Monday, January 21, 2008

Show #65



[Download Show #65 as MP3]

News
  • Universal Won't Support HD-DVD Exclusively
    • The end of the war is near: Hollywood insider Daily Variety has confirmed that Universal will no longer exclusively support HD DVD. Following Warner's defection to Blu-ray and reports on the clause that allows Paramount to publish Blu-ray titles too, the end of Universal's exclusivity deal may be one blow too many for HD DVD. However, Universal is not going to stop publishing movies in the latter format
    • According to Variety "Universal is committed to a series of HD DVD promotions in coming months." At this time, only Universal and Paramount support the format but no longer exclusively. Sony, Disney, Fox, Lionsgate, Warner, New Line and HBO are all behind Blu-ray. Variety also argues that, with all those studios behind the format, retailers won't dedicate "premium shelf space to a dying format."
  • Sony/BMG to Sell DRM-Free Tracks Through Amazon
    • Last week Michael told you that Sony was going DRM-Free
    • He also told you that they would not be selling those tracks online
    • Well Amazon has announced that they will have Sony/BMG tracks in their Mp3 Store by the end of January
  • Melinda Gates Gives Rare Interview
    • Now this is incredibly interesting because it highlights Melinda's accomplishments and sort of stacks her up next to Bill
    • When most people think of Bill Gates they think "most successful" or "highly intelligent" and with that sort of status- its easy to overshadown anyone.
    • But Melinda has done more than just be at his side and raise his children
    • The article shows how she has been a driving force in Bills life, filling the gaps where he was lacking; and even though they already have a foundation worth over 35 billion, they are both now spending more time than ever on philanthropic work (mainly because of her)
  • Music Industry's Last Stand Will be a Music Tax
    • It is becoming more and more difficult for the music industry to ignore the basic economics of the their industry: unenforceable property rights (you can’t sue everyone) and zero marginal production costs (file sharing is ridiculously easy). All the big labels have now given up on DRM. They haven’t yet given up on trying to charge for their music, but it’s becoming more and more clear that as long as there is a free alternative (file sharing), the price of music will have to fall towards free.
    • But before that happens, the music industry is going to make one last stand to preserve their “bloated bureaucracies.” And that is going to be a call for a music tax to create guaranteed revenues.
    • Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor called for it this past week, saying “I think if there was an ISP tax of some sort, we can say to the consumer, ‘All music is now available and able to be downloaded and put in your car and put in your iPod, and put up your ass if you want, and it’s $5 on your cable bill.’”
    • Michael's Article on Trent Reznor's Saul Williams experiment can be found here, Trent Reznor, NiggyTardust, & the ISP Music Tax
  • FCC looks into Comcast "delaying" BitTorrent Traffic
    • What is BitTorrent?
      • Its a software, a protocol, and the name of a company
      • Started in 2001
      • BitTorrent is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources. Instead, when data is distributed using the BitTorrent protocol, each recipient supplies pieces of the data to newer recipients, reducing the cost and burden on any given individual source, providing redundancy against system problems, and reducing dependence on the original distributor.
      • There are many programs that you can use to download torrents, here is a pretty comprehensive list.
    • Started in November by Net Neutrality Advocates
    • The Federal Communications Commission has officially opened a pair of rule-making proceedings over network management in the wake of the discovery that Comcast occasionally blocks some BitTorrent and other traffic (Comcast calls it "delaying"). The proceedings are not unexpected, seeing as how FCC Chairman Kevin Martin promised an investigation last week at the Consumer Electronics Show.
    • What can you do? If you're interested in weighing in on the rule-making proceeding, you can use the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (referencing WC Docket no. 07-52). The deadline for submitting comments is February 13, 2008, and replies are due on February 28.
  • While I'm at it: Comcast charging for service changes
    • $1.99 to add or change service!
  • Free Cell Phones from MySpace
    • MySpace is launching a free, ad-supported cell phone through its parent company News Corp.
    • The hope is to gain more advertising for mobile web sites. Fox will also be offering specialized mobile phones with versions for FoxSports, the gaming site IGN, AskMen and other local TV affiliates, as well as Photobucket , which will come later. With existing branded-options through At&T and Helio, MySpace has long been interested in gaining a large mobile audience. Now that the numbers have reached a good height, it’s only natural that an ad-supported mobile phone would be the next step for the large social network. Not to mention, MySpace is getting an early-mover advantage here over companies like Google.
    • MySpace Mobile Optimized thanks to partnership with T-Mobile
      • Back in October 2007
      • A custom version of MySpace: a new user interface that offers a centralized location for accessing new messages, friend requests and comments on the home page.
      • Navigation simplified.
      • Optimized for use on the Sidekick.
  • MacWorld 2008 Announcements
    • Numbers Game
      • iPhone
        • 4 million iPhones sold
        • 19.5% of Smartphone market, second only to RIM
      • iTunes
        • around 4 billion songs sold total to date
        • 20 million songs in one day (Christmas Day) new one-day record
        • 125 million TV shows sold
        • 7 million movies sold
        • way above competitors but did not meet expectations
    • New "Time Capsule" Airport Extreme with "Server Grade" hard drive (500GB & 1TB at $299 and $499), this is primarily so Time Machine (the automatic backup software in OSX 10.5) will work better on laptops
    • New iPhone updates, Google Maps with Location, Web Clips (think of Opera's Speed Dial function), and Lyrics. SMS Multiple people and customize your home screen
    • New iTouch Apps: Mail, Stocks, Notes, Weather, and Maps (20$ upgrade for existing users)
    • iTunes Movie Rentals with ALL major studios on board (Touchstone, Miramax, MGM, Lionsgate, Newline, FOx, WB, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Sony all on board)
      • Over 1000 movies (available 30 days after DVD release)
      • Watch anywhere (Macs, all current iPods, and iPhone)
      • Rules: 30 days to start watching, 24 hours to finish
      • Prices: Library titles: $2.99, New Releases: $3.99
      • Launched this week in the US, International coming later in the year
      • Firmware updates to iPods and iTunes forthcoming
    • New Apple TV released, no computer required
      • Rent movies on the Apple TV
      • DVD quality AND HD + Dolby 5.1
        • HD rentals are $4.99. 100 titles today
      • Podcasts = audio and video
      • Photos from Flickr & .Mac
        • Photo "Screensavers"
      • Sync with iTunes is still available
      • Music can be bought from the device as well
      • For existing Apple TV users, the software is a free upgrade and will be available in about 2 weeks
      • Apple TV price drop: entry price is now $229
    • Fox Movies introduces DVDs with iTunes compatible copies
    • New Notebook line: MacBook Air (aka "World's Thinnest Notebook")
      • The thickest part of the MacBook Air is thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony. It fits inside a envelope
      • Steve Jobs showed one on stage during the keynote and man is this thing small
      • 13.3 inch widescreen display
      • iSight is built-in
      • MacBook-like keyboard, but with an ambient light sensor
      • Multi-Touch Trackpad
      • 1.8" hard drive
      • 1.6Ghz default with a 1.8 option
        • Intel shrunk the Core 2 Duo by 60% for this device
        • "Thick as a nickel and as wide as a dime" - Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel
      • 2GB RAM Standard
      • 80GB standard drive or 64GB SSD ("pricey but fast")
      • 1 USB 2.0 port, Micro-DVI, Audio Out, 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR
      • No optical drive, but a Superdrive accessory is available for $99. THere is also some software that allows you to "borrow" a Mac or PC's optical drive. Not sure how that works but I'm sure we'll see some reviews in the coming weeks
      • 5 hours of battery life
      • Price: $1799, shipping in 2 weeks
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