Hasta La Gadget!

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Earlier this year two telecom cables located in the Mediterranean were severed by passing ships. This is an extremely rare occurrence, which is why a second incident is cause for major concern.

A total of three out of four cables were severed this time around, leaving up to 65% of India without internet and phone service. Services to Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Taiwan and Pakistan have also been heavily impacted. If that fourth line goes we are talking about a complete blackout of the Middle East.

The cause for the damage is unknown at this time, although some believe recent seismic activity in the area could be to blame. Either way, the cables won’t be fixed until the end of December at least—leaving millions of people in digital limbo…again. [BBC]

In a talk with Bits about what Xbox “want[s] to be when we grow up,” Microsoft’s Shane Kim clearly has video on the brain. With Netflix, he says, they’re “just beginning to scratch the surface.”

As examples, Kim mentions watching pro sports games on the Xbox while chatting with your friends, and reveals that they’re thinking about adding a music service. (Zune? Hopefully not another service.)

Here’s where it gets interesting—Kim says they’re not planning on a browser or anything that completely busts open the Xbox. Rather, Kim says ““We are about delivering higher quality experience, not having the most varied experiences.” Bits (unfortunately) paraphrases the next part:

He argued that while there may be hundreds of video sites, most of the activity is concentrating on a handful of sites like Hulu and YouTube. So his first instinct is cut a handful of deals that integrate the Xbox more deeply into such sites.

Hulu on the Xbox 360 totally would be a “higher quality experience”—one that would blow our mind. The deal would make sense for both parties too: It’s no different than the integrated Netflix service on Microsoft’s end, and it would turn the system into the most serious, fantastic video box around (important, since PS3 has the Blu-ray advantage on the video front). For Hulu, it would be a huge opportunity to blow up their audience and advertising revenue.

Of course, it’s entirely possible, if not probable Kim was just spouting off examples and no Hulu deal is in works. But, if Microsoft really is looking at every good option, surely they’re looking at Hulu. They’ve already done tons of deals with Hulu parent NBC, and they’ve never been afraid to pay up to get what they want. We know it’s what we want, so we hope where’s the smoke, there’s hot, streaming fire. [Bits]

Samsung is getting on the Android bandwagon. The company is likely to release new phones based on Google’s open source operating system by June next year.

Samsung’s Android-based  phones will be available on Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile reports Korea’s IT News site.

The phone is likely to be a touchscreen device modeled on the company’s Instinct and Omnia phones. So far Samsung has about 80 developers working on the phone for nearly a year, says the report.

It will be a tight race to the finish line as Samsung rivals have also been prepping for their own Android devices.

Motorola has said it is working to integrate the Android OS into many of its upcoming handsets, even as buzz suggests Lenovo might introduce its own Android device in China next year.

So far, HTC’s G1 phone available on the T-Mobile network is the only Android-based phone in the market. Kogan, an Australian company, has said it will ship a Android based handset in the country in early February.

Also see
Motorola Bets Big On Android
Lenovo To Introduce Android Phone In China?
Aussie Googlephone Announced

Photo: Samsung U600 (pickupjojo/Flickr)

Click to see the Cowon S9 photo gallery.

(Credit: Nate Lanxon/CNET U.K.)

Cowon’s S9 touch-screen MP3 player has arrived, bringing the expected music, video, and photo playback, and extras such as FM radio, Bluetooth, voice/radio/line recording, a Flash player, and a text reader. So far, I’d say the S9’s design is spot-on, with a slight curved back and a bright 16:9-formatted OLED screen set at a 480×272-pixel resolution. The user interface is also quite impressive, combined with Cowon’s choice of a capacitive touch screen, the onscreen control is about as attractive and responsive as you can get without investing in an iPod Touch.

The Cowon S9 comes in 8GB and 16GB capacities priced at $199 and $239, respectively. The cost could be worth it if you’re a real stickler for sound quality, as the S9 is Cowon’s first player to include the suite of BBE+ sound enhancements. The BBE+ suite improves on the already impressive BBE effects included in CNET faves like the D2 and iAudio 7, adding more than 30 presets in addition to a five-band EQ with independent bandwidth control.

Now for the bad news. The first drawback I’ve noticed on the Cowon S9 is that it just feels kind of cheap–which is a complaint I rarely have with Cowon. Unlike the glass and steel design of the iPod Touch, the S9 uses an all-plastic design that–though lightweight–has a hollow and flimsy feel. Even the all-plastic Samsung P2 feels a little more durable and substantial.

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