Author Archive

Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked

Based in the UK, I don’t have access to the US-only video site Hulu. But if I did I’d no longer be able to access the studio-backed Internet TV service on my PlayStation 3.

That’s because, following the Boxee fiasco, the game console has become the latest means by which to conveniently watch Hulu content on a television to be blocked, reports Engadget.

Users who try to visit the site via the PS3’s built-in web browser are being greeted with the message: “Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

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Weekly wrapup: HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, Flash 10 coming to smartphones, Intel and Nokia, Boxee and MLB, and more

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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HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, apes Palm Pre’s Synergy

At a press conference in London this morning, HTC unveiled it latest Android-based phone – dubbed “Hero” – but unlike the G1 and HTC Magic before it, the new handset has been given a major UI overhaul that the company is calling HTC Sense.

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Zatz Not Funny: Boxee, DTV transition, Squeezebox, and more

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

Dicussing Boxee on TechVi

Dave Zatz: Last night, Ben Drawbaugh (EngadgetHD) and I discussed Boxee’s recent news with Randall Bennett of TechVi.

Fallout from the DTV Transition

Dave Zatz: It’s been two weeks since the digital television switch was universally flipped in what’s effectively a government spectrum fundraiser.

Hands On with the Sungale Widget Photo Frame

Mari Silbey: I’ve had something of an obsession with Wi-Fi photo frames ever since eStarling brought the first one (disastrously) to market. So naturally I jumped at the chance to get my hands on the new Sungale touch-screen, Wi-Fi, widgetized photo frame – colloquially known as the ID800WT.

New Logitech Squeezeboxes on the way

Dave Zatz: It’s been quite some time since the Squeezebox Duet and Squeezebox Boom Internet audio streamers hit the shelves in 2008. And word on the street indicates Logitech will be refreshing their lineup in short order.

How I plan to use my HTC Magic Android phone

Vodafone HTC Magic running on zero SIM on three

Vodafone HTC Magic running on a SIM Zero contract on 3

As my obsession with mobile continues – the new frontier – I’ve made the decision to take out a second mobile phone contract. But with a twist. I don’t plan to make (or receive) a single call on handset number two. Instead, it will be used for data only (Web browsing, third-party Internet-connected apps and email).

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Nokia testing "long form" video service

We’ve known for a long time that Nokia wants to be seen as much as a services company as a handset maker, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising to learn that the company is exploring different ways to deliver online video to mobile phones.

According to a report in New Media Age, Nokia is particularly interested in “kick-starting” the consumption of long-form content on mobiles by utilizing a podcast style delivery method whereby users subscribe to various video feeds, presumably enabling content to be downloaded to the device “over-the-air” rather than being “side-loaded”.

While the service is said to be in trial mode only with about 600 users, 100 of which are Nokia employees, content partners already reportedly include BBC Worldwide, ITV, Sky and Paramount.

Boxee grows up with official Major League Baseball streaming partnership

Major League Baseball on Boxee

Major League Baseball on Boxee

Forget the ongoing spat with Hulu, PC-to-TV media player Boxee has announced an official partnership with MLB.com.

Subscribers to the MLB.TV Premium can now use Boxee to pipe content from the service, which includes “live and on-demand in HD (where available)”, to their TVs or simply enjoy Boxee’s ‘ten foot’ and remote control-friendly UI on their PC. On that note, MLB.TV Premium offers DVR functionality to pause and rewind a live game.

Going forward, Boxee hopes this is the first of such partnerships, as live sport is bound to be seen as a major driver of uptake for Internet TV solutions such as Boxee.

MLB.com represents a big step for boxee as we hope this is the first of many different live sports offerings we can bring to you. We hope other sports follow MLB.com’s lead of giving fans a choice of how they enjoy watching their favorite teams…. [Boxee blog]

The company also announced that a version of Boxee, albeit in Alpha, is now available for Windows along with existing versions for Mac OSX and Linux.

HTC unveils Android-powered Hero, apes Palm Pre's Synergy

HTC-Hero-2I knew it would happen, I’m just surprised it’s taken so long: Google’s Android has been given a major UI overhaul by a third-party handset maker.

At a press conference in London this morning, HTC unveiled it latest Android-based phone – dubbed “Hero” – but unlike the G1 and HTC Magic before it, the new handset has been given a major UI overhaul that the company is calling HTC Sense.

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Intel and Nokia announce "long-term relationship" to develop Intel-based mobile devices

This one feels like a bit of a re-announcement but over time could well amount to more. Chip maker Intel and handset maker Nokia held a joint press call today to tell the world about a new “long term relationship” to share R&D and key technologies to develop a new mobile platform or range of devices that “go beyond today’s smartphones, notebooks and netbooks”.

Oh and said devices will be powered by future Intel processors, of course.

Which, as The Register points out, sounds a lot like the Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) Intel has been to touting for years, and very similar to Nokia’s own – albeit non-Intel based – N810 Internet tablet (see my review).

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Flash 10 coming to smartphones this October? Apple and RIM still missing in action

Flash Player 10 on smartphonesIt seems that Adobe is well on track to deliver a version of Flash 10 for smartphones, with the first beta release due this October. Adobe President and CEO Shantanu Naraye said as much during the company’s latest earnings call, as well as revealing that “multiple partners have already received early versions of this release…”.

Naraye then goes on to name names, citing Android, Nokia’s Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm’s WebOS as among the first smartphones to “support web browsing with the newsest Flash player.”

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Zatz Not Funny: Jailbreaking the iPhone 3.0 OS, Palm Pre review, SlingCatcher, and more

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

Jailbreaking the iPhone 3.0 OS

Dave Zatz: In pre-announcing the iPhone 3.0 OS and providing preview software builds, Apple intended to give developers a leg up in producing/updating apps. Fortunately, it also gave the unsanctioned “iPhone Dev Team” enough time to get some of their jailbreak and unlocking apps ready fairly close to the official launch.

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