Aug 25

PlayOn for Wii beta to be announced tomorrow

Posted in: console, download, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, Opera, Software, Today's Chili, wii
We know that some of you streaming media fanatics have been indulging in this one for the better part of a month already, but just in case: tomorrow the kids at MediaMall officially announce the beta release of PlayOn for Wii. The software license runs $39.99, but there is a 14-day free trial — so you can see for yourself whether or not it makes sense to tie up your console with re-runs of CSI: Miami when you could be better off shakin’ your groove thing to Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party. Hit the read link and decide for yourself.

[Via New York Times]

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PlayOn for Wii beta to be announced tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 11

Intel issues X25-M G2 SSD firmware fix for BIOS password conundrum

Posted in: download, firmware, intel, issue, problem, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili

Eagerly waiting to change that drive password within the system BIOS on your fancy new X25-M G2 solid state drive? Good news, storage junkies — today you can. After Intel saw its next-gen SSD launch party hit a snag with an off-the-wall quirk that could cause data corruption for those who altered or disabled a drive password within the system BIOS, the company has finally come forward with a firmware update that solves the dilemma, along with world hunger, “the economy” and an undisclosed amount of other universal pains. Hit the read link for instructions on how to update your drive, but don’t blame us if every precious memory you’ve ever collected goes down in flames during the process. Just kidding.

[Via HotHardware]

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Intel issues X25-M G2 SSD firmware fix for BIOS password conundrum originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 30

PlayOn media server now serving Wii customers (in beta, anyway)

Posted in: console, contest, download, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, Opera, Software, Today's Chili, wii

We knew good and well that the fine folks over at MediaMall were toiling away in an attempt to bring internet TV content from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, CBS, CNN and a host of other sources to Nintendo’s white-hot Wii, but there’s just nothing like hearing that intentions have become reality. Based on an email from MediaMall support to a particularly curious user, the “latest version of PlayOn includes a beta version of Wii functionality in it.” Naturally, the company’s doing its darnedest to keep this under wraps for now, but we’re eager to get legions of Wii users testing it out and reporting back with performance evaluations. The note does mention that quality will be lower than on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 due to the inherit hardware limitations on Nintendo’s baby, but hey, you knew that going in, right? Hop on past the break for the letter in its entirety, which includes instructions on getting this going on your console.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading PlayOn media server now serving Wii customers (in beta, anyway)

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PlayOn media server now serving Wii customers (in beta, anyway) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 19

Microsoft’s beta My Phone service for Windows Mobile now free to all

Posted in: cloud, download, Microsoft, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, WindowsMobile, winmo

Go ‘n get it! Microsoft’s My Phone service is now ready for all Windows Mobile users to test. The beta service syncs any Windows Mobile 6+ phone to Microsoft’s 200MB per person cloud. That includes contacts, calendars, tasks, photos, text messages, music, videos, and more. In essence, anything on the My Phone website is on the phone and vice versa. Hey free is free and this is a goodie.

[Via SlashPhone]

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Microsoft’s beta My Phone service for Windows Mobile now free to all originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 May 2009 04:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 08

Nokia’s Ovi Store said to be launching with 20,000 ‘items,’ unknown number of apps

Posted in: application, download, nokia, Today's Chili

The launch of the Ovi Store is just around the bend and, according to reports, Nokia is looking to blow things out a little better than Google, which launched its Android Market with a paltry 50 selections. Nokia is said to have over 20,000 “items” ready for download when things go live, a number that compares quite favorably to the 40,000 apps Apple currently offers through its App Store. However, what remains to be seen is exactly what an “item” is defined as. We’re sure that count includes custom apps and WidSets, and there’s talk about N-Gage games finding inclusion as well. However, video and music downloads seem to be counted and we’d guess ringtones too. So, how many actual applications will it have at launch? That remains to be seen.

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Nokia’s Ovi Store said to be launching with 20,000 ‘items,’ unknown number of apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 May 2009 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 04

Screen Grabs: Lil’ Kim “Download” video features sampling of Acer products, samples Zapp

Posted in: Apple, download, iPhone, Today's Chili

Oop, looks like whoever was in charge of product placement coordination at Acer forgot to double-check Lil’ Kim’s new video for “Download” — is that iChat and an iPhone sneaking in there? Regardless, most of the primary action between Kimmy, T-Pain and Charlie Wilson seems to be going down on an Acer Aspire One, and there’s a prominent shot of the Acer M900 smartphone at the beginning. Oh, and the entire song is built around a sample of Zapp’s “Computer Love,” so we’ll forgive the lyrics. Both videos after the break.

[Thanks, Anthony R]

Continue reading Screen Grabs: Lil’ Kim “Download” video features sampling of Acer products, samples Zapp

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Screen Grabs: Lil’ Kim “Download” video features sampling of Acer products, samples Zapp originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 13

Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs

Posted in: download, firmware, intel, issue, Software, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili

Wait, what’s this? Intel admitting that its X18-M and X25-M SSDs do actually have the potential to slow after extended use? After the company flat out denied allegations brought forth by PC Perspective earlier this year, it has now quietly pushed out a v1.1 update for the 80GB and 160GB versions of the aforementioned devices. All we’re told is that it brings along “several continuous improvement optimizations intended to provide the best possible user experience,” but there’s absolutely no denying what it’s really aiming to fix. Intel still maintains that the likelihood of users experiencing any long-term issues are next to nothing, but we’d suggest applying the update just in case. Wouldn’t want to be missing out on any lightning fast read / write rates, now would you?

[Via HotHardware]

Read – Intel firmware update
Read – Updated firmware review

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Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 12

Firmware update brings file conversion, iPhone access to HP’s MediaSmart ex485 / ex487

Posted in: Apple, AppStore, download, firmware, HP, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, ipod touch, IpodTouch, Software, Today's Chili, update

HP’s MediaSmart Server ex487 (1.5TB) and ex485 (750GB) both received copious amounts of praise when launched late last year, but considering just how many issues the original two had (the ex470 and ex475), it wouldn’t take much to best ’em. Today, HP is issuing its second firmware update of the year for the series, but the first ever for the newest duo — and make no mistake, it’s a big one. The v2.5 update adds in loads of new features, far too many to cover in this space, in fact. If you’re interested in hearing more, follow us past the break for all the details.

Continue reading Firmware update brings file conversion, iPhone access to HP’s MediaSmart ex485 / ex487

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Firmware update brings file conversion, iPhone access to HP’s MediaSmart ex485 / ex487 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 12

iTunes Store’s new pricing scheme affects the charts, that Lightspeed Champion guy expresses surprise

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, download, itunes, MP3, pricing, Today's Chili

An interesting sidenote on the intersection of music and commerce: Billboard reported last week that the iTunes Store’s new variable pricing plan has had a bit of an impact on sales rankings on individual tracks, giving $.99 songs an advantage over their $1.29 counterparts. According to the magazine, numbers for Wednesday, April 8, show that the iTunes Top 100 chart had 40 songs at the $1.29 price point, and 60 at $0.99 — the premium songs slid an average of 5.3 places, while the $0.99 songs gained roughly 2.5 chart positions. On Thursday the trend continued, with the 53 songs priced at $0.99 rising roughly 1.66 places on the chart, while the remaining songs — priced at $1.29 — lost an average of two chart positions. None of which answers the most pressing question: When will Miley Cyrus’s reign of terror come to an end?

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iTunes Store’s new pricing scheme affects the charts, that Lightspeed Champion guy expresses surprise originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 07

iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, BreakingNews, download, itunes, MP3, pricing, Today's Chili

As promised, variable pricing has now been implemented at the iTunes music store. Already, we’re seeing most of the top 10 singles and 33 of the top 100 hitting the top price-point of $1.29 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps AAC). Interesting as Amazon’s uncomfortably similar top 10 list has all these tracks priced at $0.99 (encoded as DRM-free 256kbps VBR MP3). A handful of tracks (nine in the top 100) do hit the higher $1.29 price further down Amazon’s list. Now, if you believe Steve (someone who originally postured against this price structure), then it appears that the music labels are charging Apple more for the rights to sell its music than Amazon based on this quote attributed to Jobs in the Apple press release from January:

in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points-69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29-with many more songs priced at 69 cents than $1.29.

Regardless, we know where we’ll be purchasing our Miley Cyrus from now on.

[Thanks, Jesse]

Read — January “Changes Coming to the iTunes Store” press release
Read — iTunes top songs [Warning: iTunes App link]
Read — Amazon top songs

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iTunes Store now infected with variable pricing, Amazon still $0.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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