Citizen in Japan has two new models in its oddly named i:Virt M series of Bluetooth-enabled wristwatches ready [JP], the TM84-0351V (108g, leather band) and the TM84-0352V (178g, stainless steel band). The last update i:Virt M happened about a year ago. Owners can use the watches to interact with their (Japanese) cell phones, i.e. by noting incoming calls, controlling the phone camera (the shutter button, to be more exact) or displaying emails. → Read More
Steve Jobs doesn’t blog often, but when he does, it’s always entertaining. Today, Apple’s CEO has taken the time to write a 1,700 word post about why Apple (or perhaps more precisely, he) doesn’t like Adobe Flash. And why Apple doesn’t support it in new products. And more importantly, why Apple won’t support it in new products.
The post is full of great quotes (whether you agree with them or not). Jobs both directly or indirectly rips Adobe at least two dozen times. It’s hard to imagine anyone at a company, let alone the CEO, doing that. Sure, Adobe has a few times over the past several months, but that’s only because they’ve had the rug swept out from under them. And those public responses are probably the exact reason we’re seeing this response from Jobs. Here are some of the choice quotes from Jobs’ piece and a rough translation of what Jobs likely really means (just in case it’s not clear enough). → Read More
Call me crazy, but wasn’t the point of Avatar to go see it in 3D on the big screen? Otherwise, why bother? Be that as it may, Avatar is on track to hold the distinction of being the most pirated Blu-ray release of all time. Nice job, guys! → Read More
A certain subset of computer users – those aged in their late twenties to middle-late 30s – will remember Radio Shack with absolutely fondness. I, for one, used to think of the Shack (as it’s now to be called) as a den of iniquity staffed by people who knew a thing or two about electronics. Those days are long gone, but it’s nice to read posts like Jeff Reifman’s about his love of Radio Shack and how it defined him as a programmer. → Read More
In a rather strange move for a video game, Bungie will be showing off the Halo: Reach Beta today via Halo 3: ODST’s main menu. This video will star Beta’s actress, comedienne, and weapons expert, Aisha Tyler. Chances are the video will find its way onto YouTube by the end of the day just in case you don’t have ODST. The Halo: Reach Beta Guide is also now up for your perusal. The May 3rd beta launch is getting closer and closer. Oh man. It’s next week. → Read More
AdWhirl, the AdMob-owned service that allows mobile developers to quickly switch between mobile ad networks without having to update their applications, has just given developers even more flexibility: they can now include as many ad networks as they want, including both the default built-in set of networks and any other networks they want to integrate themselves.
This comes as a followup to AdWhirl’s decision in December to Open Source its iPhone SDK and server, which was the first time developers could use ad networks that weren’t already built into the service. However, up until now there was a catch — devs could only use one new ad network in addition to the default set. Now they’ll be able to include as many as they want. → Read More
So you need a wedge to put under your iPad. What do you do? Roll up a towel? Buy a stuffed ocelot? Or do you spend $27 on a handmade pillow for your iPad. → Read More
Okay, okay—now the Sony Dash is available. I even double-checked this time! → Read More
GroupCard, a startup that lets friends and coworkers jointly create a greeting card and give gifts, has been acquired by InComm, a company that specializes in operating pre-paid gift cards for major retailers. Founded in 2007, GroupCard was a fbFund winner in 2008 and later took part in the fbFund REV incubator program. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
GroupCard originally launched as website and Facebook app that allows users to create group greetings and gift. More recently, the startup has moved into the merchant gifting service as well, allowing retailers to offer gift cards directly from their own Web sites and Facebook Pages. → Read More
Even though it’s not an electronics company, Bridgestone (the tire maker) is one of a handful Japanese firms that has been experimenting with e-paper in recent years. Last October, Bridgestone claimed the bragging rights for the world’s first flexible e-book reader. And a few days ago, the company showcased the newest version of their e-paper, now named QR-LPD (Quick Response Liquid Power Display), during an industry expo in Tokyo. → Read More
Yahoo’s product group continues to see turmoil – Bryan Lamkin, the SVP Consumer Products Group, has resigned. He joined the company just a year ago after working as an entrepreneur in residence at both Sutter Hill Ventures and New Enterprise Associates.
The word on the street is that Lamkin made a big push for the Chief Product Officer position that was recently filled by former Microsoft executive Blake Irving. When that didn’t work out, says a source, he decided to leave and work on his own startup.
Lamkin ran a huge part of Yahoo’s business, including all consumer facing sites and services like Mail, Messenger, Front Page, Flickr, News, Sports, Finance, Listings and Mobile products. → Read More
Infinity Ward? What’s that? Activision just snagged Bungie, of Halo fame, to a ten-year deal. Silver lining: the Sun will run out of hydrogen in about 5 billion years. → Read More
Get excited, Verizon Pixi Plus or Pre Plus owners! But not too excited. Just a little bit excited. Less “Holy crap, I’m getting a petting zoo for my birthday!” excited, more “Neat, it’s probably not going to rain on my birthday!” excited. Verizon just pushed out a minor update for webOS, bumping things up to version 1.4.1.1. While there’s nothing in terms of new features, it’s jam-packed full of bug fixes. Check out the full list after the jump. → Read More
Digital picture frames are nice, but they are not for everybody. Y Combinator startup Picwing found that out the hard way when not enough people bought its cool, but pricey, social digital picture frames which constantly updated with photos from the Web. But Picwing learned its lesson and rebooted earlier this year with a much better product centered around making it easier to print and share photos taken on your iPhone.
Picwing’s new product is an iPhone app (there is also an Android app) that lets you pick photos taken on your phone and upload them at full resolution to Picwing’s new Website. Every month, it prints and mails up to 15 uploaded photos to anyone you want. You pay a subscription starting at $5 a month, and once you set it up all you need to do is keep adding pictures via the app or your computer. → Read More
If you ordered your iPad 3G fairly early yours should be hitting the FedEx truck come tomorrow morning and in your hot little hand by lunch. I just got a shipping notification and now I can watch it roll from hub to hub and into my home. → Read More
Looks like Sony now finds itself on the business end of a class-action lawsuit. You’ll recall that a recent PS3 firmware update removed the “Other OS” option from the console, preventing owners from installing Linux (which was one of the selling points when the PS3 first came out in 2006). The removal upset one California gentleman, who filed suit with the note “Sony’s decision to force users to disable the Other OS function was based on its own interest and was made at the expense of its customers.” → Read More
Once upon a time there were two little boys, Apple and Adobe. Back when they were kids, they used to hang out, play kick-the-can, and generally lived in harmony. But one day Apple got sick and Adobe met some new kids and the two drifted apart. Now that they’re all grown up, Apple wouldn’t spare Adobe the steam of his coffee and their interests, though not divergent, are no longer really friendly. Think of it as A Separate Peace but with multi-national conglomerates.
That’s how Steve Jobs sees his company’s relationship to Adobe and, in an odd letter to the world he lays out what he thinks of Flash. He begins:
I wanted to jot down some of our thoughts on Adobe’s Flash products so that customers and critics may better understand why we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain.
One of Apple’s famous minimalist design principles is to get rid of buttons whenever possible. With touchscreen devices like the iPhone and iPad, almost all of the buttons appear when needed on the screen. But what about Macbooks with aluminum casings? A new patent application titled “Disappearing Button or Slider” shows that Apple is at least thinking about how to bring elements of touch computing to all devices by replacing buttons and other controls with capacitive controls which appear only when needed.
The patent describes a way to create backlit micro-perforated holes on the aluminum casing of a MacBook or other device which could be used for buttons on the lid when the laptop is closed or below the keyboard when it is open. The buttons could serve as simple displays for WiFi signal or battery strength, control playlists and volume for iTunes songs or movies, or even replace the trackpad. → Read More
Now that our US Senators are ready to roll-up their sleeves and mud wrestle their way to financial reform (debate has now commenced), now is a good time to pause and take stock of what the ultimate bill could mean for investment and technology. If you’re suffering from financial reform overload and words like Blankfein, Dodd, and collateralized debt obligations induce nausea, please avert your eyes. But for those who are still paying attention, the outcome of Capitol Hill’s latest circus could have major ramifications on Silicon Valley’s investors and by extension the whole community of start-ups. As The Funded’s Adeo Ressi puts it, if the tide turns against angel investors and VCs, “basically funding as we know it, in all stages, is done.” → Read More
Many of you may have heard of or played the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, which is a trivia game based on the idea that any actor can be linked to actor Kevin Bacon within six steps through roles in movies. Of course, this game is based on an actual philosophical theory, Six Degrees of Separation, which refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person in terms of relationships. Today, social media monitoring and analytics startup Sysomos has released a report examining the interconnectedness of Twitter users and has uncovered a number of interesting results.
First, Sysomos examined the 5.2 billion Twitter friendships (the number of friend and follower relationships) to determine how connected users are with each other. And based on this, Sysomos discovered that Twitter is mostly a network with only five degrees of separation, with nearly everyone on Twitter just five steps (or friends, i.e. people you follow) away from each other. → Read More
