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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Netflix price hike angers users, some drop plan (AP) : Technet

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Netflix price hike angers users, some drop plan (AP) : Technet

Netflix price hike angers users, some drop plan (AP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 05:28 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Wed Jul 13, 8:28 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Some Netflix customers called it a slap in the face. Others a betrayal. Many threatened to drop the movie service.

On Wednesday, many of them vented on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, seething over Netflix Inc.'s decision to raise its prices by up to 60 percent for the millions of subscribers who want to rent DVDs by mail and watch movies online.

"I can definitely afford it but I dropped them on principle," said Joe Turick, a technology engineer in Monroe, N.C., who has been with Netflix for about a decade, cancelled his subscription within an hour of learning of Tuesday's price changes and plans to try competitors.

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had responded to a post on Netflix's Facebook page announcing the change, with some saying they would switch to rivals such as Hulu.com's paid service and to Redbox's DVD-rental kiosks.

Outrage bubbled on Twitter, and on Netflix's blog a posting about the new plans had garnered 5,000 comments — the limit allowed by the site's host, Google Inc.-owned Blogger — which included many seething customers.

Netflix said company executives expected the intense reaction.

"Everything Netflix does is with extensive research and testing and analysis, so we expected some people to be disappointed," spokesman Steve Swasey said.

While thousands complained on Facebook, Twitter and other websites, with 22.8 million customers in the U.S., it's clear that plenty of them are not upset about the change.

In online postings, a number of users concluded that, even at the higher price, Netflix is still a better deal than competitors.

On Tuesday, the company said it was splitting up its two services, which means that subscribers who want both streaming video and DVD-by-mail access will have to get separate plans that cost at least $16 per month total.

Netflix had been offering both services as a single package that was available for as little as $10 per month. The price changes took effect immediately for new subscribers, and will begin Sept. 1 for current Netflix customers.

With the new rates, Netflix isn't changing the $8 monthly price for an Internet streaming-only option.

However, instead of charging $2 more for a plan that also offers one DVD at a time by mail, the company will charge $8 for a comparable DVD-only plan. That brings the total to $16 for customers who want both services.

Customers who want to rent up to two DVDs at a time with streaming will pay $20 per month, or 33 percent more. Those wanting three DVDs at a time with streaming will pay $24 per month, or 20 percent more.

While the changes will help Netflix bring in more money to cover rising costs it faces to cover buying and shipping discs while licensing more content for its streaming library, they also put off a number of subscribers — at least in the short term.

Turick, the technology engineer, was paying $10 a month to have unlimited streaming and a single disc out at a time, and with the new plans he would be on the hook for $16 per month.

The change felt "like a slap in the face," he said, adding that he'll try renting movies from Redbox kiosks, ordering on-demand videos through his cable TV provider or using his Blu-ray player to stream videos from the Web.

Zach Olsen, who is vice president of a public relations firm in San Francisco and has used Netflix for about five years, canceled his subscription on Tuesday after receiving an email from the company announcing the price hike.

"I was fired up. And I wanted to put my electronic foot down," Olsen said.

Doug Baker, a software developer in Fort Collins, Colo., who has used Netflix since 2000, isn't cutting it off completely, but he is downsizing to a cheaper plan.

Since his bill for unlimited streaming and four DVDs out at a time would rise to $30 in September, he's opting instead to pay $16 for one DVD at a time and unlimited video streaming.

Baker thinks the company should have offered a smaller price increase to long-time subscribers, saying, "it would have been nice if they showed some appreciation" to them.

"It makes you wonder if they really want to serve their customers or just their stock holders," Baker said.

Swasey, the Netflix spokesman, would not comment about how many subscribers have actually cancelled their Netflix subscriptions, saying the company will discuss subscriber metrics during its quarterly earnings conference call on July 25.

Chris Caggiano, a professor at The Boston Conservatory, isn't planning to change his Netflix plan either, even though he'll pay $20 in September — up from $15 currently — to have unlimited streaming and two DVDs out at a time.

"Prices go up. I don't see the big deal. There's this huge hue and cry — it's like the end of the world," he said.

And Netflix, Caggiano pointed out, is a for-profit business.

"This is not a public service," he said. "And, as many people are deciding to do, you can go elsewhere."

___

AP Business Writer Joseph Pisani in New York contributed to this report.

Beyond Netflix: where else to get your flick fix (AP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:07 PM PDT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay, Ap Technology Writer – 1 hr 41 mins ago

NEW YORK – Even with a fee hike, millions of Netflix subscribers will be spending less each month than what it costs two adults to watch a single movie in a theater.

Yet the company, which is usually well-liked, managed to irk many of its 23 million U.S. customers by raising what it charges for streaming movies and TV shows over the Internet and sending DVDs by mail. The increase is as high as 60 percent.

For the disgruntled bunch, or those looking to expand their media-consumption horizons, there are a growing number of options for watching movies and TV shows online, on DVDs or through cable TV's on-demand services.

The right option for you will depend on your appetite for video. Do you want the latest movies or the greatest classics? Would you prefer cheap or better on-the-go access? How many movies do you watch each month?

If that red DVD envelope from Netflix has been gathering dust, unopened, since "Jersey Shore" premiered in 2009, it might be time to ditch that DVD plan.

Of the online options, Netflix has the most content available for streaming over the Internet, though cable TV providers have pay-per-view options with a better selection of recent movies. Apple and Amazon, meanwhile, let you rent a la carte if you don't want to commit to a monthly plan but want the latest movies.

What's clear: New rates take effect immediately for new customers and on Sept. 1 for existing ones.

Netflix Inc. split the options for streaming and DVDs by mail. It is charging $16 combined for streaming and one DVD at a time, a 60 percent increase from $10 under the old package. Smaller fee increases are coming for Netflix more expensive plans, which offer more DVDs.

A plan that offers only online streaming remains unchanged at $8 per month. That may be all you need, but the selections are more limited than the DVD plans.

So have a seat. Grab some popcorn. Consider these video consumption options.

• Amazon's Instant Video

Amazon.com Inc.'s service offers thousands of movies and episodes of TV shows for online rental. Rental prices range from $1 to $5. There is no Netflix-like monthly subscription plan, so this option is best for customers looking for an a la carte plan that lets them pick what they want to watch. Customers get video for one to seven days once they begin watching.

Amazon is offering free movie streaming to shoppers who pay $79 a year for a Prime membership, which offers free two-day shipping and discounts on next-day shipping. The selection, though, is much smaller than Netflix's. Amazon offers roughly 6,000 movies and TV shows for streaming over an Internet connection for its Prime subscribers. By contrast, Netflix offers more than 20,000.

Customers can stream movies and shows on computers or on TV sets using a compatible, Internet-connected device such as Blu-ray players and set-top boxes from the likes of Sony, Panasonic, TiVo or Logitech.

• Apple iTunes

Renting movies through Apple Inc.'s iTunes is another pay-per-view option to access the latest dramas, comedies or TV shows. Customers can rent regular or high-definition flicks and watch them on iPhones, iPads, computers or TV sets using Apple TV set-top boxes.

Apple lets people rent first-run, high-definition movies the day they come out on DVD for $5 each, though most movies cost $3 or $4. TV shows are generally $1. You can watch rentals for a day or two from when you start playing them.

As with Amazon, renting movies through Apple is a good option for people who want the latest releases as soon as possible. There are thousands of movies available, though iTunes doesn't have as many obscure, indie flicks as Netflix's streaming library. If you watch just a few shows or movies a month, it might be a cheaper option.

• Redbox

Redbox, a unit of Coinstar Inc., has more than 27,000 bright-red DVD kiosks in grocery stores, drugstores and elsewhere around the U.S. Customers can rent DVDs for $1 per night. Blu-ray movies are available for $1.50 per night.

Depending on how many movies you watch, this could be a cheaper option than Netflix, but the options are more limited. Each kiosk holds 200 newly-released titles, which are updated every Tuesday.

Through concessions with Hollywood studios, Redbox has agreed to delay renting titles from Universal, Warner Bros. and Fox until nearly a month after the DVD versions go on sale. Netflix's DVD plan has similar restrictions.

With its budget-conscious, family-friendly approach, Redbox is a good option for hurried families looking to pick up a movie on the way home from the grocery store.

_Blockbuster

Under the new ownership of Dish Network Corp., Blockbuster shifted to per-day pricing recently to better compete against Redbox and others. Just-released movies were lowered to $3 for the first day. Other newer movies are $2 for the first day. Additional days are $1. These prices apply to DVD rentals as well as movies rented online.

Blockbuster offers no monthly streaming plan. Its DVD-by-mail subscriptions are pricier than Netflix's — $12 a month for one movie or video game at a time or $17 for unlimited two-at-a-time rentals. Netflix's DVD-only plan is $8 per month for one and $12 for two.

You can still return discs to any of Blockbuster's 1,700 remaining stores, if you have one nearby, and exchange them for new ones.

You can also download Blockbuster movies to your compatible PC, tablet or smartphone. The company says movies available for download are often available long before they are at Netflix.

Blockbuster makes sense for those who live near its stores and prefer DVDs to streaming.

• Cable

For those who don't want to cancel their cable service, cable TV providers such as Comcast and Time Warner offer on-demand options to their monthly subscribers.

Time Warner charges $5 for a new movie release and $2 for older movies. Other cable TV companies have similar pricing. Movies are sometimes free as part of a subscription to HBO or other premium channels.

Of course, you need monthly cable service. The average cost of Comcast Inc.'s basic package is about $60 for TV service, about 100 digital channels, music channels, video on demand and XfinityTV.com. Time Warner Cable Inc.'s average monthly package also runs about $60 and gives access to more than 100 channels.

Comcast gets movies often on the same day they are available on DVD and says many of its indie films are available as soon as they come out in theaters. That makes it an option for customers who can pony up a bigger monthly subscription fee and value seeing recently released films. Being a subscriber also gives you access to its offerings online and on the iPad and iPhone.

Time Warner Cable has a catalog of about 10,000 movies. It also gets movies the same day they come out on DVD, giving it more recent content than Netflix streaming. Time Warner Cable also has an iPad app and you can watch its content inside your home, though not at coffee shops or other public places with Wi-Fi.

• Hulu and Hulu Plus

Parent companies including The Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Comcast Corp. are looking to sell the online video service, but that hasn't stopped it from offering thousands of TV show episodes and movies to its viewers.

Besides a free option, Hulu Plus subscribers can pay $8 per month for more content, high-definition viewing and access on the iPad and newer-model iPhones, as well as video game consoles and high-end TV sets from Samsung, Sony or others.

Hulu's content skews more toward TV shows than movies, though both are available. It's a good option for those looking to watch shows such as the "Daily Show," "Family Guy" or "The Office."

Both Hulu and Hulu Plus show advertisements, though on Hulu Plus there are movies available without commercial interruption.

___

AP Personal Finance Writer Dave Carpenter contributed from Chicago

WikiLeaks Julian Assange fights extradition (AP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:53 PM PDT

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press – Wed Jul 13, 3:53 pm ET

LONDON – Lawyers for Julian Assange on Wednesday focused their fight against the WikiLeaks chief's extradition to Sweden on technicalities — trying to punch holes through the warrant seeking his arrest.

Assange is wanted in Sweden for questioning on allegations of rape and molestation, a prosecution he and his supporters claim is being manipulated to political ends — possibly with an eye toward sending him to the United States, where he's being investigated by a grand jury.

But there was no talk of conspiracy at the appeal hearings held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where Assange is seeking to overturn a judgment ordering him to Sweden. On Feb. 24, a British District Court judge sided with Swedish prosecutors, saying there is no reason to believe Assange wouldn't receive a fair trial in Sweden.

Assange's new legal team attacked the arrest warrant's integrity on the final day of a two-day hearing, saying that the allegations against the WikiLeaks founder weren't backed by his accusers' testimony, that it was improperly issued, and in any case couldn't be carried out because it wasn't clear Assange would be brought to trial.

The two judges said they would give their ruling at a later date, likely within a few weeks.

Assange, in spectacles and a close-cropped platinum hair cut, watched from the second row of the wood-pannelled courtroom.

Gone was the grandstanding. The 40-year-old Australian entered the neo-gothic court without speaking to the media. In court, his lawyers steered clear of inflammatory arguments and took care to express their sensitivity for the alleged victims.

But they did argue that Assange's accusers — a pair of women that he had separate flings with in Sweden last summer — weren't making what could be recognized as allegations of nonconsensual sex under English law. That's important. If the Swedish allegations don't find a legal parallel in England, Assange can't be extradited.

Lawyer Ben Emmerson said Tuesday that while the women may have found Assange's sexual conduct distressing, it was "entirely consensual."

Addressing the most serious allegation — that Assange had unprotected sex with a woman while she slept — Emmerson argued that she had intercourse with Assange only hours before and in any case did not seem bothered, quoting testimony stating that "she let him continue."

The argument was attacked by Clare Montgomery, the lawyer for the Swedish prosecution, who on Wednesday accused Emmerson of "effectively winding the law on consent back to the 19th century."

"At best, the words 'I let him,' amounts to submission, not free consent," she said.

The lawyers also sparred over whether Swedish prosecutors were allowed to issue European arrest warrants or whether the Swedish case had moved far enough to justify an extradition request: Assange has yet to be charged.

Assange denies any wrongdoing in the case, which has cast a shadow over his future and that of his website, responsible for a series of spectacular leaks of US military, intelligence and diplomatic material.

If Assange loses his appeal, he's promised to take his fight to U.K. Supreme Court.

Assange remains on bail arrest at a wealthy supporter's mansion in eastern England. He has complained over his strict bail conditions, which include an overnight curfew and the requirement that he wears and electronic tag and reports to police daily.

Woman says goodbye to privacy, publishes 12 years of text messages in new book (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 04:34 PM PDT

Hackers crack Vodafone’s network, can listen to all calls (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:15 PM PDT

How Mobile Tech Is Being Used to Fight Carmageddon (Mashable)

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 07:33 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Tue Jul 12, 10:33 pm ET

Carmageddon is poised to bring Los Angeles to a standstill this weekend, but several mobile tech companies are helping commuters handle the chaos. Carmageddon is the term many Los Angeles residents are using to describe the planned closure of the 405 Freeway, a road that carries more than 280,000 cars per day across LA. The city of Los Angeles plans to close a ten-mile section of Interstate 405, starting at 7 PM on July 15 and reopening at 6 AM on Monday.

[More from Mashable: Facebook for Every Phone App Launches for 2,500 Mobile Devices]

The 405 closure is expected to bring the city's traffic to a crawl. Many business are shutting down early so their employees don't get caught in the traffic, while others like the Getty Center are closing entirely for the weekend. The entire city will be affected.

While some companies are dreading the upcoming weekend, several companies are seizing Carmageddon as an opportunity. Mobile traffic app Waze, for example, has teamed up with ABC to provide its local LA television station (KABC-TV) realtime traffic information. Waze determines traffic conditions by tracking the GPS data provided by the 4.5 million users of its mobile app, which provides greater detail and insight into a city's traffic conditions.

[More from Mashable: 6 Hot Mobile Search Trends From Google & Bing]

Waze has also partnered with UCLA, Metro and other others "to get the word out about alternate routes." It's even started a website, BeatCarmageddon.com as part of its campaign.

AT&T is also helping commuters avoid the pain of Carmageddon. The wireless provider will be sending text messages to AT&T customers within 25 miles of the Carmageddon zone, warning them of the closure and suggesting they use a navigation app like AT&T Navigator.

While these initiatives aren't going to help Los Angeles residents avoid Carmageddon (there is no avoiding it), smartphone technology will likely give smart commuters an edge as they try to navigate LA's congested roads.

Image courtesy of Flickr, neoporcupine

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Netflix price rise draws user ire, investor glee (Reuters)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:50 PM PDT

By Lisa Richwine Lisa Richwine – 58 mins ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Netflix Inc's hefty price increase provoked an unprecedented outpouring of outrage on the Internet, but Wall Street cautiously welcomed the move, sending its shares up nearly 3 percent on Wednesday.

Thousands of subscribers complained on Netflix's official blog with many threatening to cancel subscriptions after the fast-growing video service raised prices by up to 60 percent for users of both its streaming and DVD-mail service.

Many said they would consider options such as Hulu, the Internet video service owned by Comcast Corp NBC Universal, News Corp, Walt Disney Co and Providence Equity Partners, or even Redbox, whose once booming kiosk-rental service had been eclipsed by online, instant Web offerings.

"Who's genius idea is this crap?" said one comment on the Netflix blog, which promised to cancel service. "Your streaming selection sucks and the Red Box is looking better and better these days!"

The higher prices clearly stirred passions among the company's subscribers, but Netflix brushed off the criticism as expected from a vocal minority.

"We knew there would be some people who would be upset," company spokesman Steve Swasey said.

The increase amounts to $6 a month for one DVD at a time plus unlimited streaming.

"To most people, it's a latte or two," he added.

The company expects some cancellations, Swasey said, but he declined to say how many.

Some industry analysts argued the higher prices should make up for cancellations, in part by driving customers toward more profitable Netflix plans.

Subscribers who cancel are likely to be in lower-priced plans, with one DVD at a time, who turn in more DVDs, said Goldman Sachs analyst Ingrid Chung.

"Gross margins should benefit as we believe that the majority of lower-priced (subscribers) were less profitable for Netflix," Chung said in a research note.

Lower-priced subscribers also might be drawn to the streaming service, "which has very incremental margin," wrote Chung, who has a "buy" rating on Netflix shares.

The new prices take effect immediately for new subscribers and in September for current customers.

Netflix's price rise comes as it finds itself writing increasingly large checks for the rights to the movies and TV shows its customers expect to find from its streaming service.

In one such deal, Netflix renewed on Wednesday a multi-year agreement with Comcast Corp's NBC Universal, giving it rights to stream previous season hits such as "The Office" and Parenthood" from NBC and series, including "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and "Psych", from its cable networks. The financial details were not disclosed.

Netflix said on Tuesday it was raising by 60 percent the monthly price of a plan that lets subscribers watch unlimited movies and video online and get DVDs by mail.

The price for unlimited streaming plus rental of one DVD at a time will run about $16, up from about $10. Subscribing to just streaming, or just one DVD at a time, costs about $8.

One comment on the Netflix blog was more accepting.

"If you can improve your streaming selections it would be a benefit. I now pay the price of both anyway so I don't see a downside for me," wrote a person identified as "Scott."

While customers vented on the Netflix blog and Facebook page, the company's shares rose 2.6 percent to close at $298.73 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Paul Thomasch; editing by Andre Grenon)

South Korea to curb "pay-for-praise" bloggers (AFP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:43 PM PDT

– 1 hr 5 mins ago

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea's fair trade watchdog has intervened to curb influential bloggers who get rewards from companies in return for favourable reviews of products, officials said Thursday.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) this week amended regulations so that companies and bloggers must reveal whether payments or gifts are exchanged in return for good reviews.

Otherwise, the companies and bloggers could face fines. The rules will also apply to users of Twitter and Facebook.

"This measure is aimed at curbing 'power bloggers' who deceive consumers by concealing their links with companies and write favourable product reviews and organise group purchases," an FTC director, Kim Jeong-Kee, told AFP.

The so-called power bloggers wield growing influence in highly wired South Korea but some promote products in return for commissions or freebies.

In a case that sparked public anger this month, a renowned power-blogging housewife reportedly received $190,000 from a company in exchange for helping it sell kitchenware that carried a government standards agency warning.

"Internet users feel betrayed by corrupt power bloggers who make money by colluding with businesses," a commentator in Kookmin Ilbo newspaper wrote last week.

Some bloggers and advertisers, however, expressed concern that the FTC's new initiative went too far, the Korea JoongAng Daily said.

"My question is, how will the FTC restrict all bloggers that are out there in cyberspace?" Kim Seon-Jin, a blogger who often reviews cosmetics products, was quoted as saying.

"There are just too many for the FTC to keep track of. There are hundreds of thousands of blogs, with new ones being created every day," she said.

U.S. law enforcement adopting new smartphone criminal recognition tech (Digital Trends)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:57 PM PDT

Jeff Hughes Jeff Hughes – 51 mins ago

eyescan via Bi2 technologiesU.S. law enforcement agencies are planning on implementing a new mobile gadget that will be used to identify criminals. The new technology will snap onto the back of a smartphone and be able to search records based on a scan of a suspects' face or eyes.

The accessory is called MORIS, an acronym which stands for Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System. Officers use the special camera on MORIS and take a picture of a person's iris from 5 to 6 inches away. The system then analyzes unique features in the iris and uses that data to find a possible match in the criminal database.

For facial recognition, officers will be able to snap pictures from a farther range of up to 5 feet away. The system uses around 130 distinguishing features to find a facial match within the database. The new MORIS system streamlines the process of identification compared to current methods. At the moment, law enforcement has to first take pictures with digital cameras, download those pictures to laptops and then run searches using facial-recognition technologies. MORIS also comes with a small metallic rectangle in order to scan for fingerprints.

The device is manufactured by a company called BI2 Technologies based in Plymouth, Mass. This 11-person company founded in 2006 in part by Peter Flynn a former sheriff. The devices, which include the attached iPhones, will be each be sold for $3000 . According to Forbes, BI2 has agreed to pump out 1,000 of these identification gadgets to approximately 40 agencies.

However, law enforcement has yet to determine the proper guidelines for using these mobile recognition devices, which may raise some privacy concerns. Officers currently have a policy to ask for permission when taking photos used in facial-recognition technology but legally they don't need consent according to Scott McCallum, a systems analyst for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Android Market refresh is a welcome one (Appolicious)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:30 PM PDT

Twitter has 1 million apps in its ecosystem, launches new developer site (Appolicious)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Verizon is now entering user phones and removing apps it doesn't like (Digital Trends)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:57 PM PDT

Jeffrey Van Camp Jeffrey Van Camp – Wed Jul 13, 6:57 pm ET

motorola-droid-hal-droid-eye

Apparently the red Droid eye on Verizon phones is more than an homage to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. If you're a Verizon subscriber, the high data speeds and reliable network now come with a new cost: privacy. The carrier has begun pushing out smartphone updates that cripple the ability for any of its devices to be used as a free mobile hotspot. HTC ThunderBolt owners have already experienced this, as that phone's Hotspot abilities were remotely removed in a recent patch. However, worse than the flip of a switch, we now know that Verizon has the ability to remove apps from any user's Android phone and is using that ability to remotely wipe any free Internet tethering apps from phones, according to DSL Reports.

Why would Verizon do this? Money. The carrier recently raised its data prices quite dramatically, now offering 2GB for $30 instead of 5GB, which now costs $50 per month. Now Verizon wants users to pay an extra $20 per month to share a phone's data connection with any other device. This is despite the fact that users are paying for a certain amount of bandwidth each month and already pay overages of $10 per gigabyte if they exceed that limit. To share that bandwidth you pay for with other devices (as we do home connections) is a no-no, not without paying a completely arbitrary $20 per month fee on top of your $30+ data bill.

We aren't sure why Google has given Verizon the ability to remove apps from phones, though the search giant has been quite compliant with its wishes as of late, pulling tethering apps from the Android Market at Verizon's request. AT&T seems to be tackling the tethering issue as well (do these guys get the same memos or something?), but instead of removing apps, it is telling users who tether that they will be charged a tethering fee.

It costs Verizon nothing to let users tether their phones. Remotely entering a person's phone to disable functions or delete apps should not be something we, as consumers, tolerate, much like Amazon should not be allowed to enter a person's Kindle and remotely delete the book 1984. Ironically, it did just that.

Disney Publishing joins Android Market as Google improves interface (Appolicious)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:06 AM PDT

Sprint and T-Mobile may get the iPhone 5 (Digital Trends)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:06 PM PDT

Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Wed Jul 13, 6:06 pm ET

iphone sprint t-mobileThere is no shortage of iPhone 5 speculation, and the closer we get to fall the more you can expect it to ramp up. The latest rumor says that the handset will launch on all four major networks, adding Sprint and T-Mobile to the mix. Whether that it is the actual iPhone 5 or is instead the iPhone 4S is still unclear.

CNET says analyst Chris Larsen notes that the iPhone 5 will be available "on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the US." He also says this would increase Apple's market by 30-percent. Android has more and more become a force to be reckoned with. Given its growing industry presence and market share forecast, Apple is wise to consider easily boosting its own user base by expanding to all four major US carriers.

It would also make sense considering the unit shipments Apple has allegedly requested for the iPhone 5 (or possibly iPhone 4S). It was recently revealed that Apple had placed hardware orders for the handset, requesting 25 million units be built in 2011, a number that was called "quite aggressive."

Last month we also heard that Sprint's research and development team was internally testing the iPhone, but it was uncertain whether the iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 would be the first iOS device to make it to the carrier. There was the possibility that Sprint would introduce the iPhone 4 around the same time as the iPhone 5 makes its debut, a la Verizon's iPhone unveiling. But now it sounds as if the real deal, next-gen model will be the carrier's first iPhone.

And of course, T-Mobile customers have always been likely to get the device, considering its pending acquisition by the original iPhone peddler, AT&T.

Spotify to launch in US on Thursday (AFP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 07:09 PM PDT

– 2 hrs 39 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Swedish music streaming service Spotify is to launch in the United States on Thursday.

Spotify reportedly plans a formal announcement for early Thursday morning in the United States, where the service will be made available by invitation and subscription.

Founded in 2006, Spotify is one of the world's biggest streaming websites and is currently available only in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Britain, France, Spain and the Netherlands because of copyright issues.

It said in March it had reached one million paying users. Around seven million people use its free version.

Earlier this year, Spotify slapped restrictions on its free version, slashing the amount of times a track can be played and the total amount of music users can listen to without paying.

In May, it unveiled an application enabling users to synchronize playlists and songs purchased through its service with Apple's iPod, in what industry observers saw as a clear challenge to Apple's iTunes.

The young Swedish company had previously focused solely on online streaming.

Also in May, a report in Forbes based on unnamed sources said Facebook was testing a service that would allow songs from Spotify's vast library of music to be streamed to members of the social network.

Amazon planning iPad rival by October: WSJ (AFP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:40 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 13, 5:40 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Online retail giant Amazon plans to unveil a tablet computer before October in a bid to carve out a slice of a growing market dominated by Apple's iPad, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The newspaper, citing "people familiar with the matter," also said Amazon plans to release two updated versions of its Kindle electronic reader in the third quarter of the year.

The Journal said the tablet from the Seattle-based Amazon will have a roughly nine-inch (22.8-centimeter) screen and will be powered by Google's Android operating system.

It will not have a camera, the Journal said, but will allow users to watch videos, read electronic books and listen to digital music they purchase or rent from Amazon.

The newspaper said Amazon is outsourcing production to an Asian manufacturer and would not design the tablet itself.

Amazon said one of the updated Kindles will be a touchscreen device while the other will not have a touchscreen.

Amazon on Wednesday began selling a cut-price version of its Kindle 3G sponsored by US telecom carrier AT&T.

The Kindle 3G with Special Offers was priced at $139 as compared with $189 for the same e-reader without on-screen ads.

Kindle 3G is designed to connect to mobile networks in more than 100 countries at no cost to users, according to Amazon.

Amazon does not release Kindle sales figures but the Journal said that according to Forrester Research estimates the company has sold 7.5 million Kindles in the United States.

Review: Google all the time on the Chromebook (AP)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:46 PM PDT

By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Ron Harris, Associated Press – Wed Jul 13, 3:46 pm ET

ATLANTA – New laptops running Google's Chrome operating system offer a new approach in portable computing: Games, productivity tools and anything else you might need are handled by distant computers connected to the Internet.

With this method, you don't store data on a hard drive inside the computer. That streamlines things, at the cost of having stronger, standalone applications that normally handle these tasks. But the trade-off might be worth it for the more casual consumers of online content.

Google already has a good variety of online services that will be key to any success for the set of laptops known as Chromebook. There's Gmail for messages, Google Plus for sharing photos and links and Google Docs for word processing, spreadsheets and other common tasks. Other companies also make free programs, which run through Google's Chrome browser.

All that is important because you can't install Microsoft Office or other software suites on the Chromebook. Everything done on the Chromebook has to be Web-based.

Chromebook is Google's way of showcasing its "cloud computing" philosophy, in which everything you need is available on the Internet. Google believes storage and services are better handled by Internet-connected data centers located far from you. By contrast, computers running Microsoft's Windows tend to keep files and programs on the individual machines in front of you.

Samsung Electronics Co. and Acer Inc. are making the first Chromebooks using Google's Chrome Web browser and an underlying operating system based on Linux.

Samsung's cheaper, Wi-Fi-only model retails for $429. It comes co-branded with Google's Chrome logo on the cover. It has two USB ports and slots for an SD memory card and a SIM phone card. You can connect an external monitor to it. You can also connect to the Internet wirelessly through Wi-Fi, but there's no Ethernet port to allow wired connections to a network or Bluetooth capability to connect to untethered external devices.

For $70 more, you can get a model that can connect through Verizon's 3G cellular network when Wi-Fi isn't an option. That's the model I tested, though I didn't end up needing the 3G capabilities because I always had Wi-Fi at work, at home and in cafes.

The unit I tried only had a 16 gigabyte solid state storage drive, but that's fine. I wasn't planning on hoarding video clips or music files. Documents, for the most part, are supposed to be stored online as part of Google's cloud philosophy.

Chromebook is a lean, mean browsing machine primarily because it urges users to move away from the local storage of content and data. Google's approach is to have you store your photos in a Web-based album such as Picasa, rather than in your "My Pictures" folder on your machine. Google Docs can store your writings and Google's Music beta (still invite-only at this stage) is positioned to handle your music collection.

Although you'd think it be slower storing your files elsewhere, the experience is actually faster because the Chrome system doesn't have to be loaded with programs handling various tasks. You simply call those up online as you need them.

This approach will require faith. There is certainly more control and better access to storing content locally, and there's more privacy as well. With its growing suite of services, though, Google is betting some habits will change with time.

The Chromebook took me to my login screen less than five seconds after turning it on. Less than five seconds later, I was staring at the Chrome browser and an initial offering of apps such as YouTube, Google Talk and Gmail. With my home Windows 7 install, I would likely still be starting at the Windows start-up logo in this same time frame.

I began by adding some of my own favorites to the browser, which essentially served as my home screen for launching apps. I pulled several apps from Google's Chrome Web Store.

Tweetdeck was among the better Chrome apps for displaying my Twitter feed. Adjusting the Tweetdeck application to full screen delivered an experience that is almost the same as what I'd get when using Tweetdeck's standalone application with a desktop PC.

Another decent app for Chrome is Wikihood. It's a Wikipedia-styled page that uses your wireless connection to determine your location and then provides you with some fast facts about the vicinity you're in. As I sat sipping coffee in an Atlanta cafe, Wikihood revealed to me that I was near the site of the Atlanta Campaign, a series of battles fought during the Civil War around Atlanta. There was links to information about the area in case I decided to explore on foot.

Popular Science has a slick app for Chrome, though it's more about form than function. Upon launching, the app delivered the magazine's online articles with beautiful photos and artist's renderings of scientific topics that covered the entire screen. The articles aren't extremely long; more than a tweet but shorter than a 3,000-word long-form piece that some of the magazine's readers might be accustomed to.

Aside from the apps, there isn't too much personalization you can do here. There is no desktop to dress up with family photos or high-resolution screenshots from "Avatar." There is no Microsoft Quick launch toolbar or Apple Dock for accessing frequently used programs. It was just me and Chrome, and this quieter approach wasn't half bad.

There is a media player for playing content such as music and video stored on an SD card, which can be inserted into a slot at the front left corner of the Chromebook. The software didn't have many features, such as equalizer settings, but it worked fine when I wanted a little background music.

Not all is rosy with the Chromebook. At one point I lost the wireless connection at my office, and the online magazine I was reading suddenly rendered a lot of broken links. I edit a lot of photos and video, and those tasks just aren't possible with the degree of control I'm used to without some standalone applications.

When you're offline with the Chromebook, you are truly going off the grid and you're not likely to accomplish much of anything. It's a brick without a connection to the cloud.

The Chromebook isn't the best choice as your only computer, but it's a fine second computer for the type of casual use that is becoming the primary activity for many people busy living in their social graph.

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Online:

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/chromebook

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Ron Harris can be reached at http://twitter.com/Journorati

Swarmbot invasion: How small robots will solve major problems (Digital Trends)

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 08:45 AM PDT

John Brandon John Brandon – Wed Jul 13, 11:45 am ET

They've been among us for a while now. Tiny microbots that work together to fight disease, find a lost soldier, or even build a new structure have appeared in science fiction movies like Minority Report in the past. And, several companies, including IBM and HP, have shown how a few small robots can communicate with each other to complete a task.

Now, Harvard researchers have developed the kilobot, a tiny robot that costs just $14 to build and communicates using infrared. The main distinction: hundreds or even thousands of kilobots could perform complex tasks. In the future, these bots could set the stage for rapid prototyping assembly. Imagine thousands of kilobots building a bridge or even a skyscraper, or entering a warzone to find enemy installations and disable weapons one by one.

Mike Rubenstein is a postdoctoral fellow working in the Self-Organizing Systems Research Group at Harvard University. He explained that the tiny bots use two vibrating motor for locomotion, and communicate with other bots by sending an infrared light onto a surface — they know the location of other bots by reading the light intensity.

Swarmbots groupThe main difference, he says, between some previous swarmbots and the kilobit, is that the new bots are genuine robots: They work together, but do not just follow a pre-determined route. They are more like a Roomba than an RC car that just follows the commands of an operator. With the Roomba, the bot has enough intelligence to monitor the environment looking for obstructions and using thousands of algorithms to find an optimal route.

"The main short-term application is for testing swarm algorithms on a large-scale robot system," says Rubenstein. "We can program them to move and interact with neighboring robots. There are many behaviors possible, so far we have worked on foraging and exploration."

Rubenstein says he can imagine a future scenario where the bots are used for military engagements. The team has already developed a roadmap, called Termes, for how kilobots could build a 3D structure. The team is working on a large-scale deployment for kilobots. Rubenstein also envisions the bots being used for education, what he calls "group vehicle navigation" and for environmental mapping — a technique that approximates what a region would look like after corrosion or after the effects of climate change.

Medical scenarios

Another example of massive swarmbot interaction involves so-called "ninja particles" that IBM is developing. These tiny polymer bots work like a cell in your body — they contain an electrical charge, and are attracted to infectious agents in the body like a magnet. Doctors could use ninja particles that work autonomously in the body to find a wound and start repairing damaged cells.

"Once these polymers come into contact with water in or on the body, they self-assemble into a nanostructure that is designed to target bacteria membranes based on electrostatic interaction and break through their cell membranes and walls. The physical nature of this action prevents bacteria from developing resistance to these nanoparticles," says Jim Hedrick, a researcher at IBM.

"These agents prevent the bacteria from developing drug resistance by actually breaking through the bacterial cell wall and membrane, a fundamentally different mode of attack compared to traditional antibiotics," Hedrick says. The swarm concept, similar to what Rubenstein is developing, means each individual polymer can't accomplish the mission on its own but has to work with the other agents to fight an infection and alter cells in the body.

Interestingly, Hedrick says ninja particles could be used for commercial applications as well, not just in the medical field or in a research lab. He says the nanostructures could be built-in to hand-soap, deodorant, table wipes, and hand sanitizers to fight infections. They could also be used to fight major infections like tuberculosis and lung disease. Once the particles are programmed, they carry out their "mission" and then naturally dissolve.

Future scenarios

Rubenstein was hesitant to theorize about future kilobot scenarios. Yet, it's easy to envision how swarmbots could become part of our everyday lives. Whether having thousands of bots building bridges, finding infections, or fighting our battles could lead to a microarmageddon is another question. Yet, the idea of sensors in physical objects is already a reality.

One example is the 94Fifty basketball, which sells for about $3,000. The ball contains a sensor that communicates with software to analyze a player's shot. The software can be used to train new players on shooting mechanics, and the data can be used for an entire team to analyze how they play the game and how to improve their abilities. This "hive" analysis, already a reality, shows how embedded sensors can work together in a team.

Swarmbots use a similar concept: They could be embedded in physical objects, communicate with each other, and then report their activities back to a central server.

Thats particularly interesting in a battleground scenario. Swarmbots could work like the new iRobot 110 FirstLook, a rapid deployment bot you throw to the ground.

The bot can handle a 15-foot drop and is waterproof up to 3 feet. While not microbot size (each FirstLook is about ten inches long and weighs five pounds) they could work in a hive, similar to how programmers have designed a swarm of iRobot Roomba vacuums to clean large areas. We recently watched two Roombas work together to vacuum a room, avoiding each other and communicating to finish the cleaning job in half the time.

FirstLook bots already use infrared light to find routes in a battlefield. Even though they do not work autonomously and do not communicate with each other yet, it's easy to envision how these kinds of bots could coordinate an exploratory mission in enemy territory.

Swarmbot drones could perform surveillance tasks as seen in the upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier game by Ubisoft, providing reconnaissance that keeps soldiers safe. Of course, these future scenarios may seem like science-fiction. There are questions about the cost for each bot on the battlefield, and military officials have been reticent to use robots in combat situations because of the moral implications (humans have the ability to make better impulse decisions). Military bots are used primarily for surveying the battlefield today.

However, as with any robotics endeavor, that will change as the AI improves. Swarmbots could be programmed with a group failsafe that is stronger than an individual bot. They could be sent into a warzone to find wounded soldiers, repair vehicles, and even disable enemy weapons.

For now, swarmbot technology is firmly in an early development stage. The kilobot is the best example so far that demonstrates how a low-cost bot could perform simple tasks and work together in a horde. Whether this leads to a swarm of bots that can mow your grass, repair a fence, or build a tree fort in your backyard is still an unknown.

at 9:49 PM

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