Section: Video, Content, Gaming, Console, Web, Online Music/Video  Netflix is already on the Xbox 360, lots of media players, and, of course, on your computer. It probably comes as no surprise that the CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings, says that he wants Netflix on the PS3 and the Wii one day.
Eventually we want to be on all the game consoles, all the Blu-ray players, all the Internet TVs. So we are working in parallel with all of those efforts. Currently our Xbox deal is exclusive and we haven't characterized it more than that.
As we all know, exclusivity deals eventually must come to an end. One day the iPhone will be on other carriers and Netflix will hit those other video game consoles. Hastings comments shouldn't be taken lightly. Netflix has made many moves that a larger company would be afraid to try. Their partnership with Roku initially defined the Roku media player. Its deals with content providers to get streaming content are growing. Expect the Nintendo Wii to land Netflix before Sony as Microsoft sees Sony as its number one competitor. Read: [Reuters] via [Gamespot] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Computers, Mobile Computers, Netbooks The Intel Developer Forum looks to be an excuse for Intel to show off all the cool stuff they’ve been cooking up and let PC makers show off some of their products. Of course there’s a multitude of technical sessions each day, though those probably won’t interest many people outside developers and engineers. Today we have two new announcements from Intel: a formal announcement of new processors and a new optical cable technology as well as an interesting syncing technology. Why the Core i7 Mobile is a big deal The first announcement comes in form of the official announcement of the Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor. We’ve already seen laptops that use the Core i7 Mobile and now Intel is showing it off. According to Intel, the Core i7 Mobile will bring the power of a desktop PC to a laptop, allowing for much more complex tasks like audio mixing, multiple camera video editing, and high-end gaming. Having seen the difference a Core i7 in a desktop can make, Intel’s claims should be more or less true. Now all we need is for more companies to put these into laptops, a MacBook Pro with a Core i7 Mobile would be fantastic. Light Peak to replace wires The second announcement is Intel’s new Light Peak, a new way of connecting devices. Those devices can include anything from peripherals, computer, hard drives, displays, and docking stations among others. It’s all done through optical wires about the width of a human hair, which can replace any sort of wire and can even connect through current connections like USB. Light Peak can transfer data at 10Gb/s when it will be released in 2010 and will be scalable to 100Gb/s over the next decade, which should be able to handle just about any size file with amazing speeds. Sync computers regardless of OS In terms of non-Intel announcements, we have Syncables which is showing off its cross-platform syncing application. Syncables Desktop is truly cross-platform, working on Linux as well as Windows and Mac, and allows you to fully sync multiple machines. This includes media, bookmarks, email and any other documents you want to sync. The application also has Facebook and YouTube integration for easy uploading of media. The company is showcasing NetworkSync at IDF, which allows for easy collaboration and streaming through any network. Read [Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor]
Read [Intel Light Peak]
Read [Syncables] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Smartphones Over at the official Palm blog are lots of pictures of celebrities posing with the Palm Pixi and the Palm Pre. Why? Palm somehow was at the Emmy Awards and coaxed people into the pictures. There’s no word if these pictures were taken using the Palm Pre, but it would have been smart to show off that pretty good camera on their blog. Since these celebrities are actors, we're guessing Palm told them "Your motivation is that you love the Pixi." The actor probably said, "The what?" Director person then said, "Just pick up the phone - you love it. Got it?" With that, many photos were taken with the celebs smiling while holding up the phone. Some actors thought, "Hey, it's a phone, I'll hold it up to my ear." Others thought, "I'll just hold this up so I can get out of here." Will this get people to buy the Palm Pixi or Palm Pre? This probably will not result in a huge sales spike because Ricky Gervais played with a Pixi (no offense, Ricky. If you’re reading this, I think you’re quite funny). However, it couldn't hurt sales. The Palm Pixi is obviously meant for a younger audience, maybe their tech picks can be influenced by celebrities. Read: [Official Palm Blog] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
FROM GAMERTELL - Microsoft has released a mandatory Xbox 360 system update, so if your Xbox 360 is connected to the internet, you’ll have to do some downloading and updating. The update adds no new features, but prepares for Facebook, Last.FM, and Twitter support.
MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Portable Audio, Video, DVD/DVR/Blu-ray, HDTV, Gaming, Console, Imaging, Camcorders Sony is running some deals at their outlet store. There are all kinds of deals available. A Sony sound bar virtual surround sound system for under $150 (down from $240), the Webbie HD pocket cam for $99.99 (down from $169.99), televisions, computers, and even the old version of the 40GB PS3 for $219.99. What's the catch? All these products are refurbished. If you don't mind your product being used by someone else, fixed by Sony, and then sent to you, this could be a good time to pick up some nice stuff on the cheap. The PS3 is on backorder, but you can still order it at the $219 price and Sony will e-mail you when it ships. This is a weekly deal so it will run out soon. Store: [Sony Outlet] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Netbooks, Software / Applications Today, at the Intel Developer Forum, Dell announced the new Dell Mini 10v as the first netbook to use Intel’s Moblin operating system. Moblin is Intel’s idea of what a netbook OS should be and with the coming version 2.1, Moblin is designed for smartphones and Mobile Internet Devices as well. With the OS receiving so much attention, it might be worth knowing just what exactly it is. What’s Moblin? As mentioned above, Moblin is meant to run exclusively on devices with smaller screens and less processing power. There isn’t much to find in the current build that isn’t somehow based on cloud computing. It can pull in data from a variety of sources on the main screen, whether it be a Twitter feed, RSS feed, or web-based calendar. It also has a strong media base, with the OS designed for easy navigation of all media on the device and other devices connected to your wireless network. Moblin 2.0 While this is Moblin 2.0, which is still in beta, it’s only now that it reaches a state that anyone would want to use. To say 1.0 was slow to start is an understatement. Sure, the community behind the project supported it, but there was nobody else using it. Even now it’s not the greatest choice for everyone. What will be the netbook OS of choice? Having tried Moblin 2.0 several times, it just doesn’t seem as the best option. The interface, to me, is quite clumsy, and it chokes when displaying any webpage with flash on my Eee PC 901. With Intel behind it, there is a lot of promise, though it just doesn’t seem as desirable as Jolicloud (the battery hog that is is). Perhaps it might work better on the next generation of Atom chips, but for now the flash issue kills it for me, and also the fact that with such little storage I have no media to really consume on my netbook. If you’re still looking for the perfect Linux for your netbook, it’s worth a shot. Having major PC manufacturers shipping it on netbooks is certainly a good sign of the support to come. Read [Engadget]
Read [Moblin Project] Full Story » | Written by Shawn Ingram for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Email / IM, Smartphones, Mobile  Rumors swirled over Nokia’s potential purchase of Palm which sent Palm’s stock up and caused analysts to take a step back to see how this might play out. If Nokia is shelling out the cash for Palm, estimated at a $3 Billion deal, then it must have a very real problem. The problem: entry into the US market.
Nokia is bigger than big. They pump out 13 phones every second. They own 40% of the world’s mobile phone marketshare and have 1.1 billion customers. Nothing could be better, right? Well, not in the US. In the US, Nokia is still struggling to find a win. They’ve got phones at major carriers but nothing to drive people to these them. There is no wow factor with their current offerings. Nokia’s smartphones can’t seem to get a foot in the door while running Euro-popular Symbian and Maemo as both seem to fall into Apple’s shadow. Would Palm add more than a brand name for Nokia? Analysts say Palm adds a “solid name” to the pot, but not much else, despite moving almost 1 million Palm Pre phones. Having another OS to deal with would present some issues for Nokia, particularly back home in Europe where Symbian is top dog. Motorola’s name gets put into the ring as well as a potential suitor. Moto’s struggled over the past years but their new MotoBlur skin atop Google’s Android looks to be a winner (even winning over Moto-disliker Iyaz, our editor). Perhaps Moto would add webOS to their top end while the Blur OS would live, quite happily, at the mass level? In a move, perhaps to get Nokia to show its hand, Palm announced the intention for an IPO. You might recall how much Palm hated being publicly traded, saying it added too much to the stress level. Perhaps they have no choice. In any event, things are moving quickly for the little company. Read: [Computer World] and [Wall Street Journal] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Web, Google  There's a new version of Google Picasa for Windows and Mac. There are plenty of new features - the biggest one is face scanning. When you load up the new version of Picasa, the software scans your pics and looks for faces. Underneath the faces is a spot for a name. Names can be autocompleted if you are signed into your Google account. Photos can also be geotagged since Google has put together Picasa with Google Maps.
Google put in a nice little feature that lets you share photos directly from the import area. Previously, you would have to import the file to your library and then share the files. This small change saves time and as a Picasa user I like it. If you have your photos organized in your own folder system, Picasa doesn't try to reorganize your folder structure unlike another major photo organizer on OS X. Read: [Google Blog] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Netbooks The Intel Core i7 laptops keep coming. Toshiba just announced its new Qosmio X500 series laptops with the Core i7 that will arrive on October 22, 2009 (a.k.a. Windows 7 launch day). What’s the rundown on this new series? Blu-ray drives, a monster 18.4-inch screen, harman/kardon speakers, HDMI out, DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTS 250M with 1GB of VRAM, also a configuration with 2 hard drives will be available if you want lots of space. Plainly, Toshiba is going after gamers and folks who like movies on their laptops. The multi-touch trackpad has gesture support and seeing as this is a giant of a machine, there is a number pad as well. Pricing info will be available on October 13, 2009. Hang tight. *[Update] We just found out that he Qosmio will start under $1500. How much under? We don’t know yet. Stay tuned. Product site: [Toshiba Qosmio Line] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle Medis is releasing its fuel cell products in stores and Fry's Electronics will have them. Here is a rundown of the fuel cell products Medis will release. The Fuel Cell Power Emergency kit lets you charge a phone more than once - no particulars were given since each phone has different requirements. Medis says that its fuel cells do not discharge over time like batteries so you always have a backup power source. The kit also includes a flashlight. The 24/7 Xtreme Portable Fuel Cell Charger gives 20 watt-hours of power and comes with different tips for different devices so you can charge USB gadgets as well as Nokia and Palm Treos (why the Treo over other phones, I don't know). Medis' products are already available online. Company Site: [Medis] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Gadgets / Other, Household, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous  When you go out to Sam's Club to buy your 30 pound bucket of mustard, you can now get your electronics with free tech support as well. Sam's Club will also start a delivery and installation service with varying prices; delivery starts at $50, installation at $89. Tech support, delivery, and installation will begin on November 1, 2009.
Services are only available to Sam's Club members, of course. The crazy thing? You can get tech support even if you didn't buy your electronic device from Sam's Club. Also, another change to Sam's Club is their return policy for electronics - you have 90 days to return your camcorder, personal media player, television, or other electronic toy. 90 days is a long time. I'm sure no one will take advantage of this deal to use gadgets for a vacation or something and then return it. No way of that happening. Read: [PR Newswire] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Web, Web 2.0 / Social Networking, Websites  Facebook has finally admitted what it users have known for awhile now: the site's broken. Complaints about logins being denied, status messages being wiped, chat not working, cryptic "endpoint" errors and disappearing content abound. Until Monday, Facebook had been ignoring bug reports and comments posted to its official page and blog.
“Some users are experiencing errors across a number of site features,” a statement e-mailed to CNET News read. “This includes content occasionally disappearing, difficulty logging in or viewing profiles, and error messages when posting content. We are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible.”
They did not comment on the cause of the problem or an estimate time of resolution. I've noticed all kinds of problem. Posting content often takes several attempts, generating cryptic "endpoint failure" messages. I've had friends disappear - their comments remained but their name and photo vanished. The chat function is useless at times; my inbox is often inaccessible and the site itself is often slow to load. I don't know if these are growing pains (the site now boasts over 300 million users) remnants of last month's DDoS attack, or something else, but Facebook's lack of communication with its users is inexcusable. A dedicated site status page would be a great idea. Read [Cnet] Full Story » | Written by Sue Walsh for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Gadgets / Other, ebooks, Lifestyle  The idea behind ebook readers is to create less clutter and keep your bag light while still being able to read lots of books. Best Buy will be selling the $399 iRex DR800SG that has Verizon 3G access in October 2009. The device has an 8.1-inch touch screen and should get a lot of exposure being in Best Buy stores. However, unless there is a unified ebook format adopted by all ebook reader makers (Amazon, we’re looking at you), you might need different readers to read different content and then you are back to the clutter problem.
These ebook readers are already a niche product. The Barnes & Noble deal seems to make the most sense. People go into a bookstore to buy books. The Amazon Kindle also works in a way. Tech savvy people like gadgets, so maybe they will like the Amazon Kindle because tech savvy people shop online frequently? But what about Best Buy? It's a store that a confused person enters to purchase something usually at a premium price. Will the masses adopt ebook readers because they are available everywhere? As Gadgetell's Associate Editor JG Mason has said, the best model for adoption will probably be the cell phone method. Get the hardware out to the people at very low costs and charge for services. Don't forget that cell phones were once niche items, but they became so cheap that almost everyone has one now. Read: [PaidContent.org] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Microsoft let Gizmodo tell the world about their latest prototype Courier, a tablet booklet no one saw coming. After checking to make sure this was not the first of April, I can tell you this looks to be legit: Microsoft has been working on a host of tablets and this one apparently looks the most promising. The tip off that this is a real Microsoft project and ultimately why it won’t get to market: the stylus. Windows Mobile has been endowed with a stylus since the dawn of time. This is Microsoft’s way of saying to the computer, “I am sorry I have fat fingers.” Microsoft continues to view the human digit as imperfect and incapable of directing the beautiful hardware sitting under the screen. And yes, this is why Microsoft will fail with tablets. The Courier is an impressive design. Gizmodo describes the Courier as, “the dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.” The genius of the iPhone isn’t the touchscreen—they’ve been around for ever. The genius was allowing your fat finger to make the thing work. Microsoft employed styli on their phones that made the experience odd, uncomfortable and if you lost that darn stylus (they sold them in 3 packs, you know), then your device just became unmanageable. Apple designed around the finger while Microsoft continues to apologize for it. Artists and designers will, no doubt, tell me I am off my rocker. Sure, Microsoft could sell a boat load to they who love the stylus, but for the mass market, a stylus just won’t cut it. They should have seen this with the Surface table: no special do-hickeys needed to make the experience complete. Heck, you can put a drink down on it and it recognizes it. By forcing users to revert back to a stylus for entering text, the flow of thought is interrupted. Flicking and swiping is great but doing so with a stylus in your hand is not idea. Until Microsoft works around the parts we can’t lose so easy (like fingers) this project won’t get off the ground and if it does, it will make Apple’s tablet all the more amazing when/if it shows. Read [Gizmodo] Full Story » | Written by JG Mason for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Mobile Computers, Hardware According to Gizmodo, Microsoft has been secretly working on the development of a tablet PC with the code name Courier. The site had videos and photos of the device, which showed a dual screen flat tablet. It has full color touchscreen capabilities and works with the use of a stylus-like pen as well as finger navigation. It opens and closes like a book for easy portability. A megapixel camera is embedded into the cover of the tablet PC. The tablet computer is not a new concept and rumors have been swirling for awhile that Apple may also be working on a prototype as well for the Mac OS. Microsoft has no official word on this tablet PC and the prototype photographed is apparently one of many new devices that are being worked on. Executive J. Allard is supposedly leading a team to develop new projects for the company, including the tablet PC. This type of project would be a surprising release from the company since Microsoft is primarily a software and service company. If they are indeed planning to release a tablet PC, it would most likely be in conjunction with a hardware manufacturer. Read: [Gizmodo] Full Story » | Written by Heather Wood for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Software / Applications, Imaging For many people, Adobe Photoshop is very pricey and has features that they will never use. That's why Adobe has its Photoshop Elements software. Today, Adobe announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for both OS X and Windows. Elements 8 will cost $99 for either platform, but Adobe is running a promotion that brings the price down to $79.99 using a mail-in rebate. Windows users will be able to buy "Plus," which gives you 20GB of online storage and automatic backup, tutorials, templates and more, for $49.99 per year. OS X people will have to twiddle their thumbs instead. Since Elements is geared towards consumers and not to professionals, there is a "Quick Fix" feature that will correct contrast, color, and lighting. Both versions of Elements will have "Photomerge Exposure" which lets you stitch together many photos into one. Adobe threw in a feature from Photoshop CS4 with "Recompose." Recompose will let you alter dimensions of a picture without distorting parts of it. An example is if you wanted to make a landscape picture into a portrait picture - you can have your subjects in the middle of the shot not distort as you pull the the sides of the photo in. Background objects, like trees, will come closer together without too much distortion. It's actually a pretty cool feature. Windows users will also find Organizer which is supposed to help manage videos and photos. The software also has face recognition and can sync photo libraries over your network. OS X users will get "Scene Cleaner" which will let you remove items from photos like cars easily - sounds like a smart clone tool. Product Page: [Adobe Photoshop Elements 8] Full Story » | Written by Iyaz Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Audio, Video, Content, Web, Online Music/Video  PacketVideo has launched TwonkyBeam as part of its TwonkyMedia suite of media-sharing software. TwonkyBeam is a free, downloadble browser plug-in that allows you to stream photos, video, and music from media websites to other devices in your home. After installing the plug-in to your browser, you can stream content by either right-clicking on it or by using TwonkyBeam’s media panel, which displays all available media on a page. Right now, TwonkyBeam is only available for Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher for Windows, though according to TwonkyBeam’s website, there are future plans to support Macs and other browsers. TwonkyBeam is compatible with many popular brands of consumer electronics, including Samsung and Sony HDTVs and Pioneer receivers (a complete list of compatible devices is available on the website). If your device isn’t on the list, an external digital media adapter will make it TwonkyBeam-compatible. TwonkyBeam is available for download from the TwonkyBeam website starting today.
Product site: [TwonkyBeam] Full Story » | Written by Merlyn Akhtar for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
Section: Computers, Hardware, Software / Applications, Gadgets / Other, Miscellaneous 
As we have seen in the past, the Microsoft Surface has recently made its way into another Las Vegas hotspot and the latest location is the new Hard Rock Cafe which is located in the Showcase Mall. Now, in addition to walking around and checking out the memorabilia on the walls (as well as buying some overpriced souvenirs), visitors can spend some time and check out any of the seven Surface tables that will be on display.
Of course, similar to when the Surface was added at the Rio iBar these units will also feature some apps that were designed specifically for the Hard Rock. In fact, there are two apps and they include: - Worldwide Memorabilia – Created by Hard Rock, the new Worldwide Memorabilia application is designed for guests to explore the world's greatest collection of rock music memorabilia that reside in Hard Rock properties from around the world. This is an extension of the Memorabilia experience that is available on the web as well as in the restaurant booths. The application also lets users pivot from one collection to another, using categories such as artist, year, genre, and type.
- Virtual Globe – Customers can also use a spinning virtual globe to find other Hard Rock locations and view images of the properties.
In regards to the apps, they are noted as being a collaboration between the Hard Rock, Duncan/Channon as well as Vertigo (a Microsoft Surface partner). Read [Microsoft Surface Blog] Full Story » | Written by Robert Nelson for Gadgetell. | Comment on this Article »
 
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