BlackBerrys to get their own music service
While BlackBerry devices have been praised for their functionality, only recently have they begun cracking the "snazzy" barrier. Next month, the venerable communicators will have one more thing in common with iPods.
Downloadable music for the Research in Motion BlackBerry device was announced today from Canadian online music provider Puretracks, to be available next month at the CTIQ Wireless show.
Apple told to look into iPod nano fires
Apple Japan has reportedly been ordered by the Japanese ministry of trade to investigate the cause of an iPod nano sparking while charging.
About 420,000 units of the first-generation device, model MA099J/A, were sold in Japan between September 2005 and September 2006. This latest incident reportedly happened in January outside Tokyo but Apple informed the trade ministry only in March.
CES 2008: What have we learned this week?
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: It's the end of our full week of coverage of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, so one last time, I'd like to call in our Senior CES Analyst, Sharon Fisher. Sharon, here's what I'm wondering tonight, and I'd like to see if you agree:
Usually CES is a gadget show. We walk away from it talking about the coolest thing you can hold in your hand. This time around, I got the distinct feeling that it was a platform show.
Does Comcast have the recipe for re-making television?
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: You know the flavor of CES is changing somewhat when one of the bigger announcements of the week comes not from a CE manufacturer per se, but from what a big chunk of the nation thinks of as their local cable company. Comcast's plan, as outlined Tuesday by CEO Brian Roberts, has the opportunity -- if not yet the likelihood -- of literally changing television, one-upping TiVo and converting the high-definition display into the biggest consumer of data in the world's wired telecommunications system.
But is this all just a science fiction story? With the US converting to digital broadcasting in just 13 months, and with perhaps fewer people knowing that's going to happen than know about Britney Spears' custody battles, we have to acknowledge the fact that in just a very short time, the whole direction of the television industry could become a "jump ball." So we asked Sharon Fisher, former Gartner analyst and our CES analyst this past week, to figure out whether Comcast could really pull this off. Sharon?
Analysis: The outlook for solid-state drives
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: Every year, solid-state storage advances just a little bit further, often just enough to prompt analysts to ask yet again, when will it be time to declare spinning platters of magnetic data obsolete? If only hard drive technology would just stop rapidly evolving on its own for a little while, perhaps we'd have an answer.
Samsung made some waves at the start of CES week by announcing it's boosting its solid state drive (SSD) capacity to 128 GB, with a new model whose SATA II interface enables it to read data at 100 Mbps. Seek times have never been a problem for memory-based storage, but sustained throughput continues to dog the SSD.
Conspicuous by its absence, Vista is a no-show at CES
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: One of the consumer electronics industry's biggest brands has had an ever-diminishing presence at CES, and the trend continued this year. It's Windows, which this year moved from the backseat into Microsoft's trunk, as even Bill Gates himself touted products such as Mediaroom, Silverlight, and the Surface prototype while only mentioning Windows Vista in passing.
Last year, Sharon Fisher and I noticed the trend, and here's what we said about it at the time:
Retailers warn the DTV transition may not proceed as planned
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: From our Deja Vu All Over Again Dept., here's a topic that's a major CES issue this week and it's definitely a rerun from last year. It's the DTV transition, which is still on schedule for next year, except now some of the major retailers involved in getting new DTV broadcast converter boxes distributed, are worried that the US government won't be able to pull this off.
Sharon Fisher, who had more on this last year, has more on it this year.
Analysis: Can Sprint come back to pull off its Xohm WiMAX plan?
Despite Sprint's financial trouble, its current WiMAX efforts appear promising, according to one In-Stat analyst.
In addition to product and service announcements made earlier this week, the company said its Xohm service would be commercially launched in its three test cities by April. "That's a little bit faster than I thought," said Daryl Schoolar, senior analyst of the networking group for In-Stat.
Dueling quadruple-play architectures at CES
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: One of the major trends we're following all this week at CES concerns connectivity: Specifically, how all these wired services are supposed to make it to the gateway of your home or office, and who will be the ones who get it there? In the wired fiberoptic service arena (as opposed to wireless), there are two principal rollout architectures, dealing with whether the line to your house gets replaced with fiberoptic or gets left as copper.
There was news on both fronts at CES this morning, and our Sharon Fisher has more about it.
New Panasonic VIERA HDTV will have YouTube button on its remote
If you're tired of watching out-of-focus YouTube videos on your computer screen, now you'll be able to watch out-of-focus YouTube videos on your TV.
Matsushita's Panasonic unit is working with Google to develop high-definition televisions that let you browse and view videos from YouTube and photos from Picasa Web Albums. Google will set up servers for the purpose and the remotes for the TVs will have YouTube and Picasa buttons.
Sony division to enable downloads in DivX format
Sharon Fisher, BetaNews Senior CES Analyst: On top of yesterday's news, DivX has now announced a partnership with Sony that will let retailers offer Sony Pictures Television titles for secure download in DivX format on DivX Certified consumer electronics devices.
The companies did not say whether it would be all titles, when they would be available, or which retailers might participate. Sony Pictures Television produces shows such as Cashmere Mafia, Dawson's Creek, Days of Our Lives, Wheel of Fortune, and The Shield.
Sling Media expands into social networking, cable modems
Sharon Fisher, BetaNews Senior CES Analyst: Sling Media Inc., which announced its Clip+Sling service at last year's CES, is demonstrating it at this year's.
Similarly to YouTube, Clip+Sling lets users share clips of shows from their Slingbox systems. The Slingbox is a device that lets users remotely view their cable, satellite, or personal video recorder (PVR) programming from an Internet-enabled computer with a broadband Internet connection, known as "placeshifting."
Sprint hangs on to Xohm WiMAX
In an attempt to put aside speculation that it might sell its Xohm WiMAX service, Sprint dutifully but formally reminded everyone this morning that it's proceeding with its plans for a soft launch in Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Furthermore, the company expects to expand the service later this year, though it didn't say where or when.
The DivX codec makes a play for set-top boxes
The little codec that could, DivX, announced a series of partnerships today that will use the protocol in set-top boxes for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV).
DivX Inc. (which is not related to the late, lamented DIVX system used by Circuit City to produce degradable DVDs) announced or extended partnerships with Broadcom, D-Link Systems, Jaman.com, and Next New Networks.
Google, Yahoo in dueling partnerships with GPS makers
It's one of those announcements you just knew was coming: Magellan is partnering with Google to put Google Maps local business links on its Global Positioning System (GPS) units.
This is all part of Magellan's first GPS system to include wireless connectivity. The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS, as the name implies, includes support for General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) cellular capability.
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.