Vodafone Music's DRM-free move makes Apple and Nokia look bad

by Steve O'Hear

March 12th, 2009 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Vodafone, which currently operates music download stores in over 20 countries, is to become the latest company to jump on the DRM-free bandwagon, announcing this week that it will soon be transitioning its music catalog away from the copy-protected WMA format to standard MP3s. Additionally, customers will be able to covert their existing Vodafone purchases to DRM-free versions at no extra charge, unlike Apple’s current iTunes arrangement where users wishing to ‘upgrade’ are effectively asked to pay twice.

That’s the good news as far as Vodafone is concerned. The bad: only three of the four major record labels are on board – Universal Music Group, Sony Music and EMI – with Warner, for now at least, refusing to join in the fun, and the whole DRM-free deal only applies to a la carte downloads not Vodafone’s MusicStation all-you-can eat subscription service. Continue reading »

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Nokia ramps up music ambitions; three new handsets, Nokia Music Store and 'Comes With Music' expansion

by Steve O'Hear

March 11th, 2009 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Perhaps to the disdain of mobile carriers, Nokia continues to ramp up its own music offering. Three new music-focused handsets were announced today, along with expansion of the company’s own music download store and all-you-can-eat ‘Comes With Music’ subscription-based offering.

Of the three new handsets, the most interesting is the higher end XpressMusic 5730 (available Q3, €280), which is Nokia’s first music phone to feature a full (slide out) QWERTY keyboard, and just like the 5800, runs the company’s Symbian S60 smartphone OS. The 5730 is being pitched as both a music-centric and messaging – think email, IM and social networking – device, featuring a redesigned home screen that gives shortcut access to the phone’s music library, and the socially-aware ‘contacts’ bar, which is able to pull in the latest communication and RSS feeds from up to 20 of a user’s most important contacts. Continue reading »

Android-based G1 helping to prop up T-Mobile in the UK, but I've yet to see one in the wild

by Steve O'Hear

March 11th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Apparently, the T-Mobile G1 now accounts for 20% of the carrier’s contract sales here in the UK, a figure that I find quite surprising considering I’ve yet to see a single handset in the wild (aside from on display) nor do I know anybody who’s bought one. This is in complete contrast to Apple’s iPhone, which seems to have spread like wild fire amongst my own social circle, and is quite a common site out in public.

The G1’s lack of visibility, I’d mistakenly attributed to poor sales, based on what I still believe has been lackluster marketing and a rather muddled ad campaign – something that can’t be said of the iPhone. Back in November I noted the lack of display advertising for the G1 at Carphone Warehouse, one of the UK’s largest mobile retailers on the high street. However, today I popped into a PC World, of all places, to find the G1 being heavily promoted, with a much clearer message than the current TV ad campaign: “The phone that’s built for the internet. All your favorite Google services are already on board”. A message that appears to be getting through.

Usability guru: Amazon's Kindle is great for reading novels, poor for everything else

by Steve O'Hear

March 10th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Other | Comments2 Comments

Usability guru Jackob Nielson has given Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader the once over. His conclusion: perhaps unsurprisingly, the device is great for linear reading – think books, and in particular novels – but falls down badly when consuming non-linear content, such as electronic versions of magazines or newspapers.

Additionally, Nielson says that although he has previously questioned the viability of eBook reading devices in general, the Kindle’s e-ink screen technology and his own reading speed using Amazon’s device (less than 0.5% difference compared to the exact same paperback) has changed his mind.

On the Kindle’s linear reading strengths, Nielson gives praise to the device’s dedicated page turn controls:

… turning the page is extremely easy and convenient. This one command has two buttons (on either side of the device). Paging backwards is a less common action, but it’s also nicely supported with a separate, smaller button.

The device thus offers good support for the task of linear reading — appropriately so, as Kindle’s design is centered on this one use case. While reading, your only interaction is to repeatedly press the next-page button.

However, “anything else is awkward”, writes Nielson. Continue reading »

Will Apple's 'Netbook' be open or closed?

by Steve O'Hear

March 9th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | Comments3 Comments

Rumors of an Apple Netbook or Internet tablet have resurfaced once again. Predictably, tech pundits are debating the likely specs, not least if the device will feature the traditional clam shell form factor of current Netbooks on the market, all of which feature a physical QWERTY keyboard, or be an all touch screen device – think iPod touch only much bigger. However, perhaps the most important design decision for Apple will be whether to build the company’s future Netbook on an open or closed platform. Continue reading »

Weekly wrapup: Roku adds Amazon VOD, South Park on Netflix, replacing MobileMe, Kindle on iPhone, and more

by Steve O'Hear

March 8th, 2009 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | CommentsNo Comments

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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Roku rolls out Amazon Video-On-Demand support

No longer limited to Netflix support-only, today Roku announced that its $99 set-top box, following a software update, can now be used to rent and purchase movies and TV shows from Amazon’s Video-On-Demand (VOD) service.

Money talks: Netflix beats Hulu, Joost to secure “South Park” episodes

It was only last week that I questioned whether Netflix had a large enough online video library to justify offering a streaming-only subscription plan, but with today’s news that the service has bagged itself a boat load of “South Park” content, they’re certainly putting their money where their mouth is. Continue reading »

Zatz Not Funny: Amazon HD on TiVo, GiiNii Android device, Vudu update, Samsung BD-P1600 – Blu-ray Netflix and Pandora player

by Steve O'Hear

March 8th, 2009 | Posted in ZNF | Comments1 Comment

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

Amazon VOD in HD on TiVo – coming soon?

Dave Zatz: After reading my post wondering where Amazon VOD in HD is, multiple sources have confirmed for me that TiVo’s implementation is currently in testing. While I still don’t have concrete timing details, and suspect we’re waiting on Amazon.com at this point, I’m told video quality is outstanding.

Letting the GiiNii out of the bottle

Mari Silbey: GiiNii was perhaps the biggest surprise out of CES in January. The company seemed to appear out of nowhere with a brilliant line-up of CE devices including C-U-C-Me cameras, PixPlus Wi-Fi photo frames, and a touch-screen, Android-based handheld called the Movit Mini (think iPod Touch with an Android OS).

The Vudu status report

Dave Zatz: It’s been awhile since we’ve talked Vudu here on ZNF, so it’s time for a 2009 status update.

Samsung BD-P1600: Blu-ray, Netflix, Pandora

Dave Zatz: Meet the  new BD-P1600 ($299.99), one of Samsung’s CES Blu-ray player announcements. This relatively slim piano black deck slipped into many Best Buys around the country over the last few days.

Accessorizing the Slacker G2

Mari Silbey: Last week Slacker sent me some accessories to try including a G2 dock, car charger, and arm band. They’re all available online for under $30 along with an FM transmitter (for the car) priced at $39.99.

Hands-on: Five things I like about Nokia's N85 smartphone

by Steve O'Hear

March 5th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

No sooner do I get my hands on Nokia’s N85 smartphone, and the Finnish handset maker announces its successor – the N86. However, since the two devices share so much in common – the most noticeable ‘upgrade’ being the N86’s 8 megapixel camera and improved optics – I thought I’d share five things that I really like about the Nokia N85. Continue reading »

What Kindle on iPhone says about Amazon's eBook strategy

by Steve O'Hear

March 4th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Other | CommentsNo Comments

The news today that Amazon has released a Kindle client for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch says a lot about the company’s eBook strategy. Amazon’s Kindle device has often been described as wanting to become the iPod of books, but unlike Apple it’s clear that the e-tailer sees itself in the business of selling content and not just to drive sales of hardware.

In terms of music and video sales, Apple’s iTunes Store exists purely to add value to and increase uptake of the company’s iPod and AppleTV devices, with the major record labels and Hollywood studios receiving the majority of revenue from any content sold. Until fairly recently, content from iTunes could only play back on Apple’s hardware – for movies and TV shows this is still the case – helping to lock customers into the iTunes/iPod ecosystem. In contrast, eBooks bought from the Kindle store are now able to be read on at least one non-Kindle device, Apple’s iPhone, with more to come. This suggests to me that Amazon is taking a large enough cut from each eBook sold to justify potentially diluting sales of the Kindle device itself. Continue reading »

Money talks: Netflix beats Hulu, Joost to secure "South Park" episodes

by Steve O'Hear

March 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

It was only last week that I questioned whether Netflix had a large enough online video library to justify offering a streaming-only subscription plan, but with today’s news that the service has bagged itself a boat load of “South Park” content, they’re certainly putting their money where their mouth is.

The New York Times reports that Netflix beat competitors Hulu and Joost to a deal by offering a guaranteed cash payment rather than a share of future advertising revenue, the latter being a far less enticing proposition during this ad-shy economic downturn.

“There was no talk of ad splits or guarantees or advances, just a payment for a show Netflix seemed really happy to have,” Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park, tells NYT. “We’ve never given the show to anybody else to stream, but we like Netflix as a service. We use it.”

See also: Forget about getting any work done, every episode of “South Park” now available online

Revenue generated from Netflix, who have licensed the first nine seasons of South Park, will be shared 50/50 with the show’s production partner Comedy Central.

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