Here are some of Monday’s stories. Happy Halloween! Good Morning, Starshine: The Wake-Up Light USB WiFi Dongle with Integrated Hotspot Finder Rechargeable Moixa USBCell AA Batteries Reviewed Nintendo Embraces Seniors, Mothballs Survey! → Read More
Israel based social networking and user generated media sharing site eSnips is announcing the closure of its Series A funding with $2 million from Greylock Partners and Gemini Israel Funds. Users buy and sell art, music and other user generated content on the site. The company says it has registered nearly one million users since launching this March. See our previous coverage of eSnips here. This is a company that takes a remarkably simple approach to serving consumer producers. They monetize storage beyond 1 GB of media and run AdSense on most pages. Purchasing items on eSnips currently goes on through PayPal. I wouldn’t be surprised if this new funding is used in part to develop or purchase an ecommerce tool that eSnips can generate revenue with. They certainly have built up a vibrant user community in a short period of time. → Read More
On Tuesday Prosper.com, a person-to-person lending site that launched in February, will announce a couple of fairly significant milestones: 100,000 members and $20 million in funded loans. They reached both milestones faster than UK-based competitor Zopa, which was recently named a Busines 2.0 “Disruptor.” Prosper allows members to request loans of up to $25,000 (the average funded loan is $5,000), and then other members offer to fund the loan at various interest rates. Prosper breaks the loan up into multiple pieces to distribute risk, and then funds from the lenders offering the most attractive interest rates. Over 4,000 loans have been funded since the site launched in February 2006. Prosper earns revenue by taking 1% of the loan amount in fees from the borrower up front, and charging a 0.5% yearly loan maintenance fee to lenders. Interesting fact: Benchmark invested in both Zopa and Prosper, and the two will soon be competeting directly as Zopa expands to the U.S. market. → Read More
While the launch of Brightcove has garnered no shortage of attention today, it wasn’t the only important video news of the day. Google’s first “Sponsored Video” had its debut as well. Titled The Domino Effect, it’s Diet Coke and Mentos part II from the guys in white lab coats – EepyBird. Sponsored of course by Coca Cola and Mentos. What portion of the ad money goes to the video creators hasn’t been disclosed. The original Diet Coke and Mentos video that the pair made was much more entertaining and brought them a reported $35,000 when they posted that video on Revver. Reeling in viral video stars with promises of revenue sharing has been Revver’s strategy – apparently they got beat at their own game when EepyBird got this Coke, Mentos and Google deal. The official Google Blog said today that this was just the first of what they hoped would be many Sponsored Videos. This is not a long tail approach that’s being taken so far to monetize Google Video content. People interested in participating in the Sponsored Video program are directed to a Google Video page that says it is for publishers with more than 1000 hours of video available. The advertising on the EepyBird video is a very produced post-roll. This isn’t massive upload of user generated video content with AdSense wrapped around it. Perhaps that will be the role of YouTube and Google Video will be for relatively high-brow, formally produced video footage. It’s fascinating to see Google, the creator of possibly the best long tail monetization engine in history, launching a video program focused on elite producers only. On the same day Brightcove launched a free for all network aimed at a much larger number of video producers and Metacafe took the bulk approach with their new Producer Rewards program. Metacafe is paying publishers $5 for every thousand views of a video after the first 20,000. I’m sure that things will change with time, but perhaps Google has come to terms with the fact that hipness isn’t what its in-house video service has to offer. Perhaps it’s class they are seeking. If, in this world today, high class means hundreds of exploding Diet Coke bottles followed by an advertisement then perhaps what they are doing makes sense. Whether Google can split large advertising revenues with elite amateur video producers and build and sustain a vibrant, creative → Read More
A CG fan Matt tipped me off to his interesting new work set-up consisting of a phat Alienware Entertainment Center – surround sound out, digital video, and a little glowing alien head included – along with the Phantom Lapboard. → Read More
Even though the slim silver PlayStation 2 has been out just about everywhere for a while, Sony didn’t release an “official” announcement for the limited edition system until earlier today. Sony stated, Six years after its initial launch, the PlayStation 2 continues to enjoy nonstop success, outselling all other consoles. The introduction of this limited edition model is sure to be a hit this holiday season with die-hard PlayStation fans and new gamers alike The new PlayStation 2 is on sale for $130, which isn’t too bad with Final Fantasy XII (coming out tomorrow), God of War 2 and some other good games coming out in the next year. Seeing how the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be pricey (compared to the PS2), the new silver PS2 would make for a good Christmas present to someone who doesn’t already have one. Sony Announces Silver PlayStation 2 [kotaku] → Read More
The Nikkei Keizai Shimbun morning edition reported this morning that Sony will not hit its mark of 100,000 PlayStation 3 units in Japan. Component shortages have limited the release of the PlayStation 3 to 80,000 units, which will lead to 20,000 more disappointed Japanese gamers. Due to the shortage, many major retailers (as well as major online retailers) in Japan will no longer be taking pre-orders. You can bet that launch day for the PlayStation 3 is going to be absolutely insane in Japan. I’m going out on a limb on this, but it also feels like Sony is going to announce that it will also miss its mark of 400,000 units in the U.S. If there’s a bigger shortage here, it’s going to make things even more crazy come launch week. I tried to make a pre-order at ToysRUs yesterday, and got there at 7 on Saturday night, and still missed the pre-order (ToysRUs only offered 6 PS3 preorders). People had been camping out since 4am Saturday morning! Hopefully that won’t be the case, and it won’t make things harder for anyone trying to get a PlayStation 3. Only 80,000 PlayStation 3 Units Coming To Japan [ign] → Read More
For everyone planning on purchasing a Nintendo Wii next month, it seems like there is more good news coming our way. There’s been a rumor floating around that Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, told GameSpot, There will be another big Wii revelation around launch time. GamePro confirmed the rumor a few days ago, but no one has any idea what the Wii announcement will actually entail. Seeing as how Reggie stated that it would be a “big” revelation, it very well may be spec related. Or maybe it might be something small, like a microphone built into the Wiimote. There’s no date on when the announcement will come, but there is only a few weeks until launch. Nintendo Wii Revelation Coming [go nintendo] → Read More
As you may or may not know, when Apple updated the iPod Nano to the 2G version, it shifted the dock connector ever so slightly, making a large number of first-gen Nano accessories incompatible with the new models. Sure you could push and shove and pull to get some things to kinda fit, but not everything. Well, Sonnet Technologies accounced today that the cradle, included with its iFreq in-vehicle FM transmitter/charger, has been redesigned to fit both 1G and 2G iPod Nanos. Hooray. Not familiar with the iFreq? One part is the aforementioned mounting cradle that snaps off and on an adhesive-backed magnetic disk you attach to your dash. This lets you pop the iPod off, change settings, tracks, artists and what have you, and then pop it back into its place. A cable runs from the dock and connects to the iFreq’s body (the other part), which goes into your cigarette lighter. The body has an LCD and controls allowing you to easily lock into an FM radio station for casting your iPod’s content over your car’s stereo. So if you’re in the market for an FM transmitter for your new Nano, the iFreq’s new cradle will fit for sure. But even without the cradle it’ll work with any iPod that has a dock connector, so that’s fun. It sells for about $80. Sonnet Technologies iFreq [product page] → Read More
Good news for Xbox 360 owners, the new dashboard update will be available tomorrow, October 31. There are a number of changes coming, a few good ones to point out are 1080p support over VGA and component cables, Xbox 360 HD DVD player support, support for video playback from CD and DVD data discs and you will be able to stream music, video and pictures from your Zune! Personally, the Zune’s compatibility with Xbox 360 is extremely exciting, especially if in the future we will be able to get content we’ve download on the 360 onto the Zune. Now, if Microsoft could find a way to get Geometry Wars onto the Zune… Also, no more “Your Friend Is Now Online” notifications while you’re watching DVDs. It’s about time, it really sucks watching a serious movie and having a notification popping up on the screen telling you “PooInMouth Is Now Online.” With that being said, hit the jump for the complete list of changes coming to your Xbox 360. → Read More
Business Objects has released a free, lightweight version of its spreadsheet visualization software Crystal Xcelsius. Called CX NOW, it’s a Windows desktop application that connects with Excel, Powerpoint and Word to offer an interface for creating dynamic graphs and charts based on spreadsheet data. The best thing about the software is that it lets you use GUIs like sliders and dials to change a particular field in the spreadsheet and both your spreadsheet and visualization change in real time along with the slider. We threw up a quick and dirty example below; visualizations like this can be embedded in Word files, PowerPoint slides and on the web. Once it’s set free on the web, the visualization obviously no longer changes the .xls file, but it does when both are on your desktop. The company has a well made screencast demonstration that’s worth checking out. There’s a fair amount of creativity made possible and the company is holding a contest that will award $10,000 to the creator of the best visualization with its tools. The full Crystal Xcelsius software is far more powerful but CX NOW is a fun, fast and free way to create some slick little presentations. http://techcrunch.com/wp-content/sales.swf → Read More
If you’re rocking a particularly small, small-form-factor PC or are looking to get a little extra performance out of your laptop, you’ll want to pay attention to this. Kingston Technology, memory-vendor extraordinaire, has made available 2GB 533MHz and 667MHz ValueRAM SO-DIMMs. Although, by “Value” it simply means that the modules don’t fall under the company’s HyperX performance memory; they’re priced at $589 and $640 respectively. That’s still a good sum of money, but it will allow you to put 4GB of Kingston memory into a two-slot motherboard. Kingston Technology ValueRAM [product page] → Read More
Logitech is poised to soon release the diNovo Edge, the self-proclaimed “World’s Most Advanced Keyboard.” Our review unit just arrived and I fired off a few preliminary shots for your viewing pleasure. → Read More
I use my USB ports to power all kinds of things, but I’ve never considered using them to recharge some batteries. Well thankfully, you people don’t have to rely on me for technology innovations. Moixa Energy, an R&D company working on renewable energy and portable power technologies has developed some Nickel Metal Hydride AA batteries that recharge via a computer’s USB ports. The coolest part is, the USB connector is built in underneath a cap at the positive end of the cell. Trusted Reviews has a full write up on them (nearly 1,200 words) and the verdict is good. Other than having a higher-than-average price, roughly $25 for a pair, the batteries are convenient and can really hold a charge, pumping out 563 consecutive shots on a Fujifilm FinePix S602Z with the LCD and flash going. It mentions that AAA and 9-volt versions are on the way, too. Moixa USBCell AA Batteries [Trusted Reviews] → Read More
Everything USB has a review of the new Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 from Microsoft. Aside from using a fancy new LAAAAZER BEAM engine, the mouse offers a new ergonomic design that is said to reduce wrist tension and increase comfort. I can see this as maybe being a valid option for basic users, but not so much for gamers and power users. I’m always abstractly in the the market for a better mouse, but I guess I can be a little slow on the uptake. I’ve been using the Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse for over a year now and am pretty happy with it overall. Prior to that, I used the MX 300 for I have no idea how long (ages). Hopefully someone will release something better soon, because I feel like I need to be making moves. MS’ Laser Mouse Goes Natural & Ergonomical [Everything USB] → Read More
Seagate’s Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (Full Disk Encryption 2) drives are set to ship in early 2007, allowing consumers to have built-in encryption on the disks to protect their data from nosy intruders. These drives, which are of the 2.5-inch, 5400RPM kin designed for notebooks, will require you to have some form of authentication before it’s able to be read from at all. Seagate’s looking to other equipment manufacturers to add in either fingerprint or other smart card authentication to machines which use this drive. So far no PC maker has actually announced support for the drive – something that’s, you know, important – but Seagate is already calling the technology “DriveTrust” in preparation for that day. Seeing as the previous generation Momentus 5400 FDE drives were announced June 2006 and still don’t have PC support, Seagate called that one a “proof-of-concept product” to save face. So how much more will you have to pay to keep your data automatically secure? Less than $100, actually, which is around the same as comparable software solutions. Since it’s almost always faster to do things on hardware, this price isn’t too bad. But then again, if all you’re doing is keeping your MP3s and emails to your wife on your hard drive, you probably won’t need encryption at all. Seagate Readies Secure Drive [PCWorld] → Read More
MotionDSP uses military grade video enhancement technology to improve the quality of low-grade footage from devices like mobile phones. The technology compares every frame in a video to find and replace missing pixels. We profiled the company in August and today they have launched their first product. Called Ikena, the offering is a B2B deal aimed at websites hosting consumer generated video content. The company offered a brief period of free public beta use, but that period is over now. If you start seeing the quality of mobile shot video on the web improving, don’t assume it’s an improvement on the phone side. MostionDSP’s resolution enhancement could become an industry standard for video sharing sites. You can see the quality of the video enhancement on the company’s sample page or on the MotionDSP user page on YouTube. The difference isn’t huge, but when consumers had a choice between the two I think the demand will be clear. MotionDSP began in 1998 as a US military funded project at UC Santa Cruz. Its first product provides real time enhancement (meaning a one-minute video will take one minute to enhance) using a system of 3 dual core servers. Those systems start at $30,000 but most large companies will want to buy them in bulk. A company representative told me that future products could include chips to perform the resolution enhancement on phones or laptops. Anything that can run its algorithm is a potential platform, they said. They have taken about $500,000 in angel funding and are expecting to close Series A funding before end of year, probably in November. → Read More
Being the gadget lovers we are, we can’t count the times we brought home yet another expensive toy only to have our wives look at us in disgust, refusing to finish the “delicious” dinner she’d been making. Well, actually we could easily count the times by counting the scars on our backs thanks to the god-awful couch we end up sleeping on each time. Nevertheless, it would be nice to avoid such a situation entirely. Thanks to this list of the 10 most wife-acceptable gadgets, that may be possible. The list has some unlikely stuff like a Sony VPL-VW50 projector (we don’t think so), a 50-inch plasma for less than $2,000 (maybe), Slingbox A/V (doubtful unless you married a nerd), and a Sonos bundle. The items she probably will accept are the iPod Nano, a TiVo Dual Tuner, and a Philips Digital Photo frame. From experience, we recommend you bringing home some flowers and an invitation for her mother to visit along with your new gadget anyway, just in case. Top 10 products with high ‘wife-acceptance factor’ [CNET] → Read More
The crew over at Slashphone has dropped a video from Digital Life featuring the Parrot MK6000 handsfree kit. The Bluetooth 2.0 device features dual microphones, ambient noise dampening and text to speech. And it can stream music from any A2DP device. Parrot says it’s the next big thing in mobile, I doubt it would overstate the significance of its product (it does actually seem pretty cool though). Parrot MK6000 Handsfree Kit [SlashPhone] → Read More
Nintendo showed up this weekend at a convention one probably wouldn’t expect to be encountered by video games at: The AARP Life@50+ convention in Anaheim, Calif. The company was showing off its Wii in force, demonstrating to the 20,000 attendees that the Wii wasn’t just for kids. It also had demonstrations of “Brain Age” for the DS, with Nintendo operatives wandering the grounds wearing badges that read, “Ask Me My Brain Age.” I believe this will go down as one of the most brilliant moves of any gaming manufacturer. Its an untapped goldmine of consumers. Retirees with gobs of cash looking for more entertaining ways to spend their time. But the real beauty is in the fact that many of these retirees have grandchildren who will embrace the technology even further—brilliant really. Nintendo at AARP Event to Court the Grayer Gamers [NY Times] → Read More
