June 15th, 2007 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | 
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Here’s a summary of the 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.
Top digital lifestyle news
We kicked off the start of the week with rumors that Apple is planning its own online film rental service, noting that this is key if the company is to achieve its aim of making the AppleTV a DVD player for the Internet age.
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June 15th, 2007 | Posted in Net TV | 1 Comment
The Guardian newspaper reported earlier this week that talks are taking place between British broadcasters — BBC, Channel 4 and ITV — regarding a joint online video service that will “do for broadband what Freeview did for digital TV”. (Freeview is the UK’s free-to-air digital television service.)
Called “Project Kangaroo”, it is understood the new broadband service would pool BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programming for delivery on demand…
Initially it is expected Project Kangaroo will deliver programming to computers via broadband but the ultimate aim is to deliver it direct to televisions.
The report goes onto suggest that a PC-less version of the service could be achieved through the future availability of broadband-enabled Freeview boxes. In other words, viewers could buy an upgraded free-to-air set-top-box which also has Internet connectivity — enabling a live terrestrial stream and on-demand video via the Internet.
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June 15th, 2007 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Net TV | 1 Comment
Archos has announced its 2007 lineup of media player/recorders which include two high end touchscreen and WiFi enabled models that can access the company’s own content portal which offers paid-for movie downloads from CinemaNow. Customers can also purchase a version of the Opera web browser with Flash video support, making it possible to browse and view video from sites like YouTube.
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June 14th, 2007 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | 3 Comments
DivX have announced a partnership with SanDisk which will see the company license its DivX video technology for use in SanDisk’s Sansa line of portable media players. As a result, future Sansa devices will be DivX-certified so that they are guaranteed to support DivX video including content from the company’s Stage6 video website.
SanDisk’s Daniel Schreiber is quoted as saying:
“This partnership aims to allow our customers to take full advantage of innovative video features and content found only through DivX”
While there is plenty of video only available through DivX, much of it is copyright-infringed content (including television episodes and feature films) found on file-sharing networks. As a result, SanDisk’s support for DivX will be popular with users who want the broadest access to content (legitimate or not), and could also give the company’s Sansa line of players a shot in the arm when trying to compete with the iPod, which currently doesn’t feature DivX playback.
Related post: DivX-designed media extender in the works
June 13th, 2007 | Posted in Other | 3 Comments
Though details are vague, the LA Times reports that AT&T is joining forces with Hollywood and the recording industry in a concerted effort to begin more aggressive policing of its network in order to prevent users from sharing pirated content, such as films and music.
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June 13th, 2007 | Posted in Mobile | 5 Comments
After years of treating Apple users as second class citizens, Nokia has released a Beta version of Nokia Media Transfer for Mac, which enables its N-series mobile phones to transfer music, photos and other files to and from a Mac.
After installing the software, a new menu bar item appears on your Mac which enables you to add a compatible device (connected via Bluetooth or USB) and open Nokia’s Device Browser, an application that resembles the Mac’s own Finder and allows you to browse and access any files on your phone.
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June 12th, 2007 | Posted in Net TV | 2 Comments
If you want a job done properly, do it yourself, right? That appears to be the approach DivX is taking by developing its own reference design for a media streaming box which will also tie into the company’s online video destination, stage6.
Code-named GejBox, the device is designed to deliver online video via your PC onto your living room television, and features WiFi and Ethernet networking as well as Component, S-Video and HDMI video out.
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June 12th, 2007 | Posted in Mobile | 4 Comments
We now know that third-party developers wanting to make software for the iPhone will be limited to building browser-based apps (see my post ‘ iPhone’s support for 3rd party apps won’t please everyone‘). And according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, that’s not a bad thing as anybody who knows how to write modern web-standards-based apps can develop for the iPhone. But what he didn’t say is whether that would include support for Flash, the technology that powers many interactive web sites as well as online video found on sites like YouTube.
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June 11th, 2007 | Posted in Mobile | 8 Comments
Of my five WWDC predictions posted last week, at least one came true today: Steve Jobs announced a way for third party developers to build applications for the iPhone.
“We have been trying to come up with a solution to expand the capabilities of iPhone by letting developers write great apps for it, and yet keep the iPhone reliable and secure. and we’ve come up with a very sweet solution,” Jobs told the audience gathered at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Taking advantage of the fact that the iPhone runs a version of OSX along with full web browser support, developers can create web-based applications which, Jobs claimed, will be able to look and behave just like the applications built into the iPhone. Additionally, Apple will provide web developers with the hooks necessary to access many of the iPhone’s functions including dialing a call, sending email, and integrating with device’s rich client version of Google Maps. Anybody who can write modern standards-based web apps can develop for the iPhone, stressed Jobs.
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June 11th, 2007 | Posted in Net TV | 1 Comment
We’re pleased to announce that we have thousands of Babelgum invites to give away here on last100. A quick recap: Babelgum (see our review) is a new peer-to-peer online video service founded by Italian billionaire Silvio Scaglia, which, like Joost, aims to combine the “lean-back experience” of television with the interactivity of the web. Last week we reported that the company was now offering a limited number of invites via its website and through current beta testers. Well scrap that, just visit our special Babelgum sign-up page and give the service a whirl (Windows only).
(Note: don’t leave a comment requesting an invite, just visit the sign-up page.)