Here’s a summary of the last two weeks’ 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.
Opera wants to put Internet widgets on the TV too
Opera, the Norwegian company behind the desktop and mobile web browser of the same name, wants to be a major player in the nascent Internet-connected TV space.
BBC iPlayer on PS3 gets a makeover, higher quality video and 1080p UI
The version of iPlayer optimized for the PlayStation 3 has been given a major update that delivers improved video quality and a User Interface designed for High Definition televisions that operate up to 1080p.
Samsung Blu-ray players to support YouTube and Blu-ray rips!
This one of those press releases that made me chuckle. Samsung today announced that it has added support for YouTube, along with video formats that utilize the Matroska (MKV) container.
Introducing GigaOM’s NewTeeVee Live 09
One blog that I read religiously to keep track of the Online Video industry is NewTeeVee from the GigaOM staple of tech blogs. NewTeeVee also puts on the respected NewTeeVee Live conference every year and it’s nearly that time again. And as with last year, we’re proud to be a media sponsor for the event.
Motorola just bet the house on Android and social networking
On stage live at GigaOm’s Mobilize 09 conference, Motorola unveiled a large part of its comeback strategy (there seems to be a lot of “comebacks” in the handset market at the moment) based on a new smartphone powered by Android, the Google-led mobile OS, featuring a custom UI that puts social networking at its heart.
PlayBite: Hands-on with the UK/GSM Palm Pre
Despite my positive coverage of Palm’s ‘come back’ smartphone, today was the first time I actually got to see the device in person, a whole nine months after it was first announced and three months after it went on sale in the US.
Hands-on with the Nokia E55 (or how I learned to live with half a QWERTY)
I was keen to try out Nokia’s attempt at a third QWERTY touting form factor, with the announcement of the E55. The device adopts the traditional candy bar shape by featuring something the handset maker is calling a “compact QWERTY”.
Nokia dumps location-based service Friend View, falls in love with Facebook
The new application called Lifecasting with Ovi enables users to publish “their location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the home screen of [there] mobile device.”
Digital Music
Spotify hits the iPhone and Android app stores
The stars were already aligned: a preemptive PR strike, a premium business model, and regulators questioning anti-competitive practices with relation to the iPhone’s app store — making it less and less surprising that Apple should give Spotify the green light.
Although I’d put poor marketing, carrier resistance, and possibly DRM, ahead of the lack of a flagship device to explain why Comes With Music, Nokia’s all-you-can-eat music service, hasn’t been the hit the handset maker had hoped for, the company’s newly announced X6 music phone is encouraging.
That’s a wrap. Thanks for reading,
