The newest Zune is selling out everywhere. Congrats to this underdog manufacturer "Micro-Soft" for finally hitting the big time! Until we get some hard numbers, there's no way to tell how many of these things are flying off the shelves. In the meantime, here's how it shakes down:
Amazon has both the 16GB and 32GB versions backordered, as does Best Buy, while Newegg and Buy.com both have only the 32GB left (and it probably won't last too long). Looks like the place to get it is Microsoft's online store, where both versions are available (and you can get those sweet Zune Originals engravings). Great to see the Zune HD getting the attention it deserves. l went out the first day and grabbed the last one my local best buy had, it was alittle crazy to say the least. l can tell you first hand this thing is NICE! Everything just works flawlessly, feels comfortable with no problems. Ever since my new purchase, l haven't even picked up my itouch...it really is that good.
Friday, September 25, 2009
FM Radio Comes to the iPod...Been Done
If you’ve been asking for an iPod with a built-in radio, you’re finally in luck. After eight long years, Apple has finally delivered. Taking yet another page from Microsoft's Zune!
Last week, Apple introduced its latest version of the iPod Nano, a multimedia player that’s smaller than a business card and weighs 1.28 ounces. It’s small enough to slip into some running shorts and skirt pockets.
While the radio is a welcome addition, the new Nano has some other features geared toward the active set. There’s a pedometer and, like previous Nanos, it is also compatible with the Nike Plus system that tracks your distance and other running or walking stats. The Nano also has a stopwatch and a voice-over feature that tells you the name of a song from your playlist. Of course, you can still listen to podcasts and your own music. So if you want to use wireless headphones, you’ll need an adapter. If you’re listening to a song and want to remember the name for later, you can “tag” it (but only if the station supports iTunes tagging). When you connect the iPod to your computer, iTunes will show you a list of the songs you tagged and then gives you the option to purchase the song from iTunes.
At first, the tagging and live pause on the iPod’s dial is not comfortable and you will inadvertently pause the radio when you want to pull up the tuner to change stations. It takes some getting used to, But it's no Zune! Sorry Apple too little to late.
Last week, Apple introduced its latest version of the iPod Nano, a multimedia player that’s smaller than a business card and weighs 1.28 ounces. It’s small enough to slip into some running shorts and skirt pockets.
While the radio is a welcome addition, the new Nano has some other features geared toward the active set. There’s a pedometer and, like previous Nanos, it is also compatible with the Nike Plus system that tracks your distance and other running or walking stats. The Nano also has a stopwatch and a voice-over feature that tells you the name of a song from your playlist. Of course, you can still listen to podcasts and your own music. So if you want to use wireless headphones, you’ll need an adapter. If you’re listening to a song and want to remember the name for later, you can “tag” it (but only if the station supports iTunes tagging). When you connect the iPod to your computer, iTunes will show you a list of the songs you tagged and then gives you the option to purchase the song from iTunes.
At first, the tagging and live pause on the iPod’s dial is not comfortable and you will inadvertently pause the radio when you want to pull up the tuner to change stations. It takes some getting used to, But it's no Zune! Sorry Apple too little to late.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Microsoft's Zune HD is an iPod killer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Microsoft's Zune HD, which went on sale Tuesday, is more than just another portable media player trying to unseat Apple's iPod.
It's part of Microsoft's new cross-platform media strategy, which focuses on the four screens that consumers watch: TV, portable devices, PCs and the Internet.
Earlier versions of the three-year-old Zune line synched only with a PC, but the new version also works with Xbox and high definition televisions, and will eventually be able to link up with Windows Mobile phones in the coming months.
"Previously with the Zune, we had just been in the MP3 business, but now we have a broader entertainment strategy," said Terry Farrell, senior project manager for the Zune. The new Zune allows a user to download a movie on Xbox Live, pause it mid-stream, sync wirelessly to the Zune and resume watching it on the go. And if the movie still isn't over, users can sync up with their PC's to watch the rest. (The Zune video store will be available to 20 million Xbox Live subscribers in November.)
The synergies don't end there. All movies will be available in 720p HD, so watching them on a high-def TV using the Zune dock connector makes the picture look as sharp as watching a Blu-ray DVD. Beyond movies, Microsoft plans to expand its app store, called Zune Marketplace, beyond the dozen or so apps it currently offers. The company's Xbox gaming unit is already working on original games and once the Zune is synched up with Windows Mobile, Microsoft said it will seek out third-party app vendors.
“You Lie!” Says Google to Apple on Google Voice Rejection
Google said Apple did reject its Google Voice application for the iPhone because it “duplicated the core dialer functionality”, according to parts of an unredacted letter released by the Federal Communications Commission.
Funny, because Apple just said last month that it “continues to study” the application and hadn’t rejected it. (The parts the FCC released today were originally blacked out in that same announcement last month.)
Furthermore Google says in its letter that it was Apple’s Phil Schiller, the senior vice president of worldwide marketing, who told Google’s senior vice president of engineering and research, Alan Eustace, over the phone that the app would be rejected.
Google Voice lets you use a single phone number to receive calls on multiple phones and reach your voicemail. It also lets you send free text messages and make international calls for two cents. When the application never made it into the Apple’s app store and the company removed similar independently-developed apps, the FCC launched an investigation. Google declined to comment on what it will do next.
Funny, because Apple just said last month that it “continues to study” the application and hadn’t rejected it. (The parts the FCC released today were originally blacked out in that same announcement last month.)
Furthermore Google says in its letter that it was Apple’s Phil Schiller, the senior vice president of worldwide marketing, who told Google’s senior vice president of engineering and research, Alan Eustace, over the phone that the app would be rejected.
Google Voice lets you use a single phone number to receive calls on multiple phones and reach your voicemail. It also lets you send free text messages and make international calls for two cents. When the application never made it into the Apple’s app store and the company removed similar independently-developed apps, the FCC launched an investigation. Google declined to comment on what it will do next.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Jobs Back But Nothing New For Apple
Steve Jobs stepped back into the spotlight for the first time in nearly a year on Wednesday, drawing a standing ovation before unveiling new and cheaper iPods for Apple Inc. But Apple's shares closed 1 percent lower after hitting a year's high in the session. Analysts said they dipped because investors took profits after a steady run-up in the days before the event. One analyst also pointed to Jobs' appearance, saying the 54-year-old chief executive looked "frail."
Dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, Jobs took the stage and thanked everyone in the Apple community for their "heartfelt support." It was his first public appearance since returning to work in June after six months of medical leave, during which the charismatic corporate showman underwent a liver transplant. Jobs started off by announcing a new version of Apple's popular online media store, iTunes, and updated software for the iPhone. He then unveiled new iPod features and colors, and announced price cuts for other models ahead of the crucial holiday season. But the real news is again for yet another year no new news. Still the same old apple, l'm waiting for the Zune HD!
Dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans, Jobs took the stage and thanked everyone in the Apple community for their "heartfelt support." It was his first public appearance since returning to work in June after six months of medical leave, during which the charismatic corporate showman underwent a liver transplant. Jobs started off by announcing a new version of Apple's popular online media store, iTunes, and updated software for the iPhone. He then unveiled new iPod features and colors, and announced price cuts for other models ahead of the crucial holiday season. But the real news is again for yet another year no new news. Still the same old apple, l'm waiting for the Zune HD!
Twitter: We Get to Use Your Tweets
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone sent an email to the service’s users, pointing to and explaining a revised terms of services document on the world’s most beloved oversharing site. Here’s the part you need to understand:
You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). This clause allows you to prevent anyone else except Twitter from, say, re-publishing your tweets as a book, at least in the United States, without your express permission. It doesn’t prevent other people from re-tweeting you, or otherwise quoting you under our nation’s vague fair-use laws. Twitter, however, gets to re-use your tweets any way it wants. That includes sublicensing them to another party — one you may not love or trust as much as you do Twitter.
You retain your rights to any Content you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, reproduce, process, adapt, modify, publish, transmit, display and distribute such Content in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed). This clause allows you to prevent anyone else except Twitter from, say, re-publishing your tweets as a book, at least in the United States, without your express permission. It doesn’t prevent other people from re-tweeting you, or otherwise quoting you under our nation’s vague fair-use laws. Twitter, however, gets to re-use your tweets any way it wants. That includes sublicensing them to another party — one you may not love or trust as much as you do Twitter.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
EBay To Sell Skype
Skype is to be majority-owned by a group of private investors, including Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and private equity firms.
EBay will keep a 35% stake in the firm, which it has been trying to sell for some time. It has said that Skype had "limited synergies" with it.
The deal values Skype at $2.75bn. EBay bought Skype for $2.6bn in 2005.
The new owners are Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures - which originally invested in Skype - as well as private equity firm Silver Lake and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
They will pay $1.9bn in cash, and give a $125m note to eBay, meaning that it promises to pay that amount on demand or at an agreed time.
Earlier this year, eBay had said that it planned to spin off Skype and list its shares in the first half of 2010, an announcement many took as a signal that the firm was for sale.
Ebay wrote down the value of the firm to $1.2bn a year after it was taken over.
Including payouts to Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who founded Skype in 2003, eBay paid over $3bn for the company.
Skype's software lets computer and mobile phone users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines.
Unlike traditional mobile calls, which are transmitted over a cellular network, Skype turns your voice into data and sends it over the internet.
Since being acquired, the number of registered Skype users has risen to 405 million from 53 million, though free user-to-user calls still dominate the service.
The deal should be finalised by the last three months of the year.
EBay will keep a 35% stake in the firm, which it has been trying to sell for some time. It has said that Skype had "limited synergies" with it.
The deal values Skype at $2.75bn. EBay bought Skype for $2.6bn in 2005.
The new owners are Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures - which originally invested in Skype - as well as private equity firm Silver Lake and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
They will pay $1.9bn in cash, and give a $125m note to eBay, meaning that it promises to pay that amount on demand or at an agreed time.
Earlier this year, eBay had said that it planned to spin off Skype and list its shares in the first half of 2010, an announcement many took as a signal that the firm was for sale.
Ebay wrote down the value of the firm to $1.2bn a year after it was taken over.
Including payouts to Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who founded Skype in 2003, eBay paid over $3bn for the company.
Skype's software lets computer and mobile phone users talk to each other for free and make cut-price calls to mobiles and landlines.
Unlike traditional mobile calls, which are transmitted over a cellular network, Skype turns your voice into data and sends it over the internet.
Since being acquired, the number of registered Skype users has risen to 405 million from 53 million, though free user-to-user calls still dominate the service.
The deal should be finalised by the last three months of the year.
TiVo Gets $200 million Fron Dish
Dish Network has been ordered to pay about $200 million to TiVo over DVR technology.
The lawsuit goes back to 2004, when TiVo sued EchoStar (now a part of the Dish Network) for violating a patent on a "multimedia time-warping system," which involved recording a program while watching another.
A jury in 2006 found that Dish's dvr infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million. The ruling has been upheld in two separate federal appeals. Dish has said its engineers updated its software years ago to design around TiVo's patent and that they removed the features TiVo claims infringe on its patent. Dish was ordered to pay another $103 million plus interest to TiVo in June for being in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction on selling DVRs with infringing technology,Then TiVo sued for nearly $1 billion and claimed it was due all of Dish's DVR profits for the five-plus years. Instead, U.S. District Judge David Folsom in Texarcana, Texas, awarded TiVo just under $200 million in total, saying the infringement wasn't willful and that Dish has made a good faith effort to design around the TiVo patent.
The lawsuit goes back to 2004, when TiVo sued EchoStar (now a part of the Dish Network) for violating a patent on a "multimedia time-warping system," which involved recording a program while watching another.
A jury in 2006 found that Dish's dvr infringed upon a patent held by TiVo and ordered it to pay TiVo $73.9 million. The ruling has been upheld in two separate federal appeals. Dish has said its engineers updated its software years ago to design around TiVo's patent and that they removed the features TiVo claims infringe on its patent. Dish was ordered to pay another $103 million plus interest to TiVo in June for being in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction on selling DVRs with infringing technology,Then TiVo sued for nearly $1 billion and claimed it was due all of Dish's DVR profits for the five-plus years. Instead, U.S. District Judge David Folsom in Texarcana, Texas, awarded TiVo just under $200 million in total, saying the infringement wasn't willful and that Dish has made a good faith effort to design around the TiVo patent.
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