Dave's Download
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Amazon Yields to Authors' Criticism of Kindle Audio
Continue reading… 2 CommentsAmazon said it will modify its new Kindle 2 E-book device to let authors and publishers decide if it can read a particular work aloud. Kindle's text-to-speech feature had come under fire from authors who said it trampled on their rights to sell audio versions of their books.
There was nothing illegal about the feature, Amazon insisted: "No copy is made, no derivative work is created, and no performance is being given." Instead, the feature will "introduce new customers to the convenience of listening to books and thereby grow the professionally narrated audiobooks business."
Maybe. But the Kindle made audio a little too convenient, and cheap.
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Windows 7 Lives Up to Hype, Spotlights Vista Neglect
Continue reading… 7 CommentsMicrosoft seems to be racing to get Windows 7 into the market, and it should. I've been running the test version of Windows 7 for about a week, and I can vouch that it lives up to the early, buoyant reviews. The system seems solid and adds useful features.
It also spotlights Vista's failings.
Most of Window 7's new features deal with the user interface. They make Windows easier to use and more efficient. The software, for example, makes it quick and easy to find and "peek" at a specific window among the sometimes dozens that I'll have open at a time. That "Aero Peek" is a big hit with me and other testers.
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EyeClops Mini Projector Breaks $100 Barrier
Continue reading… 1 CommentPalm-size Pico projectors are hitting the market in a sudden wave, able to cast a large image on a nearby wall or ceiling. Most are in the price range of $300 to $500.
Now toy-maker Jakks Pacific has announced a $99 model. The EyeClops Mini Projector can cast a 70-inch image and run 10 hours on D-size batteries. Or it can run off an included AC adapter. I expect this thing to only work in the darkest rooms. We've also no details on resolution.
Then again, it's aimed at kids as young as 8 who probably aren't videophiles, anyway, with a discerning eye for pixel detail. And they'll love the big picture.
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Netflix Stream-Only Subs Could Foretell Fees for Everyone
Continue reading… 4 CommentsNetflix is likely to offer streaming subscriptions soon that would be separate from its disk-based subs. The new plan would have to be ultra cheap to compete with Netflix's other offerings, says Brennon Slattery at PCWorld:
...is a stand-alone streaming option worth it? Only if it's cheap. For $15 a month, you can get two movies simultaneously with unlimited reloads and the streaming service. If Netflix offers streaming alone for $5 a month, I think it'd be worth the dough. Otherwise users might as well stick with the slightly more expensive plans that have everything included.
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LG Versa Phone Adds Detachable Keyboard
Continue reading… 30 CommentsLG has an innovative answer to the touchscreen or keyboard debate: The Versa touchscreen phone from Verizon Wireless will have a detachable keyboard that you can leave at home.
Without the keyboard, the phone looks like a slim, iPhone-like model with only a few hardware buttons on its face. The phone then slips into a folding case that adds the keyboard, some protection and some bulk.
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iPhone Knows: One Charger May Not Be Smart for Smartphones
Continue reading… 0 CommentsA number of bloggers have questioned if a single charger for cellphones is a good idea. The industry settling on a common connector would simplify life for consumers. But Kit Eaton at Fast Company points out the Micro USB standard has its limits. It isn't as fast and flexible as the iPod connector, which may explain why Apple didn't join the pledge, he says:
...smartphone makers may well end up incorporating both a micro USB adaptor, and a proprietary one for specialist data transfers to their devices. That'll require at least an extra lead or two in the box, losing some of the environmental benefit, and placing a constraint on product designs.
Sigh. It's never easy.
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Obama vs. Jindal as Wordle Sees Them
Continue reading… 0 CommentsWordle is a fun site that turns text into "word clouds" that give greater prominence to words that appear more often in the original text. Lots of versions posted today from last night's speeches, but here is a simple one of President Obama's (click on it for a larger version):
And a comparable one from the response given by Gov. Bobby Jindal:
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Apple Safari Speed Can't Beat Firefox's Ease
Continue reading… 5 CommentsApple has released an update to its Safari Web browser for testing. Reviews are generally upbeat on the changes, and Safari at least comes close to its claim as the fastest browser. ZDNet says Safari is wicked quick, rendering some Web elements 42 times faster than Microsoft's Internet Explorer:
...our benchmarks confirm Apple's Safari 4 browser...is the fastest browser on the planet. In fact, it beat Google's Chrome, Firefox 3, Opera 9.6 and even Mozilla's developmental Minefield browser.
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Depeche Mode Launches New iTunes Pass
Continue reading… 3 CommentsApple launched a new music sales format called iTunes Pass that wraps extras with an upcoming album by Depeche Mode for a premium price. For an extra $9 on top of the album's price of $10, fans will get added singles and video exclusives in the weeks leading up to the band's release of Sounds of the Universe.
The offer is yet another experiment in digital delivery as the music industry struggles with declining CD sales. Performers like Nine Inch Nails have given music away to promote their work, others like Radiohead let fans choose how much to pay for a download. Most of the experimentation has been done by bands independent of labels, while Depeche Mode's is in concert with its studio, EMI Music.
It's an effort "to better understand music consumers and help create stronger connections between fans and artists," said an EMI executive.
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Audio: Cameras Are Getting Smarter
Continue reading… 0 CommentsCamera makers are worried because their market is getting saturated. Just about every U.S. household that was going to buy a digital model has one. Sales were slowing even before the economy tanked.
New cameras add smarts and speed
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I spoke this weekend with WTOP about how camera makers are responding. They are getting smarter, and so are their cameras.
They had to move beyond the megapixel race, which was becoming a yawner. The leap from 10 to 12 megapixels, or even 8 to 10, doesn't seem nearly as dramatic as from 3 to 5 megapixels. Manufacturers are hoping we'll buy cameras that not only have lots of pixels, but also help us make better use of them.
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Comcast to Offer Web Video Service
Continue reading… 1 CommentCable provider Comcast plans to launch a Web service that will let its TV subscribers also get video online, Business Insider reports. Reports suggest other cable companies are planning similar efforts.
They are in talks with cable networks, which in the meanwhile have reportedly pressured Hulu.com to limit how its online video is distributed. But instead of online video, the real competition for cable companies is from satellite, reports Between the Lines. Cablecos hope to get a jump on satellite by offering online video to subscribers.
The cable networks, meanwhile, are looking for new outlets. Back in October, when it launched a streaming service with Netflix, a Starz spokesman described how the network was talking up the online approach with its affiliates -- cable and satellite providers. He said some were considering their own online video offerings. It looks like Comcast will be among the first.
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Blu-ray Gaining Traction Against DVDs
Continue reading… 1 CommentBlu-ray should overcome a key hurdle by rapidly stealing market share from standard DVDs, says a new report. But overall, disk sales won't be growing as Blu-ray sales will barely offset falling sales in standard DVDs, says Futuresource Consulting.
The market for physical disks will remain flat through 2012. The growth for Hollywood studios will come from digital sales, either across the Internet or to mobile players.
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Pirate Bay is for Legal Swapping, and I'm Peter Pan
Continue reading… 29 CommentsA Pirate Bay exec made the startling claim that 80 percent of the material available for downloading through the service is legal to share online. He testified in a Stockholm trial where prosecutors are trying to shut down the file-swapping site.
Let me get that straight. People go to something called "Pirate Bay" to swap legal files. And the founders didn't choose that name to encourage piracy. Right?
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Google: The New Microsoft
Continue reading… 0 CommentsMore reasons to compare the search giant to the software giant. Chipmaker Freescale and PC maker Asus are both talking about using Google's software, Android, for super-cheap netbooks. One story suggests they could sell for $100, others agree they'll be less than $200.
Meanwhile, reporters unearth comments that Google is a monopoly from the woman nominated to be the chief federal trust buster.
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Hopes Rise that Palm Pre Won't be Hogtied Like Apple iPhone
Continue reading… 9 CommentsHopes are rising that Sprint won't have a stranglehold over the Palm Pre -- at least not as long as AT&T has hogtied the iPhone.
Palm this week quietly demoed a version of the upcoming smartphone that would run on GSM networks. Sprint runs on different technology, indicating Palm is readying the Pre for other carriers.
Now, Palm may only be preparing for a launch in European countries that use GSM tech. But a Reuters report says Sprint's exclusive agreement is at least through the end of 2009. Reuters' source wouldn't comment on next year, but bloggers are widely reading the story as suggesting the Pre would appear on other carriers next year.
Or it's all hopeful thinking. The Pre would benefit from wide distribution as it battles the iPhone. As much as the iPhone has been a success in the U.S. market, it's been hampered by its exclusive deal with AT&T.
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Hulu Move Suggests Internet Video Has Peaked, For Now
Continue reading… 7 CommentsNews that Hulu is pulling its video from other services raises the specter that Internet video is running up against a wall. Hulu's CEO explains that providers of its TV shows and movies wanted them pulled from Boxee, nifty software that turns a PC into an Internet media center.
Cable companies are seen as pressuring Hollywood as they try to beat back competition from the Web. They had to fear that Hulu was quickly pulling Internet video from its PC closet to the family room, where cable makes its money.
It's clearly a setback for those of us who want to see shows and movies freed from cable's constraints. We'll see how long cable can keep its hands on the lasso.
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Apple Mac Quality Doesn't Sell in Hard Times
Continue reading… 4 CommentsReports show that Apple's Mac sales are suffering more than competitors as consumers pinch their pennies, even as consumers love their Macs more than competitors.
NPD Group says Apple sales have fallen more than 30 percent over the past four months, according to ChannelWeb. The issues have nothing to do with quality, says NPD analyst Stephen Baker:
"Right now buyers are not looking for price and value," he said. "Something may not be the best product out there, but if it has a low price point they will be willing to spend."
That conclusion is reinforced by a report from ChangeWave Research that shows Apple customers much happier than others:
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Google Phone: Lack of News Is Bad News
Continue reading… 1 CommentThe recent Mobile World Congress left a sense that something's amiss in the Google phone world. It's been five months since T-Mobile unveiled the G1 to rave reviews. Nothing came at January's Consumer Electronics Show, and now little at the world's biggest gathering of wireless companies.
Only one new handset running Google's Android software was unveiled to compete with the original G1. The maker of that phone, HTC, is producing a new all-touchscreen model, the Magic, for U.K. operator Vodafone.
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Cheaper Plasma TVs Getting More Energy Efficient, Too
Continue reading… 0 CommentsWhile there are fewer companies making plasma TVs, the flat panels won't roll over and die for LCDs.
I usually prefer the look of a plasma's picture with its richer colors and blacks.They also still bring the best bang for the buck, which helps explain why plasmas were the one segment that actually shipped more TVs in the fourth quarter than a year earlier.
Now plasmas promise a jump in energy efficiency that could rob LCDs of a key advantage. Samsung and Panasonic have said they'll deliver plasma models that cut energy use by nearly half. That would put them in the range of the energy that typical LCDs have used. Where a 42-inch Samsung plasma might gulp $90 worth of electricity in a year, a 46-inch LCD from Samsung might use half that, according to CNet data.
LCDs are getting more efficient, too. But the biggest gains come from new, expensive light sources. Samsung has said new LCD's with LED lights should cut a panel's energy use by 40 percent over conventional fluorescent lamps. But their premium price tags will widen the affordability gap over plasmas.
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ZTE Coral 200 Takes Solar Power to Where Outlets are Rare
Continue reading… 1 CommentI've written that small solar panels, such as those coming on a new Samsung phone, are good for topping off a battery. But that few would depend on them for primary power.
I didn't take into account the developing world. Many countries have more cellphones than homes with electricity. They are the target for the upcoming Coral 200 Solar from ZTE. The Chinese manufacturer says the phone should sell for the equivalent of about $40, reported Singapore's Straits Times. The paper said ZTE has teamed with Digicel, a wireless company in the Caribbean, Central America and Pacific regions.
"In our lives (in the rich world), an interruption of power is a nuisance ... but it is infrequent," Digicel executive Tom Bryant told reporters. "But where we conduct business, the absence of power is a daily activity."
