At its global launch in central London, the latest Black Label phone from LG broke its cover. The Chocolate BL40 is a 5-megapixel fashion phone with an ultra-wide 800×345-pixel LCD touch-screen display. And despite the number of unusual (and unneeded) models here to glam-up its christening, we’re feeling cautiously …
Sounds like Google has found the best way to monetize YouTube yet, and it puts itself in a pretty competitive spot versus the likes of Netflix, Amazon VOD, and Apple’s iTunes movie store. According to Wall Street Journal, the company’s currently in talks with Lions Gate, Sony, and Warner Bros. studios over putting their content on YouTube for a rental fee, likely $3.99 — the same price as Apple’s SD movie rentals. Even more interesting is talk of getting some titles online day and date with the DVD releases. Some options could still be free with advertising, but as for paid content, Google’s enticing studios over to their way of thinking with a proposed minimum fee of “just under $3 per title viewed.” A three-month beta testing is apparently scheduled to begin soon among 10,000 Google employees, and after that? Well, here’s hoping the G-Man manages to sign on some more studios and offer us the films in streaming HD.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Internet, Software
YouTube looking to enter rental movies on demand business, says WSJ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’ll be honest, it takes a whole lot to get us excited about iPhone / iPod docks or digital picture frames these days, but congratulations Sony, you’ve managed to pierce through our hardened hearts with the ICF-CL75iP Dream Machine. Sony Insider brings word of the actually quite handsome bedside attraction, an assimilation of those aforementioned products with an alarm clock to boot. We’re looking at a 7-inch WVGA LCD screen, 1GB built-in memory, FM / AM radio, and a retractable dock — in case you don’t feel like capitalizing on the total synergistic package. Photos can be pulled directly from the Apple handheld or loaded via USB, and your wake-up options include built-in presets, a customizable 10-second voice recording, or the iPod / iPhone itself. Our only knock at this point is the minimal codec support — MP3 and WMA for audio, and MP4, M-JPEG, and AVI for video — but if the $149.95 price on a cached SonyStyle listing stays accurate, we can be a little forgiving. In fact, throw in Chumby widget support and we’ll be downright smitten — make it happen, Sony.
Update: Turns out it’s actually up for pre-order right now through Sony Style Canada, CAN $199.99 (that’s US $180) and shipping out October 1st.
Read – Sony Insider
Read – Sony Style cached listing
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household
Sony ICF-CL75iP alarm clock / digital frame / iPod dock a surprisingly attractive assimilation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
STUTTGART, Germany–Earlier Wednesday, we told you about the X3 and the X6, two high-end music phones announced by Nokia at the Nokia World Conference here.
The non-3G slider, the X3, is the first S40 device with Ovi Store enabled and comes bundled with the portable MD-9 mini speaker in selected …
You know, we never thought that it was that big of a deal to change CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs by hand. Seriously, if you’re too lazy to walk two feet to your entertainment center you probably didn’t want to see Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch that badly in the first place. On the other hand, we are gadget fiends and part of us can see the logic in something like Sony’s 400-disc Mega Charger. Hell, if a Blu-ray player is good, one that holds 400 discs must be 400 times as good, right? Well, maybe. As far as players go, this guy does pretty well, according to the reviewer at Electronic House. In fact, video quality was deemed “excellent” and on-screen navigation was a snap. And you can’t find fault with any player that supports Gracenote (especially if you’re going to store hundreds of discs in the thing). On the other hand, the lack of Netflix and DLNA integration, WiFi, or even memory for BD-Live functionality (you’ll have to supply your own USB thumb drive, it seems) just might cramp your style. So what do you think? Do you have 400 Blu-ray discs? Think you ever will have 400 Blu-ray discs? Then hit the read link and check out the sordid tale for yourself.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Sony’s 400-disc Blu-ray Mega Changer reviewed, huge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple may get all the press, but the venerable BlackBerry is untouchable when it comes to sales. Three of the top five best-selling smartphones in the first quarter of the year were BlackBerries, according to research company The NPD Group.
So why aren’t the devices better? Sure, BlackBerry users rely on their physical keyboards to pound out e-mails, as they always have, and Research In Motion’s longstanding support for push notification and corporate mail servers means you’ll never miss an urgent message from the boss.
But even though BlackBerries have been adding gee-whiz features like multimedia playback and touchscreens, the devices still seem like a mishmash of undercooked ideas. Here are five things RIM needs to fix if it wants to maintain its lead.
Browser: Take a poll among BlackBerry users about what they don’t like in their phone and the poor browser comes up every time. Unlike the iPhone or the Palm Pre, the BlackBerry does not display web pages just the way your PC would. Instead, Blackberry users have to contend with a stripped-down, mobile version of a web page that is decidedly 1990s in its look. BlackBerry users also complain about the slowness of the browser.
RIM isn’t oblivious to the complaints. Last month, the company bought Torch Mobile, which makes the Webkit-based Iris browser. Webkit is the layout engine that is also used by the iPhone, Android and Symbian mobile operating systems.
But there’s no word yet from RIM on when the company’s own devices will start getting Webkit-based browsers.
Touchscreen: BlackBerry Storm. Need we say more? RIM introduced its first touchscreen phone last year but was a lackluster debut, to say the least. Though some die-hard BlackBerry users like it, the Storm’s touchscreen pales in comparison to the iPhone and the Palm Pre. RIM’s decision to introduce haptic feedback by making the whole screen click down whenever you pressed a virtual key just didn’t help: Ironically, it made typing on the Storm slower than on either an iPhone or a BlackBerry with a physical keyboard.
But this is one problem the company seems ready to fix quickly. The Storm 2 is expected later this year and leaked videos online suggest that it will sport a new, improved touchscreen. This time around, RIM will not just have to do better than the first generation of the Storm but also beat the benchmark that the iPhone touchscreen has set in terms of responsiveness and ease of use.
App store: Over the past decade RIM is estimated to have sold more than 65 million phones. The company has about 56 percent share of the U.S smartphone market. It sold 26 million phones in just the 12 months ending February 2009. By comparison, Apple said in June that it has sold 40 million iPhones in the two years since the device debuted. With millions of users more than the iPhone, there’s no reason the BlackBerry app store should lag behind the iPhone’s so much. Apple’s iPhone App Store has about 70,000 applications available while the BlackBerry marketplace has 2,322 apps in it, according to Medialets. Even the Android marketplace, so far available on just three phones in the United States, has 9,148 apps available.
The success of Apple’s App Store has shown that consumers like the idea of easy-to-use, fun applications that take the phone beyond just voice and data. Even if they don’t wind up actually using many of those apps, the mere presence of 70,000 possible ways to upgrade your phone is a powerful incentive to go with an iPhone. But RIM seems to have embraced that idea only half-heartedly. It launched its app store in March but the company has done little to get consumers excited about the apps in it. While Apple has made its catchphrase, “There’s an app for that,” part of pop culture punchlines, RIM is still riding on the glory of push e-mail — which it no longer claims exclusively.
Sure, there’s a difference between the Apple and the Blackberry audience. While the iPhone is almost completely a consumer product, RIM is a favorite of business users. That’s not to say BlackBerries are not popular among celebrities and general users. Nearly 45 percent of RIM’s subscribers last quarter were non-business users.
If RIM wants to grow that user base, it needs to make the BlackBerry more fun to use. The company will have to court developers and put its marketing muscle behind its app store. Catching up to Apple may be tough but at least beating Android should be easy.
Wi-Fi: Research In Motion clearly bills itself as a premium handset maker. Then why would it have smartphones that come without Wi-Fi connectivity? Wi-Fi has become an immensely popular feature among mobile phone users and even telecom carriers recognize that. Earlier this year, AT&T bought Wi-Fi services provider Wayport for $275 million. In so doing, the company added about 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to its network. Overall, AT&T has about 80,000 hotspots worldwide.
Sounds great, except for BlackBerry Storm or users of the recently released BlackBerry Tour. Both the Storm and Tour offer 3G connectivity but don’t have Wi-Fi. RIM reportedly plans to release another model called Essex that will essentially have all the features of the Tour, plus the addition of Wi-Fi. It can’t come soon enough. Meanwhile, why doesn’t the company have Wi-Fi in all its devices?
Desktop software: Even the most loyal of BlackBerry users are quick to fess up to how difficult it can be manage their music and data through the company’s software. The BlackBerry desktop software runs on the PC and is ostensibly designed to make it easier for users to transfer files, music and data. But the software needs a rethink. Online forums are filled with users who can’t get the software to work as promised. The system also significantly lags Apple’s relatively seamless setup process. If RIM’s going to play in the consumer space, it needs to overhaul the software and make it as easy to use with the BlackBerry as iTunes is with the iPhone.
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Photo: peyri/Flickr
Buy one, get one free.
In a move sure to resonate with recession-minded gamers, Activision’s just-released Guitar Hero 5 game includes an offer to get the highly anticipated Van Halen version of the music game franchise for free.
As a value-based pushback against the Beatles: Rock Band juggernaut, it’…
Solar Technology’s CamCaddy universal camera charger has been available in a bundle with the company’s Freeloader Pro solar charger for a little while now, but it looks like the company has just now made it available separately for folks not quite ready to go solar. As you might expect, the charger isn’t quite fully “universal,” but the company says it should be compatible with more than 85% of the proprietary batteries used in digital cameras, camcorders and DSLRs, and it’s provided a handy tool on its website to let you check your camera before you buy. The charger is also naturally still fully compatible with the Freeloader and Freeloader Pro, and you’ll also get a car adapter, a USB charging cable, and both US and Euro plug adapters to ensure your camera stays charged wherever you go. Look for it to set you back £25, about $40.
[Via ePhotoZine]
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Misc. Gadgets
Solar Technology debuts universal CamCaddy camera charger originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’ve already seen Sony Ericsson’s new Aino smartphone (and its wireless headphones) pass through the FCC once before, but we’ve only just now been treated to the first proper photo shoot of the device, including the usual peek under the hood. What’s more, the new filing also offers yet more (fairly indisputable) evidence of the existence of a US 3G version of the phone, and those interested can get another look at the phone’s manual if you missed it last time around. Hit up the read link below to dive in.
Filed under: Cellphones
Sony Ericsson’s Aino smartphone smiles for the FCC’s cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Awhile ago Western Digital released its top-capacity laptop hard drive, the Scorpio Blue, which is the first 2.5-inch hard drive to offer 1TB of storage. On Tuesday, Toshiba announced its own largest laptop hard drive to date, the MKxx65GSX, which caps at 640GB.
One of Toshiba’s new portable hard drives.
(Credit: CNET)
Though smaller in capacity, the new Toshiba hard drive has two advantages over the WD Scorpio Blue. First, it spins at 5400rpm as opposed to the 5200rpm of the WD, meaning it potentially has a faster throughput speed.
The new Toshiba drive also comes in the regular 9.5mm thickness and therefore will work in all applications where SATA 2.5-inch hard drives currently are used. The Scorpio Blue is 12.5mm thick and therefore only fits in laptops with a larger hard drive bay.
The new hard drive is built based on Toshiba’s new 320GB-per-platter design which, according to the company, reduces power consumption and heat dissipation by more than 80 percent compared with 3.5-inch hard drives of the same capacity. This helps save energy and prolong the life span of the drive.
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