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SoftBank’s Full Winter/Spring Cell Phone Line-Up

Posted: 05 Nov 2010 03:35 AM PDT

SoftBank Mobile, has unveiled its cell phone line-up for this winter and spring yesterday. We already blogged in-depth about the two most interesting models, Sharp's naked-eye 3D Android phone, but here's the full line-up (not including simple updates of existing models we already covered before). Read the rest on MobileCrunch.


Daily Crunch: HUD Edition

Posted: 05 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PDT

Google TV Users, Fancast.com Is An Open Back Door To The Hulu Estate

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 06:46 PM PDT

Hold up. Google TV isn’t totally a lost cause and it’s all because of the generosity of Comcast. Fancast, or xfinity as Comcast would like it now to be called, streams just about everything to Google TV: ABC, NBC, Fox, all but CBS shows seem to work just fine. The ironic part is that the content seems to be provided by Hulu itself judging by the logo above all the videos. But let’s keep this on the DL, m’kay? We don’t need the fat cats finding out about this little trick.

There are a few downsides to Fancast, but the benefits easily counter them. It also shows just how shallow the search depth of the Google TV search happens to be. Clearly Google TV has some growing up to do.

All you need to do is change the User Agent. It’s basically the same hack that was used to get Hulu to work on Google TV initially. But once you spend 15 seconds change the setting — and here’s how — all you need to do go to Fancast.com and start watching. Some of the premium content from Showtime and HBO are behind a Comcast paywall but the major network’s content are all available for free. Well, besides CBS material. I tried three different CBS shows and none of them got past the xfinity starting animation. But after two video ads, the rest of the content played just fine for me.

The video quality is also a bit sub-par but YMMV as Fancasts seems to adjust the resolution on the fly. Low-quality is video is better than no-quality video though. Am I right or am I right?

Google TV Search is still the crown jewel of the platform, but users should be able to modify the results. Currently, it searches a bunch of popular video sites but only displays results on the grid guide from major network sites for the free videos and Amazon VOD for the pay-per-view ones. Users should be able to change those to show search results from, say, Fancast.com and Netflix if they so please. Perhaps some content deal is behind the search tool, but it would be infinitely more useful if users could modify it slightly.

There’s good stuff to come from Google TV. That’s for sure, but it’s still a bit rough right now. Hopefully Google keeps at it and doesn’t put it out to die like Wave. (which I used quite a bit actually)

What Kinect Looks Like In Infrared

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 06:06 PM PDT


This is quite cool. Once you get past the first minute or so of preamble, you can see that the Kinect fires out a galaxy of IR dots into your room, presumably in a pattern it can recognize and use to determine distance.

It’s kind of weird to think that this is shooting out constantly, covering you in dots, but of course it’s the same IR light that emits from any light source, just at a frequency and pattern the Kinect can detect.

I suppose we’ll learn more about it as hackers start to reverse-engineer this interesting piece of hardware.

[via Reddit]

Incase’s Origami Is Both Sleeve And Stand For iPad

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 05:05 PM PDT


Sure, there’s no shortage of iPad cases and stands, even things that do both, but what I’ve found is that because the iPad itself is such an anonymous-looking device, finding the perfect case for it is the best way to personalize the thing. I still haven’t decided on one for mine, but the Origami from Incase is looking pretty good.

It’s a sleeve, and then you pull the device out, make a few careful folds, and… presto, it’s a stand!

A couple grooves and a little clasp make it easy to do, and it looks reasonably stable, though i feel like it might fall off to the left or right. It’s an elegant little case, though. At $35 it’s not exactly a steal, but that’s not a bad price by any means.

Comes in stealth black and manly pink.

Kinect Disconnected: iFixIt’s Kinect Teardown

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 03:39 PM PDT

Johnny 5 is alive! No disassemble! Sadly, no one listened to poor Johnny and so we see the Kinect fully torn down from stem to stern. This little fellow contains two nice webcam cameras, four microphones, and processing power enough to accept other audio inputs as well. Interestingly, there’s also an accelerometer to tell where the device is pointing. This thing is so complex it needs its own fan for cooling.

Writes iFixIt:

The design is very modular, and replacing individual components (like the motor) when they fail shouldn’t be a problem. No soldering required to disassemble.
Cons:
Microsoft used four kinds of screws, including some hated security bits: T6, T10, T10 security, and Phillips #0.
Without a service manual, repair will be quite a challenge. Microsoft has not made a service manual available. If we get enough demand, we’ll do their work for them and publish one.

How Reasonable: German Court Fines Convicted File-Sharer €30

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 03:00 PM PDT

You may have seen the settlement yesterday, likely being appealed, in which a woman was ordered to pay $1.5 million for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs. That’s $62,600 per song, far above the (equally arbitrary, but considerably more realistic) $2250 per song ruled as the absolute maximum in another court, during an earlier trial. Higher figures, particularly those requested by the recording industry, were called “monstrous and shocking,” and with luck, the new settlement will be similarly reduced (or successfully appealed).

Meanwhile, last week, a kid who was found to have shared two songs a few years ago was fined a grand total of €30 in a monstrously, shockingly reasonable decision by a court in Germany.

The court ruled that the most the kid could be held responsible for was essentially licensing the songs for private use. The number of people he shared the songs with could not be determined, and was presumed to be low, since the songs were not new and they were not shared for a significant amount of time. This is in stark contrast to the RIAA’s opinion that sharing once is quantitatively and qualitatively similar to sharing a million times.

They fined the kid what they estimated it would have cost him to license the songs at the time, and surprisingly, put nothing on top of that as a fine for circumventing the laws in place for getting such a license (which to be honest, I would have considered a reasonable punishment for him or me).

Whether this was an exceptional case or important precedent isn’t clear, and of course decisions in foreign courts have little bearing for US cases. But It’s good to be able to point to another country and say “there, at least, they’re civilized when it comes to this sort of thing.”

$1000 $2000 Bounty Offered For Open-Source Kinect Driver

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:20 PM PDT


Image credit: Adafruit (it was too good not to use)

Let the reverse-engineering begin! Adafruit Industries is offering a thousand smackers for whoever can come up with an open-source driver for the Kinect hardware. They think that a non-Microsoft interface will help create interesting applications for the device, and I agree. We’ll have our impressions of the final hardware and launch games tomorrow, but we already know that whatever the future of the platform, it’s unlike anything else.

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/11/04/the-open-kinect-project-the-ok-prize-get-1000-bounty-for-kinect-for-xbox-360-open-source-drivers/

It’s not going to be easy, though. The Kinect hardware uses a proprietary 320×240 camera that senses the distance of every pixel, but I get the feeling it’s not that simple. Microsoft has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this thing, and I don’t think they’d leave their industry secrets blowing in the wind. It’ll be a hunt.

On the other hand, everyone who has ever underestimated the capability and resolve of the decentralized hacker network has been proved wrong. It might take a little time, but I believe an open source driver will be created, and I’m just going to throw out a guess, around a month and a half from now.

It’s a little disappointing that Microsoft isn’t shipping the Kinect with interesting Windows 7 integration — but I think we can safely assume that’s in the pipes. With the amount of money they’ve invested into this thing, leveraging the Windows market isn’t just a good idea, it’s the only choice.

Update: After Microsoft commented to the effect that they would be working to prevent projects like this from succeeding, Adafruit raised the bounty to $2000. That’s the spirit!

[via CNET]

TB Groupe’s Evercut: The Ultimate Knife?

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 01:55 PM PDT


I don’t often get knife envy, because that’s a really scary kind of envy to admit you have, but if you don’t get knife envy looking at this incredible piece of hardware, there is something wrong with you. The Evercut knife is titanium carbide laser-bonded to steel, and they claim it’ll out-cut and outlast the best blades out there by a huge margin.

The ultra-hard edge material, they say, will last 300 times longer than steel and 5 times longer than ceramic. By their calculations, the average user will only have to sharpen it every 25 years.

I kind of rely on my knives being dull. I’m not the most precise chopper. And I’d probably flourish it when I used it, pretending I’m Ogami Itto. Dotanuki battle knife!

It’s an 8.7″ blade with a slightly shallow chef’s knife shape. At $225, it’s pretty expensive, but remember, this is the last knife you’ll ever have to buy. Unless they come out with a paring model.

[via NotCot]

Open Mic Thursday: Hit Us With Your Google TV Questions

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 01:04 PM PDT

There’s a fair amount of misconceptions and fallacies circling about Google TV. Let’s put some of those to bed, eh? Both John and I are here to answer anything you might have about the system. Of course, you could always check out our full review along with our other coverage, but please use the comments below to shoot us your burning questions. We have both the Logitech and Sony Google TV systems installed and should be able to answer all of your questions. If not, we’ll shoot them over to the lead Google TV developers.

Star Wars: Falcon Gunner brings the battle home. Don’t get cocky, kid!

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:47 PM PDT

Star Wars. Tie Fighters. Gun Turrets. Oh, yeah, and augmented reality. Do I really need to say anything more?

Actually, yes, I do, because that’s my job and I need to eat and pay bills and stuff.

Notion Ink Says Adam Tablet Could Be Ready By Christmas Day

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:45 AM PDT

Notion Ink, the Indian start-up that’s been hard at work creating the Adam, an Android-based tablet, has announced on its blog that, if all goes according to plan, the tablet may well be in your hands by Christmas day. If that doesn’t work out, it’ll be available by January at the latest. Bottom line: it’s coming soon.

The only thing that could hold up the release is FCC approval. Depending on how long that takes to clear, the release date may slip into January.

You’ll recall that one of the big selling points of the Adam is its ability to turn on and off the LCD backlight, sorta like the GameBoy Advance SP. (Can other GameBoys and/or DSs do that? I’ve no idea.) That should make the tablet easier to use in direct sunlight, something the iPad doesn’t exactly excel at.

Of Course Calvin Klein Eyewear Has 3D Sunglasses Too

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:30 AM PDT


Sigh. What is there to say? These ck glasses are just like their Gucci and Oakley counterparts in that they do the same damn thing as the same glasses they hand out at the theater for free. Sure, the freebies are funky and whimsical with their oversize lens and and cheap plastic frames, and these are, well, yeah. So are these. At least they can double as sunglasses. $180.


Report: Fujitsu’s Windows Tablet To Go On Sale Worldwide Next Spring

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Do you remember the Fujitsu tablets we blogged about last month? The two models I saw at CEATEC 2010 were hidden behind plexi-glass boxes and used printed glossy paper for the screens (one model is pictured). But now Japan’s biggest business daily, The Nikkei, is not only reporting that a tablet made by Fujitsu really exists but that it’s scheduled to go on sale in spring 2011 (they are talking about just one version though).

According to the paper, the device will go on sale in the US, Europe, some countries in Asia and elsewhere simultaneously – priced at around $500. Apparently, Fujitsu is mainly targeting businesses and academic institutions with the yet to be named tablet and expects to sell 700,000 to 800,000 units in the first 12 months.

Spec-wise, buyers should expect Windows as the OS, a 10-inch LCD screen, a USB port, an SD card port, and eight hours of battery life. We’ll keep you posted.

Nasa To Develop Hypersonic Jet: New York To Sydney In 2.5 Hours (Down From 21!)

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PDT

Wait a minute, Nasa, developing something great? Did we wake up in the 1960s, back when Nasa actually had a budget to, you know, do things? Either way, this is great news. So, Nasa plans to develop a new type of hypersonic jet that would reduce the flight time from New York to Sydney, which currently takes 21 hours, to two-and-a-half hours. Two-and-a-half! You can't even drive from New York to Boston that quickly. Do a little math, that means you'd be able to fly from New York to Los Angeles, which takes around five hours today, in seven-tenths of an hour. Or, around 42 minutes. That would be quite insane.

The actual technology behind the aircraft may be used to develop a spacecraft that would be able to take astronauts to Mars, which, again, would be insane. Hopefully this happens in my lifetime.

Nasa will set aside a cool $5 million for each of the next three years to develop the technology.

And while $5 million may sound like a lot of money, the government will spent $200 million per day during President Obama's visit to India this month. Two hundred million dollars! And Nasa, whose work could well revolutionize transportation as we know it, can only scrape together $15 million for a three-year development cycle.

Just incredible.

Sharp Shows Super-Slim 3D Blu-ray Player

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 10:20 AM PDT

Those Android 3D handsets aren’t the only 3D devices Sharp announced today. The company also showed [JP] the BD-HP90 today, a 3D Blu-ray player that’s just 35mm thick. Needless to say, this makes the device the thinnest of its kind.

The player is not only thin, but it can also be used both in a horizontal and vertical position (as you can see above). It comes with a USB port, an HDMI interface, Ethernet, and AQUOS Link. It can play 3D Blu-ray discs but doesn’t support BDXL.

Sharp plans to start selling the BD-HP90 in Japan on November 20 for $495 (no word yet on availability).

Hulu Plus Comes To Plain Ol’ PSN Users

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 10:00 AM PDT

Heads up to you PS3 owners who didn't want to pony up for PlayStation Plus. Hulu—yes, the subject of entirely too many word already today—will be soon available in Plus form (Hulu Plus, yes) to you. Dance in the streets, and so on.

Hulu Plus, which no longer requires an invite to join, costs $10 per month.

The PS3 application, which resides in the XMB, "incorporate[s] feedback to improve the service."

Yes, you would hope.

Ministry Of Sound Drops File-Sharing Lawsuits (Because ISP Deleted All The Data)

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:30 AM PDT

Ouch. Ministry of Sound, the British record label that’s perhaps most famous for its annual compilation, conveniently titled The Annual, says it cannot move forward with planed lawsuits against alleged file-sharers. And why cannot it move forward? Because the primary ISP targeted, BT, has deleted 80 percent of the data that would have been necessary for the lawsuits to commence. Hence, ouch.

BT has apologized for deleting the data, and it has promised to do all that it can to assist Ministry of Sound in the future, but right now? Its hands are tied.

Well, more accurately, it has no hands to even be tied, so whatever.

I was always more if a Global Underground myself, but you pretty much cannot double-click while online and not run into a Ministry of Sound album.

Plex Now Runs On Your (Jailbroken) Apple TV

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:00 AM PDT

You can now use Plex on your Apple TV. I guess that means it’s useful now, right?

Right!

Quiqueck, on the Plex forums, has devised a method to install the media center on Apple TV as a plugin. It’s not exactly as easy as installing "regular" plugins—you’ll have to be comfortable with the Terminal—but I trust you can handle it.

Of course, your Apple TV has to be jailbroken for this to work.

As Wired is careful to point out, Apple TV already does some of what Plex does, namely stream videos from Mac to TV. True, but does the Apple TV natively play some of the more esoteric file formats that you find online?

Exactly.

Dish Network Claims Hulu Will Destroy The TV Industry. So What?

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 07:59 AM PDT

Batten down the hatches, netizens! At a streaming media conference yesterday, Dish Network Vice-President of Online Content Development and Strategy, Bruce Eisen, said that sites like Hulu, which allow Internet users to watch certain television programming (and sometimes for free), may well destroy the television industry as we know it. That’s a bad thing if you’re Dish Network, but what if you’re the average person?

My guess is that the average person really doesn’t give a toss about how the television business works, so long as he or she gets to see Glee or Dancing With The Stars (or pick-your-favorite-show). Dish Network’s concerns really don’t coincide with the concerns of the American family.

Eisen suggested that certain television episodes should only be made available to TV Everywhere devices, and then only a certain percentage of those episodes would be made available—30 days after their initial viewing.

Didn’t DVR last night’s episode of House? No problem! You merely have to wait a full month to see it on Approved Streaming Site!

Wasn’t the point of online streaming to "head off at the pass" people who’d illegally download programming? If someone downloads a 720p rip of Modern Family, that’s zero revenue for the relevant parties, namely the network, the production studio, and the television provider. But, if you were to offer this program online, you could at least ensure you’d earn advertising revenue. Or, failing that, you could charge a nominal fee. A sort of, if people like this show so much, surely they’d pay $10 per month to keep it on the air, or online?

And if they’re not willing to pay, forget ‘em. These shows do, in fact, cost money to produce. Money has to come from somewhere, right?

But as Matt and I were just discussing, the fear that people will disown their traditional television consumption methods is probably a little bit overstated.

Google TV, the One Product that’s supposed to revolutionize the way we watch TV, namely thanks to search, is very much still in beta. And you may be willing to put up with lack of polish if you’re a techie, but if you’re just a family-man who wants to come home from work and relax for an hour before going to bed? The last thing you want to be doing is fiddling with some newfangled device that really isn’t any more convenient than hitting the On button on your cable company’s remote control.

Devices like Google TV also depend on the kindness of the strangers, namely content providers. Say your Google TV box taps into a Viacom stream of The Daily Show. That’s all well and good—until Viacom decides to limit access to its streams. "Google TV: We’re sorry, but you’re not authorized to watch this stream. Please visit viacom.com for more information."

You know, just like this!

And let’s not forget that more than one-third of Americans still don’t subscribe to broadband. What happens to ISPs when every single one of their customers is streaming video 24/7? That’s an awful lot of bandwidth, so much so that they may have to charge you for it.

All of a sudden, your scheme of "getting one over" on the cable companies doesn’t quite work out. You either pay Comcast the $100 per month to watch television the "regular" way, or pay more for Internet access in order to keep streaming away.

Never mind that HBO, the premium cable channel, just reported that it has seen zero evidence of so-called cord cutting.

Back to Dish Network’s concern, that Hulu et al. will destroy the television industry.

Well, the television industry holds all the cards here.

If it’s deathly afraid of streaming sites it can simply stop supplying content to them, or be far more selective with who (or what) gets to tap into that content. It can decide not to cooperate with the likes of Google TV, leaving Google (and its partners, like Logitech and Sony) to do what, exactly? And unlike the music industry, which was partially the victim of its own format (that is, music files are small enough to be traded pretty much at-will), streaming video eats up a lot of bandwidth, and you can be sure ISPs aren’t going to be happy watching you stream gigabytes of data every day when you’re paying the same amount for your Internet connection as the grandparents next door who only check out photos of their grandchildren on Facebook once a week.

The television industry has a number of choices to make in the coming years, but it’s probably not going to coming crashing down tonight at midnight.

If anything, the television industry would be better served worrying about the quality of its programming, of which it has total control over, and not freaking out over how people may or may not consume said programming many years hence.
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