Hasta La Gadget!

Open up Android Market on your Android device today and (most of) you will see a familiar set of three headings — Apps, Games and My apps — bidding you welcome. Do the same on your Sony Ericsson Android phone, however, and the last item in that list might no longer be there. That’s because SE has decided to introduce its own “channel” to the Market, wherein you’ll find a load of Xperia handset-specific junk software and other specially curated bits that your smartphone is adjudged to be in need of. The change means you’ll need to open up your menu to get at your own apps, but that shouldn’t be an entirely unfamiliar activity for Android users. Sony Ericsson may be the first manufacturer to pull this switcheroo, but it’s following in the well-worn footsteps of Verizon and T-Mobile in the US. And speaking of carriers, Sony Ericsson says this change is operator-dependent, so if you’re nice and lucky, your operator won’t bother to roll this out. Sadly, our Xperia Arc has already been infected.

Sony Ericsson sets up its own channel in Android Market, relegates ‘My apps’ link to a menu item originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can do quite a lot with a sufficiently large catalog of semi-popular footage, but original content is king, and today the Wall Street Journal is reporting that YouTube will sink $100 million into original programming. The idea, according to the usual anonymous sources, is that Google will reshape the home of Keyboard Cat into a television network of sorts — with channels for different topics — and a good number of them featuring “several hours of professionally produced original programming a week.” That sounds like a drop in the bucket compared to the raft of footage that YouTube’s amateurs put out, of course, and it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen Google invest in original work, but we’d be lying if we said we wouldn’t enjoy kicking back with even a smidgen of the pulse-pounding possibilities that some 4096-pixel-wide footage could offer. YouTube is reportedly attracting talent right now, say the WSJ‘s spooks, and intends to ease users into the idea of channel surfing starting later this year.

Google creating YouTube ‘channels’, spending $100 million on original content? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t get enough New York Times over your Whispernet? Worry not, dear Kindle reader, for Amazon’s on a roll with its announcements today, the latest of which is that a subscription to the NYT on its world-conquering e-reader will also grant users access to the paywall-protected NYTimes.com online portal. No complex rules or conditions, you’ll just be one of the insiders who get unfettered access to all the fine old school journalism practiced at Times towers. See Amazon’s press release after the break or hit the source link to learn more about the $28-a-month (for international users) subscription.

Update: The sub price is $20 in the USA, the $28 cost we first saw relates to those signing up from the UK and other international markets. Thanks, russke!

Continue reading Kindle subscription to the New York Times will net you free web access as well

Kindle subscription to the New York Times will net you free web access as well originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As anyone attempting to stream high-quality video on any major metropolitan subway has likely found, doing so often requires the patience of Job and a willingness to spend more time ‘buffering’ and less time ‘enjoying.’ It’s a problem that’s particularly evident at crowded events like the never-ending South by Southwest, and it’s probably no coincidence that a team from The University of Texas at Austin are now spending their waking hours attempting to solve the looming wireless bandwidth crisis. Five faculty in the school’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department have been selected to receive a $900,000 gift from Intel and Cisco to “develop innovative and novel algorithms that could improve the wireless networks ability to store, stream and share mobile videos more efficiently.” Their work is part of a five university tie-up, seeking to solve quandaries such as tower interference, selective compression (read: pixelating the areas you don’t pay attention to in order to squeeze more out of the existing infrastructure), cell tower intelligence and data output redundancy. Hard to say if any of the major carriers will be implementing proposed solutions in the near future, but we can think of at least one company that’s crossing its fingers in hopes of that very outcome.

Texas researchers aim to solve wireless bandwidth bottleneck, hopefully before SXSW 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew it was coming, and now The New York Times has followed through on its promise to erect a paywall for online content, which means no more free news — kind of. Starting today in Canada and March 28th in the US, NYTimes.com will ask visitors reading more than 20 articles per month to pay for their info fix. The new plan offers monthly subscriptions of $15 with a smartphone app, $20 with tablet app, or $35 for complete digital access — subscribers with a physical subscription will be granted a full pass, except on e-readers. Further convoluting the pay structure, entry from sites like Twitter and Facebook won’t face the same restrictions, and access via Google is set at five free visits per day. Other news sources, including The Wall Street Journal, have already started charging for online content in the face of declining ad revenue, but this is certainly one of the most elaborate systems we’ve seen so far. The subscription plan was unleashed in Canada today, allowing the paper to iron out any kinks before hitting the US, which means you’ve got just under two weeks to hit NYTimes.com completely free — after that, prepare to be confused.

New York Times reveals labyrinthine subscription plans, Canadian readers already hitting paywall originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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