Hasta La Gadget!

Almost without fail, BitTorrent downloads have had to spread through a dedicated client, whether it’s on the desktop or a router. Thankfully, BitTorrent Torque has just come in alpha form to liberate the peer download service from its software chains. All that’s needed now is a web browser that can parse a JavaScript app. Going the new route gives some freedom to enable sharing that hasn’t always been practical: among the tricks in the company’s Torque Labs are drag-and-drop sharing, conversion of torrents into traditional downloads and easing the burden on a server for video streaming. The alpha stage leaves Torque with awhile to go before it’s ready for the limelight, but experimenters can hit the source link to start tinkering with distributed file sharing today.

BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The BBC’s iPlayer has become too successful. It either needs to calm down or be put on a more level playing field with on demand services from the other big UK broadcasters — and it’s going to be the latter. Youview — which has nothing whatsoever in common with YouTube except its name and the fact that it also does video — is a PVR set-top box that uses both an aerial and a web connection to allow catch-up viewing, and we’ve just heard it’ll arrive in UK stores towards the end of this month. It’ll bring together programs from the BBC (which also contributed £10 million of license fee cash), ITV, Channel 4, Five, and Sky, using infrastructure from BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva, and it’ll target millions of British viewers who want a “seamless” mix of live and archived telly without being tied to a subscription — and who don’t yet depend on a Smart TV, games console or other converged device.

Update: Youview front man Lord Alan Sugar told us that the box is Humax-built and will cost £299. He also added that there’ll be adverts within commercial programs, but not plastered over the EPG or interface itself.

Youview TV platform and set-top box coming to UK stores this month (update: priced at £299) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Happy Friday, everyone. Ready for the weekend? We sure are; it was a crazy week at Google I/O, but unfortunately for Google, this is the headline that ends the week – Apple granted preliminary sales ban of Galaxy Nexus. We’ll go straight from that to something lighter and fun for the weekend – Nike+ FuelBand now integrates with Path. And if you’re a travel fan, you should read this – Delta expanding WiFi access to international flights starting next year.

Featured: Okay, so Google I/O may technically be over, but we’re still pouring over analysis and impressions of the event. We’re going to start with this piece that you’ve all been waiting for – it’s our official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean review. And another review for something that came to light this week – Chrome for iOS review.

Lexus, Comcast, & Mayans: So it’s time to wrap up this last evening wrap-up of the week. We do that by checking into the other big stories of the day. Starting with this – 144K Lexus recall adds to Toyota’s stuck accelerator woes. And moving along to cable news – Boxee and Comcast reveal cable encryption workaround. And finally, as always we end the week with something out of the ordinary – Newly discovered Mayan text says 2012 is the end of the calendar, not the world.

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: June 29, 2012 is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The National Association for the Deaf’s lawsuit against Netflix is heading to court. A federal judge has just denied the video streaming company’s motion to have the case dismissed. At issue is whether or not Netflix needs to abide by the Americans With Disabilities Act and provide closed captioning throughout its library of movies and TV shows.

Netflix’s argument was that it is not a public accommodation like a physical video rental store. Because its service is offered to people inside their homes, it feels like it is under no obligation to provide special services to people with disabilities. However, US District Court Judge Michael Ponsor said in his ruling, “This argument is unpersuasive.” The National Association for the Deaf says that what it’s asking for isn’t much.

The association’s chief executive said, “There’s no excuse for this, in our view, because movies already have captioning files. What excuse does Netflix have for not including it in their Internet streaming videos?” And it certainly isn’t a question of technological capabilities, because there are captions available on some of its titles. Netflix has not commented publicly on the case.

[via LA Times]

Closed captioning lawsuit against Netflix to go forward is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.