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- Japan gets ultra-cute Hello Kitty music player with sparkling Swarovski crystals
- Netflix coming to PS3 next month
- Rumor: DSi to have voice chat channel soon
- CrunchDeals: Instant rebates on many Canon lenses
- Video: Google Voice does translation too – in a way
- LawCrunch: Some (more) ideas on why Nokia sued Apple
- The Internet balancing act between wasting time and striving for greatness
- Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Cybernetic human robot HRP-4C demo (2 videos)
- CrunchGear Week in Review: By Cell Light Edition
- Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Futuristic Media Vehicle
| Japan gets ultra-cute Hello Kitty music player with sparkling Swarovski crystals Posted: 26 Oct 2009 04:05 AM PDT
Hello Kitty is 35 years old now, and she still continues to be the dream cartoon cat of millions of teenage girls. If you’re one of these people and have a penchant for gadgets on top of that, this new and strictly limited music player might be the right thing for you. The so-called Hello Kitty Music Player Crystal [JP] is the result of a cooperation between iriver Japan, Hello Kitty company Sanrio and luxury brand Swarovski Crystal.
The player is sized at 47.2×18.0×37.5mm, weighs 19g and comes with 300 of Swarovski crystals that just boost the cuteness a little more. It features 2GB of storage, which is enough for around 480 songs and can play MP3 and WMA files. It supports Windows PC only (via USB 2.0).
The player is Japan-only and will cost $150 when it goes on sale (exclusively online) on October 30. I suggest you contact the Japan Trend Shop, Geek Stuff 4 U or Rinkya in case you live outside Japan and you're interested in getting one.
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| Netflix coming to PS3 next month Posted: 25 Oct 2009 11:17 PM PDT
I don’t even want to speculate, it’s too weird. The content is hosted online, streamed over the internet, and the application and interface can’t take up more than a few megabytes. Yet they feel the need to next-day-air you a freaking Blu-ray disc that’s apparently the only way to access it. That’s a bit like having somebody climb the stairs in order to get to an escalator, isn’t it? Maybe this is just a temporary thing, but maybe it really is as dumb as it sounds. We’ll know next month. At any rate, it’s a pretty awesome score for Sony. Maybe Microsoft only signed up for a two-month-long exclusive?
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| Rumor: DSi to have voice chat channel soon Posted: 25 Oct 2009 05:41 PM PDT
Sounds pretty serious to me. And after all, Nintendo has been pushing that Wii Speak thing, though I don’t recall hearing about anybody using it ever. Probably because calling your friends on your Wii is just a little too weird. On the DSi, however, it could be really convenient. Say hello to DSiPhone. Of course, Nintendo has responded saying it’s just a rumor — yeah, we knew that. But they didn’t deny it, so it’s probably true.
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| CrunchDeals: Instant rebates on many Canon lenses Posted: 25 Oct 2009 05:24 PM PDT
It’s really only like an 8-10% savings, but hey, would you rather have 10% off or 0% off? Click the pic to make it bigger, and then head to your favorite lens e-tailer to get buyin’. [via Canon Rumors]
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| Video: Google Voice does translation too – in a way Posted: 25 Oct 2009 04:46 PM PDT
This one in particular shows how far technology has come. If only the caller had something more interesting to say. [via Reddit]
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| LawCrunch: Some (more) ideas on why Nokia sued Apple Posted: 25 Oct 2009 12:51 PM PDT
Disclaimer: Jeremy Kessel has a J.D., but is still waiting for his (July 2009) California Bar Exam results. Thus, he is not (yet) a licensed attorney. Barry L. Cohen, who also shares some insights below, is a licensed attorney. Regardless, this post is not meant as legal advice or analysis and should not be construed as such. As many of you are aware, Nokia filed a lawsuit against Apple last week in the Federal District Court in Delaware. Nokia’s complaint alleges that Apple has infringed on 10 of Nokia’s patents for various, “fundamental” GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) technologies. In particular, the patents cover wireless data, speech coding, security and encryption. Nokia believes that all 10 patents have been infringed by all Apple iPhone models shipped since the iPhone was introduced back in 2007. This brings up the question: Why wait until now, Nokia, to sue Apple? Clearly, without speaking directly to Nokia’s legal team, all of the following is pure (albeit educated) conjecture. Nonetheless, with intellectual property (i.e. copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets) becoming increasingly important and relevant to (technology) companies around the globe, it is worth taking a few minutes to explore some of the possible motives/strategies behind Nokia’s latest legal muscle flexing. As I am not yet a licensed attorney (I find out next month), we turned to Barry L. Cohen, Esq., who specializes in commercial and business litigation and intellectual property litigation and licensing at Thorp Reed & Armstrong, for his thoughts on the Nokia v. Apple matter at large. According to Mr. Cohen, because Nokia has been successful in licensing the patents at issue with dozens of other companies, the Finnish company most likely felt confident that it would be able to reach an agreement with Apple as well. When the negotiations reached an impasse, Nokia was essentially left with no other choice but to pursue legal recourse. Filing the lawsuit against Apple is most likely, at least in part, a deliberate strategy to put more pressure on Apple to agree to the terms that Nokia has requested with regards to licensing the patented technologies. Because the 10 patents at issue include “fundamental” cellular technologies, the lawsuit may also have been motivated by some (or many) of the other companies who are already paying licensing fees to Nokia and want Apple to do the same. Alright, now that we have explored (somewhat superficially) why Nokia has prompted the suit against Apple, this in turn leads to another question: Why would Apple refuse to license the technologies if they are imperative for the operation of its iPhone? Again, without speaking directly to Apple, we can only speculate. It is possible that Apple has licensed similar technologies from Ericsson (who, along with Nokia and Qualcomm hold some of the largest mobile technology patent portfolios in the world), thereby eliminating the need to license the patents at issue from Nokia. Or alternatively, Apple may believe that it is not infringing or that Nokia’s patents should be invalidated. However, considering that some 40 other mobile companies have licensed these key patents, this is extremely unlikely (possibly even impossible, depending on which company holds what patents). According to Mr. Cohen, it is more likely a money issue. The longer that Apple goes without paying licensing fees, the cheaper Apple can sell its iPhone and the bigger market share it can build up. Alternatively, Apple may not have wanted to pay or could not agree on the amount of the royalty rate that Nokia was requesting. Given the scale (i.e. millions of devices), even a tiny discrepancy in price could result in hundreds of millions of dollars, going one way or the other. Regardless of the actual motivation behind the lawsuit, considering that less than 1% of cases go to trial, it is most likely that Nokia is using the suit as a bargaining chip. Both companies, whether they actually like it or not, can afford to see cases like this through to the end, as the legal costs, even in the mutltiple millions of dollars, are relatively insignificant in the big picture for Nokia and Apple. Rather, suing Apple will provide Nokia more leverage in obtaining some variety of settlement (i.e. receiving royalties for its patents), and on the flip side, might even help Apple save a few bucks if a third-party mediator is brought in to help resolve the dispute. Some may argue that Nokia is a total hypocrite, given its recent expensive and drawn-out legal clash with fellow mobile big shot, Qualcomm. But, as Mr. Cohen points out, Nokia is clearly no dummy (yup, that is a legitimate legal term). Nokia has clearly weighed the pros and cons of filing the lawsuit and what it will mean to their licensing strategy. Whether or not the strategy works, will depend in part on Apple, who is also not a fool. Finally, I do not believe (as John does) that this suit was directly motivated by Nokia’s recent financial struggles. As someone who has studied intellectual property and has a general sense of the value that a company’s IP assets hold, I agree with Mr. Cohen and everyone else who thinks that this is ultimately a negotiation. Nokia is an enormously powerful mobile technologies company. Sure it is facing increased competition from the likes of Apple, HTC, Samsung, etc, but I do not believe this lawsuit signifies some sort of last gasp, or in the words of John (no disrespect, of course), a “mercenary approach, [a way to] cash in on some of the iPhone's success.” For better or for worse, this is the new way of the technology road. Companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars developing and obtaining IP assets, and at the end of the day, they will continue to do whatever it takes (i.e. sue each other on an endless merry-go-round) to protect and enforce their IP rights.
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| The Internet balancing act between wasting time and striving for greatness Posted: 25 Oct 2009 11:45 AM PDT
Nicholas here, fresh off freaking out over Shogun Rua’s loss last night. (I hate to use the word "robbed," but Mr. Rua was 100 percent robbed last night. Later today: watching Dream 12!) I just wanted to draw your attention to a New York Times essay I just stumbled upon. It’s about the Internet, and our increased dependence upon it. It’s pretty short, so it won’t kill you to read the whole thing. The basic thesis, nearest I can tell, is that the Internet has taken over our lives; that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Is it harmful to spend 20+ hours playing an online video game at the expense of "real life" contact, or at the expense of school or work? Yeah, probably. But, as the Internet, and computers in general, move away from a work/school-only phenomenon and converge with our lesser activities (entertainment and the like) we become susceptible to, well, losing ourselves in it. That is, "Man alive, I’m been here three hours, and all I’ve been doing is looking up old Ric Flair promos on YouTube, and then doing the related Wikipedia shuffle. I went from looking up Starrcade to the concept of sovereignty in just a few clicks! And I have articles to write, (and Dream 12 to watch)!" Yes, the essay is a little hinky. The question becomes how to properly allocate your time online between the pointless and the slightly less pointless. Do you download an application that kicks you offline, and keeps you there? Do you study/work from a place that has zero Internet access? Or do you embrace the fact that, well, this is how we do things from now on: working right alongside 18 tabs about the history of Nintendo and the Monday Night Wars?
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| Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Cybernetic human robot HRP-4C demo (2 videos) Posted: 25 Oct 2009 10:43 AM PDT
Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology has showcased its most spectacular robot at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo today, the “cybernetic human” HRP-4C. The humanoid can’t move her legs, but the way she moves her arms, head and facial muscles is unbelievably human-like. Or you could say unbelievably creepy. She usually works as a model, bridezilla and a singer by the way. Here are two videos I took at the event today, showing the 158cm tall HRP-4C in action. In the videos, she’s “acting” in case you wonder what she’s saying. Video 1: Video 2:
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| CrunchGear Week in Review: By Cell Light Edition Posted: 25 Oct 2009 10:37 AM PDT
Here’s a look at what happened on CrunchGear this week: The real life Burger King Windows 7 Whopper is a disgusting joke to humanity
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| Digital Contents Expo Tokyo: Futuristic Media Vehicle Posted: 25 Oct 2009 06:01 AM PDT
I stumbled upon this strange thing today at the at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo, a virtual reality capsule chair developed by the Iwata-Yano Laboratory at the University of Tsukuba. The so-called “Media Vehicle” mounts a spherical display and is supposed to let passengers move around both in the real world (it has 5 wheels) and a virtual reality environment.
The vehicle looks like it’s coming straight out of cult anime Akira, but I am too heavy to be able to use it and so couldn’t try it out myself.
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The inclusion of both Wi-Fi and a microphone on the DSI made it a favorite for rumors about phone functionality — and while we’ve seen voice chat in some games, there hasn’t been an official channel for that that I know of. But if new rumors, based on a support page mentioning a DSi Speak Channel, are true, then the most popular handheld in the world will be joining the most popular console in the world in having serious voice chat functionality.
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