|
| My iphone should be better |
|
|
The iPhone in my honest opinion is not worth the $600 you have to pay up front, you are sacrificing too many usable tools for something that just looks nice. Looks doesn’t get you very far when you need GPS and can’t use it.
1. Call history able to show the length of each call as well as the precise time of each call
2. LOUDER and CUSTOMIZABLE incoming sms and email sounds.
3. Check for email more frequently.
4. There needs be a way to STOP your texts from showing up on the main screen when you get an SMS. Not everyone who can see your phone needs to know your personal business.
5. The ability to delete one message of an SMS conversation- there is no reason why I should have to delete the entire thread.
6. The ability to change the sounds for the different actions and the volume for the related option (i.e. the mail sound, the keyboard click sound, and the touch tone while using the "old fashioned" keypad)
6. The option to display owner information when the phone is locked. (If you lose your phone, how else can someone reach you to let you know they have it?) This actually just happened with my Blackberry Pearl, and was the only way I was able to retrieve it.
7. Search for music just like iTunes and the 6G iPods
8. Ability to delete individual entry in the call history, instead of blanket delete all history.
A list of suggestions for improvements in no particular order whatsoever:
- Provide landscape support for any app that uses a keyboard.
- Improve the Calculator app by adding scientific or other modes as well as more precision for the basic calculator.
- This is a biggy: Add a Back button somewhere to return you to the last screen you were on, whatever it was (provided it makes sense to do so in a particular context).
- Display an on-screen indicator in the area near the signal strength as to whether you are currently in ring or silent mode.
- Allow Bluetooth syncing (even though I'd probably rarely use this since I normally sync at the same time that I'm recharging the battery).
- Provide Copy/Cut/Paste functionality similar to any other operating system.
- Allow multiple emails to be deleted at the same time through multi-select or some other method.
- Make it easier to check your email from multiple accounts without having to wind your way back to the email accounts screen then choosing a different email account.
- Provide more options for your email accounts like Mail on a Mac such as how long to keep email on the server, etc.
- Add a Home button to Safari.
- Allow custom ringtones to be created-preferably without having to pay for them through iTunes as has been rumored.
- Install a few games.
- Add an option to Safari to render pages as if it were a tiny web browser so that I'm not forced to zoom in to view every web page in the world.
- Port Flash to the iPhone but please give us an option to easily turn it off or on because 75% or more of Flash files are just plain annoying.
- Add a very secure, highly encrypted username/password application to keep track of usernames and passwords since most of us have numerous accounts to keep track of.
- Provide a lot more information about recent calls.
- Allow the Home screen to be customized much as the Dock is on a Mac.
- Display the current conditions (or reasonably recent conditions) on the icon for the Weather widget. Apple already displays the current date on the Calendar app icon so it must not be that hard to do.
- Similarly, display the current time on the icon for the Clock app.
- Add junk mail filtering to the Mail app. |
|
|
posted by GadgetMan @ 8:31 AM  |
|
|
|
| Pandigital debuts kitchen TV with extra perks |
|
|
Pandigital, which is making a name for itself in the digital photo frame market, is branching out into kitchen televisions. As part of the upcoming International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, the company will be showing off a new 15-inch LCD HDTV that can display digital photos and act as a digital cookbook.
Here are the highlights and specs from the news release:
1) TV's resolution is 1280x720.
2) Preloaded recipes are included. Plus, additional recipes can be copied onto the frame's internal memory.
3) Copy digital photos onto the frame's memory via the memory card reader or by a connection to Google's Picasa photo sharing Web site.
4) Messproof design that's sealed with glass, so it's protected from water, oil, flour, and other common ingredients, as well as from spills and splatters.
5) Comes with a countertop stand and an under-cabinet mount, and is also wall-mountable.
6) Interchangeable faceplates in brushed stainless, black and white to match various kitchen styles.
7) 512MB of internal memory stores up to 3,200 pages of recipes or digital photos.
8) Calendar and clock functions keep customers informed and allow photos, video and music to be programmed for play at specific dates and times.
9) The alarm function can be set to to noteworthy dates and times, including when it's time for a favorite cooking show.
10) Integrated 6-in-1 media reader that supports SD, XD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro/Memory Stick Duo, Compact Flash, and MultiMediaCard.
11) Programmable on and off times.
12) Support for JPEG, Motion JPEG, MPEG 1, MPEG 4, and AVI.
Pandigital's multifaceted kitchen TV is scheduled to be available in June and carry an MSRP of $399.99.
Buy now!!!
Posted by David Carnoy |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 3:42 PM |
|
|
|
| YouTube's expanded API not for everybody |
|
|
Before you start building new applications around YouTube's video player, it might be wise to check out the Terms of Service agreement.
It has a lot to say about what you can or can't do--particularly when it comes to any thoughts of making money. First up, the No.1 video-sharing site says plainly "the intent of the API is for noncommercial use." More specifically, the TOS prohibits using the application programming interface for the "primary purpose of deriving revenues...such as advertising or subscription" services.
YouTube, which expanded its API on Wednesday, goes on to say that it's permissible to use the API to show YouTube content on an ad-enabled blog or Web site, just as long as they aren't "comprised solely or substantially of YouTube video content."
Not surprisingly, the Google-owned site doesn't want anyone else making money off its content--especially competitors. But how much video can a commercial site post before it's too much? What exactly does "substantially" mean?
There's more.
Under the "Commercial Use" section of the TOS is this item: "The sale of advertising, sponsorships, or promotions targeted to, within, or on the API Client or YouTube video content" is prohibited without YouTube's permission.
A YouTube representative declined to comment.
What this means is that users can't insert advertising into the video or the player. And the YouTube player comes with the YouTube logo overlay. This, too, should also come as no surprise, said Roman Arzhintar, CEO of SideReel, a video search and community site.
"My guess is that YouTube is going to try and offer ads through that player itself," Arzhintar said, "by including code inside of it that will pull ads from Google."
YouTube allows people to use its player. Why shouldn't the company make a buck by delivering ads?
But besides being vague and perhaps over-broad, the language in the TOS is perhaps too restrictive for some commercial sites, especially when there are plenty of places to acquire white-label, third-party players that allow them to include their own advertising and branding.
What this means is that YouTube's player will still be the choice for individual bloggers and smaller businesses that supplement their content with videos and don't mind YouTube's branding and ads. For you in-betweens, better read the fine print.
Posted by Greg Sandoval |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 3:36 PM |
|
|
|
| Blu-ray is doomed |
|
|
Posted by Don Reisinger 43 comments In the past, I've always felt that Blu-ray would win the high-def format war. After that, I wasn't necessarily sure what the future would hold for the format.
Would it be the success DVD was? Would it flop worse than LaserDisc? Would it cater to a slightly more advanced crowd but never reach the mainstream? Would it be a downright loser?
For a while, I decided to hold off from making any judgements until I could see how the Blu-ray group handled its victory. And while it has only been a relatively short amount of time since that win, the end is already in sight and the format has no hope of survival.
As James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research explained to me this week on my Digital Home podcast, Blu-ray isn't quite the shining light on the mountain that some believe it is. Instead, it's a vulnerable product that has considerable work to do before Sony can even think it will stack up to the DVD.
And while all of McQuivey's logic was well-founded and well-researched, I couldn't help but take it a step further and use it as the backbone for my prediction--Blu-ray will die as a forgotten warrior in the long and arduous battle of media formats.
Reason 1: No flexibility
First and foremost, Blu-ray is not flexible, nor is it portable. Doesn't sound like a big problem? Think again. According to McQuivey, the "DVD is extremely usable and you can take that disc and play it in your car, at a friend's house; you can take that DVD and after you're done with it, you can give it to a friend and they can play it at their house."
"Blu-ray players won't be like that for quite some time," he continued. "Because there just won't be nearly enough Blu-ray players in the home to justify even doing something like that."
Realizing that people want to take media and bring it wherever they go, how can we possibly justify saying that Blu-ray will win or even make a dent in the DVD market? McQuivey's point is not only a good one, but it reflects one key point that some have missed--media formats go far beyond the idea that we only care about viewing what's on them. Instead, we are looking for ease of use, availability, and portability--three facets that Blu-ray doesn't provide and probably won't for quite some time.
Reason 2: The issue of looks
HD has always been pretty and everyone knows that an additional 600 lines of resolution are important, but let's be honest--can anyone truly say that the difference in quality between DVDs and Blu-ray is so great that the thought of using that old format is unbearable? Of course not.
McQuivey explained to me that, "the average person can't tell the difference between DVD quality and HD content...so a DVD looks pretty good for most people, especially when they use a DVD upconverter."
I've said it once and I'll say it again--the difference in quality between DVDs and Blu-ray is not nearly great enough to justify spending hundreds of dollars on a player. And as I'm not alone in that assertion, what will that do to the idea of portability that I mentioned above? If people are unwilling to buy Blu-ray players and portability is a key factor in DVD's success, how can anyone possibly say Blu-ray will be a similar success?
Reason 3: Cost, cost, cost
The price of Blu-ray players is simply too high for people to even want them. Why would someone who can't bring media wherever they would like and cannot tell the difference in quality actually waste time spending hundreds of dollars on a player?
At this point, pure logic should come into the discussion. To put it succinctly--Blu-ray will only do well if players are readily available, and players will be readily available if prices are lower. In order for prices to be lower, production costs will need to come down, and so far, production costs are still quite high. And all this is irrespective of the other issues already plaguing the device. Do you see what I'm getting at here? There's trouble in paradise.
Reason 4: The clock is ticking
Right now, Blu-ray is relatively safe because broadband speeds aren't nearly where they should be and HD media downloads are plagued by many of the same issues affecting Blu-ray. But that won't be true for too much longer.
As McQuivey pointed out, HD media downloads probably won't be too big for at least another five years, which means Blu-ray must make a huge splash in that time or face total annihilation. Of course, with crazy player prices and a slew of issues it needs to confront before then, what are the chances of anything like that happening?
The end is near for Blu-ray and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Say what you will, but Toshiba should be ecstatic that it didn't get caught in the middle of this quagmire and got out when it did.
But if you don't believe me, take McQuivey's take on it: "On many levels, Toshiba should be glad it lost (the high-def format war)."
Posted by Don Reisinger |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 1:39 PM |
|
|
|
| All About Playstation 3 |
|
|
Fasten your seatbelt and get set for the ultimate entertainment explosion!
Playstation-3 is a gaming experience that is beyond anything known today. It is a computer entertainment system that unleashes a brilliant, high-definition entertainment experience which is incomparable. It delivers the next generation of interactive entertainment.
Playstation-3 is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment. A major feature, that sets it apart from its predecessors, is its unified online gaming service, the PlayStation Network. Other main features of the console include its huge multimedia capabilities, connectivity with the playstation portable and its use of a next generation optical media, blu-ray disc, as its primary storage medium.
There are models of four types that are usually referred to by the size of their included hard disc drive; 20, 40, 60 and 80 gigabyte models. All retail packages include one or two six axis controllers, a video/stereo audio, a power cable, a USB cable, output cable, and an ethernet cable(20, 60 and 80GB only).
Numerous accessories for the console have been developed for the system, including the wireless six axis controller, the BD remote, the playstation eye camera and the upcoming play TV DVB-T tuner/digital video recorder. The system has bluetooth 2.0, gigabit ethernet, USB 20 and HDMI 1.3a built-in on all models. Wi-Fi networking is also built-in on the 40, 60 and 80GB models while a flashcard reader (which is compatible with memory stick, SD/MMC and compact flash/micro drive media) is built-in on 60 and 80GB models.
The playstation-3 version of the `Xross Media Bar` includes nine categories of options. These include users, settings, photo, music, video, game, network, playstation network and friends. Also it includes the ability to store various master and secondary user profiles, manage and explore photos with or without a musical slide-show, play music and copy audio CD tracks to an attached storage device, play movies and video files from the hard-disk drive, an optional USB mass storage or flashcard, or an optical disc (blu-ray disc or DVD-video), compatibility for a USB keyboard and mouse and a full web browser supporting in/compatible file download function.
The friends menu allows mail with emoticon and attached picture features and video chat which requires an optional playstation eye or eye toy webcam. The network menu allows online shopping through the playstation store.
The 80GB playstation-3 provides ample hard drive storage space for games and other entertainment content from the game network. The free membership in playstation network allows you to play free games online, allows downloading of special content and be in touch with your friends. The inbuilt Wi-Fi allows for flawless connection with your network. It includes hard drive for all photos, music and personal videos.
The six axis wireless controller gives more precision and freedom during game play. The picture quality is pristine with the capability of full high-definition resolution at 1080p. The built-in blu-ray disc drive provides for high-definition games and entertainment.
Sony has also announced the dualshock3, a controller with the same design and function as the six axes, but with vibration capability included. It was released in Japan in november 2007, while a spring 2008 release date has been scheduled for Europe and North America.
The playstation-3, at first, received generally unfavorable reviews like late, expensive and incompatible, but after a series of price drops and the release of several quality titles, the system has begun to garner better reviews. Their motor sport game is wildly popular and their list of games is getting larger and longer.
With its cutting-edge technology, the high-end Sony playstation-3`s larger hard drive and ability to play playstation-2 games makes it a worthwhile alternative to cheaper models.
By Roberto Sedycias |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 9:10 AM |
|
|
|
| Live blog from Apple's iPhone SDK announcement |
|
|
Posted by Tom Krazit
CUPERTINO, Calif.--We're here at Apple's headquarters for the company's announcement of its iPhone software development kit. The event is scheduled to start Thursday at 10 a.m. PT. What follows is a live blog of CEO Steve Jobs' speech, with updates appearing in reverse chronological order.
10:20 a.m.: "I'm here to tell you about how developers can build great applications for the iPhone," Forstall said. He starts off, however, with the Web applications, which Apple initially said was the best way to build applications for the iPhone back at its developer conference last June. Developers were less than enthused, but it's true that these days you can build lots of interesting Web applications that don't require native access to the computer. Scott singles out Facebook and Bank of America, saying that the iPhone accounts for 25 percent of all mobile online banking for BOA.
10:18 a.m.: "These are the features customers have asked for to make the iPhone a big hit in businesses, universities," and other places around the world, Schiller said. "Now it's addressing the needs of the enterprise as well. That's it for the enterprise features, now Scott Forstall will address the SDK.
10:16 a.m.: Schiller demonstrates the remote wiping feature, which appears to disable the iPhone. That part went through really quickly. I'll try to figure out later what exactly happens when you "remote wipe" an iPhone.
10:14 a.m.: Apple appears to have packed the auditorium with employees, who are very enthusiastically applauding every successful demonstration of a new feature. Either that, or the press corps is really, really excited.
10:13 a.m.: Schiller starts demoing the new features. He's using a virgin iPhone, demonstrating how you would activate the functionality with Exchange. You can do the whole thing over the air, which is very helpful for IT administrators: You won't have to go collect every iPhone that needs that feature. E-mail, contacts, and calendar are automatically pushed from your desktop to your iPhone upon setup. As far as I understand, many devices, such as my Treo and BlackBerrys, also offer over-the-air setup; it's almost a requirement in the IT world.
10:10 a.m.: You'll soon get push e-mail, calendaring, contacts, and a global contacts list, as well as the remote wipe security feature. The iPhone's Mail application will have this functionality; you won't have to have a new user interface for e-mail and calendars. This will ship with every iPhone.
10:08 a.m.: Schiller starts ripping on the BlackBerry, without actually mentioning it, of course. He's referring to the use of a NOC, "which adds to risk and reliability, as we've seen from time to time." The crowd of CrackBerry enthusiasts chuckles.
10:07 a.m.: What do they really want? Microsoft Exchange. And they're getting it: Schiller announces that Apple has licensed the Microsoft ActiveSync protocol, which will make it much easier to do push e-mail and contacts with Exchange servers.
10:07 a.m.: So, what did businesses want? "Great e-mail integration," says Schiller. That also extends to calendars, contacts, and the global address lists of corporations--having that technology instantly accessible and pushed to the device. They also want security policies, like VPNs and remote wiping of a stolen iPhone, and configuration help. "I'm really excited to be the one to tell you today that we're doing all these things in the next release of the iPhone software."
10:04 a.m.: Schiller starts talking about the companies that have inquired about working with the iPhone, mentioning Genentech, where Apple board member Art Levinson is CEO. It's also been a university play, according to Schiller, bringing up Stanford University's deployment of the iPhone. He avoids mentioning Duke, who initially blamed the iPhone for a widespread network outage last year.
10:03 a.m.: Jobs' going to be joined on stage by Phil Schiller, senior vice president of marketing, and Scott Forstall. Phil comes up on stage to handle the enterprise portion of the conference.
10:01 a.m.: Steve Jobs enters--standard outfit. "We're really excited to share some great news with you about the iPhone software roadmap." He rattles off a few iPhone stats from the early days of the product, quoting the Canalys numbers for smartphone share in the U.S., which puts the iPhone in 2nd place behind Research In Motion.
10 a.m. PST: Apple's special event today in Cupertino is about to get started, as a couple hundred people are gathered inside Apple's Town Hall auditorium at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. We're waiting to hear how Apple plans to handle third-party application development for the iPhone, as well as to learn about new business-friendly features. Props to Apple this time around for the power strips, but come on guys, it's 2008. Wi-Fi is a proven technology.
The crowd awaits Steve Job's keynote address at the iPhone software event. |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 10:24 AM |
|
|
|
| Report: Pioneer ending production of plasma panels |
|
|
Posted by Erica Ogg
Pioneer plans to let someone else make its plasma TV panels, according to several reports.
Reuters reported Tuesday that the company will cease production of its own plasma panels because that portion of its business continues to lose money. The company will still sell plasma sets, but plans to get its plasma panels from Matsushita, parent company of Panasonic, the Nikkei business daily reported. Panasonic is the biggest plasma TV vendor in the world, shipping nearly 40 percent of all plasma displays, while Pioneer ranks fifth, shipping just over 6 percent of plasmas worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to DisplaySearch.
So far, Pioneer isn't confirming or denying the reports ("Our headquarters are planning to publicly discuss our TV strategy at the end of this week, so we'll have no information until then," said a spokesperson), but it doesn't look good.
As CNET colleague and resident TV expert David Katzmaier put it, this news amounts to "a black day for black levels."
Pioneer has been repositioning its plasma business over the last few years as a premium brand, most recently pushing its "Kuro" technology, which emphasizes deep black levels and contrast, at CES 2007 and 2008. CNET Reviews ranked the 50-inch plasma from Pioneer as "the best it's ever tested" last year.
Though it appears Pioneer will continue to sell plasmas sets, if it's not making the panels, it seems unlikely that it will prolong the life of its Kuro technology. |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 11:54 AM |
|
|
|
| A DVD combo? Don't hold your breath |
|
|
By Michael Kanellos
For consumers, a device that could play both HD DVDs and Blu-ray discs would take a lot of risk out of adopting the new video players--but one may not arrive for a while.
Legal agreements, intellectual property issues and technological pride will likely keep the two camps backing incompatible next-generation technologies from coming together in the near future, executives and analysts said.
"Until everyone agrees to check their egos at the door and help the consumer, there is nothing we can do about a universal product," said Peter Weedfald, a senior vice president of marketing at Samsung North America.
HD DVD and Blu-ray are competing video and storage formats for succeeding DVDs. While some movie studios said in mid-2005 that they were open to merging the two formats, by late summer, such talk had fizzled out.
Meanwhile, the technological world is bitterly divided. Sony, Samsung, Philips and Dell are among the Blu-ray backers. Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba are on the HD DVD side. Hewlett-Packard has said it will support both contenders.
Pride and ill-will seem to play a significant part in the debate. As in the old Betamax-VHS debate, both sides believe they have each found the formula that more perfectly suits consumers' desires.
Steve Kovsky, an analyst at Current Analysis, recalled a meeting in Tokyo last year at a major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer. A reporter asked about a "universal" player. The executive leading the tour blew up and called the notion "stupid."
"Japanese executives in general are very political, so this was very surprising," Kovsky said. "Technically, it is possible...but at this point, it doesn't look like it will happen, which is a shame, because it will hinder adoption."
But the conflict goes far deeper. The rules that govern the organizations touting the different technologies currently bar manufacturers from combining the two standards into a single drive, Weedfald said.
"The conundrum is that you've got two different camps. You've got licensing issues, you've got trademarks, you've got copyrights," Weedfald said. "You can't just be on the Blu-ray side and say, 'We will put HD DVD in there,' and the reverse is true."
Samsung may make a separate line of HD DVD players to complement the Blu-ray players it plans to release later this year, Weedfald said. This would allow Samsung to support both formats, although not in a single product. The company, however, does not have current plans to do so, he said.
Return on invention
Royalties also play a significant role, said Rudy Provoost, CEO of Philips Electronics. The companies behind each standard hold patents and expect to be compensated for their inventions. Philips, Sony and the others behind the CD standard eventually garnered hundreds of millions of dollars from that invention.
"There are so many players. There is a lot of intellectual that went into this, and companies like Philips and Toshiba and Sony will all look for a return on investment," Provoost said. "That is what makes it a challenging debate. It's like the CD days. Everybody looks for a fair reward."
Philips currently does not have HD DVD on its product road map. In the second half of 2006, the Dutch electronics giant plans to release a Blu-ray player and then follow up in the first half of 2007 with a player that can record CDs, standard DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
The negative repercussions of the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD could end up being even more expensive than the conflict between Sony's Betamax and VHS in the mid-1970s. Back then, consumers who bought Betamax players found themselves saddled with an expensive player and a dwindling supply of movies released in the Betamax format. |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 11:50 AM |
|
|
|
| A one-stop shop for Blu-ray licensing |
|
|
Posted by Michael Kanellos
Now that Blu-ray has won the high-definition disc format war, the industry is moving onto the next step: recruiting companies to produce players and media.
And to help that process along, MPEG LA, the standards and licensing group, is floating the concept of a creating an organization that will be able to license all of the patents necessary to make Blu-ray products.
The idea was discussed back in early 2007 during a meeting of 18 of the holders of necessary Blu-ray patents. With the format war over, MPEG LA is once again talking up the concept. The mechanisms and rates for Blu-ray licenses have yet to fully be hammered out, say sources.
While Blu-ray backers talked up customer convenience and experience, royalties were at the heart of the Blu-ray push. A successful standard can result in millions of royalties every year for patent holders. The licensing fees for making an individual DVD player totaled to $15 to $20 a few years ago. (For those of you who believe manufacturers should only adopt free and open standards, please feel free to spend ten years of your life inventing a complex optical storage and retrieval standard.)
Philips and Sony garnered millions in revenue from CD licensing.
If one-stop shopping becomes a reality, it would prevent one of the major headaches of the DVD world from repeating. To make a DVD player or disc, manufacturers have had to ink deals with three separate organizations, which represented various patent holders. There is DVD 6c (Hitachi, Panasonic, JVC and six others), DVD 3c (Philips, Sony, Pioneer), and MPEG LA (representing encoders and decoders). To make a DVD player, manufacturers have to pay $4 to DVD 6c per player, $2.50 to MPEG LA, and I'm not sure about the amount to DVD 3c.
For DVD movies, DVD 6c charges about 4 cents per disc and MPEG LA charges 3 cents. I wrote an article last month on the subject but low-balled the royalties required.
Forget about customer satisfaction or superiority of image quality. The real issue in the war between Blu-ray and HD DVD was about royalties.
With the competition gone, the Blu-ray consortium now has the opportunity to persuade PC makers and consumer electronics makers to adopt Blu-ray drives as their optical drives of choice. It will also get studios and disc makers to deliver Blu-ray discs to consumers. And every time one of those drives or discs leaves a factory, the Blu-ray Disc Association will get a royalty.
The numbers add up quickly. Look at DVD, for example. To make a DVD player legally, manufacturers recently had to pay around $4 per player or drive, according to some estimates. A few years ago, those fees were around $15 to $20. Fees get paid every time a DVD drive gets included in a PC. Nearly every PC in the world has a DVD drive these days and roughly 250 million PCs get shipped every year. Companies that legally make DVD discs also pay fees. The DVD6C licensing group dropped the per disc fee in January to 4 cents per disc. Years ago, it was 7.5 cents per disc. Then there are verification fees.
The royalties, in fact, led to what Chinese leaders call the "DVD mistake," said Zhisheng Niu, vice dean of the school of information sciences at Tsinghua University, in an interview with CNET News.com last year. Because of intense competition, many Chinese companies have lost money, or just broke even, on selling DVD players. The people that have made money, he added, were the patent holders. Chinese manufacturers often got around the licensing issues problem by making illegal players. (The DVD Forum eliminated the royalty for DVD players made and sold in China for a few years, but a lot of those systems ended up overseas.)
The royalties are one of the prime reasons China has pushed for its own optical standard.
"We have to develop our own standards so that we can have our own industry," said Niu. "We have a big DVD industry, but we are probably losing money. The market is big enough so that we can have our own industry."
Now, remember. Niu isn't some pirate off the street. He's one of the chief academics at China's leading university. That gives you a gauge on the feelings there.
The same went for CDs. Philips got about 1.8 cents per CD disc while Sony got about 1.2 cents per disc, according to analysts estimates. When some of the patents expired in 2001, Philips said its royalty revenue would drop by about $42 million. Collecting royalties is a great business.
The Blu-ray camp will likely move more cautiously than the DVD Forum in granting licenses to player and disc manufacturers, said Richard Doherty, principal analyst at the Envisioneering Group, adding that one of the reasons that the studios liked Blu-ray over HD DVD was it is probably easier to set up a pirate HD DVD shop.
Gartner analyst Van Baker, however, said he doesn't believe that Blu-ray will be as lucrative as DVD. For one thing, Blu-ray will have to compete against digital download services, which could prove popular with consumers. Second, the studios have been knocking down the royalty rates.
"This is what a lot of the negotiations were about," Baker said. "My suspicion is that this is not going to be as good as it was for DVD."
We don't know the royalty standards from Blu-ray. The consortium hasn't been aggressive about collecting them yet, but it will likely move into action once the industry gets moving.
The royalties will be split among several players, said Doherty.
Blu-ray has a lot of grandfathers. A lot of people call it a Sony standard but by our estimates Sony doesn't even have 30 percent of the IP," Doherty said. The top four intellectual property holders are likely Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, and Warner.
Royalties were one of the primary reasons that it took so long to get manufacturers to come out with players that could handle both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. Manufacturers with dual-format players have to license technology from both camps, which boosts costs.
"There are so many players. There is a lot of intellectual that went into this, and companies like Philips and Toshiba and Sony will all look for a return on investment," Rudy Provoost, the then-CEO of Philips Electronics told News.com in 2006. "That is what makes it a challenging debate. It's like the CD days. Everybody looks for a fair reward."
When a combo player did come out, it ended up being more expensive than buying separate Blu-ray and HD DVD players. |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 11:47 AM |
|
|
|
| Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2MP Digital Camera |
|
|
Buy Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2MP $188.27
Technical Details
7.2-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 14 x 19-inch prints
2.5-inch LCD display; 3x optical zoom
High-sensitivity shooting mode increases ISO to maximum of 1000
Capture MPEG VX video with audio
Stores images on Memory Stick DUO or MS Pro DUO memory cards (56 MB internal memory included)
Product Description
From the Manufacturer
In silver, black, pink, or light blue, the DSC-W55 is a stand-out choice for style-conscious start-out or step-up camera customers who appreciate real value and advanced technology. 7.2 MP imaging, Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens and high sensitivity combine to capture clear, high-detail images even in low light--and with up to 380-shot2 Stamina battery power, 56 MB internal memory capacity and large 2.5-inch LCD screen, the DSC-W55 is ideal for family memories at home or on the road.
7.2-Megapixel Super HAD CCD
More megapixels give you more detail and definition when you make big prints or crop in tight on your subject. The advanced Sony Super HAD (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.
Carl Zeiss 3x Optical Zoom Lens Design
A top-quality Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom lens design helps the DSC-W55 bring distant subjects closer and lets you frame shots quickly for better composition--a real advantage for family sports, outdoor fun and travel photos.
Large 2.5-Inch LCD Screen
The DSC-W55 provides a large, bright LCD screen for composing shots, checking results, sharing your photos on location and reading camera setup menus even in full sunlight.
High Sensitivity Mode
With high sensitivity of ISO 1000, the DSC-W55 gives you better shots in low light so you can shoot without flash to preserve the mood--great for birthday parties, indoor gatherings and candid portraits.
Clear RAW Noise Reduction
The original Sony Clear RAW NR (Noise Reduction) image processing technology helps suppress color noise that can accompany high-sensitivity shooting.
56MB Internal Memory
The DSC-W55 allows you to capture a large number of images without a flash memory card, so it's great for traveling or for quick candid snapshots.
Memory Stick Duo Media Convenience
The DSC-W55 also has a built-in slot for optional Memory Stick Duo or Memory Stick PRO Duo media--the compact, high-capacity storage media that make it easily to upload photos to your computer or make lab-quality prints at home on your SonyPicture Station digital printer (sold separately).
Function Guide Text/Icon Display
An on-screen Function Guide text/icon display makes it easy to learn the camera functions that give you greater creative freedom to adjust photo settings.
Versatile Color Modes
The DSC-W55 gives you greater creative freedom to adjust color mode for the creative results you want--with Natural setting for subtle colors, Rich setting for more intense colors, in addition to Monochrome and Sepia color settings.
Convenient Photo Modes
To adjust quickly for specific shooting situations, the DSC-W55 lets you choose from several convenient photo modes: Auto, P-Auto, and Scene Selections for Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, High Sensitivity, Soft Snap, Snow, and Beach environments.
14x Smart Zoom Feature
The Sony Smart Zoom feature intelligently "crops into" the central portion of interest in your photo, avoiding the image degradation of other digital zooms.
MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode
The DSC-W55 can capture VGA (640 x 480) audio/video clips at high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second4), with length limited only by the capacity of your media.
Stamina Battery Power
Sony lets you capture up to 380 shots2 with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery--enough shooting capacity to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.
Burst Mode
You can fire off four shots automatically at 7.2 MP mode or up to 64 shots at VGA standard mode--a great way to capture a child's first steps or a pet's best tricks.
Picture Motion Browser Software
Supplied software makes it easier to upload, organize and search photos on your PC--and provides a convenient map view function to sort photos by location and display their origin on a world map by using an optional GPS unit.
What's in the box
Sony Cybershot DSCW55 digital camera, NP-BG1 rechargeable battery, BC-CSG battery charger, AV and USB multi-connector cables, wrist strap, software CD-ROM (Note: No Memory Stick DUO media or adaptors are included.)
Product Description
7.2 Megapixel of detail and definition gives you the option of large prints or crop in tight on your subject. The Super HAD(TM) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel increasing sensitivity and reducing noise. Top-quality Carl Zeiss lens helps you bring you subject closer and frame shots quickly for better compositions, ideal for family sporting events, outdoor fun and travel photos. Check your composition shots on the large, bright 2.5-inch LCD Screen, share your photos on location or video the setup menu even in full sunlight. Even shoot in low light with the high sensitivity ISO 1000. Original Clear RAW Noise Reduction helps suppress color noise. 56MB of Internal Memory let's you start shooting right away. Then, when you're ready, upload you pictures onto a Memory Stick(R) Duo media or PC for printing. Capture VGA 640x480 video clips with audio at high frame rates up to 30 frames per second with length limited only by the capacity of my media. Get up to 380 shots with a fully charged NP-BG1 Lithium Ion battery. Enough for a long weekend or a whole vacation. Burst Mode let's you shoot up to 64 shots at VGA Standard Mode. High Sensitivity ISO 1000 Clear RAW Noise Reduction Burst and MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode White Balance - Automatic, Cloudy, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent and Flash Self Timer - 10 Seconds, 2 Seconds and Off Red-Eye Reduction Up to 64 Shot VGA at 1.3 fps Burst Mode Scene Modes - Beach, High Sensitivity, Landscape, Snow, Soft Snap, Twilight and Twilight Portrait Movie Mode - MPEG VX Fine with Audio at 30 fps 640x480 Optical Viewfinder 6 Elements in 5 Groups, 3 Aspheric Elements Lens Construction 35mm Equivalent - 38-114mm Shutter Speed - 1/8-1/2000 seconds 1/3 EV Step Increments Exposure Compensation Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1000 ISO Battery Capacity - 3.6V, 960 mAh Dimensions - 3.5 x 2.25 x 0.875 inch, 89mm x57mm x 23mm Weight - 4.2 ou
Buy Sony Cybershot DSCW55 7.2MP $188.27 |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 12:23 PM |
|
|
|
| Coming soon: Movies on flash memory cards |
|
|
Company founder Chris Armstrong explains: Four years ago, he set out to his local DVD store to rent a movie. First, he stopped at the ATM to get cash. The store didn't have Twelve Angry Men, the movie Armstrong wanted. He settled for Carlito's Way instead. He then waited in line, paid for his rental, and returned to his car.
Then he remembered another movie, Gone in Sixty Seconds, the title of which got him wondering why the process of renting movies, from start to finish, can take so long.
While other companies see the Internet as the answer to that question, Armstrong has another idea. PortoMedia is setting up kiosks that will let consumers download movies to a flash memory key or portable hard drive.
The kiosks will be packed with hard drives that can hold 350 to 5,000 titles. Users then plug in a memory device from the company, enter a PIN code, and buy or rent a movie. When consumers get home, they simply slide the memory device into a dock connected to a TV.
The key to the service is a proprietary USB interface that transfers data at a faster average rate than standard USB devices. A standard-definition movie can be loaded onto a memory device in 8 to 60 seconds, depending on the length and chip speed. High-definition movies, which won't be available initially on the service, can be downloaded in 18 to 45 seconds. The USB interface works just fine with the USB slots on PCs and notebooks.
The company did a trial run in Dublin at the end of 2007, with plans to go live in four U.S. cities toward the beginning of the second quarter, though Armstrong declined to name the cities. Two retailers have signed on to put the company's MoviePoint kiosks in their stores.
More importantly, major studios have agreed to let the company rent standard-definition movies out of the kiosks, he said. Getting permission to build a library of high-quality content has been the bane of several would-be Blockbuster killers. Armstrong wouldn't divulge the name of the studios, but said they were major and well-known.
"We will have them (movies) the same day and date as DVD," he said. The pricing will be about the same.
Advantages over current models
If the company can pull it off--and that remains a big if--PortoMedia potentially can short-circuit some of the problems and shortcomings of the various methods for delivering movies. First up is cost. Delivering movies via hard drives and flash memory eliminates many of the packaging and shipping expenses associated with DVDs. Shelf space at retailers now dedicated to discs is also freed up for other products.
In addition, selection is improved. Most video outlets don't have 5,000 titles, he noted. Kiosks further let more companies into the video rental market. The kiosk version holding 350 titles will sell for around $2,000; it could be placed near the counter at convenience stores. Retailers will also be allowed to put their own brands on the box, so it could be hawked, for example, as "7-Eleven MoviePoint."
The time for viewing the rental won't kick in, he further added, until the movie is actually started, which lets the company copy the Netflix "no late fees" model but without monthly subscription fees.
Even more important, the system erodes the desirability of downloading movies. While great in theory, movie downloads have yet to become a big hit. Consumers have complained about long download times with some services, while others only let you watch a movie on a PC. PortoMedia rentals can be for one, or multiple viewings, depending on the fee and service selected. Because the company can control access to the box and makes the devices for downloading movies, viruses become less of a worry.
A physicist by training, Armstrong claims the Internet can't handle movie downloads anyway. He did the math on last year's release of Shrek 3. In the first three days, 11 million copies got sold. That's 66 petabytes of data.
Movies from PortoMedia can be watched on TVs or PCs. To prove his point, he transferred Spiderman from a portable hard drive to an iPod Touch. It took six seconds.
"And I didn't need permission from Apple to do that," he said.
But what about piracy? "It will never be perfect, but we are going to make it as hard as we can," he said. Movies rented from the service will comply with Microsoft DRM standards.
If anything, the company has lined up legitimate technology partners. IBM helped it developed the transaction system. The drives come from Seagate Technologies (which has said for about a year that we will see video rental kiosks with hard drives), while Samsung provides the flash memory. Toshiba is fabricating the chips that make up the high-speed interface. Investors include former film execs like Jay Emmett and Lindsay Gardner.
PortoMedia's interface emphasizes sustained, rather than peak downloads. USB 2.0 can provide peak bandwidth at 480 megabits per second. "But I've never seen anyone achieve that and I'm in the industry," Armstrong said. Average speeds are far lower.
The company claims it can hit a sustained bandwidth of 95 megabits per second or higher. Some venture capitalists advised him to turn the company into an interface chipmaker that would license technology to other semiconductor manufacturers, but Armstrong decided to stick with movies.
The hardware will be sold in bundles with movies. The starter pack, which will sell for around $60, comes with a flash key, a dock, and six movies. At the high end, users can spend around $160 and get a handheld with a 1.8-inch hybrid hard drive with 240GB of storage, a fancier dock, and 12 movies.
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com |
|
|
| posted by GadgetMan @ 12:16 PM |
|
|
|
|
|
