Amazon Expands HD Offer On Amazon Video On Demand
Published on love sign

Amazon’s Video On Demand got a significant boost recently, adding over 500 HD TV shows and movies from major studios and networks such as Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Showtime Networks.

Customers can now order and watch movies and TV shows in HD on their televisions through compatible devices including: the Roku digital video player, TiVo Series3, HD, and HD XL DVRs, and the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link.

“This is a great day for our customers because our best-in-class HD offering just became even better with HD movies and TV shows now being offered by Amazon Video On Demand,” said Tara Maitra, vice president and general manager of Content Services and Advertising Sales at TiVo Inc. “Adding HD content from Amazon Video on Demand to an existing vast library of options shows once again that with a TiVo remote you truly can have it all. Consumers can access Amazon Video On Demand HD movies and TV shows, all with the simplicity people have come to expect from TiVo.”Movies rented in high definition are priced between $3.99 and $4.99. Television episodes are only $2.99 each. Top titles available now in HD on Amazon Video On Demand include new-release movies such as “Frost/Nixon,” “Twilight” and “Yes Man” and hit TV series including “Californication,” “The Tudors,” “Smallville,” and “Gossip Girl.”It’s certainly a good step forward for Amazon. Still, one should wonder if this will prove enough to catch up with Netflix. We’d say Amazon should start training for a lengthy marathon.

Murderdrome Has No Place on iTunes, Says Apple
Published on Internet

Publisher Infurious Comics has a state of mind reflecting its name right now: one of the company's comics has been banned from the iTunes Store due to its violent content.
Officially, the comic, dubbed Murderdrome, has been rejected because it failed to comply to Apple's 'community standards'. On the other hand, the publisher considers the decision to be plain old censorship.
As it follows, Infurious has posted the first issue of the comic online and asks everyone to leave a comment backing their cause:
“Here at infurious, we would love to work with Apple to ensure a content rating system can be put in place to allow material that is no more offensive than many of the R rated films available to download on iTunes,” reads the announcement.
“PLEASE leave a comment committing your support to us - we’ll forward ALL of these to Apple, so that we can ensure that not only Murderdrome, but that ANY comic submitted to Apple doesn’t fall foul of the same censorship.”
The episode is available here. We've read it: it's a bit violent and filled up with cliches. If we were Apple, we would've benned it for being totally not-funny.

Psystar Sues Apple For Violating Anti-Trust Laws Published on Top Stories |

It's the old American Wild Law way: you got sued? Counter-sue your opponent! This time, the legal ring has Apple in one corner and Psystar in the other.

Psystar's business of selling systems featuring pre-installed with Apple's OS X made the Cupertino company to take matters to court in July. In the filing, Apple accuses Psystar of copyright infringement and illegally distributing OS X in violation of the company's end-user license agreement (Apple's EULA specifically states that it's forbidden to install the company-made OS on non-Apple computers).

Now Psystar decided to hit Apple with an antitrust case. The Apple-clone maker alleges that Apple's way of bundling the OS with the hardware doesn't comply to current antitrust laws.

If the plaintiff wins the case, the road for Apple-clones is clear and the Cupertino company will be anything but happy: after all, the Mac is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) source of revenue for the company.

The bad new for Apple is that Microsoft's bundling the Internet Explorer browser with the Windows OS was met with the same kind of criticism and Redmond eventually lost a lot of legal ground in both Europe and the US.

LimeWire Goes Legit, Plans Online Store Published on Top Stories |

LimeWire has decided to follow Napster's example and go legitimate by opening its own online music store. The good news is that the upcoming MP3 downloads will be DRM-free and offered at 256Kbps. More good news follow shortly.

The P2P software maker added that the unprotected MP3s will be available a la carte or through a monthly subscription plan. However, no time frame has been made available. For the time being, LimeWire has the support of two distributors - IRIS Distribution and Nettwerk Productions.

And now, the bad news. First of all, the RIAA took LimeWire to court on accounts of facilitating illegal file sharing and faces penalties of $150,000 for every song illegally downloaded. The move may be meant to appease music companies but it's hard to say how many of them will prove eager to join the new service.

LimeWire's big chances stand with EMI and Universal Music Group, as both of them stated to add DRM-free tracks to their business plan.

The second bad news for LimeWire comes from the market itself, which looks to have become overcrowded. The dominance of Apple's iTunes was too great even for a big name like Napster. The latter also turned legit following a copyright infringement lawsuit by has failed in achieving a serious chuck of market share.

Online Video Flourishes, But Gaming Keeps Its Crown Published on Internet |

Online videos and social networking sites are great ways to gather a serious number of net surfers, but the crown still sits comfortably on online games, states a new report.

Dubbed “Casual Gaming Market Update”, the Parks Associates report brings some pretty interesting figures. While both online video and social networking sites have been booming in the last years, their actual dominance is really not that high. It seems that only
29% of U.S. adult Internet users watch short online videos on a weekly basis. The figures go much lower in the case of social networking sites: only 19% visit them every week.

In the mean time, playing games online on a weekly basis proved to be a favorite activity for 34% of the subjects.

“Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities. Gaming also has business advantages. Unlike sites for social networking and video streaming, which rely solely on advertising revenue, casual gaming has more mature and heterogeneous revenue models, including web-based and in-game advertising, try-before-you-buy, subscriptions, and micro-transactions.” (James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates)

However, Kuai also issued a warning alongside the good results:

“The casual gaming industry cannot rest on its laurels. In order to counter the growing competition from other online activities, the industry needs to continue to grow its fan base and find ways to better monetize its existing audience.”

The report shows that the year-over-year growth rate for frequent online gamers was 79%, much below the growth rate for frequent users of video streaming sites (123%). On the other hand, social networking sites don't seem to pose a real threat, as their growth rate is only 46%.

3G iPhone Too Slow? Blame The Carriers! Published on Telecom |

Early 3G iPhone adopters have been complaining for some time about the 3G performance and now their complaints have a target: local mobile carriers.

According to a recent study conducted by Wired, the fault for the 3G iPhone's of speed falls on local mobile companies, which lack the appropriate 3G networks. The report reads:

"In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhone 3G more than the handset itself."

"Altogether, this furthers our thesis that it's highly unlikely that Apple is going to wave a magic wand and say, '3G problems, be gone,' with a software update."

The study also points out that the European branch of T-Mobile had fastest 3G network, while the “slower than ever” award went to Australia and should be shared by local carriers Optus and Virgin.

The United Stated occupied a special position in the statistics: the most reports of “no 3G connection available”.

This is the latest study claiming to have found the cause of the 3G's sluggishness. Previously, researchers blamed this on either Infineon's use of bad hardware or on Apple's rush to launch the product, leaving it unfinished in the firmware department. .

AT&T Adds More Appealing International Plans For iPhone Published on Telecom |

Using the Apple phone abroad was not of AT&T best features up till recent. The US carrier now comes up with a new offer.

Two new data plans have been unveiled by AT&T. The first one offers 100 MB of data for $120 a month, while the second costs $200 and offers 200 MB.

"AT&T has worked diligently to provide affordable options for international roaming because the feature-rich mobile experience of iPhone is indispensable to users," said Bill Hague, executive vice president of International for AT&T's wireless operations. "With these new international data plans, iPhone users can access more data in more countries for less cost."

According to AT&T, the new plans cover 67 countries, the same countries that already feature the 20 MB and 50MB plans. Users will be charged 1 cent per kilobyte outside these countries.

The new offer is aimed at business travelers and are available on an as-needed basis, with no long-term commitment being associated with the two plans.

Sony Ericsson Unveils The T700 Published on Telecom |

The latest phone on Sony Ericsson's list is the T700, a slim, stylish candybar aimed at the mainstream market.

“Become a real head turner with the T700” said Sven Totté, Head of Marketing for the design category at Sony Ericsson. “Sleek and shiny, the slim elegance of the T700 gives users a premium experience at a mid-range price point - perfect for the design conscious. Everyone who bought and adored the iconic T610 will be keen to get their hands on the new T700.”

T700's list of features includes:
- 2” TFT display
- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
- 3.2 megapixel camera – snap a great shot and share with your friends via your blog or web page
- High quality stereo speakers – share your music with friends
- High speed sharing – via the operator network or Bluetooth
- 512MB memory card memory in box – and even more to expand

The T700 will be available in selected markets starting in Q4 2008. Color options include Black on Silver, Black on Red and Shining Silver.

Pure Digital Announces Two New Flip Ultra Devices Published on Hardware |

The new Flip Ultra and Flip UltraHD are Pure Digital’s first products of the second generation of its Flip Ultra line, the company recently announced.

Both devices feature two hours of recording time, a high-resolution two-inch screen, and an AA rechargeable battery pack that can be recharged through the camera’s built-in USB arm. The two cameras come pre-loaded with FlipShare, the on-board software used for organizing, editing and sharing videos.

“The original Flip Ultra changed the way the world captures and shares video by making it easy, accessible, and, most of all, fun,” said Jonathan Kaplan, chairperson and CEO of Pure Digital. “Our new Flip UltraHD takes this to the next level by making it incredibly simple and affordable for anyone to capture and share hours of video in stunning HD.”

The Flip Ultra is available in black, white, yellow and pink and retails for $149. The Flip UltraHD is priced at $199 and is available only in black and white.

Flip Ultra Camcorder Features:
- Video Resolution: 640 x 480
- Records: 2 hours (4GB built-in memory)
- Screen: 2 inch – transflective (anti-glare)
- Batteries: 2 x AA (optional rechargeable AA battery pack sold separately)
- TV Output: SD Composite Video
- Zoom: 2 x Digital

Flip UltraHD Camcorder Features:
- Video Resolution: High Definition, 1280 x 720
- Records: 2 hours (8 GB built-in memory)
- Screen: 2 inch – transflective (anti-glare)
- Batteries: 2 x AA (rechargeable AA battery pack included)
- TV Output: Widescreen with HDMI™ output
- Zoom: 2 x Digital