Tuesday, October 12, 2010

19 new stories on The Next Web today

19 new stories on The Next Web today

Link to The Next Web

[TNW Mobile] HTC posts overview videos of HD7, Mozart and Trophy handsets

Posted: 12 Oct 2010 01:50 AM PDT

A day after officially unveiling its new range of Windows Phone 7 handsets, HTC has posted overview videos of its HD7, Mozart and Trophy smartphones to its YouTube channel hoping to keep interest high in its devices before they go on sale across the world.

The three devices are built with different users in mind but share very similar hardware specifications.

Take a look at the videos below, which device would suit you the best?

HTC HD7

HTC Mozart

HTC Trophy

WMPowerUser



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[TNW Location] Did Foursquare just add a real-time activity stream to its iPhone app?

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 11:25 PM PDT

After rolling out version 2.0 of its iOS app only a couple of weeks ago, Foursquare updated the app to version 2.1 today, with a very curious changelog update:

“Now when you receive pings from your friends while foursquare is open, the Friends tab shows you a running count of the fresh check-ins, so you’ll always know things are happening.

This release also includes numerous stability and performance improvements, plus extended support for external applications linking to pages inside foursquare.”

Now that is some interesting – though certainly oblique - stuff, especially these two parts: “a running count of the fresh check-ins” and “extended support for external applications linking to pages inside foursquare.”

So what do these mean? Well, the first part would seem to be a beginning of a mobile-based real-time activity stream for Foursquare. Is there really any other way to look at it? That is, if it works the way we think it will work…we just kept the Friends tab open for about 15 minutes after we updated, and well, nothing noticeably happened.

Two friends checked in during that time (even with 200 friends, but yeah, it’s Monday night), but we’re not sure if we received a “ping” or not, but we’re guessing that “ping” in this sense just means “friend check-in”. At any rate, we were expecting to see a big red number and/or a self-refreshing check-in stream, but neither seems to be the case – again, unless we’re missing something.

But none of that matters – what matters is the intent. If Foursquare is intending to launch real-time friend check-in streams starting with the iPhone app, that could be an interesting development. In third party apps like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, it’s certainly easy to follow the stream of what your friends are doing, but on the mobile interface this generally requires a lot of refreshing and/or paying attention to notifications. Well, if we’re reading that sentence above correctly, this could be a Foursquare’s answer to this on the mobile. Or maybe not. It would seem to us that unless you have a few thousand friends (in a walking-centric city especially) staring at your iPhone might not be all that productive. Or maybe it would.

Regarding the “external applications linking to pages inside Foursquare” – could this have something to do with the “Add to my Foursquare” button or is this just an enhancement for third-party apps using the Foursquare API? We’ll send Foursquare email asking for comment on this post to see if we can clarify both points.



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[TNW United States] Confirmed: iPad on sale at Walmart this Friday

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 09:21 PM PDT

Walmart has confirmed to Electronista that the iPad will go on sale at “hundreds” of its stores starting this Friday, October 15. We first reported about the tablet coming to Walmart just last week.

The world’s largest retailer will then expand sales of the “magical” iPad to 2,300 US stores by mid-November, i.e. before Black Friday and the holiday rush. Walmart will set up dedicated areas to sell the iPad (we’re guessing in a similar manner to Best Buy, which has had the iPad since April) and will sell the tablet for the same prices as Apple sells them in their stores. Buyers will be able to order/purchase on Walmart.com, though the iPads will have to be picked up in-store.

Just one more sign that this holiday season, the most popular tech gifts will be in tablet form – whether the iPad, Kindle, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Nook, or other flat and thin devices.

Oh, and can you just imagine what the iPad in 2,300 Walmarts will do for Apple’s next quarter and beyond?Electronista



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[TNW Asia] Acer dual boot Windows 7 and Android 2.1 netbook for $400

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 09:00 PM PDT

The new 10.1 inch Acer Aspire One Happy netbook, which comes in four neon colors, will be sold in the UK for 250 pounds ($400) and get this – dual boots to either Windows 7 or Android 2.1. Yep, Android on a netbook.

The netbook comes in Candy Pink, Lavender Purple, Lime Green and Hawaii Blue and features:

  • Atom N550 processor (dual core) or Atom N450 single-core option
  • LED backlit 10.1, 16:9 ratio screen
  • WiFi, Bluetooth and the option for 3G
  • up to a 250GB hard drive
  • 2.8 pounds

So nothing extraordinary there. The almost toy-like colors and form factor plus the option of running Android (though there is no mention of a touchscreen, so it would be somewhat limited Android), however, should make these stand out on the shelves. We’d say that it’ll be a hit with the kids, but as it is priced on the upper-end of the netbook prices scale, it could be more of a hit for Android loving adults.

No word on whether these will be available in the US or other countries soon, but Acer has reportedly said it will start including Android as an option in other dual core netbooks as well.

Interesting combination of playfulness and geekiness – it’ll be interesting to see how they do. One thing is for sure though, these will fit right in with our Geek Style series.Pocket Lint, Tech Radar



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[TNW Shareables] Steve Ballmer Sings French National Anthem

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 05:22 PM PDT

Couldn’t resist posting this. Steve Ballmer doing his best to sing a national anthem we can only assume he doesn’t know the words to. Eventually he gives up and does his best to kill time by laughing out loud. Very amusing.

The event was a Windows Phone 7 application competition organized at Microsoft european headquarters in Paris on October 7 2010. (H/T to Loic)



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[TNW Australia] Freelancer.com launches new strategy, starts with getting big Down Under

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 04:09 PM PDT

Freelancer.com, the world's largest outsourcing marketplace with over 1.8 million professionals from around the globe, is now open for business in Australia. Today Freelancer.com.au went live, connecting Australian small businesses and consumers to the world’s biggest online workforce.

Along with the new site have come new features that will make it easier for local businesses to use Freelancer including the all important ability to invoice in Australian dollars and pay easily by direct deposit. In addition to that the team is providing local marketing, local support and a whole heap of local features which they’ll be rolling out in the near future.

In what appears to be a new strategic direction for Freelancer, the Australian site (and the New Zealand site that also launched) is the first geographically specific version of the online marketplace that the team has launched.

Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer, was particularly excited about the Australian launch:

Our global business is actually wholly Australian owned, yet to-date we’ve had very little exposure in Australia. The little known secret is that we’re one of Australia’s biggest websites globally! According to Alexa, we rank 378th globally, with more traffic than eBay.com.au, SEEK (a leading Australian job ads site), Carsales  and Realestate.com.au.

As for reasons why they decided to create an Australian version of the site after having such success with a broader international version, Barrie said there were many factors, other than the fact that Freelancer is 100% Australian owned, that made Australia such an attractive first market for their new strategy:

Freelancer.com (global) is actually an Australian company so, naturally we want to be big down under, however Australians are already prolific employers on our site- they’re our fourth biggest employer and 7th largest visitors by traffic.

The next decade will also see more baby boomers leave the workforce in Australia than 15 year olds enter it. India on the other hand is having a once in a lifetime boom with a net injection of 14 million people entering the workforce each year.

Also, with unemployment near historic lows at around 5.1%, Australia desperately needs a number of skills to enable it to power into the digital economy. There are 1 million small businesses in Australia, and everyone of them needs a website, and every website needs to get a high ranking in search
engines to get traffic to it.

Australian educational institutions don’t produce enough web designer and SEO specialists to make this all happen, and certainly not  cost effectively! Through Freelancer.com, the local craft store or fish & chips shop can get a website built for $200 or so and start taking orders online. Coupled with the high aussie dollar right now, creates a double win for Australian businesses outsourcing overseas.

So all in all we think Australia is a great market to launch a dedicated site!

And as to whether or not they would continue to rollout geographically specific versions of the site in other countries, Barrie said:  

In regions where it makes sense, yes we will, just like eBay did. We want to be the eBay for services.

One interesting thing to note is that while the site is geographically specific in name, the content itself is not filtered only for that market according to Barrie:

Users to the regional sites see all projects in the same liquid market, just you can see things for sale in eBay from overseas. This means that all users get access to the same deep labour pool and global distribution.

Of course, users can choose if they wish to only hire locally as we identify all users by country.

You would think that over time there would be ways to make the supporting content on the site more geographically specific and also new tools to make it easier to filter local projects and content. For now though, it's understandable that the company won't be filtering projects by geography by default lest they lose the scale that provides the benefit to both parties in outsourcing marketplaces.



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[TNW Apps] Gramcentral Aggregates And Displays Instagram Pics

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 03:50 PM PDT

+2 for dead simple, “why didn’t I think of that?” browser-based apps. Last night we brought you the brilliant Tumbl.in and today we’re bringing you the equally brilliant Gramcentral, which is a pretty little browser app that aggregates and displays recent Instagram photos.

If you haven’t tried out Instagram yet, it was released last week and is already a popular app for taking quick snapshots on iOS devices.

As you can see below, the app’s creator (Juan Sanchez) made a very clever little design decision: it shows the Instagram pics as polaroids hung up on a line to dry. Mouse over any of the pics, and you get the pic title, author and a Facebook Like button to share (obviously, a tweet button as well would be ideal, but we’re not complaining). Also, type in any Flickr username that is associated with an Instagram account, and you can see just that user’s photos.

Dead simple app, and dead gorgeous too.



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[TNW Apps] Mozilla Labs Launching Prospector To Improve Search In Firefox

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 03:34 PM PDT

Mozilla Labs wants to make sure that Firefox has a streamlined, adaptive, and smart interface in regards to search, and to support that goal is launching Prospector, a ‘series of experiments’ that will help people search and ‘discover content’ with greater ease.

It must be noted that the deep integration of Google into Chrome is perhaps pushing the forces behind Firefox into rethinking the way that the browser handles user search queries.

Prospector will focus on three areas of the Firefox experience: “websites you have visited, tabs you are currently viewing, and pages you haven't visited yet.” Experiments that are part of Prospector will analyze user actions to help Firefox “better streamline [...] search behavior and help you get what you want even faster.”

If that sounds something like Google Instant inside of Chrome, you are on the right track. However with Prospector, Mozilla Labs is not taking that route, they are instead going to (for example) track words used for searching and the websites that are then visited to perhaps demonstrate in aggregate trends in behavior that could be used to build Firefox upgrades down the road.

Details are slightly vague as to just what Prospector will do at this time, which is assuredly due to the youth of the project, but Mozilla Labs is working to ensure that it is simple to opt into. The ‘lightweight prototypes’ that will comprise the project will not require a browser restart, allowing them to be adopted by enough users to hit scale and return useful information.

Do note that some of the add-ons will send your personal information to Mozilla Labs, so play safe. Expect to hear more about the project as time goes on.Mozilla Labs, Image Credit



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[TNW Shareables] I’ve been ROBBED.

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 03:33 PM PDT

Check out this new painting I just bou…Wha? Wait a minute. There’s been a robbery!

Fuck Yeah Alberguerque



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[TNW Apps] Yahoo Messenger with video and voice calling hits the Apple App Store

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 03:15 PM PDT

The new Yahoo Messenger iPhone app has hit the Apple App Store, and with it, perhaps the first real FaceTime competitor. The new app has both voice and video calling (and streaming) to other Yahoo Messenger users for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. However, strangely, the app does not seem to support video calling on the iPod Touch 4G, which is pretty peculiar (at least according to the app description, we’ll reach out to Yahoo for confirmation).

In version 2.0, Yahoo has also upgraded the app for iOS 4.1 and can run in the background of the iPhone/iPod Touch. Yahoo recommends that video calling be done over WiFi. Also there are “low cost voice calls” that allow Yahoo! Voice Phone Out subscribers in the US, France, Germany, Spain and Singapore to call land lines and mobile phones.

Features that have carried over to the new app include IM of course, plus SMS messages, notifications and Windows Live Messenger contact integration.

So, is there any real chance that this could be a FaceTime competitor? Well, a lot of that will probably depend on the quality of the video calling (a few of the early reviews on the App Store page seem to indicate that it is good), and frankly, whether or not the iPod Touch 4G is supported. If either the video quality isn’t good and/or the iPod Touch 4G isn’t supported, then this app has no chance to be a FaceTime competitor.

However, if the quality is good and the iPod Touch 4G is supported (perhaps in the next update?) then there is an outside chance of this app becoming a hit – there are still many millions of people out there that use Yahoo Messenger daily, and the app has been pretty successful already if the 165967 ratings on the App Store – at  4 stars overall and 3.5 stars from 21 ratings for this version at the time of writing – are any indication (which of course they are). So we’ll certainly be looking forward to hearing your reviews in the comments.

Oh, and the other reason that this app could end not being a competitor: Skype could get around to having video chat as well, and that would probably be a bit of a death blow to Yahoo Messenger’s attempt to take on FaceTime.

Here’s some more screenshots of the app from the App Store page:

Mac Stories



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[TNW United States] HP: Our New CEO Is Clean, Hurd Was A Liar

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 03:09 PM PDT

HP’s hiring of Léo Apotheker as the replacement to departed CEO Mark Hurd has not been met with a standing ovation, although it must be noted that the criticism of his hiring under its unique circumstances has not been as vigorous as expected.

In a letter to the New York Times, HP’s incoming chairman Ray Lane took a hard line against innuendo that Apotheker had been involved with past misconduct at SAP. The company, looking to clear the air around their new leader said that there was no evidence that Apotheker had behaved unethically.

That is the opposite of what HP had to say about the disgraced (and now co-president of Oracle) Mr. Hurd. Lane stated that he lied multiple times to the HP board as they were conducting an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct that would eventually lead to his exit from the company.

Lane went on to say that “[n]o board can retain a CEO who violates the trust and integrity needed to lead a public company.”

HP is not taking anything sitting down, and is instead opting to meet controversy and complaint head on. For a company that has made so much progress in recent years, they seem determined to not let the wheels fall off due to squabbling and rumors.

Following such a public CEO change under murky circumstances, HP is using sunlight and communication to clear their own decks. Good on them for it.Reuters



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[TNW Apps] EmailOracle: If AdBlock didn’t exist, then this plugin would let you track your sent email

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 12:56 PM PDT

TNW Quick Hit

EmailOracle is a tracking plugin for your Gmail that will let you find out if someone has read your email, how many times and can even keep track until they do.

Loved: One of the greatest features of Mailchimp, for free. Incredibly handy as you’ll keep finding uses. Works with Google Apps email.

Hated: Light on features. Gmail only. Intrusive “warning” banner, imperative to function, can be blocked by plugins.

Overall: 3/5

The Details

I have to admit to being a bit of a snoop. I’m also incredibly impatient. When I send an email I want to know if it’s been read. Sometimes I don’t even care if it gets a reply, as long as it gets read and I can know that for sure.

Until now, however, there haven’t been many options to keep tabs on email that you’ve already sent. EmailOracle is a Gmail plugin that is working to change that fact.

Think of EmailOracle as Mailchimp for individuals. Well, minus the whole “building a huge email list” part. When you load the plugin, you’ll notice a change in your Send button, plus a new box below:

Another thing you’ll likely notice is that EmailOracle inserts a banner at the foot of your email if you select to “track” it. This is placed, of course, to ensure privacy on the part of your recipient and give EmailOracle something to track. We’d much prefer if there were a text option that wasn’t quite so intrusive, but that wouldn’t allow for tracking the way that the image does.

However, kudos to EmailOracle for not trying to fool anyone or leave any doubt about what is happening. That transparency is welcomed.

The other option is considerably less invasive, and only gives a selection box to remind you if you haven’t gotten a reply in a certain amount of days, selectable from 1 to 30. Honestly, for me, this might be just as handy as the main tracking features themselves. I’ll often send out an email only to realize a few days too late that I never got a response. With EmailOracle, it should amount to crisis averted.

Here’s an overview for you of how the entire system works. It’s pretty slick, and fits right in with the Gmail UI.

Giving due diligence, there are other choices out there that do what EmailOracle does. One option, ReadNotify, can actually dig in quite deep and gives you more information than EmailOracle. However, the plugin crashed on me a couple of times and the results weren’t always accurate.

Alternately, there’s a service called GetNotify that can do a lot of the same functions. However, it’s also quite shady in how it works, placing a near-invisible 1px by 1px tracking image into your email. The fault here is that it also won’t work if you send to one of the many accounts where images are not shown by default. Going back to my gripe about the banner on the bottom of EmailOracle, it appears that this is exactly the problem of “being creepy” that EmailOracle is trying to prevent.

However, it’s worth mentioning that EmailOracle and GetNotify work in the same way. That intrusive banner? It’s what EmailOracle will use to track your email’s receipt. If someone is using a modern email client that doesn’t auto-open images, you’re pretty much screwed. Alternately, if your recipient uses an AdBlock plugin, you can forget about getting results as well.

There’s a base, free service which will let you track up to 20 emails per month. Of course, you can upgrade as well:

  • Basic – $9.95/month with 50 tracks
  • Deluxe – $19.95/month with 200 tracks
  • Pro – $99.95/month with 10,000 tracks

So, by now you probably want in on this goodness. We can’t say that we blame you. Of course, being the kind-hearted people that we are here at TNW, we’ve secured an invitation code just for you:

THENEXTWEB

That code will get the first 500 users 200 credits (1 credit per tracked mail). It’s first-come, first-served, so snag it while you can.



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[TNW Location] Whrrl Spins Onto Android

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 12:53 PM PDT

Whrrl, the check-in app that lets its users build “societies” around common interests, has finally come to Android today with a brand-spanking new app.

“We've been hearing from our community for months about how bad they've wanted an Android app,” says Whrrl on its blog today, and for certain, Whrrl has been conspisiously missing from the pantheon of Android check-in apps for awhile now.

But now it’s here, and here are its main points:

  • Check-ins, share experiences and tag friends to check-in, with options to share to Facebook and Twitter
  • Societies, which is at the core of Whrrl, “are real world groups organized around your passions, tastes and interests.”
  • Recommendations with photos – pretty self-explanatory
  • Society rewards – loyalty and check-in rewards, i.e. free or discounted stuff
  • Influence points, which you earn from doing stuff in Whrrl and which can help you to level up (Whrrl certainly has gaming elements).
  • Ideas – recommendations for stuff to do, places to visit

One thing that would seem to set Whrrl apart a bit from other check-in services on Android, is that the new app has a dedicated Android homescreen widget as well, that:

“turn[s] it into a compass for ideas you want to do. Based on where you are, Whrrl will show you the closest ideas saved to your want-to list. You can then click the idea and map it.”

We recently talked with Pelago’s (the company behind Whrrl) CEO, Jeff Holden, who told us that, “I don’t think there is really anything like Whrrl Societies. We’re crossing 400,000 users on the iPhone app [and] we plan to go international.” Below is a video intro to the app, and you can download the Android app in the Android Market now:

Whrrl Blog



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[TNW Location] Foursquare Has A Symbian App…Yay?

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 12:22 PM PDT

Foursquare apparently quietly rolled out its Symbian app a few weeks ago, and according to a blog post today, the app has, “seen a tremendous response – it’s shot up the ranks of the Ovi store…” Ok, so…yay?

We know that Symbian is still used widely around the world, and Nokia sells more handsets than anybody, but as excited as Foursquare sounds in its blog post, and as excited as Nokia almost certainly is, it certainly is telling that the title of Foursquare’s blog post today was “foursquare for Symbian is finally here”, like even they are kind of surprised.

That said, there is one kind of cool thing about the app that Foursquare shared – on Symbian, users can have a homescreen widget that shows “an always-present snapshot of your friends’ recent check-ins” which sounds like a nice touch, and sounds like it would make a pretty cool Android widget as well.

Right, Android, the OS we’d love to see Nokia adopt, but that they’ll probably never do. So Symbian users rejoice, and check-in at your leisure, you gazillions of Symbian users you.Foursquare Blog



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[TNW Apple] TNW Apple Review: The New Apple TV

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 10:56 AM PDT

The new Apple TV ($99) has hit the hands of consumers, including yours truly, and after a first look at the device once it arrived, it was time to put it to use.

Apple TV is a polarizing device, as the release of most Apple products seem to be, with Apple TV experiencing popularity on the day it was announced, but also showing to be a device some have been less than thrilled about.  The reasoning behind the polarity of Apple TV can be attributed to what it lacks (more on that later), the pending arrival of Google TV and its features, and a general disdain for all things Apple by some.

With that, we begin our look at Apple TV, its features, what we like, what we don't like, culminating with our conclusion.

Features

Compared to the original version of Apple TV, the new version is 80 percent smaller, weighs .6 pounds, is less than an inch in height, and measures less than 4 inches in width.

Apple TV features Apple's A4 processor, the same processor used in iPhone 4 and the iPad, ports for HDMI, Optical audio and 10/100BASE-T Ethernet cables, a built-in 6-watt universal power supply, and WiFi capabilities (802.11a/b/g/n).

Other features of Apple TV include; instant HD movie rentals, Apple TV only supports 720p resolution rather than 1080p, (resolution is not a real issue when it comes to streaming video, so put aside the 720p concerns) instant HD TV rentals (except for those in Canada according to reports), Netflix, YouTube, MobileMe, and Flickr compatibility.

In Use

The device itself is small, silent, and easy to set up.  Unless one needs to connect Apple TV directly to a router, the built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi  requires entry of your network information, and once connected to an HDMI compatible TV, you are up and running.  From that point on, the device is constantly in standby mode, featuring no On/Off function, resulting in the device using less than a watt of power.

The television I connected Apple TV to?  A Philips 42-inch HD Integrated Flat Panel Plasma TV.  Not top of the line, but a good TV none the less.  Streaming 720p content through Apple TV was impressive with respect to quality, and there was no noticeable difference between using a PS3 to stream Netflix content and using Apple TV.

The sound quality Apple TV provides is also to be commended.  Sound quality is excellent, standard stereo is rich, while 5.1 was as crisp as one can imagine.

One downside to the device is the use of infared technology in lieu of bluetooth, to connect Apple TV with the included remote, meaning control of the device is limited to line-of-sight connectivity.  Use of bluetooth would allow one to control Apple TV without the need for line-of-sight connectivity.  That said, including bluetooth in the device itself, compatible accompanying remote, would have made for a more expensive device and an easier to control device.

Despite lack of bluetooth and inclusion of infared, the new remote is compact, pleasing to the eye, easy to use (featuring only menu, return, and play/pause buttons, with navigation controls through a directional click wheel) and looks completely different from the previous version of the Apple TV remote.

Another method of controlling Apple TV for those with an iPhone, iPad, and/or iPod touch is the recently updated Remote app (the iPhone version of the Remote app pictured below) which allows one to control Apple TV through a touch surface and virtual buttons.

One can also connect multiple laptops and/or home computers on a home network to stream content to Apple TV, providing quick access to video, photos, and music stored on your Mac or PC. Once you the settings are configured for home sharing on both your computer and Apple TV, accessing content from your Mac or PC is dead simple.

It must be noted that to access one’s iTunes library through Apple TV requires the user’s Mac or PC connected via home sharing to be turned on for Apple TV to pull up your library of content.

Content

Apple has shunned downloaded content in favor of streaming, rented content.   Movies and individual TV episodes can be rented and streamed to Apple TV from iTunes. Movies can be streamed in 720p HD with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and will run one $4.99 for new titles, $3.99 for older titles, or rented in standard definition at $3.99 for new titles and and $2.99 for older titles.

One thing early adopters of the device will notice at present is the dearth of TV episodes for rent.  Currently only ABC, Disney, BBC, and FOX offer series for rent, so hopefully your favorite program(s) are on one of those networks.  Episodes can be streamed in 720 HD, with 5.1 surround if applicable, or in standard definition for $0.99 per episode. New episodes of a series currently airing on cable or satellite can be rented for 24 hours after the original air date, again, for $0.99.

Another method of viewing content is through Netflix.  With a $9-per-month subscription, one can can stream an unlimited amount of video content from Netflix to Apple TV. The user interface is pleasing to the eye, featuring access to your Instant Queue, the ability to search and browse categories like “New Arrivals,” “Movie Genres,” and more.

That said, while the addition of accessing Netflix content through Apple TV is nice, if one has a Wii, Playstation 3, select HDTVs and/or Blu-ray players, it's not a mind-blowing feature.

Not to be forgotten, one can also access content from YouTube, MobileMe, and Flickr through Apple TV.

Conclusion

What I Liked:

  • Price: Apple TV is only $99
  • Ability to rent movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store
  • Streaming Netflix support
  • Incredibly small design
  • Very nice user interface which can be controlled in a variety of ways

What I Didn't Like:

  • Limited selection of TV shows
  • Odd lack of agreement between the Apple TV iTunes Store and that on one's computer
  • Current lack of support for Pandora, Last.fm and other media apps
  • Lack of AirPlay.  A feature which sounds neat, but is currently not available

The new version of Apple TV is priced very low, $99, making it a device with a price point that nearly anyone can afford, or easily save up for, in order to bring iTunes content, Netflix and more to one's home TV.  Compared to more expensive options like a Blu-ray player, Playstation 3, Wii, or one of the other aforementioned devices, Apple TV is affordable.   Further, the device is so small that it fits anywhere and doesn't require a massive home entertainment system renovation to accommodate it.  For those seeking an inexpensive, easy-to-use, device with access to a fair amount of content, the new Apple TV is certainly worth your consideration.Image Credit : Digital Trends



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[TNW Apple] There’s an app for…oh wait, apparently there’s an Apple trademark for that.

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 10:41 AM PDT

Back in 2009, Apple realized that far too many of us were stealing their “there’s an app for that” line and started the process. Today, that process is official. According to TUAW, Apple has secured the trademark for the phrase.

So, if you’re thinking of using that line for “retail store services featuring computer software provided via the Internet and other computer and electronic communication networks; retail store services featuring computer software for use on handheld mobile digital electronic devices and other consumer electronics”, you’d be best served to think again. Chances are, Steve won’t come knocking on your door himself, but his lawyers might.



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[TNW Mobile] Nokia C7 Unboxing And First Look

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 10:35 AM PDT

No sooner had news broken letting us know that the new Nokia C7 devices had started shipping, one of the new Nokia devices made its way into The Next Web office allowing us to get a first look at the device before the device even goes on pre-sale.

The Nokia C7 was unveiled at Nokia World last month, a smaller handset than the flagship N8 but a device that looks a lot sleeker and feels a lot more natural in the hand. The C7 is Nokia’s second device to ship that runs the Symbian^3 mobile operating system, is crafted from stainless steel and features a 3.5-inch OLED display, an 8MP camera which can capture HD video and 8GB of onboard storage.

Check out the gallery below for a first look at the Nokia C7, we will be putting the phone through its paces over the next few days before lavishing you with a full in-depth review.



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[TNW United States] Local Newspapers Are Dead Men Walking

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 10:29 AM PDT

The recessions is over and many forms of media are seeing a rebirth of their advertising demand. Things are on the mend for national newspapers, network television, and even radio here in the US.

While those mediums are seeing large gains, inducing cries of joy it must be assumed, local papers are not recovering. Year over year (YOY) advertising growth for the first 6 months of 2010 versus the first six months of 2009 was a paltry 0.2% for local newspapers, leaving them nearly unchanged after exiting a recession.

Add in general circulation weakness and the full picture forms. While it can be said that growing 0.2% YOY is to be commended as growth at all, it should be noted that national newspapers in the US grew their ad income by 10.8% in the same time frame. If you can’t beat the national papers, many of whom are up to their elbows in debt, you are not doing well.

As I noted earlier, online pressure is especially difficult for local papers. In discussing AOL’s Patch, a series of hyper local blogs:

To put this in perspective, I grew up in a town of 50,000 people, which is the exact market size Patch is shooting for. Our local paper was half joke and half disgrace, but it was printed every day. Patch is going to effectively replace it with a single person. Market economics are on side of Patch, and they don't even have to fight a quality war – local papers are usually poorly written and bland.

Assuming that ad revenue remains flat and poor, local papers are going to give up the ghost to companies like AOL who are on the move even faster than expected. The numbers are in: local papers are over.Image Credit, AdAge



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[TNW UK] “UK Netflix” LoveFilm tight-lipped over Playstation 3 streaming video deal

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 10:28 AM PDT

It has been widely reported in the gaming blogosphere today that a video appeared on the official Playstation 3 YouTube channel earlier today announcing the imminent arrival of a streaming movie service from “The UK’s answer to Netflix”, LoveFilm on Sony’s games console.

The video was quickly pulled, suggesting that it had been published early. When we approached LoveFilm for comment they were as vague as can be, simply stating “We will be in touch as and when we have any announcements”.

Read into that what you will, but according to MCV who saw the video before it disappeared, the service will arrive next month, offering on-demand streaming and allowing members to manage their movie and game rental lists.

LoveFilm, which announced streaming to Internet connected Samsung TVs in May, is available in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Sony already offers BBC iPlayer streaming for PlayStation 3 users in the UK, and it was recently rumoured that competing broadcaster Channel 4 would get its own streaming catch-up service added soon, although no official announcement has been made.Image source



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[TNW Microsoft] The New Windows Phone Ad. Genius?

Posted: 11 Oct 2010 09:56 AM PDT

By now you might have seen the new Windows Phone Ad, if you haven’t, watch:

My first impression was “fantastic, finally an ad Microsoft should be proud of.” It wasn’t minutes later that I received a Skype ping from Boris asking whether I’d watched it, I said I had. I could instinctively tell that he wasn’t impressed, I was right, but completely disagreed.

Here’s why.

Watching the ad for the first time we’re not presented with a logo or branding or anything that would usually give away what the ad was going to be about. Instead, we’re shown a series of scenes with people holding a number of different phones (no telling what phone) in memorable life situations but all distracted by their phone.

Still, the ad seems baffling but irrespective…we’re kept glued.

Finally, after a dozen or so of these scenes, the catch phrase “It’s time for a phone to save us from our phones” makes an entrance - never before have I heard a more timely phrase.

If there’s anything we need today, it’s a phone that makes life more about living and if that’s what Microsoft is selling, then I’m sold.

Finally, the words “in and out, and back to life.” appear and the ad ends with “be here now.” If an ad is intended to sell an experience, then this particular ad is a success. It reiterates that a phone shouldn’t be about being glued to a screen but rather as a support to make life more about living. Yes, cliche’d, but timely and important.

Boris’ points are that you can’t tell what phone is being held throughout the ad, but that’s almost irrelevant to me. Microsoft is hardly going to splatter iPhone, Nokia and Android handsets across the screen. He then mentions that there’s far too many people happily enjoying these phones their supposedly addicted to and you know what, he may have a point there. Microsoft probably should have considered less of the smiles. Still, it should be clear to anyone that grasping a phone instead of experiencing the joys of life is wrong.

In Boris’ rebuttal he says “Sure, at the end of the spot they say this phone is going to save us from phones. But in what way?”

I’ll explain.

One of WP7′s major selling points is the amount of dynamic content displayed on the home screen and its tiles – something the iPhone just doesn’t have. So being able to check your upcoming appointments without unlocking the phone. Being able to see your friends latest status updates and photos without having to open specific applications – there’s value and speed there.

Whether the Windows 7 Phone will actually help us “be here now”, time will tell. My gut feeling is that it’s  just a marketing gimmick but as far as marketing gimmicks go, it’s the best I’ve seen from Microsoft in some time.

Still need convincing life is about living? Watch this. And if you’re looking for a round up of today’s windows 7 launch, read it here.



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