Despite what U2’s manager original story titlesaid the other day, the RIAA doesn’t want ISPs to have to sniff your Internet connection for pirated content. It doesn’t want the government telling ISPs what to do, in other words. That said, the RIAA has no problem with what AT&T wants to do, to voluntarily filter your Internet connection in the name of piracy prevention.
The RIAA would rather use the DMCA to bankrupt you all.
RIAA chief: We don’t see a need for mandatory ISP filtering [Ars Technica]
Before you ask, yes, I was a little tipsy when I came up with this theory yesterday. I get tipsy from time to time (to time).
The Garmin phone that was announced last night—shouldn’t the “answer” and “ignore” buttons be reversed? You can test out my theory right now. If you’re right-handed, and at least 85 percent of us are, hold your phone in your hand. Now look at the placement of your thumb. It’s on the outer edge, right, where the “ignore” button is. That makes no sense. If you’re getting a call and whip out your phone, you’d have to bring your thumb in to answer it. Wouldn’t it be easier to have the button locations switched? That way, when you answer the phone your thumb is by default in the spot in needs to be to answer the call.
Just my two cents.
Was anyone really surprised that Slacker delayed shipment of their player multiple times? Come on! With a name like Slacker it was inevitable. Anyway, pre-orders began shipping today. In case you wanted to know.
Today at PMA, Kodak announced the Easyshare Z1012IS, which is a 10-megapixel, 12x optical zoom wonder with OIS. It also has a lightning fast click-to-capture speed that’s best in class at 0.14 seconds with aufo-focus accuracy. ISO can be cranked up to 3200 for those fast action, low light situations. Kodak’s latest slew of cameras have smart capture technology that automatically identify the scene and adjusts the settings accordingly. The Z1012IS will be available sometime in the first half of this year for $300.
Press Release
About a year ago, I learned that just because you don’t store copyrighted materials on your server, “facilitating the transfer or consumption” of said material is still a no-no.
I was considering building a sweet video player web app (using SopCast) that streamed the Sunday NFL games simultaneously next to each other in a clickable grid that would allow someone to watch all the games at once and then click on each one to maximize that game.
Alas, I never did anything with it because I found out that even though I wasn’t hosting the games, I would have been making it very easy for people to watch them without the express written consent of the National Football League.
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Sure there are a ton of new digital SLRs with built-in dust reduction systems, but how can you be sure that you’ve got all the dust off? Because most of those systems use variations on the same technology – the imaging sensor or glass covering the sensor is vibrated at high speeds – there’s always a chance that static electricity might cause some dust to stay stuck.
The PMA 2008 show floor opened in Las Vegas this morning and one of the cooler pro products we’ve seen so far is perfect for sensor neat freaks. Called the Firefly, this digital sensor cleaner uses ionization technology to remove the static charge of the dust so it just falls off. The device employs a Gitto "Rocket" air blower bulb to shoot a burst of anti-static air onto the sensor for a one-two punch against dust. The FireFly ($199) was actually developed by a company that specializes in ionization sources – not photography – so they’re experts on attacking static. Say goodbye to all those hours spent retouching for dust on your digital photos.
For more info, check out their website at www.nrdfirefly.com.
Dan Havlik is Technology Editor at PDN Magazine and Editor of DemystifyingDigital.com. For more professional photography news, visit PDNonline.com.
Big surprise here. The wonderful “multitouch” interface used by the iPhone, iPod touch, and new MacBook Air is; A) not Apple’s invention, B) famous because of Apple, and C) will begin appearing in more and more devices.
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It’s the beginning of the end, kiddies. RIM is jumping into the consumer accessories market with the BB Remote Stereo Gateway. In case you haven’t had any coffee and you’re unable to glean what RIM’s first accessory does then you should go and get a cup of coffee. Heh. The Remote Stereo Gateway wil connect your multimedia capable BlackBerry via Bluetooth to your stereo so you can listen to your tunes. This will be the first of many new products that RIM is set to announce during or shortly after 3GSM.
“This represents . . . a little peek into what’s cooking in the lab that RIM’s got going for an engaging consumer strategy,” said Mr. Abramsky, who maintains an “outperform” rating with a US$140 price target.
“This includes music, messaging . . . and browsing on a wireless basis without the phone. I wouldn’t be surprised to see BlackBerry Unite, which is coming soon, support some of these capabilities.”
FCC filing [via Financial Post]
Amazon.com will reportedly purchase digital audiobook provider Audible.com in the second quarter of this year for $300 million. Smart, smart, smart.
The purchase will allow Amazon to offer up Audbile’s 80,000+ audio programs (mostly books, newspapers, and certain radio programs) for download to its digital content customers. Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader has an audio jack that would likely be put to good use with such an acquisition.
Audible files are already compatible with Kindle and, if you remember way back when, Audible.com used to subsidize the purchase of certain MP3 players when you signed up for a year-long audiobook subscription for around $15 per month. It’d be nice if that same strategy was implemented again to drive down the price of the $400 Kindle.
Amazon.com buys Audible; March into digital content distribution continues [ZDNet]
So I’ve been trying to get Skype to work on my Darth Vader PSP all morning and for some reason the headset that was included doesn’t want to transmit my audio. During my test, I pinged Biggs and I could hear him loud and clear. There are no visible switches on the headset and nothing in the tools section to allow me to adjust the volume. I’ll keep fiddling with it and update later when it’s completely up and running. it works! Just tested with Doug and he was impressed by the voice quality. Hell, I’m impressed by the whole thing, too. i even ordered lunch and the fella on the other end didn’t have any problems hearing me. Sweet. Now, can someone tell me why Sony decided to let loose the Mylo 2?
Just got first reports in from NY Apple Stores. It seems the MacBook Airs were out for a brief period this morning and then they hauled them back into the back room. Bloops!
The 5th ave store jumped the gun on putting out the demo units, they gathered the units on a cart and placed in the back room. … OFFICIAL: The 5th Avenue store does have it in stock but for display only, you can go play with it right now but you can’t buy it. Call if you want to verify!
[Thanks, Kojak!]
UPDATE – Peter just stopped by the SoHo store and was told that the Airs would be on display sometime this week. Anyone see them at the 5th Avenue store?
An irate reader writes:
100’s of Comcast Customer Account Executives were fired last year and will
be fired this year due to their inability to meet increasingly difficult job
requirements. If you call in to get your cable fixed or have a question
regarding your bill, the phone rep must resolve your issue and try to sell a
core product – internet, phone or digital cable (if you don’t have all 3)
all within 330 seconds. Or, the rep could be fired. They have more and more
difficult job requirements including less time off the phone to work on
issues. And a sales quota that 1/2 the reps are unable to meet. New
employees make $11.50 per hour and it appears that Comcast would rather get
rid of seasoned employees who know how to do their jobs in favor of cheaper
new hires. All employees with customer contact from field techs to internet
support are also told to rush through their jobs or be replaced. Because
Comcast puts failing employees on coaching plans over a few month period,
they also fight the fired employees ability to collect unemployment.
Chances are that if you make contact for billing or service issues, you will
now get an inexperienced trainee rather than a seasoned rep. This is because
the experienced reps have been forced out the door.
Sounds like regular good old capitalsm to me, but it sure sucks to lose your job because you can’t beat the highly precise clock. Obsessive metrics do not make good customer service, kids.
Image from MidWood.net
I’ve been using GameFly for the past few months and I can characterize it as, and I quote, “nice.”
The company’s just announced that it’s added a third distribution center in Tampa to complement the ones in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.
I live in Boston and haven’t had much trouble getting games relatively quickly (generally takes two days from when GameFly receives the game I sent back) but this might improve times along the east coast and in the south as well.
We’re Expanding! Now More Shipping Centers for Faster Delivery! [GameFly.com]
So it’s thin and it’s shipping, but is it really that great? AppleInsider has taken a closer look at the trade-offs Apple had to make to get this thing running and found that a few of the important troubleshooting steps — namely Apple Hardware Test and SMC updates — are controlled from key combinations rather than via CD or DVD. They also found that Boot Camp requires a DVD or CD to install any version of Windows, requiring users to pick up a USB drive. Otherwise, the rest of the stuff they found is more nit-picking than serious: overheating in hot environments, slow system migrations over Wi-Fi, and “no warning” when you eject disks on other machines, resulting in a little surprise to anyone sharing an optical disk.
I’m going to say no dealbreakers so far.
Apple’s MacBook Air support docs reveal one-of-a-kind solutions [AppleInsider]
This video clip needs very little introduction, as it’s pretty much exactly how it sounds. Might not be safe for work, so proceed at your own risk.
Star Trek Orgasms [Double Viking]
Well how do you like that? Lenovo has cell phones — another reminder that the United States isn’t the only country in the universe (or world, for that matter). Lenovo had cell phones, I should say, as its recently announced that it’ll sell off the mobile phone unit for $100 million in order to concentrate on computers.
Good for you, Lenovo. It’s hard enough having a job while you’re in college, for instance. I can’t imaging having your own computer AND phone business. You must be exhausted! Get some sleep or take a little vacation with the money from the sale, eh?
Lenovo Sells Phone Unit [New York Times]
Comments are the greasy oil that keeps the blog machine running. Here are three great (and 100% unedited) comments recently posted by your fellow readers.
Super Smash Bros.: Umm… OK?
Jon
You’re acting like you’ve never seen a fox fighting a lizard before?
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Our NYC writers are at a mystery event sponsored by Garmin, and they’ve sent me something hot.
Garmin’s getting into the mobile phone business, and they’re getting in hard.
What you see above is the first image of the new Garmin Nuviphone, a touchscreen, 3.5G, GSM phone that’s packed — packed — with features, much of it from Google, like local search, traffic, gMail, gChat, weather, and even Google Panorama.
And it’s an MP3 player, and shoots video and stills with automatic geotagging, and it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. MMS, SMS, and other instant messaging protocols are supported. Fuel prices, stocks, you name it, it’s in here. Oh, and GPS. It’s almost exactly the size of an iPhone.
No word on pricing or who the carrier might be, but it’ll be available in Q3 of 2008. More pics and details to follow soon.
[UPDATE]: Couple more pics after the jump.
Gallery
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Lovers of Slacker Radio, prepare to shower me with petals of rare flowers, delicious food, and promises of sexual favors, for I bring news that the Slacker Portable, which has been delayed more times than Winehouse’s rehab visits, is finally set to ship tomorrow.
For those not in the know, the Slacker Portable is a device not unlike an iPod or Zune, but it uses local Wi-Fi to load songs into the device which are played for your, and you rate them, as you do on the Slacker website.
For those who like social networking mixed in with their music, this is the player for you, and you can thank me for the news later.
Slacker Portable Ships Tomorrow. What’s Next? [Laptop, whom we bested in Beer Pong at CES, just so's ya know]
