Mobile

Gadgets and canapés: PR, Paranoia and the Palm Pre [review]

I’ve written up my Day One impressions of the UK version of the Palm Pre, along with a tongue-in-cheek description of the PR back-story, in my debut column — working title: Gadgets and canapés — for Ewan MacLeod’s Mobile Industry Review (MIR).

The unsolved Macbook Melted Key Mystery

Late last night I looked down at my unibody Macbook’s keyboard and, shock-horror, the zero key had melted!

Back from the Sony Ericsson Satio launch – first impressions

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a really fun Sony Ericsson launch party – a kind of rebranding of sorts underpinned by the slogan ‘make.believe’ and used to officially launch the company’s new flagship Satio handset.

Palm to developers: “We love you man”

Palm have made a number of announcements after listening to feedback from the community, the biggest of which is that developers will be able to ’self-sign’ their apps and distribute them via the Web, and in doing so, bypass any formal approval process.

Without Apple’s help, Adobe building Flash to iPhone development bridge

The upcoming version of the latest Flash developer tools – Adobe Flash Professional CS5 – will offer Flash developers a way to output their finished creations as a native app for iPhone and iPod touch.

Internet TV

Adobe Flash seen running on Palm Pre – Netbooks, MIDs, and other smartphones also set to win (iPhone aside)

Adobe has long talked up its ambition to have Flash running on all manner of screens, not just the humble PC, and today the company got a lot closer to walking the walk not just talking.

Video: YouTube on the WD TV Live HD Media Player

The newly released WD TV Live HD adds an Ethernet port and support for YouTube and Flickr, Internet radio from Live365 and Pandora, along with content stored on a Windows PC or Mac on the same local network.

Digital Music

7digital launches in the US, BlackBerry music download store provides the splash

Like many British acts, UK-based music download service 7digital is hoping to conquer America. Today the company announced that its 6 million plus strong MP3 music store has opened its doors in the US, with tracked offered from Universal Music Group, Warner, EMI, Sony and an array independent labels.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: @sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Internet TV

NewTeeVee Live: Understand TV Everywhere with speakers from Comcast, Adobe, Nielsen, MTV and more (last100 readers get a 10% discount!)

last100 is proud to be a media sponsor of this year’s NewTeeVee Live conference. Better still, readers qualify for a 10% discount on tickets to the event.

Mobile

Three things that I hate about Android #fail

Having lived with the Vodafone HTC Magic for a few months now, there are a few things that really bug me about the standard version of Android. Yes, this is going to be a bit of rant.

First impressions of the HTC Hero (widgets, web browser, and social networking)

The Hero is the first Android-powered device to be heavily customized in terms of User Interface, with HTC’s Sense UI, something that we’re going to increasingly see handset makers do.

More social networking impressions of the HTC Hero [review]

While HTC’s first two Android phones were standard ‘out-of-the-box’ affairs on the software side, the latest effort – the HTC Hero – features a near-complete UI overhaul called the HTC Sense that not only gives Android some much needed polish (Google isn’t exactly known for eye candy in its User Interfaces) but also puts social networking at its heart.

Palm Pre UK release date confirmed, prices on par with older iPhone 3G

We knew the carrier: Telfonica-owned O2. We knew the time frame: before Christmas. Now we have the actual date and pricing for the UK release of Palm’s Pre smartphone, the company’s comeback device.

iPhone UK exclusivity to end, the future’s Orange but is it any brighter?

Exclusive handset offerings are certainly good for carriers and are probably good for handset makers too as they help drive up the price during negotiations – presuming there is a demand for said device in the first place. But it’s hard to see how they are ever in the interest of consumers who end up paying more through higher tariffs via the subsidy merry-go-round.

Vodafone UK lands iPhone too but Apple unlikely to sanction a price war

Following the news that mobile carrier Orange are to begin selling the iPhone here in the UK, Vodafone have announced that they too are jumping on the Cupertino bandwagon, albeit not till early 2010.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: @sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Internet TV

Opera wants to put Internet widgets on the TV too

Opera, the Norwegian company behind the desktop and mobile web browser of the same name, wants to be a major player in the nascent Internet-connected TV space.

BBC iPlayer on PS3 gets a makeover, higher quality video and 1080p UI

The version of iPlayer optimized for the PlayStation 3 has been given a major update that delivers improved video quality and a User Interface designed for High Definition televisions that operate up to 1080p.

Samsung Blu-ray players to support YouTube and Blu-ray rips!

This one of those press releases that made me chuckle. Samsung today announced that it has added support for YouTube, along with video formats that utilize the Matroska (MKV) container.

Introducing GigaOM’s NewTeeVee Live 09

One blog that I read religiously to keep track of the Online Video industry is NewTeeVee from the GigaOM staple of tech blogs. NewTeeVee also puts on the respected NewTeeVee Live conference every year and it’s nearly that time again. And as with last year, we’re proud to be a media sponsor for the event.

Mobile

Motorola just bet the house on Android and social networking

On stage live at GigaOm’s Mobilize 09 conference, Motorola unveiled a large part of its comeback strategy (there seems to be a lot of “comebacks” in the handset market at the moment) based on a new smartphone powered by Android, the Google-led mobile OS, featuring a custom UI that puts social networking at its heart.

PlayBite: Hands-on with the UK/GSM Palm Pre

Despite my positive coverage of Palm’s ‘come back’ smartphone, today was the first time I actually got to see the device in person, a whole nine months after it was first announced and three months after it went on sale in the US.

Hands-on with the Nokia E55 (or how I learned to live with half a QWERTY)

I was keen to try out Nokia’s attempt at a third QWERTY touting form factor, with the announcement of the E55. The device adopts the traditional candy bar shape by featuring something the handset maker is calling a “compact QWERTY”.

Nokia dumps location-based service Friend View, falls in love with Facebook

The new application called Lifecasting with Ovi enables users to publish “their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the home screen of [there] mobile device.”

Digital Music

Spotify hits the iPhone and Android app stores

The stars were already aligned: a preemptive PR strike, a premium business model, and regulators questioning anti-competitive practices with relation to the iPhone’s app store — making it less and less surprising that Apple should give Spotify the green light.

Nokia’s all-you-can eat music service now “comes with” its own flagship touch screen phone – Nokia X6

Although I’d put poor marketing, carrier resistance, and possibly DRM, ahead of the lack of a flagship device to explain why Comes With Music, Nokia’s all-you-can-eat music service, hasn’t been the hit the handset maker had hoped for, the company’s newly announced X6 music phone is encouraging.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Internet TV

How DivX delivered DRM into the living room and finally won Hollywood’s blessing

Download-to-own movie site Film Fresh (U.S.-only), in partnership with DivX, has secured content from Hollywood studios Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony and Warner Bros. The deal marks the first time that major studio content has been offered for sale in the DivX format in the U.S., according to Film Fresh.

Mobile

Nokia can do UI design after all, Linux-based N900 unveiled

It had already been leaked to death, but frankly, if the walk-through video that’s been published today is anything to go by, I don’t think any of the previous pics or screen shots do this thing justice. I’m referring to Nokia’s new Linux-based smartphone come Internet tablet, the N900, which the handset maker has officially unveiled.

Why is Nokia entering the crowded Netbook market? Answer: the mobile carrier subsidy merry-go-round

In a move that might leave many a tech analyst scratching their head, Nokia have announced their own Windows Netbook, albeit a high-end one.

Digital Music

Spotify on iPhone approved by Apple

With Apple stuck between the FCC, Eurpean Union regulators and a hard place, I’m not that surprised to see the approval of music streaming service Spotify’s iPhone app. Apple today confirmed to paidContent that Spotify (currently Europe-only) has been given the green light and will be available in the App Store “very soon”.

• Real’s Rhapsody enters App Store submission hell, could bode well for Spotify?

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: Hulu takes on Boxee, Sky and XBox 360, Spotify on Android, Nokia Ovi app store, Zune HD
• Android’s biggest Netbook challenge (Hint: Windows)
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup: HD Netbooks, PS3 streaming, Google Latitude, Spotify, Nokia, Facebook, and more

Internet TV

Download the complete Pirate Bay torrent index, if you dare

I personally wouldn’t go anywhere near this. The occasional ‘ilegal’ torrent at a time, such as a missed episode of Mad Men, may carry a little risk, but try justifying the complete Pirate Bay torrent index sitting on your hard drive — all 21 GB of it — and well I wish you good luck.

VidZone, Sony PS3’s on-demand music video service, is a hit with… record labels

I was so underwhelmed with VidZone, the PlayStation 3’s on-demand music video service, that I couldn’t bring myself to review it. The UI is clunky and videos stream in a 4:3 aspect ratio, even for recent releases, so that they don’t fill up the whole screen on my High Def telly.

Roku set-top box adds Major League Baseball streaming (MLB.TV)

Roku’s cheap but increasingly versatile set-top box has added another feather to its bow. Joining both Netflix and Amazon-On-Demand, the $99 Roku Video Player can now stream live ‘out of market’ and archived baseball matches — in 720p HD no less — courtesy of MLB.TV (US-only).

Sony PlayStation video store coming to the UK, France, Germany and Spain this November

While the U.S. version launched all the way back in July 08, it’s been a long wait for users across the pond. Along with announcing a new slimmer version of the PS3 and a bunch of other service enhancements, yesterday Sony revealed that the PlayStation video store will be opening its doors to parts of Europe from November this year.

Blockbuster VOD service to land on Motorola handsets sometime in the future

Bricks ‘n’ mortar video rental chain Blockbuster is teaming up with Motorola in the U.S. to deliver its video-on-demand service to the handset maker’s future devices.

First ‘powered by Chumby’ device to be a digital picture frame, Internet-connected TVs to follow

The first Chumby-powered photo frame will be able to display content from photo sites Flickr and Photobucket, along with accessing social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as news feeds, Internet radio and weather forecasts.

Mobile

INQ’s mass market ‘Twitter phone’ takes aim at overpriced QWERTY touting smartphones

I pretty much had this one pegged. Hutchison-owned INQ have announced the follow up to the award winning INQ1 — dubbed the Facebook phone — with a QWERTY-touting handset that, amongst other things, targets users of Twitter.

Why Sony is embracing the ‘open’ ePub eBook standard (Hint: Amazon)

I’ve argued before that with regards to eBooks and the Kindle, Amazon doesn’t view itself as a hardware company. Unlike the iTunes ecosystem designed to shift more iPods and iPhones, for Amazon it’s actually about selling digital content — the eBooks themselves — as demonstrated by the release of the iPhone ‘Kindle’ eBook reader and the company’s work-around to keep Apple away from any iPhone-generated eBook revenue.

Palm invites developers to begin submitting their paid-for WebOS apps

Palm is to begin accepting applications from developers who want to charge for their Palm Pre WebOS apps, with the pending launch of the company’s Palm App Catalog e-commerce beta program in mid-September. Attracting developers to Palm’s new platform will be key to the Pre’s success and future handsets released by the company running on its shiny new WebOS.

Samsung opens up its TouchWhiz homescreen; widgets let developers target all three screens

Samsung announced that it’s finally opening up the TouchWhiz widget platform, which exists across many of the company’s touch screen phones running Symbian, Windows Mobile, and the handset maker’s proprietary operating system.

Can I survive on half a QWERTY? Nokia E55 in the house

I was intrigued when Nokia announced the E55 with a keyboard that the company describes as a compact-QWERTY. Similar to BackBerry’s sure-type layout, each key houses two letters. The option of predictive text helps to smooth over this obvious compromise but then on the other hand you get the advantage of a candy bar form factor, and in the E55’s case, a very slender one too.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Mobile

Google vs Microsoft? Forget Chrome OS (for now) and keep your eye on Android and Win Mobile

Forget Chrome OS versus Windows (for now), there’s another Google / Microsoft battle taking place right in front of our eyes and Google’s winning. No, I’m not talking search. That war is over and Google was victorious a long time ago. I’m talking mobile. Android versus Windows Mobile to be precise, where Redmond is looking a little vulnerable to say the least.

10 best apps currently running on my Android phone (HTC Magic)

I’ve only owned an Android OS-based phone for a few weeks – the HTC Magic (see my review) – but even in this relatively short amount of time I’ve been hitting Google’s mobile app store, the Android Market, pretty hard in search for the best and most useful third party apps the platform has to offer.

Thoughts on Google Chrome OS

The big news is that Google is developing its own Operating System dubbed Chrome OS. Cue the headlines about the search giant, once again, taking aim at Microsoft. And of course, on one level that’s absolutely correct. Just like any other newly launched OS needs to take market share away from Redmond in order to succeed. But it won’t be easy.

Symbian Foundation crowdsourcing UI design

The Symbian Foundation, Nokia’s ambitious open source project designed to give longevity to the Symbian OS, has launched a new blog inviting the ‘community’ to submit their own User Interface mockups.

Palm Pre to launch on O2 in the UK, just don’t mention the competition

It’s now official: The Palm Pre will launch exclusively on Telefonica-owned O2 here in the UK. When? “In time for the holidays”, say Palm and O2, with no word yet on pricing. My guess is that we’re talking early October, enough time to ramp up for Christmas spending.

Internet TV

Netflix CEO: Web browser is television’s future

Forget channel surfing, Web surfing is the future of television, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings tells CNNMoney.com.

Dan Rayburn: 10 years on Blockbuster still lacks a digital strategy

Bricks and mortar video rental chain Blockbuster were a decade ahead of the competition in terms of the move from physical media to digital. That lead, however, “never materialized into any real online video strategy over the next ten years”, writes industry veteran and EVP of StreamingMedia.com, Dan Rayburn.

Hulu explains its lack of love for PlayStation 3

Users who are complaining that they can no longer access the online video site Hulu on through their PlayStation 3’s web browser are being given an official explanation. The short version: it’s not Hulu’s fault per se but the result of keeping content owners, who don’t want the service to compete with revenue generated by traditional television distribution, happy.

Digital Music

How Spotify can beat Microsoft [music streaming]

Spotify, which has become the talk of the town here in London, could launch in the US as early as September, reports the Observer newspaper. The music streaming service, which offers both ad-supported and subscription versions, is seen as not only a real iTunes contender but also compelling enough and the right side of “free” to wean users off of illegal file sharing networks.

Spotify launches preemptive PR strike following iPhone App Store submission

Spotify has submitted its iPhone app to Apple’s App Store and the company wants everybody to know it. An official blog post has gone up, demos of the app to select press have been given, and a YouTube video (see below) is doing the rounds. Now the wait begins.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup: iPhone and Kindle, Nokia Facebook app, Android Netbooks, Flip MinoHD and PS3
• Weekly wrapup: Hulu takes on Boxee, Sky and XBox 360, Spotify on Android, Nokia Ovi app store, Zune HD
• Weekly wrapup: DivX wins Hollywood’s blessing, Nokia’s Linux phone and Windows Netbook, Spotify on iPhone, and more
• Weekly wrapup: NFL on-demand, YouTube HD, Gphone hands-on, iPlayer mobile and more
• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008

Mobile

Review: HTC Magic (Google Ion, T-Mobile myTouch 3G)

It goes by many names. The HTC Magic on Vodafone here in the UK, Google Ion, when handed out as a freebie at the search giant’s developer conference, and the myTouch 3G on T-Mobile in the states. But, whichever way you slice it, the second Android-powered Google phone, manufactured by HTC, is an improvement over the original T-Mobile G1 in almost every way.

After pressure from EU, Apple dumping iPhone’s Universal Dock Connector? (microUSB)

The European Union (EU), after applying pressure to the industry, have announced that Apple had joined competitors, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Research in Motion, Samsung and others, in agreeing to switch to the micro-USB standard from next year.

Internet TV

The Pirate Bay sold, plans to go legit. Users urged to become capitalists.

The Pirate Bay has been acquired by Global Gaming Factory X (GGF), a publicly listed company in Sweden, for the grand sum of $7.8 million. Profit made from the sale will be used to fund a new political organization set up “to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openness of the nets”, according to a blog post published on The Pirate Bay.

Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked

Based in the UK, I don’t have access to the US-only video site Hulu. But if I did I’d no longer be able to access the studio-backed Internet TV service on my PlayStation 3.

Joost admits ad-revenue defeat, trying white label biz model instead

After rumors of a third change in direction, Joost, the Internet TV startup that just won’t seem to die, has announced plans to focus less on its own online video portal and instead tout the company’s newly launched white label service to “media companies, including cable and satellite providers, broadcasters and video aggregators.”

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Mobile

HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, apes Palm Pre’s Synergy

At a press conference in London this morning, HTC unveiled it latest Android-based phone – dubbed “Hero” – but unlike the G1 and HTC Magic before it, the new handset has been given a major UI overhaul that the company is calling HTC Sense.

How I plan to use my HTC Magic Android phone

As my obsession with mobile continues – the new frontier – I’ve made the decision to take out a second mobile phone contract. But with a twist. I don’t plan to make (or receive) a single call on handset number two. Instead, it will be used for data only (Web browsing, third-party Internet-connected apps and email).

Flash 10 coming to smartphones this October? Apple and RIM still missing in action

The real reason why Apple doesn’t want to embrace Adobe’s Flash is that it would offer third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and, perhaps more importantly, distrubute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself.

Intel and Nokia announce “long-term relationship” to develop Intel-based mobile devices

This one feels like a bit of a re-announcement but over time could well amount to more. Chip maker Intel and handset maker Nokia held a joint press call today to tell the world about a new “long term relationship” to share R&D and key technologies to develop a new mobile platform or range of devices that “go beyond today’s smartphones, notebooks and netbooks”.

Internet TV

Boxee grows up with official Major League Baseball streaming partnership

Forget the ongoing spat with Hulu, PC-to-TV media player Boxee has announced an official partnership with MLB.com.

Nokia testing “long form” video service

We’ve known for a long time that Nokia wants to be seen as much as a services company as a handset maker, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising to learn that the company is exploring different ways to deliver online video to mobile phones.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup: NewTeeVee Live discount, Android’s failings, HTC Hero review, iPhone monopoly broken, Palm Pre UK release date
• HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, apes Palm Pre’s Synergy
• Motorola just bet the house on Android and social networking
• Weekly wrapup: Mobile World Congress
• Three things that I hate about Android #fail

Mobile

More hands-on impressions of the Nokia N97 [full review]

There is of course a world of difference between living with a phone for any meaningful length of time and having a quick play at a press event or trade show. And after 3 days of ‘real world’ use, I’ll offer up the first mea culpa: the keyboard isn’t nearly as good as I’d first reported. Read on for a more in-depth review of the Nokia N97…

My favorite smartphone just got superseded

Today, the Nokia E71 got superseded by a new handset from Nokia, the E72, which thankfully keeps the physical design relatively untouched, improves the keyboard layout, and ups the fairly feeble camera (my main complaint of the E71) to a more respectable 5 megapixels capable of shooting 30 fps VGA video.

Archos’ 9 inch tablet looks promising

I’m not a big fan of tablet style PCs or at least those that come much bigger than Apple’s iPod touch, which is an Internet tablet disguised as a portable media player if there ever was one. However, others feel differently – just witness the excitement over the upcoming CrunchPad. Last week, Archos threw its latest hat in the ring, announcing a yet-to-be-released 9 inch tablet-style “Mini-PC”.

Internet TV

Does the world need another video sharing site? Pure Digital (Flip) thinks so

One of the biggest selling points of the Flip range of camcorders is the software that they come bundled with (installable from the camera itself), which enables basic editing and upload to YouTube and other third-party video sites. So why launch a competing site of their own? Two words: Privacy and convenience.

Pirate Bay offering file sharers their own encrypted private network

Notorious BitTorrent tracker Pirate Bay is launching a new service that will offer file swappers their own encrypted virtual private network that will keep any “ilegal” activities away from the prying eyes of the content industry and their trigger happy legal teams.

Digital Music

UK ISP Virgin Media and UMG announce “carrot and stick” music plans

This week, Virgin talked up the latest phase of its cozy relationship with the major record labels, announcing a new unlimited music plan backed by Universal Music Group, and a firm commitment to “educate” file sharers through a temporary suspension of service.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (follow me on Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup: INQ1 review (the Facebook phone), Nokia E75 hands-on, Internet TV news round-up, and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007
• Weekly wrapup: Flip Mino HD review, Samsung Gphone, Palm Pre vs iPhone, new PSP, and more
• Weekly wrapup: iPhone and Kindle, Nokia Facebook app, Android Netbooks, Flip MinoHD and PS3
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008

Internet TV

YouTube relaunches TV-friendly version of the site, Android ‘remote control’ debuts too

It’s not the first time that YouTube has rolled out a version of the video sharing site designed specifically for viewing on a television but the application’s been given a polish and a new name to boot.

XBox 360 to support Twitter and Facebook. Whose the biggest social network on TV now?

Microsoft announced at E3 that the XBox 360 will soon be adding support for two competing social networks – Twitter and Facebook – making the XBox 360 undoubtedly the most socially networked set-top box, but not necessarily a Microsoft-owned social network the biggest one on the television.

Review: WD HD Media Player, a ‘kitchen sink an all’ media player that just works

Sometimes a seemingly complex problem requires the simplest of solutions. Case in point is Western Digital’s WD HD Media Player, which provides a near fool-proof way of watching almost any video downloaded from the Internet on the TV.

Vudu now offering Disney HD movies for purchase on same ‘day and date’ as Blu-ray

Vudu (U.S.-only) is to offer new Disney HD releases for purchase through its set-top box movie service on the same “day and date” as their competing DVD/Blu-ray release.

Mobile

INQ working on a mass market ‘Twitter phone’

Hutchison-owned INQ, makers of the Skype phone and INQ1 – dubbed the Facebook phone – is said to be targeting Twitter next, according to news report.

BBC iPlayer and the Creative Zen X-Fi

Yesterday, I was out tech shopping with a friend and a simple brief. Purchase a 4-8 GB flash-based MP3 player, and one that wasn’t an iPod. What we came away with was the Creative Zen X-Fi, which isn’t the newest of players but has its fair share of iPod-trumping features nonetheless.

Smartphone and Netbook, meet Smartbook (but haven’t we met before?)

On the day that Intel secured the right from Psion to legally use the trademarked term Netbook, rival chip designer Qualcomm is pushing a “new” category of mobile device, which the company is calling a Smartbook.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,

- Steve (Twitter: sohear)

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007

Internet TV

Hulu takes on Boxee (sort of) with its own desktop app

Hulu have made available their own desktop application (Mac and Windows) that features a “ten foot” user interface designed specifically for operating with a remote control, providing a much better experience when viewing Hulu content via a PC connected to a TV.

Rupert Murdoch’s Sky bringing interactive TV to XBox 360

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB’s broadband TV service ‘Sky Player’ is coming to XBox 360 users in the UK and Ireland.

Friday’s Internet TV news links: Flip, Sony Ericsson, HDMI, Android, and more

Here are few links for some Friday/weekend reading. All Internet TV-related.

Digital Music

Music streaming service Spotify demos Android app, off-line syncing included!

An iPhone version was already known to be in development, with Nokia’s S60 thought to be next. Now it looks likely that Spotify will in fact make its mobile debut on Google’s Android OS after the company published a video previewing a native Spotify client running on Android, off-line playback included.

Mobile

Nokia’s Ovi app store launches [iPhone envy]

Announced at Mobile World Congress back in February, the Ovi Store is the handset maker’s direct response to Apple’s phenomenally successful App Store for the company’s iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Nokia’s Ovi Store day one: why aren’t the best S60 apps being promoted?

While on the one hand I don’t want to see Nokia favor one developer over another, from a consumer point of view, the Ovi Store will live or die by its “killer” applications. Apple’s fond of saying in its ad campaign that on iPhone there’s an app for almost everything, but there are far fewer and very specific apps and supported services that the majority of users crave. These should also be an app store’s flagship wares – the Ovi Store included.

Microsoft takes on iPod touch with Zune HD

Microsoft announced its latest Zune portable media player designed to go head to head with Apple’s iPod touch. Dubbed the Zune HD, the device features a 3.3″ 16:9 widescreen capacitive OLED with multitouch, WiFi, and a built-in web browser, along with existing Zune media playback features.

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Related Articles at last100:

• Weekly wrapup, 11-15 August 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007
• Weekly wrapup, 7-11 July 2008 (iPhone 2.0 update)
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more

Internet TV

Universal and Warner sue Internet TV startup Zattoo

Zattoo’s legal status is, arguably, a bit of a grey area. While the Internet TV service, which features live streaming of existing over-the-air and cable channels, claims it only does so within the law – either through government legislation or direct licensing agreements – its business model remains a controversial one. And it seems that Hollywood has finally taken notice.

Microsoft and Netflix bring streaming to Windows Media Center sans Extender support

It’s not the first time that Netflix functionality has been added to Microsoft’s Media Center software, but this week the two companies released an official plug-in for the PC to TV platform.

Digital Music

Napster tries again, unlimited streaming and five downloads for $5 per-month

Now under the stewardship of Best Buy, Napster is taking yet-another-stab at offering a compelling music service since its glorious P2P days of yesteryear. This time round the company is touting the combination of unlimited streaming of its 7 million strong music library in combination with 5 DRM-free downloads per month, all for a monthly subscription of just five dollars.

Sony considering PSP game rental and music download services

It’s looks like Sony may finally be getting serious about its download service for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), with the company considering a subscription-based game rental offering and a la carte music downloads akin to the iTunes Store.

Mobile

Official: Palm Pre to go on sale June 6th, just two days before Apple’s WWDC – $200 with 2 year contract

After weeks and weeks of speculation, the cat is finally — and I mean finally — out of the bag. The Palm Pre will go on sale in the US on June the 6th, with the Sprint exclusive, for now at least, costing $200 after a $100 mail in rebate with a 2 year contract.

Linux on a Netbook? Intel thinks its all about the User Interface

While I remain skeptical of Linux’s chances to overtake Windows as the Netbook OS of choice, that isn’t stopping Intel who continue to invest in a Microsoft alternative.

Archos’ Android powered MID set to debut on June 11th?

Archos isn’t actually using the MID moniker and instead refers to said device as an Internet Media Tablet, emphasizing its support for a range of audio and video codecs, including High Definition video playback, along with the ability to surf the web and access other Internet-based content.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading!

- Steve (twitter: @sohear)

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• Weekly wrapup, 25-29 Feb 2008
• Weekly wrapup: YouTube on PS3 and Wii, DivX 7, Blockbuster/CinemaNow, Palm and more
• Weekly wrapup, 29 October – 2 November 2007