Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Apple, Best Buy, Blu-ray Disc, Consumer electronics, DVD, Microsoft, Microsoft Courier, User interface
Two still mythical tablet devices, the Microsoft Courier and the Apple Tablet, are probably the hottest and most coveted devices that do not yet officially exist. To further fuel the anticipatory gadget lust, Gizmodo has scored an in-depth look at the former’s user interface and overall design. (Mashable 11/4)
While DVD sales and rentals have slowed, entertainment-industry executives are turning to the Blu-ray format as the saving grace for home entertainment in the near-term. Sales of Blu-ray players have spiked 112% this year, and consumer-electronics giant Best Buy expects to sell 18.6 million Blu-ray players next year. Variety (11/3)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
Is the DVD really on its way out? Following a partnership announced earlier this year which made CinemaNow downloads available on Best Buy’s retail site, the electronics chain announced plans to license and deploy Sonic’s Roxio CinemaNow technology and services platform to make on-demand digital content delivery a standard feature on connected consumer electronics devices sold throughout its U.S. stores, including PCs, connected TVs, set top DVRs, Blu-ray Disc and mobile media players. Sonic licenses new movies, TV shows, indie films and catalog titles, often day-in-date with their DVD release. Best Buy will be paying CinemaNow a fee along with a percentage of the service’s revenue for powering the service. CinemaNow also handles the back-end support for Blockbuster’s streaming video rental service. (Cynopsis 11/4)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Amazon.com, App Store, Apple, Barnes & Noble, E-book, iPhone, IpodTouch, Silicon Valley
The number of e-books available for Apple‘s iPhone and iPodTouch through the App Store surpassed the leading category, games, in September for the first time, an indication that the devices could grab market share from Amazon’s market-leading Kindle reader, a research firm said. (Informationweek11/2)
A Silicon Valley start-up said it sued Barnes & Noble on Monday, claiming that the bookseller misappropriated trade secrets in creating the Nook e-reader. Cupertino, Calif-based Spring Design said it had a nondisclosure agreement with Barnes & Noble and had been discussing its e-reader plans with the bookseller since early this year. (Cnet 11/2)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Arts, GigaOM, High-definition television, Netflix, Roku, Standard-definition television, Television, Video
Roku, the company whose set-top box originally made it possible to stream Netflix content on TVs, has come out with two new video players. The Roku SD supports standard-definition content of 480i and costs about $80; the Roku HD-XR supports 702p video and retails for $130. Digital Trends(10/27)
By 2013, there could be as many as 46 million homes worldwide with 3-D-capable TV sets, according to GigaOM Pro analyst Alfred Poor, who added that the rate of uptake would be greatly affected by cost considerations. Sony and Panasonic, both of whom have said they will launch 3-D HDTVs next year, are likely to lead the way. Yahoo!/The Associated Press (10/26
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, DVD, HD DVD, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, Video game console, XBox, Xbox 360
Microsoft has no plans to redesign its Xbox 360 video game console to include a Blu-ray player, according to a company spokesman. The software giant, which supported Toshiba’s HD DVD platform in the high-definition format battle with Blu-ray, has been bulking up the VOD capabilities of its console through the Xbox Live service. Digital Trends (10/23)
Time Warner Cable’s Internet customers could be vulnerable to an attack due to a “serious security hole” in the provider’s cable modem and Wi-Fi router, according to blogger Brian Chen. Days after Time Warner promised a fix, Chen says the devices are still vulnerable. http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10383543-245.html
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Amazon, Amazon.com, Kindle Reader, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Retailers, Shareware, Windows 7
Amazon’s Kindle software isn’t going to be limited to the e-reading device: following Amazon’s announcement at the Windows 7 launch that it has released a version of the Kindle Reader software for PCs (”Kindle for PC“), the company has also revealed that it’s building a Mac version of the software. Neither version requires that you own a Kindle in order to download books. (Mashable10/24)
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Filed under: TECHNOLOGY | Tags: Blu-ray Disc, Microsoft, Netflix, Steve Ballmer, TiVo, Wall Street, XBox, XBox Live
Microsoft announced another down quarter this morning. Revenues in the September quarter were down 14 percent to $12.92 billion, and net profits declined even further to $3.57 billion, or $0.40 a share. The consensus estimate was $0.32, so Wall Street is happy and the shares are rallying (up 10 percent in early-morning trading). (Techcrunch10/23)
With expanded distribution options and a big jump in its subscriber count, Netflix reported a third-quarter profit of $30.1 million, a 48% increase over the year-earlier period. Netflix now has 11.1 million subscribers, the company said, and its streaming service now is available via TiVo DVRs, Xbox Live and Web-capable Blu-ray players. Bloomberg (10/22) , PaidContent.org(10/22)
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