Black and Blue
Can’t afford a Blackberry? Well, you might just be able to run to a Blueberry @9500, just don’t expect it to be compatible with Blackberry’s email service or apps. Yes, it’s a fake, and a pretty shameless one at that, and it’s not the first time the Malaysian company CSL has had a pop at Research in Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of the genuine article. On paper the spec is quite impressive, it has dual SIM slots, a Micro SD card reader, camera, optical trackpad, a number of ‘Islamic’ features, wi-fi and the cheeky beggars have even fitted it with an analogue TV tuner. It’s priced to sell, at around £120 but there’s not much danger of you getting hold of one in your local high street, at least not above the counter…
Hulu Adds ABC Content
Hulu is taking another step in becoming the online hub for TV content with the announced availability of content from Disney’s ABC on the online video site. Initially announced a few months ago, the first episodes from one of ABC’s shows are now live on the site. The first snippet is made up of several episodes of the network’s popular primetime drama Grey’s Anatomy with other shows coming soon.
“Today marks the official start of a new relationship: the launch of ABC content on Hulu. Things kick off with five episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, the primetime drama set at Seattle Grace Hospital, where surgical interns try to navigate the challenges of romance and friendship as they scrub in for complicated medical cases,” Rebecca Harper wrote on the Hulu blog. “We have more ABC titles on the way, too,” she added.
The growing popularity of Hulu prompted Disney, which owns ABC, to join the site in April this year with each of the three big networks now owning a reported 27 percent of it. Since the announcement though things remained quiet and only today has ABC content become available. The network plans to add even more content in the coming two weeks, following the Grey’s Anatomy episodes with shows like Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, and I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Read more
Infants Get Learning Lag from Watching TV
Infants who spend a lot of time in front of the TV may set themselves up for difficulties in learning later on in life, a new scientific research shows. It would appear that even babies under 1 or 2 years of age are capable of “zoning out” in front of the screen, and that this type of behavior may translate into less time spent with their parents, and, possibly, difficulties paying attention and learning when they grow a little older. The investigation was ordered and paid for by the LENA Foundation.
“We’ve known that television exposure during infancy is associated with language delays and attentional problems, but so far it has remained unclear why,” shared for LiveScience University of Washington School of Medicine professor of pediatrics Dimitri Christakis, who was also the lead researcher on the new study. Read more
White Space gets Go-Ahead
You may recall that back in March we ran a story about messrs Microsoft, Google, HP, Intel and others campaigning to use the so-called ‘white space’ or gaps between broadcast television channels for high-speed broadband. Well, the White Space Coalition, as it’s known has just received the thumbs-up from the US Federal Communications Committee (FCC). The new spectrum will be unlicensed and it promises much greater range than current Wi-Fi systems, opening up the possibility of taking broadband to remote areas not served by existing cable or phone systems. The FCC says that the technology will be closely regulated and strictly policed; to avoid interference with TV broadcasts but coalition members have worked hard to prove that the system works and their efforts have been rewarded. Read more
NBC Olympics Coverage on Windows Media Center
The 2008 Summer Olympics takes place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24. With a free download service1 called NBC Olympics On The Go,2 you can catch up on TV coverage from NBC Sports. Select your favorite sports and NBC Olympics On The Go will automatically download the right events to your Windows Media Center-based PC. You can watch your selected events in up to HD quality, even when offline, and you can pause, rewind, or fast-forward the video.
Download NBC Olympics On The Go
To get NBC Olympics On The Go, start Windows Media Center and scroll to the Online Media menu. You’ll see an NBC Olympics graphic. Read more
Introducing Zune 2.5
Microsoft continues to hammer away at its Zune digital media player and the services built around the device, but the evolution is largely a case of going where Apple has already taken the iPod and iTunes. On May 5, 2008, Microsoft introduced the latest update to Zune, not only adding new features and enhancements to the device itself but also evolving the Zune software, Zune Social and the Zune Marketplace. The focus of the update is to build on top of what the company started with “Zune Social” in November 2007, namely to extend the social networking community created around the device.
“Zune owners are pretty passionate, and they had a lot of great ideas for making the community more valuable to music fans. And I definitely fall into that category myself – the main reason we’re all here is we love the music,” stated Brian Seitz, a Group Marketing Manager for Zune. Zune Social offers users the possibility to interact in terms of music discovery, comments, playlist browsing, with the update bringing to the table additional capabilities including the ability to send messages to friends, explore their music collections and even drag-and-drop Zune Cards. Read more
Watch Out Windows
Radio, phone, GPS, MP3 player, TV, camera… been there done that, but just when you thought there wasn’t anything else that could be shoehorned into a wristwatch, think again. A company called Epoq has managed to fit a copy of Windows Mobile onto one, which you drive using a 1.4-inch OLED touch screen, and just for good measure the EGP-98B has built in 1.3MP camera, wi-fi, Bluetooth and a 4-band GSM phone. Now, it might all be a wind-up (pun intended) because details and availability are all very sketchy, and good images are also hard to find. Read more
Don’t Watch This Space
Microsoft, Google. HP, Philips, Samsung and Intel are amongst the big names behind the White Space Coalition, which is looking at ways to provide high-speed wireless Internet access using the gaps between TV channels. The gaps, which are designed to stop channels clashing with one another, are essentially wasted space, but until recently it was thought that any attempt to use them would result in interference and broadcasters are naturally against the idea. Read more
Get Free PS3 With Bravia HDTV Purchase
It’s one of those super-pricey deals that makes every consumer drool- for our lucky Aussie friends, Sony will be giving away a 40GB PS3 with every purchase of a Bravia full-HD 1080 LCD TV. This promotion runs between December 21 and January 28, and applies to the current XBR, X, and W Bravia series models. How’s that for a package?
“Our Full HD BRAVIA range shows the phenomenal detail possible with high definition, and what better way to experience this than through the Blu-ray-enabled PS3,” said Sony Australia senior product manager, Graham Keogh. “Sony is as much about content as we are about hardware. Now, consumers will get the best of both worlds with this Full High Definition combination.” (source- Smarthouse) Read more
End of the Line for Back Projectors
Once, not so long ago, the only way to pack a really big TV screen into your living room was a back-projection TV. In their heyday there were some real monsters from the likes of Toshiba and Sony, but now it looks as though their days are numbered, with the announcement from Seiko Epson that it is to stop production of the projection gubbins that many manufacturers used to use.
You don’t have to look far to see why it has happened, these huge boxes, which were mostly filled with air, have been killed off by big screen plasmas and LCD flat screens. Read more
