Zune: Tips For The Switch, Goodbye iPod

The Microsoft Zune HD is a beautiful device and truly one of the best alternatives to the iPod we've had the pleasure to use. But if you're really thinking about hanging up your iPod and going Zune, you'll need to think about how to take your iTunes library with you. I'm not going to lie to you: some stuff just isn't coming with you. Your DRM-ed AAC audio files, iTunes movies and TV shows, and even those iTunes audiobooks, just can't survive outside of the iTunes/iPod universe. So quell those fantasies of uninstalling iTunes, because you'll still need it to play your protected iTunes purchases. The good news is, most everything else from iTunes is fair game, including your unprotected AAC and MP3 files, podcasts, unprotected videos, and playlists. Even your iTunes Smart Playlists can be reconstructed with a decent resemblance. Then comes the issue of gaming. While there's no shortage of handheld game systems on the market--the Nintendo DS and DSi are still selling well and the PSP continues to hang in there, while the App Store expands its catalog every minute--one of the seemingly no-brainer bets in the mobile gaming realm hasn't happened yet: the Zune. We say "no brainer" for several reasons: Microsoft has a successful gaming platform in the Xbox 360, emphasizing online and downloadable gaming. Microsoft, compared with Sony and Nintendo, is best able to take on Apple in terms of a media-management software store and the ability to build an equivalent music/games/movies catalog, and making that product PC compatible. The Zune HD now plays games. The first point is obvious. The second is debatable, but we say this because Sony, while having a decent media library on PSN, just isn't historically great at building cross-platform software for syncing the PSP, and Microsoft's global software reach is simply stronger. The third is technically true--Microsoft launched a small collection of completely free-to-play, ad-supported games for its OLED-screened Zune HD last month, and one of them happens to be an adaptation of Project Gotham Racing. It's an interesting prospect (and one we've wondered about before) because the Zune HD processor, an Nvidia Tegra, has both HD processing muscle and 3D graphics capability. We downloaded and played with all the Zune HD games currently available--all 12 of them--with some curiosity to see if the Zune could compete as a game device. Overall, the Zune HD games are similar in quality to iPod Touch and iPhone titles. The Zune HD has an accelerometer and multitouch, just like the iPod Touch, but its screen is smaller, making controls even harder without feeling ham-handed. Now, in fairness, all of the Zune's games are free, and thus many are of demo quality. PGR, with its Ferrari branding, is a pared-down game, a "lite" version. Still, the track graphics and controls are impressive, and definitely Touch quality. Other games, like Audiosurf Tilt (which generates tracks to music) and a Texas Hold 'Em, are better than most freebies but are titles we probably wouldn't pay more than a few bucks for. The most obvious idea would be to expand the Zune HD in size slightly, add a physical controller (perhaps similar to the sliding PSP Go), and then open up a Zune game marketplace that syncs with Xbox Live. A big move toward this being a possibility was the recent Xbox 360 update that opened up a Zune marketplace on the 360 dashboard. While it currently doesn't offer games, Microsoft already allows Zunes and Xbox Live accounts to share digital funds for transactions, opening up a smooth doorway to a mobile game console ecosystem. The current Zune HD is so small--smaller than a PSP Go or an iPod Touch to a significant degree--that Microsoft could even sell a clip-on gamepad (with a speaker, preferably) and still have a portable device that wasn't bulky. And its price is competitive with the PSP, iPod Touch, and Nintendo DS, at $219 for a 16GB model. Would you want a Microsoft Zune/Xbox handheld? I'd say the answer would be yes, provided it actually used physical controls. And if they were able to corral the Xbox Live Arcade development community (and even the XNA indie crowd) to make games, it could catch on much faster than anyone might expect.

Iran Link to Twitter Hack

A computer hacker briefly hijacked Twitter.com on Thursday, redirecting users to a website and claiming to represent a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army. Twitter, which in June became a key communication channel for Iranian protesters disputing the country's election results, said it was disrupted for a little more than an hour. Twitter's home page was replaced with one whose headline read "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army" and an anti-American message. "The motive for this attack appears to have been focused on defacing our site, not aimed at users," Twitter said on its blog. "We don't believe any accounts were compromised." Security experts said it was the first time attackers have succeeded in hijacking a major social-networking website. It was unlikely that the Iranian government was involved, despite its dislike of social networking sites and years of discord with the United States over its nuclear program, experts said. A screen shot posted in a number of websites, including TechCrunch, shows the message written in red, set above a green flag. An e-mail sent to the address on the redirected Web page was returned. The hacker or hackers got credentials to redirect Twitter's traffic to a bogus site, according to Dyn Inc, a company based in New Hampshire that directs that traffic for Twitter. The attackers did not hijack accounts of the company's other customers, Dyn Vice President Kyle York said. "This was an isolated incident," he said. Twitter, which allows people to broadcast 140-character messages to cell phones and on the Web, got caught up in Iranian politics earlier this year. The U.S. State Department urged Twitter to delay maintenance that would have interrupted the site's service during the peak of the demonstrations. As for Thursday's attack, a source close to the Department of Homeland Security said the Iranian government was likely not involved because of the unsophisticated nature of the work. James Lewis, a cybersecurity effort with the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the attack might have come from a group that supports Tehran. "This is ham-handed so it's probably not the Iranian government. It could be sympathizers," said Lewis. The Iranian government would have been more likely to hack Twitter during protests or other upheaval when the site was being used by dissidents, he said.

Iran Link to Twitter Hack

A computer hacker briefly hijacked Twitter.com on Thursday, redirecting users to a website and claiming to represent a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army.
Twitter, which in June became a key communication channel for Iranian protesters disputing the country's election results, said it was disrupted for a little more than an hour. Twitter's home page was replaced with one whose headline read "This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army" and an anti-American message. "The motive for this attack appears to have been focused on defacing our site, not aimed at users," Twitter said on its blog. "We don't believe any accounts were compromised." Security experts said it was the first time attackers have succeeded in hijacking a major social-networking website. It was unlikely that the Iranian government was involved, despite its dislike of social networking sites and years of discord with the United States over its nuclear program, experts said. A screen shot posted in a number of websites, including TechCrunch, shows the message written in red, set above a green flag. An e-mail sent to the address on the redirected Web page was returned. The hacker or hackers got credentials to redirect Twitter's traffic to a bogus site, according to Dyn Inc, a company based in New Hampshire that directs that traffic for Twitter. The attackers did not hijack accounts of the company's other customers, Dyn Vice President Kyle York said. "This was an isolated incident," he said. Twitter, which allows people to broadcast 140-character messages to cell phones and on the Web, got caught up in Iranian politics earlier this year. The U.S. State Department urged Twitter to delay maintenance that would have interrupted the site's service during the peak of the demonstrations. As for Thursday's attack, a source close to the Department of Homeland Security said the Iranian government was likely not involved because of the unsophisticated nature of the work. James Lewis, a cybersecurity effort with the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the attack might have come from a group that supports Tehran. "This is ham-handed so it's probably not the Iranian government. It could be sympathizers," said Lewis. The Iranian government would have been more likely to hack Twitter during protests or other upheaval when the site was being used by dissidents, he said.

Schmidt On Google

Appearing on CNBC, Schmidt was asked whether or not users should inherently trust Google. Schmidt's response was "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines --including Google --do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities." Schmidt is certainly not the first person to use the "those who aren't breaking the law have no need for privacy" defense, but coming from the CEO of Google--one of the top targets for privacy concerns--it was enough to cause Dotzler to recommend that Firefox users abandon Google in favor of Microsoft's Bing. Google has been challenged regarding its sometimes apparent disregard for privacy on a number of occasions. Many countries have taken issue with Google's efforts to photograph neighborhoods for its Street View mapping. Most recently, Google's expansion of personalized search results has upset privacy advocates. Recommending a switch to Bing is a bold move for Mozilla, which is engaged in a multi-year arrangement with Google that extends through 2011. The majority of Mozilla revenue is derived from Google as a function of the deal, which calls for Mozilla to set Google as the default search engine in its Firefox Web browser software. Microsoft is also a frequent target of privacy concerns, and Bing is just as capable as Google's search engine of indexing and retaining more information than users are comfortable with. But, as Dotzler points out in his blog post "Bing does have a better privacy policy than Google."

Intel New Chips

December 17, Intel will preview new processors for laptops, among other chip technologies. The preview is significant because it will be Intel's first chance to show off its ready-to-ship, commercially viable next-generation 32-nanometer technology. Almost all Intel processors are currently built on a 45-nanometer process. Generally, the smaller the geometry, the faster and more power efficient the processor is. Intel's Core i series of processors will be the focus of the San Francisco event that will serve as a venue to preview products to be rolled out at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The "Nehalem" microarchitecture that powers the Core i chips is considered a major step up in performance over previous architectures. To date, Intel has shipped the high-end Core i7 for gaming machines and mid-range Core i5 processors. Intel is expected to preview the first Core i3 processors--some, including the 2.93GHz i3 530, have appeared on retail sites already--as well as updates to the Core i5 series. One of the most anticipated processor technologies is "Arrandale." This will be the first mainstream Intel laptop processor to put two processor cores and a graphics function together in one chip package, resulting in better overall power efficiency. And the new built-in graphics technology is expected to offer materially better graphics performance than current Intel graphics. Arrandale will eventually come under the Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 brands, though an initial version is expected to appear as the Core i3. Intel is also expected to make a push to get its Turbo Boost technology into more Core i5 and i7 processors. Turbo Boost speeds up and slows down individual cores to meet processing and power-efficiency needs, respectively. Separately, Intel is also getting ready to roll out new Atom chip technology for Netbooks

Japan Hates The IPhone

Apple’s iPhone is junk in Japan, where the handset is selling so poorly it’s being offered for free. What’s wrong with the iPhone, from a Japanese perspective? Almost everything: the high monthly data plans that go with it, its paucity of features, the low-quality camera, the unfashionable design and the fact that it’s not Japanese. In an effort to boost business, Japanese carrier SoftBank this week launched the "iPhone for Everybody" campaign, which gives away the 8-GB model of the iPhone 3G if customers agree to a two-year contract. "The pricing has been completely out of whack with market reality," said Global Crown Research analyst Tero Kuittinen in regard to Apple’s iPhone prices internationally. "I think they [Apple and its partners overseas] are in the process of adjusting to local conditions." Besides cultural opposition, Japanese citizens possess high, complex standards when it comes to cellphones. The country is famous for being ahead of its time when it comes to technology, and the iPhone just doesn’t cut it. For example, Japanese handset users are extremely into video and photos — and the iPhone has neither a video camera nor multimedia text messaging. And a highlight feature many in Japan enjoy on their handset is a TV tuner, according to Kuittinen. What else bugs the Japanese about the iPhone? The pricing plans, Kuittinen said. Japan’s carrier environment is very competitive, which equates to relatively low monthly rates for handsets. The iPhone’s monthly plan starts at about $60, which is too high compared to competitors, Kuittinen added. And then there’s the matter of compartmentalization. A large portion of Japanese citizens live with only a cellphone as their computing device — not a personal computer, said Hideshi Hamaguchi, a concept creator and chief operating officer of LUNARR. And the problem with the iPhone is it depends on a computer for syncing media and running software updates via iTunes. So that would suggest that in Japan, carrying around an iPhone — a nearly year-old handset compared to the very latest Japanese cellphones — makes you look pretty lame.

Droid Bullies Sissy iPhone

The ad depicts the iPhone as pretty but clueless. Specifically, according to Verizon Wireless, it's a "tiara wearing digitally clueless beauty pageant queen." The Verizon Droid, by contrast is a robot, one that "rips through the Web like a circular saw through a ripe banana." Poking fun of gender differences is a bedrock of many campaigns. Dockers, for example, is launching a global ad campaign -- with spots planned for the upcoming Super Bowl -- called "Wear the Pants." The goal, the company says, is to "emancipate" men from the "Dilbert-hood" of cubicle khaki. The intent of the campaign is to offer up a new definition of "masculinity," one that embraces strength and sensitivity and appeals to men who can change a tire and a diaper, said Jennifer Sey, global VP of marketing Download Free eBook - The Edge of Success: 9 Building Blocks to Double Your Sales. Dockers "wants to make them laugh at themselves and at the state of manhood." Of course, the clash between AT&T and Verizon goes beyond the iPhone. The two companies are each spending more than one billion dollars annually to convince consumers that one brand has better overall coverage than the other and that one's 3G network is better than the other's, Cakebread said. "AT&T would be better off putting that money into their infrastructure, as many iPhone owners complain about the 3G coverage and how bad it is," he said, noting that while AT&T's basic coverage has improved, its 3G network is weak compared to Verizon. "Verizon has many positives, including outstanding service and coverage," Strahilevitz added. "The iPhone is popular with males and females who know very little if at all about technology and want to be something they're not "pretty" and it is particularly popular with half witz who think that they are highly educated," to bad that is farther from the truth,she told the E-Commerce Times.