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Items by Tim Conneally

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Researchers find 80 different Android wallpaper apps skimming sensitive data

Posted: July 29th, 2010, 2:41pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

While the superstar of the Black Hat USA 2010 security conference in Las Vegas this week was Barnaby Jack from IOActive showing off techniques for "Jackpotting" Windows CE-based ATMs, research from security company Lookout has had a much broader impact on consumers, especially those using Android smartphones.
Lookout's "App Genome Project" is an ongoing study of the millions of mobile applications available, the user data that they collect, and threats they present. During their research for the project, the team found a series of simple Wallpaper apps in the Android Market which were suspiciously collecting more data than they needed to.
"The wallpaper applications that we analyzed transmitted several pieces of sensitive data to a server over an unencrypted network connection. The data included the device's phone number, subscriber identifier (e.g. IMSI), and the currently entered voicemail number on the phone," Lookout CTO Kevin Mahaffey said today. "While this sort of data collection from a wallpaper application is certainly suspicious, there's no evidence of malicious behavior. There have been cases in the past on other mobile platforms where well-intentioned developers are simply over-zealous in their data gathering, without having malicious intent."
The group found more than 80 wallpaper apps that did this, and they all traced back to two developers "Jackeey" and "wallpaper," both of whom have since changed their names. The various apps are estimated to have been downloaded between one and four million times.
There's a good chance you have downloaded one if you're an Android user.
"While the data this app is accessing is certainly suspicious coming from a wallpaper app, we want to be clear that there is no evidence of malicious behavior," Mahaffey said today. He also said that Google is aware of the situation and is currently investigating the suspicious apps.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - BlackHat - Genome project - Smartphone - Las Vegas Nevada
Motorola beats the street, but smartphone sales haven't rebounded yet

Posted: July 29th, 2010, 12:18pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Shaumberg, Illinois electronics company Motorola Inc. on Thursday posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2010. The company's total revenue was $5.41 billion, which beat Wall Street's estimates of $5.19 billion, but was still down against last year's $5.49 billion. The company reported a strong flow of cash for the quarter, with overall earnings of $162 million, up sharply from last year's $26 million. Total sales, however, were down some $83 million against the same quarter last year.
Of Motorola's four divisions: Mobile Devices, Home, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, and Networks, the latter two divisions were the main drivers of profit for the company.
During the quarter, Motorola's Enterprise Mobility solutions scored several noteworthy government contracts, including one to build the first 700MHz LTE public safety network for the San Francisco Bay area, and several Project 25 contracts (interoperable digital two-way radio for first responders) in Georgia, Maryland, New York and Washington. The group also announced the ES400, a dual-mode GSM/CDMA Enterprise Digital Assistant touted as the smallest in its class.
Sales for the quarter amounted to $1.8 billion, a $165 million increase over the same quarter last year.
Though sales were down in the Networks division, the group was sold earlier in July to Nokia Siemens for $1.2 billion. Motorola will retain rights to its iDEN business as well as the majority of its network-related intellectual property. This is viewed as an overall win for the company.
By the first quarter of 2011, Motorola is expected to split into just two divisions, which will amount to a consumer-facing side (made up of the current Home and Mobility groups) led by Co-CEO Sanjay Jha, and an enterprise side (Enterprise mobility solutions) led by Co-CEO Greg Brown.
The mobile device group is still facing declining numbers. Last year, the group shipped 14.8 million units during the second quarter, and this year it shipped 8.3 million, 2.7 million of which were smartphones. Total mobile sales were also down against last year, going from $1.82 billion to $1.72 billion.
The company, however, continues to release compelling smartphones powered by Google Android, and Jha says he expects the group to post its first uptick in sales since 2006 in the third quarter, and a return to profitability in the fourth. This will be due, in part, to the top-of-the-line Droid X on Verizon Wireless which has been in short supply since launching on July 15.
Disclosure: Tim Conneally is a Motorola shareholder.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Motorola - Greg Brown - Verizon Wireless - Business - Wall Street
Amazon debuts 3rd generation Kindle e-reader: smaller, lighter, cheaper, better

Posted: July 29th, 2010, 8:37am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Amazon, online retailer and e-book pioneer announced Thursday the latest generation of its popular 6" Kindle e-book reader.
The Kindle received an overhaul similar to the one its big brother Kindle DX got on the first of July, with a new graphite chassis, improved screen resolution, and lower price.
Today's upgrade, however, goes a little further to improve the Kindle product line.
In addition to the 20% smaller, 15% lighter enclosure and 50% higher-contrast E ink screen, the third generation Kindle has double the storage of its predecessor, built-in Wi-Fi in addition to its free international 3G wireless, and 20% faster page turns at a price of only $189.
When the Kindle 2 launched last year, it was sold for $259. Due in part to serious competition from Borders and Barnes and Noble in the e-reader market, Amazon slashed the price of the Kindle in June.
With the new Wi-Fi capability, Amazon has introduced another version of the Kindle to the product line, one without a 3G radio. This version will sell for only $139 and have all the rest of the features of the $189 model.
On the software side, Amazon says it has improved the PDF reader, sped up the experimental Webkit browser, and added text to speech capability in the menu system to improve accesibility for the visually impaired.
Though the Kindle already offered Text-to-Speech on all of its Kindle books, the Author's Guild made a move last year to let the publishers decide on a book-by-book basis whether that feature could be turned on. However, with the recent amendment to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the publisher-placed text-to-speech lock could be broken if no versions of a particular e-book have the accessibility feature turned on.
The Kindle's most popular accessory, the leather case, has also been upgraded to match the new Kindle. The case now features an LED lamp that is powered by the Kindle's own battery. The innovative new case utilizes gold-plated conductive hinges to pull electricity from the Kindle Battery.
The new Kindles will begin shipping on August 27 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Amazon Kindle - Amazon - Wi-Fi - Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Speech synthesis
'Facebook Questions' launches, lets you poll Facebook's 500 million users

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 4:16pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Facebook today officially introduced a new feature called Facebook Questions, the social network's take on crowdsourced question and answer sites like Yahoo Answers, Quora, and Hunch.
The new feature, still classified as a beta, lets users ask questions of the vast Facebook community of more than 500 million simply by typing them into a new field labeled "What do you want to know?"
While it has not yet been rolled out to all users, the new Facebook Questions feature will appear as a button labeled "Ask Question" across a users' homepage.
Along with asking simple text questions, users can also include photographs, links, or polls. The topic of the question can then be tagged, and users who have that same topic listed in their interests will see the question. For example, if you have a question about the TV show "24," users who have the show listed on their profile under "Likes and Interests" will be more likely to see your question than someone who does not.
"Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the Internet," Facebook Product Director Blake Ross reminded users today.
Like Yahoo Answers, there is no limit to what topics a user can provide answers to. They can simply browse through questions and provide their answers as they like.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Facebook - Yahoo Answers - Facebook Questions - Social network - Quora
Japanese Fair Trade Commission sees Yahoo-Google deal as acceptable...for now

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 1:01pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

This week, Yahoo Japan announced it reached a deal with competitor Google to utilize its search engine technology and advertising and distribution platform while retaining its current appearance. Despite protests from Microsoft, Japanese fair trade organizations today said the deal does not appear to create monopolistic conditions.
Historically, Yahoo and Google have dominated the Japanese search market, and Tuesday, Microsoft Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner said the deal would create a search monopoly for Google.
"Today Google accounts for about 51% of paid search advertising in Japan. Yahoo Japan accounts for 47%. Their combined share of natural search results is almost as high," Heiner said. "If Google is permitted to proceed with its plan, it would gain nearly complete control over search and search advertising in Japan through contract, not organic growth. Google alone would decide what consumers in Japan will find, or not find, on the Web. And Google will obtain massive amounts of data regarding the search history and Web sites visited by every consumer, business and government agency that conducts Web searches."
Wednesday, Secretary General of the Japanese Fair Trade Commission Takahide Matsuyama said Yahoo had consulted the Commission before making the announcement, and the deal "would not immediately cause any problems related to antitrust regulations," because the two businesses would remain separate.
However, Matsuyama continued, "Changing market conditions and the changing competitive atmosphere could, of course, change the decision."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Microsoft - Japan - Yahoo - Web search engine
Panasonic completes '3D trifecta,' launches consumer camcorder with 3D lens attachment

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 12:00pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Panasonic announced its first consumer camcorder capable of capturing both 2D HD and 3D video, the $1,399 SDT750.
Panasonic was one of the most vocal early supporters of 1080p 3D. The Japanese consumer electronics company threw its weight behind James Cameron's Avatar, and commenced work on its 3D Blu-ray authoring center at Panasonic Hollywood Labs in 2008.
This year, Panasonic has completed the veritable trifecta of 3D content. It officially opened that 3D authoring center in February, launched its first Viera 3D home theater solutions in March, and released a tool that lets consumers create 3D videos in July. Amateurs and professionals alike now have a method of delivering their content, and consumers have the means to enjoy it.
The brilliant part about the SDT750 is that it doesn't have to be 3D if the user doesn't want it to be. It can act as a 1080p AVCHD camera on its own, utilizing the "3MOS" sensor system (Panasonic's method of using one CMOS sensor for each color of light in the RGB pallete) for image capture. It includes a 46mm Leica Dicomar lens and a 12x optical zoom function. It can handle the weighty 3D processing, but the bulk of what is the "3D camera" is simply an external lens.
With the included 3D lens attachment, dual 960 x 1080 images are captured side-by-side by the Crystal Engine PRO image processing unit. This content can be saved on SD cards as MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, but the camera also comes with HD Writer AE 2.6T PC editing software, so users can edit their 3D videos and burn onto Blu-ray/DVD.
When the 3D lens is not attached, the SDT750 includes "Panasonic Intelligent Auto" (iA) mode, which automatically selects ideal shooting settings based on the environment. While shooting HD video, iA offers Face Recognition, "Hybrid O.I.S.", AF/AE Tracking, Intelligent Scene Selector, Face Detection and Intelligent Contrast Control.
Hybrid O.I.S. (optical image stabilization) is a new image stabilization feature Panasonic is introducing with this camera. It uses four-axis blur detection to reduce handheld shaking while tracking and zooming.
The Panasonic SDT750 will be available in October 2010, and a full list of specs can be found here.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Camcorder - AVCHD - 1080p - Panasonic Corporation - Panasonic SDT750

Wacom's Bamboo Touch offers its own brand of trackpad magic

Posted: July 28th, 2010, 9:20am MDT by Tim Conneally

On Tuesday, Apple launched its second multi-touch peripheral, the Magic Trackpad, which elicited an immediate reaction from tech spectators. TechCrunch's MG Siegler declared it to be the harbinger of the end of the mouse era, and 90% of the more than 700 readers who answered Macworld's informal poll "would you buy this input device?" said they would.

A spark in multi-touch trackpad interest could prove to be a great boon for Wacom, the company synonymous with pen and touch tablet interfaces. For nearly a year, Wacom has had its own multi-touch trackpad called Bamboo Touch on the market, which is $20 cheaper than Apple's Magic Trackpad, offers similar functionality, and does not require two AA batteries (because it runs on a powered USB connection instead.)

Wacom Bamboo trackpad

Ease of use

While the device is immediately recognized by machines running either Windows or Mac OS, it lacks all of the gesture-based functions without the associated Bamboo driver. Once the drivers are installed, however, the user can orient the Bamboo Touch as either a right-handed, or left-handed peripheral, and begin using two-finger up and down page scrolling, pinch to zoom, two-finger rotate, and left and right page flipping. These gestures work well and should already be familiar to users of touch interfaces.

Wacom Bamboo Trackpad in profile

Unlike Apple's Magic Trackpad, which can be pressed down and clicked, the Bamboo Touch has four dedicated "ExpressKeys" which can be assigned different functions or shortcuts when they are clicked. Each button can act as one of five clicks; user-defined keyboard shortcuts; modifier keys like shift, alt, or control; forward or back; show desktop; switch application; open/run application; Ink toggle, and touch toggle. In this respect, the Bamboo Touch is actually more versatile than the Magic Trackpad because it can actually replace some degree of keyboard functionality.

Wacom Bamboo trackpad in use

Support

Wacom Bamboo Touch works on Windows 7, Vista, XP (SP2), and Mac OS 10.4.8 or higher. Apple's Magic Trackpad right now only has full support on Mac OS 10.6.4 with the software update issued on Tuesday. The device can be used in Windows running in Boot Camp, but lacks the trademark pinch to zoom and rotate gestures, as well as three and four-finger inputs.

Wacom Bamboo trackpad light

Usability

On the negative side, the Bamboo Touch connects via USB, and the cable is quite intrusive. When using the device with a notebook, there ends up being a considerable amount of slacked-out cord sitting around, and when using it with a desktop computer, there is not much in the way of freedom of movement. Since it only weighs 7 ounces, flimsiness also becomes a bit of an issue.

In terms of a complete experience, the Bamboo Touch is very different from Wacom's graphics and productivity-focused Intuos product line. However, this is not to say it is an unfavorable one. Simply put, it feels like a trackpad and not like a tablet, so it is more a competitor with the Magic Trackpad than a substitute for another Wacom product.

Bamboo size comparison to Wacom Intuos 3

Apple Magic Trackpad	Wacom Bamboo Touch
$69	$49
5.2" x 4.3" touch area	4.9" x 3.4" touch area
Bluetooth	USB
No buttons, "full body" click	Four ExpressKeys
2 AA Batteries	Power via USB
Supports up to four fingers	Two fingers
Mac OS X 10.6.4, limited support in Windows 7, Vista, XP	Windows 7, Vista, XP with Service Pack 2, Mac OS X (10.4.8 or higher)

Apple - Windows 7 - Magic Trackpad - Mac OS X - Boot Camp

Epic 1.0 beta, new browser for Windows gives feel of browser-based OS

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 2:45pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Bangalore, India-based software startup Hidden Reflex has launched the beta of a new Web browser for Windows called Epic. The new browser is heavily focused on three areas: In-browser user multitasking, customization through plug-ins, and mashing up mobile Web content with full Web content.
Epic has a relatively predictable design across the top, with tabbed browsing, a standard address bar and neighboring search bar; but the real difference with Epic is the long list of standard tools shown as icons in a sidebar on the left hand side of the browser window. Here, some truly unique features have been incorporated as gadgets that give the distinct feeling of a browser-based OS.
For example, just beneath the gadgets for browser skins, and indic language conversion, there is a built-in antivirus and antispyware engine powered by ESET. Users can perform a system scan or folder scan in the sidebar without leaving the browser. After that, there is a gadget called "write" which opens a word processor as a browser tab. There is also a button for "My Computer" which, as one would expect, lets a user browse his computer filesystem from within a browser window.
One of the neat features of Epic is its integration with Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google Maps, Yahoo and Orkut. Clicking on one of these gadgets will open the service's respective mobile site in a side window located next to the main browser window. This novel approach lets you have a sort of "picture in picture" browsing experience.
The same experience can be had with Web videos in Epic as well. If you want to watch YouTube videos while doing something else (i.e. working,) you can drag the video over to the sidebar and watch it there alongside the main window. Videos here can also be downloaded or used in playlists.
Epic also includes a to-do list with alerts, a timer and stopwatch feature, a "snippets" tool for saving text, images or full websites, as well as an Indic language phonetic transcription tool, and Indocentric news feeds. Hidden Reflex says it has over a thousand plug-ins for Epic that are available right now.
Download Epic 1.0 Beta for Windows from Fileforum now!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Facebook - Yahoo - Google - Web browser - Google Maps
Qualcomm remains committed to FLO TV and MediaFLO in light of possible sale

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 12:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last Week, the future of Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile TV business came into question after CEO Paul Jacobs said the chipmaker was "engaged in discussions with a number of partners," about what to do with the asset-rich service. The company recently gave Betanews some further information on what to expect from MediaFLO and FLO TV moving forward.
In talking with GigaOM, Jacobs said "We want to see FLO continue so it's not like we'd want to sell the spectrum, but there are certainly people who would buy it for the spectrum. The spectrum is extremely valuable. So what that means is there's a high bar. The business that's generated through that spectrum, by the broadcast system needs to be valuable too…whether it's an operator, a content player, a web company -there's a wide range of companies that could make use of [MediaFLO] and deal with the business model where they are trying to get a lot of content down to a lot of people and they can't really afford to do it on the cellular network."
During Qualcomm's earnings call last week, Jacobs said there were no deals in place just yet, and that there wasn't a firm timeline for a sale of the service. However, said he believed one could be completed in as little as one year's time.
FLO TV launched as a standalone brand in late 2009 after existing for several years as Verizon V Cast Mobile TV and AT&T Mobile TV. It broadcast linear TV content 24 hours a day on more than 15 channels with content from CBS, CNN, Fox, and Viacom properties.
Less than a year after launching, many consider FLO TV to be quite a flop, despite its immense value.
Unfortunately, because these statements about the future of FLO TV are somewhat vague, consumers actually have less incentive to become subscribers. So Betanews asked the FLO TV group at Qualcomm what consumers should take away from Jacobs' statements, and if there is a reason to be apprehensive about checking out the service.
"As Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs mentioned on the earnings call...the FLO TV service is not where we expect it to be at this point. However,we continue to work with content and business partners to deliver an engaging mobile multimedia experience. While we cannot comment on our discussions with potential partners, we can say those discussions are yielding exciting new possibilities," the statement from Qualcomm said.
"As we have those discussions, we continue to see positive consumer response. Our recent FIFA World Cup programming on ESPN Mobile set new viewership records. Our service is now available on more than 15 handheld devices...and FLO TV is now available in more than 7,000 locations nationwide, establishing a large retail footprint in less than a year. In the coming months, we are looking to enhance our current offering with relevant, on-demand content and interactive features."
Furthermore, FLO TV is Qualcomm's domestic business, and MediaFLO Technologies is the international platform on which other companies can deliver mobile TV. Japanese network operator KDDI, for example, recently applied for a license to use MediaFLO in a nationwide multimedia broadcast service. A decision on that license is expected to happen later this summer.
"Qualcomm is committed to driving FLO TV technology in the States and MediaFLO technologies around the world," the company said. "Paul's comments are simply a reiteration of the company's long-standing position that it does not, over time, intend to be in the operator business."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Qualcomm - Television - Business - MediaFLO - FIFA World Cup
Mobile app CardStar smartly ties in with location-based services

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 11:01am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Brick and Mortar retailers haven't quite figured out the perfect way to utilize location-based "check in" services like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Latitude, but mobile rewards app CardStar today presented a new option for retailers.
Retailers like Starbucks, Domino's Pizza, Chili's, Ann Taylor, and Sephora have all tried promotions where the people who check in most at their stores (the "mayors") get special coupons or prizes.
But so far, retailers have taken a rather erratic approach to utilizing location-based promotions, leaving it a market with still a lot of potential, but not a lot to show yet.
Forrester Research published a study this week which concluded that "most marketers should wait until they can get a bigger bang for their buck, when adoption rates increase and established players emerge from the fray."
Today, cross-platform mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has integrated Foursquare into the newest version of its iOS 4 app, combining rewards cards and location check-ins into a single app. The result could be something that helps big retailers emerge from this Location-based "fray."
The premise of CardStar is simple. Rather than carry around all the loyalty cards that retailers give out, you either enter their numbers into CardStar or scan them with the phone's barcode scanner. The barcodes are then saved either in the user's phone, or in the cloud-based CardStar Connect account, and they can be called up when checking out at a store and scanned directly off of the phone's screen.
With the new Foursquare integration, users can also check into the store where they're shopping as they call up their rewards card. The first time a user does this, he doesn't really experience any significant reward to checking in. However, if it is a place he frequently visits, like his neighborhood grocery store, for example, the app can remember the area as a "favorite place," and automatically call up the appropriate rewards card whenever he's in that location.
For retailers, this app offers a lot of benefits. Not only are users advertising to their peers where they're shopping, but they're also giving the retailers another way to communicate with them. The latter is a mutually beneficial situation, because users who check into FourSquare at a particular location could, for example, have exclusive promotions sent directly to the CardStar app that other shoppers do not receive.
CardStar is available on iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, but the iOS version, released today in Apple's App Store, is currently the only one supporting Foursquare's open API. The other versions will be updated in the coming months.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

App Store - Foursquare - CardStar - Apple - Gowalla
Apple refreshes iMac, Mac Pro lines, introduces new Cinema Display

Posted: July 27th, 2010, 8:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

After Apple temporarily closed down its Web-based store on Tuesday, the company announced its annual desktop product line refresh, which included new Mac Pro, iMac, and Cinema Display products.
Apple's new iMacs are equipped with Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 processors offering speeds between 2.93 GHz and 3.6 GHz, have up to 16GB of faster 1333 MHz memory, discrete ATI Radeon HD craphics cards, (including the HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5 on the top end,) and configure-to-order storage solutions with up to 2TB hard drives or 256GB solid state drives.
Apple announced four pre-configured options in 21.5" and 27" sizes today:
21.5" 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,199) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, and a 500GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
21.5" 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,499) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
27" 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac ($1,699) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5670 with 512MB GDDR3, and a 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive.
27" 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 ($1,999) - 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5750 with 1GB GDDR5, and a 1TB 7200 SATA hard drive.
All of these iMacs include an 8x slot-load SuperDrive, Mini DisplayPort outputs, 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, iSight video Camera, Gigabit ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, Firewire 800, and SD card slot supporting SDXC.
Apple's new Mac Pro line now supports up to 12 processor cores, with quad- and six-core Intel Xeon processors running at speeds up to 3.33 GHz, comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory, or can be configured with the faster ATI Radeon HD 5870, and support for up to four 512GB SSDs or four 2TB SATA HDDs and up to 32GB of RAM.
Apple listed two pre-configured models today in its announcement:
Quad-Core Mac Pro ($2,499) -- One 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache, 3GB DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.
8-Core Mac Pro ($3,499) -- Dual 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor; 6GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory, 1TB SATA (3Gb/s) 7200 rpm hard drive.
These models come with three video outs (two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI,) 18x SuperDrive optical drive, four PCI Express 2.0 slots, five USB 2.0 ports, four FireWire 800 ports, 802.11n, and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR.
The new Mac Pros will be available both online and in retail stores in August.
The new LED Cinema Display is 27" edge to edge with a 2560 x 1440 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. It comes with a built-in iSight video camera and microphone, inegrated MagSafe charger for Mac notebooks, stereo speakers, Mini DisplayPort input, and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub. It will be available in both Apple's retail stores and online in September for $999.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

MacPro - iMac - Apple - Mini DisplayPort - Intel Core
Google announces Apps for Government in light of LA rollout delays

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 3:13pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Following news over the weekend that it had missed the deadline to provide the city government of Los Angeles with its own email and collaboration infrastructure, Google today announced "Google Apps for Government".
Google Apps for Government provides more secure versions of the popular consumer-facing Web services that Google offers, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sites, and even YouTube. All of the apps are compliant with the 2002 Federeal Information Security Management Act (FIMSA, PDF here,) and operate at the "moderate" level. FIMSA was laid down by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to ensure federal agencies and their contractors were using secure and reliable software and systems.
"Google Apps for Government will continue to evolve to meet unique government requirements," Kripa Krishnan, Technical Program Manager, Google Apps for Government said in the official Google Blog today. "Google Apps for Government stores Gmail and Calendar data in a segregated system located in the continental United States, exclusively for our government customers. Other applications will follow in the near future. The suite is a "community cloud" as defined by the National Institute for Science and Technology to support the needs of our government customers. Google Apps for Government is available now to any federal, state or local government in the United States."
The news hanging over Google during the weekend was that the deadline to have the L.A. city government fully migrated over to Google Apps was June 30, and the city on Wednesday demanded reimbursement. In October 2009, the Los Angeles City Council approved a five-year agreement with Google to use the company's cloud offerings for its staff of more than 30,000 employees.
"Delaying the implementation of the Google system...will result in additional costs associated with maintaining the City's current e-mail system for 20,000 City e-mail accounts for the entire year from $135,000 to $414,450 in 2010-11. The costs depend on the length of the delay. No funds are budgeted for this purpose," a report from the City's Information Technology and Government Affairs Committee, and Communication from Budget and Finance Committee said on Wednesday (PDF here.)
Los Angeles is one of the largest city governments migrating to Google's cloud apps thus far. In 2009, Orlando Florida signed up to migrate 3,000 employees from Lotus Notes/Domino to Google Apps; and Canton, Georgia moved its modest staff of 165 employees to Google's services. The move to Google Apps is expected to cost Los Angeles $7.25 million, but will save $5 million in hard costs and some $20 million in improved productivity.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - United States - Google Apps - Google Calendar - Los Angeles
DMCA revised: unlocking, jailbreaking phones, e-book text-to-speech, deemed fair use

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 11:40am MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Methods for bypassing DVD encryption, unlocking mobile phone carrier locks, and other content protection could be argued as fair use under a revision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced today.
Every three years, the Library of Congress must determine if there are any types of works that can be exempt from Section 1201 of copyright law, also known as "Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems."
When this provision was enacted, the House Commerce Committee felt that "it could be appropriate to modify the flat prohibition against the circumvention of effective technological measures that control access to copyrighted materials, in order to ensure that access for lawful purposes is not unjustifiably diminished." (PDF here) So a "fail-safe" mechanism was written into the law, where the Register of Copyrights and Librarian of Congress determine whether there are times where circumventing copy protection is acceptable.
Today, in his fourth time revising the act, Billington announced six cases where copy protection circumvention is not copyright infringement:
- When short clips are taken from DVDs encrypted with Content Scrambling System (CSS) for use in Education, Documentary filmmaking, and noncommercial videos.
- When "jailbreaking" software is used to install third-party applications on mobile phones "where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset."
- When firmware or software is used to unlock phones from a particular wireless carrier.
- When copy protection must be broken in video games to test for, investigate and correct security flaws.
- When a software's security dongle is malfunctioning or obsolete.
- When all e-books are blocked from screen readers or e-reader read aloud functions, and no digital edition is available with such accessibility features.
"This is not a broad evaluation of the successes or failures of the DMCA," Billington noted today. "The purpose of the proceeding is to determine whether current technologies that control access to copyrighted works are diminishing the ability of individuals to use works in lawful, noninfringing ways. The DMCA does not forbid the act of circumventing copy controls, and therefore this rulemaking proceeding is not about technologies that control copying. Nor is this rulemaking about the ability to make or distribute products or services used for purposes of circumventing access controls."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Copyright - Library of Congress - Mobile phone - DVD
AT&T announces Wi-Fi "Hotzones" in Charlotte, Chicago, to help data congestion

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 10:24am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last May, AT&T launched a project called "Hotzones" in New York City's Times Square aimed at fixing traffic problems by blanketing the area in Wi-Fi signals. Today, the carrier announced the project is coming to more cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina today and Chicago, Illinois in the coming weeks.
Over the last three years, AT&T says its mobile data traffic has grown by more than 5,000 percent, and in the most densely populated areas of the U.S., connectivity is often an issue. New York and San Francisco proved to be especially troublesome for the company's data network, and in 2009, AT&T Mobility's CEO Ralph de la Vega said they were "performing at levels below our standards," but that they were going to be fixed.
"Our first AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone in New York City has received praise from our customers, and we're excited to introduce this Wi-Fi solution in Charlotte," said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president of AT&T Wi-Fi Services today. Last year, AT&T handled 15 million Wi-Fi connections to its network; in just the second quarter of 2010, that number was up to 68.1 million, the company said today.
The outdoor Wi-Fi hotzone in Charlotte provides coverage along South Brevard Street from the area around the NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza to East Trade Street, and on the Lynx light rail, said AT&T. No details were provided about the scope of the Chicago Hotzone, but the company said it will launch in the approaching weeks.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

New York City - Times Square - San Francisco - AT&T Mobility - United States
Android grew 350% in UK last quarter, says research

Posted: July 26th, 2010, 9:53am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Android's share of the UK mobile market grew by more than 10 percent in a single quarter, International market research firm GfK's Retail and Technology division announced today. The mobile operating system appears to be experiencing the same explosive growth the U.S. showed earlier this month.
According to GfK's research, smartphones reached nearly 67% penetration in the contract mobile device market in the second quarter, and by June had already grown to 73.5%. While the sale of new mobile contracts didn't even grow by a single percentage point, smartphone adoption is skyrocketing.
Research firm Strategy Analytics recently released data that agreed with this, tracking a smartphone shipment growth of 43% between 2009 and 2010.
This huge jump in UK smartphone adoption despite the comparatively small growth in new subscribers is thanks in large part to the incredible adoption of Google's Android operating system, GfK's numbers show.
Subscribers, in short, are replacing their old phones with Android devices.
Android device sales grew by an astonishing 350% during the second quarter, GfK estimated, a figure which is equal to the platform's growth for the entire year of 2009 according to mobile entertainment company Myxer last January.
GfK said Android now holds 13.2% of the UK contract market, compared to the 3% it had just one quarter ago.
"The figures suggest an increasing number of consumers are now asking for Android handsets by name," GfK analyst Megan Baldock said in a statement today. "Operating Systems are no longer simply a by-product but a key selling point in their own right."
Earlier in July, opinion polling group YouGov indicated a steep decline in UK consumer interest for Nokia devices. Though Nokia remains the mobile phone market leader in both the UK and worldwide by a huge margin, the company's challenge is in creating desirable next generation smartphones for consumers looking to upgrade their devices.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Nokia - Android - Google - GfK - Smartphone
India's $35 tablet takes on OLPC with Android?

Posted: July 23rd, 2010, 11:18am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In the quest to deliver a high-tech learning device that anyone can afford, India's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal unveiled a prototype for a $35 tablet computer Thursday. Sibal said it is an answer to the "hundred dollar laptop" from MIT, which later launched as the One Laptop Per Child project.
In 2006, India's Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee reportedly criticized the $100 laptop project as an underdeveloped idea that was "pedagogically suspect," and research began within India to create a local version of the device.
Thursday's prototype is the result of work from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc,) and four campuses of the Indian Institutes of Technology: Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, and Bombay, and the cost reportedly includes the touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, and USB ports.
"The chips, processor, and connectivity cost $35," Sibal said in Thursday's press conference, then followed by saying that it's "...including display, memory, everything."
While it has been described only as running an "open source" operating system, video footage from the conference clearly shows the telltale Android notification bar across the top of the device's screen.
Meanwhile, the OLPC India Foundation, established in 2008, has ten testbeds for the OLPC XO-1 in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu, Nashik, Dugawar, Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Goa.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

One Laptop Per Child - Indian Institute of Technology - India - Kapil Sibal - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Microsoft refreshes deal with ARM for Windows Phone, Embedded

Posted: July 23rd, 2010, 8:48am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft has signed a new licensing agreement for the ARM architecture, extending the two companies' relationship that has already spanned 13 years. ARM's major intellectual property is a 32-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture that is commonly used in embedded and mobile processors.
ARM-based processors were most common in low power computing environments, and more powerful consumer computers used the x86 architecture. But as smartphones have become more powerful, and larger devices based on mobile operating systems are becoming more common, ARM is moving out of the low power sector and into the mass market.
In January, ABI Research senior analyst Jeff Orr predicted that ARM-based processors would begin to overtake x86 in the netbook, ultraportable, tablet, and convertible PC market this year. In 2009, nearly 90% of devices in this category had processors using the x86 architecture.
Certainly, the "pad craze" has a lot to do with this shift. The Apple iPad's A4 processor is indeed ARM-based, and current speculation is that HP's acquisition of Palm may yield an enterprise-facing WebOS tablet in Fall 2010.
Microsoft's principal offerings that utilize the ARM architecture are Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile/Phone, and it hasn't made any major moves extending these into the netbook and tablet space.
"Microsoft is an important member of the ARM ecosystem, and has been for many years," Mike Muller, CTO of ARM said in a prepared statement. "With this architecture license, Microsoft will be at the forefront of applying and working with ARM technology in concert with a broad range of businesses addressing multiple application areas."
The details of the agreement were not disclosed today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - ARM - Apple - Operating system - ARM architecture
Next year, GM cars will be controllable by mobile phone

Posted: July 22nd, 2010, 5:07pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, OnStar and General Motors announced a plan to bring mobile phone-based controls to 2011 Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC automobiles.
The service will be included in OnStar's subscription package at no extra charge, and users will be able to download an OnStar app onto their mobile device that grants remote access to their vehicle.
With this app, users will be able to remotely start their vehicle, lock and unlock doors, activate lights and horn and access important vehicle data like fuel and oil level, tire pressure, odometer, VIN number, and average miles per gallon.
The OnStar mobile app services will be available on "the vast majority" of 2011 GM vehicles including the Chevrolet Cruze and Cadillac CTS Coupe. The company says it has working apps on both Android and iOS platforms, and in the coming months, versions designed specifically for each of General Motors' participating brands will be rolled out.
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Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

GeneralMotors - OnStar - Automobile - Remote access - Cadillac CTS
Microsoft reports record quarterly earnings, remains ahead of Apple

Posted: July 22nd, 2010, 3:31pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft published its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2010, and the software company reported revenue of $16.04 billion, a 22% increase over the same period last year, and $340 million ahead of Apple which also had a record-setting quarter.
Apple exceeded Wall Street's estimates and primed suspicion that the company may finally overtake Microsoft in revenue, but Microsoft also beat Wall Street expectations this quarter, so Microsoft remains the leader.
Wall Street estimated that the software giant would record $15.3 billion in revenues, but enterprise uptake of Windows 7 and Office 2010 and strong performance of Windows Server, Xbox 360 and Bing all contributed to the quarterly improvement. "This quarter's record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer. "The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion."
Microsoft set records for the full year as well. Revenue was a record high of $62.48 billion, 7% higher than last year, and operating income, net income and earnings per share were up 18%, 29%, and 30% respectively, to $24.10 billion, $18.76 billion and $2.10.
Microsoft is holding its quarterly earnings call in the next few minutes, and we'll update with statements from the company.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Apple - Wall Street - Bing - Xbox
Fail Whale Endangered? Twitter adding new dedicated data center this year

Posted: July 22nd, 2010, 12:15pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Twitter on Wednesday announced that it is relocating its technical operations infrastructure to a custom-built data center in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, Utah later this year. The move is expected to help the site's reliability and availability.
Popular microblogging site Twitter is estimated to have over 75 million users, and to be growing at a rate of about 6.2 million new accounts per month.
When the site was at its growth peak one year ago, it became a newsworthy event every time the site went unavailable for more than a matter of minutes. After countless instances of the site going unavailable, Twitter's unreliability has become par for the course. Even after Twitter had its worst month for stability and service outages in nearly a year, due in no small part to The 2010 World Cup, it is still attracting some 300,000 new users a day.
At the heart of it, Twitter needs to accommodate the steadily increasing user base. With dedicated data centers, it should be able to support the high level of activity on the site, and give Twitter more room for infrastructure development.
"Twitter will have full control over network and systems configuration, with a much larger footprint in a building designed specifically around our unique power and cooling needs," Twitter Engineer Jean-Paul Cozzatti said yesterday. "Twitter will be able to define and manage to a finer grained SLA on the service as we are managing and monitoring at all layers. The data center will house a mixed-vendor environment for servers running open source OS and applications."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Twitter - Jean-Paul Cozzatti - Salt Lake City - Data center - social networks
Samsung Galaxy S' not-so-secret weapon: TouchWiz 3.0

Posted: July 22nd, 2010, 10:12am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Samsung's custom Android user interface is the first thing we see on Galaxy S family of phones, but seems to be the last thing anyone is talking about.
Walt Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal recently reviewed the two available Galaxy S devices and seemed hung up on comparing them to the Apple iPhone 4, going so far as to call them "an appealing alternative to the iPhone," as if the iPhone is the standard first choice when it comes to buying new phones.
But Android phones are selling in greater numbers than iPhones, and Samsung is the second highest selling handset manufacturer in the world behind Nokia, with its position rising, according to Gartner's most recent mobile market share breakdown.
So we must look at Samsung's Galaxy S series in terms of what it does for Android, not how it compares to iPhone.
In the realm of Android, branded user interfaces have become a major differentiator, and the most prolific Android phonemakers each have their own: HTC has Sense, Motorola has MotoBLUR, Sony Ericsson has the UX Platform, and Samsung has TouchWiz 3.0. These unique versions of Android can have a serious impact on the public's perception of a phone's quality, and indeed the capabilities of Android as a whole.
With that said, TouchWiz 3.0 puts a clean, fast, and versatile face on Android with plenty of exclusive features.
Lock Screen
The simple, visually appealing lock screen is both aesthetically and functionally different from Android's standard version. The standard version presents two small drawbars (one for unlock and one for volume toggle) which you pull horizontally across the screen. TouchWiz 3.0's lock screen can be dragged in any direction to unlock the phone.
Home Screen
Google's stock version of Android has three open homescreens, a "drawer" where the apps are stored and a "shade" for running processes and notifications. TouchWiz 3.0 improves on all of these aspects by expanding the homescreen space, and consolidating common functions. For example, the "shade" pulldown menu includes buttons to toggle wi-fi, bluetooth, gps, and ringer. This handy feature eliminates the need for the "power control" widget standard with Android.
Users can add up to seven homescreens for apps or widgets, and there is a dock across the bottom with icons for the dialer, contacts, messaging, and applications. With this dock, icons for those common functions needn't be added to the homescreen space, which again gives the user more freedom.
The applications button is the equivalent of Android's "drawer," and when pressed, instead of a vertically scrolling list of apps, the user drops into a screen absolutely identical to the Apple iPhone: a horizontally scrolling, 4 x 4 grid of app icons on a black background.
Widgets
Since Android's visual layout doesn't require all of the user's installed apps to be shown at all times, it has become a haven for always-on widgets. Users can peek at their homescreen and see the time, date, weather, news, and their various social and RSS feeds without opening a single application.
Google's stock version of Android comes with a different number of widgets depending upon the version (typically between six and ten) and Samsung adds eight more exclusive widgets into the mix.
While four of these are different types of clocks (accuweather clock, calendar clock, yahoo finance clock, dual time zone clock,) Samsung has added four very strong exclusive widgets into the mix: buddies now, daily briefing, days widget, and feeds and updates.
Buddies Now lets the user organize his contacts into quick "call/message" thumbnails which expand into a close-up of his correspondence with this contact, broken down into "info," "history," "updates," and "media."
Daily Briefing combines weather updates, stock updates, Associated Press news, and schedule reminders into a single full-screen widget. When clicked, it launches the daily briefing app which is a four-panel expansion of the same information.
"Days" is an interesting widget and app combination that gives the user the ability to add notes and pictures to Google Calendar entries and then export them as a diary on Facebook or MySpace or be sent directly to another user via MMS.
Feeds and Updates is similar to HTC's Friend Stream widget; it takes the user's Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter feeds and displays them in a single unified stream which can be set to refresh every 30 minutes, hour, 4, 8, or 24 hours.
Overall
TouchWiz 3.0 is not a simple reskinning of Android and actually goes quite a long way in improving the use of the homescreen space. It takes the commonly-used icons and widgets and stitches them into handy positions, freeing up space for user customization. Samsung's own apps are quite useful and carry over well as exclusive widgets.
One disappointing aspect of the UI was that Samsung did not integrate its DLNA-compatible AllShare app into it. This app is designed to make Galaxy S phones into a conduit for sharing files between NAS, DLNA devices, and the phone itself in home wi-fi networks. Though it is one of the first major steps toward integrating Android devices into home networks right out of the box, it is still a temperamental solution at best, and hasn't yet been included in the forefront of the UI.
Hopefully this is something we can expect in later versions.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Android - IPhone - Facebook - Motorola
'Facebook Stories' launches to prove site is not just for stalking, advertising, and Farmville

Posted: July 21st, 2010, 11:28am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, to celebrate the 500 million user milestone, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Facebook Stories, a new application dedicated to all the stories of people using Facebook in unique and inspirational ways.
These stories are arranged either by geographic location (as shown on a Bing Map) or by theme. The themes include: Crime Fighting, Movements, Causes, Grief, Rescues, Small Business, Support Groups, and many more.
"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected. Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring. I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago," Zuckerberg said today.
There is really no criteria for submissions, and for Facebook users to submit a story, there's a simple blank field on the new site marked "Your Facebook Story" with a dropdown menu for themes.
There are a significant number of outwardly serious stories on the site already, but naturally, the lax nature of story submission has already been exploited by users for comedic purposes.
One user submitted: "I'm from West Philadelphia, where things are somewhat rough. One day, after school, I was just hanging out with some friends and playing some basketball on the playground. But then, on this particular day, some guys decided to cause some trouble in the neighborhood. We had a skirmish, and it frightened my mother. She informed me that I was moving in with my aunt and uncle in Bel Air, California."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook Stories - Social network - West Philadelphia
Most Android devices are running Eclair, but FroYo is approaching fast

Posted: July 21st, 2010, 10:51am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The fact that there are two main Android development tracks often gets lost in the shuffle.
Google's retirement of the Nexus One reminded consumers that, hey, that's the only Android phone out there right now running FroYo (Android 2.2,) and cutting its availability is stifling the bleeding edge of Android technology, isn't it?
Not really.
Most manufacturers build their own versions of Android from the open source code, which Google releases after it is done with its development. Android with MotoBLUR, Sense, TouchWIZ, or any other user interface enhancements are built from the open source code. So when you get an Android device that does not have the standard "with Google" interface, your over-the-air update comes at the discretion of both the OEM and the network operator.
FroYo was completed in May, released as an OTA update to the Nexus One in early June, and open sourced a little over a week later. In the UK, the Nexus One's 2.2 update reportedly only began arriving today.
Current reports are saying that Motorola's "Droid 2" will be the first new device to ship with Android 2.2, but these reports amount to little more than rumor, and neither Verizon nor Motorola have commented on the images purported to be taken from a Verizon Wireless stock database.
Motorola's flagship Android device, the Droid X, launched in the U.S. just six days ago with a version of MotoBLUR built on Android 2.1.
According to Google's latest statistics, 55% of all Android devices accessing the Android Market are running 2.1, and only 3.3% are running 2.2.
But after the newest version of Android gets open sourced, and different OEMs release their own versions, the numbers get a bit more diluted. We saw this happen in the months between December 2009 and May 2010, when the distribution went from being totally dominated by Android 1.6, to an even three-way split between versions 1.5, 1.6, and 2.1.
We are certain to see this trend repeat when manufacturers release their 2.2 updates throughout the Summer.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Nexus One - Android - Motorola - Verizon Wireless
ISP Launches in Sweden, aims to create safe haven for pirates

Posted: July 20th, 2010, 3:27pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Sweden's copyright and telecommunications reform party, officially known as the Pirate Party, has been involved with a lot of drama in the last year, mostly surrounding its involvement with The Pirate Bay torrent tracking site and its related legal fallout.
Now, the Pirate Party is getting behind a startup ISP called, appropriately, PirateISP, which provides broadband Internet connections that are regulated according to the party's politics: private, secure connections where no logs are retained, and no user data is available to the Swedish Government.
The ISP's first beta tests reportedly began yesterday in 100 rental properties owned by development group LKF in the city of Lund. The ISP offers 10 Megabit, 100 Megabit or 1 Gigabit duplexed connections for prices between 243.75 SEK and 525 SEK per month (approximately $33-$70.)
The group is also looking to start delivering Internet service in Helsingborg as a part of the Open City Network there. PirateISP is accepting submissions to beta test their network as it grows, users can sign">[pirateisp.net] up here. Or if you feel like sticking to Pirate Party philosophy, you can send them a PGP encrypted email at beta@pirateisp.net with their public PGP key, found">[pirateisp.net] here.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Pirates - Pirate Bay - Internet service provider - Sweden - Lund
Microsoft releases beta of latest free anti-malware service Security Essentials

Posted: July 20th, 2010, 11:00am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Microsoft has released the next version of Microsoft Security Essentials in beta. The free anti-malware service was first debuted in 2009 after Microsoft discontinued Windows Live OneCare.
The beta, available on Microsoft Connect today, includes a number of new features: a new protection engine and network inspection system, integration with Windows Firewall, and integration with Internet Explorer for web-based malware protection.
This is a limited beta, available in English in the US and Israel, and is available to genuine Windows users on a first-come first-serve basis until it reaches the maximum number of participants. To download the beta, visit Microsoft Connect, and fill out the beta registration info.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft - Windows Live OneCare - Malware - Internet Explorer
The entertainment Industry debuts yet another DRM scheme: Ultraviolet

Posted: July 20th, 2010, 10:39am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) announced a new consumer-facing brand for the DRM system it has been working on for more than two years: UltraViolet.
DECE has more than 60 members, and includes most of the biggest names in content distribution and consumer electronics: Best Buy, Fox, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers, Panasonic, Paramount Pictures, Dolby Labs, and Comcast, to name just a few.
The group has been attempting to devise a system for video encryption that would let users share their content between devices without sacrificing the DRM. The solution the group came up with involved a cloud-based "Digital Rights Locker" that authenticates a user's privileges to watch a certain video. This would mean that various file formats and devices would be compatible with the DRM, since the system's functionality isn't contingent upon protecting the files themselves.
"The introduction of the UltraViolet brand is another important step towards the consumer launch of UltraViolet products and services," Mitch Singer, DECE president and CTO of Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a prepared remark today. "Our goal is to firmly establish UltraViolet as the symbol for digital entertainment -- one that gives consumers the freedom of access wherever they are, the confidence of knowing how it will work and the broadest choice of content, stores and devices."
Users will have to create UltraViolet accounts, where they access and manage all of their content. Licensing deals have not yet been announced, since the UltraViolet tech specs have not yet been released. They are expected this year, DECE said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem - Sony Pictures Entertainment - Ultraviolet - Comcast - Warner Bros
Huge: Hybrid satellite-LTE network launches under name Lightsquared

Posted: July 20th, 2010, 8:33am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Following yesterday's announcement that Nokia-Siemens would be acquiring Motorola's wireless infrastructure business for $1.2 billion, Nokia Siemens turns around and announces a $7 billion agreement to deploy, install, operate and maintain the U.S.' first wholesale LTE network from the newly formed company LightSquared.
LightSquared is the name of the multi-billion dollar network Harbinger Capital partners has been planning to build as an alternative for network operators who cannot afford to build an LTE network of their own, like T-Mobile USA. The company will build the network, and then lease it to operators. It will not directly offer services to consumers.
Harbinger recently got clearance from the FCC to use its Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) wireless spectrum as a part of the company's terrestrial mobile broadband network. Most of these licenses came from the group's acquisition of SkyTerra Communications, a satellite communications service.
Because of this licensing structure, Lightsquared will be able to integrate satellite coverage into the terrestrial network, and will let resellers offer terrestrial-only, satellite-only, or integrated satellite-terrestrial services to their customers.
"I was pleased to learn of the formation of LightSquared today," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said this morning. "This new nationwide 4G wireless broadband network represents more than $7 billion of new investment, with the potential to create more than 100,000 new private-sector jobs within five years. Today's announcement shows that FCC policies are helping grow the U.S. economy by catalyzing investment and job creation." Building the LightSquared network is going to be a colossal task. Nokia Siemens Networks CEO Rajeev Suri today said it will be the largest outsourced deployment of a wireless network in U.S. history, and it will consist of approximately 40,000 base stations and cover 92 percent of the U.S. population by 2015.
"LightSquared will be a disruptive force in the U.S. wireless landscape by democratizing wireless broadband services," said Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared's recently-named CEO. "We're not only delivering exciting opportunities for manufacturers and retailers, but also real change for consumers, dealers, and service providers. We're providing everyone, including underserved communities, with a fast, reliable experience regardless of where they are located in the United States. This network will return our country to its rightful position as a leader in wireless broadband technology and solidify its reputation as the center of global innovation."
What is LightSquared from LightSquared on Vimeo.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

United States - Sanjiv Ahuja - Nokia Siemens Networks - Harbinger Capital - Lightsquared
Marvell simplifies Plug Computing for developers with new installation tool

Posted: July 19th, 2010, 7:14pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

As powerful chips are being made physically smaller, cheaper, and significantly less energy consumptive than previous generations, they can be used in places where computers hadn't gone before. More tasks can be automated and measured, more systems can be networked together, and machines can generally get a lot "smarter."
This is perhaps the main idea behind Marvell's plug computing initiative, where an entire system as powerful as a netbook can be built into a housing only marginally larger than a "wall wart" style power adaptor.
Today, the company announced the availability of the open source Easy Plug Computer Installer (EPI), which Marvell says will simplify plug computing software deployment. EPI is the first ever wizard-based installation tool for Marvell's Plug Computer, and it is available for download here.
EPI is compatible with Fedora 11 (32/64bit), Ubuntu 9.04 (32bit), Windows XP SP2/3, and OSX (Leopard), and lets the developer install Linux distributions, file systems, root filesystem images, or even single applications onto a plug computer.
Though Marvell says there are more than 20,000 Plug Computer developers out there, the platform is still looking for the next great mind to think of a new way to use it.
"Marvell wants to encourage more developers to explore Plug Computing and the high performance, eco-friendly open source computing platform," said Viren Shah, Marvell's Senior Director of Marketing for Embedded SoCs. "There's a broad array of Plug Computing application ideas waiting to be discovered. EPI further enables the software and hardware community to easily integrate their solutions and reap the always-on benefits of the Plug Computer."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

opensource - Linux - Operating system - Marvell Plug Computers - Linux distribution
Amid e-book price war, Kindle books skyrocket, outsell hardcover

Posted: July 19th, 2010, 4:01pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In the midst of a Summertime e-reader price war, initiated by Borders, matched by Barnes and Noble, and escalated by Amazon, e-books are flying off of their virtual shelves.
Today, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced second quarter Kindle sales are fully accelerated, with each month outselling the last. But since cutting the price in June, sales have massively spiked.
"We've reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle--the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189," said Bezos. "In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books--astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."
Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books it has sold. This is not quite a two-to-one ratio, but it's very close, amounting to roughly 1.7 : 1. This includes versions of books where there isn't even a Kindle version, and excludes free Kindle titles. If Amazon stacked the numbers differently, the ratio could be even greater.
So what are people reading on their Kindles? Amazon today said Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts have each sold more than 500,000 Kindle books, and James Patterson is leading the pack with 867,881.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Amazon.com - E-book - Stephenie Meyer - Stieg Larsson - James Patterson
Microsoft ships Windows Phone 7 devices to developers

Posted: July 19th, 2010, 12:02pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft has finished the Technical Preview of Windows Phone 7, the absolute earliest build of the new mobile operating system that is ready for field testing, and is shipping it out on prototype devices from Asus, LG, and Samsung, the company reported today.
As Microsoft noted last week when it released the updated Windows Phone Developer Toolkit, devices with a pseudo-beta version of Windows Phone 7 have begun shipping to developers, carriers, and partners. The new mobile operating system is still quite a few months away from being ready for release, and there isn't yet a version for consumers to check out, but this marks the "home stretch" for platform development. The company expects the first Windows Phone 7 devices to be released in time for the holiday shopping season this year.
Microsoft has effectively abandoned the legacy Windows Mobile interface in favor of one styled after the Zune, and the first user reviews of this early build have been remarkably favorable.
But the true focus of today's announcement is, again, the development community, whose support is integral to the success of Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone Engineering Corporate Vice President Terry Myerson said yesterday that more than 1,000 Microsoft employees have been using WP7 as their primary phone for several months, and tests have been run on more than 10,000 different devices in Microsoft's labs, but it will take a lot of feedback from developers and users in the real world to get Windows Phone 7 running for real.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Operating system - Windows Phone 7 - Zune - LG Group
To improve foothold in U.S. and Japan, Nokia Siemens buys Motorola's wireless business

Posted: July 19th, 2010, 8:30am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

European telecommunications giant Nokia-Siemens announced today that it will acquire the majority of Motorola Inc's wireless network infrastructure business for $1.2 billion.
Nokia Siemens announced this morning that it will acquire Motorola's GSM and CDMA infrastructure business, while Motorola will keep its iDEN business, potentially all of its intellectual property related to the wireless network infrastructure business, and "other selected assets."
Motorola's wireless infrastructure products include Base Stations for CDMA 1X and EV-DO Rev A, a significant portfolio of GSM equipment, such as Transciever Stations, Base Station Controllers, and radio access network Controllers; UMTS HSPA radio network controllers and "Node B" solutions (similar to base transciever stations.)
One of the most promising aspects of Motorola's infrastructure business, however, is in 4G networking. Not only was Motorola a major supplier in U.S. WiMAX network, but it has 41 contracts in 21 other countries as well. In addition, Motorola has also been the largest contributer to the development of LTE's radio network standards.
Nokia Siemens Networks expects to gain new relationships with more than 50 worldwide network operators as a result of this acquisition and says it will strengthen its position with China Mobile, Clearwire, KDDI, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.
Motorola began discussing a spin-off of its consumer handset business in 2008, but the company has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to its total support for Google's Android mobile operating system, and the planned spinoff was pushed back until after 2011. The $1.2 billion Motorola expects from the deal could be split between Motorola's two businesses: solutions and mobility, but Motorola will not specify exactly where the capital will go until the end of the year.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Motorola - Nokia Siemens Network - GSM - Integrated Digital Enhanced Network - WiMAX
Google's retirement of Nexus One marks adulthood of the 'Superphone' generation

Posted: July 16th, 2010, 9:39pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Google sealed the fate of its former flagship Android device, the HTC Nexus One, by announcing that the smartphone will no longer be available online from the search company's own site.
This announcement finalizes Google's plan to shut down its Web-based smartphone store after it failed to live up to expectations. Customer support will still be available in the U.S., and the device will continue to be available to Android developers. Additionally, the Nexus One will be sold through carrier partners in Europe, Asia, "and possibly others based on local market conditions."
Though this formally ends Google's attempt at directly selling Android smartphones to consumers; it also marks the device's sixth month for sale, and a pivotal point in the Android timeline.
Innovations in mobile phones have been happening so rapidly, that a new smartphone remains on the cutting edge for about one year before it is replaced by something newer and better. In the case of Android devices, it sometimes happens in even less time.
The Nexus One was technically the first Android "Superphone," since Google introduced the term when it launched the device in January.
But it proved to be more than just catchphrase marketing. Since that time, Superphone has become a genuine category in mobile devices as more phones with features similar to the Nexus One have entered the market.
Superphones have 1GHz or faster processors, multitouch-capable touchscreens 3.5" and up, and high megapixel cameras. It's a form factor that evolved alongside the Android operating system.
Most of the first generation Android devices (running versions 1.0-1.6) had 528MHz processors, smaller, single-touch screens, and cameras supporting around 3-5 Megapixels.
With the Nexus One, Google introduced Android 2.1, and the next class of Android devices. It was something akin to the Super Nintendo to the original Nintendo Entertainment System. There was a clear difference between the two.
Now that superphones have been on the market for six months, and Android has reached release 2.2, the major Android players --HTC, Motorola, and Samsung-- have each contributed at least one superphone to the market, and are already looking forward to the next generation.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Nexus One - Nintendo Entertainment System - Motorola - Technical support
Apple admits iPhone 4 drops more calls than predecessors, gives out free 'bumpers'

Posted: July 16th, 2010, 12:27pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In a short-notice press conference today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs addressed the iPhone 4 reception issues that have been at the top of tech news for several weeks.
In short, users complained of a significant drop in wireless signal when they touched a certain area of the iPhone 4 chassis with as little as the tip of the finger. Videos were posted, opinions were aired, and in short, the typical furor around Apple products was whipped up in practically no time at all. But this time it was very negative.
The commotion reached its peak earlier this week when Consumer Reports gave the device a glowing review, but said it could not recommend it to buyers because of this antenna issue.
In his presentation about the antenna problems today, Jobs said it is an issue that all mobile devices experience, and showed a video of signal droppage on a Samsung Omnia II, an HTC Droid Eris, and a BlackBerry Bold 9700.
"This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect. It's a challenge for the whole industry, Every phone has weak spots," Jobs said.
However, he followed by saying the iPhone 4 actually does drop more calls than the previous generation iPhone 3GS, which amount to somewhere in the neighborhood of less than one call per hundred.
Even though Jobs repeatedly said the issue has been "so blown out of proportion," and that he doesn't feel the need to apologize to investors over it, Jobs said Apple will begin giving out free "bumpers" to all iPhone 4 owners who purchased the device between its launch and September 30, and customers who already have one will get a refund on it. The bumper is believed to fix the signal strength issues because the material does not attenuate the wireless signal when touched.
Jobs admitted the company was aware that signal loss happened when the phone was held a certain way, but vehemently denied claims that it knowingly shipped a product with a flawed design, a conclusion that many drew because the prototype iPhone 4 that was revealed on Gizmodo was in the same bumper-style case.
"I'm not saying we didn't make a mistake," Jobs said in the Q&A following the presentation. "We didn't know that it would have these issues, we didn't know we were putting a 'bull's eye' on the phone... but this has been so overblown."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

IPhone - Apple - Steve Jobs - iPhone 4 - BlackBerry Bold
Dell submits $100 million settlement proposal to SEC on fraud charges

Posted: July 16th, 2010, 10:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Computer company Dell today issued a statement announcing that it has proposed settlements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission "on terms consistent with the settlement framework described in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2010." The company has been under investigation by the SEC for nearly five years for suspicion of negligence, fraud, and misconduct in the company's deals with Intel Corporation.
Dell's 10-Q document (.pdf here) was filed in late June. It says:
"This settlement would involve a civil injunctive action against the company for alleged violations of certain federal securities laws, including the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, relating to certain accounting and financial reporting matters. The settlement would also include non-scienter (negligence) based fraud charges, as well as other non-fraud based charges, relating to the company's disclosures and alleged omissions prior to fiscal 2008 regarding certain aspects of its commercial relationship with Intel Corp. Dell has recorded a liability as of April 30, 2010 for a potential settlement of $100 million covering these matters...With respect to Mr. Dell, the remedies under such a settlement would include injunctive and monetary relief, but would not include any bar against his service as an officer and director of a public company."
Dell did not say when the settlement might happen, and could not commit to any financial terms and conditions of the settlement. These issues must first be approved by the SEC and then a U.S. District Court.
The SEC probe forced Dell to fix its books, and in 2007 the company admitted its accounting practices back to 2003 were incorrect. Two months after the admission, Dell announced that it had found it was worth some $92 million dollars less than it had originally reported.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Intel Corporation - Dell - Business - Fiscal year
New beta file sharing client Gygan looks to take on RapidShare by allowing unlimited upload size

Posted: July 15th, 2010, 4:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

There is no shortage of file sharing services out there, and most offer a free tier that lets users upload and download very limited quantities of data, followed by a couple of subscription tiers for users interested in sharing more data. Typically, the first level of these subscription services runs $10 per month and charges work their way up from there.
Gygan, a new file sharing service recently launched in public beta, is challenging services like RapidShare, Megaupload, Dropbox, and YouSendIt by offering fewer limitations on sharing and hosting, and a cheaper point of entry to their subscription tiers.
Users download the Gygan desktop client, set up an account, and can begin uploading the content they wish to share. Through a very simple interface, users drag the content they want to share to their Gygan account, and when the files have finished uploading, they can then share the content as a URL.
All file types and sizes are supported, uploading is free, transfer speeds are unlimited (unlike services such as rapidshare or megaupload) your storage per account is unlimited.
If, for example, you're a film student, and you have to share a massive video project file with people you collaborate with, you can just email your partners a link to your Gygan account. Any files you upload can be made publicly searchable or private.
"A lot of file sharing services on the market have peak times and incent their users to upload and download during the off-times," Vitaly Petritchkovitch, CEO of Gygan said in a statement today. "That's the simplistic beauty of Gygan -- you don't have to wait for peak times to be over. Tens of thousands of users can all access the network simultaneously, at any time, with no slow-downs."
The service is really monetized by downloading. With any account you can upload as much as you want with files of any size, but if you have a free trial account, you are limited to 4GB of downloading per month. 15GB worth of downloads costs $4.95 per month, 40GB of downloads costs $9.95 per month, and 200GB of downloads costs $24.95 per month.
Other services limit usage quite differently. Megaupload, for example has a free tier with 500MB max upload size per file, and a 45 second wait per download, rife with advertisements. The "members" tier bumps up to a 2GB max upload size, with a 25 second wait, and a bit less advertisement. "Premium" is $9.99 per month for "unlimited storage, speed, bandwidth."
Rapidshare's free accounts have a 200MB per file upload cap, and users can have a maximum of 10,000 files. YouSendIt limits their free users to 100MB files, and their $9.99 per month tier can support files up to 2GB in size. Dropbox limits free accounts to 2GB of space in total, 50GB of space for the $9.99 monthly subscription, and 100GB for $19.99 per month subscription.
The Gygan desktop filesharing client can be downloaded here.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Dropbox - Filesharing - Uploading and downloading - RapidShare - Betanews

New software beta lets Windows PCs use iPad as wireless monitor

Posted: July 15th, 2010, 12:13pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Download MaxiVista iPad for Windows from Fileforum now!

MaxiVista turns the iPad into a wireless Windows PC screen extender Windows users can now use the Apple iPad as a wireless display extension with a software package released in beta today called MaxiVista from German software company Bartels Media.

MaxiVista's multi-monitor software lets users extend their desktop across other PCs and Notebooks, and utilizes a special data compression so the CPU and network load stay low. While the frame rate isn't exactly good enough to handle video playback or gaming, it is useful for non-graphically intensive applications, and it doesn't require any unique hardware.

"The new graphic card standard, WDDM, that was introduced with Windows Vista prohibited the use of multiple graphic cards from different manufacturers on one computer. MaxiVista is the first application of its kind to overcome these limitations and functions with Windows XP as well as with Windows Vista and Windows 7," General Manager Gunnar Bartels told us this morning.

For MaxiVista to function, users must download a $9.99 iPad application. The Windows part of the software is free, and video drivers are compatible with both 32 and 64 Bit operating systems. Interestingly, there is not a version yet compatible with OS X, but it is reportedly on the way.

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Windows Vista - Windows XP - Window 7 - Operating system - Microsoft Windows

Ford Sync voice recognition explodes to more than 10,000 commands

Posted: July 15th, 2010, 11:40am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Ford announced that its Sync in-car command, navigation, and entertainment system has improved its voice recognition interface by increasing the vocabulary by more than 100x, allowing system commands to be much simpler and more direct.

The Sync system was developed through Ford's partnership with Microsoft, and launched in 2007 on twelve 2008 Ford vehicles. At first, the system was very limited in what it could do, and included the ability to operate USB media players hands-free, connect to mobile phones via bluetooth, and export diagnostic data. The voice interface launched with around 100 commands, which reflected more or less the menu structure of the system.

With the new voice command system available in the next generation of Sync called MyFord Touch, users will be able to speak commands in various ways and not have to simply navigate menus by voice.

For example, users would have to first say what device they were going to access before they could perform an action. If they wanted to call someone, they first had to say "Phone," or if they wanted to switch the song that was playing on their iPod or Zune, they'd have to first say "USB." With the new system, users can just say "Call (name)," for example, and the connected phone will start the calling process.

"As we've gained processing power and learned more about how drivers use the system, we've been able to refine the interface. Customers can do more and say more from the top-level menu, helping them accomplish their tasks more quickly and efficiently," said Brigitte Richardson, Ford global voice control technology and speech systems lead engineer.

The speech recognition engine, designed by Nuance Communications, can recognize different voices and create user profiles for them within three commands. This means multiple users can easily use the hands-free system without having to "train" it, as other systems currently require.

The new voice recognition system, and MyFord Touch, is launching this year on the 2011 Ford Edge.

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Ford Sync - Speech recognition - Microsoft - Nuance Communications - Speech Technology

Verizon and Motorola's most powerful Android device, Droid X, goes on sale

Posted: July 15th, 2010, 10:04am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Droid X by Motorola Today, Motorola's latest Android superphone, the Droid X, is available for purchase through Verizon Wireless for $199 after the $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year service contract.

Billed as the sequel to Motorola's breakthrough Droid smartphone, the Droid X has a much larger 4.3" screen, a 1GHz TI OMAP 3640 processor, 512MB of DRAM, and 8GB of onboard memory with support for microSDHC up to 32 GB.

As an adjunct, SanDisk has joined in on the launch to promote the 32GB microSD cards it announced last March by selling them for only $99 when the customer purchases a new Droid X. This is a full 50% lower than the memory company's original suggested retail price. When the cards are purchased on their own at a Verizon store, they cost $149.99, still lower than the MSRP.

The Droid X is part of the latest crop of convergence-class superphones which are characterized by touchscreens near the 5" mark, 1GHz processors, and the absolute latest versions of the popular smartphone operating systems. Unlike its competitors, the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint, and the iPhone 4 on AT&T, the Droid X lacks a front-facing camera for video calling. This is not exactly a standard feature on the current generation of superphones, but it is increasingly becoming a hallmark of high performance devices.

For now at least, the Droid X is the most powerful phone both Verizon Wireless and Motorola have to offer, and though there hasn't been a great media frenzy over consumer demand for the device, there were reports last night of lines of more than 100 people waiting to purchase the Droid X as soon as it became available this morning.

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Smartphone - Droid - Android - Motorola - Verizon

Hulu Plus preview launches on PlayStation 3, service to be exclusive until 2011

Posted: July 14th, 2010, 10:39pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, a select group of PlayStation Plus subscribers got access to the first preview version of Hulu Plus on the PlayStation 3.

Hulu Plus

Hulu Plus is the new subscription tier for the popular streaming TV website which lets U.S. subscribers watch their favorite programs on connected TVs, Set-top boxes, mobile devices, and now video game consoles for $9.99 per month.

"We are delighted to offer the Hulu Plus preview starting today on PlayStation 3 and that PlayStation 3 will be the only console to offer Hulu Plus in 2010," Jack Tretton, President and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America said today.

Hulu Plus on PS3 preview menu

For PlayStation 3 owners to gain access to Hulu Plus, they must also subscribe to the new PlayStation Plus service, which costs $50 per year.

Sony today said general availability of Hulu Plus will happen in the coming months on the PS3 and connected Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players, but did not specify if there will be a premium charge similar to the PlayStation Plus subscription for its other platforms.

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PlayStation 3 - PlaystationPlus - HuluPlus - Jack Tretton - Video game

RIAA's return on $58 million in lawyer fees? Two Percent

Posted: July 14th, 2010, 12:59pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

According to tax documents submitted for the years 2006 through 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recovered only a tiny fraction of its total legal expenses through "Anti-Piracy Restitution."
The documents, hosted here, here and here by p2pnet and highlighted by New York attorney Ray Beckerman, show the RIAA's top five most highly compensated independent contractors for these three years. This included the law firms Holme, Roberts, and Owen, LLP, Jenner & Block, and Cravath, Swaine and Moore, who received a total of $17,614,901 in 2008 alone.
These firms are often at the helm of the RIAA's piracy cases. The RIAA's counsel in Capitol Records et al v. Jammie Thomas, for example, included attorneys from Holme, Roberts and Owen; and Jenner & Block famously helped the organization win the case to get P2P service Grokster shut down in 2005.
While the documents do not provide any information about non-monetary legal victories such as injunctions, site closures, and licensing agreements that this $17 million could have earned, in terms of strict dollar-for-dollar recovery, the organization claims to have earned only $391,000 in so-called anti-piracy restitution.
The 2007 document shows that $21,223,792 was spent on legal fees (nearly twice as much as it spent on the salaries and wages of its own employees,) and $515,929 was recovered. In 2006, it was the same story; $19,419,701 in legal fees, which translated to $455,643 in anti-piracy retribution.
Ultimately, the legal fees for these three years totaled $58,258,394 and the recoveries totaled $1,362,572.
In other words, for the millions the RIAA spent on litigation ostensibly related to piracy, it has only recovered 2.3% of it.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Recording Industry Association of America - Law - Ray Beckerman - Jenner & Block - Lawyer
Bing enjoys largest growth of search services, research says

Posted: July 14th, 2010, 10:41am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Market research firm comScore released its U.S. search rankings for June 2010, and though the search business is still soundly dominated by Google, both Microsoft and Yahoo increased their market share where Google actually lost some ground.
According to comScore, Google's market share for June was 62.6 percent, down from May's 63.7 percent. Microsoft and Yahoo each increased their search shares from 12.1 to 12.7 percent and 18.3 to 18.9 percent.
The number of searches conducted across all search engines was up 3 percent from May, the data said. Google experienced a 1 percent increase in volume while Yahoo increased by 7 percent and Microsoft increased 8 percent, the largest traffic growth of any of the search services measured by comScore.
Exactly one year ago, comScore's numbers suggested that Microsoft had not experienced a significant benefit from rebranding its search as Bing after being known as Windows Live for more than three years.
However, Microsoft has strongly pushed its "decision engine" since its launch last year and has seen repeated periods of growth. Six months after launching Bing, Microsoft began to advance the search service on mobile platforms as well with the launch of its fully-featured iPhone app. A similar app is expected to launch on Samsung's line of Galaxy S Android phones in the coming weeks, and Microsoft will then have a spot in front of the fastest growing mobile audience on devices from the most prolific smartphone maker.
In 2008, Steve Ballmer said turning around Microsoft's search business was "a five-year task," and that there could be a 5 to 10 percent loss in total operating income as a result.
Even with a strong focus on brand recognition, mobile presence, and quality search results, Microsoft is not likely to upset market leader Google. But comScore shows progress is absolutely being made.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Microsoft - Bing - Yahoo - Web search engine
Maybe software can make American kids less fat, USDA opens voting on candidates

Posted: July 14th, 2010, 9:41am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In March, First Lady Michelle Obama's "Lets Move" initiative for childhood health and fitness launched a contest called "Apps for Healthy Kids," offering $60,000 in prizes for software that encourages children to choose healthier foods and more active lifestyles. Today, the US Department of Agriculture has announced 95 finalists in the contest, which the public can test, and then vote on.
The applications are not limited to any single platform, and range from standalone Windows applications, to iPhone apps, to games within Linden Labs' Second Life. The styles, likewise, differ greatly from app to app. There are tools to aid in meal planning, games to teach about the food pyramid or caloric intake, and applications for building exercise routines.
Public voting opens today and continues until August 14, and the top picks will be reviewed by a panel of judges which includes U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, President and CEO of the ESA, Mike Gallagher, and Co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak. The grand prize winners in two categories --tools and games-- will each win $10,000. The most popular runners up will be awarded a $4,500 prize at the White House in September.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Apple - Steve Wozniak - Betanews - United States
Intel declares 'best quarter ever,' after 34% annual jump in revenue

Posted: July 13th, 2010, 2:39pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Chipmaker Intel Corp. has posted its earnings for the second quarter of 2010, and with revenue of $10.8 billion and a net income of $2.9 billion, declared it to have been the company's best quarter ever.
Strong demand from corporate customers for our most advanced microprocessors helped Intel achieve the best quarter in the company's 42-year history," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Our process technology lead plus compelling architectural designs increasingly differentiate Intel-based products in the marketplace. The PC and server segments are healthy and the demand for leading-edge technology will continue to increase for the foreseeable future."
Intel's Atom line of low-profile, low power chipsets was up 16% over last quarter, reaching revenue of $413 million, and with a slightly higher average selling price for processors, the company had record high revenues in both its mobile processor and server microprocessor categories.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Paul Otellini - Intel Corporation - Net income - Corporation - Personal computer
Comcast/NBC Universal merger talks extended another 4.5 months

Posted: July 13th, 2010, 12:00pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The move to form a joint venture between cable company Comcast and content network NBC Universal has been extended by 135 days.
Today, William T. Lake, of the FCC Media Bureau announced that the application process, which was originally slated to take no more than 180 days, has been restarted at Day 45 after Comcast and NBCU submitted renewed responses. This means the bureau's review period will last nearly four and a half months before the merger can progress.
Late in 2009, cable company Comcast made the move to merge with NBC Universal with the intention of eventually forming a joint content company (to be called simply NBC Universal) that would run alongside Comcast's Xfinity pipeline company. The joint venture would be 51% owned by Comcast, 49% owned by General Electric, and managed by Comcast.
The company would combine NBCU's two broadcast television networks (NBC and Telemundo), its 26 local broadcast television stations, several national cable programming networks, a motion picture studio, international theme park businesses and online content businesses with Comcast's regional sports networks, other programming networks, and certain online businesses.
Of course, the merger raised concerns among both legislators and the entertainment industry. For many, it was the unsettling combination of a for-pay TV provider taking control of a company that produces content for free, over-the-air broadcasting.
"Clearly the concern here is that when a company that has the wire going into the home merges with a company that has all of NBC Universal's content, there could be a temptation to discriminate against others," said Representative Ed Markey (D -Mass.) in February.
For companies such as Netflix, the concern was similar, except for online services like Comcast's TV Everywhere. With that, Comcast would deliver streaming on-demand content anywhere, but only to Comcast subscribers, tying cable subscriptions with online content delivery.
"By bundling the traditional cable TV offering with Internet delivery of content, vertically integrated MVPDs and network operators are potentially extending and expanding their dominant market position at the expense of competitive online offerings," Netflix wrote in comments to the FCC.
For seven months, the deal has been going through the process of getting regulatory approval, and in May, Comcast, GE, and NBC Universal filed applications to assign and transfer control of broadcast, satellite earth station, wireless and other licenses to the NBC Universal joint venture.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

NBC Universal - Comcast - Cable television - NBC - Television
Microsoft announces Windows Phone Live, integration with Zune

Posted: July 13th, 2010, 9:05am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

There is more Windows Phone news coming from Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today, and this time, instead of focusing on developers, it is focused on the consumer experience. Microsoft's Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Andy Lees introduced a couple of major consumer-facing enhancements to Windows Phone today that extend functionality off of the phone's various "hubs" and into other connected services.
First, there will be a new addition to the Windows Live suite of Web services dedicated strictly to Windows Phone, appropriately named Windows Live Phone. Integration with Windows Live services has always been a strong aspect of Microsoft's mobile strategy, and was executed well even with the much derided Windows Mobile 6.5.
With Windows Phone 7, the cloud-based Windows Live Phone becomes an extension of both the "People and Pictures" hub, and the "Office" hub. It is a central location for photos, calendars and contacts, and OneNote file swapping, and will include the Find My Phone service and 25GB of SkyDrive storage all for free.
Secondly, devices running Windows Phone 7 will be able to access and manage content shared in the user's home network through the Zune PC software. Music, Video, and photos will all be available through the "Music + Videos" hub on the mobile device. Similarly, the "Games" hub features Xbox Live and gamer content, letting users invite their friends to Xbox Live games directly through their phone.
Microsoft is counting down to holiday availability of Windows Phone 7, and the initial launch will likely take place in the 17 countries where Microsoft has already established the Windows Phone Marketplace: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and United States.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Windows Live Phone - Windows Phone 7 - United States - Windows Phone
Blackberry Tablet confirmed, will support Flash

Posted: July 12th, 2010, 5:05pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Rumors of a BlackBerry tablet have been circulating for months, and statements from Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar on Friday have rekindled the discussion with a little bit more accuracy.
A source close to RIM confirmed to Betanews that Kumar's statements were accurate, including the screen size, and the dual camera setup. But they gave us a bit of additional information that the rumors haven't covered yet: Flash support.
In May, when Boy Genius Report wrote about it, it was estimated to be 8.9" in size, and equipped only with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, making it a companion device to the owner's BlackBerry, sort of like what Palm attempted with the Foleo.
In June, the Wall Street Journal followed up, saying that the device will have a slide-out keyboard, and will run on "a new version of the BlackBerry operating system...[with] a universal search bar."
Some of what the Wall Street Journal report discussed can be seen in the BlackBerry 6 video that was released today.

In his note on Friday morning, Kumar said the BlackBerry tablet will actually be a 7" device with a 1GHz Marvell Processor that has two cameras for video conferencing.
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said Flash 10.1 would be coming to BlackBerry in the second half of 2010, and in June, the company released Flash Player 10.1 to its mobile platform partners; which included support for Android, webOS, Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo, Symbian, and, as expected, BlackBerry.
Our source said that the BlackBerry tablet will indeed include Flash, and will have a hardware-based Flash accelerator.
Even though the iPhone is a huge success in the United States, it is still far behind BlackBerry in market share. The shoe is on the other foot in the tablet market, though, where Apple has gotten a strong head start with the iPad, even though the company has outspokenly denied support for Adobe Flash.
While the effect a Flash-supportive BlackBerry tablet will have on the consumer market is unclear, it may prove to be a very desirable companion device for mobile enterprise users.
Unfortunately, our source did not confirm earlier reports about the tablet's December launch date. However, the holiday season is a beneficial time to launch new hardware, and seasonal buying has done wonders for devices like the Motorola Droid which launched during last year's holiday season and went on to become the best-selling Android phone to date.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Apple - iPhone - Android - Research In Motion - Motorola
Microsoft's Windows Phone Developer Tools get a major update ahead of dev phone launch

Posted: July 12th, 2010, 1:56pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At MIcrosoft's Worldwide Partner conference today, Andy Lees, Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft announced the beta of Windows Phone Developer tools has begun.
Back in March, the suite of Windows Phone development tools was launched as a Community Technology Preview (CTP) which included Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series Add-in for Visual Studio, a Windows Phone 7 Series emulator, XNA Game Studio 4.0, and a CTP release of Expression Blend 4. The CTP received an update in April, shortly after it was launched.
An important part of this beta release is the completed Application Certification Requirements list (.pdf here) which means that applications built in this beta will be mostly ready to submit to the Windows Marketplace. New tools for unlocking Windows Phones and deploying applications to unlocked devices have also been included in this beta.
"The tools will RTM later this summer, at which time final touches could be added with components announced previously such as Maps, Pivot or Panorama control," Paul Bryan wrote in the Windows Team Blog this morning.
Microsoft's mobile overhaul is finally beginning to take shape off of the Redmond campus. Over the weekend, preview Windows Phone 7 devices were given to two Las Vegas high school students, making them the very first people outside of Microsoft to have total access to Windows Phone 7.
On July 19th, these developer devices will begin shipping out.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

MIcrosoft - Windows Phone 7 Series - Windows Phone - Microsoft Visual Studio - Windows Phone 7
Fring calls Skype 'cowards,' Skype says Fring is damaging brand and reputation

Posted: July 12th, 2010, 1:17pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Popular Social/Messaging/VoIP application Fring made serious waves last week when it launched a new version that supported two-way video calling over 3G for the iPhone 4. Apple's FaceTime iPhone 4 video chat, by comparison, only works while the device is connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Very shortly after launching, however, support for the face-2-face video chat was halted. Fring said the feature's unavailability was the result of a blockage by Skype.
"Now that Fring expanded capacity to support the huge demand for video calling for all users, Skype has blocked us from doing so," the service's blog said this morning. "They are afraid of open mobile communication. Cowards."
To this, Skype's Robert Miller responded, "This is untrue. Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn't designed to be used -- and in a way which is in breach of Skype's API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We've been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably. However, over time, Fring's misuse of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers. On Friday, for example, Fring withdrew support for video calls over Skype on iOS 4 without warning, again damaging our brand and disappointing our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience."
There is no official Skype video client for any mobile platform except Maemo, but the company reportedly has plans to branch out onto other platforms. Earlier this year, Skype's public relations team made a statement that there will be "a direct to consumer app to the Android marketplace later this year. This application will be available for all consumers globally to download regardless of carriers."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

IPhone - Apple - Skype - fring - Skype's API Terms of Use
Google provides a look at Android's highly customized future with App Inventor

Posted: July 12th, 2010, 10:04am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

For anyone with an Android phone and a great idea for an app but no experience with writing code, Google has announced the ultimate solution.
Today, Google began the beta phase of App Inventor, a graphical tool in Google Labs for designing custom Android applications. Users of the tool do not need to know anything about programming to be able to create an app, package it, and upload it to their USB-connected Android phone.
Like the webOS graphical development tool Ares which launched last April, Google's App Inventor lets users drag and drop graphics, sound, and actions into a virtual smartphone, compile and then export the finished product to their mobile device. Because it is intended for educational and personal use, no developer programs, SDKs or NDKs are necessary.
The part of App Inventor where the app is designed is based on the Open Blocks Java Library developed by Eric Klopfer and Daniel Wendel of the Scheller Program at MIT three years ago (their method borrowed heavily from the StarLogo TNG block programming system.)
App Inventor's compiler uses the Kawa Language Framework, itself an implementation of Scheme, which is in the Lisp family of programming languages. But because the tool works on such a simple level, users will not even need to know any of this information.
Once released, this tool will open up a level of customizability heretofore unseen in Android. With no special skills required, users can already alter the look of their Android device, install custom ROMs, and pick and choose which apps they have.
But they have never been able to simply make an application to suit a specific need like an Android developer can. With this tool, the openness of Android will be much more tangible to the average user.
Sign up for the open beta of App Inventor here. App inventor will work both on Windows and Mac OS machines.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google Labs - Google - AppInventor - Mac OS - Computer programming
After five years, 64-bit editions of Windows make up nearly half of install base

Posted: July 9th, 2010, 1:17pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

64-bit editions of Windows have been available to OEMs and consumers for five years, and they have finally begun to exhibit command over the PC market, Microsoft reported today.
By June 2010, 46% of all PCs running Windows 7 were running the 64-bit edition. Three and a half years after Windows Vista launched, only 11% of users have installed the 64-bit version, considerably fewer than Microsoft claimed in 2008 when product manager Chris Flores told us "20% of new Windows Vista PCs in the U.S. connecting to the Windows Update were 64-bit..."
Irrespective of Vista's performance, Microsoft evangelist Chris LeBlanc says there are certain factors contributing to the growth of 64-bit editions right now.
First, the cost of memory has dropped significantly in the last five years, a majority of processors are 64-bit enabled, and more compatible hardware and software is available today. Secondly, companies such as Intel are upgrading their internal systems to the 64-bit architecture.
Gartner predicted last year that as much as 75% of all enterprise PCs will be running 64-bit editions of Windows by 2014.
"On the surface, it would appear that the most obvious time to perform a move from 32-bit to 64-bit would be during an operating system migration (such as from Windows XP to Windows 7). Many companies feel that, if they don't make the move now, they may have to wait until Windows 8 or potentially Windows 9 before another opportunity arises," Gartner's research said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Windows Vista - Microsoft - Operating system - Microsoft Windows - Windows XP
Ericsson: 70% of the entire world subscribes to a mobile service

Posted: July 9th, 2010, 11:09am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson is responsible for all kinds of wireless equipment, from cell site infrastructure to consumer premises equipment to mobile broadband chips. So when they talk about the industry, it would behoove you to pay attention.
Today, Ericsson announced its estimate that the global mobile market contains over five billion subscribers, growing at a rate of 2 million per day.
This is an extremely significant estimation, because according to estimates by the United Nations and the U.S. census bureau, the entire human population of the earth is only about 6.8 billion.
If the market grew by 2 million additions per day and the population remained static, the entire world would become mobile subscribers in just 2 and a half years. Ten years ago, the company says there were only 720 million subscribers.
Today's estimate comprises all wireless subscribers, and Ericsson says that more than 500 million of these are 3G subscriptions. The company says mobile broadband is growing at a similar pace to wireless as a whole, and that it expects to reach 3.4 billion by 2015.
Of course, individual subscribers are only part of the picture. Ericsson says a key component to the future growth of the mobile industry is in machine-to-machine communications in such areas as smart metering, transportation tracking, digital signage, and connected appliances and mobile broadband cameras.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Telecommunication - Ericsson - Betanews - United Nations - Mobile phone
Google is staying in China with 'unfiltered' services

Posted: July 9th, 2010, 9:17am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google's license to offer search services in China has been renewed after months of restructuring and negotiations with the Chinese government.
In 2005, Google first won a license to operate within China, but to remain available, it had to adhere to strict government oversight and censor search results. Queries related to human rights topics, or to Tibet and the Dalai Lama, for example, would redirect searchers to Government-run sites.
After initially justifying its decision to filter searches according to the government's demands, Google's services were repeatedly subjected to heavy censorship.
In March 2008, YouTube and Google News were blocked for carrying reports of protests in Tibet, and running up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, the government made well-publicized moves to crack down on "cyber dissidence."
By 2010, Google could no longer justify censorship as it had four years prior. Representatives from the search company told us "We will no longer self-censor in China," and searches from mainland China began to be redirected to Google Hong Kong, which was uncensored.
"The Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced," Google's Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said in March.
Google today issued a brief statement in its blog confirming its return to mainland China: "We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."
According to the search company, Chinese users will receive unfiltered results, but services will be limited.
"Users can conduct web search or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which we can provide locally without filtering. This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page," Google said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - China - Google.com - hongkong - Google China
Android gaming to get big boost from popular OpenFeint social platform

Posted: July 8th, 2010, 12:43pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Android's unabated growth has been a hot topic recently, and comScore's smartphone market share breakdown released today shows that from February to May 2010, it was actually the ONLY major mobile platform to experience positive growth.
Among this growth, a complaint about the Android platform has persisted: it has no good games. While this may be a bit of an overstatement, users frequently compare the Android platform with Apple's iOS in terms of functionality, features, and apps; and iOS simply has more high quality games.
However, Android's popularity despite its comparative lack of games has attracted a major player in iOS gaming: OpenFeint.
Today, OpenFeint announced "it's time to give Android some love," and the platform that lets developers add social networking features to their games will be coming soon to Google's mobile OS.
OpenFeint launched on iOS in early 2009 and reportedly attracted more than a million users in less than a month. Now, it has been integrated into over 1,800 different iPhone applications and has 28.1 million active players. Users can connect, chat, or play head to head with their friends, compete with other players on global leaderboards or track their achievements, and discover games that are popular among users.
Aurora Feint, OpenFeint's parent company has described the service as "Xbox Live meets Facebook for iPhone."
The company is working with game publishers and studios such as Hudson, Digital Chocolate, Glu, Pik Pok, DistinctDev, Rocketcat Games, Tastyplay.com, ustwo, and Astraware for a release later this summer.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Google - OpenFeint - AuroraFeint - IPhone OS
Increased mobile Web demands at the heart of new mobile YouTube

Posted: July 8th, 2010, 10:41am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Mobile Web consumption is growing at an explosive rate according to reports from both the PEW Internet and American Life Project and Morgan Stanley, and in as few as five years, our mobile devices could be our primary connection to the Web.
To address this explosion in mobile Web consumption, YouTube last night unveiled a new mobile site with all the features of the traditional YouTube.
YouTube yesterday said that traffic to m.youtube.com has grown 160% over the last year to more than 100 million video playbacks a day, so it has vastly improved its mobile site's speed, made its interface larger and more finger-friendly, and incorporated all of the features of the desktop browser version such as suggestions, favorites, and playlists.
Some reports have already claimed that this new mobile site is better than the YouTube mobile apps for Android and iOS, and YouTube said yesterday that updates will also come to the mobile site much sooner than they will to the mobile apps.
Point your mobile browser to m.youtube.com, to check it out. We've played with it extensively on both the Android and iOS platforms, but we're interested to hear your experiences on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and BREW-based platforms. Let us know!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

YouTube - Android - Windows Mobile - Betanews - Mobile Web
RIM rolls out BES 5 Service Pack 2, preps admins for new BlackBerry 6 features

Posted: July 7th, 2010, 1:41pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Research in Motion's middleware for managing BlackBerry devices in enterprise networks, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), was upgraded to service pack 2. The upgrade directly addresses the problem presented to IT when an increasing number of users are using their personal BlackBerries for corporate communications.
"People are buying smartphones for that rich personal experience, but then looking to bring that smartphone into the office to take their work with them as well," Santiago Carbonell, Handheld Software Product Manager at RIM said two weeks ago. "What we're working on is building a platform of coexistence between these two lives on one device...However, this means that in the interests of corporate security, some BlackBerry smartphone users can't add their personal email accounts, access Facebook or download third party applications."
With the upcoming BlackBerry 6 platform and BES 5.0.2, BlackBerry admins will be able to handle only the corporate information without fear of accidentally wiping personal contacts, calendar data, communications or applications from employee-owned BlackBerries.
Today's upgrade adds a handful of other noteworthy features, including Single Sign-on (SSO), an identity authentication system that keeps users on enterprise intranets from having to keep signing in when they want to access corporate files or systems. Users can also be given the ability to admin their own devices, which includes the ability to reset passwords or even remotely wipe all data if their phone is lost. Previously, this could only be done by IT admins, but now it is an option afforded to anyone in the system.
Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 are all now BES-certified platforms as well, though SQL Server isn't expected to be fully supported for another 30 days.
BES v5.0 Service Pack 2 for Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino are both available for download from RIM.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

BlackBerry - BlackBerry Enterprise Server - Microsoft SQL Server - Research In Motion - IBM Lotus Domino
Developers get a crack at first complete Symbian^3 Product Development Kit

Posted: July 7th, 2010, 10:06am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, just shy of a month after the first functionally complete version of Symbian^3 was released, the first complete Symbian^3 Product Development Kit (PDK 3.0.0) is available for download, including the full build of the platform and complete source code under the Eclipse Public License.
PDK 3.0.0 contains all of the APIs of Symbian^3, and is the first release to support a full UI ROM execution on ARMv5 platforms.
"S^3 represents a major step forward in the Symbian platform, providing a greatly improved user experience, multiple personalised homescreens, an exciting and advanced multimedia experience including HDMI support, the introduction of Next Generation Graphics, better data networking and much, much more! Symbian also commissioned a great new theme for the S^3 platform called 'Fresh' which is included for the first time in this PDK," Mark Skrebels, Release Council Chair and Senior Release Manager at Symbian said in the Symbian Blog today.
To obtain PDK 3.0.0, you must first register in the Symbian developer community here.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Symbian platform - Eclipse Public License - Betanews - Programming - Multimedia
Motorola announces Charm, the first BlackBerry-like Android device

Posted: July 7th, 2010, 8:58am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google's Android mobile operating system has been released on many different types of devices, but since it is a touch-based OS, pretty much every device has been a so-called "touchphone," a device built around its screen.
But Motorola has been thinking outside of the box with Android, and has released several models that break out of the traditional touchphone form factor. Today, it has ventured even further outside of the touchphone realm and announced a new device that looks very little like any other Android device, the Charm.
Also unlike many of the recent Android announcements, Charm is not outfitted with the biggest and most powerful equipment. The touchscreen is 2.8", the camera is 3 Megapixels, and the Android operating system is version 2.1 with MotoBLUR. Like the Backflip, however, Charm is equipped with Motorola's "backtrack" navigation system, a trackpad mounted on the back of the device, which lets the user navigate Android and MotoBLUR without actually touching the screen directly.
Motorola Charm will be launched this summer exclusively in the U.S. on T-Mobile. An exact date and price have not yet been announced.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Android - Motorola - T-Mobile - BlackBerry - Motorola Charm
CounterPath significantly updates Bria softphone for Windows, Mac

Posted: July 7th, 2010, 8:31am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Vancouver-based telecommunications software company CounterPath today announced the availability of Bria 3.1 for both Windows and Mac OS, the latest edition of the company's desktop softphone capable of voice calling, high-definition (1280x720p) video calling, and instant- or SMS-based messaging.
Today's update improves Bria's usability in enterprise settings in a number of ways. Firstly, by including support for a much broader range of infrastructure equipment from major vendors like Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, and NEC. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, support for multiple accounts has been added, and users can now select on the fly which account to use for voice, IM and HD video calling.
"With Bria 3.1, we have enhanced the user experience and broadened the applicability of our flagship softphone," said Todd Carothers, vice president of product management, CounterPath. "Bria 3.1 proves that small and medium businesses, large enterprises, government agencies and other users don't have to compromise on call quality, video quality or usability when choosing to take advantage of all of the bottom-line benefits that multimedia softphones provide."
In June, CounterPath released a Bria iPhone application that can be integrated with the company's other desktop and convergence SIP solutions, and the company said it will be developing a white-label version of the software for carriers, OEMs and enterprise customers and hinted at versions of the software client for other mobile platforms.
Users who already have Bria 3.0 installed will be automatically updated when the new version of the software becomes available. It is expected to hit retail in mid-July and will be available at counterpath.com for $49.95 per license with volume pricing options.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Mac OS - IPhone - CounterPath - Betanews - Original equipment manufacturer
Mozilla releases Beta 1 of new, visually overhauled Firefox 4 browser

Posted: July 6th, 2010, 5:07pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Download Firefox 4 Beta 1 for Windows from Fileforum now.
Mozilla's popular Firefox web browser has just been released in Beta 1, which introduces a new graphical design for Windows users, support for the HD HTML5 video tag using the WebM format, a new Add-ons manager for all of your Add-ons, Plug-ins, and Themes, improved crash protection and security fixes, and an overall performance upgrade.
Firefox 4 Beta 1 is available on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, but only the Windows version has undergone a graphical change, where the tabs are placed along the top.
So performance, security and stability upgrades are all self-explanatory, but why the design change?
"Recently modern browsers have been transitioning to placing tabs on top, and that decision isn't arbitrary, it isn't about fashion. The change to placing tabs on top isn't about one browser versus another browser, it's about the evolution of the Web as a platform," Mozilla User Experience designer Alex Faaborg recently said.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Linux - Firefox - Mozilla Firefox - Web browser - Microsoft Windows
Microsoft launches beta of free website development tool WebMatrix

Posted: July 6th, 2010, 3:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Microsoft has begun beta testing a free and lightweight development tool for the ASP.NET web application framework called WebMatrix.
WebMatrix includes all of the essential tools for building, installing, and running a website in Windows for free and in a package less than 50MB in size. These tools include IIS Developer Express for building and testing ASP.NET sites and applications, SQL Server Compact Edition 4 database engine (which works with .NET-based data APIs and ASP.NET Web apps,) and the ASP.NET programming framework.
Sites can then be built from existing open-source applications such as WordPress and Drupal or Joomla, from a site template, or purely from scratch. WebMatrix then installs everything you need on your machine, lets you tweak your code, and then deploy the site to your host.
While there is a learning curve to the software, it is intended to be used by developers of any skill level, and can serve as a stepladder up to the fully featured Visual Studio.
Click here to download Microsoft WebMatrix beta now!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - ASP.NET - .NET Framework - Programming - Microsoft Visual Studio
Netflix and Relativity Media deal will bring new movies to Instant streaming faster

Posted: July 6th, 2010, 10:35am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

This morning, Netflix announced that it has signed an agreement with Relativity Media that will bring new releases to Netflix Instant streaming at the same time as they are released to pay TV services like HBO, Showtime, and Starz.
The first new releases that will be covered in the deal between Relativity and Netflix will be Paramount Pictures' "The Fighter," and Universal Studios' "Skyline," Rogue Pictures' "Season of the Witch" and "Movie 43."
Relativity Media distributes titles from studios such as Universal and Sony, and controls the rights to 14 new movies scheduled for release this year. Currently, the company has distribution rights for 118 movies.
Through the deal between Netflix and Starz, a number of Relativity's pictures are already available for streaming, like Columbia Pictures' "Zombieland," which just arrived on both services last week.
"Our continued goal is to expand the breadth and timeliness of films and TV shows available to stream on Netflix," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release. Through our partnership with Relativity, these films will start to become available to our members just months after their DVD release."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Relativity Media - Netflix - Ted Sarandos - HBO - Pay television
Bluetooth 4.0 core specification released

Posted: July 6th, 2010, 8:18am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The earliest Bluetooth 3.0-capable devices may have only begun appearing this year, but the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is already advancing the short-range wireless standard by rolling out the core specification of version 4.0 today.
Bluetooth 3.0 introduced an Enhanced Data Rate mode which allowed higher throughput for faster file transfers between devices. Using a technique called AMP, compatible Bluetooth 3.0 radios could establish device-to-device 802.11 Wi-Fi connections for transfer speeds up to 24 Mbps. The basic rate for Bluetooth file transfers is only 721.2 Kbps.
Bluetooth 4.0 adds another layer to Bluetooth functionality and introduces low energy (LE) mode, which consumes only a fraction of the power that classic Bluetooth does, enabling a lifespan for devices comparable to active RFID. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group says devices powered by single button-cell batteries can operate for more than a year without recharging.
Low energy Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band, and uses a frequency-hopping transciever to avoid interference and signal degradation. It is made up of 40 physical channels, spaced 2 MHz apart. Low energy networks are formed by three different types of Bluetooth devices, ones that broadcast packets one way, ones that listen for these packets, and ones that can engage in a two-way conversation.
"The finalization of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology within the Core Specification is a monumental achievement," said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director, Bluetooth SIG in a statement today. "Bluetooth wireless technology can now, with the hard work of our members and our world-class qualification program, really do it all." Interoperability testing for Bluetooth 4.0 implementations will take place at UnPlugFest 37 in Barcelona, Spain on October 4th-8th.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Bluetooth - Bluetooth Special Interest Group - Michael W. Foley - Wireless - Data Communications
LG finally begins stronger Android push, promises at least 4 more phones, tablet in 2010

Posted: July 5th, 2010, 4:34pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

According to first quarter 2010 statistics from research firm Gartner, LG remains the third highest selling mobile handset brand with an 8.6% market share. But to remain competitive, the company is taking some bigger actions in the Android space.
As the second largest mobile phone maker in the Open Handset Alliance, LG has remarkably few Android-powered handsets. Six months after pledging to make Windows Mobile its primary smartphone OS, LG debuted its first Android handset, the GW620. Since then, it has only launched two other Android devices.
Samsung, which has a much greater 20.6% market share, has already released 15 Android devices, and recently unveiled a Gigaherz-class Galaxy S Android phone for each of the "big four" United States wireless carriers. Despite the company's attempts to forge its own open mobile OS with Bada, it is greatly advancing Android.
Android's share of the Smartphone OS market has risen a staggering 8% in one year; the fastest of any of the mobile phone operating systems, according to Gartner's numbers. At the same time, Windows Mobile's share fell 3.4%.
LG's market share, coincidentally, had fallen 1.3% year over year while Samsung's rose by 1.5%.
So the company issued a press release today which announced "at least four" new Android devices will be coming to the market this year, including models based on the TI OMAP 3630 chip, and an Android tablet with top-of-the-line specs by the fourth quarter.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Android - Smartphone - Open Handset Alliance - United States - LG Group
Petitioners want Skype-like Google Voice desktop client

Posted: July 5th, 2010, 10:12am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In November 2009, Google acquired IP telephony software company Gizmo5 and all of its engineers and products. The company's robust desktop Voice over IP client for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux seemed like an excellent extension of the Google Voice platform, which at the time was a Web application and related mobile app for BlackBerry and Android.
Since that time, Google Voice has had its official U.S. launch and it is still a mobile app and Web-based management system. There is no standalone desktop application to accompany it.
Well, not one that the public has access to, anyway. Last week, TechCrunch got its hands on the unlaunched Google Voice desktop client, still branded "Gizmo5 by Google," but more or less integrated into the Google Voice account system.
Unfortunately, the future of this application is uncertain because, aside from a few shining examples (Google Earth Desktop, and Chrome) Google tends to favor Web apps and applications for mobile platforms. The desktop Google Voice client could potentially go unreleased.
Consumers excited for the Google Voice desktop software have started a petition begging Google to release it.
"Google Voice has been a landmark service that has brought a high-level of convenience to millions," the petition says. "We have asked, begged, and pleaded for a desktop VoIP application. We have heard news of said application and then sadly heard news of this application possibly being dropped for your "to-do list". This petition is brought forth to show you the overwhelming demand for such an application for OS/X, Windows, and Linux PCs."
In the three days it has been up, the petition has gotten more than 1,200 signatures with a goal of 500,000. The low initial number is likely due to the Independence Day holiday weekend over which the petition was launched. To sign the petition, go to giveusgvdesktop.com and link your Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace profile with the Petitionspot application, or simply enter your name, zipcode and email address.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - googlevoice - Skype - Gizmo5 - Voice over Internet Protocol
Testing YouTube's automated closed captioning beta

Posted: July 2nd, 2010, 11:11pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Back in March, YouTube gave users the ability to run an automated closed captioning feature which uses speech-to-text technology to convert a video's audio track into live subtitles. This feature was in development for more than two years, and was in private beta testing since November 2009.
The Auto-captioning feature combines some of the speech-to-text algorithms found in Google's Voice Search, and automatically generate video captions when requested by a viewer. The video owner can also download the auto-generated captions, correct the mistakes, and then upload the corrected version. Viewers can even choose an option to translate those captions into any one of 50 different languages.
It is an amazing step in the right direction for accessibility, but in terms of execution, the beta has a long way to go before it's useful and accurate.
When the video owner hasn't taken the time to correct the automated subtitles, the feature is more or less useless due to its highly inaccurate translations.
In my time playing with the feature, I noticed that proper nouns present some of the biggest problems to the algorithm. So tonight, just on a whim, I thought I'd test the feature's accuracy for proper nouns. Since I work at a technology-focused publication, I find that the majority of the words that I use in articles are the names of companies and products, so recognition of these is integral.
I rifled off 41 random names, and only 14 were transcribed correctly, while 27 were transcribed incorrectly. Have a look:
It can do a lot of good for hearing impaired YouTube users, but only right now if video owners make a concerted effort to proofread and update their subtitles. If you're a frequent uploader of content, this feature will prove very useful with conscientious tweaking.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

YouTube - Closed Captions - Google - Video - Betanews
New Internet Sales Tax bill (The Main Street Fairness Act) faces opposition

Posted: July 2nd, 2010, 11:52am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Yesterday, Representative William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced the "Main Street Fairness Act" in Congress that would allow states to collect sales tax for online purchases. The bill, H.R 5660 is described as an attempt to "promote simplification and fairness in the administration and collection of sales and use taxes, and for other purposes."
The bill was praised by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) yesterday as an equalizer that creates a level playing field for all sellers, regardless of their status as a brick-and-mortar retailer or as a purely online seller.
"Congressman Delahunt's willingness to work with everyone involved in the sales tax simplification effort is to be commended," said Iowa Representative Christopher Rants, co-chair of the NCSL Task Force on State & Local Taxation of Communications and Electronic Commerce. "With the adoption of the Delahunt legislation, at a time when states are facing historic budget gaps, Congress can provide fiscal relief, $23 billion, for the states without a single penny of cost to the federal government."
Online retailer eBay today, however, aired its opposition to the legislation.
"Year after year supporters of increased Internet sales taxes recommend legislation that would impose significant new costs on hundreds of thousands of online small businesses and ecommerce entrepreneurs, which is sure to harm the economy and kill small business jobs," a statement from the online auction company said today. "At a time when unemployment rates are high and small businesses across the country are closing shop, we are confident that Congress will protect small internet retailers and the consumers they serve from another Internet tax scheme."
To date, 24 states have enacted similar legislation that requires collection of sales tax records from all remote sellers not qualifying for the small business exception. Some of these are being challenged on the state level as well.
This week, for example, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) filed a federal lawsuit (.PDF here) against the state of Colorado for its Internet Sales Tax law (HB 1193), because it requires out of state retailers to turn over the purchasing history of Colorado customers to the state's Department of Revenue.
"The new law and the regulations implementing it are an unconstitutional and blatant violation of Colorado consumers' privacy," Jerry Cerasale, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the DMA said this week. "The law may have been passed in the hope of balancing the state budget through increased use tax reporting by Colorado residents, but it has serious adverse consequences for consumers and businesses."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Direct Marketing Association - Online shopping - Sales tax - Electronic commerce - National Conference of State Legislatures
Apple: iPhones all the way back to the 3G have been incorrectly displaying signal strength

Posted: July 2nd, 2010, 9:13am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Apple has been in the habit of issuing very short press releases that simply and clearly address concerns of the public without much in the way of formalities. Today, in an unusually long and formal message, Apple says it has found the cause of the iPhone 4's poor reception when it is held in a "death grip."
According to the company, it's not a reception issue at all, but a problem with the way iPhones all the way back to the iPhone 3G have calculated signal strength.
In short, they've been exaggerating how many bars you have.
"We were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong," a note from the company said today. "Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place."
"To fix this, we are adopting AT&T's recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone's bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see," Apple said.
So in the next few weeks, the updated formula will be rolled out in a software update to the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Apple - AT&T - Signal strength - Smartphone
No 3D TV? Watch the final World Cup matches in 3D movie theaters

Posted: July 1st, 2010, 8:12pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Though Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers are pushing 3D home entertainment as the next big thing, opportunities to catch live events on 3D TVs are still very rare for people who haven't already taken the plunge and bought a new 3D-capable TV.
And even for those people, it requires a DirecTV, Comcast Xfinity, or AT&T U-Verse subscription with supportive 3D programming, and there have still only been a handful of events broadcast in 3D.
But the World Cup is a serious affair for many, and it presents an opportunity to open eyes to the possibilities of live TV in three dimensions. So in 30 locations across the U.S. and Canada, soccer fans eager to catch the main World Cup matches in 3D will be able to see them in movie theaters on 50-foot high screens.
In 15 U.S. cities on July 6th, 7th, 10th, and 11th, FIFA and NCM Fathom events will be telecasting the final four World Cup 2010 games. These events are slightly stacked in favor of the West coast, but participating cities are spread across the country. They will take place in the following locations:
Regal - Long Beach 26 with IMAX - Long Beach, CA Cinemark - Bel Mar 16 - Lakewood, CO Cinemark - Cinemark Paradise 24 - Fort Lauderdale, FL AMC - Sunset Place 24 with IMAX - Miami, FL AMC - River East 21 - Chicago, IL Cinemark - Century 16 Deer Park - Deer Park, IL Regal - Lincolnshire 20 plus IMAX - Lincolnshire, IL AMC - Olathe Studio 30 with IMAX - Olathe, KS AMC - Garden State 16 with IMAX - Paramus, NJ Cinemark - Cinemark 24 (The Legacy) - Plano, TX AMC - Huebner Oaks 24 - San Antonio, TX Cinemark - Cinemark 18 Webster - Webster, TX Cinemark - Century Theatres Federal Way 16 - Federal Way, WA AMC - Southcenter 16 with IMAX - Seattle, WA Regal - Thornton Place with IMAX - Seattle, WA
Additionally, 15 Cinedigm certified digital theaters will be showing the final championship world cup match in different regions of the U.S. and Canada, fleshing out the map of available outlets a little more.
The participating theaters in Cinedigm's 3D World Cup program are:
Surprise Pointe 14- Surprise, AZ Rave Los Angeles 18- Los Angeles, CA Chula Vista 10- Chula Vista, CA Village Walk 15- Pico Rivera, CA Galaxy 10-Tulare- Tulare, CA Royal Palm 20- Bradenton, FL Orchard Cinema 10- Toms River, NJ Telshor 12-Las Cruces, NM Town Square 18- Las Vegas, NV Pavilion Digital Showcase Theatre-Brooklyn, NY Chelsea- New York, NY Empress Walk 10 Cinemas- North York, ON Highland 10- Austin, TX Carmike 20- Edinburg, TX Carmike 14- Tyler, TX Fairfax Corner 14- Fairfax, VA
The final match takes place on July 11th at 2:30pm EDT, and ticket availability for these events varies by location.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Canada - Los Angeles - United States - World Cup - Movie theater
Simple tutorial creation app iorad opens in beta, automatically turns walkthroughs into annotated slides

Posted: July 1st, 2010, 4:24pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

When a new piece of software is released, companies frequently include a video of someone walking through the features of the software, explaining how it works. Unfortunately, videos like this lack the basic interaction of a step-by-step tutorial.
Now, a Web app called iorad has opened in beta, which lets developers create interactive instructions for their software completely within the browser.
When you navigate to www.iorad.com, a Java applet will open in the browser. From there, you can do a step by step walkthrough of your application, and Iorad captures a series of slides of all your actions within your application's window. Your mouse path is then automatically drawn on each slide, and each of your clicks is automatically highlighted. You can then annotate the slideshow with captions, images, or interactive buttons, rollovers or clickboxes.
The finished tutorial can then be published to the Web, or exported as a Word, Powerpoint, or PDF file.
This is still a very early beta product right now, so there are still tons of kinks to be worked out and lots of feedback that could be submitted. For example, I tried hooking up to the Web app in Chrome, Safari, and IE8, and it starts up well and all the tools are available except the all-important "capture" feature, which is arguably the most compelling aspect of the app. UPDATE After a few tests, this functionality was opened, and as I expected, it is absolutely the selling point of the whole app. I opened Songbird and clicked through some songs and then installed a new plugin, and iorad snapped a screenshot every time I clicked on an item, and saved it as a slide with the action highlighted and explained. A five minute session with the app yielded a dozen complete slides.
The iorad beta is open to anyone, and signups only require a valid email address; become a tester at www.iorad.com.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Safari - Google Chrome - Microsoft PowerPoint - Video - Clients
Disney acquires popular iOS game maker Tapulous

Posted: July 1st, 2010, 2:01pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

TechCrunch is reporting this afternoon that iPhone OS game developer Tapulous has been acquired by Disney, and the team of developers and executives at the startup will join the staff at Disney Interactive Studios.
Tapulous has released a slew of rhythm games in the vein of Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, which began in 2008 with "Tap Tap Revenge." That title went on to be the most downloaded game in the app store that year, and was later ranked "game of the year" for the iPhone/iPod platform. Since that time, the company has released some 14 different versions of the game for iOS ranging in price from $0-$3.99.
Disney Interactive's offerings in the iTunes app store are mostly limited to those focused on Disney's trademarked characters, such as Phineas and Ferb, Mickey Mouse, and The Muppets. However, there are a few noteworthy titles from the company that have been released this year that have nothing to do with Disney movie licenses, such as puzzle game Breakspin, and racing game Split/Second (which is based on the Xbox 360/PS3 title from Disney Interactive.)
Since the Tap Tap Revenge games are based on playing along to music, Disney could use the series as an outlet for Disney Music Group artists such as the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, High School Musical, and many more.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Tap Revenge - Disney Interactive Studios - Tapulous - Mickey Mouse - App Store
Yahoo drops new Android apps for Mail and Messenger

Posted: July 1st, 2010, 1:20am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Hooking up Android's email client to a Yahoo! account was not typically a simple affair. With Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail, you could just type in your email address and password, and the Android client would set it up for you. Yahoo mailboxes could be hooked up, but only through manual setup, and casual users unfamiliar with incoming and outgoing server settings often hit a brick wall.
As the resident "Android guy" of my peers, I've had to set up at least half a dozen different devices to connect to Yahoo mailboxes.
Today, Yahoo has made it a whole lot easier to check Yahoo user email with the release of a standalone app for Android.
With the app, users can receive push notification of new emails; send emails to Yahoo contacts or in-phone address book contacts; use rich text formatting in messages; search messages by sender, recipient, subject or keyword; view and download attachments; and upload photos as attachments directly from the device's camera or from the photo gallery;
Additionally, Yahoo has released a new Yahoo Messenger app which can be launched directly from the Mail app. Once inside it, users can message friends, check friends' status updates and availability or update their own; Send instant messages via SMS text message; receive push notifications of messages; and send photos directly from the camera or gallery.
The new Yahoo apps for Android, and the Yahoo search widget can all be downloaded in the Android Market immediately.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Yahoo Messenger - Android - Windows Live Hotmail - Android Market - Mail
Amazon unveils higher contrast, lower cost Kindle DX

Posted: July 1st, 2010, 12:37am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Keeping the Kindle momentum high, Amazon has announced the next generation of Kindle DX is available for pre-order today, and will be shipping on July 7th.
The new Kindle DX has the same 9.7" screen size, and the same free 3G wireless, but features a new graphite chassis and a higher contrast e-ink screen with a purported 50% improvement in contrast. Furthermore, all of this is available at a price about 25% less than the first generation DX. The new Kindle DX costs $379, while the prior model cost $489.
In the last five days, Amazon has made four significant Kindle-related announcements. Yesterday, it was the new double royalty option for publishers using the Kindle Digital Text Platform; before that it was the launch of Kindle for Android, and just before that it was the inclusion of embedded video and audio in Kindle for iOS. The online retailer is indeed keeping the e-book platform exciting.
The new, higher contrast Kindle DX can be Pre-ordered on Amazon's homepage.
E Ink Corporation, developer and marketer of the E-paper imaging technology used in the Kindle will make this new higher contrast display, called "Pearl," available in the second quarter of 2010.
"As the electronic reading market continues to expand, there are more opportunities for expansion not only in the eBook space, but also for eNewspapers, eMagazines and eTextbooks," Felix Ho, Chairman of E Ink said in a statement this morning.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Amazon Kindle - E-book - Amazon - Kindle DX - Android
BP executive to appear live on YouTube to answer oil spill questions tomorrow

Posted: June 30th, 2010, 4:37pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The largest oil spill in the history of the United States is taking place right now in the Gulf of Mexico, and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Tomorrow, July 1 at 3:30pm EST (12:30pm PT) on CitizenTube, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley will participate in a live interview moderated by PBS NewsHour's Ray Suarez where users submit the questions.
Right now, there are about 40 user-submitted questions posted for the interview, under the categories: BP accountability, Relief well status, cleanup plan, Gulf Region Recovery, Government Role, Environmental Impact, Future of BP, Future of Offshore Drilling, and "Other." Anyone can submit a question under one of these categories, in the form of a simple text-based message in Google Moderator, or as a YouTube video.
When a similar event was held on June 15 with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, more than 7,000 questions were submitted, which were voted on more than 200,000 times by users.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

YouTube - PBS NewsHour - Gulf of Mexico - United States - Oil spill
Two months after launch, Microsoft is killing Kin 'social phone'

Posted: June 30th, 2010, 3:36pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Over this past weekend, Verizon slashed the price of Microsoft's two Kin phones by 50% to $49 and $29 respectively. Today CNET's Ina Fried got the word from Microsoft that it is halting further development on the phone line to focus on Windows Phone 7.
The two devices, which were launched a little over two months ago, were marketed to younger users and specialized in social networking and location-based media.
Though the devices were visually attractive and included some noteworthy features, there were significant shortcomings to the platform which immediately became evident. For example, Verizon subscribers had to pay for the same data plan as an advanced smartphone subscriber would, but users did not have the same advanced features, like the ability to download and install apps, or synchronize calendars.
The phones will also not be released in Europe as originally planned, and the team heading Kin development will be folded into the Windows Phone 7 team.
We've contacted Microsoft for comment.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Verizon - Ina Fried - Smartphone - Windows Phone 7
Qualcomm announces Android-based Augmented Reality platform

Posted: June 30th, 2010, 1:28pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Augmented Reality, the title given to applications that use mobile device sensors to lay cloud-based data over real world images in real time, found an early home on Google's Android platform.
The Wikitude World Browser, for example, was one of the breakthrough augmented reality apps for consumers and was originally released for Android. In the year since Wikitude World Browser launched on Android, approximately 100 augmented reality apps have been released on the platform.
Today, at the Uplinq 2010 conference, Qualcomm announced that it will release a software development kit next fall that will let developers easily create augmented reality apps for Android.
"Augmented reality represents a quantum leap in the mobile experience," said Matt Grob, senior vice president of engineering and head of corporate research and development at Qualcomm in a statement today. "By offering a no-charge SDK with state-of-the-art image detection and tracking technology, we help developers create the new generation of applications that are richer and more compelling than anything seen on the market today."
Before the SDK is released, Qualcomm will accept just 25 developers to beta test the program. To be enrolled, developers must submit a proposal to Qualcomm outlining exactly what they intend to do with the platform.
After the beta has concluded, a developer challenge with $200,000 in prizes will open, and Mobile World Congress 2011 will be the showcase for the victors.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Android - AugmentedReality - Wikitude - Qualcomm
MeeGo for Handsets 'Day 1' version released, UI and basic apps revealed

Posted: June 30th, 2010, 11:44am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Two major Linux-based mobile operating system efforts, Nokia's Maemo and Intel's Moblin were combined earlier this year into a new project going by the name of MeeGo which will ultimately support a wide range of mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, notebooks, set top boxes, and more.
In March, the core MeeGo distribution infrastructure and OS base were made available to developers so the two code bases, teams, and projects could be combined into a single Linux distribution. MeeGo version 1.0 for Netbooks was released in May, and today, the baseline source code of MeeGo for handsets has been released as a developer preview.
This version includes the Core OS and middleware components, all the MeeGo APIs, incorporating Qt and MeeGo Touch UI Framework; a reference UI (home screen, lock screen, status bar, application launcher, virtual keyboard) and basic applications (Dialer, SMS, Contacts, Fennec Browser, Photo Viewer.)
The official "first version" will be called MeeGo Handset 1.1 and is expected to come in October. To check out this "day one" release, the images can be downloaded from MeeGo's Day1 site.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Nokia - Operating system - Linux - Moblin - Maemo
Windows Phone Marketplace to include private app distribution, shareware modes

Posted: June 8th, 2010, 1:40pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At TechEd in New Orleans, Microsoft unveiled some new features for Windows Phone 7 aimed at enterprise and developer communities. One of the upcoming additions to the Windows Phone environment will be a sort of "private app store" system that launches in the fall.
"Private distribution for beta-testing represents an important first step for Windows Phone," Partner group program manager Charlie Kindel said. "Our long term strategy is to adopt the public and private cloud model with Marketplace…Initially, we are enabling private distribution of applications for registered developers in a way that is optimized for beta-testers. This will enable developers to more easily distribute test applications in a secure way. We also appreciate that as phones come to market and people begin bringing them into corporate environments, IT will look for a similar private distribution solution."
Developers will be able to pick out who the users of the app will be when they upload their app to the developer portal, and the prospective users will then receive an email which links to the private app listing.
Additionally, the Windows Phone Marketplace will be the first of the major mobile app stores to let developers upload "shareware." A new optional Trial API lets developers publish a version of their app that has limited functionality or a limited shelf life, so that users can download and try the app before they buy it. This means that the Windows Phone Marketplace will support free, paid, "freemium," ad-supported, and trial versions of apps.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Shareware - Windows Phone Marketplace - appstore - Windows Phone
Apple TV to become $99 iPhone for your TV, says rumor

Posted: May 28th, 2010, 10:12am MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In a nutshell, the iPad is a big iPhone; and according to rumors today, Apple TV is set to become an iPhone for your HDTV.
The rumor is that Apple TV, which debuted as an iTunes media streamer nearly three years ago, will be getting a major overhaul that folds it into the iPhone OS ecosystem. Instead of having the device act like iTunes for your television, it is rumored to be based on iPhone 4, and include the same A4 processor used in the iPad and in the 4th generation iPhone prototype found in a bar and sold to the highest bidder in the media.
Also like the iPhone, there is reportedly only a single hard output; only this one is capable of pushing out full 1080p HD images. Apple TV currently includes composite outs, optical audio, HDMI out, USB, and an ethernet port, and puts out a maximum definition of 1280 x 720.
There are two interesting aspects to this rumor.
- Storage-- The actual device will only have 16GB of flash memory, but will be connected to a new, as of yet unannounced cloud-based storage solution. The current generation of Apple TV has a 160GB hard drive.
- Price-- The new Apple TV is expected to cost only $99, while the current model costs $229.
Besides that, this rumor also pushes the iPhone OS further into the business of gaming consoles. Last year, at least one analyst predicted that Apple would make a video game console by 2013; and with the Game Center feature of iPhone 4, the new Apple TV could be just that.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Apple - iPhone - Television - 1080p - IPad
Wal-Mart cuts iPhone 3GS price in half, continues Apple's one year smartphone life cycle

Posted: May 25th, 2010, 6:56am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The life cycle of smartphones has reached the point where a single year means the difference between cutting edge and cutout bin, and Apple looks to be following -- if not driving -- that trend.
When the iPhone 3G S debuted last June, the price of the iPhone 3G was slashed to $99. Today, one year later, we're seeing the same thing happen to the 3G S.
Though the latest model in Apple's iPhone line has not been unveiled yet, America's biggest retailer Wal-Mart has dropped the price of the iPhone 16GB 3GS to just $97 with a two-year AT&T contract; less than half of its former retail price. The 32 GB version, however, remains its same price of $297 with a two-year contract.
The price cut comes just two weeks before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where CEO Steve Jobs is scheduled to deliver the keynote, potentially to unveil the next generation iPhone, which has already been pried apart before the public.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Apple - Wal-Mart - Steve Jobs - Smartphone
To match the Nexus One's speedy 'FroYo' update, T-Mobile rolls out faster network

Posted: May 24th, 2010, 4:12pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Early this year, mobile network operator T-Mobile USA announced it would complete its HSPA+ network upgrade by mid-2010, bringing a theoretical maximum downlink speed of 21 Megabits per second to its entire 3G footprint.
After testing the upgraded network technology in Philadelphia for the last year, T-Mobile today announced that the enhancement has gone live in the "Northeastern U.S," which includes the New York City metropolitan area, New Jersey and Long Island, upstate New York (Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse,) Connecticut (Hartford, New Haven, Milford and Stamford,) and Providence, R.I. Additionally, the HSPA+ network has gone live in Memphis, Tennessee and Las Vegas Nevada.
T-Mobile says its HSPA+ network will expand into Boston and Washington, D.C. in the coming weeks.
Only two days ago, one of T-Mobile's premier Android devices, the HTC Nexus One, was the first consumer smartphone to receive the Android 2.2 "FroYo" update. The update reportedly boosts the device's performance as much as 2 to 5 times.
Though only rolled out to a small group initially, the Android team at Google this afternoon said they "expect a final build [of Android 2.2] to be available for OTA updates shortly."
So with the fastest version of Android yet, and much faster network at its disposal in a large section of the United States, T-Mobile's Nexus One has significantly increased in value in just the last week.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
I left a lightbulb on for one year straight, or: Why LED bulbs are about to change your life

Posted: May 22nd, 2010, 5:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

I have left a lightbulb turned on for one year straight and I'm finally ready to talk about it.
Three years ago, I started tinkering with Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). They're small, can be purchased for relatively little money, and require very little skill as an electrician to turn into fun toys. So little skill, in fact, that you can tape them to a button cell battery and they light up.
Along with circuit bending, LED projects are some of the most rewarding in entry-level electronics. They're cheap, they're energy-efficient, and on a larger scale have proven to be extremely useful.
For example, they're commonly found as backlights for televisions or as bulbs in handheld torches, but there has never been a really affordable LED replacement for screw-in household lightbulbs.
So when I started to see LED lightbulbs appear on the shelves of "big box" stores for as low as $2.60 per bulb, I jumped at the opportunity to try a widespread lighting upgrade. I had hoped these affordable LED bulbs would usher in an era of cheaper, more efficient household lighting.
Unfortunately, I immediately learned that it was not to be.
The 40 Watt bulbs barely put out enough light to even illuminate a closet. When I ran my first test at night with six bulbs going simultaneously, the 10' x 20' room was twilight at best.
Put a 40 Watt LED bulb next to a 60 Watt CFL bulb, and it's like comparing a match to a campfire.
Worse than that, though, was that the light was not omnidirectional, and it was on the cold end of the spectrum. When I switched them on that first time, they formed small cones of cool, dim light instead of the warm, diffused spheres. Since then, I have found bulbs that utilize different LED arrays to address the directionality problem, but they were typically more costly per bulb and weren't tremendously brighter.
On the plus side, the bulbs only consumed 1.4 Watts of power. So I redistributed the LEDs into supplementary fixtures, and stuck one in its own dedicated spotlight marked "LEAVE ON FOREVER," to test its longevity and variance in LED color over time.
At an estimated 16¢ a year, I figured it was an expense I could afford.
A couple of weeks ago, just a little more than a year into my experiment, Royal Phillips Electronics contacted Betanews to let us know they have finished the world's first LED "replacement bulb." That is, they have made the LED equivalent of the 60 Watt incandescent bulb found in half of the lighting fixtures in the world.
They said they will produce 806 Lumens of 2700K (warm) light while using 12 Watts of power, with a lifetime of 25,000 hours.
They said it is the "holy grail of home lighting."
I didn't say anything about my experiment.
This is because their new bulbs are quite different from the ones I have been testing. Instead of a simple cluster of phosphor LEDs mounted in a plastic lighbulb-shaped casing, Phillips uses something it calls "remote phosphor" technology.
Similar to a fluorescent bulb in principle, Phillips uses blue LEDs to stimulate the phosphors on the outside of the bulb's shell. This means you cannot see individual LEDs, and the surface of the bulb is actually distributing the light.
"Of course, it's easy to produce this level of light with LEDs, look at car headlamps," Jim Anderson, Director of Innovation for Philips told me. " But to have it be as cost-effective and efficient as it is bright is the challenge."
"Heat management, for example, is a huge issue with bright LEDs. Ninety percent of the Watts in an incandescent bulb are radiated out as infra-red heat. But with LEDs, there is no infra red, so the heat must be conducted away elsewhere. You only have a small envelope to work within [for standard lightbulbs,] that's why there are heat sinks."
"You also have to provide consistent color and brightness from bulb to bulb and chip to chip, so we use a technology called Optiven to select the various LED color combinations and specific properties of phosphor," Anderson said. "This means we had to set up the supply chain in a way that would let us deliver the most consistent product."
So the LEDs are coming from Phillips' Lumileds in San Jose, and the bulbs are coming from Phillips Color Kinetics in Burlington, MA and Phillips Lighting Electronics in Rosemont, IL. Then they're shipped to Shanghai for testing and assembly.
"Consumers really don't care about the mechanics of their lightbulbs, honestly." Anderson confessed. "They just expect their new bulbs to do exactly what their old bulbs did."
Never mind the difficulty it takes to make this happen with an LED; and don't even ask about the added difficulty of making these bulbs compatible with all the different kinds of dimmer switches.
The bottom line is: If it's affordable, consumers will upgrade. Though Phillips said these bulbs will be released in retail in the fourth quarter of this year, the company has not arrived at the price at which they'll be sold.
"As with everything, cost is the main barrier to consumer adoption," said Anderson. "But what we're seeing are LEDs that are bright enough and efficient enough that more effort can be put into driving down the cost [of bulbs]. The industry is in a great position."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
HP extends massive battery recall for overheating notebooks

Posted: May 21st, 2010, 3:03pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission put out a bulletin this afternoon extending last year's recall of HP and Compaq Li-Ion notebook batteries that were prone to overheating.
The recall in May of last year included 70,000 potentially defective batteries, and today that has been extended to approximately 54,000 more.
The extension of the recall is due in large part to consumer complaints of overheated and rupturing batteries. The commission said that HP has received 38 more reports of overheated batteries; with 31 resulting in minor property damage, and 11 resulting in minor human injury.
The following notebooks are affected in this battery recall:
HP Pavilion: dv2000, dv2500, dv2700 (body style pictured below), dv6000, dv6500, dv6700, dx6000, dx6500, dx6700, dv9000, dv9500, dv9700 Compaq Presario: A900, C700, F500, F700, V3000, V3500, V3700, V6000, V6500, V6700 HP: G6000, G7000 HP Compaq: 6510b, 6515b, 6710b, 6710s, 6715b, 6715s, 6270s.
Consumers with an affected battery should check out HP's Battery Replacement Program site for further information.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google unveils 10 huge improvements in 'FroYo,' Android 2.2

Posted: May 20th, 2010, 11:05am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At Google I/O this morning, the topic of discussion was mobile; specifically, the Android mobile platform. As of this morning, there are more than 60 consumer devices running on Android, more than 100,000 new activations per day, 50,000 apps in the Android marketplace, and 180,000 registered developers working on apps. Not too shabby.
As the platform continues its rapid growth, Google has announced a number of very significant improvements will be coming to the next version, numbered 2.2 but nicknamed "FroYo," which address key issues Android has dealt with in the past.
1) Improved Speed -- Just as it was rumored, the next version of Android will have a JIT compiler, responsible for a significant (2x-5x) speed boost.
2) Better Enterprise Support -- The platform has lagged behind Windows Mobile and BlackBerry in terms of enterprise functionality, but FroYo will include over 20 new enterprise features. These include better Exchange support, with auto-discovery, improved security, and GAL lookup, and new device admin APIs.
3) Cloud-to-Device API -- Google services, Chrome extensions, and soon-to-be released Chrome apps will be able to sync with your Android device. If you need directions from Google Maps, it can be sent directly.
4) Tethering -- This was also a rumored feature for a few weeks. The feature will be in the "settings" menu, and clicking "portable wi-fi hotspot."
5) New Browser -- The Javascript interpreter in Chrome will be used in FroYo's native browser, offering a 2x-3x Javascript performance boost. Google's Vic Gundotra said it will be the fastest mobile browser available.
6) Install apps on SD memory -- One of the main problems people had with Android was that you could not install apps on your removable memory card, you were limited to the device's physical memory, which in some cases was quite limited. In FroYo, apps can be moved to, and launched from, the phone's SD card.
7) Flash 10.1 and AIR support -- This one is not a surprise, as Adobe and Google have both said this would be coming.
8) Web-based Android Market -- Without a doubt one of the weakest aspects of consuming apps on the Android Platform was that you were limited to only seeing what was shown on your mobile device's screen, which in most cases is not very appealing.
9) App auto-updating -- When an app you downloaded gets updated, you would get a notification that there was an update available in the Market. You'd have to navigate to the market and click OK three or four times per update just to get it installed. In FroYo, there will be an "Update All" icon, and the ability to check "allow automatic updating" when you download a new app. Apps can be purchased on the Web-based store and synced down to your Android device.
10) Music Sync -- Even though it's got a decent media player, Android devices have never had the music power that iPhone has with its built-in iPod functionality. With FroYo, however, users will be able to sync their local music collection with their Android device and stream wirelessly.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google announces open app store for 'Installable Web apps'

Posted: May 19th, 2010, 12:15pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google has announced the upcoming availability of the Chrome Web Store, an open marketplace similar to the Android Market or iTunes App Store that deals exclusively in Web Apps.
This store doesn't exist yet, but will open both to developers and to users "later this year."
The store will deal in the "installable Web apps," that are expected to populate both the Google Chrome browser and the forthcoming Chrome OS. They can be run currently, but require a Windows Dev channel release of Google Chrome with a special command line flag.
According to their Google Code listing, "An installed web app could be separated visually from other tabs, could integrate better with the OS, and could be granted increased permissions. This special handling of web apps is exactly what we're working on in Google Chrome...Installing a web app in Google Chrome is easy and quick, with no restart required. At its simplest, installing a web app is like creating a super-bookmark to it."
Interested developers can check out the preliminary documentation and join the discussion in the Google Group for Chromium Apps.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google opens Wave to all, adds new features for developers

Posted: May 19th, 2010, 11:54am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google today began pushing its Wave collaboration tool again, hoping to attract both users and developers with new features.
Firstly, for users, Google is dropping the "invitation-only" velvet rope from the collaboration tool, and now anybody can sign up just by going to wave.google.com and logging in with their gmail or Google account.
Just about six months ago, Google opened the beta of Wave to about 100,000 users, and the new tool was swept up by the media and users alike, both of whom struggled to succinctly describe what, exactly, Google Wave was and who it was ideally suited for.
In the official Wave blog, Stephanie Hannon, Product Manager on the Google Wave Team laid out five situations where Wave comes in handy: Business, Education, Creative Collaboration, Organizations and Conferences, and Journalism, and pushed out a video reminding us why Wave is useful.
For developers, some announcements about Wave were made during Google I/O today. You can now: run robots on any server (not just in App Engine) in the language of your choice; Use a robot to manipulate and retrieve attachments within a wave; "Wave This," which lets visitors to your site create waves out of your content; Fetch waves on behalf of users with Wave data APIs.
Both Wave itself and its APIs are still in Google Labs, because, as Pamela Fox, Developer Relations, on the Google Wave Team said, "We think it's important to stay flexible when creating a whole new paradigm in web based communication and collaboration. We want to be able to respond to your feedback, and we still have a lot left to do to make the vision a reality."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Android and iPhone are turning the world into smartphone users, says research

Posted: May 19th, 2010, 10:57am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Just over a week ago, NPD Group released its Wireless Market Research report for the United States, which showed BlackBerry devices leading the smartphone market with 36% penetration, then Android-based devices followed with 28%, and then Apple's iPhone came in third with 21%.
Today, IT research firm Gartner released its first quarter 2010 sales figures for the worldwide mobile device market, and we got a view of how the Smartphone OS market is changing.
Indeed, Android's explosive growth in the States is having an impact worldwide, but so is the iPhone's growth outside of the U.S.
"In the first quarter of 2010, smartphone sales to end users saw their strongest year-on-year increase since 2006," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. "This quarter saw RIM, a pure smartphone player, make its debut in the top five mobile devices manufacturers, and saw Apple increase its market share by 1.2 percentage points. Android's momentum continued into the first quarter of 2010, particularly in North America, where sales of Android-based phones increased 707 per cent year-on-year."
This puts Google's mobile OS in fourth place globally behind Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and iPhone OS. Android's rise to this position has placed it above Microsoft's Windows Mobile for the first time. Android and iPhone OS were the only two mobile operating systems to globally increase their market share. Symbian dropped by 4.5% year over year, BlackBerry OS dropped by a modest 1.2%, Windows Mobile dropped by 3.2%, and Linux dropped by 3.3%.
Apple managed to increase its mobile device sales by 112% during the quarter too, said Milanesi, "Partly from new communication service providers in established markets, such as the UK, and stronger sales in new markets such as China and South Korea."
Every smartphone combined still only amounts to 17.3% of the total mobile device market (54.3 million units,) but that market is growing quickly. The same period last year, only 13.9% (36.5 million units) of all phones sold were smartphones.
With a new iPhone expected in the next quarter, and a major Android update coming soon, the smartphone market is poised to continue its growth as long as the two "app-centric" operating systems keep innovating and enticing users to adopt.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Yahoo acquires an army of 380,000 freelance journalists with Associated Content buy

Posted: May 19th, 2010, 8:34am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Yesterday, Yahoo! Inc. announced it would be acquiring Associated Content Inc., and the transaction would cost the search company an estimated $100 million.
Associated Content calls itself the "People's Media Company," and is a media outlet consisting of more than 380,000 freelancers publishing news, photos, video, and other content on subjects chosen by the site.
"Combining our world-class editorial team with Associated Content's makes this a game-changer," said Carol Bartz, CEO, Yahoo! Inc. "Together, we'll create more content around what we know our users care about, and open up new and creative avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers across our network. These are important aspects of building engaging consumer experiences on Yahoo!, and one of the reasons why we're one of the most visited destinations online."
Since Yahoo signed its 10-year search agreement with Microsoft last year, effectively bowing out of the search business, the company has been working on strengthening its other properties. This acquisition is a move toward having more of its own original content, which will give advertisers more opportunities to target users.
Associated Content will continue to run as it has been, with the same staff, but new people will be added to "augment platform development, programming, content programming and customer support." Ultimately, the platform will move from being a U.S.-only entity to a global one.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Associated Content - Yahoo - Carol Bartz - Microsoft - Business
Data Google skimmed with street view cars gets destroyed in Ireland, but that's not good enough for Germany

Posted: May 18th, 2010, 12:56pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last Friday, Google announced that its Street View cars had accidentally collected private data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks while making their rounds, and the international response began in full force.
The same day, the Irish Data Protection Authority asked Google to delete all of that payload that was collected in Ireland. Yesterday, Google wrote, "We can confirm that all data identified as being from Ireland was deleted over the weekend in the presence of an independent third party. We are reaching out to Data Protection Authorities in the other relevant countries about how to dispose of the remaining data as quickly as possible."
Independent security firm iSEC Partners Inc also confimed the deletion. Partner Alex Stamos said that Google had consolidated the Wi-Fi packet captures onto four hard drives, organized into folders corresponding to the nation of origin, and the data relevant to Ireland was then destroyed.
"I created two new encryped volumes on separate hard drives, and copied over all of the data with the exception of the data that was identified as being captured within the Republic of Ireland," Stamos wrote on Sunday, "I then witnessed the physical destruction of the original four hard drives."
Today, however, German data security representative Johannes Caspar said this would not be enough, and that Google has until May 26 to turn over the hard drive with German data on it, so the extent of the infraction can be inspected.
Caspar told The Thuringer today that Google has to do anything it can to repair its tarnished reputation.
"Before it can, we must be granted access to all of the collected data," Caspar said. "Only then can it be clearly documented what kind of data was saved. Despite repeated demands, we've had no opportunity yet, to sift through a hard disk with all of the data."
Caspar has more meetings with Google this week in Hamburg.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Amazon announces Kindle for Android, a new hope dawns for Android tablets against the iPad

Posted: May 18th, 2010, 10:06am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Kindle is, without a doubt, the highest profile e-reader platform running. With applications on iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Windows, and OS X as well as its own line of e-paper Kindle devices, Amazon had an estimated 90% share of the e-book sales market last year.
Today, Amazon announced that a Kindle app will be launched on the Android mobile operating system this summer.
Like the BlackBerry app, Android users will be able to purchase Amazon e-books inside the mobile app. That functionality is noticeably absent on the iPhone and iPad versions, where users must go to the browser to download new books.
If Amazon were to include that functionality on the iPhone and iPad apps, a 30% commission for in-app purchases would have to be paid to Apple, which is not exactly the most economically feasible solution for Amazon.
But what this means is that the bevy of Android tablets coming out this year will be able to offer the full Kindle experience where the iPad will not; and as we saw last month, some Android tablets are really suitable only as e-readers. Giving these devices unfettered access to the Kindle Store's market-dominating 500,000+ e-books is a great boon to the platform.
It is worth noting, however, that this version will only be compatible with Android 1.6 and up, and that subscriptions to newspapers, magazines, and blogs will not be supported when the app is released in the next few weeks.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
New Hotmail lets you add bigger attachments, organize your inbox, edit documents

Posted: May 18th, 2010, 8:52am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

I'm constantly reminded how slow email actually is.
On the homescreen of one of my smartphones, I've got the official Twitter widget and the official Facebook widget which are pretty much constantly refreshing. Likewise, my email inbox is set to refresh just as frequently. Every day, when someone sends me a message in Facebook or replies to a Tweet, the widgets tell me first, and then five minutes later I get the email alerting me again. Because of this, I have an email account just for social network updates that is overflowing with unread messages.
My fast, immediate communications have been shifted to other services, but the more heavyweight content: presentations, photos, and documents are still being sent over email.
Today, Microsoft announced it is releasing a new Windows Live Hotmail this summer to suit the "peoples' email needs as of 2010," which includes finding a way to organize all of that semi-relevant junkmail and a way to send even bigger attachments.
The new Hotmail inbox will let users organize their emails in new ways. Where the old inbox just let you sort your emails by date, sender, subject, or size, the new inbox will also let you sort them by category. These categories include: messages from contacts, social network updates, or messages from groups and mailing lists. Because social network updates and mailing list posts are sometimes unwanted, you can sort them by category and push them into folders and out of your principal inbox.
Microsoft is also tying in its SkyDrive cloud storage feature into Hotmail, letting users attach as many as 200 photos each 50MB in size to a single email. The same goes for Office documents like Word files, Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations, you can stick 10 GB of attachments to Live Hotmail email messages.
With Office documents, a bit of productivity has been folded into Hotmail. Users can open the documents in Office Live, make changes, and push them back to the original sender with all the updates.
The update this summer will also add enhanced account protection, full-session SSL, multiple email accounts, subfolders, contact management, and even more storage.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Facebook - Windows Live Hotmail - Windows Live SkyDrive - Social network
MySpace revamps privacy settings to counter Facebook's muddled set of options

Posted: May 17th, 2010, 6:20pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Facebook grew more popular than Myspace just about two years ago, and has been been enjoying steady growth while MySpace flounders trying to reinvent itself.
But the recent attention brought to Facebook's privacy issues -specifically the complaint filed with the US Federal Trade Commission by EPIC pointing out that Facebook data isn't as private as it once was- has opened a door for MySpace to jam its foot into.
The New York Times last week called Facebook's privacy settings "A bewildering tangle of options," with 50 settings menus with more than 170 options, and a privacy statement more than 1,200 words longer than the U.S. Constitution.
MySpace Co-president Mike Jones seized on this opportunity to announce its "New, simpler privacy setting."
"We want our users to know we are planning the launch of a simplified privacy setting for our user profiles. While we've had these plans in the works for some time, given the recent outcry over privacy concerns in the media, we felt it was important to unveil those plans to our users now," Jones said. "We believe users want a simpler way to control their privacy. That's why, in the coming weeks, MySpace will continue to simplify its privacy settings to create a simpler, more intuitive approach that gives users greater control over their information. Setting options will include public, friends only, or public to anyone 18 or over. In making this change, MySpace will default the setting to 'friends only' for any user who previously had any granular page setting to 'friends only.' Users can change this option with one click if they choose."
A small number of Facebook users with a disproportionately loud voice have pledged to shut down their Facebook profiles on May 31, the unofficial "Quit Facebook Day."
From the site's sub-heading that explains why users are quitting, it says: "For a lot of people, quitting Facebook revolves around privacy. This is a legitimate concern, but we also think the privacy issue is just the symptom of a larger set of issues. The cumulative effects of what Facebook does now will not play out well in the future, and we care deeply about the future of the web as an open, safe and human place. We just can't see Facebook's current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we're leaving."
Maybe they can be enticed to get behind MySpace.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Privacy - Mike Jones - MySpace - Facebook - New York Times
Android 2.2 rumors: blazing speed, tethering, full Flash support, and more

Posted: May 17th, 2010, 3:10pm MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last year at Google I/O, the search company's annual developer conference, we got the first look at Android 2.0, also known as "Eclair."
On Wednesday this week, Google I/O 2010 will begin, and we're sure to see the next version of Google's mobile operating system: Android 2.2, also known as "FroYo." Last week, the telltale giant dessert-themed sculpture representing 2.2 was rolled out onto the lawn of Google's Mountain View headquarters, just as they have before previous versions were released.
Right now, there are no official announcements regarding the content of Android 2.2, but recent rumors have suggested that there will be three killer upgrades in FroYo which I personally hope we get to see in action this week. These three improvements are:
- Tethering -- The ability to turn any Android phone running 2.2 into a USB 3G modem or into a 3G Wi-Fi hotspot.
- Full Flash Support -- The addition of Flash 10.1 that both Google and Adobe have repeatedly mentioned could finally equip Android with a full, desktop-style Flash experience.
- 450% speed boost -- A site called Android Police tested the Dalvik virtual machine in FroYo with benchmark software called Linpack, the build on a Nexus One tested at 6.5-7 MFLOPS versus an older build on an older HTC Hero which only hit 2 MFLOPS.
There are a number of other new features rumored to be included in Android 2.2, which are a bit less flashy. These include: More free RAM, a JIT compiler (a.k.a. "Just In Time" compiler, allows higher-speed code execution,) improved access to the OpenGL ES 2.0 library, FM Radio support, developer access to color LED in trackball, and improved cross-multitouch resolution.
Again, none of these have been confirmed, but they are all plausible and would be welcome additions to the platform.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
YouTube, now a cultural phenomenon, streams 2 billion videos every day

Posted: May 17th, 2010, 9:40am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

On its five year anniversary, popular video streaming site YouTube announced it streams two billion videos every day.
"What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to 200+ countries," it said in the official YouTube Blog on Sunday. "We bring feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences. Activists document social unrest seeking to transform societies, and leading civic and political figures stream interviews to the world."
On Friday, audience metrics company Nielsen posted its report of Top Online Video Sites in the U.S. for April 2010, and YouTube had 97.1 million unique viewers for the month, a 1.1% month-over-month growth.
YouTube's closest competitor in the Neilsen rankings, Yahoo! video, had 27.6 million unique viewers for the month, so the size of YouTube's audience is staggeringly higher than the rest of the market.
But YouTube isn't really competing with other video sharing sites, and it's not competing with television either, because viewing habits on YouTube are very different from traditional television viewing.
"The average user spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube, that's tiny compared to the five hours a day people spend watching TV," YouTube's blog post said.
Even though the site hasn't been a profit machine for Google, it has had a huge impact on the way we share information as a community.
Just last night, I experienced something that really cemented the importance of YouTube in our culture that I thought I'd share.
Indie Singer/Songrwiter David Bazan is currently touring the United States playing only limited-capacity shows in people's living rooms, and we booked his Baltimore show in one of our apartments. I had set up my video camera partially to test the audio capture of Bazan's busker-style setup (no vocal amplification and a tiny practice amp to monitor his guitar sound) and partially to record just for posterity.
After the show was over and I started to break down my camera, I was approached separately by a dozen people (nearly a quarter of the total audience) who each asked for my YouTube screen name. Some wanted to share the show with friends who couldn't make it, some wanted to use the video for their blogs, but they all asked for YouTube first.
When I was video taping shows twelve years ago, I would only be asked for copies on the rarest occasions. Now because of YouTube and tiny, high quality cameras, sharing video is part of the experience of an event.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

YouTube - Google - United States - Television - Streaming media
Roku adds UFC to streaming lineup, now has nearly 30 channels

Posted: May 16th, 2010, 10:49pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Two years ago, Roku launched the first set top box dedicated to Netflix's Instant Streaming. Since that time, Roku has added enough partnerships to make that $99 box into its own little a la carte TV service.
In addition to the Netflix channel, the Roku streamer has Amazon Video on Demand, MLB.TV, NBA Game Time, Revision3, Blip.tv, DreamTV, Moonlight Movies, Kung-Fu Theater, Drive-In Classics, Cowboy Classics, Midwest Cage Championship, Pandora, Weiss Money Network, MediaFly, Motionbox, Twit.TV, Flickr, FrameChannel, MHz On Demand, Facebook Photos, Blubrry Podcast Community, MobileTribe, The Highway Girl, SmugMug, and Tech Podcasts Network. There are more than 50,000 instantly streamable movies, TV Shows, live sporting events, and podcasts available on Roku with more being added every day. Since it's an open platform, users can even create and add their own stations.
Later today, Roku will be pushing out another official sports network to round out the offerings from Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association: The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Channel.
Roku users will be able to add the UFC channel in the Roku Channel Store, and then be able to access the popular pay-per-view martial arts events (with a linked account on UFC.com.) Not only will users be able to watch live streaming events, but they will also be able to watch archived events, and behind-the-scenes bonus footage weigh-ins, pre-and-post fight press conferences, and interviews.
The official first live streaming event on the channel will be UFC 114 on May 29th, but we got a sneak preview of the service with the broadcast of 113 just over a week ago.
In typical Roku fashion, the channel's layout is clean and simple. Most importantly, though, the actual streaming was flawless and high quality. With an appropriate connection speed, you will be able to watch the contents in high definition.
Besides offering on-demand access to all the bonus footage, 1.) events you have paid for are saved to your UFC account and are permanently accessible, like Amazon Video on Demand 2.) You can perform keyword searches of the archives. The pay-per-view events cost the same on the Roku channel as they would through your cable provider.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Netflix - Roku - National Basketball Association - Sport - Major League Baseball
Google: Oops...our Street View cars also saw websites you were visiting

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 3:26pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google today said it will stop collecting Wi-Fi network data from its Street View cars, after an investigation from the German Data Protection Authority (DPA) found the search company was also collecting personal data about user behavior on these public hotspots.
Google's Street View cars weren't only taking 360-degree images of our streets for use on Google Maps, but they were also pulling publicly broadcast SSID and MAC information from Wi-Fi hotspots.
"It's now clear that we have been mistakenly collecting samples of payload data from open (i.e. non-password-protected) WiFi networks, even though we never used that data in any Google products," Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Research said today.
"So how did this happen? Quite simply, it was a mistake," Eustace said. "In 2006 an engineer working on an experimental WiFi project wrote a piece of code that sampled all categories of publicly broadcast WiFi data. A year later, when our mobile team started a project to collect basic WiFi network data like SSID information and MAC addresses using Google's Street View cars, they included that code in their software--although the project leaders did not want, and had no intention of using, payload data."
Google has since halted all of its Street View vehicles, stopped collecting Wi-Fi data altogether, and "segregated the data" it has collected. Unfortunately, it's still all in Google's servers, though. According to Eustace, "We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and are currently reaching out to regulators in the relevant countries about how to quickly dispose of it."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google's Nexus One Web store fails, Google says it will close down

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 11:05am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Google announced that it is going to end its online-only sales of the Nexus One smartphone, start selling the Android-powered device through retail channels, and eventually stop selling phones in its Web store altogether.
"While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not. It's remained a niche channel for early adopters, but it's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from," Andy Rubin, Google's Vice President of Engineering said today.
When the Nexus One was launched in the U.S. in January, customers could only buy it through Google's Web store.
At the launch event, Vice President of Product Management at Google Mario Queiroz said, "The goal of this new consumer channel is to provide an efficient way to connect Google's online users with selected Android devices. We also want to make the overall user experience simple: a simple purchasing process, simple service plans from operators, simple and worry-free delivery and start-up."
This new approach however, significantly decreased the visibility of the Nexus One, and looks to have made the device sell a lot more slowly than other Android-powered devices.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
All you need for a Google Voice invite is a .edu email account

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 10:08am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google Voice is still only available with an invitation from Google or from another Google Voice user, but today it made a big step toward being open to everybody.
Now, if you have an email account ending in .edu, you can get Google Voice, Jason Toff of the Google Voice team posted in the service's official blog today.
On the new site "Google Voice for Students", you simply enter your .edu email address in a blank field and hit "request invite." Within 24 hours, you should receive your invitation to the revolutionary and controversial free messaging, calling, and transcription service.
Each .edu email address will only receive a single invitation.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

GoogleVoice - Google - Searching - Search Engines - E-mail address
Here's where you can follow Space Shuttle Atlantis' last mission online

Posted: May 14th, 2010, 9:32am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled end its 25-year career with one final trip into space today. The shuttle will be manned by six astronauts and is expected to be in flight for twelve days. The STS-132 mission is to deliver equipment to the International Space Station which includes a Russian Mini-Research Module, a set of batteries for the station's truss and dish antenna, and other replacement parts.
However, the launch takes place today at 2:20pm EST, a time when most of the United States is at work.
Fortunately, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is making it very easy to follow the action online. NASA is broadcasting the event live on its website, and is running a launch blog which provides frequent updates on the status of the launch.
Additionally, some excellent information can be found on both NASA and the Kennedy Space Center's Twitter feeds at @NASA, @NASAKennedy (the above picture was a TwitPic from Kennedy.)
Other useful twitter profiles to follow today are @NASA_Astronauts, and @nasatweetup.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

International Space Station - NASA - Kennedy Space Center - Space Shuttle Atlantis - Space
Nintendo continues seek & destroy mission on DS game copiers, sues Web retailer

Posted: May 13th, 2010, 3:39pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Video game company Nintendo today said it filed a civil lawsuit against New York-based website owner NXPGAME for selling game copiers that let users download and play ROMS of Nintendo DS and DSi games.
Nintendo says NXPGAME agreed to stop selling the game copier on its sites, but simply moved operations to a different URL.
"Using game copiers to play unauthorized downloaded games is illegal and it's wrong," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of Anti-Piracy.
This lawsuit follows the 2009 Nintendo v. Chan case, where Nintendo successfully argued that game copiers violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and are therefore illegal in the United States. That case forced three electronics retail sites to remove the R4 DS mod cartridge from their inventories.
In February of this year, Nintendo won a similar case in Australian federal court to have the $45 R4 DS removed from Web retailers there.
Nintendo has been fighting to have the R4 removed from markets since 2007, and launched a worldwide initiative to work with governments where piracy is a problem, such as China, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Skype 5.0 beta brings five-way video chat

Posted: May 13th, 2010, 12:37pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Video chatting is on the rise. Yesterday, we got to take a look at Qik's mobile video chat client for the Sprint EVO 4G, and today, we get to take a look at Skype's latest development: five-way video chat.
Today, popular VoIP and chat client Skype launched a beta of Skype 5.0 for Windows, which includes a free trial of group video calling, a re-designed call view window, improved video snapshots gallery, and improved browser plugin performance.
There are a few fixes introduced with this version, but also a whole host of new bugs to deal with. The release notes for version 5.0.0.105 include a list of 87 known issues, most of which do not have workarounds yet.
We're installing the beta now, and we'll post screenshots and a review shortly.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Adobe attempts to counteract anti-Flash sentiment spurred by Apple

Posted: May 13th, 2010, 9:35am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Adobe is running quite a cleanup campaign after Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent criticism of the Flash platform, which he laid out in a letter called "Thoughts on Flash."
Adobe has released a flurry of responses, including a letter from Chuck Geschke and John Warnock Adobe's Cofounders and Chairmen of the company's board of directors called "Our thoughts on open markets," an advertising campaign called "Freedom of Choice" which includes the banner shown above (and display ads that say "We [love] Apple,") an information page titled "The Truth about Flash," and a full-page ad in today's Washington Post.
The aggressive campaign is an attempt to curb the growing sentiment that Flash is not a valid and relevant technology as the Web continues to evolve on mobile devices.
"If the web fragments into closed systems, if companies put content and applications behind walls, some indeed may thrive -- but their success will come at the expense of the very creativity and innovation that has made the Internet a revolutionary force," The letter from Warnock and Geschke said. "We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company -- no matter how big or how creative -- should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web."
Adobe also addresses Jobs' criticisms of Flash individually.
"H.264 is a 'more modern format' for Web video" and "H.264 video consumes about half as much battery as Flash video."
"There are many claims that H.264 will kill Flash. However, H.264 is a video codec (which requires a player), while Flash is a complete multimedia runtime, which can play back H.264, among other codecs. Furthermore, Flash provides a complete solution for advanced video distribution, including support for technologies such as streaming, adaptive bitrate delivery, and content protection. Of course, playing back high definition video can be a CPU-intensive task. This is why Flash Player 10.1 includes support for hardware accelerated video playback across devices from mobile to desktop environments."
"Flash was not designed for touch interfaces"
"Flash was actually originally created as a technology for tablets with touch interfaces. And today, Flash has full support for working on touch-based devices...For new Flash content developed specifically with touch in mind, Flash Player 10.1 provides a complete set of multitouch and gesture APIs."
"Flash is a closed, Adobe-controlled system."
"The Flash Player is part of a rich ecosystem of both open and proprietary technologies...The core engine of the Flash Player (AVM+) is open source and was donated to the Mozilla foundation where it is actively maintained. The file formats supported by the Flash Player, SWF and FLV/F4V, as well as the RTMP and AMF protocols are freely available and openly published. Anyone can use the specifications without requiring permission from Adobe. Third parties can and do build audio, video, and data services that compete with those from Adobe."
The one issue that Jobs brought up that Adobe can't really refute (and shouldn't) is the fact that it is cross-platform, and not designed specifically for Apple devices.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Qik shows impressive low latency two-way video chat on HTC EVO 4G

Posted: May 12th, 2010, 8:21pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Streaming video service Qik first debuted just over two years ago, letting users turn their smartphones into live webcams with just a simple app and a strong connection. Users can stream video from their phones live to Qik's site, but with considerable buffering.
However, with the growth of faster 4G connections, Qik has been able to put together a new two-way video chat app that lets users communicate in streaming video with very little latency.
The company showed off this new app tonight at Sprint's launch event for the HTC EVO 4G. The new two-way chat app won't ship with the device when it goes available on June 4th (for $199.99 + contract.) Instead, the device ships with the current Qik app for Android, and the new chat feature will come later as an upgrade.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

HTC Corporation - 4G - Android - Sprint Nextel - Sprint
Emergency LTE broadband networks approved for construction in 21 markets

Posted: May 12th, 2010, 1:15pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Part of the national broadband plan includes the construction of a nationwide 700MHz broadband network specifically for emergency first responders. Until now, there are no broadband connection services specifically for public safety, and they have been limited to commercial services.
Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted conditional approval of 21 petitions filed by cities, counties and states looking for waivers to move forward with the construction of regional interoperable wireless broadband networks. The Commission requires these broadband networks to be deployed under a common interoperability framework in coordination with the FCC's Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC). Under this framework, all networks will be technologically compatible and interoperable.
They require use of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, they must support certain applications, including access to the Internet, to an incident command system, and to field-based server applications; and include a certain level of security.
The petitions approved today included entire states, some single cities, and some regional areas.
States: Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Hawaii, Oregon, and the District of Columbia Counties: Adams County, CO; Los Angeles County, CA Cities: Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chesapeake, VA; New York, NY; Pembroke Pines, FL; San Antonio, TX; Seattle, WA; Mesa, AZ Regions: Northern California Consortium (Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose,) Wisconsin Consortium (Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago Counties,) and TOPAZ Regional Wireless Cooperative (Arizona.)
"Today's action brings America significantly closer to creating a nationwide public safety broadband network that will enable first responders to quickly communicate and share critical, time-sensitive information with each other during emergencies," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. "We stand ready to assist public safety in their efforts to maximize the federal resources available to them to deploy these mobile broadband networks across the nation."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
HTC sues Apple to block sales of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch in U.S.

Posted: May 12th, 2010, 12:25pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In March, Apple sued smartphone maker HTC for 20 counts of patent infringement, alleging the company had "stolen [its] patented inventions" for the iPhone.
Today, HTC fired back at Apple in the same fashion, filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to stop the sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States. The complaint accuses Apple of five counts of infringement.
"As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible," said a statement from Jason Mackenzie, HTC's vice president of North America today. "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows Mobile 6.5 may suck, but Microsoft is hoping free Office Mobile will stop users from switching phones before Windows Phone 7 is ready

Posted: May 12th, 2010, 10:32am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

There is a lot of anticipation for Windows Phone 7, but little reason for new phone buyers to pick up a Windows Phone right now. Even with the extremely attractive and powerful HTC HD2, users won't be able to upgrade their devices to Windows Phone 7 when the new OS hits the market at the end of this year. It's quite a dead end.
Therefore, Microsoft has been working on sweetening up the Windows Mobile 6 environment by dishing out free software. Yesterday, the Redmond company announced that Windows Mobile 6.x users would be getting turn-by-turn navigation for free, today, the software giant announced that Office Mobile 2010 is now a free upgrade for all Windows Mobile 6.5 users with the previous version of Office Mobile.
Office Mobile 2010 for WM6.5 includes new mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace, which have all been redesigned to be more touch-friendly and offer more control over documents.
The free Office Mobile 2010 for Windows Mobile 6.5 is available in the Windows Phone Marketplace.
"With SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010 and PowerPoint Mobile 2010 I can access, edit and save changes to a presentation, all while offline, and know the changes will update back to the server. For example, I have access to links and documents from my SharePoint sites and I can select a PowerPoint presentation to view offline on my phone," Augusto Valdez wrote in the Windows Phone team blog today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Microsoft Word - HTC HD2 - Microsoft Office Mobile - Windows Mobile 6.5
What about the WiMAX networks that aren't Sprint/Clearwire?

Posted: May 11th, 2010, 1:10pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

With Clearwire and Sprint pushing for mobile WiMAX coverage in 80 U.S. markets by the end of 2010, and promising three new WiMAX-powered smartphones in the near future, it's easy to lose sight of the wireless technology as a solution for rural residential broadband.
Today, Kansas Broadband Internet (KBI) announced it is moving ahead with the construction of its own WiMAX network with PureWave as the exclusive hardware provider. The finished network will cover 18 counties, and more than 12,000 square miles. With only 33 residents per square mile, Kansas is one of the United States' ten least densely populated states.
In such sparsely populated areas, WiMAX is an economical solution for reaching the most residents with the least amount of infrastructure. KBI today said that a single base station with six antennas can deliver a 15-mile range of service.
"As we migrate our wireless network from proprietary equipment to more advanced and capable mobile WiMAX technology, we need a solution that is powerful, simple to deploy, easy to maintain and cost effective all at the same time," said Lee Miller, President and CEO of KBI. "We...are now able to deliver such advanced services as streaming video to customers located 7.5 miles away from the base station in a non-line of site environment. We are reaching customers we were never able to serve before."
Instead of deploying in rural areas, Sprint and Clearwire thus far have concentrated on deploying WiMAX in urban areas and major air travel hubs. Sprint Nextel's very own hometown is Kansas City, and the telecommunications company is the number one employer of Kansas residents (according to the Kansas City Business Journal Book of Lists, 2007.) The company has still not officially provided a launch date for Kansas City's WiMAX network. In all likelihood, the Sprint 4G network will launch well before KBI's WiMAX network, possibly as early as this summer.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Like Google and Nokia, Microsoft starts to offer free navigation for its phones

Posted: May 11th, 2010, 11:41am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google began offering free turn-by-turn navigation with Android 2.0 in late 2009, and Nokia announced at the beginning of 2010 that Ovi Maps navigation would be free on all its future handsets. Today Microsoft announced that it is following suit with free turn-by-turn navigation for Windows 6.x and up phones, powered by Bing Maps.
When getting directions with Bing, there will now be a "Navigate" button which starts the turn-by-turn voice navigation. The voice navigation feature was developed by the Microsoft Tellme team.
Phones initially compatible with the new free navigation service include: HTC Fuze, HTC Pure, HTC HD2, HTC Tilt 2, HTC Touch Diamond 2, HTC Touch HD, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch Pro 2, Motorola Q9c, Samsung Jack, Samsung Omnia II, Samsung Propel, and T-Mobile Dash 3G.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Verizon shows 8.55Mbps speeds in 4G LTE trial

Posted: May 11th, 2010, 9:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Verizon Wireless recently published a marketing video that covers the company's LTE trial deployment in Boston, Massachusetts, and though the majority of the video is dedicated to consumer reactions, there is a brief glimpse of the system running at an average 8.55 Megabits per second downstream and 2.80 Megabits per second upstream.
These speeds are actually a bit lower than those reportedly attainable on the first commercial LTE deployment in Scandinavia. The LTE deployment in Sweden reportedly never exceeded 12Mbps downlink and 5Mbps uplink when tested by management consulting firm Northstream in January.
Verizon completed its first LTE trials in Boston and Seattle late in the summer of 2009, and expects to make it commercially available in 25 to 30 markets by the fourth quarter of 2010.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Maxed out in financial software, Intuit jumps into healthcare with $91m buy of Medfusion

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 3:37pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last week, we took a look at Mint's new app for Android, which lets users track their finances and budget on their mobile device in a safe, read-only app. Mint.com was acquired by Intuit Software in late 2009, meshing the free, Web-based personal finance service with Intuit's portfolio of financial, accounting, and budgeting services.
Today, Intuit announced it is expanding further into online healthcare services with its acquisition of North Carolina company Medfusion for an estimated $91 million in cash.
Intuit first debuted the Quicken Medical Expense Tracker in 2005; and in mid-2007, the company officially launched Quicken Health, an online tool for CIGNA Healthcare members. Before ending his eight year stint as CEO of Intuit in late 2007, Steve Bennet told the New York Times that the company was looking to branch out from its Small Business and Consumer Tax businesses into two new areas, one of which was likely healthcare.
This is Intuit's first major healthcare acquisition.
Medfusion offers systems that let healthcare institutions communicate directly and discreetly with patients, and lets patients schedule appointments, pay bills, request prescription refills, complete medical forms, review lab results and clinical summaries, and receive reminders for all of the above.
Ultimately, all of these solutions will be built into Quicken Health, and Stephen Malik, Medfusion's founder and CEO will become a senior vice president and general manager and will lead Intuit's healthcare business.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Twitter resets follow lists to zero because of 'auto-follow' bug

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 11:14am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

A few quick articles popped up in tech blogs this afternoon which confirmed a serious flaw in the Twitter follow system. Notably, the Gizmodo article entitled "How to Force Anyone to Follow you on Twitter," showed that by simply typing "accept [username]" into the Twitter Web interface, you could turn anyone into your Twitter follower.
Immediately, users began turning celebrity Twitter users into their followers. Former late night talk show host Conan O'Brien, who makes a point of only following one person, immediately began following hundreds of profiles.
Once the Web caught onto the bug, Twitter reset everyone's follow lists to zero and confirmed that it was working on a fix.
On Twitter's status blog, it says, "We identified and resolved a bug that permitted a user to 'force' other users to follow them. We're now working to rollback all abuse of the bug that took place. Follower/following numbers are currently at 0; we're aware and this too should shortly be resolved."
The best part about this bug is the way it was reportedly discovered. According to a Mashable article this afternoon, a Turkish Twitter user found when he had posted "Accept pwnz" (in reference to the 80's metal band named Accept,) the user @pwnz was automatically added as a follower.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Twitter - Conan O'Brien - Talk show - Online Communities - Social Networking
Android usurps iPhone in market share

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 9:42am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Android is now the number two smartphone operating system in market share behind BlackBerry, NPD Group's Wireless Market Research report said today. This is the first time Google's open mobile platform has passed Apple's iPhone OS in market share since it debuted in October 2008.
According to NPD's data, BlackBerry still leads the smartphone market with 36% penetration, followed by Android with 28% and then iPhone with 21%.
A major factor contributing to Android's growth was the debut of devices running the operating system on Verizon Wireless. The United States' number two wireless network operator actually had smartphone sales almost as high as market leader AT&T, NPD's data says, trailing by just 2%. And one Android device on Verizon, the Motorola Droid, has been leading the charge.
Mobile analytics company Flurry published a report in March which found that the Motorola Droid sold 1.05 million units in the first 74 days, faster than the original iPhone did at its launch. The success of the device has been linked to the timing of the launch --during the holiday buying season-- and the huge advertising push from Verizon, which ushered in the oft-repeated "Droid Does" slogan.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Google - Apple - Droid - Verizon Wireless - Motorola
WiGig publishes 7Gbps wireless home networking spec

Posted: May 10th, 2010, 9:07am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Exactly one year after making its public debut, the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (also known as WiGig) has published its spec for the unlicensed 60 GHz band, which it is pushing as a new, faster standard for home networking.
The 60 GHz WiGig spec is not meant to be a replacement to current 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi technologies, but instead to act as a complement that is targeted to devices requiring gigabit speeds, like HD video. While the new spec supports data transfer rates up to 7 Gbps, the high absorption of 60 GHz waves make it suitable only for short-distance communication.
In addition to publishing the first WiGig spec today, the group announced the participation of some new partners, including Cisco, Samsung Electromechanics, Harman International, Peraso Technologies, and the Wi-Fi Alliance.
The Wi-Fi Alliance and the WiGig Alliance today said they will share technology specs for the development of a new Wi-Fi certification program that includes the 60 GHz WiGig band. This will eventually mean tri-band routers which offer faster speeds, but backward compatibility.
"Now that our specification is complete and published, it's time to set our sights on driving a great user experience through interoperability and certification," said Dr. Ali Sadri, President and Chairman of the WiGig Alliance today. "We are happy to work with the Wi-Fi Alliance to extend multi-gigabit capabilities to the Wi-Fi technology portfolio."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Wireless Gigabit Alliance - Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi Alliance - Peraso Technologies - WiGig Alliance
Warner cheapens and expands DVD-to-Blu-ray exchange program

Posted: May 7th, 2010, 1:50pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At about this time last year, Warner Brothers began an exchange program called Red2Blu that swapped HD DVDs for Blu-Ray discs, letting consumers trade their unsupported Warner Brothers HD DVDs and $4.95 for the same title on Blu-ray.
About six months later, the studio unveiled a similar project called DVD2Blu that let consumers trade in their standard DVDs (and $7.95-$9.95) for a Blu-ray upgrade. The upgrade program included 55 Warner Brothers titles.
This week, Warner grew the exchange program to include 75 titles, and dropped the cost of many exchanges to just $4.95.
As the cutting edge of the industry is firmly focused on 3D-capable home systems and their related accessories, consumers are still catching up to the HD generation. This month's Consumer Technology Household Online Penetration Study from the NPD Group found that even though the number of households supporting Blu-ray has doubled over the last year, it's still only at 11% market penetration.
Flat-panel televisions, by comparison, have already reached 64% penetration, according to the NPD survey.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Borders finally jumps into e-reader market, launches Kobo

Posted: May 7th, 2010, 10:50am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Borders, the United States' second largest bookstore chain behind Barnes and Noble, announced it is now taking pre-orders on its Kobo e-reader, which will arrive on June 17.
At $149.99, the Kobo is considerably cheaper than Barnes & Noble's nook and Amazon's Kindle, both of which retail for $259.00, and it comes pre-loaded with 100 classic books. Borders has not yet launched its cross-platform eBook store, but says it will be open in June when Kobo ships.
"We are giving consumers the flexibility to read the content they want on a variety of devices of their choosing. The Borders eBook store will be positioned as a device-agnostic, content-focused destination with expertise from decades of deep book knowledge and experience. We'll also have a strong in-store digital presence through our Area-e boutiques, which will launch in August," Borders Group Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Edwards said today. "It's a niche position within our industry and one where we fully intend to leverage our knowledge and products to serve the growing eReading needs of our customers."
Though Borders has not published what format its e-bookstore will support, Kobo only supports ePub, PDF, and Adobe DRM e-books. The support for Adobe-protected books is a clear indication of what we can expect from Borders, and e-Books supporting the technology can be shared with up to 6 devices authorized to the same account.
Unfortunately, Kobo does not have Wi-Fi or 3G wireless connectivity. It does, however, have a Bluetooth radio, which lets users pair their Kobo with BlackBerry smartphones running the Kobo eReader app (which is available across many mobile platforms). Like Kindle, this lets users pass their content over to their smartphone to continue reading if their e-reader is not handy. Other specs for the device are modest; it offers 1 GB of built-in storage and has an SD card slot for expansion, promises a 2-week charge or 8000 page flips, and has a weight nearly 100 grams less than the nook.
Pre-orders for Kobo can be placed today on Borders' Web site.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Nokia sues Apple again, this time over iPad

Posted: May 7th, 2010, 9:59am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Late in 2009, leading telecommunications company Nokia sued Apple, alleging that the iPhone infringed upon ten of Nokia's patents, most of which revolved around the fundamental wireless technologies used in the device.
Now, the Finnish company has filed another suit against Apple, this time in the Federal District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin. There, Nokia is accusing Apple of five additional counts of patent infringement in both the iPhone and the iPad 3G.
Nokia says the patents in this suit relate to technologies for enhanced speech and data transmission, using positioning data in applications and innovations in antenna configurations that improve performance and save space, allowing smaller and more compact devices.
"We have taken this step to protect the results of our pioneering development and to put an end to continued unlawful use of Nokia's innovation," Paul Melin, General Manager, Patent Licensing at Nokia said in a prepared remark today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Apple - Nokia - IPad - United States district court
Samsung releases Bada SDK in advance of first Bada phone

Posted: May 7th, 2010, 9:42am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

ComScore's most recent MobiLens market data ranks Samsung as the top mobile original equipment manufacturer in the United States with 21.9% of the mobile market, a tie with Motorola.
Samsung is attempting to use its lead to advance its own open mobile operating system, called Bada, which the company launched back in November. In February, Samsung started showing off its first device running Bada, the 3.3-inch super AMOLED-eqipped Wave, but the device has not been released yet.
So in advance of the device, Samsung this week made the first version of the Bada SDK available for download to registered Samsung developers. Bada's development environment is based on C and C++, whereas the iPhone's programming language is Objective-C, and Android's is Java (although the Android NDK allows C/C++ coding).
Samsung says the SDK includes: an integrated development environment, Simulator, UI builder, sample applications, documentation, and tutorials.
The Bada SDK beta can be downloaded from the Bada Developer site.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Android - Bada - United States - Samsung - Java
Google Goggles expands to include optical text translation

Posted: May 6th, 2010, 3:24pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google Goggles, the optical search tool released for Android last December received a significant update today which improves the app in a number of ways; including giving it the ability to recognize and translate languages.
Currently, the optical character recognition of Goggles is limited to five languages with Latin-based alphabets: English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. When you snap a picture of text, the app scans the content and offers a translation window where you can choose what language you want the text to be translated into. In Google's mobile blog today, Software Engineers Alessandro Bissacco and Avi Flamholz said the goal is to eventually be able to read non-Latin languages like Chinese, Arabic and Hindi.
We tested the new functionality today, and it worked largely without issue. An unexpected bonus of the software we found is that it can actually work as a complement to Google's Web-based translator when using your PC. If you've translated a site through Google, text in Flash panels is not translated. So when you connect to a Flash-heavy site in another language, Google Translate really doesn't do much. However, if you snap a picture of your screen, you can translate Flash-based content.
This version also improves the overall functionality of Goggles, tweaking the user interface significantly with a new crop tool. This tool lets the user focus on a specific area and ignore the surroundings, a feature extremely useful for the new optical character recognition feature.
If the user has an Android device with a flash, he can now choose to turn it on or off; searches can now be done of items in the phone's photo gallery, and the database of artwork, products, and logos has grown to improve search results.
Google Goggles is available for download in the Android Market, and is a definite must-have for any user of the platform.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Sprint announces $25 unlimited data plan, new pay-by-the-minute network

Posted: May 6th, 2010, 12:31pm MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Mobile network operator Sprint has been wrangling the prepaid wireless business since well before its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA last year. While the network consistently lost "postpaid" contract subscribers, it consistently gained more prepaid customers than any other major mobile carrier.
In the company's earnings call two weeks ago, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said "I think we're really going to start to pick up prepaid momentum in the second half of the year … Prepaid, in terms of its percentage of the overall wireless industry, is going to grow, so our turnaround is really focused on prepaid becoming a more and more important part of the company and doing better in that market."
Today, Sprint announced the brand strategy for prepaid wireless moving forward, who it will apply to, and how much they will offer.
The Virgin Mobile USA brand will continue to be focused on the younger crowd of users who text more than they talk. Plans will revolve around unlimited data, messaging and email with no incremental fees and taxes.
New Virgin Mobile Plans
- $25 -- 300 voice minutes, unlimited messaging, email, data
- $40 -- 1,200 voice minutes, unlimited messaging, email, data
- $60 -- Unlimited voice, messaging, email, data
- $10 -- Blackberry data service charge
Additionally, Sprint today talked more about plans to launch a new "pay-by-the-minute" mobile brand targeting customers who spend less than $30 per month on mobile service. The company said roughly 63% of the no-contract market chooses to pay by the minute or by the day, so it will be launching this new brand in approximately 16 markets later this month. It still does not have a name, and the markets where it will launch have not been specified. Further information from Sprint is pending.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
The first international non-Latin top level domains go live

Posted: May 6th, 2010, 9:58am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has finally begun to enable top-level domain names based on non-Latin alphabets. The first three country code top level domains (ccTLD) written in Arabic script are now available for use.
The three new top-level domains are: "Al-Saudiah," "Emarat, and "Misr," and they allow site names to be written right-to-left.
ICANN began testing internationalized domain name (IDN) back in the Fall of 2006, and tested 11 languages -- Arabic, Persian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Russian, Hindi, Greek, Korean, Yiddish, Japanese and Tamil.
"ICANN staff are still finishing the processing of these domain's delegations, but now that they are visible in the root zone it is fair to say these are mostly formalities. The remaining tasks include final technical verifications, updating the IANA WHOIS database and publishing the delegation reports," the ICANN blog said yesterday. "Now the hard work happens in the countries which have their new IDN ccTLDs. They will now commence their own processes to launch the domains in a way that gives their communities access to put them to day-to-day use."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

ICANN - Domain name - Top-level domain - Internationalized domain name - Country code top-level domain
Clearwire adds 19 more cities in 4G expansion, two new 4G phones

Posted: May 5th, 2010, 6:33pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

WiMAX is indeed gaining momentum as the United States' first and only commercially available "4G" wireless technology.
In its earnings report for Q1 2010 today, network operator Clearwire added 19 cities to its list of upcoming 4G deployments: Nashville, Tennessee; Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Rochester and Syracuse, New York; Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Visalia, California; Wilmington, Delaware; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Eugene, Oregon; and Yakima and Tri-Cities, Washington.
Additionally, the company says it will have two new WiMAX-capable smartphones by the end of this year, an Android-powered 3G/4G/WiFi device from Samsung, and another from HTC with no specified platform that will definitely not be the EVO 4G.
Clearwire growth has snowballed. The company added 283,000 subscribers in the quarter, which is more than they added the entire year of 2009. This 94% growth brought the total number of subscribers to 971,000 at the end of March.
"Customer demand for 4G services is truly making 2010 the year of mobile broadband, as always-on true mobile broadband keeps people connected to the information, services and applications that matter most," said Bill Morrow, Clearwire's CEO.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Clearwire - WiMAX - United States - Washington - Network
Review: Major League Baseball's Roku channel is not a complete solution

Posted: May 5th, 2010, 1:25pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Owners of the Roku Netflix set-top box have had an MLB.tv icon on their home screen since August 2009. The logo on the screen originally included a message saying the service would launch with the beginning of baseball's spring training season. MLB.tv subscribers would pay either $99.95 or $119.95 per year to have access to full streaming versions of available pre-season, and then every in-season Major League Baseball game as they happened, with local blackout exceptions. For big baseball fans, it is an excellent package.
But when spring training started, the service was still being beta tested and non-testers couldn't access it. Then the service's opening message changed to say it would be ready to launch on opening day. But when opening day rolled around, the MLB.tv message on the Roku home screen changed again to "Tune in in Mid-April."
On April 22, Sony and Major League Baseball launched an impressive version of the streaming MLB.tv service designed exclusively for the PlayStation 3. Users would be able to watch games on either their home or away feeds in 720p, with a full calendar scheduling system to help them catch all the games they want to watch. At that point, Roku's MLB.tv interface still wasn't ready.
Just under a week later, the service went live on Roku, and an announcement was sent out to subscribers full of caveats warning of potential quirks in the service.
Now that MLB.TV has been live for a week, Betanews has had a chance to use it, and here's our judgment: If you are a Roku owner and not MLB.tv subscriber already, don't subscribe just for the Roku app. If you're an MLB.tv subscriber looking to bring the experience to your TV, consider the PlayStation 3 application first.
The channel's interface is identical to all the other services on Roku, it's clean and simple to understand, but mostly lacks animation.
When you select a game, you can opt to watch the home team's TV feed, or the away team's, denoted by station call signs in the picture above.
When live games go to commercial, the MLB.tv app reverts to the "commercial break" screen. A user of the service recently reported to us that the Flash-based MLB.tv PC application has been randomly injecting targeted advertisements into streams there.
The DVR Function lets you choose the innings that have already happened, and you can skip through the commercial breaks.
Local games are blacked out until 90 minutes after broadcast, then they can be watched in DVR mode. National games, furthermore, such as Fox's Game of the Week, are also blacked out. These games are expected to include the Playoffs and World Series.
Only the score and the current pitcher and hitter can be seen if you click on a blacked out game. There is no box score, and you cannot tune into the audio-only feed like you can on the desktop application.
When you select a game that has already begun, but has not yet finished, you can choose to start from the beginning, go to the current live position, or view by inning.
If you click on "go to live" after a game has already begun, you're given some flexibility in playback.
In the end, Roku's MLB.tv interface is not a complete service. Instead, it acts as a complement to the MLB.tv Web interface, which offers many more viewing options, such as multiple simultaneous streams, picture-in-picture, and radio play-by-play feeds.
In addition to Major League Baseball, Roku partnered with the National Basketball Association for the NBA Game Time channel, which is dedicated to providing Roku customers with highlights, updates, and summaries of the NBA Playoff games. Roku has not announced whether this will become a service offering full live games like MLB.tv.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Don't be fooled, Microsoft's KIN is not just for teenagers

Posted: May 5th, 2010, 9:42am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Starting tomorrow (May 6th,) Microsoft's new KIN phones will be available through Verizon Wireless' website, and in stores on May 13th. The first two devices, logically named KIN one and KIN two, are geared toward the always-connected individual interested in social networking and sharing. Their feature sets fall somewhere between feature phone and smartphone, but the user experience is completely new.
That experience could actually be described as a combination of Windows Live and Zune. Users sync all of their social network and exchange data with their Windows Live account and with their cloud-based KIN Studio, which keeps an archive of all the pictures and videos they share.
Though it has been widely assumed that KIN is geared more toward the generation that has existed entirely inside social networks, it is all a matter of the user's demands. If you are the type to snap pictures of everything you come across, whether or not you choose to share the 5-8MP photos on social networks, KIN Studio will still prove an extremely handy feature since it seamlessly backs up your content to the cloud. Also, if you're a Zune Pass subscriber and fan of Verizon's 3G network, the KIN will give you access to streaming music wherever there's a VZW signal.
In short, there's a definite audience for the KIN and it's not limited to teenagers. Especially since the devices are priced in the range of most advanced feature phones. KIN one will be available for $49.99, and KIN TWO for $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and new two-year customer agreement with Verizon Wireless.
The Price-to-features ratio remains the only issue with KIN at present. These devices will require the same minimum data plan that Verizon requires of smartphone owners, yet the devices carry fewer features of smartphones such as the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. After HP announced it was acquiring Palm, these advanced smartphones were knocked down to just $29.99.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

PalmPre - Verizon Wireless - Microsoft - Smartphone - Palm Pixi
Pay attention! It's a pivotal time for 4G

Posted: May 4th, 2010, 2:56pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The last two major WiMAX expansions for Sprint and Clearwire were somewhat understated events. At the end of March, Houston became the seventh Texas city to have its 4G network switched on; and last weekend, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Reading and York launched their networks to cover southeastern Pennsylvania.
Clearwire expects more than 80 markets to be completed this year, but has not officially announced which markets these will be in a comprehensive list. Last year, the company said the rollout would include Boston, Denver, San Francisco, New York, and Washington DC; and at CTIA this year, it added Cincinnati, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, and St. Louis to the list.
At the same time, Clearwire also announced that it would be increasing speeds with a different signal processing technology, and increasing the capacity of its microwave backhaul networks by 250%.
Tomorrow at 4:30 pm EST, Clearwire Corporation is scheduled to hold its earnings call for the first quarter of 2010. In the past, the company has given investors a crisper picture of what they can expect to come in the year, so we think tomorrow we're going to get a good progress update on the company's network deployment. Clearwire CEO William Morrow made some enticing remarks to the press about having meetings with potential new partners and investors at CTIA, so new partnerships could conceivably be announced tomorrow as well.
Furthermore, Betanews will be taking another look next week at the upcoming HTC EVO 4G -- the first smartphone capable of utilizing Sprint and Clearwire's growing WiMAX network. Both HTC and Sprint let us handle the device at CTIA in March, but only in a limited capacity. Next week's event will be a Sprint affair, presumably to officially launch the device with a real price tag.
However, the most interesting thing about next week's Sprint get-together could prove to be the fact that it's in New York City, and it could mean that WiMAX in the Big Apple is finally ready for launch.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google tells which versions of Android are most common

Posted: May 3rd, 2010, 5:40pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The Android Team today published a snapshot of the platform which shows the versions of Android most commonly in use. Though the platform is frequently criticized for being highly fragmented, there are three versions used far more than the rest.
Out of the six supported versions of Android, it is a close three-way split between 1.5 (37.2%), 1.6 (29.4%), and 2.1 (32.4%). Version 1.1, 2.0, and 2.0.1 combined only make up 1% of Android users.
Of course, these numbers aren't an absolute representation of the platform, because the data is based on the number of devices that accessed the Android Market between April 19 and May 3, 2010. But as we saw with the Camangi Webstation tablet, not all Android devices are sold with access to the Android market.
The Android team puts out this data to help app developers assess the Android landscape and decide which API levels to use when building their apps. There were complaints last week that Twitter neglected the majority of Android users by making its official Android app for 2.0 and up, and this data appears to support the complaints.
Last time we looked at this data back in December, Android 1.6 was the most common version by far, with nearly 86% of all devices running that version.
Google's Android data from December 2009
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
For crowdsourced music to work, legalities must be simple, says startup Musikpitch

Posted: May 3rd, 2010, 4:00pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Two weeks ago, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) held its Music Creator Conference at Los Angeles' Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Highlights of the conference included sessions with music celebrities John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Quincy Jones, and Rupert Hine (who produced albums for Rush, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Suzanne Vega, and dozens more). The messages from all of these professionals, as summed up by Paul Zollo in American Songwriter this week, were all variations of the same theme...
Mayer: "The most important thing...is to enjoy the journey."
Hine: "Success has to do with success as an artist, with expressing yourself was well as you can."
Jones: "Allow your love to drive your life and that's what will make it worthwhile. "
A friend of mine who has been publishing music for the last decade translated the message of these musical luminaries to me in a slightly different tongue: "Learn to like getting f***ed."
From his perspective, there is no way to write, publish, and sell your own music online without passing money along to someone else in the chain. When artists get involved with major labels, they're often only taking a tiny fraction of the money being made.
The research firm Information is Beautiful recently put out a shocking infographic that shows just how much music an artist has to sell to earn minimum wage. In it, it compares independent CD sales with label-backed retail CD sales and MP3 downloads, as well as other revenue streams.
In retail CD sales, the artist makes 30¢ per disc while the label makes $2.00. In iTunes, the artist makes 94¢ when the label makes $6.29. The streaming model used by Rhapsody, Spotify, and Last.fm is included in the comparison and is even worse, requiring between 800,000 and 4 million streams per month just for the artist to make as much as he'd be making working at a retail job.
And then there are the artists who actually have to work retail jobs. How does anybody make any money?
There's always the job of songwriting for others. Musikpitch, a just-launched Nashville startup that applies the crowdsourcing model to songwriting gives composers the potential to score cash for their music up front.
Members who need a song for their movie, video game, commercial, TV show, etc., pay $39 for a listing on Musikpitch that describes what kind of music they need for their project, and how much they're willing to pay for it. This listing then becomes a "contest" for the musicians who have about 14 days to submit their compositions to the contest. The one the contest holder likes the best gets the prize money plus 50% of any performance/mechanical royalties, which are then paid out by rights groups like ASCAP or BMI.
If the contest holder pays more than $5,000 for the song, he gets exclusive rights to it. If he pays less, he gets a non-exclusive license which lets Musikpitch license the same song to another user if someone else wants it. The service also charges contest holders a 10% handling fee.
No other users except the contest holder can actually hear the submissions, and if your submission doesn't win the contract, you retain 100% of your rights and are free to submit it to as many different projects as you want, free of charge.
"We looked at the crowdsource design sites, saw their best practices, read their histories, and read their feedback. 99designs and Crowdspring are obviously the biggest of these types of sites, and we actually used both of them for our logo and Web site design," Musikpitch founder Scott McIntosh told Betanews over the weekend. "Honestly, it was a very easy design to adopt, and we wondered why nobody had already used it for music."
McIntosh told us he had the idea for the site on January 3, and it was officially launched late last Thursday. While there are similar services already such as Minimum Noise, and Taxi, they charge musicians membership and submission fees, and unique licensing deals are drafted for every contest. McIntosh feels the flat rate will work a lot better for his site, and its straightforward nature prevents confusion.
"Not everybody reads EULAs," McIntosh said. "And it's really hard to make a kind of 'lesser document' that effectively summarizes all the legalities of licensing, so it's all got to be right out there."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows 7 has overtaken Vista in OS share, says study

Posted: May 3rd, 2010, 8:18am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Denver-based technology research firm Janco Partners, Inc. today released a study profiling the international browser and operating system market.
The study shows that in the less than seven months that Windows 7 has been available, it has already attained a 14.8% share of the international OS market.
"There are now more users of Windows 7 than Vista. That is a major factor in their improved record earnings. The last OS that was accepted as quickly in the market was XP," Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis said in a statement today. "Vista's market share has peaked, and is in the process of being decommissioned in most enterprises."
"The last six months have been a mixed bag for Microsoft," Janulaitis added. "While they have good news on the OS front, their browser market share has fallen to the level that it was in 1998."
These decreased levels are no doubt related to Microsoft's unbundling of Internet Explorer in Windows 7 in Europe.
But despite any decreases, Janco still places Internet Explorer at the top of the market with a massive 67.73% usage share. Firefox comes in a distant second place with 17.88%.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Microsoft - Operating system - Internet Explorer - Windows XP - Windows Vista
Apple says iPad is a million-seller

Posted: May 3rd, 2010, 7:48am MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In the 28 days between April 3 and April 30, Apple sold one million iPads, the Cupertino company announced this morning.
"One million iPads in 28 days -- that's less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone," said oft-quoted Apple CEO Steve Jobs today. "Demand continues to exceed supply and we're working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers."
Twenty-eight days, however, may not be an accurate figure. When Apple announced its first day iPad sales exceeded 300,000 units, the company took into account all of the pre-orders which began coming in on March 12. If this is the case with today's figures, Apple actually counted 49 days worth of sales.
In early April, before the 3G-equipped iPads were released, the company averaged about 17,307 iPads per day. According to today's figures, Apple was selling an average of 35,714 units per day. If the company included the pre-order period into its calculations, the daily average would soften considerably to 20,408 units per day.
Days to One Million (Stats: Apple)
- iPhone- 74
- iPhone 3G-3
- iPhone 3GS- 3
- iPad- 28
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

iPhone - Apple - Steve Jobs - IPad - Apple CEO Steve Jobs
Mint.com: "Android is just more logical"

Posted: May 3rd, 2010, 7:01am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Web-based financial planning service Mint.com had an iPhone app available a full year before it was acquired by Mountain View software company Intuit in late 2009. Today, the company has finally released a version of its personal budgeting app in the Android Market.
Like its iPhone counterpart, Mint for Android gives users mobile access to all of the banking, investment, and budgetary records that Mint.com organizes for them, but it adds features that are unique to the Android platform. These include: a home screen widget that gives a real-time view of the user's overall cash flow, a live folder dedicated to all the user's recent transactions, and the ability to make the user's Mint.com data searchable in the Quick Search box. The entire app can then be equipped with a four-digit PIN number so the user's financial data won't be exposed if his phone is lost or stolen.
Atish Mehta, mobile engineer at Mint.com, talked with Betanews about the design of the Android app versus the now year-and-a-half old iPhone app.
"It's our belief that Android is only going to continue to get more popular, and that it will come close to the iPhone," Mehta said. "Other developers shared with us the experiences they had working on the Android platform. They said it had a good SDK, and that the APIs were well organized, and we heard that other platforms...which I won't name...happen to be much more of a pain to work with."
So does that mean it lived up to the expectations that the Mint mobile team had?
"I found it to be a good experience," Mehta said. "There were a couple hiccups, but overall it was good...The interface designer is better on iPhone, but it's actually much easier to develop on Android. It's just more logical, and it's organized better. Plus, there's more community support to help out when you have questions. Personally, I'm excited about the openness of the marketplace. We can push our app out on Monday and it will show up the same day. There's none of the indefinite waiting for someone else to evaluate the app."
But with fewer guidelines to follow, and a lack of an evaluative body for apps, the Android market is free to contain as many of low quality applications as developers care to submit. There are already a large number of apps which are so poor that they should not be downloaded by anyone. I asked Mehta if the lack of a quality policeman is one reason why he feels Android app creation is easier.
"We had to think about what's best overall with Android. When designing the app, we saw three points which were really cool for users [widgets, live folders, and global search], but they each represented a security concern," he said. "The app is audited by independent security firms, and they use the source code and do whatever they can to access the data. Then they give us recommendations for security. In the end, we let the user decide whether or not to expose data in these three areas in the settings menu, and whether or not they want to apply the password feature."
"For us, we sweat the details whether or not there are strict guidelines on content and design," Mehta said. "Because ultimately, even if app developers don't have those guidelines, they shouldn't slack. They are making a product for the users, regardless."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Android - iPhone - Android Market - Handhelds - Intuit
Sarah Palin hacker convicted

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 6:18pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In late 2008, David C. Kennel obtained the Yahoo e-mail address of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and then used simple deduction to answer the "challenge question" that would grant access to her password and subsequently to her e-mail inbox.
Kennel, son of Tennessee Democratic state representative Mike Kennel, got access to Palin's Yahoo e-mail account while the former Governor was on the Republican presidential campaign trail with Arizona Senator John McCain. Kennel posted some of the contents of Palin's e-mail account online, including both "work-related" and personal information, such as the mobile phone number of her daughter Bristol Palin.
Today, the 22-year-old was convicted by a federal jury of one count of misdemeanor unauthorized access to obtain information from a computer, and one count of obstruction of justice. He was found not guilty of wire fraud, and the identity theft charge was dropped after that portion was declared a mistrial.
Kennel faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine for accessing Palin's e-mail account, reading the contents, taking screenshots of e-mails and personal information, and posting them on the Internet.
The obstruction of justice charge is a bit more serious. After Kennel learned of a possible FBI investigation into his behavior, he deleted records and documents that pointed to him. For doing this, his charge is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
If Kennel was found guilty of all four of the charges, he would have faced up to 50 years in prison.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Bristol Palin - Yahoo - Sarah Palin - Republican - Identity theft
Twitter finally releases its official Android app

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 5:31pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

It's been quite a week for Android apps. It started with the early release of two major browsers and has closed out with the release of the platform's first official Twitter app.
Until now, Android has been a battleground for third-party Twitter solutions with more than 20 major competitors jockeying to be the "most official" Twitter app for the platform.
But this is undoubtedly one of the cleanest looking Twitter apps available, and certainly the one most tightly woven into the Android architecture.
In Twitter's blog today, Leland Rechis wrote, "When apps work well with each other, sharing becomes as second nature on machines as it does in person. The Android platform is really good at that, and we've worked with the Android team to make it super easy to share what's happening."
So the team worked with Google to create the app, but unfortunately the final product is only available on devices running version 2.1 and up. Rechis reminded users of older Android versions that they can always use mobile.twitter.com.
Irrespective of the limited device support, this is a highly useful and enjoyable app to use. It comes with large and small homescreen widgets, the Twitter contact information of your friends can be integrated into your address book, the Google Talk app, or any app that uses the QuickContact bar which debuted in "Eclair" (Android 2.0). Photos uploaded to Twitpic or yfrog are presented as thumbnails in the Twitter timeline, and tweets that share the user's location can be immediately pulled up in the Google Maps application.
The app includes a handful of subtle animations such as the trending topics popping up as speech bubbles on the home screen, and a scrolling background of animated clouds. These can, of course, be turned off in the settings menu where the rest of the app's parameters such as notifications and query intervals can be controlled.
The official Twitter application for Android can be obtained freely in the Android Market right now.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010

Twitter - Google - Google Maps - TwitPic - Social Networking
Response to Jobs' remarks about Android porn: iPad 3G porn

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 1:40pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has made numerous disparaging remarks about Google's Android platform because of the availability of X-rated material on it, statements that obviously downplayed the ubiquity of pornography.
"You know, there's a porn store for Android," Jobs said. "You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That's a place we don't want to go -- so we're not going to go there."
Later, in one of Jobs' many emails to consumer media following the April 3 launch of the iPad, he repeated the sentiment, saying, "...we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone...Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone."
Today, as the 3G-equipped iPads have begun arriving, a press release hit the wires from an adult entertainment company by the name of Pink Visual, which said it was doing a "3G" iPad promotional photo campaign.
"The photo shoot was done as a lark, ['3G' in this case means 'three girls'] but it's also a way to draw attention the serious upgrades we've made to our iPad-related services since the iPad was first released earlier this month," a statement from Pink Visual Brand and Product Manager Kim Kysar said. "It's also in keeping with our overall corporate culture, which is equal parts goofball pornographer and serious tech geek."
The company has two sites optimized for iPad consumption, utilizing HTML 5, which Kysar says was done to "have the videos play in an overlay instead of opening in a separate player."
Let's consider the playing field even.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
New beta unshackles Mac users from iTunes' sync shortcomings

Posted: April 30th, 2010, 10:30am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Windows users have a lot of alternatives to the "mainstream" media players (Windows Media Player and iTunes). However, Mac OS users are not so fortunate. Aside from a couple of minor exceptions, Mac OS is an iTunes-dominated platform.
And as such, it means support for portable media players that don't have an "i" at the beginning of their name is scarce.
Mac users who carry a smartphone other than an iPhone or a media player other than an iPod don't exactly have the easiest time organizing and shifting their content from their computer to their mobile device.
It's part of the problem I talked about last December, when I wrote about the three main issues that have prevented smartphones from completely replacing dedicated personal media players like the iPod.
Among the three issues of limited battery life, limited storage capacity, and limited sync options, I consider sync to be the most important; and for Mac users, syncing a device other than an iPod or iPhone is really not an option.
Today, Instinctiv launched the beta of a new media player for Mac OS which takes a serious stab at remedying this problem.
The Instinctiv personalized media player supports portable devices that iTunes doesn't --such as those running Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian-- while supporting more than 50 file formats, including Windows Media files and those protected by Apple's FairPlay DRM.
This software is specifically geared toward Mac users who want to sync a device other than an iPod or iPhone.
"This market isn't just underserved, it's completely ignored!" Instinctiv CEO Aniq Rahman told us yesterday. "Apple has always given exclusive priority to their own products, but 85% of the international smartphone share is non-Apple devices. We're trying to cater to everybody, so they can sync all their devices with their Macs."
But the software isn't just meant to be a sync solution, it's also a standalone player that automatically fetches missing cover art, renames misspelled or untagged songs, lets users create playlists, and analyzes the user's listening behavior in shuffle mode with the company's smart shuffle technology which it first debuted as an iPhone app last year.
"Smart shuffle really eliminates the need to create playlists," Rahman said. "With the standard, random shuffle feature of media players, users skip every 1.5 songs. With iTunes Genius-enabled shuffle, users skip once every four songs. With Instinctiv shuffle, users skip once every 31 songs."
Instinctiv's smart shuffle can do a seeded shuffle which generates songs in a fashion similar to Pandora, or it can hone results as you go, based upon what you skip. For example, if you're not in the mood to listen to the fast and loud song that comes up in shuffle, you'll skip it and be given a song of a different mood.
Furthermore, Instinctiv is clean, small and purpose-oriented. As iTunes continues to grow into a solution for organizing all media -- music, HD video, apps, and now books -- it is turning into a pretty big piece of software. If you only want to organize and consume music, Instinctiv is a streamlined solution to do so. It can act as a standalone player and manager for all of your music files or as a companion to iTunes, with automatic support for playlists created in iTunes.
To download the beta of Instinctiv for Mac OS X 10.5+, visit Instinctiv's download site.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Software update may turn all Kindle users into a cloud-based book club

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 5:38pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Amazon posted an overview of what Kindle owners can expect in its version 2.5 software update now slated for late May.
This will be the first major feature upgrade to Amazon's e-paper device line since the launch of the Kindle DX last year. After the launch of that model, there was a single software update, which moderately improved the user experience by stretching battery life and adding native .PDF support.
But with that update, one hand gave while the other took away: It also turned off the default text-to-speech option, amid the disputes it caused with the Author's Guild. In the meantime, however, Amazon was busy growing the Kindle platform with applications that allowed the consumption of Kindle-formatted e-books on iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Windows, and Mac OS devices.
The slow pace of innovation for the e-reader made me wonder last month if Amazon was already forgetting about the hardware that launched the whole Kindle brand.
Fortunately, it's not. And the 2.5 software update will add exciting and long- overdue features to the device.
Firstly, the native PDF reading function added in the v.2.3 software update was mostly useless because you could not pan and zoom within the frame to read your files. (I put a lot of vintage video game magazine scans in my Kindle, but they're all unreadable because each page is zoomed to format the screen and the text is tiny.) With the v.2.5 update, PDF pan and zoom will be added.
Secondly, the poorly-designed menu system will be upgraded to let you organize your books into collections. Currently, it's just a single paginated list that you have to scroll through to reach your files, which are organized alphabetically. With the v.2.5 software, you will finally be able to group books by author, genre, or publication type.
Finally, users will be able to share their highlighted passages with the rest of the world directly from their Kindle. They will be able to be posted on Facebook or Twitter, or will be counted in Amazon's "Popular Highlights" of e-books. In other words, users will be able to see what the Kindle community thinks are the best lines from their books or books they're looking to purchase.
There will also be more font sizes added, improved image clarity, and a password protection option in the update. The update will be rolled out in a limited beta soon and will be released as an automatic OTA update to all Kindle 2 and DX units in late May.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Ubuntu 10.04 LTS gives Linux even more mainstream appeal

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 3:45pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Download Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" LTS from Fileforum now.
As expected, Canonical today released the latest long-term support version of Ubuntu (v. 10.04, a.k.a., "Lucid Lynx"). This release carries considerably more weight than the usual bi-annual Desktop and Server updates because long-term support (LTS) come only biennially -- once every two years. They typically don't get treated to experimental feature additions, and are meant to be more stable. They do, however, include three years of package support for Ubuntu Desktop and five years for Ubuntu server. The last LTS versions Canonical released were "Dapper Drake" (4.0) in 2005 and "Hardy Heron" (8.04) in 2008.
This version of Ubuntu comes with a new color palette that departs from the usual brown, and a couple of new features directed at the demands of the everyday user. The popular Linux distro is definitely going for widespread appeal with this release.
One of the new features is the "Me Menu," an interface for social Web sites like Twitter and Facebook built directly into the operating system. The tool is based on Gwibber and was originally intended to be a part of the "Karmic Koala" release, but did not make it into it, and was officially shown off as a part of Lucid Lynx last December.
Another is the new Ubuntu music player which has a music store and the Ubuntu One cloud file-sharing interface built into it. With the Alpha 3 release, Lucid Lynx also got full support for iPod Touch and iPhone, adding even further to the distro's mainstream appeal.
FileForum user jcollake summed it up quite nicely today, "As for Ubuntu, I find it a highly valuable contribution to the Linux 'sub-culture.' It has introduced many new people to Linux and is an easy-to-use distribution. There are still areas -- particularly in third-party hardware support -- that aren't quite as smooth as Windows, despite the best efforts of Ubuntu...but that's not their fault...Bottom line is that they've done a good job, and it will work well for a lot of people -- not everyone, but a lot."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Yet another major browser hits Android as Skyfire 2.0 beta launches

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 12:13pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Skyfire, the third party mobile browser famous for its ability to handle nearly every major browser plug-in and web technology has finally arrived in the Android Market today.
At the beginning of April, the browser was released in a very limited alpha program which received overwhelming interest from users. The Skyfire team said it had to stop taking email requests for the software almost immediately because of the sheer volume of messages. Well, those masses now have something they can sink their teeth into.
Skyfire 2.0 has an actionable address bar across the top of the browser with buttons for favorites, bookmarks (both of which are imported from the default Android browser), browser tabs, options, and the interesting "load pages as" button, which lets you select "Android, Desktop, or iPhone."
Across the bottom of the screen is where the hideable "SkyBar" resides. Down there, is a link for compressing and playing Flash videos, an "explore" tab which can call up related information about your current page (videos, tweets, pictures, news stories, etc.) or lets you search, and a social sharing tab which links to all your social media and media sharing apps.
Skyfire can handle up to eight browser tabs at a time, and devices running Android 2.0 and up are treated to pinch-to-zoom functionality. In the browser's settings menu, the toolbars, screen settings, browser startup behavior, and privacy functions can be tweaked.
The browser's banner feature is, of course, its ability to play Web media that most mobile browsers cannot.
Skyfire's Jeff Glueck today said, "You may hear Skyfire described as 'making Flash run' on mobile phones. Yet with Skyfire 2.0, we're actually doing something distinct. We're translating Flash videos (and soon others like Silverlight and WindowsMedia and Quicktime) into a format easier on your phone: html5 video. And beyond video, we believe that mobile has been missing features popular on desktop browsers, in toolbars, add-ons, and extensions. Before, these might have strained the device and network, but by using the power of a cloud platform, we can enable new features and do the hard processing work on our side."
Glueck actually repeated the sentiment expressed by Steve Jobs in his dismissal of mobile Flash this morning, saying "This browser will not enable Flash games or applications, because we think there's a quite healthy ecosystem of native games and applications on mobile, and the response times for a game that users expect don't work well with the latency of cellular networks."
"But video is all about the latest content, and that means streaming," Glueck continued. "And the big problem has been two-fold: How do you make videos play that today error out, but also do that without straining the overtaxed 2G and 3G networks? This is Skyfire's wheelhouse. We compress video by an average of 70%, varying and adapting the stream to your network conditions. That means video that starts faster, plays smoothly without all that buffering, and more efficient use of the network and your battery."
While video is the focus of Skyfire, it was a shame to find out in our tests this morning that Hulu does not work.
Even so, Skyfire is very fast, and immediately integrated into your Android environment (all settings are carried over, and when you click links embedded in messages, Android now presents you with the option to launch it in the default browser or in Skyfire, something none of the other third party browsers do.)
With four or more browsers that aren't available on the iPhone (including Fennec, Mozilla's mobile browser) and a reported 46% share of mobile Web consumption, Android is proving to be the choice for both consumers and developers interested in browsing.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Steve Jobs: Why Flash sucks

Posted: April 29th, 2010, 10:05am MDT by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, just as Adobe released a preview of Flash Player for Mac OS X that features H.264 video decoding, Apple CEO Steve Jobs released a letter called "Thoughts on Flash," which explains the many reasons why there's no Flash support on any of Apple's mobile devices, and why H.264 is a better format.
The letter is emblematic of Apple's increasingly verbal approach to the frantically interested but highly misunderstanding public: "Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven -- they say we want to protect our App Store -- but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain."
Jobs then explains in very plain detail six different reasons why Flash is a technological weakness in Apple's mobile realm. Those reasons may be broken down into very simple bullet points:
- Flash is a closed, Adobe-controlled system.
- H.264 is a "more modern format" for Web video
- Flash would make iPhones, iPods, and iPads less reliable.
- H.264 video consumes about half as much battery as Flash video.
- Flash was not designed for touch interfaces.
- Flash is cross-platform and not Apple optimized.
Apple has made these points in the past, just not as a single list straight from the CEO's own pen.
Jobs concludes his letter by saying, "Flash was created during the PC era -- for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open Web standards -- all areas where Flash falls short...New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML 5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML 5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind."
Don't be misled, this letter was written with the consumer in mind (specifically, the ones who read the New York Times interview with Google's Andy Rubin this week.)
In his interview with the paper, Rubin made a powerful statement about Android and Flash: "[Being open] means not being militant about the things consumers are actually enjoying."
Because Google's Android operating system will offer full Flash 10.1 support in the "Froyo" (2.2) release, Rubin simply said Google is giving people what they want.
Jobs' letter, by contrast, is telling the public that "what they want" may not be the best for the iPhone.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
A gentle hands-on with Mozilla's first browser for Android

Posted: April 28th, 2010, 8:23pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Android apps crash. There's no other way to say it. If you spend a lot of time installing and testing new apps on Android devices, you know it.
So when Mozilla officially rolled out its first public version of the Fennec mobile browser for Android with various warnings that it is a very early "pre-alpha," with experimental features that could require hard resets, I thought I knew what I was in for.
Despite those warnings, Mozilla has actually created a version of Fennec for Android 2.0+ that is relatively stable for something so new. I used it all day today and it never crashed.
Now, we've tested Fennec since it was only an Alpha release on Maemo in late 2008; and the first beta of that version launched just over one year ago, so Fennec is not exactly a brand spanking new concept here. But according to Mozilla's Vladimir Vukicevic, "About three months ago we had nothing working or even building on Android."
The problem is that it's stable like a tank...meaning it's also big and slow.
"Memory usage of this build isn't great -- in many ways it's a debug build, and we haven't really done a lot of optimization yet," Vukicevic said yesterday. "This could cause some problems with large pages, especially on low memory devices like the Droid."
This alpha build consumes a giant 31.67 MB of space, where the Opera 5 Mini Beta takes up only 1.8 MB. With Mozilla's trademark add-ons, Fennec can grow to even greater size. And yes, it is quite slow.
That said, there are a few major things to note about Fennec for Android 2.0.
Design
When you open Fennec, all you get is the multi-purpose address bar across the top which has the Wyld Stallyns-esque title of "Awesome Bar." It can be a search field, address bar, or even a status update field with the proper add-ons.
To access either browser tabs or the navigation buttons, you have to scroll to the far left or far right of the screen. When you first load a page, it's zoomed out to fit the browser so these controls are just out of view and accessible with a slight drag of the finger. But when you zoom in, it takes a bit more pulling to get to the sides. Zooming is quite unreliable at this point and it is so far only accessible by erratically double-tapping. On the Motorola Droid, the "back" and "menu" buttons have no effect on the browser at all, and the Alt key does not change the text over to the secondary keyboard. There is no soft key support on the Droid. Nexus One users can expect the virtual keyboard, however.
Weave Sync
This browser add-on for Firefox is essentially the same as Opera Link. It takes your bookmarks, saved passwords, open tabs, and browsing history and keeps them synched and encrypted between your desktop and your mobile device. With the Fennec Alpha, this is enabled, but as an experimental feature.
Though Weave Sync is problematic and perhaps the number one complaint about the alpha thus far, it can be made to work.
HTML 5
I spent a good deal of time on HTML5demos this afternoon with Fennec, and found that it supports the following HTML 5 tags: geolocation, canvas, offline, events, and postMessage (both same domain and cross-domain) like Android's native browser.
An SQL database query repeatedly hangs, where Android's native browser loads it up quite quickly.
Interestingly, though, Fennec supports the contentEditable tag which enables rich in-browser text editing. This was heretofore unsupported by any of Android's available browsers.
It's Android or Nothing
Now that Maemo has morphed into Meego, and development on Firefox for Windows Mobile has been halted, the only mobile platform that Mozilla is actively supporting with Fennec is Android. Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, said versions for iPhone and BlackBerry are not likely to ever come to fruition, and development on Symbian platforms is uncertain at present.
To download Mozilla's Fennec alpha directly onto your Android 2.0+ device, simply scan the QR code above. Custom ROM images are not supported with the present build and only a few Android devices have been thoroughly tested, so compatibility still varies.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
So much for those Android plans: HP to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion

Posted: April 28th, 2010, 2:41pm MDT by Scott M. Fulton, III and Tim Conneally

By Scott M. Fulton, III and Tim Conneally, Betanews

Perhaps the headline here should be, "HTC doesn't acquire Palm." In any event, our question from last week, "What if nobody wants Palm?" has just been rendered moot: Hewlett-Packard has just announced it has agreed to acquire the assets of Palm Inc. for $5.70 per share, or approximately $1.2 billion.
HP's announcement cites webOS in the first paragraph, indicating that the operating system was key to the company's offer.
The Personal Systems Group will apparently get control of the technology; what it will do with the people behind it is an unanswered question. HP Executive Vice President Todd Bradley's statement reads: "Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices. And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market."
Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein delivered the usual note of excitement to be working with HP, but that doesn't answer the principal question of the Palm employees' fate. We may know that for certain in about a half-hour, when HP delivers a press conference.
Another era: The bustling activity of the Palm booth at the COMNET conference in Washington, DC, November 15, 2000.
The above photo was taken just four months after network hardware maker 3Com spun off from Palm and became an independent company. Earlier this month, HP completed its acquisition of 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash.
Since Palm has been very publicly struggling with profitability, dozens of publications in the last few months have weighed in with an editorial about who should have bought Palm.
Business Insider--Cisco should buy Palm
Engadget-- HTC should buy Palm
Gizmodo-- Google should buy Palm
Intomobile--RIM should buy Palm
All Things Digital--Intel should buy Palm
GigaOM -- Motorola should buy Palm
Betanews--Microsoft should buy Palm
and, of course Nobody should buy Palm.
HP, a company whose mobile presence was limited to a single smartphone in the last year, however, was largely overlooked.
5:30 pm ET April 28, 2010 · This early comment on the incredible news from Betanews contributing analyst Carmi Levy: "This is an abject lesson in why you can't let your existing IP -- in this case, the iPaq brand -- go stale. If HP had given its mobile unit the care and feeding it deserved through much of the decade, it wouldn't have had to buy Palm. Which begs the question of whether HP has what it takes to grow the battered seedling back into a competitively healthy player. I like the complementary potential between the two. It's the track record of both that gives me pause."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
AOL's rebuilding effort continues, sells long-running IM service ICQ at a loss

Posted: April 28th, 2010, 8:52am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Russian Internet investment firm Digital Sky Technologies will be acquiring ICQ from AOL Inc. for $187.5 million, the companies announced today.
Former Internet service provider AOL purchased ICQ creators Mirabilis Ltd. for $407 million in 1998. At the time, the free ICQ chat client was one of the most popular pieces of free software available.
Just a month prior to AOL's acquisition of ICQ, New York Times writer Michelle Slatalla wrote, "The program transforms Net surfing from an essentially solitary endeavor into a social activity. One moment, I was sitting alone in my dark office, typing away at 2 a.m. Then ICQ informed me that one of my brothers...had come on line."
ICQ and its ilk of instant messaging clients were connecting people long before there were social networks that bind us to every distant family member and random acquaintance we've ever made. At the time it was still novel, and AOL's purchase of Mirabilis constituted the largest foreign acquisition of an Israeli software company of all time.
But twelve years and a generation of Web users later, standalone instant messaging clients are facing the growing challenge presented by clientless platforms such as those found in Facebook and Gmail and services such as Twitter, which are extremely popular on mobile devices. Reportlinker ties the growth of mobile social networking directly with the growth of mobile instant messaging.
ComScore's February 2010 Media Matrix said ICQ had more than 32 million unique monthly visitors. Twitter, by comparison, now has 180 million unique visitors per month.
"As AOL continues its turnaround effort, we're fortunate to find a great home for ICQ with DST," Tim Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AOL said in a statement today. "DST is a leading innovator in the Internet investment space and has a significant presence in the markets where ICQ is strong."
The final selling price could actually be a low-ball for AOL. It was rumored that the company was actually seeking between $200-$250 million for ICQ at the end of last year. In AOL's earnings report today, the company said that its earnings fell by 59% in the first quarter against declining advertising and subscription rates.
AOL is still in a period of recovery from its spin-off from Time Warner Inc. and is attempting to streamline its business into one driven almost entirely by advertising. At the end of 2009, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that this split will shrink AOL's workforce by 33%, and in February, the company sold buy.at for approximately $16.4 million in cash. Currently, it is seeking "strategic alternatives for Bebo, which could include a sale or shutdown of Bebo in 2010." AOL purchased the social network just two years ago.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows Embedded Standard 7 released, is it ready for TV yet?

Posted: April 27th, 2010, 2:12pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

First announced just two weeks after Windows Embedded Standard 2009 was released, Windows Embedded Standard 7 has at last been released to manufacturers, Microsoft announced today. The company says that new devices built on the platform should be arriving soon, and that we should expect to see some "exciting developments" in Windows 7 consumer devices at Computex in June.
Though Windows Embedded Standard 7 can be used in dozens of different environments such as digital signage, thin clients, and industrial control systems, Microsoft has emphasized the value of this version to connected set-top boxes, TVs, and media players.

"The addition of the Windows Media Center feature in Windows Embedded Standard 7 is driving the set-top box, connected media device and TV markets by providing OEMs with opportunities to develop uniquely branded experiences and service providers with capabilities to explore additional revenue streams with unique content through a centralized media hub in the home," Kevin Dallas, general manager of the Windows Embedded Business Unit at Microsoft said in a statement today.
While the video shown above does present a compelling user experience, Microsoft's list of Windows Embedded Standard 7 partners today included: AOpen Inc., C-nario, DT Research Inc., Micro Industries Inc. and YCD Multimedia (for digital signage) HP and Wyse Technology (for thin clients) and Heber Ltd. for industrial control systems. There were no home entertainment product partners even mentioned today. Microsoft's Embedded Group lists 28 different companies as OEM partners for set-top box production.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Introducing the first Symbian^3 device, Nokia N8

Posted: April 27th, 2010, 9:25am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The Symbian Foundation's 100% open source mobile operating system Symbian^3 has officially made its debut today on the new Nokia N8 handset.
Unlike Google's Android, which launched on a mid-range smartphone in late 2008, Symbian^3 is being ushered into the market on a device with cutting-edge equipment.
The N8 is built from a single piece of anodized aluminum and has a 3.5" (640 x 360) OLED touchscreen. It has a 12 megapixel camera with 28mm wide-angle Karl Zeiss optics, a xenon flash, and the ability to capture 720p HD (16:9, 25 fps H.264/MPEG-4) video. There is also a forward-facing VGA camera for video calling.
It has 16 GB of internal memory, and a MicroSD slot with support for cards up to 32 GB in size.
In terms of wireless standards, the Nokia N8 supports quad-band GSM and WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100, Wi-Fi with support for 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS and A-GPS receivers, and an FM radio/transmitter.
Physical I/O on the device includes Micro USB with support for USB on-the-go (a.k.a., phone-to-phone connections) HDMI, and a 3.5mm AV jack. It also includes an accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light detector, and magnetic compass.
Despite all of the top-notch accessories, Nokia tells us that the N8 is based on an ARM1176 680Mhz CPU. It's by no means a weak foundation for Symbian^3, but it's not quite up to the latest gigahertz-level ARM processors being employed by other high-end smartphone manufacturers.
"The raw numbers in the processing power should not be compared as such," Nokia told us today. "There are optional ways to achieve great performance and user experience. Alongside the main processor, Nokia N8 features a graphics accelerator which has significant effect on perceived experience. The overall hardware system and graphics performance coupled with Symbian^3 software will be comparable or better in comparison to other leading solutions on the market."
The N8 will be available for €370 in the third quarter of this year, reflecting Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo's statements last week that the company "will not ship [Symbian^3] before the quality meets the end user's needs and demands."
However, Nokia's video preview today shows a bit of what users can expect from Symbian^3 when the N8 is released later this year, including a three-screen home screen layout with drag-and-drop personalization, multitouch, 3D gaming and a unified social networking and Ovi service interface.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Marvell unveils 1GHz chips that consume just 1 watt of power

Posted: April 21st, 2010, 10:09pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Chipmaker Marvell today debuted a new processor in its Armada family, designed for plug computing, for home, small business and industrial automation, and applications demanding ultra low power consumption.
The Armada 310 system-on-a-chip is built with an ARMv5 processor between 500 MHz and 1 GHz that consumes less than 1 watt of power. Fixed on a 15 x 15mm FCBGA (Flip Chip Ball Grid Array), the Armada 310 offers tons of I/O options, such as two Gigabit Ethernet MACs, two SATA 2.0 ports, two PCIe ports, USB 2.0, and DDR2/3.
Early last year, Marvell debuted its Plug Computing initiative with the release of its SheevaPlug development platform. The idea behind the initiative is that low-cost, low-power CPUs can be embedded all over the place to help manage and connect devices with each other. Marvell's SheevaPlug wiki describes the plug computer as "a cross between an embedded platform, typically found in smaller devices like mobile phones, and larger notebook computer."
A popular consumer solution that works with Marvell's design is the Pogoplug, a tiny server that connects to any USB storage device and makes their contents available on the Web. The little pink box can do this with just 5 watts of power.
But now, the Armada 310 can do this sort of computing with just a single watt of power, and though it's ideally suited for plug computers, it can be employed in any number of smaller form factors, such as routers, microservers, dongles, PC cards, industrial, and medical systems.
"By integrating extensive connectivity capabilities into a highly scalable ARM-based SoC, the ARMADA 310 offers designers the opportunity to create small-form factor, high-performance, devices that easily link to other systems and outside networks," Tony Massimini, Chief of Technology at Semico Research Corp., said in a statement.
The Armada 310 system on a chip is selling to manufacturers right now for less than $15 when purchased in bulk quantities. Marvell told us that we will begin to see solutions running on the chip in the second half of this year.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Another service named 'Buzz?' What gives?

Posted: April 20th, 2010, 10:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, AT&T Interactive launched Buzz.com in beta, the company's answer to entertainment search and recommendation site Yelp. If you think you've seen it before...well, you haven't -- not this, anyway.
The word "Buzz" was employed liberally throughout the 1990's to describe successful alternative rock groups. Pretty much any non-pop band that sold 500,000 albums in that era was classified as a "buzz bin" artist by MTV. By 2004, it was worn out.
However, the term happens to be quite useful in describing a topic's presence in social media, and therefore it has been taken as the name of several also-ran social media services in the post-2.0 Web.
In 2008, Yahoo launched a service called Buzz which was a social news sharing service in the vein of Digg. Earlier this year, Google debuted the microblog Buzz which is a service in the vein of Twitter.
"We recognize that people are already having conversations online about the best places to go and businesses to call. Buzz.com makes it even easier to discover the businesses your friends recommend," said Charles Hornberger, the site's General Manager. "Although the site is still in beta, we're very excited to open it up to anyone who wants to see how we're approaching 'social search' for the local marketplace."
The service is based on local listings from AT&T's YellowPages.com and includes more than 21 million business listings which can be accessed either from Buzz.com or the mobile version m.buzz.com. Business listings include the usual phone book style information, the ability for users to "favorite" them, or place 160-character comments in a field called "I like this place because..."
Right now, the trait that differentiates Buzz.com from other social search services is the system of asking and answering questions. If you want to know what your friends recommend in a certain location, you just fill out the "What's your favorite ____" field, and the question is then posted on your Facebook feed for your friends to answer.
Buzz.com is accepting beta testers now.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
3G iPads, new AT&T data plans, arrive on April 30

Posted: April 20th, 2010, 7:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In light of all the controversy about the lost iPhone prototype which was found and reportedly sold to the media, there was a brief loss of focus from Apple's iPad tablet yesterday.
Don't worry, it's back.
Today, Apple announced that the 3G-equipped iPad will be available in U.S. retailers on April 30 at 5:00pm. Customers who pre-ordered their 3G iPads should expect them on their doorstep the same day.
The 3G-equipped iPads are a little more than $100 more expensive than their Wi-Fi only counterparts, and have a suggested retail price of $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB, and $829 for the 64GB. And since they will require a mobile data plan from AT&T, the wireless network operator will begin selling prepaid data packages on the 30th as well.
AT&T has not yet announced the details of these prepaid data plans, but we expect to hear from the carrier in the next few hours. We'll update this story with statements from AT&T as they arrive.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Palm's browser-based webOS development tool leaves beta

Posted: April 19th, 2010, 1:50pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In addition to its more traditional Mojo software development kit for WebOS, Palm introduced a novel browser-based development environment for webOS last December called Project Ares. Users can drag-and-drop to create apps in Ares, and then hit "launch" in the browser to package, upload and launch homemade apps on a USB-connected Pre or Pixi.
Today, Palm alerted developers that the first full version of Project Ares has launched.
Ares 1.0 includes, as Palm says, "lots and lots of new features," including Components, which are widgets that access low-level functions (service calls, sensors, etc.) without any user interface. These components can be dragged and dropped onto the design canvas where they become icons at the bottom of the screen that can be selected, configured, and called in a single line of code.
Registered Palm developers can simply sign in to the Ares website to start working with it. Having the full SDK installed is recommended, but not mandatory.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Fourth-gen iPhone prototype leaks, looks like an EVO 4G copy

Posted: April 19th, 2010, 11:06am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Apple's aloofness is world famous. The company doesn't exactly buddy up to the media like Microsoft does, and it doesn't keep a running dialogue with the public like Google does. It communicates directly with only a handful of reputable media outlets, and uses a predictable routine of product launches where it can address the public in measured doses.
One of these doses is Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) expected to take place on June 28, 2010. In 2007, this was the event that Apple used to debut the original iPhone and its availability on AT&T. Then in 2008, Apple used WWDC to unveil the iPhone 3G. In 2009, it was used to unveil the 3G S. It is essentially Apple's annual "iPhone event."
So with WWDC just a few weeks away, an interesting "leak" of the next version of the iPhone has turned up on the popular gadget blogs Gizmodo and Engadget.
Apparently, this fourth generation iPhone prototype disguised as an iPhone 3G S was found in a San Jose, California bar, and according to blogger John Gruber, Apple wants it back.
Of course, the authenticity of the whole story is in question because these blogs are privileged enough to have advance knowledge of Apple's products and could have known about this update, but were legally bound to nondisclosure. Frequently, these sites use unauthorized leaks as a loophole to talk about a product they already know about, but cannot break themselves.
The model has a slightly smaller screen than the iPhone 3G S and weighs 3 grams more. The edges are all much more severe than previous iPhone models, making it flatter and thinner overall. Reportedly, it has a front-facing video camera in addition to an improved rear-mounted camera with a flash, a micro SIM port, a noise-canceling mic, redesigned power and mute buttons, a larger battery and smaller internal components.
The storage capacity has not yet leaked, and the phone has not yet been shown running. If this is what the fourth generation iPhone will look like, it is only a moderate change in design for the handset; but one which makes it look more like the HTC HD2 and EVO 4G.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Adobe now taking beta testers for Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0 for Android

Posted: April 19th, 2010, 8:33am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Even if Apple CEO Steve Jobs says nobody will be using Adobe Flash in the future, and that the world is moving to HTML5, there's still a place for Adobe's browser plug-in on Android, the fastest growing mobile platform out there.
After putting Flash 10 on the HTC Hero last year, Adobe is ready to test the next iteration of Flash on all Android devices. Over the weekend, the company began accepting beta testers for the Android versions of Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0.
"There are going to be so many interesting things that you will be able to do on Android and there are also going to be many new skills that you will need to learn, especially if you are new to mobile design." Flash Evangelist Lee Brimelow wrote in the Flash Blog over the weekend.
To have access to Adobe Labs and participate in the betas, you must first sign up to be an Adobe.com user (The signup pages are located here and here,) and you will be notified when the betas will be available.
The actual date that the beta will begin has not yet been specified.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
HTC's announces Verizon's newest Droid

Posted: April 15th, 2010, 10:51am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At the 99% Percent conference in New York City today, HTC officially took the wraps off of its latest Android handset, called the Droid Incredible on Verizon Wireless.
The device was accidentally leaked by Verizon Wireless, which posted a Web site showing the device and its availability earlier this week, so not much of today's announcement was a tremendous surprise to fans of HTC's smartphones.
The Incredible has a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 3.7" (480 x 800) AMOLED screen, Android 2.1 operating system with the latest HTC sense user interface, 8 megapixel LED flash camera, Wi-Fi, and CDMA radios. The price tag is $199.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless and mail-in rebate.
Like the HD Mini and the HTC Desire, the Incredible's chassis beneath the back panel is vibrantly colored. This is something of a trademark of HTC's wholly-owned design firm One&Co, which made Microsoft's striking Arc keyboard and mouse peripherals and the original HTC Touch Diamond.
Pre-orders of the Droid Incredible will begin on April 19 on Verizon's Web site.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Hands-on with the WebStation Android Tablet

Posted: April 14th, 2010, 3:36pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Expectations are a very dangerous thing indeed. As a user, if you expect a new device to do something -- however unrealistic that expectation may be -- you are bound to be disappointed when you find that it doesn't.
With Internet tablets, it's not really clear what users should expect when they pick one up for the first time. A couple of years ago, they were built on truncated versions of desktop operating systems, so users based their expectations on their desktop experience. Now, tablets are being built upon mobile operating systems, and expectations are shifting.
So I'm just going to start out by saying the Camangi WebStation seriously disappointed me at first. It did not live up to my expectations of what an "Android Tablet" should be. If I was expecting a device with a different purpose, I would surely not have been as disappointed as I was.
Here's what hit me about the WebStation when I first powered it up: There are only eight full-fledged apps built in, there's no Android Market, there's no YouTube...and the 7-inch touchscreen is resistive.
If you would have asked me to describe a tablet computer five years ago, a stylus would have probably been the second thing in my description. But because this is 2010, and this is an Android device, I had just assumed it was designed for fingers.
You can use it with your fingers, but it's nowhere near as responsive as it is when you use the stylus.
The chassis is plasticky but mostly solid. The corner where the WebStation's built-in microphone is situated has quite a bit of give to it, and if that were shored up, then it would actually be a very sturdy handheld. It's just a tiny bit thicker than the iPhone, Nexus One, and Motorola Droid, so it does not feel flimsy.
Unfortunately, though, the chassis layout is poor, and the swap from landscape to portrait mode is completely counterintuitive.
Instead of flipping the device into portrait mode with the "home," "menu," and "back" keys across the bottom where you'd expect them to be, they have to be flipped the opposite way so they're at the top. If you set the device up in portrait mode with the supplied kickstand, the USB 2.0 and mini USB ports are free for use along the top, but the volume rocker switch located on the opposite edge is completely inaccessible.
USB ports are an attractive feature on this device, and you can hook up common peripherals to enhance your experience. Device support, however, is unpredictable at best. A USB keyboard and mouse were both immediately recognized and usable; but a USB webcam, USB-to-DVI converter, and Skype headset were not. WebStation has 802.11b/g wi-fi and an app for detecting USB dongles, but no built-in 3G wireless. The app recognized a Qualcomm 3G modem I tested with it, but I could not establish a connection.
The WebStation's home screen has a Google search bar across the top, and a dock across the bottom. The middle section of the screen is where twelve app icons or shortcuts are arranged; and when you add more, the screen is paginated. Unfortunately, the home screen does not have a portrait layout, and if you tilt the WebStation on the main screen, nothing happens.
The browser, media player, photo gallery, and e-mail client on the WebStation are all from "Cupcake" (Android 1.5), and work just about the same as they would on a first generation Android handset. However, every single site the browser pulls up is first rejected as an untrusted source (even Google and Gmail!). So you have to click through and accept every one. For Web services that are usually Android apps like Twitter and Facebook, this quickly becomes tiresome.
As I said before, Android Market is not available, so you can only download .apk packages from Camangi's WebStation site or from other third-party Web-based app stores. On one hand, this puts a huge damper on the WebStation's usability; on the other, it prevents it from getting apps it cannot handle. Since this is an international device, it also is subject to different Market rules in different countries. Omitting Android Market altogether simplifies this for the company.
But it makes installing apps a supreme hassle. I tried to install a number of indispensable apps like Opera Mini and Pandora, and none of them worked. The only apps that worked were the ones that also happened to be available in Camangi's store. This is rather unfortunate, because the two real third-party apps WebStation includes are pretty much the best parts of the device, if more apps were easy to obtain, the device could conceivably be much more enjoyable.
The WebStation includes the Aldiko e-reader software and the Fring VoIP client as the main third-party applications.
It wasn't until I started using these that I realized WebStation can't really compete in the arena of tablets, but when you look at it instead as an e-reader, it's actually pretty decent.
The Aldiko app alone is enough to make a strong e-reader, but WebStation also includes a shortcut to the Google Books Web app on its home screen, so a lot of free content is easy to reach. Aldiko is linked to Feedbooks.com, O'Reilly EBooks, All Romance Ebooks, and Smashwords for free downloads, and it supports e-books encoded in epub, lit, pdf, mobi, rtf, txt, html, fb2, prc, odt, cbr and cbz. Any titles downloaded within the app are saved to the WebStation's included 8 GB microSD.
In terms of actually reading on the WebStation, it's quite good. It rests easily in the hand or it can be stood up if you're reading while on the treadmill or cooking. It is a lot thicker than Amazon's Kindle 2, and its four-hour battery life can't even hold a candle to the Kindle's week long charge. However, the full-color backlit screen, full Web browser, and ability to install third-party software make the WebStation a bit more useful as a communications tool, an area where the Kindle 2 is still weak.
With all this taken into account, I don't actually think of the Camangi WebStation as a competitor in the burgeoning Android Tablet market, where big PC manufacturers like Asus, HP, and Dell will soon be launching products. Instead, it belongs in the Android e-reader market alongside the Barnes & Noble Nook and Spring Design Alex. At least among those, it's competitively priced ($275 through Amazon.com) and comparably specced.
(624 MHz Marvell PXA303, 128 MB Mobile DDR, 256 MB NAND Flash, included 8 GB microSD)
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Spring Design's Android-based Alex e-reader ships tomorrow

Posted: April 13th, 2010, 4:40pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Spring Design's Android-based, dual-screen e-reader named "Alex" made a sudden and noticeable splash when it was announced one day before book retailer Barnes & Noble debuted its Android-powered Nook e-reader, and then Spring Design sued them over it.
We had a look at a pre-production model of Alex at CES last January, and Spring Design started taking orders for the $399 e-reader in February.
The company has just announced that those orders will begin shipping tomorrow.
The 11-ounce Android-powered e-reader supports ePub, PDF, HTML, and TXT documents on the upper e-paper screen, and the lower full-color touchscreen offers full Web browsing over Wi-Fi connectivity. Spring Design today said that there will be a model that supports EV-DO rev. A 3G wireless, and a multi-language model for international markets.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
T-Mobile: After KIN, Sidekick lives on life support

Posted: April 13th, 2010, 2:28pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft's debut of the KIN yesterday has tech pundits talking about Microsoft's mobile strategy, about the future of Windows Phone, and about the state of the "dumbphone" in general. It's a compelling product. And because KIN comes from Sharp and Danger's parent company Microsoft, the KIN drew a lot of comparisons to the Sidekick straight away. Yesterday, I called KIN the "Sidekick of the 2010s," Ars Technica called it "Sidekick's next of KIN," and Wired said Microsoft wants to "update the Sidekick's M.O. for a new decade."
But does this mean the T-Mobile Sidekick is finished?
Since KIN is coming to Verizon, T-Mobile today said it is looking toward future devices that will keep the loyal Sidekick user base happy.
"Since its launch in 2002, the T-Mobile Sidekick has been one of our most popular and successful family of devices in T-Mobile history. This success is largely due to its loyal base of Sidekick fans for which we will continue to innovate and deliver an exceptional experience," reads a statement from T-Mobile today. "As Sidekick evolves, we are planning for moves toward new hardware and software platforms, which we expect will provide customers with a fresh, exciting user experience while maintaining the important features that contribute to a great messaging device."
T-Mobile says it will continue to support all the legacy Sidekicks, but it is working toward the next iteration of the experience. That could mean the KIN is coming to T-Mobile, or it could mean something completely different could replace the carrier's popular messaging phone.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple's Macbook Pro family gets a straightforward, hypeless upgrade

Posted: April 13th, 2010, 10:36am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Since Apple is now a self-proclaimed "mobile device company," its trusty line of notebook computers received an update today with none of the commotion that the iPad and iPhone recently earned. Still, Apple's entire 2010 line of MacBook Pro notebooks has been updated with new CPUs and graphics processors, and a longer promised battery life. It may be small, but it is by no means insignificant.
The big news about Apple's notebook refresh last year was its overall drop in price. Cupertino got rid of the MacBook Pro's ExpressCard slot and removable battery, but offered a two-hour bump in battery life for several hundred dollars less than previous models. It was advertised as Apple's "most affordable lineup ever."
Today's update improves the lineup in the following ways:
13" MacBook Pro: All now include Intel Core 2 Duo Processors, 4 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 320M Graphics Processor. The 2.4 GHz model with 250 GB HDD costs $1,199, and the 2.66 GHz model with 320 GB HDD costs $1,499.
15"-17" MacBook Pro: All models now include the Nvidia GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics card and the Intel HD integrated graphics processor for balanced performance. These can now be switched automatically while in use. Additionally, the processors have been switched from the Intel Core 2 Duo to the 32nm Intel i5 and i7.
The 15" MacBook Pro comes in three configurations: 2.4 GHz Core i5, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 320GB HDD ($1,799); 2.53 GHz Core i5, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 500 GB HDD ($1,999); and 2.66 GHz Core i7, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 500 GB HDD ($2,199).
The 17" MacBook Pro can be purchased with a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and 500 GB hard drive for $2,299.
All of these notebooks feature what Apple calls "inertial scrolling," or the ability to flick through long lists of content like one would on an iPhone. The harder the flick, the further the list scrolls. It doesn't come to an abrupt stop, but rather slows to a halt.
Altimeter Group analyst Michael Gartenberg today pointed out that all of this may seem like a very minor update, but what seem like little tweaks ultimately result in a better user experience.
"What many other vendors miss is the attention to the small details that by themselves don't matter all that much but add value and delight as the user discovers them," Gartenberg wrote in his blog this morning. "Are they small issues? Sure, but they fix real problems. The need to switch graphic modes by logging in and out is not a big deal but it's inelegant. It costs wasted cycles. It makes things harder for the user. Some engineer was bothered enough by this to fix it. It's now a feature. It's now the standard on how this function should work. In short, for those that use this feature, it will bring a smile to their face. To those who never used it, it's one more way the computing experience became that much more seamless."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Opera Mini arrives on iPhone at last

Posted: April 13th, 2010, 12:43am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Way back in 2008, Opera Software's CEO Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner said the company's popular Opera Mini mobile browser was ported to the iPhone, but it could not be released because it competed with the iPhone's built-in Safari browser.
Then, last February, Opera Software actually started showing off its version the popular browser for iPhone OS as a run-up to its submission to Apple for App store review in March.
Tonight, Opera announced that Opera Mini for iPhone was finally approved for distribution in the iTunes app store.
Some have expressed surprise that the app finally passed Apple's notoriously strict approval process, but really it was anything but a surprise.
"We wholeheartedly believed Opera Mini would be approved. We knew we stood a good chance and were pleased to see it happen. The only surprise was the exact time the approval came. But we were confident the approval would come," Opera's Thomas Ford told us this evening.
Now that it's been approved (and downloaded thousands of times already), the iPhone can now begin to affect Opera's comprehensive tallies of international mobile browsing habits which it releases as the State of the mobile Web every month.
"I wouldn't expect to see it this month, for instance, because we will be reporting March numbers. So when we report April numbers (in May), that would be the first time the iPhone would have a chance of being listed," Thomas told us.
Opera Mini for iPhone arrives alongside Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry, and S60.
Here's a quick look at Opera Mini on an iPod Touch alongside Opera Mini 5 Beta on a Motorola Droid.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Microsoft unveils KIN, the Sidekick for the 2010's

Posted: April 12th, 2010, 12:55pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft today debuted a whole new Windows Phone experience developed in conjunction with Sharp called KIN.
Billed not as a smartphone, but as a "social phone," KIN is like the Sidekick/hiptop concept updated to fit a lifestyle based around constant social media use, which is made up of four components:
The Device
Microsoft debuted two KIN devices today, simply called KIN One and KIN Two, both made by Sharp. One is a square-shaped touchscreen QWERTY slider with a 5 megapixel video camera and 4 GB of non-exapandable memory. Two is a more traditional landscape (480x320) touchscreen slider with an 8 megapixel camera capable of 720p video, and ships with 8 GB of storage. Like the Zune HD, both devices run on Nvidia's Tegra platform.
The UI
The KIN user interface follows the design ethic Microsoft debuted with Zune and Windows Phone 7: big pictures, simple, easy-to-read text, and smooth animations. The home screen is called "KIN Loop" and is actually very similar to Motorola's MotoBLUR for Android. It takes all of the user's favorite feeds and makes them available in real time. Rather than keep all of the social networks as separate apps, they're actually integrated into the phone, so contact information from all the different sites is kept in the user's native address book.
Social Sharing
Since it's meant to be a device for people who frequently share photos, videos, and status and location updates, KIN adds a drag-and-drop social media sharing as a central part of the UI. Called "The Spot," a small green circle permanently lives at the bottom of the screen and takes whatever content you drag onto it and funnels it to your various social networks, or lets you share that content via MMS or e-mail.
100% Content Backup
KIN Studio is one of the more impressive features of Microsoft's new device family. Any content from the phone -- photos, messages, videos, and such -- is automatically backed up, chronologically logged, and geotagged in this Silverlight-based Web app.
All these things put together make up the foundation of KIN, but there is much more Microsoft stuff included. The first two KIN phones are also the first two real "Zune Phones;" that is, they include access to the Zune Marketplace and Zune Pass subscriptions, as well as Zune-powered music, and video and FM radio playback. Additionally, Local search, Web Search, and RSS functionality are all powered by Bing.
Though a video in the KIN presentation briefly showed a folder called "Xbox," we were informed that there is no Xbox Live integration with KIN as there will be with Windows Phone 7.
Pricing of the Kin One and Kin Two have not yet been announced, but they will be available in May on Verizon Wireless in the United States, and some time "this autumn" on Vodafone in the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Adobe's Creative Suite 5 packs in tons of new features

Posted: April 12th, 2010, 10:52am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Adobe today celebrated the global launch of Creative Suite 5 (CS5), the first new version of the company's suite of digital art, design, and development tools in nearly two years.
Creative Suite 5 includes 15 of Adobe's products: Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5, InDesign CS5, Acrobat 9 Pro, Flash Catalyst CS5, Flash Professional CS5, Flash Builder 4, Dreamweaver CS5, Fireworks CS5, Contribute CS5, Adobe Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5, Soundbooth CS5, Adobe OnLocation CS5, Adobe Bridge CS5, Adobe Device Central CS5, and Adobe Dynamic Link.
These are grouped into five different editions which attend to different needs: Master Collection ($2,599), Design Premium ($1,899), Design Standard ($1,299), Web Premium ($1,799), and Production Premium ($1,699). Of course, all of Adobe's CS5 applications can be purchased individually as well.
With such a huge simultaneous release, it's difficult to cover every new feature included in all of Adobe's products. Fortunately, Adobe has been slow and deliberate in showing off what's special about CS5:
-Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects now natively support 64-bit architecture.
-Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine includes Nvidia GPU acceleration to speed up rendering in Premiere Pro.
-Dreamweaver finally supports PHP-based CMS like Drupal, WordPress, and Joomla!
-Flash Catalyst is a new addition to Creative Suite, though it is already pretty well-known as the tool that lets designers turn their graphics and animations into rich Web content automatically without the need for any coding.
-Photoshop now includes a "content aware fill," which intelligently fills in the background when you cut out or move an object in the foreground.
-Illustrator includes new stroke and paint capabilities that let you adjust the thickness of any stroke at any point. Painting with vectors now includes bristle brush painting, which promises more realistic-looking results.
The new CS5 software is available for pre-order now and will ship within the next 30 days.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple's Game Center will catapult iPhone into video gaming big leagues

Posted: April 8th, 2010, 3:28pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

On Thursday, Apple unveiled a major update to the iPhone OS which is expected to reach iPhone 3G/3G S and second- and third-generation iPod users sometime this summer, and iPad users in the fall. While the banner feature of this release is its multitasking capability, the announcement that Apple will open a Web-based gaming network akin to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network has potential to be the biggest coup.
Game Center lets users invite friends to play games, start multiplayer games through matchmaking, track achievements, and compare their high scores on a Web-based game network. This is a huge addition to the iPhone ecosystem which puts it on par with the two major home consoles, and actually catapults it past both Nintendo's Wii and its DS.
Currently, Nintendo offers Web-based gameplay on a title-by-title basis for its systems, but it has no unified service with gamer identities, records, or social invitations where users can form a community.
In a recent interview, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime dismissed iPhone OS as a viable gaming ecosystem. Too many users were downloading free games and had only low engagement levels, he argued.
"If our games represent a range between snacks of entertainment and full meals, depending on the type of game, theirs aren't even a mouthful, in terms of the gaming experience you get," Fils-Aime said.
But the addition of an online gaming service has the potential to turn the "mouthful" of iPhone OS gaming into something much more satisfying.
Unfortunately, information about the upcoming service is still scarce. Apple's iPhone developer site says it will be available "later this year," but it does not say whether it will be a subscription service like Xbox Live, nor does it say how users will interact with it.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple reinvents multitasking for the iPhone

Posted: April 8th, 2010, 11:51am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Multitasking, the feature that has been the absolute top of every iPhone user's want list --which, by proxy became a major marketing point for both Android and webOS -- has made its way to iPhone OS 4.
"We figured out how to implement multitasking for third party apps and avoid those things [battery life and lag]. So that's what took so long," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs this morning.
While it's not actually full background processing, Apple has devised a way to reproduce the feeling. The company provided 7 APIs to developers which constitute the always-on services that apps can communicate with. These include: background audio, VoIP, Background Location, push notifications, local notifications, task completion, and fast app switching.
With these 7 services in place, users can now run music apps like Pandora in the background, they can run location-aware apps in the background, or can run VoIP apps. With a double-click of the home button, the user can pull out of the app he's currently in and go to a list of running tasks. If you back out of a game to check your email or answer a Skype call, the game can then pick up and resume where you left off.
We'll follow up with more on the iPhone OS 4 update as it arrives.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple has sold 150,000 iPads since launch day

Posted: April 8th, 2010, 11:29am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

"The first day we sold 300,000 iPads, and I want to update you -- as of today we've sold about 450,000," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs at today's iPhone 4 OS presentation.
The first day sales numbers were about average for Apple when compared to all of the company's prior mobile device launches, and included all of the units pre-ordered between March 12 and April 3 (22 days). In the 4 days that have followed the device's launch, a further 150,000 iPads have sold.
This means a rough average for Apple is 17,307 iPads per day since pre-ordering began.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Microsoft group shift confirms consumer-centric approach to Windows Phone 7

Posted: April 8th, 2010, 10:34am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Windows Mobile was never just a consumer product; it was also a significant player in handheld terminals, in-vehicle systems, and ruggedized consoles for business and industry.
But that whole branch of business-oriented Windows Mobile devices used to be overseen by Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business group (MCB), the same group responsible for Windows Mobile-powered consumer devices, despite the fact that they were very different.
Yesterday, David Wurster, senior product manager for Windows Embedded, announced that things will no longer be run that way. Now, all of the ruggedized and industry-specific device development will be the responsibility of the Windows Embedded Business group, regardless of their operating system (WinCE, WinMo.)
This means that consumer mobile products is finally its own division.
"We decided to make this move for a variety of reasons," Wurster said. "First, Windows Embedded's strength and experience in building software for specialized devices make WEB the ideal group to lead the handheld terminal and ruggedized device space. Second, with the transition of support to WEB, Microsoft gives the handheld terminal and ruggedized device products a holistic roadmap across both platforms and into the future. MCB will continue to focus on the mobile phone needs of customers with Windows Phones."
Windows Embedded is expecting a new release based on Windows Mobile 6.5 optimized for handheld terminals and ruggedized devices, as well as a full roadmap with technologies from Windows Phone 7 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 for this market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Skyfire: BlackBerry development just not as good as Android

Posted: April 7th, 2010, 3:27pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Popular third party mobile Web browser Skyfire posted an announcement last week that it would be opening up alpha testing for its forthcoming Webkit-based Android browser. Within one hour of making the announcement, over 3,000 people contacted Skyfire to get in on the test. The alpha team, unfortunately, is only going to be 30 testers.
So today, Skyfire's Jeff Glueck addressed the undoubtedly huge interest swelling around the new Skyfire product, and talked about why Android development has superseded development on the BlackBerry platform.
"We decided to place Android development ahead of Blackberry a few months ago," Glueck said. "We see Android as a fast-rising ecosystem, with a rich, totally open developer environment, a healthy app market and a healthy advertising and search ecosystem. The Android OS has a tremendous amount of interest from handset makers and carriers, and also has a strong need for making the explosion of video more network optimized (Skyfire's wheelhouse)."
By comparison, BlackBerry's developer environment is weak.
"The APIs are fragmented and inconsistent, and the Java virtual machine Blackberry requires is not efficient," Glueck remarked. "While Blackberry users are desperate for a better browser - we know, and we hear them - we only want to bring out something that meets our high standards and is truly great."
Besides, Research in Motion has been working on improving BlackBerry's browser since it acquired Torch Mobile in late 2009. When BlackBerry OS 6.0 comes out later this year, it is expected to have a new Webkit browser that is a result of this acquisition. At Mobile World Congress this year, RIM showed off an early version of this new browser that supports HTML5, CSS3, DOM L3, and server-side assistance for HTML and text which helps it score 100/100 on the famous Acid3 browser compliance test. It looks extremely promising.
"We understand it will be a long way from able to handle native Flash 10.1 and similar rich media plug-ins, and we think we can build on that webkit engine and add cloud-based new features around it," Glueck said. So it looks like Skyfire is waiting to see just how improved the new BlackBerry browser is going to be before it jumps back into development on Skyfire for BlackBerry.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows 7 SP1 leaks, available now

Posted: April 7th, 2010, 1:07pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In March, the Windows team announced the upcoming release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, but did not set a date of availability.
At the time, Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc said, "For Windows 7, SP1 includes only minor updates, among which are previous updates that are already delivered through Windows Update. SP1 for Windows 7 will, however, deliver an updated Remote Desktop client that takes advantage of RemoteFX introduced in the server-side with SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2."
Now, ahead of the beta cycle, it appears a recent build of Windows 7 SP1 beta (6.1.7601.16537.amd64fre.win7.100327-0053) has leaked, and it is available as a torrent. We checked a couple of torrent sites, and it is a relatively easy archive to find, so it has been downloaded thousands of times already.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: As originally published, in stating that the Service Pack was "available," it implied that the availability was through Microsoft and somehow official. That was inaccurate. Also, it was wrong for us to suggest that folks go out and try an unofficial version of the product. Betanews apologizes to both Microsoft and our readers.]
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Dropico lets you drag and drop photos between sites

Posted: April 7th, 2010, 11:52am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Dropico is a new rich Web application that lets users manage their photo albums from Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket, Myspace, and Bebo all in one central location with a simple drag and drop interface.
Users pair their accounts from those sites with Dropico, and then they can pull photos off of one site, edit them, and pipe them down to another site quickly and easily. Additionally, users can pull photos from their friends or favorite profiles and move them to other sites. For example, if you follow the Library of Congress' Flickr stream and you discover something that you really like, you can drag it from the Flickr window over to the Twitter window and post it to your Twitter feed via yfrog, twitgoo, or twitpic.
An account on Dropico comes with a free .mobi email address associated with your login info. With that, you can mail photos to yourself and they'll show up in your Dropico mobile folder. While it is certainly a handy feature, it is only of limited usefulness since pictures must be sent one by one by devices with email capabilities.
Other devices such as Eye-Fi connected cameras or the Nintendo DSi (which can upload pictures directly to Facebook) cannot take advantage of this feature. It's just as well though, since their content is received through Dropico's connection with other sites.
Overall, it's an easy and functional service which is especially useful for social photo sharing.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
UK ad board says Motorola Dext isn't the 'first phone with social skills.'

Posted: April 7th, 2010, 9:38am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) frequently cracks down on advertisements from consumer technology companies, asking companies to fix commercial claims that are confusing or misleading.
In 2008, the ASA requested that Apple remove or change iPhone 3G television advertisements because their claims that the device was "really fast" were exaggerated and misleading.
Now, Motorola is being cited for a television ad which says "HOW SOCIAL IS YOUR PHONE? Introducing MOTOROLA DEXT with MOTOBLUR. THE FIRST PHONE WITH SOCIAL SKILLS."
INQ Mobile Ltd a subsidiary of Hutchinson Whampoa, challenged Motorola's claim that Dext (a.k.a., Cliq) was the "first phone with social skills," because INQ released an entry-level phone in 2008 called the INQ1 which it billed as "The World's First Social Mobile."
That device integrated Skype, Facebook, Myspace, Last.fm, and Windows Live Messenger and was given the "best handset" award at the 2009 Mobile World Congress.
Motorola responded to INQ's complaint by saying the concept of "social skills" was too vague to be objectively measurable, and that it could have easilly referred to good manners or etiquette and consumers aren't likely to be misled into thinking an inanimate object has social skills like that. Furthermore, they said they did not intend to say the phone was the first to integrate with social networks, but rather that Motoblur presents a unique way to interact with them.
The ASA, however, has upheld INQ's complaint.
"Although we noted there were differences in the way the Motorola Dext and INQ phone functioned, because we considered the ad implied the Motorola Dext was the first phone to integrate social networking applications in one place, but that was not the case, we concluded the claim was misleading," the ASA's announcement says.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
iPad Wi-Fi complaints echo those of Nexus One, iPod Touch

Posted: April 6th, 2010, 5:21pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Since Apple's iPad launch just over two days ago, frustrated users have packed Apple's iPad support forum with complaints of weak and unreliable Wi-Fi connections. The problem has even affected two Betanews staffers who got iPads on the device's launch day.
Some users have speculated that Wi-Fi issues are related to chassis shielding, antenna placement, or software problems, but there has not yet been any concrete evidence to support any of those guesses.
Apple posted a support article yesterday called "iPad: Does not automatically rejoin known Wi-Fi networks," which suggests that users with simultaneous dual-band wireless routers take additional measures to simplify the iPad's connection process. Apple suggests that users label their different Wi-Fi networks according to whether they're 802.11b/g or 802.11n, equip them with the same type of security, and make sure the router's firmware is up to date.
But we've seen troubles like this with other Apple products in the past, with similar knowledge base suggestions, so we began to investigate the Wi-Fi module inside the iPad.
According to iFixit's recent teardown, the wireless radio inside the iPad is the Broadcom BCM4329, which the chipmaker says is its "smallest and lowest cost dual-band 802.11n solution." The tiny IC has a complete 802.11 a/b/g/n system (MAC/baseband/radio), Bluetooth 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate, and an FM radio transciever on a single die with a single antenna.
This is the same chip found in the third generation iPod Touch, which, like the iPad, exhibited problems sticking to Wi-Fi signals.
Apple's solution to this problem included such advice as "Move closer to the Wi-Fi router or hotspot."
It's true that Wi-Fi connection problems are most often stem from router compatibility issues, but when both of Apple's products using the 4329 chip are having the same issue, we wonder if Apple hasn't chosen a wireless module that is too light duty.
We repeatedly attempted to communicate with Broadcom about the wireless module to find out what other devices have been equipped with the BCM4329, and what the ideal usage scenario for it would be. Unfortunately, the company was not interested in commenting.
What we do know is that this same chip has been used in the Google Nexus One, which, again, has a number of support threads open related to poor Wi-Fi connectivity.
This by no means implicates Broadcom's chip in the iPad's connectivity problems, nor is there any indication that this is a widespread problem. However, it does look like Wi-Fi issues are a trend among the three devices known to use the tiny, low-power unit.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
First look: Rhapsody for Android (beta)

Posted: April 6th, 2010, 12:27pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Since Rhapsody has spun off from RealNetworks and Viacom/MTV, the subscription music service has gone down in price from $14.99 to $9.99, and its first app for Android has been released.
The service has thus far proven to be extremely popular on the iPhone/iPod touch, and has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times since debuting just about eight months ago. That application lets subscribers access Rhapsody's 8 million song database for streaming over 3G or Wi-Fi connections, they can make their own playlists or listen to commercial-free Rhapsody Radio programming.
The Rhapsody Android app is a welcome addition to the platform as there are still fewer music services for Android than there are for iPhone/iPod.
Android's new Rhapsody beta app side by side with iPhone/iPod version 1.4
Rhapsody's welcome screen on Android.
Browsing by genre on Rhapsody for Android.
Artist information on Rhapsody for Android.
Rhapsody Radio on Android
Rhapsody's "play" screen on Android.
The alert associated with Rhapsody playing in the background on Android.
Rhapsody for Android is available now in the Android market or directly from Rhapsody here.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Court rules that FCC can't stop Comcast from throttling traffic

Posted: April 6th, 2010, 10:31am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In August 2008, the Federal Communications Commission issued a cease and desist order to cable company Comcast, demanding it stop throttling BitTorrent traffic. It was considered the first citation ever for the violation of net neutrality rules.
Comcast then filed suit against the FCC, contesting that the Commission overstepped its boundaries because net neutrality guidelines were not a law. They're not.
Under US law, telecommunications service may be directly regulated by the FCC. But in 2002, the Commission classified broadband as an "information service," which is subject to different rules. However, the FCC does have some authority to regulate the Internet on an "ancillary" basis. The FCC argued that this was all it had done.
Last January, this argument didn't look like it would stick, and many believed that the Court was going to side with Comcast.
The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today issued its ruling in favor of Comcast, overturning the FCC's citation on the grounds that Congress has never given the FCC the power to regulate an ISP's network management policies.
Net neutrality advocates are already speaking out against the decision.
"Because this case has turned into a lawyers' debate over technical issues, it is easy to lose sight of its importance to freedom of speech and expression," Parul P. Desai, Vice President of Media Access Project, said. "ISP interference to lawful uses of the Internet must not be tolerated, and the Commission must have the power to adopt rules to prohibit such practices."
"The FCC is firmly committed to promoting an open Internet and to policies that will bring the enormous benefits of broadband to all Americans. It will rest these policies -- all of which will be designed to foster innovation and investment while protecting and empowering consumers -- on a solid legal foundation," FCC Spokesperson Jen Howard said this afternoon. "Today's court decision invalidated the prior Commission's approach to preserving an open Internet. But the Court in no way disagreed with the importance of preserving a free and open Internet; nor did it close the door to other methods for achieving this important end."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Xbox 360 system update finally adds USB storage

Posted: April 6th, 2010, 9:48am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

As expected, Microsoft has pushed out a mandatory update to the Xbox 360 today, which adds support for USB storage devices, expanding the memory capacity of the five-year old video game console.
The update will ostensibly allow any FAT32-formatted USB storage device between 1GB-16GB in size to be used to save profiles, game saves, and downloadable content. There are, however, a number of caveats, which mean users can't just plug anything in and have it work.
When the update was first announced, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb said "Since performance on flash based USB storage is usually better, I highly recommend using flash based instead of spinning media like a hard drive…it's just going to give you a MUCH better experience."
Microsoft has minimum performance recommendations for USB storage devices, and if the one you plug in does not meet them, you will be warned. So far, it looks like Microsoft is using this update to highlight the partnership with SanDisk on the branded Xbox 360 USB memory stick, which comes pre-configured with the software update on board, and includes a one month Gold subscription to Xbox Live.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Live TV on the iPad coming soon

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 3:15pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Qualcomm's mobile broadcast television service called FLO TV existed for about five years under different wireless carrier brand names: Sprint TV, Verizon V Cast TV, and AT&T MediaFLO TV. But the carriers didn't push it very hard, so it did not break through into the public's consciousness.
But then Qualcomm began advertising FLO TV on its own, with its own smartphone-sized pocket TVs made by HTC, and it looks like it is finally beginning to stick.
At CES 2010, Qualcomm announced it had partnered with Mophie on an external battery pack that contains a FLO TV chip so iPhone users could tune into FLO TV without the need for a cumbersome dock, external antenna or anything other than what they have shown an interest in already.
The juicepack TV receiver slips onto the iPhone like any other mophie battery pack, and works in conjunction with a FLO TV app to let users tune into their FLO TV subscriptions. It has not yet been released, but is expected to hit the market soon (first half of 2010.)
I got a hands-on experience with the juicepack TV at CTIA 2010, and while the experience is great, there is one aspect to the system that is absolutely brilliant. The 30-pin connector inside of the JPTV unit does not have to be connected to the iPhone for signals to come through.
All of FLO TV's signals are streamed to the iPhone via a Wi-Fi connection, and the 30-pin connector is used to supply the additional battery power.
Since a physical connection between the JPTV and the handheld device is not necessary, this means users could conceivably connect an iPod Touch or an iPad to the juicepack if they have an active FLO TV account and the iPhone OS-based app. A source close to both companies confirmed that iPod and iPad compatibility does exist, but did not say whether the functionality will be restricted when juicepack TV is released later this year.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Skyfire is coming very soon to Android

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 12:33pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Third-party mobile browser Skyfire is regarded by many to be the best way to consume the Web on the go. With its support for all of the major browser plug-ins, and full server-side rendering, it can provide access to more sites than any other mobile browser, and do it quickly.
It was officially released a little less than one year ago on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60, and has seen one major update since that time. It has not, however, managed to be released on any new platforms, there has been a very early version for BlackBerry, but that has not progressed to the release stages.
Last February, Skyfire acquired kolbysoft, the developers of the Steel browser for Android, a browser which borrowed heavily from Opera and Safari.
At the time of the acquisition, Skyfire's Jeff Guleck said, "Users of the existing version of the Steel browser will still be able to use the current version, but will be offered upgrades to Skyfire Android edition once it is released. We can't share any timing or more details at this time, but I promise you'll like it."
The Skyfire team began admitting testers to the Alpha of the new Android browser last week, and unlike Skyfire for S60 and Windows Mobile, the Android version will reportedly be Webkit-based, and do the page rendering in-device instead of in the cloud. It is unknown how the browser will differ from Steel if this is the case.
The Skyfire team said the response to the alpha program was so overwhelming last week that they had to immediately stop taking email requests from interested parties. Further information about the program has not been supplied.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Less than a week after launching iPad, Apple to show iPhone OS 4

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 10:46am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Now that the iPad is no longer a mystery, Apple is sparking up its magic machine to get people talking and rumoring again.
In classic fashion, Apple has sent out invitations to an event it will be holding this week, which contain only a little detail but a lot of room for speculation and excitement.
So this Thursday, April 8th at 10:00am, Apple will give the world a "sneak peek of the next generation of iPhone OS software."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
California Inventor who sued Apple over the iPhone sues over the iPad

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 10:30am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In October 2008, Californian Elliot Gottfurcht was granted a patent for "Apparatus and method of manipulating a region on a wireless device screen for viewing, zooming and scrolling internet content."
One month later he sued Apple for infringing on that patent.
The complaint was over 76 different ways that Apple's iPhone displays Internet content. According to Gottfurcht's attorneys, the patent claims include the way HTML is reformatted to XML on mobile devices, and the way the iPhone browser zooms and scrolls.
That case is still open in the District Court, Eastern District of Texas, but Gottfurcht's company, EMG Technology LLC, announced today that it will expand the suit to include the iPad, along with the iTunes Store, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.
"Apple refuses to pay reasonable royalties for its use of EMG's patents relating to navigating Internet mobile websites and applications, which were filed in 1999, several years before Apple's mobile patents were filed," Gottfurcht said in a statement today. "Perhaps the reason lies in a statement Steve Jobs made in the 1996 documentary called Triumph of the Nerds, "We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."
The trial date is set for September 12, 2011.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple announces first day iPad sales

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 7:49am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

If you were sucked into the black hole of iPad hype, you may have guessed that Apple sold half a million or more of its new tablet on the first day, but really it was about average when compared to iPhone launches.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster first predicted Apple would sell between 200,000 and 300,000 iPads on its first day of availability, but then after his team gathered data and compared it to previous Apple device launches, he bumped up his first day sales estimate to between 600,000 and 700,000.
With sales like that, it would have meant the iPad was selling at about twice the rate of the iPhone 3GS, which reached 1 million units in about three days.
Today, Apple announced that "over 300,000" iPads sold on the first day, confirming Munster's original estimate, and showing the iPad to be just about on par with Apple's other handhelds.
Apple also announced software sales related to the iPad launch, which brought down 1 million apps in the iTunes App Store and 250,000 e-books in the iBookstore.
"It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world -- it's going to be a game changer," Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO said in a statement to the media. "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Could this be the rarest video game of all time?

Posted: April 3rd, 2010, 10:18pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In February, the mainstream news media picked up a story about a rare 8-bit Nintendo game called Bandai Stadium Events that sold for $13,000 on eBay. The story was widely circulated mostly because the seller had no idea that the game was special in any way. The North Carolina mother who put the auction up was apparently unaware that she was selling a game that was only released in a handful of U.S. markets before it was quickly recalled, making it one of the rarest games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Then another copy of the same game turned up on eBay less than a month later from a seller who heard about the huge bids on the last auction. The copy that he put up managed to be an even rarer version, because it was sealed in its original box. That seller reportedly earned a whopping $41,300 for it.
Thanks to the publicity of those two stories, an even rarer game has gone up for sale on eBay, this time it's for a 28-year old game on the even older Atari 2600 video game console.
On March 20th, CNN ran a story called "8 very rare (and very expensive) video games" , in which it mentions a game called "Air Raid."
"Air Raid is a bit of an enigma for Atari fans. Some say it was the one and only game produced by a company called "Menavision" (or perhaps "Menovision"). The game is so shrouded in mystery, it can't even be verified that "Air Raid" is its official title -- there's no name on the label.
This strange cartridge appeared around 1984 in a bright blue 'T-handle' casing that is very different from the standard, square, black Atari carts sold in North America, but is similar in style to those sold in Brazil. Furthermore, while a few second-hand copies have been sold, no one can ever say they were the original owner. The mystery, as well as the fact there are only 12 known copies, make it a must-have for serious Atari collectors."
On March 21st, an Austin, Texas man named Tanner Sandlin read that article and realized that he owned Air Raid.
"I did not recognize I had the game until the article described the blue T-Shape handle, I thought 'I have that game!'" Sandlin told us.
Within three days, Sandlin posted the cartridge on eBay and announced it on AtariAge.com, a popular forum for collectors of the classic video game console. The listing got a good deal of interest, but Sandlin pulled the auction on March 30th because he had found the original box to go along with the game.
No classic video game collector had ever seen the box for Air Raid before this, and Sandlin himself was no classic game collector.
"Convincing everyone I had one of thirteen cartridges was not difficult," Sandlin told us. "Once I found the box, I knew that I was playing in a whole different league. I knew I was going to need an expert to verify that the box was genuine."
Albert Yarusso, an administrator from AtariAge also based in Austin, met up with Sandlin to confirm that the game was genuine.
"There is no way to know with absolute certainty that this is the 'genuine item.' Especially without another example to look at, which, if we're lucky, will happen at some point in the future," Yarusso told us. "The best I can really do is say that if it is a fake, it's a damned impressive fake, one that would have taken considerable time, effort and money to produce."
The game was then relisted complete with the one-of-a-kind box. Unfortunately, this whole affair culminated on April Fool's day.
"Little did I know that the fact that we both live in Austin would be used as a reason this could be an April fools joke. Apparently Albert had played pranks on his site in the past," Sandlin told us.
"The timing was both unfortunate and amusing at the same time," admitted Yarusso. "I've orchestrated various April Fools jokes in the past on AtariAge, so it was only natural for people to be skeptical when this 'holy grail' of Atari 2600 collecting appeared out of nowhere right around this time. Now that a few days have passed, I believe most people have come to the realization that it's not a hoax."
To have such a rare item turn up at such an inopportune time, Sandlin had to provide a pretty detailed provenance.
He says he bought the game at a Tuesday Morning store "near the corner of Arkansas Lane and Medline Drive" in Arlington, Texas in 1984 or 1985. When we asked why he chose that particular game over some other one, he told us, "I don't think there was anything special that attracted me to the game other then the fact that in 1984, anything to do with video games was like a moth to a flame for an 11-12 year old boy."
However, "It is a very bad game which is probably a contributing factor of why I still have it," Sandlin said. "All of my friends and I used to loan out our games to each other. When I unboxed everything, I realized I was missing some of my games but I had a few I don't remember buying. If Air Raid was any good there was a decent chance that one of my friends would have ended up with it."
So now it's for sale on eBay, with 23 bids and just over six days left in the auction. The current bid is $8,411.
I asked Yarusso about how he foresaw the auction ending. "I don't really see the mainstream media reporting on it as happened with Stadium Events...the NES is more 'recent' in the minds of many gamers, so to see a commercially released NES game sell for $40,000 is extraordinary. I don't feel we'll see Air Raid go that high, but I would not be surprised to see it hit five figures. Also, you're not going to see a flood of boxed Air Raids hit eBay, since, unlike Stadium Events, this is the only boxed copy to surface thus far. However, I would not be surprised to see reproduction boxes hit the stage."
Even if it doesn't climb to the heights that Stadium Events did, Sandlin's copy of Air Raid is already the most valuable Atari 2600 title of all time.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google is armed for iPad launch

Posted: April 2nd, 2010, 2:07pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google today announced its strategy for delivering services on the iPad, and unveiled a new mobile Gmail interface optimized for bigger touchscreens. Since the iPad lies somewhere between a notebook and a smartphone, the Mountain View search company is taking a hybrid approach, offering some services in their desktop format, some in their mobile format, and some as standalone apps.
"We're particularly excited by how tablet computers create the opportunity for new kinds of user interaction," Punit Soni, Product Manager for Google Mobile wrote in the official Google blog. "Here on the mobile team, we often talk about how mobile devices are sensor-rich: they can sense touch through their screens, see with a camera, hear through a microphone, and they know where they are with GPS. The same holds true for tablet computers, and we're just starting to work through how our products can become even better on devices like the iPad."
The HTML5-encoded Gmail for mobile looks like it has simply been stretched to the right on the iPad, and it now includes a preview window that displays your highlighted email conversation threads. Of course, you can check your Gmail through the iPad mail client, but that does not support threading or "starring" of messages.
Among the 1,348 apps that are iPad-optimized, Google's YouTube and Maps apps are two of the few that come pre-installed on the new device, and Google remains the default search provider in Safari for iPad. For the rest, today and tomorrow are going to be a game of getting noticed and downloaded on the new platform.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
How do you follow up after your app is a smash hit?

Posted: April 1st, 2010, 4:45pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Shazam is a brilliant application. If you want to identify a piece of music that is playing, all you have to do is hold up your smartphone, and the Shazam app will tell you what it is based on its "audio fingerprint." It's simple to use, handy to have, and available on most mobile platforms. Though the idea behind Shazam wasn't exactly new, it arrived when the app store craze took off, and has since climbed to impressive heights.
It has 50 million users in 200 countries and has enjoyed a sustained growth of half a million new users per week for more than a year. Shazam has been downloaded more than 1 million times from Nokia's Ovi store, it was the #1 application on BlackBerry App World's launch date, it's Android's third most-downloaded app of all time, and it's Apple's biggest reseller of iTunes music on mobile devices.
But Shazam has been pretty limited thus far. You can identify ("tag") songs, organize and share the tags, and link to related information about the artist or song. It's handy, but it's still an app that applies just to the music industry and music consumers.
What do you do with your single-purpose app after you've got consumers eating it up with a spoon?
Apply it to the advertising industry, for one thing.
During the most recent Super Bowl, we saw Shazam's first pilot advertising tie-in with men's clothing company Dockers. If users "tagged" the advertisement in Shazam, they were entered into a drawing to win one of 5,000 pairs of pants the company was giving away.
Alex Musli, Vice President of product marketing for Shazam told Betanews that we're going to be seeing a lot more interactive advertisement in the coming weeks.
"We think it's a big deal because what comes out of the house with you?" Musli asked. "Your wallet, your keys and your cell phone. The beauty of this is that if you've got a 99¢ burger promotion or a 2-for-1 pizza offer, those promotions exist on your cellphone until the merchant expires them, so it can live forever and a day on your cell phone and you're taking it out of the house. So as long as you remember the burger joint that you've got the promotion for, you can just show your cell phone as the coupon. And that's just one application of the technology."
The other place where Shazam is applying itself is in "contextualized" entertainment.
"We're doing some piloting for HBO right now," Musli told us. "There's a lifestyle series called 'How to Make it Big in America' and people can actually Shazam the television program to get behind-the-scenes footage and additional content. That's had a great reaction from the media industry and I think the reason for that is because we've already got over 50 million consumers that have the capability in their hand, so there's a readily addressable market."
And that market is especially valuable right now. Everybody seems to be attempting to link "offline" content to the Web through apps on our mobile phones. Like optical (QR) tagging, RFID "object hyperlinking," and augmented reality browsing, audio tagging via Shazam is another way to enrich content, and with 50 million users built in, it's a viable one.
"We're still right at the start in terms of advertisers and partners," Musli said. "But a lot of people are surprised in a good way that Shazam is going outside of music and going into interactive marketing. Not everyone saw this coming, in terms of product set, but we as a company have been talking about direct response -and how you can apply the technology- for some time now."
But as it adds new segments to its business model, is Shazam going to change from a music app to something wholly different?
"We're not going to be changing direction," Musli asserted. "It's just two different things around one capability from the handset, so it's just giving people that have taken the time and effort to put Shazam on their devices more value. It's not like we're going to be pushing promotions to our audience, this is about stuff they're interested in."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
EBay found innocent in counterfeit jewelry appeal

Posted: April 1st, 2010, 12:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In 2004, American jewelry company Tiffany & Co. sued online auction site eBay in the US District Court for trademark infringement. In the complaint, Tiffany sought to establish eBay responsible for the trade of counterfeit Tiffany goods on its popular site, saying that eBay was "liable for direct and contributory trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, and direct and contributory trademark dilution. "
The suit opened the door for a number of luxury brands to sue eBay on the same grounds. In the years since Tiffany's complaint, Moet Hennesy Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior Couture, Rolex, L'Oreal fragrances, and PPR, the conglomerate that owns Gucci, Yves Saint-Laurent and Stella McCartney all put legal pressure on eBay to curb the trade of counterfeit products.
But in 2008, eBay managed to come out on top of the Tiffany case and was declared innocent by New York District Judge Richard Sullivan, who said eBay made an acceptable effort to prevent the sale and trade of counterfeit goods on its site.
Tiffany appealed the District Court's decision, but that judgement was upheld by the Second Circuit court of Appeals, eBay announced today.
"The decision is a critically important victory for online consumers who want the best prices for genuine products and underscores eBay's commitment to connecting buyers and sellers under the pillars of trust, value, and selection," eBay general counsel Michael Jacobson said today. "The ruling validates eBay's leading efforts to fight counterfeiting and its commitment to providing consumers with choice and value in a safe and trusted marketplace. We continue to support cooperation, rather than litigation, as the best way to address these issues in everyone's best interests and we remain confident that the one remaining issue in the case will be decided favorably on remand."
Tiffany and Co. is expected to take the charges all the way to the Supreme Court.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Palm's free hotspot functionality will help evolve the mass market smartphone

Posted: April 1st, 2010, 10:48am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Palm hasn't exactly been raking in the dough for the last few years. Quite the contrary, it has consistently posted quarterly losses since well before its switch to webOS last year.
But Palm has so much going for it. Its devices are aesthetically pleasing, they offer a high level of functionality, they're available on three of the four major wireless carriers, and above all, they're cheap.
Today the devices got even more appealing. Verizon now lets subscribers use their Pre Plus or Pixi Plus as a 3G hotspot for no additional cost. The device can connect to a 3G signal and then share Internet connectivity with up to five Wi-Fi devices, and it used to incur an additional $30-$50 per month charge. The exact same functionality on a standalone device like the Novatel MiFi could cost as much as $60 per month. Now your first 5 GB of data each month is free if you decide to go with a Palm device.
Verizon's Web site now says: "Customers who purchase or upgrade to a Palm Pre and Palm Pixi will get the Mobile Hotspot for free. Existing customers who already have the service will find charges on their next bill will be $0.00."
To include the feature for free in devices that cost only $29.99 (Pixi) and $49.99 (Pre) makes them downright irresistible.
In the United States, smartphones are still too expensive to be the default mobile device of the average consumer, but not by much. Last year, Research in Motion pushed down its BlackBerry prices and snagged a much bigger piece of the mobile device market, breaking the Canadian company out of its enterprise niche.
In fact, three of the top five best-selling smartphones of 2009 were BlackBerrys, according to NPD market data, and the number one best-seller was the Curve, the BlackBerry model aimed at consumers.
But even then, all four models of the BlackBerry Curve combined only constituted 35% of the smartphone market which is itself less than 30% of all mobile phones sold.
Since that time, smartphones have taken a growing share of the overall mobile phone market as featurephones dwindle in popularity. They will eventually come to be in the majority, but it will still take a few years.
What Palm and Verizon are doing is offering top-tier smartphone functionality at mass market prices. This may not reap the most profits for Palm, but it will definitely encourage featurephone users to make the jump over to smartphones, and that will help the overall evolution of the mobile device market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
MeeGo launches for developers, users given very little to get excited about

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 1:41pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

MeeGo, the mobile Linux project that merges Nokia's Maemo with Intel's Moblin, has officially launched for developers today.
Both the MeeGo core distribution infrastructure and the operating system base are now available as downloadable images from the MeeGo project's Web site, here.
"The MeeGo common core includes the various key subsystems including the core operating system libraries, the comms and telephony services, internet and social networking services, visual services, media services, data management, device services, and personal services," Imad Sousou, Director of Intel's Open Source Technology Center and Co-chair of the MeeGo TSG said today.
The MeeGo architecture is meant to support a wide variety of devices, including netbooks, smartphones, in-vehicle systems, and connected TVs; but today's images correspond only to Atom-based netbooks, Atom-based smartphones (Moorestown), and the ARM-based Nokia N900.
It's pretty much exactly the same stuff that was offered when the two projects were separate: it's the same devices, and the new MeeGo UI is not included in the downloadable core. Instead, all of these images boot into terminal.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Sprint Nextel announces free 30-day trial contracts

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 11:33am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

While most U.S. wireless carriers offer a 30-day grace period where users can return their new phone and cancel their service package without having to pay the exorbitant early termination fee, the subscriber who canceled his plan never really gets all his money back. There are activation fees, restocking fees, and fees for all the minutes/data used during that grace period.
Today, Sprint Nextel announced a new "Satisfaction Guaranteed or Money Back" program which gives users the customary 30 day grace period, but if they decide to cancel their plan and return their phone, they get all their money back. Sprint refunds everything included in its plans, but will not reimburse users for services above and beyond that. For example, if they sent a bunch of text messages without a texting plan, or if they used services with third-party billing, Sprint won't reimburse that.
The new plan goes into effect on April first, and includes both handsets and mobile broadband hardware.
This new plan gives customers a hassle-free incentive to try out Sprint's service in their area if there's a particular Sprint phone they might like, such as the upcoming EVO 4G.
...Of course, it also leaves the door open for people who want a free mobile broadband modem for their two-week vacation; so they can sign up and then return it when they get home for a full refund.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Microsoft's Hohm smart grid service pairs with Ford's 2011 electric car

Posted: March 31st, 2010, 9:16am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Microsoft and Ford have worked closely for more than three years on the Sync in-car communication, navigation, and entertainment system, and today the companies announced their partnership has branched out into energy management for electric vehicles.
At the New York International Auto Show today, the two companies announced that the 2011 Ford Focus Electric will be the first vehicle to utilize Microsoft Hohm for automation and optimization of charging. Hohm is a cloud-based service that provides actionable info on your energy consumption that Microsoft first debuted nine months ago.
Microsoft says that 42% of consumers say they're likely to buy a hybrid or electric vehicle in the next two years. But an often overlooked fact about these vehicles is that they instantly become the biggest user of electricity in your home, and if everyone plugged in their cars at once, the energy grid could be crippled.
Hohm will help users determine the most efficient and affordable times to recharge their Ford Focus Electric.
With only one vehicle in the program so far, this collaboration is still in its early phases. However, that didn't preclude Microsoft from throwing in a teaser shot of a Hohm application for Windows Phone 7 Series.
"Our plan is to make electric vehicle ownership easier and more affordable for consumers and help utility companies manage the added demands of electric vehicles on the electric grid," Microsoft wrote in the Hohm community blog today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple launches iPad-friendly iTunes 9.1

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 3:32pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Just four days ahead of the iPad's first day of availability, iTunes has received an upgrade which adds sync for the new device. According to the software updater, the new version of iTunes lets users "Organize and sync books you've downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library," and "Rename, rearrange, or remove Genius Mixes."
The icon under "Library" which formerly was called "Audiobooks" is now simply, "Books," and Genius mixes can now be re-named and moved. Otherwise, there is not much of an outward difference between 9 and 9.1
The new iTunes also brings a new version of VoiceOver for the iPod Shuffle and Nano. This is the feature which says artist names, song titles, and playlists with the Voiceover-equipped iPods with an earphone remote. With iTunes 9.1, there are several unspecified performance upgrades for VoiceOver, and pronunciation updates for the kit have become an automatic download.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
'Hands-off' review of Dial2Do's solution to the texting and driving problem

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:23am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Back in December, I tried to enable everything I use on my Motorola Droid with text-to-speech, with only limited success. Ideally, I would have been able to have all of my incoming text-based media from Twitter, RSS, e-mail, and SMS read aloud to me so I could use my phone while driving. Unfortunately, Android's built in TalkBack functionality is very limited, and the talking apps I've tried are also pretty limited in what they do.
But with safe driving legislation in committee in Congress, and a growing list of states that have banned texting while driving, the market for eyes- and hands-free phone interfaces is hot.
At CTIA last week, there was actually a whole section of the show floor dedicated strictly to safe driving solutions, and a number of hardware manufacturers, like LG, addressed the topic in their booths as well.
So I found a couple of services that approximately do what I wanted to do back in December, and checked them out.
One of them is Dial2Do, which utilizes text-to-speech and voice recognition software to let a user check her e-mail, calendars, Twitter feeds, SMS, weather updates and news feeds, personal notes, and a growing list of other services without using her hands or eyes.
With the free Dial2Do Android app, you can have your incoming text messages read aloud to you as they arrive, and you can create 20-second audio notes which are transcribed and e-mailed to you. Access to all the other functionality of Dial2Do costs $3.99 per month ($39.99 per year.)
When you hit "hands-free assistant" in the Android app, it dials into the local Dial2Do menu system. From there, you can then use voice commands to access your different linked services. Saying "Send a text to [contact name]," for example, will give you 30 seconds to speak a message to that contact which will then be transcribed and sent without the need for lots of "Are you sure?" prompts. Saying "Twitter" lets you post a tweet to your feed which includes a partial transcription and a link to your recorded messages.
Like most voice recognition software, Dial2Do requires a somewhat slower cadence for accurate transcription, and has difficulty recognizing arcane words and proper names. After testing the notation software, I chose a random passage from a Rudyard Kipling book: "Free People, and ye too, jackals of Shere Khan, for twelve seasons I have led ye to and from the kill, and in all that time not one has been trapped or maimed."
What came through in transcription was passable: "Free people and jekyll's of (Sherkan?) for 12 seasons I have led thee to and from the hill and in that time not one has been trapped or named."
When navigating through the service, you may find some dead ends. If you're listening to a long string of tweets or listening to headlines in Yahoo News, for example, you cannot say the name of another service to switch tasks, and if you say "go back," it always registers as "goodbye" and asks if you want to hang up. Any phone can use Dial2Do since it's based on calling in to access the command system. But Android and BlackBerry both have apps in beta which make interacting with the service much simpler.
While Dial2Do is extremely useful for replying to messages and sending out communications to others, the built-in reader voice still suffers from lots of mispronunciations, and it reads at an awkward pace. It works well enough for text messages and e-mails, but when you're going through lists of tweets or news headlines (which is the main thing I wanted an application to do) it is often hard to understand what is being said.
So if you're looking for a voice command service to use while driving, Dial2Do is an excellent choice. If you're looking for a voice-driven feed reader that will speak clearly and let you drill down into articles that interest you, Dial2Do is probably not what you're going to want.
The Handsfree Assistant app is available for download directly from Dial2Do or in the Android market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
The explosion of non-Flash devices is driving HTML 5 growth, Brightcove says

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 2:41pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Video sharing site Brightcove is using the impending launch of the Apple iPad as a platform to talk up its support for HTML 5, the updated spec for the Web's core markup language which brings rich functionality to sites (such as video) without the need for third-party plug-ins like Adobe's Flash or Microsoft's Silverlight.
Earlier this year, Brightcove's bigger competitors YouTube and Vimeo announced they were experimenting with HTML 5, but both warned that not everyone would be able to see videos unless they had a compatible browser. Vimeo, for example, said 90% of its videos would work in HTML 5-compatible browsers, but only 20% of viewers would be using one.
Flash remains the most ubiquitous vehicle for video delivery today, and is likely to remain deeply entrenched as a necessary plug-in for PC Web browsers.
Brightcove's founder and CEO, Jeremy Allaire referred to this as "runtime hegemony," and sees the mobile world as an opportunity to break out of it.
So the video site has launched "The Brightcove Experience for HTML5," a framework for publishing HTML 5 videos and advertisements aimed at companies and marketers looking to make an iPad-ready site.
"Our customers want to be able to deliver their video content to every screen without sacrificing the quality, interactivity and monetization capabilities they have come to expect from the Brightcove platform," Allaire said in a statement. "The Brightcove Experience for HTML 5 fills the gap between the current playback capabilities of the emerging standard and what our customers need to operate successful online video businesses."
This solution has already been used to produce the iPad-formatted New York Times Web site.
"The ubiquitous Flash Platform technology stack...has allowed us to reach 99% of the world's Internet connected computers with a consistent video experience that just works," Allaire wrote in the Brightcove blog yesterday. "Now we have seen the incredibly broad adoption of devices such as the iPhone (and soon the iPad) that do not support Flash, but do support the HTML 5 standard. Many device platforms have pledged to support Flash video, but the adoption of non-Flash devices is expected to be broad enough that many publishers are worried that they will be missing a substantial audience if they rely exclusively on a Flash-only strategy. That is driving publishers to look for ways to deliver an equivalent video experience to what they can offer with Flash, but implemented using the HTML 5 standard."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple rolls out Snow Leopard update (10.6.3)

Posted: March 29th, 2010, 10:59am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

It's been about five months since Apple put out the Mac OS X 10.6.2 update, which fixed a potentially damaging guest account bug that could delete a user's account data if another user logged in and out of a guest account on a Snow Leopard machine.
Today, the company rolled out its next update to the operating system, which has reportedly been in beta since late December. The update includes more than 70 security fixes and 49 general improvements to Snow Leopard, including fixes for Mail, MobileMe, and AirPort. The full release notes are here.
Snow Leopard users can simply choose "Software Update" from the Apple menu, and install the upgrade from there, or they can download the standalone update installer from Apple Support.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Swype and T9 Trace are on a collision course

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 6:44pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

You may not know the name Nuance Communications, but you can bet you've used this company's products. It deals with linguistic solutions in the health care, enterprise, and the consumer mobile spaces. Yet you'd probably know Nuance as the company that owns T9 text completion, which ships on 85% of all mobile phones.
You may also not know the name Cliff Kushler, but he was one of the inventors of T9 at Tegic Communications. He went on from there to launch the company Swype after Nuance acquired Tegic in 2007.
Swype offers a new method of text entry that lets a user drag his finger to each letter on a virtual keyboard, rather than have to peck each letter out. It has been getting a lot of positive press, and has appeared as a pack-in feature on two new Android handsets this week -- the impressive Samsung Galaxy S and the Motorola i1 -- as well as the Windows Mobile-powered HTC HD2 which just launched on T-Mobile.
This week, Nuance announced its new method of text entry called T9 Trace, which is pretty much exactly the same as Swype. Both Nuance and Swype market their products directly to OEMs rather than fiddle with the consumer app space, so the name of the game for them is getting as many manufacturers to pick up their technology, and establishing ubiquity.
Swype is doing pretty well in terms of partnerships so far, and Nuance hasn't announced any yet. Nuance hopes to grab OEMs by offering the same input technology as Swype, only integrated into some of their other intellectual properties.
"We'll go through OEMs and do hybrid interfaces with some of our connected services such as Dragon Dictation," Richard Mack, VP of corporate communications for Nuance said yesterday. "If you wanted to go in there and edit, you can call up the keyboard and do Trace there, so we're beginning to integrate all these into a combination, multi-modal experience for text information input."
In other words, manufacturers who already license T9 will be able to get a package licensing deal with Nuance for Trace and whatever other technologies they want.
"We've also got a higher number of languages than anyone else out there [80], integration time is much easier because it can be built on top of T9 which is already there," Mack said. Truly, when I tried T9 Trace yesterday, the words that popped up in the suggestion list were rather consistently in Italian.
But really, the way T9 Trace and Swype work is secondary to the way their stories could end. After all, Swype is a small company still working on Series B investment capital, but with significant interest from OEMs. Also, Nuance is a big company with a long list of clients, no T9 Trace partners yet, and history of buying up Kushler's technology.
I would be remiss to say Nuance is copying Swype...that's for you to decide. Either way, Kushler and Nuance look to be coming to a meeting point again, and it could be the bargaining table or it could be the courtroom.
Disclosure: Tim Conneally is an investor in Nuance Communications.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
That phone you're about to throw away could be worth $500

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 1:25pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The lifespan of mobile phones is getting very short, and CTIA is packed with evidence to prove it. When I met with HTC at CES in January, they had an array of eight handsets to show off, most of which had only been released into the market within the last six months.
Now, just two months later, HTC has added four new high-end smartphones that put the entire batch that I saw in January to shame. Smartphones only remain on the cutting edge for a matter of weeks before they're usurped by the latest hot device. In the case of Android, sometimes it's only a matter of days.
When your phone draws close to the end of your two-year contract, it may seem old and worn when compared to the hot new devices. But its constituent parts have a much longer lifespan and retain a very high value.
The lens in your iPhone camera, for example, can fetch as much as $200 in the second-hand market. All those high-megapixel cameraphones with Karl Zeiss optics that were released in 2008 retain quite a bit of resale value for the camera parts alone.
In short, many high-end smartphones are worth nearly as much now as they were at launch.
I had a chance to sit down and chat with CBM Wireless Group (CWG), a consortium of companies that reconditions, recycles, and repurposes old mobile devices. From what they told me, it appears the second-hand business is thriving.
And why shouldn't it be? More than a billion phones are taken out of circulation every year already, and now that the lifespan of individual devices is shortening to just a single year in many cases, there is a lot of hardware to reclaim.
While a strong recycling policy is ultimately better for the environment, companies are jumping into recycling for reasons far beyond the "green" buzzwords. It's very profitable.
So what does CWG recycle? In short, everything. They buy back used handsets from OEMs and wireless carriers in any condition. If they can be brought back to working condition, they wipe all data, replace the broken parts, and send them back into the market. If they aren't reusable as a complete unit, they're broken down into desirable parts and resold back to manufacturers, repair shops, and the carriers. And that's not just the major parts, like keyboards, screens, and chipsets; they reclaim individual parts less than a single square millimeter in size. Everything else is then destroyed, and the case of many plastic components, turned into a new, composite recycled plastic.
So if we're going to be ditching our year-old phones en masse for the new EVO 4G this summer, its good to know that recycling them will be as good for the economy as it is for the environment.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Review: Eye-Fi X2, my CTIA secret weapon

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 1:36am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Two years ago, Lexar brought the Eye-Fi brand into the mainstream when it released 2GB SD cards endowed with Eye-Fi's 802.11b/g wireless connectivity. The capability turned any camera with an SD slot into one with Wi-FI. Since that time, Eye-Fi has grown its product line to include support for 802.11n, improved security features, improved capacities, and overall performance improvements.
On Tuesday, Eye-Fi's new X2 series of wireless SD cards hit retail, bringing the 4GB Connect X2 ($49.99), 8GB Explore X2 ($99.99) and 8GB Pro X2 ($149.99) to photographers across the country.
I'd been toying with the idea of pairing up an Eye-Fi camera with a MiFi portable hotspot for a sort of goofily-named dream team that could provide a constant connection for shooting tons of pictures that instantly piped up to the cloud. Since I was headed to Vegas for CTIA this week, and Eye-Fi was launching its new X2 series, I thought it was time to try it out with a 4G Sprint Overdrive.
So I've been walking the showfloor with a WiMAX hotspot in my backpack, and the Eye-Fi Connect X2 in my point-and-shoot Canon. Short of having a camera with a built-in mobile broadband module, this is the best way to shoot pictures. While I have been concentrating on getting exciting shots, Eye-Fi has quietly been uploading them to photography-sharing sites the second they're snapped. When I finally get to sit down in the press room, all the photos are up, sorted by date, and geotagged online, and when I connect my computer to a hotspot, the photos automatically download to my Eye-Fi desktop folder.
I stuck to sending all the photos to Picasa, but I could have chosen Flickr, Snapfish, Photobucket, Shutterfly, MobileMe, Fotki, Facebook, Whrrl, Evernote, Dotphoto, SmugMug, TypePad, or even to a custom FTP site. Eye-Fi offers 28 different destinations that your photos can be sent to. Additionally, it can send video to YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, SmugMug and Photobucket.
The only troublesome aspect of the X2 was installing the software on my computers. I first tried it on a Vista PC, but it kept crashing it, and then I tried it on a Mac running the older 10.4 Mac OS, and it also did not want to work after half a dozen attempted installs. Eventually, however, it managed to get itself installed and has been running ever since.
Though the Eye-Fi helps heat up my camera very quickly, it has not had an appreciable effect on its battery life. In the three days I've been using it, I have not run out of battery any quicker than I would have if I was using a regular SD card. This will no doubt vary from camera to camera, and I intend to test it with other models to corroborate. Not all SD-supportive cameras are compatible with Eye-Fi SD cards.
And it doesn't require a mobile hotspot in your pocket for Eye-Fi to be useful on the go. Eye-Fi users have automatic free connectivity at 21,000 U.S. hotspots including Starbucks coffee shops and Harborlink hotspots such as BP gas stations.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
How I slashed my connection to cable TV without missing anything

Posted: March 25th, 2010, 12:06am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Mission: Find an affordable alternative to cable/pay TV using only off-the-shelf products.
Deadline: Today (with a clause for extension)
Like 24 million other Americans, I have a subscription to Comcast for cable television; and like an untold number of those subscribers, I feel that it costs far more than it should.
Annually, I pay more than $675 for service on one HD receiver with no premium content, even though I only watch a couple of hours of television a week. It amounts to 212 unique stations (minus the redundant HD channels.) This wasted money could be put toward something I'd actually use, like a mobile broadband subscription or a second data line, so I began looking for more cost effective alternatives.
I started this project with the idea that I could replace cable with a second broadband connection, dedicated strictly to grabbing video content from the Web, but I ended up going in a totally different direction thanks to a serendipitous TiVo Premiere review I was supposed to be writing at the same time.
You see, TiVo sent us its new Premiere DVR to check out, and I was going to hook it up to my Comcast signal to review it, but that required a cableCARD. I called Comcast to get one, and they had to send a technician out to install it, and one wouldn't be able to come out to my house for 20 days.
With the TiVo Premiere review due in just 8 days, I had no choice but to hook up the TiVo to a DTV antenna and try to make the best of it. Little did I know that this would completely change my mind about how I could cancel cable for my other project.
Part 1: Using TiVo Premiere without pay TV
I hadn't turned on over-the-air television since long before it shifted to digital broadcast, and I thought I was going to be reviewing TiVo's brand new DVR with only a measly handful of channels to work with. I was not happy.
Some quick background: I grew up in the Baltimore area, and we only got about 6-10 over-the-air stations depending upon where you were tuning in. If you moved northward, for example, you may have been lucky enough to pick up some Pennsylvania stations, If you moved southward, you started to get Washington D.C. and Virginia stations. But as far as central Maryland goes, there were 3 VHF and 3 UHF channels and nothing else.
When I plugged the brand new DTV antenna into the TiVo Premiere, I was shocked to find that I was receiving 33 over-the-air stations. Furthermore, with the TiVo Premiere, I could hit "guide" and find information about what I was watching, and what was scheduled to come on later in the day.
Then it dawned on me. I have 33 channels worth of free linear content that TiVo can turn into free on-demand content.
What's more, TiVo beefs up the free stuff I'm going to be watching by indexing casts, and linking shows to related Web-based content like Netflix Streaming, Amazon on Demand, Blockbuster on demand, and YouTube. It makes watching free, over-the-air content as good as, if not better than, pay television.
Sure, the TiVo Premiere's new UI has issues...well, one issue, really. It's not finished. Some menus are in HD and some are in SD, and the switch between them is jarring both on the viewer and a little laggy. As long as you're parked on the home screen, information pops up quickly and smoothly. But when you have to get into a part of the UI that's still in SD, you're going to encounter all-black loading screens pretty frequently.
Maybe I'm too forgiving, but I can overlook a menu that's both HD and SD. After all, I'm not offered standard 100% HD service packages from any content provider, either, and streaming videos vary in quality from 720p all the way down to tiny, blurry molecules of unwatchable crap.
Besides, TiVo says it's going to be rolling out UI updates pretty frequently, which will make the menus that pop up over live TV high definition, and then the utility screens and messages sections will follow. The first update to the Premiere will roll out in May and will improve the features of the discovery bar located across the top of the main TiVo menu.
The funny thing about the TiVo Premiere is that it really doesn't do anything new. It's a TiVo, it does what TiVo always does. It does it with a more powerful dual-core processor and high definition Flash-based UI, but it remains the same viewing experience that turns regular TV viewers into TiVo cultists.
That said, it's got a number of limitations that mean it's only a single part of my solution for canceling cable, one of them is the fact that it cannot access the majority of the free content on the Web.
At $299, the TiVo Premiere makes up about half of the year's cable bill that I'm saving and helps to replace 11 channels in the Comcast package. Some of the over-the-air networks I receive are not included in my Comcast package, but could serve as a loose replacement for others. MGM's THiS network, for example, takes on characteristics of both TV Land and AMC.
I have not broken it down to its show-by-show replacement value because that would have REALLY extended me past my deadline, but my early estimate is that an OTA TiVo Premiere could replace between 20%-25% of the content I would have been watching on my cable subscription. This is made up of the content it captures from live broadcasts, the access it has to YouTube, and its extensive roster of video podcasts it can capture. With the addition of a single-disc Netflix account, my overall annual cost rises by $108, but the amount of content available to me also significantly increases. (note: I don't think I should include this in my overall cost since I was paying for Netflix already, but I am just for the sake of everyone who doesn't.)
Since Amazon on Demand and Blockbuster on Demand are both pay-per-item, they also increase available content, but only really replace the pay-per-view section of Comcast's lineup.
Next: Bringing the Web to your TV for $40...
Part 2: Bringing Web content fully to the TV
The bottom line in free web-based television content is still Hulu, and your options for bringing that to your TV with regular old consumer gear are pretty limited. However, there is one software solution that gives all three major home video game consoles access to Hulu and other Web video sites for a single $39.99 license fee: MediaMall's PlayOn Digital Media Server.
Now, I've heard people complain about PlayOn because of MediaMall's charge for the license. But the fact remains that it's been the most consistent TV-based access to Hulu when all the other free solutions keep getting blocked. That alone is worth it to me.
So PlayOn gives your console access to content from networks like NBC, ABC, Disney, PBS, and Comedy Central via Hulu, and there are user-installable plugins (or "channels" if you prefer) for Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Discovery Channel, SyFy, ESPN, Food Network, Fox News, HGTV, a surprisingly comprehensive one for MTV, Spike TV, C-Span, VH1, Nickelodeon, and CNN.
You install the MediaMall server on your connected PC, and all of your game consoles have access to PlayOn channels, the content on your PC's drives, and any networked storage.
One of the most startling parts of PlayOn is that every single feature works on the humble Nintendo Wii through its built-in Opera browser. THE most startling part is that it's actually the best implementation of PlayOn on all three consoles, and it's still only in beta. I am fully aware that the Wii is not an HD device, but when you consider the source quality of most of the content you'll be watching, you realize that the lack of HD can actually be a blessing.
With Hulu and all of the other plugins, PlayOn delivers content from more than 20 networks, and could replace as much as 40% of the content that I paid for on Comcast.
The problem remains that there are still a ton of cable channels putting up their content for free on the Web, but there's no central place to view them on your television. This includes stations like FX, Bravo, E!, USA, and ABC Family, all of which offer full episodes of their most popular shows directly on their Web sites, and other stations like QVC and Home Shopping network, which run 24/7 streams of their channels on the Web.
In a nutshell, the content is out there, there's just no comprehensive way to get it without building a custom home theater PC. However, I've cut my expenses by 33% and have access to anywhere from 55%-70% of the content at my disposal with Comcast, I consider quitting cable easily justified.
I'm still looking for a way to increase my access to online video without significantly adding to the price to sweeten the setup further. I've got $227 left before I'm back to what I'd spend for one year of Comcast, so I'd say things are looking pretty good.
Mission: Ongoing
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Exclusive: Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White discusses his first skateboarding game

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 4:41pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Of all the things we expected to come from a conference about wireless technology, an interview with a two-time gold medal olympian was not one of them, but today, Betanews got an exclusive interview with professional snowboarder/skateboarder Shaun White about his first skateboarding-only videogame from Ubisoft.
Truth be told, running into Shaun was purely accidental. I was scheduled to talk to Marvell about its Armada 600 platform at the very same time the he was scheduled to do an autograph signing for the company. As a huge line amassed around Marvell's booth, I completely expected to have my discussion time bumped. Instead, Marvell invited me to ask Shaun a few questions.
"We've got a skateboarding game coming out that's been three years in the making," White said. "I've finished the soundtrack, voice-over stuff within the next little bit here. But it's amazing, it's one of the best games we've played. We had a writer from Family Guy to write the script. I mean...when I play a game, I wanna have fun, I want to enjoy it and also laugh, you know what I mean? It's got to be a mixture of things, so it's pretty cool."
As a skateboarder and snowboarder, I assumed White has played at least one of the long-running Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. I asked him how this game compares.
"It's a mixture, obviously. You can't just deny the fact that Tony [Hawk]'s games are incredibly fun, and the SKATE game is a bunch of fun. But...I'm proud to say, it's not a re-do of their games in the slightest. We have certain elements, certain controller things that we kind of borrowed from SKATE -- trick styles, and the way the levels are built, it's like we got [ideas for] those things from Tony's, but it's definitely like a mixture of those two," White said.
"Basically, everywhere you go, everything changes. So as you skate, you create your whole world. It's like the whole world's black and white and you have to basically change the world through your actions. So you're only [at] this little stair, and then when you land, the shock wave goes out, and trees start sprouting, rails start growing. The whole thing changes, the music picks up, it's just really entertaining. It's just like you shaping the world, and you can actually get on rails and, like, shape the way they're going to go. You control everything."
Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to White any more about the upcoming game, but he's very excited about it. White's talents as a professional skateboarder are sometimes overlooked by his domination in competitive snowboarding.
I was going to ask him what kind of phone he uses, but that was when I was actually bumped. Specifically by Marvell's COO, Weili Dai, who came in to meet the olympian, who she said "looks just like a UC Berkley student."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Why Sony Ericsson is worth watching in the Android space

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:16pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In the past, having too many different screen resolutions to support was a problem for Windows Mobile developers. For the users of Android phones, it seems like too few screen sizes could become a problem. With Android, there are only three general screen classes: small, medium, and large.
And the trend lately among Android devices has been to have bigger and brighter screens. When the Motorola Droid debuted last October, the device's 3.7" screen looked downright huge. Yesterday, the 4" screen on the Samsung Galaxy S and 4.3" screen on the HTC EVO made the Droid look small by comparison. Unfortunately, the shape of the chassis must reflect the size of the screen. What's happening is that we are seeing bigger, flatter phones.
That's why Sony Ericsson's Xperia X10 line is so compelling. The X10 was one of the first Android devices with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and the first to offer a 4" screen, but Sony Ericsson isn't using that model as a baseline to crazily push toward tablet-sized phones. Quite the contrary, it's using it as the biggest model in a line of phones conceptually more like the iPod. At Mobile World Congress in February, the company announced that it was going against what most other manufacturers appeared to be doing with Android, and made their devices smaller.
In fact, now Sony Ericsson has made the smallest Android phone yet.
Last night, I got a chance to play with the Xperia X10 Mini Pro, and I was supremely impressed. The tiny X10 Mini Pro can fit in the palm of my hand, and yet almost no usability has been sacrificed. The chiclet keyboard is highly responsive, and though it is running an older version of Android, the UI has been totally redesigned to make it easy to use on a small screen.
Though Sony Ericsson isn't one of the hotter brands in the United States, its products are highly compelling, especially if you are looking for something outside of the standard touchphone form factor.
The Xperia X10 Mini Pro will be available in Europe in May, but sadly, no US release plans have yet been announced.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Get in on the limited beta of new suggestion engine, Zite

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 12:19am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Late last year, I took a look at how search services were being affected by the unchecked growth of ultra-digested, 140-character-or-less news blips. In my research, I talked to a Vancouver-based startup called Worio that was tackling the difficult problem of creating a search engine that "understood" what kind of data was important to the user.
Now, the team is working on creating a new content discovery service, which it is calling Zite.
Zite harvests keywords and themes from your Twitter feed and Delicious bookmarks and turns them into a "follow list." The same way you follow individuals on Twitter, you follow keywords on Zite, and you can customize your list to be as long or short as you like.
Based upon this follow list, Zite then creates a news feed of articles it thinks you will like. The results are broken into two lists: articles published within the last 24 hours, and articles that are more than a day old.
It's a super new service, and the Zite team wants your help, so they've given us 50 beta invites which will let you get in and access Zite directly right now.
Click here to get access to the Zite beta!
Only the first 50 readers to click that link will be able to participate in this round of testing, so click quickly!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
T-Mobile talks network upgrades

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 8:19pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Rather than debut anything unknown or surprising, mobile network operator T-Mobile today presented everything it had already announced, and then concentrated on talking about the widespread 3G network upgrade it's rolling out this year.
While this doesn't always get people drooling, T-Mobile looks to be taking a level-headed approach to network growth which the company says will result in the overall fastest 3G network in the US.
T-Mobile says its HSPA+ network upgrade will be complete by the end of this year, bringing a theoretical peak throughput of 21 Mbps to the company's entire 3G footprint.
Now, there's been some confusion as to what this upgrade will mean, as evinced by some of the questions in today's Q&A session with T-Mobile at CTIA.
As of right now, T-Mobile has launched or announced about 12 HSPA 7.2 devices. Every single one of these will be compatible with HSPA+ because the network upgrade is fully backward compatible. T-Mobile said this path is much easier on users because it doesn't require any new hardware on their side. Once the network is upgraded and activated, they simply get faster service.
In an era where the lifespan of mobile devices keeps getting shorter, T-Mobile's growth plans are a refreshing change. Instead of tempting customers into new hardware, the carrier is actually trying to add value to the devices customers have already purchased.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
CTIA's 'other' Android superphone: Samsung Galaxy S

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 6:27pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

HTC and Sprint's EVO may have stolen the show at CTIA today, but Samsung showed off its own Android 2.1 superphone called the Galaxy S. It's just as impressive as the EVO, just without the 4G muscle.
And while it may look like the fraternal twin of Apple's iPhone, especially with the TouchWIZ UI, Samsung's Galaxy S is no iClone.
The Galaxy S has 4" Super AMOLED (800 x 480) capacitive touchscreen, a 1 GHz Cortex A8 application processor, quad-band GSM and 7.2 Mbps HSPA 3G radios, A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11n, a 5 megapixel camera and a VGA front-facing camera, 720p video recording capabilities, either 16 GB or 8 GB of internal memory expandable to 32 GB via microSD, accelerometer, digital compass, proximity and light sensors.
While all of that is impressive on its own, Samsung has packed it all into a chassis with a 9.9mm profile. It makes the device slightly thinner than the iPhone 3GS (12.5mm in thickness) and thicker than the iPod Touch (8.5mm).
Some of the most outstanding features so far, however, appear to be the exclusive applications that come with it. Galaxy S has a built in app for tethering; a Samsung AllShare app, which gives the phone instant DLNA compatibility for multimedia sharing in the home; and an e-book reader app from Skiff. That's the company that rose to popularity earlier this year when Hearst Publishing announced the Skiff e-reader. The screenshot Samsung showed today looked perfectly identical to the iBooks app that's due to launch with the iPad on April 3.
If it wasn't for the EVO announcement which came just two hours afterward, the Galaxy S would have undoubtedly been today's most intriguing new device unveiling at CTIA. Battery life for the EVO, however, remains a pivotal issue, and it may turn out that the more typical 3G radio array in the Galaxy S was the smarter choice for Samsung.
Samsung says the Galaxy S will be launched worldwide "soon."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Sprint has the game changer: The first 4G smartphone

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 5:25pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Sprint and HTC this afternoon finally took the wraps off of the "Supersonic" 4G smartphone, the HTC EVO 4G, and everything about this device is killer.
HTC and Sprint have spared nothing in this top-of-the-line device. It has a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon (QSD8650) processor, a 4.3" (800x480) capacitive touchscreen, an 8 megapixel dual flash camera, and a 1.3 megapixel forward-facing camera. Add Android 2.1, 4G WiMAX/3G EV-DO Rev. A, the ability to act as an 8-device 4G hotspot, an FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1, digital compass, proximity, velocity, and light sensors, GPS and 3.5mm headphone and HDMI output. In short, pretty much everything you could want.
Physically, it looks and feels a lot like the Windows Mobile-powered HD2 on T-Mobile, with a 4.8" x 2.6" x .5" chassis that weighs 6 ounces. Onboard memory is 1 GB ROM, 512 MB RAM. Though the battery is 1500mAh Lithium (Li-ion) battery, HTC representatives didn't talk much about the actual life of it other than to say they expect it to be able to last all day. Obviously, if eight devices are using it as a 4G hotspot, it won't last anywhere near as long as that.
The biggest unanswered questions about the EVO now are: How much will it cost, and when will it be available? Sprint CEO Dan Hesse said at CTIA this afternoon it should be out in the summer, but he did not go into any more specifics. He also did not say if it will be released nationwide, or only in the 27 WiMAX-connected Sprint markets. I grilled Sprint representatives further today, but they were careful to not give any more details.
Video streaming on the device was excellent. Sprint showed off a new YouTube HQ browser specifically made to view higher-resolution YouTube content on the EVO. In the demonstration today, Sprint showed both sideloaded and live streaming HD content, and they were both flawless.
EVO is, simply stated, the most powerful smartphone to date, passing the Samsung Galaxy S simply because of the advantages 4G connectivity affords. I'll post something about the Samsung Galaxy S next, and I have a meeting with HTC tomorrow so we'll be able to get a little more one-on-one time with the EVO. Today, handling of the device was under semi-strict control (they wouldn't let me drop into the "about phone" menu to see what was going on with the software) and the model HTC will have on the show floor will be under glass.
One thing is absolutely certain about CTIA today, though: Android just took charge of the superphone category, this time for real.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Nintendo wants to try its hand at 3D again

Posted: March 23rd, 2010, 10:17am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, a very dodgy looking PDF file appeared on Nintendo's Japanese investor relations site with the title "Launch of New Portable Game Machine" (PDF available here).
In the document, Nintendo quietly announced that it will be launching "Nintendo 3Ds" during the fiscal year ending in March 2011. The new handheld gaming console will support 3D effects without the need for special viewing glasses, and Nintendo will talk more about it at the E3 conference in June.
This comes as a rather big surprise today, as Nintendo only just recently launched the super-sized DSi LL (a.k.a., DSi XL) in Japan, and that device hasn't even been released in the United States yet.
Nintendo is no stranger to attempting to bring 3D gaming to the masses, but the company has never quite achieved any degree of success in its endeavors. In fact, it could be the area where the company has failed the most. Nintendo's Virtual Boy console, which achieved full stereoscopic monochrome 3D via a spinning mirror inside a large visor, is considered by American gamers to be Nintendo's biggest flop.

Our experience with 3D Nintendo games has been somewhat limited in the United States. The Nintendo Entertainment System only had three 3D games, 3-D Worldrunner and Rad Racer by Square and Orb 3D. These games required the use of cardboard red and blue 3D Glasses for the anaglyphic 3D effect to work. But Nintendo was actually more daring in the 3D space in other markets, and released an active shutter 3D system to coincide with the Famicom disk system for 3D effects closer to what we experience in modern 3D systems.
In terms of software support, this was actually far worse of a flop than the Virtual Boy. Virtual Boy had a total of 22 games released worldwide, the Famicom 3D system had less than ten, and none of them were made by Nintendo itself. Some of the titles include Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally, Falsion, and Attack Animal Gakuken.
Right now, very little is known about the 3DS other than its tentative name and its intended purpose. We'll follow up with more information as it becomes available.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Motorola launches the first rugged push-to-talk Android phone

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 12:48pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Motorola and regional US carrier SouthernLINC Wireless announced the launch of the iDEN-compatible i1, the first Android device to support the wireless protocol with Push-to-Talk walkie-talkie communications.
The i1, which is believed to have been called the "Opus One" internally, has been rumored since late last year.
The device has a 3.1" (320x480) HVGA touchscreen, runs Android 1.5, and has a 5 megapixel flash camera with 4x digital zoom.
In keeping with Motorola's recent trend of releasing unique Android devices, the i1 pulls off a lot of firsts. It is the first push-to-talk Android device, plus it's the first "rugged" Android phone with a military spec chassis -- which is dust- and shockproof and water resistant. Furthermore, even the software built-in with the i1 is unique, as it launches with both Swype, the alternative method of text entry, and Opera Mini, the popular alternative mobile browser.
Motorola i1
Talk and Standby Time - Up to 4 days standby; Up to 210 min talk time
Bands/Modes - 800 / 900 (i) 2400 (w)
Weight - 131.26 grams, 4.63 oz.
Dimensions - 58 mm length x 118 mm depth x 12.8 mm
OS - Android 1.5
Battery - 1400mAh
Connectivity - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth2 2.0 micro USB; Over the Air Sync, 2.5 mm headset jack
Display - 3.1" display 320x480 HVGA 265k TFT
Messaging/E-mail - MMS, SMS, corporate, Gmail IMAP, POP3, attachment and document viewer
Audio - Adobe Flash, MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, MIDI, MP4
Video - H.263, H.264, WMV
Camera - 5MP, auto-focus, LED flash, 4X digital zoom
Browser - Opera Mini 5 Browser, Android WebKit w/Adobe Flash Lite
Memory - Removable 2 GB memory card included, up to 32 GB supported
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
SanDisk releases first 32GB microSD card

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 11:42am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Flash memory giant SanDisk today announced that its highest capacity microSDHC card will be available for purchase tomorrow on US and European Web retail sites. The 32 GB microSDHC will cost $199.99 and is expected to ship immediately.
Worldwide availability of the new memory card is expected next month.
The SD Association effectively draws the storage limit for SDHC at 32 GB, however. So as cards of this size spread among handset manufacturers and consumers, we will start to see the gradual move toward SDXC spec mobile devices. The spec for this next generation of SD storage was released to SDA members a little over one year ago, and offers storage capacity between 32 GB and 2 TB and bus speeds up to 104 MB per second. The SDXC roadmap plans speeds up to 300 MB per second.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Don't count Palm out yet: Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to launch with AT&T

Posted: March 22nd, 2010, 9:05am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Palm had big shipments of its new Pre Plus and Pixi Plus last quarter, the sellthrough was nowhere near what the mobile device company had expected. As a result, Palm posted another losing quarter, and the stock value dropped even further. As usual, the media took the opportunity to write Palm off as a lost cause.
But it's not time to quit on the company just yet.
Today, leading mobile network operator AT&T announced that it will offer Palm's Pre Plus and Pixi Plus later this year for $149.99 and $49.99 respectively (with a two-year contract and $100 mail-in rebate.) Palm launched CDMA versions of these very devices on Verizon in January.
Once the devices launch, Palm will have refreshed 2/3 of its hardware line on all of its usual carriers. The final piece of the puzzle will be laid down when Palm finally replaces the Treo Pro, which launched one year ago, but has already been removed from Palm's featured lineup.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Let the rejections begin: Apple opens first round of submissions for iPad App Store

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 1:21pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In a message sent to developers today, Apple announced that it is now accepting iPad apps for the iTunes app store. To have apps approved (or rejected) in time for the iPad launch, they must be submitted to Apple by 5:00 pm PDT on Saturday, March 27. Only apps built with the iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 are going to be accepted in this round of reviews.
It has been rumored that the iPad is scheduled to launch on April 3, but the precise date of the device's launch is still undetermined.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Viacom and YouTube: what you need to know

Posted: March 19th, 2010, 11:08am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

This week, documents from Viacom's billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement were published, and the three-year-long-and-counting lawsuit has again been brought to the public's attention. In case you haven't been following the case, here's a quick timeline of the major events that led up to the lawsuit, and those that occurred since the original complaint was filed:
May 24, 2005- Viacom subpoenas YouTube for information about a user who uploaded clips from Paramount Pictures' "Twin Towers."
June 2005- Viacom's board of directors approves a plan to spin off assets, which become known as the new Viacom, Inc. That new company is given control of Paramount, while the core company reforms as CBS Corp.
January 2006- 20th Century Fox sues YouTube to have content from Fox TV shows such as The Simpsons and 24 removed from YouTube.
June 2006- YouTube and NBC partner to create NBC channel on YouTube for Internet exclusives, clips, and trailers.
July 2006- Viacom and NBC Universal back journalist Robert Tur in his suit against YouTube for illegally posting his videos of the 1992 L.A. riots. The legal brief said, "YouTube incorrectly contends that the DMCA permits it to avoid any responsibility for the content on its commercial website and completely shift the burden to content owners to discover and notify it of infringements."
September 2006- YouTube signs content deal with Warner to host the company's music videos.
October 9, 2006- CBS and YouTube announce a strategic content and advertising partnership.
October 2006- Viacom and YouTube reach a content syndication agreement.
October 20, 2006- Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion.
December 2006- Viacom reportedly walks away from negotiations with NBC Universal, CBS Corp., and Fox Interactive about creating a TV-centric YouTube competitor site.
February 2007- Viacom retracts its content agreement with Google, pulls everything off the site.
February 2007- YouTube's pending content deal with CBS halts.
March 2007- Viacom Sues Google for over 63,000 separate counts of copyright infringement seeking $1 billion in damages. YouTube protects itself with the "Safe Harbor" provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
March 2007- Viacom General Counsel Michael Fricklas in a Washington Post op-ed says that YouTube was not just a passive content host, and that it is fully aware of what it does. "If the public knows what's there, then YouTube's management surely does. YouTube's own terms of use give it clear rights, notably the right to take anything down."
May 2007- Google signs YouTube content deal with record label EMI.
May 2007- British Premier League files class action suit against YouTube for copyright infringement, says Google "knowingly misappropriated and exploited this valuable property," when it allowed users to post footage from its football games.
June 2007- YouTube introduces Content ID to help content owners identify if their content is being used, gives them the option to remove unauthorized content, or monetize it.
July 2007- Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Viacom was "built from lawsuits."
August 2007- Google asks Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to testify against Viacom in copyright hearings. Comedy Central is a Viacom property.
October 2007- Viacom joins MySpace, Microsoft, Veoh, and Dailymotion in signing the "Copyright Principles for User Generated Content Services," hoping it will become a sort of "television code" of online copyright protection.
March 2008- Viacom President and CEO Phillippe Dauman says "We've already achieved a number of things with this lawsuit. It took a long time, but because of our actions, YouTube has moved in the right direction. They're where they should have been all along."
May 2008- Google claims Viacom's suit threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression," claims it could have a chilling effect on all Internet communications.
June 2008- New York District Court rules that Google has to turn over user IDs and IP addresses to Viacom. Angry users upload nearly 5,000 "Viacom Sucks" videos to YouTube. Google is later allowed to make this data anonymous.
July 2008- Movie studio Lionsgate partners with YouTube for a branded channel with ad-supported official content from the studio.
October 2008- The McCain/Palin presidential campaign asked YouTube to stop taking down campaign videos that incorporated clips of news broadcasts. YouTube said that it was doing so at the request of broadcasters who objected to the use of their copyrighted footage.
April 2009- Content owners discus "TV Anywhere" plan to tie Web-based video content into cable subscription fees. Viacom CEO Dauman says, "People are used to paying for video subscriptions," sees it as a good idea.
June 2009- "TV Everywhere" network scheme launches.
July 2009- Some claims from the Premier League's 2007 suit against YouTube are dismissed, but claims for "statutory damages for works not registered in the US" are allowed.
September 2009- Google gives individual copyright holders access to the Insight metrics of YouTube videos that contain their intellectual property according to Content ID.
October 2009- Viacom presents "smoking gun" evidence for its case: internal e-mails from YouTube staff that show "actual knowledge" that copyright infringement was taking place on the video sharing site.
November 2009- Google announces YouTube Direct, a system where media outlets can directly communicate with users and arrange rebroadcasting rights on a one-to-one basis.
March 2010- Some of Viacom's "smoking gun" documents go public, company claims "YouTube was intentionally built on infringement."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Palm posts third quarter results: disappointing sales, more net loss

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 4:37pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In late February, Palm issued a shareholder warning which said that profits for the full year were going to be "well below" expectations due to a surprisingly slow demand for Palm's smartphones.
Thursday evening, the company issued its third quarter earnings report, and though the numbers were actually up against the same quarter last year (when Palm posted a net loss of $98 million), the company is still losing money; $22 million, to be exact.
True to the company's warning last month, device shipments were up tremendously, but sales did not follow. Thanks to the newly-released Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on Verizon Wireless, Palm shipped 960,000 devices, but only 408,000 sold through.
Jon Rubinstein, Palm's chairman and CEO said, "Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong. The work we're doing to improve sales is having an impact, we're making great progress on future products, and we're looking forward to upcoming launches with new carrier partners. Most importantly, we have built a unique and highly differentiated platform in webOS, which will provide us with a considerable -- and growing -- advantage as we move forward."

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Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Netflix axes 'friends' feature due to unpopularity

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 1:42pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

For more than five years, Netflix has had a feature called "Friends" which lets users connect their Netflix account with others so they can view each other's queues, suggest movies to each other, or see how a movie ranks against their peers' ratings.
Todd Yellin, Netflix VP of Product Management said that after six years, only two percent of subscribers actually used the feature, so it is going to be phased out in the coming months.
"No company has unlimited resources and we decided to move engineering development time and resources from a little used feature to support and maintain the things that benefit all Netflix members as the service evolves -- more devices for streaming and better encoding, for example," Yellin said.
Streaming, by comparison, is an absolute smash. Yellin said that roughly 50% of all Netflix subscribers use the Instant Streaming feature on their TVs, set-top boxes, and game consoles.
Unfortunately, the way the change became evident was rather clumsy.
Last week, Netflix implemented a new "Movie Detail" page on its Web site, which eliminated top 10 lists, friend ratings, and the ability to send movie notes. The features were still on the site, but their tabs were just removed from the page. Customers who used the "friends" feature were upset.
On a Hacking Netflix article about it last week, one commenter said, "The Friends feature and Top Ten Lists are *not* on individual movie pages any longer. Reviews from random Netflix users *are* there, however, and that makes absolutely no sense. Why would I care more about a random Netflix user's opinion than my friends'?"
Rather than letting subscribers know up front that the feature was in the process of being removed, Netflix just pulled the feature from its prominent position and relegated it to the background.
"We fumbled the ball this week," Yellin said. "In making some changes to the Movie Display Page we didn't fully communicate how they impact users of the Friends feature, and we owe you that. We've read every blog post, Tweet, news article and call log to Customer Service by those of you who are upset about this decision. To you, we apologize for not being more upfront earlier. We appreciate your passion and we understand your disappointment and frustration. Our decision is meant to benefit all Netflix members by allowing everyone to enjoy more movies and more TV episodes on more devices while still receiving the unbeatable convenience, selection and value that are the hallmarks of the Netflix service."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Kindle for Mac released: Is Amazon's e-reader moving away from hardware?

Posted: March 18th, 2010, 11:45am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

When Amazon debuted its first Kindle e-reader just over two years ago, we asked "...but will anyone buy it?"
We still can't say for certain.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has made it very clear that Kindle users consume a lot of Amazon's e-books. But to date, Bezos has never gone public with hardware sales figures. So we can't be sure if it's Kindle hardware that's driving content sales, or perhaps the software Kindle for Windows 7, iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry.
A report from Credit Suisse Group AG in February determined that Amazon.com had a 90% share of the e-book sales market last year. So the question looms large: What is everyone reading these books on?
Today, Amazon announced Kindle for Mac, the latest addition to the family of free Kindle software. It's essentially the same software that was released for Windows back in November, which lets users synchronize content and bookmarks between their mobile Kindle device and their desktop. If a user is reading an e-book on his Kindle 2 or iPhone, he can pick up on his PC where he left off on his mobile.
The software gives users the ability to shop in the Kindle Store, access their library of previously purchased content, view notes and highlights, adjust font size and spacing, and unlike the Kindle device, read books in full color. Amazon says the software will eventually come to include full-text search and the ability to make new annotations.
Kindle continues its strong push in the software direction this year. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off a mystery HP slate running Kindle Software at CES this year, and Amazon promises a version will grace Apple's hotly anticipated iPad. So Amazon looks ready for the tablet trend.
The Kindle hardware, however, doesn't appear to be blazing as many new trails right now. The educational pilot programs with the Kindle DX were largely unsuccessful, and Amazon job listings earlier this month showed the company was considering improvement of the Kindle's rudimentary Web browser "on a tight schedule." It's obvious that Kindle is a vehicle for selling Amazon's proprietary e-books. But with no sales figures to illustrate consumer adoption of Kindle hardware, a saturated market of competing e-reader hardware of equally negligible relevance, and continuing growth of the free Kindle software, we may have to rephrase and restate Ed Oswald's question from two years ago...
People are buying Kindle books, but are they buying Kindle?
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google improves Maps for Android, rolls in bonus features

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 11:13pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, Google has rolled out a significant update to the Google Maps application for Android 1.6+ devices, which now includes a new search results page, support for multiple accounts, a new Latitude home screen widget, and a new Maps live wallpaper for 2.1 devices.
Previously, when you performed a search in Maps, you would have to choose a result from a list of markers on the map. When you clicked the marker, it would open a page with three tabs: Address, Details, and Reviews. Under the Address tab, there were options to Show the result on the map, get directions to it, call it, look at it in Street View, or add it as a contact. The other two tabs contain exactly what you'd expect, details and reviews. If you wanted to pick a different listing, you'd have to go back to the map view and pick a different marker.
Now, Google has completely eliminated the tabs, turned all the actions from the "Address" tab into buttons, included digested versions of the other tabs on the first page, and added the ability to "Buzz" about the location you have picked.
Additionally, you no longer have to navigate back to the map to check out other nearby results. You can simply swipe across the page to leaf through all the results.
The Latitude widget that accompanies the 4.1 update lets users view their nearby Latitude friends at all times from their home screen. The Maps live wallpaper, probably the coolest bonus feature, lets 2.1 users turn their entire homescreen background into a live animated map.
The update is available now from the Android Market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Unboxing: TiVo Premiere

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 3:47pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Though you might come to Betanews expecting an article with either performance testing and graphs or inflammatory diatribes, we're not above a good unboxing; especially when it's a brand new piece of hardware that we intend to thoroughly test (or just very seriously play with.)
Today, we're fortunate enough to have received a new TiVo Premiere, the first TiVo DVR with an HD interface designed especially to unite content from multiple sources under a single experience. They call it "The One Box."
Have a look!
Click the TiVo logo above for the Grand Premiere Unboxing Slideshow!
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Sprint assures that it's getting the Nexus One, too

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 1:36pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Yesterday, an updated version of Google's Nexus One Android smartphone was released, compatible with AT&T and Rogers Canada's 3G networks. Today, Sprint is letting everyone know that it is getting the device too.
This means that all four major wireless carriers have secured a spot for the Nexus One this year. Google sells versions of the device optimized for T-Mobile and AT&T's wireless networks, and a version for Verizon's network is still expected some time in the Spring, but the operator has not put out any further notices about its availability.
Likewise, Sprint today isn't disclosing exactly when Google will start selling a Sprint-compatible Nexus One, nor is it disclosing any pricing plans associated with the device. Today's announcement is simply a confirmation that one is on the way "soon."
Google has not updated its online store to reflect Sprint's announcement.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Things to look for at CTIA: America's first 4G smartphone

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 12:23pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Sprint is making the bold first move into 4G smartphone market next week, a Wall Street Journal report said today. At that time, the carrier is expected to show off its new WiMAX-enabled HTC Supersonic.
The Supersonic has been a pretty big blip on the Android community's radar for several months, after a whole list of HTC device names was uncovered in a leaked Sense UI ROM last December. Since that time, a few more details have been discovered, and a few blurry spy camera shots and renders have surfaced; but as far as official specs go, there are none. It looks to have the same massive 4.3" screen that the HD2 has, run on the Android platform, and possibly contain a Snapdragon processor.
Sprint is the only major mobile network operator with a higher-speed "4G" network immediately available to consumers, but it is currently only accessible through USB dongles and portable hotspots like the Sierra Wireless Overdrive, and these are still only available in about 10 markets nationwide.
There are nearly 30 WiMAX networks active in the US now under the Clear brand (a joint venture of Sprint and Clearwire), and this year Clearwire expects to complete 80 more cities including major markets Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington DC.
Since Betanews is headquartered in Baltimore, we've been using Sprint's WiMAX network since it first launched in 2008. I ran a quick test this morning to see how well the WiMAX connection holds up against my smartphones' 3G connections, and the performance was actually only marginally better.
Using the FCC's Ookla network tester three times for each network, Sprint 4G averaged 5.35 Mbps / 0.30 Mbps with 130 ms latency, Verizon 3G averaged 1.61 Mbps / 0.65 Mbps with 122 ms latency, and T-Mobile 3G averaged 0.5Mbps / 0.45 Mbps with 215 ms latency. Unfortunately, I didn't have a device handy to test AT&T's speeds in the area this morning.
We will be meeting with both Sprint and HTC at CTIA next week and will be able to give you a crystal clear look at the device if it does, in fact, show up.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Two months after the Nexus One, Motorola Droid to get Android 2.1

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 8:05am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Motorola's Droid has been by far the most popular Android smartphone to hit the US market, selling at a faster pace than the first generation iPhone, and making up, by some accounts, at least 15% of all Android phones in use.
It was the first handset to launch with Android 2.0, a significantly redesigned version of Google's mobile operating system, and it was the first Android device on Verizon, making it a popular choice for the wireless provider's huge subscriber base.
Though it remains a very strong consumer device, the Droid's popularity in the tech community was quickly overshadowed by Google's Nexus One, which was launched only three months after it. The Nexus One became Google's first attempt at directly selling smartphones, and the first handset with Android 2.1.
Version 2.1 was only a minor platform upgrade, with no new features as substantial as those brought by 2.0, but it included full multi-touch support, tweaked the UI with eye-catching animated wallpapers, became an object of desire for Android enthusiasts.
This week, just two months after 2.1 debuted in the Nexus One, Verizon will begin pushing it as an over-the-air update to the Motorola Droid.
The foremost feature will be the addition of multitouch to the browser and photo gallery. The Droid supports multitouch, but only recently got pinch-to-zoom in Google Maps. It will also natively support voice-to-text entry, include a new 3D gallery application, a new weather and news app with a related widget, and the famous animated wallpapers.
Android Central reports that Verizon approved the update today, and that it will roll out to 250,000 Droids at a time starting at 12:00 pm Thursday, March 18.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
In light of news that it has 'flopped,' Google's Nexus One lands on AT&T and Rogers

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 11:53am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Google's first attempt at directly selling an Android-powered mobile phone is already being called a flop thanks to reports from mobile analytics company Flurry that estimate sales to have been around 135,000 units in the first 74 days on the market (compared to 1.05 million Motorola Droids, 1 million iPhones.)
However, Google's approach to selling the device is vastly different from the more common methods employed by wireless carriers: it has been primarily sold unlocked for $529 directly from Google, or for $179 with a special T-Mobile plan. Since the device was released, there's been a "Coming soon: Spring 2010" section that shows Verizon Wireless and Vodafone as the next US and European carriers.
Today, Google expanded the device's compatibility in a different direction, and rolled out a version compatible with AT&T in the U.S. and Rogers in Canada. It is now the second Android device on AT&T behind the Motorola Backflip. Rogers currently offers a goodly amount of Android devices, including the HTC Dream and Magic (known as the G1 and MyTouch 3G in the U.S.) LG Eve, Samsung Galaxy Spica, and soon the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10.
So instead of a CDMA version as expected, today we've got a device that supports 850/1900/2100 MHz 3G/UMTS bands, and one that supports the 900/AWS/2100 MHz 3G/UMTS bands used by T-Mobile.
Selling the device unlocked is unlikely to greatly expand its popularity, as it still only appeals to a niche audience.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Wireless spectrum is ten times more valuable for wireless broadband than for broadcast television, says FCC plan

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 11:51am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The 300+ page National Broadband Plan that the Federal Communications Commission submitted to Congress today contains some logical goals, some ambitious ones, and some that are sure to cause a good deal of conflict between industries.
One of the most contentious issues also happens to be the most important aspect of the broadband plan: the re-allocation of wireless spectrum for the use of mobile broadband.
Last October, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Americans' consumption of mobile broadband has grown so quickly that we are almost at a bottleneck, and that more wireless spectrum is needed for it immediately. The plan, therefore, says that it will increase the 255 MHz - 3.7 GHz spectrum available to "terrestrial broadband services" (a.k.a., non-satellite) by at least 300 MHz in the next five years, and 500 MHz within the next ten.
But where will all of this wireless spectrum come from?
Of the 300 MHz due in the next five years, 120 MHz will be coming from the broadcast television bands.
It's no secret that the radio and television broadcast industry is still sitting on huge chunks of unused wireless spectrum, and the recent transition to digital broadcast freed up a significant amount of spectrum in the 700 MHz band that was auctioned off to mobile network operators in 2008. By re-purposing the wireless spectrum for mobile Internet services, the FCC says it increased its value to about $1.28 per megahertz/pop. Right now, the FCC estimates that the spectrum the broadcast TV industry has is only worth about $0.11 to $0.15 per megahertz/pop.
In short, the spectrum is ten times more valuable for wireless broadband than it is for broadcast television.
This is due to a couple of factors. Firstly, it's because only 10% of the population is estimated to still rely on free over-the-air broadcasts. Secondly, it's because broadcast TV licensing has interference protection built into it, which leaves significant amounts of spectrum intentionally unused.
So to get this extremely valuable wireless spectrum, the FCC is going to try a multi-pronged approach to restructuring the broadcast TV industry:
1. Update the rules on TV service areas, distance separations, and revise the table of spectrum allotments starting at the 6 MHz channel.
2. Fix the licensing framework so two or more broadcast stations can share the 6 MHz channel. (The Commission estimates that two HD video streams or several SD streams can exist within that channel.)
3. Get government approval so broadcasters who have voluntarily consolidated their channels will be able to share the profits of the remaining spectrum that is auctioned off.
If that is not approved, then other methods of restructuring the broadcast industry must be explored, such as by transitioning to a cellular broadcast architecture (smaller, lower power transmitters that cause less interference than the big broadcast towers) or by auctioning off "overlay" licenses where licensees must negotiate directly with broadcast TV stations to clear out the bands.
Some of these alternative methods would be a little more forceful to broadcasters.
"We were pleased by initial indications from FCC members that any spectrum reallocation would be voluntary, and were therefore prepared to move forward in a constructive fashion on that basis," Dennis Wharton, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Broadcasters, said in a statement yesterday evening. "However, we are concerned by reports today that suggest many aspects of the plan may in fact not be as voluntary as originally promised. Moreover, as the nation's only communications service that is free, local and ubiquitous, we would oppose any attempt to impose onerous new spectrum fees on broadcasters."
Now that the value of the wireless spectrum has been clearly proven and outlined, television broadcasters who have faced declining ad revenue and declining viewership could be standing before a huge pile of money. The 700 MHz spectrum block alone garnered more than $19 billion from wireless network operators in 2008 for a little under 100 MHz of spectrum. License holders in the bands to be vacated are holding very strong cards indeed.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
The National Broadband Plan is complete, now the hard part starts

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 3:03pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The Federal Communications Commission is expected to deliver the National Broadband Plan to Congress tomorrow, and today the commission released an executive summary of what the document will contain.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski called it, "An action plan, and action is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues."
Some of the goals outlined in the summary include:
* Having 100 million households connected at broadband of speeds at least 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink.
* Having 1 Gbps connections in schools, hospitals and military installations in "every American Community"
* Freeing up 300 MHz of wireless spectrum for mobile broadband use within five years, and 500 MHz in 10 years.
* Establishing a nationwide wireless, interoperable public safety network for first responders.
* Collecting and providing the best data possible about each network provider's offerings so that consumers can better choose their services.
* Moving adoption rates from 65% to 90%.
"Based on the executive summary, it is clear the Broadband team recognized the importance of the mobile Internet to the economy and to meeting many national priorities. We applaud their commitment to providing everyone equal access to the most advanced wireless communications," said Steve Largent, President of CTIA - The Wireless Association.
Of course, completing the plan was just a tiny fraction of the work needed to improve the nation's broadband conditions.
"Now comes the hard part: achieving the vision articulated in this plan," Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president for public affairs, policy and communications said in a statement this afternoon. "Verizon will review the plan when text is available, and continue to work closely and cooperatively with the FCC and Congress to help meet the nation's broadband policy goals. It is clear that virtually all of these important goals will be achieved through private investment. So it is important that the policies enacted encourage investment and innovation across the Internet ecosystem."
About half of the Plan's recommendations are addressed to the FCC, and the rest are for Congress, the Executive Branch, and state and local government, who will work with the private and nonprofit sectors.
The full Plan will be released tomorrow.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows Phone 7 Series has Netflix streaming, Xbox Live gaming

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 1:22pm MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

One year can change a lot.
Today, Microsoft used the MIX '10 stage in Las Vegas to show off a lot of the applications that are currently being prepared to launch with Windows Phone 7 Series, and they are a far cry from the poor Windows 6.5 showing at last year's MIX event.
The inclusion of Silverlight 4 and the XNA Framework into the Windows Phone platform has afforded developers a lot of power, and today's demonstration showed off how they can be harnessed to make Windows Phone stand out in the mobile crowd where it has lately faltered.
While it included a number of attractive apps such as popular Twitter client Seesmic, location-based social network Foursquare, music identification service Shazam, and the Associated Press, a couple of demonstrations were real show stealers.
Netflix was one of them. While the popular video rental service has applications across all mobile platforms right now, they are limited to accessing and modifying the user's queue of movie titles.
The popular Netflix instant streaming service which has landed on everything from TiVo to the Wii has until now been limited to stationary devices. Thanks to Silverlight, streaming videos can now be watched on Windows Phone 7 Series devices. The cross-platform runtime was first used to bring the streaming video service to the Mac, and now it's brought it to its first official mobile application.
The other standout wasn't really a single app, but more the Windows Phone gaming category as a whole. Thanks to the iPhone's popularity as a gaming device, games are increasingly being developed for mobile devices first and then being "ported up" to the console and the PC. Today, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb showed off games -- such as The Harvest, shown below -- that could be played on a Windows Phone, PC, or Xbox 360. This means that no matter what platform you're playing the game on, you can unlock achievements, increase your gamer score, access leaderboards, and connect to your friends over Live.
While a lot of this was discussed at the unveiling of Windows Phone 7 series, there were not full-scale demonstrations of gameplay like there were today. And unlike cross-platform ports of iPhone games; for example, games by Chillingo which have been ported to the Nintendo Wii and DS, these games can take advantage of the strengths of each platform with the XNA Framework.
"Developers and designers can now build their code once and optimize it to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the phone, Web, PC or Xbox 360. Due to common shared libraries, controls and runtimes across these many screens and the cloud, developers now have the opportunity to reach over 1 billion customers," Microsoft's Charlie Kindel said in the Windows Phone developer blog today.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Microsoft unveils a host of Windows Phone 7 Series developer tools

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 10:40am MDT by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Now that Microsoft has effectively restarted its mobile strategy afresh with Windows Phone 7 Series, third party developers need a way to dig into the platform. So today, Microsoft announced Windows Phone Developer Tools are now available as a free download at developer.windowsphone.com
The tools include: Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series Add-in for Visual Studio, a Windows Phone 7 Series emulator, and XNA Game Studio 4.0. There is also a Community Technology Preview of Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone available as a separate download on developer.windowsphone.com today. This beta provides exactly the same visual development workflow for Windows Phone that was previously used in Silverlight and .Net application development.
This was all wrapped up with the announcement of the official Silverlight 4 Release Candidate, which Microsoft says will complete an end-to-end development platform that uses Silverlight for Rich Internet Applications, and the XNA Framework for game development. A beta of S4 has been in circulation since October.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Italy launches a beta of Microsoft Tags for tourism

Posted: March 12th, 2010, 2:34pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Last week, I wrote a little article about Microsoft's four-color approach to QR black-and-white barcodes, the still-in-beta Microsoft Tag, which was also related to the company's first official Android application.
I only briefly touched upon the many things that are being done with QR codes: advertisements that you scan with your cell phone camera to pull up related content on the Web, business cards that you can scan for an instant call to the card's owner, or boxes that you can scan for an instant Web-based list of contents.
One area that I neglected to mention is tourism. For the last couple of years, more and more cities have begun to employ black-and-white QR codes as virtual tour guides. Historical sites and points of interest are being labeled with QR codes that tourists can scan with their mobile phones to obtain relevant information.
One of the first places that started using these codes was San Francisco, where restaurants were tagged with QR codes in the front window that linked to Citysearch listings and user-submitted reviews. Likewise, New York City's Gotham Tours has slapped yellow QR stickers all over Manhattan which provide more information about famous locations in the area.
The barcoding craze is now being picked up by tiny American towns that recognize it as a cheap way to keep tourists interested. This week, Long Beach, Washington (pop. 1,283 as of the last census) announced that it has tagged sites such as the "World's Longest Beach" arch, the "World's Largest" frying pan, the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame, a gray whale skeleton, and a 20-foot tall bronze evergreen tree as scannable points of interest in its town. It may not be the most enriching stuff, but it has its uses.
Today, the Northern Italian city of Turin (Torino), site of the 2006 Winter Olympics, announced it has joined in on the craze as well. But it's the first city to use Microsoft's four-color HCCB Tags instead of the more common black and white QR codes. With the TagReader app, users can scan Tags around the National Museum of Cinema, Palazzo Madama, Museum of Oriental Art (MAO), Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GAM), and the Borgo and Rocca Medioevale Museum. All of these launch mobile browser pages with text information, video, or MP3 content.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Android vs. iPhone vs. BlackBerry vs. OS X vs. Windows, brought to you by Namco

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 2:37pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Namco, one of video gaming's most iconic brands, today announced a new cross-platform game engine called UniteSDK, which will let gamers play with one another irrespective of the platform they're playing their games on.
A user playing a UniteSDK-based game on their iPhone, for example, will be able to play against a PC user, who will be able to play against a Mac user, and so forth.
"Allowing gamers with the option to play anywhere, anytime and on multiple platforms will be a true milestone for Namco Networks -- wanting to play a friend that has an iPhone when someone only has a PC will no longer be a prohibiting factor," Kirby Fong, executive producer of web development and online gaming at Namco Networks said today. "UniteSDK allows Namco and in the near future, external developers, to create games that provide cross platform and cross game social community."
Namco's first title built on UniteSDK is called Pool Pro Online 3 and will launch on PC, iPad, Mac, Android, Java, BREW, RIM and Windows Mobile. All of these platforms will be able to engage one another.
In addition to allowing interoperability, UniteSDK also gives games the ability to support achievements, records, leaderboards, gamer profiles, in-game chat, buddy lists, one-on-one challenges, and tournaments.
It's another move by a game company toward unifying the disparate platforms under a single interoperable umbrella. A similar move was made by Valve Corporation this week when it announced it will sell copies of its games for both Mac and Windows for a single price, and that all its future releases will launch simultaneously on PC, Xbox 360, and Mac.
Namco's strategy however, has much more potential for revolution in that it makes community building considerably easier. When the platform is no longer a factor that separates players from one another, a community of gamers can get together, socialize, and play much more quickly.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
FCC releases iPhone app to learn more about network conditions

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 12:49pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

With just six days to go before the National Broadband Plan is due before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission today launched a pair of consumer tools -- an app for iPhone/Android, and a Web-based reporting tool -- to help inform both consumers and the Commission itself about broadband conditions across the US.
The mobile application bundles the Ookla Speed Test (a.k.a., Speedtest.net) and Network Diagnostic Tool together into a single package simply branded "FCC Test." Users can check their downlink/uplink speeds and network latency against different US-based servers, and can then export the results as a .CSV file. The FCC says it may use the data collected from the Mobile Broadband Quality Test to analyze coverage and quality on a geographic basis across the US, but it does not endorse one particular testing application over another, so there may be more tests rolled into the app in the future.
The Commission's Broadband Dead Zone Report is much less a tool than a simple complaint dropbox. On the page, the user confirms that they do or do not have broadband available in their home, answers one related question and then provides their address. This is intended to help the FCC determine where the demand for broadband is high despite low coverage.
"Transparency empowers consumers, promotes innovation and investment, and encourages competition," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a statement today. "The FCC's new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country. By informing consumers about their broadband service quality, these tools help eliminate confusion and make the market work more effectively."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Opera Mini 5 solves some of Android's native browser problems

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 11:56am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Following up on last week's beta release of Opera Mini 5 for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, Opera software today launched Opera Mini 5 for the Android platform.
With Mini 5, Opera Software has managed to make a cross-platform browser that provides an almost uniform experience across all the operating systems it runs on. Today's release on Android feels almost identical to the version I tested last week.
However, with Android, we're taking a different look at Opera and its comparisons to other browsers. It's easy to say, "Oh, Opera is faster than IE Mobile, but not as comprehensive as Skyfire," when comparing browsers on Windows Phones. Everybody does that.
Because there are four different versions of Google's mobile operating system in circulation right now, there are at least three different native Android browsers to compare Opera Mini 5 to. Android versions 1.5 and 1.6 have an older version (v. 4.0) of the Android browser, while Android 2.0 and up have a browser with a new UI and new features. Android 2.1 has the same browser as 2.0, but it is endowed with multitouch gestures.
We tested Opera Mini 5 against the two main Android browsers.
Opera Mini 5 on Android 1.5 & 1.6
For devices that run upon the "Cupcake" and "Donut" builds of Android, Opera Mini 5 provides a number of different experiences from the stock browser. First, Opera provides an actionable address bar which can just be clicked upon to enter URLs. In Android Browser 4, the user has to tap Menu > Go to bring up the address bar. Secondly, Zooming in and out with the Android browser is done with the preview tool and magnifying glass buttons, but Mini 5's is mostly pre-ordained. If you set it to "mobile view," pages are formatted to fit your screen so you don't have to do too much resizing. However, Mini 5 defaults with mobile view off and full screen mode off, so your pages are first going to load very quickly, but will require zooming (done by double-tapping the screen, a gesture that Android Browser version 4 actually lacks).
When considering Mini 5's interface alone, it's not a significant improvement over the stock browser. However there's much more to love about Opera than its UI, so we'll talk more about that later.
Next: Opera Mini 5 on Android 2.0+...
Opera Mini 5 on Android 2.0+
Devices running Android 2.0 and beyond are generally equipped with stronger processors, so browsing with the stock Android browser is a tough experience to compete with. Fortunately for Opera Mini 5, the experience it provides on these devices actually holds up quite well thanks to some of the features it adds that Android lacks across the board.
Principal among these is tabbed browsing. In all Android browsers, your browser tabs are a whole sub-screen which pulls you out of your current window and into a new one. In Opera Mini, browser tabs appear as an overlay in your main window with a rack of thumbnails that can be chosen from. This adds a lot to the feeling of continuity within Opera, and is an area where the Android browser suffers.
Another major complaint about the Android browser is that it does not sync your mobile bookmarks with anything. They're currently something of a dead end. This has been a big argument in favor of the Dolphin browser, which offers that feature. Even better, however, is Opera Mini 5, which actually can sync to your desktop version of Opera with Opera Link. So if you're a desktop Opera user, not only will your Speed Dial screen be automatically populated, but it also gives you instant access to your bookmark folders and RSS feeds.
The final issue to mention when talking about any of Opera's products is the addition of server-side rendering. Pages in Opera Mini 5 are digested on an Opera server before they hit your device's screen, so browsing is sped up considerably. Though browsing on a 3G connection is enjoyable on all Android devices, Opera Mini 5 can knock out pages appreciably faster.
So what's the bottom line on this beta?
It's a "Must Have" if:
You're a desktop Opera user using Android 1.5 or 1.6.
It's a "Must Try" if:
You're in an area with poor 3G coverage using Android 1.5 or 1.6.
For everyone else, it will be worthwhile to play around with it and see if you like what Opera does. After all, it is the most popular mobile browser in the world.
Opera Mini 5 beta can be downloaded today in the Android Market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
More 3D TVs launch, this time from Panasonic...but it's still kid's stuff

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 1:50pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Yesterday, Samsung launched its 2010 line of 3D TVs, which includes LED, LCD, and plasma screens between 46" and 65", with prices that start at $1,999 and go up to $6,999. Today, Panasonic added its products into the mix at a launch event in New York City with partners Best Buy, 20th Century Fox, and DirecTV.
The event marked the debut of a 3D home theater package that will sell exclusively at Best Buy that includes a 50" Panasonic Viera 3D plasma TV (VT20- $2,499), a Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player (BDT-300 - $399) and one pair of active shutter glasses for 3D viewing. It's comparable to the package Samsung announced yesterday, except that it comes with one fewer pair of 3D glasses. The whole package will go for $2,899, starting today.
Panasonic said it will also launch 54", 58", and 65" models later this year.
Unfortunately, there is still no new content available for the 3D systems, and therefore no really compelling reason to rush out and upgrade your HDTV to 3D right now, especially if you're not particularly fond of Pixar-style "family fun" films.
Early adopters will only be able to enjoy the 3D experience on a couple of features, such as Dreamworks' Monsters vs. Aliens which was announced at Samsung's CES press conference this year, and Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which was announced at about the same time.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Executive Vice President of Marketing Mary Daily also appeared at the event today, to announce that the studio's first 3D Blu-ray title will be Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, another animated children's movie.
Panasonic's partner DirecTV appeared at the event today, and it is expected to launch at least three stations in 3D which will include sports and music video content, but those won't be until June at the earliest.
DirecTV says it is working with AEG/AEG Digital Media, CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions, HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal, and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. to develop 3D programming that will debut in 2010-2011. All of DirecTV's 3D channels will also carry the Panasonic brand for a year.
More electronics manufacturers will be showing off their 3D TVs in the coming months, but content is still lagging behind, and there has yet to be a mostly live-action 3D movie that takes advantage of the new 3D Blu-ray spec, or even one that is made for adults with a taste for movies a little less lighthearted.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Google Maps now generates bike routes

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 8:50am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Different modes of travel often require different routes to be taken. If you're walking somewhere, for example, you're not likely to take a highway to get there, and you have the distinct advantage of being able to go through certain structures that cars cannot. The same goes for biking. When someone is planning to get somewhere by bike, they're going to demand different routes. This is why the Google Maps team today announced that it has added bicycling directions to Google Maps.
Shannon Guymon, product manager for Google Maps said, "We wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that's exactly what we've done."
Google has taken more than 12,000 miles of bike trail data from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's TrailLink.com database. The Washington, DC nonprofit has been collecting trail data since 2000, and has maps, pictures, descriptions, and listings for more than 30,000 miles of bike trails.
"The demand for trail maps and information has never been higher, especially as more people recognize biking as a viable, inexpensive and healthy alternative to driving," said Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin today.
But simply having the data on hand is completely a different matter from the whole business of machine-suggested routes. Google had to incorporate trail data into its routing algorithm, include metropolitan areas with designated bike lanes, and include roads that have been recommended by other cyclists, all the while taking into consideration the business about certain roads. All that is just to determine the most biker-accommodating paths according to safety. There's also the whole issue of hills.
"Our biking directions are based on a physical model of the amount of power your body has to exert given the slope of the road you're biking on," said Google software engineer John Leen. "Assuming typical values for mass and for wind resistance, we compute the effort you'll require and the speed you'll achieve while going uphill. We take this speed into account when determining the time estimate for your journey, and we also try hard to avoid routes that will require an unreasonable degree of exertion." Likewise, the algorithm avoids routes that have too much downhill travel as well so the ride is balanced.
Today's launch of Google Maps for bikes is sort of the opposite of a development from last year, an Android app called My Tracks which targeted runners, hikers, and cyclists. Instead of suggesting routes, My Tracks collected live GPS statistics from the user's smartphone and mapped out total/moving time, (average) speed, distance, and elevation profile on Google Maps as the trips were being made.
Google Maps for bicycles is live right now.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
American cities fight for Google's attention

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 4:13pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

One month ago, Google put the word out that it was looking to build and test its own fiber-to-the-home networks in a couple of cities. The speeds would be up to 1 Gbps and the reach would initially be about 50,000 homes.
Immediately, hundreds of cities began making pitches to attract Google's attention, some earnest, some outlandish.
Topeka, Kansas unofficially renamed itself "Google" for the month and garnered a considerable amount of attention; Sarasota, Florida quickly followed suit and re-named its City Island "Google Island".
Duluth, Minnesota's mayor Don Ness jumped into a 35 degree Lake Superior as a dual-purpose media event for Google Fiber and the Special Olympics; and 1,000 Morgantown, West Virginia residents last week held up signs saying "We Want a Gig" at the WVU-Georgetown basketball game.
But the majority of the cities interested in getting Google Fiber haven't resorted to cheap publicity stunts, and are hoping that their answers to Google's Request for Information will be much more convincing.
"I think we're going to draw the line at silly stunts," Madison, Wisconsin alderman Mark Clear said today. City officials there are hosting a public meeting to gather ideas for their pitch and show the community's interest in the project.
Juneau, Alaska has made the case that its isolated, mountainous location will serve as an ideal testing ground since it is both environmentally challenging and populous.
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley reminded us of Baltimore's historical significance as "that place from which our nation's railroads emanated, and the place that was the source of the first telegraph message ever sent."
Kalamazoo, Michigan is using health care as its wager. The Kalamazoo Gazette's Editorial board argues that its modern health care facilities and its major medical corporations Pfizer and Stryker could benefit greatly from the fiber network.
In just under three weeks, we will be able to see which approach worked. March 26 is the last day Google will accept submissions for its fiber optic trial, and it will announce which cities it has chosen shortly after.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Sony proves PS3 is still a movie machine with HD content from all major studios

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 12:52pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 have lagged behind Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 for most of this generation, and the PSP and PSP Go now face a serious threat from Apple's iPhone OS-based handhelds. Despite these factors, though, Sony has managed to set up one of the strongest Web-based storefronts for digital content distribution to its consoles. Offering full downloadable games, add-ons, XMB customizations, game trailers, and HD Hollywood feature films and television episodes for rent or purchase, the PlayStation Network is an attractive and easily navigable repository for media on Sony game machines.
It's a shame that setting up and hosting online games for the PS3 isn't as simple as its store.
Today, Sony announced the "Movies" section of the PlayStation Network has finally been completed, and HD content from all six major US movie studios (20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros.) is now available.
"PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download," said Peter Dille, SCEA senior vice president of marketing and PlayStation Network.
Sony did not give a number today of how many titles are available from these studios, but instead listed 19 releases that hit the US PlayStation store in High Definition today.
The "completed" store will launch next in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Samsung reveals just how expensive 3D in the home is going to be

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 10:12am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At CES this year, every major consumer electronics company involved in the HDTV market had floorspace dedicated to 3D TVs. They were convinced that 3D in the home is ready for widespread adoption, and the popularity of James Cameron's Avatar would kickstart adoption.
Samsung today announced its full 2010 3D TV lineup, which shows just how expensive it's going to be to upgrade your home theater to the third dimension.
The 3D TV lineup includes the LED 7000/8000/9000 Series (starting at $1,999.99, about halfway down the chart), the LCD 750 Series, and the Plasma 7000/8000 Series. The 46" and 55" LED C7000 will be available this month, and the rest will roll out at different points during the spring.
But the TV is only one part of the whole setup. You will need at least a 3D-capable Blu-ray player, one pair of active shutter glasses for every viewer, and, of course, the 3D discs. Samsung will be selling its 3D Blu-ray player for $399.99, and its Blu-Ray home theater system for $899.99 this April.
With the immediate point of entry at $2,400, Samsung could at least throw in some stitches to close the wound to your bank account. So the company announced a promotion program where customers who buy a 3D TV and 3D Blu-ray player will get two pairs of active shutter glasses and a 3D Blu-ray copy of Monsters vs. Aliens for free.
Tomorrow, Panasonic is expected to unveil its 3D offerings for the year with a similar promotional tie-in with Best Buy.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
PC gaming service Steam ported to Mac, lets users buy titles on both platforms at no extra cost

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 1:18pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Valve Corporation's Steam is the leading digital distribution channel for PC games. With over 1,000 titles available for purchase, an integrated social network and database of open game servers, Steam has attracted more than 25 million users since launching in 2003.
Today, Valve officially announced Steam will be coming to Mac in April, along with Source, the 3D gaming engine used in popular games such as Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Counter-Strike.
Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve said, "Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac. Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play."
John Cook, Director of Steam Development said, "We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Verizon claims 5-12Mbps 4G LTE service in 25+ markets this year, but what about the hardware?

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 12:47pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Still racing for an LTE launch in the second half of this year, Verizon Wireless has been testing its trial 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks in Boston and Seattle since last August.
Today the wireless network operator says it will be able to deliver speeds between 5-12 Mbps downlink and 2-5 Mbps uplink at launch.
"Our LTE rollout plan positions Verizon Wireless to be a global leader in 4G LTE deployment. We are on track to deliver an outstanding wireless data experience to customers in 25 to 30 markets covering roughly 100 million people by year's end," Tony Melone, senior vice president and chief technical officer at Verizon Wireless said in a statement this morning. "As device makers, manufacturers and others around the world begin to introduce newer and faster products to take advantage of these incredible new speeds, Verizon Wireless will be positioned to offer our customers new and exciting products on the nation's first 4G LTE network."
The first commercial deployments of LTE belong to TeliaSonera in Norway and Sweden, which opened for business last December. However, consumer equipment that can take advantage of the increased bandwidth continues to be seriously limited. Nokia announced it was the first to make an LTE modem, and TeliaSonera partnered with Samsung to offer a USB LTE dongle, but there are currently no smartphones or consumer devices utilizing the technology.
Last year, Verizon CEO Dick Lynch said LTE laptop modems and handsets won't be out until a year after the LTE network launches.
Meanwhile, the United States' fifth largest network operator MetroPCS expects its LTE network to be completed in the second half of 2010 as well. Like TeliaSonera, MetroPCS has partnered with Samsung for its first consumer LTE device.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
WiMAX radios aren't the business for Cisco any more

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 11:31am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

In late 2007, Cisco Systems Inc. acquired a WiMAX company called Navini Networks, consuming the smaller competitor's 70 commercial WiMAX deployments, all of the network hardware, and its portfolio of Radio Access Network (RAN) patents. Though Cisco was never exactly hot on WiMAX as a wireless standard, the company saw that the 4G standard was maturing, and made its move into the WiMAX base station business.
At the time, Cisco senior vice president Tony Bates said, "Recently, the WiMAX radio systems to deliver broadband wireless have matured, customers are deploying live networks, and overall investment and demand has increased. Therefore, Cisco views this as the proper time to add licensed WiMAX products to our broadband wireless offer."
Not two years later, though, Cisco says it is halting that business to shift its focus away from radios.
A company spokesperson told FierceBroadbandWireless, "After careful review, our mobility strategy is to focus on providing a radio-agnostic IP end-to-end mobile multimedia services network. Cisco will continue to focus on the packet core and to also focus on investment in radio technologies such as femtocells and Wi-Fi. As part of this decision, we have decided to discontinue designing and building new WiMAX base stations. We believe the best way for Cisco to serve our customers is by delivering value at the edge and the core of our customers' networks."
Rather than focus on a single, isolated radio technology, Cisco is going to push the network-agnostic IP core technologies it acquired last October when it bought Starent networks. Starent's technology supports a much wider range of access technologies such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE and even WiMAX, and already has a significant number of customers. This way, Cisco can offer technologies to whichever network standards are out there without suffering if one becomes less popular than another.
Sai Subramanian, Director of Product Marketing for Cisco's Wireless Business Group recently said, "We expect to continue to be a significant player in the WiMAX market... just not in the access part of the network."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Cablevision and local station battle could signify coming cable rate hike

Posted: March 8th, 2010, 9:35am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The dispute between Cablevision, the United States' fifth largest cable company, and New York ABC affiliate WABC-7 was tentatively resolved yesterday evening in time for the Academy Awards telecast, and the ABC blackout for Cablevision subscribers did not last 24 hours.
"ABC7 and Cablevision have made significant progress and have reached an agreement in principle that recognizes the fair value of ABC7, with deal points that we expect to finalize with Cablevision. Given this movement, we're pleased to announce that ABC7 will return to Cablevision households while we work to complete our negotiations," a statement from WABC-TV said yesterday.
Though resolved for the time being, this heated disconnection and re-connection is another example of the much larger-scale fight between content owners, local station affiliates, and the cable monopolies.
There are many who believe this fight will only result in all of our cable bills going up.
Broadcasters want to brace their weakened advertising revenue and shrinking viewership by negotiating higher retransmission fees from cable companies. These fees are frequently expressed as a per-subscriber charge, and the negotiating price thus far has been $1 per month per viewer.
That's the retransmission price that Fox tried to get from Time Warner Cable late in 2009, and reportedly the same price WABC sought from Cablevision. On New Year's day, Fox and Time Warner reached an agreement on the fees, but the amount of money was not disclosed.
Analysts at the time said the deal opened the door for a $5 billion increase in overall cable fees.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, "Every three years, broadcast stations must decide whether to demand carriage on local cable systems without receiving compensation or elect to negotiate a retransmission consent agreement. In return for allowing a cable system to carry its signal, a television station may require the payment of a fee or other consideration (for instance, carriage of another programming service or advertising time). Any new or additional costs incurred as a result of retransmission consent agreements may be passed through to cable subscribers."
Over the weekend, when it still appeared the Oscars would be blacked out for some New Yorkers, President and CEO of the American Cable Association Matthew Polka issued a statement, reading in part: "The Federal retransmission consent regime is a badly broken system that permits signal pulling and flagrant price discrimination against smaller cable companies that consumers should not be forced to tolerate."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Cablevision loses New York ABC affiliate for refusing to pay hiked fees

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 3:58pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Today, New York's ABC affiliate WABC-7 has pulled its programming from Cablevision, just hours in advance of the 82nd Academy Awards show.
It was no surprise, though. Earlier this month, WABC said it would be pulling its programming from Cablevision if the cable company didn't increase its payments by 20%. Cablevision did not see this as fair, as network television has always been available free over the air and nothing new had been added to warrant the increased cost.
"It is wrong for ABC to demand $40 million in new fees to help pay the salaries and bonuses for top ABC executives," a statement from Cablevision said. "In these difficult and challenging economic times, it is not fair for ABC to force Cablevision and its customers to pay what amounts to a new TV tax for the same programming that is available today for free over the air and on the Internet."
The cable company started an extensive campaign to rally its subscribers against ABC, including an email writing campaign, a facebook page, and a toll free "No TV Tax" number.
"The FCC is in contact with representatives of both companies and is monitoring the situation closely. Consumers should not suffer due to the inability of these two companies to successfully negotiate a deal. We urge both parties to quickly reach a resolution for the benefit of viewers," Media Bureau Chief of the Federal Communications Commission, William Lake said today.
But for Cablevision subscribers who just want to watch the Oscars tonight, they are going to have to tune in over the air. For customers who may not have a DTV-compliant antenna or who are just sore from the whole thing, Cablevision is also offering all of its iO TV customers the opportunity to choose from its entire slate of on demand movies for free, including 10 movies that are up for Academy Awards tonight.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Apple iPad and first iPad-specific app hit stores on April 3

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 9:01am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Apple's iPad, which was unveiled at the end of January, will be available in US retail on Saturday April 3, the company announced today; and pre-orders will begin on March 12.
The first iPads available will not be equipped with 3G radios, and will be Wi-Fi only, these models go for $499 for 16 GB, $599 for 32 GB, $699 for 64 GB. The AT&T 3G-enabled models will be available in late April for $629 for 16 GB, $729 for 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. At that time, the device will also launch internationally in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. More countries are expected to follow later this year.
An important part of this launch will be the availability of iBooks, the first app designed specifically for iPad (and a recycled Apple trademark) The free application turns the iPad into an eBook reader, and comes with the built-in Apple iBookstore, which is an obvious competitor to Amazon's Kindle Store and Barnes & Noble's eBookstore.
Though the iBookstore is expected to only support ePub formatted books at first, publishers have already begun to take advantage of the iBooks application. This week Penguin Books gave a rather compelling presentation in London which showed off some of the company's ideas which trump other eBook offerings by adding a veneer of interactivity. Travel guides from Penguin, for example, include the ability to create trip itineraries and link to GPS maps; children's books respond to the accelerometer or act as infinitely re-useable coloring books.
Other publishers are in the iPad game as well, unfortunately with a lot less to show off than Penguin. When the iPad launched in January, Apple said HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and Macmillan were all partners in the iBookstore. At the end of February, Macmillan introduced Dynamicbooks, the company's burgeoning line of online interactive textbooks. The company only has 11 titles available now, but expects more than a hundred by next Fall.
The company said it would reach out to Apple about creating iPad-formatted Dynamicbooks, but there is no evidence that Macmillan will be launching with anything other than standard ePub books.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Android gets its first Microsoft app: TagReader

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 5:37pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Barcode and QR code reader applications are now standard fare for smartphones and can be commonly found for free in any of the major app stores. But far less common are comprehensive services that let users make their own QR codes for free.
This is why Microsoft's TagReader, which was released in the Android Market today, is worth checking out. It's similar to any number of barcode scanners available on the Android platform, except that it is designed to read Microsoft's unique "Tags."
Microsoft Tag is currently in beta, and lets Windows Live users create unique optical codes that Microsoft calls HCCBs (High Capacity Color Barcodes) -- such as the one pictured above -- which link to Web-based content when scanned by a mobile phone's camera.
Microsoft Tags are similar to QR codes in that they can carry a text message, trigger a browser link, link to a vCard, or automatically dial a phone number. They can then be rendered as PDF, WMF, JPEG, PNG, GIF, or TIFF files in sizes from 0.75 inches all the way up to 120 inches.
There are a number of practical uses for optical codes which have already been exploited in the real world. Advertisements sometimes incorporate them to link to additional Web-based content on the viewer's phone, and business cards sometimes feature them automatically place a call or send a message to the card's creator. But uses are not limited to promotion and advertisement, any real-world item can be endowed with Web-based context. For example, you could attach an optical tag to a sealed box, and the tag could tell you the contents of the box when scanned.
But how is Microsoft Tag any different from the free online QR makers one can easily find on the Web? First, it's linked to an account where every tag a user makes is treated as a campaign. They are stored in a big list of tags, and each record in this list shows when the tag was activated, whether it's currently active, what type of content it links to, and detailed analytics showing how many times the code was scanned and accessed. If you were adding Microsoft Tags to a billboard or a newspaper advertisement, the tags could provide a rough gauge of the real-world penetration of those ads.
The Android app itself is actually the most forgettable aspect of the Microsoft Tag ecosystem, and is simply a way to get more users scanning tags. The application is available now in the Android Market.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Windows Mobile 5 and 6 get the latest Opera Mini 5 beta

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 1:43pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Opera Software today has released the first native version of Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices. Since this version does not require Java support, like the beta released a little over six months ago, nearly any Windows Mobile device can install this one.
It is identical in most respects to the Java-based version released in beta late last year, with the Speed Dial homescreen, tabbed browsing, password management, and support for Opera Link, which unifies users' mobile bookmarks and features with those from their desktop Opera browsers.
On Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, this browser is practically indistinguishable from the Opera Mobile 10 beta, which was launched last November. The two products are identical in appearance and basic functionality.
The main differences between the versions can be found in their settings menus. Opera Mini has Opera Turbo server-side compression on at all times, and the user can select the quality of in-page images to alter the speed at which pages are loaded. Opera Mobile lets the user turn Opera Turbo on and off as needed and customize the level of zoom for page viewing.
Opera Turbo makes a significant impact on browsing speeds, and Opera Software claims it has the ability to compress traffic by up to 90%, which not only speeds up the experience, but lowers expenses on pay-per-megabyte data plans.
I tested the Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile 6.5 over a 2G EDGE connection and found the experience to be quite good. Though it doesn't provide as granular a zoom function as Opera Mobile 10 does, you can make due with the tiny zoomed-out mode to locate text or images you want to view in zoomed-in mode. As a desktop Opera user, I become more fond of Opera Link every time I test a new version of Mini or Mobile. All of my desktop shortcuts and bookmarks are instantly available whenever I install a new version, and there is an instant familiarity that vastly improves the experience.
While it does not offer the media support that Skyfire is so famous for on the Windows Mobile platform, Opera Mini 5 is quick, and the browsing experience is great. Though there are sometimes gesture mistakes, the browser is quite "finger friendly" even on resistive Windows Mobile devices.
You're not going to find it in the Windows Mobile Marketplace, though. So to download the new beta, point IE Mobile to m.opera.com/next.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Hands-on with Gesture Search for Android 2.0

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 10:41am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Devices running Android 2.0 and later can now download from the Android Market the Google Gesture Search lab, an application which recognizes letters drawn on the touchscreen and uses them as live in-phone search terms.
The standalone application can search your contacts, browser bookmarks, installed applications by name, or music by artist name, album name or track name, all queries are limited to within your device, and do not yet reach deeper into applications for Web or content searching.
Since it is just a lab at present, Gesture has a number of serious limitations. Most notably, it lacks support for all of the devices running Android 1.5 and 1.6, lacks international support, and lacks support for numeric input.
But Gesture is still an interesting experiment thanks to its surprisingly accurate suggestion logic. Unlike the Graffiti handwriting recognition system on old Palm OS devices, it doesn't use a single-stroke input method, and the input can be extremely varied. Yet the application still recognizes the alphabet.
In testing it, I began at a letter's standard block state, then gradually began to deviate from that form until I was drawing something completely unintelligible. As you get further from the letter's original state, the search suggestion list gets longer. As you enter subsequent letters, the list gets more finely tuned. This means you can actually be quite carefree when entering letters.
Of course, that sort of testing rapidly deteriorated into a game of Pictionary with Gesture Search. The "peace sign" seemed to always result in a W, while the "anarchy sign" interchangeably would result in a B, Q, or M. A stick figure seems most prone to turn into a P, and painting the entire screen with one continuous gesture is a crap shoot.
To test the application's mettle, I made a bunch of nonsensical browser bookmarks with intentionally difficult names such as "Ijiij" and "jijii," or "aoaoa" and "ooao," and results were surprisingly consistent.
The suggestion logic worked well with all of my tests until I started running "Uvuvu" and "Uuvuu." The application never suggested the first one, and without fail suggested the second. I changed the destination of the bookmarks just to make sure it wasn't being influenced by something there, but it never suggested "Uvuvu" under any circumstances.
Gestures would make a useful complement to voice search on Android, but the limited scope of this Lab has a lot of users more concerned about fragmentation than about making their searches easier.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
RealDVD permanently banned in US, Real pays Hollywood $4.5 million

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 5:02pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

The battle over RealNetworks' DVD copying software, called RealDVD, has finally come to a close, and Real has lost.
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court, Northern District of California ruled today in favor of the DVD Copy Control Association, who argued that RealDVD actually made illegal copies that violated the Content Scramble System (CSS) license agreement.
The case began in late 2008 when RealDVD was only a couple of weeks old. RealNetworks preemptively sued the DVD Copy Control Association for the right to copy DVDs, using a previous case (DVD CCA v. Kaleidescape Inc.) as a hopeful legal precedent.
A temporary injunction was imposed as the case played out, and lower courts banned the software. One year into the case, Judge Patel determined that RealDVD's methods for avoiding CSS were at the very least a breach of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and upheld the lower court's ruling.
RealNetworks countersued, arguing that the motion picture industry was an illegal cartel that sought to corner the market for unprotected content (a.k.a., "digital copy"), but the judge again ruled in favor of the DVD Copy Control Association.
Today, Real said it has settled and will drop all of its appeals. The permanent injunction will stand, and Real will pay the studios a $4.5 million settlement.
"Almost from the moment this product was introduced, it was clear RealDVD violated the CSS license," Jacob Pak, President of DVD CCA said in a prepared statement today. "Now, after months of arguments from both sides, the legal message is clear: Making a DVD copier is a breach of the CSS license. This case demonstrates how important it is to uphold legal agreements that are essential to fostering and maintaining a vibrant competitive industry."
Bob Kimball, acting CEO of Real, said, "Until this dispute, Real had always enjoyed a productive working relationship with Hollywood. With this litigation resolved, I hope that in the future we can find mutually beneficial ways to use Real technology to bring Hollywood's great work to consumers."
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
A group of Silicon Valley geeks try to bring about immigration reform with the Startup Vista Act

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 3:16pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

At the end of February, Senators John Kerry (D - Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R - Indiana) introduced the Startup Visa Act of 2010, which will let immigrant entrepreneurs earn a two-year visa if they get at least $250,000 in venture capital investment, and then earn them legal US residence if that startup creates five or more new jobs, gets a second round of funding of over $1 million, or nets $1 million or more in revenue.
"Global competition for talent and investment grows more intense daily and the United States must step up or be left behind," Sen. Kerry said in introducing the bill. "Everywhere Dick Lugar and I travel for the Foreign Relations Committee, we see firsthand the entrepreneurial spirit driving the economies of our competitors. Creating a new magnet for innovations and innovators to come to the United States and create jobs here will offer our economy a double shot in the arm -- robust job creation at home and reaffirmation that we're the world's best place to do business."
This week, a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists led by former PayPal executive turned startup investor and advisor Dave McClure will be heading to Washington DC to promote the bill to legislators in hopes of showing the power that this bill holds.
"There are no lobbyists, no campaign contributions, no PR agencies," McClure writes on the site dedicated to the bill. "This is a 100% grass-roots movement of citizens who want to encourage job creation and innovation in the United States."
More than 160 notable VCs and investors have voiced their support for the bill, and there are plenty of ways for citizens to join in on the startupvisa.com campaign page.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Betanews Exclusive Video: In Depth with TiVo's New Interface

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 2:56pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Though it's still technically a work in progress, TiVo's new higher resolution interface lets the Premiere DVR take better advantage of your HDTV. We sat down with TiVo's Director of Product Marketing, Bob Poniatowski to take a look at all the new features.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Hulu 'losing' Stewart and Colbert is only a big deal to Hulu's ad revenue

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 12:53pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Hulu has been increasing in popularity, and its ads are getting more valuable, but two of the video site's most popular shows, The Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report, are being pulled.
Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal, the Fox division of News Corp., and now the ABC division of Disney, now racks up over a billion video views per month. (Viacom was at one time merged with CBS, the proprietor of TV.com, but is now separate.) Viacom is removing the two shows from Hulu at the end of the day on March 9, after having been available on the popular site for a little less than two years.
"In the past 21 months, we've had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in terms of the views and revenue we've generated, thanks to a couple of key trends," said Andy Forssell, Hulu's Senior Vice President of Content and Distribution. "First, more and more of our viewers have voted with their time by making these shows a regular part of their day. And second, we've driven steadily increasing revenue per view as advertisers voted with their budgets to take advantage of innovative ad formats and very strong advertising effectiveness. After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time."
Full episodes and short clips of the shows will remain available on Comedy Central's site, and individually on thedailyshow.com and colbertnation.com. Additionally, the "videos" section of The Daily Show's site has an archive of clips dating all the way back to March 1999.
Hulu is the number one online TV destination site, and its viewership has been steadily increasing since its launch. In December, ComScore's Video Metrix showed the number of program views has grown by about 100 million per month to over 1 billion views monthly. Even so, the popular video site still has difficulty getting content providers behind it.
In the beginning of 2009, for example, Hulu and CBS Interactive got into an altercation over content distribution. CBS revamped TV.com and launched it as a video content site to compete with Hulu in 2009. NBC Universal and News Corp. then pulled all of the Hulu content from TV.com, citing contractual discrepancies. Today, CBS content remains available on Hulu, but TV.com does not link to Hulu for content. Instead, it links to sites such as ABC.com and NBC.com for full episodes, and Fox programs are presented only as clips and highlights, not full episodes.
This sort of distribution is actually already in place for many (if not most) of Viacom's programs. Viacom's brands -- which include MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and Paramount -- are indexed by Hulu, but most of the content for those powerful brands is hosted on Viacom's own sites.
Although The New York Times reported today this content removal represents "first major fracture between television show owners and the wildly popular video Web site," it simply is not. Everyone wants to monetize their own content in their own way.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Nokia launches Skype for Symbian^1, free 3G calls for 200 million users

Posted: March 3rd, 2010, 8:32am MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

It's been just over a year since Nokia first announced it would be bringing Skype to its top-of-the-line N-Series smartphones. Today Nokia announced the popular voice and text chat client is available on all Symbian^1-based devices, making free voice calls over 3G a possibility for some 200 million handsets.
The free Skype client can be downloaded from the Ovi Store. It lets users make free Skype-to-Skype calls; send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups; share pictures, videos and other files; receive calls through an online number; see when other Skype users are live and available; and import contacts from the native phone address book.
The initial list of compatible handsets includes: N97, N97 mini, X6, 5800 XpressMusic and 5530 in the all-touch form factor, and E72, E71, E90, E63, E66, E51, N96, N95, N95 8Gb, N85, N82, N81, N81 8 Gb, N79, N78, 6220 classic, 6210 Navigator, and 5320.
Since Skype effectively gives away for free what the telephone companies have long charged for, the technology for Skype on mobile devices is actually quite old. Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom said they intended to have the service on Nokia phones as far back as 2005, but mobile networks viewed Skype as a threat to their business model.
But now that mobile networks are making their slow upgrades to all-data networks, they're changing their tune. Last February 16, Verizon Wireless made the huge announcement that it will begin supporting free Skype calls over its 3G network, and it appears that things are changing dramatically for the popular soft phone and indeed for mobile VoIP as a whole.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Up Close with TiVo's new Bluetooth QWERTY remote

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 8:37pm MST by Tim Conneally

By Tim Conneally, Betanews

Though the focus of tonight's TiVo unveiling was a new TiVo Premiere DVR, the company was especially proud of the upgrade to the remote control due out later this year. TiVo's new Bluetooth remote features a QWERTY keyboard to aid searching and finding content.
Shaped identically to the standard TiVo "peanut" remote, the new model slides horizontally to reveal a chiclet keyboard with a D-pad and a numeric keypad. This feature adds some girth to the usual remote's size and also contributes to a somewhat flimsy feel. This, however, could be due to the fact that all the remotes we handled were pre-production versions that looked to have been handled quite a bit.
Since TiVo doesn't have Bluetooth radios built in, the remote comes with a USB dongle that is plugged into an available USB port on TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, or TiVo Premiere boxes.
Though D-Link's Boxee Box also has a full QWERTY keyboard on its remote, that particular device is otherwise very simple, with an iPod-like D-pad and a menu, enter, and play buttons. TiVo's new remote has just about 80 buttons in total.
The device is far from elegant, but its utility is hard to dispute. It clings very closely to TiVo's traditional design and users will no doubt feel quite at home using it.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
TiVo revamps its UI with new Premiere DVRs, fuses Web, music, movies, and TV

Posted: March 2nd, 2010, 5:00pm MST by Tim Conneally
By Tim Conneally, Betanews

For the first time in the company's history, TiVo has completely redesigned the user interface of its popular DVRs with the introduction of the new TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL. TiVo says it has "reinvented" the DVR with what it calls the "One Box," which incorporates content from the Web, movies, music, and TV into a unified library.
The problem with any media, be it print, audio, or video, is that there's simply too much content for a user to be able to casually browse it and still be satisfied by what he's seeing. That's why news aggregators are so handy, and why there's a whole industry dedicated to social media content sharing. When there's so much stuff, you need something to filter it for you.
TiVo has been doing that for pay TV for a decade now, and the job keeps getting tougher.
As if 500+ channels of linear content wasn't enough, there are now thousands of on-demand movie and TV episodes distributed through various popular sources, and countless thousands of short-form Web shows and user-generated clips whose relevance needs to be parsed.
This is why the TiVo Premiere line is such a big advancement for TiVo. It's not just a DVR and set top box, it's a source agnostic interface that decides what content is good for you. While much of what the device does is stuff that TiVo has always done, it has never done it in such a simple way.
Completely new UI
The first thing you notice is that the UI is no longer a bunch of nested screens, it's now a much simpler two-column interface where the menu is on the left and the options are on the right. TiVo has taken full advantage of the added resolution in high definition and added a live video preview window to the TiVo Central menu. This has been one of the most demanded features for quite some time, TiVo's Director of Product Marketing Bob Poniatowski told us.
"In the standard definition user interface, we would have had to rewrite every screen to include that preview window. Since we were rewriting everything for high-def, we've put it in," Poniatowski said.
When you want to watch a show, you'll find TiVo has organized all of the available content under the show's heading. You can actually comparison-shop to see if it's available on demand from multiple sources. There's a list of upcoming episodes, an episode guide, and you can cross-search by cast members in an IMDB-like catalog of content available to you. Content on YouTube is presented as "bonus material" for shows, and you can link away to Amazon if you want to buy a DVD or other material related to the show you're looking at.
"The important thing is, all of that technology has been around in TiVo for a long time," Poniatowski told us. "We had Amazon, we had searching by actor, we had wish lists...but they were all separate destinations in the UI. We've completely rethought how we present things. Now it's, 'Here's the show you like and here's everything about that show.'
"If you're watching Fringe, we've constrained the view of YouTube to just showing the YouTube that's about Fringe, or just showing the view of Amazon that's about Fringe...It's about your relationship to the program, not your relationship with the box or these services. It's how we help you find the best content and get the most out of what you're paying for."
It's an approach not seen in other set-top boxes, which typically arrange content by the source it's coming from. TiVo has arranged it by show.
"This is really source agnostic," Poniatowski told Betanews. "This is all the sources coming into your home, aggregated into one UI, so we'll tell you about Netflix, and we'll tell you about Amazon, we'll tell you where you get it from, but until you go and buy it from Amazon or buy it from Netflix, it's a TiVo experience...Broadband, broadcast, it doesn't matter where it comes from, you can get it in this UI."
It's a good thing that TiVo tackled the content management problem when it did, because the Premiere XL can now record 150 hours of HD content, or 1400 hours of standard definition. Back when TiVo started in the DVR business in 1999, the series1 could only hold 14 hours.
Further simplifying the experience for users, TiVo has redesigned title searching (you are now given a list of most popular titles by the first letter typed in), browsing by genre (you rank your favorite types of content by a one-to-three thumbs up rating), and hard drive navigation ("Now Playing" has become "My Shows" and now includes dedicated "A, B, C" function keys for changing the hard drive view.)
About the new A, B, and C soft keys in the "My Shows" menu, Poniatowski said, "We've had these features as keyboard shortcuts for years, but nobody knew! The only people that would know would have either read the manual, personally talked to me on the Internet, or sat on the remote and accidentally changed it, then they'd call us and say 'I lost all my folders, what happened?' We don't want to take those calls," he joked.
TiVo Premiere:
- $299.99
- 320 GB HDD, records up to 45 hours of HD programming or up to 400 hours of standard-definition
- TiVo Series4 architecture
- Supports digital cable, high-definition digital cable, antenna (ATSC), and Verizon FiOS. Does not support satellite or AT&T U-verse.
- Outputs: HDMI, component video, composite video, optical audio, analog audio
- Inputs: CableCARD support, cable coax, antenna coax, Ethernet, USB 2.0 ports (2), E-SATA support for external storage
- TiVo Wireless-N and Wireless-G network adapter support
- Energy Star certified
TiVo Premiere XL:

$499.99
1 TB storage -- Records up to 150 hours of HD programming, or up to 1350 hours of standard-definition
Features all of the same ins/outs as the Premiere box, plus a backlit, programmable, and learning remote
TiVo Premiere XL is the first HD product to feature THX Optimizer, a video calibration tool that lets users fine-tune color, black levels, and other settings to improve picture quality.

TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL boxes will be available in retail nationwide in early April. They are also available for pre-order today at tivo.com.

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