Report: HTC's Android-powered "Google phone" may be delayed after all

by Daniel Langendorf

August 7th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. Developing a phone — even if it is just an operating system — is not something you do overnight with a bunch of cajoled software developers.

Just a week after High Tech Computer (HTC) said it was on schedule to deliver Android-powered cell phones by the 4Q of 2008, another report surfaces Thursday that says HTC is “having structural problems to incorporate Google’s demand feature set” and “demanding a guaranteed minimum revenue surety from Google,” according to Barron’s Tech Trader Daily.

Barron’s picked up a research note from Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research saying his “contacts” contend that HTC’s Android handset — the so-called Google phone — will be delayed until the first quarter of 2009.

Additionally, Chowdhry’s “contacts” tell him that another problem Google is having is attracting software developers to the platform. They’re too busy writing code for Windows Mobile, Nokia (Symbian), Research in Motion (BlackBerry), and Apple’s iPhone.

That’s no surprise. These guys actually have phones, real working phones, to develop for and test. Continue reading »

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

by Daniel Langendorf

August 6th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments1 Comment

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.

Unlike its ScreenPlay HD, which comes with a 500 GB drive, Iomega’s ScreenPlay TV Link includes no storage. It just allows users to attach ScreenPlay TV to a standard or high definition TV, then add storage from flash drives, external hard drives, or one of Iomega’s storage products via USB to play high quality movies, music, and photos anywhere in the house.

What makes the ScreenPlay TV Link intriguing is its size: The little box is 3.26 inches wide by 3.07 inches deep by .78 inches tall and comes with a credit card-sized remote. It can be slipped into a pocket or thrown into a bag for use at a friend’s house. Unlike other media streamers, ScreenPlay TV can be easily moved from the living room to the bedroom. Continue reading »

Mobile browser more important than operating system

by Steve O'Hear

August 6th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

In light of the move towards cloud computing, the Web browser is fast becoming the most important application on any mobile platform, whether it be the Nokia-led Symbian OS, Apple’s iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, LiMo or any other. An argument I made recently in relation to Android and fears that native third-party applications running on different versions of the Google-developed OS could face compatibility problems.

See also: Android, it’s the browser stupid

Today GigaOm summarizes the thoughts of Bob Morris, head of mobile marketing for ARM Holdings, the company that designs “cores” for chips that power mobile devices. Morris goes one step further by arguing that the importance of the browser now supersedes the operating system itself. Browsers are the new application framework, he says, and as a result ARM is researching how to optimize their cores for specific Web browsers not just the various operating systems.

“Morris believes the increasing number of services accessed through a web site such as Facebook or Gmail are what chip vendors and device makers needs to pay attention to”, writes GigaOm’s Stacey Higginbotham. As a result, ARM recently inked a partnership with Mozilla and other vendors to build a Linux-based mobile computing device designed for Web browsing. Continue reading »

Report: iTunes still leading music store in the U.S.

by Steve O'Hear

August 6th, 2008 | Posted in Audio | CommentsNo Comments

Apple’s iTunes remains number one in the U.S. amongst all music retailers according to the latest NPD MusicWatch figures. Based on purchases of CDs and a-la-carte digital music downloads from January through to June of this year, the league table is as follows:

  1. iTunes
  2. Wal-Mart (Walmart, Walmart.com, Walmart Music Downloads)
  3. Best Buy (Best Buy, Bestbuy.com, Best Buy Digital Music Store)
  4. Amazon (Amazon.com, AmazonMP3.com)
  5. Target (Target and Target.com)

NPD says the results reflect “the ongoing consumer shift from physical CDs to digital music”, which has helped iTunes to consolidate the lead it established earlier this year.

See also: Review: Amazon MP3 offers compelling, promising alternative to iTunes

Most notably, Amazon has moved from fifth place to fourth, which NPD attributes to stronger CD sales online compared to competing brick-and-mortar stores, along with the launch of the company’s own music download store, AmazonMP3, last year. As a result, we shouldn’t be surprised to see Amazon overtake Best Buy in the not too distant future.

Vudu partners with AVN to bring adult content to its set-top box

by Daniel Langendorf

August 5th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

Pornography has always been a technology trendsetter — it stood on the VHS side of the videotape wars, was an innovator in streaming video content over the Internet, and was responsible for early breakthroughs for using credit cards as payment for Web transactions.

But no matter pornography’s contribution to technology, it’s mostly been relegated to the back room, out of sight, and rarely seen mingling with traditional, less “blue” content on mainstream devices.

That’s changing as Vudu, the set-top box that connects to a television and enables you to download and watch video content using a broadband connection, has signed a partnership deal with AVN Media Network.

Vudu owners can download content from a new AVN channel — the first stand-along content channel on Vudu. The AVN Channel will feature standard and high-definition content from well-known adult video studios such as Wicked, Vivid, and Hustler.

Standard definition movies can be rented for $6.99 and purchased for $19.99. High definition content costs $8.99 to rent, $29.99 to buy.

Adult video content has been included alongside mainstream content on hotel-room set-top boxes and on cable or satellite TV pay-per-view channels. There’s even a dedicated set-top box for the adult industry from FyreTV.

But the Vudu-AVN partnership has the potential to bring into the home, on the same device the family watches the latest Hollywood movies, a stunning amount of adult content in maybe too much detail.

Good thing there’s a slew of parental controls. You wouldn’t want little Johnny stumbling upon “Red Hot Chili Sex” and think it’s a movie about the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Rocketboom goes mainstream, signs ad, distribution deal with Sony

by Daniel Langendorf

August 5th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

Rocketboom is going mainstream.

The seminal newsy video blog, launched in October 2004, signed a reported seven-figure deal with Sony Pictures Television to distribute Rocketboom on Sony’s Crackle video site and across other Sony platforms such as the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation Portable, and Bravia I-Link televisions.

Sony also will handle all of Rocketboom’s ad sales, which is a load off Andrew Baron’s mind. Baron, the founder and producer of Rocketboom, said in an entry on his personal blog that dealing with advertising, while “fun to play,” was distracting as “every moment we spent on ads was a moment lost on the content.”

Baron’s blog post is a must-read as it gives a glimpse into what life has been like for Rocketboom the past three years. Not only is there content generation needs — from commenting on mainstream news to Internet culture and everything in between — but there’s the pesky business side, which most new media ventures struggle with. How do they make money? Continue reading »

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

by Daniel Langendorf

August 4th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments1 Comment

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.

NBC holds the video-on-demand rights in the U.S., but these have not been sold on an exclusive basis in other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam, Iraq, and India (see the complete International Olympic Committee list here).

The IOC will stream about three hours a day of exclusive content — mostly summaries and highlights — from Olympic Broadcasting Services. YouTube will sell ads, but only to Olympic sponsors. The channel will be available on Wednesday.

YouTube will use geo-blocking to prevent access to the channel in countries where the video-on-demand rights have been sold, like in the U.S. Geo-blocking is based on a user’s IP address.

The geo-blocking in the U.S. shouldn’t be that big of a deal, unless you’re one who wants to see everything broadcast night and day or you’re surfing videos at YouTube and want to catch up on the Olympic action without leaving the site.

NBC will show more than 2,000 hours of live content at NBCOlympics.com. That’s more than enough content to keep any Olympic fan happy — and in need of sleep.

See also: Roundup: The most digital of all Olympic games is well underway and, from ReadWriteWeb, Mainstream Web Watch: The Olympics & Online Video

Jobs admits MobileMe not up to Apple's standards

by Daniel Langendorf

August 4th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

It seemed like a lot to take on at the time — the introduction of MobileMe, the opening of the AppStore, the release of the iPhone 2.0 software, and the availability of the second-generation iPhone itself.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs admitted as much in an internal email sent to Apple employees Monday evening, according to Ars Technica. Jobs said MobileMe, the replacement for Apple’s ho-hum .Mac service, was launched too early and “not up to Apple’s standards.” Jobs said Apple should have introduced MobileMe slowly instead of launching it “as a monolithic service.”

“It was a mistake to launch MobileMe at the same time as iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store,” Jobs said. “We all had more than enough to do, and MobileMe could have been delayed without consequence.”

Absolutely.

The moment MobileMe hit the ether on the evening of July 9 there were problems that still linger, in various forms, today. It took longer to flip the on switch than Apple intended. Once MobileMe was “up and running”, the 2 million subscribers to the former .Mac service found themselves with intermittent email, syncing problems (so much for “Exchange for the rest of us”), disappearing calendar events and contacts, screwed up account information, and loads of frustration. Continue reading »

Review: HTC Touch Diamond

by Steve O'Hear

August 4th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments11 Comments

It’s hard not to look at HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the Touch Diamond, through iPhone-tinted glasses. Featuring a touch screen interface that’s been designed, on the surface at least, to be operated using a finger rather than a stylus, like Cupertino’s own crown jewel, the Touch Diamond is marketed as a device that makes accessing the Web on the go just as easy as making a phone call. It’s also HTC’s latest attempt to put a consumer face on the business oriented Windows Mobile operating system. No mean feat in itself.

Read on to find out if the HTC Touch Diamond truly sparkles or if it’s just an expensive piece of “bling” (Ed. enough puns already). Continue reading »

Weekly wrapup, 28 July – 1 August 2008

by Steve O'Hear

August 2nd, 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

LG’s Netflix streaming Blu-ray player announced. What, no Wi-Fi?

Available this fall, the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, in addition to being able to play high definition Blu-ray discs and upscale standard DVDs, will give Netflix subscribers the option of streaming any of the 12,000 movies and TV episodes available on Watch Now to their TVs at no additional cost.

See also: In a smart move Netflix rules out pay-per-view video service

Study: For first time, a significant number of people watch prime-time shows online, not on TV

According to a survey released today by Integrated Media Measurement Inc., more than 20 percent of people studied watch some amount of prime-time, episodic programming online. Within that group of online viewers, 50 percent are watching programs as they become available and are starting to use the computer as a substitute for a television. The other 50 percent use the Web to watch programming they’ve missed or to re-watch episodes they have already seen. Continue reading »

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