by Steve O'Hear
May 20th, 2009 | Posted in Net TV | 
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Netflix on Microsoft Media Center
It’s not the first time that Netflix functionality has been added to Microsoft’s Media Center software, but today the two companies released an official plug-in for the PC to TV platform.
Through a formal partnership, users of the Vista edition of Microsoft Media Center (not XP) can now access almost all of Netflix’s online features via the software’s TV-friendly “10-foot” User Interface, including browsing Netflix’s DVD library, editing their DVD and Watch Instantly queues, as well as stream movies and TV episodes from the company’s 12,000 strong library.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 20th, 2009 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
Zattoo
Zattoo’s legal status is, arguably, a bit of a grey area. While the Internet TV service, which features live streaming of existing over-the-air and cable channels, claims it only does so within the law – either through government legislation or direct licensing agreements – its business model remains a controversial one. And it seems that Hollywood has finally taken notice.
Broadband TV news reports that Universal Studios and Warner Brothers are suing Zattoo for the way in which it streams German television channels ARD and ZDF. Under a 12 month license, Zattoo is able to carry both channels’ content live an “unabridged”. It’s the latter that the Hollywood studios are taking issue with since Zattoo inserts an advertisement everytime a user switches channel.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 20th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | View Comments
Intel's Netbook-friendly OS: Mobilin 2.0
While I remain skeptical of Linux’s chances to overtake Windows as the Netbook OS of choice, that isn’t stopping Intel who continue to invest in a Microsoft alternative. The latest version of its own Linux distro called Moblin sees the light weight OS undergo a complete User Interface overall optimized for Netbooks and MIDs that typically sport a 7-10 inch screen. It’s the UI, says Intel, that will be key to Linux’s client-side adoption, and on that note Moblin 2.0 appears to take much of its inspiration from the next generation of smart phones.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 19th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | Comments Off
Palm Pre to go on sale June 6
After weeks and weeks of speculation, the cat is finally — and I mean finally — out of the bag. The Palm Pre will go on sale in the US on June the 6th, with the Sprint exclusive, for now at least, costing $200 after a $100 mail in rebate with a 2 year contract. If you’re lucky enough to be based in the states, you’ll be able to purchase a Pre at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radioshack, select Wal-Mart stores and through Sprint’s own website. That’s a pretty decent lineup of distributors and should give the device plenty of shopping mall exposure, presuming of course that Palm can meet the initial demand. And then there’s iPhone.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 18th, 2009 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | View Comments
Napster tries again
Now under the stewardship of Best Buy, Napster is taking yet-another-stab at offering a compelling music service since its glorious P2P days of yesteryear. This time round the company is touting the combination of unlimited streaming of its 7 million strong music library in combination with 5 DRM-free downloads per month, all for a monthly subscription of just five dollars. “Music fans now have the best of both worlds”, boasts the press release.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 18th, 2009 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Net TV | Comments Off
Archos press invite
Although it hasn’t been confirmed as such, Archos is hinting that it will unveil its first Android powered Mobile Internet Device (MID) at press event to be held in Paris on June the 11th. The company isn’t actually using the MID moniker and instead refers to said device as an Internet Media Tablet, emphasizing its support for a range of audio and video codecs, including High Definition video playback, along with the ability to surf the web and access other Internet-based content.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the use of Android brings telephony support to the table and, presumably, third-party applications downloadable from the Android Market app store.
Other than that, the device is said to sport a 5 inch touch screen, use TI’s OMAP 3 processor (the chip used to power Palm’s soon-to-be-released Pre smartphone), 3.5G connectivity, support for Adobe Flash, and provide up to 7 hours of video playback.
See also: Android’s biggest Netbook challenge (Hint: Windows)
Despite my skepticism of Android’s commercial potential running on a traditional Netbook, I think touch screen-based MIDs are a much more natural fit as they share a lot more heritage with smartphones (Android’s primary target). Additionally, one of my criticisms of existing MIDs, such as Nokia’s N810, is their lack of cellular connectivity – instead relying solely on WiFi – something that Archos’ upcoming Android device will address.
(via Engadget)
by Steve O'Hear
May 17th, 2009 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | Comments Off
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.
Amazon to Apple: keep your hands off our iPhone Kindle eBook revenue
At first glance it seems innocuous enough: Amazon has launched a version of its Kindle eBook store optimized for the iPhone’s web browser to make it easier for users of Apple’s device to purchase new eBooks for the iPhone’s Kindle application.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 15th, 2009 | Posted in ZNF | Comments Off
A periodic roundup of relevant news from our friends at Zatz Not Funny…
Asus Eee Top
Hands on with the Asus Eee Top
Dave Zatz: Being a fan (conceptually) of the Audrey and Icebox computing appliances of lore, I placed the 15.6″ all-in-one PC in our kitchen. Where I believe it belongs.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 14th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | View Comments
Sony PS3 and Flip Mino HD
Since publishing my hands-on review of the Flip Mino HD ‘point and shoot’ camcorder, I’ve discovered a really neat feature: the ability to play High Definition video shot on the Mino on a PlayStation 3, directly from the camera itself.
Simply plug the device into one of the PS3’s USB ports via the Mino HD’s flip out USB connector, and any videos stored on the camera show up in the PlayStation’s XMB User Interface under ‘Video’. From there it’s just a case of selecting the video you want to watch and hitting play. No need to worry about cables, networking or transferring files to the PS3 beforehand. Instead, you can pretty much instantly watch your home made movies on your High Def TV via the PS3 (unedited of course, unless you’ve saved your final edit back onto the camera’s internal flash drive).
Hat tip: I discovered this feature after talking to a PR rep from Western Digital who make their own High Def media player. Apparently, the Mino HD and the WD TV HD Media Player (review coming soon) also play nicely together.
by Steve O'Hear
May 13th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | Comments Off
Netbooks were undoubtedly one of the hit products of 08, seemingly bucking the trend as the economy took a turn for the worse and with it a fall in PC sales. However, moving into 09, Netbook sales aren’t fairing quite as well, dropping 26% according to figures published by market watcher DisplaySearch (via The Register). And while that’s broadly inline with the overall PC market, it could suggest that the current generation of Netbooks may be running out of steam.
According to the researcher, 5.9m netbooks were shipped worldwide in Q1, down 26 per cent from the 8m shipped in Q4 2008. In Q1, netbooks accounted for around a fifth of the total sales of portable PCs, some 30.3m units in all, including regular laptops.
Notebooks shipments were down 25 per cent sequentially.
Acer performed best, shipping 1.8m machines. While Asus, who pioneered the whole Netbook product category, took second place, shipping 900,000 devices. This was followed by HP on 700,000, Dell on 400,000, and Toshiba and Lenovo selling 200,000 units each. The rest of the market – Samsung, MSI and Fujitsu – managed to shift just 900,000 Netbooks.
Of course, comparing Q4 (the holiday season) with Q1 isn’t nearly like for like, the figures do point to the Netbook losing its crown. And if that is indeed the case, I’m not entirely surprised.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 13th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Social | View Comments
Six months prior to its scheduled release, influential tech blogger Robert Scoble dubbed Nokia’s upcoming N97 the “ultimate Facebook phone“. And as impressive as the device promises to be, that seemed just a tad premature, especially as the handset maker was reportedly still working out how deeply it should integrate a rival’s web service into its flagship phone. The competition wasn’t going to stand still either.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 11th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | View Comments
iPhone Kindle app
At first glance it seems innocuous enough: Amazon has launched a version of its Kindle eBook store optimized for the iPhone’s web browser to make it easier for users of Apple’s device to purchase new eBooks for the iPhone’s Kindle application. “The most common feedback we heard from customers was that they wanted a better experience for purchasing new Kindle books from their iPhones”, says Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle operations.
In the updated iPhone Kindle app, a “Get Books” button opens the phone’s Safari web browser and takes users straight to the new iPhone-friendly site. Any new purchases made then show up in and are downloadable from the iPhone Kindle app itself.
See also: What Kindle on iPhone says about Amazon’s eBook strategy
The result of which is that Amazon has made it relatively simple for users to purchase Kindle content in a way that replicates the iPhone’s upcoming ‘in-app purchases’ feature, all without giving Apple its 30% cut or, presumably, breaking any terms of service.
