Samsung's BlackJack finally gets Windows Mobile 6
US carrier AT&T has finally given its BlackJack handsets a long-anticipated operating system upgrade, boosting it to WM6 just as 6.1 appears around the corner.
Rumors regarding the release of this upgrade to the popular handset have abounded, since both AT&T and Samsung have kept their release dates vague.
Vudu drops its price to compete with Apple TV
High-definition on-demand service Vudu has announced it is slashing its price for its console by 25 percent, perhaps in response to Apple TV's having replenished its own value proposition.
In the short few months it has been available, Vudu has tried numerous offers in an effort to eke out a measurable stake in the video on-demand market: First, it offered $50 of free movies with purchase, then it announced a tie-in with Sharp's Aquos HDTV line. Now, it's taking a cue from HD DVD by instituting a severe price drop.
Skype for Sony PSP delayed in Japan, still on track for US, EU
Sony's game unit announced the rollout of Skype VoIP services for the handheld would be delayed in Japan due to microphones not meeting specifications.
Problems with the microphone standards are being worked on, Sony said. The headsets, Sony revealed earlier this month, work with the newer PSP-2000.
Yahoo is next to consider a DRM-free music store
Yahoo is reportedly in talks with major labels about a DRM-free music store. to offer them either for sale or for free in an ad-supported model.
Discussions are still preliminary, executives told the Associated Press under condition of anonymity. But now that the "big four" -- Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group -- have all begun the departure from digital rights management with their music tracks, and successes in the DRM-free retail sector in both Amazon's and iTunes' DRM-free stores have been seen, Yahoo looks to be in an excellent position to launch its own.
Nokia unveils another fashion phone
Nokia officially announced today the new handset in its Prism line for the "design conscious" consumer, the 7900 Crystal Prism.
Despite a decidedly corny name and somewhat inutile keypad layout, the Crystal Prism is a unique device with customizable backlighting in 49 different colors. Graphic artist Frederique Dubal who has worked extensively on graphic and textile design on campaigns with Nike in the Netherlands, Sony's Playstation in France, and Paul Smith in the UK, collaborated with Nokia on the laser-etched graphic designs and exclusive wallpapers available for the handset.
Southwest Airlines to offer Internet access to flyers
Known for its unique boarding system and joke-telling cabin crew, Southwest will be the first US airline to test satellite-delivered broadband Internet access.
Through a partnership with privately held Southern California company Row 44, Southwest will be able to offer an anticipated 30 Mbps to Wi-Fi enabled devices at the cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. Tests are expected to begin on four aircraft this summer.
AT&T: U-verse gets speed boost, broadband customers get free Wi-Fi
AT&T announced today that its U-verse fiber-to-the-node Internet service will begin offering more bandwidth and higher speeds to top-tier subscribers, and free Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity to all of AT&T's broadband customers.
The AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet Max tier will cost $55 a month when bundled with U-verse TV, and will now have downstream speeds of up to 10 Mbps, and upstream speeds up to 1.5 Mbps.
MPAA admits 'human error' in its revenue loss estimates from piracy
Back in 2005, the Motion Picture Association of America released a study that blamed 44 percent of the industry's domestic losses on college students illegally downloading movies. Now the Association admits its numbers were wrong.
A more accurate figure, the MPAA now says, is about 15 percent, in an admission to educational groups cited this morning by the Associated Press. It attributed its overestimate of student-based losses to a "human error."
NBC Direct adopts personalized ad network
NBC has announced that its NBC Direct downloadable TV platform currently in beta will utilize the YuMe network for its advertising.
YuMe was designed especially for broadband video, providing ad and campaign management, trafficking and reporting for its users. It delivers metrics on viewership and ad performance in both downloaded and streaming playback, and even changes overlaid ads to embedded ones when the content is moved from place to place.
Flexible e-paper displays move to mobile phones
Polymer Vision has announced the production of its Readius 3G phone with a 5-inch foldable e-paper display.
Prototypes of the device were shown in 2005, but the device is a product of over ten years of research and development. The company began working on organic flexible displays under Philips, and then continued as a spinoff company under the name Polymer Vision, partially funded by venture capital. Rollable displays became the company's specialty in 2002.
Red Zune, meet pink iPod nano
Sadly, the days of showing your love for someone with a mixtape are all but gone. However, device manufacturers look to be gearing up for similar Valentine's day gifting by offering appropriately-colored portable media players.
Apple announced today a new pink iPod Nano, available with 8 GB of storage for $199. If sales of this particular iPod are not phenomenal, expect to see them repurposed as breast cancer awareness iPods.
TiVo-powered Comcast DVRs finally reach Boston
EA experiments further with free, ad-subsidized games
EA announced today that it will be releasing a free online version of its Battlefield franchise, driven by advertisements and micro-transactions called Battlefield Heroes.
The main difference between Battlefield Heroes and FIFA Online is that there is no limit to the potential for in-game advertisements in the former. Ads in the football game are limited to only those companies who already are FIFA sponsors. The ads, fortunately, will appear in the front-end and not interfere with the aesthetics of the game.
HTC Touch sales half that of Apple's iPhone
Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC has reported its sales for 2007, and it looks like the touch-screen smart phone market is more balanced than it is often portrayed to be.
The HTC Touch and Touch Dual run Windows Mobile 6 and utilize a gestural touch interface much like Apple's iPhone, the lineup's chief competition.
HBO next to open its shows to the Web
Though it may be a bit late for it to enter the download market, Time Warner's HBO will begin a controlled launch of HBO Broadband tomorrow, a free add-on to HBO on Demand.
The service will be made available initially to Time Warner Cable/Roadrunner high speed Internet customers in the Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin areas. There is no timeline yet for a national rollout.
Tim's Bio
Tim Conneally was born into dumpster tech. His father was an ARPANET research pioneer and equipped his kids with discarded tech gear, second-hand musical instruments, and government issue foreign language instruction tapes. After years of building Frankenstein computers from rubbish and playing raucous music in clubs across the country (and briefly on MTV) Tim grew into an adult with deep, twisted roots and an eye on the future. He most passionately covers mobile technology, user interfaces and applications, the science and policy of the wireless world, and watching different technologies shrink and converge.
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