Hasta La Gadget!

While much of the news lately has surrounded subscription internet movie and TV services the video on-demand market was up nearly 40% last year and is expected to keep growing. According to stats from IHS Screen Digest, video revenue for the Apple iTunes store grew 60 percent last year, but saw its overall market share shrink from from 74.4 to 64.5 percent. This is mostly explained as a side affect of the Kinect driving up Microsoft Xbox 360 sales at the end of last year and introducing its Zune store to a new market of families looking for digital entertainment. The up and comer to watch for 2011 appears to be the Wal-mart/Vudu combo, currently fourth in line behind Sony but poised to grow by showing up on more devices and increasing its promotional efforts. Of course, as NewTeeVee points out, the ultimate wild card in all of this is the launch of Ultraviolet buy-once/watch-anywhere DRM later this year (without support from Apple or Disney) and the effect it could have by causing consumers to see digital downloads as a viable option instead of the fragmented mess they are now — good luck with that.

[Thanks, Aaron]

iTunes stays on top of growing internet movie business in 2010, but 2011 could be very different originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  IHS Screen Digest  | Email this | Comments

This article was written on October 04, 2007 by CyberNet.

If you’ve been itching to get your hands on a low-cost media player there may not be another chance like this this. Woot is currently selling refurbished 30GB Zune’s for a whopping $100 (+ $5 for shipping)! That’s just crazy!

What’s really interesting is the URL that is used to access the deal. You’ll notice that it doesn’t take you to the typical Woot homepage which currently has a different deal going on right now. If you look closely in the sidebar there is a disclaimer:

You know Woot as the site that sells one product per day, cheap. But this isn’t exactly Woot. This is a special super-secret page we set up to get our family and friends off our backs about these things (hi mom!); we’re tired of entering manual orders. Your order here will be processed and shipped like any other order with Woot.

You’re here because you seem like the kind of discriminating, savvy consumer who can be flattered into dropping some cash with us. If you’re tempted to sneak a few of your lowlife pals in the back door, remember: that’s a really nice computer you have there. It’d be a shame if anything happened to it. (Ok, no, we won’t be breaking your computer. And yes, you can sneak your lowlife pals in, but make sure they follow the dress code.)

Yeah, so it appears that this page wasn’t supposed to be made available to the public, but dozens of sites have already written about it. Frankly, we didn’t want any of you to miss out on such a good deal.

And yes, this low price is probably in light of the 2nd generation Zune’s getting announced, but it’s expected that the old Zune’s will also be getting a software facelift. If you’re looking for a media player this has gotta be a deal that’s hard to pass up! Maybe you can start stocking up for the holidays.

Thanks for the tip Mark!

Copyright © 2011 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Save Some Green, Get a ZuneWoot does it Again … 30GB Brown Zune for $80!Pre-Launch Zune NewsMyFive: Good iPod AlternativesYahoo! Partners with Woot! for "Deal of the Day"

Okay, so the WP7 hacking community may not be quite as active as that working tirelessly to keep every facet of Android devices splayed to the breeze, but that’s not to say there isn’t a skilled group of tinkerers doing their best on Microsoft’s best. ChevronWP7 is a clear example of that, and though it’s been officially pulled it is still quite certainly being used. Now its functionality has been extended with a second hack that enables you to use Zune to sync your HTC handset without it getting all locked up tight again. You can find all the details on the other end of the source link below, but we’ll go ahead and warn you that as soon as the next WP7 version drops this particular unlock will be disabled. Then it’ll be on to the next one.

How to keep your unlocked HTC WP7 device from re-locking after every sync originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AliWaqas  |  xda-developers  | Email this | Comments

We’ve been begging Microsoft to somehow add Mac compatibility to the Zune for years, and it looks like there’s a tiny little ray of hope buried in Redmond’s Windows Phone 7 Connector for OS X: a simple plist modification will let it sync the Zune HD as well. That really shouldn’t be any big surprise, since WP7’s media interface is built on top of Zune, but at least it’s something — although we’re still hoping and wishing for the full Zune suite (and Zune Pass) to make its way to the Mac someday.

Zune HD Mac support secretly hidden in Windows Phone 7 Connector software originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Download Squad  |  Zuneboards  | Email this | Comments

This article was written on October 03, 2007 by CyberNet.

Many of us buy CDs and rip the music to our computers so that the songs can be put on a portable device like an iPod, Zune, etc. Many of us also do the reverse and purchase songs online, and then burn them to a CD so that they can be listened to in the car, or anywhere else. Neither of those situations in my book, is considered stealing. However, according to the head of litigation for Sony BMG, Jennifer Pariser, it is and the term “stealing” music needs to be redefined.

When Pariser was asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of their music which they have purchased, even just one copy, she replied “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song. Making ‘a copy’ of a purchased song is just a nice way of saying ‘steals just one copy’.” Her belief is that music labels are suffering due to piracy and that when people “take music without compensation, we are harmed.”

Under her definition of “stealing,” even making a backup of the songs that you own, even if they don’t get used and they’re strictly for backup, is considered stealing! I’d think consumers at least have the right to make one copy of the music that they own, particularly songs that were purchased and downloaded online. Before we know it, people will be taken to court by the RIAA for copying the music that they own. Ridiculous.

Source: Ars

Copyright © 2011 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Rumor: 800 Apple Employees Out of iJobUbuntu Video Tutorials For People Just Starting OutEasy Way To Look For People Stealing Your ContentGoogle Updates their AdSense Policies for 2007Google Music Clues Start Popping Up