NBA decides not to go it alone, partners with Turner to expand its digital offerings

by Daniel Langendorf

January 17th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV, Other | CommentsNo Comments

nba logoThe NFL and MLB stayed home. The NBA is stepping out. We’ll see who innovates the best.

The NBA and Turner Broadcasting System will jointly manage the league’s domestic 24-hour digital business (announcement), including programming, marketing, technical operations of NBA TV, hosting and operating the NBA.com network (NBA.com, WNBA.com, NBADLeague.com), and broadband and wireless offerings.

When faced with similar decisions, the NFL and MLB opted to manage their digital business in house, and the innovation jury is still out as to whether it’s better to keep everything inside or partner with someone on the outside. The NBA decided to buck the trend and step out, choosing to go with with Turner, its broadcasting partner of 24 years and the longest league/network partnership in professional sports.

Why? Continue reading »

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TiVo offers American indie and international films through Jaman partnership

by Daniel Langendorf

January 17th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

jamanGive TiVo points for continuing to improve its service for subscribers, and while you’re at it throw in a clove cigarette or two.

TiVo has struck a deal with Jaman, the peer-to-peer Web movie service, to bring its catalogue of American indie and international films directly to its set-top box. Think Oscar-nominated “Paheli”, “Loverboy” (Sundance), “All About Lily Chou-Chou” (Berlin International Film Festival), and “La Promesse” (Cannes) — movies that you’d have a hard time finding anywhere else. Ah, subtitled films. Continue reading »

BBC tech chief: iPlayer on iTunes now a possibility

by Steve O'Hear

January 17th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

BBC tech chief: iPlayer on iTunes now a possibilityMovie rentals on iTunes could pave the way for content from the BBC’s catch-up service, iPlayer, being offered on Apple’s platform, according to the broadcaster’s Future Media and Technology Director, Ashley Highfield.

Writing on the BBC Internet blog, Highfield says that Apple’s re-launch of the AppleTV (no computer required) is “encouraging” and, furthermore, the BBC could potentially piggyback on Apple’s newly announced movie rental offering, to deliver iPlayer content through iTunes. Continue reading »

Ten mobile apps and services you should definitely check out

by Guest Writer

January 17th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile | Comments2 Comments

This is a guest post by Aseem Kishore, a technology enthusiast and lead blogger for Online-Tech-Tips.

Got an iPhone? What about a Treo? Or maybe you’re in love with your Blackberry? Whatever phone you may have, it’s becoming more and more common to see people with phones that can access the Internet, play video, download music, and do a lot more.

However, most cell phone companies are not necessarily giving you the best software and services for your phone. If you’re looking for some cool mobile phone apps or mobile services that are free and really useful, here are ten worth checking out.

MShopper

MShopperMShopper is a mobile phone application that lets you quickly find the best bargain deals for any product right from your cell phone. It’s free, very fast, convenient, and can be accessed while you’re window shopping. You can also purchase items once you find a good deal or email the info to a friend. Continue reading »

Report: music phones spur adoption of mobile music consumption; we say "hogwash"

by Daniel Langendorf

January 17th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

m:metricsI’ve been wondering this ever since the handset manufacturers and mobile carriers got into the mobile music business. Do people really want to listen to music on their phones and buy it from Verizon, AT&T, Nokia, and others?

According to a new study by M:Metrics, 83 percent of the mobile music consumed in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S. is “sideloaded”, meaning it comes from another source and is transfered to the phone via a computer. With this is mind, the answer for buying music directly from the carriers or certain handset makers is, for now, “no.” Continue reading »

Reading between the lines of Jobs' comments on Kindle, Android

by Daniel Langendorf

January 16th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Other | Comments7 Comments

steve jobs 2008What does Steve-o really mean when he says, “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore”? And: “The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t ready anymore”?

a) There’s no way in heck Apple is going to manufacture an electronic book reader like the mentioned-by-name Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader.

b) Based on past declarative statements made by Steve-o (remember, Apple’s not making a phone), the Cupertino company really is working on an ebook reader, only it’s not a reader but an ebook-sized tablet computer that can be used to read electronic content.

c) Who needs a dedicated ebook reader when you have the iPhone and iPod touch that third-party developers will be writing applications for when Apple’s software developer’s kit is released next month? Will a developer write an app to read books on the iPhone or touch?

Continue reading »

AppleTV 2 breaks free from the PC, remains under Apple's lock and key

by Steve O'Hear

January 16th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments5 Comments

AppleTV 2 breaks free from the PC, remains under Apple's lock and keyIn Steve Jobs’ mind, version 1 of the AppleTV failed to resonate with consumers because of its slavish reliance on the PC.

At last year’s D: Conference, when downgrading the device to the company’s “hobby”, Jobs told Walt Mossberg: “Coming from the PC market you first think about getting content from your PC to your living-room. I’m not sure that’s really what most consumers want”.

With AppleTV “take 2”, the chains are off so to speak. No longer does the device require the use of a computer to download and manage content (although it can still access media stored on a PC), and is instead capable of fetching content directly from the Internet– movie rentals; film, TV and music purchases; podcasts; and photos.

But aside from Apple-sanctioned access: the company’s own iTunes Store and .Mac service, podcasts, Flickr and YouTube — the AppleTV remains under lock and key, closed to third-party developers and web services, and subsequently unable to pull in additional content from elsewhere on the net. Continue reading »

iPhone, iPod touch updates are incremental, welcomed, and point to future

by Daniel Langendorf

January 15th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Review | Comments2 Comments

iphone updateToday’s software updates for the iPhone and iPod touch are welcomed refinements from Apple. Are they earth-shattering? No. They’re incremental, carefully thought out, and point to what we can expect in the future.

One thing we can expect is that Apple isn’t going to roll out a bunch of half-assed features that users may or may not need or want. It’s frustrating — we see the potential and we all want more now — but Apple is going to make sure whatever changes are made, whatever new features are added, they will improve the product, user experience, and the platform that’s being built.

It’s a platform that competitors are no where near duplicating. By the time competing manufacturers introduce their versions of the iPhone (many of which may use Google’s open mobile operating system Android), Apple will unveil even more refinements as well as introduce iPhone 2.0.

In February, Apple has said it will release a software developer’s kit (SDK) for third-party application development. This could be scary, a free for all, but Apple developers are known for elegant software design. If they follow Apple’s lead for the iPhone (guided tour) and iPod touch (features list), there should be little reason for concern.

Until then, we have incremental, refined upgrades. last100 takes a look at these from the January ’08 update. Continue reading »

Stanford research team may have found Holy Grail of battery technology

by Daniel Langendorf

January 15th, 2008 | Posted in Other | CommentsNo Comments

stanford batterySimply put, improved battery life is the Holy Grail of consumer electronics. So far, advancement in battery technology for laptops, portable music players, digital cameras, and cell phones has been incremental and frustratingly slow.

Stanford University researchers, however, recently announced in Nature Nanotechnology a discovery that using silicon nanowires to recharge lithium ion batteries may increase battery life by 10 times.

The benefit to us, users of consumer electronics from laptops to cell phones, is greatly increased battery life, something we’ve been wanting — but manufacturers have not been able to deliver — for a long time. In theory, using silicon nanowires to recharge lithium ion batteries may mean that a two hour laptop charge could last for 20 hours.

“It’s not a small improvement” said Yi Cui, an assistant professor in Stanford’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, told CNet. “It’s a revolutionary development.” Continue reading »

Content, pricing and convenience. How do movie rentals on iTunes fare?

by Steve O'Hear

January 15th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments4 Comments

Content, pricing and convenience. How do movie rentals onDuring today’s Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs confirmed that Apple is adding movie rentals to its iTunes Store, entering a crowded market that includes similar services from major players, Microsoft (XBox Live), Netflix (Watch Instantly) and Amazon (UnBox), along with upstarts such as Vudu. However, for any new online movie rental service to succeed it will have to compete with traditional DVD rentals and illegal downloads — and to do so, must pass three basic tests: Content, pricing, and convenience. So how does Apple fare? Continue reading »

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