We reported about a month ago that Dell would soon be making its way to Best Buy. Beginning today, you can pickup a Dell at your local Best Buy.
The systems available at the Inspiron 1521 and 1420 and the XPS M1330 and M1530 notebooks. As well as the Inspiron 531s, 531, 530 and XPS ONE desktops.
It’s a big move for Dell and Best Buy.I can’t wait to see what effect this has on each company.
Not so fast says Thom Yorke. In an interview with BBC Radio 4 Yorke said releasing an album in only digital format would have been “mad.”
The Radiohead front man explained:
We didn’t want it to be a big announcement about ‘everything’s over except the internet, the internet’s the future’, ’cause that’s utter rubbish. And it’s really important to have an artefact as well, as they call it, an object.
Radiohead sent shock waves across the music industry last fall by independently releasing its long anticipated album “In Rainbows.” The band dropped its old label EMI in favor of the self-release and later signed with two independent labels to distribute physical albums in the US and the UK.
I was at CMJ right after the album announcement and it really was all that anyone could talk about. Even now though, the real effect remains unclear. The band refuses to give a firm number as to how many digital copies were moved. Rumors place sales at around 1.2 million, but Yorke has stated that number to be incorrect — although he could just be being coy.
Whatever the case, it’s clear that we’re in the midst of a sea change.
Remember the the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium, that sweet, if not dated, little flash drive that’s made from—wait for it—titanium? Well it’s back and now it’s colored gold and has a plus behind it’s name.
While those two revisions are indeed massive, it also carries with it a significant update to SanDisk’s line of flash devices. The Titanium Plus includes with it a six month membership with BeInSync, an Online backup service that automatically mirrors data stored on the drive.
What’s more, the 4GB drive is priced at $59.99, which is rather agreeable. And following the six month grace period with BeInSync, users will be charged $30 for one year of service.
It will be available in March.
According to holiday numbers released by Neilsen Soundscan, physical album sales were down 21.4 percent from last year. The drop is the latest indication of the spectacular decline of the music industry’s ability to move albums.
Many in the industry will shake angry fists of blame at Online piracy, but, as Ars points out, the fact that Josh Groban’s “Noel” was the highest selling album of the year speaks volumes. In summary: the music industry needs to focus more on making better music and work on becoming more progressive so that it can better fulfill consumers’ tastes.
‘Noel’ is music’s saving grace [Variety]
The NY Times today has a piece reporting on the general state of high def DVDs. The report concludes that with about a million players in circulation (both formats combined), most consumers appear to be opting out of the battle altogether.
For me, it raises a lot of questions. It’s clear that one of the formats will take the throne from the DVD, but the question remains as to which one it will be. While Blu-ray is technologically superior, HD DVD’s price point makes it more consumer friendly.
I’m currently the owner of a Toshiba HD DVD player and find it to be passable, though I miss the snappiness of my old DVD player, the image quality is stellar. And it only cost $99, so it really couldn’t be beaten.
It makes me curious, however, as to what the adoption rate is amongst CG readers. Have you all opted for Blu-ray or HD DVD and why?
In the DVD War Over High Definition, Most Buyers Are Sitting It Out [NY Times]
If you’ve been putting donating an OLPC, today is your last day to participate in the Give One Get One program. So after today, if you buy one, you only get one.
It’ll set you back $399, but it’s for a good cause and you’ll get one for yourself, so yay.
As promised on Friday, today is the day to announce the winner of those Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4vi iPhone headphones. The contest was a reader response deal where the comment that tickled us the most over the weekend would win the earbuds.
After much deliberation, the CG staff has decided upon one comment for its humor and ballsyness. The winner is JJ, for this response to a woman looking to trade a Wii for a new set of boobs:
At first this surprised me…then she said she had a truck. Then I said…I get it.
NOW GIVE ME MY DAMN FREE EARBUDS!
Congratulations, JJ. You’ve won your damn earbuds. I’ll be in touch soon to get your contact info.
Everyone say thanks to Ultimate Ears for graciously donating gear to our cause.
Details recently emerged that Wikimedia interim COO Carolyn Doran was a felon responsible for a 2004 hit-and-run and multiple DUIs across various states. She also had prior thievery charges, was responsible for writing bad checks, credit card fraud and once shot a boyfriend in the chest. Oh and her late husband drowned on their honeymoon. Sounds like something from a movie. At any rate, all of these gems could have been uncovered by a simple background check.
The foundation behind Wikipedia is drawing flack mainly for the fact that Doran was responsible for handling many of the donations that the nonprofit receives. Nevertheless, in March Doran signed the foundation’s tax return and listed more than $1.3 million in donations. Despite her shady past, Wikimedia founder Jimmy Wales has stated that he doesn’t expect anything to be amiss and has promised to cover any discrepancies out of pocket if necessary.
Wikimedia has begun running background checks on all new hires.
The first incarnation of UMPCs was a doomed concept. They were clunky, unattractive boxes that were difficult to control and slow on performance. It was a losing situation for anyone unfortunate enough to be involved with one of the devices. As the platform evolves, however, it’s beginning to look more versatile.
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple plans wide support of Intel’s forthcoming 45-nanometer Silverthorne processors. Consuming only .5 - 2-watts of energy, the chip has been developed cell phones, UMPCs and other mobile devices.
So what is Apple planning? The source claims for wide-support, insinuating that the processor could show up in more than just the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Ideas? Speculation? Wild imaginations? Anyone?
Apple to adopt Intel’s ultra-mobile PC platform [AppleInsider]
Most of our readers should be familiar with the X Prize and its space travel initiatives. The first of which in 2004 awarded $10 million to a private sector team funded by Microsoft’s Paul Allen for reaching suborbital space. And now it’s offering $20 million in conjunction with Google for the first team to land on the moon.
What many (myself included) might not know, however, is that X Prizes are now being offered for innovations from a wide array of fields. Some of the most notable include the development of a 100MPG car, sequencing genomes for personalized medicine and $1 million for solving seven unsolved math problems — that’s $1 million for each problem. Netflix is even offering $1 million to anyone who can improve its automated movie recommendations.
There are quite a few others that could have a profound impact on the future of humanity in general. Have a look for yourself, maybe you’ve got what it takes to compete.
The X Prize Ecosystem [Wired]
If you’re the owner of an iPhone, then you’ve no doubt begrudged the stupid recessed headphone jack and spent many a night lying awake, hoping for a resolution to come swiftly in the night. If you don’t own an iPhone, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, so move along. There’s nothing to see here.
Read More
Two Colorado teens have been charged in the murder of a 7-year-old girl. According to a witness, Lamar Roberts, 17, and Heather Trujillo, 16, were reportedly imitating moves from “Mortal Kombat” on the victim. The teens were babysitting the child, Trujillo’s half-sister Zoe, while her mother was at work.
Zoe is said to have told the teens to stop before losing consciousness after being punched, kicked and body-slammed. The teens attempted to revive Zoe by running water on her and “attempting CPR” before calling 911. Zoe died at the hospital. An autopsy revealed a broken wrist, heavy bruising, swilling of the brain and internal bleeding along the neck and spine.
When asked why they didn’t stop when Zoe asked Roberts responded, “I don’t know, I was drunk.” They’re facing up to 48 years in prison.
Apple has begun distributing to developers a massive 362MB update for Leopard. OS X 10.5.2 build 9C7 includes over 70 fixes for problems related to the OS. According to Apple insider, developers have been told to, “focus their testing efforts on an expansive list of components running some 37 items long. Among them were Data Detectors, the Mac OS X Dock, the Finder, grammar checking, iCal, iChat, Mail, Parental Controls, Quick Look, Rosetta, Safari, Time Machine, and Leopard’s 802.11 AirPort implementation.”
Build 9C7 resolves many printing problems such as modular printing and AirPort shared printing. It also fixes a number of issues related to iMail. There is no definite date as to when this update will be released, but speculation points toward sometime around Macworld in Jan.
Mac OS X 10.5.2 to deliver sprawling list of fixes for Leopard [Apple Insider]
Variety reports that “Tekken” will soon become a major motion picture. No actors are yet attached to the film, but Dwight Little is slated to direct. You might remember Little from such major flops as “Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid,” “Marked for Death” and “Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home.”
According to IMDB, the plot involves:
The leader of a highly corrupt business under investigation of murder, Heihachi Mishima, suspiciously announces a tournament to crown a “king of iron fist” whereby the winner will be made his personal bodyguard and will have riches and fame laid upon them. However the tournament is not all it seems, as all of the contestants seem to have their own separate agenda’s to get close to the man looking to employ them. Consequentlly a group of elite fighters, undercover police and assassins team together in the hope of uncovering the truth but slowly realize they are in fact linked together through more than just there goal of killing Mishima.
Filming is set to begin Feb. 4 in my home state, Louisiana. I’m guessing, however, that since Mardi Gras is Feb. 5, actually filming will probably be pushed back by at least a week to allow the no name stars enough time to recuperate from shotgunning hand grenades.
In the meantime though, I’ve provided a clip of “Street Fighter: The Movie” just to give you all an idea of what can happen when a movie based on a fighting game goes horribly, horribly wrong (other examples include “Dead or Alive” and “Mortal Kombat 2″).
I know the clip might be a spoiler for some of you, but trust me, 40 seconds should be more than enough for anyone.
Director Announced For Tekken Movie; Begins Shooting Feb. 4 [Firing Squad]
This is starting to get interesting. First Radiohead released “In Rainbows” Online, then Saul Williams released the Trent Reznor produced “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust.” Now it seems that movie studios are, at least to some degree, following suit.
While filming “Jackass 2,” the crew apparently created enough content for two entire films. In the spirit of this new Online distribution model, Paramount and MTV has decided to stream “Jackass 2.5″ in conjunction with Blockbuster via Microsoft Silverlight.
It’s essentially a collection of DVD extras and commentary, but it’s cut together like an extra of sorts, hence the 2.5. Highlights include The Cajun Obstacle Course, The Poof and a whole lot of homoeroticism. At any rate, if you’re a fan of “Jackass” and the movies, it’s about an hour of hilarity and it’s free.
It’s been nearly three years since Think Secret editor Nick Ciarelli caught the wrath of Apple for leaking info on the Mac Mini and iWork prior to MacWorld. The result was a long, drawn out legal battle that has finally come to a rather lame conclusion.
A press release posted this morning on Think Secret reads:
Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret’s publisher, said “I’m pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits.”
It’s unclear how this can be conceived as positive, but I’m glad that Nick has managed to find some peace after fighting Cupertino.
Apple, Think Secret settle lawsuit [Think Secret]
Dell has announced that Ubuntu 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon, will now be offered on its systems. The update comes only about a month after Ubuntu made 7.10 available.
Also announced was the inclusion of LinDVD with all Dell Ubuntu systems. So now they can play DVDs straight out of the box.
Starting at $499, the Ubuntu systems offer a significant price reduction over Dell’s Windows boxes. Unfortunately, the desktops have, for some reason, been castrated and only come with Core Duo, but the laptop comes with Core 2 Duos. Not really sure what that’s all about.
Mozilla announced last night the availability of Firefox 3 Beta 2, which should be setting your auto-update notifications buzzing right now. The new version includes:
Improved security features such as: protection from cross-site JSON data leaks, tighter restrictions on site-specific content using effective TLD service, better presentation of website identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, anti-virus integration in the download manager, version checking for insecure plugins.
Improved ease of use through: better password management, easier add-on installation, new download manager with resumable downloading, full page zoom, animated tab strip, and better integration with Windows Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.
Richer personalization through: one-click bookmarking, smart bookmark folders, location bar that matches against your history and bookmarks for URLs and page titles, ability to register web applications as protocol handlers, and better customization of download actions for file types.
Improved platform features such as: new graphics and font rendering architecture, JavaScript 1.8, major changes to the HTML rendering engine to provide better CSS, float-, and table layout support, native web page form controls, colour profile management, and offline application support.
Performance improvements such as: better data reliability for user profiles, architectural improvements to speed up page rendering, over 330 memory leak fixes, a new XPCOM cycle collector to reduce entire classes of leaks, and reductions in the memory footprint.
It’s still consuming memory like a whore, but I’ll be damned if the new drop down navigation menu doesn’t look pretty. Anyway, get it while it’s hot.
Not quite tech news, but certainly dorky enough for CrunchGear. TheOneRing.net reports that Peter Jackson and New Line have settled a disagreement allowing the Academy Award winning director to produce two movies based on Tolkein’s The Hobbit.
This means that when this is all said and done, Jackson will have been attached to the film versions of most of Tolkein’s works. All that remains is The Silmarillion which is arguably his best, yet most convoluted, work.
Filming is slated to begin in 2009 with a 2010 release date for the first hobbit film.
PETER JACKSON AND NEW LINE CINEMA JOIN WITH MGM TO PRODUCE “THE HOBBIT” [TheOneRing]
Good A/V receivers ain’t cheap and such it should be no surprise that the 2808CI will set you you back $1,200. And yet, the price is vaguely surprising due to how affordable it is compared to other high end models.
The 2808CI packs in every feature you could possibly want from an A/V receiver, including 1080p up-sampling, DTS neo 6, neural sound, Dolby Pro Logic IIx and about a dozen other features that you need in your life to debatable degrees.
The only downside is that the receiver only supports two HDMI devices. This will hinder many in the future and is already holding me back (Xbox 360, HD DVD and cable receiver are all HDMI). Regardless, it’s bounty of other features (yes I just said “bounty,” what about it? It’s still a perfectly acceptable word in the 21st century.) that will keep you happy for years to come.
Denon AVR-2808CI
In 2004 an unsuspecting pederast by the name of Kenneth Sodomsky brought his computer to Circuit City to have a DVD burner installed. While the techs were installing the drive they, for some reason, “routinely” ran a search of video files to ensure that the drive was working properly. Upon searching, the tech discovered videos of unclothed teenage boys. Cops were called, Sodomsky was arrested.
The defendant said that the search was a violation of privacy and a lower court agreed with him, but an appeal was made and the Pennsylvania Superior Court decided that because Sodomsky voluntarily handed over his system and because the search was “routine,” laws were violated in discovering the file.
Now, unless you’re a member of NAMBLA, you’re likely to agree that kiddie porn is a bad thing. The questions I have are who the hell actually pays to get computer components installed? And why would a DVD burner require a routine search for video files?
It feels like a lack of technical knowledge on both sides of the law have led to Sodomsky’s inalienable rights being alienated — even if he is a pederast.
Court: Privacy no defense when Circuit City finds child porn [Ars]
Mobiblu today unveiled a folding version of its popular cube-shaped-budget DAPs. The point behind this is completely unapparent to me, but if you’ve ever found yourself yearning for a cube-shaped audio player that could unfold into a stupid little cross, then Mobiblu has you, and probably only YOU, in mind.
So nice of them to appeal to one customer. That’s what I call service.
Mobiblu unveils the Nanum folding cube DAP [Engadget]
Bonus pic after the drop. Read More
GOOD Magazine that is. The shamelessly self-testifying publications has released a cutesy chart depicting the energy consumed by your devices in passive and active standby modes. Standby energy consumption is said to cost consumers $3 billion per year. An easy solution is to use powerstrips and simply hit the office switch during periods that your devices are unused.
There is definitely a problematic trend here though. I know certain areas have begun to regulate the power consumption of devices during standby modes, but I can’t seem to find any citations supporting this. If someone else can dredge up a link pointing to standby regulations, I’d be grateful.
Vampire Energy [GOOD Magazine via Apartment Therapy]
The Palm OS device has found its way to Verizon Wireless, the carrier announced today. It runs version 5.4.9 of the OS and operates on Verizon’s acceptably speedy EV-DO network. Unlike Sprint’s red and blue versions, the Verizon 755p will come in a dark metallic blue-green shell.
For some crazy reason, Verizon has decided to price the device ridiculously high. Even with a two year contract, it costs $400. This is in stark contrast to the $250 tag it runs with on Sprint.
I’m not really sure what Verizon is thinking with this price point and regardless, but is anyone getting tired of EV-DO devices yet? I know it’s the best thing we have going right now, but WiMAX and LTE are just around the corner (well like 12 months). Straight 3G is just starting to feel so anticlimactic.
Verizon Wireless And Palm Announce The Arrival Of The Treo 755p Smartphone
