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Walmart Father’s Day Deals For Every Dad’s “Man Cave”
Father’s Day is just around the corner, so no doubt you’ll be wanting to get your dad some cool gadgets for his “man cave”. Well, Walmart has some sick deals going on this Father’s Day, including a $128 Magnavox Blu-ray Disc player (NB500MGX)! Wow, no reason to not have a Blu-ray player now. Man that’s cheap! I remember when they were over $300. Other deals include select Blu-ray movies two for $20, inexpensive HDTVs, and more. Walmart explains, “Every dad has a man cave at home - the place you most likely will find him when he wants to relax. Starting June 14, Walmart is helping families find savings that add something more to man caves in his game room, garage and backyard.” They break down the various cave types, including The Game Room/Living Room Cave, The Home Office Cave, Mobile Man Cave, The Deck Cave, and The Garage Cave. What, no Parlor Room Cave, Bathroom Cave, Kitchen Cave, Laundry Room Cave? Oh, those are for Mother’s Day, you say? 
Check out the full release after the jump…
Continue reading Walmart Father’s Day Deals For Every Dad’s “Man Cave”…
Tags: dad, deals, deck, father's day, gadgets, garage, gps, hdtv, man cave, tools, video games, walmart
Related tags: walmart, father, deals
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Cox Communications Expands Fast 50Mbps Broadband Internet to Virginia
Cox Communications today expanded its fastest broadband service to residential and business customers in Northern Virginia. Now offered in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg it delivers up to 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) downloads and 5 Mbps uploads using DOCSIS 3.0. Last month, this service was launched in Lafayette, Louisiana.
The third generation of cable’s DOCSIS (Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification) service introduces channel bonding, a technology that can bond parallel cable channels to transmit data at faster speeds. Speeds are further enhanced with PowerBoostâ„¢, a cable-exclusive technology that provides an extra burst of speed when it’s needed.
Cox’s Ultimate Internet package provides residential customers with the ability to download movies and music, share files, stream video and compete with gamers around the world, faster than ever. DOCSIS 3.0 meets the increasing bandwidth demands of multiple users while optimizing their online experience. Standard price for the residential Ultimate Internet package will be $139.99 per month, with an introductory rate of $109 per month.
Interestingly, Northern Virginia business customers will also be able to take advantage of DOCSIS 3.0 technology through Cox Business Internet’s new “premium package”. It too features download speeds up to 50 Mbps and 5 Mbps uploads, but they claim Cox Business Internet helps optimize support for corporate e-mail, online research and Web-based business applications. Yeah right. You’re paying more for the premium business with the same speed as the home edition.
The company has already launched DOCSIS 3.0 in Lafayette Parish, La., and plans to offer Ultimate Internet to several Cox markets by the end of 2009, and to more than two-thirds of its footprint in 2010.
Now if only Verizon (FiOS fiber-to-the-home), AT&T (Uverse Fiber-to-the-neighborhood), Comcast (DOCSIS 3.0 55mbps), or Charter Communications (cable broadband) would bring affordable high-speed Internet to my neighborhood. Stuck on pokey DSL! 
Tags: broadband, cable, cox, cox communications, Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification, DOCSIS, internet, virginia
Related tags: ultimate internet, business internet, business customers, internet package, northern virginia, internet
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Netflix Increases Blu-ray Prices from $1 to $4!
Just got this email from Netflix sating they are increasing my Blu-ray access from $1 to $4 per month. What the hell? I have to pay 4 times what I was paying before? Way to screw your most loyal customers Netflix! Sure, the $1/month might have been a low-cost enticement to get people to sign-up for Blue-ray movie rentals, but you can’t just increase the price 4-fold overnight. I think we Blu-ray fans would be much more accepting if the price increase was more gradual. Here, read the email in all it’s glory…
You are receiving this email because you added unlimited Blu-ray access to your account for $1 a month. The number of Blu-ray titles has increased significantly and will continue to do so. As we buy more, you are able to choose from a rapidly expanding selection of Blu-ray titles. And as you’ve probably heard, Blu-ray discs are substantially more expensive than standard definition DVDs.
As a result, the monthly charge for Blu-ray access is increasing for most plans and will now vary by plan. The charge for monthly Blu-ray access on your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan will increase from $1 a month to $4 a month. The price of your 3 DVDs at-a-time (Unlimited) plan is not changing and remains at $16.99 a month.
The new charge for Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after April 27, 2009 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details.
If you wish to continue unlimited Blu-ray access for $4 a month, you don’t need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account.
If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-923-0898.
-The Netflix Team
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Tags: netflix, blu-ray, dvd, movies, rentals
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NIC fixes VoIP for Gamers - Ok if you say so
Is it me, or this $130 NIC optimized for VoIP overkill? The idea behind this network interface card (NIC) is that it optimize packets and prioritizes games while offloading the voice processing from the CPU.
According to PC World:
…at the 2009 Game Developer’s Conference, Bigfoot Networks has two announcements. The first: they are releasing the $130 Killer Xeno Pro card. The big deal this time around is that they’ve been able to get prices down, beef up the memory and pack on an additional chip that can offload the voice chat. A 400GHz NPU (as in Network Processing Unit — oh, joy, another acronym!) bypasses the Windows network stack while an integrated audio chip offloads VoIP.
I know gamers are all about low latency while trash-talking their opponents using VoIP, but $130? Aren’t PCs and NICs fast enough these days? Well, if you you have to have the every pico-second of latency minimized and want to shell out $130, then by all means have at it.
Tags: 2009 Game Developer’s Conference, Bigfoot Networks, games, gaming, latency, network card, Network Processing Unit, nic, npu, voip
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String 24 SSDs together for 6TB & 2GB/s throughput!
What happens when you string together 24 256GB Samsung MLC SSDs - you get 6TB of storage and 2GB/sec throughput. Sweet mother of —!
Discovered the news on Lucas Mearian’s Computer World blog who writes:
When you’ve got millions of dollars at your disposal, and access to some of the industry’s best hardware engineers, what do you do? Well, if you’re Samsung you make a YouTube video showing the speed, capacity and reliability you can get by stringing together 24 solid state disk drives behind a RAID controller to create “the world’s most powerful consumer computer”. The result: 6TB of storage and 2GB/sec throughput that is able to load 53 programs 18 seconds. Whoa.
The video below shows the 24 SSDs setup along with some interesting benchmarks. For instance, in the video they rip a 700MB DVD in 0.8s, open all of Microsoft Office apps in 0.5s, and launch 53 programs in 18.09s! At $500 a pop per SSD, it’ll cost you $12,000 for ludicrously fast hard drive speeds! Of course, I remember writing about Samsung’s Super Fast SATA hard drive in 2004, which featured 3Gb/s speed using traditional HDD technology, which is cheaper than SSDs. Of course, it’s 3Gb/s (3 Gigabits per second) not 3GB/s (3 Gigabytes per second), so you’d have to divide that by 8 bits per byte or 0.375 GB/s or 375MB/s. That’s odd - that’s faster than the 220MB/s random access speed of each individual SSD (aggregate is 24 x 220MB/s). I thought SSDs were generally faster than hard drives? Something must be off in my math. Actually, just read that the 3GB/s is the speed of the I/O channel. The read speed is 1.5GB/s or 0.156 GB/s, which is 156MB/s . Now that sounds more accurate!
And then of course, there’s perpendicular hard drive technology, which is a new way of “squeezing” more bits onto a hard drive by changing the orientation of the way the bits are recorded. Normally magnetic bits are written parallel to the drive’s surface, but not with perpendicularity - its 90 degrees perpendicular to the normal parallel orientation. Because the bits are recorded upright and “into” the surface of the drive platter, you can squeeze a lot more bits together without the bits polarity causing the bits to flip their magnetic orientation. Check out my blog post where a classic School House Rock video makes an appearance along with a hilarious Hitachi video on perpendicular HDD technology.
Anyway, here’s the 24 SSD RAID video:
Tags: computerworld, hard drive, hdd, Lucas Mearian, perpendicular hard drive, samsung, sata, SSD
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John Chambers Blogs about Broadband Stimulus on GigaOM
Om Malik sent a note saying Cisco CEO John Chambers posted a guest blog entry so I went to check it out.
John begins:
Now that President Obama has signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package into law, the real hard work begins: using that money to create jobs. If spent wisely, this package has a chance at fundamentally reforming the U.S. health-care system, making our economy energy efficient and providing Americans with the training and skills required to succeed in a 21st century global marketplace.But the country can’t accomplish these goals unless it has the infrastructure to support them. That’s why the funding for broadband was so vital. Broadband is the ticket for entry to participate in the world economy. It is a fundamental technology upon which other things are built. It enables collaboration, innovation and operational excellence, and positions the U.S. to compete on a global basis.
Well, you probably already know my thoughts on Obama’s broadband stimulus. I hate it! It’s not that I wouldn’t like 100% of Americans to all have high-speed broadband. I just don’t think broadband is that vital that we need to spend billions of tax payer dollars when we are a fiscal crisis, the stock market is imploding, and the deficit is shooting through the roof. The “pie in the sky” idea that the government can just magically produce more money (and spend it) to do just about anything is partly what got us into this economic mess. What happened to fiscal responsibility? What happened to only spending what you have? Why are we mortgaging our children’s future by throwing money around?
I support an economic stimulus to help spark the economy, but spending billions on broadband today when we won’t actually reap the rewards for years… it just seems to me like the money could be better spent elsewhere for a more immediate economic impact. Believe me, I love my broadband and feel sorry for those that can’t get it, but those billions of dollars could be better spent to help the economy in the near future.
And don’t forget to factor in ‘compound interest’ and government waste. The government has never been good at investing money wisely, because it isn’t their money. It’s your money. It’s so much easier to spend other people’s money foolishly. So if it’s a $40 billion broadband package, then expect it to cost the tax payer more like $120 billion.
I can see why John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco supports the broadband stimulus. It gives Cisco a HUGE windfall of revenue to help build out this high-speed broadband network. Cisco is obviously a huge benficiary of this broadband stimulus.
John ends his guest blog post with this:
As our policymakers work on maintaining U.S. competitiveness, they should keep in mind that broadband is the vehicle by which our citizens can be more productive, health care can be modernized, our economy can become more efficient and innovation can flourish. To continue our nation’s growth, add jobs and drive innovation, we must invest in broadband.
I agree investments must be made in broadband. My beef is with who the “we” is. Is it the “we” tax payer or is it “we” the employees at Verizon, AT&T, Level3, and other ISPs that should ‘invest’ in building broadband networks. The web has only existing for about 14 years and in that time, U.S. companies themselves have brought high-speed broadband to 80-90% of Americans without a government (aka tax payer) handout.
We Americans complain about the banks needing billions of dollars in government bailout money to stay afloat, yet we’re willing to hand over billions to corporations to “help” them build high-speed broadband without complaint? It doesn’t make any sense. I guess because we all love our broadband so much and we want to “share the broadband love”, we’re willing to look the other way when the government gives OUR money to broadband providers.
If we had a budget surplus, I’d me more apt to say go ahead and give the ISPs money to build out their networks. But to me with all this spending on programs that won’t stimulate the economy today, President Obama is being penny-wise, pound-foolish. Make that penny-foolish, pound foolish.
Tags: broadband, cisco, economic stimulus, gigaom, john chambers, om malik, president obama
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Sony Kills Go!Messenger VoIP Application
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced that it plans to shut down Go!Messenger, a VoIP, video chat, and IM application that launched last February. Citing a lack of interest, Go!Messenger was an intriguing PSP app that leveraged the PSP Go!Cam camera for its video chat capabilities.
Sony explained “Although it proved a popular concept, achieving a significant number of registrations, it didn’t gain the number of regular users that BT and SCEE were aiming for.”
Go!Messenger will end on March 31. But all is not lost. Skype for PSP still works, but it’s too bad Skype for PSP doesn’t support the Go!Cam for some Skype-to-Skype video chat action.
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Tags: BT, Go!Cam, Go!Messenger, Skype, Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, video chat, voip
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31 Million IP Phones shipped by Mayan 2012 Doomsday, the Media Phone, & Slow Consumer Adoption
According to In-stat, nearly 31 Million Business IP Phones will ship in 2012. That’s if the Mayan 2012 Doomsday Prophecy doesn’t come to pass. You know, the one where the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012 - the same date as the Winter Solstice and when the Earth will be in galactic alignment with the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, as well as our sun, resulting in a planetary shift. The date 12-21-12 reads as, A-B-B-A-A-B. Since the Hebrew language is read from right to left, this date would read BA ABBA. The Hebrew translation for BA ABBA is “Father comes” or “Father is coming”. If you believe in that sort of thing. Here’s a History Channel clip about 2012 that might bring out the conspiracy/doomsday nut inside you.
And then there is a Sony Pictures movie titled 2012 coming out this summer, as seen by this trailer:
Anyway, In-stat explains, “Within the business market, corded IP phones remain the standard, and will continue to dominate the enterprise IP phone market through 2012,” says Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. “However, WLAN and IP DECT phones continue to grow, especially within some specific vertical and geographical markets.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
- Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel are leading the market for enterprise IP phones.
- Wi-Fi integration in cellular phones is growing rapidly; however, the majority of Wi-Fi/cellular phones are not designed for VoIP.
- Uniden holds top market share for consumer IP corded phones
The In-stat report points out that the IP phone market is “a tale of two markets” with IP phones thriving in business but as for the home consumer, not so much. By 2012, 31 million voice-centric business IP phones will ship but the consumer side will be outpaced by businesses more than 10 to 1. Why the slow consumer adoption of IP phones?
According to In-stat, “the nascent consumer market for voice-centric IP phones is being subjugated by the introduction of IP media phones, such as the Verizon Hub and AT&T HomeManager that support both IP communications, as well as delivery of Internet information and multimedia content.”
I think they’re a little premature in that statement. The Verizon Hub is a cool device, but it literally just came out, so it is not affecting consumers from buying IP phones at home. I think the reason is that consumers are happy with their home cordless phones with built-in answering machines. Some even have the multi-handset cordless phone systems, which allow you to strategically place handsets around the house with the ability to screen callers and remotely check the answering machine without going to the base unit. There just isn’t a good reason to purchase a $150-$300 corded/desktop IP phone for the home.
You could argue that a Wi-Fi phone might be a good option for the consumer. Wi-Fi phones are less expensive than desktop IP phones, they’re mobile, and they can get you cheaper or even free calling (i.e. Skype-to-Skype calls). But Wi-Fi phones have notoriously bad battery life. A better option in my opinion is a 
DECT 6.0 phone device with VoIP capabilities, such as the Philips VOIP841 Skype phone. Although there are other WiFi and DECT phones worth a look. I should point out that Wi-Fi phones have the advantage over DECT of sometimes offering a built-in browser so you can access the web.
Let’s look at how In-stat defines “media phone” and “why the media phone”:
The media phone is a new category of broadband device that combines the power of the PC with the performance of a telephone. The result is an always-on multimedia broadband device that is perfect for accessing online news and weather, viewing videos, and a host of other applications. In-Stat believes that the media phone will complement the PC, TV, and mobile handset, becoming an indispensable 4th screen in the home. Service providers and IP PBX vendors, alike, are introducing media phones because they add value to traditional voice telephones and related services.
Verizon Hub, a sample media phone
I certainly agree that consumers will start to adopt “media phones” in their homes, but only if the media phones are subsidized by the carrier. They’ll be too expensive otherwise. It worked for the cell phone market, so it can work for the home as well. There have been plenty of times I wanted to check the weather or current movie times, but had to boot up my PC in order to look up information. Having a media phone in the living room with instant Internet access is a nice feature to have. I do agree with the In-stat report that businesses will continue to be the main driver behind IP phone sales, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see traditional phone manufacturers such as Uniden developing cordless IP phones for the home market that offer Internet access.
You can download a free copy of In-Stat’s media phone research report: The Media Phone Has Arrived!
Relatedly, the research, “IP Phones Worldwide-On the Desk and Beyond” covers the worldwide market for voice-centric IP phones. It includes:
- IP phone vendor market shares for 2007 and 1H2008, segmented by phone type and consumer versus business
- A 5-year forecast by IP phone type (Corded, WLAN, Cordless DECT, Dual-mode Cellular/WLAN, Consumer, Business)
- Analysis of trends in business and consumer markets
- Profiles of more than two dozen vendors
Tags: 2012, DECT, doomsday, in-stat, ip phones, mayan, media phone, research report, skype, Verizon Hub, voip, wi-fi phone
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Philadelphia City Council approves a Verizon FiOS franchise agreement
The Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to approve a Verizon FiOS franchise agreement that will allow Verizon to offer fiber-based digital TV, voice, and Internet to Philly’s 600,000 residents. Verizon will spend $1 billion to build out the network which will offer HDTV channels, voice, and high-speed Internet.
City Council members said the deal was “not perfect” and they tried to push for more minority contractor involvement. Now how is it that a City Council has the right to demand who a company hires? There are already state and federal anti-discrimination laws on the books, so why the hell do companies have to answer to some local city council mafia? Obviously, Verizon wants the business and they have to suck-up to this local city council if they want to be granted the franchise.
The vote taken yesterday gave Verizon a 15-year franchise agreement. What will the Philadelphia City Council demand from Verizon in 15 years when it’s time to renew? It’s not like Verizon is going to say ‘no’ to any demands after shelling out $1 billion to build the fiber network. Why do we even have TV franchise agreements any more? Haven’t they outlived their usefulness? It’s such a scam by local governments to make cable companies - and now carriers to “pay the man” if they want to do business in the town. Phone companies don’t have to pay local franchise fees to provide telephone service, so why do TV providers have to pay? It’s a legalized mafia racket if you ask me.
Philadelphia residents and the local government should be ecstatic that Verizon is targeting the city first before many other major cities. They should be grateful.
Tags: FiOS, Philadelphia City Council, TV, Verizon
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Verizon Hub News
As I wrote a few days ago, Verizon plans to launch the Verizon Hub. I just learned the Verizon Hub will launch February 1st. As I also was the first to point out, my source told me that the Verizon Hub is essentially the same thing as the Verizon One (created by OpenPeak), which I wrote about in March 2007. In my post from a few days ago, I wrote, “One of my sources told me that the Verizon Hub is the same thing as the Verizon One, but apparently Verizon changed the name to the Verizon Hub deskphone.”
The Verizon Hub is the evolution of the Verizon One. As part of that evolution, I hope they no longer restrict you to surfing specific websites. Or if they do have to limit it, I hope the list of allowed websites includes YouTube, Digg, Yahoo! + Mail, Gmail, Google, MSN, and Hotmail. The device sports a touch-screen interface for surfing, checking the weather & traffic, and more. It also allows users to make PSTN phone calls via its POTS connection (no VoIP 
), access email, search the web, view a calendar, stream music from the web, and view photo images from a digital camera - essentially making it double as a digital photo frame when not in use.
It sports a WiFi and an Ethernet connection, so I’m not sure why they didn’t include VoIP support. At least make it work with Verizon VoiceWing, which is Verizon’s VoIP broadband service. Though I have heard from another source that it will support VoIP. I’ll get to the bottom of this and let you know. It also has visual voice mail, an address book, and even audio directions which the Hub can send to Verizon Wireless phones.
I was hoping it might include a femtocell to improve signal bars in locations with a weak Verizon signal, but alas my sources tell me it won’t include femtocell. It will however run on any broadband connection and features tight integration with Verizon Wireless services. It also can integrate with Verizon FiOS and let you control your FiOS TV service from this device.
Tags: femtocell, Verizon FiOS, Verizon Hub, Verizon One, Verizon Wireless, voip
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YouTube Kills Fair Use, Mutes Audio
Apparently YouTube has decided to ignore the whole “fair use” thing. You know, the law whereby you are allowed limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. Fair use also allows for copyrighted materials to be used in spoofs, parodies, etc.
Many YouTube users create an original video using their favorite song as the audio in the background. They won’t be able to do that any more, since YouTube has started muting any videos that use unauthorized copyrighted music. You will see a message at the bottom of the video that says “Notice This video contains an audio track that has not been authorized by all copyright holders. The audio has been disabled. More about copyright”
You can see examples here, here and here.
Now does background music mixed into a video constitute “fair use” or copyright infringement? That’s a good question. Certainly, someone could strip the audio from the YouTube video and then upload to their MP3 player. Why they would do that is beyond me since the audio bitrate on YouTube isn’t that great and often times the music is overlaid on top of people’s voices speaking on the video.
But how far does this go? What if I capture a home video with my CD player playing music in the background with my 2.5 year old daughter dancing to it? Will YouTube “silence” the audio leaving my daughter dancing in eerie silence?
I think copyright holders need to get a grip in the digital age. Besides, people don’t go to YouTube to listen to music for free. They go for the fun & entertaining videos. By removing the YouTube user’s artistic license and replacing it with silence I feel as though my 1st Amendment right to “freedom of speech” has been silenced. Where’s the ACLU when you need them?
via Mashable
Tags: audio, copyright, copyright infringement, fair use, mashable, mute, videos, youtube
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- Windows Vista USB Audio Driver Problem Fixed - May 17, 2007
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Nortel uses Unreal Engine and Lands Lenovo as a customer of web.alive
Apparently, my skepticism over Nortel web.alive was lost on Lenovo since Nortel and Lenovo today announced the first-ever customer to its web.alive Virtual World Application. Lenovo uses web.alive to let shoppers browse, demo and interact with other shoppers and Lenovo Staff in real-time 3D.
In addition, Nortel has licensed the Unreal gaming Engine for web.alive Engine which they claim will create more realistic, interactive 3D Environment for Web 3.0 Collaboration, Training and Commerce. Wow, I used to play Unreal on my old PC. If Nortel web.alive uses the Unreal Engine and looks anything like the video game I used to play, then maybe I’ll retract some of my skepticism.
Unreal Tournament 2004
Here’s both news releases coming out any second on the newswires…
Just months after announcing its incubation efforts to develop web.alive, a new virtual world business application, Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] today announced that Lenovo, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of personal computers, is using the application in a new online virtual store as a way to give consumers an exciting new avenue for e-commerce.
The Lenovo “eLounge” virtual store is being showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week at the Venetian Hotel’s AquaKnox.
What are the benefits of virtual stores?
• Shoppers can create personalized avatars to walk around the 3D virtual store and browse through products while interacting with other shoppers and sales staff from around the globe.
• Shoppers can also attend product demonstrations or tutorials given by the virtual store staff.
• People can build social/virtual shopping communities/groups and host online shopping get-togethers with their network of friends, family and associates - a concept defined as assisted e-commerce or social shopping.
• Customer service online is taken to an entirely new level as customers do not need to email, click to call or deal with hundreds of pages of forum based questions and answers. If a customer has a question, they can simply log on and walk up to a customer service representative or ask another customer with a high feedback rating.
• Businesses can use their online stores to test out new store designs/ideas - in a virtual setting.
Interested in seeing Lenovo’s virtual store prototype?
• To see the new Lenovo eLounge, visit www.lenovo.com/elounge** or visit them at CES at the Venetian Hotel’s AquaKnox.
• For more information on web.alive, visit www.projectchainsaw.com or www.nortel.com/webalive.
OTTAWA - Nortel’* [NYSE/TSX: NT] announced it has licensed Epic Games’ Unreal Engine for Nortel’s new web.alive virtual world software application.
“The Unreal gaming engine provides an array of core technologies, content creation tools, and support infrastructure essential to Nortel’s web.alive application,” said Arn Hynman, web.alive chief architect. “By collaborating with Epic Games and licensing the Unreal Engine, we are enabling our customers to benefit from the same platform that powers industry-leading video games and complex 3D simulations.”
“The Unreal Engine enables companies to build dynamic, interactive virtual worlds for the next-gen workforce, and this licensing agreement signifies Nortel’s commitment to take its e-commerce and learning initiatives to the next level,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “Nortel’s web.alive application uniquely showcases how Epic’s engine technology can be leveraged to improve business collaboration.”
To learn more about the Nortel and Epic collaboration and to hear an interview with Arn Hyndman and Mark Rein, visit http://podcast.nortel.com/podcasts2/nortel_web_alive_7961.mp3.
web.alive integrates spatial, high-definition audio and customized 3D spaces with conventional telephony, corporate systems and software to create a “real-life” experience in a virtual environment. Epic’s Unreal Engine 2.5 enables the display of stunning 3D environments and avatars with lifelike movements and interactivity. Nortel brings this impressive capability to your web browser as a thin client.
Nortel has also announced that Lenovo, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of personal computers, is using web.alive in a new online virtual store as a way to give consumers an exciting new avenue for e-commerce.
Nortel’s web.alive is a collaborative, browser-based virtual world application for enterprise use that provides an immersive, interactive and web integrated world with 3D voice and graphics. The application facilitates internal collaboration as well as customer interactions over the web and in real time. web.alive brings new dimensions to business collaboration, virtual training and ecommerce. For more information on web.alive, visit www.projectchainsaw.com or www.nortel.com/webalive.
Tags: 3d, avatar, ces, Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo, nortel, unreal engine, virtual store, virtual world, web.alive
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Blu-ray Defies Recession with Christmas Sales Exceeding DVD
More proof that my prediction of a Blu-ray Christmas is coming true… According to the Blu-ray Disc Association, British consumers bought 462,500 Blu-ray discs in November, an increase of 165% from October. They put out a release with a very positive title that proudly claims, “Blu-ray Beats Recession Blues Sales Soar in Lead Up to Christmas at Even Quicker Rate than DVD”.
Like I said in my pro- Blu-ray prediction, “I think consumers are looking to escape today’s harsh economic climate. Watching movies is a heck of a lot cheaper than going to the movies. People are going out a lot less, eating out less, but they still want some form of escapism and quality entertainment. For that reason, I think it’s going to be a very “black” Blu-ray Christmas.”
Echoing my sentiments, according to the news release, “Despite the gloomiest of financial forecasts, sales of Blu-ray disc movies are defying the odds and bucking the credit crunch - with record figures reported in the run up to Christmas. And it’s not just films flying off the shelves, Blu-ray disc players are also following suit, with a strong upsurge in European sales that is expected to continue into the New Year. In fact, overall sales are predicted to more than triple in 2009, reaching 2.5million units Europe wide* (and that figure does not even include the millions of Playstation 3 consoles, with their in-built Blu-ray players, that will be sold over the next few months).”
It also states that sales figures from the British Video Association (BVA) released in December, show that block-buster Hollywood titles such The Dark Knight sold a whopping 513,000 units in one day with Blu-ray disc representing 21% of all discs sold.
What’s even more telling in these figures from the U.K. is that the 
British pound is much weaker against the Japanese yen and since no Blu-ray players are made in the U.K., that means there is a premium paid due to the pound-to-yen exchange rate. The U.S. dollar is also weak against the Japanese yen, however there are Blu-ray players made in the U.S., including the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray player which was sold on Black Friday at Walmart for $128.
So I expect U.S. sales of Blu-ray players this Christmas to be even better than the United Kingdom. We shall see if my prediction was right when most experts are expecting Blu-ray disc sales to disappoint due to the global slowing economy.
Tags: blu-ray, blu-ray player, christmas, economy, magnavox, NB500MG9, ps3, recession
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Toshiba 512GB Solid State Drive
Toshiba announced that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month, with shipments of this large SSD in the second quarter of 2009. These NAND-flash-based solid state drives (SSD) will be the industry’s first 2.5-inch 512-gigabyte SSD and features fast read/write times and reliable performance for laptops/notebooks, and other equipment.
In addition to the 2.5-inch, 512GB drive, the 43nm NAND SSD family also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules. The drives feature a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This should definitely result in faster boot and application loading times. The drives also offer AES data encryption to prevent unauthorized data access.
512GB soon… next stop 1TB (1 terabyte)!
Tags: 512GB, drives, memory, NAND, sequential read, sequential write, solid state drive, SSD
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Christmas Blu-ray player + Netflix = A Very Blue Christmas
I have a Blu-ray player on my Christmas list that I hope to get. Santa Claus hasn’t failed me yet. I also have a subscription to Netflix and planned on upgrading it to the Blu-ray package for an additional $1/month should I stay off Santa’s “naughty list” this year. 
This would give me access to Netflix’s massive Blu-ray library. Apparently, I shouldn’t get too excited though. According to this CNET article, Blu-ray movies discs aren’t being delivered as quickly as regular DVDs.
Continue reading Christmas Blu-ray player + Netflix = A Very Blue Christmas…
Tags: blu-ray, blu-ray player, christmas, CNET, movies, netflix, santa claus
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- <a href=”http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/news/cnet—wheres-the-love.asp” title=”CNET - Where’s the ♥ love?”>CNET - Where’s the ♥ love? - Dec 16, 2008
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Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard
Logitech today introduced what they deem a “Game-Changing Gameboard” called the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard. Hyperbole aside, the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard is an interesting concept. It sports a naturally contoured design, on-board memory, customizable backlighting, and programmable keys. A keyboard with memory? What’s next? A keyboard which is a full-fledged PC? Oh wait, that’s been done.
Anyway, the Logitech G13 advanced gameboard is a hybrid gaming keyboard designed to complement your Logitech keyboard and mouse. It gives you 25 programmable keys and an analog stick, as well and three game modes to help the PWN factor against your gaming buddies.
The Logitech G13 is basically a mini-version of the Logitech G15, which is a full-sized traditional keyboard that costs just about the same as the G13. Personally, I prefer full-sized keyboards for gaming, with programmed buttons & macros, but to each their own.
Logitech stated, “Whether you’re rescuing hostages, on a quest with your guild or saving humanity, you don’t want to worry about hand fatigue or hitting the wrong key.”
The iconic contoured design complements the natural shape of your hand and fingers, while the smooth, concave home-row keys make it easy to locate buttons by touch. With three game modes, 25 programmable keys and a programmable analog stick, the G13 gameboard offers up to 87 ways for you to control your game (software installation required). And you can set up custom button-profiles for each one of your favorite titles. You can even create macros on the fly without having to pause your game.
And for another tactical advantage, the 160-by-43-pixel GamePanel LCD shows live game stats, system info and even messages from other players. Though look away from the computer screen at your own peril!
With the G13 gameboard, you’ll also get backlit keys that help you easily locate the right key in low-light conditions or lights-out play. And you can select from hundreds of available backlight colors.
A handy solution for the laptop gamer, the G13 gameboard includes onboard memory, letting you program up to five ready-to-play profiles and take them with you to your next LAN party. The G13 gameboard also offers pre-configured settings for many popular games, including World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ and many others.
Pricing and Availability
The Logitech G13 advanced gameboard is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe in December for a suggested retail price of $79.99 (U.S.). Question is will it be available before Christmas?
Tags: gaming, keyboard, Logitech G13, Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard, Logitech G15, video games
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Blockbuster Goes All-in-One in Nevada
Blockbuster has chosen Reno, Nev., as the test market for a new store concept that combines video rentals with sales of video game accessories, high-definition TVs and other home entertainment products.
Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said the company is “selling convenience” with the new design.
And you know we gadgeteers love convenience, even if we have to wait for it.
We hope the still have snacks!
More a the The Cincinnati Enquirer/Gannett News Service.
Tags: blockbuster, HDTV
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I told you it was going to be a Blu-ray Christmas!
I hate to say I told you so, but today’s PriceGrabber.com gadget report on Black Friday sales, once again proves my opinion that this Christmas will be a “black” Blu-ray Christmas! My opinion goes against conventional wisdom that Blu-ray won’t succeed, and that streaming HD using Roku/Netflix, and cable providers offering HD content is now closing the window of opportunity for Blu-ray. I’m not buying that theory. Additionally, several other articles, including CRN’s Consumers Not Planning a Blu-Ray Christmas article and Register Hardware’s ‘A Blu-ray Christmas? Don’t bank on it’ don’t believe my opinion that it will be a Blu-ray Christmas.
The most popular products on Black Friday - specifically look at #3, the Blu-ray player:
- Nintendo Wii Console
- Ugg Australia ‘Classic Short’ Boot (how about that!)
- Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
- Samsung LN52A650 52″ LCD TV
- Nintendo Wii Fit
- Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42″ Plasma TV
- Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR Digital Camera Kit
- Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Notebook
- Canon PowerShot A590 IS Black Digital Camera
Out of all the possible gadgets in the world, a Blu-ray player ranks #3.
Also, as previously blogged, here are the Top 10 categories and percent growth over Black Friday 2007. Once again look at #3, which sports a 147% increase!
- Women’s Boots - 203%
- Watches - 202%
- Blu-ray/HD-DVD Players - 147%
- Women’s Sleep & Lounge Wear - 415%
- Games & Puzzles - 151%
- Women’s Jackets - 110%
- Music - 96%
- Headphones - 103%
- Women’s Dresses - 107%
- Women’s Casual Shoes - 143%
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m l keeping my eye on Amazon for any Blu-ray specials. (see: Amazon Blu-ray player special prices). Today, I see a Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player for just $198! I might just get my brother-in-law a nice Blu-ray player after all!
Tags: 1080p, Blu-ray Christmas, Blu-ray Disc Player, blu-ray player, gadgets, Sony BDP-S350
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Black Friday Results are in!
It appears it just might be a Merry Christmas even with the doom & gloom surrounding the economy. I guess President-elect Barack Obama must be the Messiah, since he’s already creating miracles and he hasn’t even been sworn in yet.
Check this out:
NRF Survey Finds Black Friday Gets Holiday Season Off to Energetic Start
– Great Bargains, Pent-Up Demand Drove Shoppers to Stores, Web
Though the holiday season is far from over, retailers across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief after shoppers headed to stores and websites in droves over the weekend. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year.*
Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend*, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion.
“Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend,” said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. “Holiday sales are not expected to continue at this brisk pace, but it is encouraging that Americans seem excited to go shopping again.”
Friday was clearly the busiest day of the weekend with 73.6 million people hitting stores and websites for doorbuster sales. Though traffic did subside after Friday, retailers were also buoyed by two-day sales as 56.9 million people shopped on Saturday, up from 48.3 million last year, while another 26.2 million people planned to shop on Sunday. Thanksgiving Day also continues to increase in importance as the number of people who shopped on Thursday was up 48 percent over last year (16.2 million people vs. 10.9 million people).
Those who shopped on Friday lived by the adage that the early bird catches the worm. The survey found that 23.3 percent of shoppers were at stores by 5 a.m. while more than half (57.6%) were at stores by 9 a.m. Bargains appeared to be so good that people have more of a jumpstart on shopping.
According to the findings, Americans have completed slightly more shopping than they had one year ago (39.3% vs. 36.4%), indicating that traffic and sales over the next several weeks will moderate.
“Though retailers should be encouraged by strong traffic and sales over the weekend, consumers are still being cautious,” said Phil Rist, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, BIGresearch. “Weekend shoppers indicated that they are still sticking to a budget and thinking carefully before making any holiday purchases.”
Though retailers in all categories were featuring big bargains, a majority of shoppers visited discount stores for holiday deals. According to the survey, more than half (54.7%) of this weekend’s shoppers visited discount stores. Nearly half (43.0%) shopped at a traditional department store, up 11.1 percent from 38.7 percent last year. About one-third of shoppers visited specialty stores like clothing or electronics stores (36.0%) and shopped online (34.0%).
As expected, many shoppers (50.9%) purchased clothing and accessories over the weekend while 39.0 percent bought books, DVDs, CDs and video games and 35.9 percent purchased consumer electronics. Toys were also big sellers, as 28.5 percent of shoppers bought a toy. Gift card purchasing dropped ten percent with 18.7 percent of shoppers purchasing a gift card over the weekend, down from 21.0 percent last year.
NRF continues to project that holiday sales will rise 2.2 percent this year to $470.4 billion.
About the Survey
The NRF 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. NRF defines the weekend as sales from Thursday, November 27 to Sunday, November 30. The survey, which polled 3,370 consumers, was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch from November 27-29, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.7 percent.
BIGresearch is a consumer market intelligence firm that provides unique consumer insights that are gathered online utilizing very large sample sizes. BIGresearch’s syndicated Consumer Intentions and Actions survey monitors the pulse of more than 8,000 consumers each month to empower its clients with unique insights for identifying opportunities in a fragmented and changing marketplace.
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees - about one in five American workers - and 2007 sales of $4.5 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com
Via NRF
Tags: Barack Obama, Black Friday, Christmas, National Retail Federation, Thanksgiving
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Cyber Monday Amazon Deals
Amazon has a special landing page listing all their Cyber Monday deals. Amazon doesn’t call it “Cyber Monday” but rather the “Black-Friday-After-Thanksgiving-Sale”, so this landing page should be good until Christmas. Maybe they were afraid Cyber Monday was patented, kinda like their one-click ordering patent.
Anyway, here’s the current category breakdown on the Amazon holiday specials landing page:
- Black Friday deals in Toys & Games
- Black Friday Deals in Electronics Just Keep Going
- Hot Kitchen and Home Black Friday Deals
- Black Friday Deals in Sports & Outdoors
- Limited Time: Save up to 50% on Home Improvement Essentials
- Exclusive Cyber Monday Deals in Beauty
- Limited-Time Black Friday Deals in Apparel, Plus $10 off $50, $20 off $100 Orders
There are some Blu-ray DVD players for sale, including a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player for $199. (under $200). Still doesn’t beat the $128 Blu-ray player Wal-Mart was offering on Black Friday (now $199), but it’s the best deal on Amazon today.
For the full listing on Amazon holiday specials, head over here.
Tags: Amazon.com, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, sale, Thanksgiving
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It’s Going to be a Blu-ray Christmas
Some experts are skeptical about whether consumers will buy Blu-ray DVD players this Christmas - I am not one of them. Many are saying it’s going to be a “blue” Blu-ray Christmas. I disagree. I went shopping for a cheap Blu-ray DVD player on Black Friday, with one bargain special at Wal-Mart offering a $128 Blu-ray player. This was one of the biggest deals offered by Wal-Mart on Black Friday, and one was to wonder if this deal was part of the draw for the raucous crowd that stampeded and killed a Wal-Mart employee.
When I went to one Wal-Mart, then told me they sold out in 2 hours. I tried another one and they told me I just missed the last unit by less than an hour.
Wal-Mart was offering the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray Disc Player, a mid-range Blu-ray player. Today (Cyber Monday), that same Blu Ray player is going for $199 online.
Features of the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray player include Full-HD 1080 output (24 or 60p), 1080p DVD upconversion, Composite video output Component video output, Progressive scan video output for HDTVs, HDMI with audio output for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, Digital audio output (coaxial), Analog audio output (left and right), CD support, Jpeg photo viewer, screen saver and surround sound effects. However, the Magnavox NB500MG9 Blu-ray player only supports Blu-ray profile 1.1 and not the current Blu-ray 2.0 version. Thus, no BD-Live support for access to more special content via the Internet. Still, this was a bargain Blu-ray player coming closest to breaking the $100 barrier. I planned on giving it to my brother-in-law for Christmas since he was looking at upgrading to a 42″ HDTV flat screen.
If the two Wal-Marts I visited are any indication that this will be a “Blu-ray Christmas”, then retailers that sell Blu-ray players and Blu-ray discs should be very happy. In fact, I’m surprised with retailers haven’t offered a $99 Blu-ray player for sale. Yes, they’d be taking a loss, but perhaps they could offer it as part of a bundle, such as buy 5 Blu-ray movies at $24.99 and get a $99 Blu-ray DVD player plus a coupon for 50% off your next Blu-ray purchase. They’ll entice them to come back and purchase more Blu-ray titles, which should more than offset any profits lost on the low-priced Blu-ray player. Once they get consumers hooked on Blu-ray, they’ll be paying nearly double what regular DVDs cost.
Retailers need a shot in the arm and one way of doing that is by getting a Blu-ray player in as many homes as possible and as quickly as possible - before HD-on-demand starts to take off. Personally, I prefer to own my movies rather than rent/PPV/video-on-demand. I like to build my movie library so I can watch any of my 500+ movies anytime I want without paying another dime. I think consumers are looking to escape today’s harsh economic climate. Watching movies is a heck of a lot cheaper than going to the movies. People are going out a lot less, eating out less, but they still want some form of escapism and quality entertainment. For that reason, I think it’s going to be a very “black” Blu-ray Christmas. I have a Blu-ray player on my Christmas wish-list. Crossing fingers Santa Claus thinks I’ve been good this year. 
Also, since today is Cyber Monday, I’m keeping my eye on Amazon for any Blu-ray specials (see: Amazon Blu-ray player special prices). You should as well.
Tags: Amazon, Black Friday, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Christmas, Christmas, Cyber Monday, DVD, player, Wal-Mart
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Need more Terabytes this Christmas?
Looking for a faster, bigger hard drive this Christmas? (Two days till Black Friday sales by the way) Well, I came across this funny Youtube video of the day - filmed at famous Mac Store Tekserve in Manhattan, New York and paid for by drive manufacturer Seagate. It’s a tad long, but it features a hip-hop office drama and the desire for “A new disk drive. 1.5 Terabytes….” (don’t let that little jingle get stuck in your head) Just in time for the Christmas holiday season.
Via 9to5mac.com
Tags: Black Friday, Christmas, funny, Mac Store, Manhattan, NYC, Tekserve, video, youtube
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Alan Colmes Leaves Hannity & Colmes
FOX News Channels’ Alan Colmes is leaving Hannity & Colmes (H&C) at the end of this year. Well there goes my 9 o’clock nightly timeslot. What the heck am I going to watch now? Reality TV? Ack! Well, the good news is that not watching the at-times heated debates should be good for shaving off a few points off my blood pressure. So you’re probably wondering if Sean Hannity finally got under Alan’s skin, he got tired of debating Sean and he quit as a result. Well, according to the newswires, it was an amicable departure.
Alan Colmes said, “I approached Bill Shine (FNC’s Senior Vice President of Programming) earlier this year about wanting to move on after 12 years to develop new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network. Although it’s bittersweet to leave one of the longest marriages on cable news, I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years.”
Colmes will continue to have a presence on FNC as he will serve as a liberal commentator on a variety of FOX News programming, including Foxnews.com’s The Strategy Room and continue hosting his radio program, The Alan Colmes Show on FOX Talk, a division of FOX News Radio. He will also begin developing a weekend program.
It’s too bad Alan couldn’t have the 9pm timeslot currently occupied by H&C, since then he’d be going against Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. It would be a lib-on-lib ratings deathmatch!
Shine said, “We’re very sorry to see Alan reach this decision but we understand his desire to seek other creative challenges in his career. We value his incredible hard work in making Hannity & Colmes the most successful debate program on cable news and we’re going to miss him on the show. Thankfully, he will begin developing a weekend pilot for us.”
FOX News Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Roger Ailes added, “Alan is one of the key reasons why FOX News has been such a remarkable success. We’re sad to see him leave the program but we look forward to his ongoing contributions to the network.”
Hannity & Colmes is the only FNC program which has remained in the same timeslot for 12 years, catapulting to number one in 2003 and never relinquishing the top spot. The second highest-rated program in cable news behind only The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes averaged 3.3 million viewers nightly for the Nielsen month of October and is poised to mark 60 consecutive months at number one at the end of November.
Hannity added, “Not only has Alan been a remarkable co-host, he’s been a great friend which is rare in this industry — I’ll genuinely miss sparring with such a skillful debate partner.”
Throughout his 12 year tenure on Hannity & Colmes, Colmes has interviewed numerous key political figures, including: President Elect Barack Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), DNC Chairman Howard Dean and former Vice President Al Gore.
FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour general news service covering breaking news as well as political, entertainment and business news. For nearly seven years, FNC has been the most watched cable news channel in the nation. Owned by News Corp., FNC is available in more than 90 million homes.
Tags: Alan Colmes, FNC, FOX News, Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity
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PC Magazine Stops the Presses - Online Only
I grew up reading PC Magazine and I looked forward each couple weeks to picking up my copy of PC Magazine at the local grocery store. But today, Ziff Davis has announced that the legendary PC Magazine print publication is shutting down its print publication and focusing exclusively on online content. This is truly a sad day… 
Hold on while I grab some tissues…
PC Magazine started the whole in-depth comparative reviews of PCs and Microsoft software. They expanded later to including gadgets, MP3 players, mobile phones, GPS, and other technology. PC Magazine offered insightful tech tips and great columnists like John C. Dvorak. Back in the 80s and 90s the print publication was 400-500 pages, making for hours of tech- reading pleasure. Today, it’s down to 150 pages and soon to be 0 (January 2009).
Well, I guess it’s “greener” that way. But I for one will miss my print copy of PC Magazine.
Tags: John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine
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Pioneer Stores Coming to a Mall Near You
Don’t know why gadget companies want to open up their own unique stores, but Pioneer has opened its second U.S. retail store in Phoenix.
The 3,200 square-foot store showcases Pioneer’s state-of-the-art products in a comfortable home environment with six vignettes, each featuring unique themes and different technologies, as well as a revamped mobile electronics section bringing an interactive shopping experience to customers.
Well, I guess I do know, but don’t think that Pioneer ranks up their with Apple or Bose as a big draw.
But maybe I’m wrong.
Would you rather shop at an all-gadgets retailer like Best Buy or head to a unique manufacturer-only site?
Or are you comfortable doing both?
Tags: apple, best buy, bose, mobile electronics, pioneer
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Mojo Mobility Charges Gadgets Wirelessly
Mojo Mobility Inc, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm, has developed a technology to simultaneously charge multiple mobile devices simply using a flat surface that doesn’t even to touch the charging circuitry of mobile phones, iPods, iPhones, and other gadgetry.
While NFP (Near Field Power) is not a new concept, the non-contact charging system leverages an electromagnetic induction method. The system is composed of two coils, one for transmitting and the other for receiving electric power.
Mojo Mobility has developed a prototype sheet-type charger equipped with multiple transmitting coils. On this sheet to the right, up to four devices charged at the same time with the ability to produce 2.5W to 4W of power ..
Tags: charge, electric power, electricity, gadgets, mobile phone, Mojo Mobility, Near Field Power, NFP, wireless
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Top HDTVs under $1000
Want to know the top HDTVs & LCDs under $1000? Well, Amazon has a sweet round-up of the top HDTVs that won’t break the bank. My 480i/480p/1080i 65″ rear-projection TV is getting a bit old, it’s bulky, and it doesn’t support 1080p, so might be time for me to buy one of these or add it to my Christmas wish list.
Read: Amazon’s Top HDTVs under $1000
Tags: 1080i, 1080p, 480i, 480p, HDTV, LCD, television, top HDTVs
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Watching TV & Surfing Internet Go Hand in Hand
Nielsen’s new TV/Internet Convergence Panel, which electronically measures both television and Internet usage in the same homes, has found that television viewing and online video streaming are complementary activities.
Gosh!
According to the convergence panel, the heaviest users of the Internet are also among the heaviest viewers of television: the top fifth of Internet users spend more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared to 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all.
Nielsen found that the reverse is true as well — the lowest consumers of television have the lowest usage levels for the Internet.
(And what else could they be doing?)
Nielsen also found that 31% of in-home Internet activity takes place while the user is watching television, demonstrating that there is a significant amount of simultaneous Internet and television usage. Conversely, 4% of television viewing occurs when the consumer is also using the Internet.
Now I watch TV while on the Internet, my kids watch TV on the Internet while on the Internet and my wife is either on one or the other — and never both.
Is this a crazy multi-tasking world or what? 
Get more at Nielsen.com.
Tags: convergence, internet, nielsen, TV
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Rovio Wi-Fi VoIP Robotic Webcam
The <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/WowWee-Rovio-Enabled-Robotic-WebCam/dp/B001CQLGD6%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001CQLGD6″ title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’Click for Amazon price:
WowWee Rovio Wi-Fi Enabled Robotic WebCam
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>WowWee Rovio
is a cool Wi-Fi enabled robotic webcam. I like to call Rovio a remote-controlled VoIP webcam sentry robot.
The <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/WowWee-Rovio-Enabled-Robotic-WebCam/dp/B001CQLGD6%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001CQLGD6″ title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’Click for Amazon price:
WowWee Rovio Wi-Fi Enabled Robotic WebCam
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>Rovio
is pretty futuristic looking. It looks like it belongs on some sci-fi TV show or movie. Reminds me of some vehicle I saw on Terminator 2. The Rovio can move in any direction and can be controlled remotely. Simply view and interact with Rovio’s environment through its streaming video and audio from its built in camera using a browser. You can even control the Rovio from an iPhone and the Nintendo DS.
Continue reading Rovio Wi-Fi VoIP Robotic Webcam…
Tags: camera, iphone, nintendo ds, robot, Rovio, video, video streaming, voip, wifi, WowWee
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Motorola Femtocell Picture Frame Combines VoIP, Video, Bluetooth, Touchscreen and more
Check out this cool new converged prototype device from Motorola that combines a picture frame with touch-screen, video camera, Bluetooth headset, VoIP, femtocell, and video streaming. A femtocell is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in residential or small business environments that allows you to use your mobile phone in your home connecting to your femtocell access point.
Femtocells essentially are an alternative way to deliver the benefits of Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) without the need for a dual-mode handset. In the Youtube demo video below demoed by Motorola representative Harsha Hegde, you can clearly see they’re using the popular Counterpath Xten SIP-based softphone - also shown in the screen grab above. Motorola also demonstrates a femtocell mobile-to-mobile VoIP call, which is pretty cool.
Tags: bluetooth, femtocell, motorola, photo frame, picture frame, video, voip
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New iPod touch supports VoIP
The Cult of Mac claims that the new iPod touch is VoIP-capable on the hardware side:
With 5 wires connected to the Touch headphone jack (instead of 4 on the previous model), the device now supports the external microphone included with some headsets, according to Kyle Wiens of iFixit, who fully dismantled an iPod Touch on Wednesday.
So who needs an AT&T-restricted iPhone? Course, you’ll need to be in range of a Wi-Fi network to use VoIP on the iPod touch.
It is worth pointing out that this is not the first time someone has run VoIP on the iPod touch. Touchmods added a microphone hack to the older iPod touch version. Another group enabled a SIP softphone client for the iPod touch to use with the “hacked-in” microphone.
With the new iPod touch - no hacking required. 
Tags: Apple, Cult of Mac, iPod touch, SIP, voip
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Sling Media SlingCatcher and Slingbox PRO-HD Available
The new Sling Media SlingCatcher and Slingbox PRO-HD (Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB100-100) are now available for pre-order from Amazon and SlingMedia.com at $299.99 each. Just in time for the Christmas holiday season! Woot! Ok, Christmas is still 3 months away, so I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
The highly anticipated SlingCatcher lets you display video content to your TV using a USB drive, but even cooler it can project your PC’s display (Youtube, Hulu, etc) and audio to your TV. It can also directly receive a Slingbox feed.
The Slingbox PRO-HD is the first Slingbox to stream in high definition (HD) supporting 1080i resolution and 5.1 surround sound. It can serve video up to PCs, Macs, and mobiles. Slingbox PRO-HD supports multiple inputs including of course component inputs to capture HD broadcast content from your HD set-top box. It also sports an integrated digital tuner including both ATSC OTA and clear QAM - a first for any Slingbox. You’ll probably need some serious bandwidth to stream HD video over the Internet, so really this is best for streaming on a LAN not over the Internet. Though Slingbox does some pretty good compression and buffering, so maybe it can?
To pre-order the Slingbox PRO-HD from Amazon before the mad holiday rush (Wii shortages?), head on over <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Sling-Media-Slingbox-PRO-HD-SB100-100/dp/B001EZRJZE%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001EZRJZE” title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’Click for Amazon price:
Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB100-100
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>here
And to pre-order the Sling Media SlingCatcher SC100-100 Universal Media Player for TV on Amazon, click <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Sling-Media-SlingCatcher-SC100-100-Universal/dp/B000VXD2S8%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000VXD2S8″ title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’Click for Amazon price:
Sling Media SlingCatcher SC100-100 Universal Media Player for TV
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>here
Tags: 1080i, digital tuner, HD, Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB100-100, Slingbox PRO-HD, streaming video, TV
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Lost TV Satellite Signal, Couldn’t watch Rudy Giuliani or Sarah Palin, Streaming TV to the rescue!
I was watching the Republican National Convention (RNC) speeches last night, toggling between CNN and FOX News, when a major rain storm hit Connecticut causing a lengthly loss of satellite signal. It was the middle of Rudy Giuliani’s hard-hitting speech when I lost all of my TV channels. I have to get my nightly politics “fix” or I’m a grumpy blogger in the morning. 
The highly-anticipated speech from Governor Sarah Palin was still to come and it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to watch it live. Sometimes CNN offers live streaming coverage, so I headed over to CNN.com and sure enough they were offering a live streaming video feed. But alas, it didn’t work. Only the audio worked and I got a green box for the video feed. Perhaps their web servers were overloaded by others doing the same thing I was? There was a lot of media ‘buzz’ surrounding last night’s convention speeches, in particular Palin, so I’m sure lots of Internet users were watching via their PCs.
Next, I headed over to FOXNews.com but couldn’t find the live feed link. Then I remembered I recently installed TVUPlayer from TVU Networks, a P2P TV channel streaming application and I recalled that FOX News was one of the channels it supported. I fired up TVUPlayer, and clicked on FOX News. It gave me a warning that the channel was experiencing technical difficulties, and prompted ‘are you sure you want to continue”. This was an error I had never seen before. I clicked continue and it started to stream, but it was very choppy. CNN’s video streaming is screwed up, FOX News video streaming is choppy what’s going on here? I have to wonder if CNN & FOX News experienced a higher streaming demand last night. Whether it was pro-Palin supporters or simply people curious to check out Palin, something was going on last night. I’ve never had streaming issues from two major websites simultaneously.
Anyway, I gave up on FOXNews.com and went to the channel list in TVUPlayer to look for another news channel. Interestingly, only FOX News and a local ABC News channel was listed in the channel line-up. No MSNBC or CNN or Headline News. Cable news networks that don’t permit live streaming are missing out on a huge audience and shooting themselves in the foot if you ask me. You can sell commercials/ads in live streaming feeds or simply use the same TV commercials. Regardless, you can monetize and more easily track the number of Internet users streaming your video feed than using the antiquated Nielsen Ratings system, which is based on “sampling” data.
Anyway, then I saw C-SPAN and C-SPAN-2 in the channel line-up. Nobody watches C-SPAN, so surely their servers will have plenty of bandwidth available! 
I launched C-SPAN and the video quality was superb. I was able to catch the second half of Rudy’s speech and the beginning of Sara Palin’s speech live on my computer. Phew! Gotta love the Internet! After about 30 minutes, the storm died down and I got my live TV satellite signal back and I switched back to my TV.
I suppose I could have watched the speeches on Youtube when they get posted, but it’s just not the same thing as watching an event live. I for one cannot wait for the day when I can stream live any TV channel over the Internet. I might even be willing to pay a few cents for the privilege.
Tags: C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, CNN, fox news, p2p, Republican National Convention, RNC, Rudy Giuliani, streaming video, TVU Networks, TVUPlayer Sarah Palin
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May 11, 2007
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Text-To-VoIP Plug-in for MorphVOX Pro
Found a cool Text-To-VoIP Plug-In for MorphVOX Pro that allows you to speak over the Internet or soft-phone using customizable text-to-speech voices. Essentially it lets you type phrases/words, it converts the text-to-speech, and then plays it over your PC’s audio connection.
This plug-in allows you to type text messages to your friends over voice clients such as Ventrilo, MSN, Skype, softphones, World of Warcraft Voice Chat, Counter-Strike and other VoIP-enabled games. They claim the plug-in is helpful for people who cannot speak with their own voice or who would like a text alternative to communicating with voice. Or perhaps your just a shy, pimple-ridden male teenager whose voice is changing making you sound like a girl, so this is one way to avoid embarrassment as you frag one of your enemies and shout “I blasted your [censored] sky high!”.
The plugin ties directly into the Windows audio class no doubt so it should work with most VoIP applications. It appears they’re using the Cepstral TTS engine, which is often used in Asterisk, the open source IP-PBX. In addition, the Text-To-VoIP plug-in works directly with the MorphVOX Pro voice-changing engine. This provides a way for you to morph a single text-to-speech voice into hundreds of different voices.
Go check out the Text-To-VoIP Plug-In here
Tags: asterisk, Counter-Strike, MorphVOX Pro, MSN, Skype, Soft-phone, Text-To-VoIP, Ventrilo, World of Warcraft Voice Chat
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Teaching an Old Blockbuster a New Trick
Blockbuster to roll out DVD rental kiosks! Yes, in another tactical shift, Blockbuster will begin testing 50 DVD rental kiosks to compete with Redbox, which rents DVDs for $1 per night.
According to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, Blockbuster plans to roll out 10,000 kiosks over the next 18 months. The kiosks are designed for DVD rentals, but could include digital downloads and sales of movies in the future.
In related news, Netflix is reportedly testing charging a premium for Blu-ray movies. This service would allow users to order Hi-Def movies from its Blu-ray library for a premium.
Blu-ray discs cost 25% more than standard DVD titles, but offer superior definition. Netflix has not announced how much more a subscription including Blu-ray would cost, but Netflix subscribers report paying an additional $1 to $2 per month for the HD, according to InformationWeek.
Tags: Blockbuster, blu-ray, dvd, netflix, rental kiosks
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Jul 30, 2008
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Dynolicious for your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch - Coolest Apple App ever!
Dynolicious utilizes the accelerometer built in to your iPhone or iPod Touch to sense the motion of your vehicle to calculate performance statistics including 0-60 acceleration, 1/4 Mile Elapsed Time, Lateral G’s, and Horsepower. Is this not the coolest Apple App ever? I would have headed over to the Apple App Store to buy this app pronto, except I no longer drive a high-performance Dodge Viper - I now drive a pokey Volvo.
Here’s a photo of my beloved 2001 Dodge Viper at a Cape Cod motel before it was totalled by a 24-year old pharmacist one month after I sold it to him.
Anyway, the sampling data is sampled as many as one hundred times per second, to get a detailed picture of your car’s acceleration. This information is then used to determine the speed of the vehicle and the distance travelled. The site explains that due to the unique hardware integrated into the iPhone, this can all be done with no setup, wires, or extra equipment like traditional accelerameters.
According to their web site, “Unlike other accelerometer-based performance meters, Dynolicious uses the advanced data-handling and display capabilities of the iPhone to make the most of your performance testing.”
Further, Dynolicious maintains a history of test runs, showing you averages and trends in your results. Dynolicious also allows you to enter modifications performed to your vehicle, and will instantly show before-and-after results to easily identify gains or losses.
Here’s some screenshots:
Specification/Features breakdown…
Performance Measurements
- 0-60 MPH
- Other Speed Tests (0-10 MPH through 0-100 MPH in 10MPH increments)
- Quarter Mile Elapsed Time
- Quarter Mile Trap Speed
- Elapsed Time and Trap Speed for standard intervals (60′, 330′, 1/8 Mi, 1000′)
- Lateral G’s (current and peak)
- Braking G’s (current and peak)
- Wheel Horsepower
- Estimated Engine Horsepower
Results Presentation
- Realtime Speedometer and Graphs
- Realtime graphical skidpad display
- View results for latest test run or any saved run
- View averages based on vehicle, date, or modification
- Compare results between vehicles, dates, or before-and-after modifications
Configuration
- Rollout 0″ to 24″ (separate settings for 0-60 and Quarter Mile tests)
- Stores vehicle weight and drivetrain efficiency in your vehicle’s profile
- Calibration routine gets the maximum accuracy possible with the built-in accelerometers
Accuracy
- 0-60 MPH: +/- 0.08 sec*
- Quarter Mile: +/- 0.10 sec*, +/- 1.5 MPH*
*Results based on preliminary testing. A detailed accuracy analysis using professional timing equipment at a regulation dragstrip will be posted soon.
Tags: acceleration, accelerometer, app, Apple, Apple App Store, application, Dynolicious, iPhone, iPod touch
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Dymo DiscPainter Review
Printing CD and DVD labels can be a chore. It often requires special labels and only certain printers can accept CD/DVD labels. Certainly burning CDs and DVDs has become more popular so users are looking for quick, easy, and fun ways to label and decorate their CD/DVD collections. I have an Epson printer at home that doesn’t print the size labels I need, so I resort to using a black Sharpie pen and hand scribbling on the CD or DVD. And when I had “scribbling” I mean scribbling! I have the worst handwriting. One other problem with the various label stickers you can run though a printer, is you have to align them perfectly, they look cheap and they can gum up CD drives if the label starts to bubble or fray. Further, sticky labels are quick to print, but they take forever to peel off, and stick on (even with a stomper), and would often jam in the disc drive.
Well, to the DVD/CD labelling rescue comes the Dymo DiscPainter, a pint-sized printer that you simply stick in your CD or DVD media into the drive, use their software to add graphics & text, hit print, and the DiscPainter spins the DVD/CD as it prints. It’s pretty cool how it prints in a circular fashion starting from the inner ring outward. I found myself staring at the spinning media through the clear windows as it was being printed just to watch the image grow outwards. I guess I’m easily amused. As it spins it prints an amazingly good 600dpi, a pretty decent resolution.
Below is a shot of the printer sitting on my desktop PC with two printed CDs. The one in the printer is one of my with my daughter Megan and the other is a promotional photo of the new Toy Story Mania! Disney World attraction. Now when you do go to Disney World and take some home videos you can burn the video to a DVD and have a pretty graphic printed on top - perhaps using one of the photos from the vacation trip itself.
The Discus for DYMO software was very easy to use. Adding graphics and text was a snap. Here’s a sample of me adding the Dark Knight poster image:
The software gives you fine control over the image, including the size, the rotation, and even the opacity. Essentially, you can also control the “opacity” of the image so that it fades into the background with the text more prominent. You can also draw freehand, add shapes, and more.
Here’s another sample showing the Toy Story Mania image:
The software lets you set the print quality (draft, normal, best) and the ink density (matte1 - matte5, glossy 6 & 7, and color 8 and color 9). Dymo’s DiscPainter CD/DVD software makes printing fun and easy. The DiscPainter includes a USB 2.0 cable, AC power supply, three inkjet printable discs, and a full-color ink cartridge.
Currently, the DiscPainter resolution is around 600dpi, and not 1200dpi as some reviews have reported. DYMO told me they are working on updated drivers and firmware so that the ‘Best’ print quality is even more crisp and clear. That will be available for people who want it probably by the end of summer (probably as a download online)
Dymo states that the DiscPainter’s ink cartridge is good for about 100-CDs. A full cartridge is included in the box, and spares are priced at $39.95 or basically $0.39 cents per print. Perhaps a wee-bit on the high side for ink, but it’s fair price to pay for have the coolest looking DVD/CD collection on the block! Just three printable CD-Rs are included (no DVD+R or DVD-RW) with the DiscPainter to get you started — but you can buy more inkjet-printable media online. Surprisingly printable discs aren’t that much more expensive than non-printable discs.
Pros:
- Small footprint and no accessories or trays to keep track of
- Easy to use software
- Very quiet
- Fast print speeds 1-2 ,minutes per CD/DVD
- Ink dries quickly (some printers require 24 hour long drying times.)
Cons:
- It’s only a 4 color system not 6
- Single cartridge system even for black, the most common color used. So if black runs out you throw out the entire cartridge.
- Bit pricey - $279 retail. Though it has come down in price. Amazon has it <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Dymo-DiscPainter-Color-Printer-1738260/dp/B000OSLHFK%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000OSLHFK” title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’
Click for Amazon price:
Dymo DiscPainter CD/DVD Color Printer (1738260)
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>listed for $249.88
Conclusion
Overall, I was very impressed with the Dymo DiscPainter. I liked its speed, easy-to-use software, and its small footprint - easily fitting on top of any computer. Users looking for near-professional looking CDs and DVDs will enjoy the results of this printer. Several online retails carry the Dymo DiscPainter, including Amazon, which <a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Dymo-DiscPainter-Color-Printer-1738260/dp/B000OSLHFK%3FSubscriptionId%3D151BWK97V0S8BGYJ8F02%26tag%3Dtechstuff01-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB000OSLHFK” title=”Buy now at amazon.com-only !” onmouseover=”return overlib(’Click for Amazon price:
Dymo DiscPainter CD/DVD Color Printer (1738260)
Buy Now‘, STICKY, TIMEOUT, 6000);” onmouseout=”return nd();”>currently lists the DiscPainter for $249.88
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Tags: CD, DiscPainter, DVD, Dymo DiscPainter, label, printer, review
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See All the IP Devices at Home?
Can you believe that shipments of Internet-Protocol (IP)-enabled consumer electronics reached 64 million units in 2007 — a growth of more than 70%?
However, the market continues to be dominated by Internet-enabled video game consoles. 
While many of these game console IP interfaces remain unconnected, the enormous developing installed base represents a “Trojan horse” with enormous potential for online gaming, music and video downloads as well as for a variety of Internet-based value-added services.
Already, in late 2007 Activision announced that more than 2 million songs associated with Guitar Hero were accessed through Xbox Live over the previous five months.
All this comes from MultiMedia Intelligence. And there’s much more to delve into to see where this is all going.
(Thanks to Wired.com for the image.)
Tags: activision, Guitar Hero, Internet-enabled, video game consoles, wired, xbox live
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