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.
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Adobe Media Player launches – does the world need another Internet TV app?
The big Internet TV news this week was the full launch of Adobe Media Player (AMP) version 1.0. Built using the company’s Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) — a cross-platform technology designed to bring web-based applications to the desktop — AMP is an aggregator and media player that enables users to subscribe to, download and playback Flash-based video.
Blockbuster to launch set-top box?
The latest company thought to be readying its own Internet TV set-top box plans is Blockbuster, according to Hollywood Reporter. The new “set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets” could be announced as early as this month, and would utilize the company’s recent acquisition of online movie service Movielink, giving users access to over 3,000 film titles from major Hollywood studios Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and MGM.
BBC iPlayer lands on Wii – who said Nintendo doesn’t do media center?
A version of the BBC’s iPlayer will be made available on Nintendo’s Wii games console, announced the UK public broadcaster’s Future Media and Technology chief Erik Huggers during a keynote speech at the MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes.
Nokia, start your photocopiers (iPhone-envy)
During a presentation at the Evans Data Developer Relations Conference in Redwood City, California, Nokia’s Tom Libretto showed a slide that portrayed a new device similar in looks to Apple’s iPhone, codenamed “Tube”. Featuring a touchscreen and graphic-heavy interface, Libretto said the “Tube” will support Java – a feature lacking on the iPhone – and will also be capable of uploading photos to the Web. Other details such as additional features or a launch date weren’t revealed.
More digital lifestyle news:
- What is music 2.0?
- Video: Sony’s Mylo 2 Personal Communicator
- Free ad-supported music leads to more sales
- In a departure from business as usual, ESPN syndicates video content on AOL
- Wal-Mart ditches DRM at a cost
- NHL’s broadband effort is strategic, organized, and not so piecemeal
- What’s next? Madonna in my corn flakes?
- Babelgum commissions feature-length environmental documentary
Features
FUD permeates analog-to-digital TV conversion in the U.S.
Daniel Langendorf takes a look at the pending digital TV switchover in the U.S., writing: “It seems like a straight forward proposition, but there’s FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt — swirling around when it comes to the upcoming U.S. digital TV conversion. By Feb. 18, 2009, all broadcasters in the U.S. will be required to unplug their analog signal to broadcast solely on the digital spectrum. Considering the government just auctioned off freed-up spectrum, there’s no turning back.”
That’s a wrap!
