It’s a cold day in you know where when our two mobile editors are lost for words. If you thought this week might be any different, think again. If anything, a brief hiatus means they’re literally finding words just for the show. Inscrupilous of them, we know.
Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen
Producer: James Trew
Music: Tycho – Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)
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Despite App.net’s positioning as a Twitter alternative, it hasn’t had either an app to call its own or a way to sign up without at least an invitation. The social network has just crossed both of those items off its list with its new App.net Passport for iOS, albeit through an unconventional path. Passport is a gateway app, not a client: it lets users manage their profiles, but it really exists to point users to third-party apps and people they’d want to follow. Don’t write off Passport as a promo stunt, though. It also represents the first place where the curious can sign up without either an invitation or paying up front. CEO Dalton Caldwell warns that the wide-open registration is an experiment, not a guaranteed change in policy — if it doesn’t work out, the company may return to business as usual. Whether or not the strategy bears fruit, Passport should both serve as a fast track for newcomers and a launchpad for App.net development beyond iOS’ borders.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Via: iMore
Many have suspected that Sony wasn’t done with its 2013 high-end phones just because the Xperia Z and ZL were shipping. As of today, that’s more than just speculation: a once-rumored Xperia A has swung through the FCC for approval as NTT DoCoMo’s SO-04E. The filing is unusually detailed for a device that isn’t official, showing a 5-inch, 1080p handset that maintains Sony’s OmniBalance look while including a removable, 2,300mAh battery that we haven’t seen in the Z or ZL. The manual also has the Android phone sharing the Z’s 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of built-in storage and LTE, although mum’s the word on any upgrade to the Snapdragon S4 Pro. Sony hasn’t confirmed what we’re seeing, but we may not have long to learn the full story when NTT DoCoMo is revealing its summer mobile lineup on May 15th.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
Source: FCC
Viruses usually have to be rendered inert to work in humanity’s favor, as anyone who has received a flu shot can attest. Auburn University has bucked that trend by discovering a way to put active viruses to work in not only diagnosing sickness, but in preventing it in the first place. It’s using bacteria-hating (and thankfully harmless) viruses as biosensors to quickly identify superbugs, or antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can sometimes prove fatal. As the viruses change color once they’ve reached impervious bacterial strains, in this case variants on Staphylococcus, they can reveal superbugs within 10 to 12 minutes — a potentially lifesaving interval when current purification-driven methods can take hours. Auburn would like to eventually use what it has learned to develop more effective antibacterial glass and similar surfaces. If successfully put into practice, either breakthrough could mitigate what’s already a major medical crisis.
[Image credit: Bob Blaylock, Wikipedia]
Via: The Verge
Source: JoVE
Sony’s subtitle glasses have been a long time coming. The US rollout began more than a year ago, but the gradual launch has left hard-of-hearing Americans with few modern closed captioning options at the movies. They’ll have a much easier time of it as of this month, as Regal will be providing the glasses to nearly 6,000 theaters before May is over. While the wide-scale deployment is coming later than the original first quarter target, it should be a welcome upgrade for viewers who’ve had to either deal with clunkier subtitle systems or stay at home. The Sony solution still won’t be ubiquitous, especially when it sells for $1,750 per pair, but there’s now a better chance that at least one captioning-friendly theater will be within reach.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wearables, HD
Source: LA Times
Just weeks after TWC TV was overhauled for iOS products, the carrier has announced that a “serious” update will hit the Android version of TWC TV as soon as next Tuesday. The refresh will add access to over 4,000 On Demand shows and movies, as well as live TV streaming and On Demand support for older Android devices still stuck on v2.2+. Moreover, some of that content will also be available while you’re away from home, “mirroring the experience” already available for iOS products. Moral of the story? Keep an eye on the Play Store as May 14th rolls around.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD
Source: Time Warner Cable Untangled, Google Play
Just in case you didn’t have enough content options from the likes of Roku and your cable set top box, Toshiba has partnered with Rovi to integrate the DivX Plus Streaming codec into a new line of TVs. The streaming format promises enhanced multimedia controls like multi-language subtitles, resumable playback across devices and Dynamic Resolution Scaling, which should be good for those with fluctuating bandwidth. However, there aren’t that many services behind the format just yet, though Knowhow Movies by Dixons Retail in the UK has pledged its support. Still, one can never have enough ways to entertain the kids.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Hulu, Blockbuster, Kaleidescape and Amazon form an odd group of digital video distributors, but they’re joined together to open this week’s podcast. While Amazon’s Lovefilm is HD ready on the PS3 for the first time, Kaleidescape is bringing Blu-ray quality downloads to owners of its high end hardware, Hulu is thriving under unlikely circumstances and Blockbuster… what is Blockbuster doing? Paid subscription rumors for YouTube, news about Comcast’s X1 DVR platform are also on deck, press play for the full run down.
Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)
Producer: James Trew (@itstrew)
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CEO departures normally come in one of two forms — a dignified slope to the exit, or an explosive, controversial parting of ways. Departing Scarlet Motors CEO Julien Fourgeaud has taken a different approach with a stream-of-consciousness blog post, describing the company’s origins and cryptically hinting at divisions within the EV maker. Naming no names, the former Rovio executive mentions that he wishes people “kept their commitments, their word” and were “working together towards building an amazing product.” But despite the dissatisfaction, Fourgeaud says that he’ll continue to support the business as a shareholder — in between making sure his LinkedIn profile is up to date.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Julien Fourgeaud
Microsoft’s celebrating a rather important milestone for SkyDrive: 250 million users, with 50 million of those signing up in just the last seven months since the debut of Windows 8. With the cloud storage service being so tightly integrated into Microsoft’s new OS, it’s no surprise that its popularity has started to skyrocket. And, with recent upgrades to the platform, it’s becoming an increasingly viable alternative to competitors like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and SugarSync. To commemorate the milestone, Microsoft has a nice self-congratulatory infographic at the source filled with all sorts of fun stats about Redmond and its favored file-syncing system.
Filed under: Storage, Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
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