Archive for December, 2008

We've been featured on "The Phones Show"

Steve Litchfield’s The Phones Show (previously “The Smartphones Show”) is a must-see video podcast for anybody interested in the rapidly evolving mobile phone space. And so it’s with great honor that my two recent video demos of T-Mobile’s Android-powered G1 have made it into shows 71 and 72.

For those of you who don’t already know, Litchfield, who is also Contributing Editor for All About Symbian, is one of the most respected authorities on smartphones and has, in particular, been following developments in the Symbian OS since its early Psion days. In other words, he was there before smartphones became fashionable. On that note, Litchfield also writes regularly about Apple’s iPhone over at All About iPhone.

I’ve embedded the two latest episodes of The Phones Show below (you can subscribe to the show here)…

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Deja vu: Internet 'widgets' coming to the TV in 2009

I’m getting a case of deja vu. Apparently, 2009 will be the year that Internet ‘widgets’ come to the TV.

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held in Las Vegas next month, Samsung, Toshiba and other manufacturers will unveil new televisions that bring Internet content into the living room through support for the “Widget Channel”, a platform for Internet-connected TVs developed in partnership by Yahoo and Intel (see ‘Yahoo, Intel attempt to solve Web content on television with “Widget Channel”). Of course, Internet-connected TVs were also the talk of CES in 2008, with Sharp, Samsung, Panasonic and Google making announcements. This time, however, Yahoo and Intel think they’ve got it right.

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We have our HP Magic Giveaway winner

We now have a winner for our latest HP super duper giveaway. The $6,000 worth of HP and Microsoft goodies goes to T. Smith from the US who named their five favorite digital lifestyle products and services of 08 as:

  • iPhone 3g
  • Wii Fit
  • HP Mini 100
  • Unibody MacBook
  • Blackberry Storm

Thanks to everybody who entered. Best of luck next time.

How do you use your Netbook?

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a big fan of the Netbook. And I’m not alone. A recent DisplaySearch report reveals that sales of these low-cost mini notebook computers grew 160 per cent in Q3, with the research firm predicting that a total of 14 million Netbooks will ship this year, up from just one million in 07.

It seems that 08 is the year of the Netbook (see my top ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08).

In terms of individual performance, Acer (Aspire One) and Asus (Eee PCs) are leading the pack with 38.3 per cent and 30.3 per cent market share each, while Dell (2.8 %), MSI/Medion (7.8 %) and HP (5.8 %) trail significantly.

What’s less clear, however, is how Netbooks are actually being used. Or more specifically, what role they play in a user’s digital life.

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Weekly wrapup: HP Magic Giveaway (win $6,000 worth of gear)

Here’s a summary of the last week’s digital lifestyle action on last100. Note that you can subscribe to the weekly wrapups, either via the special weekly wrapup RSS feed or by email.

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HP Magic Giveaway on last100 – your chance to win $6000 worth of gear

There’s one day left to enter our HP Magic Giveaway, courtesy of HP and Microsoft. We’re giving away $6,000 worth of gear, including four computers (a 25 inch touchscreen desktop, two laptops and HP’s newest Netbook), a media extender, printer and a bunch of software/DVDs.

That’s a lot of kit for even for the most hardened geek, so we’re encouraging the winner to also share the magic by giving some of the prize away…

Top ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08

There was lots of activity in the Digital Lifestyle space in 08 with new devices, services and platforms being launched, and some of our favorites from last year receiving significant updates. Here’s my pick of the best ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08.

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Zatz Not Funny: GPS holiday gift guide, Squeezebox, SlingPlayer on Blackberry

A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny

The ZNF GPS holiday gift guide

Dave Zatz: For probably the third year in a row, most folks are coming to me not for television or media extender holiday suggestions, but looking for GPS gift-giving advice. Instead of repeatedly answering the question, and with the shopping window closing rapidly, I figured it’s time for a post.

Squeezebox updates: local radio and Amazon shopping cart

Mari Silbey: The Squeezebox I got for Christmas two years ago is the gift that keeps on giving. Logitech announced a firmware update earlier this week, and I finally got around to trying out the new features this morning.

Blackberry Slingbox client coming Soon

Dave Zatz: Sling Media has put a stake in the ground and intends to meet their goal of delivering a Blackberry SlingPlayer this year. On December 30th, the company will release a free public beta to Slingbox owners – supporting most modern GSM Blackberry models, such as the Curve and Bold.

Top ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08

There was lots of activity in the Digital Lifestyle space in 08 with new devices, services and platforms being launched, and some of our favorites from last year receiving significant updates. One notable trend throughout is the way in which these products and services began to converge. Not in the sense of all-in-one devices, although these do exist, but through hardware, services and content playing nicely, often through open standards, platforms or partnerships, with the Internet acting as a conduit. On that note, here’s my pick of the best ten Digital Lifestyle products of 08.

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Analyst: Apple to release 'closed' Netbook with iPhone-esque App Store

It’s not very often that I find myself agreeing with a likely overpaid analyst, especially one who admits that they have no “inside information”, but I think Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research could be onto something. Gottheil is predicting that Apple will announce its own Netbook at Macworld in January, priced higher than its competitors, that will, like the iPhone, run a new version of its OSX operating system, and will be similarly tied to an iPhone-esque App Store and iTunes for third-party software downloads and system upgrades.

His reasoning is sound…

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Vudu set-top box no longer a one trick pony, adds support for YouTube, Flickr and more

My biggest beef with the Vudu set-top movie box is that it’s always been a one trick pony, and an expensive one at that. Focusing on paid-for movies (rentals and to-own), Vudu’s sole proposition was that you purchased one of its set-top boxes, starting at $299, so that you could begin purchasing content. Essentially paying to enter the store.

That changed today, with the company announcing support for a range of free online video from YouTube, MSNBC, CNN, MTV, PBS, and National Geographic, as well as images from photo sharing sites Flickr and Picasso. “The new content will be available via a free firmware update that should hit all Vudu boxes over the next 24 hours”, reports Cnet. And best of all there’s plenty more to come.

See also: AppleTV 2 breaks free from the PC, remains under Apple’s lock and key

That’s because Vudu isn’t providing access to said content through formal licensing agreements but is instead pulling in content through those sites’ own APIs or freely available web feeds. Better still, Vudu is going to open up this feature to third-party developers in the first half of 2009 who’ll be able to add support for more online content.

In other words, Vudu looks like it might be slowly morphing, to some extent at least, into the open Apple TV I’ve been long calling for.

HP Magic Giveaway on last100 – your chance to win $6000 worth of gear

If you’re new to last100, you can subscribe to our RSS feed here, or get weekly email updates using the form below.

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Note: the contest is now closed. Winner to be announced shortly.

Today it’s our turn to share some magic courtesy of HP and Microsoft. We’re giving away $6,000 worth of gear, including four computers (a 25 inch touchscreen desktop, two laptops and HP’s newest Netbook), a media extender, printer and a bunch of software/DVDs.

That’s a lot of kit for even for the most hardened geek, so we’re encouraging the winner to also share the magic by giving some of the prize away.

For your chance to win, I’m going to keep it relatively simple. Here’s how to enter, along with a few basic rules.

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