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Amazon Wants To Give A Free Kindle To All Amazon Prime Subscribers

Posted: 12 Feb 2010 05:22 AM PST

In January Amazon offered select customers a free Kindle of sorts – they had to pay for it, but if they didn’t like it they could get a full refund and keep the device. It turns out that was just a test run for a much more ambitious program. A reliable source tells us Amazon wants to give a free Kindle to every Amazon Prime subscriber.

Just as soon as they can work out how to do it without losing money.

Amazon Prime is a subscription product that gives customers free two day shipping on everything they buy from Amazon. The current fee is $79/year.

Now in more colors: Panasonic’s GF1 digital camera

Posted: 12 Feb 2010 02:22 AM PST

Two weeks ago, we reported about Amazon starting to sell white and red versions of Panasonic’s excellent GF1 digital camera in America (through a reseller). And today, Panasonic in Japan announced [JP] the camera will be available in two more body colors, namely “blade” silver and “fairy” pink.

Needless to say, Panasonic didn’t make any changes technically.

The cameras will go on sale in Japan on March 12 with an open price model. Panasonic hasn’t said yet whether the colors will be available outside this country as well, but maybe Amazon America can do something again. Panasonic plans to produce 5,000 units monthly.

Daily Crunch: Eerie Shower Edition

Posted: 12 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST

Final Fantasy XIII bundle coming to America

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 09:01 PM PST

Get ready to spend some Gil – it looks like Square isn’t going to ignore the US this time. Square Enix and Microsoft just announced that they are putting together a special Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360. And while these are normally restricted to Japan, this time you’ll actually be able to buy one without have to pay to import it!

So what do you get for your dollar? It’s a nice set actually. The bundle includes an Xbox 360 engraved with the Final Fantasy XIII name, two wireless controllers, some exclusive downloadable avatar items, and a standard edition copy of the game. The 360 also has an exclusive limited edition faceplate designed by the man responsible for the character design, Tetsuya Nomura. We don’t know how much this bundle will cost (other bundles went for $299 when they came out), but we do know that it’s going to be available on March 9th.

From the press release:

XBOX 360 FINAL FANTASY XIII SPECIAL EDITION BUNDLE ANNOUNCED AS ANTICIPATION BUILDS FOR THE BIGGEST VIDEO GAME LAUNCH OF 2010

Tetsuya Nomura-Designed FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplates to Also be Released

WHAT: In celebration of the launch of one of the most highly anticipated games of 2010 and the debut of the FINAL FANTASY series onto the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Square Enix, Inc. and Microsoft have announced the FINAL FANTASY XIII Special Edition Bundle.

Fans looking to purchase a "next generation" console will note that this Special Edition is not only an amazing value, but also the only console outside of Japan to be bundled with the game. The bundle includes a 250GB Hard Drive engraved with the FINAL FANTASY XIII name, two Wireless Controllers, exclusive downloadable avatar items and a Standard Edition copy of FINAL FANTASY XIII.

Additionally, Square Enix's famed character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, has created an exclusive FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplate that will be available promotionally in very limited numbers. Players can immerse themselves in the complete FINAL FANTASY XIII experience this March.

WHEN/WHERE: The FINAL FANTASY XIII Special Edition Bundle is available for pre-order now and in-stores beginning March 9, 2010, while supplies last.

The FINAL FANTASY XIII Limited Edition Faceplate will be available promotionally in fixed, limited quantities at select retailers in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Nooka “Asset Organizer” seems like a bad wallet

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 08:20 PM PST

Sorry Nooka, you’re probably not going to like me much. Taking a look at this wallet, I see several issues. First off, it’s made from silicone rubber. Two words: butt sweat. Also, rubber isn’t exactly known for being easy to pull out of your pocket when you need to get at your ATM card, or ID.

Now to be fair, the Nooka is waterproof, comes in five different colors, and only costs $35. Perhaps you like the feel of silicon. Maybe you keep your wallet in a fanny pack, instead of in your back pocket. No matter what the reason, you can get a Nooka AO directly from them. I think I’ll stick with my Flipside.

[via GadgetLab]

Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta Coming In May

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 07:20 PM PST


Today, Bungie announced the info all Halo fans have been waiting to hear. The multiplayer Beta for the highly anticipated Halo: Reach will be available beginning May 3rd, 2010. For a beta invite, simply have a copy of Halo: ODST.

Early reports surfaced as to what we could expect from Reach, but nothing beats actually getting to play the game.

What are your hopes for the newest installment of the Halo franchise? Sound off in comments and let us know.

Via Bungie

Google’s sudden music blog purge and its implications

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 06:39 PM PST


Yesterday, in response to allegations of DMCA violations, several popular music blogs were wiped off the face of the net. They were hosted by Google via Blogger, and it was only after they were completely erased that the owners received emails to the effect of “We got one too many complaints — you’re deleted. Love, Google.” It’s trending around the net as “Musicblogocide 2010,” but that puts too much of it on Google’s lap, I think. After all, it’s the clumsy and outdated DMCA that actually led to the blogs being deleted.

It’s a bit of a sticky wicket, speculating about the legality of these things, but with such a decisive and bold action as the one Google has taken, we can probably reach some conclusions about how it should have gone down.

from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted, one of the blogs shut downThe sites in question were, of course, walking the line in terms of legality. MP3 blogs are scary to the music industry, because they represent such a challenge to the established promotional and sales flow. This is not the place for a whole argument about fair use, but I think most of what these blogs did would fall under that definition, woolly as it is. They hosted MP3s of artists they were discussing or promoting, but not whole albums. One of the bloggers notes that “everything I’ve posted for, let’s say, the past two years, has either been provided by a promotional company, came directly from the record label, or came directly from the artist.” I used to have an MP3 blog myself, and never received anything but thanks from the artists I tried to promote. So what happened here?

Well, Google is probably limited in what they can discuss publicly, but chances are that these blogs were fingered by some overzealous lawyers using the same sort of technique to catch copyright offenders as commercial fishermen use to catch tuna. These lawyers likely did a little searching for their clients’ names and properties, found a few MP3s, and then added the domains and any related domains to a list. They then filed DMCA violation paperwork against everyone on the list. How could a blog that had permission from the labels or artists to post every item get stuck in this net? Well, at the risk of stretching the metaphor too far, the DMCA isn’t exactly dolphin-safe.

I’m not a lawyer, so I won’t attempt to criticize the DMCA on any sort of technical grounds, but more eminent authorities have concluded that the act and its related laws are admirably well-designed to preserve the status quo. It’s clear that the laws had the interests of labels and such in mind, who certainly had a hand in setting them up. How else would it come to be so easy to get an innocent, probably beneficial personal blog completely effaced from the net?

The Blogger authorities have responded, somewhat, in this post. Essentially they’re saying “well, we just followed the rules.” And that’s true. They offered this service for free with a EULA and what they did was, if not the best move, at least not unprecedented. There are at least two problems presented, though.

First, the burden of proof is on the accused. That’s a bit disturbing, isn’t it? Any allegation is assumed to be true unless the person at which it is directed disputes it — a person who likely little understand of the technicalities of the law, and furthermore is often not even informed which track or post is allegedly in violation. Their recourse is limited and obscure. And mistaken or fraudulent takedown notices are far from rare. One of the bloggers affected cited four he’d received in the last year that had turned out to be out of order.

Second, the sites that were taken down were more than lists of links to MP3s. There was a lot of content on there that was most certainly not violating any law. Specifically, all the writing done by the bloggers and commenters. Some of these blogs had been going for years, and had built up large readerships as well as an enormous archive of commentary, history, interviews, all that kind of thing. Blogger threw the baby out with the bathwater, and there should be some kind of protection against that.

On that last point, it should probably be noted that while the blogs were described as being completely removed, I have no doubt that they’ve simply been taken offline. The content has not been zeroed off the servers and so on. After all, what if the owners challenged the DMCA notices and won? They could conceivably sue Blogger for destroying years of work that had nothing to do with the allegedly offending content. That last part I’m not sure about (Google is within the law in taking the blogs down) but a sympathetic judge might see the harm done and blame Google for acting rashly and negligently. So I’m guessing all that content is still around, though much damage will have been done whether the blogs are ever restored or not.

Of course, it’s not just music pirates who are now worried. Since these blogs were popular and (in a relative way) legitimate, it seems that the dagger now hangs above every person that ever dared to share. It’s like the immense fines levied against minor P2P offenders: the RIAA and its lawyers are barking up the wrong tree and biting the wrong ankles. And since they show no sign of changing their tack, we must appeal to the middle man — in this case, Google and Blogger. What could they have done?

Well, to begin with, a presumption of innocent would be nice. They say that they usually just put the offending post in draft status and alert the owner. So far, so good. But what line was crossed that these blogs were not only removed, but removed with no warning? A cordial notice of suspension would be a hundred times better than a real removal:

“We’ve received several complaints about your blog. Because of their number and previous complaints against you, we’ve temporarily suspended your account until this issue can be resolved. View the complaints here. If you feel these allegations are baseless, fill out this form and we will forward it to the complainants. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Wouldn’t that be nice? If you’re going to give someone the means to walk in the margins of the law (and free blogging accounts are certainly that), then it would be ethical to provide some means of negotiating with it. Google offers a loaded gun to anyone who asks; there’s no need to defend someone if they take the gun and hold up a bank with it, but if they do, at least make sure they get read their rights before they get hauled off.

Lastly, lest I be accused of promoting kid-glove treatment of those ignorant of the law and EULA, people who intend to work in the margins of the law should make sure they know what those margins are, and how to navigate them. It is their responsibility, after all, and ignorance is not a valid defense. I was careful to add a disclaimer that was linked in every MP3 post I wrote which provided contact information and copyright acknowledgment. I’m guessing these blogs did as well; they wouldn’t have been so friendly with the musicians they worked with if they didn’t. But it’s a first line of defense, and if I (and they) were serious about having a website that provided a questionably legal service, I would have put some serious CYA boilerplate in there.

This little fracas is, I am guessing, far from over, so we can expect further developments. But I felt it was important to weigh in following the event itself in order that I can weigh the actual results against what is most desirable. These disputes don’t always end happily, but they often serve to further demarcate ambiguous areas of the law, and future settlements will walk more freely once they clear the backs of their fallen brethren. That came out a bit more dramatic than I had intended, but you understand me. We’re making a new media omelet, and some eggs are about to get cracked.

These sweet retro flip-clocks are actually quite reasonably priced

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 06:00 PM PST


Retro chrome stuff is in demand here in Seattle. It seems like everyone is trying to establish their home as some sort of shrine to “Mad Men.” I even caved and bought this awesome projector screen — trouble is, most of this stuff is super expensive. And one thing I’ve always wanted but have never seemed to find at a decent price is a retro-style clock with the little flipping cards. Well, a commenter over at this AT post pointed me in the right direction and now I’m in agony trying to decide which one I want.


Little Clock Shop has a bunch of clocks for sale (obviously) but these are definitely the coolest. And they’re cheap! $50-$80 for a good-sized, mechanically operated, battery-powered clock that looks like it came out of a time capsule. I’m going to buy one right now if my wallet can stand it.

What if…Apple only offered the 64GB/3G iPad and sold it for $499

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 05:05 PM PST

Even though the iPad is still more than a month away from shipping, iSuppli conducted a preliminary itemized parts breakdown. The results aren’t that surprising: Apple’s making a boatload on these things. iSuppli concluded that the $499 16GB/no 3G model only costs $229 to manufacturer with the $829 64GB/3G model costing only $117 more to make even though it carries a $329 premium. Nice, eh?

These numbers can be broken down even further showing Apple’s insane margins. The 3G module only costs $24.50, but Apple charges $129 more for the option. The NAND memory chips are really the only difference between all three options, but their real costs of $29 for 16GB, $59 for $32GB, and $119 for 64GB are nowhere near proportionate with the iPad’s prices. All this data shows that Apple’s abandoning its long-held K.I.S.S. strategy.

So what if Apple got back on the keeping it simple bandwagon, only offered the high-end 64GB with 3G iPad and still sold it for $499? After all, the company would still be making at least $153 on each iPad sold. Would that turn around the iPad’s outlook?

The vast majority that participated in our poll the other day said that the iPad needs a lower price, specifically $349 for the base model. That clearly shows people are not satisfied with what the iPad offers at its $499 price point when it only offers 16 GB of storage and without the 3G wireless option along with a host of other letdowns such as lack of USB, SD card inputs, and multitasking. Surely if the iPad were only offered in a 64GB/3G kit, at least more  would be able to look past some of the other transgressions.

In fact this model structure of six different options for the same device is new for Apple as of late. Previously Apple was known for its no nonsense approach of just a high-end or low-end option. (MacBook or MacBook Pro, iMac or Mac Pro) Now consumers have to decide not only how much extra they want to spend for storage, but also if they want to spend $130 more for 3G access.

GPS units are known for this type of rubbish. There might be a dozen different models available, but each step up only adds one or two slight software or hardware change that’s a nominal cost difference, but seems to be enough justification for the gradual price increase up the model line. Only the iPhone and iPod touch share this type of pricing structure, but even though they share a lot of the same parts, their core functionalities are different, justifying the difference. That can’t be said about the iPad, where a unit without 3G will be severally limited compared to one with the option.

Maybe Apple doesn’t need one iPad option priced at $499, but rather only two with both offering 3G access, since it isn’t tied down with a wireless contract anyway. Offer the 32GB option for $399 and then the 64GB one for $549. Something needs to change as clearly consumers aren’t thrilled with the iPad’s current pricing, and now that the whole world can see that Apple is downright robbing buyers of the high-end model, that perception will not improve. Apple, get back to your roots and keep it simple, stupid.

Lacie adds eSATA to its rugged line of external drives

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 03:40 PM PST


See? That’s all. I reviewed the Rugged XL a little while back and my opinion is unchanged (a little expensive but probably worth it for peace of mind), but now you can mentally add “eSATA support” to the feature list.

Lenovo brings new touch-enabled all-in-one to market

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 03:30 PM PST


How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
And how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many touchscreen all-in-ones will they announce
before they see there is no demand?
The answer, my friend, is I don’t know
I really have no freaking idea

Actually, I don’t know if people are buying these. At only $650 they’d probably fly off the shelves at Wal-Mart, but I still don’t really believe in the usability of these things. Do you really want to spend all day leaning forward and poking at your screen?

More DRM-free Sierra titles (Space Quest!) added to GOG.com

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:30 PM PST

Hot on the heels of GOG.com's recent deal with Activision to sell DRM-free classic games, a handful of additional Sierra titles are now available alongside Gabriel Knight.

This week, you've got the psycho-erotic thriller Phantasmagoria for $10 or a three-pack of Space Quest games – 4, 5, and 6 – also for $10.

That's pretty much a must-buy for Space Quest fans. I can't speak to Phantasmagoria as I think I played it for about five minutes when it was part of some Sierra collection CD and then said, "Whelp! Back to King's Quest III."

Here's the Space Quest trailer if you're on the fence for some reason.

Sierra Games [GOG.com via Joystiq]

For the true Apple lover: the iMac G4 lamp

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST


So your friend is an Apple head. He’s got the Mac Pro, the MacBook, the Air, the iPhone; he’s got Apple sheets, an Apple tattoo, he eats an apple every day — right, he’s got it all.

…or does he?

His collection will not be complete until he converts every normal device and everyday object into an Apple one. It’ll take a while, but it’ll be worth it, and this Apple lamp is a good start. Made from the dome of a dismembered iMac G4, it emits the kind of glow every Apple fan craves.

Unfortunately they’re sold out at the moment, but I bet you could make one yourself if you swing by a used Apple shop and made a bid on a busted iMac.

[via Shiny Shiny]

Want RIM’s new BlackBerry Twitter client before anyone else? We’ve got codes

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:45 PM PST

Early this morning, RIM made a pre-release version of their upcoming Twitter for BlackBerry client available to select members of the media. Our own Leena Rao isn’t too fond of it — but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be, right?

RIM was nice enough to slip us some extra codes, so a few of our readers are going to get to try it themselves. Want to give the new client a try a full month before anyone else gets it? Read on to find out how to win a code.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Not able to attend Macworld Expo ‘10? This 56 second video shows you aren’t missing much.

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:30 PM PST

Macworld Expo 2010 is currently going on and, well, we don’t have anyone on the show floor. It didn’t really make sense to send a crew to cover the conference now that Apple isn’t headlining the event. The whole thing is likely just an iPod/iPhone/iPad case orgy anyway. I kid, but so far I haven’t seen one interesting press release from the event. Anyway, TUAW is there and captured all the fun in this 56 second time lapse video using an iPhone 3GS and the iTimeLapse app.

Geek Lunch: Bacon double dog burrito

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 01:00 PM PST

For the record, I hate cooking. So if I'm putting a recipe up here you can be sure that it's something cheap, easy, and quick. Like many self-proclaimed geeks, I eat purely to survive.

Inspired by a whimsical little show on the Food Network called Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (I think eating takes too much time, yet I'll watch shows about food for some unknown reason), this recipe is basically two hot dogs, a slice of bacon, and shredded cheese rolled up into a tortilla and then grilled. Easy.

Ingredients:

  • Two hot dogs
  • One slice of bacon
  • Shredded cheese
  • Soft flour tortilla

Directions:

  1. Place the bacon and hot dogs in a pan over medium heat and cook for about five minutes. Make sure to shimmy the bacon grease around so it covers the entire bottom of the pan.
  2. While that's cooking, prepare the tortilla by lining it with a handful of shredded cheese.
  3. Once the bacon and hot dogs are almost fully cooked, take them out of the pan and place them into the tortilla.
  4. Fold the tortilla around the hot dogs and bacon and then place it into the pan, cooking it in the bacon grease for about 30 seconds to a minute on each side.

When that's all done, take it off the pan and let it cool on a plate. Then eat – EAT! – like you've never eaten before.

The recipe's based on something called the Texas Burrito Dog, which is served at Fab Hot Dogs in Reseda, California. The actual recipe has "Two dogs wrapped in a flour tortilla with bacon, chili, cheddar cheese, onions, mustard and crumbled Fritos."

So you could add the Fritos and maybe some mustard to my recipe if you like. Cutting up an onion and making chili from scratch definitely do NOT fall into the quick and easy category, though. The goal is to get in and out in under ten minutes.

This YouTube video shows how it's made in real life – it starts at around the 6:30 mark.

Don’t Panic! Palm isn’t halting production of anything

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 12:42 PM PST

Everybody panic! Actually, don’t.

A number of blogs are reporting on a story by OTR Global claiming that Palm has suddenly told Foxconn (the Taiwanese manufacturer building all of Palm’s handsets) to halt production of the Pre, Pre Plus, and Pixi Plus. This claim, it seems, is greatly exaggerated.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

Can you spot the reason someone just paid $13000 for an NES and five games?

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 12:30 PM PST


Buying an old NES off eBay is a great idea. I did it in college and got two zappers, two power gloves, like twenty games, and a bunch of other stuff for just under $50. But this particular auction fetched the mind-blowing bid of $13,105. Can you see why?

Yes: it comes with a copy of Stadium Events, which is the rarest licensed NES game in the world. It originally came out in Japan, then was licensed and released over here, but only a couple hundred made it into consumers’ hands, and perhaps only 10 actually exist now in the wild.

Of course, you could buy one of the rebranded ones or play it on an emulator, but these actual original cartridges are the rarest of the rare — not so much as the gold World Championship carts, but still pretty freaking rare.

Update: awesome commenter Drake points us to a forum thread where this was discovered and tracked.

[via Hot Blooded Gaming]

Rumor: Upcoming TiVo improvements include UI revamp and full HD support

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:44 AM PST

A tipster writes in with knowledge of some of the improvements TiVo may be making to its devices. The most important: a move to full HD menus, improved search, and the phasing out of Series 2 hardware. Because the company stopped making improvements to the current software as of the middle of last year, our source believes that aside from minor add-ons like Blockbuster support the old UI and OS will be replaced by a fully HD version, available at first on Series 3 hardware.

He describes the move as something akin to Microsoft’s redesign of the Xbox Dashboard – a surface refresh that plays better with larger, HD TVs. This could also include new methods for adding apps and content to existing boxes.

There is obviously some talk of the TiVo Premiere coming with ATSC and cable card support. This, also, is still a rumor.

Our hope is this: new, cheaper hardware that supports HD recording and that can work without a cable card. (Tru2Way maybe?) Thanks to content providers, that may be a big fat pipe dream, but TiVo has a deep hole to climb out of, especially with the move towards cable-company DVRs even if those DVRs are far inferior to TiVo’s interface. TiVo made it big in a world without competitors and now they have many. Unless they can outfox those competitors, they’re sunk.

Yeah, Cataclysm will come out this year

Posted: 11 Feb 2010 11:30 AM PST


Get it, blizzard?

It’s earnings call season, and while no news is more shocking than the fact that WWE will drop the Survivor Series, there’s something for World of Warcraft fans. And, really, who isn’t a fan of World of Warcraft. Anyhow, yeah, Cataclysm will come out this year. We’ve (and by “we” I mean the WoW community) pretty much assumed as much since the expansion was first announced, but now the money men have made it official.

Oh, and something called StarCraft II will also come out this year. Pardon me for not getting too excited about that, since I never played the original. I’m really not into those types of games. You’re free to try to convince me otherwise ;-)

Back to WoW, which has had a pretty hellish week. The regular Tuesday maintenance lasted much longer than it was normally supposed to, and servers have been suffering from ridiculous lag for some time now. I tried running a random dungeon last night, and my group wiped a few times because we were lagging like nobody’s business. I’m not going to QQ like they do on the forums there, since I have no idea what kind of operation Blizzard is running hardware-wise, but it’s pretty annoying. I can’t imagine how “serious raiders” must have felt.

And if you want to see what Blizzard is thinking about taking Battle.net, then here you are.

via Rock, Paper, Shotgun
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