’s interested on a subscription basis, the notion of ownership becomes less important than the idea of streaming on- demand.”
Microsoft has released 34 security patches this week, as part of their regular monthly updates, a record amount.
Of the 34, many were "critical," Microsoft's most severe rating for security holes. The fixes included patches for holes in Windows Vista, XP, Windows 2000 and Windows 7.
The variety includes patches for Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Oulook and Silverlight.
McAfee, makers of commercial anti-virus software, said that many of the security holes patched this week were very dangerous because they exposed PC owners to malware if they visited the wrong web site or played a file that had "been tampered with."
Microsoft's former record for patches was 31 in June.
Via a speculative post on their site, Fudzilla has started the rumor mill up again by stating that AMD has already won the GPU deal for the upcoming Xbox console (likely in 2012).
Says the full post:
"We've learned from industry sources that AMD / ATI has already won the GPU deal for the next generation XboX console. It looks like Microsoft was happy with first Xenos GPU and it wants to continue using the same, especially since the new ATI GPU should keep the compatibility with legacy games.
The consoles refresh was supposed to happen in 2010 but due to the recession both Microsoft and Sony have decided to push its plans for 2012 and keep the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 alive for more than it was originally planned.
We don’t know how the GPU looks like but judging from the timeline when it is supposed to be delivered we suspect that it might be a 28nm part."
Funai and Sonic Solutions have announced a deal which will bring online video to more consumer electronics devices. A client for Sonic's CinemaNow service will be built into an as of yet unspecified selection of HDTVs and Blu-ray players built by Funai.
Funai manufactured brands include Phillips, Sylvania, Magnavox, and Emerson.
Like many online video services CinemaNow video on demand can already be used on a number of devices ranging from PCs and portable media players to blu-ray players
What makes them somewhat unique is their use of Sonic Solution's Qflix, which allows them to sell you DVDs which can burn at home, complete with standard CSS encryption, and don't depend on the continued operation of DRM servers. Unfortunately they do require you to buy a Qflix DVD burner and media.
Hideaki Funakoshi, General Manager of DVD Division, AV Management HQ of Funai, said "We view the inclusion of Roxio CinemaNow technology powering convenient access to high-quality entertainment as an important driver for consumer adoption of our next-generation devices."
With the simultaneous release on Tuesday of Apple's iMovie 8.0.5 update and two new Sanyo HD camcorders came the introduction of a new video standard called iFrame. According to both companies iFrame is a revolutionary new format designed for computer editing.
But the specs for iFrame don't appear to be a new format so much as a new standard for existing formats. It uses 30fps H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) video and AAC audio. What makes it unique is the video resolution, which is 960x540.
According to Apple, "iFrame produces small file sizes and simplifies the process of working with Video recorded with your camera."
There's no doubt the resolution, which is a mere quarter of the 1920x1080 offered in the highest resolution camcorders, should result in much smaller file sizes. Of course those small files will have lower resolution than even a 720p video by almost 50%.
In fact it's only 50% higher resolution than a standard definition digital camcorder.
The real question seems to come down to whether the decrease in file size is worth the loss of quality and a resolution that doesn't match either a DTV or optical disc format.
Looking at Sanyo's online information for one of the new camcorders, the VPC-HD2000ABK you won't find the bitrate of iFrame video. But based on the specs listed for 1080p video it looks like it should be somewhere between 1GB and 1.5GB per hour.
AT&T Senior Vice President Robert Quinn Jr. has sent a second letter to the FCC accusing Google of violating that agency's telephone provider and net neutrality rules. It follows a letter he sent last month in which he complained about certain rural numbers being blocked in Google Voice.
AT&T's letter writing campaign is a response to FCC interest in their role in the iPhone App Store approval process.
In his latest letter Quinn writes "Indeed, Google’s power to block calls – as well as its ability to abuse its market power in search and other services – dramatically underscores why the Commission cannot rationally exempt Google or any provider of Internet-based information services from any rules designed to preserve a “free and open Internet.""
While his characterization of Google's call blocking may be accurate, it still ignores the fact that it doesn't actually violate any FCC policy. That's because it doesn't prevent competitors from offering Google customers an alternative service.
AT&T, on the other hand, has been used their influence with Apple to block any iPhone app from streaming video across mobile broadband while offering their own video service over the very same connection.
Cory Doctorow, the keynote speaker at the O'Reilly Tools of Change (TOC) conference at the Frankfurt Book Fair, had a few choice words for publishers who continue to use DRM on their e-books, calling them "the real pirates," and "bent on the destruction of publishing."
Doctorow is the author of the Boing-Boing blog and long time activist in the industry.
Says Doctorow, via BookSeller.com: "Digital licensing systems currently employed destroy the bond between the readers and the book."
He continued that DRM was a "farcical" way to exploit consumers, adding that "there is no mechanism whereby a retailer of a [print] book can take it away from you," and that a system wherein that exists is "insane."
Doctorow concluded that the "most valuable asset that publishers have" is the knowledge that a book "is passed to kids or has come from your parents".
Acer has launched the Liquid A1 smartphone this week, using the Android operating system and the new Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.
The phone will use Android 1.6 and Snapdragon can support 3D graphics, making it the first Android handset to do so.
Other specs include a WVGA touchscreen, HSPA connectivity and a 5MP camera that includes standard features such as auto-focus, geo-tagging, ISO and self-timer.
There was not much else revealed but the launch page says the new "Spinlets" app will "allow you to share media directly from the Liquid handset itself."
There is also Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Picasa and Flickr integration right from within the address book.
According to a new BSN report, Nintendo is readying a DSi successor for late 2010, one that will include a new nVidia processing chip.
The report states the deal has already been struck, and the handheld is currently in development.
It is possible that Nintendo will use the nVidia single Tegra chip, which is more powerful that the DSi's current dual ARM processing chips.
Adds the report: "Given the fact that current Nintendo DS hardware is based upon two ARM cores [ARM7 and ARM9 series], it looks like Next-Gen DS could be backwards compatible with the DS application library, courtesy of ARM11 core inside current Tegra SoC products. According to our sources, "all of the apps that came for old DS can run on a single ARM11 core - yet alone the CorTex A9-based next-gen Tegra, leaving graphics subsystem to do "something smarter". In any case, the hardware is now much more potent and should easily enable developers to push the envelope even further."
Microsoft is teaming up with Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane on a new Windows 7 cross-promotion.
The software giant says the promotion was inspired by Milton Berle's variety show Texaco Star Theater and will be a full 30-minute show that will air on Fox November 6th.
The show is commercial-less (all ad time paid by Microsoft) and will "feature unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content."
Neither McFarlane or Microsoft would give away any of the skits, but sight gags are expected.
The show is called "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show," and will air at 8:30 PM on November 6th.
The promotion is expected to cost Microsoft over $3 million USD.
MOG has announced today the launch of MOG All Access, an unlimited music streaming service that will cost only $5 USD a month and has backing by the Big 4; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music.
Says CEO David Hyman: "Our goal with MOG All Access was to build the best service for listening to and discovering music, period. To accomplish this, we're providing access to millions of songs (just about everything), with a drop dead easy way to hear any song or album you like in an instant, from the convenience of your web browser. You'll get access to MOG radio, a revolutionary listening experience that will forever change how you discover music and truly redefines what radio is, and killer tools for discovery through other users of the service. And you get it all monthly for the price of a beer. We're setting the music listening bar."
The company adds they have partnerships with thousands of indie labels and the service will launch with over 5 million tracks. "Millions more" are expected before the end of the year.
"Creating a great online music experience requires not only a large catalog of easily accessible songs, but also a compelling, easy-to-use platform that allows fans to discover, share and discuss the music and artists they are passionate about," added Michael Nash, Executive Vice President Digital Strategy and Business Development at Warner Music Group. "MOG 's All Access Pass offers fans a fresh and dynamic way to enjoy the music they love and a terrific way for our artists to reach their fans where they are most engaged. We look forward to working with MOG to make that user experience the best it can be."
The service is expected to launch on Thanksgiving of this year and users can even sample the service for free for a trial period.
According to recent NPD Group numbers, the Wii Play video game is the best selling title of the new millennium (in the US), surpassing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Over 11 million Wii Play units have been sold since 2000, surpassing San Andreas, at 8.25 million.
Wii Fit is well on its way to surpassing GTA as well, with 7.9 million units sold through the end of August. Cammie Dunaway of Nintendo says however that the numbers will be a lot higher after NPD releases their September numbers in a couple of days.
Microsoft is considering bringing the Zune software and marketplace to Mac users, says a recent ZDnet post, although there is no timetable for a release, if a release even occurs.
The word comes from Jose Pinero, Director of Communications for Microsoft’s TV, Video and Music Business. “We are evaluating a lot of options in terms of platforms,” said the director, when asked about iPod users who did not necessarily want to use iTunes, and preferred subscription models.
Pinero also noted that "the addition of the ability to stream music from a browser that is part of the new Zune 4.0 experience, Mac and Linux users already can stream music to their systems if they have a ZunePass subscription. The streaming capability isn’t limited to Internet Explorer; it works with any browser."
LG has launched the GD510 Pop mobile phone this week, the company's "greenest" phone, ever.
The Pop's packaging uses all recycled paper and soy ink printing, and LG says the entire production process is eco-friendly.
Pre-installed on the phone are applications dubbed "Eco-tree" and "Eco-calculator" which lets users see how much they have reduced their C02 emissions by alternatively taking the train or carpooling instead of driving alone, for example.
Most notably however, is the optional solar-powered battery cover allowing you to charge your phone out in the sunlight. LG says 10 minutes of sunlight charging will give users 180 minutes of standby time, or just over 2 minutes of talk time.
Green aside, GSMArena says the phone has a "3" WQVGA resistive TFT display, 3 MP camera with fixed focus and video recording, Bluetooth, microUSB slot, and FM radio - not much different than LG Cookie." Unfortunately, the phone will not have 3G support.
Apple appears to have finally patched a bootrom vulnerability in the iPhone 3GS which has been used for jailbreaking via the 24Kpwn exploit. Apple replaced the bootrom in units shipped recently with an updated version.
Apple modifying the bootrom eventually was inevitable given the amount of work continue to put into attempting to stop jailbreakers.
This won't affect jailbreaking of older iPhones. But if you were planning to buy a new iPhone with the intention of jailbreaking it you might want to buy a refurbished unit or look for a retailer with older stock.
Some believe the numbers are actually skewed, however, to the low side.
“I have about 250 students per year of whom hardly any have not file shared,” says Kristoffer Schollin, a scientist with a doctorate in intellectual property law. “It’s at 100 percent.”
Internet speeds in Sweden are ranked third highest in the world, on average, at about 12.8 Mbps. The US averages around 5.1 Mbps.
Despite the seemingly high number, the IFPI says the numbers are in a downtrend, following government intervention.
"Six out of 10 (users of file sharing sites) have stopped completely, or at least significantly lowered their use of illegal file sharing after the new legislation,"IFPI Sweden chairman Ludvig Werner added.
The report was based on a study of "music consumption habits" of 1,006 Swedes aged 15 to 74.
Gaming rental company GameFly, which has been trying to build a lawsuit against the United States Postal Service over alleged favoritism towards Netflix and other competitors, has asked a judge to have USPS reveal more information to the public on their dealings with Netflix.
GameFly wants information regarding photos that clearly show that two California-based offices have "Netflix only" mail slots.
The rental company also alleges that due to preferential treatment, Netflix and Blockbuster have less discs damaged during mailing. GameFly says it has been denied a request to have "the postal service manually cull many of the" discs it is sent, which they allege is done for Netflix discs.
The USPS has so far denied all of GameFly's claims and said they should change their mailers if they want automation postage handling.
Roxio has released version 4 of their Popcorn video conversion software, adding support for AVCHD and Adobe Flash, as well as better preview and direct YouTube uploads.
Perhaps just as notably, Popcorn can now export as Flash video (FLV or FV4), including player controls for easy uploads to websites.
Electronista adds "the new tabbed interface lets users choose between capturing and converting video. Besides AVCHD and Flash, the software supports MKV, QuickTime, AVI. MPEG-1/2/4, Tivo and EyeTV formats. Users can make copies, extract multiple clips or audio tracks from non-protected DVD's. Burning software is included that allows creation of custom DVD menus. Labeling tools support LightScribe and LabelFlash drives and media."
Western Digital has officially launched its WD TV Live HD Media Player today, offering full HD playback from external drives via your HDTV.
Full specs are very interesting:
Full-HD video playback and navigation - up to 1080p - This is the real thing; Full-HD 1080p playback. Sit back and enjoy the spectacular picture quality of brilliant high definition video and the crystal-clear sound of digital audio. Use the included remote control to make your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated navigation menus.
Play a wide variety of file formats - WD TV Live supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need to spend time transcoding.
Nokia has announced today that the highly anticipated Booklet 3G netbook will begin selling at Best Buy for $300 USD, as long as customers sign up for a $60 USD per month mobile data service plan with AT&T.
Those who do not want to sign up for the service, will have to shell out $599 for the device and can use Wi-Fi.
Dell has revealed two more pictures of the upcoming Adamo XPS ultraportable, a notebook measuring just 0.39 inches thick, about half the size of the market leader Mac Air at 0.76 inches.
The company's press release said: "Because so many people who have had a sneak peek of Dell's superthin Adamo XPS laptop seem to be falling in love with it, the company today released two more photos of the highly stylized, thin 9.99-mm Adamo by Dell system. The Adamo XPS is as intriguing open as it is closed."
The French free music-streaming service Deezer has brought in about $9.6 million in second round capital funding, this time from private equity firms AGF Private Equity and CM-CIC Capital Prive.
The company has about 10 million users, 6 million in France.
The site launched in 2007 after deals were signed with SACEM, Sony BMG and Universal Music Group.
Deezer's main competition is Spotify, the high profile streaming site that offers both free and subscriber-based services and a large catalog of tracks. Spotify is set to launch in the US later this year.
Deezer now has about $18 million in capital funding.
The Palm Pre smartphone has hit Germany this week, on the O2 carrier, one day before it launches in Spain and three days before its UK launch.
The smartphone will be GSM, unlike the CDMA-version available in the United States via Sprint, allowing for SIM card usage.
The phone will cost 480 euro for unlocked version or 1 euro if you sign a 2-year financing deal at 20-euro per month.
For the UK, the pricing is different. The best deal is to purchase the phone with 18-month contract, for 96.89 GBP and pay 29.38 GBP a month for the duration of the contract.
René Schuster, CEO of Telefónica O2 Germany: "We operate one of the most modern mobile telecommunications networks in Europe and offer our customers a simple and transparent tariff structure. In combination with Palm Pre our customers experience top-class mobile communications. With Palm Pre the mobile internet becomes the easiest thing in the world."
"There's a lot of excitement about Palm Pre in Europe as we continue to expand Palm webOS products across new carriers and countries," adds Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein. "We look forward to launching Palm Pre with O2 so users in Germany can see firsthand how Palm webOS offers a new and better smartphone experience."
Struggling Internet TV startup company ZillionTV, has laid off about one-third of its workforce this week, another blow to the company which recently announced it was delaying the launch of the service until the Q3 2010, despite full backing by the Hollywood studios.
"As a result of our expanded go-to-market market strategy announced last month, the company has realigned its resources to support this growth," ZillionTV senior vice president of global marketing Liz Davidoff noted.
As of today owners of TiVo Series 2, TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL DVRs connected to the internet can rent Blockbuster On Demand movies. Blockbuster will also begin selling TiVo DVRs at their brick and mortar rental outlets.
"By bringing Blockbuster's content direct to TiVo subscribers, we show once again that TiVo offers much more choice and convenience for our customers compared to other DVR offerings," said Joe Miller, senior vice president of sales and marketing at TiVo Inc.
TiVo DVRs already have clients for Amazon Video On Demand and the Watch Instantly service offered to all Netflix subscribers.
A Federal judge reviewing the RIAA complaint against New York defense attorney Ray Beckerman is recommending the request for sanctions be denied. RIAA lawyers accused Beckerman of "vexatious conduct," claiming he was hindering the discovery process in order to conceal evidence.
The complaint, filed in the case of UMG v Lindor, claimed "Defendant, her family, and her counsel intentionally provided false information, attempted to misdirect Plaintiffs as to relevant facts and events, and concealed critical information and evidence regarding the infringement at issue, all of which severely prejudiced Plaintiffs."
US Magistrate Judge Robert Levy noted in his recommendation that RIAA claims primarily revolved around the actions and testimony of third parties, and that the defendant (Marie Lindor) couldn't be held responsible for them.
He said of the defendant, "this court is loath to sanction a person who, by all accounts, has never used a computer and is not accused of downloading or distributing plaintiffs’ copyrighted recordings herself."
Record labels appear ready to defend their ownership of recordings dating back to the 1970s against termination claims from artists. The claims could transfer ownership of a recording to the performer as soon as 35 years after its creation.
The labels' position appears to be that the termination right, established in the Copyright Act of 1976, doesn't apply to their releases. Based on a RIAA lobbying effort a decade ago, they don't seem convinced that's a winning argument.
In 1999 that organization successfully lobbied for an official declaration that recordings made while under contract to a label weren't subject to termination. That provision of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act was later repealed after a poor reaction from artists including Don Henley and Sheryl Crow.
If the artists are successful in taking ownership of their recordings the transfer could begin as soon as 2013.
It's easy to see why the labels would be worried about losing ownership of their back catalog. Artists whose older work is still popular would have a lot of leverage to negotiate new distribution deals.
A potential royalty battle is brewing between terrestrial radio stations and performance rights collection agencies ASCAP and BMI. The nearly five year old license agreements which set royalties paid to songwriters will expire at the end of this year.
There have been many changes over the last five years, including the sharp economic downturn, a dramatic increase in internet radio listenership, and the possible addition of new royalties for performers.
Payments to the two collection organizations have risen around $80 million since 2001. If the government mandates the additional expense of artist royalties broadcasters may be asking for a reduction in performance royalties to defray some of the cost.
If the Radio Music Licensing Committee, representing broadcasters, can't reach an agreement with ASCAP and BMI the rates could be set by a District Court Judge.
User Chainfire over at XDA-developers made a post this week in regards to the Windows Marketplace, adding that the DRM used was practically "non-existant" and that it had been cracked already by himself, within hours of the service's launch.
Because the user is a software developer, he declined to spell out the method of cracking the protection on the apps, but did post the following:
Mojo Nixon has joined the growing list of artists giving away music. Last week when he released his new album, "Whiskey Rebellion," on Amazon MP3 he began a three week promotion offering both the new album and most of his back catalog for free.
The promotion will last 3 weeks (starting Wednesday, October 7). It includes solo albums and albums Skid Roper, but not his 1994 collaboration with former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra.
Nixon's albums span more than 20 years, from the mid-1980s when he attracted a cult following with songs like "Elvis Is Everywhere" and "Jesus At McDonalds."
Last night, iolo Technologies, vendors of the System Mechanic "PC-tuning" software, released a report that stated Windows 7 booted slower than its predecessor Vista and many, including our very own AfterDawn regulars felt the move was nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Today, ChannelWeb decided to experiment, and installed the System Mechanic 9 software on their test computer (32-bit Win 7, Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB RAM) and was met with some ironic results.
Without System Mechanic installed, boot-up time (from Power button to "executing a command") was 53 seconds, including typing in a password to login. After running a "Deep" optimization of Windows Startup using the software, boot up time increased to 54 seconds, slower than before the optimization but still extremely faster than iolo's reported startup time of 1:43 posted yesterday.
Overall, iolo's posted times are alot slower then most reported times and begs the question of what type of computer they tested on, and with what software already installed on the machine.
LG Display has announced today the launch of a prototype version of the Solar Cell e-Book reader, a 6-inch device with its own solar panel.
The company says the solar cell is 0.7 millimeters thick and weighs 20 grams, thinner then a credit card.
Battery life is extended by up to a full day of reading if charged using the solar panel for five hours, adds the company.
There is no roadmap for the device.
Says Ki Yong Kim, head of the Solar Cell Office at LG Display: “E-books are attracting a lot of attention because they offer the advantage of storing thousands of books’ worth of contents in an easy-to-carry device. The idea of e-book combined with solar cell will offer users the added benefit of longer usage. We will continue to provide users with enhanced convenience and value to solidify our lead in next-generation, environmentally friendly products.”
Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime had a few words today for the PSPgo, even claiming the new handheld may have a "fundamental concept problem."
In an interview with the Washington Post, Fils-Aime says the PSPgo, which removes the UMD drive, has a "fundamental concept problem in terms of 'Who's it for?' and 'What's the benefit?' "
Continuing on, Fils-Aime makes sure to be respectful. "I have the utmost respect for all our competitors. But it's interesting to try and answer the consumer question of 'what's in it for me?' in that product."
Sprint has released their first Android-based smartphone today, the HTC Hero, making it available through Sprint (online, B&M) and Best Buy.
The Hero will cost $180 USD with two-year new contract or upgrade after a $100 rebate.
The smartphone boasts a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen and an 800 MHz processor. Like most Android devices, the Hero has a trackball as well, but no full QWERTY keypad. Different from the original HTC Hero, is the rounded edges of the device, in contrast to the "Chin" design of the non-Sprint Hero.
The device uses the HTC Sense UI, and will come pre-loaded with popular apps such as ShopSavvy, Twitter, MySpace Mobile, and Sprint's own Sprint TV.
Although there isn't very much details on the notebook as of yet, Dell has shown off the Adamo XPS ultraportable today, boasting overall thinness of just 0.39 inches, making the device almost half as thin as the market leader Mac Air at 0.76 inches.
There is no other information known yet, but users expect SSD storage, and a Core 2 Duo processor.
Wal-Mart has begun selling used videogames via their online storefront this week, offering the games for up to 30 percent off MSRP while giving a "guarantee" on quality.
Buyers have up to three weeks to return defective titles and the giant retailer is offering games from the Nintendo Wii, DS/DSi, Sony Playstation 2 and 3 and the Xbox 360.
It appears Wal-Mart finally sees the great margins of used games, which have helped outlets such as GameStop to remain profitable during hard economic times. During a recent quarterly earnings statement, the video game chain said used games revenue jumped 22 percent year-on-year and margins on used games were over 45 percent while new games sales fell.
Update:Virgin Media has contacted us, and blatantly say The Register's article is all speculation and we made one error (the service has not launched yet). The ISP says they intend to offer the unlimited downloading option when the service launches, and that "no decisions on the number of tracks or pricing" have been made yet. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Virgin Media has started a new "unlimited" music service this week in the UK, however The Register is reporting that the service will not be unlimited at all, and users will be able to download 40 MP3s for £15 a month instead.
The ISP will eventually have unlimited downloads but "we're still working towards that goal", says the company.
UMG, the largest label on the planet, is a big fan of the unlimited music model, and other reports have put the blame on Sony Music for the lack of current unlimited options via Virgin.
"We believe music fans are crying out for a service like this, and we want to see it launched as soon as possible. We and our artists are doing everything we can to support Virgin Media and to get the new service off the ground," adds a UMG spokesperson.
According to founder Chad Hurley, YouTube now gets over 1 billion hits every day, three years after Google purchased the video sharing site for $1.65 billion USD.
Says his blog: Three years ago today, Steve and I stood out in front of our offices and jokingly crowned ourselves the burger kings of media. We'd just made headlines by joining with Google in our shared goal of organizing the world's information (in our case, video) and making it easily and quickly accessible to anyone, anywhere. Today, I'm proud to say that we have been serving well over a billion views a day on YouTube. This is great moment in our short history and we owe it all to you.
Looking back at those early days, we were committed to some basic principles that have since become fundamental tenets in the world of online video:
* Speed matters: Videos should load and play back quickly.
* Clip culture is here to stay: Short clips are voraciously consumed and perfect for watching a wide variety of content.
* Open platforms open up possibility: Content creation isn't our business; it's yours. We wanted to create a place where anyone with a video camera, a computer, and an Internet connection could share their life, art, and voice with the world, and in many cases make a living from doing so.
The Usenet provider Newshosting announced this week that they had upped binary retention to 400 days for all their service plans.
The new milestone is "made possible by recently implemented storage capacity upgrades to the Newshosting datacenters worldwide."
The company said they intent to continue building retention, "far above and beyond" 400 days.
Retention, in relation to newsgroups, is the amount of time a posted item remains posted. Newshosting also offers 2 years retention for text newsgroups alongside the 400 for binary.
According to PC-tuning company iolo Technologies, Windows 7 boots up slower than predecessor Vista, a strong contradiction to Microsoft's claims of improved start-up times.
Iolo's testing showed that Windows 7 loads up 42 percent slower than Vista, while using a "brand new machine." 7 loaded in 1:34 compared to 1 minute flat for Vista.
George Hotz, who normally goes under the moniker Geohot, has released blackra1n today, the world's first Apple iPhone 3.1.2 firmware jailbreaking software.
I rarely endorse any product wholeheartedly, but I must confess that Spotify has really, really made a difference to my music listening habits during the past 6 months or so. Spotify, for those of you who don't know the product yet -- or live in a country, like U.S., where it isn't available yet -- is essentially a free, ad-supported music streaming service that has massive music library (with good audio quality; -q6 Vorbis for users of the free version and -q9 Vorbis for users of the premium version) with dead-easy user interface.
I've argued for years that once music industry (applies to movie industry as well) can create a product that beats the illegal alternatives in usability and has the correct pricing model, they can actually tackle piracy effectively. Spotify comes close. Very close. Once their S60 client finally ships and I can use the service also with my N97, I'm quite certain that I'll abandon MP3s for most of the time.
So, I thought I'd create my own -- arguably quite small -- wishlist for Spotify's further development..
The above-mentioned S60 client is a must-have for European markets where Nokia single-handedly dominates the smart phone market
Ability to add local MP3s to playlists.
After all, Spotify doesn't have contracts in place with all the labels and copyright holders in the world, which means that you're bóund to have MP3s on your HDD that can't be found from Spotify. Currently you can't mix these tracks with Spotify's playlists.
And when Spotify finally adds this feature, I'd love to see the artist/biography/album data applied automatically also to the locally stored MP3s, just like Spotify does for streamed tracks
Recommendation mechanism, like Last.fm or Pandora
Sure, Spotify has a built-in ability to connect itself to your Last.fm account, but why would I have to use two services instead of one?
Importing standard playlists
After all, .m3u and .pls have been around for more than decade now, so an ability to support standard playlists would be really, really nice addition. Sure enough, it would need either the ability to play local MP3s or an ability to scan them through for artist/album/track info in order to find the correct tracks.
Support for audio and video podcasts
Apple has done many, many things right with their iPod/iTunes world domination and the just-click-and-it-works support for podcasts is one of them. I follow several audio and video podcasts and hate the idea that I need to change the client every time I decide to take a break from music listening and want to listen a podcast instead.
Open up the API
If you take a lesson from Twitter and Facebook, you can easily see that any service nowadays is strongly dependant on its ability to build a community of third party developers to support the environment. (use of Twitter, for example, via its web site is pretty horrible experience -- but when you use a 3rd party client for the service, the whole experience changes completely)
Sure enough, the way Spotify makes money from free users is via its advertising model, so locking down the API to premium users is a must, but even then, it could spark wide variety of extremely interesting concepts built around Spotify's technology -- and each user of such third party clients would also have to be a premium user, thus boosting the sales of Spotify.
Clients on alternative platforms -- like Despotify for Linux -- already do this, by allowing premium users to use Spotify on a platform not officially supported by Spotify. But as this type of clients are essentially hacks, how many Linux users are actually willing to a pay for a service that can go offline any given day, without advance warning. By opening the official API, Spotify would ensure that the users of alternative platforms would also be willing to pay for the service.
How about you guys, any ideas on how to improve Spotify further -- or ideas for an alternative/competing service that would make legal music listening experience even better?
Cnet is reporting this week that Viacom has uncovered evidence that YouTube employees were responsible for uploading unauthorized Viacom content to the site before the media behemoth sued Google for $1 billion in 2007 over copyright infringement.
The evidence, mainly email correspondence, "indicate that YouTube managers knew and discussed the existence of unauthorized content on the site with employees but chose not to remove the material," say sources.
If the actions are proven true, YouTube would lose their "safe harbor" status under the DMCA, which says that service providers cannot be held liable for content posted by their users as long as they remove it when asked.
"The characterizations of the supposed evidence, made in violation of a court order, are wrong, misleading, or lack important context and notably come on the heels of a series of significant setbacks for the plaintiffs," YouTube spokesman Aaron Zamost added however, when Google was told of the alleged evidence. "The evidence will show that we go above and beyond our legal obligations to protect the rights of content owners."
According to a new report from market research firm Retrevo Pulse, HDTV sales continue to grow however the ratio of smaller TV purchases (up to 37-inches) has increased expoinentially, at the expense of larger sets (37 to 55-inch).
Overall, the ratio has shifted to 3:2 in favor of smaller TVs compared to 1:1 last year.
Analysts in the report, via Twice, gave the following possible reasons for the shift in consumer sentiment:
* The completion of the digital TV transition on June 12 was a motivating factor in a new TV purchases by a wider population segment.
* More households are now adding multiple HDTV sets for various rooms in the house.
* More HDTV programming through terrestrial broadcasts, cable, satellite and Internet TV is now available, stoking consumer demand for sets on which to view it.
Overall, Retrevo Pulse expects "an especially good year for smaller-screen TVs."
According to new figures from Rentrak'sHome Video Essentials, US consumer spending on Blu-ray and DVD rentals exploded 10 percent year-on-year for the Q3 2008, with notable growth in popularity of Blu-ray and Redbox $1 rentals.
Overall, spending for both formats grew to $1.6 billion USD for the quarter. For the entire year through September 27th, rental spending is up 8.2 percent to $5 billion USD.
Amazon has begun sales of the Android-based Archos 5 PMP today, and the player has some impressive specs.
The Archos 5 includes a 5-inch touchscreen with 800x480 resolution, 720pHD decoding (H.264 HD, MPEG-4 HD, and WMV HD5) as well as format support for mostly all common file types (not just MP4).
The device has full GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G (through Bluetooth from phone), apps (Twitter, Facebook, many more), WebTV and Internet Radio, Flash 9 support, HDTV-out and an optional DVR dock.
Microsoft has announced that they will begin offering a version of the upcoming Office 2010 as an ad-supported "Starter Edition," allowing consumers of new PCs (it comes pre-loaded) to use the popular suite for free.
There is of course, a catch, and that is that the Starter edition will only include Word and Excel and will have limited feature set.
"Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box," Microsoft said.
The product will replace MS Works, the productivity suite usually included in new release PCs for free or very low cost.
"It really is a replacement for Works," Microsoft corporate vice president Takeshi Numoto added, via Cnet. "It is not a mere renaming of Works. It is an Office product."
The struggling video rental chain Movie Gallery is apparently falling behind on its rent, reports VideoBusiness, with the company recently setting up a "real estate hotline" for landlords of its brick and mortar stores.
The number, 877-572-3148, was set up as a hotline for landlords, and Movie Gallery promises 48-hour response to all inquiries.
One landlord speaking to the source says the chain is already 20 days late in paying rent.
Mitsubishi has unveiled a 155-inch OLED TV this week at the CEATEC 2009 event in Japan, showcasing one of the largest displays ever for OLED.
Mainichi Japan says the "OLED display consists of 720 10-centimeter-square OLED blocks that can be rearranged to change the dimensions of the display using Mitsubishi's Aurora Vision LED screens at baseball stadiums."
The screen is also about three times brighter than any current LCD TV. Lifespan is about 200,000 hours.
Being that the OLED blocks are so small means Mitsubishi can create a TV of any size, ranging from the now standard 15-inch TVs to infinity.
The French weekly "Le Canard Enchaîné" has reported today that French presidency has made 400 unauthorized copies of the documentary "A visage découvert : Nicolas Sarkozy," going so far as to replacing the name of the editor with logos promoting “Service audiovisuel de la présidence de la République”.
The editor, Galaxie Press, confirmed that they had only shipped 50 copies but Sarkozy's gang needed more and took matters into their own hands.
Making the story all the more hypocritical is the fact that the French parliament recently approved the highly controversial 'three strikes' law for Internet pirates, giving authorities the power to disconnect multiple time offenders from the Web completely.
RealNetworks has appealed the recent court ruling that blocked it from selling its RealDVD copying software.
The company never got to sell one unit of the software before they were taken to court by the media industry, with full backing by the Hollywood studios. Real was served with an injunction in August, banning sales of the software and of an upcoming set-top that incorporates the technology.
U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled at the time that RealDVD circumvents the CSS copyright protection of the discs, thus violating the DMCA.
The WSJ is reporting this week that book retailer Barnes & Noble is prepping to release an Android-based ebook reader, one that will rival the popular Amazon Kindle for the top spot in the growing market.
B&N has its own eBookstore which they say is seeing good sales for the books, but so far there is no hard evidence that ebook reader sales are great in general.
The B&N player would include a 6-inch display, E-Ink screen, virtual keypad, and Wi-Fi, all while running on Google's open source Android platform.
The giant e-tailer Amazon has slashed the price of the Nintendo Wii to £139.99 in the UK, down from £179.99.
The Amazon bundle includes one wireless controller and the game Wii Sports and seems to be a way to clear stock for the more expensive Wii MotionPlus bundle.
That bundle will sell for £179.99 and include Wii MotionPlus, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort.
Some retailers have increased the price of the Wii Sports Resort bundle, given low supply and high demand, with Play.com even charging £199.99 for it.
Videos posted today on the Mexican site Matuk are implying that the Palm Pre is headed to Mexican carrier Telcel, rival to official carrier in the region, Movistar.
More notably however is the videos show off an SD card slot for the device, which would certainly be an upgrade to the device.
Trying new marketing, Paramount and Papa John's have started a new promotion that will have the pizza chain selling pizzas in Transformers-themed boxes as well as giving some customers $3 USD coupons off the upcoming release of the Revenge of the FallenBlu-ray or DVD.
Buyers of the "Mega XL Pizza" through November 1st will receive the coupon.
“As the temperatures cool down, there’s nothing better than a night at home with dinner and a movie, which is why Papa John’s is making it easier for our customers to purchase the hottest DVD on the shelves,” added Jim Ensign, Papa John’s VP of marketing/communications, via VB. “Our Mega XL Pizza will feed the whole family, while the coupon to purchase Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ensures a great evening of entertainment.”
NCR, the company behind the Blockbuster Express kiosks, has announced that they are installing 188 new machines in Tedeschi Food Shops convenience stores, expanding the movie rental company's range.
The stores are located in New England, and go as south as Connecticut.
Blockbuster already has 93 kiosks in Tedeschi stores, and expects to have 300 installed by the end of the year.
“Our decision to partner with NCR follows a careful evaluation of other similar services in this space,” added Joe Hamza, VP of sales and marketing for Tedeschi. “We believe NCR has the most compelling vision for delivering entertainment conveniently and efficiently to consumers.”
“Convenience stores are a prime location for DVD rental kiosks, as it is a great way for consumers to pick up their entertainment for the evening without having to make an additional stop on their way home,” notes Alex Camara, VP and general manager of NCR Entertainment.
Hulu has quietly launched the Linux version of their Desktop client today, meaning the client is now available to PC, Mac and Linux users as of today.
"Linux support has been the most requested addition to the original Hulu Desktop application since it launched," Hulu added in a press release.
Full details of the new addition to the lineup:
Which Linux distributions does Hulu Desktop support? Hulu Desktop for Linux is currently built on Fedora 11 and Ubuntu 9.04. The packages should also work on any Linux distribution with glib2.16 (such as Ubuntu 8.04+ and Fedora 9+). Other configurations have not been tested.
Will you be supporting other Linux distributions? Over time we hope to expand the set of supported Linux distributions. You can let us know your preference by posting on the Hulu Desktop discussion forum.
Does Hulu Desktop for Linux require Flash? Yes, you must have Adobe Flash Player 9.0.124 or higher installed. If you can load and watch videos on Hulu.com, you should be able to use Hulu Desktop for Linux.
What libraries are required to run Hulu Desktop? Hulu Desktop depends on the following libraries or packages, although they should be pre-installed with the supported distributions:
The developer had been a research assistant at the University of Tokyo and is generally considered one of the forefathers of Japanese P2P.
The new reversal means Kaneko is not guilty and will not have to pay a dime of the fine.
"Merely being aware of the possibility that the software could be abused does not constitute a crime of aiding violations of the law, and the court cannot accept that the defendant supplied the software solely to be used for copyright violations," judge Masazo Ogura ruled, via Slash. "Anonymity is not something to be looked on as illegal, and it is not something that applies specifically to copyright violations. The technical value of the software is neutral," he concluded.
According to CEO Reed Hastings, physical DVDs will remain the prioritized movie delivery format for Netflix for the next two years, before the company moves its focus to either streaming video or Blu-ray.
Hastings does add however that the DVDs will continue to be part of the company's business for the next 20 years.
Earlier this year, Hastings said he expected DVD to reach peak volume sometime between 2013 and 2018 but spokesman Steve Swasey admits the company hasn't “nailed it specifically” (The date.)
Netflix currently has over 11 million subscribers and Hastings adds that most pay for the cheapest unlimited offerings, $8.99 USD (one movie out) or $13.99 (two).
According to the AP, a new survey of Americans showed that about half of those polled believed the word "whatever" was the most annoying English conversation word and hated when it was used during a conversation.
The poll was conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and shows that "whatever" received 47 percent of the votes. Second and third place went respectively to "you know" and "it is what it is."
Mobile Crunch is reporting today that the popular music video game Rock Band is headed to the iPhone and iPod Touch, including premium content and 4-way multiplayer via Bluetooth.
The confirmation, says the article, comes from the CTIA convention where a kiosk dedicated to mobile Rock Band shows off a splash screen that says Rock Band for iPhone and iPod Touch.
The kiosk only shows the splash screen for about a second so there is little other info available about the upcoming port.
According to leading video game analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich, the U.S. video game industry made a strong comeback in September, returning to growth after six months of negative year-on-year numbers.
The growth is being attributed to the price cut of the PS3 (and launch of the Slim) as well as the high sales of Wii Sports Resort, Halo 3: ODST and The Beatles: Rock Band.
The PS3 saw growth of up to 75 percent year-on-year, to 410,000 units, while the Xbox 360 stayed neutral at around 350,000 units sold. The Wii however, says Pachter, saw a giant fall in sales, about 43 percent year on year, down to 390,000 units.
Divnich believes Wii sales fell even further, to about 375,000 while the Xbox 360 grew to 370,000. PS3 numbers were about the same as Pachters.
DS/DSi sales grew 22 percent and PSP sales fell about the same amount, says Pachter.
According to the latest report from mobile phone market research firm Gartner, analyst Ken Dulaney believes that the open source Android OS will be the second most used smartphone OS by 2012, surpassing Apple, Microsoft, and RIM mobile operating systems.
Android currently controls under 3 percent of the market but Dulaney says that number should jump to 14.5 percent within 3 years, given the large push of Android devices being released, even in 2009.
Nokia's Symbian would still control the market, with 39 percent followed by Android, the iPhone OS at 14 percent, and WinMo and BlackBerry controlling just about 12 percent. Dulaney believes webOS will come in far fifth, with just about 2 percent market share.
The the unlimited music streaming service Spotify has signed their second (and only active) ISP deal today, making a two-year contract with Swedish-based TeliaSonera.
The deal will bring the service to Sonera's customers via PC and mobile phones. The ISP says it will eventually be available via TV as well.
The service will come bundled with Sonera broadband packages or data plans. “We will have very good deals with Spotify Premium, special Spotify phones and mobile surfing packages,” says the company.
Sony has been sued this week by John Kennedy of Florida, over the bricking of his PS3 console by Sony's v3.00 firmware upgrade last month.
The suit is class action, and is for all users who suffered hardware failure or problems after installing the update. The suit "implicates Sony for several complaints, including breach of implied warranty, negligence, unjust enrichment, and negligent misrepresentation," says Arstechnica.
Kennedy had owned his PS3 for 9 months, with no noticeable issues, until September when he installed the system update. From there, his Blu-ray drive began to malfunction, to the point of not playing back games or movies after just a few minutes of playback.
"Thousands of Sony PlayStation 3 ('PS3') video game owners who downloaded a system update required by Sony found that the update caused their PS3 units to malfunction and actually damaged the hardware on many units," read the claim, via Ars. "For owners who sustained hardware damage from the Sony-required update, Sony is charging a $150 repair fee per unit. Sony, responding to the numerous complaints about the unacceptable effects of the defective update, released a further, optional update that it claimed 'improves system stability'—yet performance problems continued, and the new update did nothing to remedy the systems of users who sustained hardware damage."
The extremely popular micro-blogging service Twitter is in talks with search engine giants Google and Microsoft in an effort to find a way to sell data that can be used in their respective search engines.
The report, posted by the Wall Street Journal, says that both companies would be given a license to the full spectrum of Tweets, which can then be used in their search engines algorithms.
The financials details are still being worked on, but would either be revenue-sharing models or an upfront payment to Twitter.
Twitter currently makes no money and has no revenue model, but has been financed by venture capitalists who, even recently, valued the company at over $1 billion USD.
Sony America corporate communications director Patrick Seybold has said today that overall PSP sales have jumped 300 percent in the United States since the release of the UMD-less PSPgo last week.
Not surprisingly, given the hardware numbers, game downloads via the PlayStation Store also spiked, about 200 percent.
"The launch of PSPgo has generated strong consumer interest in the overall PSP platform and the PlayStation Network's digital content offering," said Seybold.
Last week, DVD Jon attacked Apple and promised his media management software doubleTwist would giver users "choice."
Today, that "choice" has been revealed, as the company has integrated the Amazon MP3 store into its software, allowing users to browse and download from the 5 million strong catalog and sync the music to anyone of hundreds of devices supported by dT, including Android phones, the PSP, BlackBerrys and the Palm Pre (which Apple has been desperately trying to block sync to.)
Giant e-tailer Amazon has announced they plan to distribute 200 more PSN games for the PS3 via their online store.
Amazon sells tokens that are redeemed via the PSN, on PS1 games or new games created for digital distribution. Amazon is the only retailer to offer the tokens for PSN.
The deal "expands our current library of videogame downloads," says Amazon VP Paul Ryder.
Sony is looking to make similar deals with retail partners."We would have a similar discussion with anyone else currently selling PlayStation products," added Sony senior VP Peter Dille.
Don McCabe, managing director of the UK game chain Chips had some harsh words for the newly released PSPgo handheld, saying he expects the console to "fail miserably" in the market.
McCabe says: "My own personal opinion is that it's a no-go. I've been to a number of presentations to see if there's anything there and I don't feel it'll go anywhere to be honest. I'm 99.9 percent sure it's going to fail miserably, in which case it's going to put back other potential people coming into that digital space."
The director believes the same as most other retailers and analysts that claim that Sony's latest handheld will fail because of lack of retailer backing. The retailers make pennies on the sale of the actual hardware and lose out completely on used game sales and software sales, where they make much higher margins.
McCabe does see great growth for digital downloads however, but is unsure who will profit from the eventual boom.
"It's going to come, no matter what, but a very small amount of people are actually going to go on to make any money out of it. One or two will make serious money and they'll be held up as 'you too can do this'. Whenever you see anyone producing fantastic figures, just ask them how much they actually made from it."
Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said today that the company will not be dropping the price of the Wii console anytime soon, following the company's recent $50 price cut on the system.
"We say that based on the experience of launching the Nintendo DSi this past April, we've already sold 2.2 million units, so we're feeling very good about the holiday," Fils-Aime noted, via GI.biz."We define value as what you get for what you pay. With Wii - with the USD 50 price drop - you're getting a lot more value."
Wii sales were recently up in Japan following the price cut, as much as 300 percent. American and European numbers will not be out for a few weeks.
The formerly Chinese-exclusive Dell Mini 3i Android smartphone is headed to the US, says CrunchGear, with the phone hitting American shores before the end of the year.
The source says the phone will likely be upgraded however, before it is released in the US, as the Chinese version felt "cheap." Among the upgrades will be a 5MP camera, compared to the current 3MP camera.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Android stack for the Mini is missing a few key libraries and therefore many current apps do not work.
Amazon has taken the popular Kindle device international today, making the e-book reader available to over 100 countries including China and most of the EU.
Additionally, the company has dropped the price of the Kindle in the US to $260 USD from $300, and selling the international version for $279 USD.
The international device will begin shipping on October 19th and will give worldwide users access to 200,000 English books and 85 international and US newspapers.
Thanks to recent price cuts, overall sales of the Wii and the PSP tripled last week in Japan.
Nintendo cut the price of the popular Wii console by 20 percent and Sony slashed the price of their handheld by 15 percent, both hoping to see a spike after months of slowing sales.
Both consoles were helped by releases of popular games, Gran Turismo for the PSP and Wii Fit Plus for the Wii.
PSP sales were up to 49,000 units, from 15,000 last week and Wii sales were up to 32,000 units, up from 10,500 last week.
The public beta for the upcoming Xbox 360dashboard will be available in a couple of weeks, says Microsoft, speaking at the company's recent Open House event.
The new update will include Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm integration, pushing the service's move towards social networking features.
"People are excited about the new services coming to Xbox Live such as Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm," added Craig Beilinson, Microsoft director of marketing for Entertainment and Devices.
There will only be a limited amount of users given invites to try the beta, notes Microsoft.
Palm has announced that their popular webOS-based smartphone, the Pre, will be available in Spain next week, exclusively through the carrier Telefonica.
The phone will be available via Telefonica on October 14th, and will use the HSDPA network.
The device will cost anywhere between 0 and 219 with two year contract, depending on what type of service you add. For example, unlimited plans will get you the phone free.
The infamoustorrenttrackerThe Pirate Bay was taken down today by the Dutch anti-piracy agency BREIN, although it appears the site has been available sporadically throughout the day, and is available, at least here in the U.S, as of writing.
The agency managed to block access to the site on an international scale and was proud.
"Supplying services to such a well-known illegal site is asking for trouble", added BREIN director Tim Kuik. "The Swedish owners have been criminally convicted and the site has been ruled illegal in various countries amongst which the Netherlands. In case Dutch providers keep the site up then we will appeal to them to cease and desist".
TorrentFreak is reporting that The Pirate Bay should be up and running for good now, as they have moved to the ISP CyberBunker, a nuclear war bunker in the Netherlands that can withstand a nuclear strike as well as an EMP blast. And they certainly won't cave to threats from BREIN.
Today, the software giant has blocked all access to to the leaked email addresses, apparently the result of a giant phishing scheme.
"Several thousand Windows Live Hotmail customers' credentials were exposed on a third-party site," added Microsoft in a statement. "As a result of our investigation we are taking measures to block access to all of the accounts that were exposed and have resources in place to help those users reclaim their accounts."
Additionally, reports have been surfacing that the same hackers targeted Yahoo and Gmail accounts, and users are being told to switch their passwords if they believe they fell prey to the phishing scam.
"We determined that this was not a breach of internal Microsoft data and initiated our standard process of working to help customers regain control of their accounts," Microsoft concluded also.
Apple has announced that the iPhone will be headed to Canadian carriers Bell and Telus beginning next month, meaning Rogers will no longer have exclusivity in the nation.
Both carriers confirmed the move this morning, and say both the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be available next month, although price for the models, or data plans, were not given.
Until recently, both carriers had run on CDMA cell networks, for which the current iPhone models are not compatible. Both have upgraded to to the iPhone-supported HSPA standard however, and it appears that was the only hurdle.
The UK online music store 7digital has opened their US store today, as well as a BlackBerry app, hoping to expand on the popular service internationally.
The site has become popular due to its cheaper prices, with many albums selling for $7.77 USD compared to $9.99 on iTunes or Amazon.
Individual tracks are available for as low as 77 cents and are 320kbps bitrate DRM-free MP3s. The catalog of tracks is from the Big 4 as well as thousands of independents.
The BlackBerry app will give smartphone owners the ability to browse and download music from the store, through 3G or Wi-Fi. If 3G or Wi-Fi is not available, the store will download lower-bitrate tracks instead, to save time.
If you have to download the lower-bitrate version first, the purchase is saved to your 7digital "locker" so you can download the higher quality tracks later if necessary.
Just under one week after its launch, UK retailers have already begun dropping the price of the PSPgo handheld, slashing the price from the MSRP of £224.99 to £199.99.
A few of the large retailers cutting the price are HMV, GAME, Play.com and Amazon, all in what seems to be a way to unload inventory.
The online retailer ShopTo however, has said today that PSPgo sales have been slow since launch on October 1st, mainly due to its higher price, and lack of UMD drive.
According to online retailer ShopTo, PSPgo sales have been slow since launch on October 1st, mainly due to its higher price, and lack of UMD drive.
"PSPgo has seen a slow start for ShopTo and we have kept stock quite tight in consideration. We remained at the RRP for PSPgo so that we can achieve the maximum margin considering that there will be no further software sales for this format for us as an e-tailer," noted company CEO Igor Cipolletta.
Cipolletta also noted that the PSP-3000 wasn't seeing the sales rise expected by Sony. "PSP-3000 has not yet seen an uplift and until the stronger software titles are released we don't expect a significant upturn. We had a fantastic pre-order quantity for the PS3 slim and consumer appetite for that has remained strong with the great bundle deals promoting the new release games such as FIFA 10 and NFS Shift."
Adobe, just one day after announcing that full Flash support was headed to Android, webOS, Symbian, BlackBerry and WinMo, has announced that Flash will now be available, somewhat, on the Apple iPhone.
The Flash Player 10.1, which will work for all the other OS but not on the iPhone, is set to be released in January for Android and Symbian and March for other OS.
Earlier this week, the annual Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit began, allowing musicians, techies, managers, entrepreneurs and critics to meet and find the best ways to make money in a world now dominated by the Internet.
Publicist Ariel Hyatt released some very interesting numbers on the opening day, mainly about U.S. album sales.
There were 115,000 albums were released in 2008, but only 110 were considered "hits," meaning they sold more than 250,000 copies.
Toshiba has unveiled their first HDTV to use the extremely powerful PS3 Cell processor today during the CEATEC event in Japan, and the TV packs a serious punch.
Besides the processor, the 55-inch REGZA 55X1 includes LED-backlighting, 240Hz refresh rate, and dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1. The Cell processor also allows for improved image quality, stronger colors, enhanced brightness balance and a "luminance of 1250cd/m²."
The TV also has a 7-speaker sound bar, and has DLNA support as well as a built in HD web browser created by Opera.
More notably, the HDTV has a 3TB HDD allowing users to record up to 26 hours of 1080p content from 8 channels, at the same time. As pictured below, the Regza can also display 8 channels at the same time, with no delay when switching between stations.
GamesIndustry.biz has reported today that Sony is noting that the newly launched PSPgo handheld is selling 'in line with our expectations,' as well as helping a boost in PSP-3000 sales.
"PSPgo has performed in line with our expectations, driving 100 per cent incremental volume for the category and has benefited the broad PSP portfolio with PSP-3000 also enjoying a big lift," said Sony Europe.
The company also noted that PSP-3000 sales saw a boost from added consumers in stores as well as the release of Gran Turismo and FIFA 10.
"PSP software sales also having been a standout with both new releases GT PSP and FIFA 10 performing well," added Sony.
Sony later added that overall sales of PSP hardware, all models, was up 120 percent week-on-week.
Neowin has reported this morning that they have received information that login details for over 10,000 Windows Hotmail/Live accounts have been leaked, in one of the largest breaches for the email service ever.
The list begins with the username ararat973@hotmail.com and finishes with blando2713@hotmail.com, with many A-B usernames in between. There are names using Hotmail, MSN, and Live (@live.com etc).
The alleged breach has been reported Microsoft's Security Response Center who has not made any official announcement except to say they are "investigating the situation and will take appropriate steps as rapidly as possible."
Of course, 10,000 is not a large number, given their are 450 million Windows Live accounts currently active, but it may still be prudent to change your password, especially if your username starts with an A or a B.
A number of prominent analysts have recently noted that Apple should drop their AT&T iPhone exclusivity pact, and likely double their market share in the process.
Today, Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty noted the same thing, and specifically cited the iPhone's dramatic market share growth in France (136 percent) after it became available non-exclusively.
"We expect Apple to broaden iPhone carrier distribution over the next two years and believe this opportunity is under-appreciated by the investment community," said her research note, via the AP.
Hunerty notes that Apple currently has 4 percent market share in the markets that make up 70 percent of all iPhone sales, its exclusive markets. If those pacts were to be dropped, Huberty expects market share to fly to 10 percent within two years.
In the US specifically, if the iPhone was to begin selling as a CDMA phone for Verizon, market share would jump to 12.2 percent from the current 5.
Today, Nintendo has told Eurogamer that they have been receiving reports in the EU and US that the firmware update has been causing crashes, sometimes even bricking the system.
Anyone experiencing the problems will have their Wii repaired for free, as long as it has not been modded.
Vonage has announced today that they will be releasing VoIP applications for the iPhone and BlackBerrys, allowing users to make international phone calls at prices cheaper than those of the major wireless carriers.
The calls are routed through Vonage's extensive network, although the calls are considered local calls, and will use carrier minutes. To save minutes however, you can use Wi-Fi to make the calls on the iPhone. The BlackBerry version cannot use the Wi-Fi.
According to a final NFO released today by the group, the longtime torrent release team SVENNE-REDCROSS has been taken out by the Swedish Antipiracy Bureau and has ceased operations, immediately.
Overall, the message from the group seems very condescending, as well as aggressive, and comments are that it may have come from the S.A.B instead. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
The full NFO says:
After ten years on the Scene were stepping down and leaving it forever. We have been exposed by the Swedish Antipiracy Bureau whom have identified all of our members and sites. The good thing is that we have had the possibility to make a settlement.
Our activity is immediately ceased.
We apologies to all Swedish and foreign movie producers for the damage we have caused.
Those of you who are still involved in the Scene - close down. None of you are safe out there.
Comment:
First, you guys gave a lot to the scene, so the hat off!
However, you must have failed miserably in the area of obtaining security. Only pre on sites with glFTPD and enforced SSL? Thats probably the only and best way not to EVER get busted ey? [lalz]
Since 2004, the rock bandMetallica has been selling HQ downloads of all the band's concerts, in MP3 or FLAC, but only as a full album.
Today, the band announced that they would begin offering individual MP3s for $0.99, on their site LiveMetallica. Full albums will remain at $9.95 for MP3 and $12.95 for FLAC versions. Metallica adds that there are 270 shows currently available, ranging from 1982 until today.
Perhaps more notably, Lars Ulrich (drummer of the band) said that in the future, once their record label contract expires, the group is open to offering their next album on the Internet, with a donation model, used to perfection by Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead.
The move would be a stark contrast to the Metallica of 1999 which almost single handily took down the original P2P client Napster after Ulrich found hundreds of Metallica songs available through the client, for free.
Adobe is making a lot of smartphone users happy today after announcing that Flash 10.1 will bring full support for Android, webOS, Symbian, BlackBerry and WinMo. Notably missing is the iPhone however, with no word on the subject from the company.
Flash 10.1 will bring full Flash including GPU acceleration to smartphones, allowing for Hulu and HDYouTube playback. The update will also add support for accelerometers, multitouch and other touch features.
Android and Symbian betas are coming in January, everyone else will have to wait until "mid-2010." Regardless, the news is great for anyone with the above mentioned mobile OS.
“With Flash Player moving to new mobile platforms, users will be able to experience virtually all Flash technology based Web content and applications wherever they are,” added David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “We are excited about the broad collaboration of close to 50 industry leaders in the Open Screen Project and the ongoing collaboration with 19 out of the top 20 handset manufacturers worldwide. It will be great to see first devices ship with full Flash Player in the first half of next year.”
According to new Nielsen stats, mobile video usage in the U.S. has grown 70 percent year-on-year, however, dissatisfaction with the services provided jumped 26 percent in the same period.
The figures show that about 1 in every 14 mobile users in the nation use mobile video, thanks mainly to the strong growth of smartphones from Apple, RIM and others. Internet usage has grown 34 percent as well, year-on-year.
"Since its introduction, the adoption rate of mobile video has been governed by a revolving audience of mobile video 'testers,' viewers who try out the medium for under a year and then ditch it," says the numbers report. "Mobile video today still lacks the stickiness it needs for more rapid growth."
That jump in viewership did come with its pitfalls however, as consumer satisfaction dropped severely.
Intel, which infamously snubbed Vista for its own systems, has announced today they will be upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, seemingly closing the chapter on the Vista OS.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer directly cited Intel today in a memo to corporate partners, saying Windows 7 will give the industry giant "improved performance, greater application responsiveness, and a better platform for mobile workers."
Intel released a study as well, giving almost perfect marks for the new OS.
"After 3 months of trial with over 300 users, 97% of our test users would recommend the new OS to peers and Intel IT sees the potential to save $11M over the next three years," said the release. "Because of improved employee productivity, reduced costs, ease of deployment and enhanced security, Intel IT is rolling out Windows 7 to early adopters this year and enterprise deployments starting early 2010."
Bloomberg adds that Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Continental Airlines have both also upgraded to 7, but neither company would confirm.
According to data from NetApplications, Microsoft's search engine Bing has finally seen its market share slip, after months of slow gains since its launch in June.
After growing from zero to 3.52 percent from June through August, share dropped to 3.39 percent in September seemingly showing that Bing's "grand opening" luster is wearing off. Google remained the highly dominant force in the industry, at 83.31 percent of market share.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Google, Bing and Yahoo saw their market share drop, losing percentage points to other search engines, mainly Baidu.
"This is a pretty small slip for Bing, percentage-wise, and it's only from one measurement source," adds Dan Olds, analyst for The Gabriel Consulting Group. "The true tale will be told when the other folks who measure market share weigh in. Also, this isn't really a surprise. While I'm sure that Microsoft would love to see Bing steadily gain on Google, that just isn't in the cards. This is going to be a big battle that will be fought over the long term."
According to a new report from Juniper Research, shipments of phones using the Symbian OS will double by 2014, to 180 million units.
More notably however, is the report's conclusion that Symbian market share will remain the same over the period of time, despite strong growth and expansion from other operating systems like Android and LiMo.
The Open Source OS report says that total open source handsets should move to 223 million by 2014, with Symbian the strong majority still. The report does not count RIM, Apple or webOS as completely open source OS.
The report also concluded that "choice of OS is now critical and market share will, to a large extent, follow application development."
Free All Media has launched this week, proposing a new model for legal music downloads.
The company will use the tried-and-failed ad-supported model, but unlike SpiralFrog and others, the company will give users more interaction with the ads they see, as well as more choices.
CEO Richard Nailling explained this week, to Cnet, how the site will work, including the new nuances that they hope will separate them from other failed legal download sites.
Customers select the MP3 they want to purchase, as well as a "sponsor" that will, in theory, "buy" the track for them. They then watch an ad from that sponsor, about 18 seconds long, and afterwards, can download the MP3 they selected, with no DRM and at 256kbps bitrate.
The interesting part is what follows, as explained by the source: "Free All Music will then use the downloader's handle in other banner ads for that sponsor, which Free All Music will place around the Web using an (as yet undisclosed) third-party ad network, as well as through its own ad network, which will focus on music-oriented sites. In other words, you might be visiting CNET and see "MattR just downloaded 'Angry Chair' by Alice in Chains...sponsored by Converse." In this way, Free All Music will be able to sell multiple ads per download and perhaps earn enough money to cover the license fee for each song."
In one of what has to be one of the funniest tech related articles of the week, Donald Goodrich of Ohio was arrested on Friday for brandishing a gun at his local Apple Store, while threatening to shoot his iPhone because it was not working.
Goodrich walked into the store in Cincinnati, Ohio, walked up to the Genius Bar, and began yelling "I'm so mad, I could pop a 9mm at [my iPhone]." Goodrich then continued, "I’ll do it right now! Look!" He then pulled up his shirt, showed the gun, and kept yelling.
The employee at the Genius Bar managed to keep the crazed Goodrich distracted until the cops arrived however, and no one was hurt, not even the iPhone.
Goodrich did have a permit for a concealed weapon, so he was charged with aggravated menacing, as a number of employees and customers said they felt threatened by Goodrich's tirade.
The record industry is once again facing criticism this week after they began an 'educational' program designed to teach children, some as young as kindergartners, the evils of music piracy.
Six primary schools in the UK have already had the copyright law lessons and the class is expected to be rolled out to the entire region later in the year.
The entire scheme is run by Ruth Katz, an executive for EMI who doubles as a music industry consultant.
Struggling movie rental chain Movie Gallery has announced that they will be closing over 200 Game Crazy stores this month, citing six straight months of declining sales.
The Game Crazy stores are located inside the company's Hollywood Video locations, and management says the movie rental stores will not be directly affected.
The closures are significant in any right, but even more so because there are currently only 550 of the chain store.
“The videogame industry this year has been somewhat tough,” noted Arvind Bhatia, analyst with Sterne, Agee & Leach. He also stated that Game Crazy only controls 2 percent of the market so “others, like Gamestop, will pick up market share,” when they close.
Sony America has announced that beginning with the upcoming Blu-rays "Godzilla" and "The Ugly Truth," a new feature will allow PSP owners to directly transfer digital copies right from their PS3 instead of from their computers from a separate DVD disc.
“Blu-ray is already known as the best way to watch movies at home, and now SPHE & SCEA are also making it the most convenient way to watch movies on the go,” Sony VP of new business development Rich Marty added, via VB.
Added director of hardware marketing John Koller: The new feature will allow “users to easily take the best in movie and entertainment content on-the-go—all of which is only possible on the PSP and PS3 platforms.”
A few months ago, DVD rental kiosk company Redbox sued Warner Home Video, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Studios Home Entertainment over alleged violations of anti-trust laws over their decision to not allow the rental company to have their films until 30-45 days after release date.
As of this week however, both Fox and Warner are seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.
Says Fox: "Redbox’s legal claims are fatally flawed. Fox’s filing today makes clear that, in the end, the case is all about Redbox’s refusal to make a business deal on general terms similar to those paid by others in the industry. Unable to get the terms it wanted at the bargaining table, Redbox instead decided to file this meritless lawsuit."
Says the Fox filing: “Antitrust law does not require a seller to provide its product through the distribution channel that the buyer demands, on the date that the buyer demands, or at the price that the buyer demands,.To the contrary, sellers have considerable freedom under the law to sell [or not sell] to whomever they want, how they want and when they want. To this end, a seller’s distribution policies do not violate [antitrust law] unless the plaintiff proves a contract, combination or conspiracy that injures competition. Redbox cannot meet any of these elements.”
In late summer, Sweden ordered that the web host to the public torrenttrackerThe Pirate Bay take down the site, which they did. Within the day however, the site had moved to a different host, which received the same order.
This week however, according to TorrentFreak, the Pirate Bay has moved to the Ukraine, leaving Sweden for good.
The rumor comes from "Patrik" of the torrent tracker's former ISP, which was forced to drop support of the site after repeated threats from the media industry.
Earlier this year, the semi-private tracker Demonoid moved to the Ukraine as well, however users have reported lots of downtime with the Ukrainian hosting.
Google has admitted today that an internal error caused the search engine giant to block all results from the The Pirate Bay, although at first they claimed it was due to a DMCA complaint.
Said Google in the morning: "Google received a (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down request that erroneously listed Thepiratebay.org, and as a result, this URL was accidentally removed from the Google search index. We are now correcting the removal, and you can expect to see Thepiratebay.org back in Google search results this afternoon."
However, about two hours ago, Google updated their statement adding that "The removal appears to be an internal error and not part of a DMCA request."
Users searching Google for the Pirate Bay were greeted with linkbacks but no direct links to the homepage of the infamoustorrenttracker.
Time is reportedly in talks with U.S. magainze publishers to begin a 'digital newsstand' sometime in 2010 that would deliver the magazines to mobile devices and e-book readers.
Time is in talks with Conde Nast and Hearst, two behemoths of the industry, although it is unclear how far along in the discussions the publishers are.
Users of the upcoming service could buy subscriptions, either by month, annualy or biannually.
The companies hope the digital newsstand will help counteract the deep decline in print advertising revenue that has occurred since 2005. E-book readers such as the Kindle are becoming more and more popular.
The service would mark one of few times that a print company has charged for content online, and if successful it will certainly be one of the few, standing next to the Wall Street Journal.
Analysts have called the rumored service a "magazine version of Hulu," which may not be a bad thing considering how strong Hulu has become in the streaming video market in just over a year.
Palm has once again restored iTunes syncing with the newly updated webOSfirmware 1.2.1, circumventing the protective measures that Apple placed in iTunes 9.
The new firmware allows users to sync with all iTunes including 9.0.1. Pre and (soon to be) Pixi owners can now also sync photo albums, as well as thumbnails to save space.
A recent PreCentral report stated that Apple's measures of protection for iTunes 9 were defeated in "2.5 hours" and that Palm will "continue to update webOS to maintain sync until it takes more than 40 man-hours of effort to add the feature back."
Purportedly, Palm took 5 minutes to break Apple's first protective measures, simply switching the vendor ID.
The new update will also fix most bugs with Exchange 2007 contacts as well as add better support for online video and audio.
The digital movie kiosk company MOD Systems has launched their first kiosks, featuring films from Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and Anchor Bay.
CEO Anthony Bay says the kiosks are part of a pilot test and will be completely in retail stores by November 15th.
A "digital movie kiosk" means users can search for movies via a touchscreen then download them to SD cards that can be played back on TVs, computers, phones and other devices with SD card support.
A couple of blockbuster films, such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Star Trek will be available in time for the kiosks and on the same day they become available on iTunes.
MOD is in talks with more studios to bring the content to the kiosks and expects deals before the end of the year.
I tried checking the site to see what format the films would be in, but no luck, there will be DRM however.
Napster and PC-maker Dell have signed a deal today to have the electronics giant bundle new Inspiron and Studio laptops with a 12-month subscription to Napster's unlimited streaming music service.
In the US, the bundle will be worth $60 USD, but will also include 60 free tracks that can be downloaded and kept forever, even after the subscription runs out.
The notebooks will be available on Dell's site or through Best Buy, the owner of Napster.
The deal marks the first of its kind for Dell, who has previously bundled with exclusive labels and studios but never with a music service.
Rival HP recently began bundling 1000 free Universal tracks with new notebook purchases in China and other Asian nations, 120 of which can be kept after a one year trial is up.
According to preCentral, Palm is on the verge of opening the improved webOSApp Catalog along with the release of the operating system's first group of paid apps.
The applications will be connected to user's Palm Profile, allowing for re-download of any uninstalled apps, for free. Also notably, if you choose to upgrade to a new webOS based smartphones in the future, simply sign into your Palm Profile and you can download all the apps again for free to the new device.
The paid apps will also be searchable via hidden tags, for example, typing in SMS can bring messaging apps to the forefront.
According to the new Mobile Metrics Report from AdMob, the iPhone and iPod Touch now control the lead for browser market share, with 40 percent.
The Apple products took the lead from Nokia, which dropped from 43 percent to 34 percent as of August. RIM, makers of the Blackberry line, moved down to 8 percent, while Android rushed into third with 7 percent. Windows Mobile lagged behind at 4 percent. The new webOS used by the Palm Pre smartphone also jumped, but data for the device is still new.
The iPhone/Touch was most popular in the United States, taking 52 percent of the share. The devices lagged in Asia and Africa however, where they are not as readily available. Nokia's Symbian controlled over 80 percent share in both markets.
The Mobile Metrics Report "is based on Web and application use from the advertising company's 9,000 publishers and 3,000 applications worldwide."
Overall, Android saw the largest growth, and will most likely continue to do so given the release or launch of so many new Android-based phones.
The PlayStation 3 continued to sell well in Japan for the week ended September 28th, however sales tapered off following the large boost from the slim PS3's release.
Sales dropped 22 percent week-on-week, to 39,960 from 51,055.
The DSi/DS Lite continued to sell well, combining for almost 79,000 units sold.
The PSP andWii continued to see slow sales, while the PS2 and Xbox 360 stayed about flat.
After announcing it last month, Spotify's offline service is now available in Europe, allowing users to listen to their music and playlists without needing to be connected to the Internet.
The offline service has been available for iPhone users since the apps launch, and has met critical acclaim. Anyone with a premium account can now open the service and hit “available offline” next to their playlists or tracks.
"Beginning later today, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to select their playlists and set them to be 'Available offline'," says the company. "Those playlists will then be synced to the computer so you can listen to your favorite tunes even if your internet connection goes down or if you're at summer house with no connection at all."
There is one catch however, and that is that you can only "download" up to 3,333 tracks for offline playback at one time.
Although a settlement did not seem likely in his 2007 suit against Apple, the rapper Eminem's publishing company Eight Mile Style LLC have settled out of court today, with “mutual satisfaction of both sides.”
On trial was the royalty payments of 93 songs that Apple has been selling on iTunes for four years now, thanks to an agreement with mentor Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. Eight Mile Style claimed copyright infringement however and was seeking $16.58 million in backpay and damages.
Microsoft Corp. has released the final Windows 7 XP Mode software to manufacturing, and will offer it for download later this month from its website. The Windows 7 virtualization tool is offered to provide incentive for businesses to upgrade to Microsoft's new operating system when it is released later in October.
"We expect many Windows XP applications to be compatible [with] Windows 7," reads a blog post from Microsoft, "however Windows XP Mode is meant to serve as an added safety net so small and mid-sized businesses can migrate and run Windows 7 without any road blocks."
Windows XP Mode software will be available for users of Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate from Microsoft's website on October 22, when WIndows 7 is scheduled to launch. It requires an extra gigabyte of RAM, 15GB disk space and virtualization features must be present in hardware and activation in BIOS.
European Union antitrust regulators have given conditional approval to Panasonic's planned acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co Ltd. The body approves of the deal as long as the company sheds certain units to uphold competition. The European Commission released a statement saying that Panasonic would need to sell battery production facilities in some markets where competition concerns were identified.
"In view of the remedies offered, I am satisfied that competition will remain vigorous after the merger and that purchasers of batteries will continue to benefit from choice and competitive prices," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.
"Without some unit sales, the merged entity would have a significant market share in batteries used in alarms and utility meters, portable rechargeable nickel-metal hydride batteries and rechargeable coin shape batteries based on lithium,"the Commission statement reads.
Chip maker Telegent Systems has commented that fast uptake of free-to-air mobile TV services in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe is bringing life to the ailing mobile TV broadcasting market. Built up as a major new feature just a few short years ago, the feature has secured favor by consumers in Japan and South Korea in particular, accounting for 90 percent of mobile TV viewers.
Telegent Systems announced on Wednesday that it has hit a milestone of 50,000,000 mobile TV chips shipped, which gives it more than half of the market estimated by analysts to be about 80 million-strong. "The availability of handsets that support analog broadcast TV ... has ignited the growth of free-to-air mobile TV globally,"Samuel Sheng, new CEO of Telegent, told Reuters.
"We expect to see this (to) continue right across the world, including in developed economies, as free-to-air handsets become available that support the new digital TV standards emerging in those regions."Strategy Analytics expects the mobile TV broadcasting market to total $280 million next year after incorrectly forecasting it to reach $5.4 billion in 2010 just three years ago.
Sirius XM is passing on $2 fees to its customers in order to raise money to pay performance royalty fees intended for singers, musicians and of course, record companies. In the Sirius / XM deal, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) barred Sirius XM from raising prices on customers for three years. However, the FCC did permit the collection of fees through a separate surcharge after a year.
The company began charging customers the additional fee in August, and claims to have notified all customers by e-mail and postal mail of the new charges. Lauren Weinstein, a tech blogger and commentator, noticed the $2 fee added to his bill but claims he did not get any notification beforehand of the new fee.
Amazon.com has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against it by a 17 year old student after the online retailer deleted George Orwell e-books from his (and other users') Kindle. The company has agreed that it won't remove e-books from U.S. users' Kindle readers without their permission. Justin D. Gawronski, the student who filed the lawsuit, sued Amazon after his copies of 1984 and Animal Farm were removed.
The lawsuit had sought class-action status and called for unspecified damages and a ban on future deletions. Amazon had removed the books after it came to light that an outside party added the e-books for sale without having the rights to do so. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized to customers and offered to re-deliver the titles for free to users in September (or a gift certificate).
In the proposed settlement, which is awaiting approval from the judge, the company vowed not to remotely delete e-books from users' Kindles again except for cases where a user fails to pay for an e-book or asks for a refund. The company may also delete content remotely if it can protect a consumer or the Kindle's operation.
Amazon also agreed to pay $150,000 in legal fees, which will be donated to charity. "We think in the end Amazon did the right thing," said Jay Edelson, a Chicago-based lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of Gawronski.
Disbarred Florida lawyer, Jack Thompson - the man who said "Grand Theft Auto" is a "murder simulator" and blamed it for the murder of three people - has filed a lawsuit against Facebook over comments on the website. Thompson claims that certain Facebook groups and user comments are a threat to his personal safety.
He said that groups on the website that call for users to "smack him in the face for $50" or "hit him with an Atari game system" have caused him harm and distress. Thompson is seeking $40 million in damages from the social networking giant - Facebook will contest the suit in court.
According to the legal documents, Thompson became aware of the groups on Facebook, such as "Jack Thompson should be removed from the populace" and "Jack Thompson should be smacked across the face with an Atari 2600," in August, and Facebook failed to close the groups on request. Thompson attempted to contact Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg twice in August - by Fax - not exactly how the site expects you to make these kind of complaints.
According to a study by Ernst & Young, released on Thursday, Internet-enabled television sets could see wider adoption in the coming years as more consumers are warming to the idea of running widgets and other features on their TVs. Widgets are mini-applications that are widely used with computers and mobile phones, and the study suggests that such mini-applications could be successfully blended with TV content.
The widgets would be designed to access the Internet and locate content that is complementary to the programming, whether it is a discussion on the content or advertisements for products that are featured in the show, which can then be ordered by the viewing using the television. This year, web-connected TV shipments will total less than half a million.
According to Net Applications, Microsoft's Internet Explorer web-browser lost more market-share during September while rivals Firefox and Chrome gained. During the month of September, Internet Explorer usage dropped by 1.3 percent, sitting at a still-dominant 65.7 percent. However, the browser has dropped 8.5 percent in 12 months, with 2.6 percent being in the last three months alone.
If Microsoft does not figure out how to curb the trend, then Internet Explorer's share will drop below the 50 percent mark in 2011. Mozilla's Firefox web browser gained 0.8 percent, its biggest gain for a single month since November, to claim 23.8 percent share of the market. Even with the September gain, Firefox has not yet recovered from a share drop in May and June - its record standing at 23.84 percent.
PreCentral has posted, interestingly, that a recent job listing on the Sling Media site shows the company is looking for a Senior Mobile User Interface Designer, one that is "knowledgeable about and/or interested in becoming an expert on the existing user interface paradigms used on iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android, and Palm WebOS.”
Sling Media was noted as one of Palm's partners during the CES 2009 event that launched the Pre however there had been no word since that a working SlingPlayer was ever coming.
SlingPlayer is a streaming TV application that "connects users on all types of computing platforms to their Slingbox which then gives them complete control over their living room TV. The Slingbox gives customers the ability to control any Audio/Video device including analog cable, a digital cable box, satellite receiver, digital video recorder (DVR) a DVD player or even a still video camera."
According to an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has played down any "concerns" of certain retailers not selling the newly launched PSPgo (See: Here and here), and confided that most retailers are "really quite fine with it".
Says UK PSP product manager Claire Backhouse: "We were very aware of concerns when we went into it and I actually expected a lot more negative responses than we actually got. They were really quite fine with it."
"They see it as a way of getting people into the store because it's new interest, a new product. And they've had such strong sales as well of PSP 3000 almost off the back of it," she noted.
Blackhouse continued on:
"If you bring out a new product, people aspire to that but they might not buy it, they might buy the PSP 3000 instead. Especially if they're part of a family - dad might buy the PSPgo but the kids might get PSP 3000s. I think that works quite well for us."
On September 16th, Googlereleased the Android 1.6 Donut firmware update SDK to developers which included the introduction of a smart Quick Search Box, updated camera, camcorder and gallery, as well as battery usage indicator and many upgrades to the Android market.
Today, a YouTube user has posted a full walk through of the new upgrade, showcasing the new features in a 9 minute video.
View that vid here, it's a good watch if you are an Android phone owner:
Pioneer has announced today the launch of the BDR-205Blu-ray Disc writer, the world's first to have 12x single and dual-layer Blu-ray writing ability.
The SATA drive can also burn DVD at 16X and CDs at 40X.
Blu-ray.com says the drives may have some problems with certain media however, as Panasonic dual layer worked up to 12x, but Sony media could only reach the speeds in single layer.
Steve Cohn, Pioneer Electronics Director of Optical Disc Sales, added: "The BDR-205 drive represents our ongoing efforts to combine Pioneer's engineering expertise with advanced technologies, and our next generation Blu-ray Disc writer is a great example of our no-compromise approach to optical disc product development."
Microsoft has announced the launch of a new "Holiday" bundle for the Xbox 360 in the United States.
The Elite Holiday Bundle will retail for $299 USD and will include the games "LEGO Batman" and "Pure."
The bundle will include the console, a wireless controller, headset but no HDMI cable. It will also include only the 120GB HDD, not the "super" 250GB models.
T-Mobile has announced that the much anticipated Motorola Cliq Android phone will indeed go on pre-sale on October 19th, and will officially be on sale November 2nd.
The phone will cost $199.99 USD with two-year new contract or upgrade, adds the carrier.
"T-Mobile customers text message and access social messaging on mobile devices more than those of any other carrier," added Wendy Pinero DePencier, vice president of brand marketing, T-Mobile USA. "That's why we're excited to give them the first opportunity to purchase the CLIQ, and then in early November offer the CLIQ prominently at T-Mobile stores nationwide in time for the holidays."
The company recently announced that the same phone, dubbed the Dext however, and with some subtle differences, will hit the UK via the carrier Orange beginning later this month as well, with pre-orders beginning on the 22nd.
The Dext will also be headed to South America and the rest of the EU, added the company, although there is no set roadmap for those releases yet.
A federal judge has overturned a court judgment against Microsoft in a patent dispute that would have cost the company $388 million. The federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft did not infringe on a patent held by anti-piracy software maker Uniloc Inc. U.S. District Judge William Smith's decision nullifies the $388 million Microsoft would have had to pay in damages.
It would have been one of the largest damages awarded in a civil patent case in history. "We are pleased that the court has vacated the jury verdict and entered judgment in favor of Microsoft,"saidKevin Kutz, a Microsoft spokesman.
The case stretches back to 2003, when the Singapore-based Uniloc USA parent filed a lawsuit against the Redmond giant over security software it was using to prevent unlicensed use of Windows XP and Office software. In April of this year, a jury found in favor of Uniloc, and Microsoft appealed the verdict.
Vodafone has inked a deal to offer Apple Inc.'s iPhone in the United Kingdom and Ireland early next year, the company has announced. The deal comes after a previous announcement by Orange in the UK, following the loss of iPhone exclusivity by mobile carrier o2. "Vodafone and Apple today confirmed that they have reached agreement to bring iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS to the UK and Ireland in early 2010," a Vodafone statement reads.
"Beginning today, Vodafone UK and Vodafone Ireland customers can register their interest in iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS at www.vodafone.co.uk/iphone and www.vodafone.ie/iphone respectively." Vodafone will offer the iPhone in the region as a defensive move against subscriber defections, as providers such as O2 and Meteor entice users with bundle deals.
Bringing the phone to the market in early 2010 will miss the all-important holiday season. Orange expects to start offering the handset in the UK to customers before Christmas time.
The Guinness Book of Records files some of the most interesting and utterly useless records for our entertainment, constantly looking for more weird entries to fill the books each year. A new entry into the Guinness book of records is the awesome High-definition (HD) video screen(s) present above the Dallas Cowboys' football stadium in the United states.
Manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric, the giant four-sided screen has a surface area of about 1058 sq m (11,400 sq ft). "This is probably the most exciting project we've ever been involved with," said Mark Foster of Mitsubishi Electric.
Mitsubishi said the video board is the equivalent size of 3,268 52-inch television sets, packs more than 10 million light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and with all four panels account for, weighs around 600 tonnes.
Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Corporation and Toshiba Corporation have announced the formation of the new Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group. The group intends to create an industry standard for an audio/video interface to connect mobile phones or portable consumer electronics devices directly to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) and displays.
This new mobile connectivity standard, based on Silicon Image's Mobile High-Definition Link technology, will be defined, promoted and marketed by the Working Group as an industry standard open to anyone desiring to be an adopter and enable the development of mobile products that adhere to this new standard across a broad connectivity ecosystem.
The Working Group is expected to organize a Consortium of founding members who will develop a mobile connectivity technology standard specification that governs transmission and reception of high-definition content between portable devices and display devices, to support connectivity in accordance with the new specification.
A report issued on Monday by industry tracker comScore showed that Google Inc.'s mega-popular YouTube video sharing service played the largest roll as U.S. online video viewing hit all new heights in the month of August. Over 161 million people in the United States viewed some video online during the month, adding up to more than 25 billion Internet videos watched for the first time ever.
Google websites pushed about 10 billion of those videos in the United States, with YouTube accounting for 99 percent of that share. Google sites pulled 121.4 million viewers, watching a remarkable average of 82 videos in the month, according to comScore.
Microsoft came second - but a distant second - with websites it operates serving up 547 million videos viewed by around 55 million U.S. Internet users in August. Viacom Digital served 539 million video streams, edging ahead of Hulu at 488 million views. Around 82 percent of all Internet users in the United States watched videos online in August, for an average viewing time of 9.7 hours.
Earlier this week, Microsoft officially made its free anti-virus software available for download after being beta tested for some time. Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It updates daily to ensure that it keeps its database up-to-date with the latest virus and other malware threats.
"Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple," Microsoft's website reads.
"Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times." The Redmond giant said that it is not out to steal business from anti-virus companies such as McAfee or Symantec Corporation.
Instead, Microsoft is hoping that people who do not already run anti-virus software, and will not consider buying anti-virus software, will be the ones who choose to run Microsoft Security Essentials.
China Unicom will sell Apple Inc.'s iPhone in the country to promote the launch of its new 3G service. The phone will sell for a hefty fee of 5,000 yuan (about $732.50), which will undoubtedly force even high-end buyers in the country to seek subsidized packages that will reduce the handset price but lock the owner into a longer-term contract commitment with China Unicom.
The company will sell the phone in an attempt to attract buyers at the highest end of the market, an area that is currently dominated by China Mobile. "They look at this as a high end product, not mass market. All these plans offer subsidized phones,"CLSA analyst Francis Cheungsaid.
"Most people will not buy a phone separate from a plan. It's very expensive. I do get the sense there are going to be affordability issues." The phones will be available for service October 1. The move comes at a time when competition between Unicom and China Mobile is heating up following the recent reform in China's telecoms sector.
Freecom has announced its new "Hard Drive XS 3.0", he first external hard drive in the world to offer "SuperSpeed USB" technology - or not in marketing lingo, USB 3.0. The driver offers speeds around 130MB/s via USB 3.0, enabling the transfer of very large files in significantly less time than external hard drives available on the market at the moment.
Offering storage capacities of up to 2TB, the ultra-compact Hard Drive XS 3.0 can hold up to 400,000 MP3's, more than 1.3 million digital photos, 400 full DVDs or 2,000 movies (though we aren't sure what exactly they mean by "movies").
The prolific warez "scene" group ViRiLiTY has announced their voluntary retirement after releasing 8000 cracked software releases or keygens.
Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that 
