PlayTV: Sony cripples portable features of its PS3 DVR

by Steve O'Hear

August 15th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

It looks like we jumped the gun in our praise of PlayTV, Sony’s forthcoming DVR add-on for the PlayStation 3. The feature we liked the best, the ability to transfer recordings onto the PlayStation Portable (PSP) or any device that supports MPEG2 playback, appears to have been dropped at the last minute. Instead, users are restricted to streaming live TV or recordings to a PSP over a local network or the Internet, SlingBox-style. And while this is still a neat feature in itself, it renders the device nearly useless for watching recordings on-the-go since the Remote Play functionality of the PSP requires Wi-Fi access.

“With regards to PlayTV, you can not transfer content to your PSP, PC, or memory sticks” a Sony spokeswoman tells The Register. Continue reading »

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We7 signs Warner Music for ad-supported streaming and MP3 downloads

by Steve O'Hear

August 14th, 2008 | Posted in Audio | CommentsNo Comments

Why are ad-supported models such a hard sell to the major record labels? “It’s simple”, answered Steve Purdham CEO of We7 in a recent interview with last100. “They are worried that if they leave the iTunes model, the revenues they get will be diminished”.

At the time, Purdham’s company, which offers ad-supported streaming and downloads, didn’t have a single major on board. That was just over six months ago, and how things have moved on.

In early March, We7 unveiled its first major label partner, Sony BMG, to offer free streaming of its music catalog to We7 users in the UK. And just today the company announced a partnership with a second major label: Warner Music UK. Continue reading »

Vudu now offering 99c rentals

by Steve O'Hear

August 13th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

As if porn wasn’t enough to differentiate itself from competitors, this time Vudu (see our early review) has cheapened its set-top box movie service in the right way by offering heavily discounted rentals through its newly launched “99 for 99” movie channel.

As the name suggests, 99 movies will be on offer priced at just 99 cents per rental. Titles will be “personally” chosen by Vudu’s “in-house movie expert” Steven Horn, and will include both recent releases and “classics”, with selections rotated each week. Continue reading »

Why Google should have developed its own Gphone

by Daniel Langendorf

August 13th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments8 Comments

It’s been almost a year since I wrote “The Gphone is coming; how Google could rewrite the rules.” And during this time I’ve wanted to give Google the benefit of the doubt for choosing its Android strategy over developing the phone itself.

But I can’t. It’s the wrong strategy.

Whether the Google phone comes out in September, or later this year, or sometime in early 2009, it really doesn’t matter. All this bickering over supposed hardware delays, software issues, and hurt developer feelings has me wondering how Google would have fared if it had taken a different path and developed the Gphone on its own.

Why should Google do this? Continue reading »

Surprise, surprise: Why I refuse to upgrade to iPhone 3G

by Daniel Langendorf

August 11th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | Comments10 Comments

I’ve had the money in my wallet since July 11, but I refuse to spend it on iPhone 3G. And this really, really surprises me.

As the second generation iPhone went on sale, I wrote down several concerns — or predications, depending on how you look at it — and waited a month for everything iPhone 3G to shake out. I wanted to use hindsight to tell me whether I made the right or wrong decision not to upgrade from the original iPhone.

So far, I have no regrets. And here’s why. Continue reading »

Exclusive first look: Livestation on Mac (screenshots)

by Steve O'Hear

August 11th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments4 Comments

We promissed you a first look at the upcoming Mac version of Livestation, so here it is.

A quick recap: Livestation is a desktop app developed by UK startup Skinkers which utilizes peer-to-peer technology to deliverer live TV to a user’s PC (currently Windows-only). Content-wise, Livestation focuses on 24 hour news stations such as Al Jazeera, BBC World News, Bloomberg Television and EuroNews. The software has been developed by UK startup Skinkers.

The new Mac version, which is very much a pre-release, is ahead of the version for Windows on a number of features including:

A visual carousel to choose channels

Continue reading »

The real surprise of the App Store isn't number of downloads or revenue

by Steve O'Hear

August 11th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments10 Comments

That the iPhone’s App Store has delivered 60 million downloads and generated an average of $1 million a day in revenue since its launch a month ago isn’t all that surprising.

To begin with, the App Store couldn’t be any easier to use. All apps available to purchase and download either from the familiar iTunes Store or from the device itself. Next, factor in Apple’s marketing machine, the quantity and quality of apps available from Day One – many of which are free – combined with the fact that the typical iPhone owner has cash to spare and an early adopter mentality geared towards trying out new things, and you have a surefire hit on your hands.

Instead, the real surprise is that the carriers – AT&T in the U.S. and 02 in the UK – agreed to Apple launching the App Store in the first place. Or more specifically, that Apple could offer the App Store in the manner in which they have done. Continue reading »

Weekly wrapup, 4-8 August 2008

by Steve O'Hear

August 9th, 2008 | Posted in last100 weekly wrapup | CommentsNo Comments

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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Internet TV news

Livestation coming to Mac next month

We just got word that a Mac version of the Internet TV service Livestation could be released to the public as early as next month. For those that don’t know, Livestation is a desktop app built on Microsoft’s Silverlight front-end that utilizes peer-to-peer technology to deliverer live TV to a user’s PC (currently Windows-only).

ScreenPlay TV Link is super-small bridge between your media content and television

There is no shortage of media streamers for your living room, with AppleTV, Vudu, and the relatively new Netflix set-top box by Roku being some of the more popular. Iomega, already a player in this space, enters again with a novel product.

YouTube gets dedicated Olympic channel, but it won’t be available in the U.S.

The 2008 Olympic Games will be broadcast online to more than 70 countries on a dedicated YouTube channel, but the United States is not included. Continue reading »

Smartphone parade – one size doesn't fit all

by Steve O'Hear

August 8th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments2 Comments

(Left to right: Palm Treo 650, HTC Touch Diamond, Nokia E61, Nokia E71, Samsung Tocco)

We at last100 love the iPhone as much as the next person. Yet I remain convinced that for all of Apple’s innovation – especially on the mobile browsing front and major improvements in usability – the iPhone in its current incarnation will have significant but limited appeal. There’s only one iPhone, and in the smartphone market, one size doesn’t fit all.

Case in point: I love a QWERTY thumboard. Although the iPhone’s virtual keyboard is the best of its kind, it isn’t a real keyboard. And in the words of Duncan Bannatyne from the TV program Dragon’s Den, for that reason, and that reason alone. I’m out. Continue reading »

Livestation coming to Mac next month

by Steve O'Hear

August 8th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments2 Comments

We just got word that a Mac version of the Internet TV service Livestation could be released to the public as early as next month. For those that don’t know, Livestation is a desktop app built on Microsoft’s Silverlight front-end that utilizes peer-to-peer technology to deliverer live TV to a user’s PC (currently Windows-only). The software has been developed by UK startup, Skinkers, and is in-part based on additional technology licensed from Microsoft Research (who got a small amount of equity in return). Continue reading »

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