Sponsored
Inside Motorola's Xoom: Plenty of horsepower (AP) : Technet |
- Inside Motorola's Xoom: Plenty of horsepower (AP)
- 360-degree cameras to deepen online Oscar ogling (AP)
- Judge says WikiLeaks' Assange can be extradited (AP)
- New MacBook Pros get FaceTime HD cameras, hit by Thunderbolt (Ben Patterson)
- Microsoft: 9 of 10 Windows Phone users had no problems with patch (Ben Patterson)
- Google cooks recipes into search menu (AFP)
- ChaCha sues HTC over its new ChaCha phone (Digital Trends)
- HTC Arrive Will Be Sprint's First Windows Phone 7 Device (NewsFactor)
- Palestinian PM turns to Facebook for inspiration (AFP)
- Five reasons Netflix may become the bargain bin of streaming services (Digital Trends)
- Bidding is hot in Justin Bieber hair auction (Reuters)
- Never Lose Your Car or Miss a Friend With ToothTag (Mashable)
- Meet the Makers: Lookout Mobile Security - Labs (Appolicious)
- MetroPCS adds subscribers (Investor's Business Daily)
- Antoine Dodson, other YouTube stars join for film (AP)
- Apple takes wraps off new MacBook Pro lineup (Reuters)
- Mariner upgrades Paperless document management software (Macworld)
- Gartner: Server Sales Kept Bouncing Back in Q4 (PC World)
| Inside Motorola's Xoom: Plenty of horsepower (AP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:41 PM PST SEATTLE – Motorola's new Xoom tablet computer has enough power under the hood to challenge Apple Inc.'s iPad, according to analysis by market researchers IHS iSuppli, but buyers might be disappointed to find that it will need new hardware to work on new, high-speed networks. The Xoom is seen as the first real competition for the iPad — or at least for the first generation of Apple's wildly popular device, which launched a year ago. Other gadget makers have tried to mimic Apple's success with the keyboardless, touch-screen computer, but the iPad remains the nascent market's clear leader, and Apple is expected to unveil the second-generation iPad next week. Motorola's Xoom, which went on sale Thursday, may have the best shot yet at winning a slice of the tablet business from Apple. Motorola's tablet has a 10.1-inch screen, slightly larger than the iPad's, and dual cameras for video chatting and recording high-definition video. The original iPad didn't come with a camera, though the second generation is rumored to also have front and back cameras. The Xoom is the first tablet running a new version of Google Inc.'s Android software designed specifically for tablets, rather than earlier versions that were meant to work on much smaller smart phones. While Apple's iPad costs $499 to $829, depending on storage space and Internet configuration, the Xoom comes in one model with one price — $800, or $600 with a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless. When IHS iSuppli opened up the Xoom, it spotted two components that should make for a speedy device. One is a dual-core processor from Nvidia, which controls how fast the gadget runs its software. In theory at least, this should be about twice as speedy as Apple's own chip. The Xoom also packs more of the type of memory that helps applications run faster. "On paper, Motorola's Xoom should be running laps around the iPad," said iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam said. In practice, however, he said it also depends on how well Google's software takes advantage of the powerful hardware. Motorola appears to have skimped a bit on the quality of the display, at least compared with what Apple was willing to spend. Lam said the Xoom has a more limited range of colors. The iPad will also do a better job of showing people what's on the screen even if they're not looking at the device head-on, whereas on the Xoom, the image will appear to fade out when the tablet is held at an angle. The parts of the Xoom that control how touch-sensitive the screen is, however, are on par with what's inside the iPad, Lam said. In terms of battery life, the iPad, which runs for about 10 hours, may still have an edge, though this, too, depends on software and other factors. The iPad has two batteries that are each twice as big as the single battery in the Xoom, Lam said. One of the Xoom's distinguishing features is that the tablet can be upgraded in the future to work on Verizon's speedy new "4G," or fourth-generation, network, which is expected to be available in nearly 40 cities by the end of this year. Lam said he was surprised to find out that Motorola didn't build the necessary 4G radios into the Xoom — instead, people will need to hand over their tablet for a hardware upgrade. In addition to GPS, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and other sensors also found in Apple's newer gadgets, the Xoom has a built-in atmospheric pressure monitor that Lam thinks could be used to help people navigate large indoor spaces, because that could help figure out whether the user is on the first floor or the fifth, for example. "What happened here is a perfect storm. Google came up with Android 3.0," Lam said, "and Motorola seized the moment to come up with high-end hardware." |
| 360-degree cameras to deepen online Oscar ogling (AP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 01:11 PM PST LOS ANGELES – Celebrity watchers won't need to dress up to feel like they're at the Oscars this year. For $5, they'll be able to gaze around at whomever they wish, focus in on a dress or a bowtie and watch A-listers brush past them up the steps to the Kodak Theatre — all on the Internet. And for the first time, viewers will be able to peek at an exclusive after-party called the Governors Ball and watch winners have their name plates engraved and attached to their statuettes. Half a dozen 360-degree cameras have been set up for the task. Inside each are 11 separate cameras feeding a constant stream of video online. Viewers can look in any direction with the control of a mouse as the streams are blended together in one seamless video. That means you can glance down at someone's shoes or stare up at the sky. (Unfortunately, rain is again in the forecast.) Accompanied by about two dozen other fixed-position cameras around the venue, the setup marks the largest online push for the Oscars ever. Imagine about 30 flies on the wall and the chance to flit between them and listen in. Much of the impetus came from two-time Academy Award-winner John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and a member of the Academy's board. Pixar's short movie "Day & Night" and the animated feature "Toy Story 3" are up for awards Sunday. The home viewer only gets to see a fraction of what goes on at the Oscars, and this was an opportunity to impart the experience of someone attending, Lasseter said. And no show would be complete without a view of the screaming, jostling paparazzi angling for a shot. "It is so funny and so insane," Lasseter said in an interview. Because home viewers will be able to linger on the red carpet longer than the stars, "it's going to give the viewer at home more access to the Oscar ceremony than even people going to the Oscars," he said. Coverage extends before, during and after the show. Viewers who do not want to pay $5 will get some features free on the Oscars website for ABC, which has televised the awards show every year since 1976. They include some of the fixed-position cameras on the red carpet and the popular backstage thank-you cam. Available only for a fee are the 360-degree cameras and access to the Governors Ball. Also part of the paid access are backstage cameras in a new array of positions, including one that lifts the curtain on what the superstar audience does during commercial breaks. A map of the scene plus camera positions will help users decide where to home in. Albert Cheng, executive vice president of digital media for the Disney/ABC Television Group, said viewers will get unprecedented access to the ball and other areas that aren't televised on ABC. "People never used to get to see the stars eat and party," he said. "This is using technology to tell stories. It's going beyond what everybody else has done." The 360-degree technology comes from BigLook360 LLC, a Dallas-based company that deployed just such a camera to capture the implosion of the Cowboys' old home, the Texas Stadium, last April — from the inside. The company also deployed one of their cameras at the Emmys, Golden Globes and Grammys for People magazine's website. The Oscars mark the first time multiple cameras will be deployed for live streaming all at once. "It's like standing next to someone," said BigLook360's CEO and founder, Lance Loesberg. "You're right there." The initiative is a test of people's willingness to pay for such streams. The Oscars, with 41 million viewers last year, is usually the second-most watched telecast of the year after the Super Bowl. Commercials during the ABC broadcast are going for an average of $1.7 million per 30 seconds of commercial air time. Online advertising and the new $5 fees could add to that, although no executives gave a prediction for how many people would sign up. Some have already bought in. "I don't think any of us are projecting enormous revenues this year," said Ric Robertson, executive administrator for the Academy. "I hope first and foremost it's a satisfying experience. If it's a satisfying experience in Year One, then in Year Two I think it'll sell itself." The online move is a joint venture between ABC parent The Walt Disney Co., and the non-profit Academy. They will share costs and split the receipts. A lower-priced $1 offering is also available for Apple Inc.'s iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, although those users won't be able to use the 360-degree cameras because those feeds use Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash software, which Apple devices do not support. ___ Online: A video demo of Oscar Backstage Pass: http://bit.ly/ejeXeh A demo of BigLook360's video of the implosion of Texas Stadium: |
| Judge says WikiLeaks' Assange can be extradited (AP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 10:08 AM PST LONDON – Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden in a sex crimes inquiry, a British judge ruled Thursday, rejecting claims by the WikiLeaks founder that he would not face a fair trial there. Assange's lawyer said he would appeal. Judge Howard Riddle rejected claims from the Wikileaks founder that he would not face a fair trial, saying that the allegations of rape and sexual molestation by two women against Assange meet the definition of extraditable offenses and that the Swedish warrant had been properly issued and was valid. Assange, 39, a key figure in the release of tens of thousands of secret U.S. government and military documents, has been out on bail during the extradition fight. He has seven days to appeal the ruling in British courts. Standing outside the courtroom after the ruling, Assange seemed to hesitate before answering a reporter's question about his reaction to the judge's decision — before a supporter briskly stepped in to say the Wikileaks founder was not in a position to talk. He later spoke briefly to reporters, condemning the extradition process as unfair. After hearing three days of testimony this month, Riddle concluded "there is simply no reason to believe there has been a mistake" about the European Arrest Warrant issued by Swedish authorities. In his ruling, the judge dismantled the defense case against extradition point by point. He rejected the claim that comments made against Assange by Swedish prosecutors and politicians would pervert the course of justice. Assange's lawyers also said that Sweden's custom of hearing rape cases behind closed doors meant he would not get a fair trial, but Riddle said the practice was common in Sweden. Assange's lawyers have questioned Sweden's judicial process and expressed concern their client risks being handed over to the United States, which is investigating whether Assange and WikiLeaks have violated U.S. laws by distributing secret government documents. WikiLeaks has released tens of thousands of U.S. military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and on U.S. diplomatic efforts worldwide, deeply angering U.S. officials. The judge said it was wrong for the defense to raise the question of a possible extradition to the U.S. or the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, given the absence of any evidence that Assange risks torture or execution. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington has no involvement in the case. "The Julian Assange rape case is a matter between Britain and Sweden," Crowley said Thursday in a Twitter post. The Swedish case stems from charges of sexual misconduct made against Assange by two women after he visited Sweden last August. Lawyers for Sweden have argued that authorities made repeated attempts to interview Assange while he was in Scandinavia, to no avail. Riddle said it was clear that Assange failed to make himself available for interview in Sweden. "It does not seem unreasonable for a prosecutor in a serious matter such as this to expect and indeed require the presence of Mr. Assange in Sweden," the judge said. In Sweden, Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer representing the two women, said the decision had been expected. "It's just too bad that it took so long," Borgstrom said. "(Assange) will probably appeal this decision for some reason that is hard to understand. He claims that he hasn't committed a crime so he should just come here and sort it out. I expect that he will be on Swedish soil before the summer." Bjorn Hurtig, Assange's Swedish lawyer, told The Associated Press that he was preparing to represent his client. "If he comes to Sweden I think he has great chances of being freed," Hurtig said. "And I'll be waiting for him, ready to fight for him tooth and nail." ____ Louise Nordstrom and Karl Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this story. |
| New MacBook Pros get FaceTime HD cameras, hit by Thunderbolt (Ben Patterson) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 07:03 AM PST Yep, they're still pricey, but Apple's updated MacBook Pro laptops now boast Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors, improved cameras capable of HD video chat, and a speedy new interface with a cool-sounding name: Thunderbolt. It's been almost a year since Apple's MacBook Pro line got a major refresh, and among the biggest changes is the addition of Intel's multi-core "Sandy Bridge" processors, with even the entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro now packing a 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will come with 2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processors, with a built-to-order option for a 2.3GHz processor. Gone are the discrete Nvidia processors for graphics, which have been replaced by AMD chipsets.
Also new: a newly-dubbed FaceTime HD camera that boasts three times the resolution of previous built-in MacBook Pro cameras, good for 720p-quality video chat with other MacBook Pro users with the just-released, 99-cent FaceTime desktop app. The camera also allows for standard-definition FaceTime calls with iPhone and iPod Touch users. Perhaps the biggest innovation in the latest MacBook Pros can be found in a port sitting along the side of the chassis: we're talking Thunderbolt, a new, blisteringly fast interface developed by Intel in collaboration with Apple. Thunderbolt will offer transfer speeds up to a sizzling 10 gigabits per second, 12 times faster than FireWire 800 interfaces or a whopping 20 times faster than USB 2.0, Apple promises. It also supports existing FireWire and USB peripherals, not to mention external monitors with DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, and VGA adapters. Thunderbolt could come in handy for those looking to connect a RAID array of hard drives to their systems, or if you simply want to connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, and other peripherals to your Mac using a single cord. (CNET has more details on Thunderbolt here.) While the new MacBook Pros mark the first consumer systems on the market to arrive with Intel's Thunderbolt technology, it remains to be seen whether Thunderbolt becomes an industry standard—or even replace the coming USB 3.0 standard, for that matter. All very nice, but anyone looking for innovation from Apple in the pricing department will come away disappointed. The cheapest MacBook Pro is still $1,199 for the 13-inch model, with the entry-level 15-inch MBP remaining at $1,799. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro, which saw a $200 price drop last year to $2.229, ended up giving back the savings with its updated $2,499 price tag. The new MacBook Pros will be available today though the online Apple Store in multiple configurations and with built-to-order options: 13-inch MacBook Pro: 15-inch MacBook Pro: 17-inch MacBook Pro: — Ben Patterson is a technology blogger for Yahoo! News. |
| Microsoft: 9 of 10 Windows Phone users had no problems with patch (Ben Patterson) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:44 AM PST Despite some "gloomy headlines" about bricked Samsung phones following the first-ever Windows Phone patch, a Microsoft rep insists that this week's update process has gone relatively well, adding that 90 percent of users managed to apply Monday's patch without a hitch. Microsoft writer Michael Stroh admitted on the official Windows Phone blog Wednesday that the update hasn't "gone perfectly" for everyone, and acknowledged that "it's still aggravating" when "it's your phone that's having the problem." The exact nature of the problem, which hit the owners of a "small number" of Samsung-made Windows Phone handsets, is still unclear, with Stroh saying only that Microsoft had "identified a technical issue" with the update and would issue a fix "as quickly as possible." In the meantime, Microsoft has "suspended updates" to Samsung-built Windows Mobile devices, such as the Omnia 7 and the Focus, with patch deployment continuing for Windows Phone handsets from other manufacturers. The first Windows Mobile patch was intended to pave the way for two larger Windows Phone updates. The first update, expected in March, will add cut-and-paste functionality, as well as tweaks that will allow for Windows Phone handsets on CDMA networks (such as Sprint and Verizon Wireless). The second, larger update is slated for the second half of the year, and will add features such as multitasking for third-party apps, Twitter integration in the Windows Phone "People" hub, and a new browser based on Internet Explorer 9. But shortly after Microsoft issued the patch Monday, message boards and Twitter began lighting up with complaints from Samsung Omnia 7 owners, who said they were unable to revive their handsets after the update process failed. Microsoft has told those with bricked handsets that they'd have to return them to their carriers for replacements, according to WinRumors. (The site has since posted a decidedly unofficial how-to describing how to flash the ROM of a stalled Windows Phone.) On the Windows Phone blog, Microsoft's Stroh wrote that 90 percent of Windows Phone users who'd applied the update did so "successfully," and that "nearly half" of the remaining 10 percent had trouble only because they had a spotty Internet connection or hadn't cleared out enough room on their phones for the update. Stroh directed those having problems to a series of official tips and tricks, as well as to an online troubleshooter. Related: — Ben Patterson is a technology blogger for Yahoo! News. |
| Google cooks recipes into search menu (AFP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 07:26 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Google has began cooking recipes into its search menu in a way that lets people easily find instructions for whipping up dishes in the kitchen. A "Recipe View" feature that Google is rolling out in the United States and Japan turns the search engine into an online cook book of sorts. "My parents follow the art of cooking by intuition, where the right amount of each spice is measured out by gut feel, but that's never worked very well for me," Google product manager Kavi Goel said while introducing Recipe View, on Thursday. "As a math geek and computer engineer, I prefer to work with concrete numbers and instructions, including when cooking." The feature narrows search results to only recipes along with ratings for each option. Recipe search terms can range from names of dishes to favored foods, such as strawberries, or holidays. Searches can be filtered by calorie count, cooking time, or ingredients. "We like to 'eat our own dog food' at Google, meaning we like to test our own products and features ourselves before releasing them for public consumption," Goel said. "With Recipe View, we've taken this more literally than usual." The feature is to be rolled out to other countries after it becomes more seasoned. |
| ChaCha sues HTC over its new ChaCha phone (Digital Trends) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 07:35 PM PST ChaCha Search Inc. is suing HTC for its proposed use of its trademark for the newly announced HTC ChaCha Android phone, reports TechCrunch. The phone, which made headlines last week at the Mobile World Congress for its dedicated Facebook button, may need a new name before it hits shelves. ChaCha claims it owns the ChaCha trademark in the United States and Europe. Being that Google, a popular search engine runs the Android operating system, ChaCha may be on the right side of this suit. It's possible that people might think the HTC ChaCha is a phone powered or branded with the ChaCha search engine, which is not the case. ChaCha has a history of providing solid mobile service for its search. It has apps for BlackBerry, Android, and iOS. However, ChaCha is also a dance and a song too, so… ChaCha is a search engine that provides answers to questions written by actual people. It calls itself a human search engine.
Odd timingBoth Motorola and HTC are being sued by small U.S. companies that claim to have rights over the brands, and the suits may have merit. Motorola has also been sued by Xoom Corp. for using its trademark in the Xoom tablet. Odd things always come in threes, so we're waiting on the third trademark suit. Let's hope it's a good one. |
| HTC Arrive Will Be Sprint's First Windows Phone 7 Device (NewsFactor) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 01:55 PM PST Sprint Nextel said Thursday that it's poised to begin shipping the carrier's first smartphone based on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. The CDMA HTC Arrive is slated to debut March 20 at a post-mail-in rebate price of $200 when subscribers sign a two-year agreement for a new activation or eligible upgrade featuring Sprint's Everything plan with data plus its premium data add-on. According to IDC, Windows Phone 7 vendors shipped more than 1.5 million units during the platform's first three months of availability at the end of last year. Now that Microsoft has released Phone 7 and has begun to evolve it, "they are now in the game," noted Al Hilwa, director of applications software development at IDC. "Coming to CDMA is another milestone," and Microsoft is "about to reach 9,000 apps in the store, which puts them in good stead," Hilwa said. "While Nokia and RIM have more apps in their stores, their large and varied installed base of devices means that not every phone can run every app, while the apps in the Microsoft store run on every WP7 phone." For Business and Entertainment Sporting a 3.6-inch capacitive touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the HTC Arrive is equipped with a one-gigahertz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, 16GB of internal memory, and both Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 radios. And the standard 1500 mAh Lithium-ion battery that ships with the device delivers up to six hours of talk time. The 6.5-ounce HTC Arrive also integrates a five-megapixel camera with autofocus, digital zoom, and flash that doubles as a high-definition 720p camcorder. According to Sprint, the smartphone's camera can upload photos without the user having to unlock the handset. Tight integration with Microsoft products and services means business professionals will be able to produce Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that can be instantly shared or synced with other machines. HTC's new smartphone also can parse corporate e-mail via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, as well as communicate with standard POP and IMAP e-mail accounts. On the entertainment side, the HTC Arrive plays music plus videos in SRS WOW HD surround sound. Moreover, handset owners will be able to enjoy games via the handset's native Xbox live app as well as download the latest movies using the free Netflix app that ships with the smartphone. HTC's Triple-Digit Growth Although HTC's Android-based phones are the Taiwan-based company's biggest sellers, the handset maker sees far less competition in the Windows Phone 7 space right now. The company's GSM-based HTC HD7 was launched by T-Mobile last November, while AT&T now offers the HTC Surround. According to IDC, HTC racked up triple-digit smartphone growth last year. "Driving its success were its increased brand awareness, market positioning, and a series of devices that have resonated well with users and carriers alike," the research firm said. "Following its success in 2010, the company known for being 'quietly brilliant' aims to become a preferred brand for smartphone users in 2011." With respect to Microsoft and its new Windows Phone 7 partnership with Nokia, the full ecosystem strategy will probably not be complete until some Nokia phones start shipping and the PC strategy is aligned with the mobile strategy through porting Windows to the ARM architecture, Hilwa said. "I would expect that when Microsoft can bring its PC ecosystem into the mobile battle, we will begin to see them as very clearly a viable player against the Apple and Google mobile franchises," Hilwa explained. |
| Palestinian PM turns to Facebook for inspiration (AFP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:35 PM PST RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Activists across the Middle East are using Facebook to bring down regimes, but Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad is using the site to seek input on his new government. Using his Facebook page, where he provides his slant on political developments and news, Fayyad is asking Palestinians to describe what they want from a new government, and who they want to see in the cabinet. Fayyad and his ministers quit last week as part of a planned reshuffle that saw Fayyad immediately reappointed and tasked by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas with forming a new government. He has pledged to consult widely within Palestinian society on the make-up of the new cabinet. Known as one of the more tech-savvy figures in Palestinian politics, Fayyad is on Facebook and Twitter, with both accounts maintained by his staff. Hundreds of people have responded to his request, happy to offer their opinions and choices for ministerial posts. "Who are the people you think are most able to help the prime minister implement these priorities, especially those related to young people's interests and issues?" Facebookers were asked. Government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said social networks were an ideal tool for tapping into the opinions of young people. "Huge numbers of youth log on to the page every day and say what they think about the upcoming government and the nature of its work," Khatib told AFP. The idea "is an attempt to consult a lot of people and expand the tools that enable access to as many youth as possible." A consultant to Fayyad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Facebook page was a good way "to get a sense of the general mood" of Palestinians, though he stressed it was not the only tool being used. "We found there is a large turnout of people on this page and we are collecting these opinions in order to have a complete idea about the priorities and the shape of the new government." The outreach comes as pro-democracy demonstrators across the Middle East are using Facebook and other online communication tools like Twitter to organise anti-government demonstrations. Nashat al-Aqtash, a professor of media at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank, said using Facebook to consult young Palestinians was a "smart move." "Getting young people involved through Facebook... will give them the sense that the government is trying to involve them in its future policy," he told AFP. The reaction to Fayyad's outreach was largely positive, with several of the hundreds of commenters thanking him for the chance to offer ideas. Nassim Nour called on Fayyad to pick ministers "based on the set of competencies and qualities required for each of the cabinet positions." The overwhelming priority was "unity" between the Palestinian Authority that controls the West Bank, and the Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. "End the Palestinian division," wrote Omar Da'na. "Your priorities should not be forming a new government... No government should be formed without ending the division." Hamas and Fatah, the party of Abbas, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, have been bitter rivals for years. But tensions between the two boiled over in 2007, a year after Hamas won legislative elections, and culminated in bloody clashes that saw Hamas take control of the Gaza Strip and oust Fatah. Since then, governance of the West Bank and Gaza has been divided, with neither side recognising the other's legitimacy and several failed rounds of reconciliation talks. On Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned that Fayyad "is not authorised to look into forming a new government and... has no legal or political weight to form a national government." But many ordinary Palestinians have grown tired of the political split. "What we care about in the new government is that it should be close to people regardless of political affiliation," Fatina Nammari wrote. The government should include "participation of all the Palestinian people and factions and it should say 'yes' to unity." |
| Five reasons Netflix may become the bargain bin of streaming services (Digital Trends) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:27 PM PST
Netflix is the most popular "Internet subscription service for enjoying movies and TV shows" in the world. Historically, Netflix has been a forward-thinking company. It was first to the DVD-by-mail business 12 years ago, stealing a good chunk of Blockbuster Video's customers. A few years ago it took that vision to a new level by launching an instant streaming service as its competitors laughed at the idea. It secured thousands of movies and TV shows and made its service available on almost every movie player, smartphone, set-top box, and video game console available. Since 2009, its subscribers have doubled from 10 million to more than 20 million today, and growing fast. For the last decade, Netflix has been one of the savviest companies around, but does it have a plan for the next 10 years? Netflix is facing an onslaught of problems, any one of which could ruin the streaming company if it doesn̢۪t have a counter-strategy. Does Netflix have a plan to float above, and remain the go-to service for all of your movie and TV needs, or will it drown in the sea of streaming content slowly rising around it? Here are five of the biggest challenges facing the king of streaming today.
Old, dated streaming contentPeople are flocking toward Netflix's Instant Streaming service. Indeed, even Netflix calls itself an "Internet subscription service" now. Currently, it offers nearly 12,000 movies and TV show seasons, which is more than double the number of titles its newest competitor, Amazon, is offering. However, a good portion of this content is old, widely available elsewhere, or crappy (not well-recieved by critics or the market) — sometimes all three. Where it relates to content quality, I am speaking broadly, but the fact remains that Netflix does not get a majority of new DVD releases on its streaming service, nor can it stream the vast majority of archived movie and television content readily available on DVD.New content is being added. Yesterday, Netflix signed a deal with CBS to add a number of older TV series including Frasier, Family Ties, Cheers, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Medium (recently cancelled), Flashpoint, and Twin Peaks. Unfortunately, this deal doesn't appear to include old or new seasons of current CBS hit shows like How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Amazing Race, The Late Show, or any of the 20 CSI shows currently airing. The streaming company inked similar deals with Disney-ABC and NBC Universal. Few of these deals include new or current-season programming. Save its major deal with Epix to stream select new DVD releases from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM, movie deals have largely been for archived content as well. Most major distributors seem willing to offer some major films on Netflix, but their selections seem random, at best. Hollywood has been hesitant to offer much of its premium content before it knows exactly how much it is worth. Netflix's problem: Fresh content may be cost more than the streaming company can afford under its current business model. Starz may be the first major content loss for Netflix. In Oct. 2008 Netflix signed a deal to stream Starz movies. The deal added about 2,500 titles to Netflix's library, including the majority of its best offerings. Recent Starz movies added to Netflix include The Sandlot, The Karate Kid, The Fast and the Furious, Julie & Julia, and Pixar's Up. However, the Netflix-Starz deal ends sometime in 2011 and Starz is going to want a lot more money for its content this go-round. Will Netflix be able to afford the possible billion dollar price tag (the price it paid for Epix content over five years)? If so, how many of these content deals can it truly justify? It will bankrupt the company to buy streaming rights to every title it currently offers on DVD.
Currently, the massive gaps in Netflix's Internet Streaming service can be augmented by the more than 100,000 DVDs available in its DVD-by-mail library. In the DVD world, Netflix is still competitive. It gets DVDs about a month after they hit store shelves, but nearly every new TV and film release is available, as is almost every old piece of content you could imagine. But DVDs are on the outs. Sales are dropping steadily and consumers are consistently moving toward Internet downloading and streaming services instead of physical discs. It will not happen overnight, but DVD-by-mail is becoming a service few will bother paying for. Netflix itself has realized this trend; the company has been distancing itself from physical media, adding a streaming-only subscription plan for $7.99 last November. |
| Bidding is hot in Justin Bieber hair auction (Reuters) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 06:15 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A single lock of Justin Bieber's newly-shorn hair is being auctioned off for charity and bids had reached $6,700 on eBay early on Thursday. The 16 year-old Canadian pop idol cut his trademark floppy hair earlier this week, and presented one of the locks to TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. "I'm giving pieces of it to different people," Bieber told DeGeneres. "We're doing something special. We want you to donate it to whatever charity you want." DeGeneres put the hair, placed in a plexiglass box signed by Bieber, up for auction on Wednesday with all the proceeds to benefit the California animal rescue organization The Gentle Barn. Bidding started at $10 and quickly reached $6,700. The auction will end on March 2. Bieber's hair stylist told People magazine that the "Baby" singer had been talking for months about cutting his hair and adopting a more mature look. "Cutting your hair is just part of the evolution and growing process for anyone, and I think he was just ready," stylist Vanessa Price told the magazine. "We've been talking about it over the last 6 months or so -- more or less, it's definitely been in the works for a while." (Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte) |
| Never Lose Your Car or Miss a Friend With ToothTag (Mashable) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 01:11 PM PST What are the places and who are the people around you right now? With a new Android app called ToothTag, you should be able to get a lot more useful answers to that question. Not only will this app find nearby restaurants, it can also tell you whether your friends are at the same party -- without having to check-in. It knows where the heck you left your car. Most importantly, it is able to do all this without battery-sucking technologies like GPS. ToothTag is a treasure trove of proximity-based information. It goes beyond regular location services and novel-but-worthless check-ins, showing you what's in your immediate surroundings and giving you multiple options for how to make that information truly useful. Instead of GPS, it relies on Bluetooth, Near-Field-Communication (NFC), and WiFi. Power management -- long the bane of innovative mobile apps -- has been ToothTag's plan from the start. The app lets you tag Bluetooth and WiFi devices -- such as headsets, laptops, mobile phones, and access points. Once these are tagged, you can set up automated actions when you're within a given distance from them. Automated actions, such as mobile alerts or emails, can occur without your ever having to think about the app. Here are a few examples:
ToothTag is free for consumers, and it's NeuAer will be working on an iPhone version, but ToothTag's system requirements aren't entirely met by the iPhone 4. The app is built on a unique proximity platform called, interestingly enough, ProxPlatform. This platform will allow devs to add "presence events" to their applications. ToothTag, as a free consumer app, is meant to serve as a use case for what ProxPlatform is capable of doing. The possibilities are exciting as they are lucrative. ToothTag's features could be tweaked for AR mobile gaming, mobile commerce and other types of mobile apps. Mathews and team hope to make money from the proximity platform rather than the consumer app. They plan to introduce a MySQL-style freemium model soon. Android users, let us know whether or not you like it, and what features or functions you'd like to see in upcoming versions. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, sjlocke |
| Meet the Makers: Lookout Mobile Security - Labs (Appolicious) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 03:22 PM PST |
| MetroPCS adds subscribers (Investor's Business Daily) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 03:44 PM PST The low-cost wireless carrier's Q4 EPS more than doubled to 21 cents, beating by 5 cents, as its no-contract service drew nearly 300,000 more subscribers. Revenue increased 15% to $1.07 bil, above estimates for $1.06 bil. The monthly cancellation rate dropped to 3.5% from 5.3%. MetroPCS (NYSE:PCS - News) climbed 6% to 13.53. |
| Antoine Dodson, other YouTube stars join for film (AP) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:11 PM PST NEW YORK – A collection of Internet stars from Antoine Dodson to the Double Rainbow Guy are making a movie. Producer Andrew Fischer has gathered more than a half-dozen YouTube stars for "The Chronicles of Rick Roll." He is shooting the film and has released a trailer online. The 26-year-old Fischer calls it an "epic comedy." The film stars Dodson, known for the Bed Intruder Song, Bear Vasquez ("Double Rainbow Guy"), Brian Collins ("Boom Goes the Dynamite"), Ben Schulz ("Leeroy Jenkins"), Gary Brolsma ("Numa Numa"), and Stephen and Jack Quire ("Greatest Freakout Ever"). Together they account for hundreds of millions of YouTube views. Although the film's title refers to the misleading Rick Astley Internet meme, Fischer says the film is authentic. "The next trailer will show that it's not just some giant elaborate prank," Fischer says. The film is being shot on hi-definition digital. Fischer hopes for a theatrical release, but has not secured distribution. The Colorado-based marketing firm NURV, of which Fischer is CEO, is producing the film. "Our goal is to utilize the fan base and the celebrity status that these household names have, even though they're not in Hollywood, in order to produce something that maybe changes the way Hollywood looks at casting," says Fischer. Fischer says he would welcome cameos from more Internet stars. ___ Online: |
| Apple takes wraps off new MacBook Pro lineup (Reuters) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:57 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc released its new lineup of MacBook Pro notebook computers, featuring Intel's peppy new processors and graphics chips made by Advanced Micro Devices, helping boost the smaller chipmaker's stock more than 5 percent. The new MacBook Pros will be powered by Intel Corp's latest dual-core and quad-core chips, which were previously code-named Sandy Bridge and include integrated graphics processing. More expensive versions of the MacBook Pro also include graphics chips from Advanced Micro Devices for added performance. Graphics processors made by competitor Nvidia had been used in past versions of the MacBook Pro. Apple's trend-setting personal computers are a high-profile battleground for chipmakers Intel, AMD and Nvidia. News of AMD's presence in the new MacBook Pros helped boost its stock 5.5 percent to $9.02. "It starts to show that the new AMD products have the potential to start to elevate their notebook share," said Cody Acree, an analyst at Williams Financial Group. Intel supplied the MacBook Pro with a faster, compact input/output technology called Thunderbolt, which supports high-resolution displays and devices through a single port. The price of a 13-inch MacBook Pro, with a full-size keyboard, seven-hour battery life and an aluminum casing, will start at $1,199. The 15-inch starts at $1,799 and the 17-inch is priced at $2,499. Nvidia's shares were up 1.13 percent at $22.36 following a 13 percent sell-off over the past two days. Intel's stock rose 0.14 percent to $21.17. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch, editing by Maureen Bavdek, Dave Zimmerman) (Additional reporting by Noel Randewich) |
| Mariner upgrades Paperless document management software (Macworld) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 01:19 PM PST Mariner Software has released Paperless 2.0, the latest upgrade to its comprehensive digital document management software for home and business. Formally known as ReceiptWallet, Paperless lets you scan or import receipts and other paperwork, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and other data entry tools to help recognize and categorize receipts and documents as PDF files. The software also features built-in search capabilities for finding and organizing receipts and documents into collections, as well as tools for tracking expenses for taxes, creating searchable PDF files for owner's manuals or other documents, and more. Paperless 2.0 includes various new features, including the ability to create expense reports, pie charts, and contact reports. You can also now create custom field types, like text, currency and checkboxes. Data entry has also been made easier with automatic matching of thousands of popular U.S. Merchants. The software also now supports a wider variety of scanners through Apple's Image Capture, as well as expanded use of Fujitsu's ScanSnap scanners. Paperless 2.0 requires an Intel Mac running OS X 10.5.8 or higher and costs $50 for new users or $25 for the 2.0 upgrade. |
| Gartner: Server Sales Kept Bouncing Back in Q4 (PC World) Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:00 PM PST Worldwide server revenue and unit shipments continued a yearlong recovery in the fourth quarter of 2010, but growth is likely to slow this year, research company Gartner said on Thursday. Revenue for all types of servers grew 16.4 percent from a year earlier, while the number of servers delivered grew 6.5 percent in the quarter, Gartner said. The company cited the replacement of x86 servers that companies had held on to through the global recession in 2009, as well as the introduction of the Nehalem family of processors from Intel and new Opteron chips from AMD late in 2009. Gartner believes the replacement of x86 servers following the economic downturn has passed its peak and will slow this year. IBM led the industry in revenue for the quarter, with a US$5.2 billion in sales, or 35.5 percent of the market. Sales of System X and mainframe System Z platforms helped IBM during the quarter, with the System Z line showing a 68.3 percent increase in revenue, according to Gartner. HP came in behind IBM for revenue, with 30.4 percent of the market, but led in unit shipments for the quarter, delivering 767,026 servers or 32.2 percent of the total. Dell was the second-biggest vendor by shipments in the quarter, with 515,274 or 21.6 percent of the industry total. Dell was also the third-biggest company in revenue. Oracle suffered a 40.8 percent drop in shipments and a 16.2 percent decline in server revenue from last year's fourth quarter, when its server business was still owned by Sun Microsystems. Cisco Systems, in its first full year of shipping servers after the introduction of its Unified Computing System in 2009, earned a market share in the low single digits, Gartner said. Server revenue increased from a year earlier in all areas of the world except Japan, which saw a 4.4 percent drop in the quarter. North America led the gains, with a 24.5 percent increase from a year earlier, followed by Asia-Pacific with 22.4 percent and Latin America with 12.3 percent. Europe, Middle East and Africa registered a 10.4 percent gain in server revenue. Servers built around x86 processors dominated the market, representing about 97 percent of all shipments in the quarter, and grew by 7.1 percent in shipments and 20.0 percent in revenue, according to Gartner. Blade servers shot up 29.5 percent in revenue and 12.6 percent in shipments in 2010. By the fourth quarter, they made up about 14 percent of the total server market, said Gartner analyst Jeffrey Hewitt. For the full year, revenue grew 13.2 percent and shipments increased 16.8 percent. HP led the market by a hair with $15.3 billion in revenue, up almost 19 percent from 2009. IBM followed with just over $15 billion in revenue, up 9.2 percent. Both had about 31 percent of the market in 2010. Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Yahoo Tech News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment