Apple's Wednesday event is expected to include the announcement of a new Apple TV set-top box. That box will run $99, according to three anonymous sources, who also told Bloomberg that the new box will include video streaming from Netflix.
At the same time, Apple is expected to unleash a new iPod touch with a front-facing camera on the world, as well as perhaps a cloud-based iTunes and perhaps a new iPod nano version.
Netflix began as a DVD-rental-by-mail company. Later, it launched a video streaming service, and that service has become quite popular. It's seen its reach extended beyond computers where it first began to mobile devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, as well as dedicated set-top boxes like the $69 Roku and all the current gaming consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii).
Netflix services begins at $8.99 for a monthly subscription, which includes streaming, but users can get a one month trial at the site.
On the news, Apple stock rose $244.15 in after hours trading, up $1.05. Meanwhile, Netflix stock rose $3.38 to $128.90 in extended trading.
Just days after a woman in the U.K. was berated and threatened for placing a cat into a garbage bin, where it sat for 15 hours, the latest such horror video is one of a young girl throwing puppies in a river, where they will most certainly drown. Once again, the forces of the Internet are marshaling to find her.
In the case of Mary Bale, the so-called "Cat Bin Lady," she was tracked down by the Internet hacker group 4Chan. Reportedly, this same group is trying to find out the details on this puppy-throwing woman. If anyone can find her, they can.
One of the posts on the wall of the group says that there's a theory that the video may be old. That same person, Marla Stormwolf-Patty, said that the video might be from Croatia, and that it might be old. Even if it's old, the Web wants to get their hands on the person (really persons, as someone's taping) involved.
There's some possible information here. As Michael Vick can readily attest, one should not get on the wrong side of animals lovers (or decent human beings; we doubt the humanity of these persons).
Both LiveLeak, currently hosting the video, and the Facebook group emphasize that no vigilante action should be taken. Instead, they want the girl / woman found and reported to the authorities.
LiveLeak said, "Whilst we appreciate publicizing this video could lead to information that could be passed to authorities we would like to ask members that no personal information is posted here nor should any threats be aimed, or 'action' taken, against this person other than to pass information to any relevant authority."
The Facebook group says, "Little is said in the video.......it is mostly the sound of puppies screaming........ Please dont take matters into a vigilante way because we will suffer.........not her. We need to find her and report her.........."
The Gmail enhancements continue to come fast and furious. Shortly after unveiling Gmail voice calling, Google has now released a feature designed to manage your email "bacn" (not spam). It's called Priority Inbox.
Google has dubbed email that isn't junk mail (like spam is) but isn't all that important "balogna," although there's already that existing bacn term. Many users, including us, have used Gmail's filters to route these different less important, sometimes subscribed-to mailing list emails to different folders, to track them that way. Gmail Priority Inbox is supposed to automate that.
Here's how it works: your inbox will be divided into three sections. These will be : “Important and unread,” “Starred” and “Everything else,” from top to bottom, by default. Essentially, these will be high to low priority in order.
Using past behavior and other signals, including those you email most and other messages you reply to, among others, Gmail Priority Inbox will organize your email into those buckets. Of course, it will have to learn, and you can help that by categorizing emails yourself with the + and - buttons that will appear at the top of your inbox when the feature is enabled.
You can also filters to mark certain things important or unimportant (of course, you could already use filters and labels to categorize things). You can also rearrange and customize the three inbox sections.
Obviously, there will be a learning curve involved, for both users and Gmail. The feature will show up in your Gmail gradually, as do all these cloud-based service updates. You'll be alerted when you "New! Priority Inbox" link in the top right corner of your Gmail account (or the new Priority Inbox tab in Gmail Settings).
Note that we have noticed with Gmail updates that usually you must logout / login again to see the new functionality (meaning if you are like some of us, and never logout or reboot your PC, you'll have to manually do so, against your normal behavior).
Printed encyclopedias are pretty much dead, and so even are DVD-based encyclopedias such as Microsoft's Encarta. So too might be the printed version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), according to Oxford University Press (OUP), its publisher.
The second edition of the OED was printed in 1989. The third edition hasn't even completed the letter "R." Thus, by the time it reaches "Z," demand for the third edition in printed form may be so low that it will simply make no sense to publish it that way. In fact, according to the OUP, the digital version of the Oxford English Dictionary gets 2 million hits a month from subscribers, who pay $295 a year for the service in the U.S. Meanwhile, the current printed edition, all 20-volumes and 130 pounds of it, priced at $1,165, has sold only about 30,000 sets all told.
A statement from the OUP said, "At present we are experiencing increasing demand for the online product. However, a print version will certainly be considered if there is sufficient demand at the time of publication."
The OED was first published (in parts) beginning in 1884. The complete text was published in 1928.
Meanwhile, the online edition was launched in 2000. Obviously, it's far easier for OUP to update a digital edition than a printed one. While the OED hasn't been published in printed form since 1989, online editors put updates out every three months.
In December, the online version will be relaunched with its first major update since 2000. The new site will include a historical thesaurus to make cross-referencing easier.
In a move that's tantamount to "throwing in the towel," or hearing the "fat lady sing," MySpace on Monday announced what it calls Sync with Facebook. It does what it says, allows users to sync the status and content with Facebook.
This follows the same functionality that MySpace launched with regard to Twitter in 2009.
MySpace has lost the social networking war, but to prevent further attrition, this move was definitely needed. The sync with Facebook is one-directional, not bi-directional as with Twitter.
To enable the Sync with Facebook feature:
Click on the settings box in the update module on your homepage (it's to the left of the Share button)
Check the box next to Facebook or Twitter (or both!)
Follow the steps prompted to sync your accounts
Done! Your updates will now automatically sync.
Ah, yes, we forgot one more analogy: "waving the white flag."
Although location, location, location has been the mantra of many Internet companies of late, apparently most Americans still don't see the need. Only 1 percent of the U.S. uses location-based services on a regular basis (which the New York Times equates to weekly).
In fact, only 4 percent of Americans have even tried location-based services. Eighty percent of those who have tried such services are male, and 70 percent are between 19 and 35.
So, are venture capitalists throwing money away? After all, according to the National Venture Capital Association, VCs have poured $115 million into location start-ups since last year.
It appears that mainstream adoption of these technologies has not reached critical mass, but as the youth matures, that will probably change. Young people, through the use of social networking services, have grown up posting personal information online.
Sam Altman, CEO of Loopt says that 1981 is the magic year. “The magic age is people born after 1981. That’s the cut-off for us where we see a big change in privacy settings and user acceptance.”
That would mean anyone currently over thirty is probably not going to accept giving up privacy for location-based services. As you might recall, for teens, 30 used to also be the age named as the cut-off for when people become "old." Is that the problem? Are all those eschewing location-based services just old fogies?
Or is it that the location-based service that folks want hasn't arrived yet? With Facebook's recent announcement of Places, and 500 million Facebook users, will folks jump on the bandwagon?
Or, are over-30 users simply a little cautious, with a little more life experience, knowing that giving out your location to some people is an invitation to burglary?
RIM has received a two-month stay of execution in India. With over 1 million users in its fastest growing market, one of its fastest growing markets, RIM has submitted a proposal to the India government, which said it would study and test the idea for two months.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for internal security, said RIM, the Canadian company which sells BlackBerry smartphones and servers, had made "certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalized immediately. The feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter.”
At the heart of India's issues with RIM's BlackBerry services is transparency for law enforcement and government agencies. India, as well as other countries, wants the ability to monitor all messages sent over BlackBerry devices. Governments have said they are concerned that the devices will be used to plan terrorist plots.
Although an issue previously, Indian security concerns were heightened after the terrorist attack on Mumbai in November 2008. That attack was coordinated using mobile phones, satellite phones and VOIP.
RIM, meanwhile, has previously stated that corporate e-mail messages are encrypted on the device and can only be decoded by computer servers owned by corporate clients. Thus, RIM said, it cannot provide "government-legible" messages to authorities.
Corporations love the BlackBerry's encryption, so this has come down to corporate privacy vs. government vs. national security. At this time, it's unclear what concessions RIM made to avert the ban. In the past, RIM offered to locate servers in India.
This year has been tough for RIM, stock-wise. Not all of the issues have been security-based, however; shares of RIM have fallen more than 30 percent this year on concerns over its ability to keep up with rivals like Apple and Android, as well as these potential bans. RIM shares were up 0.76 percent, to $46.34, in mid-afternoon (EDT) Monday trading on NASDAQ, after the Indian government’s announcement.
With the possibility that they might have to spend 120 more days underground since being discovered a week ago Sunday, how do you keep 33 Chilean miners sane? Psychological stress will weigh heavy on them, besides all the physical aspects of the entrapment. One answer: PSPs.
Indeed, PlayStation Portables have been sent down to the miners, in the cups they receive daily packed with rations. Of course, one has to wonder how they are going to keep those things charged.
Hopefully they can snake down some power cables, and hey, while they're at it, how about a cable to allow Internet access? In that small area, a wireless router would work fine if it was cabled to broadband. Indeed, they'd then have to send down some laptops or iPads, but hey, these guys need a diversion.
The mine first caved in on August 5th. After 17 days, the men were found as rescuers used hit-and-miss methodology to bore holes down to their level. They were finally rewarded with success when a note was attached to one of the drills.
It's been rumored, and it's true. One of the halcyon brands of the PC video card industry is about to be retired. AMD, which acquired ATI in 2006, and which has maintained the brand for its graphics operations, has decided to kill it.
The reasons appear to be varied, but does include internal research by AMD. While the details of the research were not revealed, the following bullet points were:
1) AMD brand preference triples when the person surveyed is aware of the ATI-AMD merger.
2) The AMD brand is viewed as stronger than ATI when compared to graphics competitors.
3) The Radeon and Fire Pro brands themselves are very high as is.
The company noted that the results were "permission" to consolidate under the AMD brand.
Reportedly, existing products will not be renamed. The first products to carry the "AMD Radeon" label will be introduced later this year.
Research or no, its still sad to see ATI go, though admittedly, we used mostly NVIDIA GPUs in our systems. That said, NVIDIA's missteps with some of its GPUs have given ATI, er, forgive us, AMD, some headway in the graphics business.
To be honest, AMD has a better chance in graphics than currently in processors, where Intel has again taken a significant "lead" in the minds of performance oriented consumers.
In a move that's one definitely targeting a greater presence in mobile devices, Intel has purchased Infineon Technologies' Wireless Solutions (WLS) business for approximately $1.4 billion.
WLS will operate as a standalone business, the companies said. The deal was announced late Sunday night. It still requires regulatory approval, but is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. Earlier this month, Intel said it will acquire security software maker McAfee for $7.68 billion.
Infineon chips and chipsets are used in many devices including laptops and smartphones including, notably, the iPad and iPhone 4. Those who remember the iPhone 3G's many issues when it was first birthed will also recall the name Infineon. Apple used what some called an "immature" Infineon chipset. Apple patched the issue, somewhat, with a firmware update, and since then AT&T has been targeted as the culprit in any iPhone connectivity problems (with the possible exception of the "death grip" fiasco).
WLS accounted for nearly a third of Infineon's €3 billion ($3.83b) revenue last year. The deal comes less than a month after an Aug. 2 Infineon announcement was "in discussions with interested parties about a transaction" involving WLS.
Indeed, many view the future of computing as mobile, and under Otellini, Intel has moved to expand beyond PCs. In fact, on Friday, Intel warned that a slump in PC demand would cause intel Q3 revenue to fall below forecasts. This follows strong Q2s for both Intel and rival AMD, in which Intel reported its "best quarter ever."
With analysts as well noting a fall-off in orders from PC manufacturers, some have downgraded both Intel and AMD. Intel's warning states the company now expects sales in the third quarter tobe in the range of $10.8 billion to $11.2 billion, short of the company's prior estimates of $11.2 to $12 billion.
Notably, in a press release issued Monday, Intel made a bullet point of how the Infineon acquisition will aid in its intention to accelerate LTE (4G), although in the same breath it also noted WiMax. Intel CEO Paul Otellini said that "The global demand for wireless solutions continues to grow at an extraordinary rate. The acquisition of Infineon's WLS business strengthens the second pillar of our computing strategy -- Internet connectivity -- and enables us to offer a portfolio of products that covers the full range of wireless options from Wi-Fi and 3G to WiMAX and LTE. As more devices compute and connect to the Internet, we are committed to positioning Intel to take advantage of the growth potential in every computing segment, from laptops to handhelds and beyond."
In 2006, Intel sold its communications chips business to Marvell. Thus, with its acquisition of WLS, Intel is basically back where it started.
YouTube is great, but even with a nascent video rental site, it's not really a video rental powerhouse. That could change, if Google's negotiations with movie studios pans out.
According to a report in the Financial Times, if the negotiations with major Hollywood studios comes to fruition, Google's YouTube could launch a global pay-per-view video service by the end of 2010. Google's proposal would use a combination of the world's dominant search engine and the world's most popular video streaming service to push viewers to the new service.
The report would probably initially limit operations to the U.S. only, sources said. Later, the service would expand to other countries.
FT says that one executive with knowledge of the plans stated that “Google and YouTube are a global phenomenon with a hell of a lot of eyeballs – more than any cable or satellite service. They’ve talked about how many people they could steer to this . It’s a huge number.”
Reportedly, these negotiations have been ongoing for several months, but "have taken on greater urgency in recent weeks." While some of that urgency might be focused on Apple's Sept. 1 event, at which it is expected to unveil a new version of Apple TV, there are other players in the mix, Amazon.com, Netflix and Hulu among them.
Much as with CDs, which have been in decline due to download services such as iTunes and Amazon MP3, DVDs sales have been in decline, and naturally movie studios are looking for a way to supplement their revenue.
Reportedly, the rentals will be streamed rather than downloaded, and the price will be around $5 for new titles. The movies would be available at the same time as their DVD, iTunes and Amazon.com releases.
Since purchasing YouTube in 2006, for $1.65 billion, Google has been searching for a way to effectively monetize the service. It's still best known for its user-generated content, although there are many channels on the service, even for sources such as Microsoft and the Associated Press (and yes, the British Royals have a channel).
As noted earlier, a rather limited YouTube video rental service has been in testing since earlier this year. A new global service would tie in well with the future Google TV.
It should be obvious to most that our wired (and wireless) world means that it's difficult to do anything without being caught. Thus is the case of the so-called "cat-bin lady," Mary Bale, 45.
Naturally assuming that no one could see her, Bale first pet Lola, the cat, then dumped her into a trash bin, where she remained for some 15 hours before her owner, Daryl Mann, who heard her mewling in the bin. What Bale didn't know is that Mann had surveillance cameras, and the CCTV footage was uploaded to the Web.
It wasn't put there in an attempt to lambast the woman, and certainly not to put her life in danger, but it sure turned out that way, after the organization 4Chan got ahold of it. Once that site, which has been linked to attacks on the Church of Scientology among others, sank its teeth into the matter, they easily found details on Bale's job, phone number, and her Facebook page, as well.
Needless to say, on that information was leaked, there have been calls for her dismissal from her job, and even threats on her life. It's been reported that she has been assigned police protection.
The Web wasn't finished with Bale after 4Chan was done with her, however. For one, there's now a "Mary Bale Hate Group" on Facebook with over 9,300 members, at the time of this writing. There's also a fake Twitter account @catbinlady, with humorous "posts" from Bale.
Some of them include "There's a rude word on the window of this cafe written in squirty ketchup. I think the owner thinks I did it. I know I did. Embarrassed" and "Her across the way came looking for her wind chimes earlier. I told her I didn't have them. I don't. They're on her roof, where I threw 'em."
Naturally, someone the subject of so much Web hatred has to have a spoof game, and Mary Bale, does, as well. Whack-Cat-Woman, but the U.K. tabloid the Sun, lets you "get back at the cat dumper by slamming the dustbin lid on her in our fun game."
The wrath of the Web is harsh, particularly when it comes to anything fluffy and cute. Bale has been interviewed by the RSPCA and has apologized, saying, "I cannot explain why I did this, it is completely out of character ... It was a split second of misjudgment that has got completely out of control."
She left out the part about assuming that she would not get caught, and not realizing how harsh the wrath of the Web might be.
Vincent Hunter watched from 1,400 miles away as his iCam iPhone app warned him that his Dallas residence was being burglarized. He was visiting his parents in Connecticut at the time.
iCam is a $4.99 app that "allows you to stream live video and audio from up to four webcams to your iPhone or iPod touch over WiFi, 3G, or EDGE."
Alerted to the event by motion detectors in his house, he used iCam to access his security cameras, called 911, and watched as two men threw a brick threw his patio door. His security system had already called police, but Hunter did so also.
It seems the men got away, but with images from his system, police have a leg up in their investigation. It's nothing short of frustrating, however, to watch an event like this unfold as you watch helplessly, but indeed, at least it means you don't come home to a horrible surprise.
The Samsung Galaxy S, an Android smartphone that is being picked up by all four major U.S. wireless carriers, has already shipped 1 million units, despite only hitting T-Mobile (Vibrant) and AT&T (Captivate) thus far. Sprint's version, the Epic 4G, will launch on August 31st, with Verizon's (the Fascinate) seeing pre-orders, but no official date as yet.
U.S. Cellular will have a Galaxy S in its roster of devices later this year, as well.
Samsung used the word "shipped," not sold, so that's something to keep in mind. Still, with the Sprint, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular versions still to hit the American market, there's no doubt that the Galaxy S device is a hit.
Because of the sheer number of Android devices on the market, no one device will sell as much as the iPhone 4, which comes (obviously) in only one model. It's undeniable that the Android platform as a whole is a solid competitor in the smartphone arena.
The Galaxy S comes with a powerful 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird processor. It has a 4" Super AMOLED screen and ships with Android 2.1. The AT&T and T-Mobile Versions have 16GB of internal storage while the Verizon will have 2GB and the Sprint 1GB. Only the Sprint and Verizon versions have LED flash for the 5 megapixel camera, and the Sprint Epic 4G is the only one that has a front-facing camera, 4G (WiMax) support, and a hardware keyboard.
Earlier this week, security firm Panda Labs reported that it had discovered that 25 percent of newly created worms have been specifically designed to spread through USB storage devices. Nowadays, this means not just USB flash drives, but any device that can be attached to a computer and used as external storage, including digital cameras, external hard drives, media players, and smartphones.
It's a simple enough technique: when an external storage device is attached to a Windows PC, if the root directory of the device contains an autorun.inf file, Windows will take the actions specified in the file. Naturally, if hackers have modified the autorun.inf file, it can be used to run any malware on the drive, causing the computer to be infected.
Email and the Web are still the most popular methods of malware transmission, but things are rapidly changing as more devices can be attached to PCs and emulate a dedicated external drive.
Panda Security received survey responses from more than 10,470 companies across 20 countries. The results revealed that approximately 48 percent of small- to medium-sized businesses (with up to 1,000 computers) had been infected by some type of malware over the last year, with 27 percent of the infections a result of connecting a USB device to a computer.
The Panda Security report comes on the heels of news that a 2008 security breach of U.S. military computers was caused by an infected flash drive. In an article for Foreign Affairs magazine, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn III discussed the incident:
"That code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems, establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead, from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control. It was a network administrator's worst fear: a rogue program operating silently, poised to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary."
Given this report, end users and corporations would be well-advised to make sure their antivirus products are capable of scanning USB drives when they are attached, preferably automatically.
Additionally, Panda Security has developed Panda USB Vaccine, a free downloadble application that can disable the AutoRun feature on computers as well as on USB drives and other devices.
It seems obvious that text messaging while driving would be a distraction, and a dangerous one that takes your eyes off the road. Ah, but if you do ignore texts while driving, you wouldn't want your friends to think you are being rude, would you? That's where SMS Replier comes in.
SMS Replier, for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Android, coming for iPhone and Palm webOS, will reply automatically to text messages and even calls if you are moving faster than 15 MPH. You can also set times when you are in a meeting so that it can also auto-reply.
There are default messages you can choose, or you can customize your own. You can also select a set of 5 contacts whose calls and texts must come through (like your significant other or mom). There is also a No-Reply List, who don't get an auto-reply from SMS replier.
The app is $19.95 and includes one-year of updates. Strangely, the Android version is not in the Android Market, but is instead downloaded directly from the company. That means that those of you that can't sideload (meaning install non-Market apps, such as AT&T devices) are out of luck.
Not only do more accidents continue to occur where text messaging is implicated, authorities have been slow to enact laws, and those states that have laws have seen many scofflaws. Other such technology has been announced before, but anything that draws more attention to the problem is welcome.
Of course, $19.95 is a bit on the pricey side for any Android or iOS apps. It will be interesting to see how well it sells.
Twitter has been hacked plenty of times before, including incidents in which a number of high-profile accounts have been hacked at once. We don't see many of those any longer, but singular account hacks, yes. NBA star Carmelo Anthony saw his Twitter account hacked, and some sites jumped on the Tweet.
Anthony, 26, is a small forward playing for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA. According to the Tweet, Anthony said:
I got 5k for whoever see @ihatekatstacks and slap the s**t out her pigeon face a**. Real talk. U f**ked with the right one now
That was followed by:
When u do it record it and send it to me along with name and address. Real talk http://yfrog.com/jph8stj
We, of course, have no idea who Kat Stacks is, although she does show up in Twitter searches. If he'd really Tweeted something like that, he would definitely have been in trouble with the NBA. However, in the morning, Carmelo Anthony's Twitter account sported the following as its latest post:
"Im back on! My account was hacked.Thanks twitter for getting me str8. Jst finished my first movie in China now im headed back to the States"
Now restored, Carmelo Anthony's Twitter account no longer has the Tweet, but you can see it below via an embedded (but NSFW, due to the expletives) video:
Instead of seeing all our toxic electronic waste end up in e-waste piles in third world countries, how about turning them into furniture or sculpture? Theo Kamecke, a former filmmaker, has seen the beauty of printed-circuit boards, and done just that.
His work can be divided into functional works, as he calls them (meaning chests, tables, and the like) and sculptures. In addition to finding their way into galleries, the pieces have found their way into the collections of James Cameron ("Avatar") and H.R. Giger ("Alien"). Pieces run from a few thousand to many thousands of dollars.
Kamecke uses the marquetry technique, used in furniture, to create his designs. Marquetry is defined as the "art and craft of covering a structural carcass with pieces of veneer forming decorative patterns, designs or pictures." In this case, rather than veneer, Kamecke is using PCBs.
The results are exquisite and unique. They're not for everyone, as Kamecke himself admits. "Either you get it or you don't, either you like it or you don't. I don't mass-produce these, and no one else makes them."
Apple's Wednesday event is expected to include the announcement of a new Apple TV set-top box. That box will run $99, according to three anonymous sources, who also told Bloomberg that the new box will include video streaming from Netflix.
Netflix began as a DVD-rental-by-mail company. Later, it launched a video streaming service, and that service has become quite popular. It's seen its reach extended beyond computers where it first began to mobile devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, as well as dedicated set-top boxes like the $69 Roku and all the current gaming consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii).
