Here’s a little more info about Punch-Out!!, which Peter briefly touched upon earlier today. Those two exclamation points are part of the title, by the way – it’s Punch Out!!, which is exactly one exclamation point more exciting than search giant Yahoo!. Anyhoo, IGN is reporting that we can expect to see Little Mac and company in the early part of next year. The graphics also look sorta cell-shaded, which is kinda cool. → Read More
Drivers in Pennsylvania between the ages of 50 and 75 will get to test out a new program by Allstate that’ll attempt to determine whether playing video games makes for better drivers. The pilot program will be open to 100,000 people who will be asked to play at least ten hours of memory-type games aimed at improving alertness. These drivers will then be compared to other 50- to 75-year olds who haven’t gone through the training, called “InSight” to see if accident rates differ. The “brain fitness” games have been developed by a company called Posit Science, based in San Francisco. If the program works well in Pennsylvania, Allstate may roll it out to other states as well. Apparently accident rates start to creep up around the mid-sixties age range, so if these games are able to help decrease accidents in and around that age bracket, it’d likely be a worthwhile program to pursue nationwide. [Posit Science via CNN/AP] → Read More
I guess real food wasn’t 1337 enough. These pods are filled with what are billed as crumbless, non-greasy snacks of various flavors that enhance your performance, the package being designed around (I assume) pouring them directly into your mouth. Now, I’m as disgusted as the rest of you when I look down and find myself covered in crumbs, but is that disgust enough for a company to start a whole “performance snacking” market? → Read More
Qik has announced that its video streaming software will have a shortcut pre-installed on Nokia’s just-launched 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone – the first deal of its kind for the still-young startup. The deal marks a big win for Qik, as it will expose the company to a wide audience while removing its biggest barrier to entry (many mobile phone users are reluctant to seek out and download new software).
Qik allows users to stream live video recordings directly from their phones over Wi-Fi or high-speed data networks, effectively turning the phone into a “mobile television studio”. These videos can be viewed live on Qik’s homepage or in embeddable players scattered across the web (all videos are archived for future reference). The software is available for a variety of phone models (you can see the full list here), including jailbroken versions for the iPhone, though Apple has yet to allow any video apps on the App Store. → Read More
Sling Media, the creators of a hardware device that lets users stream their home television signal to an Internet connected device anywhere (with a software download), is preparing to launch their new video portal, Sling.com. The company first mentioned the new portal earlier this year but has been quiet since then. Read more… → Read More
Fed up with the state of UMPCs? Remember UMPCs, even? Before netbooks, there were UMPCs – basically keyboard-less netbooks. Well one enterprising individual wanted a UMPC so badly that he cannibalized his Acer Aspire One netbook. The forum post is in Spanish but from the looks of it, the device is a dual-boot setup running a stripped-down version of Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu Netbook Remix with an 8.9-inch touchscreen, 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB solid state drive (with a possible upgrade to an 80GB or 120GB hard drive down the line), and something about adding GPS and TV to the thing in the near future. Nice job on the workmanship, too. It looks like an actual UMPC. [via Mobility Site] → Read More
Google has posted some more information about how search has been integrated into the first Android-powered phone, the T-Mobile G1, which goes on sale October 22.
Not surprisingly, search functionality pervades Android with an array of ways to query (just start typing, tap one of UI’s many search buttons, or press the G1′s dedicated search key). Dropdown suggestions are readily available as well, helping you identify common web search queries or reuse the ones you’ve run recently.
Most importantly, Google is providing an API that developers can use to “implement basic searchability – with recent query suggestions – in their apps”. The hope appears to be that developers make keyword search an integral part of their user experiences, thereby reinforcing the notion in consumers’ minds that search is king on the web – mobile or otherwise.
But is keyword search really the best paradigm for mobile devices? Typing on such a small object is a tricky and error-prone chore, regardless of whether you have a real physical keyboard or a plastic touch screen. Browsing and flicking around – two behaviors popularized by the iPhone – require less effort and ensure more precision. Unfortunately, they are very primitive behaviors that don’t afford much data to the device. → Read More
The looming – or is it already here? - economic crisis is going to hurt most CE companies this Christmas season. Sony is stating though that the company is on track with 30% better sales than originally thought and even with slow holiday sales, the PS3 will hit the expectations. That means the PS3 will sell 10 million units by March of ’09 with the PSP sales hitting the slightly higher target of 15 million units. So while the PS3 had a lackluster launch, it seems the constant upgrades and improvements from big daddy has helped keep sales alive. → Read More
The Copyright Royalty Board has set rates that companies like Apple and Amazon must pay music publishers for each digital track they sell. And the rates, drum roll please, . . are the same as they were before: 9 cents per song. So everyone can breathe easy. iTunes won’t shut down! (Not that it ever was going to shut down, but it was a good story).
Faced with an industry in transition, with new rules being written every day, the three-judge panel opted to do nothing. And maybe that was the prudent thing to do. But by setting these rates for the next five years, the Copyright Royalty Board missed an opportunity to help put the entire digital music industry on a more rational footing. As I argued yesterday, instead of a per-track fee, the Copyright Royalty Board should have set rates as a percentage of digital music revenues. That way, the whole industry could have grown together.
Until all music becomes free, at least. → Read More
Here’s an interesting little device out of Hong Kong. It’s basically a memory card reader that hooks up to your HDTV, allowing you to see your own pores in glorious 1080p. However, it’s also got a built-in HDMI switching function so you can place it in between, say, your Blu-ray player and your TV and still just only lose one HDMI input. The HD-0310, as it’s called, handles most memory card formats and is capable of outputting not just photos, but music and video as well. The company that develops the device is an ODM (original design manufacturer) so although it’s not an actual product yet, it wouldn’t take much for a larger company to secure branding rights. → Read More
Future NFL Hall of Famer Kevin Mitnick was on WBAI’s Off the Hook radio show last night, and he explained his travel horror when going from Bogotá to Atlanta. An MP3 version of the show was just posted to 2600′s Web site, which you can find here. Mr. Mitnick explains (in excruciating detail) what happened to him while he was detained. Pretty interesting, especially if you’re familiar with all the guys on the show. Lesson to take away: you’re not required to reveal your laptop’s password to security agents. Of course, 99 percent of us will, because who wants to upset Johnny Law? Photo from Flickr → Read More
The excitement around the T-Mobile G1 is palpable (as is the skepticism), and HTC is planning on the Googlephone to contribute a huge amount to their bottom line. Over the next year, they’re hoping to ship $18 billion worth of the things, with a full $7 billion of that being in the rush and holiday season. That’s a lot of phones! They really could hit those targets, especially with T-Mobile pushing the thing on new customers; after all, it’s not much of an investment, and it’s not too much of a stretch to tell unsure buyers that it does everything the iPhone does but costs less and has a full keyboard. Plus, as the Android Market starts heating up, we’re going to see a lot of really attractive apps — everyone’s building teams and I’m sure there’s a big independent effort as well. → Read More
Nokia announced their Comes With Music program last month, a media download offering with backing from Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Universal Music Group. The system, along with the Nokia Music Store, has about 5 million tracks currently available and Nokia has announced the Music PC client for easy downloads. You can drag CDs into the application for immediate ripping. Comes With Music streamlines that process by offering unlimited over-the-air downloads your first year of phone ownership – provided you own a CWM handset – and the music remains in your possession after your contract is up. The contract lasts from 12 to 18 months and you enable the service by entering a code that will come with your new phone. Comes With Music is a bold move for a company traditionally stuck in the low- to mid-range feature phone market. The previous XpressMusic phones were Nokia’s first “media phones” aimed at folks who specifically wanted to listen to music on their phones. Traditionally, Nokia’s lines tend to skew to developing markets with their candy bar and slider phones and the high end with their Symbian S60 phones. Read more… → Read More
As soon as this story hits Drudge be prepared for all sorts of Chicken Little-related doom and gloom predictions. This ominous photo illustrates the absolute terror we all face. ::cough:: A team of security researchers, an innocent-sounding catch-all description if there ever was one, have discovered a new type denial of service attack that not only does the usual damage, but it also appears to be some sort of permaban. That is to say, your machine is attacked and it will never come back online again, even after the attack itself has stopped. Neat! Scary as that sounds, there’s no real reason to be afraid. The researchers behind the attack aren’t script kiddies looking to create mischief; they’ve already started contacting the proper folks, including the companies that create firewalls, operating system folks, and so on. As hard as it may seem, the researchers are trying to help. But again, tell this story to Fox News or CNN and it’s fear and panic for everyone. → Read More
As Lehman Brothers sells off its assets following its bankruptcy, there is still a big question as to what will happen to its venture arm and, more importantly, how any change in ownership will affect the companies in which Lehman Brothers Venture Partners holds a stake. Like many investment banks, Lehman got into venture investing in the mid-1990s to try to capture some of those venture returns. The investment management group that it was a part of was sold off to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman on Monday, but the venture arm was not part of that sale. Instead, Lehman Brothers Venture Partners is trying to spin itself off as a separate venture firm with about $800 million in assets.
But if it cannot do that, it will either go to hungry creditors or a financial buyer who may be more interested in liquidating the fund than in nurturing the startups in its portfolio. Those startups include Kayak, SearchMe, Jaxtr, Endeca, and about 80 more (A partial list from CrunchBase is below. Other than comScore, most are still private).. They could wake up tomorrow and find that they have a new shareholder who is even more impatient for a quick exit than its existing ones. It’s like being an orphan and wondering who your next foster parents will be. → Read More
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/k5MjofnH2t0OwH5ypw&related=1 Great news. Great, great news. Rick Astley of Rickrolling fame is up for the “Best Act Ever” award at the MTV Europe Music Awards this year. He’ll be competing against U2, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, and Tokio Hotel. I think we can all agree that not one of those acts can hold a candle to Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The best part is that the winner will be chosen by fans who will vote online. Online activity and Rickrolling go hand in hand, so the guy’s a shoe-in. Congrats in advance, Rick! [via BBC] → Read More
Dipity, a timeline-based lifestreaming aggregator, has launched its 2.0 release to the public. The new release includes a variety of new social features that have turned Dipity into a viable alternative to FriendFeed and other lifestreaming services, as well as a replacement for standard RSS readers.
Dipity revolves around powerful timelines built in AJAX, which intuitively display content like blog posts, YouTube videos, and Flickr photos in small hovering rectangles that can be expanded. The site is very well designed, and while the timelines seem to lag occasionally when they refresh, they’re fun to play around with (and if you don’t like the timelines, there are a few alternative views).
The service itself should be familiar to anyone who has used FriendFeed, SocialThing!, or any number of similar sites. Users are asked to input their account credentials from services that include Flickr, Picassa, and Twitter, which are used to populate the timeline. Beyond these, Dipity allows users to automatically monitor keywords across services like Digg and YouTube (you can have new Obama videos automatically appear in your timeline), and RSS feeds. → Read More
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